Uncategorized

The Boy with the Butterfly Mind — Review

rosihollinbeck

Thought for the Day:

“Beginnings and endings remain with the reader long after the story is gone. They are powerful, emotive signs cut into the storytelling trees. Pay attention to them. Work hard on them. Ignore them at your peril.”
~ Jane Yolen ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Orly Konig wrote an interesting post HERE on the Tor/Forge blog that talks about Where Details Come From.

I have never before seen a post about how to handle pain in our writing, but HERE is one by Louise Harnby at the Editing Blog with 5 Tips for Writing about Physical Pain in Fiction.

K. M. Allen has a great post HERE that will help you write author bios that work.

Well, this was the week that was. Holy smoke. The fires keep burning. Almost 4 million acres of California have burned, and our area is again covered in smoke. I can’t imagine how the firefighters keep going. We are still having unseasonably warm weather — in the mid-90s or higher. It should cool down next week, and there is even a chance of rain next weekend. Fingers crossed! I haven’t been out of my house even to walk to the mail box for several days, and I don’t see that ending for another couple days at least. This week we had the presidential debate (EEEEK! Not very presidential!) and the man who has ignored all the CDC guidelines tests positive. And today he put his Secret Service guys and his driver and others plus all their families at risk so he could take a victory lap. Oh, 2020. I am so over you. PLEASE, can we just be done with 2020???

Last week I offered my gently-read, incredibly cute Skunk and Badger by Amy Timberlake and illustrated by Jon Klassen to one of you. The winner this week is RandomlyReading, Congratulations, RandomlyReading. I will get your book out to you soon. You can view his or her blog HERE. Clearly I don’t have much information on this winner!

I made a short list of books that I have donated to the school only to have them fall off my radar, and it is one of those I want to talk about today. The Boy with the Butterfly Mind

by Victoria Williamson is a terrific book, and I am sad to be so late to review it, but as I have often said, it is never too late to review a good book. And the cover is spectacular. I have to say, I really love good cover art. Here is the review I wrote so long ago for the Manhattan Book Review.

Elin wants her life back to the way it was before her father left, married some woman, and had another daughter, and before her mum’s boyfriend, Paul, moved in. She must be perfect, absolutely perfect, in every way, to make that happen. Jamie wishes his dad hadn’t moved away to Scotland. He misses him and Jamie doesn’t like his mum’s boyfriend Chris, who is going to take them to America. But Jamie thinks the doctors in America can fix his brain so he can focus and not have meltdowns. But everything changes for both these kids when Chris decides Jamie can’t go to America and must live with his father, Paul, and Elin’s mother. This creates a war between Elin who has OCD and Jamie who has ADHD.

Victoria Williamson

Author Victoria Williamson has taken on a very difficult task to demonstrate these young people and their mental and social challenges. Having Elin and Jamie tell their stories in the first-person point of view in alternating chapters is quite powerful. American middle-graders might be put off by the Britishisms in this fine book, but it deserves both the patience to get past that and also a wider readership than the middle grade audience for which it was intended.

I have no giveaway this week. I have donated the nice hardback copy I got to the school. Don’t forget to check for other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts at the Greg Pattridge’s blog HERE.

Published by rosihollinbeck

24 thoughts on “The Boy with the Butterfly Mind — Review”

  6. This sounds like a more complex than usual blended family. I’m sure teachers and classmates will benefit from entering Jamie’s and Erin’s first hand point of view. This sounds like a valuable book in more ways than one.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. Wow, this book has a lot going on. I’m intrigued by the set-up you provided. We’re certainly seeing a lot more difficult subjects in MG than say 10 years ago. It’s a good trend. I’ll be looking for this one and I also love the cover.
    Thanks for the links. I’ve put them on hold until I have more time later in the week. The one on author bios has my attention.
    Smoky here is Colorado as we deal with fires in our own state and Wyoming. The mountains have sadly disappeared. Take care!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. This sounds like a wonderful novel! I always appreciate seeing more books talking about mental health problems, so seeing OCD and ADHD representation is great! I can’t believe the smoke is back again—I’m so sorry! 2020 has literally gone up in flames. I love the meme, and the quote is great—I know that a bad ending can pretty much ruin a book for me. Thanks for the wonderful post!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment