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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
Beautifully written. Annabelle's twelve year old voice is honest and brave. I did spend most of this novel with a knot in my stomach, similar to how I felt reading [book:Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry|310459]. You just never feel that the characters are safe. The ending was satisfying and I would love to read this with a young adult book club to see their take on it.
Grades 7 and up.
Grades 7 and up.
Why is it that books that get medals have to be sad, tragic, unfair, and all things unpleasant??
I'm beginning to think that this could be an excellent way to avoid such books in the future, i.e. if it's won a whole bunch of awards, whatever you do, don't read it!!
I'm beginning to think that this could be an excellent way to avoid such books in the future, i.e. if it's won a whole bunch of awards, whatever you do, don't read it!!
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Courage and forgiveness are two major themes that support this Juvenile book about an adolescent girl who finds herself the victim of a ruthless bully while synonymously advocating for the local outcast. The young protagonist learns the value of honesty and justice while coming to terms with a less than desirable ending. I appreciate the author bringing the story full circle and subtly supporting the title name.
I think I read this in April? I LOVED this book. I loved the language and characters and flow. It was like To Kill a Mockingbird. But I don't explicitly remember liking TKAM. Heartbreaking.
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The Good: There’s a lot to like about this book, but it’s hard to review because it’s a mystery. I don’t want to spoil everything. It’s one of those novels that I zoomed through because I wanted to know how it ended. The characters are likeable, and the mystery is compelling. Who is lying? The troubled new girl in town, or the homeless man with a mysterious past. I appreciate that the author doesn’t write down to her readers. The story has a lot of morals, but they’re not the main focus of the book. The author trusts that the readers are smart enough to figure them out.
Even though the morals are in the background, they’re my favorite part. Sometimes heroes don’t look like heroes, and victims don’t look like victims. You can’t judge a person by their appearance or by where they live. You have to get to know them.
The bad: This isn’t necessarily “bad,” but at the end, the plot gets very dark, very suddenly. If your kid doesn’t like sad or scary books, I’d suggest reading the whole thing before you hand it over. It seems like a fairly innocent, predictable plot at first, but . . . nope.
I wish the secondary characters had been better developed, particularly Toby and Betty. A lot of the story revolves around them, but they’re both shallow. I especially wanted to know more about the motivation for Betty’s horrible actions.
My biggest issue with this novel is the behavior of the adult characters. I didn’t believe it. I believe that a kid would want to hide an innocent person from the police because kids aren’t great at predicting the consequences of their actions, but why would adults go along with the plan?
In the story, a child goes missing. She might be lost in the woods, injured, or kidnapped. The police want to ask Toby about the last time he saw her. Some people in town believe that he has something to do with the disappearance. Hiding Toby from the cops doesn’t scream “innocent.” It doesn’t help anyone find the girl. If the cops find Toby, the narrator's whole family will get in trouble for hiding him. I understand that concealing a wanted man increases the drama in the story, but it doesn’t make sense to me. The police are wasting their resources searching for Toby when they could be putting everything they have toward finding the missing kid. Adults should know that hiding is going to cause more problems than it solves. (Which is exactly what happens . . . )
The bottom line: A compelling plot that teaches important lessons. It requires some suspension of disbelief because the adult characters are infuriating. Younger readers might not notice that, though.
Do you like reviews, giveaways, and bookish nonsense? All of those things happen on my blog.
Even though the morals are in the background, they’re my favorite part. Sometimes heroes don’t look like heroes, and victims don’t look like victims. You can’t judge a person by their appearance or by where they live. You have to get to know them.
“Somewhere, excitement waited for me like an uncut cake.” – Wolf Hollow
The bad: This isn’t necessarily “bad,” but at the end, the plot gets very dark, very suddenly. If your kid doesn’t like sad or scary books, I’d suggest reading the whole thing before you hand it over. It seems like a fairly innocent, predictable plot at first, but . . . nope.
I wish the secondary characters had been better developed, particularly Toby and Betty. A lot of the story revolves around them, but they’re both shallow. I especially wanted to know more about the motivation for Betty’s horrible actions.
My biggest issue with this novel is the behavior of the adult characters. I didn’t believe it. I believe that a kid would want to hide an innocent person from the police because kids aren’t great at predicting the consequences of their actions, but why would adults go along with the plan?
In the story, a child goes missing. She might be lost in the woods, injured, or kidnapped. The police want to ask Toby about the last time he saw her. Some people in town believe that he has something to do with the disappearance. Hiding Toby from the cops doesn’t scream “innocent.” It doesn’t help anyone find the girl. If the cops find Toby, the narrator's whole family will get in trouble for hiding him. I understand that concealing a wanted man increases the drama in the story, but it doesn’t make sense to me. The police are wasting their resources searching for Toby when they could be putting everything they have toward finding the missing kid. Adults should know that hiding is going to cause more problems than it solves. (Which is exactly what happens . . . )
The bottom line: A compelling plot that teaches important lessons. It requires some suspension of disbelief because the adult characters are infuriating. Younger readers might not notice that, though.
Do you like reviews, giveaways, and bookish nonsense? All of those things happen on my blog.