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A review by booksnbookends
The Word-Keeper by Veronica Del Valle
3.0
The concept for this book was superb, it's different from other middle grade books, which may be exactly what some young readers are desperately looking for. The story reminded me somewhat of Chris Colfer's Land of Stories series and Alice in Wonderland, but without the fairytale aspects.
Florence possessed an unusual verbal extravagance, putting to good use words like debacle or conundrum or bodacious. But this also made her a lonely girl, for not many of the other kids understood what she was saying. Using words as power is the main focus of the story, but I'm not sure that most middle grade readers will understand the words she's using either.
The journey aspect of the story seemed to really slow the pace of the book down at the beginning and it felt like it was traipsing along with very little happening. When Florence arrived at the mysterious town of Inkwell, the story improved drastically. Her friends and the helpful tradespeople made her unexpected experience with forces she never imagined possible.
The Word Keeper has a great message about the power of words and how we can use them can have a profound impact upon others. It would have to be a fairly capable middle grade reader to fully appreciate the message that the book is trying to send.
A magical middle grade fantasy with a fantastic message.
Florence possessed an unusual verbal extravagance, putting to good use words like debacle or conundrum or bodacious. But this also made her a lonely girl, for not many of the other kids understood what she was saying. Using words as power is the main focus of the story, but I'm not sure that most middle grade readers will understand the words she's using either.
The journey aspect of the story seemed to really slow the pace of the book down at the beginning and it felt like it was traipsing along with very little happening. When Florence arrived at the mysterious town of Inkwell, the story improved drastically. Her friends and the helpful tradespeople made her unexpected experience with forces she never imagined possible.
The Word Keeper has a great message about the power of words and how we can use them can have a profound impact upon others. It would have to be a fairly capable middle grade reader to fully appreciate the message that the book is trying to send.
A magical middle grade fantasy with a fantastic message.