Review of The Secret Life of Shadows

[Rashad Deniro Price]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Secret Life of Shadows" by Johnny DePalma.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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The Secret Life of Shadows, written by Johnny DePalma, tells the story of a little girl named Bethany Gale. Bethany often feels sad and lonely. One night, she finds herself in a mystical world. There, the drums, clarinet, tambourine, trombones, and brass "brew" sound so enchanting and soothing, and the shadowlings dance, play, eat, and feel good. Amidst this glamorous sight, Bethany enters into a conversation with a remarkable person in her life. What significance do you think this event holds for Bethany and her predicament?

The story is told in prose and poetic form. I found this combination unique and symbolic. The prose style adopted at the beginning of the story serves as a sort of appetizer and simply introduces the readers to the world of Bethany Gale and her predicament. The poetic style used for the latter part of the story appropriately suits the narrative of adventure and personal transformation. It drives deep the messages of freedom from grief, merriment, and joyful reunion. The rhymes were intriguing. The word choices were vivid and evoked powerful mental imagery, as can be seen on page 19: "Where the air's syrup sweet."

If you reflect deeper, you will find out that DePalma is very intentional with every word choice made in this story. For example, when I finished this story and was connecting the dots in my mind's eyes, I was astonished by this statement on page 8: "or a poem she couldn't quite remember." I thought it was sort of foreshadowing the mystical poetic adventure and transformation that would follow a few pages down. Furthermore, I cherished the illustrations. Bao Luu's work greatly enriched the story's depth and appeal.

Some of the information in this story does not follow a linear sequence, so the dots cannot be immediately connected. For example, you will have to read more pages to actually understand why Bethany Gale feels sad and lonely and who she is professing her love to on page ten. But then you might find yourself even more grateful for the delayed gratification and the opportunity to piece things together in your mind's eye.

The Secret Life of Shadows is recommended for readers aged five to eight, and parents might have to help their children understand certain things in the latter part of the story (the section written in poetic form). I don't think there is anything that could be improved in this book, and given the impressive storyline, themes, and illustrations, I rate it 5 out of 5 stars. The book was thoroughly proofread.

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The Secret Life of Shadows
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[Ayesha Tabassum 4]

The secret life of shadow girl written by johnny depalma
The story of little girl and her name bethany gale one night she was felling sad and lonely suddenly one night she find her self in different world story is really very beautiful guys read it once amazing wonderful story

[Raymonda Onwuka 1]

Sounds lovely, this book is almost perfect for kids because they get to understand that life will not always be easy but suddenly it can get better than you ever imagined. A wonderful review you have here.