Book Review: The Makedown

When Anna Norton hit the age of ten, she went from average into a "steep descent into ugly." (p.3) She developed cystic acne, unruly eyebrows, greasy hair, and gained a lot of weight. This wreaked havoc on her self-esteem and thus her existence was not pleasant. She makes a move from Ohio to New York and aided by the guidance of her "Fairy Godmother" and employer she makes a remarkable transformation and snags herself a handsome boyfriend. This is where the Makedown part enters the picture. The word "makedown" is defined as " the lessening of external beauty and innate confidence as a means of leveling the playing field." Anna wants to try to change her boyfriend Ben from hot into not-so-hot to make the other women who are vying after him to go away. Is it worth it?

I really enjoyed the author Gitty Daneshvari's writing style. My favorite parts of the book were the descriptive passages in the beginning before Anna begins her 180 degree makeover. Everything is so detailed that I can vividly picture all of the situations in my mind.

"The Makedown" is a very fast and light read. It is absolutely hilarious! The story line is fun and unique and it is hard not to want to finish the book in one sitting. Daneshvari is a very talented author and I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

Book Review: The Paper Bag Christmas

THE PAPER BAG CHRISTMAS begins in the year 1980 with Molar Alan and his brother Aaron visiting Santa in the mall. Even though they thought they were too old to see Santa, their parents insisted that go anyway. While in line the boys noticed that Santa was not letting the children sit on his lap, instead they were just standing by him and handing him their Christmas wish lists. Right before it was their turn, the Santa visits closed for a two hour lunch. However, Santa allowed the two boys to come and talk to him. It turns out that he was Dr. Christopher K. Ringle, a friend of their family. He had lost both of his legs and had inflatables underneath so as not to scare the children, but that was the reason that the kids could not sit on his lap.

Molar and Aaron had spent their entire time waiting in line writing down every toy and material thing on their list that they could possibly think of. When Dr. Ringle saw the list he paused and said this to them: “The things on your list are nice, I suppose. And yet, they miss the mark entirely when it comes to true Christmas joy. Boys, would you like to get something for Christmas better than everything you’ve written down?”” (p. 19) Dr. Ringle gave Molar and Aaron an address to be at on Monday night and told them that they were going to be his elves and help him out. When Molar and Aaron arrive on Monday they find out that the address is a Children’s Hospital. Through the relationships that they build with the patients, they learn the true meaning of Christmas.

THE PAPER BAG CHRISTMAS is an extremely touching and moving book. Watching the two boys discover that there is more to Christmas than the latest toys and mountains of presents was very heartwarming and emotional. While the book is small in size, it is definitely full of substance. It is amazing to me that Kevin Alan Milne is a first time author as, in my opinion, he rates up there with the best of them! This book would make an excellent gift for anyone this holiday season!

For more information about the book and the author visit the Hachette website.