Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! Today I'm going to be doing a book review. This review is for Journey to Gonzales by Melodie A. Cuate, the third book in the Mr. Barrington's Mysterious Trunk series. There are major spoilers for Journey to San Jacinto in this post.
Let's get into the review!
That is essentially the entire plot of this book. Nick feels guilty and wants to save Diego's life. He runs off by himself to Mr. Barrington's house, where he goes into the trunk, but there's only one problem: He ends up in Gonzales instead of San Jacinto. Hannah and Jackie go after him.
________________________________________
One thing that I like about this book compared to a lot of others is that it feels real. A lot of times, especially in kids' books, characters go back to a difficult time in history, and then return home as if nothing happened and as if they didn't see or go through anything particularly traumatic.
This series has done a good job of conveying how children would actually feel if they went back in time to these periods. They make it a point to say that war is brutal and unpleasant and isn't something children should see.It's surprising how many Children's and Middle Grade books there are where the kids are completely fine upon returning home. I understand that those aren't necessarily topics you want to bring to the attention of kids, however, a small mention would be more realistic.
I'm not asking for every children's fantasy book to have the children be traumatized, but in a historical fiction book like this, it'd be very unrealistic--and kind of concerning--if the kids returned without feeling somewhat of an aftermath.
________________________________________
________________________________________
As a whole, Journey to Gonzales was very enjoyable and I rated it 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. The subject matter covered was very interesting for a kid's book, especially with how the emotions were handled. It's a good historical fiction novel for young readers as a good introduction to Texas history.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are highly encouraged!
I enjoy hearing feedback or opinions by readers.
HOWEVER,
Every comment is moderated.
Any comment will be approved as long as it follows this blog's guidelines.
Any comments that don't adhere to the rules listed below will not be published onto posts.
1. No comments with profanity, vulgarity, or lewd content (if you won't say it in front of kindergarteners, elementary schoolers, teachers, or your grandmother, don't say it here; keep language G)
2. No spam comments
3. Keep comments on-topic
4. No derogatory comments (i.e. ableism, colorism, racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, or transphobia [though not limited to the examples listed here])
5. No attacks to any particular group of religious peoples (including, but not limited to: Anti-Catholicism, Anti-Christianity, Anti-Muslim, and Anti-Semitism)
Thank you for your cooperation!
Happy commenting! =D