AR Test – Page 25 – Sneak Peek Books

Escape from the Roller Ghoster

The Kersville Amusement Park is always a good time, but it also gives a new meaning to the term “thrill rides.” That’s because, in addition to being a popular destination for heart-pounding fun, the park is also just a little bit haunted. Join Desmond and Andres as they try to enjoy their day at the amusement park while being chased by ghosts! Warning: You must be this tall to read this book.

Throughout most of the story, Desmond and Andres are running from one activity to the next. When they challenge the ghosts to a contest, the boys beat the ghosts, which is unrealistic. However, it does lead to some silly moments. Desmond tells Andres, “You know how we’re feeling right now? Well, that’s probably how the ghosts feel.” Once the boys realize how the ghosts feel, Desmond and Andres are able to come up with a creative solution that makes both the people and the ghosts happy.

Escape from the Roller Ghoster’s plot is lacking, but readers will still enjoy Desmond’s and Andres’s silly antics. Each book in the Desmond Cole series is a separate story and the books can be read in any order. The story is told in ten short chapters with easy-to-read vocabulary that is perfect for emerging readers. A black-and-white illustration appears on almost every page. The illustrations are often humorous and use exaggerated facial expressions so readers can tell what the characters are feeling.

Even though Desmond and Andres are completely different, the two boys are best of friends who work together to rid the amusement park of ghosts. Full of silly moments, this non-scary ghost story will appeal to a wide range of readers. Readers who love ghost stories should also grab a flashlight, a blanket, and a copy of Ghost Attack by David Lubar. Similar to Escape from the Roller Ghoster, Ghost Attack uses humor to make young readers smile.

Sexual Content 

In order to escape the ghosts, Desmond and Andres go on the “scariest ride at the park: the Tunnel of Love.” The illustration shows couples hugging and one couple kissing.

Violence 

While playing a game, “instead of using the baseball, the sneaky ghost shot a fireball that hit the stack of bottles and turned them all to ash!”

Drugs and Alcohol 

None

Language 

While on one of the rides, the ghosts were “fraidy-cats.”

Supernatural

When Desmond and Andres go on a ride, a ghost winks at them. Then, “A ghost just asked us if we were having fun.” The ghosts continue to follow the two friends throughout the park. Later they find out that the ghosts were not real. Instead, the ghosts where “a leftover hologram from our Halloween show last year.”
Desmond hands Andres a pair of glasses. “Suddenly, all [Andres] could see were ghosts! They were playing games, eating food, and riding rides.”

Spiritual Content 

None

Morris Mole

Beneath the Earth’s surface, a small mole named Morris lives with his big brothers. They spend their days digging for food and spend their nights eating what they found. However, Morris is not like his older brothers. He is the littlest of the group. He dresses nicely and prefers to think outside of the box.

One day, the brothers come to a startling realization—they are out of food! The older brothers agree that the best solution is to dig even deeper, while Morris suggests that they look elsewhere. Not hearing him, the brothers start their dig. Morris has a moment of fear. He has never done anything alone before. Eventually, he gathers his courage, announcing that his size does not limit his abilities. With that, he does something no mole has ever done before—he digs up. He digs until he reaches the surface, and he is amazed by what he finds.

Morris Mole is a short and sweet picture book with illustrations that put readers into Morris’ shoes. The underground is drawn as pitch black with the only color being the single-shaded brown dirt. Meanwhile, the outside has a blank background that allows the beautifully blended colors of the flowers, animals, and insects to shine. Plus, the characters’ heights and clothing display their personality. For example, Morris is well-dressed and small compared to his near-identical big brothers. On the other hand, the antagonizing wolf he faces outside is dressed in a hilariously stereotypical leather jacket and jeans. His towering height and razor-sharp teeth give him a menacing presence, making Morris’ kindness and bravery all the more impressive.

Morris Mole will teach readers that even the smallest of creatures can do big things. Young readers can learn from Morris’ creative problem-solving and the unconditional kindness with which he treats his fellow animals. Plus, the book’s alliteration makes the story fun to read aloud. For another picture book that shows that someone’s small size doesn’t determine their destiny, check out Knight Owl by Christopher Denise.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

Fox finds Morris and tries to “swallow him up in one gulp.”

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

None

Haunt Me

After years of struggling with her mental health and social life, Erin and her family have moved away to start over. She tries to put on a smile for her parents, reminding herself, “this is all because of me. The least I can do is act grateful.” Life in the beachside town isn’t all that exciting until she discovers a ghost haunting her bedroom.

Joe was the same age as Erin when he died months ago. He struggles to recall details of his life and how it ended. The bond between Erin and Joe grows and quickly turns into love. Still, she can’t avoid the painful reality that “this isn’t a relationship. It isn’t real. It isn’t life.” Erin soon discovers that though Joe’s family has moved from the house she now calls home, they haven’t gone far. And it isn’t long before she meets his older brother.

Once an athletic playboy, Olly has been left gutted by his brother’s death. Though he and Erin could not be more different, he is drawn to her and Erin can’t deny that she is drawn to him as well. As her life begins to spiral downward due to a betrayal from one of her new school friends, Erin realizes that there is only one way she could ever be with Joe. She must not only choose between two brothers but life and death.

The first part of Haunt Me alternates between the perspectives of Erin and Joe, and the setting is mostly confined to her room. This is the part of the book that flows the best, as it’s easy to be charmed by their budding romance. Olly’s perspective is eventually introduced, which muddles the pacing. As Erin and Olly spend more time together, Joe’s perspective becomes less frequent as he spends most of his time alone. This change makes the book feel as if it has become another story entirely, which might disappoint readers who were drawn in by Erin and Joe’s relationship.

As the protagonist, Erin is easy to sympathize with, but she doesn’t stand out. She is shy, troubled, and likes to write, but it’s difficult to gauge more about her. Readers are told about her struggles, but will rarely experience them with her, and it’s difficult to understand why she falls for Joe, and later Olly, so quickly. Meanwhile, Joe is witty and engaging. His narration easily draws in the reader. On the other hand, Olly is the weakest character; he is sympathetic but isn’t fleshed out. In addition, Erin’s family isn’t notable, and there’s a cliché cast of mean girls that does nothing but cause drama with unrealistic acts of spite. Unfortunately, most of the characters end up being forgettable.

Besides the clunky pacing and the underwhelming cast, Haunt Me has another major issue: the rushed conclusion. A lot happens over a short period of time, and there is little room to process the events. Joe’s spirit fades and the story would have greatly benefited from a longer goodbye between him and Erin, but it happens so fast that it doesn’t elicit much emotion from the reader. Furthermore, Erin lacks the romantic chemistry with Olly that she had with Joe, and it isn’t satisfying to see them end up together.

Readers who have struggled with depression themselves will connect with Erin’s struggles. She recounts her experiences with bullying and suicidal thoughts which is heartbreaking, but the book fails to show much of how her issues are being treated. Ultimately, it’s hard not to be let down by the poor execution of the story. While unique in concept, Haunt Me’s flaws ultimately cause it to fall flat. As an alternative to Haunt Me, grab a copy of Nina Moreno’s Don’t Date Rosa Santos which is about a girl who feels cursed and must deal with grief.

Sexual Content

Joe puts a hand on Erin’s head, and because she cannot yet see him she mistakes this for a large spider. She gets up in a panic and hastily removes her shirt while batting at her head. Joe says, “I can’t help myself. I glance at her as she rips her shirt off. Come on. I might be dead, but I’m still a sixteen-year-old boy.”
Erin muses, “I have been kissed. But I don’t know if two snogs behind the gym and one in the back row of a cinema” counts. Snog is British slang for kissing.
Erin describes kissing Joe as feeling like “nothing even exists except his lips on mine, his arms tightening around my waist . . . [pulling me] so close I am starting to wonder where I end and he begins.”
Olly describes “snogging girls whose names I could barely remember.”
Erin listens to Olly recall a party he went to with his former girlfriend. He says they went upstairs and came down after a bit, and Erin notes, “I don’t ask him what the ‘bit’ entailed. I don’t want to know.”
Erin describes kissing Olly, “his hands in my hair, his lips pressed against mine.”
A popular girl named Zoe confesses that she got to know the substitute gym teacher in eleventh grade and that he “had me working out a lot more than I’m used to.” She later admits this was a lie.

Violence

A stanza in one of Erin’s poems describes “opening a can of chopped tomatoes and slicing my finger and not knowing which red is mine.”
On her first day of secondary school, Erin describes being hit by a car, saying it “broke my leg in three places and shattered my kneecap.”
Erin finds a silver pendant in the closet. When she reaches for it, she describes, “a bolt of electricity runs through my arm . . . it throws me backward against the wall.” She hits her head and is knocked out. When she wakes, she can see Joe’s ghost.
Erin was bullied at her old school. Her bullies once waved a plastic bag in front of her and “suggested that I put it on my head and tie it tight . . . they were practically begging me to off myself.” Erin says this torment continued for a considerable period, but she didn’t tell anyone.
While a psychic medium is attempting to expel Joe from Erin’s room, Joe feels as if he is being attacked. He describes feeling as though “needles [are piercing] my arms . . . knives [are slashing] at my legs.” The struggle lasts about six pages before he is successfully expelled.
Erin attempts to kill herself by jumping off a beach cliff. Unable to get to her, Joe protests from below. He describes, “she’s letting go, leaning backwards.” Olly arrives just in time and grabs her arm, pulling her back up.

Drugs and Alcohol

A stanza in one of Erin’s poems describes “staring at the gray carpet until it blurs . . . a bottle of pills in my hand.”
Erin admits to Joe that she once tried to commit suicide via painkillers she had been prescribed. She says, “I emptied the contents of the bottle in my hand and took them in one go.” Her parents found her and took her to get her stomach pumped.
Olly says his past few years have been filled with “parties, girls . . . and drugs.”
Olly says that he began taking Joe to parties. At his first party, Joe took ecstasy. Olly reasons that half the people at these parties were “popping pills or sharing spliffs” and that he often smoked weed himself.
While at a party, Joe would take whatever drug he could get his hands on, but usually ecstasy.
At her first sleepover, Erin says she learned, “I quite like hard cider . . . after two pints of it, I think I’m rather good at singing, dancing, and air guitar.”
While at a sleepover, Erin and her friends drink from a bottle of alcohol that one of the girls snuck past the host’s parents.
Joe’s death was caused by a brain aneurysm. He thought he just had a headache. Joe took ecstasy that his brother was in possession of to “get completely wasted and not care about anything.” This caused the aneurysm to be fatal.

Language

None

Supernatural Content

Joe is a ghost, confined to Erin’s room. He states. “No one can hear me or see me. Because I’m dead.” Erin can see Joe after touching a silver pendant found inside the closet that gives her a sort-of electric shock.
Joe is unable to touch at first, stating that his hand “goes right through [things].” He begins to realize he can interact with things if his emotions are strong, and he begins making physical contact with Erin more frequently throughout their relationship.
While Erin’s mother is in her room trying to get her to come downstairs, Joe becomes so flustered that his energy causes her mother to be pushed back onto the bed, “the curtains [start] flapping . . . the window starts to rattle. . . [the bed] starts to shake as well.”
After the above occurrence, Erin’s mother becomes convinced the room is haunted, saying that “the room is about ten degrees colder than the rest of the house . . . I’ve been hearing [bumps] for weeks.”
Erin’s mother hires a psychic to expel the spirit. The act is described in detail, and the psychic instructs Erin’s mother to take some “of the sage, light the top of it and repeat after [her].” Joe is successfully expelled from the room, but his spirit is transferred to a cave by the beach.
Joe realizes that his spirit is lingering because he needs to help his brother let go of the guilt he feels regarding his death. He also needs to help Erin find her will to live again. Once this is accomplished, “he melts, as he becomes the sea and the sky and air.”

Spiritual Content

None

Ghost Ship

The puppy pirates listen carefully as Puggly tells the story of Growlin’ Grace and her crew. Growlin’ Grace was determined to track down an evil sea slug. But when the pirates discovered that the slug was “bigger, stronger, and slimier than anything those pirate pups had seen before. . . Growlin’ Grace’s crew turned the ship around” and sailed away.

After the scary story, Wally is pranked by a couple of pugs, who accuse him of being more puppy than pirate. How can Wally prove he’s as fearless as the rest? Spending the night on an abandoned pirate ship should do the trick! But when Wally and his human friend, Henry, climb aboard, they soon discover the ship might not be so empty after all. . .

Young readers will enjoy the spooky story that has some suspense without being too scary. However, much of the story revolves around Wally and Henry exploring the ship and wondering if ghosts are real. Instead of having an action-packed story, Ghost Ship’s plot slows down and only picks up at the very end when Wally and Henry play a prank of their own. Still, readers will enjoy the pirate talk and cute word play such as pug-glorious.

One negative aspect of the story is that Growlin’ Grace’s crew are called weirdos. When Wally and Henry meet two descendants of Growlin’ Grace’s crew, the pups call each other “Weirdos” because “that’s what Growlin’ Grace used to call her crew. She liked that she had a pack full of odd dogs who thought a little differently. They all had strange personalities and even stranger ideas about pirating life.” While Growlin’ Grace was using the term in a positive way, adults may want to take this opportunity to discuss the negative connotation of the name and if this type of name calling is appropriate.

Ghost Ship isn’t as action-packed as the other books in the series. However, young readers will still enjoy the spooky adventure. The black and white illustrations are adorably cute and will help readers understand the story’s plot. With short chapters, large text, and illustrations every one to five pages, Puppy Pirates is the perfect series for readers ready for chapter books. Plus, the end of the book has four pages that show how to draw a puppy pirate and how to use a key to unlock a code.

Ghost Ship will teach young buccaneers that the most important treasure is being with friends. And while this is a ghost story, the only ghosts that appear are puppies who are pulling pranks. Readers who love dogs should also check out All Paws On Deck by Jessica Young and Stinky Spike the Pirate Dog by Peter Meisel; both pirate-themed books use humor to engage young readers.

Sexual Content 

None

Violence 

Wally and Henry go on a ship they believe is abandoned. Then, “a white figure popped out of the shadow and flew straight at them. . . Wally growled and yipped, grabbing for the ghost with his teeth.” The supposed “ghost” disappears.

Drugs and Alcohol 

None

Language 

After frightening Wally, Puggle calls him a scaredy-pup.
When one of the characters gets frustrated, he yipped, “Graggle! Stinkbug! Plink!”

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content 

None

The Bully Blockers Club

Lotty Raccoon is excited. This year she has a new teacher, new backpack, and new shoes. But her enthusiasm quickly wanes when Grant Grizzly begins bullying her. At the advice of her brother and sister, Lotty tries ignoring Grant and then tries to make a joke of it all, but neither approach works. When her parents hear about Grant, Lotty’s dad talks to the teacher. Although the teacher speaks to Grant and Lotty, now Grant just bullies her when no adult is around.

After talking to her family again, Lotty comes up with an idea. She notices other kids are being bullied by Grant too. She gathers everyone together and they form a club—The Bully Blockers Club. Now when Grant tries to bully someone, the other kids speak up. That gets an adult’s attention, and Grant stops his bullying!

The Bully Blockers Club will help readers understand what to do when someone is being bullied. Besides giving different ways to try to deal with a bully, the book also covers the topic of being a tattletale. The story reinforces the importance of telling an adult when you do not feel safe. Another positive aspect of the story is that Lotty and the other students are never mean to Grant, even when he is being a bully. The conclusion implies that Grant is going to stop his bullying ways, which may be a bit unrealistic.

