Canadian Children's Book Centre Our Choice, 2007 Hamilton Literary Awards Program, 2007 - Mixed Media Award for Young Adult BookLiz and her best friend Alicia are determined: this year, no boys! It do
Canadian Children's Book Centre Our Choice, 2007
Hamilton Literary Awards Program, 2007 - Mixed Media Award for Young Adult Book
Beauty's back-with a bound!
Liz and her best friend Alicia are determined: this year, no boys! It doesn't take long, though, before Liz falls off the wagon. She's irresistibly drawn to Kyle, and Kyle is drawn to Liz-dragged to her, actually, by Beauty Two, who is so glad to see her old friend that she starts to forget the finer points of her dog guide training. Kyle doesn't care. Every time he hears Liz's voice, he feels like he's flying.
But the reasons for Kyle and Liz to stay away from each other just keep piling up. Kyle's got a teacher with a grudge who's loading him down with work. Liz's parents think she's too young, and sneaking around behind their backs certainly doesn't make her feel mature. As for Beauty, she needs correction, or she'll be taken away; and that, Kyle just can't stand to think about. Whatever happens, he knows his future depends on having Beauty by his side.
The final book in the trilogy of Elizabeth and Beauty, her seeing eye dog, will have you in tears-of laughter and of pain.
- Conclusion to the Beauty trilogy
- Other two books in the series have received rave reviews and awards
"McNicoll writes with an understanding of the teen persona, switching with ease from the female to the male perspective. Her portrayal of the two main characters and the problems they face is realistic without being maudlin. Of the three books in the trilogy, this one focuses least on the dog-trainer relationship, and so those readers looking for a warm "dog story" will not find it here. Instead, McNicoll focuses on the teens' relationship and the trials and tribulations of growing up. A somewhat abrupt, yet satisfying and dramatic, conclusion to a very successful trilogy.
Recommended."
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CM Magazine "There are many important issues that McNicoll touches on in this novel: teen-age pregnancy, academic honesty, dealing with loss, coping with blindness, family relationships, abuse. . . All of the details and events intertwine in a way that is believable. . . It is one complication after another that leads to a surprisingly moving conclusion.
"Rated: Good to Excellent! "
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McNicoll knows exactly how to get inside the modern teen psyche and move the story along briskly as the action rises from the trivialities of fashion and matters of the heart to the larger themes of life and death.
-- CITY Parent, January 2007
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Winner of the 1996 Silver Birch Children's Choice Award and the 1997 Manitoba Young Reader's Choice Award for Bringing Up Beauty, Sylvia McNicoll has written over 20 books, including short stories, first chapter books, fiction for middle-grade and reluctant readers, and novels for young adults.
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