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Dreaming Dangerous

Brassmere Academy is the only home Plum has ever known. Hidden deep in the woods, Brassmere is home to orphans who have extraordinary abilities. Each night when Plum lays down to sleep, she travels into dream worlds, where her best friends Vien, Gwendle, and Artem meet her. While dreaming, the friends go on exciting journeys and fight dangerous monsters.

During a dream, Artem tells Plum, “They’re coming for us. One by one, until they find the one they need.” When she wakes up, Artem is missing. No one knows where Artem has gone. Plum is convinced that the adults at the school cannot be trusted.

Plum, Vien, and Gwendle search for their friend. As they find clues in both the dreaming and waking worlds, they uncover many secrets. Plum has always considered the director, Dr. Abarrane, a trusted adult, but now she wonders what dark secrets he keeps. Brassmere has always kept the children safe from the outside world, but is the real danger inside Brassmere’s walls? Will Plum and her friends be the next to disappear?

Told from Plum’s point of view, Dreaming Dangerous quickly jumps into the mystery of Brassmere Academy. Right from the start, the reader understands the strong bonds of friendship between the four friends. The friends travel into the dream world, where they encounter imaginative worlds full of monsters. Plum spends an equal amount of time in the real world and the dream world, which adds drama but also may cause some confusion.

Dreaming Dangerous is a compelling story that has the perfect amount of suspense and scare factor for younger readers. Readers will be drawn into the story because of the interesting dream world, the children’s abilities, and the mystery surrounding Brassmere Academy. The ending of the story shows the violent death of Plum’s mother and the evil nature of Dr. Abarrane. However, the death is not described in gory detail. The only negative aspect of the story is the abrupt, confusing conclusion that leaves many questions unanswered.

Many readers will be drawn to Dreaming Dangerous because of the well-develop characters, monsters, and mystery. The fantasy story is at times creepy and frightening. For readers who like Gothic-style mysteries, Dreaming Dangerous is an easy-to-read, fast-paced story that will entertain until the very end.  

Violence

  • While in a dream, Plum falls. “Sword pointed downward, Plum leaned into the momentum of the drop, landing hard on the head of some giant, scaled creature. An alligator, she suspected. She jammed her sword between its eyes and it thrashed and roared. . . Blood stained her sword and her shoes. . . The giant alligator would not die quickly . . . a set of sharp teeth had snared her ankle and pulled her underwater.” Plum’s friend appears and saves her. The battle with the alligator happens over four pages.
  • While in a dream, Plum sees a monster. When she asked the monster a question, “its mouth became so wide that it was big enough to devour a girl like Plum in a single bite. And that’s what it did. . .” She falls down the monster’s throat and lands in a town.
  • The gargoyles that stood guard over Brassmere came to life. The gargoyles flew towards the school. “One of the gargoyles was barreling through the overarching glass window of the grand foyer. The other had scaled the side of the building that housed the dormitory, and its giant swinging tail was shattering the windows. . . All the birds and insects in the wallpaper had escaped and were buzzing and flapping at the ceiling and remaining windows, trying to find a way out.” No one was injured.
  • Plum wakes up Melinda, who was in a trance. When Plum touches her, “Melinda raised her head and looked at Plum, her mouth curled into a vicious snarl. And then, Plum was airborne, flying backward by the metal in her boot buckles and the buttons of her coat, until she hit a wall, hard, and everything went dark.”
  • In a dream, Plum sees the young Dr. Abarrane kill a woman and take her baby. When the woman tries to argue, “Dr. Abarrane didn’t bother to argue. He pulled the trigger . . . the woman had fallen to the ground. Dead. The baby screamed and fell into a fit of tears.”
  • Dr. Abarrane chases after Plum and Artem. He tried to inject Plum with a syringe, but “a metal tray hit him in the side of the head, hard. All it took was one blow and he was down.” The kids were able to escape.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Plum is given a “strange purple liquid” through an IV. The liquid makes her sleep, and she is unable to wake from her dream.
  • After Artem disappears, Plum finds him in a building that looks like a hospital. When she finds him, he has an IV “that dripped in a bag over his bed. Plum recognized that odd purple liquid; it was the same thing Dr. Abarrane had given to her that morning. . .”
  • Plum overhears a nurse talking about the death of a boy. The boy was given “three doses of blue. . . The immediate effects were an increase in physical strength and energy.” The fluid killed the boy.

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • The orphans who live at Brassmere Academy all have special abilities. The main characters share their dreams. Some “could bend and move metal if they concentrated.” Others could “charm animals” or “communicate with their thoughts.”
  • While in a dream, Artem “could always breathe underwater.”
  • While in a dream, Plum and the others travel to a town. Plum thinks what they saw “happened in the past, and somehow I was able to see it.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

Ellie Steps Up to the Plate

Ellie loves being on the stage, and she knows she is good at it. During physical education, Ellie tries baseball for the first time. She is surprised that she can hit the ball almost every time. Ellie decides to join the school team, but during her first game, she makes several mistakes. Baseball is not as easy as Ellie thought. Should Ellie stay on the team or put her mitt down forever?

