🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟➕ As heartbreaking as it gets, this story, from the first page to the absolutely riveting ending, completely captivated this reader, - so much so that my lump in the throat test (a sure fire predictor of my very favorite reads) echoed feelings left both stirred and shaken. A slowly…
🌟🌟🌟🌟 Richly populated with fae, pixies, sprites, dryads and other magical beings, this Teen/YA fantasy is the story of our seventeen-year-old heroine, Croi, as she journeys into self-discovery, traveling from the predictable safety of her life in Humanworld to the beauties, mysteries and dangers she will encounter in the unknown…
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 A fascinating behind-closed-doors look at the true-life experiences of an elementary school principal, based in Southern Ontario, Canada, and serving a student body of approximately 600 sometimes overwhelmingly-needy students. An instructional leadership champion, longing to support widespread changes in teaching practices that will facilitate critical thinking, interactive learning, and…
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟➕ One of my absolute favorites this year, this book is an absolute treasure - a reading experience to be cherished, and in all likelihood, revisited. A great big book, - not in volume, but in absolute capacity to charm and engage, this book held this reader captive from the…
Book 21 in the Temperance Brennan Series 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Just in case there is any reader out there not familiar with this series (it could happen!), Temperance Brennan, the sometimes irascible, always ingenious forensic-anthropologist, ex-alcoholic, divorced mother of kick-butt Katy Peterson, is a force to be reckoned with. As she performs…
🌟🌟🌟🌟💫 A sweet and touching children’s picture-book, illustrated with charming and whimsical images, that tells the story of our main protagonist, Charlie, and his special relationship with his Grandpa Jack. Sharing a cup of cocoa, Grandpa Jack reminisces in answer to Charlie’s observation and question about the giant oak tree…
🌟🌟🌟🌟 Written by a former school-teacher, this lovely children’s book is a gentle look at the sometimes frightening, always expectant, world of the young, - a world where change-without-explanation can be as bewildering and it is distressing. Chloe is a smart, self-sufficient and curious eleven-year-old, living with a mysterious mother…
🌟🌟🌟🌟 1/2 A reunion (long overdue) with Tracy Flick, heroine from the 1998 novel “Election”, and the character played so compellingly by Reese Witherspoon in the film adaptation. Perhaps less darkly comic and even more poignant and affecting in its satiricism, this latest installment re-introduces us to Tracy, now in…
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 My first review of an audio book, I could not have hoped for a richer or more immersive experience of this gentle, wise and oh so perfectly charming story. The pitch-perfect narration, pleasant pacing, and wonderful soothing voice of this audio recording enthralled me for an afternoon and a…
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟+ By Jove, this is one terrific book! Jacob Jollimore is thirteen years old, an adopted Vietnamese boy who is something of a science geek (self-proclaimed), at an awkward age and time in his life. As his parents, facing financial collapse, harness all their remaining resources to renovate the crumbling…