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The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley #1
The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley
In the tradition of BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE and THE BEAN TREES comes a novel that charms and amazes, with a voice that draws you in like a warm-hearted charismatic friend.
Cedar B. Hartley is exasperating and potentially infamous. She steps on cracks. She plans to live an unusual life. She is the winner of her school's Bat Pole Championship, (which she made up). She misses her brother Barnaby, who ran away, and who sends her postcards from all over the country. And she's definitely a hopeless winker -- both eyes go at once, like a blink.
But Cedar B. Hartley has potential. She knows the difference between touching and touching on a couch. She knows the long distance between an idea and the real thing. And she has a green thumb for people, which will come in handy as she discovers truths about her friends, her family, and her life.
Cedar B. Hartley is exasperating and potentially infamous. She steps on cracks. She plans to live an unusual life. She is the winner of her school's Bat Pole Championship, (which she made up). She misses her brother Barnaby, who ran away, and who sends her postcards from all over the country. And she's definitely a hopeless winker -- both eyes go at once, like a blink.
But Cedar B. Hartley has potential. She knows the difference between touching and touching on a couch. She knows the long distance between an idea and the real thing. And she has a green thumb for people, which will come in handy as she discovers truths about her friends, her family, and her life.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2002
35 people are currently reading
402 people want to read
About the author
Martine Murray
26books56followersMartine Murray, a native and a current resident of Melbourne, Australia, is an accomplished author with a variety of other talents and interests. She has studied film making at Prahan College, painting at the Victorian College of the Arts, and movement and dance at Melbourne University. She began writing as a method of keeping track of all of her activities. She explains, “I was writing in journals a lot while I was in art school. I also used to write on my canvasses or write on etchings and make tiny stories that weren't really stories, they were more like sketches of moments.�
Soon enough, Martine had authored and illustrated the gentle, funny, and gloriously playful books such as The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley (Who Planned to Live an Unusual Life). In the story of twelve-year old Cedar B. Hartley, the young heroine befriends the son of a circus family and coordinates a local circus to raise money for the community's dog operation. The book has won a number of awards, including NYPL 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, Book Sense 76 Children's Pick, it was shortlisted for Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the year Award, shortlisted for New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, and won the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Books.
Martine Murray is currently enrolled in Professional Writing at RMIT and plans further study in screen writing and short story.
Soon enough, Martine had authored and illustrated the gentle, funny, and gloriously playful books such as The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley (Who Planned to Live an Unusual Life). In the story of twelve-year old Cedar B. Hartley, the young heroine befriends the son of a circus family and coordinates a local circus to raise money for the community's dog operation. The book has won a number of awards, including NYPL 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, Book Sense 76 Children's Pick, it was shortlisted for Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the year Award, shortlisted for New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, and won the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Books.
Martine Murray is currently enrolled in Professional Writing at RMIT and plans further study in screen writing and short story.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
October 21, 2020
I loved this book as a kid, and stumbled across it again recently. What a sweet, well written middle-grade novel. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the prose, and thoroughly enjoyed the read. The mind of 12 year old Cedar B. Hartley was a lovely place to spend a few days.
February 25, 2018
What an entertaining story. The quirky main character carries the reader through the story's challenges with humour and an authenticity that's heartwarming, all the way through to the satisfying ending.
September 28, 2015
What a great voice! This was the beginning of my love affair with Aussie authors...
August 23, 2018
I don’t usually read a lot of middle grade fiction but whenever I do, I enjoy the whole reading experience so much that I wonder why I don’t read more frequently from this genre. There was this one particular book which kept falling at my feet every time I opened my bookshelf. I took this as a sign and moreover, of late I had been reading a lot of stories about adults/ grown-ups. So picking up this book felt like a breath of fresh air.
“The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley (who planned to live an unusual life)� by Martine Murray was no exception. It is about Cedar, a 13 year old quirky girl who hates math but is a genius in acrobatics. She stays with her mother and brother, Barnaby (whom we get to see only towards the end of the book) in a small house in Brunswick, Australia. Cedar, also called lovingly Cedy Blue, by her brother has a pet dog, Stinky for company as her mother works very long hours at the hospital. She also has some friends in the neighbourhood. Like Caramella, a girl with low self-esteem and Rita, an elderly woman with a dog, Bambi, Oscar who suffers from brain damage but is quite an exceptional person. There are a few other children of her age who are mean to her and call her names and bully her. But Cedar is a different kind of girl and all these usually don’t affect her much. One day, Stinky goes missing only to be found by a boy named Kite who is “like a leaf that had just been tossed by the wind and didn't care." From then on, a beautiful relationship blossoms between them mainly because Kite is also an acrobat like her. The two of them share a special bond because they belong to dysfunctional families. The rest of the book talks about their adventures and days spent doing acrobatic feats in Kite’s garage and how Cedar comes up with a plan to raise funds to save Bambi.
