The Diverse Shelves Book Reviews

  FANTASY FICTION: SAVVY BIBLIOGRAPHY: Law, Ingrid. 2008. SAVVY. New York, NY. Puffin Books. ISBN 9780142414330. PLOT SUMMARY  Thirteenth birthdays are a momentous occasion for Savvy’s family, the Beaumonts. It is the age where their “savvy” - a supernatural power that is unique to them- is revealed, and when they can do wondrous and magical things with their powers. Mississippi (Mibbs) Beaumont’s highly anticipated birthday is darkened by a terrible accident in the family, and Mibbs must go on a daring journey to save her father, and try to help him with what she thinks is her Savvy, the ability to bring things to life. However, on the journey, she realizes her Savvy is not what she thought it was, and even normal people have savvys,  her traveling companions are more than they first appeared.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS  It is evident that Law has a way with creating realistic and believable characters to whom youth and adults can relate to. The protagonist, Mibbs, is ...

  HISTORICAL FICTION: CODE NAME VERITY  BIBLIOGRAPHY  Wein, Elizabeth. 2012. CODE NAME VERITY. New York, NY: Hyperion. ISBN: 978-1423152194. PLOT SUMMARY  A Scottish female wireless operator known as Verity (aliases Queenie, Evie, and a variety of others) is captured by Nazis in occupied France. She reveals bits of code in exchange for relief from torture, and to postpone her imminent execution. Throughout the story, very much like Scheherezade in “One Thousand And One Nights”, Verity intricately weaves her confession in writing, telling of her friendship with Maddie, a female British pilot, and her journey to how she became a wartime wireless operator. Verity also details in her confessions her views on courage, evil, the power of friendship, and survival, and battles for her life in order to make it home alive.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS  Set during the early 1940s,within different countries and cultures, the young women Verity and Maddie, and other characters ...

  HISTORICAL FICTION: ONE CRAZY SUMMER BIBLIOGRAPHY Williams-Garcia, Rita. 2010. ONE CRAZY SUMMER. New York, NY: Amistad. ISBN 9781432860332 PLOT SUMMARY Set in the turbulent years of American history during the Civil Rights era, the three Gaither sisters Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern travel from Brooklyn, NY, to Oakland, California, in 1968, to spend time with their mother who abandoned them. Expectations for both the trip and reconciliation with their mother are high, and upon arrival, they meet their mother who is an absent but driven woman who does not fit the picture of what they view a mother is supposed to be for her children. Greeted with new experiences and situations, the tenacious older sister, Delphine, passionately leads her sisters in enjoying and discovering their new home for a few weeks. During their stay, all three sisters grow in new ways of understanding others and treating others with kindness and grace, in addition to learning and taking part in action against t...