Touched by Fire by I. N. Watts

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanne Pearce
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Minor Characters ◽  
Her Family ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
Anti Semitism ◽  
Time Period ◽  
The Family ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

Watts, Irene N., Touched by Fire. Toronto: Tundra Books, 2013. Print.In the first decade of the 20th century, Miriam Markovitz and her family have fled their small town in the country to live in Kiev. She and her family are Jewish and the Tsar does not favor Jews. After narrowly escaping the pogroms, Miriam’s father Sam dreams of taking the whole family to America. Known as the “Golden Land”, in America Jews are free of persecution.     Over the next few years the family relocates to Berlin where Miriam’s parents and grandparents work hard to save enough money. The plan is for Sam to travel to New York ahead of the family. Miriam is fourteen years old when the first set of tickets to America arrives in the mail from her father. Leaving on the adventure of their lives, the Markovitz family must endure illnesses, family quarrels, and filth. For Miriam it seems crossing the ocean is the hardest thing she has very done, but she is destined to witness an even worse tragedy in her new country.     Touched By Fire is an enlightening story that brings to light many of the injustices Jews were forced to face, long before the anti-Semitism of the Nazis’ era. It is easy to form an attachment to the characters, and I found myself hoping and worrying for the Markovitz family. Miriam is especially vivid and comes out clearly as a strong and self-sacrificing heroine.These positive points aside, there were some peculiarities about this book that stood out in my mind. Firstly, Miriam’s journey is relatively tame, especially when you consider how graphic young adult literature has become. While there is a fair share of danger and hardship in the journey, Watts has left the harsher struggles to be faced by minor characters, leaving Miriam as merely a witness. I would also have liked more development of the characters Miriam met along the way. Leaving these characters underdeveloped reduced the impact of their struggles and made Miriam’s feelings about them somewhat flat. Finally, I must admit to some puzzlement as to why Watts chose to give the book the title Touched By Fire, as it refers strictly to the tragedy detailed in the conclusion, when most of the book’s focus is on Miriam’s journey and her maturation.In considering these criticisms alongside the overall story, I found myself divided as to how I felt about the book. I have to conclude that younger readers may not be drawn to these inconsistences and nuances, but would rather enjoy the story for the picture it paints of the time period. I have therefore given the book three out four stars. Touched by Fire is most suitable for children ages 9-13 and would be enjoyed by young readers that enjoy historical fiction.Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Hanne PearceHanne Pearce has worked at the University of Alberta Libraries in various support staff positions since 2004 and is currently a Public Service Assistant at the Rutherford Humanities and Social Sciences Library. In 2010 she completed her MLIS at the University of Alberta. Aside from being an avid reader she has continuing interests in writing, photography, graphic design and knitting.

scholarly journals How Do You Care for a Very Sick Bear? by V. Bayer

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenn Laskosky
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
Library And Information Studies ◽  
Information Studies ◽  
Realistic View ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

Bayer, Vanessa. How Do You Care for a Very Sick Bear? Illustrated by Rosie Butcher. New York: Macmillan Publishing, 2019. Vanessa Bayer’s How Do You Care for a Very Sick Bear? provides young readers with advice on how to deal with and help their friends who are facing a difficult illness. The book offers suggestions and advice for young children, but also reminds them that even though their friend is sick, they are still their friend. Bayer’s story provides examples of the simple gestures that friends can make when helping each other. The illustrations by Rosie Butcher are bright, colourful, and simple. Butcher illustrates common activities that friends would do together, which makes them relatable to children even though the characters are bears. The illustrations take up most of the page and provide young readers with a lot to explore. The text throughout the book is simple and easy to read. Bayer’s story tackles a difficult topic, but she presents it in a way that is easy for children to understand. Her use of bears as her main characters helps to soften the impact of a difficult topic to approach with children. However, Bayer is also honest with her portrayal of illness, which offers children a realistic view of what to expect. This book can be very useful for children who have a friend facing a difficult illness. Additionally, it can be useful to parents when explaining illnesses to their children. With that in mind, I would recommend it for elementary school and public libraries. Highly Recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Jenn Laskosky Jenn Laskosky is a masters student at the University of Alberta in the Library and Information Studies program. She has an interest in health sciences librarianship and international librarianship. Her passion for reading has continued to grow throughout her education.  