Some thought-provoking passages on human life and some very funny and nice illustrations done by the author herself make this book a nice, light read. Here are a few excerpts from the book. The following excerpt is about a lady in her neighbourhood and how this leads Cedar to introspect about people in general.
“Marge Manoli is an old lady with a hairy mole on her cheek. She works in the Opportunity Shop on Smith Street. She calls you 'love' and she talks with you as if she really likes you. I've heard her talking just like that to all the crazies and homeless people and drug addicts who go there. She listens to them, even when what they're saying doesn't make sense. She doesn't get impatient with them for going on and on about the same thing. Marge Manoli is the mother of Smith Street. No one ever says thank you, no one pays her for it, and she doesn't expect anyone to either. I bet there are millions of these kinds of people in the world - kind, caring people disguised as bus drivers or sandwich deliverers or mothers or plumbers.
There is Marge and then there are all those famous people with more money than they need, who are famous for the silliest thing, like being born with a big inheritance, a newspaper, a beautiful face, or a good serve. I don't really get that. Why should someone who is good at hitting a tennis ball backwards and forwards, and backwards and forwards, again and again, be a hero?
All those very famous, rich, powerful people just seem to spend their time trying to get even more so - hit the ball harder, change their nose shape so it looks better, get new bosoms once theirs get too old, or get more money, even though they've got plenty more than they need. Now that's crazy. It leads me to think that those famous attributes must be kind of dangerous things to have. That's why I'm glad I'm not unnaturally or gifted or good at whacking a ball.�
Since Cedar loves her dog, Stinky, to bits, she talks about the two kinds of people in this world based on their affection towards dogs or cats.
"The way I figure it, the world is made of two types of people - dog people and cat people. If you drew a line down the middle and said all dog people on one side and cat people on the other, then the dog side of the world woould be chaotic and muddy, an exuberant unparticular big kind of place with many trees. The cat side would be clean and deliberate and full of sunny patches and silk couches. I belong to the dog side. so does my mum, and even Barnaby. But Marnie Atkin, she definitely belongs to the cat side. It's the coral coloured fingernails...Thats's why I knew that Barnaby had gone stupid asking her out, because it wouldn't ever have worked out. Even if Barnaby hadn't been sent away, he and Marnie belong on different sides. Do you think a dog could marry a cat?"
Cedar also talks about how boys are different from girls and how.
“The thing about boys is that they don’t talk in the same way as girls. They talk about things. Out-and-about things, things you can touch and see, not the kind of things that are inside. Those inside things aren’t really things at all, since you can’t see them—not with your eyes—and you can’t hold them—not with your hands. So they’re situations. I call them situations of the heart. Boys don’t talk about heart situations. If they’re blokish, they talk about bulky things that move, like cars, footballs and chicks. If they’re natty sharp, they go on about plug-and-socket things, like computers, stereos and science experiments. I think really smart boys probably talk about the government and the theatre, but there aren’t many that smart. The smooth talkers talk about girls they see on the tram, and older boys like Barnaby talk about music, bands and marijuana, and what an antelope doesn’t know. I don’t think many boys talk about what an antelope doesn’t know; only Barnaby, because he’s a dreamer like our dad was. It’s not that girls� talk is better or more important, not in subject matter anyway, because honestly some of them only talk about boys and how to make boys like them. That’s the older ones, and it’s so boring. I wouldn’t do that because I’m a feminist and I plan to get my own opinions about the state of the world and I wouldn’t ever let a boy tell me how to get them or what to do with them, either. It’s the way girls talk that’s different. With girls you can go on and on about tiny little things that happen to you. You’re allowed to take an hour to tell about an argument you had with your mum, and how it made you mad or sad or both. You can’t do that with boys.�
Cedar makes it very clear to us why she likes Caramella.
“She wants to chew the fat, as my Uncle John would say. That means you linger on details, you chomp right through the facts and get to the bone, the nitty gritty gristly chewy sense of things, the gooey core, the centre of that messy weave of feelings that bury into your skin and wrap you up. Not that you can ever hit that centre, but if you hover around it for a while you can get some kind of blurry view of it.�
Someplace towards the end, Cedar decides to run away from home but Oscar meets her on the way and gives her a drawing. This makes her change her mind and this is what she has to say about life.
