Disclaimer:
All reviews are the result of my personal opinion from a Christian
stand-point. These reviews are provided for those who share my beliefs
and morals, to help guide what fiction a reader may wish to pick up. For
those who do not share these beliefs, please refrain from hateful
comments. It is due to rude commenting that I must now include this note
prior to all reviews. For more information, visit my purpose behind this blog. Thank you for your understanding
Summary:
Intended Age-Group: 7-12+
Issues of Violence: A mild moment of torture
Intimacy Level: none
Swearing: d*mn, a few underwear jokes pertaining to a kid who can see through anything.
Recommendation: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Summary:
Piper McCloud, our heroine, can fly. No reason why, she just can. It is built into her blood. But, being a piggy-tailed farmgirl of Lowland County, flying just "isn't the way of things" and, though her flying is still unveiled, the town gossip spreads rumors about Piper being an "odd girl."
When a government caravan arrives at Piper's homestead, she decides to attend a top-secret, specialized school for other children with special abilities--other children that will accept her. But this dream eventually fades into reality when she encounters bullies, mysteries, and the strongest urge to disobey rules. Risking her life to unearth the answers to her many questions (like what happened to the sweet girl Bella? And why is a glowing giraffe locked in the basement?) and to act on what she believes in, Piper is thrown into a life much more crazy and intense than the gossip of Lowland County could have ever been.
Initial Reaction: *****
I crawled into bed with my new book victim, The Girl Who Could Fly, and checked the time. Just perfect, I'd get the first chapter under my belt and then drift off peacefully. Four hours, 328 pages, and several sleepy yawns later, I closed the book with a content sigh. If a novel can keep a sleep-deprived, time-crunched, exhausted graduate student turning the pages until 2am...it's worth a read.
Spiritual Content: *****
There are also several mentions of God in there. At first, I was wary, but as the book progressed, the mention of being who the Lord made Piper to be (a flier!) stayed steady. Her parents are good, old Baptist church goers and Piper's been raised with the same beliefs.
It's not a Christian book, per se, but it's nice to see the faith in God (even with it's limitations).
Characters: *****
Piper remains wonderfully innocent and pure-hearted through the entire book and you love her for it. The other characters in the book are light side characters, but still engaging.
Plot:*****
The storyline surprised me. I really thought this would be a bit of a simpleton book when I first picked it up. Boy was I wrong! It's written with the young and simple viewpoint of Piper, but takes intense turns and gets a little nail-biting going in the reader.
The ending was good, but not hugely unique. At one point, a character has a stroke of genius which, threw me for a loop and I thought, "Wow! This author's amazing! I never would have thought of that ending. Brilliant!" But...she didn't end up going where I thought she would with it and it turned out good, but not amazing. :P
Writing: *****
Victoria Forester writes with humor, wit, and genius. It's a fun story for children and age appropriate.
Conclusion:
I enjoyed this book. A lot. Maybe it was the hick humor at the beginning, or the character's innocence & pure spirit throughout the whole book, or the fact that I've always loved "flying" dreams. But The Girl Who Could Fly was fun, and I recommend it.
Stephanie Meyer (author of The Twilight Saga) has a quote on the cover of this book, which I think captures the book's style perfectly:
For a more detailed explanation of the above ratings, visit the 6-Point Nutshell post.
Nadine
Brandes is an adventurer, fusing authentic faith with bold imagination.
She writes stories about brave living, finding purpose, and other
worlds soaked in imagination. Her debut dystopian novel, A Time to Die,
releases 2014 from Marcher Lord Press. When Nadine's not taste-testing a
new chai or editing fantasy novels, she is out pursuing adventures. She
currently lives in Idaho with her husband. You can find out more about
Nadine and her books at http://nadinebrandes.com.
Summary:
Intended Age-Group: 7-12+
Issues of Violence: A mild moment of torture
Intimacy Level: none
Swearing: d*mn, a few underwear jokes pertaining to a kid who can see through anything.
Recommendation: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Summary:
Piper McCloud, our heroine, can fly. No reason why, she just can. It is built into her blood. But, being a piggy-tailed farmgirl of Lowland County, flying just "isn't the way of things" and, though her flying is still unveiled, the town gossip spreads rumors about Piper being an "odd girl."
When a government caravan arrives at Piper's homestead, she decides to attend a top-secret, specialized school for other children with special abilities--other children that will accept her. But this dream eventually fades into reality when she encounters bullies, mysteries, and the strongest urge to disobey rules. Risking her life to unearth the answers to her many questions (like what happened to the sweet girl Bella? And why is a glowing giraffe locked in the basement?) and to act on what she believes in, Piper is thrown into a life much more crazy and intense than the gossip of Lowland County could have ever been.
Initial Reaction: *****
I crawled into bed with my new book victim, The Girl Who Could Fly, and checked the time. Just perfect, I'd get the first chapter under my belt and then drift off peacefully. Four hours, 328 pages, and several sleepy yawns later, I closed the book with a content sigh. If a novel can keep a sleep-deprived, time-crunched, exhausted graduate student turning the pages until 2am...it's worth a read.
Spiritual Content: *****
There are also several mentions of God in there. At first, I was wary, but as the book progressed, the mention of being who the Lord made Piper to be (a flier!) stayed steady. Her parents are good, old Baptist church goers and Piper's been raised with the same beliefs.
It's not a Christian book, per se, but it's nice to see the faith in God (even with it's limitations).
Characters: *****
Piper remains wonderfully innocent and pure-hearted through the entire book and you love her for it. The other characters in the book are light side characters, but still engaging.
Plot:*****
The storyline surprised me. I really thought this would be a bit of a simpleton book when I first picked it up. Boy was I wrong! It's written with the young and simple viewpoint of Piper, but takes intense turns and gets a little nail-biting going in the reader.
The ending was good, but not hugely unique. At one point, a character has a stroke of genius which, threw me for a loop and I thought, "Wow! This author's amazing! I never would have thought of that ending. Brilliant!" But...she didn't end up going where I thought she would with it and it turned out good, but not amazing. :P
Writing: *****
Victoria Forester writes with humor, wit, and genius. It's a fun story for children and age appropriate.
Conclusion:
I enjoyed this book. A lot. Maybe it was the hick humor at the beginning, or the character's innocence & pure spirit throughout the whole book, or the fact that I've always loved "flying" dreams. But The Girl Who Could Fly was fun, and I recommend it.
Stephanie Meyer (author of The Twilight Saga) has a quote on the cover of this book, which I think captures the book's style perfectly:
"It's the oddest/sweetest mix of Little House on the Prairie and X-Men..."I couldn't have put it better myself. And, if you can even imagine a mix like that, then you should release that imagination and read The Girl Who Could Fly. You may find yourself daring to jump off a roof afterward with hopes of soaring to the stars.
For a more detailed explanation of the above ratings, visit the 6-Point Nutshell post.
.
I loved this book!!
ReplyDeleteI just found your review and hope that you see this comment (since it’s been so long since this was posted). My 13 year old just came home with this book from the school library. My main question is: what is your opinion on the underlying message of “there is no such thing as normal”? I read the summary of that from a secular reviewer and wasn’t sure if it errored to the side of “it’s ok to be whoever you want to be… even if it’s not your natural design by God”. I can’t tell entirely by what the other reviewer was referring to. Thank you for your insight. I am just leery of subtle messaging that implants the idea that our identity isn’t concrete as God Made us.
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