The book’s cartoonish pictures will appeal to readers and show the different ways Grant is bullying others. When Grant is being mean, the different students clearly show their anger and fear. Even though The Bully Blockers Club is a picture book, the story is intended to be read aloud to a child, rather than for the child to read it for the first time independently. Each page has three to 15 sentences and many of the sentences are complex. Because of the text-heavy pages, younger readers may have a difficult time sitting still until the end of the story.

The Bully Blockers Club educates readers on bullying and encourages them to talk to an adult. Several times, Lotty’s family demonstrates healthy communication skills that require listening to each other. Plus, the teacher spends class time discussing bullying. On the chalkboard, readers will find a list of what characteristics makes a bully and what characteristics make a friend. The relatable topic and the educational value of The Bully Blockers Club make the picture book an excellent read. To explore more picture books that teach about friendship, check out Shawn Loves Sharks by Curtis Manley and Angus All Aglow by Heather Smith.

Sexual Content 

None

Violence 

Grant steals a classmate’s eraser and then “kicked the back of her chair all morning.” The girl ignores Grant’s “nasty whispers.”

Drugs and Alcohol 

None

Language 

Grant loudly tells someone that a classmate is “so stupid she doesn’t even know when someone’s talking to her.” Then he yells, “Hey, Stupid.”
Grant tells Lotty, “I’m allergic to ugly. And you’re giving me a rash.” Then he calls her “Stink-O.”
Grant knocks Lotty’s books off her desk.

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content 

None

Dead Voices

Ollie, Brian, and Coco have had their fill of frightening experiences. After their narrow escape from the smiling man and his sinister scarecrows during their class field trip last fall, they are ready for some fun. Skiing at Mount Hemlock sounds promising, but their enthusiasm quickly dims as a snowstorm traps them at the loge with only their parents and Mr. Voland, a mysterious ghost hunter, for company.

Strange things start happening. Coco is seeing shadowy figures, Ollie is having nightmares about frostbitten girls, and Brian is positive that the stuffed bear in the lobby was on its hind legs when they arrived—not on all four.

Their fun-filled trip is quickly turning into another terrifying encounter with another dimension. There are ghosts at Mount Hemlock and their voices are demanding to be heard, but the price of listening may be too high.

In this haunting follow-up to Small Spaces, Ollie, Coco, and Brian must rely on their friendship and sharp minds if they are to survive their next harrowing adventure. Readers who are ready to be frightened will enjoy seeing Ollie and her friends go up against the smiling man one more time. However, Dead Voices increases the fear factor because both the living and the dead use deception to try to lure the children into Mother Hemlock’s frosty arms.

Unlike Small Spaces, Dead Voices focuses more on Coco’s point of view. While Ollie plays a main role in the story, Brian disappears early on, leaving Coco responsible for saving Ollie. This shift gives the book a new perspective and allows the reader to see how Coco is often misjudged because of her small size. Because Coco appears childlike, she is underestimated. However, she is a master at chess, which has taught her to look at a problem from many angles. It is this skill that allows Coco to beat the smiling man and free Ollie.

In the first book of the Small Spaces Quartet, Ollie and her friends spent most of their time running from danger. However, Dead Voices increases the suspense by increasing the danger. In addition, the ghosts are more frightening both in appearance and in their actions. Ollie meets a ghost, who appears to be friendly and helpful, but instead leads her into a trap. And when the smiling man makes an appearance, the reader learns that he is capable of completely changing his appearance, which allows him to disguise himself and trick Ollie into being trapped behind the mirror. To make matters worse, the smiling man puts all the other adults into an unwakeable sleep, thus making the kids rely on themselves.

Dead Voices is an action-packed ghost story that includes mystery, ghosts, and a deceptive villain that readers will love to hate. The simple plot leads readers into a creepy world where Mother Hemlock wants to make Ollie sleep forever. Dead Voices is perfect for middle-grade readers who want to be frightened without the graphic images that often appear in YA books. Readers who enjoy scary stories should also read Nightbooks by J.A. White and The Forgotten Girl by India Hill Brown

Sexual Content

None

Violence

Ollie and her friends meet a ghost named Gretel. While alive, Gretel would wander the orphanage where she lived. One day, Mother Hemlock, “hauled her upstairs, and locked the girl in a closet. . . Gretel was afraid of the dark. She screamed and screamed, but no one came. . . the little girl had died of fright.” Throughout the story, Gretel says she is looking for her bones.
After Gretel died, Mother Hemlock “threw herself out the attic window in remorse.”
Mother Hemlock grabs Ollie who “thrashed in the thing’s grip, head-butted her, bit her horrible tasting arm, let her legs go limp so that she was dragged across the floor. . . Ollie felt panic starting to choke her.”
In order to get away from Mother Hemlock, Ollie lunged “with all her strength, and grabbed a fistful of hot coals. She shoved them up at Mother Hemlock’s grayish, furious face. Mother Hemlock fell back, smoldering, screeching.” Ollie escapes and runs to hide.
A dead bear comes alive and chases Ollie. “As Ollie watched, frozen, the dead bear fell to all fours. Licked its chops. Then, creaking, the dead bear charged. . . [Ollie] raced through the dining room. The footsteps of the dead bear sounded close behind her, and she could smell its reek: a combination of dust and formaldehyde.” Later, the bear chases Ollie again.
Dead coyotes come alive and chase Brian and Coco. Brian pulls Coco “up the stairs just as howls broke out from every part of the lobby and the shadows seemed, all at once to leap from the stairwell. . . There was a louder clatter of dog nails as dead paws slipped on the lobby floor.” As they are running from the coyotes, the kids get separated.
In order to help Ollie, Gabe (a ghost) “had thrown an old sack of some kind over Mother Hemlock’s head. She was groping around in a fury trying to get it off.”
Mother Hemlock grabs Ollie. “To her horror, Ollie felt her eyelids growing heavy. . . Frost was stealing up over her eyes, sealing them shut. Ollie screamed when she felt the frost creeping up over her own face.” Ollie falls asleep.

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

Coco says, “We’re about to have a pretty darn rough night.”
Coco calls the smiling man a jerk.

Supernatural

Ollie’s dead mother is able to communicate with Ollie through her watch. Ollie explains, “My watch helps me . . . My watch was—it was my mother’s. I think she talks to me with it. I think she’s trying to warn us now.”
Ollie and her friends see many ghosts. The main ghost, Gretel, wore “a long white nightgown. Her face was gray-white; her nose was black. Her eyes were frozen open, huge and unblinking.” Gretel says she is looking for her bones.
The kids are told that some ghosts “act. They want something. That’s when they’re dangerous, when they want something.”
When Ollie looks into a mirror, a ghost is able to grab Ollie’s hand. “A creeping horror started to overtake her: a feeling that if she stayed there long enough, she would become a reflection instead of a girl. She felt herself take an involuntary step toward that dark mirror, then another.” Mr. Voland breaks the connection by breaking the mirror.
Voland uses an Ouija board to communicate with the dead. Ollie thinks her mother is using the Ouija board to talk to her; however, Mr. Voland was using the Ouija board to trap Ollie behind the mirror.
Ollie looked into a mirror and saw a woman. “She was blue-lipped and black-nosed. . . When she smiled at Ollie, her teeth were sharp. . . Ollie tried to yank away, but black-nailed fingers had curled out of the mirror glass, catching her hand and holding it.” Ollie is pulled into the world behind the mirror.
When Coco and Brian get separated, she hears Brian’s voice coming from behind a lot of hallway doors.” Coco doesn’t find Brian, but Ollie’s watch leads her down a steep staircase.
Gabe, a ghost, cannot speak because his mouth is frozen shut. However, he uses a Ouija board to talk to Coco and Ollie.
Coco and Ollie need to find out how the world behind the mirror is connected to the real world. Ollie thinks, “Gretel is on this side. Gretel’s bones are somewhere on Coco’s side. The ghost and her bones are connected. If Gretel stands in front of a mirror on my side, and her bones are reflected in the same mirror on Coco’s side, then a door will open.” Gretel’s bones are never found, but Coco finds another way to open the door.

Spiritual Content

Brian says, “Dead people—they’re gone. We aren’t meant to talk to them.” Because of Brian’s comment, Ollie thinks Brian is Catholic. “It came out at odd moments.”
Mother Hemlock is closing in on Coco, who yells for Brain. Coco prayed “that Brian could hear.”

Red Rover

On a car ride back from the beach, sixth grader Amy Tanner notices something strange by the side of the road. It’s a blindfolded dog, muzzled with duct tape. He’s tied to a post with a rusty chain. Concerned for the dog’s safety, Amy quickly convinces her parents to pull over, and the family frees this mystery dog, who they suddenly feel compelled to name Rover. Before long, Rover has charmed his way into the Tanner family home. He especially bonds with Amy’s younger sister, Katie, who seems to hear Rover’s thoughts in her head.

Despite the Tanners’ excitement about having a new dog, Amy begins to notice unusual things happening around Rover. Electronics malfunction. Pets and humans that he dislikes freeze, wide-eyed, as if possessed. And, when Rover is forced to attend the school science fair against his will, a gory “accident” occurs, leaving the rats of a rival project dead. It slowly becomes clear that Rover has strange psychic abilities. Even Amy’s ever-logical parents begin to see that something is wrong. 

The Tanners attempt to tame their dog and, when that doesn’t work, to drop him off at a shelter, but they are unsuccessful. Eventually, Amy is left with no choice but to track down Rover’s previous owners and figure out how they were able to free themselves from this creature. This journey is how Amy meets the grizzled diva Miss Dola, who helps Amy and her family perform a ritual to weaken Rover. After a dramatic confrontation, they are able to drop him into the sea. He sinks to the bottom, gone for good. Or is he?

A key theme in Red Rover is dealing with bullies. A girl from school named Valerie Starr frequently makes fun of Amy, and Amy draws a direct comparison between this rival and Rover. In the latter half of the book, Amy is willing to do almost anything in her power to spend less time around her dog. She relishes her hours at school. She goes on walks. She spends extra time in the bathroom. “Anything that took time out of her morning, she was good at. Anything to keep her up here, on the second floor, away from him.” Amy, for her part, dislikes the person that she’s become. Once a dog-lover, she now catches herself hoping for Rover’s downfall, a relatable struggle for anyone who’s endured bullying. She just wants to be free.

Because Red Rover is told entirely from Amy’s perspective, frustration and fear are also key elements of the plot. While Katie blindly adores Rover and their science-minded parents don’t even consider psychic powers a possibility, Amy picks up on Rover’s sinister energy almost from the beginning. As the novel progresses, Amy becomes more and more frightened of Rover. This fear is what drives the plot forward and initially puts Amy at odds with her family. Readers will share Amy’s terror as suspense slowly builds, until the final confrontation at the end of the book where Amy’s “sharp, unspeakable terror curdle[s] into rage” and she must defend her younger sister from Rover’s attack.

Although Red Rover is a bit slow at times, the story of a girl who lives in fear in her own home will resonate to any child who has had to deal with a bully, especially one that they seemingly can’t escape. With believable characters and a strong final act, Red Rover presents a powerful narrative about standing up for yourself, protecting the people you care about, and following your gut even when no one else believes you.

Sexual Content 

None

Violence 

When Amy and her family first encounter Rover, he is tied to a fence by the side of the road and has visibly been mistreated. A rusty chain is “looped tightly around [Rover’s] neck and clasped with a padlock,” and a dirty rag is “tied tight over the dog’s eyes.” Additionally, a “thick loop of duct tape” is “wrapped around [his] muzzle, holding [his] mouth shut.”
A tall girl confronts Amy and demands that she hand over her ice cream money. Amy wishes she had the courage to “shove” the girl aside or “[throw] a punch.” The confrontation ends nonviolently when the tall girl looks Rover in the eyes and suddenly “lurche[s] forward” and “vomit[s] across the concrete.”
When Amy brings Rover to the science fair, he becomes agitated and launches a telekinetic attack against the rats from a different project’s terrarium. The rats begin “slamming their bodies against the sides of their plastic cage, shrieking as they [throttle] themselves back and forth, back and forth.” The inside of the plastic terrarium rapidly becomes “smeared with blood.”
Amy has a dream of Rover’s face “rotting away, revealing a skull.”

While at a sleepover, Amy learns that her father just “fell and hit his head on the kitchen floor” and that there was “blood everywhere.” It is implied that Rover is responsible for the accident.
Rover lures the family’s other dog, Stormy, into the street, and Amy jumps in front of a car trying to save him. Amy gets Stormy safely to the curb, but the car bumper “punche[s]” Amy in the side. She then “[flies] to the asphalt, rolling over twice and feeling the grit of the road beneath her scrape her elbows and knuckles raw.”
While on a drive, Amy sticks her head out of the window and Rover tries to roll up the window “like a slow guillotine.” Amy is able to pull her head back inside just in time.
Amy and her family attempt to drop Rover off at a shelter, but he escapes and returns home. Upon calling the shelter, they learn that the animals there “all just died at once.” It is implied that Rover used his powers to kill them.
Rover attacks a professional dog whisperer by psychically throwing him through an exploded window. The dog whisperer lands in glass and sustains “dozens of cuts on his exposed arms and face.”

Rover uses an “invisible force” to choke Amy, but he is distracted when Amy’s younger sister offers to feed him Greek honey cake.
Amy burns out one of Rover’s eyes with a stick of sage, and the wound is described as “oozing a thick black liquid that sizzled as it hit the floor.”
During a final confrontation, Rover throws furniture, pets, and family members around the house with his mind. He corners Amy and her sister in the attic, but before he is able to attack, Miss Dola appears and “stab[s] all three syringes down into the back of the dog’s neck.” This immobilizes Rover and they are able to lock the creature in a cage, which they eventually push into the sea.

Drugs and Alcohol 

None

Language   

Amy mentally refers to herself as a “weak little idiot” when she hesitates to defend herself against a bully.
In a fit of rage, Amy calls her younger sister a “brat.”

A boy calls his brother a “dingus.”

Supernatural 

Rover possesses psychic abilities, which are slowly revealed over the course of the book. He is able to control electronics, move things with his mind, and even psychically kill other creatures.
The family employs a supernatural ritual in order to break the bond between Rover and Katie. The ritual involves a string of leaves, three black candles, three medical syringes filled with a clear liquid, a “small black book with a gold triangle on the cover,” and a slice of Greek honey cake.

Spiritual Content 

Miss Dola believes that Rover may be an incarnation of the three-headed canine beast Cerberus, a figure from Greek mythology.

Riley’s Ghost

Riley Flynn is alone. 

It feels like she’s been on her own since sixth grade, when her best friend, Emily, ditched her for the cool girls. Cool girls don’t like Riley. They decide one day to lock Riley in the science closet after hours, after everyone else has gone home.

When Riley is finally able to escape the closet, she finds that her horror story is only just beginning. All the school doors are locked, the windows won’t budge, the phones are dead, and the lights aren’t working. Through halls lit only by the narrow beam of her flashlight, Riley roams the building, seeking a way out, an answer, an explanation. And as she does, she starts to suspect she isn’t alone after all. 

