Siobhan ParkinsonReseñas

Wonderful story! Absolutely wonderful.

The main characters of this book, Mags and Gillian were both very quirky and odd. There were times when I found them frustrating, but they were more likeable than unlikeable. The narration of the book was mostly from Mags with Gillian interjection occasionally. In Mags, the author captured the voice of a twelve-year-old. Sure, the run-on sentences got annoying, but it felt the way a twelve-year-old would really write. Overall it was a good book.

Seven "new" Fairy Tales by seven well known Irish Children's Book writers. The stories use all of the conceits of fantasy: talking animals, ogres, Leprechauns and/or other beings who's existence has yet to be proven and mix in old themes with more modern outcomes. For example, in "The Princess and the Other Frog" Princess Finola meets the Big Bad Wolf while walking to The Other Side wearing her red silk cape. In this telling of the story, Princess Finola is trying to protect her basket from an Ogre and the Big Bad Wolf, which she thinks is filled with "crisps, a chocolate bar and something fizzy" but instead really contains oyster sandwiches. In the end her father kisses the frog (names Hildegard) and the father promises to kiss it (it has been stomped on by the Ogre) and in the end it is suggested that the King, Princess Finola's father falls in love with Hildegard because after he kissed the frog "...Let's just say the queen was not pleased."

The main characters of this book, Mags and Gillian were both very quirky and odd. There were times when I found them frustrating, but they were more likeable than unlikeable. The narration of the book was mostly from Mags with Gillian interjection occasionally. In Mags, the author captured the voice of a twelve-year-old. Sure, the run-on sentences got annoying, but it felt the way a twelve-year-old would really write. Overall it was a good book.

Part of the Girls of Many Lands series by American Girl. Kathleen, an Irish girl, lives with her very poor family in Dublin in the 1930s. She goes to Catholic school, but gets in trouble for being late to school when the book opens because she has to get her sisters ready in the morning while her mother helps a neighbor in childbirth. The head nun realizes that Kathleen's family must be struggling and suggests that Kathleen take up Irish dance to give her something that she can be really good at. Kathleen does excel a dance, but suffers some bumps along the road because she can't afford either lessons or the costume for the festival.

This was okay. It was a really cute, quick, easy read but there wasn't really much substance to it. Olivia was a really fun and interesting character and her very distinct voice made the book nice to read. I didn't really enjoy Hal -I thought his 'quirks' were just too overdone to be interesting. The story itself was okay but really, really predictable so the twist at the end didn't really feel like a twist to me at all. Overall it was okay and witty at parts- just not very memorable.

J ' ai beaucoup aimé ce livre . Un pur moment de bonheur .
Les personnages sont attachants .dramatique moment lors que la petite soeur de Stella meure.... À LIRE½

For Jono and Julie life with their mother is no life at all. After an altercation with their ma Julie’s face is covered by a vicious looking bruise and Jono has had enough. She is only little after all.

There Ma just doesn't seem capable of looking after them anymore. Running away is the right thing to do, or is it? After Julie ends up in foster care and Jono in a house for delinquents, he meets Kate and with her guidance he learns that life is not always as we want it.

A powerful and touching tale of one boy's mission to protect his little sister, written by Irish Children's Laureate Siobhan Parkinson has written another page turner.

Kathleen is growing up poor in Dublin during the late 1930s. When she is encouraged to take Irish step-dancing classes, she falls in love with the art and signs up to take part in a competition. However, her family is reluctant to pay for lessons and the costume required for competition.

RESPONSE: Published by American Girl, this book is one of a series meant to take a look at girls of different countries and eras. This title in the series was quite interesting, as it was full of the tension between the Catholics and Protestants that still exists in the nation. We get a bit of the separatist tension also, as Ireland was looking to break away from England. But, as is true for many young girls, the tensions of the world is far less important than day-to-day life, and this book provides an informational and fascinating look at how an Irish girl like Kathleen would live.

THEMES/CONCEPTS: Dance, poverty, Irish history, the depression, religious conflict, the separatist movement, girl power

Jake is a bit of a dreamer. He gobbles encyclopaedias, plans to be a fish painter when he grows up and he doesn’t notice his mother is pregnant. Jake seems to be quite solitary until he meets Stella and her large and slightly unusual family. This is a gentle story of friendship and growing up with a surprising and sad twist in its tail. This book would be best for pre-teens that enjoy slower paced stories that make you think.½

This was a remarkable and compulsive book with a surprise twist at the end which I really wasn't expecting. It was clearly written as a "book to get boys reading" with a male narrator who develops and grows up through the story and I would recommend it as that. I would also say that as someone vastly outside that target audience - an adult woman - I still found it very enjoyable, well written and a worth seeking out.
I will be looking to see what else the writer has published!

A lovely, simple story.

Jake was happy with his Mum & Step-Dad until a new baby sister arrives. Then he makes a new friend, a girl called Stella who is from a very large, very strange family. Two things then happen while Jake is with Stella’s family that test him – first he thinks one of her siblings is drowning off a pier & two- one of her siblings runs to see him and is killed by the mother running over her with her car. A lovely sad & happy simple story about families.p.65-73.Stella & Jake go fishing off the pier with the young ones & one falls in so Jake rescues it.

Jake's life changes abruptly the minute his new sister Daisy and his soon to be friend Stella enter his life. Discovering what life is like when it is filled with little children, Jake starts to adjust only to have tragedy strike and make him question everything

This book tells the story of Niamh, a young nurse who goes to care for a dying man in a house where everyone is keeping a secret - the wife's 14-year old niece died there nine years ago. Niamh slowly pieces together clues about the girl's death while also learning about herself, etc., etc. And it was all just kind of... inconsequential. The book was filled with characterizations and passages of description and little vignettes that had no apparent point and didn't connect to what little plot there was (and they weren't particularly well-written, so that doesn't justify their existence either). And don't ask me to tell you how the title (or the fairy tale "Mary's Child" which is its source) relate to the story; they don't. I read this one quickly, but by the end the only reaction I could summon was "Whatever." and I can can already feel the book draining out of my head.½

Kathleen’s mother is told to give Kathleen Irish dancing lessons, but when she tries them out, she finds out that they are far from within the family’s budget. Kathleen is heartbroken, but gets a surprise- the dancing teacher offers her lessons for free because she believes that she will win an award for the school. Her next challeng is finding a costume with no money to spend...

My daughter got this book when we purchased the doll as it was being discontinued at American Girl. Nice little book with a good storyline. IF you were fortunate enough to get one of those dolls she is worth a lot of money now but my daughter is haning on to hers.

A compassionate story of friendship between young and old, boy and girl.An exceptional story looking at bereavement and guilt, that is compassionate and beautifully written.