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REviews for the Tower Room Series |
Reviews for LITTLE BY LITTLE, the 3rd book in the Tower Room Series
Foreword Clarion REviews
"Dawn Davis’s Little By Little is an imaginative time travel tale that’s enlivened by realistic details… [and] captures the essence of disparate eras well. (★★★)." -Foreword Clarion Reviews
KIRKUS REVIEW
"Davis presents a story that’s well written, well researched, and features an intriguing central conflict. An often engaging novel with a touch of magic… " -Kirkus Reviews
Reviews for Falling, the 2nd book in the Tower Room Series
Foreword Clarion REviews
"Sensory details bring the past to life in this charming time-travel story...in which characters actively participate in the periods where they land....The second book in the Tower Room series, Dawn Davis's Falling is an intriguing time-travel adventure." - Foreword Clarion Reviews
REviews for The Tree of Life, Book 1 of the Tower Room Series
"Rich historical detail combines with time travel in this YA adventure.
Past blends with present in this genre-crossing historical adventure story with a time-travel twist. Canadian tweens Charlotte and Henry are unintentionally propelled sixty years back through time to the early days of World War II in Dawn Davis’s The Tree of Life. While initially guessing that their mission is to locate the missing “tree of life brooch” they’d been eavesdropping about right before the time shift, Charlotte and Henry’s presence expands into a mission of righting social injustice as well as pushing the boundaries of friendship and family relationships.... The vibrant historical detail, thoughtfully constructed plot, well-fleshed-out secondary characters of a variety of ages, and thought-provoking presentation of anti-semitism in Canada during the 1930s are more than enough to intrigue and satisfy an older audience as well as tweens, or any reader with an interest in twentieth-century Canadian history."
Foreword Clarion Review (July 22, 2015)
Past blends with present in this genre-crossing historical adventure story with a time-travel twist. Canadian tweens Charlotte and Henry are unintentionally propelled sixty years back through time to the early days of World War II in Dawn Davis’s The Tree of Life. While initially guessing that their mission is to locate the missing “tree of life brooch” they’d been eavesdropping about right before the time shift, Charlotte and Henry’s presence expands into a mission of righting social injustice as well as pushing the boundaries of friendship and family relationships.... The vibrant historical detail, thoughtfully constructed plot, well-fleshed-out secondary characters of a variety of ages, and thought-provoking presentation of anti-semitism in Canada during the 1930s are more than enough to intrigue and satisfy an older audience as well as tweens, or any reader with an interest in twentieth-century Canadian history."
Foreword Clarion Review (July 22, 2015)
"Debut novelist Davis spins a time-travel story that features an unstoppable young heroine.
Charlotte, a Toronto fifth-grader, is a girl who dominates everyone around her by force of her determined imagination.... Charlotte’s boldness and Henry’s irritated devotion will make young readers grin. The period history is detailed and intriguing, as well, and includes ugly glimpses of anti-Semitism half a world away from the coming war in Europe. The story of the brooch ties lightly into past world events as well as those of Charlotte and Henry’s own decade. A few plot threads remain unresolved, particularly regarding Charlotte’s rather vague back story and a subplot about a royal visit. Overall, however, Davis is a very engaging storyteller, and Charlotte is a wonderful creation.
Fans of magical realism à la Alice Hoffman will feel at home with this story."
Kirkus Reviews
Charlotte, a Toronto fifth-grader, is a girl who dominates everyone around her by force of her determined imagination.... Charlotte’s boldness and Henry’s irritated devotion will make young readers grin. The period history is detailed and intriguing, as well, and includes ugly glimpses of anti-Semitism half a world away from the coming war in Europe. The story of the brooch ties lightly into past world events as well as those of Charlotte and Henry’s own decade. A few plot threads remain unresolved, particularly regarding Charlotte’s rather vague back story and a subplot about a royal visit. Overall, however, Davis is a very engaging storyteller, and Charlotte is a wonderful creation.
Fans of magical realism à la Alice Hoffman will feel at home with this story."
Kirkus Reviews
I'm very pleased to announce that the November 2015 issue of our online book review magazine "Reviewer's Bookwatch" features a review of "The Tree of Life".
