Carol Weston (1)Críticas

I love this unique book. Filled with palindromes, we follow Ava (whose name is also a palindrome), who is seeking to get a cat. In her journey, she discovers other palindrome words throughout the book.

Ava and Pip is a cute series for girls (9 - 12) about siblings, writing, being creative, looking for your strengths, friendship and more. The family loves words and language. They especially love palindromes, words that spell the same forward and backward. Their father is a play-write and he encourages his daughters to use their strengths.

The main character in the book, Ava, is spunky, very smart, outspoken at times, quiet at others, sensitive and caring. This book has a new set of problems and emotions for Ava to deal with. It is coming up to Valentine's Day and Ava starts experiencing new feelings for her best guy friend, Chuck. Is this her first crush? When she hears the news that Chuck is suddenly going out with a very bubbly, pretty and popular classmate we see a side to Ava that is not the nicest. She becomes jealous and starts thinking, writing and talking about Kelli in a negative way without really getting to know her. There are also other issues going on with Pip and her friends that Ava becomes involved with and gets her into some trouble with the older girls. We follow Ava along as she tackles serious issues including newly developed friendships, trust, feelings of inadequacy, body issues, and bullying.

These books are very relateable. The problems are real and although not the most pleasant to deal with, children do have to deal with them. The solutions in the story are also ones that would work in real life, although perhaps not that quickly and easily. The characters in the books, including the secondary ones, are well developed and all play an important role in the story. Not only would I recommend this book, but the whole series. They are age appropriate, deal with real and topical situations, promote writing and reading in a positive light and help girls to realize that it is okay to be strong, feisty, smart and work hard to fulfill your dreams. A wonderful series for every family, public, school or classroom library.

I did not read the first Ava and Pip book, but had no problem following this story. This is a cute series for girls (9 - 12) about siblings, writing, being creative, looking for your stengths, friendship and more. The family loves words and language. They especially love palindromes, words that spell the same forward and backward. Their father is a playwrite and he encourages his daughters to use their strengths.

Ava is turning 11 and wants a pet, not any pet, but the honey coloured cat that her mother told them about. The cat had been brought into the vet's office where her mother works, possibly after being attacked by a coyote. It has been turned over to the Animal Rescue and Ava wants her family to adopt him. Her parents finally agree with her and Pip and they head to the Animal Rescue to adopt the cat. Ava names him Taco Cat, because of his colour and the fact that it is a palindrome. The problem is that when they get Taco Cat home, he is completely anti-social. He hides under the couch for days and Ava begins to think she has made the wrong decision about getting this cat. While this is going on, Ava is having a personal dilemma. Her BFF has befriended the new girl, Zara, and Ava feels that they are drifting apart. Not only that, but Zara has caused a rift between Ava and Chuck, another friend. With Ava not feeling great about everything, Pip tries to cheer her up and keep her occupied by creating a book called, Alphabet Fish. Ava writes the poems while Pip does the illustrations. As the story goes on, Ava has a lot of decisions to make, some of them tougher than others, but she learns about friendship and about doing the right thing. This is a great book for a school, classroom, or child's library.

What an absolutely adorable story this was! Apparently this is the second in a set, with the first book revolving around Ava Wren, and her sister Pip. Which I didn't find out until after I'd finish this particular story. I can assure you, Ava and Taco Cat reads perfectly fine as a standalone. If anything, it actually made me want to seek out the other book as soon as possible. Ava and Pip are simply the sweetest, and the perfect example of what sisterhood really looks like.

Truth be told, Ava herself is exactly what an eleven year old girl would be like. Carol Weston easily brings the reader into Ava's mind, a place that swirls with questions of what she wants to do when she gets older, thoughts on whether her best friend is trying to leave her, and the passionate desire for a pet cat. I was extremely impressed with Weston's ability to nail down an eleven year old personality. Sometimes reading MG that is first person narrative can be a little daunting. Characters have the opportunity to feel too old for their supposed age. Not Ava. This darling girl was simply eleven, going on twelve, and full of all the emotions that I'd expect her to have at that age.

There are so many things that I could gush about! The fact that Weston expertly weaves in a discussion on friendship, and the ability to move beyond having a best friend into having many good friends. The idea that when new people move into your life, it isn't always easy to trust them at first. Best of all, the way that a pet can become part of the family without anyone even noticing. I adored every minute of it. I can't quite say too much, for fear of spoiling the last few chapters, but trust me when I say that this book is quite unexpectedly heartfelt. I teared up, and I'm not afraid to admit it.