While she’s always liked a good scary story, Riley knows there is no such thing as ghosts. But what else could explain the things happening in the school, the haunting force that seems to lurk in every shadow, around every corner? As she tries to find answers, she starts reliving moments that brought her to this night. Moments from her own life…and a life that is not her own.

Riley’s Ghost explores the issue of bullying through two girls’ experiences. While the premise is unique—a girl is forced to face her past hurts with the help of a ghost—the story is frustrating because of the frequent flashbacks. Since much of the story is told in the past tense, the story’s pacing is slow and has very few dramatic scenes. When something interesting begins to happen, the story quickly shifts to past events which kills the suspense. While the constant jumps into the past help explain Riley’s behavior, she is not relatable or likable. Riley has often been the target of bullies; however, her own behavior has caused some of her problems.

The addition of Max, a ghost who is using a half-dissected frog as a vessel, should add interest, but the ghost does not evoke sympathy because he is so awful. Instead of helping Riley, the frog does not want to confront his past. Riley is left to guess at Max’s motives. Even at the end, Max learns nothing and only wants to forget about his past mistakes instead of making amends. Plus, the story’s message is confusing because the story shows that most people pay for their mistakes, but “nobody should have to pay for their past mistakes indefinitely.”

Riley’s Ghost takes a hard look at the bullying that can take place during middle school and shows how bullying can have a lasting impact on the victims. Unfortunately, the conclusion is confusing and chaotic, and the lesson is unclear. In the end, the story hints that Riley’s life makes a dramatic turn for the better, but the conclusion jumps to a feel-good ending without showing how Riley was able to make changes. For readers who want to explore the issue of bullying further, Out of Place by Jennifer Blecher and Fortune Falls by Jenny Goebel would be better book selections.

Sexual Content 

Riley thinks about her teachers. “And rumor had it that Mrs. Brendaker, the choir teacher, was madly in love with Ms. Child, which was bound to be hard on Mr. Brendaker, if and when he found out.”
While in middle school, Heather and her friend kiss. The boy “gave her her first awkward kiss underneath the bleachers by the tennis courts.”

Violence 

In a hallway at school, Grace gets in Riley’s face. “Grace poked Riley just below the collar of her sweatshirt. . . Her chest burned above her heart where Grace’s finger had just been.” Without thinking, “Riley’s right arm, which uncoiled unconsciously, swinging fast, the open hand connected with Grace’s left cheek with such force it made the other girls’ head whip around.”

After Riley slaps Grace, Grace and her friends lock Riley in a supply closet in the science classroom.
When a half-dissected frog begins talking to Riley, she “kicked out with her right foot, sending the creature with its dissected belly and its flopping innards soaring ten feet, straight into a wall, where it hit with a sickening slap.”
Riley gets angry at the frog and tries to stomp him. “Riley chased after the frog frantically leaping down the hall, trying to smash him under her bootheel like a toddler squashing bugs on the blacktop, until she cornered him in the entryway of a classroom, backed against the door.” She grabs the frog and thinks, “it would be easy to snap his spine, to feel it splinter.”
A ghost leads Riley into the auditorium where Riley sees a vision of the ghost’s life. When Riley sees the ghost’s face in a mirror, she reaches out to touch it. “The mirror shattered at her touch, splintering into a thousand pieces. Riley screamed. . . She felt her feet mysteriously pulled out from under her, a moment of pure weightlessness, a total loss of control.” Riley falls and her “head snapped back, striking the hardwood floor, taking away the last bit of light.” Riley is knocked unconscious.
When Riley was in elementary school, a classmate named Jordan messed up her drawing. Without thinking, she stabbed him with a pencil. “But she had got lucky—or unlucky—catching the soft web of tissue between Jordan’s thumb and forefinger. . . Jordan screamed again. The wound, now free to bleed, burbling up a tiny stream that trickled down the length of his thumb.” Afterwards, Riley had to see a therapist.

When she was in middle school, the ghost Heather, “snuck into the gym, grabbed one of the baseball bats from the supply closet, then she just went crazy. Ballistic. She smashed everything she saw. Windows. Desks. . .” Heather was suspended and never went back to school.
Riley sees visions of Heather’s death. “Her father was driving. . . She wasn’t wearing a seat belt. . . Riley could picture it. The shattered glass. The screech of tires. The body lifted, floating. Head snapping backwards. And then . . . just gone.”
Heather’s classmates locked her in a supply closet. “[Heather] pounds and kicks, she pleads and shouts, she cusses and spits. . . She is afraid. Afraid of being stuck in this place forever. Afraid that no one will ever try to find her.”

Drugs and Alcohol 

While locked in a closet, Riley wishes she could go home and take Advil, then sleep.
One of Riley’s teacher is “the vape master.”
In the nurse’s office, a cabinet is “full of Adderall and Ritalin.”
While on vacation, Riley and her friend planned to “cajole Riley’s father into letting them try a sip of beer.”

Language 

Freaking is used in excess. For example, Riley says, “I’m stuck in this freaking school, freezing in the freaking dark, talking to a freaking frog who is also a freaking ghost!”
Profanity is used occasionally. Profanity includes crap, hell, and piss.
Goddam is used once.
Occasionally, Riley calls her classmates names such as a jerk, prick, and “butt-faced jerkwads.”

Riley imagines her classmates texting about her, saying that she “is cray cray.” Another girl says Riley is a “freak.”
A boy tells a girl not to listen to Riley because “she’s a lunatic.”
God, oh my God, and Jesus are used as exclamations rarely.
Riley says, “screw this” and “screw it” several times.
Emily thinks about telling her ex-friend’s mother that her daughter was a “terrible kiss-ass, crowd-following, spineless bystander.”

Supernatural

The ghost of Heather, a girl who died while in middle school, haunts the school. By making a flashlight blink on and off, the ghost shows Riley where she wants her to go. Riley also sees visions of the ghost’s life.
While locked in the school, Riley hears voices when no one is there, lights go on and off. In addition, Riley hears crying coming from the bathroom stall. Then black letters appear on a mirror, “Nothing to see here.”
A ghost uses a half-dissected frog as a vessel. He tells Riley, “I thought it might be easier for you to handle if you had an actual body to talk to. Something substantial. And this was the best vessel I could get.”

While in a hallway, Riley sees “all the dials on all the lockers started to spin. Up and down the hall. Every locker, all at once, turning one way and then the other in unison.” Then Riley hears people talking, saying that someone is a “freak, a loser, so awkward, so weird.”
Based on her father’s stories, Riley knows that “to vanquish a ghost was to find out what it wanted, what kept it anchored to this world. Find the tie that bound it here and then cut it loose.”
The ghost, Max, wants to destroy some letters that his ex-friend wrote to him. “Riley felt a tickle like a breath on the back of her neck before a current of air picked up the stack of letters . . . the pages shot upward and then fell back down like maple leaves.” Riley saves the letters from being burned.

Spiritual Content 

None

First Grade Jitters

Here is the story of a young boy who is about to enter first grade and doesn’t know quite what to expect. Will his friends be there? Will he have to know how to read and spell? What if he can’t understand anything his teacher says? Looks like a case of the first grade jitters!

An unnamed boy worries about school and all the what-ifs that could happen. While most of the boy’s worries are relatable, some are silly. For example, the boy asks, “What if I can’t understand what the teacher says? She might say, ‘Oogly, boogly.’” With the help of his parents and his friends, the boy realizes that he has nothing to be scared about.

Bright, realistic illustrations use small details to highlight the boy’s worry. For example, in one picture his shoulders are slumped as he kicks a rock. By the end of the story, the boy is jumping with joy and has a big smile on his face. Even though First Grade Jitters is a picture book, the story is intended to be read aloud to a child, rather than for the child to read it for the first time independently. Each page has zero to seven simple sentences that make the story easy to understand.

Any child who is worried about going to school will relate to the boy in First Grade Jitters. The story will reassure readers that there is nothing to be afraid of. If your child is worried about attending school, First Grade Jitters will help calm his or her fears. Readers may also want to read Danbi Leads the School Parade by Anna Kim, which is a school-themed story about friendship.

Sexual Content 

None

Violence 

None

Drugs and Alcohol 

None

Language 

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content 

None

Storm of Lightning

The Elgen’s plans for world domination begin on the island of Tuvalu when the nefarious Dr. Hatch orders an invasion of the small nation following an unsuccessful attack on the resistance headquarters, the Timepiece Ranch. Meanwhile, the Electroclan return to America with Jade Dragon, the girl they rescued before she fell victim to Dr. Hatch’s schemes. When they learn what happened to the Ranch, Michael and the others rush there to inquire about the safety of their families, who were hiding at the base at the time of the attack.

After checking the Ranch and finding it devoid of survivors, the Electroclan goes on the run again. Their plan is to lie low until news of their families reaches them, but their period of rest ends abruptly with the news that Dr. Hatch has stationed warships from the Elgen fleet in the waters near Tuvalu. The Electroclan heads to Christmas Ranch in Utah, another resistance base, to devise a plan to stop the invasion of Tuvalu.

Meanwhile, the story shows the perspective of Hatch’s loyal electric children (Tara, Bryan, Quentin, and Kylee) as they discuss whether to rebel against Hatch, especially after he tortures Welch, a former Elgen commander, who is close to Quentin. Quentin has been Hatch’s “favorite,” but he no longer knows if Hatch’s plans align with his own.

Hatch successfully overthrows the Tuvaluan government and places Quentin in charge. Hatch offers Quentin advice on his new monarchy: “a divided people is a conquered people. . . Divisions in humanity can always be found. Turn men against women and women against men. Divide the young from the old, the rich from the poor. . . Teach them to shame others and to use shame as a tool to their own ends.” Hatch’s advice illustrates the difference between him and Michael, which is the focus of Storm of Lightning.

There is not much confrontation, and the Electroclan spends most of the book on the move, as the story focuses on Michael’s character and the effects of war. It’s clear that the Elgen and the Electroclan can never coexist, and Michael must be the one to stop them. He struggles with wanting to give up, and the fact that his power has been increasing, possibly leading to his own death. His power also gives him the ability to kill others on a large scale. While this threat has been present from the beginning of the series, Michael grapples with it throughout Storm of Lightning.

While Storm of Lightning is not the most interesting book in the series, the story discloses the next step of the Electroclan and highlights the value of hope – hope that the resistance can overcome the Elgen. While Michael’s role in the war is may be unrelatable to readers, Michael’s inner turmoil is understandable and crucial to the development of his character. Readers should pick up the next story, Fall of Hades, to find out if Michael is able to overcome his fate and confront Hatch once and for all.

Sexual Content

Michael and his girlfriend Taylor kiss occasionally. “After a moment, she leaned into me, and we kissed. Suddenly I felt a current of electricity flowing through our mouths.”
Quentin and Tara have a developing romance. They kiss once.

Violence

A Mexican gang tries to rob Michael which ends in violence. As Michael “was walking away from them, an empty beer bottle hit me on the side of my head. Fortunately, it wasn’t a direct hit, or it probably would have knocked me out. Instead, it caught me in the back of my jaw, cutting the skin beneath my ear. . . It took every ounce of willpower I had not to fry them to ashes. . .”
The gang threatens to cut Michael, so Michael defends himself. “I spun around and pulsed, blasting the little dude so hard that his feet left the ground. He slammed into an adobe wall, and plaster fell around him as he crumpled to the ground, unconscious. . . I spread out my arms and pulsed. The force blew out from me in a shock wave more than fifty feet in diameter. When I looked around, all of the gang members were lying on their backs. Most of them weren’t moving. The tall guy was still conscious, staring at me in fear. As I started toward him, he pulled a gun. . . The guy fired six times, and the bullets flew around me, ricocheting against cars and buildings. One of the bullets hit his buddies. . . When he had used all his bullets. . . I blasted him so hard, his clothes caught on fire. Then I looked around. All of the gang members were still unconscious except for one. . . he had gotten to his feet and now raised a knife at me. . . I produced a lightning ball about the size of a volleyball. . . He weakly raised his hands to block it. It exploded on contact with his flesh, knocking him out with the force.” In the end, Michael is unsure if he killed them or not.
Michael sees the aftermath of the Elgen attack on the resistance base. They completely destroyed the area. Michael “could see the bones of a horse in a clearing. Other than that, there was no evidence of life. Or death. It looked like those war pictures from our history books. I had never seen such devastation in real life. I bent over and vomited.”
The Electroclan find one survivor from the aftermath – an Elgen soldier. “When I first saw the man, I didn’t recognize him as human. He was grotesque looking. His skin and clothes, which hadn’t been burned off, were charred black, and most of his hair was singed off his head. . . his injuries were so severe, it was difficult to even look at him.”
Jack talks briefly about his brother’s service in Afghanistan. “A Taliban soldier tried to stab my brother, but my brother turned the knife on him. While my brother’s squad was waiting for reinforcements, my brother had to sit in the room with the dead man for two hours. He took out the guy’s wallet. The man had a picture of his wife and a little boy. My brother said even though the guy had tried to kill him, it still made him sad.”
While staying at a hotel, Michael hears someone trying to break into the room when multiple Electroclan members are inside. They attack when the intruder enters. “Jack grabbed [the intruder] by the front of his shirt, then pulled him forward, slamming him face-forward onto the ground. I pushed the door shut with my foot as I grabbed the man’s leg and pulsed. His body went limp.”
Hatch threatens to flog the Tuvaluan people if they disobey his new laws. He also says that the citizens will be sent to “reeducation camps.” Hatch also says that those who don’t accept reeducation will be imprisoned and branded as fools to be publicly humiliated and punished.
Due to the former President of Tuvalu refusing to bow to him, Hatch has him punished as a public display. “You will be stripped of your clothing, bound, and your tongue will be cut off; then, for the rest of your life, you will be kept in the central square in a cage with monkeys. . . If you try to take your life, your sons and daughters will take your place.” Hatch follows through on his word. The prime minister is later displayed in front of the people. “Inside the cage were about a dozen bald-faced rhesus macaque monkeys and, in one corner, the naked prime minister huddled in the fetal position. He looked pale and sick; his mouth swollen from the amputation of his tongue.”
A man who protests Hatch’s rule is severely punished in front of the crowd. “The protestor was able to knock down just one of the guards before he was tased by three different guns, then beaten nearly unconscious by truncheons. The guards then dragged the man out before the crowd. He was lifted to his knees and pushed up against the pole next to the monkey cage. His arms were bound behind the pole, and a belt was cinched tightly around his waist to hold him up. . . The Elgen squad captain brought out a long, serrated knife and cut off the man’s ears as he screamed in agony.”
Hatch punishes Quentin for betraying him. “Hatch slapped Quentin hard enough to knock him back into his bed. A thin stream of blood dropped from his nose. . . Hatch stood, then grabbed Quentin by the foot and dragged him off the bed. Then he kicked him while Quentin tried to protect himself from the blows.” Hatch also punishes Quentin with an improved RESAT device called a RAVE, which inflicts physical pain on the electric children and renders them powerless.
Cassy, one of the electric children loyal to the resistance, threatens Schema, a former Elgen chairman, by using her powers on him. “As he stepped out onto the cement floor, he suddenly froze, unable to breathe. For nearly a minute he grasped at his throat; then he fell to his knees, then to his side, unable to even make a sound, his panicked, questioning eyes locked on Cassy. When he was just about to pass out, Cassy released him. Schema loudly gasped for breath, coughing and wheezing.” Cassy says to him, “In case you were feeling bold, I wanted you to know just how easy it is for me to kill you. . . this time, I paralyzed your lungs. If you disappear from my sight, even for a minute, I will stop your heart.”

