Book Review – Nellie Nova Takes Flight by Stephenie Peterson
You may be wondering why there isn’t another installment of The Secret Pond on the Monday Morning Blog today. Last month, I made a plan to do a book review once a month and I picked the second Monday for the post. So, when I agreed to do this book review, I set the date for the second Monday in August. So, The Secret Pond story will continue next week and the next book review will come the week after The Secret Pond project has concluded.
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Yesterday morning after taking the dog out, I settled into my comfy chair with a cup of coffee and surfed the channels on TV. I found a Lifetime Movie Network movie about JK Rowling that caught my attention. It was about how she wrote, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, found an agent, who in turn found a publisher, Bloomsbury who then bought the rights to her first book. Little did they know when it was published in 1997 that she would go on to write seven more books in what would become a popular series for middle grade and young adult readers. Just to note, many adults are fans of the series too. The story of her journey is a very inspiring one for a writer like me who is looking to publish a trilogy of my own. After watching the movie, it got me going on my writing.
Through Facebook writing groups, I’m making connections with many published and aspiring authors all at different places in their writing journeys. The advice and support that I find in these groups is invaluable to keep working towards my dream to publish a novel someday.
About a month ago, I proposed the idea of doing a book review of middle grade books on my blog, to add some different content. I mentioned it to a couple of the Facebook writing groups that I’m a member of. One of the authors from Fiction Writers, Stephenie Peterson, volunteered to send me a copy of her first published book. Here’s my review of Nellie Nova Takes Flight.
Selma’s Book Review
Book Title
Nellie Nova Takes Flight
Author
Stephenie Wilson Peterson
Type of Book
Middle Grade Fiction
Background
Published in 2016, this is her first published book. It is also the start of a series of books starring her main characters, Nellie and Niles Nova.
Summary of the story
Nellie Nova is a nine year old girl with curly blonde hair and lots of book smarts. She has strengths in math and science, which is not typical of most young girls. After being heckled by her brother, Niles, about being just a girl, she decided to do something that he would never believe she would. Using her knowledge of science and math, she built a time machine. Along with Niles, she visits places and times in history. On one of their adventures, they are able to meet Amelia Earhart, one of Nellie’s all-time favorite people. She is a fan of Amelia’s because she is also a girl, who was brave, and made big things happen.
My reactions to her book
Loved the story. I was drawn in by her characters and story development. Peterson really made Nellie a strong girl character which was nice to see. I’m a pilot, so having Amelia Earhart be the woman that Nellie really wanted to meet, brought me into the story even more.
I would recommend it to all middle grade readers. Seeing such a strong girl character in a novel for their reading level, I think would make it an inspirational read for young girls.
How do you get a copy or find out more about the author?
To get a copy of Nellie Nova Takes Flight from Amazon.com, just follow this link
For more information about the author, Stephenie Peterson, and her upcoming books, here’s a link to her website
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