Genre: Middle grade, Contemporany, Juvenile, Young Adult, Childrens
Number of pages: 338
Format: Hardback
Published February 19th 2013 by Katherine Tegen Books
Goodreads
Cumpără Destiny Rewritten

Synopsis:

 Des·tin·y: |destinē/ (noun) The hidden power believed to control what will happen in the future; fate. Eleven-year-old Emily Elizabeth Davis has been told for her entire life that her destiny is to become a poet, just like her famous namesake, Emily Dickinson. But Emily doesn’t even really like poetry, and she has a secret career ambition that she suspects her English-professor mother will frown on. Then a seeming tragedy strikes: just after discovering that it contains an important family secret, she accidentally loses the special copy of Emily Dickinson’s poetry that was given to her at birth. As Emily and her friends search for the lost book in used bookstores and thrift shops all across town, Emily’s understanding of destiny begins to unravel and then rewrite itself in a marvelous new way. In her third novel, Kathryn Fitzmaurice again weaves a richly textured and delightful story about unexpected connections, about the ways that friends can help us see ourselves for who we truly are, and about the most perfect kinds of happy endings: those that happen just on time.

 

Rating: 4/5

 

Destiny Rewritten has managed to make me see destiny in a new way! Fitzmaurice did a wonderful job with her newest book and I find it really wonderful for children since it has some valuable lessons they can learn from!

 

The 11 year old protagonist of the book, Emily Elizabeth Davis, has been a really interesting character wich I saw evolve in a good way. Although young, Emily is an organized girl who has a burden on her shoulders. Well actually two burdens.

 

She has been named after the author Emily Dickinson(the poet) and she is expected to also become a poet but she is not that good at doing so. She takes this as her destiny but everything changes when she loses her most treasured book: The Complete Works of Emily Dickinson in which her mother noted all the important events from her life. This would not have been that much of a problem if (and here comes the second burden of Emily) the girl would have known who her father was! Emily’s mother reveals the fact that she has written her husband’s name on one of the pages from that book. When Emily finds out, she becomes excited but all is in vain since her book is lost! That is the moment when the adventure begins, the search of the book making Emily grow and understand more about herself and her destiny.
In her search she is not alone, her friends and family helping her.
The dialogue between Emily and her friends was most of the time funny and I think that children will enjoy the way they talked in verses.

An important aspect to mention is the fact that Emily keeps writing to Danielle Steel! She admires her writing and the fact that her novels always have a happy ending. As the action progresses, Emily keeps Danielle informed of her discoveries and is surprised when she gets a reply!

 

The book has a happy ending but I will not tell you what happens since it will ruin the surprise.

 

I liked how the author thought this book through and I recommend it to all children and ages up! It is an enjoyable read and the characters are all interesting, each having something specific.

 

PS: Each chapter has a really long title but I found it really funny and nice! Nice idea!

 

Quotes:
“Wavey smiled. A rush of cool air came from the bay like it sometimes did, infusing the air with the salty Pacific and the beginnings of fog, sending scraps of paper down the gutter.”

“What are you saying? I asked her. You know I don’t speak French.;

She shushed a butterfly away from my hair. Butterflies always seemed to take to me.

I’m simply marveling at the efficiency of this tragedy; is what she said.”