However, not all of the surprises were good this year. While I was not affect in that I had no reviews deleted, I was hurt and appalled at what had happened to a community I'd come to care a great deal about. I'm glad that it led me here to Booklikes, but it rather soured me on reading for a bit. Also, several books I'd been looking forward to for quite awhile turned out to be less then ideal.

I couldn't get past the first chapter. I felt like the author believed I was a two year old. Every sentence contained only a few words. There were no compound or complex sentences anywhere. I felt talked down to. I felt lectured to in a monotone voice. The author couldn't make an explosion sound interesting. This is the issue I have with most older children or YA non-fiction history books. They are written as if the reader has to be stupid. This is why I'm a fan of Jim Murphy. He does not treat his reader like they're dumb. I'm going to quit writing this review. Otherwise I might be unable to write another complex sentence ever again.

This is an excellent example of the reason I didn't read many 'children's' history books when I was that age. I found them poorly written, talked down to their audience, and were generally not worth my time. I read books geared for people much older then myself because I learned something and wasn't made to feel that I was stupid.

If you're looking for a good history book in this age level, check out Jim Murphy's books - they are generally the best I've found yet.

Good mystery plot, with an interesting tie-in to events during the outset of America's involvement with WWII.

 

I liked the interaction between the main character and the detective. The rest of the book left me feeling a bit 'meh'. The sister was just a wee bit too precious - I think a widowed war-bride with a baby would have a bit more steel in her spine and a bit more maturity, but she wasn't unlikeable. In keeping with current trends in cozy mysteries, the mother in this book is in need of an attitude adjustment, although she isn't as bad as a lot of the mother characters lately.

 

Overall, I'll read the second one. I'm hoping a lot of the characters will gel a bit more in the second book and I'll be able to immerse myself more in the next mystery and 1942 NYC.

Good "period" mystery. Ms. Meade did some good research so the time period characters were quite believable. Well written. Will be on board for #2!