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

The group talks about a hot sauce that’s named “hotter than hell.”
Tara and Bryan, two kids loyal to Hatch, have an argument in which Tara calls him an “idiot.”
Ostin and Michael call Dr. Hatch a “crazy freaking moron.”

Supernatural

Many of the youths in the story have electricity related abilities. There are 17 electric children in all. Michael can shock and pulse like an electric eel. Taylor can read minds via electrical signals. Nichelle can drain electrical power, Abi can take away pain, and Mckenna can create light and heat.
While staying at a hotel, Nichelle wants to stay in a room that is rumored to have a ghost haunting it. One of the workers says they encountered it when checking a fuse box in the basement. “The hair on the back of my neck rose, and I had this feeling that I was being watched. Then I saw a cloud in the shape of a man come toward me.” Michael, Nichelle, Taylor, and Ostin end up staying in the room and hear strange sounds at night.

Spiritual Content

When Hatch takes over Tuvalu, he orders the former President to kiss his hand to show his allegiance. The man replies, “I bow only to God.” Hatch replies, “Where is your God in your time of need. I will tell you where your God is. You are looking at him.”

by Madison Shooter

The Duel at Araluen

King Duncan and Princess Cassandra are trapped in the south tower of Castle Araluen and under near-constant attack from the Red Fox Clan. Sir Horace and Ranger Commandant Gilan are holed up in an old hill fort, surrounded by the enemy. And Ranger’s apprentice, Maddie, is the only one who can save them all.

With the help of Hal, Thorn, and the rest of the Heron brotherband, Maddie will have to break her father and his men out of the hill fort, but will they reach Castle Araluen in time?

As the third installment of the Royal Ranger Series, Duel at Araluen continues the story of the Red Fox Clan who plan to kill King Duncan, Princess Cassandra, and Maddie. Unlike the previous two books in the series, Duel at Araluen describes many skirmishes between the rebels and the Araluens. While the book has less adventure, there is non-stop action as three groups—the Scandians, Horace and his soldiers, and Cassandra and her loyal army—prepare to defeat the Red Fox Clan.

While the book revolves around war, there is never senseless killing. Even though the Red Fox Clan planned to kill Horace and his men, when the rebels are defeated, Horace doesn’t execute the traitors. Instead, Horace orders his men to “leave the tents there for them so they won’t die of exposure. . . We’ll leave them what medical supplies and bandages we can spare and they can take care of one another.” Like the previous books, many people die, but all of the killings are in self-defense.

Duel at Araluen highlights the importance of loyalty, friendship, and bravery. For example, Jesper, one of the Scandians, makes several mean comments to one of his shipmates. Afterwards, Jesper claimed he was just joking. Hal scolds Jasper, saying, “A joke is when everyone can have a good laugh together. But when you do something that’s spiteful and hurtful and causes misery to someone else, that’s not a joke. That’s cruelty.”

Duel at Araluen uses the same format of all The Ranger’s Apprentice books. Even though the format is familiar, readers will be happy to see returning characters such as the Scandians from the Brotherband Series. Seeing the world from Maddie’s point of view gives the setting a fresh outlook. Plus, both Cassandra and Maddie have strong roles that involve leadership, planning, and fighting. Instead of being portrayed as stereotypical damsels in distress, Cassandra and Maddie are well-developed, capable characters who have many admirable traits. Readers who want to explore books with a strong female character and plenty of action should also add the League of Archers Series by Eva Howard to their reading list.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

After the Red Fox Clan took over the castle, the King, Cassandra and a group of loyal soldiers lock themselves in a tower. The Red Fox Clan started throwing projectiles at the tower. In response, Cassandra’s archers shoot arrows at the invading army. “Two of the first three shots found their targets. One man fell away from the windlass, an arrow in his upper body. Another. . . went down with a shaft in his thigh.”
The Red Fox Clan builds a trebuchet and uses it to throw rocks at the castle tower. Cassandra’s archers shoot fire arrows at the trebuchet and the invading army. “Two men went down. One of them stayed down. The other one hauled himself to his feet. . . an arrow through his lower leg. . . All the while, the tree archers peppered the trebuchet with arrows, but to no real effect. The only reward for their efforts was a sole figure lying unmoving on the flagstones.”
The Red Fox Clan begins throwing fire bladders at the tower. “Cassandra started in fear as the bladder struck the tower. . . Almost instantly, there was a roar of flame as the oil and pitch ignited, and a flood of fire erupted over the balcony, some of it clinging to the walls, while the rest dripped down and spread tendrils of flame over the floor.” No one is injured by the fire bladders.
The Red Fox Clan plan to swarm the fort that Horace, Gilan, and their army are hiding. “The light flared up, revealing a mass of some twenty men on the walkway. Instantly, the archers on the east and west walls drew, aimed and shot. A storm of arrows slammed into the attackers as they bunched together. . . more arrows slammed into them as they hesitated.”
During the attack, the rebels use ladders to scale the fort’s walls. “Their leader ran to be the first down one of the ladders. But, five spaces short of it, he was struck by an arrow and hurled back against the rough timbers of the palisade.”
One of the rebels lunges at Gilan with a sword. “Gilan’s sword, gleaming blood-red in the smoky firelight, struck like a viper, driving the man’s upper body, piercing the chain metal there. The swordsman gasped and stepped back. . . [Gilan] swung in a diagonal overhead cut at the man on his left. The stroke went home and the man fell to his knees, crying out in pain and shock. Then he toppled sideways.” The battle is described over nine pages.
After the battle, a man gives a casualty report. The Araluen’s lost two men and three others were injured. The rebels lost at least a dozen men and eight are wounded and cannot flee.
Along with the Scandians, the Araluens attack the rebel army. The Araluens use their lances to try to break up the enemy’s shield wall. “Some of the lances penetrated, forcing their way between the shields, hitting bodies, legs, and arms.” The battle is described over eight pages.
During the battle, one of the rebels “reared up in agony, clutching vainly at an arrow that had magically appeared between his shoulder blades.”
One of the leaders of the rebel army, Trask, steals his own soldier’s horse and tries to flee. But Maddie sees Trask and uses her sling as a weapon. Trask “felt a thundering impact on his helmet, right in the center of his forehead. . . Vaguely, he felt himself topple backward from the saddle and crash onto the soft grass. Then everything went black.”
The rebels set a door on fire, trying to chase Cassandra and her army to flee. One of Cassandra’s sergeants goes around the wall and a crossbowman “raised his weapon and shot. . . Then the crossbow bolt hit him and he reared back, falling dead at Cassandra’s feet.”
The book ends with a multi-chapter battle between the Araluens and the Red Fox Clan, where many people die. During the battle, one of Cassandra’s archers is stabbed and “with a startled cry of pain, the archer fell back on the steps, his spear clattering on the stonework as he dropped it.” Many men are killed in a similar manner.
During the attack, one of the rebels “felt a chill of fear clutch his heart as he realized he was seriously outmatched. . . In total panic, he turned to run, but Hal leaped forward and, reversing his sword, brought the heavy hilt down on the back of the man’s head, sending him sprawling unconscious on the boards of the walkway.”
Cassandra and the rebel leader, Dimon, fight. Cassandra injures him. “Blood dripped slowly from Dimon’s left arm, but not in sufficient quantities to weaken him.” At one point, Cassandra “twisted desperately to the right. The blade scored across her ribs, opening a long, shallow slash in her side. Blood welled out instantly, staining her jerkin.” Cassandra kills Dimon. The sword fight is described over five pages.

Drugs and Alcohol

One of Cassandra’s sergeants was “nursing a mug of ale—a small mug, in view of their limited supply.”

Language

Damn is used three times. For example, Dimon says, “I should have thought of this damned tower, should have remembered how impregnable it can be.”
Maddie’s horse says, “By Blarney’s perpetual beard, when you sleep, you really sleep, don’t you?”
Maddie calls her horse a know-all and a blowhard.
Twice a Scandian uses “Orlog’s ears” as an exclamation.
The king calls the rebel’s leader scum.

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

Maddie’s horse makes a comment about Blarney, “a minor Hibernian deity. . .His beard grew constantly down to his feet, no matter how often he cut or shaved it.”

Comet Rising

Emmeline, Lucas, and Lucas’s parents escaped from Lady Aisling’s grasp and are hiding away in a house by the sea. They are safe for now. Dar, now imprisoned in a tiny cage, is the only person that is ruining their relatively peaceful seclusion. Dar tells Emmeline that the Cerelia Comet is coming sooner than expected, but Emmeline doesn’t believe her. The Cerelia Comet comes every 25 years, and it’s been 13 years since its last appearance. However, upon seeing the comet soar through the night sky, it becomes clear that Lady Aisling has a sky shaker on her side who moved the comet’s orbit so it could arrive 12 years earlier. Lady Aisling could add more talents to her collection.

Lucas’s parents tell the other families about the comet’s arrival. Eventually, Lady Aisling finds their house by the sea and tries to capture everyone. Lucas’s parents tell Emmeline and their son that they will meet them at an old friend’s house but are caught by Lady Aisling’s soldiers. It is up to Emmeline and Lucas to find more talented children to join in the fight to stop Lady Aisling. But when Emmeline accidentally frees Dar, they find out that the children they seek have already been captured. Now, Emmeline and Lucas know that they must fight for their lives and the lives of talented children just like them.

Comet Rising starts where Shadow Weaver ended, pulling the reader into an action-focused adventure that builds upon the last. The story includes more details about talented people and the land of Zinnia, but those facts do not muddle the story. Once again, the narrative focuses on Emmeline’s point of view, which is concise and optimistic, making the events easy to follow. She becomes more self-assured as she and Lucas find more talented children, but as the story continues, she grapples with how she wants to defeat Lady Aisling. Readers will relate to the weight of Emmeline’s newfound responsibility and her being peer pressured, like when she refuses a friend’s suggestion to weaponize her shadows. In the end, she accomplishes her goal without compromising her values.

Emmeline also learns about forgiveness and becomes more willing to forgive Dar for her betrayal. Dar had tricked her into releasing her from the cage. She went off on her own to defeat Lady Aisling because of a personal grudge. Dar has eluded Emmeline and also done a lot of bad things to Emmeline, like impersonating her while traveling on her own. But after all is said and done, and Lady Aisling is no longer a threat, Emmeline forgives Dar because “everyone deserves a second chance.”

Comet Rising is a story that draws upon the fantastical and magical. The story has plenty of action and also answers questions asked in the previous book. Plus, it expands upon the characters, including the villain. Younger readers will enjoy reading the spellbinding descriptions of magic as well as learning about trust, forgiveness, and responsibility. Readers who liked Comet Rising by MarcyKate Connolly may want to read similar books like Jinxed by Amy McCulloch and The Revenge of Magic by James Riley.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

Lady Aisling uses her magic to wrap vines around Dar’s neck and body. Her vines “begin to squeeze. Dar thrashes, but the choking vines won’t let up.” Dar’s face begins to “turn blue” while she tries to free herself with her shapeshifting, but the vines constrict her even more. Lucas crafts a sword and frees Dar from the vines.

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

The Comet bestows magic upon people every 25 years, blessing those born in the year of the comet with a magical gift.
Emmeline is a shadow weaver; she morphs shadows into different objects, animals, and silhouettes. “[The shadows] dodge and twirl at my command.” She can make the shadows tangible and cover herself. Emmeline does not get any ill effects from her shadow weaving.
Lucas is a light singer; when he sings, he can bend the light. At first, he can use his light to bake bread, but then he can use his light to make tangible objects such as bands and orbs of light. He can also craft a sword. He does not get any ill effects from his light singing.
Simone can read people’s minds and use telepathy. She has no ill effects when she reads or detects someone’s mind, but it is painful for her to use telepathy due to Lady Aisling tampering with her ability.
Pearl is a spot hopper. She can “move between two points instantly regardless of the distance” if she’s seen the destination or if she’s with someone who has seen the destination. She can take people with her if they hold onto her. There is a tingling sensation that goes away when she hops from spot to spot, but there are no ill effects when she uses her ability on herself or other people.
Noah is a talent taker. He can take talents away from gifted people by physical contact. “He puts a hand on my shoulder and closes his eyes. At first, I don’t feel anything much as my shadows dissipate. but after a moment, a tingling sensation begins to burn through my shoulder.” At first, he could nullify a talent. Eventually, he can permanently erase talents.
Lady Aisling is a magic eater. She can steal gifted people’s gifts and then use them. Lady Aisling’s gift does not work on regular people. She will become sick and weak if she does not devour a talent often.
Dar can shapeshift into anything and anyone.

Spiritual Content

None

by Jemima Cooke

Gallant

Olivia Prior has grown up in Merilance School for Girls, and all she has of her past is her mother’s journal—which seems to unravel into madness. Then, a letter invites Olivia to come home to Gallant. Yet when Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her. But Olivia is not about to leave the first place that feels like home; it doesn’t matter if her cousin Matthew is hostile, or if she sees half-formed ghouls haunting the hallways.

Olivia knows that Gallant is hiding secrets, and she is determined to uncover them. When she crosses a ruined wall at just the right moment, Olivia finds herself in a place that is Gallant—but not. The manor is crumbling, the ghouls are solid, and a mysterious figure rules over all. Now, Olivia sees what has unraveled generations of her family and where her father may have come from.

Olivia has always wanted to belong somewhere, but will she take her place as a Prior, protecting our world against the Master of the House? Or will she take her place beside him?

As a gothic, ghost story Gallant is surprisingly dull and unexciting. While Olivia can see “ghouls” and communicate with them through her thoughts, none of the ghouls she encounters are developed in detail. Instead of being interesting, the ghouls fade into the background and they evoke little emotion. Even though Olivia learns that she can communicate with ghouls, she doesn’t try to initiate a conversation with her dead uncle, who obviously killed himself. She also doesn’t try to communicate with her dead mother, who could answer many of her questions. Because of this, Olivia’s gift is not fully developed or explored.

Olivia is an interesting and unique protagonist, who is non-verbal and communicates only through sign language. This caused her childhood to be lonely and unpleasant. Not only does she have to struggle with being abandoned at Merilance, but she also has to deal with the other children who are cruel, and the matrons who are indifferent. Because of this, Olivia is willing to go to Gallant, even though her mother has warned her to stay away.

While the story has some interesting story threads—what happened to Olivia’s parents, why should she stay away from Galant, why can she see ghouls—none of them are well developed. Even though Olivia encounters the personification of Death, his soldiers, and other ghouls, the story only evokes mild curiosity, contains little suspense, and little scare factor. In addition, the conclusion is lackluster and depressing. In the end, the reader is left wondering why Olivia would stay at Gallant. Readers who are looking for an exciting paranormal story should read Schwab’s other series, The Archived, or The Breathless by Tara Goedjen.

Sexual Content

Sometimes boys would “linger at the edge of the gravel moat,” trying to get the girls’ attention. One day, Olivia goes to talk to a boy and “he kissed her, she waited to feel whatever her mother had felt for her father the day they met, the spark that lit the fire that burned their whole world down. But she only felt his hand on her waist. His mouth on her mouth. A hollow sadness.”

