Once I picked up Donna Jo Napoli's "Song of the Magdalene", I couldn't put it down, even though it was past bedtime.
It starts off introducing Miriam and her character, and then her family members. The book follows her and her loved ones' struggles- fear, prejudice, hate, an unconventional love- slowly fighting and overcoming them, and then ends with her as the person we know best- Mary Magdalene.
I loved it, and it really made me look over my own life, and think about the "demons" I face. I would recommend it for anyone over 14.

Miriam is a thoughtful, fun-loving child who suffers her first fit at the age of ten and believes herself to be possessed by demons. She deprives herself of dancing and bright colours for years in an attempt to appease the Creator, but the fits continue. As she blossoms into a young woman she falls in love with Abraham, her servant Hannah's crippled son. The two are united in their isolation and deep views on religion and the world. Abraham eventually sickens and dies, leaving Miriam pregnant. But Miriam's struggles haven't ended: she is raped by a villager and miscarries. "Song of the Magdalene" follows her journey for understanding and compassion at the hands of others. At the end of the novel she joins up with Jesus and becomes a healer, finally finding peace. Jesus turns to the crowd of onlookers after Miriam suffers a fit and says, "This woman has no devils within her. Not seven, not one. None." "And I kept a song in my mouth always ready," Miriam tells us, "for there were many souls to heal."

Donna Jo Napoli fleshes out a mysterious character from the New Testament with grace, insight and compassion. Miriam does seem much more 20th century--a feminist who disagrees with wearing veils, having to stay at home, and wanting everyone to know of her illness and accept it, to accept her and Abraham. Strong character development and attention to detail make this a pleasure to read again and again. Napoli brings first-century Israel to life, full of exotic scents, colours and sounds, and examines the life of Mary Magdalene and Jesus from another perspective.

This is a really, really deep book. Especially if you are a Christian this is an awesome book. The characters are very well developed and the story of this girl is very stirring. Of course, it is a "chick" book, and although I normally don't read those kind of books, every now and then you want to.

I would give this book When the Water Closes Over My Head,by Jo Napol,an overall grade of four stares.Because it hade a littel room for improvment,it hade a vary good set up story behind it, and didn't just come out and say the plot.It hade a vary good pace and flow to it, and kept me interested.the most interesting part was when Micky was headed to his grandparents house for vacation.part of the deal with staying there was that he would have to take seimming lessons. Micky was scared of the water and at first he made all of the excuses so that e could skip out on swimming lessons. Later on in the book, he faced his fear and managed to overcome his hydrophobia. This teaches us that you can't always run away from your fears because they'll always catch up with you. Along with the good, there is almost always romm for improvement. I think this book would be better if it had lonker chapters. Most people like myself pace themselves at chapters to finish. If the chapters were longer, you could read less chapters. Read it for yourself and see what you think.

I am a fifth grade student at Waldron Mercy Academy. (S.J.G.)

This book was so good that I fazed out in class thinking about it! Donna Jo Napoli creates a masterpiece in just 90 pages. A boy named Mikey has three obnoxious siblings: Victoria, Calvin, and Julie. He has to put up with them on a trip to Iowa. By his standards, things can't get worse, considering that Calvin flushed his prized knife down the toilet, and Julie fed his ice cream to the dog. But things do get worse. He gets signed up for swimming lessons! This ordinarily wouldn't be that bad, but he is scared of the water, his bathing suit fills with water and balloons out, and his swim instructor throws him into the water!
Then one day Mikey hears a cry for help. One of his classmates is drowning! Is Mikey ready to risk his life?

Not to be too hypocritical, but young man in a strange country, falls in love with a young girl living in despair and needing help. They both need each other, very unoriginal plot, but I liked it altogether because of the information given. I've never thought more about Venice than that it was a tourist attraction and I learned a lot. I also now want to learn the language which seems like a lot of fun!

Percy (17) has to spend the summer in Venice with his family, while his father works on a construction project. He thinks he will spend most of his time with his younger brother Christopher, but then he meets Graziella, who is far from ordinary. Percy and Graziella begin to fall in love, but he has a secret that could make her turn on him. The book showed you how the people of Venice feel, which I liked. It also showcased culture as well. Sometimes, however, the plot got boring.

This book opens your esyes to the beautiful city of Venice, the characters are very original, as well as the story. The setting captures you in a way which makes you feel atached to it. A story for all ages. Don't miss out on this incredible book.

