Look, Ma! More reviews!

Slowly, I am getting caught up on reviews. I'm splitting up the ones I have left in order to have less overwhelming posts. Oh...and so I hopefully don't miss any books in the process.

Here are two books that are great for tweens and teens.

When the Whistle Blows by Fran Cannon Slayton

Life in the small town of Rowlesburg, West Virginia is centered on trains. Most of the families in the town work for the railroad, and Jimmy Cannon’s family is no exception.

The story is told from Jimmy’s viewpoint, and each chapter focuses on All Hallow’s Eve from 1945 to 1949. Jimmy grows from a young teen to an adult, watching his father – a B&O foreman – age as each birthday (October 31) passes.

When I heard that this book was set in West Virginia – my home state – I immediately wanted to read it. At first, I wasn’t too impressed with the story; however, as each chapter progressed, I found myself drawn into Jimmy’s world. The description of West Virginia small town life paralleled the descriptions I have often read or heard about in other sources.

Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary by Brandon Mull

It’s just been a few months since Kendra and Seth returned home from a summer at Fablehaven, and the siblings are gearing up for Christmas break. Unfortunately, they won’t be spending a quiet holiday at home with their parents.

Kendra is kidnapped by the Society and presumed dead. Seth and his grandparents find the truth – and the family must race to find the key to unlocking another artifact before the Society gets their hands a hold of it!

Yet another action packed story filled with unexpected twists. Mull has done an excellent job of keeping each book of the series as entertaining as the first. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book!

Picture this...

Here are a couple of cute picture books I've recently read.

I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll

Ethan is very disappointed to read that his usual monster, Gabe, has gone fishing. Can any of the substitute monsters fit Ethan’s needs, or will he be doomed to not sleep for a week?

With colorful, lively illustrations, this picture book is sure to tickle the funny bone of any monster-loving child. A great story for ages 5 and up.

My Goldfish by Barroux

My goldfish can do all sorts of things. He’s strong, and old and talented.

This is a wonderful picture book for those who owns a pet fish. What can your goldfish do? Preschool and older.

first of many reviews...

I've been on a a reading spree lately, and have finished seven books and one audiobook. Here are the first few reviews.

A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon

Hallelujah! I have finished this audiobook!

That isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy listening to this edition of Gabaldon’s epic Outlander series. I wholeheartedly did! However, I have been listening to this series for about a year, with a few – much shorter – audiobooks mixed between the Outlander books.

A Breath of Snow and Ashes is 48 discs and 58 hours of audio pleasure. As with the previous novels, Davina Porter does an excellent job of bringing life to the text.

The book begins where the previous ends. America is in the early stages of the Revolutionary War. Jamie continues to play the dangerous game of playing both sides. Additionally, there is the matter of the newspaper clipping that Brianna brought from the future. The clipping that announces the fiery death of Jamie and Claire.

As with the previous novels, Gabaldon colorfully portrays life during the 1700s, bringing the reader up close with history without being boring.

The latest book was published last month. I’m anxiously awaiting it to be available on audiobook at my library! (adult)


The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

When young orphan Peter pays a fortuneteller to tell him about his baby sister, he does not expect the answer to be an Elephant, especially as there are no elephants in their part of the world. Later, a magician makes a very last minute decision to produce a magnificent bit of magic...and an elephant crashes through the ceiling of the opera house. Thus begins a chain of events that will fulfill the fortuneteller’s prophecy.

I’ll admit that I almost didn’t finish this book. The story flit from one person to another, and didn’t draw me in at all. It is missing the magic that made The Tale of Despereaux and Because of Winn-Dixie such fantastic novels. (children's)

Kaleideoscope Eyes by Jen Bryant

Lyza was always had a close relationship with her adventurous grandfather. While helping her dad clean out the house after her grandfather’s death, she finds a mysterious package addressed to her. This leads Lyza and her two best friends on an adventure to discover lost pirate treasure.

This novel written in verse is set in New Jersey during the summer and fall of 1968 with the backdrop of the Vietnam War and it’s affect on young American teens. While not the best book I’ve read this year, I enjoyed the story and the mystery. (tween/teen)

Not about books…

Check out the linked section of this blog. I added a few. Two actually have to do with children’s lit! The third is for my latest business venture: Gold Canyon. Yup. I’m a peddlin’ candles (and other items).

