Historical Fiction – Page 5

Daniel at the Siege of Boston 1776

Twelve-year-old Daniel helps his family in the family tavern. When English tea is dumped into the Boston Harbor to protest taxes, Daniel cheers. Then the British arrive, and soon Redcoats are taking over Boston. Soon everyone must take a side—support the British or join the rebels. Daniel’s family serves the British soldiers in their tavern to try to gain information and pass it on to the rebels.

When Daniel’s father leaves to join the fighting rebels, Daniel must help his mother in the tavern and help keep his sister safe. When Daniel overhears a crucial secret, he knows he has to cross British lines to deliver it to his soldier father and General Washington. He knows that liberty is worth fighting for, but is he brave enough to risk his life?

Daniel at the Siege of Boston 1776 brings the American Revolution to life through the eyes of a twelve-year-old boy. Despite the young narrator, the story is at heart a war story that doesn’t shy away from death. Even though the dead and wounded soldiers are not described in bloody detail, Daniel is deeply disturbed by the battle between the Redcoats and the rebels. Daniel witnesses wounded soldiers dying, which may upset some readers. Although Daniel agrees with Dr. Warren, who said, “Our liberty must be preserved; it is far dearer than life,” watching people die leaves a lasting impact on Daniel.

Even though Daniel at the Siege of Boston 1776 shows the importance of the American Revolution, the book is best suited for history buffs. Even though the story focuses on Daniel’s family, the long list of names may become overwhelming to readers. In addition, many historical figures, like John Hancock and Samuel Adams, are mentioned, but they never appear in the book. Readers who already know some of the key figures in the Revolutionary War will enjoy learning about the Boston Revolution through the eyes of a young boy.

Several times, Daniel acts out of fear, then later feels ashamed of his actions. However, Daniel’s father lets him know that the soldiers all feel fear. Daniel’s father tells him, “only the foolhardy are unafraid, Daniel. That’s not what bravery is. True courage is moving forward when you’re most afraid.” The story shows how the courage and perseverance of colonial men paved the way for America’s freedom. Daniel and the reader both learn that “Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages. They’re far more powerful than even the mightiest of armies.”

Daniel at the Siege of Boston 1776 shows the brave deeds that led men to fight for liberty and allows readers to understand America’s history. The book ends with historical information about children’s roles in the American Revolution, the historical characters, a timeline, and a glossary. Readers who enjoy learning about America’s involvement in wars should add Calkhoven’s G.I. Dogs series to their reading list.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

Daniel mentions British soldiers trying to desert the military. “General Gave, the military governor of Massachusetts, had threatened to execute all deserters from the British army and any who helped them. More than one soldier was shot on the Common, caught in the act of trying to leave Boston.”
Soldiers bring a man into the tavern. The soldiers accuse the man of trying to help soldiers desert the “king’s army.” When the men come in, Daniel’s “father’s hands were underneath the bar, no doubt reaching for the musket that was hidden there.” When Daniel makes a quick move towards his sister, “my sudden movement put one of the soldiers on alert. He swung around and pointed his musket at me. His bayonet was fixed, candle light flickering against the shiny blade.”
The soldiers are ordered to tar and feather the man accused of helping soldiers desert. “The soldiers rushed to their task like boys to a game of ringer, only it was a life they played with, not marbles. Some men did not survive such torture.”
A man comes into Boston telling people, “‘They’ve done it,’ he said. ‘The Redcoats have fired on the people. . . I’ve seen the dead with my own eyes.’”
During a battle, the Patriots seize the hill. Then, HMS Lively began “firing cannonballs in our direction. . . Soon the HMS Somerset and other ships in the squadron joined the warship Lively. . . Cannonball after cannonball pounded into the side of Breed’s Hill and our fort. I’d never seen such a storm of round shot as was poured out us, but our fort stood undamaged.”
During the battle, “one soldier became too bold. A private stood tall and raised his arms in the air. The next I saw, his head was gone. I jumped to avoid the smoking six-pound ball that rolled past my feet.” The scene takes place over three pages.
The British try to take Breed Hill. “The Redcoats seemed to be upon the very walls of the fort. The solider next to me muttered a prayer. . . Suddenly the Patriots let loose with a burst of fire. Smoke boiled in all directions. The first wave of Redcoats fell. And then the next, and the next. . . When the smoke cleared, I saw just how many bodies they had left behind. Redcoats dotted the hill. Some crawled. Most were still.”
Again the Redcoats advanced. “The Redcoats seemed impossibly close to the walls of the fort before there was a burst of fire and smoke and noise. The first wave of Redcoats fell, and then the second. . . A third wave began to fall and once again the king’s men turned and ran. A good many of them were left behind, broken and dead.”
When the Redcoats again advance, the Patriots are out of gunpowder. “The first Redcoat mounted the parapet and leaped into the fort. Soon they stormed in from three sides. The Patriots used their muskets as clubs, but they were no match for British bayonets.” Daniel recognizes Dr. Warren as “he defended an exit, making it possible for many of the Patriots to escape. . . I saw a bullet strike his head. Dr. Warren fell.”
The Patriots begin to retreat and Daniel finds his father. “It was only then that I noticed my shirt was splattered with blood.” The blood wasn’t Daniel’s, but he watched as “two wounded men hobbled past us, one with a gaping wound in his neck, the other with a gash in his leg.”
As Daniel leaves the battle, he “found a man kneeling by the side of the road, moaning. . . Someone had bandaged his wounds, but he was still bleeding fiercely. He opened his eyes, but did not see me. . . He slumped over and fell into me. Dead.” Daniel vomits and runs from the scene.
As Daniel tries to get to his father, three men stop him. “I raised my hands to show them I was unarmed and prayed they would not shoot. . . They lowered their guns and after many questions gave me leave to go.”
While trying to leave Boston, Daniel runs from soldiers. “A musket fired, and then another, but I kept running. Something hit my shoulder. A bullet whistled past my ear.” Daniel runs and then hides behind a bush. “My shoulder burned. My fingers found a hole in my jacket but no blood. The bullet had only grazed me.” As he was hiding, “Too late, I saw a flash. The next thing I knew, my hat was blown off.” Daniel is frightened, but not injured.
The Redcoats hang one of the Patriots. Daniel sees “a man sat on top of a horse with his hands tied in front of him and a noose around his neck. The rope was attached to the strong branch of an oak tree. . . A crowd of soldiers and others jeered at the man. They urged the hangman to hurry, shouting for blood. . . The hangman slapped the horse’s rear and it lurched forward, out from under the barber. His legs dangled and the rope tightened around his throat. . . The barber’s legs danced, searching for purchase.”

Drugs and Alcohol

Daniel’s family owns a tavern, which the British soldiers have made their headquarters. Daniel’s family “filled their tankards and their bellies.” While serving the man, “Father quietly surveyed the room while he drew ale and poured rum. . . There was a low rumble of voices, and the occasional call for drinks, but all was peaceful.” The tavern and soldiers are mentioned drinking ale and rum many times throughout the book.
When soldiers point a musket at Daniel, his mother says, “There’s no call for any of this. . . Come, finish this nice meal I’ve made for you. A free glass of rum for all.”
After the battle, one of the Redcoats “walked into the tavern after camping on the hill for two nights, his breeches splattered with blood, and ordered a glass of rum.”
While Daniel was getting water, he sees a couple of Redcoats “laughing so hard they fell into the other. Drunk, I thought, and up all night.”

Language

After a battle, one of the Redcoats says, “Kill the sorry cowards! Kill them!”

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

When the men prepare for battle, the Reverend Mr. Langdon says a “long and fervent prayer.”
When Daniel leaves the tavern, his mother tells him, “god be with you, Daniel.”
When Daniel’s sister becomes ill, “we watched and prayed, hoping for the best.” Later, Daniel “wondered if Father knew of her illness and prayed he did not.” His sister recovers.
In order to listen to the Redcoats, Daniel hides and “prayed their voices would reach my ears.”
When a man is taken prisoner, Daniel’s mother tells him, “We must remember him in our prayers.”

Judy, Prisoner of War

Judy, an English pointer, is dedicated to helping humans on her ship. She has an uncanny ability to tell when danger is near. Her ability to warn the men of trouble makes her the perfect dog to be a part of His Majesty’s Royal Navy. She serves along with her human companions during World War II.

When the enemy sinks Judy’s ship, she and her fellow soldiers become prisoners of war. The conditions are harsh. The men lack food, so Judy hunts rats and lizards to share with the humans. Often the men’s morale is low, so Judy does what she can to lift their spirits. As the Japanese begin to lose the war, the POWs are given less food and more beatings. Can Judy figure out a way to keep her human companions and herself alive?

Told from Judy’s point of view, Prisoner of War gives a unique perspective of World War II. The story is based on a true story and covers the time period between 1936 through 1946. Because the story takes place over a long period, readers may have a difficult time keeping track of all of the events and the different humans that Judy meets. Although Judy’s point of view is interesting, the story often reads like a history book.

Judy eventually finds a human best friend, Frank, and is completely dedicated to him. However, readers will not get a clear picture of Frank’s personality. Although it is clear that Frank goes out of his way to make sure that Judy is able to stay with him, the story doesn’t portray the deep feelings that the two have for each other.

Prisoner of War takes the events of World War II and makes them more kid-friendly; however, the events of World War II may upset younger readers. Even though the war’s brutality isn’t described in detail, people are mistreated and people die. Through Judy’s eyes, readers will see that the war was full of destruction, but there was kindness as well.

Anyone who enjoys history should read Prisoner of War because the story is based on a true story. Historical information and pictures of Judy appear at the end of the book. Even though the story is not fast-paced, Judy’s story is interesting and will ignite readers’ interest in learning more about the events that happened during World War II. If you prefer action-packed stories, Survival Tails: World War II by Katrina Charman would be a good choice; similar to Prisoner of War, Survival Tails: World War II is a World War II story that is told from an animal’s point of view.

Sexual Content

Judy met a dog named Paul. “Paul took one look at me and fell in love. . . But I played hard to get. He spent a lot of time showing off to get my attention whenever I was on deck or on the riverboat. . .” The humans have a wedding ceremony for the two dogs. “Paul and I had a three-day honeymoon on the Gnat . . .” Judy finds out that she’s going to have puppies.
While Judy was a prisoner, she went into the jungle to hunt. “On one of my nighttime treks into the jungle, I met a nice dog and we spent some time together. And boy was Frank surprised when he discovered I was going to have more puppies!”

Violence

Judy tried to stay away from the Japanese soldiers because they would kick her. Judy watched as Japanese soldiers attack Mr. Soo, a storekeeper. “And tonight there was a whole group of them yelling and throwing things around Mr. Soo’s shop. Mr. Soo tried to get them to stop. When he did, they started to hit him. He was already on the floor, bleeding, when I ran through the back door to the shop. . . One gave me a kick and another threw something at my head. Then a third one grabbed me by the neck and carried me outside.” Eventually, the soldiers leave and neighbors help Mr. Soo.
Pirates try to attack a ship called the Gnat. The pirates try to catch the ship with a rope. “The minute that rope hit our prow, the Gnat’s machine guns opened fire. Even so, the shadowy figures rose and tried to board our ship, only to be met with more gunfire.” The Gnat is able to get away.
The Japanese bomb Chinese cities. “One million Japanese soldiers, backed by Japan’s navy and air force, were on the outskirts of the city. Planes dropped bombs on the Chinese, and they were forced to abandon Shanghai.”
The Panay was sent to help civilian Americans leave China. “Suddenly, bombs started falling all around them. Three oil-carrying ships were hit and set fire. And the Panay . . . sank to the bottom of the river. Most of the people on board made it to safety on the lifeboats, but the Panay would never sail again.” During the attack, the Ladybird “had been hit repeatedly. Some of my friends were killed. Many more were injured.”
A Japanese sentry sees Judy, and “he screamed and raised his foot to give me a kick, but I danced out of his way. Then I rose up on my hind legs and growled at him. . . He grabbed his rifle and leveled it at my head.” One of Judy’s human friends helps by throwing the Japanese sentry into the river.
Japanese planes search for battleships. Two battleships are spotted by a Japanese submarine. “Bombs soon rained down on them from the skies while torpedoes hit them from under the sea. In just two hours, England lost any ability to stop the Japanese in the Pacific.”
When some British soldiers need to be rescued, a unit goes into the jungle to look for them. One man was “shot in the leg.” The man is taken to the hospital.
A Japanese seaplane “dropped a bomb over the Grasshopper, but luckily, it missed. The children hid their heads and screamed, and I watched as the seaplane turned to head for the Dragonfly. It dropped a bomb close enough to cause damage.” Later more planes arrive and, “Boom! The bomb hit the part of the ship where most of the women and children were staying. I had been with them just seconds before.” The survivors abandon the ship and swim to shore.
Later someone tells how “the Dragonfly had taken a direct bomb hit, and then two more. Explosions ripped the boat apart while sailors desperately tried to launch a lifeboat and rubber life rafts. . . the water was filled with men, clinging to rafts or bits of wreckage. The planes returned to shoot at them with machine guns. Bullets ripped across the surface of the water while men dove below to try to stay alive.”
A crocodile snaps at Judy. “Ouch! I danced back just in time to escape its giant jaws, but it managed to slash my shoulder with its claws before it escaped into the river.”
Some of the prisoners steal rice. When the Japanese search the barracks, the prisoners are worried that the Japanese will discover the rice. Judy comes to the rescue. She goes to a graveyard and digs up a skull, “and then I race back to the barracks. You should have seen the kickers’ [soldiers’] faces when I ran in with a human skull between my teeth! They screamed and yelled while I made three loops around the room.”
While a prisoner, Judy had to “hunt at night, and I brought Frank everything I caught and killed so we could share.”
The POWs were crammed into a ship. While they were sailing, torpedoes hit. “First one explosion and then another. Smoke and steam filled the cargo hold. Saltwater poured through the ship’s hull. . . POWs who tried to climb on lifeboats were kicked away with boots or rifle butts.” The men were later rescued.
While working as a POW, the men were beaten. “The guards shouted orders no one could understand and then beat the men for not understanding. Sometimes they beat the men just because they were bored and wanted something to do.”
A guard tries to shoot Judy. She “saw a flash and dodged out of the way just in time before dashing back into the jungle.” Judy stayed hidden until it was safe to come out.

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

None

The Nazi Hunters: How a Team of Spies and Survivors Captured the World’s Most Notorious Nazi

Everyone had forgotten about it. The Americans are fighting the Russians. The British and French are starting to rebuild their countries. The Japanese are experiencing an economic boom. Germany is being split into two. The world had moved on and forgotten the world’s worst genocide—the Holocaust.

At the end of World War II, Adolf Eichmann, the head of operations of the Nazi’s Final Solution, disappeared without a trace. After sending millions of innocent people to their deaths, Eichmann said goodbye to his wife and sons, walked into the German countryside, and vanished. Sixteen years later, an elite team of Israeli spies is sent to Argentina with one goal in mind—capture and secure Eichmann and bring him to trial in Israel.

Faced with an impossible task, a lawyer, a forger, a doctor, a pilot, and a team of Israeli agents risk everything to capture the architect of the Holocaust. If they are caught, the team could face decades of imprisonment or even death by Argentinian Neo-Nazi groups. However, they have to take the risk–they must take Eichmann to Israel to remind the world of the Holocaust’s victims.

The Nazi Hunters will leave readers on the edge of their seats as it tells the thrilling, harrowing, and true tale of how a team of Israeli spies was able to secretly capture one of the top Nazis decades after his disappearance. Complete with photographs, maps, and top-secret documents, Neal Bascomb tells the story in a cinematic light that will engage readers and get them interested in reading nonfiction.

With his nonfiction novel, Bascomb not only shows readers how traumatic and terrible the Holocaust was but also the far-reaching effects of the genocide–affecting not only its Jewish victims but also the Jewish generations to come. After 16 years of silence, Eichmann’s trial highlighted the true nature of the Holocaust and allowed survivors to openly share their experiences in Nazi concentration and work camps.

