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Rosie Fights the Twisted Wind Review by Brandi Tesreau

Tad Troilo
Xlibris
888-795-4274
1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200
Bloomington, IN 47403
http://www.xlibris.com/

Rosie Fights the Twisted Wind, an 80-page novel written by Tad Troilo and illustrated by Jennifer "Bagel" Han, is a delightful tale filled with memorable characters, magical adventure, and magnificent imagery. 

Over summer vacation, Rosie meets a very peculiar neighbor--Reilly from Rictoransome, a man who wears funny clothes, wiggles his ears, and sucks soil suds right out of the ground. Not only that, his very best friend is a magic walking stick! Rosie and Reilly become fast friends, and Nana Apple Pie, Rosie's grandmother, doesn't seem the least bit concerned. 

Not long after they meet, Rosie learns the terrible fate of Reilly's hometown and the evil force that destroyed it. Together they set out to save the world from the terrible Twisted Wind.

After I read Rosie Fights the Twisted Wind, I assigned it to my 8-year-old son. After each chapter we would review any words he couldn't pronounce or didn't know. Once he was finished with the novel, we spent some time discussing one of my favorite literary terms, personification! 

I liked this book so much that I decided to read it aloud to my other two children, aged 4 and 10. It's just one of those stories that can be enjoyed by young and old alike. Once we had all heard the story, we decided to come up with a simple recipe for Rosie's Soil Suds-- homemade chocolate shakes generously sprinkled with crushed Oreo cookies. I bet your children would love to try some too! 

Truly a tale of good versus evil, lessons of love, contentment, and courage are brilliantly interwoven throughout the pages of Rosie Fights the Twisted Wind. Tad Troilo does a fine job of incorporating vivid imagination with practical application, two ingredients that are a must, in my opinion, for superb fantasy fiction. 

I did come across a few minor grammatical errors, and I do think $15.99 is a bit pricey for a paperback, but overall I thought this was a great book. It has certainly earned a spot on my shelf of prized literature!

Product review by Brandi Tesreau, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, March 2010

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