Category Archives: Year

Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier

Posted on October 21, 2009 by Thistle

When the unnamed narrator of this story meets Maxim de Winter, whose wife drowned and left him a widower a year previously, she doesn’t imagine that he will ask her to marry him and take her back to his home, … Continue reading →

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Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror, by Chris Priestley

Posted on October 17, 2009 by Thistle

Edgar goes to visit his eccentric Uncle Montague, who tells him scary stories about children and the things that happened to them. It’s a collection of short stories tied together by a central narrative frame. I read this book mid-October … Continue reading →

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Protected: What I Saw and How I Lied, by Judy Blundell

Posted on October 16, 2009 by Thistle

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

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The Last Olympian, by Rick Riordan

Posted on October 13, 2009 by Thistle

This is a joint review with Morrigan, my son who will turn 9 on Sunday. You’ll see – we have very different opinions for the most part. Of course, he’s much closer to the intended age group for this series. … Continue reading →

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Blue Moon, by Alyson Noel

Posted on October 10, 2009 by Thistle

As this is the sequel to Evermore, I can’t do this review without giving away spoilers for the first book. So, if you haven’t read Evermore and plan to do so, it’s probably best you skip this. On the other … Continue reading →

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Suite Scarlett, by Maureen Johnson

Posted on October 8, 2009 by Thistle

Scarlett Martin is a fifteen year old New Yorker whose family runs a quirky-though-rundown hotel. Her family is not well off despite their business, and Scarlett jumps at the opportunity of a summer job acting as an assistant to a … Continue reading →

Posted in 2009, Prose, Young Adult | 1 Comment

A Passage to India, by EM Forster

Posted on October 6, 2009 by Thistle

This is such a difficult book to describe. It’s a sketch of the conflict between India and Britain, both in the overarching Britain-is-policing-India sort of way, and in a specific-individual sort of way. The two parallel each other. The main … Continue reading →

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Protected: Dreaming Anastasia, by Joy Preble

Posted on September 28, 2009 by Thistle

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

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The House with a Clock in Its Walls, by John Bellairs

Posted on September 25, 2009 by Thistle

When 10-year-old Lewis’ parents die, he goes to live with his Uncle Jonathan. Jonathan lives in an old mansion formerly owned by a crazy wizard. The mansion has a clock in the walls that ticks at the same loudness all … Continue reading →

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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie

Posted on September 20, 2009 by Thistle

Arnold Spirit (aka Junior) is a 14 year old Indian boy on a Spokane reservation. He’s an outcast with a lot of physical problems, but when he decides to attend school off-reservation, people turn on him even more. He has … Continue reading →

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