Category: Children’s Fiction

The Frog Princess Returns – REVIEW

Valerie @ Valerie's MusingsLeave a comment

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Today, I’m happy to be bringing you a review of The Return of the Frog Princess by E.D. Baker, which is a new book in the Tales of the Frog Princess series. Ms. Baker is also doing a guest post over at Nerdy Book Club today. You should check out her post about not always having to write “what you know”.

Book Cover: The Frog Princess Returns - Tales of the Frog Princess by E.D. Baker - Pink background - Vignette picture of the Princess with the Frog prince on her shoulder talking to a fairy

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Synopsis

Two weeks after Emma’s birthday, Prince Eadric — having been turned from a frog into a human again — is still in Greater Greensward. One day, a beautiful princess named Adara arrives at the castle in Greater Greensward for a visit, claiming to be Emma’s distant cousin. But Adara has other motives that threaten Emma and Eadric’s blossoming romance.

Meanwhile, something is very wrong in Greater Greensward. Crops are dying, streams are drying up, and large sections of trees in the enchanted forest are withering — all because the Fairy Queen has disappeared. Without her, there is no peace in the magical kingdom, and dangerous foes threaten to take advantage of her absence. Only brave, tenacious Emma with her knowledge of the land can restore order . . . but first she must set out on a journey unlike any before.

Brimming with lovable characters and page-turning magic, The Frog Princess Returns will bring a whole new batch of readers to E. D. Baker’s highly acclaimed, wonderfully popular world of Frog Princess series.

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Review

I’ve enjoyed the Tales of the Frog Princess series ever since I read them back shortly after they were first published so I was thrilled to hear that there was another book coming out in the series! The Frog Princess Returns doesn’t disappoint! Fans of the series will love this latest story.

While it didn’t have that extra little pizzazz I need for a 5-star rating, it’s a strong 4.5. There’s intrigue, secrets, mystery, fairies, dragons, and adventure. What more could you want in a story?

All of our favorite characters have returned and we’ve added a few new people, such as Princess Adara who’s on a mission. The characters are well-developed, fun, and easy to like. The settings are magical with just enough descriptions that you can imagine them easily.

The story line moves along at a decent pace and there’s a twist in the end that even though I didn’t necessarily like the character to begin with, I didn’t see the twist coming!

If you’ve read the series before now, this does not take place at the end of the series. This takes place earlier in the series. Emma and Eadric aren’t married yet, but they’ve had some of their early adventures. I’d place it right around the time of book three.

It’s a great addition to the series and whether you’re finding this series for the first time or are just excited about the new story, I highly recommend this one! So much fun!

*** Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this title. I was not compensated for my review. All opinions and conclusions are my own. ***

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Star-Crossed by Barbara Dee – REVIEW

Valerie @ Valerie's Musings1 Comment

5 out of 5 stars

This is an incredibly great middle grade fiction book about a young girl with her first stirrings of a crush on a girl and all the confusion that comes with that and trying to figure things out.

Book Cover: Star-Crossed by Barbara Dee - purple background - two girls, one dressed as Romeo and the other as Juliet, dancing in the foreground

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Synopsis

Mattie, a star student and passionate reader, is delighted when her English teacher announces the eighth grade will be staging Romeo and Juliet. And she is even more excited when, after a series of events, she finds herself playing Romeo, opposite Gemma Braithwaite’s Juliet. Gemma, the new girl at school, is brilliant, pretty, outgoing—and, if all that wasn’t enough: British.

As the cast prepares for opening night, Mattie finds herself growing increasingly attracted to Gemma and confused, since, just days before, she had found herself crushing on a boy named Elijah. Is it possible to have a crush on both boys AND girls? If that wasn’t enough to deal with, things backstage at the production are starting to rival any Shakespearean drama! In this sweet and funny look at the complicated nature of middle school romance, Mattie learns how to be the lead player in her own life.

 

Review

I thought this was an absolutely wonderful book and a delightful read! I read about this book on Facebook when the author posted something about being asked to tone down her presentation in a school in a conservative town. Immediately, I sought the book out on Amazon and bought the Kindle version.

Our main character, Mattie, is a very complex character. She’s not liked by the “popular” crowd, but she doesn’t seem to mind too much. Instead, she has her friends Tessa and Lucy to hang out with and she’s okay with that. Until she meets Gemma at a costume party the “popular” crowd was having that she wasn’t actually invited to. All of a sudden there’s a change in her. She doesn’t even really see it at first; Lucy points it out to her. Even then, she’s still not sure and struggles with whether or not it’s true. I liked that the author showed us Mattie’s struggles.

