Book Review: The Last Carolina Summer by Karen White

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The Last Carolina Summer by Karen White is the story about Phoebe Manigault returning home to Mt. Pleasant, a suburb of Charleston, South Carolina, to help her sister with their ailing mother. When past memories resurface, Phoebe is thrown back into some childhood turmoil. I requested an Advanced Readers Copy ARC of The Last Carolina Summer from NetGalley, and I was ecstatic when the provided me with a copy for free in exchange for my honest review. So, a big thank you goes out to them! When I began reading this story, I just happened to be vacationing in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. I loved hearing about the different places, including streets and a bridge called the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, which I had to cross to get into Mt. Pleasant as well as Isle of Palms. It's always nice to be able to visualize the places and author writes about. With that being said, I'm not a fan of traveling over bridges, and one of the scenes of The Last Carolina Summer mentions a car going off ...
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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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