WAW Reviews: Rain Reign and Under the Egg
Welcome Back! How is it August already? There's so much to do and not a whole lot of time before school starts, so let's just jump into it!
The next two books from each list that I have read are Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin and Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald. Below you will see a summary of each book as well as my personal thoughts based on what students might say. Hopefully my insights will help you know what to expect when your readers get ahold of these books, just incase you don't have time to squeeze these reads in yourself.
Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin
Summary: Rose is obsessed with homonyms. It only makes sense that her own name is a homonym. Naturally, when her dad brings home a dog, she gives it an extra special name that has two homonyms, Rain (Reign, Rein). Her rules and obsession over homonyms, along with her personality, cause others to misunderstand her. Her teachers, her peers, and even her single dad struggle to relate to Rose and her idiosyncrasies. Luckily, she has Rain... that is, until a huge storm hits their town, the rivers overflow, the roads flood, and the dog goes missing. The search begins, a dog is found, but not everyone gets a happy ending.
Thoughts: If you've joined me from my Instagram, you already know I've fallen in love with this book! I'm usually not an emotional reader, but I teared up 3 times. I think kids will love this one as well. It has the dog, it has the kid on the spectrum that just wants to be understood, and it has a atypical happy ending. I really couldn't recommend this one enough! Just go read it!!
Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald
Summary: "When Theodora Tenpenny spills a bottle of rubbing alcohol on her late grandfather’s painting, she discovers what seems to be an old Renaissance masterpiece underneath. That’s great news for Theo, who’s struggling to hang onto her family’s two-hundred-year-old townhouse and support her unstable mother on her grandfather’s legacy of $463. There’s just one problem: Theo’s grandfather was a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and she worries the painting may be stolen. With the help of some unusual new friends, Theo's search for answers takes her all around Manhattan, and introduces her to a side of the city—and her grandfather—that she never knew." (Review from Amazon)
Thoughts: This book was slow to start, but by the I was really enjoying it! I wish it would have gotten into the more interesting parts of the art's origin sooner.
*Spoiler alert*: I made an inference into the Monument's Men early on, and I was right! I am obsessed with all things WWII and the recent movie of Monument's Men thoroughly intrigued me. This is the first children's book that I've read with that group being represented, and I really do wish there was more of a focus on that than the chemicals, artists, etc. But maybe that's for another book. Either way I enjoyed it, and I think a select group of students will too if they are able to push past the slow start.
I've got only got one more week of books ready for reviewing, so I need to pick up the pace over here! As usual...
Back to the books,
Audra
