Saturday, September 17, 2011

City of Orphans by Avi

City of Orphans by Avi
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
2011
351p.

In 1893 New York, thirteen-year-old Maks, a newsboy, teams up with Willa, a homeless girl, to clear his older sister, Emma, from charges that she stole from the brand new Waldorf Hotel, where she works. Includes historical notes.

5 comments:

  1. Great portrayal of 1983 New York from a kid's perspective. The story moved along quickly, especially for what one usually expects of historical fiction. A fun read for kids, while still having enough thematically to generate discussion.

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  2. looking forward to reading it

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  3. It was a bit slow for me. I had to force myself to read through the middle. The beginning was great, it pulled me right in, but in the middle, it lagged, and I felt the story pulled on too long. At the end though, it picked up again.

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  4. It read a little sloppily to me,some hard-to-believe coincidences, although the information jived with what I'd read recently in a non-fiction book about the newsies. It certainly touched on a number of areas in the time period.

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  5. I liked this book. I thought the pace was okay. In the middle, it was a little heavy on details, but I think it works for historical fiction. The characters were great. And the illustrations were a nice surprise. The short chapters and the large type would work well for a reluctant reader. Avi may have gotten himself another Newbery.

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