“Sometimes life hits you at such a startling lightning kind of angle that you get pushed off your normal viewing spot. You stop knowing how things are. Instead of what you know, there are the patterns that stars make; the sound of the night breathing; the small aching spot where your feet touch the earth . . . And you’ve never felt closer to it. You think that if there is an It, you and It are nearly touching. You feel religious and devoted and tiny. Just for a moment you feel as if the whispering coming from the leaves and beetles and sky and footsteps and sighs is going directly towards your ear. So you listen.�
And then there is this beautiful quote on love by her brother, Barnaby. I couldn’t agree with it more.
“Cedy, I may be wrong, but the way I see it, there’s three parts to love. Three ways of doing it—mind, body and soul. When you get all three happening at once, that’s it. That’s the real thing.�
The book has a colourful cover, catchy title and some cute drawings. The plot moves at a good pace and almost all the characters are realistic in some way or the other. The book ends on a positive, happy note as Cedar comes to terms with a secret about her father which is revealed to her by her brother. Her mother realises that nothing is more important than spending time with her children and Barnaby realises his folly in running away from his school. It is with this motto - all’s well that ends well � that the book finishes. But not quite so as I heard that there is a sequel. However, I have only been disappointed by sequels so far and so it has turned into a ‘someday book� for now. I don’t want anything to mar this beautiful book. If you like middle grade fiction, then you could try this book. If you do, let us know how you liked it.
Rating: 4.5/5
“The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley (who planned to live an unusual life)� by Martine Murray was no exception. It is about Cedar, a 13 year old quirky girl who hates math but is a genius in acrobatics. She stays with her mother and brother, Barnaby (whom we get to see only towards the end of the book) in a small house in Brunswick, Australia. Cedar, also called lovingly Cedy Blue, by her brother has a pet dog, Stinky for company as her mother works very long hours at the hospital. She also has some friends in the neighbourhood. Like Caramella, a girl with low self-esteem and Rita, an elderly woman with a dog, Bambi, Oscar who suffers from brain damage but is quite an exceptional person. There are a few other children of her age who are mean to her and call her names and bully her. But Cedar is a different kind of girl and all these usually don’t affect her much. One day, Stinky goes missing only to be found by a boy named Kite who is “like a leaf that had just been tossed by the wind and didn't care." From then on, a beautiful relationship blossoms between them mainly because Kite is also an acrobat like her. The two of them share a special bond because they belong to dysfunctional families. The rest of the book talks about their adventures and days spent doing acrobatic feats in Kite’s garage and how Cedar comes up with a plan to raise funds to save Bambi.
Some thought-provoking passages on human life and some very funny and nice illustrations done by the author herself make this book a nice, light read. Here are a few excerpts from the book. The following excerpt is about a lady in her neighbourhood and how this leads Cedar to introspect about people in general.
“Marge Manoli is an old lady with a hairy mole on her cheek. She works in the Opportunity Shop on Smith Street. She calls you 'love' and she talks with you as if she really likes you. I've heard her talking just like that to all the crazies and homeless people and drug addicts who go there. She listens to them, even when what they're saying doesn't make sense. She doesn't get impatient with them for going on and on about the same thing. Marge Manoli is the mother of Smith Street. No one ever says thank you, no one pays her for it, and she doesn't expect anyone to either. I bet there are millions of these kinds of people in the world - kind, caring people disguised as bus drivers or sandwich deliverers or mothers or plumbers.
There is Marge and then there are all those famous people with more money than they need, who are famous for the silliest thing, like being born with a big inheritance, a newspaper, a beautiful face, or a good serve. I don't really get that. Why should someone who is good at hitting a tennis ball backwards and forwards, and backwards and forwards, again and again, be a hero?
All those very famous, rich, powerful people just seem to spend their time trying to get even more so - hit the ball harder, change their nose shape so it looks better, get new bosoms once theirs get too old, or get more money, even though they've got plenty more than they need. Now that's crazy. It leads me to think that those famous attributes must be kind of dangerous things to have. That's why I'm glad I'm not unnaturally or gifted or good at whacking a ball.�
Since Cedar loves her dog, Stinky, to bits, she talks about the two kinds of people in this world based on their affection towards dogs or cats.
