Immensely readable and interesting, this fictive diary of Anastasia, daughter of Czar Nicholas and Czarina Alexandra, imparts a good deal of history in an entertaining way. As the diary begins in 1914, 12-year-old Anastasia, the youngest of four sisters and the older sister of Alexei, has the normal complaints and comments of a girl with three older sisters, along with many observations unique to her circumstances and lifestyle. Political events are beginning to impinge even on Anastasia’s very protected life. “There are people who say the peasants are suffering, and blame it on Papa. There are even some people who believe that others should share in the rule of our country!” But life is not just unimaginable luxury for Anastasia and her sisters, although they live in beautiful palaces, travel on private trains, and have a wealth of servants. Aspects of their lives are spartan—the Czar insists they have “a good Russian breakfast” consisting of rye bread and herring every day, the four girls sleep on camp cots that they are required to make themselves each morning, and until recently cold baths were part of the morning routine. Anastasia is aware of the conflict between the notorious Rasputin, whom the Czarina credits with keeping her hemophiliac son Alexei alive, and the Czar, who distrusts and dislikes Rasputin. As WWI begins, Anastasia becomes more and more aware that life for her family is changing. Her diary covers the last five years of her life, taking us from her pampered life as a royal child, through the family’s house arrest in 1917, to their exile in Siberia, and finally, to their murders in Ekaterinburg on July 16, 1918. This is a story that will fascinate children for whom it will open a window into a foreign and bygone world that is not often covered in children’s historical fiction. This will be useful when the curriculum covers 20th-century Russia. Both biography lovers and fiction readers alike will gobble it up. (historical note, family tree, and other endnotes, photos, cast of characters) (Fiction. 9-14)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-439-12908-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It starts off innocently enough, with principal Walter Russ asking artist Florence Waters to sell him a drinking fountain for the Dry Creek Middle School. But art and bureaucracy are about as different as, well, flood and drought, and this book pits such opposites with hilarious results. Town villains Dee Eel (president of Dry Creek Water Company) and Sally Mander (chief executive of the Dry Creek Swimming Pool) absconded with the town's water supply, turning what used to be Spring Creek into Dry Creek. This all gets uncovered by ``Sam N.'s fifth-grade class,'' who is doing a project on the history of the town. What makes this tale an unequivocal delight is that it's told through letter, memos, newspaper clippings, school announcements, and inventive black-and-white drawings; even less-skilled readers will be drawn in by the element of perusing ``other people's mail'' to find out why Spring Creek went dry, and to decode the water-related names of the characters. Florence and her intriguing attitude and art win over the class, Sam, and even the stuffy principal—how she does it is part of a tale overflowing with imagination and fun. (Fiction. 9-13)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-380-97538-6
Page Count: 138
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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