If you have a young reader, especially one who is passionate about writing, I'd put this straight into their hands. There is so much in this story that will resonate with them, and this is coming from a reader who is well beyond the intended audience. Ava is adorable, and I see many readers falling in love with her.

"It's me!" I said. "Me! I'm here and I matter!"

This was too young feeling for me. I liked the idea of the diary entries but there wasn't really anything amazing about this story. I also didn't care too much for Ava. I found her to be bratty at times. I'm sure she would be much more relatable to me if I was younger but not now.

Another wish-fulfillment YA novel where everything works out in the end and you get that warm, fuzzy feeling of a job well-done. Sure, the protagonist's mother is still dead (as she was at the beginning of the novel -- no zombies or resurrection spells here), but everything else has worked out in a shiny, happy, people sort of way.

Is it realistic? Probably not.

Is it enjoyable? Indubitably.

Speed of Life by Carol Weston went on sale April 1, 2017.

I received a copy free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sofia Wolfe is too aware that life can change in an instant. She knows this because her mother died suddenly from natural causes in their family's NYC apartment eight months prior. Fourteen-year-old Sofia's story begins in one January and continues to unfold in her point of view until the next January, making it one full year in her life. She struggles with grief and misses her mother terribly. Her family is now only Sofia and her OB/GYN doctor dad, and he too must overcome sorrow. In an attempt to bounce back and maybe even feel like singing again -- something in which Sofia has a special talent -- she writes to "Dear Kate" after Katherine Baird, an advice columnist for a teen magazine, makes an assembly appearance at Sofia's school. Consequences and complications arise soon after "Dear Kate" sends a reply to Sofia's e-mail. And so, for Sofia, life again turns.

This book has both tender and humorous moments. It's fast-paced with an appropriate title and well-structure plot -- every chapter is a month in a year in Sofia's life -- and its teen and adult everyday-type characters serve the story nicely. It's a worthwhile read for young YA teens, yet also works for any reader who likes a story about healing and trying to overcome loss.

The Ava series is the diaries of Ava Wren, a word-obsessed 11 year old, dealing with typical issues for a late elementary-early middle school age girl. In this third book, she copes with her first crush, and having him "going out" with someone else, offering well meaning advice that is taken the wrong way by some, and the general issues of friendships and family relations of the age.
Ava is a thoroughly delightful character, with a somewhat unique voice, due in part to her unquenchable fascination with language.

In the second Ava book, Ava's diary is centered on the adoption of Taco Cat (a palindrome) from the local shelter. The family tries to make a pet out of the scared and scarred cat, while Ava also copes with her best friend's new friend, and the jealousy she feels.

We are reading Ava's diary. Although she is exceptionally articulate for an 11 year old, Weston captures the thought process and feelings of an 11 year old perfectly.

A delightful book, filled with likable characters.

(Spoiler warning!)
What is the right thing to do, when two people want opposite things, and both are in the right? After Ava has legally adopted Taco Cat, and had him for several weeks and the whole family has grown to love him, it turns out he was a runaway pet from an elderly widow, who misses him terribly, and had owned him since his kittenhood four years ago. What would Ava do? What would you or I do?

Ava and Pip is a diary format. Every word is from Ava Wren's diary. She is an energetic, talkative, extroverted 10 year old with a gift for language beyond her years. Her sister Pip is calm, quiet, and painfully shy. Ava takes it upon herself to help Pip get over he shyness.
In the course of events, Ava writes a story and submits it to a contest in which the villain of the story is Bea - a real girl at the girl's school. And Bea turns out to be a really nice girl, totally unlike the horrid girl Ava made her out to be in her story. Ava learns that when you write something bad down and let others see it, it is like ripples in a pond after tossing in a stone, and wrong thing she wrote has more repercussions than she ever would have imagined.
Ava is also dealing with her parents tendency to ignore her and pay extra attention to her sister. She loves her sister dearly, but is also very jealous of the attention she receives.
"Ava and Pip" is a delightful book with characters who are all completely lovable, in spite of their weaknesses (or sometimes because of their weaknesses.) There are a few worthwhile lessons to learn, which are presented clearly but not heavy-handedly. And it is also an entertaining love note to the English language - something very unusual in a young readers book.