"The way I figure it, the world is made of two types of people - dog people and cat people. If you drew a line down the middle and said all dog people on one side and cat people on the other, then the dog side of the world woould be chaotic and muddy, an exuberant unparticular big kind of place with many trees. The cat side would be clean and deliberate and full of sunny patches and silk couches. I belong to the dog side. so does my mum, and even Barnaby. But Marnie Atkin, she definitely belongs to the cat side. It's the coral coloured fingernails...Thats's why I knew that Barnaby had gone stupid asking her out, because it wouldn't ever have worked out. Even if Barnaby hadn't been sent away, he and Marnie belong on different sides. Do you think a dog could marry a cat?"
Cedar also talks about how boys are different from girls and how.
“The thing about boys is that they don’t talk in the same way as girls. They talk about things. Out-and-about things, things you can touch and see, not the kind of things that are inside. Those inside things aren’t really things at all, since you can’t see them—not with your eyes—and you can’t hold them—not with your hands. So they’re situations. I call them situations of the heart. Boys don’t talk about heart situations. If they’re blokish, they talk about bulky things that move, like cars, footballs and chicks. If they’re natty sharp, they go on about plug-and-socket things, like computers, stereos and science experiments. I think really smart boys probably talk about the government and the theatre, but there aren’t many that smart. The smooth talkers talk about girls they see on the tram, and older boys like Barnaby talk about music, bands and marijuana, and what an antelope doesn’t know. I don’t think many boys talk about what an antelope doesn’t know; only Barnaby, because he’s a dreamer like our dad was. It’s not that girls� talk is better or more important, not in subject matter anyway, because honestly some of them only talk about boys and how to make boys like them. That’s the older ones, and it’s so boring. I wouldn’t do that because I’m a feminist and I plan to get my own opinions about the state of the world and I wouldn’t ever let a boy tell me how to get them or what to do with them, either. It’s the way girls talk that’s different. With girls you can go on and on about tiny little things that happen to you. You’re allowed to take an hour to tell about an argument you had with your mum, and how it made you mad or sad or both. You can’t do that with boys.�
Cedar makes it very clear to us why she likes Caramella.
“She wants to chew the fat, as my Uncle John would say. That means you linger on details, you chomp right through the facts and get to the bone, the nitty gritty gristly chewy sense of things, the gooey core, the centre of that messy weave of feelings that bury into your skin and wrap you up. Not that you can ever hit that centre, but if you hover around it for a while you can get some kind of blurry view of it.�
Someplace towards the end, Cedar decides to run away from home but Oscar meets her on the way and gives her a drawing. This makes her change her mind and this is what she has to say about life.
“Sometimes life hits you at such a startling lightning kind of angle that you get pushed off your normal viewing spot. You stop knowing how things are. Instead of what you know, there are the patterns that stars make; the sound of the night breathing; the small aching spot where your feet touch the earth . . . And you’ve never felt closer to it. You think that if there is an It, you and It are nearly touching. You feel religious and devoted and tiny. Just for a moment you feel as if the whispering coming from the leaves and beetles and sky and footsteps and sighs is going directly towards your ear. So you listen.�
And then there is this beautiful quote on love by her brother, Barnaby. I couldn’t agree with it more.
“Cedy, I may be wrong, but the way I see it, there’s three parts to love. Three ways of doing it—mind, body and soul. When you get all three happening at once, that’s it. That’s the real thing.�
The book has a colourful cover, catchy title and some cute drawings. The plot moves at a good pace and almost all the characters are realistic in some way or the other. The book ends on a positive, happy note as Cedar comes to terms with a secret about her father which is revealed to her by her brother. Her mother realises that nothing is more important than spending time with her children and Barnaby realises his folly in running away from his school. It is with this motto - all’s well that ends well � that the book finishes. But not quite so as I heard that there is a sequel. However, I have only been disappointed by sequels so far and so it has turned into a ‘someday book� for now. I don’t want anything to mar this beautiful book. If you like middle grade fiction, then you could try this book. If you do, let us know how you liked it.
Rating: 4.5/5
October 10, 2011
A 1001 CBYMRBYGU.
What’s the most difficult part of life when you are a teen or a near-teen? One of the toughest parts has to be trying to figure out how much to blend and how much to be yourself at the same time that the world is telling you to blend, blend, blend. Cedar doesn’t really do blending.
What Cedar does do is people. Cedar has a green thumb for people. One of her friends tells her this, to Cedar’s delight. And thank goodness for that green thumb when your father has died mysteriously and your seventeen-year-old brother is accused of stealing and has run away and your mom is working two jobs and your new best friend Kite has circus parents who’ve split and your Yugoslavian neighbor has a dog who needs a $500 operation.
