2014 has already come and gone and I have yet to share with you my favorite reads of the year. For those who don’t follow me on social media, the answer as to why is simple: I was dying of the plague. Okay, not really. I REALLY had the flu. And not just one. I had TWO different strands. So for my Christmas vacation, I spent 16 days in bed. Sleeping. Barely moving. Barely reading—which is the real tragedy. But now that we have enjoyed a full two weeks of 2015, let me share with you my favorite reads of 2014. First, I met my Goodreads goal of 115 books. As a matter of fact, I didn’t meet it—I spanked it. By year’s end I read 144 books (mostly YA and mysteries). I really like rounded up numbers, so I am bummed I didn’t reach 145, but hey, since I spanked my original goal, I will take it. Of those 144 boys, below I am sharing with you 15 of my favorite tween/YA reads in no particular order. Enjoy! ‘The Impossible Knife of Memory’ – Laurie Halse Anderson I did...
Title and author: Tess, Terrorists, and the Tiara by Terry Baldwin
Publisher: Middleton Books
Pages: 221
Release Date: August 10, 2012
ISBN: 9780971661189
Source: The publisher
Summary (from Goodreads):
Thirteen-year old Tess has never been able to compete with her “perfect” older sister, but now she must—if she wants to inherit her grandmother’s priceless tiara. The two girls have been invited to their grandparent’s lake house for the summer to help take care of Grandma who’s been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The sister who earns the most “helpful points” wins the former beauty queen’s crown.
"It’s not easy for Tess, who seems to always get things wrong despite best intentions. And who is that mysterious stranger who’s just moved next door to their grandparents’ summer cottage?
Does he know that Tess’ grandmother was once the winner of a famous patriotic beauty contest? Or that she keeps her tiara where anyone can steal it? And why doesn’t he have a face?
"It’s not easy for Tess, who seems to always get things wrong despite best intentions. And who is that mysterious stranger who’s just moved next door to their grandparents’ summer cottage?
Does he know that Tess’ grandmother was once the winner of a famous patriotic beauty contest? Or that she keeps her tiara where anyone can steal it? And why doesn’t he have a face?
My Thoughts:
While the novel’s heroine, Tess, is thirteen, the core audience for this book seems to be a bit younger, maybe ten or eleven.
Tess is a delightful character that a lot of young girls can find a piece of themselves. She is on the cusp of being a teenager, she has an older sister everyone seems to prefer, and she is quite forgetful. But the one thing that causes her to stand out from her sister is that she is not motivated by anything other than being herself. She is who she is, and she will not compromise that, even if it means she will lose a shot at her grandmother’s tiara. After all, her sister is overly helpful, and she seems to always beat Tess at volunteering for everything.
So what happens when Tess takes out the boat to explore the waters only discover a possible terrorist plot that is designed to steal her grandmother’s tiara? A misunderstanding. This is where the novel’s message lies – to not jump to conclusions without knowing facts; to open one’s heart and one’s mind to find the truth; to not allow irrational fears to overtake reason.
The chapters of the novel were short, and they helped set the pacing of the novel. While the pacing itself was quite fast, the development of the message was not. The message of the novel is quite clear, but it does not become the center of the story until toward the end. This is a mistake because it causes this part of the novel to feel disjointed from the rest. Since I am an older reader, this might be something I notice more than a younger reader, who will be caught up in who will win the tiara and who/what isthe faceless creature Tess keeps seeing.
Ultimately, this novel will appeal to female tween readers because it is an adorable tale of acceptance and being true to one’s self. And let us not forget the alliterated title, which will have many tweens picking it up off the shelf.
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