Review: THE WHISPERING SKULL (Lockwood & Company #2) by Jonathan Stroud

4.33 STARS from 1,224 GoodReaders

"Don't look now," Lockwood said. "There's two of them."

I snatched a glance behind me and saw that he was right. Not far off, on the other side of the glade, a second ghost had risen from the earth. Like the first, it was a pale, manshaped curtain of mist that hovered above the dark, wet grass.  Its head, too, seemed oddly skewed, as if broken at the neck.

I glared at it, not so much terrified as annoyed. For twelve months I'd been working for Lockwood & Co. as a Junior Field Operative, tackling spectral Visitors of every horrific shape and size. Broken necks didn't bother me the way they used to. "What?" I said. "Where did he come from?"

There was a rasp of Velcro as Lockwood pulled his rapier clear of his belt. "Doesn't matter. I'll keep an eye on him. You keep watching yours."

I turned back to my position. The original apparition still floated about ten feet or so from the edge of the iron chain. It had been with us for almost five minutes now, and was growing in clarity all the time. I could see the bones on the arms and legs, and the connecting knots of gristle. The wispy edges of the shape had solidified into flecks of rotted clothing: a loose white shirt, dark tattered breeches ending at the knee.

Waves of cold radiated from the ghost. Despite the warm summer night, the dew below the dangling toe bones had frozen into glittering shards of frost.

THE WHISPERING SKULL is the second installment in Stroud's Lockwood & Company series. And if you loved the first book you'll be pleased as punch with this one too.

If you remember, in THE SCREAMING STAIRCASE we were left with a hint that George's Skull in a Jar wasn't done talking with Lucy. And indeed, in this book he does play a fuller role. And in fact we find out who the skull belongs to. Not that he dominates the story in any sense, but the skull becomes an active player, as does a very peculiar Flo Bones.

Flo --who Lucy describes as a grubby, shambling figure -- is a relic-woman who works the shores of the Thames looking for bits of haunted material that she can sell. She is one of Lockwood's informants.  She joins the cast of familiars which include Quill Kipp and the rest of the Fittes crew. 

I swung the rapier up.

The mouth gaped, the sockets flared with greenish fire. With terrible speed, it flung itself forward. I screamed, jumped back. The ghost collided with the barrier a few inches from my face. A bang, a splash of ectoplasm.  Burning flecks rained down on the muddy grass outside the circle.

Now the pale figure was ten feet further back, quivering and steaming.

"Watch it, Lucy," George said. "You just stepped on my head."

Lockwood's voice was hard and anxious. "What happened? What just happened back there?"

I'm fine," I said. "He attacked, but the iron drove him off. If he does it again, I'll use a flare."

The whispering skull might whisper but the item that is the center of a massive hunt is a mysterious black glass mirror housed in a casing of bone. Haunted bone, of course. And this mirror has been missing since the night Bickerstaff was forced to look into it. He died that night and the be-robed parties that waited expectantly to find out what he saw, fled. Some went home or abroad, while some merely went mad.  

And when the mirror once again comes to light, DEPRAC sends Kipps and his Fittes team, and Lockwood and Company searching for it.

I didn't find THE WHISPERING SKULL quite as tension fraught as the first book. I suppose this might be due to the fact that I'm more convinced of the team's abilities. The writing, of course, is excellent and the world totally convincing and believable.

Highly recommend this series.

Pam~


The Whispering Skull
(Lockwood and Company #2)
(Disney/Hyperion)
by Jonathan Stroud

Reading Information:
Word Count: 105,585
Page Count:  400
Accelerated Reader: 5.2 / points: 16.0
AR quiz: 168794
Lexile: 670L
--sample pages and reviews available

See the Review and Reading info for THE SCREAMING STAIRCASE

updated December 2014

Review: THE SCREAMING STAIRCASE (Lockwood & Company) by Jonathan Stroud

~ADULT WORTHY!

4.24 STARS from 3,321 GoodReaders

Sherlock Holmes. That's what I thought of when I read this book. THE SCREAMING STAIRCASE gave me the same pleasure as the Arthur Conan Doyle books did. 

Granted the storyline is vastly different.  Doyle might have suggested the mysterious and the macabre but his feet were solidly set in reality.  Stroud's book is not.  It's a fantasy, but it's not treated as one.  There's no loopy magic or dragons.  Instead Stroud defines his universe and it seems very proper and reasonable.

BACKSTORY:

Fifty years before this story takes place the world changed. Ghostly phenomena, which had previously been the subject of television and movies, moved into 'real life'.  And not only did ghosts erupt onto the scene, they were much more numerous than anyone expected, and they were perversely powerful.

Society was at a loss. And a large part of the problem was that adults couldn't sense the ghosts. Not until it was too late. Children though... children could see them and/or hear them, and thus it was that society reevaluated child exploitation, and youngsters began to be hired for their abilities to sense and defeat the ghosts with the aid of adult managers and the Fitts Manual. That latter is a book that categorizes the apparitions by type and power, and which also outlines and describes the skills and tools needed to put an end to the ghosts.

SKIP OVER AND START READING

THE SCREAMING STAIRCASE begins with the introduction of our narrator, Lucy.  We're given the short curriculum vitae and then we follow her as she goes to London seeking employment with Lockwood and Company. 

