Book Review Spectacular!

Academic Crisis Averted
Ok, so since I've been beyond busy, some book reviews have built up. Here they are in your very own Book Review Spectacular!!!

Leaves (David Ezra Stein) -- This is a very cool picture book. It was published in 2007, but looks sort of old-timey. Check out this review on the Cybil's blog -- it's what got me interested in the book, and I agree with what it says about the book sort of sounding like haiku.

Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot (Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer) -- Very fun book. This book is set in Post-Napoleonic England (think Jane Austen), with...magic! It is a correspondence between Cecilia, in the country, and her cousin Kate who is having her first London Season. It was actually written as a series of letters from one author to the other.

13 Little Blue Envelopes (Maureen Johnson) -- Another fun one from Johnson that made me laugh aloud several times. Ginny's aunt has written her a scavenger hunt of sorts that leads her all across Europe. Funny, romantic, and touching (but not a tear-jerker). Recommended.

The Grand Tour (Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer) -- This sequel to "Sorcery and Cecilia" is even better than the first. The girls are involved in a mystery on "the continent" that could get dangerous! The plot is a bit more well-paced this time, and if you liked the first you'll love the second!

A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life (Dana Reinhardt) -- For such a thin little volume, this book deals with some heavy issues centering around adoption. Simone was adopted at birth, and now has the chance to meet her birth-mother. She's torn as to whether or not to accept the invitation, and her final decision changes her life in ways she hadn't dreamed of. Best for H.S. and older.

** End Spectacular**