McKinley's: Beauty

A first person account of the tale of Beauty and the Beast from the perspective of the muddy hazel eyes of the title character Beauty. In other retellings, this tale is about the transformation of Beast; this take focuses on the physical, emotional, and mental changes of Beauty as she grows to love Beast. Gentle, kind, and noble fully-developed characters populate Robin Mckinley's graceful world. McKinley delicately weaves magic into the story effortlessly with such aplomb that it seems almost a part of the natural world. She is deftly able to build and release tension as well as provide a few laugh out loud moments from Beauty's two enchanted chamber maids. I look forward to reading other titles from this author.

Another review

Faces of America

Allen Say writes an interesting tale of the importance of appearances, self-identity, and perseverance. An engaging biography of Bong Way (Billy) Wong who, fighting the odds through more than persistence, becomes the first Chinese Bullfighter, El Chino. An engaging story with unexpected turns to surprise reluctant readers perhaps facing their own odds. It reads like a faerie tale with the magic of ingenuity, self-image and self-realization. The pictures have a very still and peaceful almost antique photograph-like quality. They match the steady perseverance of Billy Wong following his dreams.

A tattered child's coat in the Ellis Island Immigration Museum inspires Elvira Woodruff to write this story of a childhood friendship between a story teller and an illustrator in Memory Coat. Themes of loss, family, and anti-Semitism culminate in a dramatic conclusion where wit overcomes an obstacle to keep family together. Michael Dooling recreates the mood of historical photographs for the oil painting illustrations.

Pre-World War II street vendor shouts in Charleston, South Carolina are the basis for a child describing the music she hears of her hometown in Carolina Shout!. From the early morning raindrops on the tin roof to the evening sad song of the Charcoal Man a girl finds music everywhere and in everything. Award winning author Alan Schroeder and award winning illustrator Bernie Fuchs join forces to create this lighthearted remembrance of a time when our lives sounded so different. This was a time of frogs croaking and street vendors shouting. The oils on canvas capture warmth and action as the sounds are captured in song and onomatopoeic verse.

Paulsen's: Sisters

Paulsen begins to create a set of portraits of two teenage girls. The comparison of two girls surviving their beauty and youth is incomplete and fairly unsatisfying. Paulsen chooses a cheerleader and a child prostitute, similar only in age and beauty apparantly, to draw his comparison. The misleading title pretends to make more of a connection between the two girls than actually exists. Paulsen does not write deeply enough about either girl, or build enough tension to end his story in the abrupt manner in which it is ended. This story reads more like a story starter. A point is made but ever so slight and hardly worth the telling. Arguably, the abrupt ending is meant to be an exclamation point. The reader may be left to wonder why these stereotypes needed an exclamation point when they probably deserved more of a story.

Paulsen's: The Tent

A teen boy and his father embark on a life altering trek across the hot, flat Texas landscape one summer. They discover a way to use an old army tent for making total strangers give them large portions of their money. After becoming rich, they find out the high cost of wealth. Paulsen's predictable "parable for one sitting" uses simple characters talking in simple dialog to tell a simple tale with a profound and important lesson.