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High Score

My name’s Darius James – but everyone calls me DJ. At my old school, I was the go-to guy for all kinds of tricky problems that needed creative solutions. But at my new school, Ella Fitzgerald Middle, I’m just trying to blend in. 

Well, I was, anyway, until my best friend, Conor, got himself transferred to the Fitz, too. Now Conor owes 100,000 arcade tickets to Lucky, the biggest bully around, and he only has two weeks to make it happen. Impossible? Not with my head in the game. 

When Lucky, the school bully, threatens to “rocket boost” Conor, DJ doesn’t want to step in to help. However, DJ discovers that being rocket boosted is “not good. I mean, if you’re bullied, beat up, pushed around—that’s bad. That’s really bad. But you’re still in the fight. You can push back. . . But when you get rocket boosted, it’s like you don’t exist. You’re a ghost. You can’t fight back. . . It’s pretty much game over.” Because of the extreme consequences of being rocket boosted, DJ steps in to help Conor, but in order to make his plan work, he needs more help, so Conor and Audrey are recruited to the team 

Audrey, an actress who longs to play the part of the evil villain, adds a lot of fun to the story. Since DJ has a crush on Audrey, he doesn’t want to get her involved in his schemes. However, he needs her acting skills, and she plays a pivotal part in the heist. Middle-grade readers will relate to DJ, who occasionally acts awkward and weird around Audrey, which adds humor. Even though DJ is crushing on Audrey, she is a well-rounded character who readers will love and respect.  

While High Score’s heist focuses on getting arcade tickets, the book will appeal to many middle-grade readers because DJ is discovering who he is and determining who he wants to be. While he is wickedly smart and good at conning people, he doesn’t want to use his skills and has vowed never to hurt someone intentionally. However, one of DJ’s biggest obstacles comes from his best friend, Conor, who loves the thrill of setting up a scheme and wants DJ to continue using his skills to manipulate others. In the end, DJ learns who he is —a person of integrity who isn’t willing to bow to peer pressure.  

High Score is the perfect book for middle school readers who love a good mystery and want to enter a world full of surprises. While some of the happenings at Fitz are a bit exaggerated, middle school readers will relate to the characters’ conflicts, which revolve around peer pressure, school bullies, and not wanting to become a social outcast. Reading High Score will leave the reader feeling like they spent a day hanging out with their friends and never wanting the day to end. And, of course, there are plenty of laughs and ice cream. If you enjoy reading about smart kids solving interesting mysteries, you should also read the City Spies Series by James Ponti and Chester Keene Cracks the Code by Kekla Magoon. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • DJ’s teacher, Mr. Danvers, was “full-on arachnophobic. . . [because] he fell into a nest of spiders when he was, like seven.” DJ didn’t know this and put a spider on Mr. Danvers’ sleeve. “He knocked over so much paint. He ruined, like an entire periods’ projects. And then he just, shut down. Like he wasn’t even there. . . The nurse had to literally drag him out of the classroom, and he was off for two weeks.” DJ felt terrible and didn’t do anything like that again. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • For Halloween, DJ dressed up as James Bond, but most people didn’t recognize him. DJ thinks, “I’m Black, so I’m never gonna be a dead ringer for Daniel Craig, but I was carrying a martini glass!” 
  • A student sells candy at school. DJ refers to it as “Choi’s sugar cartel.”

Language  

  • DJ refers to people, including himself, as idiots. For example, when talking about his friend, he “thought the director would be an idiot if they didn’t cast her as Ariel.” 
  • Heck and dang are used several times. 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

Controlled Burn

Twelve-year-old Maia’s parents say she’s lucky she noticed something as early as she did. Lucky to have smelled the smoke, lucky to have pulled her sister, Amelia, out of their burning house. But is it really “lucky” when Amelia’s stuck in the hospital, covered in burns? And is it “lucky” when Maia knows it was her candle, left unattended, that started the fire in the first place? 

When she’s sent to spend the summer with her grandparents in Northern Minnesota while her sister heals, Maia discovers that her anxieties and demons are intent on following her wherever she goes. . . unless she can figure out how to overcome them. But what if she can’t? Maia barely knows her grandparents, she desperately misses her sister and home, and she’s not thrilled to be spending the summer with Grandpa Howard on his daily motorcycle rides out to the middle of the woods, where he spends all day keeping watch for forest fires. There are no kids her age in Gram and Pop’s small town at “the end of the road”—just the chatty nine-year-old neighbor who is intent on getting his Bear Scout badge at all costs, and a friendly, stray dog who’s been lurking around.  

But Maia will soon learn that nature is a powerful teacher, and sometimes, our greatest strengths show themselves when we have to be there for someone else. As she begins to figure out how to face her guilt and paralyzing fears, she’ll discover there’s a fine line between fear and adventure. And when danger strikes again, Maia must summon all her bravery and overcome her self-doubt if she wants to save those she loves most.  

Controlled Burn follows Maia’s journey to becoming stronger and less fearful. The first chapter begins with the fire, and afterward, Maia is taken to her grandparents, where she wrestles with nightmares and fears. Maia spends most of her time alone, and her only companion is a friendly dog named Bear. The solitude allows Maia to ruminate on her guilt over the fire and her many fears, allowing the reader to look intimately into Maia’s inner thoughts.  

The quiet story will appeal to readers with daily anxiety and unfounded fears. For example, Maia hasn’t learned to swim because she fears drowning in deep water. However, with the help of friends and her grandparents, Maia conquers her fear and learns how to swim. In addition, Maia’s grandpa helps her to understand that “you can’t prevent all bad things from happening, and you definitely can’t change things that have already happened. But what you can do is make the best out of a bad situation.” In addition, the book also highlights the importance of being able to forgive yourself.   

While Controlled Burn isn’t full of action and adventure, Maia’s emotional journey shows that with the help of others, overcoming fear is possible. In addition, Soderberg’s love of nature shines through and gives readers a unique perspective. Readers who love animals and want to explore fear through an animal’s perspective should read Odder by Katherine Applegate. 

Sexual Content  

  • None

Violence  

  • While Maia and her sister Amelia are home alone, a fire starts. Maia goes to her sister’s room where “the fire had formed a sort of yellowish-orange ring around the base of the bed. . . she wailed as the flames caught her T-shirt and ripped into her hair.” Amelia is put in a medically induced coma and has to have skin grafts.  
  • A woman hits a deer, and Maia’s grandfather helps move the deer out of the road. Mia “stared at that deer, crumpled up on the side of the road. I didn’t need to touch it or even get close to know it was still warm. Blood oozed out of the side of the poor animal’s face, and its legs were splayed at an unnatural angle.”  
  • The deer was pregnant, so “Grandpa had bent over the dead deer and begun carefully slicing open her abdomen. . . [Maia] reached my hands into the dead animal’s belly, and helped Grandpa pull out a squirming mass of baby deer. . . There was goop and blood everywhere, but I hardly noticed.” The baby deer survives. 
  • Grandpa tells Maia about when his brother died. His brother was helping put out a fire when “one of the trees cracked off halfway up its trunk. . . It landed on my brother. James died instantly, I guess.” 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • While in the hospital, Maia’s sister is “pumped full of sedatives and medicine to stop her from hurting too much.” 

Language  

  • Maia’s grandfather has a pet dog. He said, “Some jerk abandoned it on the side of the highway.”  
  • Maia’s grandfather is injured “trying to keep up with that damn dog.”

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • Maia’s grandma takes her to church. Before riding on a motorcycle, Maia “crossed my fingers, and hoped the prayers I’d said at yesterday morning’s church service would protect me today from certain doom.”  
  • When Maia’s grandfather helps with a dead deer, he says, “Thank God.” This upsets Maia, but Grandpa says, “It could be worse. Could have been severely injured and suffering.” 

Live and Let Dive

Quinn is a quitter. With the unfortunate nickname of “Quitt,” he is infamous for constantly quitting every new sport he tries, which disappoints his friend, sister, and, worst of all—his dad. Everything changes when Quinn decides to compete for the diving team. Although the sport is difficult and he is not very good, Quinn enjoys the action and challenges himself to finish the season. However, things go wrong when Quinn breaks his arm in a freak bicycle accident, throwing his diving season into jeopardy. Can Quinn overcome this injury and finish the season? 

Live and Let Dive is told from the perspective of Quinn, a young boy who loves trying new things but struggles with commitment. In the beginning, Quinn’s portrayal as a person who frequently gives up is uninspiring for readers. However, his character development is evident throughout the story, as he learns the power of determination and self-confidence to finish what he had started, making him feel realistic and admirable. At the end of the story, Quinn even acknowledges that “You have to keep looking for something you love, even if it’s hard. If you don’t find something you like right away, keep trying.” 

Despite Quinn’s unwanted reputation, he learns to push through the hardships and rewrite his narrative by successfully finishing the diving season. Not only does Quinn make his friends and family proud, but he also rebuilds his own self-confidence, demonstrating the importance of perseverance and determination. Quinn’s story ultimately urges readers to tackle their biggest challenges with an uplifting mindset and positive attitude. 

Live and Let Dive presents its story in an engaging graphic novel format. Each page contains two to six panels in a gorgeous comic-like art style, where the characters and settings are detailed enough without overwhelming readers. The book also incorporates several fun graphic novel aspects, such as movement lines and overlapping panels, to enhance its illustrations, giving the scenes a realistic feel. Although the story uses frequent dialogue with small text and an extensive vocabulary, the illustrations will help younger readers follow the plot, especially since each scene is illustrated in a precise and exciting manner. 

Live and Let Dive is part of the Jake Maddox Graphic Novel series, which focuses on inspiring lessons in sports and competition. Alongside its colorful illustrations, the book also features additional content, such as a glossary, fun facts about diving, and “Visual Discussion Questions,” which ask the reader to identify how the art style reflects the tension and emotion in each scene. Live and Let Dive is an exciting and inspiring story about diving and an engaging graphic novel that showcases the importance of perseverance, commitment, and self-confidence.  

Sexual Content 

  • None 

Violence 

  • None 

Drugs and Alcohol 

  • None 

Language 

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content 

  • None 

The Night She Disappeared

Gabie drives a Mini Cooper. She also works part-time as a delivery girl at Pete’s Pizza. One night, Kayla—another delivery girl—goes missing. To her horror, Gabie learns that the supposed kidnapper had asked if the girl in the Mini Cooper was working. 

Gabie can’t move beyond the fact that Kayla’s fate was really meant for her. She becomes obsessed with finding Kayla and teams up with Drew, who also works at Pete’s. Together, they set out to prove that Kayla isn’t dead and hopefully to find her before she is. 

The Night She Disappeared is told from the alternating perspectives of Gabie, Drew, Kayla, and other minor characters. However, most of the story focuses on how Kayla’s kidnapping affects Gabie and Drew. The two characters are completely different, but the kidnapping draws the two together as they try to unravel the mystery of who kidnapped Kayla. Gabie is a lonely, good girl who does well in school but mostly goes unnoticed by her parents and peers. On the other hand, Drew is a poor boy with a drug addicted mother, who has little to look forward. While the two are unlikely companions, as they learn about each other’s lives, Gabie and Drew both change for the better.  

Some of the chapters are told from Kayla’s perspective, allowing the readers to see the horrors of being kidnapped. While the kidnapper is abusive, the abuse is not described in detail. However, readers will be able to understand Kayla’s fear and her desire to live. The kidnapper’s motives are murky, but one thing is clear—Kayla is not the first girl he’s kidnapped, and she won’t be the last.

At first, readers may have difficulty keeping track of the shifting perspectives, especially because there isn’t a clear pattern. In addition to different chapters with different characters’ perspectives, the book also includes a variety of snippets, such as newspaper articles, a police interview, and a website from a criminal defense attorney. The often chaotic changes in the book reflect the chaos that ensues after Kayla is kidnapped. In addition, the changing perspectives allows the reader to see how Kayla’s kidnapping affects everyone—her coworkers, her parents, the police, and others. The other snippets also help readers understand the wider ramifications of a kidnapping.  

Even though The Night She Disappeared focuses on the horrifying events of being kidnapped, the author’s descriptions avoid graphic details. Despite this, there are many examples of teens being murdered, and several of the characters die. Readers who want an in-depth exploration of being kidnapped will find The Night She Disappeared to be a fast-paced story that will send chills running through their bodies. If you enjoy thrillers, grab a copy of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson, Six Months Later by Natalie D. Richards, and Pretend She’s Here by Luanne Rice. 

Sexual Content  

  • Gabie’s parents gave her “the condom lecture when [she] was thirteen.”  
  • Drew goes home with Gabie so they can talk about Kayla’s kidnapping. When Gabie begins to shake, Drew “put [his] arms around her.” Then, Gabie kisses him. “I feel like I’m drowning, or drugged, or I’ve gone someplace where things are beyond my control. Like I could fall inside Drew and never come out.”  
  • After Gabie kisses Drew, he is confused by the kiss, and he thinks about the other girls he kissed in a wooded area behind his house. “I’ve kissed a girl or two there. When it’s dark, you just need to hold on to someone because she’s warm and her mouth is soft.”  
  • Drew goes home with Gabie, so she’s not in an empty house alone. They start kissing, and Drew thinks, “I could get a contact drunk kissing Gabie. The Kahlua makes her mouth sweet and loose. After a while, I don’t know where she begins and I end. . . I’m on top of her, and for a long time, we didn’t say anything. At least now with words.”  
  • Even though Gabie is drunk and Drew is not, they continue kissing. “Her hands slide up under my shirt and urge it off. And then she takes off her own shirt. . . It’s pretty clear that I can do whatever I want and Gabie won’t do anything but say yes. But something stops me. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve never done it before. . .” Drew puts Gabie in bed and leaves.  
  • When Gabie wakes up with a hangover, she’s embarrassed by “how I licked his ear, and then told him I wanted him.” Gabie wonders if Drew “thinks I’m some drunk slut.”  

Violence  

  • A diver is looking for Kayla’s body at the bottom of a fast-moving river. He remembers “the feel of a human hand against his throat as he searched. . . he had finned directly into the outstretched arm of a dead six-year-old girl.” The diver briefly thinks about other dead bodies he found.  
  • Kayla is kidnapped and hit over the head with a rock. When she wakes up, she has a head wound. “The pain makes me shriek. It’s like someone just tried to scalp me. . . A warm trickle of blood curves down my neck. How bad is it? I’m scared to know.” Kayla shouts for help, but nobody comes.  
  • The man who kidnapped Kayla demands that she call him “master.” When she refuses, he slaps her. “He hits me so hard that I fall against the white wall. Stars bloom behind my eyes. My ears ring. On boneless legs, I slide down to the cheap-looking linoleum.” Afterwards, Kayla calls him master. 
  • Gabie thinks about a girl from school. “Her older brother took their dad’s gun, went downtown, and shot into a crowd waiting for a movie to start. He hit seven people, killing two, and then shot himself in the head.” 
  • Gabie reads an article titled “Body of Teen Found in Landfill Stuffed in Suitcase.” The 16-year-old girl’s murderer was arrested.  
  • A tweaker who was accused of killing Kayla shoots himself. The teen’s 911 call is included, as well as a one-page newspaper article about Kayla’s and the boy’s death.  
  • The man who kidnapped Kayla plans to kill her. “My plan is to strangle her, come in when she’s asleep, and be nearly done before she has a chance to struggle. I’ve fashioned a cord with two wooden handles on it. I won’t do it like the other one—too much blood. And she took forever to die.”  
  • Drew is driving Gabie’s car when someone crashes into the back of it. “The car is filled with foul-smelling powder. My face hurts. A huge white balloon is already deflating on my lap.” Unbeknownst to Drew, the man in the other car thought Gabie was driving and he was hoping to kidnap her. The man sees Drew and flees. 
  • In a multi-chapter conclusion, Drew, Gabie, and Kayla fight the kidnapper. Drew and Gabie discover the house where Kayla is being held captive. When they arrive, they hear Kayla screaming. Drew rounds a corner, and “light spills out of a doorway. . . But I only have eyes for the guy. He’s facing the light, with his back to us. . . His free hand comes away from his cheek, his fingertips dark with blood. Now he’s lifting his gun.”  
  • Gabie holds a gun and fires it at the kidnapper. “With his free hand, the guy swipes at the back of his neck. The undamaged back of his neck. . .” The gun that Gabie found wasn’t a real one; it was a BB gun.  
  • The kidnapper, Gabie, and Kayla “are a shouting, screaming, grunting blur on the floor. A girl cries out. . . The guy gets to his feet, pressing one hand against his bloody side where his shirt has been slicked open. . . He kicks Kayla. Hard. Then Gabie. They don’t seem to be moving.”  
  • To save the girls, Drew pulls the trigger of a gun. The police arrive, but “Drew is frozen, one hand holding a flashlight loose at his side, his other hand still wrapped around the gun, blood dripping from his arm.” Drew’s eyes are fixed on “the remains of the man who held me prisoner.”  
  • Kayla gave first aid to Gabie, who had been stabbed in the neck with a screwdriver. “There’s so much blood it looks fake, especially splashed around in this tidy room where the only things out of place is the blood-drenched people.” All three teens are taken to the hospital. The kidnapper is dead.  
  • When the cops search the kidnapper’s property, they find a girl buried “who had been shot in the head.”  