I love Donna Jo Napoli's fairy tale retellings, so of course I had to read this one too. But The Prince of the Pond was quite different--and, unfortunately, inferior--to Zel or The Magic Circle. For a start, the target audience was much younger than for the other books--third grade and up, I'd say. Also, Prince of the Pond had a light, slightly humorous tone, which did not fit well with the bittersweet ending. Pin's speech problems got to annoying me, and it was never explained why he couldn't say "thh" and "rrr" and "ssss" but other frogs could. And I didn't like the drawings much at all, which, I think, detracted from my enjoyment of the story. One of the biggest problems, though, was the biology lesson. At times it seemed like the author's chief purpose was to impart scientific information about frogs. These "educational" parts tended to get in the way of the real story. They were especially jarring because the book was narrated by a frog, and it seemed quite odd that a frog should know all this, and even more odd that she should talk about it all the time. They use words like "metamorphosis", and there are sentences like "Our goggle-like eyelids kept out the water but still let us see the underwater world." And, "Your stomach acids will dissolve his [a crayfish's] hard shell." (Frogs should just take these things for granted. I mean, humans don't go around saying things like, "It is cold today, but luckily I am warm-blooded.") This, combined with the very simple writing style, often gave the feeling of an elementary school reader. Despite these problems, the story was engaging and quick-moving, and I cared about the characters enough so that I was happy to find out there was a sequel--Jimmy, the Pickpocket of the Palace. Overall--3.5/5

My ten year old and I loved this book and could not stop reading it. I was touched by the metaphor for life, cold blooded frogs learn to love and be a family. How deeply Pin loved his wife and family. How patient Jade was with his speech difficulties with his giant frog tongue. What fun it was to learn about the life of the pond and frogs in a way that was incidental to the story. This story was a powerful package of life, love, and facts of pond life, and how making room in your heart for love leads to extraordinary events. The drawings were a wonderful preview of what might happen next.

My 6-year-old daughter and I couldn't wait to get into bed every night to read what was going to happen to Pin and Jade. We would talk about it during the day and dive into bed at night to start our adventure. She loved the way Pin talked. Just thinking about it can set her off giggling. We also learned so much. Just the other day she asked me if I had known something about frogs that we learned in the book. The bittersweet ending was a little bit difficult for her, but after Charlotte's Web it was a breeze. And how thrilled she was to find out that the adventure continues in Jimmy, The Pickpocket of the Palace!

I would agree that this book is peculiar, rather than whimsical, but also suggest that peculiarity can be used to good effect. Yes, it grates a bit on the adult sensibility to have Albert standing in the window for several weeks, but the author and illustrator collaborate nicely in this exploration of more complex emotions -- the tale of a youthful man's anxiety about the bad things in life and how his finding commitment to something outside himself lends him greater perspective.

Illustrations are lovely, and the content is appropriate for older kids exploring more complex emotions.

Everyday Albert sticks his hand out the window to see if the weather is just right for him to take a walk. Everyday he decides it is either too windy or too hot because he fears the bad experiences he might have outside-until one day a pair of cardinals force him to open his eyes to the world. Colored pencil illustrations in warm tones. This picture book could be used in a classroom to discuss taking risks, growing up, and 'leaving the nest'. As a middle school teacher, I might have my students write journal responses about someone or something that nudged them to take a chance they were not sure they were ready to take.

A reviewer said about this book that "It's a little perplexing" as though this is somehow bad. But it is precisely this ambiguity that makes _Albert_ such an appealing and valuable book. More authors should do what Napoli does, and create books that make children think--not books of brainteasers, although these have their place, or books about difficult moral decisions, although these too may be useful.

But books about characters who do things differently, who see the world in what most of us would think a quirky way--there is always room for more of these, especially when they are written with the delicate and beautiful language that are Napoli's hallmark, and when illustrated with such astonishing artwork.

Children--and many adults--may not be familiar with the medieval saint-tales where behavior such as Albert's is seen as miraculous evidence of grace. But they will surely see that he is a special person. They will also see that there is more than one way to gain courage to face what we fear. That Napoli does this without any preaching, and with so much sensitivy, is a great accomplishment.

This book was SO stupid! Not worth reading at all! It makes hardly any sense and almost the whole time, I sat there saying, "And I payed money for this book!?" This is some thing that I would for sure not recomend to any one! A stupid, ridiculous book! I love all of Napoli's other books, but why she wrote or published this book is beyond me! I highly recomend that you DON'T read this book!!!

The Daughter of Venice is a story of a girl, Donata, born of a noble family in Venice during the 16th century. She doesn't like the role that women play in her society, and tries to go about finding a future for herself. The beginning of the book is a little slow, but it is appropriate to understand the lifestyle and Donata's family. As the book progresses, Donata begins to come to terms with the noble society, and also discovers the many restrictions on her life. She questions her future, her heritage, and even her religion. I found this book to be very suspenseful and thought-provoking. The basic storyline was not especially original, but the unexpected twists and turns were the work of Napoli's imagination and historical fact. I gave this book four stars only because it was not as emotionally moving as some of Napoli's other works that I have read. Otherwise, I highly recommend it.

