Difference between revisions of "Book Reviews From The Bookbag"
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| + | |author= Michaela DePrince and Elaine DePrince | ||
| + | |title= Ballerina Dreams | ||
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| + | |genre= Children's Non-Fiction | ||
| + | |summary= Africa is a place full of music and rhythm and joy of movement. It is not, however, always a place for the structured tuition and commitment required by ballet. Sometimes there are more pressing issues than whether your pointe shoes are darned or whether you have a pianist available or will have to dance to pre-recorded music. For Michaela, growing up in Sierra Leone, her concerns were more simple: where was her next meal coming from, and who was going to look after her now she had been left orphaned by the war. | ||
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|summary=Monsters are slipping through somehow from somewhere to kidnap children in Cornwall and the army seems powerless to do anything about it. 12-year-olds Owen and Mary assume they too are therefore powerless as they watch friends and neighbours disappear. Imagine their surprise when they realise that thanks to an ancient relative, they have more influence on what happens than they think and not just on what happens on Earth. And their distant relative? The former monarch and head of the round table, no less: King Arthur. | |summary=Monsters are slipping through somehow from somewhere to kidnap children in Cornwall and the army seems powerless to do anything about it. 12-year-olds Owen and Mary assume they too are therefore powerless as they watch friends and neighbours disappear. Imagine their surprise when they realise that thanks to an ancient relative, they have more influence on what happens than they think and not just on what happens on Earth. And their distant relative? The former monarch and head of the round table, no less: King Arthur. | ||
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Revision as of 13:53, 1 April 2017
The Bookbag
Hello from The Bookbag, a site, featuring books from all the many walks of literary life - fiction, biography, crime, cookery and anything else that takes our fancy. At Bookbag Towers the bookbag sits at the side of the desk. It's the bag we take to the library and the bookshop. Sometimes it holds the latest releases, but at other times there'll be old favourites, books for the children, books for the home. They're sometimes our own books or books from the local library. They're often books sent to us by publishers and we promise to tell you exactly what we think about them. You might not want to read through a full review, so we'll give you a quick review which summarises what we felt about the book and tells you whether or not we think you should buy or borrow it. There are also lots of author interviews, and all sorts of top tens - all of which you can find on our features page. If you're stuck for something to read, check out the recommendations page. We can even direct you to help for custom book reviews! Visit www.everychildareader.org to get free writing tips and www.genecaresearchreports.com will help you get your paper written for free.
There are currently 16,114 reviews at TheBookbag.
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Ballerina Dreams by Michaela DePrince and Elaine DePrince
Africa is a place full of music and rhythm and joy of movement. It is not, however, always a place for the structured tuition and commitment required by ballet. Sometimes there are more pressing issues than whether your pointe shoes are darned or whether you have a pianist available or will have to dance to pre-recorded music. For Michaela, growing up in Sierra Leone, her concerns were more simple: where was her next meal coming from, and who was going to look after her now she had been left orphaned by the war. Full review...
The New Neighbours by Diney Costeloe
Dartmouth Circle has always been the epitome of British middle class propriety. Manicured lawns, well-kept house facades… All is where it should be and life is ordered, with the disrupting influence of the town's university students out of sight and out of mind. Imagine, then, the horror when the good citizens of the Circle hear that one of their houses… THEIR houses… has been bought as student accommodation. Will it be the harbinger of doom they expect? Full review...
Thomasina by Paul Gallico
A father and his six year old daughter, Mary MacDhui, are struggling to cope with the death of Mary’s mother. They move from Glasgow so that Mr MacDhui can take up a new job as Vet in a small Scottish seaside resort. Burying his head in a job he does not wholly love, Mr MacDhui spares his young daughter little time or attention, and she finds solace in her new friends and her beloved pet cat. Thomasina, a remarkable cat, drives the plot in this story, which Paul Gallico tells with heart breaking and emotional twists and turns. Full review...