Lockwood is Anthony Lockwood. He's roughly Lucy's age, but unlike all of the other child agents, he runs his own firm and doesn't work under the guidance of an adult. 

And 'Company' really means George. George is the academic of the bunch. A library geek and not without features of interest.  But it is Lucy's relationship with the two that grabbed my attention.  Lucy's a fabulous character. She's smart and brave and what most of us want in a female character --she's strong.  And when it comes to the cast, Lockwood is 'Holmes' to Lucy's 'Watson'.  There's no sappy romance. They are peers. 

I could gush on but it comes down to this. THE SCREAMING STAIRCASE is a fabulously Good story with Good characters and Solid world-building.  I adore this book and HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.

Pam~

[YA. Not for children. It's not all that gory, but it is scary with events that might be too intense for younger readers.]


LOCKWOOD & CO. -- THE SCREAMING STAIRCASE
by Jonathan Stroud

Reading Information:
Word Count: 92,073
Page Count: 400
Accelerated Reader: 5.1 / points: 14.0
AR quiz: 160996
Lexile: 720L
--sample pages available
--audio version available (it's under the bookcover on amazon. Do listen to it.)
--see introductory pages on this blog

Review: WEST OF THE MOON by Margi Preus

3.84 STARS from 51 GoodReaders

**Starred Review** Kirkus

**Starred Review** ALA BookList

**Starred Review** SchoolLibraryJournal

WEST OF THE MOON is a wonderful book set in Norway in the 1800s.

The story was inspired by a curious entry in the author's great-great grandmother's diary. Linka Preus, it seems, was on-board a ship coming to America when she saw a farm girl sitting all alone. There's really not more that is said than that, but that brief description was all it took to stir up Margi Preus' imagination. 

Backstory

As the book begins Astri (13 yo) is living with her little sister, Greta, in her aunt's and uncle's home.  Their mother died in childbirth some years before, and her father is now absent because he has ventured off to America hoping to find a better life, with the expectation that they will later join him.

But what a terrible mistake this plan is.  The aunt and uncle care little for the children and it isn't long before Astri is being sold-off to a hermit. In exchange for some coins and a haunch of goat, she is sent to be his housekeeper, goatherd and heaven knows what else.  **highlight text to read spoiler. (There is one scene where he tries to pull her into bed with him, but she fights him off. His response is that in the spring he will see the two of them properly married, at which point he can do as he will.) **

Mr. Svaalberd, who Astri calls "Goatbeard" is a harsh master and it isn't long before Astri dreams of escaping.  But how to work it all out. She refuses to leave without her little sister. And they can't just escape without money and a place to go.

There are a number of elements I really liked about WEST OF THE MOON.  First, I love the language that Margi Preus chose, and how she wove the folktales into the story. [sample pages available] Astri uses them to calm her sister Greta, and as a means to try to understand her life. It worked so very well to keep the momentum going.

And then there were the little mysteries that arose.  Who was the mysterious girl in the back shed and how did she get there? And where was Mr. Svaalberd as they were trying to escape?  And exactly what kind of book is it that their father left them?

And of course, none of this would have worked however without good characters.  I thought that Greta acted as a perfect foil to Astri's hard ways.  She was sweet and generous which contrasted with how hard and serious Astri was.  Then again, Astri couldn't afford to be as innocent as her sister or they would have both perished.

WEST OF THE MOON is a fascinating book that is going to appeal to Adults as well as Adults as well as Young Adults and even some Middle-graders.  

RECOMMEND, with a few caveats. (see below**)

Pam~

**What you should know is that while Preus uses fairytales that this book contains a good bit that is realistic.  There is hardship, hunger, some violence, and an attempted rape. I don't mean to indicate that the book is a gore fest, only that it might not be for more sensitive readers.

WEST OF THE MOON
by Margi Preus

Reading Information:
Word Count: 42,852
Page Count: 224
Accelerated Reader: 5.2 / points: 7.0
AR quiz: 165209
--sample pages and reviews available

Review: TANDEM by Anna Jarzab

3.83 STARS from 472 GoodReaders
ADULT O'METER  .............. approach with caution 

In one world a princess is faced with difficult decisions.  And ultimately she decides that it would be best for everyone if she just runs away.

Unfortunately not everyone thinks this is a great decision as her absence will lead to terrible war.  And so, to prevent that war, they look to a parallel world for the princess' stunt double.

Enter Sasha.  She's 16 year's old and living her life, going to school, thinking about homework and boys, and suddenly she's snatched up and hurled into a world where she is one of the most important pawns in a complicated game.  And she must play her role impeccably, or else she'll never be able to return home.

If Sasha succeeds in fooling everyone, she will be returned home; if she fails, she'll be trapped in another girl's life forever. As time runs out, Sasha finds herself torn between two worlds, two lives, and two young men vying for her love--one who knows her secret, and one who thinks she's someone she's not.

There are strengths to TANDEM. The world building was very good, and the explanation for the parallel worlds was interesting. As well, the descriptions of persons/actions/places was also good.

What didn't work for me was the fact that this was VERY girlie fiction. Nothing wrong with that in a general sense, but there was a lot of focus on how everybody felt, and on hurt feelings with the usual romantic misunderstandings.  Too squee! for me.