Ava is Pip’s younger sister and very outgoing, whereas Pip is extremely shy and quiet. It is the beginning of a new school year and Pip’s birthday is around the corner. She finds out that her friends cancel on her slumber party to attend a new girl’s boy-girl party and she is devastated. This gives Ava inspiration to write a story for a library competition. At first, Ava feels like she avenged her sister but later realizes that her story “Sting of the Queen Bee” is actually hurtful. With the help of an unlikely friend, Ava tries to fix her wrongdoing and help her sister come out of her shell.

This is a good story about relationships and the interactions of Ava, Pip, their family, and friends. This book helps you learn the importance of speaking up, finding your voice, and that your actions may have consequences. There is a lot of wordplay in this book; the characters are word enthusiasts and throughout the book, they create games that involved palindromes and homonyms. (The author included a list of palindromes at the end of the book.)

I would recommend this book to patrons in grades 4th – 7th. This book is in a diary entry format which makes it easy to read. –C.C.

I really liked this book for several reasons. The main character, Ava, is vivacious and passionate. She really helps the writing become lively and engaging for readers. The language is playful, which helps when she is discussing so much exploration into language and it's various ways. The main idea of this book is to use writing to express yourself and to better understand the things you are going through in life.

Two things I will admit: one, I am twenty-three years old and, while a huge lover of children's literature, not the target audience for this book. Two, while I really enjoyed this book, I admit that that pleasure was compounded (if not changed) by the fact that I am a Middlebury alum, and Weston apparently has an MA there and has taught there before.

All that aside, though, I really did enjoy this book. Such a sweet tone, full of good lessons without a preachy tone, and sweet characters you care about. Sometimes the diary style with Ava's intense feelings were a bit much for me--but, like I said, I'm not the target audience. I suspect children would learn a handful of new words, enjoy the wordplay as much as I did, and feel warm and fuzzy inside after reading this book.

A super fun book about two sisters who love each other very much. Their family also love words and word games and writing. When one of the sister's uses a story to try to solve a problem, everyone gets a lesson on problem solving and confronting the problem rather than assuming.

A nice story about a family who loves words, cats and each other.

Overall, I liked this book about two sisters in a word-nerd family. The names of everyone in the family is a palindrome and palindromes run through out the story. The palindromes actually bogged down the flow of the story for me. Perhaps it would not with a child reading a chapter a night. In the main story thread, 7th-grader Pip tries to overcome her shyness with help from sister and 5th-grader Ava and an unexpected source. The story is told from Ava's point of view as she writes in her diary. All is nicely resolved but the ending does seem to go on and on.

Loved this book. A wonderful read for your girls, especially those who have sisters!

This is a lovely books for tweens. Ava, an out-going fifth grader is the narrator in diary form, who seems to be following in her father's footsteps as a budding writer. Pip is two years older, painfully shy, loves to read and sketch. When Pip's birthday party is waylaid by a party given the same night by a new girl in seventh grade, Ava writes a not-so-well camouflaged story about a new mean girl in school who steals other people's friends. The story wins a prize, the new girl (also a prize winner) reads the story, confronts Ava, as does the girl's mother & Ava learns firsthand how powerful words can be and how they have long term effects. She also learns that initial impressions can be wrong. The new girl turns out not to be mean at all, and even helps Ava help Pip come out of her shell. Other family dynamics are also covered in this great little book. Just an all around wonderful book for this age! Thanks to the author and the publisher for allowing me to read this advance copy. I recommend it to anyone with preteen kids when the book is released in March 2014.

"Life is precious. Please, please, please, let's love one another" - Julia Roberts. Every chapter starts with an inspirational quote from a well-known or famous person. This is a book to help teens feel good about themselves. The book covers topics that are an important part of a teen's life: friends, family, school, and relationships. If you need help with a relationship, advice about a job, or just need an inspirational quote to help you feel better, than you'll find it in this book. The book is stuffed with ideas for teens on how to get along with others, how to take care of yourself(mentally, physically, and spiritually), and how to see the positive in a negative situation(make the best of a bad situation). It's also full of inspiring quotes from famous stars.

The great thing about this book is that is written in a style that teens can understand and relate to. The author explains things in a way that will make perfect sense to a teen. She does this by using a conversational style of writing and she infuses humor throughout. Her advice is funny and interesting. It's a fun read for both girls and boys. They will for sure love the quotes from famous movie starts like Jennifer Lopez.

Grades: 6-9

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