I cleaned up the clutter on my other blog, and so I decided to make a page about my daughter’s book, which meant taking the time to pull out excerpts from her reviews. And since I hadn’t posted anything about her on this blog for a couple of months, I thought I’d brag a bit to you all, too.
Reviews of Banished
Banished is a captivating fantasy story with a well-thought-out plot that would be a credit to any writer. But it is especially remarkable coming from a thirteen-year-old student who has been homeschooled all her life.
Teresa Gaskins actually wrote this book as a project for the National Novel Writing Month program. One noteworthy thing about the book is that there is no sexuality or bad language (the euphemistic interjection “Blasted” is used once), so, other than those who object to the presence of any kind of magic in books, parents can let their kids read the novel with no reservations.
However, be forewarned. When you reach the final page and find the words, “Not the End…,” you will cry, “Oh! No!” The story does not resolve itself at the end and then pick up in a sequel. Rather, the plot is left hanging at the end and will continue in another book. I for one feel as if I simply can’t wait to read the next installment to find out what happens to Chris and his friends. It’s that good!
— Wayne at Home School Book Review
There are many things I like about this first book in a series. First, I am very impressed that it was written by a 13 yr old homeschooler. Yes, a 13 year old! Teresa Gaskins has been writing stories for a few years in her blog. She has participated in the NaNoWriMo Youth program as a part of her language studies.
Her use of descriptive words is wonderful as is her grammar! I found myself looking up word definitions while reading, (I love how easy a kindle makes that) refreshing my memory on such things as harpies.
I do recommend this book for children age 9 and up.
A paperback version is also available, and Amazon is even including the book in their buy-3-get-1-free promotion. Nice!
Naturally I’m biased, but I think Teresa (who goes by the internet nickname of Princess Kitten) did a pretty good job, as first books go. Her book is clearly the beginning of a series, so she sets up more plot threads than she resolves. So far, she’s written about 17,000 words on Book Two, and I can’t wait to read it.
If you think you might be interested, you can read the first four chapters by clicking the “Look Inside” link on her Amazon.com book page.
Denise Gaskins' Let's Play Math 
Congratulations! Hope it’s as encouraging to PK as it is to her teachers/parents.
Wow! That is inspiring. Like almost everyone, I want to write a book as well. I will head on over to amazon and check it out.
FYI: I would take out the references “So impressive for a 13 year old…” Makes it sound like the book is good only if you consider the author is very young. Also, you say “Pretty good job, as first books go” If the book is good, the book is good. If the book is not good then, well, it isn’t good. Anyway, tell me if the book is good and I’ll buy it and read it. Or better yet, post a couple of pages of excerpt.
You can read the first four chapters through Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature, which gives you about 15 pages of excerpt. For some reason, you get a longer excerpt from the Kindle version than from the paperback.
Is the book “good”? That depends a lot on the reader, and on what other books you compare it to. Teresa is not even close to the same league as Patricia Wrede, who is my standard of a “good” writer of fantasy fiction, but then Patricia Wrede’s first books weren’t up to that standard, either. I would not have given Teresa’s book 5 stars in a review, because the plot is not tight enough for a 5-star rating in my opinion. But I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and I’m looking forward to the sequel.
PS: Teresa read this and responded, “One of my writing goals for the next book is to be more mean to my characters.” Sounds like an adventure…