#liesl and po

[book--brackets]

Summaries under the cut

Lisel & Po by Lauren Oliver

Liesl lives in a tiny attic bedroom, locked away by her cruel stepmother. Her only friends are the shadows and the mice,until one night a ghost appears from the darkness. It is Po, who comes from the Other Side. Both Liesl and Po are lonely, but together they are less alone.

That same night, an alchemist's apprentice, Will, bungles an important delivery. He accidentally switches a box containing the most powerful magic in the world with one containing something decidedly less remarkable.

Will's mistake has tremendous consequences for Liesl and Po, and it draws the three of them together on an extraordinary journey.

Red Planet by Robert A. Heinlein

Jim Marlow and his strange-looking Martian friend Willis were allowed to travel only so far. But one day Willis unwittingly tuned into a treacherous plot that threatened all the colonists on Mars, and it set Jim off on a terrfying adventure that could save--or destroy--them all!

The Secret Seven by Enid Blyton

It's their very first adventure and the Secret Seven super-sleuths are already on the trail of a mystery! The gang are dressed in disguise, following a lead to a spooky old house in the snow...

Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray

"A road's a kind of holy thing," said Roger the Minstrel to his son, Adam. "That's why it's a good work to keep a road in repair, like giving alms to the poor or tending the sick. It's open to the sun and wind and rain. It brings all kinds of people and all parts of England together. And it's home to a minstrel, even though he may happen to be sleeping in a castle."

And Adam, though only eleven, was to remember his father's words when his beloved dog, Nick, was stolen and Roger had disappeared and he found himself traveling alone along these same great roads, searching the fairs and market towns for his father and his dog.

The Squire's Tales by Gerald Morris

Life for the young orphan Terence has been peaceful, living with Trevisant, the old Hermit in a quiet, isolated wood.

That is, until the day a strange green sprite leads him to Gawain, King Arthur's nephew, who is on his way to Camelot hoping to be knighted. Trevisant can see the future and knows that Terence must leave to serve as Gawain's squire. From that moment on, Terence's life is filled with heart-stopping adventure as he helps damsels-in-distress, fights battles with devious men, and protects King Arthur from his many enemies.

Along the way, Terence is amazed at his skills and new-found magical abilities. Were these a gift from his unknown parents? As Gawain continues his quest for knighthood, Terence searches for answers to the riddles in his own past.

The Seventh Tower by Garth Nix

Tal has lived his whole life in darkness. He has never left his home, a mysterious castle of seven towers. He does not see the threat that will tear apart his family and his world. But Tal cannot stay safe forever. When danger strikes, he must desperately climb the Red Tower to steal a Sunstone. He reaches the top... ...and then he falls into a strange and unknown world of warriors, ice ships, and hidden magic. There Tal makes an enemy who will save his life and holds the key to his future.

The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston

There are three children: Toby, who rides the majestic horse Feste; his mischievous little sister, Linnet; and their brother, Alexander, who plays the flute. The children warmly welcome Tolly to Green Knowe... even though they've been dead for centuries.

But that's how everything is at Green Knowe. The ancient manor hides as many stories as it does dusty old rooms.

And the master of the house is great-grandmother Oldknow, whose storytelling mixes present and past with the oldest magic in the world.

Sweet Valley High by Francine Pascal

Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield are identical twins at Sweet Valley High. They're both popular, smart, and gorgeous, but that's where the similarity ends. Elizabeth is friendly, outgoing, and sincere—nothing like her snobbish and conniving twin. Jessica gets what she wants—at school, with friends, and especially with boys.

This time, Jessica has set her sights on Todd Wilkins, the handsome star of the basketball team—the one boy that Elizabeth really likes. Elizabeth doesn't want to lose him, but what Jessica wants, Jessica usually gets ... even if it ends up hurting her sister.