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Drew and Kayla were caught “smoking weed in the cooler” at work.  
  • When a woman enters Pete’s Pizza looking for Drew, Gabie thinks, “Everyone at school knew you could buy weed off Drew Lyle. But it was all pretty casual, a couple of joints . . .But now it looked like he was selling to adults as well as kids. . .” 
  • The two teens who found Kayla’s car had “two six-packs of beer on the floorboards.”  
  • Drew has a pack of cigarettes because he “took them from my mom when we were arguing about how much she smokes.”  
  • A guy comes into the pizza place asking about Kayla. After he leaves, Drew says, “That guy’s a tweaker. . . Sometimes they get paranoid.” Drew says he can recognize a meth user because “of his teeth. . . My mom has some, um, friends that use it. They get skinny like that.” Later, Drew reveals that his mom also uses meth.
  • Gabie finds a bottle of Kahlua hidden in a cabinet. She drinks until she is drunk.  

Language  

  • Profanity is used rarely. Profanity includes ass, crap, hell, and pissed. 
  • “Oh, my God” is used as an exclamation a few times. 

Supernatural 

  • Kayla’s parents hire a psychic who claims that Kayla is dead. The psychic was on The Opal Show and discussed how she knew Kayla was dead. The shows three-page transcript is included. 

Spiritual Content  

  • A woman comes into the pizza place to ask about Kayla. The woman tells Drew, “We’re all praying for Kayla.” 
  • Gabie’s parents “don’t believe in ghosts or spirits or witches. Or God, for that matter. Only in what they can see and touch and measure.”  
  • Kayla plans on attacking her kidnapper so she can escape. Beforehand, “I pray for my family and my friends, letting their faces come into my mind one at a time. . . And I pray that I’ll be ready. Ready to kill him. Or to kill myself, if it comes to that. Because I’d rather draw my homemade knife across my wrists than take three months to die.”  
  • After Kayla is rescued, she thinks, “Thank God I didn’t draw that homemade knife across my wrist.”  

The Knight’s Enemies

Travel back in time with brothers Arthur and Finn to help stop the castle of Sir William Malory falling and prevent the death of his daughter Eleanor. The brothers arrive just as John the Withered attacks Wroxley Castle. With the castle under attack, Arthur and Finn must help defend the castle walls. When it becomes clear that Wroxley Castle will fall into enemy hands, the brothers must find a way to save Eleanor’s life by sneaking her out of the castle. But then Arthur and Finn are accused of being spies and thrown into a medieval dungeon. Will the boys escape after being imprisoned, save Eleanor, and succeed in changing the course of history?  

The Knight’s Enemies is told from the third-person point of view, allowing the story to switch between the two brothers’ perspectives. Including both brothers’ experiences gives a broader view of castle life. When called upon, the brothers show bravery by helping defend the castle. Between battles, Arthur and Finn try to figure out how to find and save Eleanor. The action-packed scenes create a gripping adventure that highlights the brothers’ bravery and shows the importance of friendship and loyalty.  

When Arthur and Finn travel to medieval times, the brothers land at different places. This helps build background knowledge of the castle and introduces various characters. At the beginning of the book, so many characters are introduced that readers will have to pay close attention to keep track of all of them. Even though one of the story’s villains is obvious from the start, readers will be surprised when the spy is revealed.  

Short sections are interspersed throughout the book, giving more historical information, such as how to defend a castle, steps to becoming a knight, and medical weapons. The information is detailed and includes how soldiers “poured boiling water over the enemy’s heads.” Another section describes the way an enemy tried to enter the castle, including “shooting dead animal corpses over the walls to spread disease [and] shoot the heads of dead enemy soldiers over the walls to terrify the poor souls inside the castle.” Defending a castle can be brutal, and the book doesn’t shy away from describing the battles, which may upset younger readers. 

Readers will hold their breath in anticipation, wondering how Arthur and Finn will fulfill Sir William Malory’s dying wish to save his daughter. The Knight’s Enemies weaves a compelling story with a typical damsel in distress trope. However, Eleanor is not a weak woman who needs to be saved. Although her appearance is short, Eleanor helps the wounded, cares deeply for her father, and bravely escapes certain death. The exciting battle scenes and the drama surrounding Eleanor perfectly blend to create a gripping adventure. But be advised, at 160 pages The Knight’s Enemies is a quick read that will leave readers excited to read the second book in the series, The Viking’s Revenge.  

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • The ghost of Sir William describes the siege of Wroxley Castle. John the Withered attacked the castle and kidnapped Sir William’s daughter, Eleanor. “They sent Eleanor’s head back to me the following morning.” 
  • When Finn travels back in time, he appears along the road to Wroxley Castle. He meets Thomas Shipton. Finn saves Thomas’ life by warning him about archers hiding in the forest. “Romas hunched down into the horse’s mane as an arrow hissed between the two boys and thudded into a tree.” 
  • Finn jumps onto the horse and “Thomas kicked the horse’s side to speed them away, but as he did so, the horse screamed and reared up.” Finn falls off the horse “while Thomas shouted in alarm as his horse staggered sideways on its hind legs and then toppled heavily to the ground, an arrow protruding from its flank. . .” The horse pins Thomas to the ground. 
  • Two men run towards the boys. To save his life, “Finn drew the string back, took aim at the bigger of the two men, and released. The man collapsed to the floor, gurgling horribly as he clutched at the arrow lodged in his throat.” The man presumably dies.  
  • The remaining man shoots more arrows at Finn and Thomas. Finn shoots another arrow. “The archer gave a shout of pain.” When Finn stands up, he sees “his enemy lay[ing] motionless on his back, an arrow buried deep in his chest.” The scene is described over four pages. 
  • Sir Ralph bullies Thomas. When Arthur defends Thomas, “Sir Ralph’s eyes widened in shock. . . He sprang forward and grabbed Arthur roughly by the throat. Arthur struggled, coughing and choking, pulling at Ralph’s hands in a desperate bid to free himself.” Another man breaks up the fight. 
  • John the Withered’s men use a catapult to attack the castle. “Something shot up from the catapult, and sailed high through the air across the divide between attackers and defenders. Finn noted with a sick feeling in his stomach that whatever it was appeared to have arms and legs. . . the first missile from the attacking army had been a horribly misshapen corpse.” 
  • Pots full of burning tar are catapulted over the castle wall. “One poor soul was running around in bigger and bigger circles, wrapped from head to toe in the flickering fire. Eventually someone managed to wrestle him to the ground with a blanket and extinguished the fire.” 
  • The castle archers release arrows. “Some men dropped to the ground, but their comrades did not falter and stepped across the bodies, marching inexorably on.” The soldier next to Arthur “screamed in pain and toppled backwards off the wall spouting blood from an arrow wound to the neck.”  
  • The castle soldiers began pouring boiling water “to burn any who tried to place ladders against the outer wall.”  
  • During the battle, Finn is hit with an arrow. “He lost his footing and with a cry for help he tumbled off the wall, his helmet knocked off his head as he fell. He landed on something soft, hit his head on something hard, and lost consciousness.” 
  • As the soldiers battled, the enemy used a battering ram to break the castle’s door. “The archers above kept up a relentless shower of arrows” and flung pots filled with burning tar at the enemy. 
  • Sir Ralph accused Arthur and Finn of being spies. When Arthur tries to defend himself, Ralph yells at him, “striking Arthur savagely across the face with the back of his hand and knocking Arthur’s helmet off as he did so. Arthur stumbled backwards, clutching his stinging face. . . “ 
  • When Arthur is thrown in the dungeon, he thinks about oubliettes. “An oubliette was a deep shaft in the ground with a lid on the top. The shaft was often so narrow that there was only room to stand and breathe . . . If they really wanted someone to suffer, they would lower the poor wretch into the oubliette, stick the lid on, leave them in total darkness, and forget about them.”  
  • During the battle, Sir William Malory receives a killing blow. As he lay dying, “he broke off and coughed more blood onto his chin.”  

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • A spy plans to give Eleanor a potion to make her “sleep like the dead.” 

Language  

  • Several times a character calls someone a name, including calling people devils, insolent dogs, little rats, and smug fools. 
  • Sir Godfrey, receives a message that John the Withered wants the castle surrendered to him. Sir Godfrey says, “John has no claim to this castle save that he is a thieving, shriveled up rogue who bullies the weak. Leave now, scoundrel or I will have you killed.”  
  • During the battle, “all hell broke loose.” 
  • Several times, the characters “curse.” No profanity is used. 

Supernatural 

  • Arthur and Finn’s grandfather created a museum about warriors throughout history. The museum is haunted and when the grandfather died, “he started haunting the place too. He felt guilty about the trapped ghost warriors and vowed he would not rest in peace until all the other ghosts were laid to rest first.” 
  • When one of the ghost warriors touches the boys, “we get transported to the time and place where the ghost lived and died. And we can’t get back until we’ve fixed whatever it is that keeps the ghost from resting in peace.” 
  • The ghost of Sir William appears in the museum. “His scar face was smeared with blood that seeped down from under his chain mail hood, and the expression he wore as he cast his stare around the room was one of pure anguish.” A picture of the knight shows blood dripping down his face. 
  • Sir William wants Arthur and Finn to travel back in time to save his daughter. “A ghostly hand gripped each boy by the neck. The air filled with mist so thick that nothing of the room could be seen, the handle flickered and died, and the boys saw only darkness.” The boys travel back to Sir William’s time. 
  • When Eleanor is safe, a “mist enveloped [Arthur and Finn], growing thicker and thicker. . . the castle and their friends vanished completely.” When they see the mist, the boys know they are going home. 

Spiritual Content  

  • As Finn climbs down the castle wall using a ladder, he must jump into a river. He was “praying that he would clear the river bank and land in the water.”  

Lucky Leopards!: And More True Stories of Amazing Animal Rescues!

“Runa and Kata: Lucky Leopards!”: Meet Runa and Kata, two baby leopards who lost their home when a woodcutter chopped down a hollow tree. To make money, the woodcutter took the cubs home, but he didn’t know how to feed them. Luckily, someone told a forest department worker about the cubs, and they were rushed to a local wildlife rescue. Will workers be able to raise the cubs and release them back into the wild? 

“Koa: Turtle in Trouble!”: One day, Nadine stopped in Newport, Oregon. On the beach, she saw an endangered sea turtle that was cold-stunned and couldn’t move. To help the turtle, a man carried the turtle on his back and put him in the back of a car. The sea turtle was taken to an aquarium to receive treatment. Could the sea turtle be saved and returned to its home? 

“Crooked Neck: The Lone Loon!”: Neil and Alina were boating when they noticed a loon with a backward neck. They discovered that the Loon was caught up in the fishing line. They tried to catch the loon, but he was too fast of a swimmer. Without help, the loon would die of starvation. Will Neil and Alina be able to save the loon? 

Based on the hit feature in National Geographic Kids magazine, National Geographic Chapter Series features three true stories about animal rescues. Each story is broken into three short chapters. The book is packed with full-color photography, lists, and infographics. Some pages also include orange boxes that contain additional facts about the animals. For example, “Did You Know? Sea Turtles have lived in Earth’s oceans for about 150 million years.”  

While reading each story, readers will learn more about the rescued animal. However, each story reminds readers that they should not try to help an injured animal—instead, they should call in a professional wildlife rescuer. The interesting facts, dialogue, and short sentences make the stories easy to read. Despite this, emerging readers may need help pronouncing difficult words, such as binoculars, dehydration, stranding, and approached. And while the stories are easy to understand, adults will need to read the book to beginning readers. 

National Geographic Chapters Series is perfect for young animal lovers who are ready for short chapters with lively, true stories just right to carry in a backpack, share with friends, and read under the covers at night. Readers will be drawn into Lucky Leopards because of the cute animal photographs, but they will want to read every page because the book is engaging. The book makes learning about animals fun. So, whether you’re looking for a story to read with a young child or trying to engage an older reader, Lucky Leopards is the purr-fect book. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • When Runa and Kata were put into the wild, they “attacked [a] hen. They wrestled for it. They bit. They snarled and hissed. Kata finally won the prize. Then he carried his supper straight up a tree.”
  • When a dog came into the forest, “Runa and Kata teamed up and attacked the dog! It might seem sad, but in the jungle, ‘kill or be killed’ is a way of life.”

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Before Runa and Kata were released to the wild, vets “gave Runa and Kata medicine to put them to sleep.” Then vets put radio collars on the cats. 

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

Love in English

Sixteen-year-old Ana is a poet and a lover of language. Except since she moved to New Jersey from Argentina, she can barely find the words to express how she feels. 

At first, Ana just wants to return home. Then she meets Harrison, a very cute, very American boy in her math class, and discovers the universal language of racing hearts. But when she begins to spend time with Neo, the Greek Cypriot boy from ESL, Ana wonders how figuring out what her heart wants can be even more confusing than the grammar they’re both trying to master. After all, the rules of English may be confounding, but there are no rules when it comes to love. 

Told from Ana’s perspective, Love in English shows Ana’s struggle with understanding both the English language and American culture. To convey Ana’s language difficulties, Ana’s family’s conversations are peppered with Spanish words. In addition, when others speak to Ana in English, she misses many of the words which are written as “####### ########.” Ana also struggles with words, such as “close,” that have two meanings and are pronounced differently. Throw in American idioms like “a bird in hand is worth two in the bush” and “a stich in time saves nine” and readers begin to understand and empathize with how hard it is to learn English.  

It’s not just English that Ana struggles to understand. Ana meets Harrison and Neo at school. When Ana meets Harrison, she thinks, “There’s so much I wish I could ask him about. . . but I can’t catch any of the words needed to form those questions. They swim in my brain, some visible, some shapeless, but none want to coalesce into sentences. It’s so frustrating. It’s like someone stole all my words.” Ana struggles to understand the language of love, which often leads to misunderstandings.  

Much of the plot revolves around Ana’s inner dialogue, which makes Ana feel like a new friend that you want to sit down and share coffee and a secret with. Ana is extremely likable and deals with many of the same struggles as today’s teens. However, readers who love action-packed stories full of adventure will find Love in English difficult to read. For those who love looking into a character’s heart and soul, Love in English is the perfect book. Many readers will relate to Ana, who is trying to find a place where she belongs in life and in America. Through it all, Ana learns that “The most important words are the ones we’re brave enough to share.” 

Sexual Content  

  • While leaving the classroom, Ana bumps into Harrison. She thinks, “For a second, I want to grab his hand and hold it. Or pull him toward me, and we will have our first kiss here in our math classroom.”  
  • One of Ana’s new friends, Altagracia says, “You like boys? Girls? Both? I like girls myself.” Later, Altagracia tells Ana that “she went on a date with another girl and they kiss[ed].” 
  • In the cafeteria, a girl says she can’t keep lipstick on for more than twenty minutes. Her friend replies, “You should probably stop kissing so many people then.” 
  • Ana goes to a night club to watch Harrison’s band play. Ana sees Harrison dancing with Jessica, a girl from school. Jessica “pushes onto the tiptoes of her high-tops. The lean in is slow, so slow. . . Her lips land on his. He stands there. . . She gets off her tippy toes and runs her thumb gently over his lips.”  
  • After seeing Jessica kiss Harrison, Ana leaves but has no way to get home so she calls Neo. Instead of going home, Ana goes to Neo’s house and they watch a movie. Ana looks “up at Neo. He’s so close, a few inches away. He looks at me steadily. . . His lips look perfect, the dimple in his chin a little shadowed where he missed a spot shaving. . . “ Ana’s phone rings and she’s left to wonder if she wanted Neo to kiss her. 
  • Ana goes to Harrison’s house and he asks Ana permission to kiss her. Ana is “looking at Harrison, and I know I want to kiss him. Instead of words, I use my lips. His lips are soft, and wonderful, but he doesn’t move them. I am self-conscious. Am I supposed to do something more? I kiss him again. He kisses too, then pulls away.” 
  • Neo takes Ana to a poetry slam and then the Empire State Building. While at the top, he “leans in. When his lips touch mine, the moment shivers through me, his lips, warm and perfect, part mine. His hand is on the small of my back, and he pulls me in, and I can’t breathe.” The kiss is described over a paragraph. 

Violence  

  • Several times, a boy from school makes snarky remarks about Neo being an immigrant. One day, Ana gets to school and sees Neo and the boy fighting. “One has the other in a headlock. . . It’s Neo in the headlock, swinging his arms, connecting with a thud on the other boy’s lower back. He pulls Neo tighter.” Neo has blood on his face when teachers break up the fight. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • While at a night club Ana sees some girls from school and one of the girls is “flirty drunk.” 

