Elaine DimopoulosReseñas

I am taking a children’s literature course. Part of the coursework includes reading a variety of kid lit.
I came across this book while searching for middle grade books with nature themes. I absolutely love the outdoors. And rabbits! One of my favorite books as a child was The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco. I was looking for a book that captures the magic of nature and its creatures.
This story surpassed all my expectations! I fell in love with it from the first page, and read the whole book in a couple of days. In particular, I enjoyed the earnest and sweet narrator. Butternut is a rabbit, but her story tackles issues that many children (and adults) can relate to. The narrative voice is engaging and unabashedly kindhearted. And although Butternut is cautious in nature, she is unquestionably brave when it comes to her principles. This book presents a powerful message. I think you will enjoy reading about the exciting rescue, too.

This review was written collaboratively by an 8-year-old and 10-year-old:

Amazing Alliterations always abound at Milkweed Meadow!

I liked this book. In my opinion, it was more epic than The Remarkable Rescue at Milkweed Meadow, which is the book that came before in the Milkweed Meadow series. When the traveling turkey acting group comes to Milkweed Meadow everyone wants to act. Butternut was really excited about the play but when she was not selected for the play, she was disappointed. The reason she was disappointed was because all of the other bunnies had been selected.

She was worried that nobody would want to listen to her stories because the play was so interesting, so she acted selfishly. This is the story of how she overcame the challenges. I like this book because most of the reason it is epic is the emotional connection to the main character. I felt nervous when I was reading the book because I was worried Butternut was going to get in a lot of trouble. Sometimes she messed things up but the way the author wrote about her made me care about her, so when things got messed up I really wanted her to fix things.

I liked that it taught to not judge a creature by what they are, but instead by what they do. There were many examples of this in the story, including possible predators, like a hawk. I thought that it was interesting that Butternut isn’t perfect. She makes bad choices, but in the end she does the best that she can to help the creatures of Milkweed Meadow.

My favorite character is Goosegrass, because she is funny, supportive, and I like her name. An example of Goosegrass being supportive was when she made sure that everyone was listening to Butternut’s story. I recommend this book to everyone 7-12 years old.

First sentence: Everyone in Milkweed Meadow still talks about the rescue, and if you stop hopping around like a kit that's found a banana slice, I'll tell you the story. Mother encourages strong beginnings. "Snare them!" she says. It's a joke--we rabbits are terrified of snares, me more than most. But I suppose that's what a good story does. It digs into your skin like a silver wire and holds you in its grasp.

Premise/plot: Butternut, a timid, anxious rabbit, befriends Piper, a robin, and Winsome, a fawn. These three unlikely friends enjoy life to the fullest...but when they come across abandoned coyote pups, this friendship is threatened. Can these three friends help the little ones knowing that when they grow up, they will be prey?

My thoughts: My summary was unfair. Butternut is a WONDERFUL, AMAZING storyteller. She has a way with words. She knows how to HOOK or snare readers. She kept me turning pages. I, well, I went straight to the point. Something Butternut wouldn't approve. I loved this one so much. The writing was incredible. I loved each character's voice. I really felt there was substance and depth to this story. It was a compelling read. It has its intense moments. But it was lovely and delightful.

Quote:

Now that this tale is well underway, you’re probably thinking that it’s going to be about my friendship with Piper. We meet on the lawn. He reports on his morning aerial excursions, I tell dinner stories, and around and around we go.
Mother would call that a boring second act.
Fortunately that’s not what’s coming next. Yes, the story is about Piper and the part we both played in the rescue. But our friendship includes someone else too. This means there’s another character for you to meet. And characters are like bananas: if they’re good, you can never have too many. I like to think that new characters represent new perspectives—and that their flaws remind us of our own.

I won this book on a giveaway.

This book has an important message and was an entertaining read. However, I think Ivy Wilde's ending could have been better (she deserved it) and her character could have been more developed. Material Girls doesn't focus as much on the characters but on the ecological message of recycling.
It was a pleasant read nonetheless.

Full review to come!

Project Runway meets Nashville meets intelligent YA dystopia in this brand new book by my writing buddy Elaine which debuts this May. Told from two points of view, Material Girls tells the story of Marla Klein and Ivy Wilde, two girls living in a society where fashion and fame are everything and teens call all the shots. But when Marla is fired from her cushy job as a fashion judge and pop star Ivy Wilde begins to teeter in the charts, their lives unravel slowly and intertwine in unexpected ways. They rise together to fight the status quo and end up learning who’s really in charge of their whole world—and it isn’t who they thought.

Elaine’s world building is lush and realistic, and I am in awe of her fashion descriptions. Kirkus reviews called it “Sly, subversive fun,” and I think that’s a spot on description as the novel really raises questions about the value of art in our own society and about, yes, who’s really calling the shots.

Congratulations on a wonderful book, Elaine!

Disclaimer: This review is based on a free ARC received directly from the author.

I received an ARC from NetGalley.

This was a good book. The society in this book is well constructed and believable. It is easy to see our current culture evolving into this. Youth obsessed and trend obsessed. It is disturbing that people's lives peak when they are teens, and after that they become obsolete. I enjoyed reading about Marla's life with the fashion house, and how her perspective changes over time. The expiration of trends and the trend checker were a nice touch.

