Elis
It's rare in my experience to find a truly character-driven children's story such as this. This story is entirely about the children (and the adults in their world from the kids' point of view), not a grand adventure, even the mystery is entirely character-centered. I love that the kids' exhibit all the insensitive honesty and ill-timed sweetness of real children.
The stories of Anna and Marnie don't shy from the harshness that can be life for young kids but do so in a way that doesn't feel like sympathy farming, but rather as honest struggles that must be faced. The book is remarkably light considering the heaviness of what the girls go through.
I think the ethos of the book is well summed up in the line "Being loved, oddly enough, is one of the things that helps us to grow up".
It's rare in my experience to find a truly character-driven children's story such as this. This story is entirely about the children (and the adults in their world from the kids' point of view), not a grand adventure, even the mystery is entirely character-centered. I love that the kids' exhibit all the insensitive honesty and ill-timed sweetness of real children.
The stories of Anna and Marnie don't shy from the harshness that can be life for young kids but do so in a way that doesn't feel like sympathy farming, but rather as honest struggles that must be faced. The book is remarkably light considering the heaviness of what the girls go through.
I think the ethos of the book is well summed up in the line "Being loved, oddly enough, is one of the things that helps us to grow up".
Added to listWant to re-readwith 5 books.