Violence

Anabelle, a girl at Merilance, tears pages out of Olivia’s mother’s journal. Olivia “fell on Anabelle, finger wrapped around her throat. Anabelle yelped, and Olivia squeezed until the girl could not speak, could not breathe, and then the matrons were there, pulling them apart.”
To get back at Anabelle, Olivia “went down into the cellar. . . she managed to fill the jar with beetles, and spiders, and half a dozen silverfish. She added a handful of ash from the head matron’s hearth.” Olivia dumps the content on Anabelle’s head.
Olivia cannot yell and she wonders if pain could free her voice, so she cuts herself. “The cut was deep. Blood welled and spilled onto the counter, and heat screamed up her arm and through her lungs, but only a short, sharp gasp escaped her throat, more emptiness than sound.”
In a dream, Olivia witnesses her uncle’s death. “The gun swings up against his temple. . .” then Olivia wakes up.
While in Death’s world, a ghoul pushes Olivia away. “And then a blade sings through the ghoul’s back, and it staggers, and Olivia knows the ghoul cannot die, knows it is already dead, but the sight of the metal spilling out of its chest, its knees buckling silently to the dirt, still sends a shock of horror through her bones.”
In order to get out from behind the wall, someone killed Matthew’s brother. “The door on the other side was soaked with blood. There was so much of it. Too much. Someone had painted the door with my brother’s life. Covered every iron inch . . . But that thing slaughtered my brother for nothing. Only a Prior’s blood can open the door, but it has to be willingly given.”
Olivia goes behind the wall, hoping to find Matthew’s brother. When she sees Death, “Olivia spins, drawing the blade. She doesn’t wait, but twists and drives the knife into his chest.” The knife doesn’t hurt Death.
Death tries to subdue Olivia, who “fights like a girl set loose on the world with nothing and everything to lose. But it’s not enough. A gauntlet closes over her wrist, flinging her into a plated chest, and the last thing she sees is the gleam of an armored shoulder as the third shadow looms.”
Olivia takes a piece of bone and “the sliver of bone becomes a beak, becomes a skull, becomes a crow, muscle and skin and feathers.” Olivia tells the crow to attack Death. “Olivia is on her feet, racing toward the door, even as she hears him pluck the bird from the air, the brittle snap of its neck. . .”
In a multi-chapter conclusion, Olivia and Matthew fight Death. Death captures Olivia. “His embrace tightens until she cannot move, cannot breathe. Her bones groan, and she lets out a stifled gasp.” Matthew comes through the door to help Olivia.
One of Death’s soldiers goes after Matthew, who “slashes out with his blade, but the wolfish soldier dodges lithely and kicks him in the chest. He collapses to his hands and knees, gasping for breath . . . The soldier lowers the dagger to his throat.”
One of Death’s soldiers grabs Olivia, “she writhes and tries to breathe, tries to think and time slows down. . . She slams her head back into the soldier.” Olivia is able to free herself and grab one of the soldier’s weapons. “The soldier rears back, but Olivia is already swinging, bringing the sword down a third time, carving deep into his shoulder. The collarbone comes free. . . he is already falling back into dust as the bone hits the grass.”
In order to save Olivia’s life, Matthew “pushed her out of the way the instant before the sword cut down. Matthew, who leans in the doorway, the blade driven through, the point jutting like a thorn from his back.” Matthew dies.
When death finds a way into the living world, Edgar “aims at Death a second time and fires, the bullet melting in the air above his floating cloak.”
Olivia calls on the ghouls, who “close over [Death] like ivy, their edges dissolving into one teeming mass of shadow as they force him back through the garden, back through the open door, back beyond the wall.” Then Olivia seals the door with her blood.

Drugs and Alcohol

One of the matrons at Merilance hides a bottle of brandy in a drawer.
In order to help Matthew sleep, Edgar drugs him.

Language

Damn is used once.

Supernatural

Olivia can see “ghouls.”
There is a stone wall at the back of Gallant’s garden. At night, a person can walk around the wall, but they end up in a different world—a world where Death lives. Olivia’s mother once went around the wall and saw Death “with his four shadows and his dozen shades, all silent in the bones of the ruined house.”
When Olivia crosses the wall, she sees “the shriveled remains of a garden. Withered limbs and wilting blooms, their petals, pale, their leaves devoid of color. . . And there, at the top of the ruined garden, sits another Gallant.”
In Death’s world, Olivia has the ability to give life. When Olivia picks up a tooth, it “jumps. Shudders like a bee against her palm. . . by the time it hits the ground, it is not a writhing bit of bone, but a mouse.”
Olivia meets Death. “His skin is not creased, yet here and there it peels away, the polished bone beneath showing through like stone under thinning ivy. And that is how she sees that there are pieces of him missing. . . The joint of one finger. The edge of one cheek. . .”
Death watches a group of people dancing. Death dances with a woman. And then, “the dancer crumbles against him, her body sagging into ash and he sighs. . . A pale white fragment shines on the wooden floor where the dancer stood . . . then it rises and tucks itself against the tear along his jaw, and she realizes it was a shard of bone.” Then other bones return to Death’s body and flesh regrows over the bones.
Matthew explains how his family, the Priors made the demon go back beyond the wall. The Priors “put the wall back up. And this time, they soaked it edge to edge in their blood and swore that nothing would ever cross that gate without their blessing.”

Spiritual Content

At Merilance, Olivia “was told to kneel and knit her fingers and speak to a God she couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, couldn’t touch. . . She never believed in higher powers.” But when she meets death, she prays to the ghouls for help and they come.

Maya and the Return of the Godlings

Training to be a guardian of the veil isn’t easy, but 12-year-old Maya is determined to follow in her father’s footsteps, especially since he hasn’t been the same since their last run-in with the Lord of Shadows, the evil being who controls the Dark. On the brink of an upcoming war between Earth and the Dark, the Lord of Shadows snatches Papa’s soul. Maya rounds up her friends, fellow “godlings,” Frankie and Eli, for another journey into the Dark to retrieve Papa’s soul and stop the veil from collapsing.

Once back in the Lord of Shadows’ domain, Maya is faced with difficult moral choices. She finds an imprisoned Darkbringer, named Zeran, who doesn’t want a war with the human realm. For the first time, she considers that not all Darkbringers are evil, which makes it harder to fight them since most have been recruited into the Lord of Shadows’ ranks by force. Allied together, Maya, Frankie, Eli, and Zeran continue to the Crystal Palace, the Lord of Shadows’ lair.

In the confrontation between the Lord of Shadows and Maya, she learns her half-sister Eleni is still alive. Not only is Eleni being used by the Lord of Shadows for her power, but she was the one who let the Lord of Shadows into the human realm which allowed him to start a terrible war years ago. Maya wonders if it’s her fate to also open the gateway, which would allow the Lord of Shadows to wage war on the human realm for the second time. Determined to prevent that from happening, Maya steals back Papa’s soul and rescues Eleni. Back on Earth, Maya may have won this battle, but she knows the war is far from over.

Maya’s character is both funny and thoughtful, as she has a penchant for disobeying orders but for the right reasons—she will always save her friends and family even if the world is against her. Her determination to keep people safe is admirable. However, the friends have repeated setbacks because random creatures attack them. These scenes get tiring since they do not add to the plot.

Despite this, Maya and the Return of the Godlings is an interesting read that takes time to develop the characters such as Zeran, a darkbringer rebel. Zeran’s character is interesting because he forces Maya to change her perspective. At first, Maya perceived him to be the enemy, but now she feels a duty to protect him. This is what makes the plot most worth reading: Maya’s unwavering determination to make the world safe for all who wish to do good.

The story has a sense of unpredictability because the plot does not stray away from mentioning the death of past characters, such as Papa’s first family. Plus, the situation in Maya’s world continues to grow in gravity, making it increasingly likely that her friends and family won’t escape unscathed. With a war brewing, Maya and the Return of the Godlings explores dark topics.

Readers who enjoy books with magical worlds and rich cultural ties should also read Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston and Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

Maya and Papa get attacked by shadows while repairing the veil. Maya explains, “Something whipped out of the tear and snatched my legs from underneath me. . . writhing shadows. I hit the ground hard on my butt, and the staff spun out of my hand. . . Papa lunged for me, but his legs buckled, and he stumbled instead. He reached for the place between his chest and stomach, his face twisted in pain. . . The shadows still had my ankles and were dragging me into the tear. . . Papa stepped into the mouth of the tear. His dark skin glowed silvery-white and pushed back the darkness. The shadows hissed as if they couldn’t stand the light and let go of my legs. I whacked one with my staff before they fled back into the Dark.”
Frankie was adopted after her mother, an orisha, was killed. Frankie learns that her mother, Zala, hunted down rogue magical creatures. Maya thinks, “If Frankie’s mom’s death hadn’t been an accident, it meant someone – or something – had killed her.”
Zeran, a young darkbringer, deserted the army and is subjected to all sorts of punishment. The guards who have him in custody threaten to send him to the stocks and lock him in a cage with bars that kill on contact.
While stealing a map, Maya, Frankie, and Eli are attacked by a darkbringer. “An electric shock hit me in the back. My whole body seized up, and the staff slipped from my hand. I hit the ground hard. The impact knocked the wind out of me, and my teeth tore into my cheek. I couldn’t move as the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. . . Frankie hit him with a ball of raging energy, but instead of falling back, the darkbringer seemed to absorb her magic. . . the darkbringer advanced on Frankie, and she stumbled back. I screamed inside my head and fought against the electricity winding through my body. My insides were on fire, and sweat stung my eyes. . .” The fight lasts for five pages, ending with Eli knocking the darkbringer out.
Maya and Frankie are caught by Nulan, the former commander of the darkbringer army. Nulan fights with the new commander, Rovey, over who gets to kill Maya, Frankie, and Eli. Their fight lasts eight pages. “Rovey locked Nulan in a bear hug, and electricity shot through her. Her whole body shook… Nulan head-butted Rovey. He dropped her and she crashed to the ground. Rovey stumbled back, looking dazed and confused while Nulan gave him a vicious smile. Knives appeared in her hands…” After this point, we don’t see the resolution of the fight because Maya runs away, but Rovey and Nulan live since they come back in the end of the story.
Maya, Zeran, Frankie, and Eli get lost in a forest where they are attacked by shadow monsters. Maya “slammed my staff into the shadows hard. The impact vibrated up my arms into my teeth. My vision was a blur as I twisted and turned to keep out of their grasp. The shadows screamed as white veins of light started to form around the places my staff stuck. After enough hits, they fled into the forest.” The fight lasts four pages, and no one is injured.
Zeran quickly disarms Nulan with an anti-magic collar. “Zeran flew straight into Nulan. They crashed and rolled on the floor. One of her magical blades materialized out of thin air, and she aimed it for Zeran’s heart. But he was quicker. He pulled the collar from his neck and snapped it around Nulan’s throat. Her blade instantly disappeared. Nulan clawed at the collar right before Zeran head-butted her and knocked her out cold.”
The Lord of Shadows tries to stop Maya from getting her father’s soul. “His ribbons snapped around my ankle. . . searing cold snaked up my leg. The lower half of my body fell still, and I couldn’t move. . . Why was I suddenly so sleepy? I saw a reflection of myself in the glass. My skin had turned ash gray. The Lord of Shadows was draining the life from me!”
Maya, Frankie, Eli, and Zeran fight with the school bullies, Winston, Tay, and Candace, who also have orisha powers. “Winston stepped in our path with his friends at his side. Sparks of fire lit up on his arms. Candace grew to pro-wrestler size. Tay cracked his knuckles, and the floor shook beneath our feet. . . Winston jabbed his finger into my chest. Zeran grabbed his hand and twisted. Winston fell to his knees, and Tay sprang into action. Frankie flung out an energy lasso that smacked Tay on the nose. He winced as he grabbed his face, looking annoyed. Candace tripped over Eli’s invisible foot. With the bullies disarmed, Zeran let go of Winston and shoved him back.” The fight ends when they get caught by a teacher.

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

Papa says, “Mama’s going to skin both our hides if I don’t get you back in time for school.”
Maya drops her staff and it hits a passerby. Maya censors the word. “‘What the bleep?’ the man says. Okay, he didn’t say ‘bleep,’ but Mama said that I better not even think of cursing.”
A secretary named Clara is annoyed at someone commenting on her instagram posts. She calls that person “a little twit.”
Winston, a godling who bullies Maya at school, calls her “guardian of giant turds” after learning of her role as guardian of the veil.
Maya says, “Oh crap!”
Winston calls Zeran a “freak.”

Supernatural

Orishas are celestial spirit beings who are featured prominently in the story. Maya’s father and other community members are orishas. They each have different orisha powers. Some are specialized – like Eli who can turn invisible. Others, like Oshun, the orisha of beauty, have a certain domain.
Orishas speak Sekirian, the first language of the universe.
Maya and Papa are orishas whose duty is to protect the veil, a magical forcefield made by Papa to separate the human world from the Dark, a parallel universe of magic and evil creatures. Throughout the story, Maya and her father repair “tears” in the veil.
Papa and Maya can teleport by bending space. They can also open gateways which create a door between Earth and the Dark.
Maya uses a magical staff that acts as a conduit for her power. It magically changes shape into everyday objects like a hair pin or ring.
Because of the incoming war, the power of other orishas in Maya’s community manifests. For example, Winston, a school bully, gains the ability to control fire.
Papa conjures magical horses to take the godling children to the celestial city Azur. “His magic started to take shape. First a cluster of sparks here and another there. Then lines of light connected the sparks like a constellation of stars. Eli gasped as the magic settled into four winged horses.”
Glamour, a special magic, prevents humans from perceiving orishas and other magic. For example, the horses that Papa conjures appear as bikes to humans across the street. Maya explains, “The horses would look like something completely normal to human eyes.”
The children and Papa go to Azur, the city of the celestials. “The city sat on a cloud that spanned for miles among the stars. . . Sunlight dances off the buildings made of silver and gold and glass. The whole city glowed.”
The city is populated with Azurians, other celestials. Maya describes them. “The Azurians were tall and lanky, short and plump, and every shape and size. Some had skin as smooth as marble or scales and gills. . . Tails swept along the ground. Wings tucked against backs. Long tentacles wiggled among feet. . .” Humans also live there, but a rare type of human that have the natural ability to see magic. Elokos, creatures that eat humans, also live there when they no longer have a taste for human flesh.
Frankie meets a kishi while in Azur. “They had two faces – one human and one hyena. In his stories, they were always tricksters who literally had two faces.”
The Dark is populated by winged, blue-skinned monsters called darkbringers.
The darkbringers use dog-like creatures to hunt down Maya, Eli, and Frankie. “The dogs turned out to be not dogs. Instead of fur, green scales covered their bodies and they had a row of sharp spikes across their backs. What was it with the Dark and its deadly animals? Last time we were here, we had to fight off large birds with needle-like spines on their underbellies.”
In the Dark, the kids go to a city where darkbringers live, reminiscent of Chicago but with magical technology. The darkbringers have magical creatures for pets.