Where the Wild Things...are disturbing.

As I’m sure everyone knows, the feature length, live action film of Where the Wild Things Are is now in theaters. I was cautiously excited about this film. The book is one of my all time favorite children’s picture books. I knew that there had to be stuff added to the story in order to make it long enough, but was more than a bit anxious about what the additions would be.

I was right to be anxious.

The husband and I went to a late night showing of the movie over opening weekend. Hubby was excited – not because he particularly wanted to see the movie, but because he knows how much I love the book. He was excited for me. I was excited, but worried. I had seen a status or two on Facebook from people who had seen the movie and were less than impressed.

The beginning was decent. You fall in love with Max, and feel sorrow for his troubled young soul. But, when he dons his wolf suit, the story begins to get too dark. Biting his mother, he runs away when she sends him to his room.

Let the disturbing part really begin!

The Wild Things have a myriad of psychological and behavioral issues. Extremely aggressive and angry. Manipulative. Paranoid. Depressed. They either need a mass quantity of happy pills or to be locked in padded rooms. Max – who craves much needed attention – finds it with the Wild Things, but quickly becomes confused and anxious as they pit him against one another.

The ending really wasn’t much of an ending. Like the book, Max returns home and there is his dinner waiting for him, nice and hot. While this is a great ending for a children’s picture book, it is a weak one for a movie that proves to be not for a young audience.

My final words on the movie:

Honestly, I was so upset with this rendition of a classic children’s book that I almost cried when I left the theater.

Don’t take your young kids to see it. I wouldn’t feel comfortable taking my 9 and 10 year old cousins, let alone a child at the appropriate age range for the picture book. If you want to see an age appropriate movie based on a children’s book, go see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (and read the book with your kids as well!).

And, if you want to see the movie, borrow it from the library when it comes out on DVD. Don’t waste the money at the theater.

Should I stay or should I go?

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

A talented cellist, seventeen-year-old Mia has a charmed life. The biggest decision looming over her is whether to go to New York – and Julliard – or to stay in Oregon with her family, friends and boyfriend.

Then the unthinkable happens. After school is cancelled due to a dusting of snow, Mia, her parents and her eight year old brother decide to spend the day visiting some friends and family.

They don’t make it there.

Mia wakes up from the accident seeing her parents’ dead bodies on the road. She goes to pull her brother from the ditch where he is laying…and realizes that it isn’t Teddy. It’s her.

As her body is in a coma, Mia’s spirit travels the hospital where she has been life flighted and observes the actions of her friends and family, all the while contemplating the most important decision ever – stay or go.

Wow. My exact audible exclamation upon finishing this teen novel was actually, “Holy shit!”

This is one of the best written books I have read this year. It’s a story of love – love of friends; love of family; love of music; first true romantic love. It’s a story of life, as Mia thinks about her life and the lives of those around her.

I cried no less than 3 times while reading the 196 pages.

Wow. Simply wow.

I finished one book last night and another this morning, so, instead of just two more reviews I am posting four! Yay!



Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague by Brandon Mull

Kendra and Seth are still at their grandparents’ home. The Sphinx’s loyalties are in doubt. And, yet again, danger is lurking right around the corner. While Kendra goes on a mission with the Knights of the Dawn, Seth discovers a mysterious plague that is rapidly spreading throughout the creatures of Fablehaven.

Can the siblings help their grandparents save Fablehaven from complete destruction?

As with the previous installments of this series, Grip of the Shadow Plague is action packed and full of adventure. Even at 477 pages, it is a fairly quick read. I can’t wait for the next book to arrive at my library!

All the Broken Pieces by Ann E. Burg

Matt’s Vietnam is not the one he learns about every month at the adoption agency. His Vietnam is full of smoke and bombs and fear. Matt struggles to find his place in his American home…in his American life, and to understand why his birth mother sent him there.

Set after the Vietnam War, this poignant tale is written in first person verse. A quick read and an excellent story.

