Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon and husband Dean Hale, illustrated by Nathan Hale, of no relation. Delightful graphic novel. Shannon Hale always has such strong female characters. Rapunzel isn't always strong, she has her moments of self doubt and weariness, but then she always remembers what she is fighting for. Go Rapunzel. And who doesn't love a striking beauty with red hair and green eyes. Such a pretty girl. The illustrations are great! I kept finding myself wondering who did most of the work on the project, Nathan (illustrator)? Shannon? Dean, the husband, what exactly did he do in all of this? Hmmmm. My kids love the book as well. B read it and the girls like to look through it often. Fun!
Ever by Gail Carson Lavine. Interesting book, of course it was great. I like all of her books that I have read. There are quite a number of gods in the book and I found myself wondering about what I would like to be the god of... there were gods of wind, agriculture, destiny, pottery, dance, weaving... Think about it. Which would you choose? There were two cities in the book. One worshiped many gods and the other worshiped only one god. The God of All. I couldn't help but think that the author was or has been searching to find out if there really is one God, or if man just prey on the desire of others to believe. I wish I could help her out with that. There really is one God, but he is nothing like the god in her book. Heavenly Father is very loving, patient and kind. That should be a relief to her.
Gossamer by Lois Lowry. I like how this lady thinks, Lois Lowry that is. I was once again amazed by her, how she came up with this idea, who knows. Apparently there are little being that give us our dreams... and very bad beings who give us nightmares. This story is about a little dream giver learning the ins and outs of dream giving. It would be the perfect book for a child who had been abused because a little boy plays a role in the book who had a difficult childhood.
You know how some books (I've heard... because I won't read them) go into gory details about horrible things that happened in the life of someone who has been abused. Even hearing about books like that give me a uncomfortable, depressing feeling. This book makes mention of the little boys life, and it was very sad... but the author did it in a way that shows hope, victory and the joy of overcoming. It is all in the "feel" of the book for me, I guess.
Happy Reading!
