Introduction

Ages ago (when my college senior daughter was in the primary
wing of elementary school) I took my three kids to the Bangor Public
Library children's room. Anne Mundy, then its reigning matriarch,
gave me valuable insider info. Rick Levasseur, then Style Page editor
for the Bangor Daily News, was looking for a freelancer who knew what s
(he) was doing to review children's books. I called Rick. He told me
to give it my best shot.
I'd never reviewed before. I thought I'd be winging it. But
that never happened. I felt my voice as a reviewer come to me full
fledged. It was the friend-talking-about-a-great reading discovery
tone.
With my voice came my self-imposed taboo. I never review a book
I don't believe in. I don't want to violate the trust of readers by
hyping a work I consider mediocre or worse. And I think scoring easy
points by panning is a waste of space.
Rick proved to be a dream editor. I grew as a writer and loved
what I was doing. Parents, teachers, and librarians trusted me.
People without any kids went out and bought the books. Writers felt
that I really got what they were saying. I won awards.
Then changes in the economy made free lance work hard to come
by. I missed reviewing. Readers and writers missed my work--even
years later. So I decided to try a book review blog.
In cyberspace too I'll only review books I believe in. There
will be no fluff or panning. And I don't plan to be pretentious or
artificial. My coffee chat style is what you'll get.
I've started reading the book for my first cyber review:
Cinderella Ate My Daughter. I'm near the end of the third chapter.
All I can tell you is...read my next post and see what I have to say
about it.
Julia Emily Hathaway

Sent from my iPod