Flip-Flop Girl, Katherine Paterson
Book: 27
Title: Flip-Flop Girl
Author: Katherine Paterson
Genre: YA fiction
One-sentence summary: Vinnie Matthews' father has just died, her family has moved to a new town, a new school year's just started, and her younger brother has become mute in response to all the stress. Stressed to the breaking point herself, Vinnie finds solace in a crush on a kind, compassionate teacher and a growing friendship with a compellingly unique classmate (the eponymous flip-flop girl).
Why did you get this book? For the last few years I've been working on and off on a YA novel myself, one of whose central themes is death/grieving. I have little experience with death and grieving myself (I know, I know, you have to write about what you know about, but the grieving theme kind of evolved out of a central theme that I *do* know about, and... well, anyway), so I have had to resort to my usual tactic of reading about things I don't know about. And if you're looking for a YA book about death and grieving, and one by Katherine Paterson turns up, you buy it.
Do you like the cover? Eh - it's fine, a painting from a particular scene in the book. I like the new cover (which I just saw on Amazon) much better: a girl's flip-flop-clad feet standing on playground asphalt in front of a chalked hopscotch square.
Did you enjoy the book? I did, although it was no Bridge to Terabithia, Lyddie, or The Great Gilly Hopkins. Katherine Paterson has written so many amazing books that a good book looks weak in comparison. This book was good, quite good really. I just wouldn't call it amazing.
Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again? Oh, gosh, I couldn't even list all the books I've read by Katherine Paterson throughout my life, and I've no doubt I'll read more by her. She's prolific.
Are you keeping it or passing it on? Keeping.
Anything else? Though from the summary it's clear that this book borrows a lot of themes from Bridge to Terabithia, the atmosphere is really quite different. I'm not saying everyone should read this book, but it shouldn't be discounted on the grounds that if you've read Bridge this would feel like an inferior retread, because it doesn't, really.
Scale of 1 to 10: 7
Number of pages: 120
Total pages for the year: 8085
Title: Flip-Flop Girl
Author: Katherine Paterson
Genre: YA fiction
One-sentence summary: Vinnie Matthews' father has just died, her family has moved to a new town, a new school year's just started, and her younger brother has become mute in response to all the stress. Stressed to the breaking point herself, Vinnie finds solace in a crush on a kind, compassionate teacher and a growing friendship with a compellingly unique classmate (the eponymous flip-flop girl).
Why did you get this book? For the last few years I've been working on and off on a YA novel myself, one of whose central themes is death/grieving. I have little experience with death and grieving myself (I know, I know, you have to write about what you know about, but the grieving theme kind of evolved out of a central theme that I *do* know about, and... well, anyway), so I have had to resort to my usual tactic of reading about things I don't know about. And if you're looking for a YA book about death and grieving, and one by Katherine Paterson turns up, you buy it.
Do you like the cover? Eh - it's fine, a painting from a particular scene in the book. I like the new cover (which I just saw on Amazon) much better: a girl's flip-flop-clad feet standing on playground asphalt in front of a chalked hopscotch square.
Did you enjoy the book? I did, although it was no Bridge to Terabithia, Lyddie, or The Great Gilly Hopkins. Katherine Paterson has written so many amazing books that a good book looks weak in comparison. This book was good, quite good really. I just wouldn't call it amazing.
Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again? Oh, gosh, I couldn't even list all the books I've read by Katherine Paterson throughout my life, and I've no doubt I'll read more by her. She's prolific.
Are you keeping it or passing it on? Keeping.
Anything else? Though from the summary it's clear that this book borrows a lot of themes from Bridge to Terabithia, the atmosphere is really quite different. I'm not saying everyone should read this book, but it shouldn't be discounted on the grounds that if you've read Bridge this would feel like an inferior retread, because it doesn't, really.
Scale of 1 to 10: 7
Number of pages: 120
Total pages for the year: 8085
