BOOK REVIEW: Lisel and Po
Title: Lisel and Po
Author: Lauren Oliver
Illustrator: Kei Acedera
No one in Lisel's world has seen the sun in years, leaving humanity shrouded in a constant darkness. Lisel's dark world gets even darker when her father dies suddenly, and her step mother locks her in their attic. Then she meets Po, a ghost who has forgotten everything about it's former life. Lisel asks Po to deliver a message to her deceased father, and Po agrees. Her father's response leads the two new friends on an trip across the country, where a series of mishaps will lead the duo and several other players on a grand adventure.
Lisel and Po is a work of middle grade fiction that immediately brings to mind many famous classic works of children's literature, such as A Little Princess, as well as more modern books like the Harry Potter series and The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente. I think what pulled me in at first was Oliver's writing style, which at times was rather beautiful. This warm and inviting style of writing also had the bonus effect of keeping the book from getting too grim, given its sometimes darker subject matter (for example, the treatment of Lisel and another young character, Will, can be easily interpreted as child abuse). The novel also deals heavily with the theme of loss. We see this mainly from Lisel's perspective when it comes to the loss of her parents. The loss of the sun mainly serves as a symbol for Lisel's personal loss, as well as being an interesting aspect when it comes to world building. Due to the loss of sun, food, with the exception of potatoes, has become immensely scarce.
Although the book is called Lisel and Po, we actually have several characters, both heroes and villains, that we follow around during the course of the novel. My favorites were Bundle, Po's playful ghost pet, and Mo, a hapless guard who tends to take in strays. Due to these multiple perspectives, we're able to see how small actions and mistakes impact the other characters, which gives the reader the impression that everything is connected, which I liked a lot. I also enjoyed the artwork, provided by Kei Acedera, that would occasionally take up two page spreads or decorate the edges of pages. One might think that interrupting the story for a double page image would interrupt the story, but it actually helps it flow even better (this is a technique used to a much greater effect by Brian Selznick, with both The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck).
Final thoughts: Lisel and Po is a throughout enjoyable middle grade tale filled with wonderful writing, interesting characters, and some rather nice artwork. Despite the at times dark subject matter, the book remains kid friendly and can be enjoyed by young readers as well as old. This is the first novel I have read by Lauren Oliver, but I will definitely check out her other work. Four and a half stars
Next I will be reviewing Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.
Author: Lauren Oliver
Illustrator: Kei Acedera
No one in Lisel's world has seen the sun in years, leaving humanity shrouded in a constant darkness. Lisel's dark world gets even darker when her father dies suddenly, and her step mother locks her in their attic. Then she meets Po, a ghost who has forgotten everything about it's former life. Lisel asks Po to deliver a message to her deceased father, and Po agrees. Her father's response leads the two new friends on an trip across the country, where a series of mishaps will lead the duo and several other players on a grand adventure.
Lisel and Po is a work of middle grade fiction that immediately brings to mind many famous classic works of children's literature, such as A Little Princess, as well as more modern books like the Harry Potter series and The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente. I think what pulled me in at first was Oliver's writing style, which at times was rather beautiful. This warm and inviting style of writing also had the bonus effect of keeping the book from getting too grim, given its sometimes darker subject matter (for example, the treatment of Lisel and another young character, Will, can be easily interpreted as child abuse). The novel also deals heavily with the theme of loss. We see this mainly from Lisel's perspective when it comes to the loss of her parents. The loss of the sun mainly serves as a symbol for Lisel's personal loss, as well as being an interesting aspect when it comes to world building. Due to the loss of sun, food, with the exception of potatoes, has become immensely scarce.
Although the book is called Lisel and Po, we actually have several characters, both heroes and villains, that we follow around during the course of the novel. My favorites were Bundle, Po's playful ghost pet, and Mo, a hapless guard who tends to take in strays. Due to these multiple perspectives, we're able to see how small actions and mistakes impact the other characters, which gives the reader the impression that everything is connected, which I liked a lot. I also enjoyed the artwork, provided by Kei Acedera, that would occasionally take up two page spreads or decorate the edges of pages. One might think that interrupting the story for a double page image would interrupt the story, but it actually helps it flow even better (this is a technique used to a much greater effect by Brian Selznick, with both The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck).
Final thoughts: Lisel and Po is a throughout enjoyable middle grade tale filled with wonderful writing, interesting characters, and some rather nice artwork. Despite the at times dark subject matter, the book remains kid friendly and can be enjoyed by young readers as well as old. This is the first novel I have read by Lauren Oliver, but I will definitely check out her other work. Four and a half stars
Next I will be reviewing Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.