Category Archives: Historical

Review: Destiny at Dolphin Bay by Diane Delacruz

Book Review and Content, Historical, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,
Destiny at Dolphin Bay by Diana Delacruz

Destiny at Dolphin Bay (Desert Island Diaries #1)
Diana Delacruz
Heart Ally Books
August 3, 2021

Amazon | Goodreads

About Destiny at Dolphin Bay

God always has a purpose. We always have a choice.

In this compelling Genesis Award finalist, fifteen-year-old Melissa Travis finds herself floundering into uncharted waters when she is exiled from her Christian high school. Dreading a month of “mom talks” over endless cups of tea, she accepts her missionary sister’s invitation to visit the remote Chiloé Islands of southern Chile. There she discovers a world utterly unlike the South Pacific paradise she imagined, where dire poverty dwells with enchanting beauty, and ancient customs conspire with modern corruption. While a pod of playful dolphins casts an irresistible spell, sinister evil simmers beneath the surface.

A suspicious drowning, a ghost ship, and a shaman’s chilling prediction of her death on the island force Melissa to question everything she believes. Amid the storm of human greed and natural disasters, a soulful young islander inspires her to make life-changing choices, while faith and friendship draw her to reckon with destiny.

My Review

I found it really easy to get lost in this story. The relationships between the characters felt real– especially between Melissa and her sister and Melissa and Nico. I liked that romance wasn’t the central theme of the book. There’s a bit of attraction between Melissa and Nico, but other events seem to keep them from exploring their feelings, like an earthquake and a possible crime operation threatening the people they love.

The book is set in 1990, so it’s historical fiction. Some of the phrases Melissa used seemed more dated than that, but maybe they were still being used in Maryland, where she’s from, in the 90s? I’m not sure, as I’m from Florida, so I am giving the benefit of the doubt there. They did make Melissa sound pretty sheltered as a person, which fit her character.

The setting is amazing. I felt like I could see the places described in each scene, and that added a lot to the story for me. I loved the adventure of the dolphins and the earthquake rescue and trying to uncover the truth about the ghost ship and possible nefarious activities it was masking. Melissa’s journey to deeper faith also really resonated with me. I loved the way some of her moments of awakening were described.

This is a super old-school comparison, but I feel like readers who enjoyed the Christian classic CHRISTY by Catherine Marshall or books by Julie Cantrell or Carla Stewart would really enjoy this book.

Note: I was a beta reader for this book several years ago, so my name is listed among the beta readers in the acknowledgments.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Melissa and her family are white. Her close friends Nicolás and Marco are Chilean.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
The story is told from a Christian perspective and features a few scriptures and stories from the Bible. A local religious leader uses local beliefs and superstitions to cover up crimes or manipulate others.

Violent Content
A man drowns to death. Melissa attends an open casket wake for him. A violent earthquake destroys the town where Melissa is staying and kills some of the people there.

Drug Content
Brief mention of people getting drunk as part of a ritual. Melissa also got expelled from her school over an incident that involved injecting oranges with alcohol.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of DESTINY AT DOLPHIN BAY in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna by Alda P. Dobbs

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The Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna
Alda P. Dobbs
Sourcebooks
Published September 14, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna

It is 1913, and twelve-year-old Petra Luna’s mama has died while the Revolution rages in Mexico. Before her papa is dragged away by soldiers, Petra vows to him that she will care for the family she has left―her abuelita, little sister Amelia, and baby brother Luisito―until they can be reunited. They flee north through the unforgiving desert as their town burns, searching for safe harbor in a world that offers none.

Each night when Petra closes her eyes, she holds her dreams close, especially her long-held desire to learn to read. Abuelita calls these barefoot dreams: “They’re like us barefoot peasants and indios―they’re not meant to go far.” But Petra refuses to listen. Through battlefields and deserts, hunger and fear, Petra will stop at nothing to keep her family safe and lead them to a better life across the U.S. border―a life where her barefoot dreams could finally become reality.

