Life is tough for Savannah "Savvy" Smith. The 15-year old and her family have moved from Seattle to London. Savvy's left behind her friends, family, and an opportunity to work on the school newspaper. With no friends at Wexburg Academy, she's a fish out of water. And is that really English the kids are speaking? After failed attempts in the science and art club, Savvy hopes to break into the Wexburg Times clique by misrepresenting her writing experience. As the title of Sandra Byrd's newest teen fiction book states, Savvy is Asking for Trouble. Savvy tries to plead her case, but the cute Editor, Jack, isn't sure that her American sense of humor and style will reach the students at Wexburg. A chance to write an anonymous column just might give Savvy the popularity she's coveted. Or will it?
Category Archives: Fiction
Finny: A Novel
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 ...
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 ...
Free to a Good Home
At the opening of Eve Marie Mont's debut novel, Free to a Good Home, we meet Noelle, and on this Christmas, she is a newly divorced thirty-three year old veterinary tech, very unsure of what comes next. Unfortunately, her ex can still make her heart race, even though she knows that his being gay made the relationship more than unworkable. She's also still reeling from the discovery that she cannot conceive a child, another turn in life that she was completely unprepared for. With all of that on her mind, she's certainly not imagining a new beginning right around the corner. As readers, though, we know that the next year as chronicled in the novel, will hold lots of ups and downs, hopefully with the storybook happy ending. If you're looking for a summer novel ...
The One That I Want
To some, the label "chick lit" carries a negative or condescending connotation, bringing to mind a light and fluffy fare. This isn't how I personally view the label, as I use it. For me, the "chick lit" label fits when the subject and characters reach out to women, often with contemporary settings and situations that many female readers can easily relate to. I offer this genre classification with less judgment than some, and more emphasis on the intended reading audience. That being said, The One That I Want, a new novel by Allison Winn Scotch will undoubtedly be shelved at bookstores among other well-known female authors offering stories about women for women. The novel opens by introducing Tilly Farmer, a thirty-two year old guidance counselor, living in the same town in which she was born and ...
Classics Book Club: The Princess and the Goblin
Attention classic book lovers everywhere! I have a news flash for you! Get this: It is now hip to be square. Yes, indeed, it’s true. Thanks to the 100 Classic Books “game” for Nintendo DSiXL, we who love all things classic can not only be hip but I have to tell you: I’ve also been the envy of at least two young gamers in my circle of acquaintance (who also happen to live with me). I'll freely confess that I’m pretty much old school, like most fans of classic literature, but I really enjoyed the convenience of having so many great novels at the tip of the fingers (or my stylus, as the case may be). Since I was branching out and reading a book in an electronic format, I decided to also choose something a little different ...
Shades of Morning: A Novel
I think this is different than any other piece of Christian fiction that I've ever read. Not that I read this genre excessively, mind you. But it is different. Shades of Morning, by Marlo Schalesky is about a lady named Marnie who is running away from a past. As the book unfolds, we learn more about her life and an old flame of hers. (So far sounds familiar, right?) The difference is in the fact that her sister has passed away suddenly, leaving Marnie without the opportunity to say goodbye. Her sister has left Mamie a priceless gift - that of a son to take care of. Unfortunately this is one of those books that I don't feel like I can review very well because it involves a great ...
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Jennifer Donovan
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