Friday, January 16, 2009

Cassandra's Sister: Growing Up Jane Austen

So my goal for the day is to get caught up on blogging, and I happened to glance at "edit posts" folder and apparently this entry never got posted. Hmmm....can anyone say "dial-up issues?"

I read this one this fall sometime...
Another piece of Jane Austen fan fiction appeared to me while reading an issue of School Library Journal last spring. There I discovered Cassandra's Sister: Growing Up Jane Austen by Veronica Bennett. This novel is a book for teens and it tells of a young Jane Austen, waiting to grow up and somewhat living in the shadow of her slightly older, of age, sister, Cassandra.

Again, not sure if it's the baby or the book, but this one had a hard time keeping my attention. The book is divided into sections and I found the first section extremely tedious. The second section picked up as it felt like Jane's character started to come alive.

My biggest complaint about the book, however, is that I think it would be hard reading for some teenagers. The style of writing isn't the most conducive to easy reading. One reviewer called the writing "awkward" and I would have to agree. It is like the book is trying to be something it is not. It is trying to be written with a tone of maturity that if the book were really for teens it would not have.

All in all--2 Bonnets!

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