I confess, I was not immediately entranced by Harvest, and it was not until I started following the popular Downton Abbey television series that I began to appreciate the perspective presented in Jim Crace’s novel.
Jonathan Stroud’s latest book is a thrilling fantasy set in England in which ghosts roam the nights. Only the very young can see, hear, or otherwise sense spirits. As children near puberty, abilities to see or hear spirits surface, and they are thereby trained and employed by businesses whose sole purpose is to identify and detain or destroy the spirits.
Zach, Poppy and Alice are at an age where they should be putting away such things as dolls. At least this is what everyone keeps telling them. By using their action figures, Barbies and dolls they have purchased from Goodwill, they have created their own unique fantasy world of pirates, ladies and one bone-china doll they have dubbed Queen. To save their friendship, Poppy takes Queen out of her mother's cabinet and strange things begin to happen.
Anna, a Gold Ribbon Safety Citizen is prepared for anything except moving from her beloved Colorado home to her father’s small Kansas hometown. Her father, a minister, is called to accept this post until a replacement can be found. Most of Oakwood's townspeople are related but she eventually embraces them and their unique ways. Anna has a bumpy ride from the first but she soon comes to see things differently. This book would be appropriate for ages 8-12.
If you loved Persona 4 for its characters, then you might want to give this a try.
If you loved it for its gameplay, then don't bother.
If you have no clue what the Persona games are but you're a fan of fighting games, this might be okay if you don't mind not understanding what's happening.
If you loved Persona 3 and just want to see Mitsuru in leather and Akihiko shirtless, then by all means play this game. (Or look up the artwork online.)
Standish Treadwell stands on the brink of bringing down an elaborate hoax perpetrated by the insidious rulers of the Motherland, an alternate-universe mashup of Stalinist Russia and the Nazi-era Germany. Messing with the Greenflies, as they’re known, means certain death. After all, they imprisoned and tortured his best friend Hector, killed his teacher, and threatened his family. They would certainly do worse to Standish, whose bravery does not go unnoticed by the evil rulers. However, success means striking the Greenflies where they’re most vulnerable.
The third book in Catherynne M. Valente's Fairyland series, The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two, may be the best of the lot. (I reviewed the first two books here and here.) September, the young Nebraska girl who is our protagonist, is growing older and growing up. She desperately wants to return to Fairyland, but she's also anxious about her future there and at home.
The War of 1812 is one of the “forgotten wars” of the United States. It is, however, the conflict that helped to create the nation we have and provided the inspiration to our national anthem. In Through the Perilous Fight, Steve Vogel skillfully weaves together a narrative highlighting an eight week period of Washington D.C.’s history.
Friday crisscrosses Australia with her mother, hearing tales of how her female ancestors have all died of drowning on auspicious Saturdays. Her mother has a knack with weaving tales, and Friday Brown is caught in her web...until her mother is diagnosed with cancer. Friday watches her mother waste away to nothing, until she dies quietly in the night, her lungs filled with fluid.