I can’t possibly tell you how good this book is unless I give you a little sample. Here’s a bit from where Cedar goes to Kite’s house for the first time:
“I met his dad. They lived in a small house with a long hall and windows on only one side. So it was dark and smelled like wet socks and bathmats. The other side was joined to another house that looked almost the same. It wasn’t as messy as you might think a house without a mother in it might be, but it wasn’t swept and stainless and steely, like the Bartons�, and there were no good cooking smells like at Caramella’s. Also, there weren’t any pictures on the walls or things on shelves, like at our house. It was house without things. At least without little things. For me, since I’m a major snoop, it was a bit like opening a photo album and finding it empty.�
I wanted to show you some of the little pictures Cedar draws in the book, but I couldn’t find any online, so I had to take my own, very bad photo of some:
Do you see how good this book is? If you don’t yet, you need to get it and read it and then you will see for yourself.
What’s the most difficult part of life when you are a teen or a near-teen? One of the toughest parts has to be trying to figure out how much to blend and how much to be yourself at the same time that the world is telling you to blend, blend, blend. Cedar doesn’t really do blending.
What Cedar does do is people. Cedar has a green thumb for people. One of her friends tells her this, to Cedar’s delight. And thank goodness for that green thumb when your father has died mysteriously and your seventeen-year-old brother is accused of stealing and has run away and your mom is working two jobs and your new best friend Kite has circus parents who’ve split and your Yugoslavian neighbor has a dog who needs a $500 operation.
I can’t possibly tell you how good this book is unless I give you a little sample. Here’s a bit from where Cedar goes to Kite’s house for the first time:
“I met his dad. They lived in a small house with a long hall and windows on only one side. So it was dark and smelled like wet socks and bathmats. The other side was joined to another house that looked almost the same. It wasn’t as messy as you might think a house without a mother in it might be, but it wasn’t swept and stainless and steely, like the Bartons�, and there were no good cooking smells like at Caramella’s. Also, there weren’t any pictures on the walls or things on shelves, like at our house. It was house without things. At least without little things. For me, since I’m a major snoop, it was a bit like opening a photo album and finding it empty.�
I wanted to show you some of the little pictures Cedar draws in the book, but I couldn’t find any online, so I had to take my own, very bad photo of some:
Do you see how good this book is? If you don’t yet, you need to get it and read it and then you will see for yourself.
October 9, 2019
In primary school we were given the task of writing a book report on our favourite novel. Nine year old me chose this very book. I remember emailing Martine Murray as apart of my research and being absolutely ecstatic when I received a reply!! This book definitely changed my life as a child, and 10 years later I'm still in love with it!! It will never left my heart. xx
August 18, 2013
I got through the first chapter, barely.
It was time to go back to the library and I didn't bother renewing it.
At the end of the first chapter, I had no idea what this was about and I didn't really care about any of the characters...
It was time to go back to the library and I didn't bother renewing it.
At the end of the first chapter, I had no idea what this was about and I didn't really care about any of the characters...
December 9, 2013
Lâu lâu mới thấy vui như vậy. Niềm vui ấm áp và thuần khiết len lẻn vào tim. D� thương quá chừng là d� thương.
December 6, 2019
Lại một quyển sách d� thương dã man cho tuổi thơ.
Tính cách có nét bà c� non nhưng lại cực kì mộng mơ kiểu con nít của Cedy đáng yêu quá sức.
Cách cô bé suy nghĩ, tưởng tượng, lý giải và ghét thương đầy nét ngây thơ tinh nghịch và đôi khi là một chút láu cá.
Tuy nhiên ẩn sâu trong hình dáng và tâm hồn tr� thơ ấy là một trái tim sâu sắc biết s� chia động viên, và một khối óc thông minh lém lỉnh đ� đ� tạo nên bản lĩnh và nét riêng biệt của cô bé.
Tuổi thơ của cô bé có nét tương đồng với nhiều người xung quanh mình hoặc chí ít là mình. Cũng có những khát khao thu� thiếu thời b� chôn vùi vì hoàn cảnh kinh t�. Cũng có những đứa bạn chuyên bắt bạn cô lập và xây dựng nên một th� giới khó khăn. Cũng có tình yêu thương bảo bọc của các thành viên gia đình và một người m� tảo tần hôm sớm. Cũng có những rung động nh� nhàng trước một cậu bé đàn yêu.