scholarly journals Orchards by H. Thompson

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Huck
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
English Literature ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
American Girl ◽  
Her Family ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Black And White ◽  
The Media ◽  
The University

Thompson, Holly. Orchards, New York: Delacorte Press, 2011. Print. Orchards is a poetic novel written by Holly Thompson. It tells the story of Kana Goldberg, an American girl, half-Jewish and half-Japanese, who is sent to spend the summer with her mother’s family in Japan working on their mikan farm. (Mikan is a type of Japanese orange.) A school-mate, Ruth, has committed suicide and Kana is a member of the group of girls who had excluded and locked horns with the girl over a boy, not realizing at the time that she suffered from bi-polar disease and that she was reaching out to the boy for support. The book is less about Kana accepting responsibility for her involvement in the confrontation with Ruth than it is about mending relationships and the process of Kana overcoming her anger and feelings of guilt. The book challenges us to set aside our own pre-conceived notions about bullying and consider the idea that everyone is vulnerable to depression, and that what gets sensationalized in the media as bullying is not always a black and white case of cruelty, but is sometimes a case of misunderstanding that escalates in dramatic fashion when emotions are mixed in. Kana’s fixation on Ruth and the pressure of a community that blames her and the other girls constitute an invisible burden that puts her at risk of the unthinkable, too. “Suicide can spread like a virus,” Kana’s grandmother warns. Kana’s ‘exile’ to a strange country turns out to be a chance to ground herself amongst her family, make peace with the presence of death in life, find confidence in who she is, and learn how to make a difference in the world of the living. Readers expecting a remorseful narrative may feel unsatisfied, but because the book reads quickly and the language is pleasurable, they may also decide to re-read it for a second impression. The reason it reads quickly is that Thompson has chosen to tell the story in a kind of free-flowing verse. Stanzas of varying lengths define sentence-like sequences, with the breaks between stanzas replacing the conventional sentence demarcators of full stops and capitalized first words. Line breaks play the role of commas, controlling the flow without impeding it. These syntactic arrangements complement the imagistic and uncluttered style of the writing, giving an inward, contemplative feel to the story. Because it is a subtle book, it would be most suitable for an older teen who is perceptive and has literary sensibilities. Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: John HuckJohn Huck is a metadata and cataloguing librarian at the University of Alberta. He holds an undergraduate degree in English literature and maintains a special interest in the spoken word. He is also a classical musician and has sung semi-professionally for many years.

scholarly journals Little Humans by B. Stanton

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerri Trombley
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Elementary Education ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
York City ◽  
School Division ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
The People ◽  
The University

Stanton, Brandon. Little humans. New York, NY: Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, 2014. PrintFrom the creator of Humans of New York, comes the most dynamic, colourful and diverse group of little people of New York City. Brandon Stanton’s ability to capture the unique personalities of his subjects and “tell” a story through pictures is both captivating and brilliantly vivid. The ‘Little Humans’ are shown throughout the book in bright close-ups and even brighter clothing. Each page is filled in entirely with a close-up photograph of a child in different situations. Cultural diversity and differences are prominent in the photographs, but the text tackles the sameness we all share.“Little humans can be tough…but not too tough to need a hug.”Set against New York City streets, Little Humans embodies the ethnic diversity of the people of NYC. The text is limited, but has themes of resiliency, strength, identity and character woven throughout. Stanton writes of how little people are strong, talented and helpful.The story itself could have been written with more depth; however, the lack of narrative allows the reader to engage with the photographs and imagine the story of each unique person that is highlighted.Highly Recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Kerri TrombleyKerri Trombley is a Vice Principal with Sturgeon School Division and is currently completing her Master’s Degree in Elementary Education at the University of Alberta. She shares her love of literature with all of her students.