Many readers will relate to Ellie’s frustration with trying something new. Through Ellie’s struggle, readers will learn the importance of practice and perseverance. Even though Ellie makes several errors during the game, her teammates encourage her to stay on the team.

Ellie Step Up to the Plate focuses on Ellie’s desire to earn a solo spot for her musical group, and her attempt to play baseball. Although the story also includes a baby deer; that part of the story was disjointed and did not flow well with the rest of the book. However, younger readers will still be able to understand the easy-to-read story and will appreciate the adorable artwork that appears on almost every page. Large type, short sentences, and plenty of dialogue will help newly independent readers stay engaged.

Readers will be able to relate to Ellie’s struggle to learn a new skill. Several of the events are connected to each other, which helps readers understand the importance of not giving up. Young girls will also benefit from seeing the varied woman characters in the story. The school coach, the veterinarian, and the principal are all women. Despite being part of a series, Ellie Steps Up to the Plate can be read as a stand-alone book.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Dragons in a Bag

Jaxon’s mom leaves the nine-year-old with Ma, so she can look after him. While there, Jax is intrigued by a moving package. Ma reveals that she is a witch, and she has the duty to deliver three baby dragons to a parallel realm where magic still exists. Jax joins Ma on her journey, but when the transporter takes them to the Mesozoic era, Ma quickly sends Jax and the dragons back to Brooklyn. Jax is determined to keep the dragons safe until he can find Ma. Will Jax be able to protect the dragons and find Ma in another dimension?

Dragon in a Bag contains a cast of diverse characters, including an invisible man, a witch, a squirrel, and Jax’s friend from school. Black-and-white illustrations are scattered throughout the book and help the reader visualize the characters. When Jax is sent back to Brooklyn, he is forced to ask for help from adults who are strangers. Even though the adults in the story make some life decisions that others do not agree with, the adults’ decisions are not criticized or shown in a negative light.

The children in the story are able to share their knowledge about different subjects, and Jax clearly loves geography. The story teaches about animal imprinting and information about the Mesozoic era. Jax briefly enters the Mesozoic era; however, Jax’s visit is so short that the reader will be disappointed with the lack of dinosaur action.

Much of the story focuses on the interpersonal relationships between the adults; they all have different views of magic and what should be done with the dragons. This allows the reader to see different people’s perspectives and shows how people can have different views without being wrong. Even though the dragons are a main part of the plot, they stay in Ma’s purse for the majority of the story. Readers who pick up the story with the hopes of seeing some dragon action will be disappointed. In the end, Dragons in a Bag is an interesting story, but younger readers will struggle to stay engaged because the story lacks action.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • A squirrel comes into the house and Ma hits it with a cane. The squirrel “jumps out of the way just in time, and Ma’s cane crashes the metal breadbox instead.”
  • When a dinosaur attacks Ma, she “grabbed hold of that funny flap and swung around onto its back. Of course, that was after I’d zapped it a couple of times with my cane . . . then I used a mild enchantment to make it more manageable.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Ma serves Jax a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and then asks, “You need a beer to wash that down. Why don’t you grab a bottle from the fridge?” Later Jax realizes she was talking about root beer.

Language

  • Ma tells Jax, “go sit your butt down on that sofa and read your darn book.”

Supernatural

  • Ma is a witch, who has three dragons she is supposed to take to another dimension where magic exists. She tells Jax, “Parallel realms exist in different dimensions. Time travel is like whizzing down a slide. Crossing dimensions is more like skipping double Dutch.”
  • A transporter reads a person’s intentions and sends them to a different time period or dimension. Ma and Jax travel to the time of dinosaurs and then to a dimension where there are supercontinents.
  • One of the characters can breathe fire.

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

The Creature of the Pines

Elliot isn’t excited about starting a new school three weeks after the school year began. To make matters worse, his class is going on a field trip to the Pine Barrens, a potentially dangerous, creepy forest. The field trip is being led by Professor Fauna, a strange man who is rumored to be unhinged from reality.

Uchenna is the only person who will talk to Elliot. Unlike Elliot, she is adventurous and fearless. When Uchenna goes into the forbidden forest, will Elliot be brave enough to follow? When the two meet a Creature of the Pines, will the two survive?

Right from the start, Elliot and the other characters jump off the pages. The frightening Professor Fauna adds mystery, possible danger, and suspense. The diverse, interesting characters will pull the reader into this fast-paced mystery. The vivid descriptions and well-developed characters join together to create a suspenseful mystery that readers will not want to put down. Elliot, a fearful boy who has the tendency to overthink situations and Uchenna, an adventurous, fearless girl, make a fun pair as they join together to help a Jersey Devil that they find in the woods.

