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Liesl and Po
By. Lauren Oliver
Hardcover, 307 pages
Published October 4th 2011 by Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
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When people were afraid, they did not always do what they knew to be right. They turned away. They closed their eyes. They said, Tomorrow. Tomorrow, perhaps, I'll do something about it. And they said that until they died. ~ Oliver, Liesl and Po, pp. 96
The quote above hits me. It hits me on the heart, BOOM! like I am going to puke. Somehow, that's one of message that you can find in Liesl and Po. Oliver, through her novel, tells readers to not postpone the right you have to do. If you have to do it now, do it now!
So, what's Liesl and Po's story about? Well, it is begun with Liesl, a young girl who is locked up at the attic by his step mother. She doesn't either cry or beg to be free. She just stays until she meets a ghost, Po and its pet, Bundle. Here I write Po as 'it' because it is not clear about its gender whether boy or girl. Then with Po, Liesl begins her adventure to take his father's ashes and put it in her old house.
And this adventure will never really happen without Will's role, a confused alchemist apprentice. This boy sends wrong wooden box to both Augusta (Liesl's step mother) and Lady Premier (a wicked woman who wants to have strong magic). After that, you can guess, Liesl, Po and Bundle, and Will become a team to fight Augusta, Lady Premier and the Apprentice. Actually, those children don't want to fight and there is no even willingness from them to begin a war. They just want to do simple thing and live in simple way. The adults make it more complete. Augusta, Lady Premier and the Apprentice want gold and glory.
Let's not forget Mo, a big guy with a big heart. Later he will become Will's helper. He loves every weak creatures around him. He even doesn't think about possibility of people who want to take benefit from him. He just does charity. But later he thinks about this phrase;
Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day; teach a man to fish, and he eats for a lifetime. ~Oliver, Liesl and Po, pp. 115
So, does the phrase above make you want to do anything for this world?
Overall, this book is very good to be read by young reader. I guess some children at the age of 9/10 will be good candidates for this book.
I wrote this review for; Fun Year Event with Children's Lit: Fun Month 4, New Author & What's in a Name hosted by Ren, and English RC hosted by Bunda Penny.
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