Book Review: The Light from my Menorah, Celebrating Holidays Around the World by Robin Heald and Andrea Blinck

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The Light from my Menorah, Celebrating Holidays Around the World  by Robin Heald and Andrea Blinck is a children's book about a boy being taken around the world via the light from his menorah. In his travels, he visits different holiday festivals. Thank you, NetGalley, for the Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of this book. I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review. I think it's important for children to learn about other holidays around the world in a fun way. However, I expected a little more description during the actual story to correspond with the illustrations instead of it being included in the author's note. I feel like the adults will have to explain the point of the book to children. With that being said, the writing was absolutely beautiful, and the illustrations are fantastic. Four out of five stars is what I gave The Light from my Menorah, Celebrating Holidays Around the World by Robin Heald and Andrea Blinck for taking the initiative to
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Book Review: The Old Willis Place, A Graphic Novel by Scott Peterson & Mary Downing Hahn

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The Old Willis Place, A Ghost Story Graphic Novel is written by Mary Downing Hahn and adapted by Scott Peterson, Meredith Laxton, and Sienna Haralson.  The story opens with siblings Diana and Georgie spying on the new caretaker and his daughter Lissa moving onto the property. Diana desperately wants to be friends with Lissa, but making friends might unleash evil spirits.

I was absolutely excited to be approved and receive an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion from NetGalley.  I first started reading books by Mary Downing Hahn in middle school and checked out every book by her that my school library had. The Old Willis Place was not available at my school, and my local bookstore didn't have it in stock.  So, this is the first time I've ever read this book.

Right away, I knew that Diana and Georgie were ghosts. However, I'm not sure if I would have figured that out as a kid. I had a general idea of what would happen throughout the story, but I was surprised by the ending. It was great but bittersweet. 

For a book that's geared towards children between the ages of eight and twelve, the characters are more developed than others written for this age range. It also was well written with just the right amount of spookiness.

All I can say is that Mary Downing Hahn writes some of the best middle grade stories, and The Old Willis Place met and exceeded my expectations. Five out of five stars!

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