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A review by lisavegan
Cloud and Wallfish by Anne Nesbet
4.0
4-1/2 stars
I did stay up later than I’d wanted in order to finish it. It was a hard book to put down and an easy one to pick up to read.
I highly and equally recommend this book for boys and for girls. I think it’s an especially good story for readers ages 9-11, but I think the story can be enjoyed by all ages 7 and up.
It’s a great historical fiction book for kids and includes some fascinating real history, including a few tidbits new to me or not remembered by me. I do vividly remember that time and its event(s). The reader is given dates at various times in the mostly fictional story so the reader will know (or can learn) that much of the story takes place in East Berlin when the Berlin Wall is up but in the year it will come down.
This is a lovely friendship story between a boy (Wallfish) and a girl (Cloud) and I do appreciate how the relationship develops and how it’s powerful and influential on both children, and I applaud the believability of the account. (I was the “new” kid several times between the ages of 5 and 11. I could identify with Wallfish about some things, even though our circumstances were completely different. Ditto identifying about some things about Cloud, and also about the whole honesty vs. secrets aspect of the story.)
This is a perfect book for kids who stutter of have anything about themselves that makes them feel self-conscious.
I like that some of the adults as well as some of the kids are more fleshed out than in some children’s books. Most of them seemed like real people.
I really liked it but it’s quite a 5 star book for me. I enjoyed the end sections that continues to follow one important part of the story. I felt a bit frustrated with the relationship between the boy and his parents. I didn’t like the mystery that sort of remained. I read reviews at bit too revealing before I read the book (I strongly recommend that potential readers try avoid all spoilers!) though I luckily didn’t remember much, and what I did remember I wasn’t sure whether or not a certain thing was part of the story. It was fun to guess exactly what was going on. It wasn’t that hard to figure out most of what was mysterious but it was still fun. I would have had a blast trying to figure out things had I read it at ages 9-11. Also, was Wallfish a bit too perfect?: So easily adaptable, so brave, so selfless, etc. I did admire and believe his loyalty and how he handles himself and the circumstances into which he’s thrust and much else about him. I’m glad that he wasn’t depicted as perfect at least.
Some quotes that I liked:
“Names are like codes, yes? Like magic codes. They have everything that ever happened to you squeezed tightly inside them.”
“First of all, people are always pretending to be what they are,” said his father. “That’s basically a philosophical question. Part of being something is pretending to be it.”
And from the author’s note at the end of the book:
“Truth and fiction are tangled together in everything human beings do and in every story they tell. Whenever a book claims to be telling the truth, it is wise (as Noah’s mother says at one point) to keep asking questions.”
I did stay up later than I’d wanted in order to finish it. It was a hard book to put down and an easy one to pick up to read.
I highly and equally recommend this book for boys and for girls. I think it’s an especially good story for readers ages 9-11, but I think the story can be enjoyed by all ages 7 and up.
It’s a great historical fiction book for kids and includes some fascinating real history, including a few tidbits new to me or not remembered by me. I do vividly remember that time and its event(s). The reader is given dates at various times in the mostly fictional story so the reader will know (or can learn) that much of the story takes place in East Berlin when the Berlin Wall is up but in the year it will come down.
This is a lovely friendship story between a boy (Wallfish) and a girl (Cloud) and I do appreciate how the relationship develops and how it’s powerful and influential on both children, and I applaud the believability of the account. (I was the “new” kid several times between the ages of 5 and 11. I could identify with Wallfish about some things, even though our circumstances were completely different. Ditto identifying about some things about Cloud, and also about the whole honesty vs. secrets aspect of the story.)
This is a perfect book for kids who stutter of have anything about themselves that makes them feel self-conscious.
I like that some of the adults as well as some of the kids are more fleshed out than in some children’s books. Most of them seemed like real people.
I really liked it but it’s quite a 5 star book for me. I enjoyed the end sections that continues to follow one important part of the story. I felt a bit frustrated with the relationship between the boy and his parents. I didn’t like the mystery that sort of remained. I read reviews at bit too revealing before I read the book (I strongly recommend that potential readers try avoid all spoilers!) though I luckily didn’t remember much, and what I did remember I wasn’t sure whether or not a certain thing was part of the story. It was fun to guess exactly what was going on. It wasn’t that hard to figure out most of what was mysterious but it was still fun. I would have had a blast trying to figure out things had I read it at ages 9-11. Also, was Wallfish a bit too perfect?: So easily adaptable, so brave, so selfless, etc. I did admire and believe his loyalty and how he handles himself and the circumstances into which he’s thrust and much else about him. I’m glad that he wasn’t depicted as perfect at least.
Some quotes that I liked:
“Names are like codes, yes? Like magic codes. They have everything that ever happened to you squeezed tightly inside them.”
“First of all, people are always pretending to be what they are,” said his father. “That’s basically a philosophical question. Part of being something is pretending to be it.”
And from the author’s note at the end of the book:
“Truth and fiction are tangled together in everything human beings do and in every story they tell. Whenever a book claims to be telling the truth, it is wise (as Noah’s mother says at one point) to keep asking questions.”