“I honor you,’ whispered Despereaux. “I honor you.” He put his paw over his heart. He bowed so low that his whiskers touched the floor. He was, alas, a mouse deeply in love.
At its core, The Tale of Despereaux is a love story. But in typical Kate DiCamillo fashion, it is SO many love stories, all expertly and magically weaved into a rich and colourful tapestry that wraps around you and envelopes you within its folds.
By Maureen Tai, 2 April 2018“I don’t know a whole lot about sunflowers, but I know they’re pretty and girls like them, and I know the word sunflower is made up of two good words, and that man ain’t got two good words in him, or anything that any girl would like, because girls don’t like men who try to shoot them and their son.” – Castle “Cas” Cranshaw
Life-changing childhood events are universal, some benign, some momentous. Castle’s is pretty extreme. As a result, he is an exceptional voice in middle-grade fiction. Continue reading
“It took me some time to recognise all those human sounds, to weave words into things. But I was patient. Patient is a useful way to be when you’re an ape. Gorillas are as patient as stones. Humans, not so much.” – Ivan
Ivan is a silverback gorilla. When we meet him in The One and Only Ivan, he has already been captive in a cage for a staggering 9,855 days, equivalent to 27 years.
By Maureen Tai, 3 November 2017“… he learned the most important rule of survival, which was that feeling sorry for yourself didn’t work. It wasn’t just that it was wrong to do, or that it was considered incorrect. It was more than that – it didn’t work. When he sat alone in the darkness and cried and was done, all done with it, nothing had changed. His leg still hurt, it was still dark, he was still alone and the self-pity had accomplished nothing.”
– Narrator
Stories That Stay With Us 