Finny is a dramatic character-driven novel that follows Delphine “Finny" Short's life from early childhood well into adulthood. It's sort of a coming-of-age novel, not ending with young adulthood, but continuing through each phase of Finny's life. Calling it a dramatic novel doesn’t really do it justice, because it’s funny as well. It’s another of those books that had me laughing out loud making people around me look over to see what I was reading. And I wanted to tell them. In fact, I wanted to do more than that. I wanted to read them the scene that made me laugh, and how completely delightful I found this book. And I usually did. Not only did I want to talk to others around me about this book, but I found myself shouting ...
Category Archives: Jennifer
Mailbox Monday — July 12
Each week, The Printed Page invites booklovers to share what books arrived in their mailbox on on their front porch, be they review copies, gifts, purchased or what. JENNIFER I was gone for over two weeks, and THIS is what awaited me when I returned: I'm not going to go into detail about each book, but I have a few thoughts on some of them: I was so excited about Room: A Novel that I started reading it the day after I got it and finished it within two days. It's excellent. Both Amanda (my 11-year-old daughter) and I are looking forward to reading I, Q: The White House, after enjoying the first in the ...
Julie Andrews —
Legend of the Screen, Literacy Advocate
Just days before I arrived at the Despicable Me movie press junket, where I expected to meet and interview Miranda Cosgrove, Steve Carell, Jason Segel, and Chris Melendrani, the producer (linked to my interviews), I found out that Julie Andrews was also going to be there. Julie Andrews. Everyone has some sort of love for Julie Andrews, a true screen legend. People immediately think of Mary Poppins, or Maria von Trapp, or possibly even the Queen of Genovia. But what I thought when I found out I was going to meet her is "I'm going to get to meet the author of one of my all-time favorite books from my childhood, Mandy, Julie Andrews" (linked to my review). I will take the chance to implore you ...
The Sky is Everywhere
One day Lennie has a sister, a prominent place in the band as a clarinet player, a best friend – she’s basically a normal 17-year-old girl. The next day her older sister Bailey dies, and it changes everything. The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson is about Lennie's journey as she is learning to cope with the unexpected and sudden loss of her sister. It leads her to make unwise choices in matters of the heart, as she struggles with her attraction to her sister’s boyfriend Toby. Complicating matters is the introduction of Joe Fontaine on the scene – the new boy, who only knows Lennie “after” – after the death of sister, not as one of two, the sisters who were as close as best friends, yet different as night and ...
Books on Screen: Let the Great World Spin/Man on Wire
Several months ago, I listened to the audiobook of Colum Mcann's Let the Great World Spin, a novel which shares the story of several different characters, specifically their responses to the wire walking that Philippe Petit's unsanctioned high wire walk between the twin towers in 1974. Immediately, I was pulled in by Colum McCann's writing and characters. However in books like this, regardless of how good the writing is and how compelling the characters are, if something doesn't pull the vignettes together, it doesn't stand up as a novel to me. Colum McCann did this masterfully. He pulled these characters together in ways that were not at all predictable, and the theme of the world turning in the midst of everyone's separate lives runs through it completely. I was intrigued by his ability to write ...
On Reading: Summer Reading
Some people look forward to a summer vacation as one time that you can actually finish a book, cover to cover, in less than two months. Others (like me!), might read more in the summer because of the inherent laziness of the break and time freed up from homework patrol and carpool shuttling. Regardless of which camp you fall into, summer and reading sort of go hand in hand in people's minds. There is the book you tuck into your beach bag, hoping to read while you relax on the beach, or the book(s) that you pack for the 3 hours of quiet that an airplane trip buys you. We encourage our kids to keep their minds sharp with summertime reading programs. It's July 4th, and there's no doubt summer is here (When I lived in Portland, after July 4 -- but not before ...
Books on Screen: Despicable Me movie
Again, I'm sort of bending the rules with this column. I was able to see a preview of Despicable Me on a Universal-sponsored Mom Blogger press junket (click through to 5 Minutes for Mom to read some more details and get a sneak peek of the fun interviews to come this week). It's a truly great movie that I wanted to share with you here as well. Though it's not technically a "book on screen," a lot of the story revolves around a bedtime story, and I'm excited to actually mention some real book tie-ins, but I will save that post for July 15 after some of you have seen the movie and will understand how cool and great these books are. The Review: I ...
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Jennifer Donovan
Managing Editor -
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