Book Review: Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

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Mad Mabel  by Sally Hepworth  is a domestic thriller about the youngest person convicted of murder in Australia, Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick. Now 81 years old, Elsie is living on Kenny Lane and has been for the past sixty years. When a mother named Roxanne moves into Mabel's neighborhood with her seven year old daughter, an unlikely friendship forms between Elsie and the seven year old child named Persephone. As Elsie's secrets come to light, her world comes crashing down.  Having read quite a few novels by Sally Hepworth, I requested an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Mad Mabel  without reading the synopsis of the story. I was thrilled when NetGalley and St. Martin's Press approved my request. The expected publication date of the book is April 21, 2026. Not knowing anything about the storyline before I started reading Mad Mabel  made the story much more interesting to me as I had no preconceived ideas. The tale was told from Mabel's perspective in alternating timeli...
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Book Review: The Berenstain Bears and the Nerdy Nephew by Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain

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Children's Book Review of The Berenstain Bears and the Nerdy Nephew by Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain
The Berenstain Bears and the Nerdy Nephew by Stan and Jan Berenstain is about a new student named Ferdy Factual who is a stuck up know it all. He is rude to Brother & Sister no matter how nice they are to him. When other students begin to bully Ferdy, he realizes he actually needs friends like Brother & Sister. 

As a child, I loved reading picture books with some of my favorite stories being part of The Berenstain Bears books by Stan and Jan Berenstain. I never knew that Stan & Jan Berenstain had made their famous books into chapter books as well. It wasn't until BookBub.com sent me an email about a bundle of these chapter books being on sale that I knew of them. As a side note, I always thought the books were The Berenstein Bears. Boy was I surprised to learn I was wrong!

the berenstain bears and the nerdy nephew

The Berenstain Bears and the Nerdy Nephew is a great chapter book for younger children just starting out to read . . . I'd recommend it for six to eight year old kids. It was super cute and taught a great lesson about bullying. I love the fact that Stan and Jan Berenstain write books that have teachable situations that are relatable to kids without it being condescending to their audience. For such a short book, the authors did a great job in character development that you don't always see in children's books. I gave it four out of five stars. If you loved this book, I'd recommend Miss Nelson is Missing! by Harry Allard.


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