Other readers were repulsed by the fact that Sasha fell in love with her kidnapper.  Too Stockholm Syndrome for them.

Ultimately what made this a skimmer-read for me was:  #1, to dang long.  This book needed an plot diet. And #2, I just didn't connect with the any of the characters.

A perfectly decent read for young adults of the princess persuasion. Not a book I'd recommend to any guys, or readers like myself that prefer their Lit a little less frou-frou.

Pam~


TANDEM
(Many-Worlds Trilogy #1) 
by Anna Jarzab

Reading Information:
Word Count: 114,742
Page Count:  448
Accelerated Reader: 5.6 / points: 18.0
AR quiz: 165245
Lexile: HL770L

Review: SHADOW AND BONE by Leigh Bardugo

4.11 Stars from 28,228 GoodReaders
NYTimes Best Seller
**Starred Review** SchoolLibraryJournal

SHADOW AND BONE is book one of The Grisha series by Leigh Bardugo.  It's a book that has gained fans amongst YA readers, and there's talk of a movie deal as well.

Setting

The setting is wonderful. It's moody and the over all feeling of the book is Russian-esque.

Backstory

The story takes place in a magical land called Kavka.  Kavka is ruled by the King and his second in command, The Darkling.

Alina and Mal are orphans who are bound together by trust... and possibly a love interest.  They take on minor roles within the King's army, and aren't considered very important.  That is until they get convoy duty.

Kavka has for centuries been divided into east and west by the Shadow Fold, a place of darkness and danger.  Within the Shadow Fold there is no natural light, so if you want to see anything you must use torches. Unfortunately no one wants to use torches because those attract wickedly bad monsters.

People still have to cross the Fold because they need access to the ports, and this is "the why" behind Alina and Mal finding themselves inside of the Fold doing convoy duty. Alina and Mal are part of the soldier force that accompanies the goods; and they and everyone else is counting on the Grisha, who are sorcerers, to protect them should the monsters attack.

Well, of course, they attack, and in order to keep Mal from being killed, Alina discovers a previously unknown power.  It's a power that will elevate her status, and also make her hunted.

Most Young Adult readers will like this story, but I can't strongly recommend it to Adults.  The writing and world building is good, but the plotting is frequently slow, and inevitably inane.

In fact, the plot becomes entirely predictable.  Which is okay if you've fallen in love with the characters, but disappointing if you find them a little too shallow and vacuous.

Pam~


SHADOW AND BONE
by Leigh Bardugo

Reading Information:
Word Count: 81,215
Page Count: 368
Accelerated Reader:  5.3 / points: 12.0
AR Quiz: 151863
 Lexile: 800L
--sample pages and other reviews available
--audio version available
--sample e-chapters available

If this book piques your interest, you might want to check out:

• SERAPHINA
• GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS (most excellent)
• GRACELING

Review: THESE BROKEN STARS by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

4.21 STARS from 751 GoodReaders

The blurb ( Disney-Hyperion):

It's a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone.

Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they're worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.

ps -- I'm telling you about this book a little early
so you can pre-order and get it in your own hands, or the hands of your minions, so that you have a great read ready for the Holiday break.

THESE BROKEN STARS was a real treat.  The writing is excellent, but what was even better was the fact that Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner totally surprised and delighted me with their plot twists.  

The early buzz about this book used the words 'the Titanic in Space' and I have to say that that did not intrigue me.

But in a way that description was correct.  There's a disaster at the beginning and many people die. Fortunately though that's just the first little bit of the story. And even more fortunate for me was that I ignored that descriptor and instead glombed onto the notion that there would be a fight to survive on a deserted planet.  I'm totally good with a survival story. 

Backstory

Lilac is the only child of THE richest man in the known universe.  Papa loves her dearly and surrounds her with all sorts of guards and protectors and no one gets in, and stays in, that inner circle unless he says so.

Her counterpoint is Tarver.  Tarver comes from a loving family of artsy-fartsy folk.  And despite the fact that he keeps a journal, he's a war hero.  Not a super killer or anything cliche like that, but a guy who just happened to be in the right place for his skills and cool head to be enough to save the day.

And it's because of his TV-friendly hero status that the two meet briefly.  Tarver doesn't know who she is, but there's a gathering on this huge space liner Lilac's daddy owns, and their paths cross.

It doesn't work out well as her entourage forces her to snub him, but you can tell that the two are attracted to each other, and that attraction lets you know that this book is in many ways a Romance novel.

NOW, having scared you with the Romance word, let me say that there is enough scifi in this book to make it a good read.  And it's entirely possible that guy's would like THESE BROKEN STARS.  But they will have to wade through the first part of the book before the Awesomesauce begins.

It sort of goes like this...

The first half of this book reads like a well written space adventure.  The two of them spar and survive.  BUT in the second half of the book everything changes.  The story takes a sweeping turn and gets creepy and mysterious, and I for one wasn't sure where things were headed.  The world wasn't what it appeared to be, and in fact, the universe wasn't exactly how it seemed.  Very cool.  And very much something like what Keith Laumer or even young Heinlein might have penned.