Các bà m� s� không hối tiếc chút nào chọn cuốn sách này đọc và m� ra cho con mình một th� giới hết sức thú v� của một cô bé cưng hết sức.
Tính cách có nét bà c� non nhưng lại cực kì mộng mơ kiểu con nít của Cedy đáng yêu quá sức.
Cách cô bé suy nghĩ, tưởng tượng, lý giải và ghét thương đầy nét ngây thơ tinh nghịch và đôi khi là một chút láu cá.
Tuy nhiên ẩn sâu trong hình dáng và tâm hồn tr� thơ ấy là một trái tim sâu sắc biết s� chia động viên, và một khối óc thông minh lém lỉnh đ� đ� tạo nên bản lĩnh và nét riêng biệt của cô bé.
Tuổi thơ của cô bé có nét tương đồng với nhiều người xung quanh mình hoặc chí ít là mình. Cũng có những khát khao thu� thiếu thời b� chôn vùi vì hoàn cảnh kinh t�. Cũng có những đứa bạn chuyên bắt bạn cô lập và xây dựng nên một th� giới khó khăn. Cũng có tình yêu thương bảo bọc của các thành viên gia đình và một người m� tảo tần hôm sớm. Cũng có những rung động nh� nhàng trước một cậu bé đàn yêu.
Các bà m� s� không hối tiếc chút nào chọn cuốn sách này đọc và m� ra cho con mình một th� giới hết sức thú v� của một cô bé cưng hết sức.
February 24, 2019
1 cuốn sách rất d� thương k� v� một cô bé với những suy nghĩ và hành động rất là ngây thơ, tr� con, cô bé sống với một m� và anh trai, b� cô bé đã mất t� khi cô còn nh�, cô ch� có vài người bạn và trong 1 lần đi tìm chú chó của mình cô đã gặp được Kite - chú bé biết làm những trò diễn xiếc vì ba m� chú là những diễn viên xiếc. T� đó cô bé đã cùng Kite tập luyện và sau đó cùng cậu t� chức một buổi diễn xiếc đ� có tiền giúp đ� bà hàng xóm chữa tr� cho chú chó của bà. Đọc cuốn sách này mình cảm thấy được tr� v� với tuổi thơ, với những suy nghĩ rất vô tư, cách làm quen của tr� con rất d� dàng, không giống như người lớn. Tuy nhiên thì sách dịch ra tiếng Việt thì câu t� cũng đã khác với nguyên tác nhiều.
October 22, 2017
I loved this book so much when I first read it, and I was pleased to discover I still love it as an adult. It's very sweet and funny, and I'm still so glad I found it in whatever magazine I found it in way back when (Girls Life maybe?).
Read
August 8, 2020I thought that it was very interesting and got on well with the characters of Cedar, Oscar and especially Stinky, I like the way it ends as it leaves you knowing about what will happen between Cedar and Kite even though it never actually says it
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 20, 2023
This book was amazing. The use of metaphors is phenominal and the characters are very well developed. Cedra, the main character, has a unique personality and a big heart. Would highly recommend to ages under 13.
November 2, 2023
I really enjoyed this book, I have read it multiple times but it is definitely a favourite off my bookshelf!!! The only thing holding it back is that the words are a bit old fashioned and hard to follow.
March 4, 2019
Quirky and delightful.
Cedar B. is a girl after my own heart 💖
Cedar B. is a girl after my own heart 💖
October 3, 2019
I would write a review but all i can say is its so beautiful and full-filling.
August 5, 2020
My daughter recommend this YA book (I think) because it’s set where we live in Melbourne. I really liked the detailed observations and cute characters.
November 12, 2020
Příběh mě velmi zaujal, i když doporučuji tak 11-13 letým holkám.
March 23, 2022
Very well written. Enjoy
October 8, 2022
Brilliant. Very sweet. Lovely story and genuinely lovely, likeable characters.
February 9, 2024
A very nice book for teens or kids. This is a simple wholesome book and I personally enjoyed it.
May 14, 2024
This was one of my favorite books growing up, and it makes me happy that it still reads as vividly as it did twenty years ago!
December 29, 2024
i really really like Murray! i really really like this story and the others. Especially Henriettas stories
November 11, 2019
This book is about a funny, wild, imaginative and adventurous girl named cedar. At the beginning of the book, cedar loses her dog which leads to many new friends' new experiences and learning new things about her family.
