Category: Book Review

Mum, The Fairies Stole my Glasses by Tracey C. Ayres is a children’s picture book about the mystery of Sally’s glasses.

The book started with the main character Sally waking up. As a matter of habit, she takes her glasses and puts them on. The book continues by showing how her glasses have helped her see things better in her room. Later, however, while trying to see which shirt to wear, Sally got frustrated because none of her shirts seem to go well with her glasses. As a result, she threw her glasses away and she went downstairs without them. While having breakfast, her Mom reminded her to put back her glasses. Though a bit reluctant, she went upstairs only to see that her glasses were gone. Have the fairies really taken them away? For what reason would they take it away from Sally? What will happen to Sally now that her glasses are gone? Will she ever have it back?

This book can be very helpful for children who wear eyeglasses. Many times, children may not be comfortable enough wearing them. They may even be teased by peers because of having the need to wear them. However, this book enables children to learn the importance of wearing their glasses. In a fun and animated kind of way, it demonstrates how things are easier when they use them. It also helps them to see what will happen when they lose their glasses or when they refuse to wear them. The attractive illustrations in the book can easily grab their attention and help them to visually capture the lessons in Sally’s story.

The title of this book says it all. “Shattered Dreams and Broken Hearts” is a memoir about the life of a young man cut short because of drugs. The book author, Sylvia Abolis Mennear, is a mother who struggles with the grief of losing a son, and whose life after his death, will never be the same again.

Educational, moving and genuine, it is an eye-opening account of what drug addicts and their loved ones go through in their fight against addiction. It shows us how lives are stolen and often lost due to drugs. It enables parents and family members to see that substance abuse can happen to anyone, even to those we thought are not vulnerable enough to be victimized.

Through research and personal experience, the author makes a clear list of typical behavior that should warn us of possible drug addiction. It urges us to be vigilant. In a society where we are surrounded by people who can so easily influence our loved ones into taking drugs, ours should be a never tiring task to be watchful and to be pro-active. To act before everything is too late is a lesson the reader should quickly acquire as one reads through the book.

The book also stresses the kind of help needed by those who have already fallen into substance abuse. The stigma, which so often isolates the drug addict and keeps him from receiving the assistance he needs should be fought. Instead of judgment, there must be helpful information. Instead of blame, there should be a cooperative approach towards recovery.

This is definitely a book filled to the brim with a mother’s love for her son. It is the kind of love that not only grieves but acts. It is the kind that decides to leave a legacy of wisdom for those who can still save the ones they love.

“The Girl In The Treehouse” will immerse you into the author’s world of beauty and heartache, innocence and doubt, despair and unshakable hope. Let this book take you on a journey from Jennifer’s wounded childhood to her job with special children, from her traumatic escape from a serial killer to her many years of struggle towards healing.

Raw, honest and heart-wrenching! The author has opened a portal to a deep and powerful place where only the courageous can dare enter in. A revelation, not only of one’s life but of one’s soul.

A rare book with very real questions we often fail to ask. What if we are given the chance to live for thousands of years in this life? Would it be a gift? Or would it be a curse?

Amaranth gives us a scenario where immortality may indeed be possible. At the same time, it also explores the many consequences the world may face in the event someone suddenly offers it to us.

In the story, several characters were shown to have been offered the opportunity. We see their motivations, good and bad, and we learn where each eventually leads to. We find many who would give everything they possess just to have it. On the other hand, we find a woman who remains defiant in accepting what many consider to be a great blessing.

Marie doesn’t seem to have anything to lose when she was forcibly given an elixir that revived her youth, but we realize her deeper reasons as we learn more about what she believes deep within. Indeed, this is a book that is not afraid to depict characters who exercise their faith.

This does not mean that the characters never struggle with temptation. As far as the flow of the story goes, that’s the challenge the main protagonists, Marie and Peter need to go through. Will their faith remain as it was before it was challenged that deeply?