My Review

I read this book in one sitting, both because it’s a pretty easy read, but also because I couldn’t stop. Petra is bright and full of curiosity and determination to keep the promise she made to her father to care for her family. She makes sure they stay together, helps them when they’re weak, and stays focused on what matters, no matter what comes across her path. Her relationship with her grandmother is complex– there are levels where they just don’t get each other, and others where they deeply connect. I loved that.

The descriptions of the places Petra travels are vivid and gripping. I felt like I could almost taste and smell the food sometimes. And the hot dry desert and its affect on them as they traveled felt so real.

Though there’s some violence, it mostly happens off-scene, with some one-line references to what’s happened. In the author’s note, the author talks about how she learned about these events from her own family’s history rather than at any point in school. I didn’t learn about these events in school either, so I was really moved by the history in which THE BAREFOOT DREAMS OF PETRA LUNA takes place. It made me want to learn a lot more about Mexican history.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. The characters really resonated with me, especially Petra and Marietta, a captain in the rebel forces. I think readers who enjoy historical fiction or stories about strong female heroes will love this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Major characters are Mexican.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Petra and her family seek refuge in a church. Petra’s grandmother has taken them to mass only rarely.

Violent Content
Soldiers force boys and men to join their ranks, executing them by firing squad if they refuse. (That’s referenced, but not explicitly shown.) Soldiers tear apart Petra’s home looking for her cousin. They burn the village, and Petra and her family flee. They threaten to kill civilians.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog. I received a free copy of THE BAREFOOT DREAMS OF PETRA LUNA in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Lord of the Flies by William Golding

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Lord of the Flies
William Golding
Penguin Books
Published December 16, 2003 (Originally Published 1954)

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Lord of the Flies

At the dawn of the next world war, a plane crashes on an uncharted island, stranding a group of schoolboys. At first, with no adult supervision, their freedom is something to celebrate; this far from civilization the boys can do anything they want. Anything. They attempt to forge their own society, failing, however, in the face of terror, sin and evil. And as order collapses, as strange howls echo in the night, as terror begins its reign, the hope of adventure seems as far from reality as the hope of being rescued.

Labeled a parable, an allegory, a myth, a morality tale, a parody, a political treatise, even a vision of the apocalypse, LORD OF THE FLIES is perhaps our most memorable novel about “the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart.”

My Review

LORD OF THE FLIES is one of those iconic books that gets referenced all the time in our culture, but I’d never read it before. My daughter had to read it for school last year, and she had some anxiety about the content. I decided to read it first so she’d be ready for anything that might be difficult for her.

I read the book last fall as things were heating up before the presidential election here in the US. At that time, I actually wrote an initial review. But because I kept pushing back the date for posting the review, I have updated the review and added some more stuff that I’ve thought about on reflection.

Before I started reading LORD OF THE FLIES, I felt really weird reading all these big name authors talking about how pivotal this book has been for their writing. I think it’s Suzanne Collins who says that she reads LORD OF THE FLIES every year. That seemed really weird to me for a book with such a dark reputation. Every year? I mean, no offense meant. When a book resonates with you like that, I get wanting to read it every year. For a long time I had a book that I read every year, too. I guess I just found myself surprised about people feeling that way about a book that’s often referenced to describe uncontrolled violence or mayhem.

Anyway. So I went into the book with both some dread (expecting violence, which can be hard for me to read), and some, I don’t know, fascination, I guess?

The thing that still stands out to me most about the book is how easily some boys began to think of others as not human, as animals to be hunted. There’s a moment, after one boy has been killed where two boys talk around what happened. One boy comes right out and says that it was murder. The other boy recoils and tries to defend what happened as something else. He tries to explain it away as something not evil and wrong. It doesn’t work, and for a moment they’re both confronted with the horrible truth.

Watching the vigilantism and the violent language increasingly used by elected officials and repeated online while reading LORD OF THE FLIES was really creepy, y’all. Like, it seriously marked me. I would read a scene and feel like, this is awfully close to the way people are talking to each other or about each other right now. Or I’d get to a scene and think, well, surely our leaders won’t sink this low. And then. Stuff happened.