Even though The Nazi Hunters contains historical information, the story is fast-paced and reads much like a spy novel. The story is exciting, and the pictures that are scattered throughout the story will remind readers that the events and people are real. Descriptions can sometimes be gory, such as with Eichmann’s hanging, but Bascomb uses the violence to show readers how brutal the Holocaust was and to ground the story in reality. With the countless number of names and historical events, young readers may have a difficult time following the story’s main characters. But, The Nazi Hunters is a fantastic book for middle school readers, rounding out their knowledge about the Holocaust by showing its everlasting effect on world politics.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

In December of 1959, Nazi sympathizers attacked Jewish synagogues and citizens in West Germany. “In the following days, anti-Semitic attacks and demonstrations broke out across West Germany, and police were stationed outside synagogues and Jewish cemeteries to prevent further desecrations. In total, 685 Jewish locations throughout the country were vandalized. These were more than the isolated actions of a few hooligans, and Jewish leaders in West Germany made it clear that the scene ‘evoked pictures that bring to mind the November days of 1938,’ referring to Kristallnacht.”
When initially capturing Eichmann, “Malkin burst forward, one hand reaching out to keep Eichmann’s right arm down in case he had a gun. His momentum, mixed with his target’s retreat, sent them both pitching to the ground. The agent seized Eichmann as they rolled into the shallow, muddy ditch that ran alongside the road.” Malkin and another agent eventually restrain Eichmann, placing a hand over his mouth so he can’t scream. Then, they throw Eichmann into the backseat of their car.
After the car is one hundred feet from Eichmann’s Argentinian house, Aharoni warns him, “Sit still and nothing will happen to you. If you resist, we will shoot you. Do you understand?”
After finding their father missing, Nick and Dieter bought three guns and “broke into a Jewish synagogue in the city, guns at their sides.” However, their father is not there and they continue searching.
While Eichmann was imprisoned and awaiting trial in Israel, “the prison commandant feared not only that Eichmann might commit suicide, but also that there might be an attempt on his life. His food was always tasted before serving, and his guards were carefully selected so that none of them had lost a family member in the Holocaust.”
After the news was released of the Israeli spies’ capture of Eichmann, some Argentinian neo-Nazi groups were eager to seek revenge on local Jewish Argentinians. “Some in Argentina were eager. Unable to strike against them directly, right-wing groups took their revenge on the local Jewish. Tacuara carried out the worst of these attacks, beating up several Jewish students at the University of Buenos Aires and chanting, ‘Long live Eichmann. Death to Jews.’ One student was shot, and later in a vicious assault, Tacuara radicals branded a swastika onto the chest of a teenage girl whose father was suspected of having helped the Israelis.”
The book describes Eichmann’s 1962 hanging. “The two guards hit their buttons, and the platform opened with a clang. Eichmann fell ten feet into a room below without a sound. The rope went straight, snapped, and then swayed back and forth. A doctor moved into the chamber, took Eichmann’s pulse, and declared the Nazi dead.” After he is hanged, Eichmann is cremated, and his ashes are thrown into the sea so that no shrine or tribute can be made to him.

Drugs and Alcohol

When leaving Argentina on an airplane, Eichmann has to be sedated in order to not cause trouble. “The doctor slid the needle into a vein and attached a tube. Then he delivered the sedative. Eichmann soon faded, mumbling, ‘No, no. I don’t need it.’”
While imprisoned in Argentina and awaiting transport to Israel, “Eichmann had spoken of his love for red wine, and Malkin thought that it wouldn’t do any harm to give him a glass. . . Malkin poured a glass of wine and placed it in Eichmann’s hands. The prisoner drained his glass. Malkin sipped at his wine. He put a record on the turntable and then lit a cigarette for Eichmann. Flamenco music filled the small, stuffy room. Eichmann drew deeply on the cigarette until it was almost at its butt.”

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

Upon capture, Eichmann reveals that he knows a bit of Hebrew. Aharoni stops him from speaking, saying that, “The words were the beginning of the Sh’ma, the holiest prayer in the Jewish religion, recited in the morning and at night by the faithful. It was a prayer spoken at the hour of death, and millions, millions, of Jews had come to utter it because of Adolf Eichmann.”
After saying a quick prayer, Eichmann’s last words were, “Gentlemen, we shall meet again soon, so is the fate of all men. I have believed in God all my life, and I die believing in God.”

by Matthew Perkey

The Grand Escape: The Greatest Prison Breakout of the 20th Century

At the height of World War I, brave Allied and German forces battled on land, air, and sea. During these battles, captured Allied soldiers and pilots were sent to the dangerous web of German prisons where they were neglected, beaten, and robbed. The most troublesome prisoners of war were sent to

Holzminden – an inescapable landlocked prison designed to break prisoners. The prisoners are in the middle of Germany, locked down by armed guards and barbed-wire fences. The camp’s ruthless commandant, Karl Niemeyer, enforces the camp’s cruel rules. Escape seems impossible for the rag-tag prisoners.

Faced with a Herculean task, a group of determined Allied soldiers and pilots defy the impossible, daring to escape the prison by building a tunnel right under Niemeyer’s nose. Scraping away mere inches of dirt every hour, the team tunneled through the prison’s foundation underneath guard towers, dogs, barbed wire fences, and into a nearby farm. As Niemeyer becomes suspicious of a possible escape, the team of escapees works tirelessly forging documents, smuggling in supplies, and bribing guards. The hardest challenge of escaping Holzminden was yet to come for the 29 men—making it back home undetected through war-torn Germany.

The Grand Escape will leave readers on the edge of their seats as they read the true story of how a team of Allied prisoners banded together to escape Germany and became an inspiration for their fellow countrymen during World War I’s darkest hours. Bascomb does an extraordinary job bringing the story to life. His vivid details, page-turning suspense, and well-developed research alongside photographs, maps, and diagrams of the tunnel and prison camp make the reader feel like they are actually in the tunnel escaping with the prisoners.

The suspense will keep readers turning the pages until the very end. However, the book discusses some of the atrocities of World War I, including the intense violence and hatred between the German and Allied soldiers. Some descriptions are graphic; therefore, the book is not for the faint of heart. This book is aimed at older readers who have some pre-existing knowledge about World War I and the development of modern aircraft. Nonetheless, The Grand Escape is a terrific nonfiction book that will teach readers to persevere through hard times.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

When Cecil Blain and Charles Griffiths are sent on a mission to find warehouses in Germany, they are shot at by German artillery. “A shell rocked one plane on the port side of their formation, but its pilot recovered. Another cut confetti-sized slits into the wings of Blain’s plane, and shrapnel pinged against his engine cowling.” Although no one is injured, Blain and Griffith’s plane sustains heavy damage and they are forced to land behind enemy lines where they are soon held as prisoners.
On a bombing run, English pilot David Gray and his machine-gunner are ambushed by Böelcke. A “close-quarter rake of bullets from Böelcke ripped through Gray’s engine and shredded an aileron. Propeller stopped, balance control lost, the plane plummeted into a spin.” Gray and his gunner are both severely injured, with broken bones and lacerations covering their faces, but they manage to survive, crash landing behind enemy lines.
Holzminden’s commandant, Karl Niemeyer, is easily angered and loves to both psychologically and physically torture his prisoners. In one instance, he “ordered a guard to fire at prisoners in the barracks building who were mocking the Germans during their morning drill marches.”
Private Dick Cash was “ordered across no-man’s land in an early morning assault on the strategic German stronghold at Bullecourt. The Australians faced withering heavy machine-gun fire in their approach to the enemy lines. During the attack, Cash was shot in the chest. The bullet punctured his left lung, but he continued ahead. A series of mortars threw him first skyward, then sideways. Shrapnel pierced his back, and many of his teeth were knocked out before he landed in a shell hole, boots first.” However, Cash manages to “survive the maggot-infested squalor” and is sent to Holzminden after recovering in a German hospital.
At another camp, Harold Medlicott and Joseph Walter were murdered, but the German guards lie to prisoners, saying they were shot on the run. The guards return to camp with two stretchers covered in dark sheets and “while several British officers distracted the guards watching over the bodies, another officer rushed up and threw aside the sheets. Medlicott’s and Walter’s bodies were riddled with over a dozen bullets and stabbed with several bayonet wounds.” The British officers realize that Medlicott and Walter were not shot while escaping, but brutally murdered by their captors.
While escaping to Holland, a border guard sees Bennet and Campbell-Martin and starts to fire. “The crack of a rifle echoed behind as they charged headlong into Holland. The first shot and the next missed. They ran and ran until they splashed into the Dinkel River in free Holland.”

Drugs and Alcohol

On their way to a new POW camp, the guards and prisoners stop at a train station restaurant and form a temporary truce where “the British bought every bottle of wine behind the bar, some of them a lovely pre-war vintage.”
During a Christmas party at Holzminden, “Douglas Lyall Grant, of the London Scottish Regiment, supplied a cellar’s worth of bottles that he joked cost more than a night out at London’s swanky Carlton Hotel.”

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

On the night of the escapes, “A religious man, Butler muttered a short prayer before pushing his kitbag into the tunnel and following it in.”

by Matthew Perkey

The Burning Queen

In the second installment of Tangled in Time, newly orphaned Rose finds herself time-traveling between the present day and the court of the two most memorable English princesses in history. When Princess Mary ascends the throne in sixteenth-century England, Rose is forced to serve her. Mary’s coronation is coming and Rose is put to work making elaborate gowns. But the religiously devout queen’s next plan is to begin her attack on the Protestants—by burning them at the stake!

Rose’s dad, master spy, and goldsmith for the court, urges Rose to escape to her home century, present-day Indiana, where Rose befriends a young immigrant named Marisol. Rose must protect Marisol from both middle school mean girls and the threat of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Rose is determined to rescue her father and her best friend Franny from the dangers of Queen Mary’s reign. Is she willing to risk everything to save the people closest to her?

Readers who have not read the first Tangled in Time will not be able to understand the events in The Burning Queen. The story focuses on Rose and her friend Marisol, who is undocumented and an unaccompanied minor. Because of her immigration status, Marisol is frightened that ICE will take her to a detention center. Through Marisol’s situation, the pro-immigrant message is clear. This theme is reinforced when a doctor says, “many of us have been migrants at one time in our lives. It is not a crime.”

The story has many inconsistencies and questionable events. Even though the time travel is explained, the explanation is unbelievable. For example, when Rose returns to the past, she somehow knows everything that happened in her absence, and no one noticed that she was gone. Another questionable event is that Rose returns to the past in order to convince her father to travel to her time period; however, when she returns to the past, she hides from her father. In addition, Rose uses modern words and phrases and when people in the past question her, she “blamed every modern phrase she accidentally uttered on West Ditch, her supposed home village.”

Rose has a fashion blog that includes sixteenth-century fashion and modern fashion. Several of her blog posts are included; however, the pictures are of poor quality and do not reflect a modern teen’s blog. Rose uses words from her school vocabulary list, such as ecumenical and alacrity, but she never explains the words’ definitions.

The Burning Queen has many inconsistencies and holes in the plot that even younger readers will question. The complex, confusing plot, the questionable events, and the large cast of characters will make it difficult for readers to stay engaged. Readers may want to leave The Burning Queen on the shelf. For those interested in stories about time travel, the Ruby Red Trilogy by Kerstin Gier would make a better choice.

Sexual Content

Some of the serving class are talking about Queen Mary being healthy enough to carry a child. Rose says, “I think she should bear a husband first. . . All I’m saying is it’s best to have a husband before having a child.”
While walking through the castle, Rose sees “two shadows entwined behind a pillar. One shadow was speaking. ‘Oh, I just want to kiss you, my darling. Kiss you and kiss you and don’t make me cry, milady, don’t make me lie, milady.’” Rose thinks it’s curious that the shadows’ words are similar to a modern song, “I just want to make out with you. I want to make time with you. I want to be true to you and only you. . .”
Rose has to climb underneath a dinner table to fix Queen Mary’s skirt. While under there, she recognizes a lady’s shoes. “Both her feet and those of the gentleman next to her were involved in an apparently lively conversation. What a hussy!”
On Rose’s blog, she wrote that a duchess “got around.”
Rose makes a comment that “Elizabeth would be the Virgin Queen.”

Violence

When Rose goes back in time, she discovers that Queen Mary “was burning Protestants. . . Burning, hangings, what would be next? Boiling in oil? Oh, the sixteenth-century mind was so creative in devising ways to kill people.”
As Rose learns about Queen Mary, she discovers that Lady Jane Grey was the queen for nine days, and in the end was imprisoned and beheaded.
Although Rose doesn’t see anyone burned, she comments about the smell and writes in her diary. “The queen seems not to smell it, and as far as I can tell she looks no bigger. If I was that baby, I wouldn’t want to be born. Imagine having your first breath of air filled with the stink of these murders. Yuck! Of course some seem not to mind the stink. . .”
Rose writes in her diary, “And I was told that often they tie bags of gunpowder between the victim’s knees to ensure that the person was not only burned but blown to bits.”

Drugs and Alcohol

Rose’s grandmother was “sipping a glass of sherry—just one glass on these cold winter nights.”

Language

A mean girl purposely trips Marisol, who drops her lunch tray. When food gets on another girl’s sweater, someone calls Marisol “stupido.”
Rose tells Marisol that the mean girls are “jerks.” Later someone else calls someone a jerk.
Heck and damn are both used twice. Darn is used four times and dang is used three times.
God is used as an exclamation three times. OMG is used as an exclamation eight times.
Someone uses “good Lord” as an exclamation.
Rose gets upset when a Frosty snowman kept singing a song. Rose thinks, “Go to hell, Frosty, and Melt!”
A lady calls a court jester a “loathsome dwarf.”
When Rose goes back in time, she uses the acronym TOD. When someone asks what it means, Rose says, “Turd of a dog.”
Jeez is used as an exclamation several times.
Rose gives her father a gift, and then thinks, “God, what have I done?”
Rose tells a girl, “Put a plug in your pug mouth.”
Someone calls Rose an idiot.
Someone uses “Oh God’s toes” as an exclamation.
Supernatural

Rose’s father is from the 1500s and lived during Bloody Mary’s reign. Rose can go back in time to her father’s time period. In order to go back in time, Rose concentrates on a flower. “Marisol watched, mesmerized, as a vaporous mist began to form around Rose and she slowly dissolved, leaving just a shadow behind. Then a whisper came from the mist, ‘I’ll be back in just a minute or two.’”
The women in Rose’s family are able to travel back in time because “we have the gene.”
When Rose goes back to the past, she remembers events that she did not witness. “It was a memory she had not forgotten in the least, yet she had not directly experienced it. Her shadow had. Her ghostly counterpart that seemed to carry on without her.”

Spiritual Content

When Rose sees Princess Elizabeth wearing her locket, Rose prays, “Oh please, don’t let Princess Elizabeth figure out the secret to opening that locket!” Rose makes this prayer several times.
When Marisol falls down in the snow, Rose prays that her grandmother’s driver will answer the phone.
Queen Mary was a devout Catholic. Before her coronation, “there was talk of postponing the event. Holy oils that had been consecrated by the previous kings’ priests were used for coronations. But Mary was suspicious of the oil because those priests were Protestants and she was Catholic.”
During the sixteenth century, “the pope’s power cannot be questioned. Nor can Queen Mary’s.” When this information is introduced, Rose worries that her friend will be burned alive because she has a Bible. Rose “was absolutely dizzy with fear, with shock. She shut her eyes tight and tried to banish the image of Franny being tied to a stake. The kindling bursting into flames. Then another image came into her mind—the smugglers, the ones they called coyotes, circling Marisol. And the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officers. . .”
On Christmas Eve, “Marisol was on her knees again, whispering her prayers in Spanish.”
Rose wants her Protestant friend to go to mass and pretend to be a devout Catholic. Her friend’s mother tells her, “Only God can see into your heart. He knows what your true faith is.” When Queen Mary is excited about having her baby, Rose thinks, “A baby whose mother had just given the order to set another human on fire for not believing as she did. No God in any religion on earth would want this. Of this Rose was certain.”
Queen Mary dictates in a letter, “I’m sure you will rejoice and be pleased with God’s infinite goodness in the happy delivery of our son/daughter.”
Rose writes in her diary. “I don’t think God is exactly Mary’s friend. If he is, I am profoundly disappointed in him. There have been ten more burnings!”

Cape

Josie O’Malley’s family is all doing their part in fighting the Nazis. While her father is off fighting in the war, Josie’s mother works two jobs and Josie works at a diner to help pay the rent. Josie wishes she could do more—like all those caped heroes who now seem to have disappeared. Josie can’t fly and control weather like her idol, Zenobia. But when Josie sees an advertisement for puzzlers, she thinks maybe she can put her math smarts to use cracking puzzles for the government.

After Josie takes the test, the official throws all of the girls’ tests in the trash. Josie is disheartened, but it soon becomes clear that a top-secret agency has been watching Josie, along with two other applicants: Akiko and Mae. The three girls all love superheroes like Fantomah, Zenobia, and the Black Cat. The girls never dreamed that they would have powers like their favorite superheroes. But when a villain sets fire to a building and puts innocent people in danger, the girls step up to help and discover that they have new superhero powers. As the girls’ abilities slowly begin to emerge, they learn that their skills will be crucial in thwarting a shapeshifting henchman of Hitler, and, just maybe, in solving an even larger mystery about the superheroes who’ve recently gone missing.

Readers will fall in love with the endearingly imperfect girls who highlight the importance of helping others. The diverse cast of characters includes Josie, who is Irish, Akiko, who is Japanese, and Mae, who is African American. The diverse characters give the readers a glimpse of the prejudice of the time period. Akiko’s family was put in a Japanese internment camp even though her brother was fighting in the war. When Josie and her friends go into a restaurant, the manager chases them away because they don’t serve “their kind.” It is at this point that Josie realizes that “prejudices were a lot like allergies. They made it hard for us to really see.”

Josie and her friends love to figure out puzzles and secret messages. They give examples of different ciphers and explain how to decipher them. Even though Josie and her friends have the brainpower to solve puzzles, the girls are treated unfairly. At one point, Josie wonders if she really is just a “stupid girl.” However, she soon learns that others, including her Aunt Kate, are using their mathematical minds to help defeat the Nazis. Cape brings the ENIAC Six into the story and shows how the pioneer programmers did important work during World War II.

Even though the story talks about superheroes, the superheroes’ attributes are never fully explained. Despite this, readers will understand how the superheroes helped encourage Josie and her friends to be better people. Cape blends historical facts into an entertaining, action-packed story that teaches that girls can do anything. Themes of prejudice, friendship, and fighting evil are developed using kid-friendly descriptions. Even though some of the story’s elements are not fully explained, readers will still enjoy the story.