Are these my basoomas I see before me? by Louise Rennison

Georgia is back for the tenth and final edition of her confessions. The fifteen-year-old is still stuck on the rack of love with lots of confusing decisions to make. Massimo, the Luuurve God, is her one and only….right? But what about saving her ex, Robbie, from the octopussy arms of the foreheadless Wet Lindsay? And then there is Dave the Laugh, who she has accidentally snogged a time or few…


I’ll admit that when I first started this book, I wasn’t too keen on the writing. Perhaps because it felt that it was the same story as the previous nine books. By halfway through, though, I was literally laughing out loud at Georgia’s misadventures in love and her general day to day antics.



Sacred Scars: A Resurrection of Magic, Book Two by Kathleen Duey

Continuing where the previous book left off, Sadima still hopes of escaping with the imprisoned boys (and Franklin), and Hapt is still struggling to survive. As with the first book, the chapters alternate between Sadima and Hapt.


As Hapt continues to learn magic, he struggles with the changes in himself and what he feels needs to be done. Even more, he struggles with the uncertainty of who can be trusted.


At first, when Sadima and the boys manage to escape, she is always on edge – fearing that Somiss will manage to find them. After several years pass, the fear becomes less, and they all begin to truly enjoy life.


Then Somiss comes and Sadima’s life is forever changed.


This installment is much longer than Skin Hunger (book 1). There are a few sections that seem to go too quickly, with years of Sadima’s life passing in just a few paragraphs, but overall the stories told are captivating. I need to see when the next book will be published!

urm...yeah. I've been reading. Just haven't been posting. Here are two of my recent reads:

Calling on Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
When the Wizards develop yet another attack on the Enchanted Forest and manage to steal King Mendanbar’s sword, it is up to Cimorene and friends to find the sword in time. Can they manage to keep the Wizards from destroying the magic of the Forest?

The third installment of Wrede’s Enchanted Forest Chronicles introduces us to a few new characters, like a giant flying blue donkey – who is actually a rabbit, and a fire witch. While a fun read, the story isn’t quite as enticing as the previous two volumes of the series.


The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick

When twelve-year-old Homer’s older brother is tricked into becoming a soldier in the Union army, Homer decides he must do what he can to save his brother from certain death. His adventures take him from rural Maine to a stop on the Underground Railroad, on his first train and ship rides, and all the way to the battle at Gettysburg.

This excellent children’s novel is packed full of adventure. Homer’s words ring true – even when he is telling a lie. The colorful characters add to this wonderful story of brotherly bonds. I highly recommend this book!

The past few weeks have been full of changes and stress at work, including a move for me (from one branch location to another), job losses and reduced hours of operation. So…as one can imagine, updating the blog was put on the back burner.

So, without further ado, here are my recent reads:

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

It’s the summer of 1899, and Calpurnia – or Callie Vee to her family and friends – is nearly twelve. The Texas summer is hot and dry, and there isn’t much for the only girl of seven children to do. At least, there isn’t much to do that interests Callie. But Callie finds a great companion in her grandfather and their relationship blossoms over the next several months, as they explore the natural world around them.

The relationships between Callie and her family are clearly drawn, as is her interest in science and her struggle with learning the things she “should”. This remarkable tale wonderfully describes turn of the century life – the excitement over automobiles and telephone lines, the education of children, and the home life of a town’s wealthiest family.

This is an excellent debut novel. I must ask my Newbery friend for her take on it!

Searching for dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

In the second book of the series, Kazul – the King of the Dragons – has gone missing and Cimorene is on an adventure to find her. Along for the often bumpy ride is Mendanbar…who just happens to be the King of the Enchanted Forest.

During their adventure, the duo will meet a magician, help a giant (and a few other creatures straight from fairy tales), and, hopefully defeat the wizards once again.

I thought this book was a bit predictable, but overall a fun story. I enjoyed it well enough that I am already halfway through the third book in the series.

Skin hunger : A Resurrection of Magic Book #1 by Kathleen Duey

Sadima lives in a time where magic is a thing of the distant past, and “magicians” are often considered thieves and charlatans. As she grows up, she realizes that she has a special talent. She can understand animals.

Hahp, the second son of a rich merchant, lives in a time where magic thrives, but is only available to those of wealth. His father is a cruel man who shares his violent temper rather than love. After Hahp has been expelled from more boarding schools than easily counted, his parents send him to become a wizard.

