Marie, Dancing Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've been enjoying Carolyn Meyer's Young Royals series. I have book three of the aforementioned series lined up for a read, but decided to give Marie, Dancing a whirl this time. This wonderful novel is based on the Victorian work of art of Degas's controversial sculpture called The Little Dancer. This tells the story of a penniless French family and the daughters whose only hope and happiness in life is that they are students at the Paris Opera Ballet. For Marie van Goethem, being part of the Paris Opera Ballet is the best thing in her life. At home, she has an alcoholic mother and shattered dreams due to their impoverished conditions to look forward to. Her dreams of success will come with many obstacles, including endless suitors and a proposition to pose for a sculpture in order to put food on the table, but Marie will be content if at least one of her sisters, Antoinette and Charlotte, realizes her dream of becoming a dancer. There are some twists in the novel.
This is a moving and compelling story of a young woman who will do anything to help her family and get them through their difficult times. Marie is such a fighter for someone so young. The descriptions of their conditions and the struggles with an alcoholic mother are quite vivid here. Marie's outcome is a realistic one that makes the reader wonder if a person of limited means could rise above the social and financial obstacles and succeed in life or if you're destined for a life of misery or mediocrity at best. It also makes the reader wonder if, despite the aforementioned obstacles, you can succeed in changing your life if you put your mind and determination to it. Meyer took a quite a famous and controversial sculpture (or at least it was controversial when it was first exhibited in 1881) and created a warm, poignant, albeit hopeful story that is beautiful and compelling as well as eloquent and enthralling. This is a young adult book set during the Victorian era targeted for teens between the sixth and ninth grades, but adults could enjoy this as well. I know I loved it! The author has great talent with historical novels and I shall continue to give her stuff a whirl and then pass her work to my niece so that she could read a good story and learn something at the same time.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Marie, Dancing

Click here for more information about Marie, Dancing

Read More...

Aftershocks Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)My Grandfather, William Lavender wrote this book and i got to read it early! I was very impressed that my grandfather wrote it! It was AMAZING! I would recommend this book ages 12 and up! Even though my grandfather wrote it it it is not for boys only, my aunt and grandmother helped a lot! It belongs on the best seller list!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Aftershocks

Jessie Wainwright, the daughter of a prominent San Francisco physician, intends to become a doctor herself, despite her father's disapproval. Her dream is nearly lost when a chance encounter reveals a shocking secret--and Jessie sets off in search of answers, temporarily abandoning her goals.Determined to confirm her dark suspicions, Jessie combs the streets of Chinatown. She ultimately witnesses the devastation of the 1906 earthquake and the plight of Chinese immigrants relegated to the nightmare of refugee camps in its wake. With the help of trusted friends, old and new, Jessie discovers the strength to stand up to her domineering father and to break through the racial boundaries of the times. In this powerful story of family, love, and history, Jessie also finds the courage to set out on a daring path that sets her apart from other young women of her generation.

Click here for more information about Aftershocks

Read More...

Brooklyn Rose Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)When Rose Frampton begins a diary on her fifteenth birthday in December of 1899, she doesn't expect her life on a South Carolina plantation to change much, although she is excited about the approach of a new century. And she certainly doesn't expect to marry yet. But Rene Dumarest, a wealthy silk importer twice her age, proposes marriage -- and believing it will help her family's finances, Rose accepts. Now she must leave her home to travel north to Rene's home in Brooklyn. Rose must adjust to being mistress of her own home, to being a married woman, when in many ways she is still just a child.
This book is another excellent history novel by Ann Rinaldi, based on the life of her grandparents, Rose and Rene. Rose was an excellent character, and the author really showed how she was caught between girlhood and womanhood. I also loved how this book was written in the form of a diary. I highly recommend this book to Ann Rinaldi's fans, and to teen readers who historical fiction in diary form.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Brooklyn Rose

It's 1900--the dawn of a new century--and never in her wildest dreams did fifteen-year-old Rose Frampton ever think she'd leave her family and home on the peaceful shores of her island plantation in South Carolina . . . especially not to live with a new husband in the land of the Yankees. But she is doing just that. Rose's new life with her handsome and wealthy husband in Brooklyn, New York, is both scary and exciting. As mistress of the large Victorian estate on Dorchester Road, she must learn to make decisions, establish her independence, and run an efficient household. These tasks are difficult enough without the added complication of barely knowing her husband. As romance blossoms and Rose begins to find her place, she discovers that strength of character does not come easily but is essential for happiness. Writing in diary form, Ann Rinaldi paints a sensual picture of time and place--and gives readers an intimate glimpse into the heart of a child as she becomes a woman.

Click here for more information about Brooklyn Rose

Read More...