© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc. This feed is subject to our terms of use: http://www.epinions.com/help/rss_terms http://www.epinions.com/user-ramseelbird Recent reviews written by member ramseelbird en-us 121 37 http://www.epinions.com/ http://img.epinions.com/images/epi_images/logos/epinions_121.gif http://www.epinions.com/content_458460991108?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - Every possible fairytale is eventually hunted down and stripped of its elements for middle grade and YA novel reinterpretation.  This is not an unusual thing.  For centuries humans have been fascinated with such tales, telling them, retelling... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~458460991108 Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:32:59 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_458460991108?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_432291679876?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - Ekphrasis. Doesn't fall as trippingly off the tongue as you might wish, eh? Ekphrasis has actually become my favorite new vocabulary word of the day. In ekphrastic poetry a poet looks at a piece of art and writes a poem inspired by the experience. In... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~432291679876 Sun, 1 Jun 2008 22:33:43 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_432291679876?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_422159683204?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - When I showed my husband my latest First Second graphic novel, Three Shadows, he took a gander at where the book had originally been published. “France? Doesn’t First Second know that there are hardworking American graphic novelists being put... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~422159683204 Sat, 15 Mar 2008 01:57:36 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_422159683204?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_420755574404?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - You know, as a children’s librarian Gary Schmidt gives me no end of (for lack of a better word) trouble. As far as I can tell, he’s probably one of those authors that doesn’t like to begin writing a book by pigeonholing it for a single age group. If I'm... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~420755574404 Tue, 4 Mar 2008 01:36:24 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_420755574404?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_419524087428?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - Some authors make writing reviews easy. You pick up their book, glance at the cover, and the words pour out of you like a hard spring rain. Jacqueline Woodson is not one of those authors, and this is not a bad thing. Her books are deep little critters... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~419524087428 Sat, 23 Feb 2008 15:07:53 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_419524087428?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_415756816004?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - A person could be forgiven for getting tired of vampires. Is it fair to say that they’ve been "done"? From the Twilight series to Buffy to whatever vampire-related dreck we see next you sometimes just wanna grab the creators and say, "ALL... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~415756816004 Thu, 24 Jan 2008 17:26:55 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_415756816004?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_413998091908?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - I have not often had the pleasure of inhabiting the head of an adolescent male. Once in a while I'll run across a YA novel that sort of captures what I imagine it would be like (Looking for Alaska by John Green was one such example) but not every... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~413998091908 Thu, 10 Jan 2008 00:09:21 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_413998091908?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_411004604036?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - Essentially what we have here is a book written about the children of the 50s and 60s for the children of the 00s, reviewed by a child of the 80s. Now let me tell you a little story. My husband is friends with a former Black Panther. It's New York... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~411004604036 Sun, 16 Dec 2007 21:31:05 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_411004604036?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_408050241156?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - A show of hands. Don’t be nervous. This is standard operating procedure where I come from. Now, how many of you out there have read a book of manga cover to cover? And no, I am not referring to faux manga or Americanized mock-manga. I’m talking... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~408050241156 Sun, 18 Nov 2007 23:48:12 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_408050241156?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_403369266820?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - Sometimes a book just falls into your lap without rhyme, reason, or explanation and you're left gaping like a fish until someone's able to tell you something about it. Well "Bow-Wow Bugs a Bug" fell into my lap and due to its very nature I've been left... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~403369266820 Sun, 16 Sep 2007 20:55:17 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_403369266820?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_401711337092?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - The romantic implications behind classic horror monsters are usually explored only when horror remains the primary focus and romance a secondary characteristic. There are exceptions to this rule, but they tend to end up creating Phantom of the Opera... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~401711337092 Sun, 26 Aug 2007 21:12:32 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_401711337092?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_400895217284?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - Few pleasures are quite as sublime as reading a book, enjoying it, and only afterwards realizing that you're familiar with the author. Ask me who Catherine Jinks was before I read "Evil Genius" and you'd have met with a blank stare accompanied by some... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~400895217284 Thu, 16 Aug 2007 23:39:45 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_400895217284?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_352422694532?