Dazzling first book.  It was familiar in parts and then it evolved into something wonderfully original.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND.  Tis ADULT WORTHY.

Pam~


To Be Published 12/10/13
THESE BROKEN STARS 
 (Starbound #1)
by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Reading Information:
Word Count: 102,877
Page Count: 384
Accelerated Reader: 5.7 / points: 16.0
AR quiz: 164929
--sample pages and reviews available

• READ IT!  YES, read a sample.  Kaufman & Spooners writing will draw you in...

Review: A MEDAL FOR LEROY by Michael Morpurgo

 4.26 STARS from 90 GoodReaders

A MEDAL FOR LEROY is a book that you are likely to hear a lot about.  It's a story that spans the Two Great World Wars of the last century, and most of the adult reviewers at GoodReads and Amazon.UK and -US have been raving about it. 

Backstory

There is more than one backstory as Morpurgo has chosen a story-within-a-story format.  I'll leave WWI alone, as that is where some of the mystery of of this book resides, and instead begin with the main character, a boy of mixed-race named Michael.

Now normally I wouldn't mention anything about a character's "race", but it's important within the context of this book, because A MEDAL FOR LEROY is about the evils of racial prejudice.  And certainly those evils were in play during the World Wars.

The book begins with Michael's situation.  He's called "Poodle" by his school mates, but it doesn't bother Michael much because he gets along well with them. Michael lives with his mom, and the only other family members he knows are two aunts. The women who raised his father.

Michael's father isn't around because he died crossing the channel, and that's essentially all that the boy knows because the women in his life are keeping everything about his father's life and death a secret--except for the fact that he had been in the military, and he had won medals.

And so, the book is about the unrolling of these secrets.


Now something about the target audience.  

I have seen magazines and other sources suggest this book for children as young as 10 years of age.  My  reaction would be: no, no, no.  A MEDAL FOR LEROY is very slow to start.  There are at least 68 pages before Michael sits down and begins reading the history his aunts finally reveal to him.

Before that we just get a kids-eye view of Michael's world; with the highs and lows of school life, and how he loves his aunts but isn't particularly thrilled with the visits to them, except for getting to play with their dog.  So unless you have a very patient Tween, I'd suggest this book for a much older reader.

Homeschoolers and teachers might want to use this book in conjunction with a history unit, but I don't feel it would be a particularly good choice as there is not a great deal of era specific information provided.  There are no descriptions of life during or between the wars, for example, and nothing in the tone of the writing that would give children a 'feel for how things were'.  The author's focus is on character, instead of time and place.

For example, Michael's mother takes him to a "Milk Bar" but there's no description at all of what it looks like inside.  And we aren't told about the Nazi bombings, nor the deprivation that the British endured.

I think instead that the book might better be used as a Social Studies supplement to a unit on Prejudice --assuming it wasn't just being read for the joy of it.  (Please point out that in the past that the heroic deeds of women and racial minorities were kept out of historical accounts because of prejudice.)

CONCLUSION
A MEDAL FOR LEROY is a story about love and prejudice.  On one level the characters love and caring for one another is uplifting and heartwarming.  But counterpoint to that is the infuriating prejudice that caused the characters so much pain.

I'd suggest this book for older readers.  As I said, it's a bit slow to start, and the story is more thoughtful than action filled.  [[It's not, in my opinion, a guy-read.  Although there will be guys, of course, that love it.]]

Pam~


A MEDAL FOR LEROY
by  Michael Morpurgo

Reading Information:
Word Count: 22,476
Accelerated Reader: 5.1 / points: 3.0
ARquiz: 164037
Lexile: 860L
--click-thru to see sample pages and reviews

Review: THE TRUE STORY OF THANKSGIVING by Colleen Adams

I thought THE TRUE STORY OF THANKSGIVING from PowerKids Press could have been much better.

For example, if you take a look at the above page, you will note that there is no spacing between paragraphs.  And with the letters being VERY large (which I don't think you can fully appreciate in this image) it makes all of the pages of text ugly. 

The images aren't much better.  And while I really liked the use of classic artwork and the wood cuttings, I thought the switch to garishly printed modern photographs was less than appealing.

This page shows up better in this copy of mine
than in the book where it's 'muddy'.

Factually the book is better.  Although I thought it was strange that the author wrote that during the first winter in Plymouth that the pilgrims planted crops.  [Given the snowy environment that sounds strange.]

And I regret that the author missed out on an opportunity to point out that one reason that the treaty between the Wampanoag's and Pilgrims took place was because the Native Americans were tired of the Pilgrims robbing and stealing from them.  That would seem a fun and kid-friendly factoid that most watered-down history books don't talk about.

And as you can see from page 18, the BIG debunk is actually very mild.  Mostly having to do with the feast taking place over 3 days, rather than one.  And with small things like food selection and standing up instead of sitting.

Can't really recommend.  For a book at the 5th grade reading level, it's conceptually too simple and just not fun enough.

Pam~


THE TRUE STORY OF THANKSGIVING
(What Really Happened?)
by Colleen Adams

Reading Information:
Word Count: 1,327
Page Count: 24
Accelerated Reader: 5.0 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 126090


compiled by Pam
updated November 2014

INHUMAN by Kat Falls

~cool cover~

3.90 Stars from 210 GoodReaders

INHUMAN is the first book in a new series from Kat Falls and Scholastic.  Readers of Middle-grade fiction might recognize Falls' name from her popular DARK TIDE  series.


