Keeper of the Night

Plot: this book revolves around a very average family, but the only thing they are missing is the mother of the house. The main character, Isabel, is now in charge of her brother (Frank), her little sister (Olivia) and her father. They live in the small village of Guam, where everyone knows everyone, and no news is not heard. Isabel goes through a lot of problems, which she shouldnt ever have to go through. this book was very good and i recommend it for girls only. oh and also, this book is about suicide, pain/loss, and family struggles.

Characters: the character i am choosing to describe is Isabel.

~Isabel- she is very mature for her age of 12, she cares for her siblings almost as well as a full grown woman would. i love the way Isabel is so sweet and kind to her sister even though she wakes up every night with a nightmare and wets her bed. I also love the way how she comforts her father probably just like her mother would. i dont like the way how isabel acted when roman, her 12 year old neighbor came and asked her a question, but all she did was roll her eyes and walk away with a heaving sigh.

Your thoughts: this book was very good in many ways, the best way was because it showed me how families live when they are motherless. i like the way the author gave isabel so much responsibilty in the book, and she handled it so well. i also like how the author used Guam as the setting but made it seem as if she was living in the older times of the United States. the only question i have is if i wonder of Kimberely Willis Holt ever went to Guam herself or ever exeriences living without a mother.

Reading Strategies: in this book i used a lot of summarizing, such as like when isabel's friend was running for fiesta queen, so many things were happening. another reading strategy i used was using post-its, like i used a post-it when i didnt understand what the word or phrase meant. in this book i didnt use mental images as a reading strategy because the author didnt make the details to big so it was hard to imagine anything but what i thought of as dust.

Author Information: Kimberly Willis Holt is an American children's book writer, she had written many other nivels for kids besides this one. she won a National Book Award for her novel, When Zachary Beaver Came to Town. Kimberly was born in Florida and currently lives in Texas.