The supporting characters are well-rounded and developed enough that they do not come off as flat, two-dimensional characters. The settings in this book had great descriptions without going overboard. The plot line moves along at a steady pace. At no point did I think that it was moving too slowly or too fast.

This is an incredible book for tweens and early teens who may be struggling with their sexuality and what all those feelings are inside. Yet, it’s not at all preachy or condescending. The author does a really great job keeping a balance between examining what Mattie’s feeling without the sole focus being on just her sexuality. There’s a good balance between other things in life too, her schoolwork, her play rehearsals, etc.

I highly, highly recommend this middle grade fiction for all ages really. It was incredibly well-written and a wonderful, delightful read.

Be Light Like a Bird – REVIEW

Valerie @ Valerie's Musings2 Comments

5 out of 5 stars.

Be Light Like a Bird by Monika Schröder is a stand-alone novel meant for the middle grades and it’s pretty darn awesome!

Book Cover: Be Light Like a Bird by Monika Schröder - Dark blue background with lighter blue trees and red birds on it

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Purchase Links: Amazon – B&N – BAM

Brief Synopsis

After the death of her father, twelve-year-old Wren finds her life thrown into upheaval. And when her mother decides to pack up the car and forces Wren to leave the only home she’s ever known, the family grows even more fractured. As she and her mother struggle to build a new life, Wren must confront issues with the environment, peer pressure, bullying, and most of all, the difficulty of forgiving those who don’t deserve it. A quirky, emotional middle grade novel set in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Be Light Like a Bird features well-drawn, unconventional characters and explores what it means to be a family and the secrets and lies that can tear one apart.

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Review

What a wonderful book about dealing with loss, grief, and anger! I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Wren, her mother, Theo, and the rest of our cast of characters are well-rounded, complex characters who are believable and just jump off the page with their realism. Wren’s mother is running from her grief and anger and of course, Wren’s just along for the ride because she doesn’t have a choice, but she really does well with all the change considering that she’s grieving too.

Eventually, after a few stops along the way, they land in Pyramid, Michigan, a small town in the upper peninsula near the end of I-75. Wren decides she likes it there and wants to stay. She makes a new friend in Theo and together they fight against the draining of a wetland by a local landfill.

The whole time, there’s still a rift between Wren and her mother which is only increased by some terrible news her mother has to tell her about her father. Can they ever mend the rift between them?

I’m not going to provide the answer to that or to whether or not Wren and Theo win their fight against the landfill. You’ll just have to read this absolutely marvelous book to find out! I highly recommend this book. Even if you’re an adult, I believe you’ll enjoy it as well! Check it out!

** Special thanks to the author, Monika Schröder for providing me with a copy of the wonderful book. I was not compensated for this review All opinions and conclusions expressed in this review are my own. **

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Stay tuned for an interview with the author, Monika Schröder, coming later today (March 14)!!

Wish – REVIEW

Valerie @ Valerie's Musings2 Comments

5 out of 5 stars

Wish is a stand-alone children’s novel by Barbara O’Connor. It’s meant for the Middle Grades (4th-6th) and is wonderful, poignant, and is just all-around delightful.

Wish by Barbara O'Connor, Author of How to Steal a Dog - tagline: With a little luck you can get what you wish for. - Sunset background, young girl with long brown hair and short-sleeved green shirt kneeling in the grass with a beagle dog - fireflies flying in the background

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Brief Synopsis

Eleven-year-old Charlie Reese has been making the same secret wish every day since fourth grade. She even has a list of all the ways there are to make the wish, such as cutting off the pointed end of a slice of pie and wishing on it as she takes the last bite. But when she is sent to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to live with family she barely knows, it seems unlikely that her wish will ever come true. That is until she meets
Wishbone, a skinny stray dog who captures her heart, and Howard, a neighbor boy who proves surprising in lots of ways. Suddenly Charlie is in serious danger of discovering that what she thought she wanted may not be what she needs at all.

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Review

I’m pretty fond of children’s literature, but I have to say, this is one of the best children’s books I’ve read in a long time!  The story line is so realistic and believable, as are the characters in this book. It’s wonderful.

All her life Charlie’s made a wish every day. She has a whole list of ways that one can make wishes, 11:11 on the clock, first star, crossing the state line (clapping 3 times), bird singing at night, etc. We never know what this wish is until the very end of the book because after all, if you tell someone what your wish is for, it won’t come true. In the end, Charlie gets her wish even though it’s a little different looking than what she thought it would be.