City Spies by James Ponti

Sara Martinez is a hacker. She recently broke into the New York City foster care system to expose her foster parents as cheats and lawbreakers. However, instead of being hailed as a hero, Sara finds herself facing years in a juvenile detention facility and banned from using computers for the same stretch of time. Enter Mother, a British spy who not only gets Sara released from jail but also offers her a chance to make a home for herself within a secret MI6 agency.

Operating out of a base in Scotland, the City Spies are five kids from various parts of the world. When they’re not attending the local boarding school, they’re honing their unique skills, such as sleight of hand, breaking and entering, observation, and explosives. All of these allow them to go places in the world of espionage where adults can’t.

Before she knows what she’s doing, Sarah is heading to Paris for an international youth summit, hacking into a rival school’s computer to prevent them from winning a million euros, dangling thirty feet off the side of a building, and trying to stop a villain…all while navigating the complex dynamics of her new team.

No one said saving the world was easy…

Carrie's War by Nina Bawden

Albert, Carrie and young Nick are war-time evacuees whose lives get so tangled up with the people they've come to live among that the war and their real families seem to belong to another world. Carrie and Nick are billeted in Wales with old Mr Evans, who is so mean and cold, and his timid mouse of a sister, Lou, who suddenly starts having secrets.

Their friend Albert is luckier, living in Druid's Bottom with warm-hearted Hepzibah Green and the strange Mister Johnny, who can talk to animals but not to human beings. Carrie and Nick visit him there whenever they can for Hepzibah makes life exciting and enticing with her stories and delicious cooking. Gradually they begin to feel more at ease in their war-time home, but then, in trying to heal the rift between Mr Evans and his estranged sister, and save Druid's Bottom, Carrie does a terrible thing which is to haunt her for years to come.

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

[ghcstcd]

20, 27 and 30 for the ask game? 🖤🫶🏻

20. something most people don’t know about you.

I took singing lessons from age 15 to 18, and I'm pretty sure I've forgotten how to properly singe ever since :)

27. favorite book.

This book is perhaps not my favorite book in the world. But it is dear to me. It's a simple read called Liesl & Po. It follows a little girl who runs away from home, with the help of her ghostly shadow friend, to someplace special to her. It's a very sweet, and silly book. The ending made me cry, because I'm a big sap.

30. top 5 favorite movies.

Oh dear lord...Deadpool 2, Hellboy, Rock & Rule (soo fucking cheesy, I love it), Nightmare before Christmas, Goofy Movie 2. I wish I rewatched that while I was in uni, to be honest.

[rockycuzzo-blog]

Liesl and Po

Liesl is a girl, grieving the loss of her father. Po is a ghost, fascinated by Liesl's drawing. And Bundle is a cat. Or a dog. Or a cat. Or a dog. Well, Bundle is something, and he follows Po wherever it goes. This is the story of how they came together to explore the meaning of death, and more importantly, save a very precious soul. 

Read from the very beginning of Part I, to the words "I don't remember" on page 6.

[thequestoftheravenclaws]

“That was the kind of world they live in: When people were afraid, they did not always do what they knew to be right. They turned away. They closed their eyes. They said, Tomorrow. Tomorrow perhaps I'll do something about it. And they said that until they died.”

Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver

[throwupgirl]

 sometimes u just gotta lay awake in ur room at 2 in the mornin. and think about a wonderful story (liesl and po) because some books are just so good they never leave your brain (liesl and po)

[notmushroomleftontheshelf]

What's the last book that brought you to tears?

[howifeltabouthim]

She worried for a moment that she might be dying—and then for another terrible moment, felt she wouldn't care if she were.

Lauren Oliver, from Liesl & Po

[leezuhh]

do you ever want someone to draw out your favorite serieses, like in a graphic novel

[the-final-sentence]

She spelled the word ineffable in her head, just once.

