Browse by Tag: Fiction
Learning to Lead When Everything Falls ApartIsland of Fire improves on the first two books in the Unwanteds series. In the earlier books, the story sometimes felt slow, and I did not always have a clear sense of where everything was going. We learned about Artimé and Quill, and there were battles and struggles to survive, but I never quite felt that there were …
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A Puffin, a Narwhal, and a Lesson on More Than Meets the EyePuffel Meets a Narwhal is the sequel to the earlier Puffel book, written by Sr. M. Gianna Casino, LIHM. In her children’s books, she is always teaching some kind of life value to kids. In this book, the lesson that I took away from it is that there is more to things than meets the eye. The story begins with Puffel and …
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Beautifully Illustrated with a Lesson on Embracing Your GiftsPuffel is a beautifully illustrated children’s book. It has wonderful colors that really make it engaging and visually appealing. At its heart, it tells the story of Puffel, a puffin who sees penguins having fun and doing things that he cannot do. He longs to do the same things and says, “Oh, Mama, I want to be a …
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Aftermath of Conflict: Survival, Power, and LeadershipIsland of Silence is the second book in The Unwanteds series, and it largely deals with the aftermath of the battle between Artimé and Quill from the first book. Artimé has survived and is now able to come out into the open, as well as allow travel between Artimé and Quill. As such, many of the Necessaries in Quill …
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Creativity, Survival, and Hope in a Dystopian SocietyThe Unwanteds is a middle-grade fantasy novel set in a dystopian society called Quill, where citizens are divided into three groups: Wanteds, Necessaries, and Unwanteds. At the age of 13, children undergo a yearly judgment in which any sign of creativity is deemed undesirable. The only catch is that those labeled …
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Catholics, Grace, and Persecution in Elizabethan EnglandCome Rack, Come Rope is set in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, a time when practicing Catholicism could bring danger or even death. This historical fiction novel weaves real historical details into a gripping fictional story, following Catholic characters, mainly Robin and Marjorie, in how they respond to …
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Family, Home, and the Environment — An Adventure to Protect LifeThe Wild Robot Protects is the third book in the series. The first book focuses on survival on the island where Roz, a robot, finds herself. The second book follows Roz as she escapes from the mainland and returns home to the island. The third book centers on protecting the island from a poison tide that is killing …
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Taken from Home — An Adventure to Return HomeThe Wild Robot Escapes continues the story of Roz, the wild robot, in this middle-grade science fiction story. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but as the title suggests, Roz must escape. The story follows her adventure as she breaks free from human civilization and attempts to return to the wilderness island …
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A Heartwarming Survival StoryThe Wild Robot is a middle-grade science fiction book about a robot shipwrecked on an island and forced to survive among the island’s wildlife. Interestingly, it is about survival, community, and family. I first watched The Wild Robot movie and really enjoyed it. However, the movie ended on a cliffhanger, and I wanted …
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The Conclusion Where Divine Providence, Mercy, and Faith All Come TogetherThe Return of the King is another great book in the Lord of the Rings series and the final volume in the epic quest to destroy the One Great Ring of Sauron. I read this book years ago and watched the movie version, but I remembered that there were a number of parts I did not fully understand, such as the Paths of the …
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