The Ninth Rain (The Winnowing Flame Trilogy 1) by Jen Williams
Ebora is dying along with its tree-like god Ysegril but Hestillion is doing all she can to keep him alive. In fact she'll go to any lengths to save him… any lengths at all. Hest's brother Tormalin can't sit around and wait for the end so he's engaged by Lady Vincenza (Vintage) de Grazon to be her factotum and hired sword during her quest for knowledge. It's turning into more of an adventure than they'd planned even before Fell witch and fugitive Noon joins them. Now the trio must work together, putting prejudices and passions aside (others' as well as their own). The Ninth Rain is coming and more than Ebora is in danger. Full review...
Coming Clean by Cathryn Kemp
When Cathryn develops acute pancreatitis it leaves her in intense pain. With no obvious cure, she is prescribed strong painkillers to manage the painful flare ups. Yet still she bounces in and out of hospital, from one 'expert' to another, undergoes needless operations when Consultants say I know there's no evidence for this, but we may as well try it…the list goes on. As time passes, the pain remains but is joined by a new friend: a dangerous addiction to painkillers, prescribed at many times above the usual dose and soon to have a damaging effect on her health. Full review...
Message from the Moon by Hilda Offen
Yes, that is really a 'Message from the Moon' you receive courtesy of this book. You also get the point of view of the sea itself, as well as children seeing the city night from their bedroom window and other people witnessing geese flying over, and you even get a message from a snail. The range of verses in this book is however but one of its many qualities… Full review...
The Valentine House by Emma Henderson
In June 1914, Sir Anthony Valentine, a keen mountaineer, arrives with his family to spend the summer in their chalet, high in the French Alps. There, for the first time, fourteen-year-old foundling Mathilde starts work as one of the 'uglies' - village girls employed as servants and picked, it is believed, to ensure they don't catch Sir Anthony's roving eye. For Mathilde it is the start of a life-long entanglement with les anglais - strange, exciting people, far removed from the hard grind of farming. Except she soon finds the Valentines are less carefree than they appear, with a curiously absent daughter no one talks about. It will be decades - disrupted by war, accidents and a cruel betrayal - before Mathilde discovers the key to the mystery. And in 1976, the year Sir Anthony's great-great grandson comes to visit, she must decide whether to use it. Full review...
The Third Nero by Lindsey Davis
Lindsey Davis is one clever lady. Having enthralled readers for years with the adventures of Marcus Didius Falco, the Ancient Roman informer (or, to put it in more modern terms, private eye) she sustains our interest by allowing Falco to take a well-deserved and politically strategic retirement while his adopted daughter Albia takes over the family business. Her wit is dry as dust, she has a highly desirable (well, he's called Manlius: what else could he be?) love-interest and as a Briton, her take on Roman bureaucracy and pettifogging officialdom is just as sharp and funny as her cynical dad's ever was. A new main character, a new way of doing things, which somehow manages to retain all the best elements of the original Falco. Genius. Full review...
Tiny Campsites: 80 Perfect Little Places to Pitch by Dixe Wills
I've often been put off the idea of camping by the thought of large, soul-less campsites, often populated by people who want to party late into the night. I much prefer camping to mean something - a feeling of being somewhere special, of being able to be at one with nature. But the trouble is, where do you find these gems? Well, Tiny Campsites will provide you with eighty perfect little places to pitch your tent. Full review...
Botanicum Activity Book by Katie Scott and Kathy Willis
Children and adults who enjoyed Botanicum (Welcome To The Museum) by Katie Scott and Kathy Willis are going to love the Botanicum Activity Book. Don't be misled by the suggestion that the book is aimed at the seven-plus age group: there's plenty in here for anyone who is still capable of holding a pen or pencil. Full review...
See How They Lie by Sue Wallman
Fifteen year-old Mae has only vague memories of life before her dad, an internationally famous psychiatrist, set up Hummingbird Creek. To Mae the strict timetable, stringent exercise routine and perfectly balanced organic diet are normal. The Creek's patients – teens with psychological problems – might find it unnerving to be trapped in the middle of nowhere with no mobile phone or internet but Mae thinks she's lucky. Or she does until a chance incident reveals her parents have been lying about her mum's family. Mae starts to wonder what else they might have lied about. Soon Mae is questioning everything she's been told about Hummingbird Creek with dangerous, and potentially deadly, consequences. Full review...
Beyond Infinity: An expedition to the outer limits of the mathematical universe by Eugenia Cheng
I'm right.
