Book Review: On Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve by Ann M Martin

Release Date: October 1. 2006
Read: Christmas 2009 (a reaaaaally long time ago, but I've reread it since)
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Format: Paperback, 160 pages

Description from Goodreads:
Eight-year-old Tess is convinced this is the year she will finally meet Santa, and experience "the Christmas magic." She also wishes with all her heart that her best friend's ill father will recover. Tess' faith in the season results in a Christmas Eve so wondrous, so sparkling, readers won't be able to help but feel transformed. Like trimming the tree and "It's a Wonderful Life"; baking cookies and "White Christmas," ON CHRISTMAS EVE is sure to bring new holiday magic to readers' lives.

Review: 
Although this book is geared towards younger readers, I still feel like this book is applicable to all ages. Reading this book was uplifting to say the least. Hope and joy have big roles, which make it perfect for Christmas. This book was sparkling with that "Christmas magic." The main character (Tess) is so hopeful about every trial that comes her way. This book unfolds over an entire year (one Christmas to the other). This was a really good choice for telling the story, as it really gets you to care about the various characters. It was heartbreaking to see that interaction between her and Santa towards the end. The way he has to break to her that there is nothing he can do for certain people, that there are some gifts that can't be given, makes me tear up every time. Although it is at times very sad, you still come out with a renewed faith in Christmas. This is why I try to read this every year during the holiday season!

Favorite Quotes: 
"Christmas and Santa are all about hope.."
  - Ann M. Martin, On Christmas Eve

Rating:
4/5 Stars

Recommended for people who enjoy: hope, Christmas, fiction, best friend stories

Happy Reading,
Mari

Book Review: The Sea of Monsters

Percy Jackson and the Olympians the Sea of Monsters, by Rick Riordan

Release date: April 1, 2006
Read: Mid-July, 2015 and many times before that
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Format: Paperback, 279 pages
Series: Book #2 in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series

Description from Goodreads: 
   The heroic son of Poseidon makes an action-packed comeback in the second must-read installment of Rick Riordan's amazing young readers series. Starring Percy Jackson, a "half blood" whose mother is human and whose father is the God of the Sea, Riordan's series combines cliffhanger adventure and Greek mythology lessons that results in true page-turners that get better with each installment. In this episode, The Sea of Monsters, Percy sets out to retrieve the Golden Fleece before his summer camp is destroyed, surpassing the first book's drama and setting the stage for more thrills to come.

Review: Eventful, enticing, and downright funny. These are the first three words that come to mind when I think about this book. The none-stop rolling plot, the hidden meanings, the otherworldly places they visit. It all fits together perfectly. The first time I read the Sea of Monsters, I have to admit, I kind of hated Tyson. He seemed so needy, but the more I read about him, the more I realized that he was okay. My favourite scene is tied between Circe's island and Annabeth swimming to the Sirens. Both involve great sorcery: Circe herself, and the veil the Siren's put over people when they hear their music. The Son of Neptune, also by Rick Riordan, references the Island, which intrigues me, and I have always heard about evil mermaids, Sirens, who control their victims with their powerful voices. But to read about them with great detail in a more realistic perspective is a whole 'nother story.

Favourite Quotes:

• "THAT Perseus always won. That's why my mom had named me after him, even if he was a son of Zeus and I was a son of Poseidon. The original Perseus was one of the only heroes in greek myths that got a happy ending. The others died- betrayed, mauled, mutilated, poisoned or cursed by the gods. My mom hoped I would inherit Perseus's luck. Judging by how my life was going so far, I wasn't too optimistic." -Rick Riordan
• "Mythologically speaking, if there's anything I hate worse than trios of old ladies, it's bulls. Last summer, I fought the Minotaur on top of Half-Blood Hill. This time what I saw up there was even worse: two bulls. And not just regular bulls- bronze ones the size of elephants. And even that wasn't bad enough. Naturally they had to breath fire, too." -Rick Riordan
• "Annabeth: My fatal flaw. That's what the Sirens showed me. My fatal flaw is hubris. Percy: The brown stuff they spread on veggie sandwiches? Annabeth: No, Seaweed Brain. That's HUMMUS. Hubris is worse. Percy: What could be worse than hummus? Annabeth: Hubris means deadly pride, Percy. Thinking you can do things better than anyone else... even the gods." -Rick Riordan

Rating: 8/10

Recommended if you like: constant adventure, travel, fantasy, mythology, destiny, fate, short reads, kid novels

A recipe for disaster,

Lauren