by Lauren Miller
Summary:
Have you ever wondered if one decision can change our entire lives. If one small change could send you on a completely different path? For Abby, it's one small earthquake that sets her on two courses. In one she becomes a movie star, in another she meets a boy who she falls in love with. In both lives every decision sets off a chain of events that changes everything, but which life is actually real?
Review:
I'm not a huge fan of parallel universes, typically I find books based around them to be fluffy and too silly. Parallel, however, was not. The book's characters were all very relate-able, and even the course of events that ends up with Abby becoming a movie star was believable. The books main premise was that one small event can change your course completely. It's ending demonstrating that if somethings meant to be it will happen regardless of what decisions you make was a nice touch. A great read for girls looking for a love story with something more substantial built in.
Genre: Fiction
Age Level: 10th Grade
Showing posts with label Parallel Worlds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Parallel Worlds. Show all posts
Monday, October 28, 2013
Thursday, March 15, 2012
You'll Like it Here (Everybody Does)
by Ruth White
Summary:
I'm sure you've heard the stories. About aliens living among us, just like normal people. Meggie Blue and her family are the perfect example. Of aliens that is, not normal people. Forced to escape Earth when they are found out by their neighbors, they land on a planet eerily similarity to the Earth they just left. In fact it is Earth, but a different Earth. An Earth divided by war. An Earth in a different time. In Fashion City, the place where they land, everything is regimented. Everything they need is taken care of by the Fathers. Everyone tells them how lucky they are to be there, but maybe they aren't lucky after all. Maybe they've landed in place worse than where they've ever been before.
Review:
White has created a fun story for kids about aliens, but one which also addresses the issues of social control and identity. The book is well written, with fun characters, and melds the fantastic with normality. It's a good novel for kids who like fantasy or those who like more dystopian novels but are not old enough for the heavier ones.
Genre: Science Fiction
Age Level: 5th Grade
Summary:
I'm sure you've heard the stories. About aliens living among us, just like normal people. Meggie Blue and her family are the perfect example. Of aliens that is, not normal people. Forced to escape Earth when they are found out by their neighbors, they land on a planet eerily similarity to the Earth they just left. In fact it is Earth, but a different Earth. An Earth divided by war. An Earth in a different time. In Fashion City, the place where they land, everything is regimented. Everything they need is taken care of by the Fathers. Everyone tells them how lucky they are to be there, but maybe they aren't lucky after all. Maybe they've landed in place worse than where they've ever been before.
Review:
White has created a fun story for kids about aliens, but one which also addresses the issues of social control and identity. The book is well written, with fun characters, and melds the fantastic with normality. It's a good novel for kids who like fantasy or those who like more dystopian novels but are not old enough for the heavier ones.
Genre: Science Fiction
Age Level: 5th Grade
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
by Ransom Riggs
Summary:
After the death of his grandfather, Jacob struggles to understand what he saw on that tragic day. In an attempt to understand not only that but also more about his grandfather, he and his father travel to the island where his grandfather grew up. On this tiny place outside of Wales his grandfather lived in an orphanage. But it was no ordinary orphanage. It was an orphanage for a special kind of child. As Jacob explores this place he learns that things are not as they appear, and are in no way what he expected.
Review:
Miss Peregrine's orphanage is full of the impossible. The children are capable of extreme feats. They live in a permanent world where every day is the exact same. Jacob is introduced to an entirely new life at this orphanage and has to choose between this new one and the old life he had. The book is well written, definitely not quite what you expect when you begin, but overall very good. The old pictures throughout the book are an interesting touch as well.
Genre: Fantasy Fiction
Grade Level: 8th-9th
Summary:
After the death of his grandfather, Jacob struggles to understand what he saw on that tragic day. In an attempt to understand not only that but also more about his grandfather, he and his father travel to the island where his grandfather grew up. On this tiny place outside of Wales his grandfather lived in an orphanage. But it was no ordinary orphanage. It was an orphanage for a special kind of child. As Jacob explores this place he learns that things are not as they appear, and are in no way what he expected.
