PrincessReviews

Sticks, Stones and Dragon Bone s by Evelyn Ink revolves around the five Darlington sisters and their adventures in Enil. After finding a chest in their attic, Paige and Bean discover a map, books, coins, a sword engraved with their mother's name, an old iron doorknob and a key. The girls work out that the doorknob could belong to one of the many doors in their old house that go to nowhere. However, with the doorknob and the key in place on an old basement door, a portal opens from our world to Enil. Where or what is Enil? The sisters soon get swept into this strange world before they can question their mother. I liked the story right away. It at first brought to mind Peter Pan. It doesn't have much of the absurdity of Peter Pan, but has all of the adventure. The Darlington sisters are uniquely crafted characters. Paige and Bean are consistent throughout and have an enjoyable bantering sense of humor similar to what I share with my sisters. The twins Hayde and Dorrit are...

Obviously many more people were involved in the creation of this celebration, such as the seminarians and the priests and the archbishop of Baltimore himself, Archbishop William Lori, but here are some informations about the faces of Mount 2000 for this past weekend, 2013. Information from the Mount2000 Website . Fr. Mike Schmitz Father Michael Schmitz, the director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Diocese of Duluth as well as the Chaplain for the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, inspires and educates through his priesthood and preaching. His Newman Center focuses on being fed through the Sacraments as well as study and knowledge of the Church and has thrived under his humble and Spirit-filled guidance. He has preached to youth and young adults across the country about the love of God and the call of Jesus Christ for saints to be raised up in the Church. Father Mike's hope is that these saints will redeem the entire world for Christ. Ma...

2013 Mount2000 theme Picture from the Mount2000 facebook page Last year was my first time going to Mount2000; this year I went again. Mount2000 is a weekend Catholic retreat for high schoolers. Well over 1,600 Catholics from throughout the nation gather at Mount St. Mary's University, in Emmitsburg, Maryland, to grow in their faith and their love of God. This year, out of those 1600+ people, over 1000 of them went to Confession. Reconciliation was not the only thing going on, though. Speakers such as Mark Hart and Jackie Francois, gave inspirational speeches and Father Mike Schmitz gave homilies that made everyone want to go to church everyday, just to hear! The Josh Blakesley Band made it fun with their music, and everyone had a good time. The dean of Mount St. Mary's even gave a speech and granted a minimum 6,000 dollar ($24,000 total for 4 years) scholarships to everyone attending Mount2000, if they choose to go to Mount St. Mary's University. Each group had the...

The Sword of Light: Shayia's Adventures Book One by Kimberli Renee Campbell I won this book in a giveaway. The Sword of Light: Shayia's Adventures Book One by Kimberli Renee Campbell follows 15-year-old Shayia through the realization of the value of the sacred book to his family and his community. Shayia lives with his grandfather, Ennis, and they have a close relationship since he was raised by Ennis after his parents' deaths. It has only been about 10 years since the Great War, but Ennis senses another great battle approaching. Now Shayia must decide to put away childish notions of war and become a leader. The Sword of Light is an easy, quick read. I wanted to get to know the characters better; however, the story and plot went far too quickly. The scenes are too quick with very little setup. The book needs a lot more fleshing out. The plot, characters, setting, everything is there to make a good book. Yet the details that would draw the reader in to truly feel...

Django Unchained is a film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring Jamie Foxx (Django), Christoph Waltz (Dr. Shutlz), Kerry Washington (Broomhilda), Leonardo DiCaprio (Candie), and Samuel L. Jackson (Stephen). It follows Django's transformation beginning as a slave in 1858 USA and later his search for his wife. This is classic Tarantino with blood and gore galore, a musical score that is both unusual and haunting, unexpected situations, and snappy dialog with comedic elements. I am a fan of Tarantino but I have to admit that I haven't seen one of his movies since Kill Bill Volume 1 and 2. His movies are extra violent and I have shied away from that in recent years. However, the dialog is witty and engaging, which is what really draws me to his films. Django is themed in the westerns/gunslinger genre with an underlying feeling of the epics of mythology. Django journey in his search for his wife parallels a German myth of Broomhilda ...

            During winter break, my cousins and I took a trip into New York City, at the La MaMa Ellen Stewart Theatre, to watch the Yara Arts Group perform Midwinter Night, an Ukrainian concert.  Mostly preformed in Ukrainian, with some English translations throughout and a scene or two in Spanish, it really helped to show the diversities and similarities of different cultures that I am familiar with.              Being a Ukrainian group, going into the theatre I expected to not understand anything they were singing or saying and simply absorbing the traditions of the culture, such as I had done in St. Petersburg when we saw the Russian group give a concert.  It was nice that they translated some of their songs into English and sang part English, part Ukrainian throughout the songs.              The costumes also defi...

A City Infected by N.F. David Kyle Runner is a cop for the sole reason of supporting his daughter even though they have a strained relationship because of his separation from his adulterous wife. Kyle lives in New York City years after it is infected with a virus that produces a variety of zombies. Instead of running and hiding like in typical zombie movies and books, the humans have adjusted. They are armed and most times more dangerous than the infected. A corporate giant, Crest Hominal, has emerged and the government is a joke. Kyle is infected in the first chapter. He hopes to be gunned down by the chief of police thereby securing the pension that would take care of his daughter after his death. But Kyle doesn't get gunned down and he doesn't become a zombie. (There is a great surprise here.) He instead enters the twisted world of Crest Hominal. I really liked the world building. This is a very creative New York City. I liked that the peopl...