Zillah and Me

Rating:
Summary: A bright, sunny book for young moose
Review: Helen Dunmore writes lovely books for young girls, that goes without saying. Even a mushroom like the moose, ultimate or not, was fascinated enough to eat this book in one gulp with no water. If you have a daughter, especially anywhere in-between 8-13 years old, this is a perfect gift guaranteed to have your child reading madly, with her cheeks flushed and mouth slightly agape. For just a few pennies, "Zillah & Me" gave the old mushroom of a moose so much sunshine... You sure you wouldn't like to share a mysterious ride back into the times when you were a young, small mushroom?

Katie and her mom have to leave their house London and travel to Cornwall. A new fish in the pond, Katie half-expects to be a stranger, the new one, which everyone stares at much like a raven at a bone. However, with her sunny character, she does not give it much thought, as at present there are things that worry her much more:

"If you need the toilet you have to go downstairs, out of the back door, then down the path to the outside toilet at the bottom of the garden. Can you believe that we've come to live for a whole year in a cottage without an inside toilet? In fact there is no bathroom at all. There's a sink in the kitchen where we can wash, and a tin bath that Mom says we can fill with hot water from the stove.

'We'll light a fire, and have our baths in front of it. It'll be really cozy. Just imagine, Katie, a bath by firelight.'

Hmm. I can see that we won't be having baths too often. I think of the power-shower in our house in London and feel a pang of homesickness. My friends would kill me if they knew that the first thing I missed was the shower. But at least we've got running water, and electricity, so I can read in bed. Imagine if we only had candles... But the outside toilet is going to be a problem. The spider angle was the first thing I checked out. My findings were:

1. an exceptionally large black spider crouched on top of the toilet door, ready to zoom down as soon as anyone got comfortable;

2. a nest of spidelings in the corner, waiting to turn into large spiders and join their mom on top of the door;

3. (last-minute discovery) a small brown spider with very hairy legs crouched inside the toilet roll, waiting for me."

Katie meets Zillah, a local girl, daughter of her mom's good old friend. Initially, the girl seems to be very unpleasant, closed in her own shell, but our goodhearted Katie does not give up, being more mystified than offended, and so begins the uneasy acquintance, which over time transforms into a great friendship, cemented by a great secret the two of them share. Yes, says the old mushroom of a moose (when I was at Katie and Zillah's age, I thought the age of 30 was much like being a prehistoric fossil. Well, didn't you?), yes - that's exactly what one can expect from girls. Secrets! Always secrets, haha. The old mushroom of a moose is smiling as he writes these words, being as far from serious as he can get, for due to this lovely little book he was just transformed into a little boy, feeling the unmistakable scent of the world, the scent of childhood. Moose is an old grump - by golly, almost thirty years old, but he sure can enjoy a good, bright story like "Zillah & Me", and can only wish he had his own children to tell these stories to, or read aloud much like Katie's mom in the Cornwall cottage, by the fireplace...

Rating:
Summary: Dissapointing- the cover looked great.
Review: This book was so bad! I don't know how anyone could like it. And it's so predictable.

Katie meets Zillah.
They don't like each other.
They find stuff they have in common.
They become friends.

And katie seems so unreal. She was from the city, then she moved to the country, and it seems she didn't really care. They didn't even have a bathroom in their house!!!

Don't waste your time- or money! I reccommed Millicent Min. It's is one of the best books I've ever read about an 11 year old genius.

Rating:
Summary: Senational!
Review: Zillah & Me is a book that everyone would give 5 stars to because there are so many exciting events happening in this book. Katie was a girl who lived in London, she was so happy until... her father died. He was working on a ladder and the ladder fell backwards and when he was put in the ambulance he died. Then Katie and her mom moved to the country where her friend Janice lived. Janice let her live in a cottage that her aunt lived in. Jancie had a daughter, Zillah, who is about Katie's age but she has an attitude problem. Katie has to figure out what Zillah is so upset about. And it's your turn to figure it out! Read the sensational book to find out what Zillah is hiding and how Katie will help her.