The Fire Within is a story of squirrels and dragons. David, a college student, rents a room in the house of Liz Pennykettle and her 11 year old daughter Lucy. Although he enjoys living there, he begins to notice that things are “weird.” Liz sculpts clay dragons that seem to have a life of their […]
Best Friend Thief
April 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Best Friend Thief opens with Nathalie and her best friend Reagan making plans for the beginning of 5th grade. They have great plans for the International Costume Contest that the school holds every year—a plan that is sure to win! But when school starts, Blair Bennett, one of the popular girls, latches on to Reagan. […]
Warriors: Into the Wild
April 5, 2012 by 4 Comments
Warriors: Into the Wild is the first in Erin Hunter’s extensive and expanding series. My nine year old son loves these books about clans of feral cats—he read the first six in quick succession, although he got bogged down in the super edition, Firestar’s Quest. Many of his friends have read and loved these books, […]
Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos
April 3, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Overall, Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos was fine. It has a spunky, super smart, and mystically aware 11 year old heroine and the vocabulary isn’t dumbed down, which is something I always appreciate. Theodosia lives in Edwardian London and spends much of her time in the museum her parents run. She has a younger […]
Fever 1793
April 2, 2012 by 3 Comments
Fever 1793 opens with 14 year old Mattie waking up, wanting desperately to roll back over and go to sleep instead of getting up to help in the coffee shop her mother owns. It’s easy for a modern reader to identify with her. She has a crush on a boy her mother doesn’t quite approve […]
Aurelia
March 29, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Aurelia feels like a logical stepping stone between the princess stories of Gail Carson Levine and adult novels of romance and intrigue. In many ways, Aurelia is a typical princess from stories like this—she chafes against authority, she thinks she’s less beautiful than her golden younger sister, the common people love her, and she’s smarter […]
My Life as a Book
March 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment
My Life as a Book, about the summer of a 12 year old self-described “reluctant reader,” is written in a way obviously intended to appeal to reluctant readers. The Comic Sans font resembles hand printing and the book has large margins—this prevents the “wall of text” effect and also leaves ample room for the stick […]
The Season
March 21, 2012 by 2 Comments
Set in Regency England (the season of 1815, to be exact), The Season follows the first few months of the social debuts of Alex Stafford and her best friends, Ella and Vivi. In addition to the social pitfalls inherent to their status, there’s also a murder, spies, and romance. The story is full of the […]
Time Warp Trio
March 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Overview of the series Coming in at well under 100 pages, the Time Warp Trio books seem like they’re squarely aimed at the younger set. And they are great for newly independent readers who want some humor and attitude. However, they’re also great for reluctant readers or as a brain break for 9 to 12 […]
Only You Can Save Mankind
February 29, 2012 by Leave a Comment
I was excited when my son brought home a Terry Pratchett book on his own, and he really did give it a good shot (a rarity for my son who tends to make a decision about a book before he’s done with the first page), but it turns out Only You Can Save Mankind is both […]