Language  

  • Ana overhears profanity in the hallways at school. Ana writes in her journal, “Fuckface. A face that likes to do sex? Doosh noze? Shit biscuit? Duck butter? Bananas. Like ‘crazy’?” 
  • Profanity is used rarely. Profanity includes damn, fuck, and shit. 
  • Oh my God is used as an exclamation.  

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

City of Wishes

Make a wish. . . During the New Year’s break, Plum and her friends travel to fancy, fashionable Nakhon City to stay with Sam and his mother, the powerful Lady Ubon. The New Year always brings food, parties, and the grand old tradition of making a wish. 

At first, Plum is dazzled by the big city. But under the glittering surface, many secrets lurk. Mysterious tremors that shake the ground are growing worse by the day. Nakhon’s troubles give Plum a chance to fulfill her own New Year’s wish: to do something big and meaningful with her Guardian powers. But how far will she have to go, and what will she have to give up, to make that wish come true? 

City of Wishes follows Plum and her friends as they travel to Nakhon Island, which is overpopulated. Plum and her friend Cherry are excited to explore Sam’s world—one of wealth and power. Their fun is interrupted when the city experiences several tremors that endanger the citizens. Plum and her friends discover Master Render, an ancient rock creature who is responsible for the tremors. Unfortunately, Master Render acts like a small child whose primary concern is food. Master Render’s appearance adds little to the story other than helping Plum escape from Nakhon Island.  

Sam’s mother, Lady Ubon, offers Plum an opportunity to become a leader for the city. In her quest to become someone important, Plum loses sight of what is important. When trouble erupts, Plum realizes, “Wanting something—wanting it with your entire heart—could make you forget everything else was important.” Even though the villain works for Lady Ubon, Plum and Sam are confident that the villain works alone. This trust doesn’t feel authentic because Lady Ubon knows that the problems surrounding overpopulation have no clear solution. To solve the problem, the villain is determined to take over Lotus Island so the residents of Nakhon Island can relocate. 

Rella, a girl who was expelled from the Guardian Academy, makes another appearance. Plum and most of the other students believe that Rella is untrustworthy. In the end, Rella helps Plum and her friends escape the island, and she serves as a reminder that some mistakes cannot be fixed. Rella knows she can never return to the Guardian Academy and says, “I wish I could do everything differently. But I can’t. Those are wishes that will never come true.”   

City of Wishes feels a little disjointed because the story lacks focus. Plum and her friends explore the island; however, their adventures are not described in detail, which may make it difficult for some readers to visualize the setting. However, black and white illustrations are scattered throughout the book to give readers a visual of the diverse characters and some of the key scenes.  

Readers who have read the other books in the series will enjoy seeing the characters in a new light. City of Wishes concludes with Master Render, Plum, and Cherry leaving Nakhon Island and traveling to an unknown destination, which sets the scene for the next book in the series, Temple of Secrets. Adventure-loving readers ready to jump into books with a more advanced plot should read the Legend of the Animal Healer Series by Lauren St. John and the Explorer Academy Series by Trudi Trueit.  

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • Plum and her friends discover that a man plans to use hoverbots to attack Lotus Island. To stop the hoverbots, Plum and her friends turn into their Guardian forms. The hoverbots “were becoming mirror images. . . of us. . . Each of the hover bots had shifted their shapes to mimic our Guardian forms.” 
  • The hoverbots attack Plum and her friends. Plum changes into a roan. “Suddenly it reared back on its hind legs and charged straight into me. I lowered my antlers just in time to take the shock. . . The roan-bot slammed its head against mine. Stars flashed at the edges of my vision as I staggered back.”  
  • A sloth-bot attacks Mikko. “The sloth-bot reared its blocky fist back, aiming a blow straight for Mikko’s face. . . Before the punch could land, the bot was tackled by a large mass of gray fur. . . The bot was fighting an enormous wolfhound.” The battle is described over six pages; no one is seriously injured. 
  • Using Guardian magic, Rella changes into shadows. “The shadows pulsed like they were alive. . . The shadow mass oozed towards [the hoverbots], wrapping itself around them until they disappeared into the dark.” Rella disables the hoverbots. 
  • Rella uses her magic on the villain. Shadows “wove themselves around him, covering him like a cloak. We heard his muffled cries from inside the shadows, but we couldn’t see him at all.” Plum and her friends flee. It is unclear what happens to the villain. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language  

  • “Holy pomelo seeds,” “holy celery,” “Holy fern fronds,” and “holy smokes” are used as exclamations. 
  • A girl is called a “sneaking skunk.” 

Supernatural 

  • The students learn how to turn into mythical creatures, such as a fox bat and a gillybear. When they’re in their guardian form, they have special powers. 
  • One of Plum’s powers is to strengthen the other guardian’s powers.  
  • When Plum’s friend is in danger, Plum touches a yamyam tree and “pictured a golden thread running between me and the yamyam tree. I imagined my energy flowing from my antlers, through her bark, deep into her green heartwood. . . Decades of time flashed in seconds and the tree grew tall, then taller still.”  
  • Plum’s mother put a wish in a shell. When the shell becomes hot, Plum blows into its opening, and a “tiny pinprick of light” appears within the shell. Plum hears her mother’s voice, and then “the white light floated out of the shell and hovered in front of my face.” Plum and her friends follow the light to a cave. Once there, they meet a rock creature. Plum is the only one who can talk to the creature. 
  • Hoverbots say ancient chants that turn them into guardian forms. 
  • Plum strengthens Rella, one of the Guardians. “The moment her paw touched my hoof, I felt a zing. It was stronger than what I had felt with the others, like an electric jolt. . .” Rella can create and control shadows. 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

Unwholly

Thanks to Connor, Lev, and Risa—and their high-profile revolt at Happy Jack Harvest Camp—people can no longer turn a blind eye to unwinding. Ridding society of troublesome teens while simultaneously providing much-needed organs for transplant might be convenient, but its morality has finally been brought into question.

But unwinding is a big business, and there are powerful political and corporate interests that want to see it not only continue, but also expand to the unwinding of prisoners and the impoverished. And the minds behind unwinding have already begun pushing its boundaries.

Cam is the first “rewound,” a futuristic Frankenstein’s monster who does not technically exist and is made entirely out of unwinds’ body parts. He struggles with his identity and the question of whether he has a soul. And when the actions of a sadistic bounty hunter inextricably bind Cam’s fate with the those of Connor, Risa, and Lev, Cam comes to question humanity itself. 

Unwholly introduces several new aspects that shine more light on the practice of unwinding teens by introducing several new characters, including Cam. When people are first introduced to Cam, many of them believe he is an abomination and not human. However, Cam’s creator, Roberta, is a master of deception who uses the media and Risa to convince others that Cam is indeed a unique person worthy of admiration. When Cam compares himself to the monster Frankenstein, Roberta says, “That monster was made from dead flesh, but you are made of the living! That creature was a violation of all things natural, but you, Cam, you are a new world wonder!” At first, Risa hates Cam, but when she’s forced to spend time with him, she begins to view him as a person instead of a thing. This change allows Risa and the reader to see Cam’s humanity.  

Because human parts are in high demand, the black market has thrived. Nelson, a parts pirate, uses traps to lure in unsuspecting teens. Once they are in Nelson’s hands, their fate is sealed—they will be unwound, and nobody—not Nelson or his buyer—cares if the teen belongs to a loving family. Money is the prime motivator when it comes to providing parts to the wealthy. Readers will come to hate Nelson, as he is truly evil. However, Nelson is not the only new character who is easy to hate; Starkey a stork saved from unwinding, has grand plans to make storks the center of attention. In his quest to become the storks’ leader, he is willing to take down anyone in his path—including Connor.   

Unwholly allows the reader to understand how unwinding has become a part of society. Through the practice of unwinding, parents are allowed to play God. However, unlike God, parents are often selfish and are too caught up in their own emotional turmoil to make logical decisions. For instance, Hayden’s divorced parents sign the unwind papers because they’d rather see Hayden unwound than in the custody of the other parent. Other parents sign the unwind papers when cash is offered. When it comes to unwinding, Shusterman makes the reader look into the cruelty and compassion surrounding the teens sentenced to “a divided state.”  

The second installment of the Unwind Dystology is a disturbingly dark tale that forces the reader to ask questions about the value of human life. While the first installment focuses on Connor’s, Risa’s, and Lev’s fight for their life, Unwholly delves into the evil that exists in the world. While the story is gripping and thought provoking, it may inspire nightmares. Readers who want a tamer book should consider leaving the Unwind Dystology on the shelf.  

Sexual Content  

  • Mason Starkey tells his mom, “Hey, Mom, by the way . . . Dad’s late nights at the office aren’t really at the office. They’re with your friend Nancy.” 
  • Connor and Risa love each other. “With no other way to prove his feelings, he reaches forward with his own hand, pushes the hair back from her face, then leans in, giving her a powerful kiss.” 
  • Looking for a companion, Cam interviews a series of girls. One girl “fauns all over him” and says, “I’d would love to be your first. You can do that, can’t you?” 
  • Risa and Cam are talking when Risa “kisses him. It’s more than a peck, but only slightly more.” 
  • Cam helps Risa escape. Before she leaves, “she leans forward and kisses him on the cheek. He feels it like an electric shock in all the seams of his face.”  

Violence  

  • Throughout the book, many people are shot with a tranq gun. Not all examples are included below. 
  • When Mason Starkey was in fourth grade, he “flipped a boy off the top platform of the jungle gym. The kid had suffered a concussion and a broken arm.”  
  • Two Juvey-cops, whom Starkey calls Mouthpiece and Lady-Lips, pick up Starkey. While being transported, Starkey gets out of his handcuffs, and “slides the penknife he used to pick the lock out of his sleeve, grips it in his hand, and slashes it across Lady-Lip’s face. The man screams, and blood flows from a four-inch wound.” Starkey runs. 
  • Mouthpiece catches up to Starkey. “Mouthpiece turns him around and pushes him against the brick wall, hard enough to scrape and bruise his face. . . [Starkey] elbows Mouthpiece in the gut and spins around, grabbing the gun. . .” 
  • The gun goes off, and Starkey sees, “Blood! Blood everywhere! . . . In front of him, Mouthpiece’s face is a red, pulpy mess. The man goes down, dead before he hits the pavement and—” Another Juvey-cop arrives, and Starkey shoots him. The two Juvey-cops die. 
  • One of the characters is a parts pirate who traps kids to sell them. This man pretends to be drunk one night, and Starkey picks his pocket. Starkey “opens the wallet, and the second he does, a jolt of electricity courses through him with such power his feet fall out from under him, and he’s left semiconscious on the ground, twitching. A stun-wallet.” The drunk “shoves him in the back of a waiting van.” 
  • While being taken to a harvest camp, a girl named Miracolina sees “half a dozen people dressed in black with faces hidden by ski masks come leaping out of the woods from all directions. The chauffeur is hit with a tranq bullet to the neck and goes down like an overstuffed rag doll.” Someone grabs her, and Miracolina “kicks, and bites, and claws in terror and outrage.” Miracolina is shot with a tranq gun. Miracolina is kidnapped to save her life. 
  • Cam gets angry and begins “hurling a plate across the room, then another, then another. Roberta has to duck, and now the whole world is flying dishes and silverware and glass. In an instant, the guards are on him, pulling him back to his room, strapping him to the bed—something they haven’t done for over a week.” 
  • Connor confronts a man who works for the resistance. They argue, and Connor hits him. “The punch connects with the man’s eye, and he stumbles backward into the bulkhead. He looks at Connor not with contempt, but with fear. . .” The man leaves. 
  • Connor isn’t sure if he can trust Trace, a man in Connor’s inner circle. Connor plans to ambush Trace, but Trace “kicks Connor’s legs out from under him, grabs the gun out of his hand, twists him around, and pushes him cheek-first into the dirt, wrenching [Connor’s arm donor’s] arm painfully behind his back. Connor can feel the seam of the graft threatening to tear loose.” The two work out their problems, and no one is injured. 
  • A nicotine-addicted boy falls into a pit while trying to get cigarettes. For fun, the parts pirate pretends that he’ll let the boy flee, but “the tranq dart hits him right in the back of the neck, delivering a full dose directly into his brain stem. His legs buckle beneath him. . .” The parts pirate sells the boy to an illegal organ criminal market. Several other times, the parts pirates use different tricks to trap teens and sell them. 
  • A girl posing as a Girl Scout is let into Lev and his brother Marcus’ house. She detonates a bomb, and “the explosion blows Lev back against the wall, and the sofa flips on top of him, pinning him there. Shattering glass, crumbling timbers—and a shooting pain in his ears so bad he’s convinced his skull has split open.”  
  • Lev’s brother Marcus is in the kitchen with a beam embedded in his gut. “There’s blood everywhere—but Marcus is still alive. . . With all his strength, Lev lifts the beam. Marcus screams in pain, and Lev, holding the beam up with his shoulder, pushes Marcus out of the way. . .” Lev’s wounds are minor, but Marcus only survives because he gets parts from an unwound teen. 
  • During the explosion, Dan “was blasted backward against the wall. A huge bloodstain in the rough shape of his body marks his impact, and now he lies a lifeless heap on the floor.” 
  • When Miracolina [a girl scheduled to be unwound] tries to escape, she uses metal serving trays to stop the tranq guns from knocking her out. Lev catches her. Miracolina, “pushing Lev, scratching at him. She tears the platter from her chest and swings it. It connects with his head with a heavy band. He falls, but he’s right back up again.” The two run away together.  
  • While researching the Heartland War, Connor discovers that hundreds of thousands of teens were protesting. “Those same angry kids are calling for change, and when they don’t get it, they hit the streets, forming random mobs, burning cars, breaking windows, letting loose a kind of communal fury. . .” These events happened before the president was assassinated. 
  • Starkey and some others go to “rescue” Jesus LaVega. Jesus doesn’t know this, and “Starkey turns in time to see a baseball bat swinging at him. He ducks, and the bat breezes past an inch from his head. . .” Jesus swings the bat again and, “It connects with Starkey’s side. An explosion of pain. Starkey goes down. . .” 
  • When Jesus continues to swing the bat, one of Starkey’s teens hits Jesus with a “large football trophy and swings the marble base at his head. The heavy stone connects with the back of Jesus’s head, and he crumples to the ground instantly. . . Blood pours out of his head, soaking the carpet.” Jesus is dead.  
  • Upset that Jesus is dead, Starkey hits the boy’s father. “Starkey swings his foot, connecting with the man’s torso. . . Starkey kicks again and again. The man screams, the man moans, but Starkey keeps swinging his foot, unable to stop . . . The man, bloody and beaten, still has enough strength to crawl out the door.” Starkey sets the family’s house on fire as he leaves. 
  • In a multi-chapter conclusion, the “Graveyard,” where Connor and others sentenced to be unwound are hiding, is raided by Juvenile Authority. There is chaos with both cops and teens shooting tranq bullets and real bullets.  
  • Miracolina and a kid on guard duty are both hit with tranq bullets and go down. “Then out of nowhere, a police battering ram, its headlights dark, crashes through with such speed that the gates fly off their hinges. [A guard] dives out of the way just in time, and when he looks back, he sees his unconscious friend turned to roadkill by the wheels of the battering ram . . .”  
  • When the riot squad arrives, Connor’s team must take cover. “Connor’s there, but his brain won’t give rise to words. Beside him, [a girl] lies draped over the leg of the upended pool table with a tranq bullet in her neck—but worse than that is the horse-faced boy. He took a real bullet to the forehead.” 
  • While fighting a Juvey-cop, Connor “takes the Juvey out—not with a bullet, but with the butt of his rifle.” 
  • Hayden and a group of teens lock themselves in a plane. The Juvey-cops turn off the power so the plane heats in the desert sun. The teens say they would rather die than be unwound, but after one boy dies, Hayden shoots out a window, and they give themselves up to the Juvey-cops. 
  • Starkey and his loyal group leave the Graveyard on a plane that Trace is flying. The plane hits an armored riot truck. “The starboard landing tear clips the truck, sending it tumbling like a toy, and a huge chunk of the landing gear rips loose. . .” The truck blows up, presumably killing everyone on board.  
  • The plane that Starkey and his group are on makes a water landing. “The fire outside provides enough light for Starkey to see to the far recesses of the main cabin, and he wishes he hadn’t looked. The dead are everywhere. Blood is smeared on every surface, sticky and thick. . .” Starkey plans to leave the critically injured because they “are just liabilities.”  
  • Trace asks Starkey to help him escape the plane, but Starkey refuses. As the plane sinks into the water, “Trace cranes his neck, trying to keep his head above water as long as he can. Then he takes one deep gulp of air, holds it, and he’s underwater. . . His body burns through the last of its oxygen; then, resigned to his fate, Trace releases his final breath. . . It’s as awful as he imagined it might be, but he knows it won’t last long.”  