Backstory:
The world of INHUMAN is one where America and the world have been ravaged by war. In the course of war a horrible virus was released, and this virus, called Ferae, causes the humans that catch it to genetically mutate into human-animal hybrids. Different strains of the virus, result in different animal traits.

Lane lives with her father behind a huge wall that shelters people from the Savage Zone.  On her side of the wall teens interact more through the internet than in person because everyone is concerned with avoiding the Ferae virus.

For a while Lane and her father were poor because of the medical bills her mother ran up before her death. Now though they are doing very well.  Unfortunately, Lane never questions where the money comes from. Just as she never questions her father about where he goes for weeks at a time.

Turns out that Lane's dad is a is a 'fetch'. Someone who illegally crosses into the Savage Zone.


Plot Basics:
Lane is brought in by a powerful woman who has the goods on her missing father.  This woman tells Lane that she wants her to retrieve something.  And that if she doesn't, that her father will be shot on sight, IF he returns.

Lane heads out with little but her wits, desperate to find her father.


My Thoughts:
INHUMAN is a fast paced book featuring a feisty heroine that many readers are going to love.  Lane is strong and smart and has a well established moral compass.

The world is well described and the characters are interesting, if not completely familiar.  There's The Mom who died, because in dystopic lit that's what moms do best.  And there's the The Dad who has done his best to provide for his daughter.  There's also the omnipresent love triangle. (barf)

The book is fine for Middle-graders, but it's going to be a stretch for some adults to jump on this bandwagon the way that they did for DARK TIDE... unless you like your villains over-the-top bad.  The kind of people that would kick your cat and kill your dog if you messed with them.  And, in general,  the delineation between good and bad is as clear cut as a 700 foot wall.

In addition, this old, well-read, mom found that INHUMAN just broke the Disbelief O'Meter.  My  Suspension of Disbelief went from first to second to third gear, and still more suspension was needed in order to accept some of the plotting.


What I LIKED:
--Loved Lane.  I thought she was spunky, courageous, and smart.
--The premise was very interesting and I thought found the viral mutation to be reasonable enough.
--Loved the Lane would not back down in the face of pressure.  She would do the right thing.


What I DIDN'T LIKED:
--INHUMAN required too much Suspension-of-Disbelief for me. And though entertaining there were elements of the plot that were too implausible.


RECOMMEND to who/whom:

**4.5 STARS** for Middle-Graders
**4.0 STARS** for Young Adults
**2.5 Stars** for jaded old me

Pam ~


INHUMAN
Scholastic Press
(Fetch #1)
by Kat Falls

Reading Information:
Word Count: 98,783
Page Count:  384
Accelerated Reader:  5.0 / points: 15.0
AR quiz: 162747
Lexile: HL700L

KAT FALLS author index

You might also be interested in:   #1

Pokémon - ASH BATTLES HIS RIVALS!

ASH BATTLES HIS RIVALS! is a fun book that certainly will appeal to young Pokémon fans.  The focus is on the people Ash met in the Sinnoh region and, of course, the battles that took place there.  Here's the table of contents to give you an idea of who and what is covered.

Contents:

Meet Ash and Pikachu
Welcome to Sinnoh!
Meet Dawn
Meet Brock
Meet Some of the Villains
Nando
Nando's Pokémon
Nando Meets Ash!
Conway
Conway's Pokémon
Conway Meets Ash!
Barry
Barry's Pokémon
Ash Battles Barry!
Paul
Paul's Pokémon
Ash Faces Paul!
Conclusion

And below is a sample page.  As you can see there is a lot of text per page, and yet the font is large.  What you should know is that regardless of the    tag,  this book is at the 5th Grade reading level.  (see reading information below)

Here's a sample of an alternative type of page.  One that features each contestant's Pokémon.

What I liked about this book is that it appeals to boys -- especially boys (and girls) that have a difficult time slowing down to 'find time' to read.  And because it's Pokémon it's suitable for younger children that read above grade level.

My own wishes would be that it was written at an easier level.  3rd Grade would be perfect.  I also wish more of the landscape was taken up with artwork, as that can be vital in keeping the attention of young readers.

Do recommend this one!  It would be good for school or home shelves. 

Pam T

blogger and mom to a Pokémon fanatic



ASH BATTLES HIS RIVALS!
by Simcha Whitehill

Reading Information:
Word Count:  4248
Page Count:  48
Accelerated Reading level: 5.7 / points: 1.0
AR quiz: 147118

• Publisher: BRADY GAMES (August 29, 2011)
• ISBN-10: 0756653940

Minette's Feast: The Delicious Story Of Julia Child And Her Cat

**Starred Review** ALA BookList
**Starred Review** Kirkus
**Starred Review** SchoolLibraryJournal

I brought Minette's Feast home from the library because I wanted to introduce my children to Julia. You see, I have been a Julia Child groupie for some time. In fact, I can remember sitting as a young child mystified by the complexities of her demonstrations on her PBS show, and though I wasn't particularly interested in haute cuisine at the time, I was still inexplicably drawn to her voice and stories.