This book is my absolute fav! Of all the books i've ever read, this is the most moving. I love it! I would recomend this to anyone who likes a good book, although you zip right through it, leaving you wanting more.

This book was really boring. There was no part to the story at all. The name looked so cool. I started reading it and I knew right away I am not going to enjoy that book. There is know point to the story. He just explains his life in the past. I am telling you, DON"T READ IT.

Do you like books where funny things happen? If you do, you should read this book. The book is called Shark Shock. It is a novel that tells about the journey of a boy named Adam to be able to hear his freckles. The reason is his freckles help him look for sharks when he swims in deep water out in the open. One of the funny parts in the book is when Adam can talk to his freckles. Now I found this pretty funny. Anyway, one day Adam can't hear his freckles anymore. He starts many methods to be able to hear his freckles. He even pours hair conditioner into his ears...

I like this book because it was funny in some parts. I recommend this book for kids of all ages.

Eleven-year-old Adam is a likeable boy who just wants a true friend in life, that will always stand by his side. Whether it be his new friend, Seth, or his ever-present freckles, he gets along in life. The book is humorous, yet allows us to feel for Adam in a way that he wants so bad. It is great to see him finally overcome his fear of the water in the end. Great job, Donna! I feel this is your best book next to "When the water closes over my head."

This book was pretty good. It was very descriptive about the places and things that Jacki was seeing. It came as a surprise to me when her dad died, and when she got picked up by two men.
I think that the way Claudia took care of her like her own daughter was very different, when she was first taken away, i figured it was going to be bad. That they were going to not be very kind towards her, but the way Claudia made her feel at home was very different.
The ending came as a major surprise to me, I never figured that would end like that. I had imagined something completely different, but I liked it.

The stark, first person, present tense narration of Three Days caught my interest, but it was the charactors who held me to the last page. An eleven-year-old girl traveling with her father in Italy is abducted. She has no idea where she's going, why she's been taken, or whom she can trust, and on top of that, she can not speak to or understand anyone around her. My first thought was that the very simple style of this book put it below the reading level of my seventh graders, but the narrator caught me up in the story with her realistic voice and feelings and I had to finish the book in one sitting. This is my first Donna Jo Napoli book, but I plan to go back and read all her others now.

A little girl's Grandma came to live with her and her Grandma had to share her room. The Grandma missed her house and her cat's that she gave to her neighbor. The little girl planted flowers when it was winter so that in the spring they would grow. This is my 2nd favorite anglewings book.

Spinners is a terrific retelling of the story of Rumpelstiltskin! (It has a great cover, too.) Spinners adds onto the original fairy tale a bit, showing you the perspective of the title character, who starts out as a talented tailor, who's poor but at the height of his life. He goes through a lot and you really have sympathize him. This book didn't end the way I hoped, and I'm trying not to spoil the book for you - but I must say, this book's ending was VERY tragic and . . . well, disappointing! I mean, the tailor never got what he deserved! However, this book provokes emotion as it was probably meant to and it does a great job, too. I highly recommend this book to others (at least above the age of 12)!

After reading "Beast", which I didn't like very much, I was willing to give Donna Jo Napoli another try. The only other book of her's that was available at the library was "Spinners". When I picked up the booked and learned it was a retelling of Rumplestilskin, a fairy tale I have never really loved, I was prepared for a not-so-great book. Well, I was wrong. "Spinners", in my opinion, was pretty decent.

The writing in the beginning and middle was beautiful, but the last third of the book seemed strained to fit the original story. I surprisingly enjoyed the detailed descriptions of Saskia's beautiful yarn. I felt terribly bad for her when she was forced to marry the king after "she" spun straw into gold for three nights, threatened to be killed; and when she returned home to her father, only to find the house filled with straw, the father's desperate attempt to get rich. I also liked the friendship between Saskia and Dagmar.

"Spinners" is by all means a good read, but it just lacks something that makes me want to buy it and but on the bookshelf with my favorites.

Napoli and Tchen weave a beautiful and bitter-sweet tale that takes this fairy tale to a new level. Based on the age old story of Rumpelstiltskin, Spinners delves into the story behind the story. The Spinner is a tailor who loves a woman so desperatly that he would do anything for her, even spin straw into gold. When he promises her father to clothe his love in gold he has to make good on his word. But his ever faithful love marries the drunken old miller instead. But she is with the Spinner's child.
Fifteen years later, the spinner returns to his village and saves his daughter, who likewise has a gift for spinning, from the fate imposed upon her by the king.
Beautiful retelling of the classic fairy tale, poignant and moving. I was unused to the tense in which the story was written, but it soon became natural to read as if it were just happening. If you have ever read Napoli's other books, such as Zel you will love this one!