Book Review: The Light from my Menorah, Celebrating Holidays Around the World by Robin Heald and Andrea Blinck

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The Light from my Menorah, Celebrating Holidays Around the World  by Robin Heald and Andrea Blinck is a children's book about a boy being taken around the world via the light from his menorah. In his travels, he visits different holiday festivals. Thank you, NetGalley, for the Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of this book. I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review. I think it's important for children to learn about other holidays around the world in a fun way. However, I expected a little more description during the actual story to correspond with the illustrations instead of it being included in the author's note. I feel like the adults will have to explain the point of the book to children. With that being said, the writing was absolutely beautiful, and the illustrations are fantastic. Four out of five stars is what I gave The Light from my Menorah, Celebrating Holidays Around the World by Robin Heald and Andrea Blinck for taking the initiative to
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Book Review: The Strange Power (Dark Visions, #1) by L.J. Smith

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L.J. Smith churned out yet another winner with The Strange Power (Dark Visions, #1). It was originally published in 1994 by Archway Paperback. Kaitlyn Fairchild is an out cast in her Ohio town because of her drawings that predict the future. That along with her violet rimmed eyes have made the town called her a witch. When she is presented with the opportunity to attend the Zetes Institute with four other psychic teens, Kaitlyn jumps at the chance for a new start.

Let me begin by saying that I absolutely loved this book and engrossed from the very first page, even as an adult. I first read The Strange Power (Dark Visions, #1) as a sophomore in high school. It is slightly different from her other trilogies in that it deals with psychics instead of vampires, witches, and/or werewolves. There is a bit of suspense, thriller, mystery, romance, and fantasy throughout. For a young adult book, the characters are very well developed, and the plot moved along very well. There weren't any slow parts. I am so glad I reread this book because there was so much I had forgotten.

With that being said, there are a couple of things that drove me crazy about the book, and both of them are typos.  On one page, the word abstracted is used when it clearly should have been distracted. Another typo, at least in my opinion, is one of the characters said, "Include me out." It should have been "Count me out." Additionally, I forgot how much the character Rob got on my nerves. He's completely oblivious of girls in the romantic sense throughout most of the book. On top of that, he is so black and white about things and is very uptight about it. This is the first book I ever read where I couldn't stand one of the main characters. All in all, The Strange Power (Dark Visions, #1) is worth a read, and I gave it four out of five stars.

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