Lauren Oliver, from Liesl & Po

[book--brackets]

[aseaofquotes]

Lauren Oliver, Liesl & Po

[solarishashernoseinabook]

This is a kids novel (I know I know I should read older stuff hush) and honestly the basic story isn't bad. Its a ghost story and I've got some theories about where it's going to go, and I like the main kid characters.

I'm just supremely disappointed that this book extensively shames unpleasant people for their appearance instead of their character. I'm reading a bit that, in ten pages, shames different female characters eleven times, solely for their appearance (one time you could charitably argue was the thought of one of those unpleasant characters). There are so many things to shame these characters over, like the fact that they contemplate murdering the main character, but of course we're focussed on their looks.

And of course, the good characters are all pretty (and when that character is female, their beauty gets brought up all the time). Well, one male character is overweight, but this is expressed in a drawing - we never, at least not by the midway point, get a physical description of him, except one off-hand line that his uniform feels a little tight. He's never shamed for his appearance because he's a good character, and the text can't stop praising him for all his good qualities whenever he's on screen and whenever it mentions his bad one (he's not very bright) it's always followed up with how kind and generous he is, but the text also can't get enough of shaming a female character for having warts on her forehead or being overweight. This same female character is also vain, conniving, murderous, deceitful, jealous, abusive, and petty, but this is shown through character actions, and she's only spoken about in terms of her appearance. The nice male character's good qualities are shown though his actions in the text and continuously brought up, while his physical appearance is ignored. Gee, I wonder why that is..........?

[abracafockyou]

1. alias / name: Ghost ( or Corey to some friends )

2. birthday:  February 14

3. zodiac sign: Aquarius

4. height: 5′7″

5. hobbies: Playing video games, yarn crafting (knitting/crochet, needle felting, etc.)

6. favorite color: Earthy, natural tones

7. favorite book: Liesl & Po, by Lauren Oliver

8. last song: Lone Gone, the Brothers Bright

9. last film / show: A cooking competition of some sort, I’m sure

10. recent reads: Magnus Archives unofficial script

11. inspiration: We’d be here all day if I listed that off. A lot of folk lore, fantasy, cartoons from my childhood, etc.

12. story behind url: You wanna see a magic trick? Abra-ca-FUCK YOU!

13. fun fact about me: I have a dog named Bane! Yes, she is named after the villain!

Tagged by: @deathxdefied

Tagging: Do this if you want!

[norashelley]

tagged by @vivaciouslady to fill out this favorites thing. I did one similar not too long ago but this has more on it that I really liked so I did this one too. Not tagging anyone this time because it’s long and I don’t want anyone to feel obligated to read it or do it but if you want to, go for it and say I tagged you if you like.

, MUSIC

• favorite genre: I really like a little bit of everything. music is a way of expressing and feeling emotions for me so I need every genre.

• favorite artist(s): I have too many and I don’t know of anyone who listens to 95% of them so I don’t feel like listing them.

• favorite song: that is even harder to decide on than artists.

• most listened to song recently: the 70+ songs on my sleep cd that I listen to  all night, every night

• song stuck in your head currently: Alone in Our Castle, Olivia Lufkin

• five favorite lyrics (not in any particular order):

- “ Love, oh love I want to believe in love I want to believe this feeling That I feel deeply for you But if you can't, turn away and go Don't turn back, and I'll do the same “ (Alone in Our Castle, Olivia Lufkin)

- “ The fear begins to creep in The distance begins to grow I can't find the right words to say I need to know it's okay, okay.. “ (Space Halo, Olivia Lufkin)

- “'Cause I can't find the secret to survive To grow old safe and sound  Life is sifting through like the sands in the hourglass There's not a moment to relive my time and space There's not a moment to undo anything” (Millstone, Eisley) 

- “ Do you wanna be in denial? You wanna be in denial? Must I sacrifice this heart To live this life, the picture? “ (Denial, Olivia Lufkin)

- “So I just sit in my room after hours with the moon And think of who knows my name Would you cry if I died Would you remember my face?” (Fine on the Outside, Priscilla Ahn) 

radio or your own playlist | solo artists or bands | pop or indie | loud or silent volume I slow or fast songs | music video or lyrics video | speakers or headset | riding a bus in silence or while listening to music | driving in silence or with radio on

BOOKS

• favorite genre: I don’t know.

