There are a lot of books that I review only on Amazon. Sometimes if I love the book, I'll post the review here too. And sometimes if I read a book that particularly concerns me, then I post it here too. Recently, I read a book, The Year of the Book by Andrea Cheng , that falls in that latter category. I've been pondering what to write about this book since I read it a week and a half ago. It is definitely "realistic" fiction. I suspect many girls will like this book, but I haven't been able to get my daughter to pick it up and read it. There are some books that I require her to read since we homeschool, but this isn't going to be one of those books. When we read books, we read them for a lot of reasons. Gladys Hunt says that reading books helps children learn to savor life. It helps them notice what is "seen, heard, and experienced" (Honey for a Child's Heart p. 21) Books help give children a sense of security (p.22 from the same book) t...