Howker captures her characters beautifully! They feel real and authentic, just like the story!

It is a story about a boy (Bill) growing up in a small town, raised only by his father - and partially his grandfather. It is a story about a town loosing its last big factory, and with it, it's last big employer. Common people like Bill's dad and granddad suddenly loose their job, having to life on the dole. Bill, not the most motivated student in school, but a practical handyman, witnesses a town of workers falling into a depression. In addition, a wild beast starts terrorizing the surrounding area, attacking kettle and small farm animals. Bill tries to cope with his grandfather moving in with them, his father's unemployment, and the challenge to find the beast. At least he has his best mate Mick, or not?
It is a social commentary of the time the book was written in (1985), but in big parts it can still be applied to today's society.
Told in first person narration by Bill himself, it's an easy to read book - but beware the accent.

Again, a very well written children's/youth novel by Terry Pratchett. It's thoughtful, yet amusing. The story is quite creative and I liked the solution at the end. Johnny Maxwell is saving someone again, this time it's the local cemetery. The cemetery is supposed to be sold to a company which is going to build office buildings on top. Johnny and his friends speak up at a public meeting, reminding the adults that the past is important for the people living in the present, and that the cemetery is more than just dead people, but a place to remember, and even a place for recreation and nature.
Besides, Johnny has been asked for help, by the tenants of the cemetery themselves: The dead can be seen by Johnny, and thanks to him, they get in touch with current events and real life again...life (and death) can be very eventful in Blackbury.

Kara: LOL! I know. This was one of those books that to me had no depth or feeling in the prose, and yet it should have. I should have felt something. Heck, I should have been destroyed and I didn’t give a shit. That was the worst part of it. I thought the writing wasn’t so bad (poetic, even) but it was flat and did NOTHING for me. So in that sense, I agree with you. I think because the author neglected to build characters or a relationship...well that’s why it was so dull to read.

Lyn: The writing was okay. It wasn’t bland, but I did not enjoy the story telling at all.  I really wanted to like this.  The story seemed unreal as well.  This story should have taken place over some time, but cramming it all into one day made me feel that the story was running to the finish line to win some sort of medal.

Kara: Agreed. I thought it was very ODD how it only took place in a day. That’s not something that I would usually notice (because when you are wrapped up in a story, who does?), but I did notice--quite often, in fact--which just shows me that there was another thing amateurish about this book. I got yanked out of the story multiple times because I was either rolling my eyes or being bored to almost tears.

Lyn: I skimmed the last 40 pages. I was just done. I kept thinking, halfway through the book, “Where the hell is this going? There is still another 100 pages, is this part of a series?” I also found the entire aunt part unbelievable. There was enough besides “depression” to have the daughter taken away.
Yeah, I never really stepped inside, I was just excited to see the page numbers get bigger and bigger.

Kara: Yeah, I definitely think there was a lot more than just depression going on there. I’ve battled depression, and I still have bouts of depression from time to time. First of all, we have the Multiple Personality Disorder, but I also think there was some Schizophrenia. I’m not a doctor, but I wish we had really found out what the deal was there. Also, can we talk about the bird? Please? I know it’s a spoiler but it has to be mentioned.

Lyn: I’m thinking Schizophrenia as well - voices indicate something more. I was appalled that everyone just kept thinking, “Oh well, she’s just Angela. She won’t take her medication.” Did no one think to involve the police? Aunt Linda couldn’t get the girl when there was a history of mental illness? Lazy.

The bird just pisses me off. That was cruel. That was so mean and I started crying when I read it, because it was like “oh, poor bird.” IT FREAKING STARVED TO DEATH. THAT IS MESSED UP AND HORRIBLE.

Kara: Agreed. I thought it was lazy writing for her aunt just to leave and give up. I mean, if you really cared you would not do that. And then in the end, she comes running in like gangbusters to save the day, and I just found it so utterly unbelievable.

The bird was something else entirely. I honestly missed the part where it was bird napped from the library, so I just thought it died in there after the aunt left and moved away. Either way, it’s gross and messed up. Did the little girl not hear the bird SQUAWKING? Like, wut? It was just so STUPID. I hate to be mean but I have to, in this case. This book made no sense.

Lyn: The mom SCRATCHED OFF HER OWN FACE. I would never, NEVER leave a CHILD in the care of someone who scratched the freaking skin off her face. I’ll commit kidnapping and take the punishment if that means that I do not leave an underage person in the care of someone who follows the voice of a dead man. She could have burned down the house, for crying out loud! What if Granddaddy said to kill her (I can’t remember her name).

For the bird,  the poor thing starved to death. It would have been making some freaking noise. Starving is brutal and makes living things go mad.  It would have screamed its head off. 

Kara: YES!! YES, YES, YES! I would have gone to JAIL for a family member I cared about just to see that they were cared for. It’s so disgusting that this woman just walked away and left her with this person, who clearly was unable to take care of her! Why did she not call the police? It made absolutely ZERO sense. I agree with you. I would have kidnapped that child before I let that happen.. GRANDADDY did say to kill her! They were about to take each other out in the closet with nooses when Auntie ran in and saved the day. Just nooooooo. What a nightmare of a book.

That bird was the biggest plot hole of ALL.

Lyn: Agreed.  Restraining order? You might as well shoot me, cops, because this woman is messed up.

Oh yeah - Granddaddy did tell her to do it.

I was very very angry with the aunt. What a cop out. “It would be kidnapping.”

Yeah, try to find me, bitch.

