ACHUKA Children's Books UK

children's & YA recommendations on the go

  • News
    • Reviews
  • Illustrated
    • Meet An Illustrator
  • Fiction
    • Humour
    • Classics/Reissues
    • YA
  • Non-Fiction
  • Poetry & Tales
  • Gift
  • Links
  • About
    • ACHUKAstudio
    • Contact me
You are here: Home / Archives for expectations

Moo by Sharon Creech ill. Sarah Horn

April 28, 2021 By achuka Leave a Comment

ACHUKA Book of the Day 29 Apr 2021
Sunday Times Children’s Book of the Week 11 Apr 2021

Waterstones
Amazon

“Creech has a magic touch. She writes simply and directly (in this novel, largely in blank verse), yet her unshowy language is transporting and charged with emotion… It’s delightful, and infused with understanding of young and old might behave and feel.” Nicolette Jones, Sunday Times
“Not only does Creech seamlessly intersperse prose and poetry, but the design manipulates typeface, font, setting, and spacing to paint word-pictures, in some instances creating concrete poetry while in others emphasizing a few words on the page—an accentuation that makes the story come alive and deftly communicates the range of emotions, from humor to sorrow, that the story conveys.” KIRKUS
“Reena’s narrative uses a comfortable combination of prose, poems, and prose poems, while changing fonts, type sizes, and type placement help express emotion, drama, action, and mood. The story zips along yet somehow conveys the slow growth of trust and friendship between young and old, human and bovine. It’s Reena who first suggests they move to Maine, because she’s read three books that made her 
feel “I was there already / in my mind”; Creech’s novel memorably does the same.” Horn Book
“A summer setting, vividly developed characters and liberal use of white space make this book a breezy companion…” Washington Post

[f.p. in US in 2016]
Following a family move to Maine, twelve-year-old Reena has no idea what to expect.  She hopes it’s going to be beaches, blueberries and all the lobster she can eat. She certainly doesn’t expect to suddenly be put in charge of a menagerie of animals, belonging to the irascible Mrs Falala, who not only has a fast-wheeling pig, a secretive snake, but the most ornery cow she ever thought to meet.

A wonderfully funny, moving story of one family’s move to the country, and the challenges they face.

Filed Under: Blog, BookOfTheDay, Books, Fiction Tagged With: cow, dream, expectations, family, reality, relationships

Heiress Apparently by Diana Ma

January 4, 2021 By achuka Leave a Comment

Waterstones
Amazon
Bookshop

“Ma successfully creates vivid settings in Los Angeles and China as she uncovers important issues facing Asian Americans, including family expectations, identity, sacrifice and honour.”
School Library Journal
“Soap-opera–worthy twists are grounded by ties to significant events in contemporary Chinese history in this meaningful debut.” KIRKUS

The first book in an epic and romantic YA series following the fictionalized descendants of the only officially recognized empress regent of China

Gemma Huang is a recent transplant to Los Angeles from Illinois, having abandoned plans for college to pursue a career in acting, much to the dismay of her parents. Now she’s living with three roommates in a two-bedroom hovel, auditioning for bit roles that hardly cover rent. Gemma’s big break comes when she’s asked to play a lead role in an update of M. Butterfly filming for the summer in Beijing. When she arrives, she’s stopped by paparazzi at the airport. She quickly realizes she may as well be the twin of one of the most notorious young socialites in Beijing. Thus kicks off a summer of revelations, in which Gemma uncovers a legacy her parents have spent their lives protecting her from-one her mother would conceal from her daughter at any cost.

Diana Ma is a debut Chinese-American author who holds a BA in creative writing from the University of Washington and an MA in English with a creative writing focus from the University of Illinois, Chicago. She lives in a suburb of Seattle.

Filed Under: YA Tagged With: Asia, Asian-American, China, expectations, family

Copyright ACHUKA © 2022 · designed on Genesis Framework

 

Loading Comments...