The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this book as soon as it was announced that it was a Newbery winner. Actually, I remember going to the library, when the Newbery Awards were to be announced at around 11 a.m., and when it was one I had gone to the library and I remember saying, "Wow! They've already got the 'Newbery Award' sticker on it!" That seemed like a big deal to me, haha.

Anyways, I really liked this book. I don't remember much about this book, the main reason being that I read it almost a year ago or 5/6 of a year ago. However, I recall it being quite poignant and interesting and having many quotes worth dog-earing the pages among other things :)

Also, I really liked the ending. <3 It just brought so much closure to the book as a whole.

View all my reviews

Quickie Review of Princess Lessons

I am going to be introducing a new kind of review for this website, the "Quickie Review." Sometimes, I don't have a lot of time to write a review, so I'll write a quick one that usually isn't very long. Don't worry, it doesn't mean it's bad or anything, just shorter than the others and less detailed.

Princess Lessons by Meg Cabot

Synopsis: A self-help book directed at teenage girls teaching about all sorts of "princess" etiquette and fashion and makeup.

Thoughts: Very sensible advice, I presume, for a teen, and the illustrations just seal the deal for me. The pink theme goes well with the tone of the book and Princess Mia's comments underneath the "experts'" words are hilarious! In particular, I enjoyed the one about combat boots as Princess Mia explains how she loves to wear combat boots, and then right underneath that Grandmother Clarisse writes, "Combat boots are not suitable for a princess." Haha.

I would give this book 4/5 stars (In fact, I will be checking out the movies: "Bring it On" and "Save the Last Dance" which were mentioned in the book's "Movies in which Characters Reach Self-Actualization or otherwise Behave In a Very Princess-like Manner" list.)

And I must say, I was rolling on the floor laughing at Chesley McLaren's picture of a man bowing on pg. 78. And, this book is not 100% nonsense like those franchise continues, such as How to be a Vampire or whatnot. Instead, this book was a real, honest-to-goodness self-help book disguised as a princess lesson book! Ingenious.

Quickie Review: Jefferson's Sons

Jefferson's Sons by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Wow. This book was an eye-opener, for sure.

I believe that it was my mother who first thrust this book at me. Or maybe I had just seen the pretty spine or the "Historical Fiction" sticker or something. Anyways, as soon as I started reading this book, I was intrigued. Not hooked, necessarily, but intrigued.

The story is well-written and the facts are well researched. However, it did not make much of an impression on me now, so that's -0.5 stars.

But this book let me rediscover historical fiction, and the subject is so well done. This book actually kind of reminds me of The Hope Chest for some reason, although the topics are similar yet different at the same time. :3 I'm bad at explaining things, but hopefully you'll understand...?



View all my reviews