Cape might even encourage readers to learn more about World War II, and the story lists recommended resources for readers who want more. The story ends with historical information on the ENIAC Six, the spy ring, radio news reports, and a list of recommended resources. Cape will leave readers with a positive message that “you’re the one who decides what kind of person you’ll be.”

Sexual Content

None

Violence

A group of bullies steal Josie’s brother’s bikes. Josie tries to get them back. When she sees one of the boys who stole the bikes, she “whipped my broom out ahead of me and caught his feet, I sent him spilling onto the sidewalk. . . I pressed the handle of the broom to his chest, in the little round spot just between his collarbones.”
When a bully implies that Josie’s father is dead, she gets upset. Then the boy “shoved me back. I stumbled a few steps but caught myself. Without thinking twice, I dove for him, knocking him to the ground.” When Josie’s friends try to help her, the boy “and the others knocked Akiko to the ground.” One of the boys “kicked at” Mae who then, “stumbled onto the pathway, scraping one of her knees.”
Mr. Hisser tries to flee a building, but the Stretcher “reached out to grab Mr. Hisser. His long black arm stretched nearly the whole length of the room! Just as the Stretcher caught hold of Mr. Hisser’s suit collar, the room erupted in a burst of white light. . .” After the smoke clears, Josie “noticed a few sparks sizzling into the smoky air. All that remained of the Stretcher was a pair of black boots, a shimmery black cape, and a black mask.” Someone explains that “This is what we’re up against. . . A force darker than any of us could have imagined. With each attack, another caped hero disappears. Vaporized.”
Mr. Hisser set a building on fire. Josie, Akiko, and Mae use their powers to get people safely out of the building. No one is injured. The scene is illustrated over 11 pages.
Mr. Hisser and his crew plan to blow up a ship. The men put dynamite in fake rats. The girls attack Mr. Hisser, who turns into a snake and hits the girls with his tail. One of the girls is injured and Mr. Hisser carries her away in his snake mouth. The scene is illustrated over 11 pages.
Later, Akiko says she used fire to get away from Mr. Hisser. Although the scene is not described, Josie notices Mr. Hisser’s head, “which was red and blistery from a burn.”
Josie tells her brothers a story about their father fighting in the war. Their father was eating breakfast when he heard the air-raid sirens. “. . . Daddy raced upstairs as enemy fire strafed the quarterdeck. Dodging bullets and bombs, he rushed to an injured crewmate and threw him over his shoulder.”
A boy and his friends put a rope around a raccoon’s neck. In order to help the raccoon, Mae “unleashed a gale-force wind and knocked Toby and the other bullies to the ground. As they climbed to their feet, Akiko transformed into a bowling ball and knocked Toby out at the knees. Again he fell to the ground, this time scraping the palms of his hands.” During the confrontation, Josie “used a bit of telekinesis—staring at one, two, three, four, five heads, then flicking my eyes—to knock their skulls together.” The boys run away.
Mr. Hisser and his gang show up at a top-secret location. When he sees the girls, “Mr. Hisser flicked his dangerous rattlesnake tail and slammed it into the building, just above our heads. Wood and bricks exploded into the air, then crashed down around us. . . Akiko flung fireballs at his henchmen in the street.” During the fight, “his deadly split tongue shot from his mouth and slammed me [Josie] backwards into the lamppost. My head rang like a telephone, but I had to shake it off.” Josie saves some “innocent people,” then notices that she was bleeding. “One of the Hisser’s razor-sharp fangs must have sliced my skin.” Josie picks up a car and “using all the strength I could muster—and with searing pain shooting through my left shoulder—I heaved the car forward. It landed on the Hisser’s deadly tail with a devastating thud.” The action is described over 10 pages.
The action continues over 12 illustrated pages. One of the girls hits Hisser with a chair. People are hit with furniture, Hisser is wrapped in chains, and a man is hit over the head with a machine that is like a typewriter. The FBI arrive and arrest Hisser.
Hisser escapes. “Hisser’s hideous snake form fled the room, his scaly, serpentine body slithering around and around in a dizzying hypnotic threat. With a whip of his rattlesnake tail, he swatted Harry and the agents. They flew backward, slamming into the blinking black steal of the ENIAC machine.” One of the girls changes into a mongoose, and “she lunged for the Hisser’s throat with her sharp front teeth as Mae and I dodged out of the way.” The scene is described over five pages.
Hisser captures three women and attempts to kidnap them. Josie used “all my powers of concentration, I imagined the statue ripping off its pedestal and hurtling into the path of the Hisser’s oncoming car. As soon as I thought it, the statue followed the direction of my eyes and soared through the air, landing just in front of the Hisser’s wagon. Brakes screeched, but there was no time for the Hisser to stop.” Hisser is arrested and the captives are set free.

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

The characters call others names. The infrequent use of name-calling includes: marauding meatheads, lunkhead, knucklehead, fleas, dumbbell, knuckleheads, brats, and traitorous scum.
Hisser calls the girls names, including: Green Fungus and Emerald Irritant.
Several times, one of the characters uses “Hauntima’s ghost” as an exclamation.
Someone calls Hisser “demon reptile.”

Supernatural

In the story, superheroes exist and have different abilities, such as: flying, super-human strength, shape-shifting, telekinesis, causing weather events (like wind), controlling fire, teleportation, etc.
Josie Akiko and Mae link arms. When Josie talks about doing something good, “a beam of golden light burst from the center of our huddle, radiating upward from our connected hands . . . And the air hummed like it was filled with a thousand bumblebees. . . The crackling electrical charge exploded in my ears now, and energy shot through my veins. . .” Then the girls gain super powers, including how to fly. After the three completed their task, their “costumes suddenly morphed back into our regular clothes, right before our eyes.” This process happens several times.
When handling a difficult situation, Hauntima’s ghost appears and gives the girls guidance. Sometimes when Hauntima appears, she has an “angry skulled face.”
Mr. Hisser can turn into a snake.
Josie gets injured, but her injury heals quickly.

Spiritual Content

None

Susanna’s Midnight Ride

Sixteen-year-old Susanna Bolling is struggling to cope with the realities of the American Revolution. She, along with her mother, are the sole residents and operators of their tobacco plantation (and the slaves who work it). Following the death of Susanna’s father and her older brothers’ entry into the American army, Susanna and her mother rely on each other for emotional support and companionship.

Susanna and her mother act as each other’s rock as they are tasked with running a plantation and supporting themselves. Susanna eventually braves the dangers associated with espionage and courageously sneaks into the woods. Alone in the middle of the night, Susanne goes to warn the American Army and General Lafayette of British movements and plans. She braves miles of deep forest riddled with dangerous branches and rattlesnakes. She reaches the American camp and meets with the general but gets desperately lost on the way back home. Is there any way Susanna will be able to sneak back home unnoticed? Will she be captured by the British soldiers?

Susanna’s Midnight Ride is engaging because the reader is encouraged to relate to Susanna and put themselves in her shoes. The reader is left to wonder if they would have the strength to support their mother in a time of crisis or the courage to risk everything to do the right thing. The author characterizes Susanna in a likable and relatable way, so that the readers are empowered to believe that courageous acts are possible for anyone with dedication and loyalty. Susanna’s story shows that fear does not determine if someone is a hero or a coward. Susanna is absolutely terrified to go on her journey but is so determined to help the American cause that she goes into the night regardless.

Susanna’s Midnight Ride is based on historical fact, with a few embellishments, exclusions, and adjustments to make this story suitable for a younger audience. The characters and plot are well developed and highly relatable, and the short chapters will encourage reluctant readers. McNamee creates an engaging story; however, some sections will challenge growing readers. For example, some of the phrases used by General Lafayette are in French, and the reader must use context clues to fully understand his meaning.

The negative representation of slaves on the Bolling plantation may upset readers. An older slave shouts and berates a younger slave for desiring freedom and states, “If I got to be a slave and mu children got to be slaves, I want to be their slave!” This storyline ends as over time the younger slave returns to the Bolling Plantation happily, saying that, “I done made a big mistake leaving the plantation.”

Susanna’s experiences highlight the importance of determination and loyalty. McNamee utilizes a real person’s story to realistically illustrate these lessons. Susanna’s Midnight Ride is a suspenseful and highly engaging story that will encourage readers to learn more about history and be confident when making difficult choices.

Sexual Content

Susanna’s cousin often speaks about handsome men and often whines about the “cluster of handsome lads” who she could marry “if it weren’t for this dreadful war.”
Susanna describes a prospective suitor, Joseph, who was killed during the war. Susanna thinks, they would have had “lovely red-haired children.”
Susanna once flirted with the British soldiers occupying her home and chides herself for “acting as coquettish” as her flirtatious cousin.

Violence

Following the death of her son, Joseph’s mother describes her fear that he may have been “dumped into a mass grave” and that she had “nightmares of butchered boys piled in together and left to rot.”
Susanna briefly describes the circumstances of the “tragic loss” of her older sister and baby niece. Her sister dies in childbirth “when a baby’s head is too large to pass, there is precious little even the best doctor can do.”
A “terrible disease” killed Susanna’s younger sister and left “Mother disfigured with pock-marks all over her face.”

Drugs and Alcohol

Susanna’s mother plots to distract the soldiers by “topping off their drinks again and doling out another round of shots.” She did this so that “they shall sleep like the dead tonight.”

Language

Profanity is used sparingly. Profanity includes poppycock, bugger, arse, darn, rubbish, drat, bloody. Each word is used once or twice.
The phrases “god awful” and “godforsaken” are used frequently, around 20 times in total.
The following words are used as insults on rare occasions: maggot, ninny, tomboy, swine, no-good bum, loggerhead, locust, brute.
The words “negro” and “negroes” are used at least once per chapter as characters describe enslaved people.

Supernatural/Spiritual Content.

Religious references are almost constant, and are frequently positive or celebratory. For example, during the spinning bee, Susanna proclaims, “God is surely smiling down on his daughters of Liberty today.”
McNamee also refers to the Grim Reaper a handful of times. For example, Susanna describes her family’s luck, “The Grim Reaper operates by a code of fairness, the ultimate fallacy. Death follows no rules at all.”
There are also constant references to “souls” throughout the story. For example, an older man describes all of the “lost souls” resulting from the war.

by Meg Oshea

Survival Tails: The Titanic

Mutt loves his human girl, Alice. When he discovers that his owner and best friend, Alice, plans to sail to the new world on the Titanic without him, he’s determined to find a way on the ship. Mutt is terrified of the water, but he won’t let an ocean separate him from Alice. A friendly rat, King Leon, helps Mutt sneak aboard the ship. But it isn’t long before the captain’s cat, Clara, discovers the stowaways. Reluctantly, Clara agrees to help Mutt find Alice. But first, Mutt must agree to look after three abandoned kittens that Clara found in a lifeboat.

A mangy dog, a friendly rat, and a pamper cat work together to stay hidden from the humans and keep the kittens alive. But when the unthinkable happens and the so-called unsinkable ship hits an iceberg, Mutt and his new friends have to race against the clock to find their humans—and to survive.

Survival Tails: The Titanic takes the reader on a trip back in time when everyone thought the Titanic was unsinkable. Told from Mutt’s point of view, the story takes a unique look at the ship through the eyes of animals. For the stowaway animals, life on the Titanic is dangerous. Not only do they have to scrounge for food, but they also have to avoid the humans who most likely would throw overboard. As the story unfolds, readers will fall in love with each animal, whose unique personality comes to life. Even though the animals could have easily become enemies, they unite to form an unlikely friendship that puts the kittens’ needs above their own.

Suspense builds from the very first page and ends with the heart-wrenching sinking of the Titanic. The story contains pockets of humor and has three black and white pictures that help bring the scenes into sharper focus. The animal’s loyalty to each other and their humans is heartwarming. However, Survival Tails: The Titanic doesn’t shy away from showing the discrimination between the first-class passengers and the third-class passengers. In the end, it didn’t matter what class a person was. When the Titanic was sinking, the passengers realized, “in the end, few things truly mattered.”

Survival Tails: The Titanic uses a unique point of view to create a suspenseful, beautiful story of friendship and love. Even though the story focuses on the animals, it stays loyal to the historical facts of the Titanic. Although the sinking of the ship is described in a kid-friendly manner and the death of people is never described, the ending is heart-wrenching and will have readers crying as several of the characters they loved are doomed to death.

Readers who have read The Last Firehawk series may be tempted to pick up Survival Tails: The Titanic because they share the same author. However, The Last Firehawk series is intended for a younger audience. Younger readers may not be ready for the intense events portrayed in Survival Tails: The Titanic. At the end of the book, readers will find a glossary, as well as more historical information about the Titanic. Everyone who enjoys a suspenseful animal story should read Survival Tails: The Titanic; the characters will leave a lasting impact on readers and make them think about the nature of friendship.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

When Mutt was trying to get onto the Titanic, a woman sees Mutt and, “let out an ear-piercing shriek as Mutt peered sheepishly back up at her. She swung her handbag, hitting Mutt full-force in the head before he had a chance to scarper. With a low whine, Mutt turned and ran as fast as he could. . .”
Mutt tries to steal an abandoned sandwich from a plate. Mutt’s friend tried to warn him, but “before Mutt could figure out what had King Leon spooked, he heard an almighty screech. Razor-sharp teeth clamped down on the end of his tail. It was all he could do to not howl and give himself away to the nearby humans.”
Mutt, King Leon, and three kittens sneak into the kitchen to try to eat scraps of food. When the humans returned, “they took one look at the dog, rat, and three kittens eating their food and ran at them, screaming and shouting. . .” The animals run and Mutt ducked “as one of the humans swung an empty frying pan at his head. . . The man spun around and around, trying to catch on of the furry blurs, until he became so dizzy he fell over, crashing not a pile of crockery, which smashed to the floor.” The animals are able to escape.
When the Titanic was sinking, an officer was trying to load a boat with women and children. A group of men tried to “push past and swarm the lifeboat, which was already swinging precariously out over the water. A woman screamed, and before Mutt knew what was happening, an earsplitting gunshot rang out as an officer fired his gun in the air, silencing the crowd.”
When Mutt is in the ocean, a man grabs onto his tail. “Water closed over his head as Mutt sank beneath the surface. His lungs screamed with the desperate need for air as he kicked his legs wildly. . . But the man still would not let go, so Mutt did the only thing he could, hoping it might save them both. Mutt turned and sank his teeth deep into the man’s hand, yanking it upward in the direction of the surface. The man immediately released his grip and swam back up the surface.”

Drugs and Alcohol

When Clara was walking along the boat’s deck, she saw a group of men “playing cards and drinking in the smoking room.”
When the Titanic hit an iceberg, some of the men “were drinking whisky and smoking cigars as though they hadn’t a care in the world.”

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

As the Titanic was sinking, Mutt walks by a “group of humans standing before a man dressed in a black robe, like the reverend at Alice’s church. Their eyes were closed and they knelt on the deck, listening to the man’s prayers, even as chaos erupted all around then.”
Mutt isn’t sure if he should jump into the water or stay on the sinking ship. As he considers his options, “The Titanic ripped apart into two halves. As the stern started to fall back toward the water, almost in slow motion, Mutt recalled a prayer that Alice’s mother used to make Alice recite every night before she went to bed. He didn’t’ know much about what it was for, or why she did it, but it seemed to bring Alice’s mother comfort.

Heartwood Box

Araceli’s parents wanted her to have a normal, American senior year, so they sent her to stay with her Great-Aunt Ottillie. Araceli is supposed to be focusing on school and getting ready for college, but she thinks that her aunt’s old Victorian home may be haunted. Araceli can feel someone watching her, and it doesn’t help that her great-aunt still leaves food out for her husband that has been missing for twenty years.

Araceli’s great-aunt isn’t the only creepy thing in town. Local businesses are plastered with missing posters. The townspeople are watchful and suspicious of each other. There are unexplained lights in the woods and a mysterious lab just beyond the city walls that no one talks about. When Araceli begins getting letters from the past, she thinks someone is playing a nasty joke on her.

When Araceli’s friend disappears, she is determined to find out what is going on. In order to solve the mystery, she must investigate the other disappearances as well as the secretive lab. But someone is willing to go to great lengths to keep their secrets hidden. Can Araceli uncover the conspiracy or will someone make her disappear?

The Heartwood Box is an immensely enjoyable, complicated story that will have readers guessing until the very end. Told from Araceli’s point of view, the creepy town comes alive. Although Araceli isn’t the most relatable character, her story is compelling. The supporting characters are not well-developed but they help move the plot along at a fast pace. For those who love character-driven stories, The Heartwood Box might disappoint.

This story is a mix of science-fiction, mystery, and historical romance. The multiple plots may leave readers confused unless they pay close attention. Not only is Araceli falling in love with a World War I soldier, but she is also trying to fit in at a new school and solve the mystery of the town’s disappearing people. The end of the story ties all of the threads together in a satisfying, if somewhat implausible, conclusion.

Aguirre also throws in the theme of colorism. Several times in the story, Araceli talks about colorism and gives examples of how dark skin people are treated differently than whites. At one point she thinks, “I wish America cared the same about Black and Brown girls, but there’s a lot to do yet.” Even though Araceli is bi-racial, this theme is not well fleshed out.

