There is always a quest and a hero who must complete the quest no matter the dangers or the impossibility of the tasks set before him/her. (Chance, P. 84) But I still had such a great time reading this. If nothing else, it’s worth the read for Imogene’s inner monologue alone! Princess Imogene is on a quest to return home AND to be freed of the curse that has turned her into a frog, preferably without passing that curse on to another person. Many dangerous and misadventures are encountered as she makes both friends and foes on this quest.

FROGGED - Definition and synonyms of frogged in the English FROGGED - Definition and synonyms of frogged in the English

What a GENIUS hot take coming from a woman whose son is going to prison for killing WOMEN & this is the reason why HE should not be put on Death Row?) Rampant classism— I mentioned this before (Miriam @ pediatrician's office) but the author seems to think that the characters needed to "earn" their story, so despite their poverty, domestic abuse, sexual abuse, etc, respectability politics and exceptionalism prop up their pain, making them "good people" or rather "good women", deserving of a better life. For a story that uses poverty and marginalization as some of the primary themes, all of the characters are exceptional, the exception to one rule or another, the absolute BEST at what they do and thus, privileged. Through a series of unfortunate events, poor Imogene gets tossed in with a traveling theater group. This theater group isn’t exactly made up of the nicest people though. Most of them were downright infuriating. But they were supposed to be. And some of their antics were quite amusing. You couldn’t help but feel sorry for Imogene getting tossed in with these rotten, clueless people though. Thankfully, not all of them were straight up caricatures. There was some depth and even a character arc that really brought heart to the tale.What I mean to say is that this is a solid read. It didn't leave a huge impression on me, but that's mostly because it's the more MG Vivian Vande Velde as opposed to the more YA Vivian Vande Velde, and I like her YA stuff more than her thinner MG stuff.

Frogged by Vivian Vande Velde | Goodreads

Memphis opens with Miriam driving her two daughters Joan and Mya to Memphis to her childhood home after leaving an abusive relationship. She is greeted by her sister August who never left Memphis and lives in the house that her Mother’s husband built with his two hands before he was killed. There is a lot of history under this roof and the North women are known in that part of Memphis. We see everyone adjusting to the new reality of living under the same roof. This is an emotional story with adversity and dark topics that are hard to read or listen to. It feels chaotic through most of the story but this family puzzle does come together to confirm the strength of family, bonds between women, mothers protecting children, and neighbors helping neighbors. There is also a hopeful ending! i wanted to love this so bad. i typically really enjoyed character driven books like this, especially ones that follow a specific family or theme or take place in one setting. this book just didn't hit the nail on the head, but it was close. The things women do for the sake of their daughters. The things women don't. The shame of it all. The shame of her daughter's rape, the shame of her husband's violence, her nephew's psychopathy.

I don't even know how to describe this book. It's Vivian Vande Velde. I like Vivian Vande Velde. I haven't read a book she's written that I haven't liked, though some I've LOVED (but this one I liked). I recommend her to everyone because she's just that kind of author. Basically, amazing. What ultimately for me really rather detracted from the novel (which is very strongly conceived and well if not spectacularly written) was the rather high levels of melodrama – it feels like all the characters are permanently moving from one crisis to another in a way which took this away from the level of literary fiction and closer to soap opera, while also diluting the impact of the individual events.