Saturday, April 5, 2008

Alive and Well in Prague, New York by Daphne Grab

Matisse Osgood is a full fledged city girl. She loves everything that the city has to offer and can't even imagine what life would be like without the the bustle of New York City and all the art galleries. When Matisse's father is diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and just can't handle the city anymore her family moves out to Prague, New York. Prague is the complete opposite of city life. Matisse is awoken by a rooster every morning and the main event of the season is a hayride. Obviously Matisse is devastated and feels that she'll never fit in and even worse people will find out about her dad. Then she meets Violet. Violet doesn't have many friends because she's different than most kids in Prague, but her and Matisse mesh perfectly. Then there's Hal, Matisse's hick neighbor. He is always so nice to Matisse even when she's mean to him and even though Matisse can't stand him at first he ends up being pretty decent. As her life at school improves, her life at home is disintegrating. Her dad's becoming more depressed and her mom is pretending like nothing is even wrong. As for Matisse she doesn't even know how to act around her dad anymore and just sits back and remembers what life was like before the accident. When untrue rumors start flying around the school about her dad Matisse is devastated, but the friends she's made in Prague help her through it and don't throw her the pity party she was expecting. Actually they open her eyes to what she's missing out on. With the help of her friends will Matisse be able to actually begin to like life as a country girl? Will she be able to start looking at her dad in a different way and at least try to have a normal relationship with him once again?

This was a great book. I could completely relate to Matisse. I remember vividly moving from a city to the middle of no where, knowing that the schools would be different and I would have a hard time making friends. For me this made the book extra special, but even if you don't have an experience like Matisse's you will still enjoy the book. Matisse's story takes you on an emotional roller coaster, which honestly hasn't happened to me a lot. I loved how I was cheering on Matisse one minute and feeling sad for her the next. While the book was a quick read it was extremely well written and jam packed with action and feeling. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an amazing read where you will laugh, cry, and smile along with each page you turn. I also cannot wait to see what Daphne Grab has coming for us next as I know it will be just as great as Alive and Well in Prague, New York. I suggest you all pre-order the book now as it comes out May 20. You will want to read it over and over again.

6 comments:

RR2 said...

Great review. I'm looking forward to reading this book!

-RR2

Em said...

I've been hearing good things about this and really want to read it. Great review!

Anonymous said...

I've heard a lot of good things about this book, I'm dying to read it. 'specially 'cause it's in New York. ^^

Anonymous said...

I LOVED this book!

Rachael Stein said...

yeah, thsi was a great book :D

Barrie said...

The ARC for this book is on its way to me. And I can't wait! Great review!

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