Thursday, June 6, 2013

Odessa Again

My previous Dana Reinhardt reading experiences have all been positive, her work fitting into the young adult category I enjoy.  

Odessa Again was another enjoyable read, with this book aimed at a little bit younger crowd- tween readers.  

Reinhardt creates characters that are believable and human, while incorporating some fantasy aspects in her novel. Odessa is upset that father is remarrying. Re  means to do something again, but her dad isn't marrying her mom again. Instead, he is marrying Jennifer, his girlfriend.  Odessa and her brother Oliver are still hoping for life to go back to how it used to be. Instead time continues to march on, bringing with it changes.  

Except sometimes time doesn't march on. It seems that Odessa has found a way in which to go back in time and re-do some of the mistakes she has made with friends, at school, with her brother.  Odessa's opportunities at time travel are limited, so she has to make the most of her chances to go back and re-do her mistakes.

Reinhardt is a gifted writer. Not only is there the main plotline focusing on Odessa and the struggles she is facing by coming from a family with newly divorced parents. But, Reinhardt includes a little bit of subtle education as Odessa is a bit of a wordsmith, loving to use new and unfamiliar words.

I'm not someone who enjoys time travel in books, yet there was still enough realism in this novel to appeal to me, and enough fantasy for my daughter who loves these types of stories.

Reinhardt has written another winner, a book that I will be buying for my school library and recommending to many of my tween readers.

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