G646 Book Review of Yellow Billed Magpie by Nancy Schoellkopf
Author:Nancy Schoellkopf
ISBN: 9780692445730
Publisher: Butterfly Tree Publishing
Type of book: Spiritual needs, second romances, special needs, teaching, atmosphere, struggle, failure, inner strength, modern times
Year it was published: 2015
Summary:
Yellow-Billed Magpie is a love story, a spiritual journey, a quest to look beyond appearances to the mystical rhythms that guide the human heart. Unlike their black-billed cousins, yellow-billed magpies are rarely found outside California's Central Valley. When they begin showing up in Samantha O'Malley's dreams, she wonders: are they calling me home? Disappointed by failed fertility treatments and the break-up of her marriage, Samantha returns to her home town and slips into old habits, resuming her teaching career, even hooking up with an old lover. But she also renews her friendship with Craig, the school custodian she honors as her spiritual guide. The work they do together with Samantha's special education students will lead her to discoveries she never thought possible.
Characters:
The main characters include Samantha, a divorcee who returns back to work with kids with special needs and while she's teaching at school she meets up with a former lover as well as the mentor that encourages her spirituality and to try things that she previously rejected before. Charlie, Samantha's former lover, is best described as happy-go-lucky who is insecure and uncertain when it comes to himself and Samantha. Craig, Samantha's mentor, is very in tune with himself and with others and helps Samantha out a great deal throughout their friendship. I do admit that the characters of Charlie and Craig were a bit difficult to capture for me.
Theme:
We are all here for a reason
Plot:
The story is in third person narrative from Samantha's point of view. The narrative is pretty straightforward and there aren't complicated plots or loose ends to deal with. Basically, Samantha recently divorces from her husband and moves back and begins to teach Special Needs again. While teaching she is encouraged by one of the parents to try something that she tried in the past before it got discredited, and she also starts looking deeply into the spiritual side thanks to a former mentor and a former lover.
Author Information:
(From iRead Book Tours)
Meet the author:
Nancy Schoellkopf has been telling stories and writing poems for many lifetimes. It goes without saying she’s needed a second income, so this time around she happily taught amazing children in special education classes in two urban school districts in Sacramento, California. A full time writer now, she enjoys lavishing attention on her cat, her garden and her intriguing circle of family and friends.
Connect with the author: Website Twitter Facebook
Nancy Schoellkopf has been telling stories and writing poems for many lifetimes. It goes without saying she’s needed a second income, so this time around she happily taught amazing children in special education classes in two urban school districts in Sacramento, California. A full time writer now, she enjoys lavishing attention on her cat, her garden and her intriguing circle of family and friends.
Connect with the author: Website Twitter Facebook
Opinion:
For some odd reason, at least from the summary of the book, I thought it might be similar to Season of Dragonflies, but the book was really reminiscent of Heart Dancing, which I didn't expect, and I guess the book kind of came at the wrong time for me. In beginning I had a difficult time getting into the story as well as the characters, they didn't seem to grow on me. At the second half though, the story became a lot more interesting and I was able to get into it easily. The story also has spiritual meanings and discussions, which is probably something that I didn't expect. Sometimes unexpected elements in a story are a pleasant surprise, but I guess it was the wrong time for me to read this particular story because the spiritual elements were not something pleasant for me.
This is for iRead Book Tours
Oct 5 - The Autistic Gamer - review
Oct 6 - Working Mommy Journal - review / giveaway
Oct 7 - A Mama's Corner of the World - review / giveaway
Oct 8 - The Travelogue of a Book Addict - book spotlight / giveaway
Oct 8 - A Simple Life, really?! - review
Oct 9 - Maddie & Books - review
Oct 12 - Bound 4 Escape - review / giveaway
Oct 13 - Jayne's Books - review
Oct 15 - Celticlady's Reviews - book spotlight / giveaway
Oct 16 - Rockin' Book Reviews - review / guest post / giveaway
Oct 19 - Jorie Loves a Story - review / author interview
Oct 20 -Puddletown Reviews - review / giveaway
Oct 20 - Book and Ink - book spotlight / guest post / giveaway
Oct 21 - Deal Sharing Aunt - review / giveaway
Oct 22 - Being Tilly's Mummy - book spotlight / author interview / giveaway
Oct 23 - A Wondrous Bookshelf - review
TBD - Svetlana's Reads and Views - review
4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
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