Suzanne Reich gives adults like me a kid-friendly way to introduce Ms. Child to children. Using a cat as a central focus, she weaves a story about Julia's "food revelation" in Paris. How she went from housewife to Cordon Bleu trained chef. How she tried to please Minette, but how Minette remained unmoved by the improvement in Julia's cooking. She was afterall, a cat.

Sometimes, the "nice old fish lady" at the
marketplace gave Julia luscious fish heads for Minette.
Julia would cook them up in a pot.
Perhaps she'd add a dollop of scrumptious "chicken
liver custard."

Minette might even take a nibble.

But it seemed that mouse and bird were really much preferred.

The illustrations in Minette's Feast are lovely. Amy Bates' colors are warm and luscious, and I love, love, love the expressions she gives Julia. They truly show her delight in finding her true calling.


Susanna Reich's writing is fun as well. She captures 'catness' to a T. And I like that she makes it clear that Julia had to struggle to master her craft.

Other things you can point out to children is how in other places and times people live differently than in our country. You can point out and discuss, for example, how for most of the last century that women simply did not normally work outside the home. And you can also explain that even today all mommies (and/or dads) do not necessarily go to a single large shopping center to buy their groceries. They might instead go, like Julia did, to a bakery, and then a butcher, and then a cheese shop.

I think the cat-and-mouse games will keep everyone interested. There are a few French phrases thrown in. But just enough to make the text interesting.

Would make a lovely and different gift.

Pam T
Somewhere in the X-burbs

Minette's Feast
The Delicious Story Of Julia Child And Her Cat
by Suzanne Reich and Amy Bates, illustrator

Reading Information:

Word Count: 1,624

Page Count: 40
Accelerated Reading level: 5.1 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 152229

• Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers (2012)
• ISBN-10: 1419701770
• sample pages available

Older readers might also be interested in this longer book about Julia Child and her cats (apparently the year for such things) --Julia's Cats: Julia Child's Life in the Company of Cats -- by Patricia Barey and Therese Burson.

• Hardcover: 145 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams

Review: THE UNWANTEDS by Lisa McMann

3.86 Stars from 4,220 GoodReaders

The Unwanteds is one of those books that comes very close to being most excellent. It has features of interest like the stern Quill society and magical creatures and characters-with-flaws, but unfortunately these aren't enough to propel the story above the shoreline of mediocrity.

WASN'T CRaZy ABOUTS

--Even for an MG book, there's not enough background to set the story space. There's no explanation, for example, for how Quill evolved to be the way it is. In fact, there's no concrete description of the world at-large. Is Quill all the only country there is in 'real space'? Are there other countries? Either way, why is Quill so geographically small?

--There's a sort of problem with the magic. In every successful magic-touched book I've read, conjuring comes at a cost. Characters sweat, faint, and/or suffer to perform their art. There's none of that in this book. The magic is everywhere, easy to accomplish, and fairly easy to acquire. Which results in a magic that's actually a bit boring to read about.

--The biggest drawback though is the pacing. The story just moves along too slowly and without enough action for me. Yes, it's cool to talk to chalkboards, but not time and again when the only purpose is to make sure we all know that they can be cranky entities -- not unlike the pictures on the wall in Harry Potter.

LIKES
--I liked the unpleasant nature of Quillian society.
--I liked the tension that came from the idea that the children were going to be eliminated.
--I liked the main mage.
--Lisa McMann is a wonderful wordsmith and the actual language of this book is delightful. So much so that I plan to track down and read some of her WAKE trilogy.
--Tweens and Middle-graders will find food for thought in how people differ in their strengths and interests.


WHO SHOULD READ THIS

I would not recommend this book for adults unless they are going to read it aloud to younger children. (There's no language or adult situation problems therein.) Tweens and Middle-graders might want to check it out at the library. Taste vary wildly, so you never know.

The Unwanteds though is a book that could have used an editor with a whip to tighten up the plot.

Pam~
Somewhere in the X-burbs


The Unwanteds
by Lisa McMann

Reading Information:
Word Count: 68,014
Word Count: 400
Accelerated Reading level: 5.7 / points: 11.0
AR quiz: 146290
Lexile: 880L
--sample pages available

compiled by Pam
updated October 2013


See reading information for THE UNWANTEDS series here...

The LAST DAYS by Scott Westerfeld

**STARRED REVIEW** School Library Journal

If I hadn't just finished A Monster Calls I might not have enjoyed The Last Days so much. But Ness' book left me a weeping mess and given that my eye sockets were aching like crazy, I was really open to something that wasn't going to be so demanding.

LAST DAYS was a great choice. First, because it isn't your typical YA dystopia. There's no zombie infestations, no horrific nuclear blasts, global warming, or diseases. In fact it's not even a particularly serious book. I was more likely to *snork* in pleasure than shudder in fear. No, THE LAST DAYS is a character driven story where you are meant to care about people, and enjoy the whimsical and quirky ride they've been set on.

There are five main characters in the story and they alternate telling the tale in their own chapters. There are two teen guys who have been hanging around and playing guitars together for ages. They're the sort of talented guys who are never going to ever 'make it' to the Big Time on their own because they don't really have the skill sets required. One walks dogs for money, and the other can't even do that.

