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A review by librarianinthewoods
Hold Fast by Blue Balliett
3.0
I liked this book and was drawn to it because her Chasing Vermeer is one of my favorite chapter books. However I wanted to like it more than I did. It was ok. I like how she set up the chapters of the book with defining words and the focus on words. I think it’s a good read to expose kids to the unfortunate realities of shelters and homelessness. I loved the magic of the character names and how Early Pearl and her family dreamed about that house and how she inspired the project Home Dreams with thousands of kids writing in need of homes and their dreams. Heartbreaking and the truth of our need of more than shelter but a true home.
What I didn’t like was the book felt like it tried to do too much. The struggle of the family thrown in hard times and a shelter and the mystery of the father’s disappearance. It didn’t feel realistic or believable to me.
On snow.... “She wondered why so much beauty, tumbling out of the sky or drifting from people’s minds goes unseen. She knew the answer, even as she wondered: People get distracted by worries and sadness, and have to struggle to see anything else. They have to work hard to hold onto beauty, to hold fast to dreams and words.”
What I didn’t like was the book felt like it tried to do too much. The struggle of the family thrown in hard times and a shelter and the mystery of the father’s disappearance. It didn’t feel realistic or believable to me.
On snow.... “She wondered why so much beauty, tumbling out of the sky or drifting from people’s minds goes unseen. She knew the answer, even as she wondered: People get distracted by worries and sadness, and have to struggle to see anything else. They have to work hard to hold onto beauty, to hold fast to dreams and words.”