ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell 144 pp. Penguin Group. £8.99. (Ages 13 and up) ISBN 9780141182704 Rating: ? Stars This book is set in a future when animals are much cleverer than now. And because of their cleverness, the pigs started a revolution against the humans. Pigs could speak fluently in English unlike the other animals, and that gave them the power to be leaders. But, the story that follows only happened a few years after that... Their first leader, Old Major, was kind and fair who knew animals should be equal. But when Napoleon became the leader it was very unpleasant. He made a rule that allowed the pigs to have better food and that forced all of the other animals to work crazily hard every day and night. That wasn’t enough, Napoleon wanted more power. He decided to kill his brother, Snowball, so that he would be the only leader. Snowball was admired because he came up with a clever idea to build windmill. Sn...
Publisher: Graphia
Pages: 204
From Goodreads: "Libby Kelting had always felt herself born out of time. No wonder the historical romance-reading, Jane Austen-adaptation-watching, all-around history nerd jumped at the chance to intern at Camden Harbor, Maine’s Oldest Living History Museum. But at Camden Harbor Libby’s just plain out of place, no matter how cute she looks in a corset. Her cat-loving coworker wants her dead, the too-smart-for-his-own-good local reporter keeps pushing her buttons, her gorgeous sailor may be more shipwreck than dreamboat — plus Camden Harbor’s haunted. Over the course of one unforgettable summer, Libby learns that boys, like ghosts, aren’t always what they seem."
Admittedly I was a bit hesitant to read this book, I thought that it would be far too fluffy for my tastes- while I love fluff and romance, sometimes there can be too much of it. However, after finishing it I am kicking myself for having waited too long to do so, overall I really quite liked it, much more than I had anticipated.
It becomes evident that Stephanie did a lot of research for writing this book. While at times it did appear that she wanted you to know that fact, being heavy-handed with the details, in the large majority of the cases I did appreciate it, actually learning a bit about American history as I read it!
Aside from her ability to weave history into a storyline I think that Stephanie's other greatest strength is creating likeable characters- Take Cam, for instance. Despite being an obvious player-ish, bad boy you can't help but like him? Why? Because he is so good at it and he is a great juxtaposition for Garrett. Speaking of Garrett, I think that he will appeal to all readers, with his nerdiness, honesty, and all around goodness. That being said, I think that both boys are overshadowed by Dev, Libby's gay best friend, who is trying to follow in Anne Hathaway's footsteps a la "The Devil Wears Prada". Dev brings both much needed comic relief to and beauty to the book.
All in all, this book hit the spot perfectly at the time that I read it- a cute, lighthearted and fun book which was so much more. I cannot wait to see what its sequel, "Confederates Don't Wear Couture", coming this summer, has in store for us!
Rating: 3/5
I received this book from the publisher to read and honestly review. I was not compensated in any way for said review.
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