Spiritual Content

Orishas are celestial spirit beings that are gods in this story. They have certain domains and powers, such as Shangó, the god of lightning. Their children, which have orisha blood, are known as godlings, and they often manifest supernatural powers.
Papa’s soul being stolen is one of the major plot points. Obatala, an orisha, and Maya discuss the soul. Obatala explains that orishas’ souls are not replaceable. “For those of us born of the universe, the essence of what we are is complicated. Our soul is our bond to the universe – it is our immortality. We cannot forge a new one.”
Eli controls an army of spirits trapped in a bog in the fight against the Lord of Shadows. At one point, he allows a ghost to possess him, sharing its power.

by Madison Shooter

The Dark Matter of Mona Starr

Sometimes the world is too much for Mona Starr. She’s sweet, geeky, and creative, but it’s hard for her to make friends and connect with other people. So much so, that her depression seems to take on a vivid, concrete form. Mona Starr calls it her Matter.

The Matter seems to be everywhere, telling Mona she’s not good enough and that everyone around her wishes she’d go away. But with therapy, art, writing, and the persistence of a few good friends, Mona starts to understand her Matter and learns she can turn her fears into strengths.

Many readers will relate to Mona, who struggles with insecurity, indecision, and negative thoughts. Even though Mona tries to hide her dark thoughts, she realizes that she can rely on others for emotional support. As Mona tries to understand her depression, she has the help of a therapist, her parents, and her friends. While this takes away much of the shame associated with depression, the constantly shifting scenes make the story disjointed. Despite this, Mona’s personal journey allows teens to understand depression and how depression can impact people.

Throughout the graphic novel, Mona struggles with dark thoughts and wonders if “I’m doomed. . . and it’s all doomed. That I don’t matter. . . none of it matters.” Her emotions are expressed in both the text and the illustrations. For example, in one scene the picture shows her surrounded by speakers that blare comments such as, “You deserve to be alone. You’re lame. You’re a bad person.” Her dark thoughts take several different forms, such as a huge blanket, loudspeakers, and space. While the illustrations are beautiful and complex, the inconsistency may confuse some readers.

One negative aspect of the graphic novel is that some of the comments don’t connect with the story’s plot. For example, Mona tells her counselor, “I know I shouldn’t complain as a privileged white American” which may imply that Mona’s problems aren’t valid. Plus, there are several other comments that needed to be developed in more detail. For example, Mona thinks her depression caused a benign tumor to grow. However, this thought is never explained or discouraged.

The Dark Matter of Mona Starr will give readers insight into how to cope with depression. Not only does Mona go to therapy, but each chapter begins with advice that helps Mona deal with her dark thoughts. For example, “draw it out,” “turn emotion into action,” and “break your cycles.” Mona learns to lean on her friends and to be honest about her difficulties. She also learns that “I can’t erase the negative story in my head that says I’m crazy but maybe I can replace it with a story that is more accurate.”

The black-and-white illustrations are captivating because of their complexity. Instead of just relying on facial expressions, Mona’s emotions take on forms of their own. For example, at one point Mona is overwhelmed and the illustration shows her surrounded by a brick wall. In another image, Mona’s hope is highlighted by a yellow glow and when Mona’s parents support her, they have yellow hearts surrounding them.

Readers who would like to explore how other characters deal with anxiety should read Guts by Raina Telgemeier and Breath Like Water by Anna Jarzab. Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge also deals with a teen’s overwhelming emotions and self-doubt, but it does a better job explaining these emotions better

Sexual Content

None

Violence

Mona’s father talks about his sister who was “mentally unwell. She ended up taking her own life.”

Drugs and Alcohol

Mona overhears her parents’ conversation. Her mother says, “Maybe she needs medication? My sister is on antidepressants and says it helps.”

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

None

The Wolf, the Duck, & the Mouse

Early one morning, a mouse is swallowed whole by a wolf. The mouse believes this is the end until he is greeted by a voice. This voice belongs to a duck, who was swallowed by the wolf some time ago. Since then, the duck has made a comfortable home out of the beast’s belly. He teaches the mouse that their situation is not as hopeless as it seems. In fact, it may even be better than the lives they had before being eaten. Inside the wolf’s stomach, they never have to search for food, since they can feast on whatever the wolf swallows. Best of all, they never have to worry about being eaten by another wolf!

The mouse forms a fast friendship with his new roommate, and the two enjoy the safety of their new home. However, all is threatened when the wolf is discovered by a hunter. The mouse and the duck must decide whether to stay in the safety of the wolf’s stomach or act against the new threat.

With its witty sense of humor and its twists on familiar fables, The Wolf, the Duck, & the Mouse will entertain readers of all ages. Its simple illustrations add to the hilarity of the plot. The characters are drawn with blank expressions that contrast their outgoing personalities and the ridiculousness of their situations. Readers will also laugh at the variety of outfits that the mouse and the duck wear throughout the story. They wear silly outfits from chef’s uniforms to tuxedos, as well as the random items found in the wolf’s stomach, from sports equipment to an entire kitchen. Each page has six to ten short sentences that are easy to follow. However, young readers may need help understanding some more advanced words, including “remedy,” “grant,” and “intention.”

Readers will appreciate the optimism and creativity of the duck and his ability to make the best out of any bad situation. The Wolf, the Duck, & the Mouse is a must-read because it teaches readers that their greatest challenges are also their greatest opportunities and that the presence of friends and creative thinking can brighten almost any situation.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

The mouse is “quickly gobbled up” by the wolf, but the mouse survives unscathed.
A hunter carrying a rifle follows the wolf. At one point he “fires a shot” at the wolf. The illustration shows the hunter firing the rifle, but the hunter misses.

Drugs and Alcohol

When convincing the wolf to consume items, the duck includes “a flagon of wine!”
The mouse and the duck are shown in tuxedos at a fancy dinner table, holding glasses of wine.

Language

When the duck and the mouse pursue the hunter, he exclaims, “Oh death!”

Supernatural

The hunter mistakes the duck and mouse for “wraiths.”

Spiritual Content

None

by Luke McClain

What Were the Salem Witch Trials?

Something wicked was brewing in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. It started when two girls, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, began having hysterical fits. Soon after, other local girls claimed they were being pricked with pins. With no other explanation available, the residents of Salem came to one conclusion: it was witchcraft! Over the next year and a half, nineteen people were convicted of witchcraft and hanged while more languished in prison as hysteria swept the colony. Author Joan Holub gives readers an inside look at this sinister chapter in history.

What Were the Salem Witch Trials? will pull readers in with its fun format that has large black-and-white illustrations on every page. The book uses large font, short chapters, and easy vocabulary that make the story easy to read. Plus, each event is explained fully and broken into smaller sections, so readers do not get confused.

The book doesn’t just cover the witch trials. Scattered throughout the book are sections that give additional information about the people and the times. Topics cover everything from Puritans’ beliefs, superstitions, stories written about the witch trials, Halloween, and even the McCarthy witch hunt. The end of the book includes a timeline, artwork that depicts the time period, and more pictures.

The book doesn’t just stick to the facts; instead, Holub adds her own theories. For example, while no one knows why the accusers made their accusations, the book speculates that perhaps the girls “were scared.” Maybe if the girls “felt an odd pain, perhaps they wondered if an invisible hand had caused it.” Maybe the girls just want attention. This speculation will help readers put themselves into the accusers’ shoes and make them think about what they would have done in a similar situation.

Anyone who is interested in the Salem Witch Trials or the Puritans should read What Were the Salem Witch Trials? Even though the book focuses on the trials, readers will also learn about the court system in Salem. “It was up to suspects to prove they were not guilty. . .The suspects in the witch trials were not allowed to have lawyers. They had to defend themselves.” Many came to believe that the trials were unjust, and readers will be surprised to learn the trials still have a lasting impact today.

What Were the Salem Witch Trials? brings history to life in a format that will appeal to even the most reluctant of readers. Whether you are researching the Salem Witch Trials or just interested in the events, What Were the Salem Witch Trials? will be a helpful and interesting source. Readers who want to learn more about historical events should also check out the I Survived Series by Lauren Tarshis.

Sexual Content 

None

Violence 

When Sara Good and Sarah Osborne refuse to confess, “they were chained to a wall in jail.”
Other accused people were “tortured to make them confess.”
People convicted of witchcraft were killed. “They were chained to a post, with wood piled around their feet. The wood was set on fire.”

For one woman convicted of witchcraft, “Her hands were tied together and so were her feet. At the end of the rope was a big loop, called a noose. When the noose was put around her neck, her feet were pushed off the ladder so they dangled in midair. The noose slowly choked her to death. It was an extremely cruel way to die.”
Giles Corey refused to confess to being a witch, so he was pressed. Giles was “forced to lie on his back in a field near the jail, heavy stones were set on his chest. . . After two days of pressing, the weight of the stones crushed Giles Corey to death.”
A four-year-old accused of witchcraft spent “eight months in jail and became mentally ill” due to her time in jail. In all, twenty people were executed, “nineteen by hanging and one by pressing.”

Drugs and Alcohol 

The Puritans had remedies for illnesses. For example, when one girl became sick her parents might have given her “a dose of parsnip seeds” or “castor oil mixed with amber.”
Some thought that a “witch cake” could cure witchcraft. The recipe instructed: “mix rye flour with some of the girls’ urine to make a sort of dough. Then pat the dough into a cake shape. . . feed it to a dog. While the dog ate the cake, the witch was supposed to feel every bite of its teeth. She would come to the house and beg for the pain to stop.” The witch cake did not work.

Language 

None

Supernatural

Many people were accused of witchcraft, and the book includes specific examples of what people were accused of, such as one woman who “magically sent a wolf to chase [the accuser].”
One woman was accused of being a witch and visiting the victims “in the shape of a bird.”
Puritans believed that witches had “strange marks. . . witches supposedly communicated with certain kinds of spirits, called familiars, through these marks.”
For good luck, some Puritans “might nail a horseshoe by their door. They’d spread bay leaves around the outside of their houses. Some people carried a piece of mountain ash. . .”
In England, leaders “sometimes paid witchfinders to start witch hunts. Witchfinders were people who made deals with the Devil, but then had been cured. They . . . promised they could protect people from it.”
Some speculate that the girls who accused others of being witches became upset after trying to look into the future. The girls “filled a cup with water. Then they dropped the clear part of a raw egg into the water and watched it swirl.” The girls saw a “coffin shape. This was bad news. A sign of death.”

Spiritual Content 

Puritans believed that the Bible’s words were law and that “discipline would keep children close to God and far from the Devil. That way, the Devil couldn’t trick them into doing his evil work.”
When some of the girls in the village became sick, others “prayed for the girls to get well.”
Puritans believed someone became a witch when “the Devil came and asked you to become his servant. He made you sign his special book, using your blood as ink.”
In January 1697, “the Massachusetts Bay Colony held an official day of prayer and fasting to ask forgiveness for wrongdoings, especially in the trials.”

The Vanishing Stair

The Truly Devious case—an unsolved kidnapping and triple murder that rocked Ellingham Academy in 1936—has consumed Stevie for years. It’s the very reason she came to the academy. But then her classmate is murdered, and her parents quickly pull her out of school. For her safety, they say, she must move past this obsession with crime.

Stevie’s willing to do anything to get back to Ellingham, be back with her friends, and solve the Truly Devious case. Even if it means making a deal with the despicable Senator Edward King. And when Stevie finally returns, she also returns to David: the guy she kissed and the guy who lied about his identity—Edward King’s son.

But larger issues are at play. Where did the murderer hide? What’s the meaning of the riddle Albert Ellingham left behind? And what, exactly, is at stake in the Truly Devious affair? The Ellingham case isn’t just a piece of history—it’s a live wire into the present.

The Vanishing Stairs will keep readers interested as new information is revealed both in Stevie’s personal life and in the Ellingham case she is investigating. Stevie is a sympathetic character, who struggles with panic attacks, isn’t always sure how to interact with others, and is curious enough to dig into the lives of the past. Now that one student has died and one student has disappeared, Stevie is more focused on finding out why Ellingham Academy seems to court danger.

While readers learn some information about the kidnapping of Ellingham’s wife and daughter, they also get a firsthand look into the events of 1936 as the book goes from past to present. Stevie’s investigation is able to shed light on some of the events in the kidnapping, but the crime also unfolds from several different characters’ perspectives which allows the reader to understand all aspects of the events. The crime is more complicated—and has more secrets—than expected.

The second installment in the Truly Devious Series begins right where the first one left off. Despite this, the story quickly and excellently explains the main events and important characters from the previous book. However, in order for readers to have an emotional connection to the characters, the series should be read in order.

The Vanishing Stairs is a fast-paced mystery that readers will not be able to put down. Both the interesting characters and the twisty mystery make this a perfect book to wrap up in a blanket and enjoy. However, be warned The Vanishing Stairs does not downplay violence, or the lengths people will go to hide their secrets.

Sexual Content

As Stevie is investigating the Ellingham case, she learns about Francis, who was a student at the school. While Francis does not know this, her biological father was a “handsome barman” that worked at a casino that many of New York’s rich frequented. The casino was where “bored society women like to spend their afternoons sipping drinks. . . and apparently doing other things.”
In 1936, two students, Francis and Eddie, meet in the woods where “he pressed her back into a tree. She took his face in both hands and kissed him roughly, running her hands down his back. . .” Both Francis and Eddie were “dirty” and “wild.”
Eddie was determined to disappoint his rich family. “There were tales of seducing maids, wandering naked through formal dinners, filling an entire bathroom with champagne.” His bad behavior was why he was sent to Ellingham Academy.
While making out with Eddie, the narration explains, Francis “had been with other boys before, but they fumbled. Eddie knew precisely what he was doing. . . He drew her down now and ran his hands along her side inch by inch until she hardly felt like she could bear it.”
While in the school cafeteria, someone says Janelle and her girlfriend, Vi, are “about to make out on top of those mugs.” Two other times, someone comments on their public displays of affection.
David and Stevie explore a hidden tunnel in the academy. David “ran his fingers down her jawline gently. . . He kept coming closer, slowly, testing his way, until his chest was against hers and she didn’t move. . .When her lips met his, she felt something release inside of her. . . There was something frantic about the way she kissed him, like being with him was the only way she could breathe.” The scene is described over half a page.

Violence

Stevie reads an article about Eddie’s death. “Edward Pierce Davenport spent the day consuming opium and violet champagne. . . After toasting the city and the setting sun, he downed a last glass of champagne and swan-dived from the building into the street below. His body landed on a Nazi vehicle, denting the roof.”
Dottie’s body was found by a delivery man. “He saw what appeared to be a sack on the ground. . . he realized there were two legs coming from the sack—at least parts of legs. They were discolored, ravaged by weather and wildlife.”
David said that his mother had an affair with “a guy in the state legislature who went to Beck’s gym.” During the affair, his mother got pregnant.
Ellingham purchased a clock that was reported to be owned by royalty. Ellingham wondered, “When had the murdered princess last looked at it? It had been spared the sight of her death, her head put on a spike and paraded through the streets of Paris. The head had even been displayed at her friend the queen’s prison window, a ghastly puppet.”
Stevie is in town when she sees a group of skaters. “One of them was repeatedly punching David in the face. . . There was a gash along his right cheek that was trickling blood. There was another cut above his eye. . . There was a bit of bloody spittle coming out of the side of his mouth.” Later Stevie discovers that David paid the skaters to beat him, but he doesn’t explain why.
Ellingham learns who was responsible for kidnapping his wife and child. The person explains how Dottie died. When trying to escape, Dottie “jumped right down into that hole trying to get away. . . I climbed down after her. There was so much blood. She was groaning and trying to crawl, but she couldn’t make it. . . Her skull must have been cracked wide open. . . So I grabbed a pipe. . . and just hit her once and she stopped moving.”
To confront the suspect, Ellingham takes the man out on a boat. When the man refuses to tell Ellingham where his daughter is, Ellingham blows up the boat killing both himself and the suspect. “Bits and pieces of boat and human would be found for weeks to come, washing up on the shore.”

