Anna Staniszewski

Part of the Sora Reads ebooks collection 2020. Interesting concept whereby Rachel is in Year 8 and her mother has decided to take a second job cleaning local people's houses on the weekend. Rachel is desperate for money as she has dipped into her college savings to buy a plane ticket to Florida to see her father and needs to pay her mother back. What Rachel doesn't realise is that she will be cleaning her classmates and teachers houses including her mortal enemy the bully Brianna. An intriguing enough book about what you will do for money and the privilege od private information. The dirt diary is a journal she keeps about the houses and people she cleans for as she tries to come to terms with changes in her friendships and her family. First in a trilogy.… (meer)

I was having kind of a bad day, and this book cheered me right up! The premise is what drew me to the novel: Eighth-grader Rachel Lee helps her mother with her housecleaning business, only to find out that she has to clean house for some of the meanest kids at school, but the bonus is she learns some of their secrets along the way. The story is light and breezy, with a believable friendship and lighthearted tween romance. But there are heavier themes here—that of divorce and the acceptance of a disappointing parent—which felt so authentic that I actually teared up in places. Awesome. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a fun, spirited, but not completely frivolous read.

What writers can take away from this book:
—writing an authentic tween voice
—writing a character who happens to be biracial (without it being important to the plot)
—balancing fast pacing with satisfying character development (something I’m struggling with in my current MG WIP!)

Disclaimer: Review of free NetGalley ARC.… (meer)

@kidlitexchange #partner - Thank you #kidlitexchange , @scholastic, @annastan and @mackyart for the ARC of THE MAGIC MIRROR - Number one in the about-to-be-brand new chapterbook series Once Upon a Fairy Tale. I was provided the book in exchange for the following honest review.

Honestly, there are so many ways to do a retelling that it’s never going to get old - or at least I hope not! THE MAGIC MIRROR in particular is a fusion-retelling of The Snow Queen (the real Hans Christen Anderson one of course) and… the author’s whacko imagination (Anna’s words not mine). There are other little Easter eggs throughout, such as Kara’s parents are shoemakers and trolls work in the palace.

Anyway, kid duo Kara and her BFF Zed are appointed by their fellow townspeople to figure out why the Snow Queen won’t flip the switch from Summer to Winter. Everyone’s hot and all the ice cream is melting. Come on… Enchanted Village a 18th-century village; it’s not like everybody has a deep freezer in the garage.

The Snow Queen and the Sun Queen are finger-pointing over a broken mirror and fighting over custody of a pet monkey who loves them *both*. It takes Kara’s sleuthing and a lot of patience dealing with the cranky Snow Queen to get the mirror fixed and winter started.

The mystery resolution is so subtle I had to go back and re-read parts. Kara is definitely the brains of the operation but bestie Zed is the clear moral support and comic relief. (A good message IMO, that we need both in life).

My only caveat is that the Snow Queen’s attitude STUNK for 99% of the book, and nobody called her on the carpet for it. It was a good jumping point for a conversation with my 6 and 8 year old (girl/boy) though.

To note, Zed appears to be Black, although with all the missing monkeys, broken magic mirrors, and melting ice palaces race doesn’t factor into the story.

THE MAGIC MIRROR releases September 3, 2019 from Scholastic (just in time for your first Fall book order!) with at least three more books to follow in the 2019-2020 school year. I’m looking forward to returning to Enchanted Village soon!… (meer)