Synopsis: Charlotte lives with her grandfather in a house with a secret: The Tower Room. It is the one room in which she's been forbidden to snoop. Charlotte, however, is eleven years old and has a mind of her own, and when she and her friend Henry hide beneath the table of the Tower Room one afternoon in May, they overhear part of a conversation they were not meant to hear and are drawn into an adventure they could scarcely have imagined. Thrown back in time sixty years, they find themselves unwittingly involved in the imminent disappearance of a family heirloom with a colourful and uncertain past. But families too have their secrets, and the reasons behind them are rarely straightforward, and it is unclear what role Charlotte and Henry are meant to play if they are ever to return to their own time. A fascinating portrait of Toronto in the spring of 1939, The Tree of Life explores the nature of family, loss, and what it means to find one's place in the world.
Critique: It is all the more impressive when considering that "The Tree of Life" is author Dawn Davis' debut as a novelist. Exceptionally well written, "The Tree of Life" launches what promises to be a four volume 'Tower Room' series and is an absolutely absorbing read from beginning to end. Very highly recommended for community library collections."
Reviewer Susan Bethany,
Reviewer's Bookwatch: November 2015
Midwest Book Review
Synopsis: Charlotte lives with her grandfather in a house with a secret: The Tower Room. It is the one room in which she's been forbidden to snoop. Charlotte, however, is eleven years old and has a mind of her own, and when she and her friend Henry hide beneath the table of the Tower Room one afternoon in May, they overhear part of a conversation they were not meant to hear and are drawn into an adventure they could scarcely have imagined. Thrown back in time sixty years, they find themselves unwittingly involved in the imminent disappearance of a family heirloom with a colourful and uncertain past. But families too have their secrets, and the reasons behind them are rarely straightforward, and it is unclear what role Charlotte and Henry are meant to play if they are ever to return to their own time. A fascinating portrait of Toronto in the spring of 1939, The Tree of Life explores the nature of family, loss, and what it means to find one's place in the world.
Critique: It is all the more impressive when considering that "The Tree of Life" is author Dawn Davis' debut as a novelist. Exceptionally well written, "The Tree of Life" launches what promises to be a four volume 'Tower Room' series and is an absolutely absorbing read from beginning to end. Very highly recommended for community library collections."
Reviewer Susan Bethany,
Reviewer's Bookwatch: November 2015
Midwest Book Review
“The Tree of Life” is an entertaining, and surprisingly introspective and complex journey into the past, and is sure to be a delight for young readers and adults.
"When precocious, bossy Charlotte and her best friend Henry, a boy with too many allergies and fears to count, hide under a table in the Tower Room and eavesdrop, the last thing they expect is to be suddenly transported back to the year 1939. What follows is quite the life-changing adventure for them both.
The author paints a vivid picture of life in 1939 Canada, with much of the world on the cusp of World War II. For two children from 1999, the differences are unsettling at first, but as children do, they adapt. They must adapt quickly however; in order to get back to their own time they must complete an unknown task, the nature of which they can’t be sure.
I was at peace with the idea that the conclusion may not be what I expected, and was very satisfied. But not Charlotte; she refused to leave her task unfinished and Charlotte’s positive outlook and dogged determination brought us to a completely unexpected, poignant, and absolutely wonderful ending. I was thrilled to tears with the outcome. “The Tree of Life” is the first book in The Tower Room Series, and I would absolutely love to read more of Charlotte and Henry’s time-traveling adventures."
Gillian Pemberton,
Pacific Book Review
"When precocious, bossy Charlotte and her best friend Henry, a boy with too many allergies and fears to count, hide under a table in the Tower Room and eavesdrop, the last thing they expect is to be suddenly transported back to the year 1939. What follows is quite the life-changing adventure for them both.
The author paints a vivid picture of life in 1939 Canada, with much of the world on the cusp of World War II. For two children from 1999, the differences are unsettling at first, but as children do, they adapt. They must adapt quickly however; in order to get back to their own time they must complete an unknown task, the nature of which they can’t be sure.
I was at peace with the idea that the conclusion may not be what I expected, and was very satisfied. But not Charlotte; she refused to leave her task unfinished and Charlotte’s positive outlook and dogged determination brought us to a completely unexpected, poignant, and absolutely wonderful ending. I was thrilled to tears with the outcome. “The Tree of Life” is the first book in The Tower Room Series, and I would absolutely love to read more of Charlotte and Henry’s time-traveling adventures."
Gillian Pemberton,
Pacific Book Review
