Although this series is made up of four books—Awakening, Believing, Connecting, and Discovering—they’re really better considered a complete novel split into four parts. In fact, they’re probably best read back to back. (I only figured out the A, B, C, D naming convention as I started the fourth novel.) The series follows high school senior […]
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, […]
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
April 4, 2012 by 1 Comment
Review written by Jonathan Lavallee The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making is about a girl named September who is unhappy with the way things are going in her life. Her father is off fighting in the war and her mother spends too much time working at the factory. She […]
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 […]
Catching Fire
March 29, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Catching Fire is the sequel to The Hunger Games. It continues pretty much where the last book left off, and having survived the Hunger Games hasn’t actually solved any of Katniss’ problems. She needs to set off on the victory tour—the publicity stunt the government uses to keep the Hunger Games fresh in everyone’s mind. […]
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 […]
The Phantom Tollbooth
March 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment
I remember loving The Phantom Tollbooth as a child and I was pleasantly surprised by how well it held up. I read it out loud to my kids, which allowed me to explain some of the jokes and the overall metaphorical plot (why words and numbers require rhyme and reason to reach their full potential). […]
Why I Won’t Let My Kid Read the Twilight series
March 23, 2012 by 4 Comments
There’s plenty written about Twilight and its sequels, and many strong opinions about their worth. Many people have legitimate and well supported issues with the books, and I have no intention of getting into any of those arguments here. Personally, I enjoyed them. If you want to know why I liked them, I’ve discussed it here. […]
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 […]
