A bit about the author:

ellieerose_ is a Watty award-winning writer who enjoys bubble tea, traveling (especially to Germany), historical fiction books, violin, and swing dancing. Her motivation to write is: "I write to inspire."

Title:

Simple enough. It's quaint and cute, much like the story itself, but it's rather vague and doesn't have much to do with the story at all. It's mentioned in the beginning, but that's about it. Not to mention I had George Washington and the American Revolution vibes... XD

Cover: 

A pity that sticker's so big... *cough* Congrats on winning a Wattys, by the way. ;) The cover is pretty and simplistic. But again, not sure if it fits the story as well as it should. And the author's name is hard to read. 

Blurb: 

Short and simple. I like it. My only suggestion is to take out the part about the mother dying and leave that for the reader to find out in the book, not spoiling it by putting it in the blurb. 

The Good: 

This story is cute and I like the portrayal of Liesel as she struggles to become the author she is meant to be. (And you didn't get away with Book Thief influences either... The names were rather obvious XD). I can definitely see the seeds sown in this book that have sprouted to amazing writing years later. It's a very quaint story, much like a children's story, and I loved the journey Liesel takes to become a writer and heal from the past. 

The Bad: 

There were grammar errors... As is often common in early writing... *coughs awkwardly and casts a shuddering glance at her own 11-year-old work* The biggest issue was changing tenses. But since I know how good you are of a writer now, I think you can fix that without me needing to say more on the issue. 

The biggest issue was pacing. And yes, I know, this is a very early story, hence why I'm not going to go into much detail about this. Just if you ever rewrite this or whatever, work on the pacing so things don't feel so rushed. ;) And the historical aspects of it were confusing. You never specified what the time period was so I was very bewildered on that part. 

But I digress. 

What the Reader Thought: 

This is a very cute story. I enjoyed reading it, and often laughed to myself at seeing the same mistakes I made as a young writer (and often still make, if I'm honest). I think it's always good to look back at old writing and see how far you've come. And honestly, your story, for being written by a 12-year-old, is actually not that bad at all. It had some very well-written lines in it, a style that was magnified in Stellina, which is itself a masterpiece. I can definitely detect the early version of your writing and it's actually fun to read. Despite the mistakes that come with first drafts--especially by a younger writing self--this story was cute and quaint and I enjoyed reading it. Good work! 

Score: 6.5/10