Readers looking for a unique time travel mystery will enjoy The Heartwood Box, which has several surprising twists at the end. Some of the vocabulary is difficult, but the majority of the story is written in easy to understand language. Although the ending is rushed, the book will captivate readers who enjoyed the Ruby Red series by Kerstin Gier or Passenger by Alexandra Bracken.

Sexual Content

When Araceli has a friend over to the house, her aunt says, “You can watch TV in the parlor if you want. I do trust both of you, but it would be disrespectful for you to go upstairs.” Araceli thinks to herself, “Oh my God, if I wanted to hook up with Logan, I’d go across the street. He already said his parents aren’t home.”
In a dream, Araceli is able to see soldiers who are on a ship. She hears, “a slick skin-on-skin sound that I identify as a soldier jerking off, trying to be stealthy about it.”
While talking to a boy, Araceli thinks, “He’s thirsty for me. I’ve seen the look enough to recognize it, but I pretend not to know. . .”
When Araceli is sitting in a car with a boy, her aunt “saves me by flipping the porch light on and peeking out the front door, likely to make sure we’re not getting hot and heavy in her Plymouth.”
While in a dream, Araceli meets a soldier and, “I can touch him in this dream, so I do. There’s no reason to hold back. When he drops his weapon and opens his arms, I slide into them like I belong there. . . I stretch up on tiptoe and cup his face in my hands; I feel the heat of his skin, the scruff on his chin and jaw. Then I press my mouth to his, light and soft. He drags me closer and kisses me like our lives depend on it, all heat and desperation. . . We kiss and cling until I can barely breathe.”
When Araceli’s aunt and uncle see her sitting in a car with an older man, her uncle asks, “Is there something you need to tell us? We won’t judge you. Grown men who entice young girls should be ashamed.” Araceli tells them that the man was a family friend.

Violence

The town sheriff physically abuses his son. The abuse is not described, but Araceli sees the bruises. When the boy gets to school, she “can see his lip is busted, and his face is swollen on one side. At a minimum, someone slapped the shit out of him, and it looks more like he took a few hits to the face.”
In a letter, a soldier writes about his experiences. “France has become hell on earth, no way around it. Great tunnels in the dirt, piled high with bodies and you can’t tell a Jerry from a Brit from a Sammy. . . Death makes every soldier the same. Nobody is coming for those men, not to give them services or say a few words or even to bury them. The birds pluck out their eyes. . .” The soldier also writes, “I killed my first Jerry and threw up afterwards. . . My friend John took one in the gut, bad way to go. Took him hours to go west, and we were all freezing next to his body in a trench during that first long hour of hate.”
Araceli thinks back to the past. “The kids are protesting, shouting, waving signs. A shot rings out. The student leader goes down, bleeding from his head, and it’s all mayhem, all running and screaming.”
Someone tells the county sheriff to kill someone. The sheriff says, “You’re trying to give me a kill order? I can’t believe you think you bought me for fifty thousand.”
Araceli and her friends are trying to destroy mechanisms that create the ghost light. A man sees them and Araceli “rush[es] toward him, and everything else is instinct. With the hammer, I knock whatever he has out of his hand, and then I swing again, as hard as I can, right upside his head. His body goes flying, tumbling down the hill and into the water with an ominous splash.” The man dies.
Araceli and her friends are chased by guards who shoot at them. Araceli’s “heart thunders in my ears as more bullets spray the area. I get stung on a ricochet and a sharp pain slices across my calf. Shit, it hurts. . .” One of her friends is shot. “His voice comes out liquid with blood and breathy from his struggle for air. . . Jackson gives me a sad smile, his teeth stained with blood. . . He goes limp in my arms. . . Jackson’s blood is all over the soil and the stones, staining my hands and the suit he made to protect us.” The scene takes place over seven pages.
After Araceli’s friend dies, she jumps on an ATV and tries to escape. The guards, “snap shots at me as they can, but it’s not as easy from the back of an ATV, firing at a moving vehicle.” She crashes, and a man “twists my arms behind me and binds my wrists with what feels like a zip tie, then drags me out of sight. . .I taste blood from where my lips split against my teeth.” The man gags her and then puts her in a cell. The scene takes place over 4 pages.
Over a radio, Araceli hears “the sound of a Taser discharging and the impact of a fist hitting flesh.”
As Araceli and Dr. Perry try to get to the lab’s control room, Dr. Perry “slams into three guards coming around the corner. His weapon flies out of his hand. . .” Araceli shoots a guard in the belly and “the guard screams and topples over. . .” Dr. Perry shoots a guard. Later Dr. Perry shoots two more guards “neatly, two chest shots, two clean kills.” Eventually, someone shoots Dr. Perry. “Slugs slam into the blocks, shaking the cement. . . He’s down, bleeding from several wounds. . . He manages to shoot three of the four, and I fire on the last one while he’s reloading. . .” Dr. Perry dies. The scene takes place over four pages.

Drugs and Alcohol

As Araceli goes through town, she thinks about her past homes. “I can’t remember ever living in a freestanding house. There will be no rooftop garden parties here, no barbeques that draw out the neighbors so that we grill whatever’s on hand, and I take beer from the cooler without anyone asking how old I am.”
While in the past, Araceli goes to a Halloween party and gets drunk.
Araceli goes into a pizza place where some adults are drinking beer.
A girl’s mother is put on depression medication after her son disappears.
In a letter, a soldier says that while passing through England, they stopped at a town and some men got “puking drunk.”
When a boy is teaching Araceli to drive, he tells her, “You’re going really slow. If you’re not careful, you’ll get pulled over. Only people who are slightly high drive this much below the limit.”
Araceli is given a document that has information about the Heartwood box. A researcher had an “unfortunate addiction to hallucinogenic drugs.”
Araceli sends a note to the past, but wonders if the person receiving it, “was stoned when he got my note, laughed and rolled a joint with it.”
A boy’s grandfather only talked about a girl he once loved when he “had a little to drink.”

Language

Profanity is used often. Profanity includes ass, asshole, bitching, crap, damn, dammit, fricking hell, holy shit, piss, pissed, shit.
Araceli meets a boy and thinks that he is “kind of a dick.”
When Logan’s father gets home, he yells at his wife and asks, “Where the hell is he? I told him to come straight home from school and look after the fucking yard.”
OMG is used twice. Oh my god is used six times. Oh god and Oh Lord are both used once.
When her aunt gives her snacks after school, Araceli thinks, “I swear to God, I’m starting to like pretending I’m five. . .”
Araceli describes her mood as, “grumpy as hell.”
Araceli thinks, “I’ve experienced some shit in my life, but I can’t say I ever lived in a haunted house. Until now.” Later she thinks, “This house is so damn haunted.”
A boy is wearing a shirt that says, “Get in line B*tches.”

Supernatural

While in her aunt’s house and at school, Araceli feels a chill. She also feels as if someone is watching her.
Araceli has vivid dreams where she goes into the past and can interact with a World War I soldier. When she is dreaming, no other people can see or hear her besides the soldier. However, after one dream a picture of World War I changes. When she dreams, she can find the soldier because “there was a tug. . . I feel that same pull now, delicate and tenuous. . .”
Araceli goes into the attic, and “before I get to the pull cord, it’s tugged by an invisible hand until the distinctive click, and the light flares on.”
Araceli finds a treasure box that allows her to communicate with a World War I soldier. They write letters back and forth. Araceli also puts small objects like mint and antibiotic ointment into the box.
The town has “ghost lights” that make people slip into another time.
When people disappear, their loved ones leave out food for them, which also disappears.

Spiritual Content

When Araceli wakes up after being asleep for days, her aunt says, “Thank God.”
Araceli thinks about her parents who “aren’t religious. My mom’s agnostic and my dad is a lapsed Catholic, so I was baptized and that’s about it. . . We go to mass once a year at Christmas, and it’s a somber occasion in most of the countries I’ve lived in.”
Araceli goes to church with a friend, but the service is not described. While there, a woman says, “Everyone is welcome in God’s house.”

Spy Runner

Jake McCauley is proud to be an American. He’s proud of his country because America is a country where liberty, justice, and truth prevail. Everyone must do their part to keep America free from communists. Everyone—his classmates, his teachers, and the adults around him—are on the lookout for communist and Russian spies.

But Jake has another reason to fear Russia. His father went missing 12 years ago during World War II. Jake is convinced that the Russians took his dad to a secret facility. Every morning, when his class says the pledge of allegiance, Jake secretly says another pledge— “I pledge to save my dad from the Russians and bring him home so my dad and mom and I can be a regular family like we’re supposed to be in America.”

From the very first page, Spy Runner captures the reader’s attention and takes them on a heart-stopping, action-packed journey where no one can be trusted—not even those closest to Jake. When Jake’s mom takes in a Russian boarder, Jake is determined to prove the man is a spy. Jake uses all the knowledge he’s gained from the Spy Runner comic books to stalk his target and accidentally finds himself caught up in a world of intrigue—a world he doesn’t understand. Soon the Russian spy, G-men, and a fat man with gold teeth are all hot on Jake’s trail. Jake must face unexpected enemies, men who are willing to kill, and even his own classmates.

Through Jake’s eyes, readers will gain a new understanding of the Cold War and the paranoia that surrounded communism. As Jake is persecuted by his own classmates, he comes to understand that anyone can be considered a communist; even those who have the audacity to discuss the constitution. Although Spy Runner shows the atmosphere of the time, the story is light on historical details that would help younger readers fully understand the Cold War. Though a highly entertaining story, Yelchin’s story parallels the current political climate and highlights the dangers of having a divided country.

Spy Runner moves quickly, and throughout Jake’s journey, he is beaten, battered, and almost killed several times. Jake continues to run from the adults who are trying to help him—mostly because he believes everything that he has read in spy comics and he had no idea who to trust. Younger readers will relate to Jake’s inability to know what to do, and his desire to do what is right. Spy Runner is an action-packed story that has more suspense than violence and will keep readers guessing until the very end. Because the story details the paranoia and propaganda of the cold war, Spy Runner is best suited for middle-grade readers.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

After a Russian man moves into Jake’s house, his classmates think Jake is a “dirty communist” and beat him up. “Duane was on his back, flailing his arms, and Jake straddling his chest, leaned away so as not to be hit in the face. . . Duane yanked his hand from Jake and when he let it go, Duane’s fist bounced back, whacking himself hard on the nose.” During the fight, “Jake thrashed under the blows of the boys’ sharp fists and knees and elbows. . . The boys scattered, leaving Jake rolled into a quivering ball in the aisle.”
When the Russian man, Shubin, leans back in a rocking chair, Jake “slid his foot below the rocker blade nearer to him, and gave it a slight push upward. He missed seeing Shubin go down because he was shooting back to where he sat before, but he did hear the crash.
Men in a Buick chase Jake. When Jake hides in an alley, someone “yanked him toward the wall. A large hand slapped over his mouth, stifling his scream. The Buick burst into the alley. The person squashed Jake against his body and stepped into the shadows. The Buick roared by.”
Jake snatches an envelope from a man named Bull. “Then all at once a sharp pain shot through Jake’s chest. Somehow he was not standing anymore but lying on the sidewalk, and Bull was looming over him, and the envelope was under his arm again.” The contents of the envelope fall out and both Jake and Bull tried to pick them up. “Bull’s left hand did something to Jake again. Sharp pain shooting through Jake’s chest made him blackout, and when he opened his eyes, he was ten feet way from Bull, flat on his back, wedged between the trash can and the lamppost.”
While his friend is in a parade, Jake tries to get his attention, but “a trombone slide bashed him from behind and he dropped the baton and went down. . .” A float almost runs over him, but he isn’t injured.
After a man overhears Shubin talking about the constitution, the man “accidentally” shoves a hot bowl of beans into his lap.
Someone smacks Jake over the head and kidnaps him. When Jake wakes up, “The left side of his face was throbbing with pain. He tried to rub at his temple, but could not lift his arms. A thick rope twined around his arms, chest, thighs, and shins, bounding them to the folding chair.” When agents arrive, shots are fired, and “Jake’s eyes darted from the window toward Bull’s thick, stubby fingers, bleeding from the shattered glass, and watched in horror as they closed around [Jake’s] neck. Bull’s thumbs kneaded the front of Jake’s throat, feeling for something, found it, and began pressing down on his windpipe, first lightly then harder and harder.” There are more gunshots before the agents are able to free Jake.
Jake causes the car he’s riding in to crash. “The Cadillac careened across the center lane. . . The windshield buckled, sagged inward, and exploded into a million sparking fragments. Another vehicle smashed into the Cadillac from the rear. The Cadillac spun in place, flinging shards of glass in all directions.” When help arrives, Jake sees the man’s body being passed through the gaping windshield.”
While at his house, Bull breaks in. “Startled, Jake peered at the enormous white potbelly sagging over the handle of a gun stuck behind the trousers’ belt. Before he could scream, Bull snatched Jake by the shirtfront, yanked him into the room, whooshed him round, and squashed his neck in the crook of his arm. . . Jake thrashed wildly in Bull’s iron grip. A flash. A loud blast. The ceiling globe exploded. Bull crushed Jake’s neck harder. . . Choking, Jake grasped Bull’s forearm with both hands, trying to push the gun away from his mother. The gun went off again.” As others try to help Jake, “rapid gunfire popped from several directions. A bullet whizzed by and slugged into the wall above Jake’s head, spraying plaster in all directions.” Bull is eventually handcuffed and taken away. No one is seriously injured. The scene takes place over five pages.

Drugs and Alcohol

When Jake is kidnapped, he sees “drained beer bottles” in the place he is being held.
A person tells Jake about a conversation he had with Jake’s father “over a cold beer.”

Language

Heck is used three times; damn, darn, and crap are all used once.
Jake’s mom and a man were carrying a trunk. When the trunk slips out of Jake’s mom’s hand, the man says, “What the hell?”
Jake thinks the Russian man is “clearly a jerk.” Later, the Russian says that some of the kids that hit Jake were “jerks.”
Jake calls his friend a fool.
When Jake’s mom sees Jake injured, she asks, “My God, who did this to you?”
A man tells Jake, “aircrafts are better than people. Better than those morons who are supposed to protect them, that’s for damn sure.”

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

None

Attack at the Arena

Mr. Whittaker finds a mysterious letter inside the Imagination Station. The letter leads Patrick and Beth to fifth-century Rome on a quest to find a special cup that belongs to a monk. The cousins jump back in time and end up at the Roman Colosseum.

Before long, Beth and Patrick are separated. Patrick meets Telemachus, a monk, who believes fighting is wrong. Telemachus wants the emperor to end the gladiator battles. Telemachus guides Patrick as he looks for his cousin.

Meanwhile, Beth is mistaken as a slave and is sent to serve in the emperor’s palace. As the Emperor’s servant, Beth must attend Emperor Honorius’s gladiator battle. Patrick also attends as a monk’s apprentice but is captured and sent to fight in the arena. Will Patrick be able to survive?

History is incorporated into the story through Telemachus, Emperor Honorius, and the arena fighting. The story describes the horrors of the arena fighting in child-friendly terms and leaves out graphic violence. After reading the story, many may want to know more about ancient Rome.

Attack at the Arena has a fast-paced, action-packed plot with a strong message of faith. Since lessons in faith are delivered through the monk Telemachus, the lessons do not come across as preachy. Instead, readers will see how Telemachus lives his faith. Through Telemachus’s actions, the reader will learn that, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for a friend.”

Readers who enjoy The Magic Tree House will want to add Attack at the Arena to their reading list. Both series have likable characters, mystery, and time travel. However, Attack at the Arena teaches how God can change people. This book is the second installment of The Imagination Station Series; as each book builds on the previous story, readers should read Voyage with the Vikings first. The interesting plot will keep readers turning the page until the very last page.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

When Patrick and Beth go back in time, they land in an arena with a tiger. The tiger “crouched down like a cat searching for a mouse. Its eyes burned bright. It ran straight toward Patrick.” Someone uses a whip to scare the tiger away.
A soldier sees Beth and “picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.” He takes her to the palace to work as a slave.
A soldier thinks Patrick is trying to help Beth escape. The soldiers “grabbed his arms. They roughly pulled him back.” One of the soldiers “pulled out a shiny sword. . . He pointed the sword at Patrick.”
A man hears soldiers coming to capture him. When the monk tells the man to hide, the man instead “pulled the knife out of his belt. He pointed it at Telemachus (the monk).” The man steals a chalice and then flees.
A soldier thinks Patrick is trying to help Beth escape again. He “picked him up and threw him into a wood cart. . . Patrick fell onto the bottom of the cart. His face was in the mud and straw.” Patrick is taken to the arena.
At the arena, “Slaves fought the wild creatures. The men screamed and ran when the animals attacked.”
Patrick and other prisoners are forced to fight in the arena. At the emperor’s signal, “prisoners began to fight each other. Each man battled for his life. An old prisoner quickly knocked Patrick’s knife out of his hand.”

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

Mr. Whittaker has an Imagination Station that allows Beth and Patrick to travel back in time. When they get into the Imagination Station, “the machine jerked forward. Patrick felt as if he were on the subway. . . The machine whirled. Suddenly, everything went black.”
Mr. Whittaker also has a ring that “you can only see it when my hand is in the machine.”

