My son was asked by Ms. Marshall if he would read and review this book on his homeschool blog. He agreed, and he’s still plugging away at it, but it was a pretty large undertaking for a low reader. In the meantime, I picked up the book and beat him to the punch. The setting […]
I've reviewed lots of books and written 20 of my own.
Nick of Time, by Ted Bell, 2008, Book Review
Do you like fast-paced adventure? I’ve read few middle grade novels more exciting than Nick of Time. It’s 1939 and Nick McIver is twelve years old. The Nazis threaten England and the rest of Europe like a black cloud, and U-boats traverse the English Channel on which Nick has spent his whole life as the […]
Slow and Steady Writes the Novel
In my last Friday Freebie, before I vacated for the Smokies, I posted about trimming our writing schedules to avoid burnout. Today it may seem like I’m talking out of the other side of my face: quit procrastinating and write! But I don’t think these two bits of wisdom are contradictory at all. You see, writing, […]
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J. K. Rowling, 2007, Book Review
It took me fall, winter, and spring, but I finished my third venture through the Harry Potter series. And you know what? I enjoyed it as much as the first time. I’m amazed at the imagination and intricacy of the books, and I’m doubly amazed at how much I forget in a few years’ time. In […]
Peter and the Starcatchers (Starcatchers Series, book 1), Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, 2004, Book Review
If you like Peter Pan, or if you love funny, fantastic middle grade fiction, I highly recommend you read this series. This is a reread for me, and the books are as delightful the second time through as they were the first. My daughter claims them as her all-time favorites. This series is where you […]
Eragon, by Christopher Paolini, 2003, Book Review
If ever there was a credit to homeschooling, Christopher Paolini would be it. Graduated from high school at age 15, he began working on what would become Eragon, book one of the Inheritance Cycle, a four-book fantasy series. I admit I went into this book skeptically, and it took several chapters before I warmed to […]
Dead End in Norvelt, Jack Gantos, 2011, Book Review
Dead End is a worthy title for this book. It deals with death on several levels, but it’s done in a comic, light-hearted way. Jack Gantos, age 12, lives in a town started for the poor by Eleanor Roosevelt during the Great Depression. It’s a socialist type of community (communist, as Jack’s dad, who desperately wants […]
Taran Wanderer (Chronicles of Prydain, 4) by Lloyd Alexander, 1967
“Who am I?” That is the question Taran seeks to answer in book four of the Chronicles of Prydain. Taran has already had many adventures, fought many foes, won several battles, and fallen in love with Princess Eilonwy. He is held in high esteem by all who know him, yet he is still an Assistant […]
Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry, 1989
Annemarie lives in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is 1943. Her best friend, Ellen Rosen, is Jewish. This is a beautifully told story appropriate for fourth graders. It is sweet in it’s own way, and pulse-poundingly adventurous, though not in a way I’d ever want to experience for myself. It is a deadly serious look at how […]
Balance vs. Burnout
“Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.” That’s pretty sound advice, wouldn’t you agree? After all, it was given by a man with a brilliant mind—the one who drafted the Declaration of Independence, served as president of the United States, instigated the Louisiana Purchase, and sent out the Louis and Clark Expedition. […]