Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Claire Keegan GENRE: LiteraryFiction, Christmas PUBLICATION DATE: November 5, 2021 RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A brilliant novella that throws a powerful punch at some misguided members of the Catholic religious. Plot Preview: 1985. A small Irish town grappling with the cold weather and the dead economy. Bill Furlong, a coal and timber dealer, is facing a busy season with the dip in temperature. While on his coal delivery rounds to various locals, his past comes back to confront him and he is faced with a dilemma: should he allow his faith or his feelings to dictate his decision? The entire story centres around the character of Bill, and there couldn’t have been a better hero for such a story. A loving husband, an involved father who wants to provide the best education to his five daughters, a practical businessman who is hands-on about his work, and most of all, a human being who doesn’t allow religious loyalties to blind him from their abuse of power. If you need only o...

AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: Susie Oh GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: January 1, 2021 RATING: 4.5 stars. Such a simple and adorable story, this one! Little Soomi has received a beautiful green sweater as a gift from her mom. The sweater is too large for her but Soomi insists in wearing it right away. Mom adjusts the garment with a few folds and tucks and Soomi walks proudly to school in her new outfit. Unfortunately, the rough school day creates a rip in Soomi’s sweater and she is heartbroken. All her friends pitch in to help, but the problem becomes worse. Thankfully, Soomi’s mom knows just what to do. I really enjoyed the story. It goes straight to the heart with its cuteness. I loved how the children get together in helping Soomi fix the gaping hole in her sweater arm with bandaid, sticky tape and glue! 😂 The narrative is very straightforward, and at first glance, it seems like it is just a regular story without any morals. But if you dig deeper under the simplist...

AUTHOR: Emma Ward GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: November 2, 2021 RATING: 3.75 stars. This is an amusing story meant for little ones who have just familiarised themselves with the alphabet and want to have some fun with the letters. Doris is a gharial who lives in a modest home on the banks of a river. She has 26 hatchlings, and are they naughty or what!!! Each of the 26 baby gharials is named for a letter of the alphabet, and thus, their antics are revealed letter by letter. By the time Z arrives, Mamma Gharial is tired and she calls on Daddy for some swimming time for the kids. The alliterative title gives you a clue about what role letters play in this alphabet story. Each baby gharial’s mischief is also alliterative, either through the action/verb (such as “Bella bit mom”, “Dawson destroyed the toaster”) or through a quality/adjective (“Samuel was sassy “). This works as a simple and entertaining refresher through the 26 letters as well as provides some nice ...

AUTHOR: Ellen DeLange ILLUSTRATOR: Agnes Ofner GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: October 19, 2021 RATING: 3.5 stars. Fox gets chased out of his home by some dogs and he finds himself in a new forest where the animals are not so welcoming. They seem to judge him by his reputation rather than giving him a chance. However, when a wild boar attacks, it is thanks to Fox’s cunning and resourcefulness that the rest of the animals are saved. And this is how they accept him into their circle and make a new home for him in this forest. Considering only this plot, the story is good enough, though it is never explained why Fox never attempts to find his way back home though he wants to. Still, the prose is nicely structured and the language is pretty manageable. So judging the story simply by virtue of what it presents, it becomes a nice tale of friendship and acceptance, and warns against the perils of judging others based on appearances or reputation without trying to know the...

AUTHOR: Amal Karzai GENRE: Children's Picture Book. PUBLICATION DATE: November 2, 2021 RATING: 2 stars. This didn’t quite work out the way I thought it would. A little girl is having a dull day as she wants to visit the library but her mamma just said “later”. While sitting on the sidewalk complaining about the unfairness of it all to her cat, she suddenly discovers two apparently ordinary objects appear near her: a ball and a key. But these objects are magical and turn her boring day in a day of excitement and adventure by getting her past the locked library door. Sounds good? Yeah, it felt appealing to me too. But this is a case where the theme is good, the implementation isn’t. The idea is that libraries can take you on a wonderful adventure right through the book in your hands. This is a lovely thought and absolutely true. But the way it is written turns this beautiful opinion into a concept so abstract that only the most precocious of children will understand the underlying po...