I'm more right.
I'm right times infinity!
I'm right two times infinity!
I'm right times infinity squared!
Most people will have heard, or participated in, this type of childhood argument. It doesn't really make much sense, as we know that infinity goes on forever, and therefore two times infinity and infinity squared cannot be any bigger than infinity itself. But what exactly is infinity? This term has puzzled and intrigued people for generations, and Beyond Infinity sees mathematician Eugenia Cheng take on the challenge of defining infinity and helping us unlock its secrets. Full review...
The Covers of My Book Are Too Far Apart (and other grumbles) by Vivian French and Nigel Baines
I'm too old for bedtime stories, That's a girl's book!, I hate this book but I've got to finish it, I can't find a book that I like. You've probably heard at least one of the grumbles in this book before but have you known how to respond to it? This brilliant picture book will do it for you and is a joyful celebration of all that's wonderful about books and reading. Full review...
Every Hiddden Thing by Kenneth Oppel
Three things stir Samuel's teenaged heart. Duty to his father is one, and another is admiration for the man's career as a dinosaur hunter and aspiration to follow in his tracks. Dad has never been a professor as such, but gets called it anyway, having lucked into being quite a pioneer in the field of finding fossils. And the third thing? Rachel. Not conventionally beautiful, Samuel still finds enough in her to arouse things. But that's where the trouble lies, for Rachel's father and his are confirmed enemies and rivals. And as luck would have it, they're all four headed to the same remote, outlawish region in search of notable remains. How can they be loyal to the science, and to their families, and to their hearts? Full review...
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti
When she turns twelve, Samuel Hawley teaches his daughter, Loo (short for Louise), how to use her grandfather's rifle. Shooting a gun and hotwiring a car prove to be useful skills for this daughter of a fugitive. Hawley is a lawless modern cowboy who's had many close shaves over his years on the run for committing robberies and making dodgy deals. He and his young daughter form a cosy unit of their own; they live off of Chinese food and vending machine snacks in motel rooms and move on every six months or so to avoid the consequences of his criminal activities. But when they get to Olympus, Massachusetts, Hawley decides it's time to settle down. He buys a house by the water – with cash – and becomes a clean-living fisherman. Full review...
When Grandad was a Penguin by Morag Hood
When a little girl goes to stay with her Grandad, she is worried that all is not well. Grandad doesn't seem quite the same, somehow, and he is talking about fish a lot, none of his clothes fit, and he is spending a lot more time in the bathroom. Thankfully, one day the zoo phones up, having discovered a bit of a problem there that might explain what is going on with Grandad! Full review...
The Space Between by Meg Grehan
The Space Between tells the story of Beth, over the course of a year. We see Beth dealing with her mental illness, locked away in her own, personal 'safe' world where she feels she can maintain her happiness by remaining isolated. Mouse the dog, however, has other ideas about this! With the entrance of Mouse into her life there comes, also, Alice and slowly Alice brings both light and love to Beth's world. Full review...
A Perfect Day by Lane Smith
It's a lovely sunny day, and looks as if it may just turn out to be a perfect day, since there is a sunny spot for cat in the flowers, and a paddling pool for dog to cool off in, and bird food in the bird feeder, and a corn cob for squirrel. But, what's this? Here comes bear, lumbering into the garden to eat the corn cob, splash in the water and squash all the flowers! Full review...
The Everywhere Bear by Julia Donaldson and Rebecca Cobb
The Everywhere Bear is an important member of Class One. He enjoys a wide range of activities with the children in his class, such as bus rides and burgers, football and music. One day, when it's the new boy, Matt's, turn to bring the Everywhere Bear back to school Matt sees a cat on the way to school, and he bends over to give it a cuddle. Poor old Bear falls out of Matt's bag and into a puddle. This is the start of the Bear's most exciting (and terrifying!) adventure yet! Full review...