In a dystopian future, teens work in highly competitive jobs as trendsetters, dictating what's in and what's out. When a few disenfranchised teens question the system, is revolution imminent?

I liked this book, though there were maybe a few problems with the internal logic of the story. Still, if you enjoy fashion and dystopias, this is a book you should certainly take a look at.½

I received an ARC ebook from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

Excellent—4.75 out of 5 stars.

Material Girls may sound, just by its title, like just-for-girls. Believe me, it isn't. The novel reminded me of Feed, one of the best YA science fiction novels out there. Material Girls addresses serious matters, like consumerism and abuse of power, without being preachy.

In summary, Material Girls is a compelling story. Smart, funny, and tenseful. Oh, and it did NOT make me feel like an "Obsoloser."

4.5/5
What a delightful read, peeps! Dystopian YA is always touch and go for me, and I didn't know what to expect from this one, but it's actually very clever and paints a caricature representation of today's society.


Some years ago in a grip of deep economical crisis some countries came up with an idea of testing kids in school for creative aptitude, and if they have any inclination and talent for creative jobs, take them out and put them to work in massive consumer and entertainment industries. So, some kids would finish school as normal and then decide what job they will do, others won't have that choice and will be put to work in certain industries.


The clever part is that such way of life is so glamorised and praised in a massive consumer society, that the majority of kids will be crushed not to become Creatives.


Marla Klein works in fashion industry, and at her sixteen years old she climbed the ranks quickly and now presides as one of the judges in trends court. Trends in her society change every month or so, and masses of people throw away their "old" clothes and buy new. Same happens in any other creative industry, where teenage judges decide on what next will become the trend of the month.


Of course it's an artificial, over-inflated economy, and frankly I couldn't imagine how it could sustain itself for a long time while consuming such enormous amounts of products. Never mind, - this book was fascinating.


So, Marla is a judge in one of the five biggest fashion houses, and she loooves her work! Although, recently her opinion differs too much from her fellow judges, secretly she finds outrageous trends more and more ridiculous, while her maturing mind develops its individual taste. Inevitably, she is disgraced and sent to work in the basement with the other designers, where she gets smack into a middle of cultural rebellion!


I won't give you any more spoilers, but, my God, I loved this quiet, lovely read and I hope to see more from Elaine Dimopoulos. Material Girls is quirky and smart, and I would dearly love to read more books like that. Recommended.

Teens Ivy Wilde and Marla Klein, both minor celebrities, face major lifestyle changes as pop-star Ivy questions the rampant consumerism required to maintain her image, and fashionista Marla sees first-hand the appalling working conditions that allowed her to be a trend-setter.

I would like to thank Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I almost had a hard time rating this book, simply because at the end it seemed like the author had an agenda with the book, which sometimes kind of irritates me. But then I decided that I was going to stay with my 4 star rating, because I think IF there was an agenda there, it is a worthwhile one. And, because I did enjoy the book quite a bit.

I fell in love with this book right off the bat. The world that was created here just, weirdly, appealed to me. Even though it is a fairly shallow world, where if you don't get "Tapped" when you are 12 or 13, you are labeled an Adequate, and have to watch your peers go on to amazing careers, while you go on to be a doctor or scientist or accountant...something "boring". Like I said...shallow. Totally, absolutely the kind of book I would normally hate.

But this was a pretty good book. It didn't keep my interest as totally throughout as I initially thought it would. Especially once it got into some of the activism stuff. I'm all for that kind of stuff, but this just wasn't my typical kind of dystopian uprising. Like I said, it almost seems like there is a bit of a "Save the Earth" agenda behind this book, which comes through fairly heavily while not outright saying it, either.

Overall, a good book. Definitely not your typical dystopian, so if that is what you are looking for, this may not be the book for you. But if you are into fashion, and dystopians of any kind, this may be a good fit for you.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and I am never compensated for my reviews.

In a world which "taps" creative talent at 13, competition to be trendy is everything. Marla, who works at a top fashion label, is appalled when she is demoted from the courts that approve fashion and sent to the basement as a drafter. Ivy, a pop singing sensation, faces her own pressures to stay above the competition.

This was a very interesting premise. I would have loved to read more about how the division among the creative and adequates occurred. The characters were interesting and dynamic and realistic. Overall, a great book, I would love to read a sequel.

I wanted to check this book out because it did hint to similarities of Project Runway. A show that I used to be obsessed with. So I wanted to see what this book is all about.

First for the good things that I liked about this book:

Well I did like the dystopia theme of this story. It was well written and felt believable.

I would not call myself a fashionista so it was fascinating to see how quickly trends changed. It really is like Heidi says "One day you are in and the next day you are out".

The reason I gave this book a three star rating. Not because it is a sticker but because it was a little like fluff. There was not a strong substance in the story line or the characters. They were fine but not people that I would hang out with or call my friends.

A defining moment was in the middle of the story when Popstar, Ivy actually stood up and had a voice. She decided to not be a puppet any longer. I threw a fist up in the air than for her.

Overall, this really is a good, quick read.