Coraline by Neil Gaiman Review

Coraline by Neil Gaiman- Read May 3

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

This is my fifth Neil Gaiman book and it is a great novel that I cannot help but love. I have enjoyed every one of his books and this one is no exception to that. It is a great creepy children's novel that I would give the highest recommendation for. I adored this book.

Coraline is a young girl who lives in a house that her and her parents share with other tenants; to elderly actresses and an elderly man. One of the flats on the other side of the house is empty and there is a door to it in Coraline's house that has been boarded up. One day while her mother is out getting groceries, Coraline goes into the other flat and it is not boarded up anymore. There she meets her "other" parents who want her to stay with them. At first this place seems some what idealistic but slowly Coraline realizes the "other" parents are not what they seem. Similarly to The Wizard of Oz movie everyone in Coraline's life has a doppelganger in this other world.  A great little book that can easily be read in a day or around that amount of time. I did not want to put this down once I started it. Another great book by Neil Gaiman.

Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi

📏  Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi- Read May 1-3rd  🦊

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

This book met my every expectation for it and I am so glad I picked to read it this week. I fell in love with the characters in this piece and also the worlds that it took place in. I cannot tell you enough about how much these worlds took me in. So good!

The main character of the novel is named Alice Alexis Queensmeadow (I love her name) and she is a very intriguing girl. She was born with almost pure white skin and hair. Her world, Ferenwood, is a world filled of color and she is the only person there that does not have any color besides her eyes. In her world color shows magic and many of the people there do not believe that she has any magic because of this. They also believe that she is strange. Many people would let this get to them but not Alice. She is full of confidence and is herself all the time and is not afraid to say so. 

Alice's father went missing three years before this story and she feels that no one else cares for her after this. Her mother is distant and many of the people in town are constantly making rude comments about her. She is determined to find her father and will set out on any adventure to do it. Along with a boy named Oliver, Alice sets out to a world named Furthermore that is different from what she was expecting. There they will do anything to find her father and bring him back safely. 

This story is geared towards Middle Grade but I cannot help but think that anyone would have a fun time reading this (I believe anyone can enjoy a good Middle Grade novel. I don't care what age you are). Not only is this a great adventure story but it also is a story about individuality. Alice is never afraid of being herself and will let anyone know this. She, I believe would be a great inspiration for younger readers and even older readers.

This was a great novel and it makes me want to read more of Tahereh Mafi's works. She writes in clever prose with beautiful lyrical writing. Also her asides are quite funny along with the chapter introductions. I must say I am very happy that I started my reading this month with such a wonderful book. I hope she will write more books like this if not a sequel. I know that I would definitely read it. 

Time Travel, Gods, Fairies, and Benjamin Franklin: Three Book Reviews

Time Stoppers: Quest for the Golden Arrow by Carrie Jones - Read April 25-27th 

Rating: 📚📚📚

This is a sequel to the book Time Stoppers by Carrie Jones.

I was interested in this book when I had first seen the cover and also the title. I love time travel books and thought that this would be an interesting Middle Grade read. This series so far is about a girl named Annie who is a Time Stopper. She is one of the last humans in existence that is able to control time. She is now living in a new home in the town of Aurora. There are many mystical and magical creatures that she lives with such as Eva a dwarf, Bloom an elf, and Jamie who may be a troll. They are all living with their guardian Miss Cornelia. She is another one of the Time Stoppers. In this novel, Miss Cornelia goes missing and Annie and her friends go on a mission to find her.

It took me a while to get into this novel once I started it through the idea of how the magic worked was something that kept me wanting to read.

I was given a copy of this book for an honest review. 

Tim Baker and the Ancient Curse (Gormless Gods and Hapless Heroes)- Read April 27th   

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

After breaking his mother's ancient Greek vase, Hercules comes out and starts to cause troubles in Tim's life. Tim is a middle school age boy who tries to help out around the house as his mother has to work two jobs. When he breaks the vase he does not realize that the man that comes out is a Greek demigod. He believes that the man is a genie. Throughout the story, Tim and Hercules become close as they try to teach Hercules how to act in our world and to also get back to his family.

This was a cute story with great little illustrations. It made me keep smiling with the references to Greek Mythology and just Hercules' personality. Each of the characters: Tim, Hercules, and Tim's Mom, are likable characters that are also relatable.  I love Greek Mythology and I believe that this would be a great introduction to it for younger readers. There are enough funny and touching scenes that will keep them interested though I wanted to know if they would get Hercules home also. This is the first book in a series and I would recommend picking this up for your little ones.
 A good addition to a good month of reading for me.

I was given a free copy of this book for an honest review.  

Benjamin Franklin: You've Got Mail by Adam Mansbach and Alan Zwiebel- Read April 27-28th

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

I  liked this book from the beginning until the end. Again this is another sequel to a book. The first book is called Benjamin Franklin: Huge Pain in my.... At the beginning of this book, our main character lets the reader know what happened in the last book. I will say that I have never read the first book but was told that this would be fine to just read this book. One of the aspects of this book that I really did like was the relationship between Ike and Ben. They both cared for each other and had to get used to working together so they could save their country. It was interesting to see the dynamic between them as Ike learned about the past and how he should act around people.

The story is about a thirteen-year-old boy named Ike who has been writing letters back and forth with Benjamin Franklin. He causes problems for Ben when he sends a present-day map back to the 1770s and peanut butter. After the map gets stuck onto the Declaration of Independence and gets sent to the British, Ben becomes a disgrace to the country and starts to have a lot of problems. Ike makes it his mission in this book to mail himself back to the 1770s so he can help Ben. Over the course of the story, Ben and Ike have to work together to try and fix the past so the future will not be wrecked. 

The humor was childish at times but then again this is meant for middle-grade students. I cannot be too hard on the book because really this did not take away from the story too much. I am interested in seeing what happens in the next book which I believe may happen because there is a hint of it at the end of the book. I'm glad that I got the opportunity to read this book about time travel and about the Revolutionary War. It was a fascinating look at this time period from the view of a young teenager who really just wants to help his friend. I would recommend reading this story, especially for readers that like Middle-Grade stories. 

I received a review copy of this book for an honest review.