Kristin O'Donnell Tubb

I am so incredibly jealous of Viviani Fedeler, the main character. I wish I had been born in and grown up in a library!! I have loved libraries and reading and writing stories since I learned to read when I was 4 years old. Every time I moved to a new city or town, the first thing my father and I would do was to join the local public library.

This was a wonderful story to read. I loved learning some of the history of the NYC Public Library. It is also a story about Viviani learning the show more difference between telling stories and telling lies. I am of course no longer 12 years old, so I could not totally relate to Viviani as a child, but I did connect with her ambition to be a writer, a collector of stories, a word pedlar. I love that phrase - word pedlar!!

Definitely a 4 star read!! show less

Is there anything more amazing than visiting your local library? How about living in a library? I suppose that not every kid has a fantasy to live in a library 24/7, but I sure did. I couldn't of course, I came as close as I could. Throughout my school days, I spent as much time in the campus libraries as I could. I was in city libraries daily during breaks and as an adult, I am delighted that my child walks to his local branch near daily (mostly to get books for me) and jumps at the chance show more to visit the main branch every chance he gets. As I read the antics that Viviana and her tribe get up to in The Story Collector, I could see a group of kids just like them getting into that kind of mischief at our wonderful library. Amazing as our library is, it pales next to the New York Public Library, the true star of this book, brought to life beautifully by the author. It was so easy to envision it in its prime when strict librarians and card catalogs ruled with an iron grip. This book was a true adventure.

An adventure is what Viviana is desperate for, just like the ones she reads in the books all around her. Her father is the building super at the New York City Library, during the 1920’s, so she and her family actually live in the library, all those stories at her fingertips and the whole of the building is a playground for her and her siblings, as long as they can avoid disturbing the librarians, evade the security guard, and keep clear of the janitor, who may or may not be a cannibal. Oh yeah, they also have to keep away from Big Red, the ghost that haunts the library. While she is waiting to find adventure, she collects stories and shares them her friends at school. However, a new student in her class isn’t impressed with Viviana’s stories and an attempt to sway her opinion with an overnight ghost hunt backfires its way into a mystery that only the children may be able to solve.

Well written and imaginative, with the perfect touch of mystery, this book is a must-have for middle-grade readers. That it has a basis in actual history makes it all the more fun.

Let's talk more about kid's books at I Read Kid's Book Journal show less

Daisy is in an animal shelter and counting down the days until she may have to walk through the door to what she calls the Bad Side—so named because a dog walks through that door and is never seen again. By her reckoning, she has two more days before she’s taken to the Bad Side, and she’s not optimistic about her chances when three humans walk through the door of the Good Side looking for a dog. She has observed that humans tend to prefer the puppies, and Daisy is not a puppy. To show more Daisy’s surprise, Victor Abeyta chooses her. He’s looking for a dog to be his service dog—a dog that will help him cope with his struggles after returning from combat. There’s a catch to going home with Colonel Abeyta though: Daisy will have to pass a test to be a true service animal at the end of ten weeks of training. Daisy feels she’s up to the task, and she’s excited to be part of the Abeyta pack, but there are a lot of challenges for her along the way.

A DOG LIKE DAISY is a book that will make your heart weep and sing. Both the Colonel and Daisy suffer as a result of the lives they’ve led before finding each other, and they’re both being trained to navigate a world that can be scary, awesome, and a little too exciting at times. Kristin O’Donnell Tubb uses Daisy as the narrator, and that choice is a brilliant way to share the difficulties of PTSD with middle grade readers. Daisy is a terrific character, and the author’s ability to imagine the thoughts of a smart (and sometimes hilarious) dog gives this story a depth that would be lacking if we could only see the human point of view.

As a military mom whose son has dealt with the difficulties of war, I particularly appreciate Tubb’s treatment of military families in this story. She acknowledges their pain and challenges, and she does it with sensitivity without giving into the lure of sensationalism. There were so many sentences in this book that had me catching my breath that I can’t list them all, so suffice to say that the writing is beautiful.

The only thing that would have improved A DOG LIKE DAISY would have been more insight into Anna Abeyta (Victor’s wife). That may be my military wife/mom bias talking though, and others may not mind that she’s a bit of an elusive figure.

A DOG LIKE DAISY reminded me of THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN, not just because of the dog-as-narrator aspect, but also because of the gorgeous writing and the use of the dog’s voice as the perfect vehicle for the story being told.

My thanks to YA Books Central and the publisher for an advance copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. And my thanks to Kristin O’Donnell Tubb for a book that I can recommend to other military families. show less

It's 1910 and Halley's Comet is freaking everybody out. 13-year-old Hope is stuck helping her father perform his vaudeville act as part of a small-time traveling show and she wants OUT. She dreams of a house to call their own and a stable life where she can make friends and do something - anything - other than perform vaudeville. But to make that happen, she needs money. So she starts selling "anti-comet pills" to gullible people who are terrified that the Comet is bringing the end of the show more world. Can Hope make enough money to make her dreams come true?

Oh, I really liked this novel! It's not only a superbly-researched historical novel set in a time period I really like, but it's a story about hope for the future when that hope might be all you have. And what people are willing to do to preserve that hope. And it's a story about fathers and daughters and growing up and being in-between childish impulses and grown-up decisions.

More on the blog: http://www.abbythelibrarian.com/2010/10/selling-hope.html show less