AUTHOR: Liane Moriarty GENRE: Contemporary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: December 25, 2014 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A nice and entertaining read, this one. But it’s more of a social drama than a mystery thriller. Story: Trivia night at a local kindergarten school. Someone is killed. There are multiple witnesses. But no one either knows or wants to reveal who did it. This murder investigation isn’t the prime focus of the story but the underlying thread. The main proceedings focus on three women who are very different from each other but close friends. • Madeline: A funny, outspoken, loyal and passionate fashionista. She’s struggling with the fact that her youngest daughter will be in the same school as her ex-husband’s daughter with his new wife. To add insult to injury, her eldest seems to prefer the company of her stepmom more and more. Will she be able to mend her broken family? • Celeste: A woman with an impeccable life: gorgeous looks, loving husband, twin sons, luxurious ho...

AUTHOR: Wendy James GENRE: Contemporary Mystery PUBLICATION DATE: November 30, 2021 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A slow-paced, engrossing tale of past secrets and lies revealing themselves to a young woman on her return home. Story: Just out of a bad relationship, Jo Sharpe, a journalist, heads back to her hometown to work with the local community newspaper. Her return comes after many years, as she had wanted to escape the memories of her childhood, what with the sudden disappearance of her mother and younger sister from their lives, leaving her father drowning his sorrows in alcohol and Jo all alone. Now an adult, Jo is determined to dig deeper into the mystery, but soon realises that not everything is as it had appeared earlier. The story comes to us from the first person perspective of Jo in 2018, Jo in 1993 and the third person pov of her mother Merry from 1985 onwards. This was quite an interesting story though the pace kept going up and down. The prologue set in 1994 grabb...

AUTHOR: Lucy Strange. ILLUSTRATOR: Pam Smy GENRE: Middle-grade historical fiction. RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: I knew this would be a great book because I had heard of this author’s children’s fiction works. But I wasn’t prepared for it to be so fabulous! Mind you, the story is quite dark. Story: 11 year old Bess has left the London workhouse to work in a rural cotton mill on the promise of good food and shelter. Unfortunately, she finds herself overworked and underfed. She is antagonistic with the other poor orphan labourers who share the same gloomy dorm with no hope of escape. Right outside her dorm window is a pond, but they’ve been warned against entering it as there is supposed to be a monstrous mermaid dwelling in it. The only good thing in Bess’s life is the new entrant Dot, who makes a way into Bess’s reluctant heart. With regular beatings, work struggles reaching intolerable levels and a scary mermaid outside, will Bess be able to escape her situation? And maybe help Do...

AUTHOR: Andrea Coke ILLUSTRATOR: M. Fernanda Orozco GENRE:Children's Picture Book. PUBLICATION DATE: October 4, 2021 RATING: 4.25 stars. A cute story about a little girl who wants a doll that looks just like her. Little Molly's friend Emma has invited her to her birthday party and asked Molly to carry her favourite doll along with her. But all of Molly's dolls look more like Emma than Molly herself. Even a visit to the toy store doesn't help. Now Molly knows what to do: make a doll just like her! Do you think Molly succeeds? This is a nice little tale about inclusivity and a child's wanting to feel more represented, more connected to the world around. Thankfully, there are quite a few dolls nowadays that are representative of various cultures and races, so in today's world, Molly will find a doll that looks like her a bit more easily. The book also teaches children that they can't give up on their dreams if things don't go their way. They can always mak...

AUTHOR: Michele Amitrani SERIES: Rebels of Olympus, #6 GENRE: Greek Myth Retelling PUBLICATION DATE: November 16, 2021 RATING: 4 stars. I am a huge fan of Michele Amitrani. And when you are a fan of a writer, sometimes you tend to have over-expectations from every single book of his/hers. This can lead to disappointment because no author in the world can hit the bull’s eye all the time. This book is a prime example of how expectations can ruin the experience. “King of Defiance” is by no means a bad book, but greedy me wanted more! Almost everyone knows the story of King Sisyphus and his dreary task of rolling a huge boulder up a hill as an eternal punishment for having cheated death twice. This book tells us the story of this supposed trickster king directly from his perspective. You get to see the creative ways in which Sisyphus uses his brain against the egoistic gods, such as binding Thanatos with his own manacles, tricking Persephone into returning him back to the land of the livin...

