Wildfire At Midnight by Mary Stewart

Star Ratings: Characters: *** (3 stars) Writing:***** (5 stars) Plot: *** (3 stars) Overall: **** (4 stars) Oh, hello, it’s been nearly a year since I re-visited this dusty old page. I’ve moved house and made some Frighteningly Big Life Decisions in the meantime, so please forgive the lapse. Big changes in life bring with

Book Review: Dark Spell by Gill Arbuthnott (Scottish Children’s Book Award Shortlist)

I was investigating the Scottish Children’s Book Awards Shortlist recently, because Scotland’s been on the brain and I only know how to deal with big issues through literature.  I read an awful lot of Scottish fiction – for children, teens, and adults – while I was living there, but have felt it rather lacking in

Book Review: The Islands of Chaldea by Dianna Wynne Jones

Star Ratings (out of 5 stars): Characters: **** (4 stars) Character Development: **** (4 stars) Plot: *** (3 stars) Writing: **** (4 stars) Overall: **** (4 stars) Age range recommendation: 8 and up Just to say: I read an advanced readers’ copy of this book, so some details may have changed by publication. The Islands

Book Review: Tam Lin by Pamela Dean

Star Ratings Characters: *** (3 stars) Character Development: ** (2 stars) Plot: ** (2 stars) Writing : *** (3 stars) Overall: ** (2 stars) Age range recommendation: 15 + (Mostly because the academic subject matter might be boring to many younger readers, not due to any particular graphic unpleasantness.) I was so excited to finally

Thoughts About Ballads: “Tam Lin” Re-tellings

“Tam Lin” is a Scottish ballad which has been adapted into a great many songs and stories. There are many different versions of the ballad, all of which follow the same general plot and central characters. My favorite musical recordings of the song are probably those by Fairport Convention and Tricky Pixie, though there are