scholarly journals Puppet by E. Wiseman

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorden Smith
Keyword(s):  
Religious Community ◽  
Her Family ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Adverse Conditions ◽  
Anti Semitism ◽  
Blood Libel ◽  
Good People ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The University

Wiseman, Eva. Puppet. Toronto: Tundra Books. 2009. Print. Worthy of its numerous awards, Puppet delivers an intriguing narrative of a notorious “blood libel” case in Hungary. Negotiating cultural divides and morality, the protagonist explores her own beliefs to make sense of the horror she personally observes in her community. Loosely based on historical events, Wiseman explores a tragic incident of anti-Semitism and the crippling effects of blind hatred. Set in Hungary during the late 19th century, the story is told from the perspective of Julie, a teenager whose mother is dying of cancer and whose alcoholic father is prone to violence. Julie’s love of her mother and sister sustains her throughout the adverse conditions she faces. Although aware of a latent tension based on religious differences in her quaint village, Julie is accustomed to anti-Semitic sentiments but does not comprehend the potential seriousness of the issue. Julie seems indifferent and confused by the comments she hears; her family has been helped by the Jewish doctor in town and she believes them to be good people regardless of their religion. When Julie’s friend, Esther, disappears one morning, the community seeks suspects and sets their sights on the synagogue. Driven by malicious detectives, members of the community conspire to accuse five Jewish men of using the girl’s blood for a Passover ceremony. Morris Scarf, a Jewish boy, is coerced into accusing his father and four other men of “blood libel”; although the accusation will save him from abuse at the hands of his captors, it separates him from his family and religious community. Julie witnesses, first-hand, the manipulation and abuse used to coerce testimony from Morris and his brother. She does what she can to stop the gossip and coercion, however as her community falls apart around her, Julie struggles to deal with her own tragedies. Losing her mother, separated from her sister, and removed from her home by her abusive father, Julie bonds with Morris through their respective suffering. Julie pursues work in a nearby town, where Morris is being held and does what she can to help him. Wiseman weaves the tragedies of Julie and Morris together through a series of too-convenient coincidences that are easy to overlook as the tension builds. As Julie learns about the balance of survival and morality, she finds the inner strength to stand up for her beliefs—whatever the cost. Wiseman’s choice of historical incident is fascinating and her retelling is compelling. As a protagonist, Julie is an intelligent and resourceful young woman; she survives the abuses rained upon her, rises to continual challenges, and stands up for truth. I would recommend this book for teens able to cope with scenes and suggestions of violence, and those interested in the history of Judaism in Europe. Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Jorden SmithJorden Smith joins the team as a book reviewer. Jorden is a Public Services Librarian in Rutherford Humanities and Social Sciences Library at the University of Alberta.  She is an avid fiction reader and subscribes to Hemingway’s belief that “there is no friend as loyal as a book.”

scholarly journals The Gentleman Bug by J. Hector

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Huck
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
English Literature ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
Text And Image ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Social Club ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
The Many ◽  
The University ◽  
The Town