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • One of the characters is angry that he remembers “when you were three years old, and your mom, all doped up on pain medication from your sister’s cesarean delivery, took you to a fire station and begged them to take you away and make you ward of the state.” 
  • An advertisement for unwinding includes information about a seventeen-year-old girl who “got drunk, crashed her car, and killed two innocent people.”  
  • Cam is given Tylenol-aspirin for pain. 
  • Cam is given “graft-grade healing cream” to erase his scars. “He can feel the tingling as the engineered microorganisms in the cream do their job.” 
  • When a boy is injured, he is given a shot of “epinephrine,” which is “the same as adrenaline.” 
  • When someone discovers who Risa is, she threatens to kill herself with “a subcutaneous cyanide pill.” Later, the readers learn that this is not true. 
  • Someone notices Connor’s muscles and says, “I hope to God you’re not shooting up those damn military steroids they have the boeufs [soldiers]  on; they shrink your testicles down to peanuts.” Connor isn’t using steroids. 
  • There is a reference to real Russian vodka and “Tequila from before the agave extinction.”  
  • To get out of handcuffs, Starkey intentionally breaks his hand and then takes morphine for the pain. 

Language  

  • Profanity is often used such as ass, bitch, crap, damn, goddamn, freaking, hell, and piss.  
  • Jesus, my God, good God, and for God’s sake are used as exclamations occasionally.  
  • There is some name-calling, including asshole, bastard, bitch, lowlife, idiot, moron, and pompous baffoons. 

Supernatural 

  • When a person is given a body part from an unwound person, the body part remembers what the person learned. For example, Cam’s brain was assembled using many different people’s brains. Thus, Cam often has flashes of their memories.  

Spiritual Content  

  • Pastor Dan and Lev talk to kids in juvenile detention. Pastor Dan says, “The Lord works in mischievous ways.” 
  • Pastor Dan left the church, but he said, “I still believe in God, just not a God who condones human tithing.” 
  • Miracolina, who is Catholic, has always known she would be tithed. Her priest tells her, “The Vatican has yet to take a position on unwinding, and so until it is either condoned or condemned, I can be as uncertain about it as I please.” 
  • Miracolina’s name means miracle. “She was named this because she was conceived to save her brother’s life. Her brother, Matteo, was diagnosed with leukemia when he was ten.” Her parents “made a pact with God that if you were born, and Matteo was saved, we would show our gratitude by gifting you back to God through tithing.”  
  • Miracolina is upset that she was “rescued” from being unwound. At one point, she thinks, “Perhaps that’s why I have been put on this path, to humble me and make me realize that I can be a hater, just like anyone.” 
  • While talking to Lev, Miracolina says, “Miracles are the property of God.” Lev answers, “Miracles are gifts from God. To call them property insults the spirit in which they are given.”  
  • Miracolina and a teacher discuss the soul. When a person dies, the soul goes to God. When a person is unwound, what happens to the soul? According to the teacher, “if your soul leaves this world, then voluntary unwinding is no different from assisted suicide—and in the Catholic religion, suicide is a mortal sin. Which means that by your own beliefs, you’d be going to hell.”  
  • When a storm is brewing, Miracolina “has to believe that God has brought this storm for her, so she can escape—so she can do what she was meant to do. And if she does get struck by lightning, well, that would be a sign from above too, wouldn’t it. So she says a silent prayer. ‘Lord, if what I’m doing is wrong, then by all means, strike me down. Otherwise set me free.’” 
  • Cam was programmed with the Bible in three languages. “Risa has to laugh at the audacity of his creators—did it occur to them that filling him with biblical knowledge while playing God was the ultimate hubris?” 
  • When Miracolina and Lev are captured by a parts pirate, Lev says, “Then maybe you should start praying. I sure am.” 
  • At one point, Lev realizes that “he did not need to be adored or pitied. He needed to be forgiven. Not by God, who is all forgiving . . . He needed to be forgiven by an unforgiving world. By someone who once despised him. Someone like Miracolina.” 
  • When Miracolina is shot by a Juvey-cop, Lev prays that she isn’t dead or maimed. 
  • As Connor and Lev flee the Graveyard, Lev thinks, “How stupid would it be, if, after all this, Connor and I both die in a car accident because I don’t know how to drive? He can only thank God the road is straight.” 
  • When Hayden and a group of teens think they are going to die, Hayden “says the Lord’s prayer. . . Tad and several others are quick to join in. . . Nasim begins to recite an Islamic prayer, and Lizbeth covers her eyes, chanting the Shema in Hebrew.” 

Glass: A Cinderella Tale

In a grand glass house, there was a girl named Bess whose power would, one day, change the fate of her family. . . Bess Wickham has always felt like a bit of an outcast among her family of extraordinary glassblowers, but then an immense, magical power that’s lain dormant in her bloodline begins to emerge. So, when she suspects her family’s business has taken a sinister turn, Bess must find the strength to defeat dark magic and save a certain cinder girl. But will she shatter under the weight of such evil or get her happily ever after? 

Glass is a prequel to the Cinderella story from the perspective of the young fairy godmother, Bess. While readers will sympathize with Bess’s situation, many readers will have difficulty connecting with Bess. Bess’s family does not understand her, so she often escapes into the forest with her animal friends. Much of the conflict revolves around Bess’s inner turmoil, and when she eventually runs away, she spends most of her time alone. Unfortunately, Bess’s personality isn’t given much room to shine, and although she eventually becomes Ella’s fairy godmother, their connection feels weak and forced. 

When Ella’s grandfather dies, Ella is forced to leave the Royal Observatory in Greenwich and go to live with her distant cousins, the Wickhams. Soon, Ella is forced into slavery. Luckily, Bess’s owl friend Ulli sweeps in and saves Ella’s life by bringing her warm clothes, blankets, and food. Although Bess knows about Ella’s horrible situation, she is too fearful to confront her family about their cruel behavior. Like Bess, most of Ella’s interactions with the family are described second-hand, which makes it difficult to understand her suffering. Likewise, when Bess finally decides to help Ella, her motives are unclear. This makes their happy ending seem like a coincidence that lacks a reason to celebrate. 

One of Bess’s attributes is her love of the natural world, including plants and animals. Unfortunately, Bess’s love of plants leads to long descriptions, which slow the plot down. Likewise, Ella loves the stars and dreams of becoming a comet chaser. Like Bess, Ella describes the night skies with excessive detail. Both Bess’s and Ella’s descriptions are full of jargon, and some of the language will be difficult for readers to understand. For example, one page uses the following words: social stratifications, keenly, pertaining, astral tables, relics, curators, spectroscopic studies, and lickspittles. 

Readers who want an exciting and adventurous story will find Glass lacking both. However, readers who love the natural world and exploring characters’ inner thoughts will enjoy Glass because of its unique twist on the Cinderella story. Since the book includes complicated magic and long descriptions, Glass is best suited for strong readers who don’t get discouraged when encountering new vocabulary. Readers who want a more playful story and are eager to enter the fairytale world can find magical stories by reading Maggie and the Flying Horse by E.D. Baker, If the Shoe Fits by Sarah Mlynowski, and The Prince Problem by Vivian Vande Velde. 

Sexual Content  

  • None

Violence  

  • An owl gets impaled by a glass plant. “The blossoms were red, bloodred, and the needles were sharp. And there, hanging from the needles, was the owl she had seen. The owl her father had cursed and threatened to shoot now hung bleeding from the Blood Thorn lilies. Its white-speckled breast feathers were drenched in blood.” Bess treats the owl’s wounds, and it heals. 
  • One of Bess’s animal friends, a wolf, is shot. Afterward, Bess’s mother says she will taxidermy “just the head, my dear. They’re cutting it off and sending it over. But we are also going to make a glass casting of it.”  
  • Bess’s mother traps a titmouse and turns it into a figurine. Bess’s sisters “glanced at the shattered mirrors and the torn-up body of the titmouse. With one wing askew, the other was caught in a strange wild flight of its own, with no body attached. A glistening vaporous cloud began to form in the mirrored box over the remnant body parts of the titmouse.” A few seconds later, the titmouse had lost its soul. 
  • When Ella reveals her glass slipper, her family “seize her.” Ella “felt her dress ripping as Charles seized the skirt. Then Olivia grabbed her hair. The two together were wrestling her to the ground. . . [Ella] sunk her teeth into Olivia’s ankle. Charles was cursing her and reached down to grab her neck, but she raised her knee and kicked him in the groin.”  
  • To help Ella escape, Bess uses magic. “Estrella gasped as she watched Rose, Olivia, and their parents suddenly grow rigid and, then within seconds, turn transparent. Their eyes glared in a glassy, paralytic horror. . . The noise grew louder and was followed by the din of shattering glass as the Wickham family, one by one, crashed to the floor.” Bess had turned them into glass. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language  

  • Bess’s father says, “My Lord” one time. 
  • Bess’s father describes her as being hek-ish. “He touched his heart as he said the dangerous word—as he did any word to do with witches or witchish things. It was an ancient custom to touch one’s heart when one said a forbidden or dangerous word like hek-ish.” Later, he says, “Hek-ish, by God!” 

Supernatural 

  • Some people believed that Bess’s grandmother was a witch. Grannie said, “Witchcraft nonsense. Your mamma would have lost that hand she burned when she was learning to take the glass off the blowpipe if I hadn’t bound it in sphagnum.”  
  • Bess talks in the wolf’s language and then faints. Her father says, “It was as if you were seized by some. . . some unnatural spirit.”  
  • Bess worries when her father uses the term unnatural spirit. “Two words from the witch-burning times in England. . . Surly her parents didn’t think she was a witch.” Her parents do believe Bess is a witch.  
  • Bess’s family uses magic to trap animal’s souls and turn them into glass figurines. “The creature is fed an ominous brew of melted crystals sweetened with honey. The animal quickly becomes addled and loses its bearings. If it’s a frog, it might hop backward or sideways. Jumping up when it means to go down. . . They surround the creature with mirrors. Handblown glass mirrors. It becomes confused and finally smashes into the mirrors, which then break. This is the sign that the soul has been extracted.” The smashed glass is turned into a figurine.  
  • Bess goes to visit her Grandmother’s grave. “When the trees bleed white with frost and every limb and pine needle is shrouded in ice, it is said that the hoar spirits come like ghosts from the frost in the night.” That night, Grannie speaks to Bess and gives her a magic wand.  
  • Bess’s grandmother knew druid rituals. For example, when Bess’s parents were married, “Grannie drew the sun around us for good luck and happiness. She held up the wand and made a circle over our heads in the direction of the sun. . . I know Pastor Filkins was simply mortified. Only heaths do these old druid things.”  
  • Bess learns how to use the magic wand by casting a spell: “Cruthaichidh mi mar a smaoinicheas mi agus a labhras mi.” In order to make the magic work, Bess has to imagine what she is trying to create. “One had to think something, figure it out, before the magic worked. One could not just wave a wand around and babble some spell.”  
  • Bess’s sister, Olivia, puts a three-tine fork under Bess’s bed. A three-tine fork “was sometimes considered a tool of the devil. To use them meant to invite temptation and evil into a house, but to throw them away could also cause evil across the land.” 
  • While transporting the three-tine fork, “a sprig of heart wort” was put in the box with it. 
  • When Bess was born, “the birth sac was around her head. . . that is supposed to be good, bring luck. It means a gifted child.” Bess’s mother believes it was a curse. “There is a particular way one must bury the sac, and I’m not sure Grannie did it right.”  
  • Bess learns how to become invisible.  

Spiritual Content  

  • After Grannie dies, Bess believes she is in the Summerlands. Bess doesn’t know what that is, but Grannie “used to talk about the Summerlands sometimes. . . I think it’s something from long ago. . . in the time of the druids.” 
  • When Bess asks about the shape of a spoonbill’s beak, she is told, “The roseate spoonbill’s beak was designed by the good Lord so it could scoop up the delectable delights of the shallows. . .”  

Otter: Oh No, Bath Time!

Otter and Teddy love to play in the garden. But when they get dirty, they have to do something they do not love at all: take a bath! Otter Keeper says bath time is fun, but Otter and Teddy are not so sure.  

Otter: Oh No, Bath Time focuses on Otter’s daily outdoor activities. When it rains, Otter and his friend Teddy have fun playing in a mudpuddle. Otter and Teddy decide to hide so they don’t have to take a bath. But Otter Keeper makes bath time fun using bubbles and toys. In the end, Otter and Teddy learn that they both love baths. 

Otter’s daily life is illustrated with simple but colorful pictures. Each page has 1 to 2 simple sentences that make Otter: Oh No, Bath Time ideal for reading with emergent readers. Readers may be confused the first time “Otter Keeper” is referred to and may need help understanding that Otter Keeper refers to the human that cares for Otter.  

Otter: Oh No, Bath Time focuses on simple joys and has a humorous ending that young readers will love. Through Otter’s experiences, readers will learn that fun can be found in surprising places—including a mud puddle and bathtub. Readers can learn more about animals by reading Otters Love to Play by Jonathan London and Polar Oceans by Bobbie Kalman. However, if you’re looking for a picture book series that will help a child with everyday problems like being afraid of the dark, then swim to the library to check out the Pout-Pout Fish Adventure Series by Deborah Diesen.  

Sexual Content  

  • None

Violence  

  • None 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

The Story of Katherine Johnson

Katherine Johnson was one of the most famous mathematicians in history, and her work at NASA helped send the first men to the moon. Johnson’s life was characterized by her curiosity and desire to help others. Plus, her skillful calculations at NASA set the foundation for modern-day space travel. Her legacy lives on in the people and companies she invested in, and society has honored her work through books and movies about her achievements. However, Johnson’s journey wasn’t easy, and her path to NASA required hard work that required her to seize opportunities.  

Born on August 26th, 1918, in the small town of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, Johnson was bright and curious. As a child, she loved counting things, and her love for math grew during high school and college. When Johnson accepted a work position at the prestigious company NASA, she was tasked with developing mathematical calculations to send the first men to space. However, with the margin of error slim, she feared that she had made a mistake with her math. Will the space missions be a success? Or will Johnson’s miscalculations ruin everything? 

The Story of Katherine Johnson tells the biographical story of Johnson’s life and her impact as a brilliant mathematician. Told from the perspective of an outside narrator, the book follows Johnson’s life, beginning with her childhood fascination with numbers and ending with her lasting legacy on NASA’s space missions. Thus, Johnson is portrayed as an inspirational figure whose willingness to seize her chances is exemplary and influential for readers. The book also depicts the challenges that came with her work and achievements, which gives the story a realistic and authentic feel. 

The biography offers a positive outlook on the themes of hard work and application. Although Johnson’s work at NASA came with trials and difficulty, her dedication to developing her math skills highlights the book’s message about jumping at one’s opportunities. It encourages readers to seize the occasions that open up in their lifetimes. In Johnson’s case, she “pushed the limits and encouraged others to do the same. She lived a life that was out of this world!” 

The Story of Katherine Johnson is part of a series called Story Of: A Biography for New Readers. The book is educationally oriented and includes additional supplementary material, like fun facts, discussion questions, a reading quiz, and a glossary. Hand-drawn, colorful illustrations pepper every one to three pages, and the back of the book features a small section with real-life pictures and reflection questions, such as, “What good things can happen when a person enjoys what they do at work?” While the text features large words and long paragraphs that can be challenging for younger readers, The Story of Katherine Johnson tells an inspiring tale about one of America’s most famous mathematicians. It’s a riveting story for math and space lovers. 

Readers can discover more about strong women inspired by space by reading Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer by Traci Sorell, Mae Jemison: Awesome Astronaut by Jill C. Wheeler and To Boldly Go: How Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek Helped Advance Civil Rights by Angela Dalton. However, if you’d like to introduce a young reader to inspiring space-related books, blast to the library to check out Jada Jones Sky Watcher by Kelly Starling Lyons, Mousetronaut by Mark Kelly, and The Secret Explorers and the Moon Mission by SJ King. 

Sexual Content 

  • None

Violence 

  • None 

Drugs and Alcohol 

  • None

Language 

  • None

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content 

  • None 

Cleopatra Rules!: The Amazing Life of the Original Teen Queen

Most of what we’ve known about Cleopatra—and what crept into art, film, and literature—came from her enemies, the Romans. Ascending to the throne at young age of 17, Cleopatra proved to be a brilliant negotiator who forged alliances that kept her in power and in control of her kingdom.   

Readers will be surprised to learn that Cleopatra was more of a bookworm than a seductress. The text is divided into small sections, with headlines announcing each topic. In addition, some sections answer common questions such as, “Was she beautiful?” To answer the question, the author refers to ancient documents. According to Plutarch, the ancient biographer, “The charm of her presence was irresistible, and there was an attraction. . . with a peculiar force of character. . . [that] laid all who associated with her under its spell.” 

