Week 5

   At first, Aunt Maria seems to be a demure old woman, cuddly as a teddy bear and oozing forbearance and patience. But there is a hard, iron side to Aunt Maria that can hardly be believed at first because it is cushioned so sneakily between layers of fluff and sweetness. But gradually the Lakers realize that they are expected to keep house, look after Aunt Maria, and provide the cakes (home-made, not store-bought, mind!) for the tea parties that Aunt Maria has every day with other women from the village. Aunt Maria is not very exciting or riveting; it’s mostly dull with a few bright spots here and there. I think Jones’ point ran away with her a little bit and really just overshadowed the entire book. Mig’s mother was fantastic, though. It’s better than a lot of other Middle Grade stuff out there, but Jones has written better books. The whole male/female magic thing was just…weird. It was all, “No, men and women are the same, really! It’s when they’re treated as different that things go wrong! See, look, we shut away all the men’s virtue in this box because that’s not manly! And all the women dress like they’re from the Victorian era because patriarchy rant rant!” First, that’s just a bad way to make that argument. Second, it really just overshadows the entire book. Third, what do the characters even learn from this, anyway? Nothing! Everything remains the same. If you want to make the point this obvious, then at least show some change.