But they luck out when they cross paths with Pearl. Pearl's had every advantage. Her mom is wealthy and she's attending Julliard when she meets the boys. And she's the one that pushes them, her 'diseased' girlfriend, and a drummer they find on the streets playing on paint buckets for change, to greatness.

Only problem is, New York City and the rest of the world is crumbling around them. There's evil living in the subways –like we didn't already know this-- and dark forces are leading cats and rats into horrible alliances.

I won't say more, except LAST DAYS is quirky and sarcastic and it's not going to make you happy if you are looking for the next Hunger Games. THE LAST DAYS has a vastly different tone than books like Divergent, Enclave, or even the Blood Red Road or Hollowland. This is a book more like Girl in the Arena, or even like Marcelo in the Real World.

If your looking for a break from the usual dystopia give THE LAST DAYS a try. It was a delightful little book.

Pam T
Mom/Dystopia Lover


The LAST DAYS
by Scott Westerfeld

Reading Information:
Word Count: 64,356
Page Count: 272
Accelerated Reading level: 5.1 / points: 10.0
AR quiz: 107289
Lexile: 820L

• Publisher: Razorbill
• ISBN-10: 1595141286
• sample pages available

Review: THE WITCHES' KITCHEN

3.62 Stars from 84 GoodReaders

THE WITCHES' KITCHEN would be an good choice for a middle-grader who is looking to pick up a spooky read for October. 

The story is set in a dark and shifting landscape, where the principle characters aren't your usual set of pretty faces.

The tale begins with a bewitched toad who wakes to find herself dangling over a boiling, goat-legged cauldron. She manages to escape the seething pot, but soon discovers that while she doesn't feel comfortable in her present green skin, that she can't remember what she was before.

Quickly falling to the company of some of the Kitchen's minions, Toad sets out to solve this riddle, only to find that the two witch sisters, who had captured her in the first place, have not given up the hunt.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Review: MALICE (the series) (MG/YA)
Review:  THE MONSTRUMOLOGIST (YA)  
Reading List: RL STINE'S HORRORLAND series (MG)
------------------------------------------------------------------

THE WITCHES' KITCHEN is likely to please most middle-grade readers who like a spooky story. I would say that it's a step up from the popular Goosebumps series: more sophisticated writing and darker tone.

The Kitchen itself is a wondrous place that defies the rules of physics, and this provides the perfect setting for the evil that's afoot.

With a quick moving plot, young readers aren't going to be bothered by the slight flaws in writing that might give an adult pause.

The artwork, which is only in draft form in this Review Copy, promises to be fantastic and second to none.

Violence: yes. It's relatively mild, though descriptive. Imp biting off the tip of a nose... that sort of thing.
Read-aloud: I am actually reading this book to my children who are 8 and 10. It's a surprisingly good read-aloud.
Language:  yes. There are a few (perhaps 4) instances of the use of 'damn' and one 'pissed'.

Pam~

THE WITCHES' KITCHEN
by Allen Williams

Reading Information:
Word Count: 55,191
Page Count: 288
Accelerated Reader:  5.7 / points: 9.0
AR quiz: 140146
Lexile: 820L
--sample pages and other reviews available

Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien

Sometime in late 2009 I caught a YA Lit bug and since then I really haven't read much else.

Thinking back I can't quite remember what set off this little jag -- possibly the Percy Jackson series -- but I have been blessed ever since to have read some really great fiction... including:

Maze Runner
Summer of the Death Warriors
Notes From the Dog
Knife of Never Letting Go
The Gardener
Fire Will Fall ...

To this list I'm adding Caragh M. O'Brien's new book, Birthmarked. It's a marvelous, thought provoking read that kept me up late into the night.

The story is set in the future where global warming has changed the landscape of the world. Gaia, our heroine, lives with her parents in a low tech environment in a town like one might have run across in the early 1900s. Her father is a weaver, and Gaia is following in her mother's steps and becoming a mid-wife. They are poor but not starving. And their society lies just to the other side of a wall that separates them as have-nots, from the 'haves' of The Enclave.

The Enclave is a place which people with more opportunity and foresight devised a society with a zero-carbon-footprint. They have technology but it is limited.

You might think this book might devolve into a struggle between the two groups over food, clothing and access to technology. But in fact, the plot revolves around genetics. [Gaia in the role of midwife is required to assist the first three babies born every month to families inside The Enclave.] I won't say more for fear of giving away any of the surprises that I enjoyed, except to say that Gaia is thrust into the center a whirlwind of political dangers that leave her questioning everything about her world.

Talking Points:::
Birthmarked is a 'Medium' read, on the Light-Medium-Hard scale. It certainly has some thought provoking ideas, but it's quickly paced.

Gaia is strong but not superhuman heroine. I applaud Ms. O'Brien for not making her 16 year-old character, a 36 year old woman in disguise. Gaia doesn't know it all, and she makes the mistakes an older woman might not.

If you liked "The Hunger Games" or "The Pretties" you should check this one out.

Pam
Somewhere in the X-burbs

Birthmarked

• Accelerated Reading level : generic "5"
• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Roaring Brook Press (March 30, 2010)
• ISBN-10: 1596435690

Trivia
A difficult book to name. Birthmark was previously called The Baby Code, and before that The Orion Code.

