book review

Book Review: Matched Pearls

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Matched Pearls by Grace Livingston Hill

Matched Pearls
byGrace Livingston Hill

3 out of 5 stars

Constance is happy with her flippant social life, until she meets Graham Seagrave who is a devout Christian. Constance’s grandmother has promised to give her a valuable family heirloom, a pearl necklace, if she joins the church, so Constance stands up to join the church and proclaim she is a Christian. Later she is hounded with guilty feelings, knowing that she is a hypocrite and doesn’t really believe in Christ. When her best friend dies in a car accident, Constance turns to Graham with all her questions about death and heaven, desperate to live her life in a more meaningful way than just the parties and tennis and golf that have filled her days until then.

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Book Review: The Boy Behind the Wardrobe

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The Boy Behind the Wardrobe by Suzanne Poulter Harris

The Boy Behind the Wardrobe: How C.S. Lewis Grew Up to Create Narnia
bySuzanne Poulter Harris, Mira Miroslavova(Illustrator)

2 out of 5 stars

This picture book gives an overview of Lewis’ childhood and young adulthood and tells about how he was inspired to write The Chronicles of Narnia. We learn about his childhood imagination that created Animal-Land stories along with his brother, Warnie. His mother took him to see ancient ruined castles in Ireland, and he was inspired by classic children’s books written by Beatrix Potter and Edith Nesbit. He would play in a big wardrobe at his grandfather’s house, along with his cousins. But when his mother died, Lewis was sent to boarding school where he was bullied, and his only escape was through stories. He befriended Arthur and finished his schooling with a wise tutor. When Lewis was grown up, he served in the war and wrote poetry in the trenches. But it was at Oxford that he found his true place of belonging and his best friend, Tolkien. All of these things inspired Lewis to write The Chronicles of Narnia.

Except… there is not one mention of the greatest influence and biggest inspiration of Lewis’ entire life – Christ!!! Even in a timeline of Lewis’ life at the back of the book, there is no mention of his conversion to Christianity, the most important event of his life. Ridiculous.

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Book Review: The Boggart Fights Back

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The Boggart Fights Back by Susan Cooper

The Boggart Fights Back
bySusan Cooper(Goodreads Author)

4 out of 5 stars

One generation after the events in the first two books of the series, the Boggart and Nessie are back, this time for adventures with Tommy and Emily’s children, Allie and Jay. The land around Castle Keep has been sold to a ruthless developer, who wants to turn the Loch into a marina with a fancy hotel and golf resort. The Boggart won’t allow his castle to be torn down, and he starts to mess with the construction work. Can they scare off the developers before it’s too late?

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Book Review: The Neverending Story

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The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

The Neverending Story
byMichael Ende

5 out of 5 stars

Bastian is pursued by bullies, and he runs into a bookstore to get away. There he discovers a very special book, The Neverending Story, and when he begins to read, he is transported into a world of magic and fantasy. Bastian is mesmerized by the adventures of the warrior child Atreyu, who is searching for a cure for the mysterious illness of the Childlike Empress. Gradually, Bastian realizes that the world of Fantastica is in grave danger, and only a human from the real world can save them. Bastian must cross the boundary between reality and fantasy, and join Atreyu in his adventures.

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Book Review: The Boggart and the Monster

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The Boggart and the Monster by Susan Cooper

The Boggart and the Monster
by Susan Cooper

4 out of 5 stars

The shape-shifting Boggart loves to play tricks on people in his ancient castle in Scotland. Emily and Jessup come to visit and go on a camping trip with their friend Tommy to visit Loch Ness, and the Boggart has come along for the ride. The Boggart finds his old cousin Nessie, a fellow boggart who has gotten stuck in the shape of a huge plesiosaurus and is the origin of the legends of the Loch Ness monster. Nessie has been sleeping at the bottom of the loch for decades, but now the Boggart is encouraging him to get out of the monster shape and into his proper invisible boggart-shape. But Nessie keeps reverting back into a huge monster, and a scientific team is scouring the loch looking for evidence of the Loch Ness monster legend. The two boggarts will need the children to help them evade the scientists and find peace again in a quiet corner of Scotland.

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Book Review: The Adventures of Odysseus

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The Adventures of Odysseus by Nicolás Schuff

The Adventures of Odysseus: A Graphic Novel of The Odyssey
by Nicolás Schuff, Lawrence Schimel(Translator), Mariana Ruiz Johnson(Illustrator)

3 out of 5 stars

This graphic novel for children follows the voyages of Odysseus as he tries to find his way home to his beloved wife, Penelope. Although, the original Ancient Greek story follows a different narrative structure, this adaptation tells Odysseus’ story in chronological order, starting from when he left the battle of Troy. I really liked that, because it makes it much easier for kids to follow along with the story, rather than hearing about Odysseus’ adventures through flashbacks like the original does.

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Book Review: Eliza and the Hobgoblins

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Fairy Door Diaries by Megan McDonald

Fairy Door Diaries: Eliza and the Hobgoblins
byMegan McDonald, Lenny Wen(Illustrator)

3 out of 5 stars

Eliza is supposed to be doing her chores and cleaning her room, but she slips through the fairy door into Goblin Land. At first, the magical land appears to be deserted, but when Eliza looks through a hob stone (a magical stone with a hole in the middle), she sees hobgoblins dancing and prancing about everywhere! The hobgoblins love to play tricks, so when Eliza wishes for her room to be magically cleaned, they swarm all over her room making more messes! Eliza begs them to stop, but the hobgoblins just laugh and play. Can Eliza find something the hobgoblins love more than playing tricks, something that might convince them to stop?

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Book Reviews: Unicornia #6-7

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Unicornia by Ana Punset

Unicornia: Rainbow Roller Skates
byAna Punset, Diana Vicedo(Illustrator)

4 out of 5 stars

Claudia, Sara, and Pippa are on their way to the Unicorn Show, but they can’t agree on how to get there. Claudia wants to take her flying roller skates. Sara wants to take the bus, and Pippa wants to use a teleportation potion. The three friends can’t agree, so they separate and go their own ways. Claudia’s flying roller skates are very difficult to control, and her friends have trouble with their modes of transport too. Can the friends find each other again and make it to the Unicorn Show on time?

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Book Review: Manga Classics- King Lear

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Manga Classics by William Shakespeare

Manga Classics: King Lear – Full Original Text Edition
byWilliam Shakespeare

4.5 out of 5 stars

King Lear decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters and relinquish his royal power to them, retaining only the title of king and a hundred of his own knights as a guard. After his retirement, he plans to reside with his daughters and their husbands as a guest in their castles. In order to divide up the kingdom, he asks each daughter to prove her love for her father, and two of his daughters, Goneril and Regan, give flowery speeches about how much they love and respect him. However, Cordelia includes a reasonable caveat that when she is married, she will give half her heart to her husband, so her father cannot be first in her affections. King Lear is offended, and cuts Cordelia off completely.

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Book Review: They Came to Baghdad

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They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie

They Came to Baghdad
byAgatha Christie

4 out of 5 stars

Victoria is fascinated by a dashing young man, Edward, who she meets by chance in the park one day. But he is leaving for Baghdad the very next day, so Victoria decides to follow him and finds a job as a travelling companion. She arrives in Baghdad with no idea how to find him and only a little money in her pocket, but she is soon swept into a mysterious adventure involving a ring of spies. When a spy is found murdered in her hotel room, Victoria must unravel the clues to discover what the spy was hiding.

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