I couldn’t stop– and still can’t stop– thinking about the way the story explores the power of fear. The collapse of reason that happens when people are afraid and respond with that fear and anger. The steady shift toward things that once seemed unimaginable. I knew what was coming because I’d heard enough about the book that I basically knew what to expect. And yet, the violence of it and the dehumanization of it still shocked and shook me.

Reading this book, I can see not only from the story why it endures, but also from the writing. Like, I felt genuinely pulled into the tale. Even when I wasn’t reading, I thought about it. I wanted to know what would happen. Even though I already pretty much knew what was coming, I couldn’t look away from what was happening. It gripped me and paralyzed me with horror. (Much the way I felt weeks later watching the coverage of the January 6 insurrection.)

Honestly, I won’t say I enjoyed it– not like, celebrated reading it. But it really moved me. I think I would read it again. I think I NEED to read it again.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
All the boys are British private school students.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
The boys fear a mysterious evil they call the Beast. They leave food sacrifices for it, hoping that this will keep the Beast away from them.

Violent Content
At least one racist comment equating Indians with savages. Multiple violent descriptions of hunting and killing pigs. Boys beat another boy to death. A boy falls to his death after being hit with a rock.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog.

Review: The Best Worst Summer by Elizabeth Eulberg

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Historical, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , ,

The Best Worst Summer
Elizabeth Eulberg
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published May 4, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Best Worst Summer

This is going to be the worst summer ever for Peyton. Her family just moved, and she had to leave her best friend behind. She’s lonely. She’s bored. Until . . . she comes across a box buried in her backyard, with a message: I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. Things are about to get interesting.

Back in 1989, it’s going to be the best summer ever for Melissa and Jessica. They have two whole months to goof around and explore, and they’re even going to bury a time capsule! But when one girl’s family secret starts to unravel, it’s clear things may not go exactly as planned.

In alternating chapters, from Peyton in present day to Melissa three decades earlier (a time with no cell phones, no social media, and camera film that took days to develop, but also a whole lot of freedom), a story of a mystery that two sets of characters will never forget.

My Review

I was a little nervous at first that this book would come off as shallow and cheesy. I wasn’t immediately drawn into Peyton or Melissa’s voices, but as I read and got to know them better, I feel like I appreciated their goofiness a lot more. I really enjoyed watching the friendship between Peyton and Lucas develop. I liked that they both struggled for more autonomy from their parents but for different reasons. With Jessica and Melissa, I felt sad for the fractures in their friendship and the times they seemed to just miss really seeing each other. It made me remember some things, too, that I wished I’d done differently with a friend.

On the whole, I read the book pretty quickly, and I loved the way the past and present tied together over the mystery of the box. I thought the pacing of that reveal was nicely done and the way everything connected together was also great.

I think readers who enjoyed the celebration of friendship in THE GIRLS OF FIREFLY CABIN by Cynthia Ellingsen will love this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Both point-of-view characters are white. Jessica, Melissa’s best friend is Korean, adopted by white parents. Lucas, Peyton’s friend is in a wheelchair. One scene shows two women who are married.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
One scene shows two women who are married. I think one kisses the other on the cheek.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Melissa’s father is an angry, domineering person. He’s described as abusive, but his behavior is mostly referenced and not shown on scene. Melissa mostly steers clear of him when she can.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog. I received a free copy of THE BEST WORST SUMMER in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Daughter of the White Rose by Diane Zahler

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Daughter of the White Rose
Diane Zahler
Holiday House
Published February 16, 2021

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About Daughter of the White Rose

Can a common girl save a prince trapped in the Tower of London?

April. England. 1483. The king is dead. Long live the king.

