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Recent Reviews
Christina Baker Kline
Positive The Christian Science Monitor It’s an effective blending of timelines and events: One narrative chronicles the formation of Christina’s shell even as the Wyeth storyline slowly cracks it open ... Kline’s deep research into characters, place, and time period provides the outlines of a compelling story, which she then expertly brings into three dimensions ... Kline has an artist’s eye and plays with contrasts: portraying beauty and ugliness side by side, both in her setting and in her characters.
Jacqueline Woodson
Positive The Chirstian Science Monitor While the setting of Another Brooklyn comes vividly to life as a snapshot of the past, the issues this book explores are as current as ever ... Written in Woodson’s trademark lyrical prose, the novel doesn’t politicize these issues, nor does it veer into the territory of commentary ... Another Brooklyn is a melancholy book, but also lovely.
Julian Fellowes
Mixed The Christian Science Monitor Belgravia is crafted to keep you guessing from chapter to chapter – but let’s just say that like Downton, Belgravia deals with the concerns of the rich: heirs, money, propriety, and society ... What readers might not be so keen to revisit is the somewhat relentless historical detail of this story, which seems to be interwoven with the plot more out of obligation than with an eye to thoughtful storytelling ... While this isn’t a book with great emotional depth, what the story lacks in nuance it makes up for in a crackling plot, with Fellowes’s characteristic well-choreographed storylines and enough cliffhangers at chapters’ end to keep the story moving along.
Kate DiCamillo
Rave The Christian Science Monitor If John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men had been written for children, it might have looked something like Kate DiCamillo’s new novel, ...In DiCamillo’s tale, the best-laid plans actually go awry for the better. And though the outcome may not be exactly what the characters hoped for, it’s still surprisingly satisfying. ??In a lovely twist, the unpredictability that initially threatened Raymie’s dearest hopes ends up being a strengthening agent, allowing her to discover reserves of fortitude she didn’t know she had. Having faced and overcome disappointment, she gains wisdom. And rather than give up on her dreams, she builds on what she’s learned – and makes new ones.