Drugs and Alcohol

When Ellingham Academy first opened, Ellingham “told the staff to turn the other way when students were caught drinking.”
When meeting a university professor at a coffee shop, Stevie notices that the professor has difficult walking alone. Later, at the professor’s house, Stevie sees the recycling full of “many wine bottles, two whisky bottles, a vodka bottle.”
When David was seven, his mother went into the bathroom “with a bottle of Chablis and passed out. She was red all over—the water was turned all the way up on the hot side.” When David found his mom, he called 911.
While “a little drunk,” David told a friend a secret.
While anxious, Stevie takes “one small white pill. The emergency Ativan that she carried ‘just in case.’”
It is revealed that Ellingham’s wife had been using cocaine.

Language

Profanity is used frequently. Profanity includes ass, bastard, crap, damn, fuck, holy shit, and shit.
Jesus Christ, my God, God, and oh my God are used as exclamations frequently.
Stevie thinks Edward King is a “sanctimonious ass.”
Stevie calls several people dicks. For example, Stevie comments that a student’s friends are “real dicks.”
A security guard says, “Some jackass bought pumpkin-flavored K-Cups.”
A security guard tells Stevie, “Edward King is a son of a bitch and his son is a piece of work.”

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

None

Charlie Thorne and the Curse of Cleopatra

After tracking down incredible discoveries by Einstein and Darwin, Charlie is back. This time, the great ruler Cleopatra has left behind an extremely valuable and powerful treasure, its location encoded on an ancient stone tablet.

In 30 BCE, Cleopatra and her husband, Marc Antony, lost their war against Octavian for control of the Egyptian Empire. However, Cleopatra knew Octavian was really after the mysterious item that was the source of all her wealth and influence, so she hid it before committing suicide. She left a series of devious clues behind for her children to find, but they were lost to history. . .until now.

In a breathless adventure that takes her across the globe, Charlie must fight for her life against ruthless enemies, match wits with Cleopatra, and solve the two-thousand-year-old mystery to prevent the most powerful treasure of the ancient world from falling into the wrong hands.

Because the story revolves around finding Cleopatra’s hidden treasure, the story contains many historical facts about Cleopatra, Caesar, and other important people. The history lessons are not boring; the interesting facts help the reader understand the political issues surrounding Cleopatra and will help readers empathize with Cleopatra, who was misjudged because she was a woman.

Charlie is an extremely likable character, who is intelligent, capable, and brave. In order to keep Cleopatra’s treasure out of the wrong hands, Charlie puts her trust in her half-brother and CIA agent, Dante, and his partner, Milana. Along the way, they must avoid both the CIA, the Israeli, and the Egyptian agents who are willing to kill to take control of Charlie. Despite being chased around the globe, Charlie is remarkably down to earth. At one point, when the Israelis capture her, she tells the agent, “If you were actually nice people, you wouldn’t have dragged me down into the bowels of the Colosseum to talk to me. You would have taken me out for gelato.”

Charlie Thorne and the Curse of Cleopatra is best suited for older readers because of the violence, power-hungry villains, and deadly agents who are trying to capture Charlie. The action-packed story has a complicated plot, intense fight scenes, and life-or-death chases. The constant danger makes for an exciting book that readers will not want to put down. The mystery of Cleopatra adds an interesting dimension that will engage readers. Readers who are looking for another fast-paced mystery should check out the City Spies Series by James Ponti and the Secrets of the Seven Series by Sarah L. Thomson.

Sexual Content 

None

Violence 

Charlie sneaks into Ahmet’s office. When he appears, “Charlie tricked him into turning his back on her. Now she clamped the chloroform-soaked rag. . . over his nose and mouth. . . He tried to fight back. . . Charlie simply leapt onto his back as if he were giving her a piggyback ride, wrapping her arms around his head and keeping the rag pinioned directly over his face.” Ahmet collapses to the floor.
While leaving Ahmet’s party, two bodyguards chase after Charlie. Before she can take off on a motorcycle, Charlie “headbutted another man who was trying to catch her.” She escapes the house but is followed.
Hoping to lose her pursuer, Charlie drives into the desert and allows her motorcycle to fly over a sand dune. Then, Charlie sees “the stocky, muscular shape of his body. He was aiming a gun at her.” The man forces Charlie to surrender. The chase scene is described over two chapters.
The men who captured Charlie encounter a roadblock. “And then the shooting started. The snipers were aiming at the tires of the van, and they were extremely accurate. All four tires were blown out within seconds.” Charlie is let go.
The Egyptian secret service questions Charlie’s captor, Semel. When Semel doesn’t answer the questions, “someone clubbed him on the back of the head with the butt of a rifle. Not hard enough to knock him unconscious but close. He saw stars, felt blinding pain, and fell forward in the dirt.”

While interrogating Semel, someone shoots the agent, who “yelped in pain, spun, and fell.” Multiple agents are shot in the leg, and Semel and his men escape.
In order to get Charlie to comply with orders, one of her friends is captured by a man named Lembris. “Lembris stood behind Eva, pressing a crowbar against the front of her neck. Eva was crying.” Eventually, Milana fights Lembris and frees Eva.
The following scenes are described over eleven pages. Ramses has his men surround Charlie, Milana, and Dante. In order to escape, Charlie “reached behind [Ramses’s] back and yanked on the electrical cord that dangled like a vine from the scaffolding above. The power drill attached to it tumbled off the scaffolding and landed squarely on Ramses’s head. . . The heavy drill hit Ramses hard, and he dropped like a stone.”
Then, Milana goes after Ramses’s bodyguard. “She quickly disarmed him, then jabbed him with the sedative she had. . . it was just enough to incapacitate the big man.”
When Ramses begins to get up, Dante “drove the Egyptian’s head down into the marble floor, knocking him out for good.” One of Ramses’s men, Baako, throws a crowbar at Dante. “Pain shot through him, but he could tell no bones were broken.”
Baako and Dante continue to fight. Baako slammed into Dante, driving him backward into the scaffolding so hard that all four stories of it trembled. . .” Eventually the scaffolding falls onto Baako and he “lay unconscious beneath it all.”
After finding one of Cleopatra’s clues, Charlie, Dante, and Milana are ambushed by their own agency, the CIA. Without warning “bullets came from all around. . . Dante sprang from where he’d been crouched and fired back, aiming at where the shots were coming from. There was a cry of pain in the darkness, and then at least one of the shooters stopped.” In order to escape, the group flees separately.
As Charlie runs from the bullets, two cars begin following her. “The second car struck the first again, sending it into a low embankment, where it flipped and landed upside down. The second car was badly damaged as well. Its front axle snapped and it ground to a halt in the plaza in front of Charlie, blocking her escape.”
When the driver of the car attempts to “escape through a shattered window. He was only halfway out when Semel clubbed him on the back of the head with the butt of his gun, knocking him cold. . .”
The chase scene is described over 10 pages. Dante had “a burn across one bicep where a bullet had nicked him. Milana had a gash from a knife in her left arm. . .”
In an epic multi-chapter conclusion, several CIA agents try to take down Dante and Milana, who they believe are rogue agents. Milana “disarmed the stunned CIA operative and threw her to the ground” and then ran into Central Park. Eventually, Milana is able to incapacitate all of the agents.
A rich villain, Ahmet, tries to kill Charlie with cobra venom. “Charlie hated to use the elixir to defend herself, but she had no other choice. The remaining drops of liquid flew through the air, caught Ahmet in the face, and instantly began to react. His flesh smoked and sizzled.” Ahmet’s skin begins to burn.
Despite being injured, Ahmet chases Charlie. “He stepped on the jagged glass of the syringe with his bare foot. It cut into his flesh, and he suddenly realized that, in addition to everything else, the very cobra venom he had brought with him to kill Charlie Throne was now in his system as well.” When Ahmet continues to chase Charlie, she hits him with a helmet made of medieval armor. Ahmet is too injured to continue after Charlie.
Two villains, Israeli agents, Egyptian agents, and the CIA agents all try to capture Charlie, Dante, and Milana. During the chase, several people are injured. One villain lunges at Charlie, trying to poison her with cobra venom. “Charlie hit him with the mace. . . the heavy iron ball struck his forearm, snapping both bones. . . He cursed at Charlie and charged toward her, leaving her no choice but to defend herself. She leapt aside and swung the mace at him once more. . . the iron ball glanced off his head, sending him reeling.” The villain falls off a ledge and “onto the rocks below.”

Drugs and Alcohol 

Instead of allowing Octavian to capture her, Cleopatra “drank her poison and imagined how horrified Octavian would be when he learned what she had done.”
At a party full of adults, Charlie talks to a man who “had a glass of scotch in his hand and was slightly unsteady on his feet; this obviously wasn’t his first drink of the evening.”
In order to find one of Cleopatra’s clues, Milana needs to get an archaeologist out of the way, so she drugs her.
Milana uses sedation darts to incapacitate rival agents who are trying to kidnap Charlie.
During dinner, Dante drinks wine.

Language 

None

Supernatural

Cleopatra’s treasure is the philosopher’s stone which turns “base metals into gold.”

Spiritual Content 

Some people considered Cleopatra “more than human. They thought her to be a goddess, the living incarnation of Isis.”
Isis was “the most important goddess in Egyptian mythology, the goddess of life and magic, and the protector of women and children. Cleopatra sometimes claimed to be Isis in the flesh and a lot of Egyptians believed it.”
During Cleopatra’s time, the Nile flooded almost every year. People believed “a good flood year meant the gods were smiling on the Egyptians.”

Mean Ghouls

If Megan thought life at her new boarding school was going to be easy, she was dead wrong. Everyone has the same mysterious virus—one that’s slowly turning them all into zombies. The teachers are lifeless and the food stinks. Literally. And worst of all, the clique of popular mean girls who rule the school have already decided that Megan’s dead to them.

All Megan wants is to get back to her old school and her old friends, but until a cure is found, she’s stuck at Zombie Academy. How will she ever survive?

Squeamish readers will want to avoid Mean Ghouls because zombitus causes the students’ body parts to fall off and their teeth to sharpen, among other ailments. Plus, the bloody descriptions are detailed and gross. For example, when the limo driver picks up Megan, she is glad she’d only seen him from the back because “his head was barely attached to his neck. It kept lolling over to one side or the other. One of his eyes was hanging loosely from some kind of oozing stringy stuff. And though she hadn’t noticed from the backseat, whew, the guy stunk!”

Even though Mean Ghouls revolves around zombitus, the story is also a mystery that explores themes of bullying and friendship. When the zombitus cure is stolen, Megan jumps to the conclusion that the mean girls are the culprits. As she sneaks around looking for clues, Megan’s behavior unintentionally hurts her friends. However, the conclusion has several surprises that wrap up all the plot threads.

While none of the characters are well-developed, there’s a host of interesting characters that readers will love and hate. Megan’s brother, Zach, adds a dose of humor because he is totally obsessed with zombies and wishes he was the one that contracted zombitus. Plus, Megan’s high school crush, Brett, also gets infected and is befriended by the mean girls which leads to some comedy. For example, Brett’s zombitus causes him to attempt to eat Megan. “More scared than she’d ever been her whole life, Megan stopped fighting and closed her eyes. If this was the end, to be eaten alive by her first crush, she didn’t want to see it. She hoped it would be quick and painless.” Luckily, a teacher instructs Zach on proper zombie behavior, which doesn’t allow zombies to eat each other.

Fans of R.L. Stine will enjoy Mean Ghouls because the story is surprisingly entertaining with a unique premise that will draw readers in. The story has the perfect blend of action, suspense, and humor. Junior high readers who want an excellent scary story should also read Nightbooks by J.A. White and Fortune Falls by Jenny Goebel.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

While weaving through a crowded classroom, someone pushes Megan. “While she was picking her way toward her friends, someone shoved her from behind. . . she turned to see who’d pushed her. Brooke gave Megan a sharp-toothed smile.”
Brett is upset because eating Megan’s brownie gave him zombitus. Brett chases Megan. “Brett made a grab for the back of Megan’s black T-shirt and she stumbled. Rocks scraped Megan’s hands and knees as she lunged out of Brett’s grasp.” Brett and Megan wrestle until an adult “pulled Brett off of Megan with a strong hand.”
Megan thinks a group of girls are hiding the cure for zombitus. During a fashion show, Megan attacks. “Megan shoved Hailey out of the way. Her middle-school classmate stumbled on a spiked heel and fell off the stage. . . Megan grabbed a handful of the small glass tubes and rushed to the side of the stage.”
A group of people try to stop Megan’s attack. “Whirling and grunting and grabbing at anything she could, Megan tried to make a run for more of the vials, but Brenda and Betsy blocked her way.” Finally, someone grabs her, and, in the end, Megan finds out she was wrong. The attack scene is described over three pages.
Megan and her friend agree to appear in Megan’s brother’s horror movie. Megan’s friend “Rachel pulled out the thing Zach had given her. It was a dart gun. And before the zombies could shuffle away, Rachel fired darts at them.” The darts had the zombitus cure on the tips.

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

Megan calls her brother a dork numerous times.
Darn is used once.
An upset boy chases Megan. Megan’s friend causes a distraction and then yells, “You’ll never catch me, Zom-Bonehead!”
Megan calls a boy snaggletooth and dork.

Supernatural

Transforming into a zombie can take centuries because they are immortal.
When zombies have head wounds, they do not heal. Megan’s math teacher “had a huge gash in his head that revealed his brains. Megan was surprised that brains actually did look like the spaghetti that Zach had made for her last breakfast at home. A pink slime coated with gray, thick linking twist.”
Jones built the school after he turned into a zombie. “Mr. Jones was drooling blood. Wet, soggy blood stains covered the front of his shirt.”
Brooke gets injured. “The cut was small, but deep, and a sliver of her brain was slowly oozing out. Brooke used a tissue to push it back inside her skull. Betsy gave her a disgusted look and handed her a tube of hand sanitizer.”
Spiritual Content

None

Wish Trap

Do you believe in magic? Violet and her friends do! And when they meet the Star Animals, a whole world of magical adventures unfold in this new chapter book series featuring black and white illustrations throughout.

Violet and her star animal, a wildcat named Sorrel, must use their special powers to stop the forces of dark magic. But when a run of bad luck hits the local gym team, the Star Friends suspect that dark magic is behind it. Are their Star Magic skills strong enough to hold back the dark magic?

Unlike the first book in the series, Mirror Magic, Wish Trap has a scarier tone. When girls on the gymnastic team start getting injured, the Star Friends discover that a Shade tricked Paige, a girl who didn’t make it onto the gymnastics team, into making a wish. The Shade, who is trapped inside a garden gnome, starts hurting the girls on the gymnastic team. In a multichapter conclusion, the Star Friends try to capture the Shade after it locks two girls in a burning shed. No adults come to help the children escape the locked shed. Unrealistically, the Shade is defeated, and everyone is safe, but the Shade’s vicious behavior gives the story a dark tone that may leave readers with nightmares.

The Star Friends Series is a chapter book series that focuses on four friends—Mia, Lexi, Sita, and Violet—who are illustrated with different skin tones. The cute, black and white illustrations appear every two to seven pages. Even though Wish Trap will appeal to readers who are six and older, younger readers may have a difficult time with the more advanced vocabulary and the descriptions of dark magic.