Even though Cleopatra Rules is written at a high reading level, readers can use context clues to understand most words. Even reluctant readers will be able to enjoy the book because it features many sidebars and color illustrations: maps, photos of ancient artifacts, and artwork from many historical periods. The book is written in a humorous tone that can appear flippant. For example, the text explains the mummification process: “The organs, stuffed into special jars, stayed near the body. They pulled the brains out through the nose. After all, who needed brains?” 

Since Cleopatra’s life was entwined with both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, readers will also learn more about Rome and the period’s politics. Anyone who loves history or is curious about Cleopatra will fully enjoy Cleopatra Rules because it presents history in an easy-to-read format that is engaging and educational. However, readers need to beware: Cleopatra Rules will make you want to dig deeper into ancient Egypt’s and Rome’s history because the political leaders are fascinating.  

Sexual Content  

  • In ancient Egypt, it wasn’t unusual for siblings to marry each other. Cleopatra’s father “probably expected the two to marry when the boy got older. And the eww factor gets even worse. After all, Cleopatra’s mother was likely also her aunt, her father’s sister.”  
  • The ancient Egyptian gods were often married to their siblings, which is why pharaohs often married each sibling. “All pharaohs were the human embodiment of Horus, sharing his divinity. When pharaohs died, they became fully divine. . .” 
  • The Romans believed Cleopatra was a “harlot.” However, she only had two romantic relationships.   

Violence  

  • When Cleopatra and her father went to Rome, Cleopatra’s sister Berenice claimed the throne. “It was a dumb move because as soon as Daddy regained control of the throne, Berenice parted with more than her crown. She parted with her life, too. . . she was executed for treason.” 
  • To gain Caesar’s favor, Cleopatra’s brother “had Pompey the Great—one of the most powerful leaders in Rome—beheaded on Egyptian soil.” When Caesar arrived in Egypt, “the boy king’s advisers shoved Pompey’s pickled head into his face.”  
  • Egypt attacked Caesar because he refused to leave Egypt. To escape, Caesar “jumped into the choppy waters and swam to a boat farther out to sea . . . Arrows and spears flew, nearly blotting out the bright Egyptian sun.” Caesar escaped, but Cleopatra’s brother drowned, and her sister Arsinoe was arrested. 
  • When Caesar became too powerful, “Twenty-six senators knifed Caesar to death at a senate meeting.”  
  • Mark Antony received a note saying Cleopatra was dead. “Antony then took the sword and stabbed himself in the belly,” causing “bleeding and gasping in pain.” When he discovered the note was false, he asked his servants to take him to Cleopatra.  
  • When Octavian captured Cleopatra, she “grabbed a dagger hidden in her dress and tried to stab herself, but Octavian’s man was too quick. She’d been captured.” 
  • After Antony died, Cleopatra “finished her ritual prayers at Antony’s tomb.” Then, she killed herself by letting a snake bite her. However, scholars debate whether this is true or if Cleopatra took poison. 
  • After Cleopatra died, her son was a threat, so Octavian “had him hunted down and murdered.” 
  • Cleopatra’s only grandson, Ptolemy of Mauretania, was murdered because he “wore a purple cloak that was prettier than” the Roman Emperor Caligula’s cloak. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • When Cleopatra and Mark Antony were together, they threw parties where “tasty wine flowed.” 
  • Mark Antony drank heavily.  
  • The Romans celebrated a war victory with “food and wine. Party time!” The celebrations could last for days. The partying even had a religious vibe because the conquering hero was likened to a god.

Language  

  • By killing a Roman general, Cleopatra’s brother made a “boneheaded move.”

Supernatural 

  • To Egyptians, jewelry was “a form of fancy magic. . .They figured the more jewelry you put on, the safer you were from bad things happening. . . Almost every piece of jewelry had some sort of symbolic meaning or magical power.” 

Spiritual Content  

  • The ancient Romans worshiped many gods, including Montu, the Egyptian god of war. “The Buchis bull was believed to be the incarnation of the war god, Montu. When a Buchis bull died, it was mummified and placed in a special tomb. . . “ Cleopatra celebrated in a ceremony for the Buchis bull. 
  • The Buchis bull was “papered” because Egyptians believed it “helped cure the sick and delivered oracles.” 
  • When Cleopatra became queen, she “dressed as Venus, lay beneath a canopy of gold cloth, with boys costumed as Cupid stood on either side, fanning her. Beautiful girls posed as minor goddesses, and sea nymphs burned sweet incense to perfume the air around them. . . To the Egyptians, she was Isis, the main goddess of Egypt. And, as in a religious experience, everyone was hushed in awe at the sight of the goddess-queen.” 
  • The Egyptians worshiped “a healer god of perfume—Nefertem.”  

The Hunt for the Coliseum Ghost

Geronimo’s nephew Benjamin struggles to learn Roman history. To spark Benjamin’s interest in history, Geronimo decides to take him to Rome. Once there, they discover that the Colosseum is being haunted by a gladiator ghost and none of the tourists want to visit anymore! Geronimo must solve the mystery and rid the site of its ghost. 

The end of the book contains a bonus mini mystery: The Cheese Burglar. Geronimo invites readers to solve the mystery by using clearly defined clues. Can Geronimo clear his name and catch the real thief before it’s too late? 

Geronimo’s hunt for the Colosseum Ghost includes humorous chases, surprises, and appearances from Geronimo’s acquaintances. While much of the action occurs in Rome, the story focuses more on Geronimo’s hunt for the ghost than on Roman history or culture. Even though the purpose of the trip is to teach Benjamin, his role is limited; instead, Geronimo’s secret agent role becomes the focus. 

Each Geronimo Stilton book begins with Geronimo introducing himself and any characters that have appeared in previous books. For example, Creepella sends a letter to Geronimo, sprayed with “Ratell No. 5, my friend Creepella von Cacklefur’s favorite perfume! One thing you should know is that Creepella tells everyone she is my girlfriend, but it’s not true.”  

Readers familiar with Geronimo Stilton and his background will enjoy seeing the reappearance of many characters. Unfortunately, The Hunt of the Colosseum Ghost’s large cast list and jumpy plot make the story hard to follow. The story’s flow is also broken up with many inserts that explain Geronimo’s past interaction with other characters, as well as information about Geronimo being a secret agent. The book includes several infographics that give readers more information about Rome’s history, including some of its historic places. Since Geronimo talks about his love of pizza, the book includes directions for making a three-vegetable pizza.  

The Hunt of the Colosseum Ghost will appeal to a wide range of readers because Geronimo describes his adventure with humor. Plus, each page has a large, full-color illustration. In addition to the often humorous illustrations, the large text has a graphic element that makes the words look fun, and some keywords are printed in a larger, colored print. 

The Geronimo Stilton Series will capture readers’ attention because Geronimo is a likable protagonist who shows bravery although he often feels fear. His entertaining adventures often leave the reader with a nugget of wisdom. In The Hunt of the Colosseum Ghost, Geronimo says, “I thought for a moment about how satisfying it is to share with those we love, whether it’s a special pizza or a love of knowledge. The warm feelings I get inside from helping others are even better than a slice of Mouse Island’s finest cheese!” Readers who love Geronimo Stilton can find more humorous adventures in the Zeus The Mighty Series by Crispin Boyer. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • When Geronimo goes into the Colosseum, a ghost appears holding a sword. The ghost says, “You will regret taking on the gladiator ghost!” When Geronimo sees him, “I took off as quickly as the wind. You have no idea how fast I can run when I’m being chased by the ghost of a Roman gladiator!” 
  • Geronimo goes into the sewer underneath the Colosseum and discovers a room full of “enormouse spiders!. . .They scampered around while glaring menacingly at me with their beady little eyes.” Geronimo runs as the spiders chase him. “Ahead of me, I saw a small opening in the wall. Desperately, I tried to wiggle my body through it, but my tail got caught. Unfortunately, the spider took advantage of the opportunity and pinched me on the butt.” Geronimo escapes the spiders.  
  • Geronimo and his friends hide so they can watch the gladiator ghost. “Suddenly, the gladiator ghost waved his sword so violently it grazed my helmet and sheared off my whiskers!” 
  • The gladiator hears Geronimo’s squeak and gives chase. Geronimo tries several tricks to try to trap the gladiator. As he runs, the Colosseum’s crowd yells, “Get them! Get them!”  
  • At one point, a lion comes into the Colosseum. Geronimo “didn’t want to become lion food. . . The lion had raised its paw and was about to strike. I prepared for the collision, covering my snout with my paws, but . . . nothing happened.” Geronimo discovers that the lion and crowd are holographic projections. But the ghost was a robot. “I smashed into the robot so hard; it broke into pieces. . . it powered down completely and lay motionless on the ground like a mound of scrap metal.” 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language  

  • Geronimo uses many exclamations, such as squeak, holey cheese, moldy mozzarella, twisted rattails, and other silly words. 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

Who Was Julius Caesar?

He came. He saw. He conquered. Julius Caesar was a force to be reckoned with. He was a savvy politician, an impressive orator, and a brave soldier. Born in Rome in 100 BC, he quickly climbed the ladder of Roman politics, making allies and enemies along the way. His victories in battle awarded him the support of the people. However, flush from power he named himself dictator for life, and the good times would not last much longer. On the Ides of March, Caesar was brutally assassinated by a group of senators determined to end his tyranny and bring his reign to an end. 

Who was Julius Caesar? focuses on Caesar’s rise to power in a time when power and wealth were the leading cause of many battles in Rome. Many powerful men were willing to fight for power, including Cinna and Marius, who were supposed to rule the Senate together. Since Caesar traveled widely, there is also a short excerpt about Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy. Readers will find Caesar’s military expertise and ability to manipulate people fascinating. However, Caesar lived in a time of bloody battles, murders, and rebellions.  

The book has an easy-to-read format with a large font. Large black-and-white illustrations appear on almost every page. Many illustrations show maps, people, and objects from the time period. For example, there are illustrations of important people, Roman architecture, weapons, and maps. The wide array of illustrations and the short chapters will help keep readers interested until the end. Scattered throughout the book are one-page infographics that give more information about the time period, such as education in Ancient Rome, the Roman Forum, and Spartacus. The end of the book includes a timeline of Julius Caesar’s life and a timeline of the world during that time period. 

Julius Caesar is one of the most famous Romans of all time—he was even the topic of one of Shakespeare’s plays. Everyone should learn more about Caesar and Ancient Rome because they impacted the world. Political unrest embroiled Rome in many battles, causing death and destruction. Despite this, learning about Ancient Roman history shows how Caesar’s quest for power and wealth led to his demise, and while the Ancient Roman Empire accomplished many great things, the empire eventually crumbled.  

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • Pirates imprisoned Caesar. After Caesar’s ransom was paid, he was released. “He took each and every one of the pirates and had them killed.” 
  • Sulla and Marius were rivals who wanted to be the top general. When the two sides battled, “Sulla’s army burned down buildings and killed many people.” 
  • Marius’ army returned to Rome and “began killing Sulla’s supporters. Some victims had their heads chopped off and stuck to the ends of spears.”  
  • In Ancient Rome, many men fought for power, including Cinna and Sulla. “Wealthy citizens were being murdered by angry mobs. . . Cinna’s troops realized they were no match for Sulla’s army. . . They murdered their own commander.”  
  • When Sulla took power, “he began clearing the city of his enemies. A list of names was posted in the Forum. Anyone who killed a man on the list could keep some of that man’s property.” 
  • Spartacus was a slave who began a rebellion. “One night, Spartacus escaped with more than seventy other slaves. They were armed only with kitchen knives. As they fled, they came across wagons loaded with weapons.” Spartacus and his men killed many men. 
  • When Spartacus was killed, the rebellion ended. “For daring to rise up against Rome, six thousand rebels were crucified. The crosses stood one every hundred feet for a hundred miles, all along the road to Rome.” Spartacus and his rebellion are discussed over a page. 
  • Bibulus, a senate member, angered the people of Rome. “They threw things at him. Someone dumped a basket of animal poop on his head, and a mob chased him back to his house.” 
  • Caesar attacked Gaul. During this time, a group of three thousand Gauls planned to move to the coast. “They had burned their villages behind them, so no one could change their mind and move back home.” 
  • Caesar went to Egypt and the king gave him a gift, “a woven basket. . . containing Pompey’s severed head!” 
  • Caesar became so powerful that the senate decided to kill him. “The first to stab Caesar was a senator named Casca. He was so nervous that he only grazed Caesar’s neck. Caesar attacked with the only weapon he had—a pen—and stabbed it through Casca’s arm. Twenty-two more blows descended on Caesar, one knife after another.” Caesar died. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • The Romans believed in many gods. “Caesar’s family said they were descended directly from Venus, Roman goddess of love and beauty!” 
  • In a speech, Caesar said, “The family of my aunt Julia is descended from kings on her mother’s side and, through her father, from the gods themselves. My family therefore holds the sanctity of kings who rule among men and of gods who rule over kings.” 
  • One page explains the religion in Ancient Rome. The Romans “worshiped Greek gods—after giving them Roman names. The most powerful Greek God, Zeus, became the Roman God Jupiter. . . Religion was part of everyday life in Rome. Almost everyone had a household shrine: a small cupboard with pictures and trinkets where they could pray and make offerings—often food and drink—to the gods.” 
  • Romans appointed a High Priest of Jupiter. “The God Jupiter was the protector of Rome.”  

The Thieves of Ostia

Flavia Gemina is a natural at solving mysteries. The daughter of a ship’s captain living in Ostia, the port of Rome, in AD79, she and her three friends, Jonathan, a Jewish boy (and secretly a Christian); Nubia, an African slave girl; and Lupus, a mute beggar boy, must work together to discover who is beheading the watchdogs that guard people’s homes, and why.

One of the best qualities of The Thieves of Ostia is the interesting and diverse characters. While Flavia is the main protagonist, the addition of Jonathan, Nubia, and Lupus adds interest and allows the reader to see how people in different social groups interact. Despite coming from different backgrounds, Flavia, her father, and her friends treat Jonathan, Nubia, and Lupus equally. This highlights the importance of treating all people kindly and allows the reader to see Flavia’s compassion.  

When Flavia first sees Nubia, who is naked and chained, Flavia decides to purchase Nubia instead of buying an expensive book. From the start, Flavia treats Nubia like a friend instead of a servant. Likewise, when Lupus enters the scene, he’s in filthy, threadbare clothes and is unable to talk because his tongue has been cut out. Despite this, Lupus is treated with care and quickly joins Flavia’s friend group. Flavia’s friend Jonathan is also well-developed, and through him and his family, readers learn how Christian Jews are discriminated against. This topic isn’t explored in detail. Instead, the story affirms the importance of treating everyone with respect. Flavia’s father explains how Jonathan’s family has different customs that must be respected. Flavia and her father accept each other’s differences and create a welcoming atmosphere that allows friendships to bloom.  

In addition to the interesting characters, The Thieves of Ostia revolves around a fast-paced mystery with Flavia and her friends roaming different parts of Rome. This gives a glimpse into the harsh realities of life, including slavery and death, which were common during this period. These scenes are often graphic and may upset some readers. One character who is especially cruel is Venalicius, a slave trader who is rumored to kidnap children to sell as slaves. In one terrifying scene, Venalicius sends his men to capture Flavia and her friends. This heart-pounding scene shows the perils of children who live in Rome. 

The Thieves of Ostia has many positive aspects, including interesting characters, a compelling mystery, and several positive life lessons. Through Flavia and her friends’ adventures, readers will learn the importance of forgiveness. In addition, the story’s conclusion shows the dangers of judging people based on their appearance. One reason people did not suspect the culprit was because he was attractive. Flavia says the criminal was “polite and handsome. . . It just never occurred to me that he might be bad.” Readers who get squeamish by graphic descriptions will want to avoid reading The Thieves of Ostia. However, readers who are ready to delve into the hard topics of death and slavery will enjoy The Thieves of Ostia because of the exciting action and adventure.  

