Search
Search results
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated The Pink Bonnet: True Colors in Books
Jul 2, 2019
Cecile Dowd is a single mother, just trying to keep life together in 1933 for her and her three year old daughter Millie. Cecile is a widow and it's the great depression. Without her husband, it's difficult to always control Millie's behavior and make sure there is enough food on the table. Cecile decides she needs to get another job to help make things easier. While she goes out looking, she leaves Millie with a neighbor. When she returns to pick up Millie at the end of the day, Millie is gone. The neighbor says, that Cecile can't handle the child and has given her to someone who can help, Georgia Tann the head of the Tennessee Children's Home. They "help" parents find loving families for their children. But Cecile didn't ask for this and neither did a lot of other parents. Ms. Tann is taking children from parents she deems unfit and sending them to other families in the area. Ms. Tann has most of the Tennessee government in her back pocket and no matter who Cecile goes to for help, it's to no avail. Will she be able to find Millie before she's gone forever? With people trying to stop her at every turn, Cecile is determined, no matter what the cost.
Thank you to NetGalley and Barbour Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.
This book is based on a true story. Georgia Tann was a real woman who really ran an adoption agency in Tennessee for over 25 years. During her tenure, it is believed that approximately 5,000 children were taken unwillingly from their parents and sold in adoptions to whoever would pay the highest price.
This book hit my heart hard. I can't imagine what I would do, if I left my child with a friend or neighbor for a little bit and then when I came back they had forged my name on documents to allow my child to be taken for adoption. Or if they were just snatched from the street on their way home from school. This was happening to hundreds of families during the depression. People were doing anything they could to make ends meet, but for Georgia Tann that didn't matter. One parent should be with the child at all times. That is the only way to show that you really love and are able to take care of the child.
I would love to read more about this lady. I hope there was a warm seat in hell waiting for her and all her cohorts when she passed away. Throughout the story, you can feel the love for Millie that Cecile has and she risks her life and the lives of those that are helping her in order to get to her daughter. No matter what she does, though it never seems like enough, Millie is always just beyond her grasp.
If you like historical, true crime fiction, you will enjoy this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Barbour Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.
This book is based on a true story. Georgia Tann was a real woman who really ran an adoption agency in Tennessee for over 25 years. During her tenure, it is believed that approximately 5,000 children were taken unwillingly from their parents and sold in adoptions to whoever would pay the highest price.
This book hit my heart hard. I can't imagine what I would do, if I left my child with a friend or neighbor for a little bit and then when I came back they had forged my name on documents to allow my child to be taken for adoption. Or if they were just snatched from the street on their way home from school. This was happening to hundreds of families during the depression. People were doing anything they could to make ends meet, but for Georgia Tann that didn't matter. One parent should be with the child at all times. That is the only way to show that you really love and are able to take care of the child.
I would love to read more about this lady. I hope there was a warm seat in hell waiting for her and all her cohorts when she passed away. Throughout the story, you can feel the love for Millie that Cecile has and she risks her life and the lives of those that are helping her in order to get to her daughter. No matter what she does, though it never seems like enough, Millie is always just beyond her grasp.
If you like historical, true crime fiction, you will enjoy this book.
This book was provided as a complimentary and signed copy from the author, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to review another piece of writing by this talented author.
The story is told by Bullheaded Black, the horse of Alexander the Great, or Alex as the horse calls him. It covers the basic history of the life and triumphs of Alexander from a young boy and even includes some overarching history to help the reader grasp the overall history of the era and the other ancient peoples involved in the tale.
I have always been taught to be honest, and that is exactly what I will do, I felt this style of writing, at times, oversimplified the history. Now, I think I find that less appealing as I am an avid reader of history books of a much more detailed level, however, for the target audience, I feel it was pitched quite well. The history covered is interestingly put to the reader and is well described in context, which I think helps you absorb more of the history.
It was quite slow to get going, and never really gained a great pace, however I would find this very useful as a classroom text to introduce this era of history to any child over about 7 years old as it is at a level that they could understand. Also, the novelty of using the horse to tell the story is something that I feel would appeal to the intended audience, perhaps a little more than it did to me!
Overall, this is a good book for younger children and teenagers to learn about history in a fun and interesting way. It is written in a very different style to the author's other works I have read, which only goes to show his versatility in writing for the adult and children's market! Despite the apparently low rating, 3 stars means I liked it, and I would recommend it to younger readers, and to my teaching friends who are looking for some interesting historical fiction to assist their own knowledge, and to engage the children in a fantastic era of history.
The story is told by Bullheaded Black, the horse of Alexander the Great, or Alex as the horse calls him. It covers the basic history of the life and triumphs of Alexander from a young boy and even includes some overarching history to help the reader grasp the overall history of the era and the other ancient peoples involved in the tale.