The two lives are centuries apart, but are intertwined, as the story of magic is told.

At first, I wasn’t fond of this book. Yet, I kept being drawn into the story, wanting to know what happens next. When the ending proved to be a cliffhanger, I knew I needed to read the next novel in the series. I’m about a third of the way through it now.

I'm almost caught up with my reviews. Yay!! Here are four more of my recent reads. I have one more book that I completed this past week...but that review will have to wait until later.

Pride and prejudice and zombies: the classic Regency romance -- now with ultraviolent zombie mayhem! by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith.

Jane Austen’s classic story of Elizabeth Bennet and her relationship with the overly proud Mr. Darcy is retold – using much of the same text and style of the original – with a twist: zombies. England has a horrible plague of the undead, who roam the country in search of brains to consume. Elizabeth and her four sisters have been trained as warriors, their deadly skills outweighing their notable beauty.

I will admit; I’ve never read Pride and Prejudice. This makes a comparison of the two books a bit difficult. However, I did enjoy this one thoroughly. The following is, in my ever so humble opinion, one of the best paragraphs I’ve ever read. I enjoyed it so much that I showed (or read) it to many other people:

In her kind schemes for Elizabeth, she sometimes planned her marrying Colonel Fitzwilliam. He was beyond comparison the most pleasant man; he certainly admired her, and his situation in life was most eligible; but, to counterbalance these advantages, Mr. Darcy had a considerably larger head, and thus, more brains to feast upon. (Page 142)

Full of tongue in cheek humor and wonderfully written fighting scenes, this book makes my list of recommendations.


The Oxford Project by Stephen G. Bloom and Peter Feldstein

This non-fiction book is unique. In 1984, photographer Peter Feldstein set up his equipment and put the word out. He wanted to photograph every willing citizen of the small town of Oxford, Iowa. Nearly every one of the 670 or so residents participated.

Fast forward twenty years. Feldstein again set up his equipment and invited the original participants back, this time to also be interviewed by author Stephen G. Bloom. Some had moved or passed away in that time period. Many were still there.

This project has been turned in to a snapshot (pun not intended) of life in small town America. It is a view of how much life changes – and how much life stays the same – over twenty years.

The size of this book makes it a little unwieldy for continuous reading, but the topic and the layout make it perfect for browsing.

Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

Cimorene is not a typical princess. She doesn’t look like a typical princess. She definitely doesn’t act like a typical princess. She would much rather learn sword fighting, or cooking, or Latin or magic than learn how to embroider, or courtly manners or dancing. But, this is not how a princess acts.

Upon finding out that her parents are going to betroth her to a neighboring prince, Cimorene decides to flee…and offer herself up to be a dragon’s princess. Of course, that is something else that is just never done. The dragon Kazul takes up Cimorene’s offer, and is delighted to find that Cimorene is the perfect addition to a dragon’s home. She cleans, organizes, and generally runs Kazul’s cave with much efficiency, all while deftly dealing with all those pesky princes and knights who keep showing up to “rescue” the princess. Not to mention dealing with a little wizard problem as well!

Somehow I missed this book when it was published years ago. So, I’m now discovering the series as an adult. It is one of those tales that I think my younger self would have loved. Cimorene is a wonderful character. She’s smart, strong and knows how to deal with what is thrown her way. What a great heroine for young girls to idolize!

I enjoyed the tale so much that I’m already halfway through the second book of the series (The Enchanted Forest Chronicles), Searching for Dragons.

Rise of the Evening Star : Fablehaven #2 by Brandon Mull

It’s nearly the end of the school year, and something fishy is happening in Kendra and Seth’s school. A fairyland creature has infiltrated Kendra’s class. After taking up a mysterious man’s offer to help rid them of the creature, they find out just how sneaky the Society of the Evening Star can be. Once school is finished, the siblings find themselves racing back to Fablehaven to help their grandparents yet again. Can the family keep the Society from taking control of the artifact? Who among the group of experts staying at Fablehaven is working for the other side? Will they all survive the summer unscathed?

This sequel to Fablehaven is exquisitely written. The suspense remains intact throughout the whole of the book, something that isn’t easily accomplished. Kendra and Seth’s characters continue to grow and learn, making them even more real. I can’t wait to start the third book!