My ARC came with two covers :)

Going Bovine by Libba Bray

Today we are delighted to offer you a guest review by Riley Carney. Riley is the author of fantasy series for young people: the first book of which is "The Fire Stone". Do check out her webpages. You will be blown away by this young lady.

Going Bovine by Libba Bray was one of the strangest books I have ever read. It was also one of the funniest books I’ve read. The premise in itself is amusing, though depressing – sixteen-year-old Cameron is an ordinary teenager dealing with the thrills and kills of high school until, that is, he is diagnosed with Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, more commonly known as mad cow disease. Cameron begins to see visions that hover between hallucinations and reality. He is told by one of these hallucinations, a punk rock angel, that he must stop the band of dark energy that has been released into the world, and which will destroy the universe unless he intervenes. Cameron must travel across the country to find the mysterious Dr. X who can stop the dark energy, and conveniently, cure Cameron’s mad cow disease, as well. He embarks on a fateful journey to Disney World, accompanied by a neurotic dwarf named Gonzo and a talking garden gnome named Balder who claims to have once been a mighty Norse god. Uh…what?

I enjoyed reading Going Bovine because of its sardonic, often laugh-out-loud, humor. Cameron is an entertaining narrator, but it took me a while to actually like him as a character. He does change and grow throughout the story, making him much more agreeable by the end of the story. I felt that Bray placed a number of necessary elements into this book purely to make the story “edgy”, rather than as way to add depth to the plot. The ending was unsatisfying, but like the rest of the book, it certainly revealed some interesting perspectives. Overall, the story was just too strange to make it a must-read book.

Riley Carney
http://www.rileycarney.com/

Going Bovine

Accelerated Reading level : generic "5"

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (September 22, 2009)
• ISBN-10: 0385733976

The Fire Stone
by Riley Carney

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: BookLight Press
• ISBN-10: 0984130705

Matt knows how to shovel hay, dig trenches, and dodge his father’s whip, but when three terrifying creatures attack Matt, and he is rescued by a wizard, he kidnaps a baby alorath, and is befriended by elves, Matt’s life transforms overnight from dreary to astonishing. When he unwittingly joins a quest to find the Fire Stone, one of the elusive Stones of the Elements which have the power to destroy the world, Matt is thrust into a string of perilous adventures. He soon discovers that magic does exist and that he has extraordinary powers that can change his destiny and determine the fate of Mundaria.

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi

We are happy this month to introduce our latest contributing reviewer: twelve year-old Miss "Rocky" Brown.

This is an entertaining book about an audacious and brave thirteen-year-old, Charlotte Doyle. This story begins in Liverpool, England, in 1832. Miss Doyle is traveling to her hometown, Providence, Rhode Island, on a boat called the SeaHawk. It is on board that she meets Zachariah, the ship’s cook, and Captain Andrew Jaggery. She and Zachariah soon become friends, but that's not the case with Captain Jaggery. Like her father, Jaggery demands that she behavior 'proper', and that is something Charlotte refuses to do.

Because of Jaggery's sternness it isn't long before the crew begins to grumble. Thinking that there might be trouble Zachariah gives her a dirk. He means it for her protection and never thinks that it might be used against her. But that's what happens. Mr. HollyBrass, the first mate, is found dead with Charlotte’s dagger in his back. Everyone blames Charlotte for the murder. And she is brought to trial with Jaggery as Judge!

To find out whether Charlotte is hanged or whether she ever makes her way home you will have to get "The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle".

~

This was a fabulous book! I loved it. The best part of this captivating story was after all of Charlotte’s escapades she had to climb to the highest point of the ship, called the Royal Yard. She did this so the crew would know she was loyal to them.

The only thing I would change would be to make Mr. Hollybrass’ death more dramatic. This book was so exciting that sometimes felt that I was on a rollercoaster, not knowing where I was going; but Mr. Hollybrass's death was not one of those times. The ending was not predictable. I thought I knew all along what the ending would be… boy was I wrong!

Captain Jaggery was my favorite character because you never knew what he was going to do to get his way. He was a mad man. He practically beat a man’s arm right off his shoulder. He also beat Zachariah with a whip for no reason. And I like Charlotte because she was not afraid, even if it did mean life or death. She is her own individual and she didn't let other people influence who she is.

The writer, Avi, actually made you get to know the characters like they were your friend. I was not bogged down with any vague and annoying details. I found the writer’s creativity, and mysterious setting, unique and riveting. So much that I found myself always on the tip of my chair, clenching my seat.

Considerations :::
This book was on the Sunshine State Reader list in 1993-1994, and won a Newberry Honor Award. I enjoyed this book so much I want to read another one of Avi’s books called “The Man Who Was Poe”.

The target group I would recommend this book to would be ages ten to adults. Even adults won’t be able to put this book down. I can’t wait to tell my friends. Bottom Line, anyone that enjoys reading adventurous, exciting, and suspenseful books, this is the book for you.

Considerations :::
Note from the editors ::: The Accelerated Reading designation is 5.3 -- which means that book is suitable for children reading on the Fifth Grade level.