my one hundred adventures by polly horvath

Twelve-year-old Percy (full name, Perseus) Jackson has attended six schools in six years. 12 & up)Įdgar Award–winning Riordan leaves the adult world of mystery to begin a fantasy series for younger readers. Irresistible, funny and touching-a must read for all teenage girls, whether en-braced or not. As an afterword, the author includes a photo of her smiling, showing off the results of all of the years of pain she endured. Readers should not overlook this seemingly simply drawn work the strong writing and emotionally expressive characters add an unexpected layer of depth. Young girls will relate to her story, and her friend-angst is palpable. After years of these girls’ constant belittling, Raina branches out and finds her own voice and a new group of friends. Her friends offer little solace through this trying ordeal, spending more of their time teasing than comforting her. This leads to years of painful surgeries, braces, agonizing root canals and other oral atrocities. One night, Raina trips and falls after a Girl Scout meeting, knocking out her two front teeth. Telgemeier has created an utterly charming graphic memoir of tooth trauma, first crushes and fickle friends, sweetly reminiscent of Judy Blume’s work.

Jane is a lovely blend of hopeful and compassionate, disillusioned and grumpy: “I pour more orange pop moodily into my cup and think about murder-suicides and wonder if they begin with too much food and fun and games.” Jane’s poetic, philosophical musings capture a child’s logic with an adult voice in this witty, wise and wonderful novel.

Her life on the Massachusetts shore with her siblings and poet mother is rich with familial love, natural beauty and fresh shellfish, but she still longs to embark into the “know-not-what.” Her fervent prayers for adventure are soon answered when a disheveled man shows up for dinner and when, afterwards, her mother casually states, “That was your father,” as if to imply that Jane wasn’t, as she’d hoped, “conceived in the depths of a moonlit sea.” As the scales fall from Jane’s eyes, she struggles to make sense of a touchy-feely, “energy”-obsessed preacher, a purse-stealing fortuneteller touting “transparent poodles” (translation: transporting portals), and, most poignantly, a parade of possible fathers.

Twelve-year-old Jane Fielding’s soul itches for adventure.

My one hundred adventures by polly horvath