Spiritual Content

The monk tells a soldier, “All children belong to God.”
The monk tells Patrick, “God may let you find your friend later.”
The monk tells Patrick that he is in Rome because “God told me to come here.” The monk didn’t know why God wanted him in Rome, but “it is for me to obey and go.” Later, the monk goes to the arena for the same reason. The monk says that God told him to go, “in my prayers this morning.”
The monk tells Patrick, “there are no what ifs? with God. When He speaks, we’re to listen and obey.”
The emperor, Honorius, says he is Christian and that “by law the emperor must be a Christian.”
The monk tells the people watching the fighting, “In the name of Jesus who shed His blood for us. . . don’t take pleasure in the bloodshed! Stop—in the name of Christ—stop!”

Refugee

Three kids. Three different time periods. Three refugee families flee their countries. Each family faces unimaginable dangers. But they have no choice but to press on and hope for a better tomorrow. Although decades separate them, they discover that they are all connected in the end.

Joseph is a Jewish boy living in 1930’s Nazi Germany. His family boards a ship set for Cuba. They hope to avoid the concentration camps and certain death. But will a country on the other side of the world take them in, or will they be sent away?

Isabel is a Cuban girl in 1994. Her family faces hunger, violence, and an uncertain future. But when her father is threatened with jail, the family sets out on a homemade raft. They hope to make it to Miami. Can they make it to America and keep their family together?

Mahmoud is a Syrian boy in 2015. His country is being torn apart by war. Violence, death, and destruction are everyday occurrences. When his family’s neighborhood is destroyed by bombs, they head towards Europe. Can they safely make it to a country that welcomes refugees?

Refugee sheds light on the historical and political aspects of each time period. Readers will learn about Kristallnacht, The Night of the Broken Glass, as well as the history of how the war in Syria began with Assad bombing his own people. Isabel’s story also explains the U.S. policy of “Wet Foot, Dry Foot.” The end of the book has historical information as well as a section on what readers can do to help.

Each section of the story is told from a young person’s point of view. This gives the book a tragic feeling because none of the young people have any control over the events that lead to their need to flee. The harrowing story of each family does not shy away from the harsh realities of the time period. Each family has stories of cruelty, violence, and death, which are often described in graphic and frightening detail.

The goodness of random strangers is seldom. However, in Josef’s story, a Hitler Youth protects Joseph, and the captain and most of the crew of the ship treat the Jews with respect. The story shows how small deeds can make a huge impact. Even though the story shows the kindness of a few, cruelty and violence overshadow the kindness in the book.

As Mahmoud and his family try to escape the violence, he realizes that it was easy for people to forget about the refugees until “refugees did something they didn’t want them to do—when they tried to cross the border into their country, or slept on the front stoops of their shops, or jumped in front of their cars, or prayed on the decks of their ferries—that’s when people couldn’t ignore them any longer.” Mahmoud struggles with wanting to stay invisible but wondering if he needs to be visible. “If you were invisible, the bad people couldn’t hurt you, either. If you stayed invisible here, did everything you were supposed to, and never made waves, you would disappear from the eyes and minds of all the good people out there who could help you get your life back.”

The publisher recommends Refugee for readers as young as nine, but younger readers may be upset by the horrors of war and the tragic decisions the families must make in order to survive. Younger readers who are interested in World War II may want to begin with the books Lifeboat 12 or Resistance, which also tell compelling stories without the graphic violence.

Refugee is an engaging story that brings the suffering of refugees to light. The situations that the characters face are emotional, but the characters could be better developed. Since each chapter focuses on a different family, the story was often disjointed. Some readers may have a difficult time following a story that changes characters every chapter. The book shows the reasons the family left but doesn’t mention the difficulties that countries face when dealing with thousands of refugees coming into their country.

Although the story is easy to read, the book’s emotional impact is hard-hitting. Refugee takes the reader on a harrowing journey where each family must deal with a tragic loss of life and cruelty from others. Refugee shows how families have been impacted in past and current times. The story gives voice to the current refugee crises and shows the desperation of people who want to live without fear of death.

Sexual Content

While in Havana, Isabel sees “couples kissing under palm trees.”
Isabel’s grandfather flirts with a young girl. He tells her, “Your face must be Summer, because you’re making me sweat!” Isabel knew that “Lito was giving her piropos, the flirtatious compliments Cuban men said to women on the street.”

Violence

During WWII, Nazis break into Josef’s home and “threw him to the floor. Another shadow picked up Ruth by the hair and slapped her. ‘Be quiet!” the shadow yelled, and it tossed Ruth down on the floor beside Joseph.” The strangers trash the house, gather his family into the living room, and arrest his father.
A group of Hitler Youth attack Josef after school. The group “fell on him, hitting and kicking him for being a Jew, and calling him all kinds of names.”
During a medical check, Josef’s father becomes agitated and starts mumbling. Josef “slapped his father across the face. Hard.” Josef tells his father that the medical examiner is “a Nazi in disguise. He decides who goes back to Dachau. He decides who lives or dies. . . .” Josef’s father is scared into silence.
Crew members ransack the room of Josef’s family. “They swept Mama’s makeup and perfume off the vanity and smashed the mirror . . . they tore the head off Ruthie’s stuffed bunny.”
While in a concentration camp, Josef’s father says how the Nazis choose one man to drown every night. “They would tie his ankles together and his hands behind his back and tie a gag around his mouth, and then they would hang him upside down, with his head in a barrel. Like a fight. . . They would fill the barrel with water. Slowly. So they could enjoy the panic. So they could laugh. . . He would thrash around and breathe water until he drowned. Drowned upside down.
Josef’s father jumps into the ocean and when a policeman tries to help him, Josef’s father yells, “Let me die! Let me die!” Josef’s father survives.
A group of men tries to take over the ship. One of the passengers slam “the helmsman and sends him tumbling to the floor. The mutineers quickly surrounded the other sailors, threatening them with their makeshift clubs.”
When Cuba sends the ship away, a policeman “swept the gun back and forth, and the other policemen drew their pistols and did the same.” The captain is able to convince the passengers not to attack the police.
While he is running from Nazis, soldiers shoot at Josef. “A pistol cracked, and a bullet blew the bark off a tree less than a meter away. Josef stumbled again in panic, righted himself, and kept running.” Josef and his mother are caught and taken to a concentration camp.
Boys attack Mahmoud’s friend because he is a Shia Muslim. “. . . Khalid had been curled into a ball on the ground, his hands around his head while the other boys kicked him. . . With a battle cry that would have made Wolverine proud, Mahmoud had launched himself at Khalid’s attacker. And he had been beaten up as badly as Khalid.”
Mahmoud’s mother was a nurse who came home “every day with horror stories about people she’d helped put back together. Not soldiers—regular people. . . Children with missing limbs.”
Mahmoud’s entire neighborhood is bombed. “The walls of his apartment exploded, blasting broken bits of concrete and glass through the room. . . His breath left him all at once and he fell to the floor with a heavy thud in a heap of metal and mortar.” No one in his family is seriously injured.
While trying to escape, Syrian armed soldiers stop the car at gunpoint and then pile in the backseat. As they are traveling, “gunfire erupted. .. and bullets pinged into the car.” One of the soldiers is killed. “Mahmoud screamed again and pushed the man away . . .” The scene is described over four pages. The family hides in a ditch until they can escape.
The rubber dinghy that Mahmoud and other refugees are in pops. “The cold water was like a slap in Mahmoud’s face. . . He tumbled backward, head down in the murky water, his arms and feet thrashing, trying to right himself. Something else—someone else—fell on top of him, pushing him deeper down into the water.” Later Mahmoud takes a life jacket off of a dead man so that he and his mother do not die.
As Mahmoud and his mother tread water, they grab onto a dinghy. A man “reached down and tried to pry Mahmoud’s hand from the dinghy. . . He sobbed with the effort of fighting off the man’s fingers and hanging onto the dinghy.” A woman takes Mahmoud’s baby sister but leaves Mahmoud and his mother behind. They survive.
A taxi driver pulls a gun on Mahmoud’s family and demands money.
When a group of refugees swarm the Hungarian border, soldiers “hurried to stop them, firing tear gas canisters into the crowd. . . Mahmoud’s eyes burned like someone had sprayed hot pepper juice in them, and mucus poured from his nose. He choked on the gas, his lungs seized up. He couldn’t breathe. . .” Many of the refugees are arrested and taken to a detention center.
While being taken to a detention center, Mahmoud’s dad yells at a soldier, who then “whacked him in the back with his nightstick, and Mahmoud’s father collapsed to the ground. . . He kicked Mahmoud’s father in the back, and another soldier hit Mahmoud’s father again and again with his stick.”
While in town in Cuba, people riot in the streets. People “yelled and chanted. They threw rocks and bottles.” Isabel sees her father “just as he reared back and threw a bottle that smashed into the line of police along the seawall.” When the police catch her father, a policeman beats him. The scene plays out over four pages.
As a group tries to flee Cuba, “a pistol rang out again over the waves. . . The police were shooting at them.” The boat is hit, but no one is injured.
While Iván is cooling off in the ocean, a shark bites him. “The water around Ivan became a dark red cloud, and Isabel screamed. . . Iván’s right leg was a bloody mess. There were small bites all over it, as though a gang of sharks had attacked all at once. Raw, red, gaping wounds exposed the muscle underneath his skin.” Iván dies.
Before Iván’s body is pushed into the ocean, someone shoots a shark. “The shark died in a bloody, thrashing spasm, and the other sharks that had been following the boat fell on it in a frenzy.”

Drugs and Alcohol

Joseph sees a man, who “staggered a little, bumping into things as he tried to move through the tight little room. Joseph had seen drunk people leaving pubs in Berlin the same way.”
When Josef’s mother goes to the doctor to get a sleeping draught for her husband, she “told the doctor the sleeping draught was for me. . . and he made me—made me take it right there.”

Language

When the Nazis break into Josef’s house, one of the men laughs because “the boy’s pissed himself.”
A group of kids are called “Jewish rats.”
At a funeral, Josef’s father says, “At least he didn’t have to be burning in the hell of the Third Reich.”
“Oh, God” is used an exclamation once. “Oh, my God” is also used as an exclamation once.

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

Mahmoud and his family practice the Muslim faith. The prayer ritual is described through Mahmoud’s actions.
Mahmoud’s father says, “God will guide us.”
After taking a lifejacket off a dead man, Mahmoud says a prayer. “Oh God, forgive this man, and have mercy on him and give him strength and pardon him. Be generous to him and cause his entrance to be wide and wash him with water and snow and hail. Cleanse him of his transgressions. . .Take him into Paradise, and protect him from the punishment of the grave and from the punishment of hellfire.”
Mahmoud’s family and other refugees pray. Mahmoud “recited the first chapter of the Qur’an, Mahmoud thought about the words. Thee alone we worship, and thee alone we ask for help. Show us the straight path.”
After Joseph’s apartment is bombed, his mother cries, “Thank God you’re alive!”
During a funeral, a rabbi says a prayer, and “the mourners said together, ‘Remember, God, that we are of dust.’”
When Iván dies, his mother wants “to say something. A prayer. Something. I want God to know Iván is coming.”

Lifeboat 12

Life for thirteen-year-old Ken is difficult. His father is out of work. He thinks his step-mum dislikes him. He often gets into trouble, and the Nazis are bombing his city. But when he is given the chance to be evacuated with ninety other boys and girls, Ken isn’t excited. He wants to stay home. However, Ken’s father says he’s lucky to be chosen to go to Canada aboard the SS City of Benares.

When the children board the luxury ship, Ken can’t believe his good luck. He’s making new friends, eating delicious food, and doesn’t have to endure his stepmom’s glares. When the ship is 600 miles from shore, everyone thinks they’re safe. They’re wrong.

Five days after they leave port, an explosion rocks the ship. They’ve been torpedoed. With the

Baranes sinking quickly, Ken rushes to Lifeboat 12. Ken, five other boys, one woman, and 39 men are all crammed onto one lifeboat. Will Lifeboat 12 be rescued? If not, how will they survive lost in the ocean?

Lifeboat 12 is a gripping story that will keep readers turning pages until the very end. Beautifully written in free verse, every word develops the characters and advances the plot. The author uses alliteration, onomatopoeia, and sense words to give a clear, sharp picture of World War II. Hood describes the events of World War II without showing the gory details of death while keeping the intensity of danger at the forefront.

The story is told from Ken’s point of view and is divided into three sections—Escape, Afloat, and Rescue. Each section describes Ken’s day-by-day experiences. Since the story is told from a thirteen-year-old’s perspective, the descriptions remain appropriate for even younger readers. Ken’s thoughts and emotions add to the intensity of the story and allow the reader to understand his conflicting emotions. The conflict will keep readers engaged; they will want to know if Ken survives his harrowing experience.

Although Ken’s story is fictionalized, the events and many of the character’s words are based on Hood’s research. Even though the story is filled with historical information, the book never sounds like a history book. Instead, Ken’s experiences and observations bring history to life in an engaging story that is difficult to put down.

Hood’s research, which appears at the end of the story, includes more information about Lifeboat 12, photos of the children, and a list of survivors. The research also includes information about the Lascars. Seeing the pictures and reading Hood’s interview notes has an emotional impact on the reader as it is impossible to deny the horrors and the kindness of people. For readers who would like more information about the topic, the book contains a list of interesting websites and videos.

Even though the devastation of World War II is clear, Lifeboat 12 shows the courage and kindness of others. Ken said, “I survived thanks to the kindness of people I didn’t know, people who were all different, people who wanted to help.” Lifeboat 12 is a suspenseful, gripping story that everyone should read, not only for the historical value but because it is a captivating story that will leave you gripping the edge of your seat. Ken’s story will remain with readers for a long time to come.

Sexual Content

While hiding, Ken hears a woman say, “Sweetheart, of course I love you! But don’t kiss me here! It’s not proper.”

Violence

The Nazis bomb England several times; however, the bombing is not described in detail. The first time the bombs drop, Ken hears “Boom!” He knows the bombs are close because “blasts shatter the air. The earth shudders. Margaret wails.” The families “huddle under the table. Blasts flash in the dark, momentarily exposing the fear on our faces as the table jumps and the cutlery rattles.”
During one air-raid Ken’s family goes to a shelter. The shelter is “damp and dark inside, lit only by a candle stuck in a flowerpot, casting eerie shadows on the wall. . . My family and I hunker down, listen to the drone of the planes, the ack ack ack of the antiaircraft guns, then the high-pitched whistle and BAM! Of the bombs.”
The ship that Ken is on is torpedoed. “BAM! I jolt awake, jumping up in the dark. The floor shudders, the night split with sounds of splintering wood, creaking metal, clattering glass. Then nothing.” As the boat is being evacuated, “two more explosions flash in the night, the light exposing a horror show—people clinging to overturned lifeboats, swimming to overloaded rafts, grabbing at floating deck chairs with flailing arms beseeching hands.” The boat eventually sinks.
One of the chaperones tells a story about a fictional character, the hero sees a prisoner who “was bent over in pain, a torture device called a thumbscrew beside the coded papers on the table.” The hero “crashes through the window and knocked over the candle. Bulldog landed a punch; Peterson went down. . . Bulldog slung the prisoner over his shoulder. . . and ran through the door. . .”
One of the men jumps into the ocean even though he can’t swim. Some men try to reach him, “but the waves whisk him away. He surfaces again, coughing and calling, but he’s too far gone. . . with a one-two punch from the sea, he goes down, for the last time.”

Drugs and Alcohol

One of the chaperones tells a story about a fictional character whose drink had been drugged, causing him to pass out.

Language

None

Supernatural

When someone tries to catch a seagull to eat, a man says, “harming a seabird is bad luck, is what it is. . . They carry the souls of dead sailors. Kill one and it’ll be an albatross around all of our necks.”

Spiritual Content

“As the ship is being evacuated, people pray. Some pray to God. Others pray to Allah.”
One of the children’s chaperones is Father O’Sullivan. He tells someone “God be with you.”
Father O’Sullivan and the children, “say grace before and after our meal.”
One of the men says, “Allah the Compassionate will save us if He so wishes. Or He will send storms if He thinks it best. God is wise.”
While on the lifeboat, “my friend prays to Allah, and like many of his fellow crewmen, bows to the east five times a day.” Ken sees “other crewmen crossing themselves as Father does.”
When a ship is near, Father O’Sullivan tells the boys to pray. He says, “Come now, we must help the Lord lead that ship this way.”
When Ken sees an airplane, he “prayed like I’ve never prayed before.” Others pray as well.

Resistance

Chaya Linder is living in Nazi-occupied Poland. Her Jewish family is in danger. Her sister is deported to one of the camps and her brother disappears. After losing their two children, Chaya’s parents have given up hope. In an effort to make a difference, Chaya becomes a courier and travels between the ghettos of Poland. She takes lifesaving supplies like forged papers and food. Sometimes, she even smuggles out children.

When Chaya joins a resistance cell, she hopes to use the Nazis’ supplies to help her people. When a mission goes wrong, most of Chaya’s network is killed or captured. Alone, with nowhere to go, Chaya isn’t sure what to do. When Esther, a former member of her cell, appears, Chaya begins a journey to the Warsaw Ghetto where a large uprising is being planned. Chaya is determined to save as many lives as possible, even if she loses her own life. Her only desire is to live or die with honor.

