This was my unloved sixth of the shortlist, so I’m reviewing it last. There’s not much to be said other than it wasn’t for me, and I didn’t like it. You might, though. Who knows.
Tag: childhood
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Christmas vs. Weihnachten
I miss German Christmases.
As far as literary prizes go, We Need New Names has all the makings of a winner: its author, a 31-year-old Zimbabwean immigrant to the U.S., never planned a career as a writer, yet this, her first novel, has not only served as a form of catharsis for her, but allowed readers a look at […]
Would you believe that this is only the second Neil Gaiman book that I’ve ever read? I know, I am disappointed in this reading gap too, as it has happened for no good reason. I enjoy Gaiman’s writing immensely, and his new novel, The Ocean at The End of The Lane did not disappoint.
I’m home. The sun is shining, and it’s all good, but after the greatest summer in my hometown, I feel I need a lot more time to properly arrive. I’m still coming to terms with all the memories that hit me around the head at every street corner. Suddenly, it seems impossibly hard to make […]
Hello m’dears, and Happy Monday! I’m writing to you from the past. Well, kind of. I’ve been staying in my childhood home for four weeks now; the weather has been glorious, and we’ve done a lot to bring back precious memories – zoo trips, ice cream by the fountain, and travelling old school in an actual […]
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Stranger in the Strangest Land
I blame the books. Jane Austen and Agatha Christie, I’m looking at you. Sternly.
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The Light Bulb Moment
I was five and it was the letter “L.” Unlike most kindergarteners today, but like many of my kindergarten compatriots from back in the day, I was unable to read and write when I started school.
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Lunchtime Poll: What’s In a Name?
I think most people spent at least part of their childhood wishing they could change something about themselves. My best friend and I had opposite hair types (mine: corkscrew curls, hers: pin straight) and always wished we could switch.
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The VHS Experiment
It’s a strange idiosyncrasy of folks my age to keep a stash of VHS tapes secreted somewhere in their house, no matter how technologically advanced they may be. Seriously, I don’t think I have one friend who doesn’t still own a beat-up 1989 copy of Tim Burton’s Batman, or the original Little Mermaid tape with […]
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Lunchtime Poll: I’m a Big Kid Now
I sure hope we’re all still in touch with our inner child, but are there times that child really wants to come out to play? I find that every once in a while, I have an urge to indulge some of my more childlike tendencies, such as doing cartwheels when I find myself walking down […]
I am an enormous nerd, and at one point “Geek” was even in my job title. These days, I do a good job of convincing strangers of how cool I am by using slang, participating in activism (that’s cool, right?) and playing bitchin’ rock songs. Socializing is something I have always had an affinity for, […]
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Playing Pretend
I recently noticed something exciting: my son has discovered his imagination. Callum just turned two, and recently he’s started showing signs of having a wild imagination. He opens his books to pictures of food and pretends to chomp down, usually expressing an enthusiastic “MMMMMM!” or a disgusted “bleccch!” He loves to feed us these imaginary […]
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Down in Fraggle Rock
Ah, the television of my youth! Do television shows these days even have theme songs you can memorize the lyrics to? I don’t know. At any rate, with the arrival of the much-hyped ’90s resurrection on TeenNick, I guess I’ve been feeling a bit nostalgic lately. But not for Clarissa Explains it All, Salute Your […]
One of the many tragedies of getting older is that things from your youth that you assumed would be around forever start disappearing: friendships, people, lipstick shades, The Mr. Toad Ride at Disney World”¦ and food.