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3.2 AVERAGE
3.2 AVERAGE
This book is impressive if you consider it was written by a thirteen year old. It may not stack up to other books of this genre. However, I can imagine that with time and experience Nancy Yi Fan will become a welcome writer of fantasy novels. This is a book best read by upper elementary and middle school children. The story involves a group of blue jays and cardinals that were once friends who become enemies. They each believe that the other group is stealing from them. It turns out a mean hawk named Turnblatt is doing the dirty work along with his cronies. I really wanted to write "crow-nies" because they are crows. The birds have to discover this and figure out how to defeat Turnblatt. Recommended for children who like personified animals and fantasy.
This is a very subjective 5 stars, entirely due to nostalgia, since this is what led my young self to actully writing. But yeah, I don't think I'd reccomend it
This is, in fact, fairly impressive for a 12 year old girl who may(?) have only learned english starting at age seven.
It is, however, a terrible book. There's something to be said for the idea that an expert iis someone who has made all the mistakes there are to make in a particular field, and there's something else to be said for not letting a little kid publish those mistakes.
It is, however, a terrible book. There's something to be said for the idea that an expert iis someone who has made all the mistakes there are to make in a particular field, and there's something else to be said for not letting a little kid publish those mistakes.
My mom got this for me years ago since I'm the same age as Yi Fan, I don't remember what I thought about it then but I'm rereading my selves now to get rid of some books, this is one I'll be passing on.
There are definitely published books by adults that are just as bad and at least Yi Fan has her age as an excuse. The story it self could be decent but the style is just too direct for my taste, too much telling. The author bio on the cover also distracted me with mention of 9/11 and I spent half the time trying to see the political/religious metephore that a 12 year old probably shouldn't be making. I certainly hope Yi Fan continues to write but these books aren't that great, but children may enjoy them enough.
There are definitely published books by adults that are just as bad and at least Yi Fan has her age as an excuse. The story it self could be decent but the style is just too direct for my taste, too much telling. The author bio on the cover also distracted me with mention of 9/11 and I spent half the time trying to see the political/religious metephore that a 12 year old probably shouldn't be making. I certainly hope Yi Fan continues to write but these books aren't that great, but children may enjoy them enough.
This book doesn't get even one star. Sorry, Nancy Yi Fan. Try again when you're like 35 and see what kind of story you write then.
This book was very cute, and the world was pretty well built. The tone of it was sort of confusing--it felt pretty formal, and didn't mesh for me in the way I normally like--but that may also be a side effect of me like. Not having read an MG book in about 100 years. I think if you've got a kid who likes birds, or animal stories in general, they might really like this. As an adult, some of it seemed a little weird (as like a person who cannot turn their brain off, the sort of Biblical allegory seemed to really hit me over the head and I wasn't sure I was super comfortable with it) but obviously the message is positive and it doesn't go much further into that allegorical territory that I possibly just made up.