2008 November 13 » Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog

Review: The Girl Who Knew Tomorrow by Zoa Sherburne (1970)

Posted by Anastasia on November 13, 2008 No Responses »

Nov 132008

The Girl Who Knew Tomorrow by Zoa Sherburne
Publication: Scholastic Book Services (1970), Mass Market Paperback, 174 pages / ISBN 0590092405
Genre: Children’s/YA, Sci-Fi
Rating: 3/5
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Angie Scofield has never been normal. She’s always been able to just know things, things that other can’t or don’t know. Then she gets invited on a talk show to demonstrate her talent, and Angie is no longer just Angie: she’s the “girl who knows tomorrow.” But all Angie really wants is to live that normal life she’s always dreamed of, to do normal teenage things. To do that, she must find the courage inside herself to get out of the spotlight, breaking her mother’s heart and disappointing her friends in the process. Does she have such courage?

This is a short book, but I’ve never had much tolerance for kids with psychic abilities (adults are another thing altogether) and so I found that a good thing. However, for what it was, The Girl Who Knew Tomorrow was a nice quick read with some strong characters and an unfortunately cliched plot.

Review: Molly Moon's Incrdible Book of Hypnotism by George Byng (2002)

Posted by Anastasia on November 13, 2008 No Responses »

Nov 132008

Molly Moon’s Incredible Book of Hypnotism by Georgia Byng
Publication (US edition): HarperTrophy (2004), Paperback, 384 pages / ISBN 9780060514099
Genre: Children’s
Rating: 4/5
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This is another book I got from the last FOTL book sale. The cover caught my eye– it’s very mesmerizing and shiny, and I knew that any book with an awesome cover like that would be equally as awesome. And I was right! (Seriously, the cover is much better in real life. SHINY.)

Molly Moon is an orphan living at a horrible orphanage, and her life sucks big time. She’s always getting into trouble, her best friend hates her, and she’s basically a nobody. But then one day at the library she finds a book. A wonderful book. A book that is sure to change her life: HYPNOTISM: An Ancient Art Explained. It turns out Molly is a natural at hypnotism, and she straight away sets on changing her life for the better. She hypnotizes the nasty adults running the orphanage, the nasty kids bullying all the other kids, and then she hypnotizes her way to fame and fortune. Unfortunately, she’s not the only one who wants to change their life: Professor Nockman wants that book, and he’s willing to do very bad things to get it…

There’s lots of interesting themes in here, and it’s pretty deep for a kid’s book (not that kids’ books can’t be deep). One of the more obvious ones are Molly’s love for advertisements and the items they promote. Molly truly believes that if she can only become like the people in a soda ad, she can be happy and successful. And to be like the people in the ad? She’s gotta drink that soda, of course! Luckily she snaps out of it later on, realizing that ads are just another form of hypnotism and that while the people in them might seem special, really they’re just regular people. Regular people with really white teeth.