Told from Chaya’s point of view, Resistance gives the reader a grim picture of the persecution Jews received during World War II. The story begins with suspense, which continually builds as Chaya survives her ordeals, while many of the other resistance members are killed. Many of the events are violent, and although they are not described in bloody detail, death is common. Although the publisher recommends the book for ages 8-12, the descriptions of death and torture would make this a difficult book for younger readers.

As Chaya’s world crumbles around her, the reader gets a better understanding of why some Jews did not fight back. Some of the Jewish people were so overcome by fear, or some didn’t believe the stories of the death camps, so they didn’t fight back. Others refused to fight because they believed that killing was wrong—even if they were fighting to save their own life. Several times in the story, the characters discuss the morality of killing the Nazi soldiers. In the end, the story makes it clear that leaving the Ghetto in order to survive, or staying in the Ghetto are both valid choices. “We’ll all die one day, no one escapes that fate. Our only decision is how we live before that day comes. Our path requires courage, but so does theirs. Both paths are ways to resist.”

As Chaya and Esther travel to Warsaw, they meet people from all lifestyles and religions. This helps the reader understand people’s different responses to the Jews. Some of the Poles ignored the problem, while others took advantage of the Jewish people, and even physically attacked them. Yet, there were still many Poles that risked their lives to help save the Jews. In the end, the story shows that there were evil people as well as good people who were willing to die fighting.

Resistance ends with the events of the Warsaw Uprising, which gives the reader a vivid description of the death of many civilians, and resistance fighters. The cruelty of the Nazis and the heroic deeds of the Jews are depicted. Although the story gives a historic perspective, sensitive readers may be upset by the death the surrounds Chaya and the Jewish people. Resistance ends with a list of the historical resistance fighters who fought for their people and should be considered heroes.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

Chaya’s father is stopped by a Polish police officer who, “ripped out pieces of my father’s beard, one fistful at a time. With every tear, my father grunted with pain, but he said nothing and offered no form of resistance. The crowd that had gathered pointed at him and laughed, as if humiliation and pain were some kind of joke.”
Chaya and some others were stealing provisions from a train car when “a gunshot rang through the night and Jukub yelped with pain.” Charya shot a Nazi soldier who was “running toward us with his pistol out, shouting for his comrades.”
The resistant fighters attack a café. One threw a grenade through the window. Soldiers, “began to emerge, many with obvious cuts on their faces or uniforms. They became the target of my first grenade. . . My third went inside the café and exploded with enough force to blow some of the bricks off the building.” The surviving Nazis began shooting, and Chaya “saw bodies in civilian clothes fall.”
Some of the resistance fighters who survived were sent to Montelupich Prison were, “If the Draengers were there, then they had experienced torture worse than anything I could imagine, and even what I could picture turned my stomach. They would be kept at the edge of death in an attempt to make them talk.”
While in a ghetto, Esther drops potatoes, and “two desperate women suddenly became five, and then all of them fought for anything that was left. To get it off Esther’s shoulders, one woman knelt on her back. They were suffocating Esther, but the only thing that seemed to be in their vision was the bag.”
When Chaya and Esther are trying to escape from a ghetto, a boy who is helping them is shot. “Henryk hadn’t yet shut the window before a bullet caught him from behind. He fell forward across the windowsill. . .”
When Esther is hiding in a barn, the Gestapo finds her. “Ester was hit again and probably knocked unconscious, because she made no other sounds.”
In order to create a distraction and save Esther, Chaya cuts the gas line to the Nazi’s trucks and then lights the gas on fire. The gas, “immediately ignited a booming fire that popped the truck’s hood open and set the engine aflame . . . The last truck exploded into the air with a booming sound that would be heard for kilometers around.”
When Chaya found Esther, she was tied to a tree’s trunk. When Chaya got closer, “I noticed the bruise was even worse than it appeared from a distance. There was a cut on her cheek too, and other smaller bruises on her neck and probably elsewhere that I couldn’t see.” Esther’s arm was injured as well.
Esther recounts what the Gestapo did to her. She was put in a dark room, and “someone slapped me or hit me to get my attention, and they were telling me what would happen if I didn’t talk.”
The end of the story focuses on the Warsaw uprising, the description of the battle is told over ten chapters. The resistance fighters throw Molotov Cocktails on the soldiers. When the first explosives were thrown, “bodies fell, and the troops who survived it scattered.” During the battle, Esther threw a “fuel-filled wine bottle” onto a tank, and “the top hatch burst open like a popped cork. Flames shot from within the tank.”
During the battle, the Nazis “found the hospital. . . They killed everyone inside. Revenge for our fighting.” How the patients died was not described, but Chaya thinks, “I didn’t want to know, or think about it.”
The Nazis have a long-barrel machine gun that they use to kill the Jews. A sniper killed the gunner, “who kneeled over his gun, dead.” Chaya throws a grenade at the vehicle and “the explosion knocked me off my feet.”
The Germans escorted civilians and “each was placed on their knees, row by row by row. . . A fighter rose from her knees with a gun. . . She took aim at one of the commanding officers and fired, hitting him squarely in the chest.” Then an officer “gave the order to shoot and every Jew on the street was killed.”
Chaya is shot in the leg. When she looks at the wound, she “saw blood spurting from my thigh, almost like everything was happening in sudden slow motion.”
When a SS officer sees Chaya, “his hand unfolded, revealing a grenade. . . He pulled the pin and raised his arm to throw it. Then a bullet whizzed past my ear, hitting the grenade itself, which exploded in his hand.”
German soldiers would throw poison gas grenades into the sewer system, just in case Jews were hiding in there. As Chaya and a group were trying to escape, poisoned gas was thrown into the sewer, and “Then I heard a splash, and in the light beneath the manhole, I saw Mr. Pilzer’s body go down. He didn’t fall like a dead body would. Instead, he used himself as a shield from the gas, deliberately spreading out his clothes to contain as much of the smoke as possible.”
Esther intentionally leads a soldier away from a group of Jews. “A few minutes later, the silent darkness was broken by a single shot fired inside the sewer line.”

Drugs and Alcohol

Several times during religious services, people passed around wine.
Chaya thinks that on Adolf Hitler’s birthday, he probably had, “a hearty slice of birthday cake to go with a glass of wine.”

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

As Chaya and Esther were hiding from Nazi soldiers, Chaya was upset that Esther did not do a better job as a lookout. Chaya thought, “Even God wouldn’t expect me to forgive her.”
During Shabbat, Chaya, “covered my eyes with my hands, giving myself a private moment with God to ask for healing, happiness, and prosperity.”
Chaya and Esther are about to take a trip, and Esther thinks the snow is a warning. Esther said, “Maybe God is telling us to wait one more evening.” Chaya replies, “Maybe God is offering to cover our tracks if we hurry.”
One of the characters tells Chaya, “The greater our need, the nearer our God, no?” A boy replies, “And God is very near now.”
Chaya asks a group of teens if they will try to escape the ghetto. A boy tells her, they will remain because “We’ve given our lives to God. Whatever happens to us now is alright.” The group discusses the moral implications of staying or trying to escape to fight. One of the group members tells Chaya, “The highest honor we can give God is to die in His name.” Another character said, “Defending one’s life in the moment is allowed. But killing them is different. That’s murder!”
Chaya and Esther discuss their belief in God and his promises. Chaya said, “I believe in God’s promises. . . But I’ve run out of patience waiting for them. I believe in God’s laws, but. . .” They also discuss if killing Nazis is murder. One of Chaya’s friends believed that “God has given us the right to defend ourselves.”
When Chaya and Esther miss Shabbat, Ester is upset. Chaya tells her, “God will understand, Esther! He understands why we missed Shabbat, and why I wear the crucifix. He understands the gun inside my bag, and if I have to use it again, then I hope He will understand that too . . .”
The evening before Passover, a group discussed God. One of the men, Tamir, gave encouraging words, “Didn’t Moses once say to our people, ‘Be strong and courageous! God is the one Who goes with you.” Chaya thinks that Tamir was “giving praise and honor to a God who might not save him from his fate. But he did so, confident that this coming fight was worthy of God’s blessings.”
Esther found a belt buckle in one of the Nazi soldier’s bags. The buckle had an “eagle standing on top of the Nazi swastika” with the words “God With Us.” Chaya thinks about how the Christians are beginning to prepare for Easter. She thinks, “how could these soldiers commit such atrocities on this day, all while wearing an emblem that suggested God supported their actions?”
An escaped prisoner tells Chaya, “Hitler wants no Gods other than himself.”

Mac Undercover

Mac Barnett is just an ordinary kid growing up in the 1980s. Then the phone rings. It’s the Queen of England. And she needs Mac’s help. The Crown Jewels have been stolen and the Queen of England wants Mac to find them. Mac, the newest secret agent, takes a trip to England, where he meets the Queen in the Tower of London. From there, Mac travels around the globe looking for the stolen treasure. Will the kid spy be able to find the treasure?

Mac Undercover will entertain even the most reluctant readers with its fast-paced plot, interesting characters, and funny historic facts. Short sentences and simple vocabulary will help readers build confidence. Readers will understand Mac’s disappointment when he’s not invited to a karate birthday party and laugh at his secret identities. Every page contains large blue and gold illustrations that add to the humor of the story. As the story unfolds, readers will learn historical facts, geography, and word origins. Each new fact is integrated into the story in a seamless manner, which makes learning fun.

Mac tells his own story with humor and puts a spotlight on the absurd. Younger readers will love the adventure, intrigue, and corgis. The only negative aspect of the story is that the French are portrayed in a stereotypical rude manner. Mac Undercover will leave readers in giggles and with some cool new knowledge.

Sexual Content

When Mac is exploring London, “two people with purple liberty spikes kissed against an ancient wall.”

Violence

The story includes historical facts such as how “Henry VIII kept many of his wives, friends, and relatives at the Tower of London, before he chopped off their heads.”
A KGB wanted to have a karate match with Mac. The KGB Man “twisted my arm behind my back and pushed my face into the carpet . . . The KGB Man placed me in a vicious headlock. His bicep was lodged against my windpipe. I could hardly breathe.” Mac ends the match by licking the KGB Man’s arm.

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

None

Polaris

During the 1830s, the Polaris sets sail on a scientific mission to the Amazon jungle. The crew is excited to bring back new discoveries, but when the landing party returns, only half are alive. After an argument, the crew loads a chest into the bowels of the ship. After they begin their trip home, a bloody mutiny leaves most of the adult crew dead. Those who live, flee the ship, leaving six children—none of whom are older than twelve. The captain’s 12-year-old nephew Owen, a botanist’s assistant, and other deckhands struggle for survival. Soon they realize that the sea isn’t their only worry. Something else is lurking below deck, and it’s growing.

From the first page, Polaris will capture reader’s attention and they will not want to put the book down. With just the right mix of suspense and action, Polaris makes the fight for survival come to life. Full of realistic detail and nautical facts, readers will be pulled into the frightening atmosphere of Polaris. The story is appropriate for younger readers with tame battle scenes. This fast-paced story has well-developed characters that show the importance of working together despite the fact that they do not like each other. With a diverse cast of characters, an engaging plotline, and an epic battle scene, Polaris will not disappoint those looking for an excellent horror story. But be warned, the creepy creature may make its way into the nightmares of readers.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

A character thinks about a boy, who “had blown up trying to carry two cartridges (of gun powder) at once.”
A mutiny begins among the adult crew. The children listen to the fighting through a locked door and hear gunshots as well as someone being thrown into the sea. Then the boys hear, “three shots rang out in quick succession—the officer’s pistols. Shrieks of pain mixed with the shouts of rage, telling Owen that the rest of the work would be done with blades and hands.”
Owen shoots the creature. “Owen heard a quick sound behind him—tik-taclik! —like metal on bone.” Then, the boys pour boiling water on him. When the creature flees, someone stabs it with a spear.
When the creature snatches one of the boys, someone shoots the creature. “Per-KRACK went the pistol. A flash of flame and a billowing plume of smoke shot forth.”
A boy hits Owen over the head with a hatchet. Owen is not seriously injured.
When the creature tries to snatch another person, there is a fight that takes place over several pages. When someone shoots it, “the lead ball ricocheted off the thick armor plating of its thorax.” When Owen throws the pistol at it, “the butt of the pistol smacked heavily into what had been Obed’s forehead. The creature staggered backwards. . .” No one is injured.
The creature attacks the boys. The battle takes place over several chapters. During the battle, “A dark red rat-like creature emerged from the hatch, then a second, and then they all began to pour out. One dozen, two dozen.” The kids rig a device to blow up the ship after they have jumped off.

Drugs and Alcohol

Owen thinks about his uncle and father. “His uncle had taken him in after his mother’s death and his father’s descent into sorrow—and the bottle.”

Language

When the crewmembers discuss being infected with spores, someone thinks, “Oh God. . . What if it’s me?”

Supernatural

The children believe the ghost of Obed Macy is haunting the lower deck of the ship. They discuss if a Bible and cross will ward off the ghost.

Spiritual Content

During a storm, a character begins “the Lord’s prayer.”
A character prays, “Lord help us all.”

Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster

Orphaned as a child, Nan Sparrow is forced to work for a cruel chimney sweep named Wilkie Crudd. She and several other children toil day after day, sweeping out chimneys for nasty Mr. Crudd.

Cleaning chimneys is a dangerous job, and when Nan gets stuck in a chimney fire she thinks death is near. Instead, she wakes up in the house’s attic—and she’s not alone. A small piece of char has somehow come to life and needs Nan’s help to survive. Since everyone believes Nan died in the chimney fire, she takes advantage of her misfortune and decides to create a new life for herself and her monster, who she names Charlie.

From the very first page, Sweep captivates readers with beautiful writing that vividly displays the horrors of being a Victorian London chimney sweep. The story seamlessly flows back and forth between Nan’s life before she was orphaned, and her life afterward, when the man who took her in mysteriously disappears. Even though life with him was difficult, her life was full of love. The connection between Nan and the man (who is referred to as “the Sweep”) is deep and vibrant, and will leave readers curious to discover why the Sweep disappears.

The characters in this story are so well developed that every character’s unique personality shines through. As Nan begins to create a new life for Charlie and herself, she learns important life lessons. For example, while Nan would like to stay hidden from others, she eventually discovers that “We save ourselves by saving others.” Sweep’s suspenseful, surprising conclusion will leave readers in tears as they realize that cruelty and kindness are locked in a never-ending battle.

This story focuses on difficult topics such as poverty, child labor, and anti-Semitism. As Nan’s story unfolds, the difficult life of a child sweep in described in detail. Children faced harsh masters who fed them little, beat them, and sent them up chimneys where they were injured and sometimes died horrific deaths. One of the characters, Roger, became a sweep when his parents sold him. He turns into an unpleasant boy who dreams of becoming rich enough to buy his parents’ house so he can “raise the rent. Raise it so high, they’re put out on the streets.”

The publisher recommends Sweep for children as young as eight years old. However, this book contains long passages, difficult vocabulary, and shows humanity’s cruelty, which could be quite difficult for younger readers to handle. The book ends with historical information on sweeps, Victorian London, and a list of suggested books for readers curious to learn more. In this section, the author points out that, “today over 160 million children worldwide are forced into child labor. The battle is far from won.”

Sexual Content
• Master Crudd attends weddings. When Crudd said he wouldn’t be home for dinner, one of the kids teased, “Too busy kissing the brides for luck, eh, sir?”
• Nan tries to get other sweeps to march for a cause. One of the boys says, “Hammie’s just hopin’ to get a kiss from the flower girl on Hastings!”

Violence
• When Nan tries to grab her bowl of gruel, “a wooden spoon came down on her hand. She shrieked, clutching her fingers.” The woman caring for her told her she would not eat that day because she was late for breakfast.
• While cleaning a chimney, Nan gets stuck. In an attempt to get her out, Roger sets a fire. Nan shouted, “ ‘Roger, no—’ Her cries were cut off by a hollow whoof as the match hit the coals. Air sucked down through the chimney, like a beast drawing a deep breath. First came the smoke, a thick black tendril that slid up the flue and snaked around her neck. . . Next came the heat. It started as a prickling sensation on her back and heels, then spread up her legs. Within seconds, the warmth had turned to a blistering heat. . . Her entire body felt as if it were burning from the inside out.”
• Nan and the Sweep see “a pack of boys who were beating a smaller boy, calling him a ‘Jew.’” The Sweep chases the boys away.
• When Nan was little, she had a doll. A group of “young ladies” teased Nan and “one of the younger ladies snatched Charlotte (the doll) and waved her in the air . . . the doll circled and spun and then struck the ground with a sickening CRACK!”
• When a small boy drops a bag of soot, Roger “stomped up to Newt and struck him hard with the butt end of his broom.”
• Nan throws a snowball at Roger. “Perhaps it was her form, or perhaps it was her ire, but the snowball hit Roger with such force that the boy was knocked right off his feet and landed—splat—in the slushy gutter.”
• Master Crudd threatens to kill Nan and Charlie protects her. “Crudd gave a feral cry and lunged at Charlie, swinging the poker at his head. It connected with a dull crunch. Bits of sooty rubble feel to the floor.” Charlie grabs Crudd’s head and “Crudd screamed at the scorching touch. The room filled with acrid smell of burning hair, burning flesh. Charlie hoisted the man up and hurled him through the air . . . Crudd’s body smashed clear through the shuttered windows and into the frozen street.”
• When Nan was little, some men tried to put her in an orphanage. “The men grabbed the girl and locked her in a carriage. She had kicked out a loose board from the roof and climbed out to escape.”
• When the sweeps protest their work conditions, the master hits the kids. “The crowd gasped as the man brought the brush down on the boy with a thwap.” When people try to help the kids, “The sweeps—drunk and enraged—attacked anyone who touched them.” A riot breaks out.
• Master Crudd grabs Nan, and her friend tries to help, but “Whap! Crudd struck Toby in the face with his fist. The boy fell backwards and collapsed to the ground, unconscious.” In order to get away Nan, “threw her head forward—striking him straight in the nose.” Crudd chases her up a tower. “He reached out and snatched her ankle. . . She felt her grip break loose from the monument—And then Nan Sparrow fell . . . They struck the ground with tremendous force. The man died instantly.” Nan lays “bleeding on the street, moaning in pitiful agony, her body shattered beyond repair.” Charlie finds Nan and carries her away.