While Mirror Magic focused on the girls meeting their Star Animal and learning about magic, Wish Trap focuses more on the friends, especially the tension between Mia and Violet. The animals rarely appear, but they are still instrumental in defeating the Shade. Readers will relate to the girls, who use their magic for good. Another positive aspect of Wish Trap is that it highlights the dangers of jealousy. Readers who love animals but want to avoid reading about dark magic should check out the Pet Rescue Adventures Series by Holly Webb and the Zoey and Sassafras Series by Asia Citro.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

A Shade is causing girls on the gymnastics’ team to have accidents and hurt themselves so they can no longer perform. For example, the Shade causes a girl to fall off the monkey bars and hurt her wrist.
The Shade spooks a horse that almost runs into Lexi.
A garden gnome comes alive. It peeks out of a tree. “Sita screamed as the branches parted and a pottery face grinned down at them. Its eyes glowed red beneath its bobble hat. . . The gnome cackled and jumped hard on the branch he was standing on. CRACK! The branch broke and fell, crashing down right onto Lexi and hitting her head.” Sita uses magic to heal the wound.
The Wish Shade locks Lexie and Sita in a shed and sets it on fire. “Violet ran to a water faucet on the side and started to fill a bucket with water to try and douse the bonfire. . .”
As the Star Friends try to help Sita and Lexi, the gnome “shoved” Mia. “She fell inside the shed… the door had been slammed shut, and she heard the bolt being pushed across the outside.”
When the gnome jumps on the birdbath, Lexi “chucked the apple at the gnome. It shot through the air with perfect accuracy and hit him square on the forehead. . . the gnome lost his balance and fell backward. There was a cracking noise as he broke into pieces.”
The Shade tries to get away. Bracken, the fox, “bit the Shade’s leg and hung on tight. The Shade hissed and swiped down with his sharp claws.” The friends grab “the Shade’s bony arms, pinning his hands down.” Violet then commands the Shade to “return to the Shadows.”

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

Magical animals from another world come into the human world looking for a Star Friend. Each animal must “find a human child to be your Star Friend – a child who is kindhearted enough to use magic for good and brave enough to defeat someone using dark magic. When you meet a child. . . speak to him or her with your thoughts. If they are open to magic, they will hear you.”
The magical animals can appear and disappear. They also each have a unique magical ability.
Mia’s magic has to do with sight. “If she looked into a shiny surface, she could see things that were happening in other places.”
Mia and her friends need to fight dark magic. “People who used dark magic could conjure horrible spirits called Shades from the shadows. The Shade would then either be set free to bring chaos and unhappiness wherever it went, or it could be trapped in an object and given to someone whom the person doing dark magic wanted to harm.”
Lexi’s magic allows her to heal injuries.
Violet can shadow-travel. She “learned to use shadows to travel wherever I want. I just imagine where I want to go, and then I come out in the nearest patch of shadows by that place.”
The girls want to fight a Shade, but they’re not sure what kind it is. “There are all different kinds of Shades—Nightmare Shades, Ink Shades, Wish Shades. Some live in mirrors and talk to people and make them do bad things, like that Mirror Shade. Others can bring bad luck or trap people in different ways.”
When Mia tries to use her magic to see the Shade, she discovers that “the person using dark magic may have cast a spell so they can’t be seen by magic.”
Aunt Carol was Mia’s grandmother’s best friend. Aunt Carol uses crystals to do magic.
Paige, who was not chosen to be on the gymnastic team, meets the Shade that is in a gnome. She explains, “I should wish I was on the gymnastics team. I thought it would bring me good luck—I didn’t think he’d bring everyone else bad luck!” The gnome says, “Once a wish has been made, it can’t be stopped.”

Spiritual Content

None

Fox is Late

Fun-loving, mischievous Fox is late for lunch, so he hops on his skateboard. Go, Fox, go! What is this winning trickster character doing, zooming over and under and around on his skateboard? His animal friends follow him home to find out—and get a big surprise!

Fox is in a hurry to get somewhere, but as he zooms on, around, under, and over his friends, they angrily chase after him. Soon, Turtle, Frog, Rabbit, Elephant, and other animals are chasing Fox. Then, they come to an abrupt halt because they learn that Fox was in a hurry to get home for lunch—with his friends, who, moments ago, were angry at him. In typical Tabor style, the author’s conclusion is surprising and sweet. Readers will love seeing Fox at the table with his friends. Careful readers will notice the flowers that Fox gathered while zooming around end up in vases on the kitchen table.

Fox is Late uses simple, but adorable pictures that have a hint of humor. For example, Fox zooms through the grocery store. As he pays for groceries, the text says, “Fox gets food. Fox gets fast food.” Each page has 2 to 3 simple sentences. As a My First I Can Read Book, Fox is Late is perfect to read to your little one. The story uses basic language, word repetition, and large illustrations on each page.

Fox is an interesting character who is always surprising. Readers will love following Fox on his adventures, and they will love the large illustrations that bring the story to life. As Fox races around, the other animal’s facial expressions clearly show their anger and their surprise when they discover why Fox was in a hurry. Readers who love books with humor should also check out the Splat the Cat Series by Rob Scotton.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

None

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

None

The Storyteller

Long ago, cool water from fountains and engaging tales from storytellers sustained the kingdom of Morocco despite the conditions of the surrounding desert. However, as the peoples’ fear of the desert faded, so did their memory of these stories. Storytellers began to disappear. Soon after, the fountains dried up, leaving the kingdom in a severe drought. Many years later, a young boy’s encounter with a remaining storyteller might be the only hope the kingdom has to save them from division, thirst, and a coming sandstorm.

The Storyteller is set in a fictionalized Morocco where storytelling and weaving are significant artforms of the kingdom’s cultural history. The narrative teaches readers that well-made art has the power to preserve culture and give its listener a clearer understanding of themselves and of others. In the book, artists can literally create and sustain life, whether that be through stories that give water to its listener, or through magical threads that weave kingdoms.

The Storyteller is distinguished by its abstract illustrations. Often spread across both pages, the story’s illustrations help the reader to believe the sheer scope of the kingdom, the allure of the glistening blue water and gold threads, and the looming threat of the massive sandstorm. Blending hurriedly pencil-drawn characters reminiscent of cave drawings with multi-layered, watercolor backgrounds and figures, the art of The Storyteller strengthens its narrative’s stance as an ode to storytelling old and new.

Even though The Storyteller is a picture book, the story is intended to be read aloud to a child, rather than for the child to read it for the first time independently. Each page ranges from 1 to 13 sentences and younger readers may need help understanding some of the book’s vocabulary, including “spindle,” “buoyant,” and “sapphire.” The Storyteller becomes a story within a story with each new tale the title character weaves. While the book uses different colored fonts to separate the stories, parental assistance will be needed to help younger readers follow the layered narrative.

The Storyteller is sure to engage readers by introducing them to the world of its several tales. While the nameless protagonist of the book might lack significant personality, readers will nonetheless identify with his fascination with stories, his bravery, and his lesson of a well-told story’s power. Plus, its lesson on the importance of storytelling makes it a must-read for any reader learning storytelling and artmaking. If you’d like to read another fun book that shows the importance of storytelling, check out Octopus Stew by Eric Velasquez; it is sure to make young readers smile.  

Sexual Content

None

Violence

The sandstorm repeatedly threatens to “destroy” the city.

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

Stories and weaving literally create what their listeners and makers need.

After being weaved, a carpet becomes “a beautiful clear pool.”
In her story, the old woman says that through weaving she “birthed an entire kingdom.” In another instance, “a glorious bird awakened and emerged from the loom.”
The sandstorm is personified as a “djinn.”

Spiritual Content

None

Family of Liars

Caroline Lenox Taft “Carrie” Sinclair is the eldest of four daughters. Her prestigious old-money family, the Sinclairs, spend their summers on their private east coast island. As a family, they follow certain rules: “We keep a stiff upper lip. We make the best of things. We look toward the future.” This does not change when the youngest sister, Rosemary, drowns.

The summer after, seventeen-year-old Carrie goes back to the island where she sees her lost sister. However, Rosemary’s ghost is not the only surprise the summer will bring.

Newly confident from surgery that has left her with a chin that is “set forward” and an addiction to painkillers, Carrie is more than ready for love. Carrie discovers that her cousin Yardley has brought along three boys. One of the boys, Pfeff, captures Carrie’s attention right away. Irresistible and unpredictable, Pfeff changes everything for Carrie. A summer of passion, long-buried secrets, betrayal, and terrible mistakes has only just begun.

In Family of Liars, Carrie is the narrator, who is vividly fleshed out. The story is framed as Carrie telling it to the ghost of her son, Johnny, who died in a fire in We Were Liars. Carrie admits that she is unreliable, so the reader is kept on their toes and will be questioning things until the full truth is revealed. For a portion of the book, readers will feel sympathetic towards Carrie because she begins her story amid a loss, and she spends time reminiscing over the long-ago loss of her sister. By the end, Carrie is not exactly likable, but she is interesting, and the reader will have a good grasp of who she is.

Unfortunately, the story has several flaws. First, most of the other characters feel flat. There are so many of them, and some exit the story for long periods and reappear unceremoniously. The large cast of characters will force the reader to pay close attention to who’s who. In addition, certain plotlines feel unnecessary. In particular, the haunting that Carrie experiences does little for the story aside from showcasing her relationship with her deceased sister. The reader might expect a twist or revelation regarding Rosemary’s death, but there is none to be found.

Despite its flaws, Family of Liars is still gripping enough to forgive most of the book’s shortcomings. The pacing has little twists and turns occurring throughout the story rather than a slow burn to a revelation at the end. The book can be understood without having read its predecessor, but it should be noted that the famous twist of We Were Liars is spoiled on the first page of Family of Liars. If a reader intends to read both books, We Were Liars should be read first.

Family of Liars is nevertheless a gripping read that fans of We Were Liars are sure to enjoy. Lockhart’s writing style and storytelling ability are captivating and easy to get sucked into. Readers will not find it hard to get invested in the complicated Sinclair family.

Sexual Content

Carrie recalls her teenage years and fantasizing about kissing, at one point saying, “I longed for love, and I had a pretty urgent interest in sex.”
Carrie remarks that her sister Penny has “kissed too many people to count.”
When Pfeff is changing, he playfully calls out for the others not to come in and look at his “weenie.” When one of his friends says nobody would be interested in a weenie like his, Pfeff retorts, “It’s a perfectly normal weenie. A good weenie, even.”
While swimming with the boys for the first time, Carrie thinks “the nerves in my fingertips cry out to touch someone.”
When Carrie’s cousin’s parents get a divorce, the cousin tries to ignore evidence that her dad had “girlfriends, or hookers, even.”
Carrie sees her cousin and her boyfriend passionately kissing. She was “pressing him against the house with her hand up his shirt.” She then invites him up to her room.
Shortly after meeting, Carrie and Pfeff become romantically involved. Pfeff kisses her and slides his hand “up [her] waist to [her] chest.”
Pfeff reconnects with a girl from his past and spends several hours with her. A friend speculates to Carrie that he spent the afternoon “‘boning that girl.’”
After kissing one night, it is implied that Carrie and Pfeff have sex. They go to “his room in Goose cottage. [They] take off [their clothes]. . . . [their] skin salty, [their] breath uneven.”
After their first sexual encounter, Carrie and Pfeff struggle to keep their hands off each other. At one point, they are kissing in the ocean and Pfeff takes off her bikini top and “presses his chest up against [her] underwater.”
Carrie catches Penny “kissing Pfeff.”
Pfeff begins “forcing himself on [Penny]” while they are “messing around.”
Carrie briefly mentions “reveling in sex” during the summer when she was nineteen.
Carrie remarks that Rosemary would have been reading books and “folding down the pages on the sexual bits.”

Violence

Rosemary drowns in the ocean, presumably “knocked down by a wave and caught in an undertow.”
Carrie recalls the original Brother’s Grimm tale of Cinderella, which involves the two stepsisters mutilating their own feet, “one cuts off her big toe. The other slices off the back of her heel.”
In a Brother’s Grimm story called Mr. Fox, the titular character brings home the dead body of a woman and cuts her hand off. At the end of the story, two men “cut [Mr. Fox] into a thousand pieces.”
When Pfeff tries to assault Penny, Bess kills Pfeff by “[bashing] his head with a board.” The three sisters cover up the murder by dumping his body far out in the ocean.
Near the end of the book, Carrie reveals that she was the one who killed Pfeff in a blind rage. She “brought [the board] down over and over,” not knowing if it was Penny or Pfeff she was hitting. Bess witnesses this, and it turns out that Pfeff was attempting to assault Penny, so both sisters believe Carrie was acting out to defend her. The scene is described over a page.
The ghost of Rosemary reveals she keeps coming back to haunt Beechwood because she’s worried Carrie will kill herself, or as Carrie puts it, that “I would cut my wrists or drown my own unworthy self, then worried I would kill myself with pills.”

Drugs and Alcohol

Carrie’s parents smoke cigarettes one time.
After surgery, Carrie took several medications and painkillers and became addicted to codeine. She describes her teenager self as “an athlete and a narcotics addict.”
Penny steals a bottle of wine from the cellar and she and her sisters, all underaged, drink it on the dock.
At seventeen, Carrie steals Halcion sleeping pills from her father and takes one out of curiosity. She develops a habit and notes that in the future, “it will take me some years and two stays in rehabilitation clinics to stop taking pills.”
As an adult, Carrie struggles with alcoholism.
While walking to her room, Carrie sees Penny and her friend passed out with “an empty bottle of whiskey on the floor.” Carrie wakes them and gives them Tylenol.
Pfeff and Major say that they are “high” on one occasion and they admit that they often are.
Fourteen-year-old Bess is drunk on whiskey when Pfeff is killed.
All the teenagers drink frequently.
Adults are described as drinking on a few occasions. On one occasion they allow the teenagers to drink with them, and Carrie gets fairly drunk.
Bess remarks that Penny had “three beers in an hour.”
After dumping Pfeff’s body, the sisters get drunk on whiskey.

Language

The word ass is said a couple of times.
The word bastard is said once.
Penny calls Pfeff a “fucking rapist.”

Supernatural Content

The entire story is framed as an adult Carrie telling it to the ghost of her son, Johnny.
The sisters believe they hear a voice one night, and Penny speculates that it could be the ghost of their youngest sister, Rosemary.
Early on, Carrie begins seeing and interacting with the ghost of Rosemary. She describes her as “solid, not ghostly at all.”
The ghost of Rosemary tells Carrie that she tried to visit her mother but she turned away from her. Their mother indirectly confirms this later in the book when she says, “one night, I thought I saw Rosemary… she looked like she had crawled up from the sea.” She dismissed the vision as a figment of her imagination.
Carrie recalls a Brother’s Grimm story called The Stolen Pennies, which centers around bringing the ghost of a young child to rest.
Carrie sees Pfeff’s ghost on the beach. He apologizes for the trouble he’s caused and swims out into the ocean after she tells him to leave.
Rosemary keeps visiting Carrie summer after summer until Carrie tells her she doesn’t need to worry about her anymore. Rosemary’s spirit leads Carrie to the attic where she leaps from the window and vanishes, presumably at peace.