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • A pack of dogs chases Flavia into a tree. While she’s trying to figure out how to move to safety, “One of the yellow dogs yelped and leaped to his feet, as if stung by a bee. Then the leader snarled and writhed in pain. A stone had struck him!” A boy slung rocks at the dogs until they “slunk off.”  
  • When Flavia goes into town, she sees “terrifying men with broken noses, mangled ears, and meaty arms. Some had lost arms or hands or legs.” It is unclear how the men were injured. 
  • \While by the port, Flavia hears “the crack of a whip and clink of chains. Out of the mist emerged a pitiful sight, a line of women, naked and chained at the neck. . . Some had open sores.” The women were naked and wore “wooden tags with prices scrawled on them.” 
  • Venalicius is known to kidnap children and sell them into slavery. It was rumored “that he had kidnapped a nine-year-old girl named Sapphira and sold her to a Syrian merchant.” 
  • Venalicius had one ear “bitten off by a slave he had afterward crucified, if the rumor was true.” 
  • Flavia sees a young girl who is being sold by Venalicius. Flavia asks her father what will happen to the girl, and he says, “She may become a lady’s maid. Or a cook’s assistant. Or perhaps someone will buy her for a wife. . . You know that eleven or twelve is not too young for slaves to marry.”  
  • When Shanakda, a slave girl, was too afraid to walk the gangplank, “without warning, Venalicius had furiously unlocked her collar and pushed her into the water, though her hands had still been tied. . . Nubia would never forget the sight of bitter seawater filling Shanakda’s screaming mouth and silencing her forever.” 
  • Flavia’s family’s cook “had died shopping for leeks in the forum when a donkey kicked him in the head.”  
  • Flavia’s neighbor, Cordius, was an officer in Germania, and “his whole family had been slaughtered by barbarians. A lovely wife, three fine young sons, and a baby girl, now all gone to the underworld. . .” 
  • Jonathan’s family’s watchdog is killed. Jonathan tells Flavia not to look because “someone has cut off his head and taken it away.” Later, another dog is found with its head cut off.  
  • Avita, a young girl, “died horribly, in great pain, of hydrophobia. . . The disease is also known as rabies.” Avita’s mom says, “Avita lost her appetite, and then she began to be terrified of the sight of water. She even refused to drink. Finally, she began to see things that weren’t there. But the end, when it came, was peaceful.” 
  • Avita’s father goes to several taverns, gets drunk, then travels to a lighthouse and jumps off. “There was a cry from the onlookers as the figure struck the edge of the first tier, bounced, and tumbled like a rag doll down to the concrete below.” 
  • A young boy climbed a tree to get away from a pack of dogs. Someone begins shooting arrows at the dogs. “One of the dogs yelped, leaped into the air, then fell back with a shaft in his gut. . . the second arrow struck the leader. . . Two dogs with arrows in them lay writhing on the ground.” Jonathan’s father, Mordecai, grabs a sword and “cut the dog’s throat with a single stroke, putting her out of her misery.”  
  • The other dog “leapt directly at Mordecai’s face. Jonathan’s father reacted by instinct. The bloody sword flashed again, and the dog’s head and body fell in two separate places.”  
  • Flavia befriends an orphan boy who cannot talk because “someone has cut out his tongue.” The reason for this is never stated. 
  • Flavia’s dog begins to whine. Then, Flavia sees “a trident, the kind fishermen use to catch fish. Its base was wedged tight between paving stones, and its three prongs pointed up toward the cold stars. On each of the three points was planted a severed dog’s head.” Flavia faints. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Jonathan uses marjoram oil for his asthma.  
  • When Flavia hurts her ankle, an adult applies ointment to help it heal. 
  • Flavia and her father purchased a young slave. Flavia “bathed the sores on her neck with a sea sponge and applied some of Mordecai’s soothing aloe balm.”  
  • At Flavia’s birthday dinner, the adults drink wine, and the children drink “well watered” wine. Jonathan becomes “slightly tipsy.”  
  • Flavia lives close to the graveyard. “She often went there with her father to honor her mother and twin brothers. . . Wind could be poured into [amphora] necks to refresh the ashes of the dead below.” 
  • A boy follows Avita’s father to several taverns, where he sees men drinking and gambling.  
  • Flavia’s family has friends over for dinner, and they drink wine. Flavia notices that her father has drunk too much wine. 

Language  

  • An adult exclaims, “Great Neptune’s beard!”  
  • “By Hercules” is used as an exclamation twice. 
  • Flavia and Jonathan both exclaim, “by Pollux” one time. 

Supernatural 

  • A boy overhears a soothsayer talking to Avita’s father. The boy “guessed the soothsayer was poking at chicken entrails or staring into a sacred bauble.” The soothsayer tells the father, “Unless you offer a sacrifice to the god Anubis, your daughter’s spirit will never be at rest. . . May the gods curse you!” 

Spiritual Content  

  • Flavia wears an amulet. “One day, when she married, she would dedicate this bulla to the gods of the crossroad.” 
  • When Flavia finds her father’s signet ring, she says “a silent prayer of thanks to Castor and Pollux,” who are deities and the patrons of athletes. 
  • Jonathan’s family is Jewish. When Flavia meets his father, he is reading the Torah. Jonathan says the family moved after “our old neighbors wrote things on the wall of our house, and once they threw rotten eggs at Father.” 
  • Jonathan’s family are Christians who aren’t allowed in the synagogue. The Rabbi tells Jonathan, “I suppose you can’t be blamed for your father’s misguided beliefs. Besides, the Master of the Universe, blessed be He, tells us to act justly and to love mercy. . .” 
  • Flavia tells Jonathan, “I’ve heard that Christians eat their God, and my father says they burned Rome.” Jonathan defends Christianity. He says, “Christians are peaceful. We are taught to love our enemies and pray for them.” 
  • Jonathan’s father, Mordecai, encourages the children to forgive. He says, “Our faith teaches that if you say sorry to God for the wrong things you have done, and if you forgive the people who have done wrong things to you, you will be forgiven.” 
  • When eating at Flavia’s house, snails are served. When Jonathan asks if he can eat them, his father says, “God has made all things clean.” After a discussion that lasted a page, “Flavia closed her eyes and tried to imagine which god she was speaking to. Finally, she settled on the beardless shepherd with a lamb over his shoulder.” 
  • While discussing the criminal who killed the dogs, Mordecai says, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”   
  • Flavia’s father sets off on a journey after he “visited the temple of Castor and Pollux, to make sacrifices for a good and profitable journey.”  
  • Avita’s mom says, “I believe that after we die, we will go to a place more wonderful than we can imagine. Not the cold, dark underworld, but a sunny garden, a paradise. I trust Avita is there now. She was also a believer.” This implies that Avita’s mother is a Christian.  
  • Flavia and her friends talk to a sea captain who sailed through a terrible story. The captain says, “All of us are thanking whatever gods we believe in that we’re alive . . .” 
  • When the slave dealer sends his men to capture Jonathan and his friends, Jonathan prays that they reach safety. 
  • When Emperor Vespasian dies, he says, “Oh, dear, I think I’m becoming a god.”  

You Wouldn’t Want to be a Roman Gladiator!

This interactive story makes readers part of the story by inviting them to become the main characters. The story warns: watch out as a barbarian fighting against the Romans, you are about to be captured, sold as a slave, and trained to become a Roman gladiator.  

Tips from the experts:  

  • Train hard — your life will depend on your fighting skills.  
  • Eat porridge, barley, and ash to become fit and strong!  
  • Don’t get caught if you attempt to escape — the punishments are severe.  
  • Fight well or face the consequences! 
  • Win every contest and live long enough to retire.  

If you’re ready to jump into the life of a gladiator, You Wouldn’t Want to be a Roman Gladiator!  will teach you how to fight, kill, and die in a suitably sporting manner to entertain the Roman crowds. If you survive, you could become a hero but don’t count on it.  

You Wouldn’t Want to be a Roman Gladiator! introduces readers to the dark and violent life of a Roman gladiator. Instead of depicting the horrors that gladiators face in a dark, dreary mood, the illustrations use humor. While fighting is illustrated, the men have exaggerated facial expressions, and no wounds are included. One page does show two men being chased by wild animals, and one of the gladiators is on the ground while a tiger is about to pounce on him. The book’s light tone allows readers to learn about this important era in history without traumatizing them with gory details.   

The book’s format is perfect for reluctant readers. Each page has one large illustration as well as several smaller illustrations. On each two-page spread, a large paragraph explains what is happening to the reader. Along the edges, there is more information about a gladiator’s life. For example, one page includes an illustrated list of what happens when a gladiator is getting ready to “fight to the death.” In addition, each two-page spread has a “Handy Hint” that gives even more information, such as “keep oon fighting—if you don’t, your trainer will send a slave to whip you or prod you with a hot poker.”  

You Wouldn’t Want to be a Roman Gladiator! is an interactive book that uses humor and illustrations to make learning about history fun. While some readers may not understand all of the words, context clues and illustrations will help them understand their meanings. Plus, there is a glossary at the back of the book. For more information about life in ancient Rome, you don’t need to search for an ancient scroll; instead, read the nonfiction book Ancient Rome and Pompeii by Mary Pope Osborne & Natalie Pope Boyce. Readers who want to experience a fictional gladiator’s life should read Ranger in Time: Danger in Ancient Rome by Kate Messner.  

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • The Romans and Gauls fight; the Romans enslave the prisoners who “are chained at the neck and led away to begin a new life as slaves.” An illustration of the fight is included.  
  • When the slaves are sold at the market, they are forced to work in the mines, in the quarry, as gladiators, and in other difficult jobs. The slaves are chained and must wear a collar with their owner’s name and address. 
  • Several times, the book mentions that slaves were whipped if they didn’t work hard enough.  
  • If a slave tried to escape, “a runaway will have FHE (for Fugitivus Hic Est) and the initials of his owner, such as LT (for Lucius Titius) burned into his forehead.” 
  • A list of the different types of gladiators is included. Each gladiator appears with the weapon that he would use. One gladiator pictured is a woman. “An uncommon sight, but women fight as gladiators, too.” 
  • If a gladiator didn’t want to fight, “your trainer will send a slave to whip you or prod you with a hot poker.”  
  • When you fight another gladiator and feel as if you will lose, “appeal to the emperor. As you raise your left hand, the emperor will turn to the crowd and let it decide your fate. . . If people turn their thumbs down to the ground, as if swiping a sword through the air, then the defeated man must die.” The picture shows a gladiator on his back with another man holding a sword against his neck. 
  • If you survive until midday, “you’ll have a chance for a rest, when you’ll be able to watch criminals fight to the death.” 
  • Some gladiators fought wild animals such as lions, tigers, and elephants, but “those who are criminals have no means of defense.”  
  • The Colosseum could be flooded so battleships could fight. “From a distance, you will shoot burning arrows at the enemy ship. Then, when you are upon them, you will use hand to hand combat.” Some men are seen jumping into the water, and it is implied that they will drown if they do not know how to swim. 
  • At the end of the games, “men drag away the bodies of the dead and dump them in a pit. . . Dying gladiators are killed by a man dressed as the mythical character Charon from the underworld.”  
  • At the end of the reader’s fight, “your body is dragged from the arena, the victorious gladiator is presented with his prize.” 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • The night before the gladiators’ fight, they are given meat and wine. 

Language  

  • A man yells at a gladiator, “Fight, you lazy dog.”

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • When the Romans and Gauls are about to fight, you are captured. An unnamed narrator gives you this advice: before the battle, offer a gift to your gods by throwing a weapon into a bog. This is the entrance to their underground world. 

Danger in Ancient Rome

Ranger is a golden retriever who has been trained as a search-and-rescue dog. In this adventure, Ranger travels to the Colosseum in ancient Rome, where there are gladiator fights and wild animal hunts! Ranger befriends the young boy Marcus after saving him from a runaway lion. Ranger also befriends Quintus, a new volunteer gladiator who must prove himself in the arena. Can Ranger help Marcus and Quintus escape the brutal world of the Colosseum?  

Told in third-person, Danger in Ancient Rome includes the inner thoughts of Ranger, Marcus, and Quintus. This increases the suspense by focusing on both Marcus’s and Quintus’s fear of being killed. Their point of view also allows them to explain Ancient Rome’s beliefs and practices. Since Marcus is young, he explains his master’s cruelty in kid-friendly language that is suspenseful, but not terrifying.   

Adding Ranger’s point of view allows the reader to understand Ranger’s thought process, which often includes comparing a situation in Rome to something similar in his family’s situation. For example, when trying to save a boy from a burning building, Ranger barks but doesn’t leave the building. The dog thinks, “He never had to bark this long practicing with Dad and Luke. When Ranger found the person and barked, Luke came.”  

Life in Ancient Rome was difficult and slaves were often treated cruelly. The descriptions are not graphic or gory, however, sensitive readers may get upset when Quintus is forced to fight in the Colosseum. The fight ends in a realistic but surprising way. Ranger and Marcus help Quintus fight and the emperor frees Marcus, Quintus, and the gladiator. A servant tells them, “But today, you and your dog gave [the audience] the one thing they love more than blood. . . You gave them a story. One they will tell for a long time to come.”  

The Ranger in Time Series format will appeal to young readers. The book has large text and full-page, black-and-white illustrations that appear approximately every six pages. The author’s note includes information about the historical people and places in the book, including information about Pompeii. Plus, there is a list of resources for readers who want to learn more about Ancient Rome.  

Danger in Ancient Rome is a suspenseful story that allows readers to learn about Ancient Rome. The story focuses on Marcus, a servant raised in a gladiator school. Since he has watched gladiators train, he is very knowledgeable and helps Quintus survive his first battle. The heartwarming conclusion shows Marcus and Quintus being given their freedom and becoming a family. Ranger uses his ability to smell to help others. Readers who want to learn more about amazing dogs should read The Dog That Dug for Dinosaurs by Shirley Raye Redmond, Dog Heroes by Mary Pope Osborne & Natalie Pope Boyce, and Sniffer Dogs by Nancy F. Castaldo. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • The emperor Domitian “had a reputation for being cruel. Some people even said he had killed the former emperor, Titus, his own brother.”  
  • A lion jumps on Marcus. “The lion knocked him to the stone floor. He hit his head on the edge of a stair. . . [the lion] pinned Marcus down with a fat, heavy paw.” Ranger helps and Marcus is uninjured. A one-page illustration shows the lion pinning Marcus to the ground. 
  • When help arrives for Marcus, “Ranger jumped to the side just as the animal trainer jabbed the lion with his stick. The huge cat roared and reared to face him. Then, four more men came running with sticks and swords and nets. They snared the big cat and tied it tight with thick ropes.” 
  • When a trainee disappears, Marcus’ owner tells Marcus, “You will find him. And you will bring him back. Or you will pay with your life.” Later, Marcus thinks that his owner “could have had him beaten or even killed for failing to do his job.”  
  • Ranger goes into a fire to rescue a boy. When he finds the boy, Ranger barks until Marcus comes to help. “Pieces of ceiling fell in burning scraps around them. Marcus couldn’t see anyone. . . He could only feel the dog under his hand, leading him.”  
  • Quintus is a “retiarius,” which means he is “the lowest of all the gladiators, that he almost always fought a heavily armored sector in the arena.” A retiarius usually dies in battle. 
  • Quintus, a gladiator in training, tries to run away. When his owner finds him, he shackles Quintus “with a thick iron cuff around his ankle and locked him into the barracks. . .” 
  • Men who committed crimes are “tied together with ropes and wearing nothing but rags.” They are executed, but their deaths are not described. 
  • Quintus is forced to fight Cleto, who is much bigger than him. During the fight, “Cleto slashed with his sword. Quintus fell back, clutching his upper arm. . . Marcus could see blood seeping from between [Quintus’] fingers.” 
  • During the fight, Quintus throws a net over Cleto. “Cleto cut through the net with his sword. He slashed at Quintus’s arm again, and this time, a bigger gash opened, spilling blood into the sand.” 
  • Ranger jumps in to help Quintus. Ranger “tackled Cleto, the way he tackled Luke when they were roughhousing in the yard at home. . . Even through the dark holes of the metal mask, Ranger could sense the anger in [Cletos’s] eyes.” 
  • Quintus again puts the net over Cleto. “. . . Cleto freed himself from the net. He struggled to untangle his sword and shield. . . [Cleto] rushed at Quintus, and slammed his body against him.” The emperor stops the fight and allows everyone to live. The fight is described over ten pages. There are two illustrations, but they do not show any of the wounds or actual fighting. 
  • After the fight, Quintus’s “face is smeared with sweat and drying blood.”

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • Ranger can time travel. When it is time for him to travel, a first-aid kit begins to hum. When Ranger picks up the first-aid kit, “Bright light spilled from the cracks in the old metal box. . . The light beamed brighter and brighter. . . Ranger’s skin prickled under his fur.” When he opens his eyes, he’s in Rome.

Spiritual Content  

  • When Quintus sees animals being led into the Colosseum, he whispers, “May the gods have mercy.” 
  • When Quintus fights in the Colosseum, Marcus “clenched his hands together and prayed to the gods for help.” 

The Egyptian Cinderella

This Egyptian spin on the classic Cinderella tale was initially recorded in the first century by a Roman historian and is retold here by folklorist Shirley Climo. 

Poor Rhodopis! She has nothing—no mother or father, and no friends. She is a slave from the far-off country of Greece. Only the beautiful rose-red slippers her master gives her can make Rhodopis smile. So, when a falcon swoops down and snatches one of the slippers away, Rhodopis is heartbroken. For how is she to know that the slipper will land in the lap of the great Pharaoh himself? And who would ever guess that the Pharaoh would promise to find the slipper’s owner and make her queen of all Egypt? 