Charlie goes through a lot of character growth throughout the book. When we meet her, her world has just been turned upside down. Her father’s been sent to jail, her mother’s too sick to get out of bed and take care of her, and she’s being sent to live with an aunt and uncle she’s never met before. She’s scared. She’s mad at the world for changing. She’s mad that her sister, Jackie, isn’t coming with her. She’s not really a very nice little girl to be around. She gets into fights at school and at Vacation Bible School, she says mean things in the heat of the moment, etc.. Bertha and Gus, her aunt and uncle seem to take it all in stride. They don’t yell at her, they don’t punish her, they simply love her. Little by little that’s all it takes for her to start changing.

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The supporting characters in this story – Bertha, Gus, Howard, his brothers & parents, and Charlie’s sister, Jackie are just wonderful. They all teach Charlie something about life and love and family. Jackie’s afraid that Charlie will hate her because she can’t take care of her, but Charlie doesn’t hate her. She maybe doesn’t completely understand, but by that point in the book she’s starting to settle in and get comfortable at Bertha & Gus’s place. She’s feeling a little more secure so she takes it in stride.

The settings, the story line, everything about this book is just delightful and fantastic. It’s seriously one of the best children’s Middle Grade books I’ve ever read. I can see I’ll probably be enjoying it more than once!

All in all this is a WONDERFUL book for Middle Grade kids and I HIGHLY recommend it!

** I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley. I was not compensated for my review. All opinions and conclusions expressed are my own. **

About the Author

Barbara O'Connor, Author - Older white woman with short grey hair and glasses wearing a white shirt with a red cardigan

Barbara O’Connor’s awards include the Parents Choice Gold and Silver Award, American Library Association Notable Books, IRA Notable Books for a Global Society, School Library Journal Best Books, and Kirkus Best Books. Her books have been nominated for children’s choice awards in 38 states and voted as a state favorite by children in South Carolina, Indiana, Kansas, and South Dakota.

Barbara was born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina. She draws on her Southern roots to write award-winning books for children in grades 3 to 6.

She currently lives in Asheville, NC.

The Doorway and the Deep – REVIEW

Valerie @ Valerie's MusingsLeave a comment

4.5 out of 5 stars.

The Doorway and the Deep is the second installment in The Water and the Wild series by K.E. Ormsbee. It’s a fantastic sequel to The Water and the Wild and even ends on a cliff-hanger to leave you wanting for more! I really enjoyed it!

The Doorway and the Deep by K.E. Ormsbee cover - young girl with long blond hair in a sailboat. Her hair is blown back from the wind.

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Brief Synopsis

Lottie and Eliot are back in Limn with their friends. They plan to head home to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with Eliot’s father, but events happen and circumstances change. War is coming to Limn and this turn of events send Lottie and her friends north in search of answers, both about things that are happening in the land and about Lottie’s parents. However, peril is never far behind them and may even be dealt by ones they trust!

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Review

As we return to the land of Limn, we find that Lottie, Eliot, Adelaide, Oliver, their father, and Fife residing in the land of the will-o-wisps. The land of the will-o-wisps is such a fabulous, imaginative place! It’s one of my favorite locales in Limn. I want to sleep in the trees and explore the area and its beauty right along with the children! Similarly, I’d love to visit the Northerly Court area and explore the caves and passageways.

The characters in these books are just wonderful. They’re complex and well-rounded and yet, there’s a simplicity to them that is also refreshing. Maybe it’s that Ms. Ormsbee did so well in conveying the children’s point of view. I don’t know. It simply feels very authentic.

The adventures that we find in this book’s journeys kept me on the edge of my seat a lot of the time! In fact, I finished this book in just one night because I was riveted to the story and just didn’t want to put it down. It was MUCH better than the first installment of the series and seemed shorter (even though it wasn’t really) because it never seemed to bog down or get tedious.

This book ends on quite the cliff-hanger, so I’m really excited for the third book to be published. Unfortunately, the author’s website does not indicate when that will be. I hope it’s not too far away!

** I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley. I was not compensated for my review. All opinions and conclusions expressed are my own. **

Line of rope with metal anchor attached to left end
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About the Author

K.E. Ormsbee lives in Lexington, Kentucky. She grew up with a secret garden in her backyard and a spaceship in her basement. In her wild, early years, she taught English as a Foreign Language, interned with a film society, and did a lot of irresponsible road tripping. Nowadays, she teaches piano lessons, plays in a band you’ve never heard of, and run races she never wins. She likes clothes from the 60s, music from the 70s, and movies from the 80s. She is from the 90s.

Source: K.E. Ormsbee’s Author page on Amazon and the “About the Author” blurb on Amazon’s page for The Doorway and the Deep.

Photo of K.E. Ormsbee - young adult woman with red wavy hair, no glasses, wearing a grey sweater