Review written by Jocelyn Koehler. Hatchet is one of my favorite-est “boy books” (more on that below). It freaks me out to think that it’s 25 years old! Maybe that’s partly because it seems like it should be ageless. The core of the story is a boy living alone in the woods, and no amount […]
How to Speak Dragonese
January 17, 2013 by Leave a Comment
How to Speak Dragonese is the third book in the How to Train Your Dragon series. I’m just going to assume you’ve read the other reviews, so this won’t be repetitive. This book is in keeping with the others—humor aimed squarely at middle grader readers, funny drawings throughout, etc. Hiccup and Fishlegs are learning pirating […]
The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee
October 24, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee is the third book in the Origami Yoda series. After the events of Darth Paper Strikes Back, Dwight is attending another school that seems to be very supportive of differences. Tommy and the other kids at McQuarrie Middle School struggle without advice from Origami Yoda and begin to fear […]
The Casting
October 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The Casting takes place in Ireland in 350 AD and follows the story of Robyn, the younger daughter of a bronze caster. While her older sister, Lianna, is content to follow in their mother’s footsteps—becoming a healer and marrying Gilhey, the apprentice likely to take over the foundry—Robyn feels called to follow in her father’s […]
Johnny Graphic and the Etheric Bomb
October 5, 2012 by 1 Comment
Johnny Graphic and the Etheric Bomb takes place in an alternate 1935 America. The geography is just different enough to keep you on your toes and remind you that Johnny’s world isn’t quite our world (there’s a map—it looks like the South won the Civil War, for instance, and our United States became four separate […]
Darth Paper Strikes Back
October 3, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Darth Paper Strikes Back is the sequel to The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. Dwight, the origami artist who hangs out with Origami Yoda, has been suspended from school and may be transferred to an alternative school for violent kids. Tommy, Kellen, and the other kids join forces to try to convince the school board […]
The Moon Coin
September 18, 2012 by 1 Comment
2012 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards: Gold Medal Winner (Pre-Teen Fiction – Fantasy) The Moon Coin is a delightful fantasy story about Lily and her brother Jasper. Their Uncle Ebb has always told them tales (not stories—there’s a difference) of the Moon Realm. After Ebb disappears, Lily finds the Moon Coin necklace her uncle always wore […]
The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom
August 1, 2012 by 1 Comment
Review written by Jocelyn Koehler. In The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, Christopher Healy seems to have distilled all the elements of the most entertaining Disney movies, and then carefully reassembled them into this book, which leaves the famous princesses alone (for the most part) to focus on Prince Charming—or rather Princes Charming, since […]
Stoop of Mastodon Meadow
July 24, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Stoop of Mastodon Meadow is the sequel to Stout Hearts & Whizzing Biscuits. Oliver’s father is now the American Ambassador to Patria, so Oliver and his family are living in the castle with Farnsworth and Rose. Oliver and Farnsworth begin the school year at the boys’ school, Mastodon Meadow, while Rose goes to Madame Mimi’s […]
How to Be a Pirate
July 12, 2012 by Leave a Comment
How to Be a Pirate is the second book in the How to Train Your Dragon series. The look and tone are pretty much the same—scrawled illustrations, vaguely rude humor, splotches in the margins, changing fonts and random capitalization, maps and lists and such that further explain parts of the story. Hiccup is still far […]
