Prickly Rose

February 1, 2014

K-Gr 2-No longer wanting to be left out of her older sister Sitka's adventures, Prickly Rose takes a journey through Alaska to find her and helps sculpt Alaska's sprawling and varied terrain along the way. With an inconsistent meter, forced slant rhymes, and poor word choice, Gill's verse is awkward. Prickly Rose is a feisty heroine, but her companions are bland and undefined. Coupled with a lack of transitions, the story becomes more jarring and confusing with each page turn, and the ending, in which the two sisters are finally reunited, comes off as saccharine rather than celebratory or moving. Love's illustrations are colorful and expressive but cannot save the narrative.-Laura J. Giunta, Garden City Public Library, NY

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