Drugs and Alcohol
• During a parade, the “master sweeps were already deep in their cups, enjoying free drinks in public houses all across the city.”
• A sweep “sounded drunk” when he yelled at his climbers. He said, “What do you ungrateful rats think yer doin?”

Language
• Roger calls a boy a “lazy maggot.”

Supernatural
• Master Crudd attends weddings because “everyone knew that paying a sweep to attend your wedding guaranteed years of happiness.”
• A piece of char comes to life. “Whatever happened inside that chimney must have changed the char—brought it to life.” The char, named Charlie, isn’t sure what it is, but he’s not a monster. Nan thinks Charlie is a golem, which is a “gabled monster in the Jewish tradition, a homunculus crafted from mud or clay and animated through Kabalistic ritual.” A teacher tells Nan that a golem is made when “a sage or rabbi–that is, a Jewish priest—forms a body out of mud or clay and then brings that creature to life with a sort of magic word called shem.” The teacher explains shem “is kind of like a spark. . . Some say the word is a true name of God.”
• Charlie accidentally breaks a bird’s egg. Charlie holds the egg and his hands, “were smoldering. His dark fingers crackled and began to glow red and then white. Smoke billowed from his open hands. . . And then Nan saw something that snatched the breath from her breast—The egg moved.” The bird pecks its way out of the egg, and although the bird’s wing is damaged, it’s alive.
• Charlie holds an acorn and “there was a smell of cracking embers. Charlie’s hands began to smolder, just as they had done with Dent’s eggs.” The acorn grows into a tree. After he makes the tree grow, his fingers, “did not bend. They did not crumble. It was like touching a statue.”
• Charlie holds Nan, injured and bleeding, in his arms. “Nan could feel a flicker of warmth spreading through her broken body, bringing her back. . . She could feel his arms turning rigid around her.” Charlie uses his magic to save Nan.
• When Nan buries an ember from Charlie’s body, “the snow beneath her boots melted to reveal black soil. And there, pushing up from the earth, were little shoots of green grass.”

Spiritual Content
• Nan befriends a Jewish teacher. Nan sees a Jewish prayer book in the teacher’s room. Nan tells the teacher what she has heard about Jewish people. “The way some folks talked about Jews, it seemed as if all the pains of the world were because of what they had done. She knew that wasn’t true though; she’d suffered plenty at the hands of God-fearing Christians.”
• Nan reads a poem about sweeps. In the poem, the sweeps, “rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind. And the Angel told Tom if he’d be a good boy, He’d have God for his father and never want joy.”
• Nan tells Charlie the story of baby Jesus, who was “born in a basket and how a wicked king tried to kidnap him but then a big bearded angel named Father Christmas fought the king. ‘And then he tossed the baby Jesus down the chimney of a girl named Mary, and that was the first Christmas present.’ ”
• The teacher celebrates Passover. She explains that “the Jewish people eat these things to remember when God delivered us from slavery in Egypt. . . Before the Jews escaped from Egypt, God sent an angel of death to the city. The angel visited the homes of the Egyptians and killed every firstborn child as they slept. It was punishment for the wickedness of their parents. The angled passed over the homes of the Jews and spared their children.”
• When the teacher meets Charlie, Nan asks, “Does it make you believe in God?” The teacher replies, “It makes me believe that the world is full of wonders that I can scarcely imagine. Perhaps that is the same thing.”

The Stolen Crown

When Ellie and the League of Archers save Maid Marian from execution, the group hides in Sherwood Forest. They dream of helping the poor by building a farm in the middle of the forest, where the baron cannot reach them. In order to make their dream come true, Ellie and the League plan on stealing from the rich.

Ellie and her friends keep Robin Hood’s legacy alive, by stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. However, everything changes when Ellie witnesses King John’s murder. As Ellie flees the castle, a boy helps her escape and pleas to be allowed to join the League of Archers. When Ellie leads him to the heart of Sherwood Forest, he causes conflict among the members.

Then rumors reach Sherwood Forest—the baron plans to kidnap the crown prince. Will the League be able to unite in order to stop the baron’s plan?

The second installment of the League of Archers has less action than the first. The majority of the plot focuses on the power struggle between Ellie and the new member of the group, Stephen. The infighting of the group and the group’s thuggish behavior make the story less enjoyable.

Like the first book in the series, The Stolen Crown’s plot is difficult to believe because Ellie has the responsibilities of an adult but does not show the maturity and insight of an adult. Even though Friar Tuck and Maid Marian are both invested in building a farm for the poor, Ellie is left to make decisions better left to the adult. The two main adults in the story are not well developed and have little interaction with Ellie, which makes the story seem shallow.

The ending of the story is predictable and unsatisfying because the baron is not severely punished for his crimes. The one positive aspect of The Stolen Crown is the message that everyone deserves a second chance. Unfortunately, the League of Archers series will be easily forgotten once it is read.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

The king is murdered. When the king was poisoned, “one brawny hand was propped on the table, the other was clutched around his neck. . . He groaned again, fingers clawing at his throat, then slumped over the table, eyes and mouth stretched grotesquely wide.”
Ellie is caught trying to steal and a soldier tries to capture her, but she “parried the blade away with her poker, sending it flying toward a knot of shocked nobles.” After a chase, Ellie is able to escape unharmed.
Ellie and the League of Archers attempt to stop a coach and steal valuables. A group of men tries to stop the kids. When a man tries to grab one of the League of Archers, he “loosed an arrow into the unprotected spot under his arm. . .” The fighting takes place over four pages, but no one is seriously injured.
When a nun tries to lock the League of Archers in the convent and hand them over to the baron, another nun, “pushed Mary Ursula so hard she fell backwards onto a pile of flour sacks.
Ellie and the League of Archers break into a man’s house in order to steal from him. When an elderly man sees them, one of the league hits the man on the head. “There was a hard, sickening thump. The old man’s eyes went empty and he slumped to the ground.” One of the league points an arrow at the man and threatens to kill him if he doesn’t hand over the valuables. The man complies.
When Ellie and a group of her friends attempt to steal a valuable crown, there is a brief battle with soldiers. Ellie hits one soldier with an arrow.
Ellie and Stephen sword fight. In order to win the fight, Ellie fires a shot, and “her arrow shot clean through the flesh part of Stephen’s sword hand, between thumb and index finger. A fine spray of blood fizzed up.” As Ellie begins to walk away, Stephen shoots an arrow, but it hits another girl instead of Ellie. The girl is injured, but not seriously.
When the baron sees Ellie, he tells her, “But I won’t show you the mercy I gave to your mother—no quick drop and a broken neck for Elinor Dray. You’ll hang on a short rope, so I can watch you die slow.” The baron then throws a dagger at Ellie. When the dagger misses, the baron uses a sword, and “the sword ran through the cloak this time, pinning Ellie to the wall.” The fight goes on for four pages, and Ellie is able to escape.
When Ellie and the League of Archers try to free a prisoner from the baron’s castle, the guards try to stop them. A guard tries to choke a girl, and “Ellie stopped him with an arrow just below his throat, serious enough to scare him, but not deadly.” The group is able to escape the castle without anyone dying.

Drugs and Alcohol

When a noblewoman talks badly about the king, her companion warns her to stop. The noblewoman replies, “Oh, he’s too drunk to hear us.”

Language

None

Spiritual Content

Several of the characters live in a convent and the life of a nun is described including going to prayer.
One of the nuns blesses the baron. She says, “May the Lord guide you on the road to Nottingham! May he make our path straight, though it be winding, and may the king be as honored by your illustrious presence as we are.”

League of Archers #1

Elinor Dray and her friends idolize Robin Hood. Calling themselves the League of Archers, they illegally hunt on Lord de Lay’s land. Although the game is scarce, the meat they obtain is used to feed their families and help the poor. One night, Ellie meets a man in the woods who has been shot with a poisoned arrow. When Ellie takes the man to the nunnery, Ellie discovers the man’s identity—Robin Hood. And the abbess of the nunnery is Maid Marian.

When Maid Marian’s secret is revealed, the Lord de Lay arrests Marian and blames Ellie for Robin Hood’s death. The villagers believe Ellie is a traitor to the poor and vow to hunt her down. Living as an outlaw, Ellie and the League of Archers attempt to clear Ellie’s name, free Maid Marian, and keep Robin Hood’s legacy alive.

Action-packed and full of battles, League of Archers has a strong female protagonist, who wants to do what is right. As Ellie fights to stay alive, she struggles with the need to hurt the baron’s guards in order to stay alive. Ellie truly cares about the needs of others and often wonders, What would Robin Hood do? Throughout the story, the hero Robin Hood is not portrayed as a perfect hero, but as a man who makes mistakes. Although many of his great deeds of legend are true, many of his deeds are exaggerated. However, it is clear that Robin Hood, flaws and all, is still a great man.

Despite the high-interest topic of the story, the plot is complicated and not necessarily believable. The character’s dialogue is not true to the time period, and the storyline is not historically accurate. Even though junior high readers may not pick up on all of the inaccuracies, some will question how a twelve-year-old girl was able to successfully use Robin Hood’s bow.

Friar Tuck, Maid Marian, and the League of Archers—all of them could have been interesting characters. However, none of them are developed into individual people. Ellie is the only character whose thoughts and feelings are shown, but her conflict lacks more specific details that would explain how she came to be a master archer who wants to be like Robin Hood. Ellie and the League of Archers go into battle after battle with grown guards and although the violence is not described in gory detail, there is blood, pain, and death. The many battles are what drives the suspense in the story and keep the reader interested in the outcome.

If a reader is wildly interested in the topic of Robin Hood, League of Archers will interest them. The fast-paced plot with many battles will entertain readers. Reluctant readers will want to leave this book on the shelf because the detailed descriptions are cumbersome and slow down the plot’s otherwise fast pace.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

Ellie’s mother was caught poaching because they “needed to eat. But her mother was caught, dragged in ropes to the baron’s castle. The village was invited to watch as an executioner made Ellie an orphan at the baron’s command.”
Ellie witnesses Robin Hood being shot with an arrow. When it happens, “Ellie saw the bright red of the arrow’s fletching, and the way it pierced the stranger’s shoulder like a knife through meat. A bloom of dark blood spread across his cloak as he dropped to his knees.” The arrow was poisoned and, “the skin around it bubbled like fat atop a pot of soup.” Robin Hood dies from the wound.
The baron’s men enter the covenant in order to arrest the abbess. When the abbess resists, a novice is grabbed, and the baron’s guard, “pressed the flat of a knife to Ellie’s throat . . . The blade was cool against her skin.”
The baron parades Ellie around town, accusing her of killing Robin Hood. A riot begins, and Ellie tries to escape. When Ellie’s friend tries to defend her, a guard whips him. Later, when Ellie tries to defend herself, “the guard’s knife pierced the heavy blue dress, drawing a gasp from her as it cut into her skin. She felt a trickle of blood mingling with sweat in the small of her back.”
A mob of people throw rocks, mud, and horse dung at Ellie. In order to escape, Ellie grabs a guard’s wrist and “yanked the blade from his hand, then wheeled around and struck him with Robin’s bow, still clutched in her other fist. He fell sideways off the cart. . .” Ellie escapes.
While traveling, a friar is attacked by guards. The friar hits one guard on the head with a bottle. When three other guards appear, the friar fights back, but is wounded. In order to help, Ellie “pulled an arrow from her quiver and strung it on her bow. It flew straight and true and hit the guard in the eye before he could bring down his knife. He fell down dead. The fighting takes place over four pages. Another guard is injured when “Alice flung a knife that caught him between two ribs, then he fell.”
A group of drunk men tries to capture Ellie. The League of Archers helps Ellie. “Jacob yanked a pitchfork from one of the men and swung it like a scythe, forcing others to run clear. . .” A man grabs Ellie and “had wrapped an arm around her neck, squeezing until stars exploded in front of her eyes.” Ellie and the League are able to escape.
The gamekeeper shoots arrows at Ellie and the League of Archers. In order to save her friends, Ellie shoots the gamekeeper. “She swung the bow to the right and released the string. Her arrow slid neatly into the gamekeeper’s hand.”
A man grabs Ellie in order to take her into the village and hang her. “He grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and stood her up, facing the door.” The man also tied up Ellie’s friends. In order to escape, Ellie “took a breath and drove her head straight into his nose. He screamed and reeled backward, clutching his face. Blood spurted through his fingers.”
When trying to free one of the baron’s prisoners, the guards try to stop Ellie and the League of Archers. Someone hits a guard over the head with a club. Ellie shoots at a guard, and “one of her arrows found the meat of a man’s leg as he swung his sword at Marian’s exposed side. A second shaved a slice off a guard’s ear as he tried to hoist Alice over the side of the drawbridge. Then he dropped her, one hand lifting to feel the blood running down her face. She turned on him savagely with her knife.” In order to save her friends, Ellie lets “the arrow fly and watched as it slid into the heart of the guard lowering the gate.” The battle lasts over a chapter.

Drugs and Alcohol

Several characters are given ale or wine to drink.
One of the characters makes “home-brewed liquor,” selling it to the villagers. He is often drunk.
Ellie and her friends go into a tavern. While there, “she watched a man slap a woman’s hip as she delivered his tankard, and another one crash down drunkenly from his chair.”
Ellie and the League of Archers come across a group of drunk men who are patrolling the forest.

Language

Someone uses “Oh, God” as an exclamation.

Supernatural

When talking about Robin’s silver arrow, which never missed its mark, the friar said, “I’m a religious man, so talk of magic doesn’t sit right with me. But there’s something about that arrow. There was never any questions it would find its way to where Robin intended.”
A woman tells Ellie her fortune by casting “a handful of dry brown bones.”

Spiritual Content

Several of the characters live in a convent and the life of a nun is described including going to prayer. Ellie also says the “compline prayer.”
The baron chastises Ellie. “‘God made us men in his image girl,’ he said. ‘You should show your betters a mite more respect.’”
A friar tells Ellie, “Whether he’s a saint or a sinner is not for us to say. . . We must trust in God to sort it out.”
One of the characters tells Ellie, “But there are some who, like you, would go to any lengths to save the abbess’s life—and I believe God is on their side. And justice, too.”
When a woman wants to tell Ellie her fortune, Ellie asks, “Is fortune-telling not a tool of the devil, Mother Barkbone?” The woman answers, “The devil and I walk different byways. . . I respect his power just as I respect that of God’s. But I worship the things I can see, the spirits who speak back to me. Those of the land, those of my ancestors. They guide me true and would never lead me into the devil’s mouth.”
Ellie tells someone who committed murder, “I forgive you. May God, too, have mercy on you.”

Pioneer Cat

Nine-year-old Kate doesn’t want to go on a wagon train. She’s upset about leaving her best friend. She’s worried about how long the trip will be. And she’s afraid someone will discover her cat Snuggs, who is hiding in the wagon. Kate knows pets aren’t allowed on the wagon train, but she can’t bear the thought of leaving Snuggs behind.

This first-person narrative has just the right amount of action and suspense for younger readers. The dangers of the Oregon Trail are described in a kid-friendly manner that adds suspense without including scary details. Short chapters, black-and-white illustrations, and dialogue help make Pioneer Cat an entertaining and easy-to-read story. The fast-paced storyline teaches about the hardships of moving to the west.

Pioneer Cat has many positive elements. Rosie, Kate’s friend on the trail, exhibits the true qualities of a good friend and speaks in fun idioms such as, “looks like a choice bowl of beans to me.” Kate’s parents are shown in a positive light and clearly care about their children. At one point in the story, Kate could have easily allowed her parents to believe a falsehood, but she tells them the truth instead. Many will pick up Pioneer Cat because of the cute cat on the cover, but they will continue reading because of Kate’s adventures and the other loveable characters in the story.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

A buffalo herd stampedes and heads toward the wagon train. The men shoot at the herd to get the buffalo to change directions. “When the men fire, several buffalo in the front of the pack crumpled to the ground. More piled up behind them. But one huge wounded beast kept coming. He plowed into a wagon near ours. There was a sickening thud. The wagon rolled over.” Most of the buffalo change directions and no one is injured.
Indians follow the wagon train and eventually want to trade with them. After the captain and the chief talk, one man shoots at the Indians. “Crack! A single gunshot rang out from one of our wagons. The pony one of the young Indians was riding stumbled and crashed to the ground. The rider went down with him.” The Indian is wounded, and the two groups work out their differences.