I have always been taught to be honest, and that is exactly what I will do, I felt this style of writing, at times, oversimplified the history. Now, I think I find that less appealing as I am an avid reader of history books of a much more detailed level, however, for the target audience, I feel it was pitched quite well. The history covered is interestingly put to the reader and is well described in context, which I think helps you absorb more of the history.
It was quite slow to get going, and never really gained a great pace, however I would find this very useful as a classroom text to introduce this era of history to any child over about 7 years old as it is at a level that they could understand. Also, the novelty of using the horse to tell the story is something that I feel would appeal to the intended audience, perhaps a little more than it did to me!
Overall, this is a good book for younger children and teenagers to learn about history in a fun and interesting way. It is written in a very different style to the author's other works I have read, which only goes to show his versatility in writing for the adult and children's market! Despite the apparently low rating, 3 stars means I liked it, and I would recommend it to younger readers, and to my teaching friends who are looking for some interesting historical fiction to assist their own knowledge, and to engage the children in a fantastic era of history.
City Trails - London
Lonely Planet Kids, Moira Butterfield and Dynamo Ltd.
Book
Here's a book about London that's seriously streetwise! Let Marco and Amelia, our Lonely Planet...
Farm 123 - Learn to count
Games and Book
App
• Tech With Kids - Best Pick App • Winner of the Editor's Choice Award, Children's Technology...
Hazel (1853 KP) rated Dakota and the American Dream in Books
Apr 24, 2020
"Dakota was tired of playing catch with his mother at the park," so he rested on a bench but was soon distracted by a peculiar talking squirrel. Chasing after the strange creature, Dakota finds himself in a fantasy world full of anthropomorphic animals. Before he knows what is happening, Dakota finds himself working for Corporate America with its odd rules and unhappy employees.
The fantasy world of Sameer Garach's Dakota and the American Dream is a satire of modern-day America. From a ten year old's perspective, the short story covers the corporate ladder, hierarchy, racism, discrimination, career success and an extreme love of coffee. Whilst all this is humorous to the adult mind, there is an alarming amount of truth that paints the "American Dream" as a corrupt society.
From the very start, Dakota's experience feels remarkably like Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and could almost be said to be a 21st-century version of the classic children's book. Most of Dakota's story will go over the heads of young readers, however, adults will enjoy the humour and childhood innocence as well as appreciate the connection with their favourite books as a child.
As a parody of both real life and fiction, Dakota and the American Dream is a clever story that entertains and makes you think. Although sometimes extreme, it is amusing to read about everyday life being acted out by squirrels, mice, rats, a cowardly lion, an 800-pound Gorilla and many more bizarre creatures. If the humour and satire was stripped away, we would be left with a child's confusion about the way America works with many things appearing stupid or unfair.
The fantasy world of Sameer Garach's Dakota and the American Dream is a satire of modern-day America. From a ten year old's perspective, the short story covers the corporate ladder, hierarchy, racism, discrimination, career success and an extreme love of coffee. Whilst all this is humorous to the adult mind, there is an alarming amount of truth that paints the "American Dream" as a corrupt society.
From the very start, Dakota's experience feels remarkably like Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and could almost be said to be a 21st-century version of the classic children's book. Most of Dakota's story will go over the heads of young readers, however, adults will enjoy the humour and childhood innocence as well as appreciate the connection with their favourite books as a child.
As a parody of both real life and fiction, Dakota and the American Dream is a clever story that entertains and makes you think. Although sometimes extreme, it is amusing to read about everyday life being acted out by squirrels, mice, rats, a cowardly lion, an 800-pound Gorilla and many more bizarre creatures. If the humour and satire was stripped away, we would be left with a child's confusion about the way America works with many things appearing stupid or unfair.
Jean Ritchie's Kentucky Mother Goose: Songs and Stories from My Childhood
Jean Ritchie and Susan Brumfield
Book
Jean Ritchie's Kentucky Mother Goose is a collection of songs, rhymes and stories recalled by Jean...
Little London: Child-friendly Days out and Fun Things to Do
Sunshine Jackson and Kate Hodges
Book
Little London is full of fun and fascinating things to do with little adventurers in the big city....
The Astonishing Color of After
8.3
Rate It
Book
Life, loss, love and art explode in a kaleidoscope of emotions as one girl must learn the truth...
young adult
Are We There Yet?: Enid Blyton's Complete Family Series Collection
Book
Join, Enid Blyton, one of the world's best storytellers on six fun-filled family holiday adventures!...
Solar Flares: Science Fiction in the 1970s
Book
Science fiction produced in the 1970s has long been undervalued, dismissed by Bruce Sterling as...