I really liked this book because it wasn't just about one part of cedars life it was about many different parts of it. I also really liked how it wasn't just about the main character's problems or struggles it was about many different people's
I really liked this book because it wasn't just about one part of cedars life it was about many different parts of it. I also really liked how it wasn't just about the main character's problems or struggles it was about many different people's
March 3, 2020
I love this book! It's touching and sweet
September 4, 2014
This book is the best book I have ever read!
I read it in less than 3 days and I already want to read the next book!!!
I didn't put it down in school and I didn't put it down at school either.
It is amazing how you can write books that are so relevant and relevant to my age group and what kids do THESE days.
I've read a few books that are goody-to shoes and are all nice and sweet-natured; which makes it boring and hard to relate to.
It makes me want to stop reading and put down the book straight away.
But instead this book engaged me the EXACT second I picked it up.
I know that it is a dangerous thing to judge a book by its cover, but I know I still do it.
I judge it by it's name, heading font, front cover and blurb.
Yours however, stood out to me.
It sounded like a wonderful book, not to showey but just plain and simple.
I have just finished this book and considering buying it AND the next book in this series.
Thank you for your time,
Your No. 1 fan Lila
PS- I had a great idea. Please please please could you make a 3rd book in this series?!
I would LOVE IT if there were heaps of books in this series; they're too good to stop reading.
PPS- How awesome would it be if there were 2 movies made on this book and of the 2nd book!
I WOULD DEFINITELY WATCH IT AND BUY IT!!!!!
PPPS- Sorry for the irritation!
I read it in less than 3 days and I already want to read the next book!!!
I didn't put it down in school and I didn't put it down at school either.
It is amazing how you can write books that are so relevant and relevant to my age group and what kids do THESE days.
I've read a few books that are goody-to shoes and are all nice and sweet-natured; which makes it boring and hard to relate to.
It makes me want to stop reading and put down the book straight away.
But instead this book engaged me the EXACT second I picked it up.
I know that it is a dangerous thing to judge a book by its cover, but I know I still do it.
I judge it by it's name, heading font, front cover and blurb.
Yours however, stood out to me.
It sounded like a wonderful book, not to showey but just plain and simple.
I have just finished this book and considering buying it AND the next book in this series.
Thank you for your time,
Your No. 1 fan Lila
PS- I had a great idea. Please please please could you make a 3rd book in this series?!
I would LOVE IT if there were heaps of books in this series; they're too good to stop reading.
PPS- How awesome would it be if there were 2 movies made on this book and of the 2nd book!
I WOULD DEFINITELY WATCH IT AND BUY IT!!!!!
PPPS- Sorry for the irritation!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 6, 2022
Ramona Quimby meets Anne Shirley in this cute, charming little read about a 12 going on 13 year old girl bursting with personality and full of ideas about the world. This was a nice light-hearted book with good messages and life lessons. The protagonist was lovable, although I found her brother to be quite the opposite. This book had a lot of fun characters and little moments, and it all felt real. Like as a reader you got to watch the happenings of this little world.
Unfortunately, despite all this, most of this book was a bit boring to read. I kept finding myself checking the page number, hoping I was almost at the end-maybe then something interesting would happen. It didn't.
And then there was the whole thing about Cedar's dad, but that just ended up feeling out of place and like the author just wanted to throw something deep in there.
Oh and the book ended really abruptly, it was odd. Plus the ending was cliché, and honestly not true to the story. It didn't feel right. It was out of character and unrealistic for .
This book gets a 2.5 because it was well-written and the protagonist was enjoyable. And I know that in technicality, this was a good book. I just know that for me, I didn't find myself liking it that much. It bored me to have to read about every acrobat move Cedar and Kite tried out, almost every chapter. I found myself skimming through at the end, just wanting it to me done with. But maybe that's just me, and what I do and don't find interesting.
Unfortunately, despite all this, most of this book was a bit boring to read. I kept finding myself checking the page number, hoping I was almost at the end-maybe then something interesting would happen. It didn't.
And then there was the whole thing about Cedar's dad, but that just ended up feeling out of place and like the author just wanted to throw something deep in there.
Oh and the book ended really abruptly, it was odd. Plus the ending was cliché, and honestly not true to the story. It didn't feel right. It was out of character and unrealistic for .
This book gets a 2.5 because it was well-written and the protagonist was enjoyable. And I know that in technicality, this was a good book. I just know that for me, I didn't find myself liking it that much. It bored me to have to read about every acrobat move Cedar and Kite tried out, almost every chapter. I found myself skimming through at the end, just wanting it to me done with. But maybe that's just me, and what I do and don't find interesting.
