Review written by Jonathan Lavallee. The King of Attolia is a huge departure from The Thief and The Queen of Attolia. Not in tone, with its lovingly put together plot and brilliantly defined characters. Not in style, written with major intrigue rather than roaring battles as the focus. It’s a huge departure because the main character […]
Shelter
November 5, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Shelter is the first book in Harlan Coben’s YA series. Our hero is Mickey Bolitar, the nephew of Myron Bolitar who is the protagonist in Coben’s adult series. It’s a fun and exciting book, but it’s pretty clearly also primarily an adult thriller scaled down for a somewhat younger audience. Mickey is a high school […]
Princess Academy
October 2, 2014 by Leave a Comment
My daughter’s assessment of Princess Academy was “Really good, but not at all what I was expecting.” That seems quite accurate to me. Due to machinations of the plot, a tutor from the lowlands comes to Mount Eskel to try to get a bunch of mountain girls trained up enough that one of them can […]
No Talking
September 16, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Both of my kids love No Talking, and once I finally read it, I can see why. Inspired by a school report on Mahatma Gandhi, Dave decides to stop talking for a day. In the process, he ends up coughing his way out of an oral report he was supposed to give with Lynsey. At […]
The Giver
September 11, 2014 by 4 Comments
My daughter is reading The Giver in her 8th grade English class, so I used that as my excuse to finally reread this pioneer of middle grade dystopian literature. It holds up pretty well. There are some things that may seem a bit clichéd or predictable, but it reminded me of when I finally watched […]
The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline
August 10, 2014 by Leave a Comment
In her fifth book, The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline, Enola meets Florence Nightingale and rescues her landlady who is sweet, deaf, and more observant than Enola bargained for. We learn a bit more about the horrors of war, the plight of the poor, and the devastation that can occur when those overlap. Sherlock is […]
The Case of the Gypsy Good-bye
August 10, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The Enola Holmes series reaches its conclusion in the sixth novel, The Case of the Gypsy Good-bye. While I’m kind of sad to see the series come to a close (I read the last five novels in a summer binge), I have amazing respect for an author who knows when and how to end a […]
Ungifted
August 1, 2014 by 2 Comments
Ungifted is the story of Donovan, a very academically average kid, who through a series of circumstances accidentally ends up in the district’s school for the very gifted. It’s not like he’s actually brilliant and no one ever noticed—it doesn’t take long for everyone to realize he doesn’t have the academic chops to be there. […]
The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan
July 28, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The fourth Enola Holmes novel, The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan, may be my favorite so far. Enola sees Lady Cecily, the titular character of The Case of the Left-Handed Lady. She’s in the “care” of two very controlling women, but she manages to send Enola a clue by leaving her pink fan behind. […]
The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets
July 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Continuing my summer binge of Enola Holmes, next we get the third novel, The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets. Dr. Watson, who Enola views from a distance as a father figure, has gone missing. No one has any clues. Enola disguises herself and befriends Mrs. Watson, gaining entrance to the Watson residence. There she sees the […]
