Soul’s Child, the 2012 award-winning spell binder by Dianne Gray, unearthed and explored a love/hate relationship between co-dependent father and daughter after the accident in which Aurora Jones’ mother and younger sister died, and left Aurora in a coma for three weeks.
Do you love a mystery?
The accident also gave Aurora an insatiable and uncontrollable urge to draw unnaturally realistic scenes she had never experienced. Although she hid her drawings, her father, originally Mervin Oswald Jones, discovered their secret meanings, and began to capitalize on them. Mervin legally changed his name to Clive Soul, and created a Hollywood TV show, Soul Search, to “prove the reality of precognition, ghosts and demons.” The show totally destroyed her trust in her father, when she learned he would do anything to take possession of her drawings.
Throughout the book, Aurora sought true friendship, and struggled to find those she could really trust in an increasingly hostile environment. She finally discovered the significance of her scribblings as her father became more and more dependent on them. She feared for both hers and her father’s life, as the webs between the pictures and real life inextricably entangled.
I usually connect book reviews to the Common Core and sometimes the History Social Science Standards. This is definitely not a non-fiction piece, nor does it specifically teach any social studies, but the value lies in the fiction work, so students would analyze the book referring to the Reading Standards for Literature. For example, asking seventh grade students to work with standard RL 6 Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text, will help them deeply understand the intricacies of this surprisingly complex novel.
I highly recommend this book to mature readers.
Marsha Ingrao - Always Write 
Sounds great, which I would expect from Dianne 🙂 Very good review, I’ll have to read it when I get through my current list!
Thanks for sharing, all the best 🙂
Rohan.
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Thanks for reading my review! 🙂 She is awesome, isn’t she?
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Like a few other commenters I’ve read a few of Dianne’s great novels, but now this goes on to the wish list – thank you.
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Why thank you, Roy. As Dianne would say, YAY! Thanks for stopping to make a comment. I’ll have to check out and see what you are writing on your blog. 🙂
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Nice review, Marsha ~ thanks! Dianne does have a great style. This book will certainly be added to my TBR list…sooner rather than later.
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Yay! as Dianne would say! Sh’e a great writer – in my opinion. 🙂 Thanks for stopping to make a comment, Jill!! 🙂
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Great review, Marsha. Thanks for bringing this title to my attention. The story sounds really fascinating.
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You’d LOVE it 🙂
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Thanks so much for this review and reminder. This is one of Dianne’s I haven’t yet read, so I think it’s time to treat myself, as this sounds brilliant – hooray!
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Thanks for the nice compliment. It sounds like you are a writer, too. I’ll have to come over and see what you are doing on your blog soon. I’m a slow reader, so it may be a little bit, but I appreciate your comment, and I will stop by and check out your blog SOON! 🙂 Marsha 🙂
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Lovely review! I too have read only two of Dianne’s novels and have been thinking it is time to read a third…maybe this one! I love how she makes you think. Her stories stick with me LONG after I am done. 🙂
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I know! They do with me, too. I love her style, and the amount of research that she puts into her books. Thanks for the nice comment, OCD Reader. 🙂 🙂
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Intriguing review of Dianne’s book. 😀
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Thanks you so much NR. I’m assuming the NR does NOT stand for NON READER!!! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
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Enjoyable and interesting review of Soul’s Child. I’ve read & loved two other novels written by Dianne, and this one is in my reading queue… I am so entralled when reading Dianne’s novels I tend to consume them to the detriment of anything, anyone else around me… so I set aside special time.
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Me too! Once I start her books, I don’t set it aside until I’m done! Thanks for reading my review and commenting, Ella Dee! 🙂
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Great review–and thank you for bringing attention to this author’s works.
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Thanks for your comment! She’s a great author! 🙂
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Reblogged this on Dianne Gray author.
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Thank you so much for the review, Marsha! You’ve made my day 😉
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Awwwww, that was easy! 🙂 I LIKE that!!! 🙂
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I haven’t read anything about this book of Dianne’s. Thanks for your thoughts. It sounds intriguing.
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Ok since we are both great fans of Dianne’s, you HAVE to read this book! You’ll enjoy it!!! 😄
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Char, did you get my last response. For some reason this response needed to be approved. I think you’ll enjoy this book. Thanks for all the interesting recommendations on your site. I’m hoping to get there early this week. Talk to you soon! 🙂
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