Hector, Julian. The Gentleman Bug. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2010. Print. The Gentleman Bug is a charming book written and illustrated by Julian Hector and recommended for children aged 2 to 5. The story takes place in an urban, nineteenth-century locale called the Garden, which is inhabited by bugs, beetles and bees. The setting must be described as pan-European, since the Garden includes both Bugadilly Circus and something resembling the Moulin Rouge. The Gentleman Bug is a bespectacled bibliophile, who teaches a small class of younger bugs from the Garden. He may not be a stylish dresser, but his students are as devoted to him as he is to them. The Gentleman Bug is opposed by a group of four rivals that includes such churlish figures as Boss Beetle and Mayer de Mothschild. These bully bugs poke fun at the Gentleman Bug for his bookish ways. He is content to ignore them until the day the Lady Bug arrives in the Garden. Alas, she is befriended by his rivals, and so the Gentleman Bug attends the Pollen Hill social club dressed to the nines in a bid to win her attention. An embarrassing mishap with a waiter dashes his plans, but the Lady Bug notices the book he drops (surely bringing a book to a formal event is the sign of a hopeless bookworm) and secretly invites him to the opening of a new building – which turns out to be the town library – where she introduces herself as the new librarian. The entire town has assembled to admire the new library, and even Boss Beetle & co. discovers a newfound love of books. Meanwhile, the Gentleman Bug and the Lady Bug become fast friends, reading together on picnics. This is a book about the pleasures of reading and about finding friends who also enjoy reading: surely a fine message to deliver to budding young readers. The deeper lesson is that you will find true friends if you stay true to yourself and your true interests. When the Gentleman Bug's rivals are converted to reading, the book suggests that distractions will fall by the wayside when you find your purpose; either that or else that people who scoff at book lovers just haven't discovered what they are missing yet. The story is told as much through the illustrations as the text. The text is generally brief and understated, while the illustrations contain the specifics of the plot. The interplay between text and image achieves soft, humorous effects: when the protagonist crashes into a waiter, the text reads: "the rest of the evening didn't go quite as planned." Because of the many clever details that the author has included in the illustrations, he clearly expects readers to stop, interpret the pictures, and then take up the text again. He has managed to differentiate a cast of ten named characters, primarily through the illustrations, with the assistance of a guide to the characters printed on the endpapers. All of this will increase the potential for repeat reads. Although the protagonist is a gentleman bug, the book will appeal to female readers too, because the Lady Bug is a strong character and because girls and boys are portrayed as equals, both as readers and in gender roles. For example, the Gentleman Bug's students work together to sew him a suit. Likewise, it is refreshing to see that the Lady Bug is not overly feminized with long lashes or lipstick, for instance. The fact that she is a librarian might strike some as a cliché, but it does not seem out of place given the story, and the portrayal is free of the usual stereotypes of librarians. Finally, the book shows admirable restraint by eschewing a wedding bell ending, showing instead the beginning of a simple friendship between a gentleman and a lady.   Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 stars Reviewer: John Huck John is a metadata and cataloguing librarian at the University of Alberta. He holds an undergraduate degree in English literature and maintains a special interest in the spoken word. He is also a classical musician and has sung semi-professionally for many years. 

scholarly journals Summerlost by A. Condie

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanne Pearce
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Graphic Design ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Summer Vacation ◽  
The Family ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
The University ◽  
Car Accident ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Drunk Driver

Condie, Ally. 2016. Summerlost. New York: Dutton Children’s Books. Print.Cedar’s Mother has brought Cedar and her brother to Iron Creek, her hometown, for the summer. They have bought a house that her mother intends to rent over the rest of the year and keep it for them as a summer home. For Cedar, this is not just any ordinary summer vacation. Only a year ago, her father and brother Ben were killed in a car accident with a drunk driver. Haunted by memories of a father and brother no longer with them, the family is struggling to move forward, each of them dealing with the changes and the grief. Shortly after they arrive, Cedar finds a friend in Leo, a boy her age who is working at the local Shakespeare festival. Through Leo, she manages to get a job at the festival as well. She also learns about the legendary Lisette Chamberlain, a local girl who got her start in the festival, and later moved on to a career in Hollywood. As with many cases of stardom, Lisette had several romances and met a tragic end, when she was found dead in a local hotel.  Cedar is fascinated by Chamberlain’s story, and she and Leo concoct a plan to offer private “Lisette” tours for festivalgoers, for extra money. Hiding their tours from festival officials and their parents prove difficult and then Cedar stumbles across a detail that might shed light on the mystery of Chamberlain’s death.Summerlost is a surprisingly layered story about a young girl’s formative summer. Intermixed between the sleuth work of Cedar and Leo, is the struggle of a family coming to terms with an immeasurable loss. Cedar must not only manage her own feelings of loss and confusion, but she is growing old enough to see her mother’s and brother’s struggles as well. The friendship between Leo and Cedar is quite wonderful, platonic and sincere. I will admit the Lisette Chamberlain mystery, while compelling in the beginning, became a bit tedious and felt anticlimactic in the end. Nevertheless, the story is touching mix of daydreams and hard truths. This story will appeal to both young and old. The young will see themselves in Cedar as they are now and adults will be taken back to their own childhoods, to relive their own bittersweet summers.Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Hanne PearceHanne Pearce has worked at the University of Alberta Libraries since 2004. Aside from being an avid reader, she has continuing interests in writing, photography, graphic design and knitting.

