3 out of 4 stars
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Anna's parents died in a tragic car accident, leaving her to live with her Aunt, Uncle and Cousin. Her Uncle graciously decided to take her in, but her Aunt and Cousin are not happy that she is there. They bully her non-stop which not only makes her miserable but gives her great anxiety as well. How will she survive the loss of her parents and the constant bullying by her relatives?
Anna and the Snow Globe is a magical story of a 13 year old and how she deals with anxiety and bullying. The book has 12 short chapters, and would be good for ages 9 to 13. The author has stated that this would be appropriate for those up to age 17, but I believe the book would be a bit too simple for your average teenage reader.
The themes of bullying and anxiety are dealt with well in the book. The story would help younger children to continue to hope in spite of negative circumstances which I think is so important. However, the true horrors that come from bullying and maltreatment are somewhat glossed over here. I think it's understandable considering the age range for the book, but parents or guardians might want to be aware of this and help children to understand that circumstances aren't often overcome as easily as they are in fiction.
Some of the vocabulary might be a bit challenging for children of this age, but I think it is a great way to expand their knowledge. Words like acerbic and berating are used near the beginning. In addition, Anna on occasion speaks above her grade level. When she is describing her anxiety in the beginning, the description is almost too textbook for my taste. However, it does fit with the author's desire to teach children more about anxiety and how to deal with it; so, in my opinion, this can be easily overlooked.
Though the vocabulary was challenging, unfortunately, the book was not well edited. There were too many instances of missing punctuation, missing words and misused words. I believe that editing is even more important as a child is just learning, for they don't know the difference between good and bad grammar.
It is for these reasons that I rate Anna and the Snow Globe 3 out of 4 stars. The story is cute with a great lesson, but there were too many editing mistakes to justify a perfect rating. I believe that children facing hardships or anxiety issues would greatly benefit from reading this book. I would, again, caution that an adult should go over the lessons in this book with the child to reinforce the positive message and help children sort fiction from real life.
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Moderator's Note: The book has been edited since the review to correct the errors noted.
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Anna and the Snowglobe
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