Welcome to the world, Lucy Mae Zina!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
The Scarlet Stockings: The Enchanted Riddle, by Charlotte Kandel
Review:
In an orphanage in London’s Hoxley district, a young girl yearns to find her parents and learn the truth about her history. Cue the orchestra for a rendition of Oliver’s “Where is Love” or Annie’s “Maybe,” and pull out a box of tissues, right?
Not so fast. In The Enchanted Riddle, the first installment of The Scarlet Stockings trilogy by Charlotte Kandel, we meet Daphne, a thirteen-year-old orphan with an ambition: to dance the finest stages of Europe and become a prima ballerina. When a mysterious package arrives at the orphanage for Daphne, the quest is on to achieve her dreams and solve the riddle of the magic scarlet stockings the package contains. This pursuit catapults Daphne from the vaudeville theaters of Hoxley to stage of the Royal Ballet Academy in Paris, where she finds heartbreak and disaster, and finally the truth.
Unlike the sympathetic orphans found elsewhere in literature, Daphne vacillates between friendly camaraderie and prima-donna arrogance. She makes choices that alienate her friends, only to beg forgiveness and steal her way back into their (and our) hearts again and again. In the end, we discover with Daphne that a dream come true is anything but, unless the people we love are at our side . . . and watching our back.
In an orphanage in London’s Hoxley district, a young girl yearns to find her parents and learn the truth about her history. Cue the orchestra for a rendition of Oliver’s “Where is Love” or Annie’s “Maybe,” and pull out a box of tissues, right?
Not so fast. In The Enchanted Riddle, the first installment of The Scarlet Stockings trilogy by Charlotte Kandel, we meet Daphne, a thirteen-year-old orphan with an ambition: to dance the finest stages of Europe and become a prima ballerina. When a mysterious package arrives at the orphanage for Daphne, the quest is on to achieve her dreams and solve the riddle of the magic scarlet stockings the package contains. This pursuit catapults Daphne from the vaudeville theaters of Hoxley to stage of the Royal Ballet Academy in Paris, where she finds heartbreak and disaster, and finally the truth.
Unlike the sympathetic orphans found elsewhere in literature, Daphne vacillates between friendly camaraderie and prima-donna arrogance. She makes choices that alienate her friends, only to beg forgiveness and steal her way back into their (and our) hearts again and again. In the end, we discover with Daphne that a dream come true is anything but, unless the people we love are at our side . . . and watching our back.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
I HEART BOOKS
Wherein I begin a list of all the books I want to own as my children grow, so that when birthdays and mothers' days and such lurk I can tell people "check out my May 21 2008 blog post if you want to know what I really want!"
To be added to and subtracted from as needed, and in no particular order:
All Junie B. Jones books
A Little Princess
The Secret Garden
Robinson Crusoe
Tom Sawyer
Chronicles of Narnia (still have my old set--man are they worn out)
The Spiderwick Chronicles
Harry Potter 1-6 (and I thought I was being good waiting on the library all those times . . .)Ramona Quimby books
Are You there God? It's Me Margaret
The Jungle Book
The Little House on the Prarie books
Anne of Green Gables
The Emily Trilogy (L.M. Montgomery)
to be added to . . .
To be added to and subtracted from as needed, and in no particular order:
All Junie B. Jones books
A Little Princess
The Secret Garden
Robinson Crusoe
Tom Sawyer
Chronicles of Narnia (still have my old set--man are they worn out)
The Spiderwick Chronicles
Harry Potter 1-6 (and I thought I was being good waiting on the library all those times . . .)Ramona Quimby books
Are You there God? It's Me Margaret
The Jungle Book
The Little House on the Prarie books
Anne of Green Gables
The Emily Trilogy (L.M. Montgomery)
to be added to . . .
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Friday, May 9, 2008
Yes, well, so much for the "regular" blog posting thing.
The problem is, I haven't been writing anything. Which can be problematic after the point when you paste the label "writer" on yourself. See, writers are supposed to write.
Then again, mothers are supposed to read bedtime stories, and I haven't exactly been a rock-star on that front either.
What, you ask, have I been doing? It's a fair question. Obsessing about politics is the answer. With, you know, some meal-making and house-cleaning thrown in.
But next week, I'm going all super-mom! 2+ hours of writing or editing every day AND cuteness and craft projects with my kidders.
So Obama better do his part and get hisself a nomination!!
The problem is, I haven't been writing anything. Which can be problematic after the point when you paste the label "writer" on yourself. See, writers are supposed to write.
Then again, mothers are supposed to read bedtime stories, and I haven't exactly been a rock-star on that front either.
What, you ask, have I been doing? It's a fair question. Obsessing about politics is the answer. With, you know, some meal-making and house-cleaning thrown in.
But next week, I'm going all super-mom! 2+ hours of writing or editing every day AND cuteness and craft projects with my kidders.
So Obama better do his part and get hisself a nomination!!
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