A Distant View of Everything by Alexander McCall Smith
Ah, Isabel Dalhousie! The more I read about Isabel, the more I like her. I could see, in this book in particular, how annoying she could potentially be as a friend, since she is forever gazing off into the distance, heading into her inner imaginings rather than staying focussed on the conversation, and yet I think she would be an interesting, and thought-provoking, sort of friend to have. In this, the eleventh novel in the series, Isabel finds herself once more embroiled in someone else's business. She, and her husband Jamie, are starting to be resigned to the fact that she just can't help but get involved! Mysteries abound, both in this business and in her own family life, as we watch her day to day doings up in Edinburgh. Full review...
The Doctor's Wife is Dead by Andrew Tierney
In 1849 a woman named Ellen Langley died at her home in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary Ireland. She was the wife of a prosperous doctor and came from a well-respected family; so why was she buried in a pauper's coffin? Why had she been confined to the grim attic rooms of the house she shared with her husband and then exiled to rented lodgings in the most impoverished part of their famine-ravaged town? Why had her death caused such uproar and ultimately, why had her husband been charged with murder? Full review...
William Bee's Wonderful World of Trucks by William Bee
Children will be who they are, no matter how you try to change them, they know what they like. You may want to steer one child away from a world of pink and the other from a world of blue, but turn your back for a moment and there they are; one playing with a doll, the other a train. There is nothing wrong with a girl liking traditional girl things and a boy liking traditional boy things, as long as they are given the opportunity to pick what they want. Some books you would assume are for one or the other, but actually transcend; these books are simply cool in their own right. Full review...
New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson
By 2140 sea level has risen by around fifty feet, leaving coastal cities the world over with major problems. Some places will always be desirable, however, and when you've invested a lot of time and money somewhere you're reluctant to leave. Consequently New York remains a thriving, popular place even though half of Manhattan is under water and the streets are now canals. There are still financial traders, local politicians, celebrities, street urchins (albeit known as water rats) sharing the city and getting by. It seems like New York has stabilised into a new, watery normal but when a couple of programmers go missing from a building on Madison Square and some of the other residents start looking into it, a question begins to be asked: Does it have to be this way? Full review...
Beetle Queen by M G Leonard
A modern Cruella De Vil – only with beetles rather than Dalmatians – Lucretia Cutter has a plan: a plan that will dramatically (and theatrically) unleash her latest batch of genetically modified and highly intelligent beetles. The consequences will be devastating for mankind but few realise the danger. Luckily firm friends Darkus, Virginia and Bertolt have figured out that Lucretia Cutter is up to something and are determined to do whatever it takes to stop the evil beetle diva. Full review...
Arthur and the Kings of Britain: The Historical Truth Behind the Myths by Miles Russell
As the author of the Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain), written in 1136, Geoffrey of Monmouth is commonly recognized as one of the first British historians. His book told – or is supposed to have told - the story of the British monarchy during the Dark Ages, from the arrival of the Trojan Brutus, grandson of Aeneas, up to the seventh century AD when the Anglo-Saxons had taken control of Britain. Being virtually the only work of its kind at the time, it proved very influential, and became well-known throughout western Europe as one of the great works of medieval literature as the first retelling of the story of King Arthur, Lear and Cymbeline. Shakespeare was forever in his debt with regard to the two latter. Full review...
Well of the Winds (DCI Daley) by Denzil Meyrick
It's not a happy time for DCI Jim Daley. The woman he loved is dead - there are those who blame him for what happened - and his relationship with Liz, his ex wife, and his young son is deteriorating by the day. He's finding solace in the bottom of a glass, whilst the man who used to do that all too often, his friend DS Brian Scott is off alcohol completely and has found exercise. There's a new officer in charge at Kinloch - DS Carrie Simmington - and whilst she might look young, it's unlikely that she got to that position without having a core of steel. Full review...
Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn
You have to assume the team behind the cover sleeve for Nicole Dennis-Benn's debut novel Here Come's the Sun have a keen sense of irony. Either that or none of them read beyond the first page. Full review...
Owen Pendragon by W S Markendale
Monsters are slipping through somehow from somewhere to kidnap children in Cornwall and the army seems powerless to do anything about it. 12-year-olds Owen and Mary assume they too are therefore powerless as they watch friends and neighbours disappear. Imagine their surprise when they realise that thanks to an ancient relative, they have more influence on what happens than they think and not just on what happens on Earth. And their distant relative? The former monarch and head of the round table, no less: King Arthur. Full review...