The Egyptian Cinderella follows the same story format as the original fairy tale. However, instead of stepsisters, Rhodopis is treated badly by three servant girls who tease Rhodopis about her looks. Instead of having brown eyes, straight hair, and skin “like copper,” Rhodopis has green eyes and hair that “the breeze blew. . . into tangles.” However, her unique looks are what sets Rhodopis apart from the others. The Pharaoh says, “She is the most Egyptian of all…For her eyes are as green as the Nile, her hair as feathery as papyrus, and her skin the pink of a lotus flower.” 

Illustrator Ruth Heller uses bright and bold colors to bring Rhodopis’ world into vivid detail. Almost all of the illustrations include aspects of nature, such as plants, birds, and a monkey. The jewel-colored illustrations help highlight Egyptian culture. Even though The Egyptian Cinderella is intended for young readers, many of the pages are text-heavy, which may make it hard for younger readers to sit through a reading of the book. In addition, the complex sentence structure and advanced vocabulary make the book best read to a child rather than for the child to read it independently. 

Anyone who enjoys fairy tales will find Rhodopis’ story captivating. The beautiful illustrations and familiar story will allow readers to imagine Egypt. In the end, the Pharaoh overlooks the fact that Rhodopis was a slave, which gives the story a happy-ever-after that everyone will enjoy. The story is based on Rhodopis, a Greek slave girl who indeed married a Pharaoh, which makes the story’s conclusion even sweeter. Readers who enjoy fairytales can find more retellings by reading the Whatever After Series by Sarah Mlynowski and the Once Upon a Fairy Tale Series by Anna Staniszewski. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • Rhodopis is kidnapped and sold into slavery.

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • The story mentions “Ra the Sun” climbing into the sky. 
  • The god Horus appears as a falcon. When Rhodopis sees him, she “bowed her head and felt a rush of air on the back of her neck.” 
  • When a falcon drops a shoe in the Pharaoh’s lap, he says, “The god Horus sends me a sign!” Afterward, the Pharaoh searches for the maiden to whom the shoe belongs.

Reawakened #1

When seventeen-year-old Lilliana Young enters the Metropolitan Museum of Art one morning during spring break, the last thing she expects to find is a live Egyptian prince with godlike powers who has been reawakened after a thousand years of mummification.

And she really can’t imagine being chosen to aid him in an epic quest that will lead them across the globe. But fate has taken hold of Lily, and she, along with her sun prince, Amon, must travel to the Valley of the Kings, raise his brothers, and stop an evil, shape-shifting god named Seth from taking over the world. 

Lily is a compelling protagonist who has always been a rule follower and an obedient daughter. This all changes when she meets Amon. At first, Lily is suspicious of Amon and doesn’t understand the strange power he has over her. However, when Lily learns that he is a reawakened prince, her determination to help Amon gives her the strength to make decisions based on her own thoughts and feelings. Readers will admire her determination and willingness to put herself in danger to help Amon. 

Reawakened incorporates Egyptian history and rich world-building. However, at times, the world-building is long-winded and breaks the story’s pace. While much of the information is necessary to understand the book’s events, the information often seems like a boring lecture. Lily’s inner musings also slow down the book’s pacing. At first, Lily is trying to understand her physical attraction to Amon as well as Amon’s powers. However, nothing exciting takes place until after the two travel to Egypt. Readers who enjoy action and adventure may find it difficult to slog through the first part of the story.  

From the start, Amon’s goal is to reawaken his brothers. However, the brothers don’t make an appearance until the story’s end, which increases the story’s action and suspense. In addition, the brothers are so incredibly likable that the reader will wish they could jump into the story and meet them. The three brothers’ strong bond and dedication to each other is heartwarming. The brothers are so interesting that some readers will be disappointed that they weren’t given more time.

Unfortunately, the climax isn’t very dramatic because it’s seen through Lily’s point of view, which gives the reader a limited view of the fight against good and evil. However, the conclusion has several surprises, including Lily’s willingness to sacrifice herself for Amon. Readers who enjoy character-based stories that allow them to understand the inner workings of the protagonist will find Lily a relatable character who grows throughout the story. Instead of ending with a happy ever after, Lily’s and Amon’s story will continue in the next book in the series, Recreated. 

Sexual Content  

  • Amon tells a story about Iris and Osiris, two siblings who were married. Amon says “incest” was common among the gods and pharaohs. 
  • Lily often talks about her attraction to Amon and not all of the passages are included below. For example, while they are dancing, “his hands, splayed on my back, moved inch by tantalizing inch downward until they reached the bare skin at my waist. . . he put his forehead to mine. The side of his mouth tickled my cheek. . . I could be kissing him. But I was too much of a coward to make the first move.” The scene is described over a page.  
  • When Lily and Amon are really close, she thinks: “Any slight movement and we could be kissing. With a twang of alarm, I realized that I wanted to experience his lips pressed against mine, and I wondered if it was something I truly desired for myself or if he was making me want it.” 
  • After Lily is injured, Amon’s “gaze dropped to my mouth, and my breath caught. . . I knew without a doubt that he wanted to kiss me. And Egyptian heaven help me, I wanted him to. But despite the fact that I was vividly imagining the press of his lips against mine. . .” Amon moves away from Lily. Lily tries to get Amon to kiss her several times after this, but he continues to keep his distance. 
  • After Lily and Amon’s bond is permanently sealed, he kisses her. “I’d waited so long for his kiss, and it was so much more, so much better than I had dared imagine. Golden sunshine burst behind my closed eyelids as I became a being entwined with the sun.” 
  • Amon’s brother, Astern, makes many sexual innuendos. For instance, when his body is re-formed, Astern says, “I am also grateful for my fully re-formed front, since I am partial to it.” 

Violence  

  • Since the story revolves around Egyptian gods, much of the violence is documented below under supernatural. Amon tells a story about three siblings—Iris, Osiris, and Seth. Seth tricked Osiris into climbing into a box, and Seth’s servants “sealed the lid with molten lead.” Then, Seth went to find Iris. “He was determined to take possession not only of the throne but of his sister as well.” To escape, Iris “leapt upon a moonbeam and vanished.” 
  • Later, Iris discovers that Osiris’s chest “had been thrown into the Nile. By the time she was able to raise the box, it had been broken into by crocodiles, and her husband’s body had been torn to pieces.” 
  • The god Amun-Ra sent out fellow gods, Seth and Horus, to search for Nebu, a golden stallion that roamed the desert. “Seth had heard the rumor that Horus had very powerful eyes and he worried that Horus would likely be the first to find Nebu, so in an act of desperation, he stole upon Horus while he slept and ripped his eyes from their sockets. . . He left Horus to die.” Horus promised to become the leader that Egypt needed, and Amun-Ra gave him a third eye. “It is said that an amulet made with the Eye of Horus can ward off evil, shielding its bearer from harm.”  
  • While looking for Amon’s canopic jars, Lily and Amon enter an ancient passageway leading to a tomb. “Rocks and debris shifted, rising into the air. . .  Amon continued to murmur in ancient Egyptian and the rubble rose higher, shooting past us in a cloud of stinging dust. Pebbles came next, firing through the air like bullets.” Amon’s spell keeps them safe, but the entrance is sealed. 
  • Seth asked three kings to sacrifice their children. When the kings refused, Seth took over a priest named Runihura’s body. “Runihura thrust his fingers into his eyes and yanked the bloody orbs from their sockets. . . he squeezed each eyeball, then opened his hands, a puff of light rising from each palm. . . the light pierced [the son’s] foreheads, and the boys cried out as dark magic lifted them into the air and threw them across the temple.”  
  • The priest warns the kings of doom. “The dying priest gathered his remaining strength and spat. Blood and saliva spattered across the king’s cheek, spraying his white robes with red. . . King Heru surged forward and plunged his own dagger into the neck of the priest, whose body finally slumped in death.” 
  • Seth, who is also known as The Dark One, sends a sandstorm. Amon tells Lily to hide, but she does not. She “cried out in pain and glanced down. The tremendous force was crushing my forearm, bruising the muscles, grinding against my bone, ripping into me, but nothing was there. Suddenly, the pressure lifted, and a crescent-shaped puncture appeared on both sides of my left arm.” Lily is bit several times before she is pulled to a safe location. She discovers the Dark One sent the creatures that bit her.  
  • While in a mountain, “a worm the size of Godzilla” attacks Amon, Lily and Amon’s brother, Astern. “Its gray skin oozed. The front half was all mouth with sharp, circular teeth that went back as far as I could see.” The worm tries to wiggle out of the mountain and attack. “Amon slashed at its side while Astern created magic dust that blew up in puffs of light. . . In retaliation, the worm opened its mouth, spewing neon-green slime and fat clumps of glistening saliva over everything. . .” Astern turns into a bird and takes Lily to safety. 
  • When Amon was a boy, he and his brothers skipped school and went on an adventure. Their teacher didn’t want them to get into trouble, so he followed their trail. He came across jackals. The teacher “did not survive. Our beloved instructor’s gnawed-upon bones were laid before the three of us, and our father honored his sacrifice as a hero.” 
  • Amon finds a man “burned, abused, and bleeding, with one eye ripped out, broken limbs, and bones protruding in several places, yet he still breathed.” The man tries to give Amon a message, but “he gasped as an invisible power lifted his torso. His broken arms dangled at his sides . . .” The god Seth speaks through the man.  
  • In the multi-chapter conclusion, Amon and his brothers fight the Great One in order to keep the god of chaos, Seth, from ruling the world.  
  • To defeat Amon and his brothers, the Great One raises “Masaw Haput—those born of death. You would call them zombies.” A zombie goes after Lily and her companion, Dr. Hassan. “Dr. Hassan sank his two files deep into the zombie warrior’s chest. It just stared at the two of us, breathing raggedly. Then, raising its sword overhead, it let out a supernatural scream, its jaws unhinging, a metal staple the only thing holding the jaw to its skull.” One of Amon’s brothers “took its head off” before it could hurt anyone. 
  • Lily hears Amon’s screams. When she finds him, a tray of ancient tools is close to him. “A pool of sticky blood surrounded the tray . . . Rivulets of blood had dried on his arms. . . Deep slashes marked several places on his thigh, and ugly stab wounds peeked out from between the fragments of what was left of his shirt.” Amon’s eyes had also been removed.  
  • Mummy crocodiles and living crocodiles attack Lily and Dr. Hassan. Amon’s brother, Ahmose, turns into a bird, and the two climb on. Lily falls “landing on the back of a croc mummy that did not like the fact that its remaining back leg broke off upon impact. It spun quickly and snapped at [Lily], grabbing [her] shirt in its teeth.” The crocodile is killed before it can injure Lily. 
  • Dr. Hassan and Lily create an effigy of Sebak, a reawakened man given power by the god Seth. “Dr. Hassan hit the figure three times and I heard a sharp snap like bone breaking. A scream full of rage blossomed, not from the doll figure, but from the giant creature by the pyramids. . .” Sebak became a crocodile beast and was trying to get to Lily. “His left front leg hung limply at his side, and one of his back legs seemed to have given way.” Dr. Hassan finds a way to send Sebak back to the underworld. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • While opening Amon’s canopic jars, Lily is covered in a red powder that makes her feel “nauseated, weak, and dizzy.” Later, she discovers that the red power was a poison that would have killed her if Amon hadn’t intervened. 

Language  

  • Amon yells, “Son of a stunted jackal.” 

Supernatural 

  • Since many of the characters use chants and spells, not all of them are listed below. The story revolves around the god of chaos, Seth, who wants to defeat Amon and his brothers so he can rule Earth.  
  • Amon’s power “is a gift from the sun god Amun-Ra and his son Horus.” Amon says that he needs to “waken my brothers and complete the ceremony to align the sun, the moon, and the stars so that the Dark One, Seth, the god of chaos, may be kept at bay for another thousand years.” Amon often uses chants to help him complete his mission and keep Lily safe. Often, no specific words are given. The chants used to create spells appear below.  
  • After completing the ceremony, Amon “will have my full power and I will be able to manipulate time and send you back to your home so that you will arrive just a moment after we left. No one will miss you. Your family will never even know you were gone.” 
  • In order to talk to Lily, Amon “invoked a spell from the Book of the Dead to be able to communicate my thoughts to you.” 
  • Since he cannot locate his canopic jars, Amon must pull energy from Lily. When he pulls energy from her, “it felt like a gradual draining, but the pull was sharp and painful like someone was vacuuming out my insides with a steel wool attachment.”  
  • When Lily is injured, Amon uses magic to help her. “Amon ran his hand up my arm to my hurt shoulder, and I hissed as he cupped it with his palm. After a quick chant he poured enough warmth into the muscle to rival a heating pad.” Her injury has not completely healed but has lessened. 
  • Amon transports Lily by using sand. The first time, Lily “screamed as wind swept around our bodies, gritty sand stinging my skin like thousands of needles. I watched in horror as my body unraveled, piece by piece, to join the tumult, and my cry was cut off because I no longer had a throat, let alone a voice.” 
  • Amon can use his voice to command people. When Lily tries to leave Amon, he tells her to stop. When she didn’t, “my legs froze with a jolt so sudden that my bag flopped around my front and pulled me off balance. I feel in a heap. . .” 
  • When Amon commands Lily to take his hand, she “made a concerted effort to refuse his command and was rewarded with pain—stabbing, knife-twisting-in-my-gut pain. It made me gasp. . . When my determination weakened, and the pain overwhelmed me, I whimpered and gave in.”  
  • According to Amon, “When you know the true name of a being, be they god, human, or animal, you gain power over them.” A person’s true name “represents your ideal self. The person at the center. The name that is engraved upon your heart.” 
  • Amon reawakens two dead shabti. Shabti are described as, “Human servants were entombed with their leaders, with the understanding that they could journey to the afterlife with their masters and continue to act as servants for the dead kings or pharaohs.” In order to do this, Amon weaves a spell that begins with “Shabti servants, apportioned to me,/ You who molder in corruption,/ I summon you from the realm of the dead. . .” The spell is half a page. 
  • Amon discovers that one of the shabti broke his canopic jars. When Lily opens the one remaining jar, particles “coalesced until they formed a light. . . Slowly, the golden light rose up and out of the container, where it stretched until two wings became visible.” The light turns into a falcon. Amon weaves a spell by saying, “I call upon the falcon, born in the golden fires of the sun. . . Lend your whole, living soul to the one rent in pieces. / offer your resilient wings, your piercing talons, and your discerning eye. . .” Afterward, Amon and the falcon become one. 
  • Amon attacks the shabti. “The shabti shrieked and turned to run, but the falcon was upon him. . . its sharp golden talons grabbed the man, squeezing his torso mercilessly. . .” Before Amon can send him back to the underworld, the shabti disappears “with a puff of red smoke.” 
  • Apophis, a human priest, is a “lecherous man who abused anything or anyone he considered weak and soft. . . He lured women, and when they were at their most vulnerable, he’d strike. . . When he was ready to move on to the next victim, he would sacrifice the young maiden to a giant croc that he adorned with gold bracelets . . .” He was given the nickname, the Eater of Souls, not only because he threw victims to crocodiles but also because of his ability to control the undead. 
  • Apophis sent biloko to hurt Lily. Biloko are “invisible demons with crocodile snouts that, like Apophis, have a taste for females, though, in their case, they prefer the sweetmeats of the eyes, intestines, liver, and heart.” 
  • Amon murmurs, and “grains of sands twisted and writhed, and suddenly three horses burst from the dunes in a blast of shimmering powder.” The horses take Amon and his companions to a forest. 
  • Amon and his companions use an adder stone to pass through a mountain. Lily thinks, “What really freaked me out was that I wasn’t in a secret cave hidden within a mountain; I was passing through solid rock.” 
  • In order to raise his brother from the underworld, Amon weaves a spell. “The stars rise. The stars fall. The stars die. / As do you, my brother. / Astern—the embodiment of the stars. / It is time for rebirth. For renewal. For remaking. . .” 
  • As Amon chants, “sightless orbs and a gaping mouth rimmed with teeth peek[ed] through the wrappings as they fell away. . . The remaining skin was stretched tight and looked like fragments of old leather. In some places, it was ripped off completely, revealing graying bones with hanging bits of flesh.” When Astern is fully formed, he is handsome and muscular. Later, the third brother is also reawakened similarly. 
  • When Amon’s canopic jars were stolen, he lost some of his powers. Amon’s powers are restored when Lily is willing to sacrifice herself for him.  
  • In order to send Amon back, Lily must kill him. She is reluctant to do this, but when Amon reaches up to kiss her, “the kiss was brief. Amon lay back down, eyes wide, as a trickle of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth. . . the sharp blade as embedded in Amon’s chest up to the hilt.” Afterward, a god mummified Amon. Lily and the god recite a spell from the Book of the Dead and “commemorate his name as we do so. In naming him, we connect his body, his ka, or soul, his ba, which is the character, and his shut, or shadow.”