• favorite book: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Howl’s Moving Castle, The Secret Garden a bunch more...

• favorite author: Astrid Lindgren I suppose.

• favorite book series: I can’t decide

• comfort book: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

• the perfect book to read on a rainy day: The Clockwork Three

• favorite book characters: Anne Shirley, Valancy Stirling, Sophie Hatter, a bunch more...

• five quotes from your favorite book(s) that you know by heart:

- “ When you will not fly into a passion, people know that you are stronger than they are, because you are strong enough to hold in your rage, and they are not, and they say stupid things they wish they hadn't said afterward. There's nothing so strong as rage, except what makes you hold it in - that's stronger" - A Little Princess

- “People need other people to feel things for them, it gets lonely to feel things all by yourself. “  - Liesl and Po

-  "You must never feel badly for making mistakes, as long as you take the trouble to learn from them. For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons, than you do by being right for the wrong reasons. “ - The Phantom Tollbooth

- “But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are real  you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand” - The Velveteen Rabbit

- “They, from the inside, looking curiously at her, outside - expecting her to like what they liked, have what they had, do what they did. And when they found she didn't, hadn't, couldn't - or what ever it was that always cut her off from the rest - they would loose interest. If they hated her it would have been better. But nobody did. They just lost interest, quite politely.” - When Marnie Was There

hardcover or paperback | buy or rent | standalone novels or book series | ebook or physical copy | reading at night or during the day | reading at home or in the nature | listening to music while reading or reading in silence | reading in order or reading the ending first | reliable or unreliable narrator | realism or fantasy | one or multiple POVS | judging by the covers or by the summary | rereading or reading just once (depends on the book)

TV & MOVIES

• favorite genre: I like things that make me laugh or cry or has really good story telling or exciting, not genre specific.

• favorite movie(s): I will never answer this, I have over 100 and I refuse to narrow it down.

• comfort movie(s): the talk of the town, easy living, singin’ in the rain, white christmas, fred & ginger films, ghibli films, brave, the rocketeer, the women

• movies you watch every year: White Christmas, Muppets Christmas Carol, Original 3 Star Wars, probably some others but those I watch with my mom on specific days so I always remember.

• favorite tv shows: Full House, Great British Baking Show, Larkrise to Candleford, Batman (60s live action), The Nanny, That Girl... I know I’m forgetting some but it’s 4am and I’m too tired to think.

• most rewatched tv show: My mom and I watch the first 4 seasons of the new doctor who every other year so probably that.

• ultimate otp: Jean and Terry from Stage Door.

• five favorite characters:

from tv shows - Minnie (Larkrise to Candleford), Fran Fine (The Nanny) Rose Nylund (The Golden Girls) Donna Nobel (Doctor Who), Batgirl (1960s live action Batman)

from movies - Norah Shelley (The Talk of the Town), Mary Smith (Easy Living), Susan Vance (Bringing up Baby),  Charlotte Vale (Now, Voyager), Sylvia Fowler (The Women)

tv shows or movies | short seasons (8-13 episodes) or full seasons (22 episodes or more) | one episode a week or binging | one season or multiple seasons | one part or saga (one part for movies, saga for tv) | half hour or one hour long episodes (depends on the show) | subtitles on or off (on if it’s not english, off if it is) | rewatching or watching just once (depends on the show) | downloads or watches online

[thequestoftheravenclaws]

“Liesl knew then that Po had been lying. The ghost did miss the living side. She understood then, too, that everyone drowns differently; and that for everyone, even ghosts, there is a different kind of air”

Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver