Rating: 
Summary: Interesting
Review: A girl with webbed fingers on one hand inhabiting a post meteorite-catastrophy America is pretty standard fare for most Young Adult fantasy novels. What makes The Hermit Thrust Sings a better read than the rest of the tripe on the shelves are the precise character portraits. The narrator, Leora, lives in the former state of Maine, now the country of Maynor. She is spunky and smart, but has a ton of baggage familiar to most teenagers: feeling ostracized at school, issues with her step family, fears about the future. Of course, Leora is considered a mutant and threatened with incarceration at The Institute on a daily basis. And her fear of the future comes from the fact that she can "see" events before they happen and has vivid and violent visions. Then there is the matter of Leora's first tentative steps she takes away from her home. She doesn't go off to college but rather frees a captured baby ``birmba''--a mutant bear-ape-- and helps it find its mother. (Side note: I really loved the frightening yet gentle birmbas--they make interesting companions for a feisty girl like Leora) This act of defiance leads her to a whole new life outside of the heavily guarded village she has always called home. Leora, like most teenagers, finds herself questioning the authority of her elders. Her search for the truth about what is happening in the villages of Maynor also leads her towards her long lost sister---and a band of insurgents. Issues of race and class are touched in interesting ways, as are gender issues. It seems the rebels against The Rulers of Maynor are mostly descendants of Latin American migrant workers--but the brains behind the operation are a group of teenaged girls. Now that's what I call Girl Power! Author Butler does use some unconvincing plot devices, but in the end, Leora's story is a compelling one. The portrait of a teen girl, self-conscious and angst filled at one moment, full of ideas and longing the next, is right on the money.
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome book
Review: A really great science fiction book of a possible future. A meteor(was that it?) hits the Earth, and everything is different. If it was a scale from 1-10, it'd rate it 20.
Rating:
Summary: Subito!
Review: Haha, if you don't understand my title, it's Latin for "suddenly". It's also Italian, I think for hurry or something like that, but I'm taking Latin this year, not Italian. Well, the title had absolutely nothing to do with this book. This book is about this poor girl (she's not literally poor) who is mistreated by her only leftover kin. Well, actually, they SAID that her father and sister were eaten by the hybrid birmbas (part bear/gorilla, I think), and they had the remains of the pater, but not the soror (father and sister. Think of derivatves!). Is her sister alive? What is the meaning of her locket? Leona's her name, and her sister is Nell. What will happen? Leona, birmba. Birmba, this is Leona...well, whatever. It was a good book. READ IT! Hehe
Rating:
Summary: Subito!
Review: Haha, if you don't understand my title, it's Latin for "suddenly". It's also Italian, I think for hurry or something like that, but I'm taking Latin this year, not Italian. Well, the title had absolutely nothing to do with this book. This book is about this poor girl (she's not literally poor) who is mistreated by her only leftover kin. Well, actually, they SAID that her father and sister were eaten by the hybrid birmbas (part bear/gorilla, I think), and they had the remains of the pater, but not the soror (father and sister. Think of derivatves!). Is her sister alive? What is the meaning of her locket? Leona's her name, and her sister is Nell. What will happen? Leona, birmba. Birmba, this is Leona...well, whatever. It was a good book. READ IT! Hehe
Rating: 
Summary: Could have been better
Review: I had decided to read this book for a book report a while ago. I was mostly inspired by the original plot to read it, however, I was disappointed by the rushed writing and lack of descriptions of characters and locations. Throughout the book, even the main character does not have a distinct age, physical appearance, or personality (unless you own the paperback copy with her on the cover). And although she does have the power of clairvoyance, most of the story is way too predictable. I would recommend this for young children who do not see such points as important, but for older readers, though, I think you should pass this one up.
Rating:
Summary: An awesome story
Review: I loved this book when I read it. I read it accually 2 years ago when I was 14 for school and I really loved it. It really is a great story. It's my favorite book. :) ~Melissa
Rating:
Summary: Definitely a cool book
Review: My mom bought me this and I took a long time to read it because I figured she couldn't still know how to pick out books for me. Then the other night I just picked it up. IT IS SO COOL. EVERYONE SHOULD READ IT. It's thought provoking and action filled. Now that school is back I'm going to tell my friends too.
Rating:
Summary: My Review of The Hermit Thrush Sings
Review: The "The Hermit Thrush Sings" is a very good and well writen novel. The characters are so life like and enchanting. The book sweeps me off my feet and takes me to a time far away and a place that isn't home but very likable. I hope there is a sequal so we (The Readers) can meet the strange, no-name boy at the Institute and Cassie's brother.
Rating:
Summary: An exciting, post appocalypse adventure.
Review: The descendent of a clairvoyant woman who forsaw the the coming of the meteor that destroyed Earth, outcast Leora is considered a mutant because of her deformed hand and her premonitions of the future. Striking out on her own, she discovers the wilderness is not as dangerous as the dictator who rules what is left of civilization has said it is. She finds the sister she thought dead, and joins a band of freedom-fighting rebels. This was an exciting novel with a view of a possible future.
Rating:
Summary: An enchanting tale
Review: THe Hermit takes place in a world where the state of Maine has become Maynor and society has crumbled ever since a meteor stuck the earth. In this place Leora lives. She looks outside the gate of her villiage and wishes that she could travel to places far away. But she can't becasue that is forbidden. She lives her life quietly, not making many friends because of her mutation. Her left hand is webbed and has the strange ability to draw things that haven't come yet with it. But one day everything changes when she saves a baby Brinbar from being killed and stepps outside to forbidden lands. When she is caught she runs away on her own quest for family, and to find out more about her past. I loved this book. It takes place in a futuristic world that resembles the one that Lois Lowry has so expertly crafted in her books such as THe Giver and Gathering Blue. It's suspenceful, exciting, and filled with beautiful descriptions. It will remain one of my favriotes for a long time and I can old hope for a sequel! I would reccomed this to anyone of my friends!
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