For six long years Nyssa has been seeking justice for her parents who were murdered when she was 10 years old. She had suspected Elsdon, a youngest son of Lord Haraford, but his parents had Continue reading » Imogene's misadventures as an amphibian are entertaining. There's enough light humor throughout to keep readers hooked." I don't even know how to describe this book. It's Vivian Vande Velde. I like Vivian Vande Velde. I haven't read a book she's written that I haven't liked, though some I've LOVED (but this one I liked). I recommend her to everyone because she's just that kind of author. Basically, amazing. No book can stand up to the hype of Bookstagram and I think this is why I felt so underwhelmed reading it. Don’t get me wrong this book kinda has the makings of what great books are about: Also, I loved that her prologue basically chastised me for remarking on how I usually skip prologues and author's notes. Ha! Well, I assure you, while I STILL skip most author's prologues (you know, the kind that are ABOUT the book and not actually a PART of the story), I ALWAYS read Vivian Vande Velde's prologues and author's notes (and you should too. They're funny!)

Vivian Vande Velde

This was a difficult story to read. So much death, racism, tragedy and loneliness. Yet what I was left with was the power of sisterhood, of self-love, of believing in God-given talents, of understanding and the of amazing healing powers of community. I loved the depictions of a city and a culture I am an outsider to, but can appreciate and celebrate with the author. I felt like I was there with these sisters as they endured hardship after hardship and persevered with grit and determination. Each chapter brings us to a new peril as Imogene faces the challenges of being a frog and returning home. The reader is compelled to read the next chapter to find out how Imogene gets out of the situation and what new situation she will encounter.

And if you’re scared this is a copy of Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, don’t be! Yes, the princess gets turned into a frog, but that is the only similarity. It’s a very original tale! Princess Imogene is on a quest to return home AND to be freed of the curse that has turned her into a frog, preferably without passing that curse on to another person. Many dangerous and misadventures are encountered as she makes both friends and foes on this quest. I’ve read much better family sagas. The constant time jumps were irritating. This book is intentionally female-centric, but the male characters are too one-dimensional, either idealized or demonized. I hated the way one character prioritized her ancestral home and heritage over her children. How can a mother move her young daughters into a house to live with the boy who raped one of the daughters? And how could their father, an intelligent, sophisticated man, not have gone to court to stop that from happening? i wanted to love this so bad. i typically really enjoyed character driven books like this, especially ones that follow a specific family or theme or take place in one setting. this book just didn't hit the nail on the head, but it was close. But that's ok, because YA or MG, I can pretty much always count on Vivian Vande Velde to give me these things:

Frogged - Vivian Vande Velde right? 9780544225466 - Frogged - Vivian Vande Velde right?

a main issue with this book is the non-linear story telling. this is a new trope in modern literature, and i can confidently say it never benefits the story or the reading experience. it's use in this book was particularly bad in my opinion. it made for a lot of confusion and a lot of flipping around, at least for me. aWhen almost-thirteen-year-old Princess Imogene is turned into a frog, she puts into practice lessons from the book, The Art of Being a Princess, as she tries to become her less-than-perfect self again.The story is told in third person limited point-of-view. We are directly in Imogene’s head the whole time and gooood gracious, did the girl have a some hilarious, snarky monologue. Half of my enjoyment of the book was just being inside her head.

frogging | Fashion History Timeline frogging | Fashion History Timeline

The story, while somewhat predictable, was just too much fun for me to care. Imogene was a very spunky character, who I think a lot of girls could relate to (except for, y'know, the frog part...)

I loved how The Art of Being a Princess played such a key role in the whole book. Each chapter of Frogged is titled after a chapter in The Art of Being a Princes, with a sarcastic subtitle by Imogene herself. Such as… When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day. What ultimately for me really rather detracted from the novel (which is very strongly conceived and well if not spectacularly written) was the rather high levels of melodrama – it feels like all the characters are permanently moving from one crisis to another in a way which took this away from the level of literary fiction and closer to soap opera, while also diluting the impact of the individual events.

Frogged by Vivian Vande Velde - OverDrive

What a GENIUS hot take coming from a woman whose son is going to prison for killing WOMEN & this is the reason why HE should not be put on Death Row?) One other comment – Joan finishes the book with a life changing opportunity to move to England, one she claims as her destiny and causes her to reflect on her namesake Joan of Arc: it was harder for me to think of a historical character less suitable for inspiration for seeing England as a redemptive promised land of opportunity. Very clean! This was clearly geared for a young audience, and everything stays very lighthearted. That’s a teeny tiny bit of kissing, but nothing major. Chapter 3: A Princess Ought to Be Fearless. (That’s just crazy: the only people who are fearless are people who have no imagination.)” The eponymous problem, as Vande Velde (There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around) explains in an author's note, is that the original fairy tale ""makes no sense."" Hence, she retells the Continue reading »It is also I think partly a celebration of Memphis – although for me the City came across as a nightmare. So says The Art of Being a Princess , which Princess Imogene is supposed to be reading. But since she is neither particularly good nor all that beautiful, she skips her homework to visit the pond. There she meets a talking frog who claims to be a prince under a witch’s spell. Imogene kindly kisses him to remove the spell – and gets turned into a frog instead! The novel is told in third person by Hazel (Myron’s wife), Miriam and August her two daughters and in first person by Joan (Miriam’s oldest daughter). Joan’s sister Mya is the only female member of the tight family group not to have her own chapters, while the other key characters are Miriam’s husband Jaxson (who serves in the Marines including in the Gulf) and Derek August’s son. The things women do for the sake of their daughters. The things women don't. The shame of it all. The shame of her daughter's rape, the shame of her husband's violence, her nephew's psychopathy.