AUTHOR: Rebecca Sheir ILLUSTRATOR: Chaaya Prabhat GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: June 28, 2022 RATING: 3.75 stars. A Taste of Honey delivers the right level of sweetness, just as its title suggests. The story is derived from an old Indian folktale. I remember reading the original, and I love the changes that the author has made to that narrative. Kamala is a young woman who keeps beehives and sells the collected honey in the local market. When business is too slow and she is struggling to make do, she approaches the king for assistance. Instead of giving her an outright sum, the king allots to her a plot of land and makes a deal that of whatever she earns from that plot, she can keep half. Kamala decides to make the best of this opportunity, but soon realises that the plot is on the outskirts of the town, the area is known for being a hideout for thieves, and the land itself is a mess of weeds and sticks. How Kamala uses her brains to earn a fair income from this ...

AUTHOR: Lucy Menzies ILLUSTRATOR: Maddy Vian GENRE: Children's Picture Book. PUBLICATION DATE: November 9, 2021 RATING: 4.5 stars. Such a cute book this one turned out to be! You can read it as two separate stories or in a combined narrative. That is the biggest USP of the book, though by no means is it the only good point of this gem. The pages on the left show the story of little Belle, who lives with her parents in the city. She adores her grandpa Jack and misses him terribly. But he can’t come to meet her for some unspecified reason. When he sends her a teddy bear as a gift to remember him by, she carries it around everywhere. But when will they meet? The pages on the right show the story of Grandpa Jack, who lives alone in the mountains. He loves his cute little granddaughter and is waiting patiently for the day when he can meet her again. Will his wish come true soon? I simply loved the dual story setup. I read both the tales simultaneously, and that didn’t hinder my comprehe...

AUTHORS: Eric Fan, Terry Fan & Devin Fan GENRE: Children's Picture Book. PUBLICATION DATE: September 1, 2020 RATING: 2.5 stars. In a Nutshell: I liked the idea behind this book. I didn’t like the book. I found the content too dark for kids and the plot wasn’t structured well. Story: Barnabus is a failed project of a pet store. Half mouse and half elephant, he is kept in a glass jar in the basement storage along with the other hybrid misfits. When a cockroach tells Barnabus of the stars and rivers and other beauties of nature, Barnabus decides to escape. As he keeps saying, “nothing is impossible”. Will all the misfits succeed in escaping the dank basement and find freedom? Will they be allowed a chance at happiness despite their appearance? You need to read and find out. This strange SFF type of story will evoke many emotions in you as Barnabus and his friends attempt to achieve their freedom. There is suspense and sadness and hope and happiness. The positive emotions come main...

AUTHOR: Jenny Lacika ILLUSTRATOR: Teresa Martínez GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: May 3, 2022 RATING: 3.5 stars. Rafael loves his toys and tries his best to keep them safe. But his younger sister Essie always finds the hidden loot and crashes around them. In desperation Rafael decides to build ‘un muro’ – a wall. He finds the perfect location for his new wall, and now has to figure out how to build it. Thus begins a treasure hunt of various cardboard boxes and other things from around the house that could help him. But will this unsteady cardboard wall protect his toys from Essie? This is a nice and cute story. I loved the moral that shows how Rafael got his sister’s intent completely wrong, and that she wasn’t bent on destroying his toys but only wanted to play with him. I would have loved a bit more of Essie. She seems like a perfectly loveable and naughty little imp! The book is promoted as having STEM content, with the way spatial skills are involved in Rafael’...

AUTHOR: Claire Oshetsky GENRE: Literary Fiction RATING: 3.25 In a Nutshell: This is, by far, the weirdest book I have ever read in my life! But I still found it thought-provoking, and to a certain extent, I liked the questions it raised. Story Synopsis: (Golden Rule for this story synopsis and everything else that follows: don’t question any content with ‘How is that possible?’ I have no answers.) Tiny has had a one-time dalliance with her secret owl lover. ( I know…I get ya…read on. ) She is now pregnant, and is a hundred per cent sure that her baby is an owl-baby, something her husband only sees as one of the mental side-effects of pregnancy. When Chouette is born though, Tiny is proved correct. Small and predatory, Chouette proves to be a very difficult owl-baby who functions as per her own adamant demands. But Tiny is a mother, and she vows to do the best she can to make her child happy, even if it means going against her husband and the rest of the world, and even if she ends up b...