Rate this book

Behind The Masks: The Diary Of Angeline Reddy, Bodie, California, 1880 (2012)

by Susan Patron(Favorite Author)

3.59 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0545304377 (ISBN13: 9780545304375)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Scholastic Inc.

review 1: I really don't care much for the newer versions of the Dear America series. What I liked about the previous books were that the girls seemed like normal girls for their time period and offered what a slice of life would be like for that particular era. This one doesn't really read like a diary. It's more like a poorly constructed mystery novel. It didn't seem particularly real or relatable. I did like the main character was a bit more on the feisty side but I found this a little underwhelming
review 2: I generally really like the Dear America series and have read as many as I can get my hands on. Same for the American Girls books. Granted I am not this book's target audience (30-year-old mother). But I really enjoy my young adult historical fiction.I really did... moren't like the ghost story; I kept waiting to hear the real-world explanation of it, but it turns out this really was a ghost story. I'm not a fan of that mixing of "real" and "not-real." Also, granted I'm the mother of a toddler, but I found that whole part just too heart-wrenching. Wow.With all the talk of brothels and Ling Loi's situation, yes, this book seems to be for an older audience than other Dear America books. It's definitely my personal preference, but that was one of the things I really appreciated reading other ones. In those books, as a knowledgeable adult, I can see the hints at the horrible things that happened in the these historically settings -- but overall, the worst things are not laid out so explicitly because of the younger audience, and I appreciate that. This book I felt didn't disguise them quite so much. I would save this book for an older child, absolutely.There were other things I didn't much like either. The way this read more as a story than a diary. I didn't find the Horribles plot line all that engaging and or realistic. I wonder if perhaps the author's attempts to hold true to historical reality ended up constraining her. Compared to the other Dear America books, this one seemed to be much more based on real people - perhaps to its detriment. less

Download links for: Behind the Masks: The Diary of Angeline Reddy, Bodie, California, 1880

Advertising