Child of the Morning

Child of the Morning By Pauline Gedge

Review by Katie Rose

 

                It is no secret to people who know me that I have a mild obsession with Ancient Egypt. I have several books I plan to review for this blog that are about some of the most powerful female rulers in history, and they all come from Egypt. The first one I have decided to share is about the greatest female ruler of them all; Hatshepsut. Egyptologists agree that Hatshepsut was one of the greatest pharaohs who ever ruled Egypt. Yes, I said pharaohs. Hatshepsut is unique in all of Egyptian history in that she ruled Egypt not as a woman, but as a man. She ascended the throne as a male ruler despite being female and portrayed herself as a man throughout her kingdom to legitimize her right to the throne.

The Turn of the Screw

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Review by Katie Rose

                The Turn of the Screw by Henry James takes you into the realm of horror. This is not like most modern day horrors, however. It lacks all the blood, gore, and cheap frights that characterize most horror stories. It is more old-fashioned.  Well it should be! It was, after all, published in 1898. Usually I hate horror stories. I scare really easy and my over active imagination can keep me up for weeks with images inspired by whatever horror story I have foolishly allowed myself to intake. There was none of that with this story. This is perhaps because this novella is more psychological than murderous.

The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Review by Katie Rose

         The Book Thief was one of the very few books I had to read for school that featured a female lead character, and I am very grateful that I did. Although this book technically fits under the genre of historical fiction, it also can be considered a "coming of age" tale. "The coming of age" genre is almost completely dominated by stories of young boys coming into adulthood. Stories of young girls learning the same thing are rare. One of the reasons I was able to connect to this story as much as I did was because it was about the struggle of a young girl as opposed to a boy.