Book review: Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver

Liesl has been locked up in the attic since her father's death, alone and grieving Liesl gets unexpected company. Po and Bundle, two ghosts, materializes in her room late one night. Perhaps Liesl can get help to communicate with her dead father? She never got to say goodbye while he was still alive, her stepmother made sure of that.

Outside in the cold underneath Liesl's window a young boy named Will stands and stares up. Will should have been on his way to purchase the items needed for his master's, the alchemist, potions. Daydreaming of becoming friends with the sweet girl from the attic window is bound to get him into trouble, trouble that could very well be the end of him.

My thoughts:
Author Lauren Oliver has said that Liesl & Po is the most personal novel she has ever written and that the story came to life when she was grieving the loss of one of her very best friends. After reading that I was expecting the story to have me constant in tears, because losing a friend is horrible, it feels so unfair and it hurts and aces deep inside of your very essence. Though Liesl's story is sad in many ways it is also a delightful middle-grade adventure story. Yes, I cried some and a wonderful scene managed to surprised me, made me feel ecstatic with joy and then sad(that is quite an achievement in ONE scene I would say).

This is a story filled with magic, magic in the fantasy sense of the word and the magic we people can create by loving and caring for each other. There is several storylines going on at the same time in Liesl & Po and Lauren Oliver ties them all neatly together towards the end of the book. Every piece of the "puzzle" falls naturally in the right place. If you know of any middle-grade readers (perhaps especially girls) I'm sure they will appreciate the story and be cheering for Liesl and her friends throughout their adventure. Will they accomplish their mission? 


For me Liesl & Po is very much a story about hope. Sometimes our hopes might be unrealistic but we hold on to it for dear life because without hope what else is there? We humans need hopes and dreams almost as much as the air that we breathe.

I cannot write this review without mentioning that this book is filled with lovely illustrations by Kei Acedera(I strongly recommend that you take a look at look at her other work it is truly fabulous). The illustrations add another layer of magic to the story.

I think I need to borrow back my copy of Before I Fall now, I've mustered the courage to read, I've been a bit scared of it until now but Liesl & Po  was such a sweet story and Delirium(check out my review) was AWESOME so I need to get cracking with BIF. I love Laurens writing!

Book trailer:

Cover:
I love the cover, I mean how is it possible for me not to love a cover filled with magic and wonder? The green and the gold colors looks so good together and I love the font and the border/frame.


My rating of this book:

- I'm sure this tale will win over a lot of MG fans.

Want to know more?

Add Liesl & Po to your Goodreads wish list.
Visit Lauren Oliver's homepage
Read Lauren's blog
Follow Lauren on Twitter

Full disclosure: 
ARC provided by the publisher; Hodder & Stoughton.

This book can be purchased from a number of local retailers and on-line book stores such as Amazon or The Book Depository (I'm not an affiliate of either). The latter store does by the way have free shipping to about 100 countries.

  

Book review: Bless This Mouse by Lois Lowry

My summary:

The church mice living in St. Bartholomew’s church has been spotted inside the church one too many times and their leader fear it will bring on the Great X. The mice fear the Great X more than cats but on the feast day of St. Francis people bring their animals to church for blessing. That means the church might be filled with cats. Under the leadership of Mouse Mistress Hildegarde the colony has to save them from great danger and at the same time she has to keep an eye out for what her nemesis Lucreita is up to. Can one mouse’s courageous act during the celebration of St.Francis keep the entire population of church mice safe for the future?

My thoughts:

Bless This Mouse was such a charming and fun read and combined with beautiful illustrations this makes for a cosy read for the entire family. This was the first book I''ve ever read by Lois Lowry and it was in no way disappointing. In Bless This Mouse Lowry has created a colony of adorable little mice that the reader will fall in love with. Even if you hate mice I feel pretty confident that you wouldn't let this bunch go down during the Great X. 

All of the characters has something unique about them and I fell in love with each and every one. One example is Mouse Mistress Hildegarde, she is such a quirky and great little character. She sometimes has a fierce tongue but she is just in her ruling and she is intelligent. I have to add a former library mouse called Ignatius as well, he of course knows a lot of stuff from chewing through a great number of pages. I hope that these lovely mice might show up again in another adventure.

A perfect book to read with your family if you have younger children. I'm hoping this book might be translated into Norwegian so that I'll be able to read it to my son(I can translate while I read out loud but it is much easier reading a translated version out loud).

The cover:
Very cute indeed, perfect for the story.

My rating of this book:

4.5 stars out of 5

Want a second opinion? Check out these reviews written by some of my book blogging friends:
GreenBeanTeenQueen

Want to know more?
Add Bless This Mouse to your Goodreads wish list.
Visit Lois Lowry's homepage 
Read Lois's blog 

Bless This Mouse by Lois Lowry

Published: March 21st 2011
Pages(hardcover): 192
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0547390092 (ISBN13: 9780547390093)
Full disclosure: ARC received, for honest review, from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley.  

This book can be purchased from a number of local retailers and on-line book stores such as Amazon or The Book Depository (I'm not an affiliate of either). The latter store does by the way have free shipping to about 100 countries.