scholarly journals Dream Away by J. Durango and K. Belle Trupiano

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Milky Way ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
The Moon ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
Iambic Pentameter ◽  
The University

Durango, Julia, and Katie Belle Trupiano.  Dream Away.  New York:  Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2011.  Print. This is a delightful picture book with a gentle rhyme designed to lull children to sleep.  Reminiscent of “Moonbeam on a Cat’s Ear”, the father and child dream of sailing through the cosmos in an “old paper boat”.  They have a magical crew of a knight, a winged horse, two winged cats (pixies) and a dog.  As they wander through the heavens they are chased by the animals of the constellations.  Eventually, even the clouds and the moon fall asleep.  The rhymes are predictable - moon/balloon, seas/breeze, float/boat – the iambic pentameter rhythm is strong and regular, so pre-readers will quickly memorize the story and want to “read” along. While the colours in the illustrations are strong, all of the figures are soft-edged and rounded, giving everything a cuddly appearance.  The images often add content to the story.  For example, when the text reads, “We played with a bear, an archer, a hare.  A dragon gave chase, but the crew won the race”, the images show us a constellation bear throwing a ball of light and the boy on the edge of the boat, ready to swing at it with his baseball bat.  As they “glide down a glimmering slide”, we see the boy holding on to the winged horse’s tail, while the horse tows the boat down the Milky Way.  The moon is a balloon tied to the back of the boat.  In the final pages of the book, we see that most of the things in the story, the planets, cats, dog, winged horse and baseball bat are all objects in the boy’s room and he is wearing a paper hat shaped like the boat. This is a lovely, peaceful lullaby that is highly recommended for public libraries and small children’s rooms everywhere. Highly Recommended:  4 stars out of 4Reviewer:  Sandy CampbellSandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines.  Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give.

scholarly journals The Great Cake Mystery: Precious Ramotswe’s Very First Case by A. McCall Smith

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Quirk
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Alexander The Great ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
First Case ◽  
Life Lessons ◽  
The University ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Lunch Time

McCall Smith, Alexander.  The Great Cake Mystery: Precious Ramotswe’s Very First Case.  Illus. Iain McIntosh. New York: Anchor, 2012. Print.Adult readers around the world have been charmed by the best-selling “No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” series, in which Mma Ramotswe tackles the troubling mysteries and personal problems of ordinary people, and does so by relying on her sharp wit and her extraordinary insight into human nature.  In this book, young readers will be introduced to a school girl who is destined to become a great detective.  Here, Precious Ramotswe – “one of the nicest girls in Botswana”  challenges her classmates’ assumptions in order to solve her first case. The story begins when Precious asks her beloved father to recount her favourite story: an account of the time he was “nearly eaten by a lion”.  Since young Precious can tell which parts of his story really happened and which parts are made up, her father suggests that she might become a detective someday.  His idea is soon put to the test when her classmates begin to notice that their lunch-time treats are being stolen from the outside shelf where they leave their bags during school.  When the children scapegoat a shy boy with a sweet tooth, Precious realizes that she will need to do more than find the truth, she will need to prove it.This book has the charm of the original series, and is recommended for readers aged 7-10 years old.  It offers an engaging story and several life lessons.  Further, the story offers young readers a glimpse of ordinary daily life in Africa, and the author hopes it “will inspire them to read more about that wonderful continent and its remarkable people” .In a note addressed to the reader at the back of the book, the author tells us that families have been reading his “No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” series aloud together, but acknowledges that the series would be challenging for young readers to read on their own, and so this book has been written with young readers in mind.  Teachers and librarians who are fans of Mma Ramotswe will enjoy sharing her adventures with young readers, and will be pleased to find various curriculum materials at the back of the book.Highly recommended: 4 stars out of 4 Reviewer: Linda QuirkLinda is Assistant Special Collections Librarian at the Bruce Peel Special Collections Library at the University of Alberta.

