6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Smart New Idea, April 17, 2009
What a bright, original idea! Well written, thought provoking. Elicits a wide range of emotions. Makes you want to meet Clemenza. Holly Christine is a smart, new author. Can't wait to read her next book!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Five stars pluan and A+, April 21, 2009
I could not put down this book. What an awesome feel good story. Holly Christine paints the most awesome pictures with her words. I felt like I could visualize each scene in the book. I couldn't wait to see what Clemenza would choose next. If you need a good pick me up, feel good, warm all over book, this is a must read.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Story of a temporary inhabitant in search of self fulfillment, September 30, 2009
Holley Christine's, The Nine Lives of Clemenza, found a unique place on a shelve of my literary library. I've never read anything like it. I plan to read it to my grandson as soon as he's lost enough energy to sit still.
It's difficult to write this review without giving away too much at the heart of this creative, heartwarming story. So, I'll be heaping a little praise on the author and hope that inspires you to get the book and read it, especially if you have children. Nonetheless, a really good children's book is also a really good adult read.
At the heart of the story is a little ball of energy--what we would think of as a soul--that must inhabit nine lives before gaining entry into a retirement community in Heaven or be lucky enough to become an angel. Clemenza's world postulates that Heaven is a life-affirming concept where God is unlike the one we learn about in church or bible school. Each of us has an advisory connection to God and he allows us the choice to direct our journey's itinerary. He's a sort of God as tour guide who becomes a mentor as Clemenza attains greater awareness and sophistication.
Choice becomes a key ingredient in this morality tale, and like all of us, Clemeza makes good choices and bad choices. Furthermore, she must learn from her mistakes or fail, just like the rest of us.
The beauty of the story is that we love Clemenza in all of her incarnations because we know she is trying hard to be good. Even during lives in which she is selfish, inconsiderate, and angry, she learns to make amends for them and we see her true, pure, and loving character.
Clemenza takes the form of unexpected aspects of the physical universe. Could one predict coming back as the wind or a molecule? We think of reincarnation as a soul's habitation of an animal, insect or human body, but a tumor? These clever incarnations allow us to see the world in a way we've never experienced. It gives me something to share with my grandson and fills me with joyful anticipation.
An artist, whether painter, sculptor, poet, or musician, desires to create something from their soul or find some truth in the souls of others. Aristotle once said that the aim of art is not to show the outward appearance of things, but to reveal their inward significance. Once in a while an author comes along and creates something new. Holly Christine has found something inside of her heart--her Clemenza--and has brought it to us in the form of a little ball of energy, a lovable little metamorphosing soul. It's deceptively simple story drew me in and reminded me of the power of art, of the power in seeing the world differently.
Read this book.
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