Nell Gould is the daughter of the royal butcher, a commoner, but she has been raised as the playmate of King Edward and Queen Elizabeth’s royal children: Princess Cecily, Princess Bess, Prince Dickon, and Prince Ned, heir apparent and Nell’s best and closest friend. They think alike, her and Ned, preferring books and jousts to finery and gossip and the sparkle of the court. But when King Edward dies, Prince Ned is imprisoned in the Tower of London by his scheming uncle, the evil Richard III–and Nell with him. Can they escape? Is Nell the key?

Based on the real royal scandal of the Princes in the Tower, DAUGHTER OF THE WHITE ROSE covers a shocking episode in medieval history that has captured the imagination for 530 years. A story of murder, betrayal, resilience, and growing up, this girl-led medieval middle-grade novel will make a perfect companion to CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY and THE MAD WOLF’S DAUGHTER.

My Review

It’s been a long time since I read CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY, but I can definitely see why this book is compared to that one. Though DAUGHTER OF THE WHITE ROSE isn’t told in diary entries, it has the feel of someone recording a memoir. At first I thought that only the beginning might be that way since the first chapter is about Nell’s birth, but it’s a style that stays through the whole story.

I liked that the story followed Nell and her connection to the royal family. I also liked that though there are some dark moments, Nell doesn’t witness things, like murder, directly in front of her. I liked her character, too. She’s smart and determined, and won’t allow herself to be pressed into a mold based on anyone else’s expectations for her. I also loved that she was so inspired by other female writers.

I think readers who are interested in historical fiction will enjoy this book. Readers who liked CLIFTON CHASE AND THE ARROW OF LIGHT by Jaimie Engle should give this one a read.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
Major characters are white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
One kiss between a boy and girl. At one point, Nell learns that the king has a mistress.

Spiritual Content
Nell considers becoming a nun. At one point she spends a lot of time in prayer.

Violent Content
Brief descriptions of death or murder.

Drug Content
Adults drink wine socially.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog. I received a free copy of DAUGHTER OF THE WHITE ROSE in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Brother’s Keeper by Julie Lee

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Brother’s Keeper
Julie Lee
Holiday House
Published July 21, 2020

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About Brother’s Keeper

North Korea. December, 1950.

Twelve-year-old Sora and her family live under an iron set of rules: No travel without a permit. No criticism of the government. No absences from Communist meetings. Wear red. Hang pictures of the Great Leader. Don’t trust your neighbors. Don’t speak your mind. You are being watched.

But war is coming, war between North and South Korea, between the Soviets and the Americans. War causes chaos–and war is the perfect time to escape. The plan is simple: Sora and her family will walk hundreds of miles to the South Korean city of Busan from their tiny mountain village. They just need to avoid napalm, frostbite, border guards, and enemy soldiers.

But they can’t. And when an incendiary bombing changes everything, Sora and her little brother Young will have to get to Busan on their own. Can a twelve-year-old girl and her eight-year-old brother survive three hundred miles of war zone in winter?

My Review

As I started to read BROTHER’S KEEPER, I worried about how dark it would be. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to handle it. And I won’t lie, some scenes were hard because they were so heartbreaking.

What I loved, though, was Sora’s resourcefulness and her will to survive. I loved her love for books and stories and the hope she continually kindled inside of her that she would see her family again.

BROTHER’S KEEPER doesn’t shy away from the ugliness of war. But through the struggles and bitter coldness of winter, the love between Sora and her brother and their hope for the future shine so brightly. I’m so glad I read this book.

If you like raw, gripping historical novels by Ruta Sepetys (though those are aimed at a slightly older audience) or EVERY FALLING STAR by Sunju Lee and Elizabeth McClelland, please check out BROTHER’S KEEPER.

Content Notes for Brother’s Keeper

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
All named characters are North or South Korean.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Sora and her family are Christians. They’ve been forbidden to practice their faith but have a Bible hidden in their home.

Violent Content
Some descriptions of civilians, including children being shot or bombed. One very brief scene shows domestic violence. In one scene, two children fall through the ice into a freezing river and die.

Drug Content
Some mentions of adults drinking alcohol.

Note: I received a free copy of BROTHER’S KEEPER in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog.