an egg on three sticks
By jackie moyer fisher
ISBN: 0-312-31775-1
St. Martin's Press
310 pages
4 1/2 scrambled eggs
Abby is a 12-year-old girl who knows something is wrong with her family but not sure just what. Her mother has begun to act strangely. For a while, Abby thinks she is the only one who notices. Her father doesn't rant and rave when he finds two bathroom mirrors broken and when he has to begin feeding his two daughters and himself frozen dinners every night. When her mother is in a hospital the family appears to cope but is it all just window dressing? Will life ever be the same as it once was, and when her mother returns, will she be mother? Abby goes through things no child her age should have to endure. And she does things she normally wouldn't do and doesn't understand why.
An egg on three sticks by jackie moyer fisher is an engrossing book about mental health and how it affects the entire family. It could also be classified as a coming of age story. I was confused at first because I thought it was supposed to be a young adult story. It reads like one, and in some instances it seems like teenage literature, but I don't believe it is. Within the book the capitalization isn't consistent and there are very few quotation marks. In places the story rambles on like a teenager might ramble. This story is told through the eyes of 13-year-old Abby Goodman, and the rambling in parts are consistent with the premise of the story. So for me I'll place it as an adult book because I wouldn't want a 13, 14 or 15-year-old reading it, but I admit that I'm old-fashioned. I'm not sure I understand the title either, unless it means that the mother is the egg and she is balanced on sticks by the three in her household, her husband, and her two daughters. Nonetheless, an egg on three sticks is an interesting read, and I give it 4 1/2 eggs, albeit scrambled.
Jaye Dee Tyrack, gottawritenetwork.com reviewer
July 5, 2006
The Sword of Anton
By Gene Del Vecchio
ISBN: 13:9781589803046
Pelican
Young Adult Fiction
A very long time ago, according to legend, a girl named Pita found that she could not fight alongside her father, she could not recapture the Wizard's Stone as her father told her, she fled and was killed. From that time on, men were leaders and women followers.
And now in the land of Trinity another girl was to be the leader, Megani, daughter of Jason, for Jason is dead and had no son. Megani is to keep peace in Trinity. At first Megani defeated some Gorgons, but then she was unable to stop the slaughter in a battle between the races of Dwarfs and Elves. Only one from each race is left, males, best friends, each of whose father mistakenly believed the other's father killed his son. When Megani is unable to stop the killings, she is referred to as another Pita. Megani had a lot of power, was strong with abilities beyond all others, but she somehow lost this power and to regain it, she believed she must find the sword of Anton that lay deep in the ground. She is helped by the Dwarf and Elf still alive as well as Gil, whose quest is also to find the Historian. Together they try to save the world from evil Wizards.
I have a hard time believing that this book is juvenile fiction. Yes, the story is juvenile, but it is overloaded with blood and gore and killing. I would not allow a child of mine to read this. There is too much bloodshed in the world today, and I don't think a book like this is any help in the crime-infested world in which we live. The book is riddled with swords being plunged into bodies, axes chopping into others, and so on. I don't care if the swords are plunged into Wizards from another galaxy, and axes hacking Gorgons, it is still killing and not meant for children's entertainment. I read a lot of adult mysteries and suspense, and none come close to this for blood and gore. On the book's cover we're told Gene Del Vecchio is a world-renowned expert on youth. Heaven help us!
Jaye Dee Tyrack, Reviewer, Gotta Write Network
October 8, 2006
