Anne Ursu

A stunning modern-day fairy tale from acclaimed author Anne Ursu Once upon a time, Hazel and Jack were best friends. But that was before he stopped talking to her and disappeared into a forest with a mysterious woman made of ice. Now it's up to Hazel to go in after him. Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen," Breadcrumbs is a story of the struggle to hold on, and the things we leave behind.

Breadcrumbs

Jeannette Ordas

A fun, adventurous read along the lines of When You Reach Me (and it picks up a lot from a host of other stories and tales). It starts out so wonderfully and you love Hazel, the plucky but troubled heroine, but I found the ending a bit flat and wondered, "oh, that's it?".

Nicole Dykeman

I liked it at first, then all of a sudden it got super boring, but I finished it just to say I did. No action or adventure whatsoever, and everything just seemed too easy for the main character to accomplish. All she did was walk through the forest and the author went on and on about how cold it was and it was dark and snowy (NO KIDDING ITS THE MIDDLE OF WINTER!!!). Then they get to the ice palace thingy and the witch (mind you, she's supposed to be evil) doesn't do anything to try to stop Hazel from taking Jack back home. No obstacles, no challenges, no nothing. And it's ridiculous! Honestly, they fell in a lake and somehow managed to make it back home alive (if its so cold, why didn't they get pneumonia and die?, unless that is the part of the "magical" theme) but honestly the book probably would've been more interesting if at least one of them died off. The book was dull, gray, and boring. For a book that's supposed to be magical, it didn't have alot of magic other than some enchanted dancing shoes. Don't bother to read this book.

Mary Horton

NO THANKS.

The single greatest thing I liked about this book was finishing it. I WAS FREAKING CELEBRATING WHEN I READ THE LAST PAGE.

I'm sorry, but this is just . . . not my thing.


  Lovely Things:


- The illustrations. Oh my gingersnaps, the illustrations in this book are SO BEAUTIFUL. The cover art and all the little illustration pages scattered throughout . . . they are darling.

- Um . . . it's wintery?? I'm trying to think of something else I liked, but I'm drawing a blank. I guess I just loved how aesthetically WINTER it was. I could pretend it wasn't 80 degrees out while I read this so yayyyy.

- That's all I got, sister. Yeah. *scratches head* Nothing else to see here.

(OH I THOUGHT OF SOMETHING. The references to Narnia and other books was quite fun! I guess that's about it.)


  Not-So-Lovely Things:


- The writing style. Nooooooooooooo. The writing style in this made my skin crawl. It was so flat and void of . . . well, anything. It was lifeless. It felt like it was TRYING to be lyrical and deep but failing miserably at it. Ever other sentence seemed to start with the word "and" or "but" . . . which is fine every once in a while, but not all the time. The writing just really grated on my nerves. *shudders*

- The characters. I felt no connection whatsoever to any of them. Which makes it particularly difficult to actually want to READ about them, you know? They felt as flat as cardboard. No personality, for the most part - and their dialogue was SO AWKWARD. It just felt like nobody had any realistic emotions. :P

-It was . . . kind of pointless? Honestly, I didn't see the point of this book. I thought it would all come together at the end, but it didn't. I was left feeling empty and slightly depressed. There's no change to the characters, and the main character doesn't learn anything or grow at all. I have the feeling this was supposed to be a deep, touching book . . . BUT IT DIDN'T FEEL THAT WAY AT ALL. It felt pointless. Depressing. And very odd. I never quite understood why there were all these weird things happening in the woods. It's never explained where people came from or why things are so weird there. It's so vague and unexplained. And the white witch?? There should have been some conclusive end to her. People say on several occasions that "there's no way to defeat her" and you "just have to pretend she doesn't exist", which I thought meant she WOULD be defeated. BECAUSE THESE PEOPLE NEED HOPE. They need to be freed from their cages of fear. But . . . nobody defeats her?? Am I missing something here? WHAT IS THE POINT? It just feels so hopeless. All Hazel does is take her friend back to "their world" . . . and he still seems like he's distant and cold. I thought he would change, and they would grow along the way. Defeat the darkness.

But nothing happens.

- Have I mentioned it's really weird? Yeah. This book makes no sense to me at all. :P

Overall? I AM NOT PLEASED. Maybe it's just me, but this book felt flat & depressing & hopeless & very odd. I don't get it. I really don't. 

2 stars

Jessica Nottingham

Where do I begin? I feel as though anything I write about Breadcrumbs won't do it justice. That all the feelings that are wrapped up inside of me are entirely too large to fit into a review. Still, a review is the only way I know how to show my appreciation for this magical book, and so I'll do my best. I'll tell you now, if I could give this book a million star rating? I would. The entire time I was lost in Anne Ursu's brilliant story, I felt like I might be a bit enchanted myself. That feeling still hasn't gone away.
 
The writing is exquisite. Ursu weaves her words into a world filled with crystalline white snow. A world filled with boring school days, vivid imaginations, rocky friendships and a web of magic that pulses underneath it all. I knew that this was a retelling of "The Snow Queen" from the synopsis. I thought I knew what to expect. I was wrong. This isn't just a retelling. Instead it is a gorgeous mesh of two parallel worlds. One is a world in which a little girl is looking for where she belongs. For how she is supposed to fit. Then there is another world where steeling yourself against the ice, where forging forward despite the odds, is the only way to survive. This story is many things, but most of all it's a story about growing up and trying to hang onto that piece of yourself that growing up threatens to take away.
 
I cannot express enough how much I loved Hazel as a character. I've worked with kids for many years, and I know that it's tough to write a middle grade character who is as vibrant and layered as they are. Hazel is so very close to perfection in that respect. I believed I was in the mind of a fifth grader. I believed that Hazel was a real person with real thoughts and feelings. It's true that she is wise beyond her years, but I think I saw a little bit of myself in her. Reading and imagination go hand in hand. They take you magical places, and help you see the world in a new light. For Hazel, they show her that sometimes words are plastic flowers. That sometimes parents are just as lost as you are. Most of all, that sometimes the only thing you can do is push forward. Especially when your best friend needs you.
 
If I don't stop here, I'll gush for ages. I really will. I loved everything about this book. I smiled, and I cried. I drank this down like a person who hasn't had anything to drink in years. There was something missing inside me, something that called me to read this book. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, this is the type of book that I want to read to my someday children. I would love to wrap myself up in its pages and live there forever. This book is pure magic, and it settles right into its rightful spot on my favorite books of all time.

Sara 

I loved this book! The setting of a fairytale made the story really interesting, and I would totally recommend it!

Breadcrumbs

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