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - Meet the Minx imprint. Described as providing, "Smart, original stories," and, "Strong female protagonists," to say nothing of their, "Different creators for each book," DC Comics is making a backwards lunge for the elusive teen girl graphic novel... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~352422694532 Mon, 23 Apr 2007 22:13:16 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_352422694532?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_306727390852?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - Oh boy. Oh boy oh boy. It's been a long time since I've actively avoided reviewing a book I liked. For about a week now "The King of Attolia" has been sitting on my To Be Reviewed pile, staring balefully at me like it was some kind of neglected... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~306727390852 Tue, 16 Jan 2007 00:17:21 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_306727390852?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_301745147524?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - When I picked up “The Green Glass Sea” I was in an advanced state of historical fiction asphyxiation. Honestly, I have read more children’s books set during WWII that were published in the year 2006 than I even want to contemplate on an empty stomach... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~301745147524 Fri, 5 Jan 2007 01:51:41 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_301745147524?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_301744164484?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - I’m declaring a ban on any more foster child books. That’s it, people. We’re done. 2006 has seen more foster care fiction than anyone would care to handle and we’re slash I'm tired of it. From here on in I am not reviewing another foster child work... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~301744164484 Fri, 5 Jan 2007 01:39:02 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_301744164484?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_267298967172?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - The first thing any children’s librarian asks themselves when they find a new verse novel ah-sittin’ on their desk is this: Did it have to be in verse? It’s a legitimate question. When verse novels first starting taking off they were trendy as all get... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~267298967172 Tue, 17 Oct 2006 17:24:38 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_267298967172?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_255546527364?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - I've read enough David Almond books by now to know that when you pick a story of his up, you have no idea what's in store for you. You could meet a man with the wings of a bird or a fellow obsessed with death and dark coal-lined caves. You even could... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~255546527364 Sun, 17 Sep 2006 23:10:41 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_255546527364?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_254103031428?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - 2006 has been a good year for bad mothers in children's fiction. Particularly bad mothers of the abandon-your-kids variety. I first encountered this trend with &#147Hugging the Rock&#148 by Susan Taylor Brown and followed it up with a little &#147That... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~254103031428 Tue, 12 Sep 2006 22:57:05 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_254103031428?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_252244758148?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - Blurb writers. No one ever gives enough credit to blurb writers. These are the people who day in and day out have to come up with some kind of summary for books that sometimes defy description. And never have I felt the plight of poor blurb writers so... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~252244758148 Sun, 3 Sep 2006 15:16:47 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_252244758148?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_252218084996?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - Okey-doke, kids. Pencils at the ready. I need you all to name as many out-and-out gay characters found in children’s chapter books as you can possibly think of starting... NOW! *ding* Pencils down. How many did you come up with? Don’t be shy, I want to... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~252218084996 Sun, 3 Sep 2006 12:44:01 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_252218084996?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_239846198916?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - I am, by profession, a children’s librarian. My job consists of reading as many children’s books as I possibly can so that when someone walks up to my Reference Desk and says something along the lines of, “I need a picture book on ice cream for a... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~239846198916 Sun, 2 Jul 2006 21:53:17 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_239846198916?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_235409084036?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - Okay, I admit it. For years I’d been intending to read, “Watership Down”, but I’d always found some excuse to keep me from the task. So what pushed me over the edge? What gave me the drive and the oomph to actually pick up this 480-some page book and... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~235409084036 Thu, 8 Jun 2006 23:08:20 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_235409084036?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_230738792068?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - There is a very quick test you can do to determine whether or not you will enjoy the children's book, "Clair-de-Lune". I will now read you a passage from the novel. Ahem. "For when a child sleeps, a little magic bird flies out of the child's heart and... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~230738792068 Thu, 11 May 2006 11:07:44 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_230738792068?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_229869850244?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author ramseelbird - You might think that now that we live in such a culturally aware new millennium that our bookstore shelves would be fair flooded with an array of well-written picture books starring African-American children. But take a turn in your local independent... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~229869850244 Sat, 6 May 2006 00:45:24 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_229869850244?linkin_id=8003929