The bird was a very huge issue. Parakeets scream, even when fed. I also just...couldn’t stomach it. Seriously, I’m getting upset right now thinking about the slow, sad death of that bird. Animal cruelty is a big issue with me.

Kara: Exactly. She must have not cared very much just to walk away like that.

I’ve owned two parrots so I totally hear you on loud-ass birds. They are not quiet, by any means. And yeah, obviously animal cruelty upsets me but I think at that point I had already tuned everything out and I was just ready to be done with this book. It was so disappointing.

Lyn: I kept waiting for the horrible conclusion of Mr. Dewey. The entire book was highly transparent and I figured that the mom stole the bird. I also figured that the book was going to end in some sort of burst of violence because of the pacing. Even prepared, the whole bird thing was just unneeded and mean.

Kara: Now that we’ve discussed all our gripes, is there anything you DID like?

Lyn: I…...no. I cannot think of anything I liked about the book. I thought I would enjoy the library talk but it seemed flimsy and seemed to be an afterthought.

Kara: Yeah. I agree. I had initially decided to give this book two stars, but after meeting with you and discussing all the issues we had with it, I’ve decided I liked it a lot less than I initially thought I did.

Lyn: I feel bad for giving it one star but....it just didn’t work out for me. There was just too much that rubbed me the wrong way. The constant looped storytelling, the rushed romance, the unanswered questions, the cowardly aunt, the damn bird. Sorry, no.

Kara: I have to agree. The characters were cardboard and completely undeveloped. The plot was repetitive and I was bored to tears, and this was a book that was UNDER 200 PAGES. This should NOT have happened. Definitely a bare bones plot as well. There was just not much there.

Lyn: It felt like pulling teeth. I didn’t want to read it.

I love a mental disorder story and I usually give it the benefit of the doubt, but this one suffered from some sadly seriously issues.

Kara: Well, we are reading Memoirs of a Geisha next, so are you ready for that? :D I can’t wait to re-read it.

Lyn: I actually always wanted to read it. I might Kindle it so that I can read it on the go. Hopefully the next book will go over better.

Kara: I hope so. But even if you don’t like it, I do know that it will raise some important issues we can discuss and debate.

Lyn: I’ll come prepared.

This one was a long time coming.  I often saw this book pop up in my feeds, and everyone seemed very enchanted with the story. I feel a bit torn on my final rating. On one hand, it was a very different and beat-to-its-own-drum type of writing. Taking a chance generally scores well with me. However, the lack of pacing for the first part of the book and some characters I could have done without left me feeling a bit cheated.

For the most part, I did have a nice experience with this book. I actually enjoyed September's bittersweet personality.  It is a rarity to see a book written from a child's POV and actually feel like you are in the shoes of an honest-to-goodness child.  I appreciated Valente's hints at some very adult-like occurrences happening inside of September's world, such as her soldier father and her Rosie the Riveter mother.  The youthful main character seemed to be on the outside while the reader understood the subtle message delivered by the boastful narrator.  Ell, the book-born Wyvern, added a special magical touch to the entire novel.  The colorful descriptions and the oddity of characters was a pleasant reminder of traveling to lands created by imagination and childhood explanations. If you enjoyed The Phantom Tollbooth, then this one is going to be right up the same alley.

I must sadly admit that I did have to struggle through the first half of the book.  While the descriptions and the people were highly entertaining and unique, I did feel that the first part was just a huge, wandering path to nothing in particular.  I wasn't sure what I was reading, and where the book was going.  I also did not care a bit for Saturday, the emo-role male protagonist.  If he had come in a bit sooner, I think it would have worked out for the better.

I am rushing a bit to my final say, because there is a reason I added a whole star to my rating (yes, I was going to give this book 3 stars, but I changed my mind).  This portion might be a bit spoiler-inducing for some readers, so be warned:

I tend avoid spoiling anything, but I have to get this out of my head onto the screen, or paper, or whatever.

I think the last chapters of the book warrants this to be a possible future classic, because the moral of the story shook me up.  

The reader finds out that the "villain" is indeed a recycled  well-loved hero. The loss of the safety and the enchantment of Fairyland twisted the first good queen's heart into a thing of darkness and caused her to become the ruin of the land she once ruled with kindness and goodness. The Marquess implemented adult restrictions on the land to bring order and sense to a mad world.

For those of us who lamented that symbolism is dead, then please rejoice this book.  

Who of us here wish to escape back into our old childhood and relive the days when it took so little to be so good and so carefree? As adults, we can try to return back to the past and become immersed in the things and the state of mind that brought us bliss, but we can't go back.  A trip to the amusement park reminds us all of the steep price of food and the long lines at the rides. Watching cartoons comes with a small voice saying that you have other things to be doing.  Dolls and toys become collectibles living inside the safe plastic homes of packaging. 

Sure, we can try to go back.  But we're ruined and unwelcomed.  Our adultism has already been set in place. We can't be carefree anymore. No matter how good or bad, how smart or dim, how obedient or unruly we were as children, it amounts to the same - when our clock runs out, we are kicked out of childhood. Every single one of us. We need jobs and homes and food and love.  Just like Mallow's clock at the end, we can't stay forever. We have to go back, and we're not wanted back.

I cried.

I cried because the heavy burden of a girl with her wonderment ripped out of her hands could be any one of us. A lye (lie) can bring us back, but we're changed, and we are not the sweet little heroes of our childhood. We're now the imposing adult figures who clamp dreams and restrict questions. We're the villains now.

And it stung my heart to understand what the Marquess was feeling. 

Overall - lovely writing, lovely message, a bit slow in some parts.  I hope to read the sequel soon.