Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley
For the most part, the story works, and I did care about the main character and what he was hoping for. The ending is the kind that kid readers always want: the young protagonist actually GOT to enter the fantasy realm, rather than learning some precious lessons on how to hold the magic in one’s heart but knowing that “fantasy world” does not quite exist. So, kudos to Beasley on that front. I was hoping that once we learned the back story of the aunt, I would have had more sympathy toward her behavior but she remained a two-dimensional device and not fleshed out character all the way through. Definitely felt that the writing is a bit plain and some details could be trimmed to tighten the pacing, but totally see it appeal to certain young readers.
by Scott Westerfeld
This book is just creepy enough, just romantic enough, just complex and simple enough, for pre-teen and early teens. I LOVE the descriptions of the consciousness of the HOUSE and Susan’s relationships with the House, her friends, and Nathan, the ghost boy. When Susan leaves her shell (body) behind and travels in a magical new exterior, the imagery is so vivid that even a non-visual/graphic reader like me can visualize the pictures. It is also interesting that there is no real “pay off” of the sub-plot of the father situation — that Susan’s father is not quite “punished” at the end. (I would have LOVED to see that…) It makes the story more real. This was a Bram Stoker horror fiction for young reader nominee. It lost to the 5th Harry Potter… hmm…. I disagree.
audience: 6th and up
This is 2005 Newbery Winner — I did not read it prior to the announcement of the award, so read it with a mind-set of finding worthiness of this winning title, so I was probably more critical than usual. Still, I could not really figure out why it was an award winning book. There are incidents in the book that show sloppy writing/editing: after stating that a “couple” of years past without much going on, the next “going on” happens 4 and a half years later. A couple never equals 4.5. The narrator’s voice also shifts from the young and naive tone and old and sophisticated tone constantly. Unlike the masterful handling in Spinelli’s “Milk Weed” in which the narrator also goes in and out of “understanding” of his situation, both as a character IN THE MOMENT, and as a narrator REMEMBERING those moments, Kira Kira’s narrator shifts tones without showing such “designed” inconsistancy. Instead, it is jarring. Someone says that this reads more like a memoir, and I agree — there is little plot structure. However, even as a memoir, there should be consideration of momentum. The meandering nature of side-stories and family narratives may make it a less appealing read for young readers. I do think that readers who love SAD STORIES will really like this really DEPRESSINGLY SAD story… it does have a somewhat hopeful ending….
Fairrosa Cyber Library 