Sunday, November 10, 2019

Mary, Mary (Quite Contrary) Nursery Rhyme Series by Elizabeth Rose


      

            Raven Birchfield is not real thrilled to move into a house once owned by her dead aunt. The house hasn’t been opened up in a long time. When Raven, her brother and mother arrive they realize how strange their aunt was. Raven begins school only to find herself bullied by one of the most popular girls in the school. She is placed in a horticulture class, which is not something she really had an interest in. After almost letting her flower for her horticulture class die, she brings it home and clears out an area in the back yard to plant it. In the process she makes a couple of discoveries. The first discovery is an old cemetery at the back of their yard along with a creepy raven. The second is an old book she digs up while digging the hole for her flower, and a quartz necklace. Both of these things will have a major effect on her life.
            Raven suddenly finds herself in the body of Mary from the nursery rhyme, but she learns how nasty this person was in real life. When Mary is in control of Raven’s body and mind she is not the most pleasant person. The battle to remain Raven and not Mary is real. The question is, who will be the strongest and win the battle?
            I loved that this was based on a nursery rhyme instead of a fairy tale. Most people don’t realize that nursery rhymes were an accepted way of talking about real people who were not the most pleasant. Everyone knows that bad-mouthing a queen could get your head taken off. Write a nursery rhyme that has a hidden meaning and you could spread your thoughts about that person all you want. This was the first book in the series. I loved it so much I purchased it and the other two books for my classroom.
            I loved that this book had a message about loving and accepting who you are. Maybe this will be the vehicle used by teens to learn this lesson.

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