Gillian Shields

Immortal by Gillian Shields is a fantasy YA novel focused on witches.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series (aka this book, Immortal). The take it has on witches was different than what I had read about before, and I enjoyed it's uniqueness. It wasn't on my top list of YA books I read years ago, but it's still a good book.

Gillian Shields is a skilled writer, and I really want to pick up more books from her. This novel isn't an A book, but I can only imagine how much she has grown since she first wrote this book. With so much potential, it's hard to believe she won't write an even better book in the future.

I did think there was a pinch too much romance in this book. If there was more focus on the plot line and witches I think it could have peaked up to an even higher rating on my end. I'll have to pick up the rest of the books in the series again to see if it gets any better or if my ratings change from when I first read this series. It also features some cliche characters and plot lines...

So, for me, it's a little bit boring.

It's still a sweet book, and I think there's lots of room to grow for Gillian. Hopefully she has more books out because I absolutely LOVED her writing style within this. Her books are easy to read and move at a relatively fast paced!

Three out of five stars.

… (mehr)

Title: Library Lily
- Author: Gillian Shields
- Illustrator: Francesca Chessa
- Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers
- Date: 2011 (year published)
- Pages: 31
- Type of Book/Genre: Picture book, realistic fiction
- Short Summary of the plot: The story begins with a girl named Lily and her mom, and that once Lily learned to read she took her to the library to get a library card; Lily loved going there because it felt like an adventure every time. Lily was an avid reader, once she started to read she could not put a book down, no matter where she was; she even earned the nickname library lily because she always had a book. One day Lily and her mom went to the park, her mother encouraged her to go play instead of reading. So Lily walked out and began to read signs around the park, and then someone called to her. The person explained how they hate reading, they like doing other things instead, and invites Lily to hang from a tree with her (her name is Milly). The girls shared adventures with eachother through books, and going out and about, they became best friends. Lily wrote about all the adventures they had together in a book.
- Tags/subject headings that describe the content: love of reading, friendship, library, adventure.
- My response: I enjoyed reading this book, I can relate because I was also that kid that was always reading. However, I felt like the story ended kind of abruptly.… (mehr)

This is a nice story about an unlikely friendship between a girl whose only interest is in reading, named Lily, and another little girl named Milly who hates to read. Through their friendship, each learns to accept the other's point of view and Milly learns to appreciate books while Lily learns to value doing things and exploring with Milly. Its a pretty straightforward message for children to not be afraid to try new things, and to find friends that have different interests so that you can learn new things.… (mehr)