Book Review: Dear Pen Pal (The Mother-Daughter Book Club, #3) by Heather Vogel Frederick

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Dear Pen Pal (The Mother-Daughter Book Club, #3)  by Heather Vogel Frederick  is the third book in a middle grade book series that is being rereleased. Chaos erupts in this third installment as the daughters in the book club get themselves into trouble. Each of the girls have big changes in their lives:  Jess is going to boarding school; Megan's grandmother comes to live with her; Emma starts a campaign against school uniforms; Cassidy has a lot of unexpected change coming to her family. Will the mother daughter book club stay together? I'd like to thank NetGalley, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Dear Pen Pal  by Heather Vogel Frederick with it's upcoming rerelease to the public. I always love a good book that involves books, even if its target audience is children between the ages of eight and twelve. It wasn't until I reached the end of the book that I realized that it...
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Book Review: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

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Science Fiction Book Review of Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler is the first science fiction novel written by a Black woman. It's part memoir, part fantasy, and part historical fiction. The book opens with Dana, an African American woman in 1976 Los Angeles, California, who is transported back to 1815 Maryland and saves a drowning white boy.  However, she finds herself fearing for her life when the boys father, a slave owner, is pointing his shotgun at her.

I discovered Kindred through my book club, which selected it for our September meeting. Although I had heard of the novel, I wasn’t familiar with its plot. Science fiction isn’t usually my go-to, but I was captivated from the first page. The story is compelling, well-written, and utterly immersive.

Octavia E. Butler’s writing is engaging, vivid, and unputdownable. The characters feel real, and I found myself thinking about them long after finishing the book. Butler expertly portrays the horrors of slavery and imagines what it might be like if a Black person from modern times were thrust into that era. Though fictional, the novel resonates with historical accuracy, making its events feel hauntingly real. Key themes include racism, slavery, trauma, rape, and suicide, all explored with depth and nuance.

More than 43 years after its publication, Kindred has truly stood the test of time. It remains a powerful, thought-provoking story that deserves every bit of its acclaim. I rate it five out of five stars and look forward to reading more of Octavia E. Butler’s extraordinary work.

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