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

When the scouts go to help the injured Indian, someone yells, “For God’s sake, don’t shoot!”
When the captain sees kittens in one of the wagons, he exclaims, “My god, what’s this?”

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

Pa says grace at mealtimes. At one meal, Pa prays, “Dear Lord, give us a good journey and safekeeping. And bring us finally to Oregon if it be thy will.”
Kate’s parents can’t find her. When she appears, Pa says, “Thank the Lord.”
When two children are almost swept away in the river, someone says, “Thank God, you’re all right!”

A Little in Love

Thenardiers are strong. They are cruel. They steal. Eponine is a Thenardier. But she longs for more than a life of heartlessness. She dreams of a world filled with kindness and love.

When Eponine tries to show kindness, Mamam punishes her. When Eponine tries to show her mother affection, Mamam flinches. Mamam wants her daughters to be cruel and steal—from anyone. The only thing that Eponine’s parents care about is money and getting it any way they can.

When Eponine’s father kills a bishop, the family must flee. The family ends up in Paris, where Eponine desperately searches for goodness in the world. However, when her family ends up cold, starving, and out of options, Eponine wonders if being cruel is the only way to live.

A Little in Love captures the reader’s attention in the first few sentences and remains captivating until the end. The world Eponine lives in is described in wonderful detail and the characters are believable.

The story is told from Eponine’s point of view which allows the reader to feel her emotions and understand her struggles. Her personality drives the book. By the end of the story, the reader will fall in love with Eponine and cry when her story ends.

This story is based around Les Miserables; however, no background information is needed. Those who have a tender heart may want to avoid reading A Little in Love. Although the story is entertaining, the content is very dark and cruelty runs rampant in Eponine’s world.

Sexual Content

Eponine sees women that, “had pained their faces and they lolled in doorways. . .” Her father says the “harlots” are their kind of people.
A character in the book tells Eponine, “Love? It’s a myth. But there’s money in it. You’re not ugly. You could sell a kiss or two.”
A man kisses Eponine. But it was not a gentle kiss. “Montparnasse pressed his lips against mine and clutched at my dress and he pushed me against the gravestone very roughly and his tongue filled my mouth so I couldn’t breathe.” She then breaks free and runs away from him.
Eponine meets a woman who is in prison. The woman said, “I sold what no woman should ever have to sell.”
When Eponine realizes her sister likes Montparnasse, she wonders, “Perhaps she hadn’t run away from his mouth, as I had done. Perhaps she actually wanted to feel those hands. . .”

Violence

When Maman has a boy baby, she tells the family to leave the baby to die because she has always hated boys. Eponine thinks her mother hates boys because “she had two brothers and they used to beat her. Her father beat her too.”
When Eponine’s father tries to steal from a bishop, her father kills the man and runs from the law.
Eponine’s father talks about the law finding him. “They’ll put shackles on me, if they find me! They will hang me or take me to the guillotine—and you too.”
Several of the characters talk about the executioner, “who works the blade—and he gets to keep the silver crosses or gold rings that the jabbering fools bring out with them. Once the blade drops, he pries these treasures out of their still-warm hands.”
One of the characters talks about murdering people. “If they’re very old, then what harm have you done? They’d have died soon anyway.”
At the end of the story, there is a rebellion. People die. Eponine sees a body. “His eyes were open. His chest was open too—like a red, wet cave.”
When a soldier points his weapon at Marius, Eponine, “threw my right hand across the end of the musket and pulled it toward myself.”

Drugs and Alcohol

The family in the book runs a tavern. The patrons as well as the adult family members drink. There are several references to drunks throughout the book.

Language

Eponine’s father calls her a “bitch.”

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

Eponine wonders about intuition. “Some people think it’s the voice of God—but what about the people who say there isn’t a God at all?”

Deception’s Princess

As princess of Connacht, and the last of six daughters, Mauve’s life should be perfect. As she matures, rich and powerful men begin to notice her because of her beauty and dowry. After all, who wouldn’t want to marry Mauve and become the next high king?

But Mauve must learn how to keep her suitors at a distance without offending them. She must learn who can be trusted and who is an enemy.

When Mauve becomes friends with Odran, the son of a visiting druid, she learns what true friendship is. But she also learns that having a friend can lead to danger—both for herself and Odran. In the end, will Mauve stay loyal to her family or will she choose to follow her own heart?

Mauve is a feisty heroin with the spirit to go after what she wants. At times she can seem ungrateful and selfish. As she tries to figure out who she is, she often endangers herself and those around her. However, the reader can understand her struggle to find a path of her own.

The book is interesting, but it is not a page-turner because of a lack of action. However, because most of the violence is not described, the book is suitable for younger readers. Additionally, the ending is satisfying enough on its own that the reader can choose to end the series after book one or to continue on to read the second book, Deception’s Pawn.

Sexual Content
• The queen has asked the fosterlings girls to try to find out where Odran disappears each day. When Mauve finds out about it she thinks, “Our fosterlings girls aren’t hunters, and flirting with Odran won’t work, but what if they flirt with someone who is a hunter? A good one? There were any number of young men under our roof who fit that description and who would willingly trade their tracking skills for kisses and the promise of more.”
• Odran slips his arm around Mauve’s waist and they kiss. “His lips still held the taste of the bread I’d brought for us to share and had a faint savor of sweetness. I was so startled by his kiss that though I kissed him back, I stood like a stone in his arms.” After the first kiss, “He was about to gather me into his arms again, but I was quicker. Now I knew what I wanted, and I was the one who led the way. Oh, such a soaring feeling. So sweet, so free, and so wrapped in its own enchantment that we hovered in a moment outside of time.”
• In another scene Odran and Mauve kiss. “He moved so desperately fast that our teeth collided and my mouth was crushed . . . I thought I was going to die from lack of breath and I didn’t care…I yearned for him all the more and held him fast.”

Violence
• Mauve’s friend Kelan is killed because “he claimed he overheard my darling mutter that someone else deserved that damn piece of meat. False! False! He refused to hear my beloved’s oath that he’d said no such thing, challenged him to fight it out and killed him at the second blow.” Later on, Mauve finds out that her father ordered Kelan’s death because Kelan taught her how to use a sword.
• Odran’s father finds out that he has been helping injured animals. Odran’s father is so upset that he kills the animals. “The blackthorn stick lashed down. There was a sickening sound of impact and agonized yelp, and Muirín lay stretched dead of the floor. I was still frozen by the horror of that small broken body when Master Íobar strode to where the hare crouched, trembling, and destroyed her too.” When Mauve and Odran question Master Íobar, he strikes Ordan.
• It is hinted that one of the men hits his servants.

Drugs and Alcohol
• Often the king entertains guests. During the nightly feast there is mead. One evening the men are “overcome by all the mead and Gaulish wine they’d been drinking.”

Language
• Damn is used by one of the servants.

Supernatural
• None

Spiritual Content
• Because the story takes place in Ireland, there are references to the Fair Folk, the Otherworld, as well as important times of year such as, “Samhain, the time of shadows, the turning of the year from light to dark. The border between our world and the realm of the spirits grew as thin as frost on a blade of grass. Few dared to venture outside on that night for fear of meeting the fair folk or the dead.”
• A druid is a major character in the story. Maeve explains, “. . . druids and bards were often touched by Lugh, the god of poets.” Later in the story, the men plan to take a trip to, “watch horses run and men compete in countless athletic games to honor the god Lugh . . . ”
• Mauve’s father is afraid of a druid because “he is a man who can speak to the gods! He reads their desires and commands our sacrifices . . . he has the power to curse us down to the marrow of our children’s bones!”
• As Maeve takes a walk she thinks, ”this snowfall was a gift from the Fair Folk, from the gods, a magical spell that transformed familiar places with glittering enchantment.” Later on in the story, she thinks, “the gods seemed to listen.”
• Mauve becomes upset when an animal she was caring for dies. “I don’t know if he buried the body or left it for Flidais to find. Goddess of wild things, lady Flidais, take back your own, I prayed. Let the last gift of his body feed your other children. Let his spirit find peace.”
• Mauve keeps a piece of her dead friend’s sword. When she does she thinks, “At Samhain, when the dead bring their grievances to the living, no angry spirit came to haunt me. That was how I knew I’d done the right thing.”
• When Mauve’s mother becomes pregnant, “there was no counting the number of offerings my parents made to the goddess Brigid in her role as blesser and helper of childbirth.”
• Mauve’s friend Odran takes care of injured animals. His mother taught him how to care for animals. As he tells how he learned his skill, Odran explains that his father did not like the animals but, “Mother’s friend was there to remind him that he owed my life to Flidais, the goddess who cares for wild things.”
• When the king announces that he will not travel to Tara for the rites, a druid yells at him, “Are you so weak that you’d sacrifice the safety of your people, the fate of all Èriu, and the gods’ favor because you must cling fearfully to one woman’s skirts? I tell you, you will bring a thousand curses on everything you love if you follow any path that keeps you from your appointed place at Tara this Samhain. I know it for every one of those curses will come from my mouth and break over Cruachan like a thunderbolt mighty enough to shatter stone!”
• A series of pranks occur and the people blame it on the fair fokes. One man suggest that, “Lord Eochu’s druid ought to read the omens and see what he’s done to offend the gods.”

Emerald Green

The pieces are starting to come together, and the truth is terrifying. The Count is a powerful man who has killed many people in order to keep his plan in place. Gwen has her hands full stopping him, but her friends and family aren’t helping. Gideon’s behavior baffles and frustrates Gwen, who isn’t sure if she can trust or depend on him. And Charlotte’s jealousy of Gwen might unravel their entire family.

The ghost gargoyle Xamerius is one of the best parts of Emerald Green. Xamerius is realistic, humorous, and much better than a pet.

The trilogy remains strong with this final installment. Gwen is finally getting an idea of what she must do, but that doesn’t hamper the suspense in any way. The stakes are high, and conflicting motives create conflicts that will either bring about the end of mankind or save it.

Sexual Content

While Gwen and Gideon are talking, she thinks, “Now kiss me: I want to know if stubble feels prickly.”
Gwen and Gideon kiss several times. In one scene, “his left hand was buried in my hair and his right hand began stroking my throat, slowly wandering down.” The mood is interrupted when Gwen’s phone rings.

Violence

Gideon and Gwen are trying to escape from a man who intends to kill them. Gideon takes a heavy candleholder off the wall and throws it at the man. “It hit Sir Alfred on the head with a nasty sound, and he dropped to the floor like a stone.” Another man stabs Gwen.
When Gideon and Gwen travel back in time, they are in danger of meeting a former version of Gideon. In order to prevent that from happening, Gwen hits him over the head, knocking him out.
Someone shoots Gideon. “Gideon’s blood was all over the place. The hem of my dress was sucking it up like a sponge.”

Drugs and Alcohol

Gwen comes up with a plan to go back into the past and vaccinate the boy who is a ghost in her school thereby preventing his death.
One of the characters mentions a guard who had a hangover.
Several of the adults have a whisky when they are upset. Gwen’s grandfather has two whiskies and later in the book Gwen’s grandmother gives her son-in-law a whisky.
One of the characters takes “Alcott’s miraculous potion,” which makes him act strange. He tries to force Gwen to take the potion as well. As he talks, he says, “I’ll wager these lips have never done anything forbidden, am I right? A little of Alcott’s miraculous portion here will change that.” Gideon thinks the potion was opium.
After Gideon comes back from his time traveling, he is in shock and the doctor tells someone to get him a whisky.
At a teen’s party, someone spikes the punch, and many of the teens attending get drunk.
When one of the characters tries to get Gwen to take cyanide, someone hits him over the head with the butt of a pistol.

Language

When Gwen finds Gideon lied to her, she wonders, “why the hell she ever fell for the guy in the first place.”
The ghost gargoyle Xamerius calls Gideon a “bonehead.” Later, when someone tries to hurt Gwen, Xamerius calls the person a “bastard.”
Gwen, who is upset with Gideon, calls him a “bastard.”
Gwen tells her friend that she is “shit-scared of falling in love. . .”
Xamerius, the ghost gargoyle likes to narrate Gwen’s actions. In one scene he said, “and there was deathly silence in the room. . . All eyes rested on the girl in the piss-yellow blouse. . .”
One of Gwen’s friends calls someone an “ass-hole.”
Damn, shit, hell, and oh my god are used.

Supernatural

A ghost named James stays at Gwen’s school. She is the only one who can see him.
Gwen sees a ghost of a gargoyle who used to guard a church.
Gwen and Gideon have a gene that makes them time travel. A secret society has a chronograph that allows the two to have control over when and where they travel to.
When Gwen is stabbed with a sword, she dies. “I was hovering in the air, weightless, bodiless, rising higher and higher in space.” Later she finds out that her special power is that she cannot be killed by another person. She can only die if she chooses to sacrifice her life for another.
A ghost that thinks Gwen is a demon says, “I will never leave the side of this diabolical creature until I have fulfilled my task. I will curse every breath she takes.” Xamerius eats the ghost.

Spiritual Content

One of the characters, who is trying to kill Gideon and Gwen said, that the person helping him is doing it because he will gain, “the certainty that the angels in heaven will praise his deeds is worth far more than gold. We must rid the earth of demonic monstrosities like you two, and god will thank us for shedding your blood.”
A journal entry recounts a story of a girl who was said to be “with child by a demon.” The person writing the journal thinks the father would, “rather accuse his daughter of witchcraft than accept the fact that she does not comply with his concept of morality.” Later, the journal describes an “exorcism” that caused the girl to, “foam at the mouth, roll her eyes, and speak confusedly in tongues, while Father Dominic sprinkled her with holy water. As a result of this treatment, Elisabetta lost the fruit of her womb that same night.”

Ruby Red

Gwen was supposed to be the ordinary one, and her cousin Charlotte was destined to be extraordinary. When Gwen accidentally time travels, the reversal of fates leads to more trouble than anyone could have imagined. Everyone has their own motives and as Gwen begins to unravel secrets that are hundreds of years old, she begins to wonder if anyone is on her side.

To add to her trouble, Gwen is forced to travel with Gideon—a handsome, but insufferable boy, who doesn’t trust Gwen. As the two travel back in time, Gideon and Gwen must learn to help each other because danger hides behind every corner.

Ruby Red is an enjoyable read with a unique plot. Full of twists and turns, Gwen and Gideon’s journey through time has plenty of mystery, suspense, and adds a dash of romance. This rich story will keep you well up into the night and leave you wanting more. Sporadic violence may not be appropriate for children, but this young adult novel will be perfect for most high school readers.

Sexual Content

When Gwen travels into the past, she sees herself kiss a boy. “The girl who looked like me had planted her lips right on the boy’s mouth. He took it passively at first, then he put his arms around her waist and pulled her closer.”
Gwen thinks about a boy she dated who “wasn’t into kissing. What he liked was leaving love bites on my throat to distract my attention from his creeping hand . . . I was constantly trying to keep Miles’s hands out of my shirt.”
Gideon comes to Gwen’s school to talk to Charlotte. Gwen’s friend wonders if Gideon is gay. And then they see him kiss Charlotte on the cheek.
While in a church confessional, Gideon kisses Gwen. “. . . when his lips touched my mouth, I shut my eyes. Okay. So now I was going to faint.”

Violence

Someone uses his mind to hurt Gwen. “Bewildered, I looked from his mouth to his hand. It was more than four yards away from me. How could it be around my neck at the same time? And why did I hear his voice in my head when he wasn’t speaking.” The character scares Gwen but doesn’t hurt her.
Gwen and Gideon are attacked and the fighting is described over six pages. The coach driver was shot and, “part of his face was missing and his clothes were drenched in blood. The eye of the undamaged part of his face was wide open, looking into nowhere.” Someone shoots at Gideon and then he has a sword fight with two men. Gwen describes the fighting from her point of view. “The man who’d been hit was now lying on the ground twitching and making horrible sounds.” In the end, the fight is ended when Gwen kills one of the attackers.
After the fight, Gideon and Gwen discuss what happened. Gwen was upset and said, “I didn’t expect it to be like . . . like cutting up a cake. Why didn’t that man have any bones?”
Gideon holds a gun to a woman’s head because he thinks the woman and her husband are going to try to hurt Gwen. When the butler gets ready to hit Gideon, Gideon and Gwen run away.

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

Gwen thinks, “I realized how pathetic I sounded—but what the hell, I was feeling pretty pathetic right now.”
Gwen is hiding in the bathroom stall at school. The door had scribbles that said, “Malcolm is an ass, life is crap, and other, similar remarks.”
“Damn” is used infrequently and “hell” is used several times. The profanity is only used in stressful situations.
Gwen thinks “Oh my God” often.
When Gideon is holding a gun to his wife’s head, a character calls him a “bastard.”

Supernatural

A ghost named James stays at Gwen’s school. She is the only one who can see him.
At the end of the book, Gwen sees a ghost of a gargoyle, who used to guard a church.
Gwen and Gideon have a gene that makes them time travel. A secret society has a chronograph that allows the two to have control over when and where they travel to.
Gwen’s aunt has visions. When trying to explain them, Gwen’s mother says, “I think Aunt Maddy really sees what she says she does. But that doesn’t mean her visions predict the future, not by a long shot. Or that it has to mean anything in particular.”
One of the characters can talk into people’s minds and as well as physically hurt them with his mind.
Several of the characters talk about Gwen having the “magic of the raven” but no one, including Gwen, knows what the power is.

Spiritual Content