scholarly journals Lovely, Dark and Deep by A. McNamara

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Feisst
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
New York ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Young Adult Fiction ◽  
Not Given ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
The University ◽  
Car Accident ◽  
Second Chance

McNamara, Amy. Lovely, Dark and Deep. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2012. Print. Lovely, Dark and Deep is Brooklyn-based poet and photographer Amy McNamara’s debut novel.  The title, well-chosen and from the last stanza of Robert Frost’s poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening – The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. captures the main character’s mindset perfectly as she distances herself, both physically and emotionally, from her friends and family after a tragic car accident. Wren Wells, whom her mom still calls by her original name, Mamie, has moved in with her sculptor father, to an isolated house by the sea in rural Maine.  Dealing with immense guilt and grief after surviving the crash that claimed the life of her high school boyfriend Patrick, Wren spends her days yearning to be left alone.  Her father, a famous artist out of touch with his daughter’s life, is at a loss for how to help, and her well-meaning and understandably worried mother asks frequently about when Wren will go to college.  Wren’s friends from her seemingly previous life struggle to understand the changes she is going through and in the process feel alienated. To pass the never-ending days, Wren runs - a lot. She runs to get away and be alone with her thoughts. And during this time, Wren meets Cal, who is hiding away from his own troubles. The chemistry between them, and the glimpses of joy she feels while with Cal is unnerving to Wren, who believes that she should feel guilty forever about Patrick, who was not given a second chance. Wren needs to make a choice – move on and try again or be lost forever. The character of Wren is not endearing to the reader; she is self-absorbed and manic, and selfish to the point of frustration. Her actions and of those around her often seem unauthentic. The plot line is slow, yet McNamara’s beautiful prose makes it bearable. Wren is, however, a young, depressed girl coping with deep grief and the story may resonate with young women who have experienced similar situations. Recommended with reservations: 2 stars out of 4 Reviewer: Debbie FeisstDebbie is a Public Services Librarian at the H.T. Coutts Education Library at the University of Alberta.  When not renovating, she enjoys travel, fitness and young adult fiction.

scholarly journals Sass and Serendipity by J. Ziegler

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristine Moruzi
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Film Studies ◽  
Romantic Love ◽  
Postdoctoral Fellow ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The People ◽  
The Family ◽  
Sense And Sensibility ◽  
The University

Ziegler, Jennifer. Sass and Serendipity. New York: Delacorte Press, 2011. Print. Based loosely on Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, this book follows two very different sisters, the serious and sensible Gabriella (Gabby) and the younger, more romantic, Daphne. Both girls are reeling from their parents’ divorce and reduced financial circumstances and both deal with these problems in different ways. Gabby, firmly allied with her mother, blames her father for abandoning the family and rejects all notions of romantic love. Daphne idolises her father and believes that the boy of her dreams is waiting for her. When a crisis leaves the girls and their mother homeless, help comes from an unexpected source and both girls begin to see new possibilities in the people around them, especially two new suitors. This is a light, somewhat entertaining read, but both Gabby and Daphne are so self-centered and one-dimensional that the story quickly becomes tedious. Gabby is angry and mean to almost everyone around her, although her one friend Mule amazingly continues to tolerate her appalling behaviour. Daphne is so obsessed with romance that she is oblivious to the family concerns. Somehow, however, the girls find suitable boyfriends and this, more than anything else, causes them to become better sisters, daughters and friends. Recommended with reservations: 2 out of 4 starsReviewer: Kristine MoruziKristine Moruzi is a Grant Notley Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta, where she is examining representations of girlhood in Canadian children's literature between 1840 and 1940.

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