Spiritual Content  

  • In Ancient Egypt, three kings held a summit, and “each city worshiped a different god. . . The kings had been convinced by their priest that their patron gods had abandoned them and that they should come together as one to make offerings to appease a new god, namely, the dog god, Seth, in order to secure the safety and well-being of the people.” 
  • After the kings made an offering, each king’s wife became pregnant. But then, “the god Seth demands that three young men of royal blood be sacrificed to him and that they serve him indefinitely in the afterlife.” The princes were sacrificed.  
  • Amon, one of the sacrificed princes, chants to the god Seth. “Protect me, God of the Morning Sun. Rebuff those who work evil. Turn aside this calamity. . .” The chant is one page long.  
  • Amon has “been imbued, gifted, with a portion of [the sun god’s] power so that [he] may fulfill [his] duties.” 
  • Amon explains why the pharaohs aligned with a god. “They believed that if they took the names of the gods for themselves, they would receive divine aid. . . They made it so that to reject a pharaoh was to reject deity.” 

Ancient Rome and Pompeii

When Jack and Annie got back from their adventure in Magic Tree House #13: Vacation Under the Volcano, they had lots of questions. How did ancient Rome become an empire? Where did ancient Romans go for fun? And what happened to the Roman town of Pompeii? Find out the answers to these questions and more as Jack and Annie track the facts.  

Jack and Annie go to Pompeii and experience the volcanic eruption that buried the city. Ancient Rome and Pompeii gives more information about the history of Rome and introduces many of the historical figures of the time, including Julius Caesar, Octavian, and Cleopatra. In addition, the book discusses some of the people who tried to fight the Romans. By reading Ancient Rome and Pompeii, readers will learn more about the politics and culture of the Romans and how Ancient Rome impacted our world.  

This nonfiction story begins with the myth of Romulus and Remus and how Romulus founded Rome. While Vacation Under the Volcano only shows Pompeii, Ancient Rome, and Pompeii go into great detail about the Roman empire, the gladiators, the soldiers, and the construction of Rome. Curious readers will find The Magic Tree House Fact Tracker full of interesting facts that are new. 

Ancient Rome and Pompeii explain how the Romans believed in many gods. It also explains that many of the Romans’ beliefs are now considered myths. Emperor Caligula, who was eventually killed by his guards, believed he was the god Jupiter. Rome’s history is violent, and the book discusses many of the political leaders who were killed or committed suicide. The language is kid-friendly, but the deaths may upset or confuse some readers.  

Ancient Rome and Pompeii is packed with information that is easily digestible for young readers. Many tools help a young audience follow along. For example, each chapter is broken into small sections with historical information, and the illustrations break up the text into much smaller pieces. Pictures of Jack and Annie appear along the margins, giving readers more information and defining vocabulary words. The story also gives examples that will help readers understand concepts. For example, the Roman army had to march twenty miles carrying sixty pounds. The illustration shows Jack carrying a golden retriever with the caption: “Lugging sixty pounds around is like carrying a golden retriever on your back.” 

The Magic Tree House Fact Tracker presents nonfiction information in a way that will engage young readers. The book is perfect for readers interested in research because the author includes the best way to research Rome and more resources such as books, videos, and museums. Filled with up-to-date information, photos, illustrations, and fun tidbits from Jack and Annie, the Magic Tree House Fact Trackers are the perfect way for kids to learn more about the topics they discovered in their favorite Magic Tree House adventures. Learn more about ancient history by reading Through Time: Pompeii by Richard Platt and The Curse of King Tut’s Mummy by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld. 

Sexual Content  

  • None

Violence  

  • The god Mars had two sons, Romulus and Remus. They built a city, and then “a fight broke out over who would be in charge of the city. Romulus killed Remus.” 
  • The Romans went to the “Colosseum to see bloody sports—sports where people and animals died terrible deaths.” 
  • Gladiators were prisoners and slaves. “Some were freemen who got paid for fighting. Gladiators usually fought to the death. But if a fearless fighter was wounded, the emperor could spare his life.” There is a picture of two gladiators with their weapons.  
  • Centurions trained Roman soldiers. “The training was strict and brutal. Punishment included beatings and even death.”  
  • A section describes the “Roman War Machines,” including catapults, ballistae, and flamethrowers. “Soldiers loaded [the ballista] with rocks or pointed metal bolts that shot out at about 115 miles an hour! Anything in their path was immediately destroyed.” 
  • Carthage and Rome fought in the Punic Wars. “Years after Hannibal’s death, the Romans attacked Carthage and burned it to the ground.”  
  • “Julius Caesar’s army began a siege on Avaricum, a walled town in Gaul . . . Roman soldiers clambered over the walls . . . Death and destruction rained down upon the Gauls.” 
  • Julius Caesar ruled Rome. “He was such a strong leader that many feared he wanted to be crowned king. . . Several senators, including his friends Brutus and Cassius, planned to kill him. . . As Caesar sat down, the men grabbed him around the neck and began stabbing him. They stabbed him twenty-three times.”  
  • The book lists many people who committed suicide, including Cleopatra and Mark Antony. Some say Cleopatra died because of a poisonous snake bite.  
  • Queen Boudicca from Iceni refused to pay Roman taxes. “As punishment, the Romans tied Boudicca and her daughters to posts and beat them.” In retribution, Queen Boudicca went on a rampage “through the countryside. Thousands of people died.” When Queen Boudicca realized she would lose, she “drank poison rather than allow herself to be captured by her enemies.”  
  • The Roman emperor Caligula “behaved very badly when he was emperor. He killed anyone he wanted to.” Eventually, “his own guards murdered him.”  
  • Emperor Nero felt his mother was too powerful, “so he decided to poison her.” The poison did not work, and Nero tried to kill her several more times. “Finally, Nero ordered his soldiers to stab her to death. This time Nero succeeded!” 
  • People hated Nero. “Knowing that he would lose his thrown, Nero committed suicide.”  
  • A volcano destroyed Pompeii. “People were knocked down and lay where they fell.” The volcano’s explosion is described over two pages.
     

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • The god Mars had two sons, Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a shepherd. Legend says Romulus founded Rome.  
  • Since they worshiped many gods, the Romans built the Pantheon and dedicated it to all the gods. 
  • Caligula “demanded that everyone bow down to his horse. Finally, Caligula built a temple for himself. He thought he was the god Jupiter.” 
  • Every Roman street had shrines for their gods. The book lists the Roman gods, including Jupiter, Juno, Mars, Ceres, Neptune, Venus, Diana, Vesta, Mercury, and Vulcan. 

Vacation Under the Volcano

Who wants to vacation next to a volcano? Jack and Annie are about to find out when the Magic Tree House whisks them back to the days of the Roman Empire. They arrive in Pompeii and discover they’ve arrived on the day the city is going to be destroyed. Now Jack and Annie must race against time to find an ancient library before it is buried in ash!  

Suspense is created because Annie worries about being in Pompeii and thinks it “feels wrong.” In addition, the ground shakes and rumbles, and then Jack and Annie meet a soothsayer who warns them that the end is near. When the kids finally find the library, they don’t realize it at first because they are looking for modern books, while the Roman books are written on scrolls. Ultimately, Hercules saves the kids, and they return home safely. 

During their adventure, Jack and Annie learn about Roman culture. Jack uses a book to define unfamiliar words and look up facts about Pompeii, which allows the reader to learn more about its history. This information appears in a different font to give readers a visual cue that the information is factual. The back of the book contains more information about Roman culture. Readers who want to learn even more about Pompeii should read The Magic Tree House Fact Tracker: Ancient Rome and Pompeii. 

When reading Vacation Under the Volcano, children will learn about Roman culture and the destruction of Pompeii. Unfortunately, the siblings only have brief interactions with other people. Most of their knowledge comes from observation, so readers do not understand how Romans lived.  

Proficient readers ready for chapter books will enjoy jumping back into time with Jack and Annie. The story is accessible to young readers because of the large text and black-and-white illustrations every two to seven pages. The large, detailed illustrations help bring the characters to life and show how the Romans dressed and constructed their buildings. Even though Vacation Under the Volcano is part of a series, the books do not need to be read to be enjoyed.  

Vacation Under the Volcano gives readers a brief glimpse of what Pompeii was like before a volcano destroyed the city. This exciting book creates suspense using kid-friendly descriptions of the erupting volcano. In the conclusion, Jack and Annie are helped by a surprising hero—Hercules! For another exciting time travel adventure into ancient Rome, jump into the Imagination Station and read Attack at the Arena by Marianne Hering and Paul McCusker. Also, be sure to check out Wendy Mass’s The Time Jumpers Series, which also takes readers on exciting adventures in the past.  

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • Jack and Annie see gladiators. “The warriors’ feet [were] chained together, and guards walked with them.” Jack looks up information in a book: “They were forced to fight each other or wild animals like lions or bears.”
  • Jack and Annie feel the beginning of the volcanic eruption. “Everything was shaking and crashing down around them—pots, plants, the mermaid fountain. Water from the goldfish pond sloshed onto the patio.” 
  • When pumice, ash, and burning rock began falling, Jack and Annie used cushions to protect their heads. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language  

  • When Annie gets to Rome, she wants to go home immediately. Jack asks her, “Are you nuts?” 

Supernatural 

  • The magic tree house can travel through time. When Jack and Annie travel, the tree house “spun faster and faster and faster. Then everything was still. Absolutely still.” When they arrive in Pompeii, they are dressed appropriately for the time period. 
  • One of the characters is a soothsayer “who could see into the future and warn others about what they saw.”  
  • Hercules helps Jack and Annie escape Pompeii. After the siblings return, they discuss whether Hercules is real or mythical. Annie says, “Hercules is a myth to people in this time. But in Roman times, lots of people believed he was real. So since we were in Roman times, he was real to us.” 

Spiritual Content  

  • Jack and Annie see a Roman temple. Romans “believed that many gods and goddesses ruled the world. This is the Temple of Jupiter, their chief god. In this temple, they prayed to Jupiter and offered him gifts. 

The Scarab’s Secret

The tiniest of creatures can change the fate of a great Pharaoh.

The chance meeting of Khepri, the small scarab beetle, and a powerful Pharaoh turns out to be a life-altering experience for both, ultimately shaping the fate of the young leader. After Khepri uncovers a mysterious plot to murder the Pharaoh, he is determined to put an end to it. The tiny scarab with a big heart helps the Pharaoh avert danger and saves his life. 

The Scarab’s Secret is a beautiful story that shows that even small things—like the scarab—can make a big impact. The scarab beetle narrates his own story to show the reader how he came to be honored. When the scarab is accidentally taken into the Pharaoh’s tomb, he learns that one of the passageways has a trap. When the Pharoah’s men try to lead him down the trap, the scarab warns the Pharoah and saves his life. The scarab’s tale shows “how even a little beetle can play its part in the life of a great prince.” 

Christina Balit’s illustrations use vivid colors and geometric shapes to bring Egypt to life. The first illustration shows the Pharaoh kneeling in a field with the Nile River in the background, the prince carefully holding the scarab in his hand. This scene sets up the scarab’s importance. The other pages focus on the Pharaoh’s tomb, depicted with elaborate illustrations in predominantly gold and blue. Readers will be captivated by the detailed illustrations and will have fun finding the scarab on each page. 

While The Scarab’s Secret is intended for young readers, many of the pages are text-heavy, which may make it hard for wiggly readers to sit through a reading. The complex sentence structure and advanced vocabulary make the book best read to a child rather than for the child to read it independently.

Anyone who wants to introduce Egyptian culture to a child will find The Scarab’s Secret an entertaining story. The fact that the Pharaoh takes time to notice the scarab reinforces the importance of nature and the idea that everything has a purpose, even a scarab. The author’s note gives more information about pharaohs. Young readers who would like to learn more about Egypt should also read Escape from Egypt by Wendy Mass as well as Mary Pope Osborne’s books Mummies and Pyramids and Mummies in the Morning.  

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • The Pharaoh’s men plan to murder him. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • None  

Spiritual Content  

  • The god Ra is mentioned several times. “The great god Ra created all things. . . This beetle is as precious to Ra as the pharaoh himself. Ra has placed him here for a reason.”  
  • This historical background at the end of the book discusses the Egyptians’ belief in gods. 

Who Was Leif Erikson?

Hold on to your Viking helmets as you learn about the first known European to set foot in North America in this exciting addition to the Who Was? Series!

Leif Erikson was born to be an explorer. His father, Erik the Red, had established the first European settlement in present-day Greenland, and although Leif didn’t yet know it, he was destined to embark on an adventure of his own.  

Leif, the wise and striking Viking, landed in the area known as Vinland almost five centuries before Christopher Columbus even set sail! “Leif the Lucky” and his fierce, sea-fearing crew were accomplished navigators who raided foreign lands for resources, hunted for their food, and passed down Old Norse myths from one generation to the next. This book gives readers a detailed account of what life was like during the time of the Vikings. 

Who Was Leif Erikson? includes information about Erik the Red and other historical figures such as Harald Fairhair, the First King of Norway. To establish Leif’s background, the book also includes information about Viking culture, such as “the Thing,” which was the oldest parliament in Europe. Plus, readers will learn about Scandinavia, Greenland, and Vinland. The historical information is fascinating, but the Vikings were feared for a reason—their culture was violent and included killing and enslaving people. 

One of Leif’s accomplishments was bringing Christianity to the Vikings. This section explains the Vikings’ belief in Asgard and the Norse Gods in detail. The Viking warriors “were training for the battle at Ragnarok, the end of the world—the ultimate battle between good and evil.” Anyone who has watched the Avengers movies will notice how the Viking culture inspired Stan Lee. The book ends by explaining how the Vikings are still remembered today in pop culture and the football team, the Minnesota Vikings. 

Take a step back in time and learn more about the 1000s and the Vikings’ search for new lands. The book has an easy-to-read format with large font. Large black-and-white illustrations appear on almost every page. Many of the illustrations show maps, people, and objects from the time period. For example, there are illustrations of the Vikings’ longships, their longhouses, and other aspects of their daily life. The wide array of illustrations and the short chapters will help keep readers interested until the end. Scattered throughout the book are one-page infographics that give more information about the time period, such as how stories were passed down from generation to generation. The end of the book includes a timeline of the Vikings and a timeline of the world during that time period. 

The fierce Viking culture and the Norse Gods still impact the world today, and readers will be fascinated to learn more facts about Erik the Red and Leif Erikson. The Vikings were brave warriors seeking adventure, and although they were known for plundering and killing Who Was Leif Erikson? explains why many people are proud of their Viking heritage. Readers who want to learn more about the Vikings should read Voyage with the Vikings by Marianne Hering & Paul McCusker. To jump on another ship of a famous voyager, read Ice Wreck by Lucille Recht Penner and Who Was Ferdinand Magellan? by Sydelle Kramer. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • Both Leif’s grandfather and father murdered someone from their own village. 
  • The Vikings acted like pirates. In the summer, Erik the Red and his men “sailed away in search of villages to threaten. In these violent and deadly raids, Erik and his fellow Viking warriors burned villages to the ground. . . Villagers who weren’t killed might be taken as slaves.” 
  • A Viking raid attacked a Christian monastery. “The Viking invaders descended on the monastery ‘like stinging hornets’. . . They robbed, tore, and slaughtered everyone—priests and nuns alike. . . Monks were taken as slaves or drowned in the sea.” 
  • The King of Norway tried to conquer England and was “killed in battle.” 
  • The Vikings believed that storms were caused by Thor, the god of storms and thunder, who “killed giants in the sky with his massive hammer.” 
  • While exploring North America, Thorvald, a Viking warrior, discovered it “was already someone else’s home. Immediately, Thorvald and his men attacked, killing eight of the nine native men.” The native people attacked the Vikings. “As Thorvald and his men ran back to their ship, arrows rained down on them. Thorvald was struck and later died.” 
  • When a native was “caught stealing weapons, he was killed on the spot.” 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • The Vikings drank beer with meals. 

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • Some people in England “wondered if these fearsome warriors [the Vikings] in their terrifying dragon ships had been sent by God to punish them.” 
  • When some of the Vikings moved to England and Iceland, they “began converting to Christianity.” 
  • The Vikings worshipped many different Gods, but King Olaf wanted to convert everyone in Norway to Christianity. “Leif Erikson wasn’t so sure the Greenlanders would want to leave behind all the gods they had grown up believing in . . . The Vikings believed the universe was centered around one big tree: The World Tree.” Six pages describe the Viking’s beliefs and gods, including Odin, Loki, and Freya. 
  • To be fearless fighters, warriors wore the “skins of wolves and bears into battle. They believed the spirits of these fearsome animals possessed them, along with the spirit of their god Odin. . . They believed if they died bravely in battle, they would be taken to Valhalla.” 
  • Lief became a Christian and “spread the word of God among the fellow Greenlanders by bringing Christian missionaries with him.” 
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