Category: If You Like

If You Like…

Grace6 Comments

If You Like… fairy tale retellings or books like Cinder and Ella Enchanted , you’ll probably like these books.

Spinning Starlight by R. C. Lewis: In this retelling of “The Wild Swans,” the Jantzen Technology Innovations heiress Liddi Jantzen must save her brothers when they are kidnapped by an evil employee.

Ogre Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine: In this reversed retelling of “Beauty and the Beast”, a young healer is turned into an ogre when she rejects a suitor’s proposal and has a short amount of time to accept another proposal or stay an ogre forever.

Grounded: The Adventures of Rapunzel by Megan Morrison: The witch tells Rapunzel she is the luckiest girl in Tyme, but when Jack climbs into her tower and implies that the witch may be lying, Rapunzel leaves her tower for the first time.

Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu: In this retelling of “The Snow Queen,” Hazel and Jack are best friends until a magic mirror and its owner sweep Jack off and leaves Hazel to try to save his life.

The Cottage in the Woods by Katherine Coville: A retelling “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”from the perspective of a governess who came to work for the bear family and meets a golden-haired girl who is a beloved member of the family until anti-bear activists try to take the girl away.

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale: In this retelling of “The Goose Girl,” Princess Anidori is betrayed by her servant and must become a goose girl until she can reveal her identity and marry the prince her servant is courting.

Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George: In this retelling of“The Twelve Dancing Princesses,” Galen is a gardener who works at the palace and learns of the mystery surrounding the twelve princesses. He falls in love with the oldest princess and is determined to save her and her sisters.

The Healer’s Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson: In this retelling of “Sleeping Beauty,”Rose falls in love with Lord Hamlin, who is trying to save his betrothed from the evil sorcerer Moncore.

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Have you read any of the books on this list? Do you like fairy-tale retellings?

If You Like

Grace10 Comments

If you like adventurous, action-packed stories with smells you can almost smell and characters you feel right beside, you might like:

 Swipe by Evan Angler: In the future American Union, where you must be Marked with nano-ink to get a job, be a citizen, or buy things, Logan and Erin, two young people who are beginning to question if the government’s way of doing things is right,discover that the truth may be complicated… and frightening.

The Hobbit by J.R. R. Tolkien: Bilbo Baggins is a respectable, ordinary hobbit who stays faraway from adventure, until the wizard Gandalf chooses him to help a group of dwarves overcome the dragon Smaug and take back his mountain.

The Girl Who Could See by Kara Swanson: Fern Johnson can see into a world nobody else can, and has been labeled crazy for it, until it appears that danger from that world may destroy her own.

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson: The three Igiby siblings hold the legend and the jewels of King Wingfeather from the Shining Isle of Anniera, and the wicked Fangs of Dang pursue them relentlessly. They and their dog Nugget will need everything they have to survive the chase of the wicked Fangs.

The Green Ember by S. D. Smith: Rabbits with swords.

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart: Four children embark on a special undercover mission at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened.

Fawkes by Nadine Brandes: Everyone blames everyone else for the Stone Plague, but Thomas realizes that it is spreading and he must choose between proving himself to his father and betraying the girl he loves.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer: Cinder must uncover her past to protect her world in this exciting dystopian fairy-tale retelling.

Eragon by Christopher Paolini: An Alagaesian boy named Eragon discovers a dragon egg and becomes a Dragon Rider, putting him in the middle of a war between an evil king and those who resist him.

100 Cupboards by N. D. Wilson: After his parents disappear, Henry York moves to Kansas where he and his cousin discover hidden doors that lead to other worlds.

Let’s chat!

Have you read anything on this list? What would you add? Do you like adventure stories?

If You Like…

Grace3 Comments

If you like sweet stories set in the past with spunky heroines, beautiful writing, and tastes of old-fashioned life, you might like:

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: This classic story follows the life, joys, loves, and sadnesses of the four March sisters as they grow up in the nineteenth century.

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery: An eleven-year-old orphan is mistakenly sent to live with an old brother and sister on a farm on Prince Edward Island and proceeds to astonish, horrify, and amuse everyone she encounters with her stunts and musings.

Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith: A light-skinned African-American girl passes for white so she can flywith the WASPs during WWII.

Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms by Katherine Rundell: “Will” Silver’s widowed father dies,and she is sent from Zimbabwe to a dreary English boarding school to learn howto be a lady. She must adjust to a new culture and new expectations.

Our Only May Amelia by Jennifer L. Holm: The mischievous May Amelia Jackson doesn’t want to act like a lady when her brothers get to have all the fun in 17thcentury Washington.

Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson: When Hattie Brooks inherits her uncle’s claim, she travels from Iowa to make her home and prove herself in the rough country Montana. Meanwhile, she works toward her goal ofbeing a journalist and struggles to understand the prejudice of the town.

 Boston Jane by Jennifer L. Holm: Jane Peck from Philadelphia is in for a shock when all her lessons in manners and etiquette are of no use to her as she makes a life for herself among the traders and Chinook Indians of 17th century Washington Territory.

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Do you like “If You Like” lists? Have you read anything on this list? What would you add?

Review: You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins

Grace4 Comments

Title: You Bring the Distant Near

Author: Mitali Perkins

Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers

Summary

This book follows three generations of Indian-American women and their struggles with culture, friendship, family, love, race, and identity. It opens in 1965 when Ranee Das and her two daughters, Sonia and Tara, are moving to the United States where Mr. Das has found work. It follows the lives of Sonia and Tara as they adjust to a new culture and school, pursue their dreams, fall in love, and grieve over their father’s death. About halfway through, the book begins following the lives of Anna, Tara’s daughter, and Chantal, Sonia’s daughter.

Review

You Bring the Distant Near is certainly a character-driven book, but it is my no means uninteresting. Mitali Perkins does a wonderful job of crafting an interesting and inspiring story, of making us care about her characters and feel like we know them. She shows us her characters’ hopes, dreams, failures, and flaws; their greatest joys and their greatest struggles.

Tara has always wanted to act, but her mother expects her to marry or become an engineer or doctor, like a good Bengali girl. Anna, Tara’s daughter, just started attending her cousin’s school in America and struggles with feeling overshadowed by her cousin Chantal. Chantal comes alongside her cousin and makes her feel welcome in the school, even though she doesn’t share in Anna’s personal struggles.

Mitali Perkins gracefully and honestly addresses issues of race, prejudice, and relationships in You Bring the Distant Near. She acknowledges these important part of her characters’ stories and struggles, and represents her characters admirably.

You Bring the Distant Near is one of my favorite books, for the characters, the settings, the struggles, and the writing. It tells a story that many can enjoy, and also identify with. It has received awards and acknowledgements such as the ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults, Boston Globe Best Book of the Year, and South Asia Book Award. I would recommend this book to fans of Piecing Me Together, The Hate U Give, Salt to the Sea, and American Street, as well as  anyone who enjoys beautiful story full of character


Let’s chat!

Have you read You Bring the Distant Near? Do you prefer character-driven or plot-driven stories?