But for a third person omniscient, I felt like I was talked down to. Now, had the story been narrated from Riddle's point of view, it would have made sense. I am sure this might appeal to some people but I really didn't care much for it. I felt like the author was trying to talk to me like you would to a little kid, presenting facts in a linear order, making it simple for my simple mind. To tell you the truth, it is pretty much in line with my first statement, that is that this is a fairy tale. When I look at it with my analytical skills though, there are various things which didn't convince me or didn't care for. I recommend you to read I'll Be There if only for Riddle. His thoughts, his story, his drawings, the world seen through his eyes were the best part of the story for me and the main reason why I liked this book. If I had to choose a kid to adopt, this kid would be like him. Said judgement was purely based on emotional reasons, namely on the character of Riddle Border.

I'll admit straight away that I liked this book against my better judgement. Sam, our modern male Cinderella, has been on the road with his little sick brother for as long as he can remember, obliged by their psychotic father to live a miserable life, not going to school, kept out of society.Įmily is just a regular small town girl, reserved, introverted.īut when Emily is obliged by her father to sing a solo in church and sees Sam sitting on the back pew, something in the cosmic order of things shifts and their encounter will trigger a series of events which will change, once and for all, not only Sam, Riddle and Emily's lives profoundly but the lives of all people who will get caught in this devastating snowball effect. Soon, she doesn't want to fade into the background-and it's a good thing, because her director has more big plans for Juliaīubbling over with humor and tenderness, this is an irresistible story of self-discovery and of the role models who forever change us.It reads like a fairy tale and it's got the tropes of a fairy tale, though revisited in a modern key. Chang, Julia's own sense of self as an artist grows.

As Julia becomes friendly with the poised and wise Olive-one of the adults with dwarfism who've joined the production's motley crew of Munchkins-and with her deeply artistic neighbor, Mrs. She hasn't ever thought of herself as a performer, but when the wonderful director ofĬasts her as a Munchkin, she begins to see herself in a new way. , she'll realize how big she is inside, where it counts. Julia is very short for her age, but by the end of the summer run of , Julia grows into herself while playing a Munchkin in In this heartwarming and funny middle-grade novel by the

Short by Holly Goldberg Sloan