June 23, 2015
. She told me she likes to read this whenever she wants to feel happy, which is a pretty great recommendation.
I don't read many stories of this age, middle grade books where the protagonist is about 12. Cedar is an adorable one, with about ten zillion things to say. A lot of it is really funny (personal favorite: "I've got better things to do than care about someone's traditional wedding drama") and some of it makes sort of a funny way of describing when she gets upset ("my mind feeling heavy and complicated like a broken-down television").
Her life is often really bittersweet and touching. Her missing hippie brother with the rambling postcards is a really great ingredient. Her neighborhood is fun, and the attention she begins to learn to pay to her mother is nice. Cedar spends a lot of time thinking about family, and figuring out how to be secure in hers. "Four of us was enough to feel like a regular family. Now there's only two, it feels too small to be a real family." The information she gets at the end about her parents, her dad's work and their marriage, is a little odd, but it's an interestingly unique conflict to have in the backstory.
Everything about learning acrobatic tricks and starting the fundraiser circus, major cute. And the fantastic lesson: "'You have a green thumb for people.'" I'm going to remember that one a long time.
The drawings are pretty great too. 3.5 stars all around. Glad to have this, for when I want to feel happy.
I don't read many stories of this age, middle grade books where the protagonist is about 12. Cedar is an adorable one, with about ten zillion things to say. A lot of it is really funny (personal favorite: "I've got better things to do than care about someone's traditional wedding drama") and some of it makes sort of a funny way of describing when she gets upset ("my mind feeling heavy and complicated like a broken-down television").
Her life is often really bittersweet and touching. Her missing hippie brother with the rambling postcards is a really great ingredient. Her neighborhood is fun, and the attention she begins to learn to pay to her mother is nice. Cedar spends a lot of time thinking about family, and figuring out how to be secure in hers. "Four of us was enough to feel like a regular family. Now there's only two, it feels too small to be a real family." The information she gets at the end about her parents, her dad's work and their marriage, is a little odd, but it's an interestingly unique conflict to have in the backstory.
Everything about learning acrobatic tricks and starting the fundraiser circus, major cute. And the fantastic lesson: "'You have a green thumb for people.'" I'm going to remember that one a long time.
The drawings are pretty great too. 3.5 stars all around. Glad to have this, for when I want to feel happy.
September 24, 2022
First Reading Review (7.02.19)
I got this book from my brother's girlfriend and some other books. Before I even read this, I knew that it was gonna be a bit unique. Y’know those books that just have those vibes of existing and floating and overthinking? I can’t describe it very well but for some reason, I got some vibes like TPOBAW even though it doesn’t really deal with the same issues, I just get the vibes. It’s just a girl in a somewhat small Australian town trying to figure out things she cannot understand. It was boring but the good kind of boring, y� know? Some characters I lost track of, maybe I’m just not good at remembering things. Overall, a good book, and I liked it.
Second Reading Review
Still really like this book! Though I may have been not in the best mind when reading (been pretty busy with moving and schoolwork!), its easy-to-digest story was perfect for it. It’s one of those high-quality young reader stories that even adults can enjoy (well, for me anyway), a hidden gem really. Cedar wasn’t annoying as most young reader protagonists are and the wonderful handling of childhood trauma, disability, and familial relationships were explored with such care. I no longer get the same vibes as TPOBAW as stated in my previous review, but it does stand on its own as its sort of own bittersweet story about growing up.
Rating: 8/10
I got this book from my brother's girlfriend and some other books. Before I even read this, I knew that it was gonna be a bit unique. Y’know those books that just have those vibes of existing and floating and overthinking? I can’t describe it very well but for some reason, I got some vibes like TPOBAW even though it doesn’t really deal with the same issues, I just get the vibes. It’s just a girl in a somewhat small Australian town trying to figure out things she cannot understand. It was boring but the good kind of boring, y� know? Some characters I lost track of, maybe I’m just not good at remembering things. Overall, a good book, and I liked it.
Second Reading Review
Still really like this book! Though I may have been not in the best mind when reading (been pretty busy with moving and schoolwork!), its easy-to-digest story was perfect for it. It’s one of those high-quality young reader stories that even adults can enjoy (well, for me anyway), a hidden gem really. Cedar wasn’t annoying as most young reader protagonists are and the wonderful handling of childhood trauma, disability, and familial relationships were explored with such care. I no longer get the same vibes as TPOBAW as stated in my previous review, but it does stand on its own as its sort of own bittersweet story about growing up.
Rating: 8/10
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