REVIEW for The Pillow Book of Lotus Lowenstein

Thank you, thank you to Jess at Random House Canada for sending me this book!!!





TITLE: The Pillow Book of Lotus Lowenstein

AUTHOR: Libby Schmais

GENRE: Chick Lit YA

RATING: 4 Stars

http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780385737562


I had been waiting to read The Pillow Book of Lotus Lowenstein for months, so I was absolutely thrilled when I finally got my little hands on it.

I loved the basic idea behind this book – Lotus (love, love the name) is extremely precocious – she is definitely a square peg NOT trying to fit in a round hole. In fact, Lotus thrives on the fact that she is different and what does set her apart is that these differences seem to come naturally to her – she is not trying to stand out just for the sake of attention. Indeed, Lotus is quirky and seems completely clueless to the fact that she is the one who is a little “off” with the rest of her life - This made her a very likeable character to me.

Among her many quirks, Lotus is in love with all things French and France – in fact, it is her dream to visit Paris – although at the rate she is going, this dream is going to remain a dream (thanks to her terrible famille(family)! Yep, although Lotus has beautiful dreams – she is the product of a middle class family with an out of work papa, a new age maman and a chess prodigy as a frère (I can do these French/English references all day! Since I am French myself and is one of the things I really enjoyed about this book!). I read this book in practically one sitting.

I loved the Lotus character because she was herself at all times and she was okay with the fact (for the most part) that she was not part of the “in” crowd and not part of that “cliché” of popular girls. It was refreshing to read about a character who saw the world through such different glasses. It was also great to read about her passions for Paris – I mean she even goes on to open a French Club at her school! Now that is dedication.

Of course there is the required best friend and the “maybe” boyfriend, but really this wonderful YA is about a young girl who is not afraid to be herself and not afraid to find her passions and voice her desires for her life.Quirky and charming.