Kate Messner is a shining voice in middle-grade fiction, and her characters will rank right up there with Sharon Creech's for best-friend potential.
Messner effortlessly introduces us to the totally normal yet exceptionally charming Zales family within just a few pages. Characterization leaps off the page: Gianna's mother, father, little brother, and grandmother all sound like they could be your next-door neighbors, the smoothness with which their characters are developed an unfortunately rare accomplishment in fiction.
The story is a beautiful weave of school troubles, family troubles, dealing with memory loss, and exploring new romantic feelings for your close friend. That's a lot to pack into a book, but it never feels overwhelming. Messner proves that it's not about the number of issues you are or aren't allowed to include in a book, but rather the way the author integrates the problems. And she does it beautifully.
It may be a little early to say this for sure, but Kate Messner just might become one of my favorite middle-grade authors. Her prose is effortless and her characters rich, and readers of all ages will be able to fall in love with the characters and find a bit of themselves in the book. THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z transcends its genre boundaries and becomes a classic tale of growing up that will reach anyone's heart.
Messner effortlessly introduces us to the totally normal yet exceptionally charming Zales family within just a few pages. Characterization leaps off the page: Gianna's mother, father, little brother, and grandmother all sound like they could be your next-door neighbors, the smoothness with which their characters are developed an unfortunately rare accomplishment in fiction.
The story is a beautiful weave of school troubles, family troubles, dealing with memory loss, and exploring new romantic feelings for your close friend. That's a lot to pack into a book, but it never feels overwhelming. Messner proves that it's not about the number of issues you are or aren't allowed to include in a book, but rather the way the author integrates the problems. And she does it beautifully.
It may be a little early to say this for sure, but Kate Messner just might become one of my favorite middle-grade authors. Her prose is effortless and her characters rich, and readers of all ages will be able to fall in love with the characters and find a bit of themselves in the book. THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z transcends its genre boundaries and becomes a classic tale of growing up that will reach anyone's heart.
