Month: July 2019

Cinderella fans rejoice! Told from the point of view of one of the ugly stepsisters, Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly is a solid re imagining.

Isabelle should be blissfully happy – she’s about to win the handsome prince. Except Isabelle isn’t the beautiful girl who lost the glass slipper and captured the prince’s heart. She’s the ugly stepsister who’s cut off her toes to fit into Cinderella’s shoe … which is now filling with blood. When the prince discovers Isabelle’s deception, she is turned away in shame. It’s no more than she deserves: she is a plain girl in a world that values beauty; a feisty girl in a world that wants her to be pliant. Isabelle has tried to fit in. To live up to her mother’s expectations. To be like her stepsister. To be sweet. To be pretty. One by one, she has cut away pieces of herself in order to survive a world that doesn’t appreciate a girl like her. And that has made her mean, jealous, and hollow. Until she gets a chance to alter her destiny and prove what ugly stepsisters have always known: it takes more than heartache to break a girl.

I will admit – the story can tend to drag. There are a lot of ups and downs – one second you think things will happen a certain way – and then they go right back to “bad” again. If you are looking for an easy story read something else. What this story does have are some amazing villains, questions of morality, and charm.

I am a life-long Sarah Dessen fan. I have always enjoyed her thoughtful and romantic YA stories and her newest is no disappointment.

The Rest of the Story is about a girl named Emma Saylor who returns for the Summer to her dead mother’s childhood home on the lake to reconnect with her family. When Emma arrives at North Lake, she realizes there are actually two very different communities there. Her mother grew up in working class North Lake, while her dad spent summers in the wealthier Lake North resort. The more time Emma spends there, the more it starts to feel like she is divided into two people as well. To her father, she is Emma. But to her new family, she is Saylor, the name her mother always called her. Emma also finally begins to uncover her mother’s troubled past and how important it is to her to connect the dots between her past and her present.

Sprinkled in with some romance, and, as always for Sarah Dessen, a cast of quirky and insightful characters, this story is heartwarming and a good solid read.

   If you’re looking for a great introductory book to share with someone describing the first human journey and landing on the moon, check out Brian Floca’s “Moonshot.”   This 56 page picture book tells the story while mixing in the facts for an audience of ages 4 and up.  The excitement builds towards blast-off and the reader goes along on the journey.  

  Rhonda Gowler Greene’s newer title is also perfect for first time readers and children who are being introduced to the topic.

  Another best pick for early readers is reliable Seymour Simon’s “Moon.”

10    9    8   7   6   5   4   3   2   1   BLASTOFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have you heard about our escape room?! Sign up for the remaining dates (July 20th, 23rd, and 30th), just give us a call!

Great for groups or families -escape the room and win candy!