Review:
Miss Peregrine's orphanage is full of the impossible. The children are capable of extreme feats. They live in a permanent world where every day is the exact same. Jacob is introduced to an entirely new life at this orphanage and has to choose between this new one and the old life he had. The book is well written, definitely not quite what you expect when you begin, but overall very good. The old pictures throughout the book are an interesting touch as well.
Genre: Fantasy Fiction
Grade Level: 8th-9th
Monday, March 7, 2011
Coraline (movie)
Coraline
Movie Distributed by Universal
Publisher: Universal City, CA. : Universal Studios Home Entertainment, c2009.
Plot Description:
Coraline is a young girl who stumbles upon a parallel universe in the new house her parents have moved into. Here her other mother and father lavish her with the attention that her real parents never give here. There movie follows the theme of the book with fantastical Tim Burton cinematography.
Review:
The movie bears some stricking differences from the book, most notably that it is set in the US instead of in England like in the book. Coraline has a friend in the movie, Wybie, who helps her navigate the parallel world and defeat other mother. The general plot remains the same, though little changes are made to different objects to make them more relatable to an American audience. Overall the movie is a pretty typical Tim Burton film. It’s a bit more scary than the book itself, suited to a little more mature of an audience than the book itself might lend itself to.
Genre: Horror
Viewing age: 4th-5th Grade
Similar Movies: Alice in Wonderland
Reader’s Advisory:
Personal thoughts- good horror story that is not too gruesome or violent
Subjects/themes- Fiction, Horror, Parallel Worlds, Rats, Cats, Family
Character names/descriptions-
Coraline- young girl who finds a parallel world on the other side of a door
Other Mother- Coraline’s mother in the parallel universe, turns out to be evil, has buttons for eyes
Misses Spink and Forcible- former actresses who give Coraline a rock for
protection
Mr. Bobo- upstairs neighbor who has a mouse circus
Wybie- her friend who helps her navigate both worlds
Annotation: Sometimes opening a door can be the wrong move to make.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Coraline
Coraline
Author: Neil Gaiman
Publisher: New York : HarperCollins, c2002.
Plot Description:
Coraline is an explorer. When her parents move into a new flat, with Mr. Bobo and his mouse circus upstairs and Misses Spink and Forcible below, she takes it upon herself to learn all about her new house. Including the mysterious door in the parlor which opens to a brick wall. After hearing strange noises one night, Coraline opens the door to find not the wall, but a corridor leading to another flat. A flat with her other mother and other father. Where things are just a bit different from her real life. Where everything is full of menace and traps. Coraline will have to outwit this evil version of her mother to get back to her real home, but will she be able to?
Review:
I found Coraline to be an excellent. Well written and engaging, the book is suspenseful and a big frightening without being overly so. It touches on the themes of imagination and family, as well as the concept of a parallel universe. My favorite part was where Coraline is talking to other mother and the other mother offers her everything she has ever wanted and Coraline states that she doesn’t want everything because then nothing is special. I thought that this demonsrated wisdom beyond young Coraline’s years, though on a number of occasions Coraline shows remarkable clarity and intelligence. A really good book for both boys and girls.
Genre: Horror
Reading level: 4th-5th Grade
Similar Books: A Series of Unfortunate Events, Alice in Wonderland
Reader’s Advisory:
Personal thoughts- good horror story that is not too gruesome or violent
Subjects/themes- Fiction, Horror, Parallel Worlds, Rats, Cats, Family
Awards- 2003 Hugo Award for Best Novella, 2003 Nebula Award for Best Novella, 2002 Bram Stoker Award for Best Work for Young Readers
Character names/descriptions-
Coraline- young girl who finds a parallel world on the other side of a door
Other Mother- Coraline’s mother in the parallel universe, turns out to be evil, has buttons for eyes
Misses Spink and Forcible- former actresses who give Coraline a rock for
protection
Mr. Bobo- upstairs neighbor who has a mouse circus
Annotation: Sometimes opening a door can be the wrong move to make.
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