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Reviews:
Angus and the Cat by Marjorie Flack
Another Life by Charles Oberndorf
Austenland by Shannon Hale
Castway Cats by Lisa Wheeler
Chicka Chicka ABC by Bill Martin Jr. and Lois Ehlert
City of Light, City of Dark by Avi
Clifford the Small Red Puppy by Norman Bridwell
Constellation Chronicles: The Lost Civilization of Aries by Vincent Lowry review copy
Day of the Dragon-King (Magic Tree House #14) by Mary Pope Osborne
The Digital Plague by Jeff Somers
Dino-Dinners by Brita Granstrom
Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House #1) by Mary Pope Osborne
Don't Say Ain't by Irene Smalls
Do You Want to be My Friend? by Eric Carle
Emmaline and the Bunny by Katherine Hannigan
Esoteric City by Bruce Sterling
Evolution's Shore (aka Chaga) by Ian McDonald
Harriet and the Garden by Nancy Carlson
I Spy Fun House by Jean Marzollo
I Wish That I Had Duck Feet by Dr. Seuss
Jin Jin the Dragon by Grace Chang
Lizzi & Fredl: A Perilous Journey of Love and Faith by William B. Stanford
Logicist by Carol Emshwiller
Madeline and the Cats of Rome by John Bemelmans Marciano
The Mammy by Brendan O'Carroll
Minifred Goes to School by Mordicai Gerstein
Miss Pickerell and the Geigor Counter by Ellen MacGregor
The Napping House by Audrey and Don Wood
Nightwings by Robert Silverberg
One Yellow Lion by Matthew Van Fleet
Opera Cat by Tess Weaver
Queen Vernita Visits the Blue Ice Mountains by Dawn Menge
Riding High by John Francom and James Macgregor
Sassy by Gloria Mallette
The Stars Down Under by Sandra McDonald
Strange Reading by Grant Uden
The Sunless Countries by Karl Schroeder
Tarot Cafe Volume 1 by Sang-Sun Park
Tepper Isn't Going Out by Calvin Trillin
Tiger on a Tree by Anushka Ravishankar
Vacation Under the Volcano (Magic Tree House #13) by Mary Pope Osborne
The West End Horror by Nicholas Meyer
Where Is the Green Sheep by Mem Fox
Yoko's Paper Cranes by Rosemary Wells

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Lizzi & Fredl: A Perilous Journey of Love and Faith: 01/30/10

Lizzi & Fredl: A Perilous Journey of Love and Faith by William B. Stanford chronicles the seven year journey his parents made from Austria to the United States by way of France. It's a WWII memoir covering the terror of surviving the Nazi occupation of France and the aftermath.

The events in the book are by themselves fascinating, terrifying and awe inspiring. The included photographs give a glimpse into an era that came before my parents were born.

Unfortunately the narrative falls short of presenting their "journey of love and faith" in a compelling and consistent manner. Sometimes it's written as historical fiction with dialogue, internal monologue and dramatic confrontations. Other times it's done as over-written lengthy paragraphs that read like propaganda from the Allies. Without that consistency the book failed to pull me into the lives of Lizzi and Fredl.

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Comment #1: Sunday, January, 31, 2010 at 11:41:50

Marie

I have this book in my TBR pile and I almost regret requesting it, because I don't think I'm ever going to get around to reading it and your review has basically confirmed my fears. I'm almost to the point where I'm not interested in reading self published books anymore — too many turkeys. Thanks for your frank appraisal! I'm glad to finally see it reviewed somewhere.



Comment #2: Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at 11:22:14

Pussreboots

It has gotten postive reviews on GoodReads but the inconsistency of the writing was a deal breaker for me. There are enough turkeys in both the self publishing and traditionally published spheres that I'm still willing to give the self-pubs a chance.



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