The Creature of the Pines has adventure, danger, and a mythical creature with magical powers. Black-and-white illustrations are scattered throughout the book; the illustrations add humor as well as help readers visualize the characters. The text is easy to read because it uses short paragraphs, simple vocabulary, and dialogue. Although the creature makes an exciting appearance, more information about the interesting creature could have been incorporated into the story. The Creature of the Pines will delight readers who are interested in a character-driven adventure.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • While trying to find the Jersey Devil, Elliot and Uchenna go into someone’s greenhouse. “Phipps, the butler, had crept around them, and at that instant, he grabbed Elliot’s arms.” The Jersey Devil jumps onto the butler’s face and Uchenna “spun and punched Phipps in the stomach. She was only a kid, so she couldn’t punch very hard. But she did double Phipps over.” The kids are able to escape.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • One of the characters said, “You’re darn right!”

Supernatural

  • According to a family’s legend, Beulah (a distant relative) had twelve children. After she delivered child number twelve, she told someone, “I won’t be having any more children. I’d rather have the devil than have another child.” When she gave birth to the next child, the “baby wasn’t a baby at all. It was a strange creature, and it went screeching out of Beulah’s arms and straight through the window, leaving shattered glass all over. . . Ever since then, the Jersey Devil roams these pines.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

Seeing Red

Abby wants to go to her friend’s sleepover party. When she asks the secret mirror in her basement to take her to the party, Abby ends up in a fairy tale—Little Red Riding Hood.

Abby and her brother want to warn Little Red Riding Hood about the big bad wolf, but when they get to Little Red’s grandmother’s house, they are met with a big surprise. How will they be able to avoid becoming a wolf snack?

Seeing Red is a fantastic, fun retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale. The retelling adds diversity by describing Little Red Riding Hood as having “brown skin, and dark brown bangs that fall into her eyes.” Little Red Riding Hood’s real name is Lali, which means ‘red’ in Hindi.

Both Abby’s grandmother and Lali’s Dadi (grandmother in Hindi) are well-developed characters that diverge from the stereotypical grandmother. Abby’s grandmother is adventurous, while Lali’s Dadi struggles with the need to have others help her. Through Dadi’s words and actions, readers will get a small glimpse into the difficulties associated with growing older.

The introduction of the wolf, Owen, is a delightful surprise. Instead of being a typical villain, Owen becomes a wolf that a person can understand and sympathize with. Owen is “hungry and cold, and my family is mean to me, and the horrible hunter has been chasing me for years.” Owen’s sister and two brothers are important parts of the action. The theme of standing up for family is integrated throughout the story. In the end, Abby realizes “I’m lucky to have been born into such an amazing family—and Owen is lucky to have made his own.”

The woman (and girls) in the story are portrayed as caring, capable people. Mona, who helps save the day, is a policewoman, a firewoman, and a doctor. Although she appears for only a short time, the reader will come away feeling as if girls can do anything.

Although Seeing Red is part of the Whatever After series, the story can be enjoyed without reading the previous books. Seeing Red uses short sentences, dialogue, and onomatopoeias to create an easy-to-read, fast-paced story that will engage readers. The story contains many unique twists compared to the original story, which adds interest. The characters are never stale, but have interesting personalities that come to life. The story contains humor, heart, and teaches about the importance of standing up for yourself, as well as your family.

Sexual Content

  • Jonah has his first crush. He thinks Lali is “so sweet.” When Jonah and Lali meet, Abby thinks, “Is Jonah blushing? Yes! His cheeks are pink. I can practically see cartoon hearts shooting out of his scrawny chest as he sneaks another peek at Lali.”

Violence

  • When Jonah goes through the portal, he accidentally lands on the huntsman’s head, knocking him out.
  • The huntsman strikes a wolf named Owen with an arrow, which puts Owen to sleep. The huntsman says, “It will be easier to kill him back at my treehouse. With the sun setting through the windows, it’s the perfect way to spend an evening. Murder at sunset! It’s the best.” The huntsman “throws a limp Owen over his shoulder and heads for the door.”
  • In order to help Owen, Lali’s grandmother, “throws her cane up, up, up at the door. And somehow it hits the hunter square in the head. He falls backward into his house. Plunk!”
  • A wolf pack surrounds a group of people and threatens to eat them.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • The huntsman’s arrow had a sleeping medicine, which makes Owen “wobbly from the effects.”

Language

  • One of the wolves calls her brothers “fools” and “idiots.”
  • Abby thinks the huntsman is a “jerk.”

Supernatural

  • Abby and Jonah have a “magic mirror in our basement. When we knock on it three times at midnight, it pulls us inside and whisks us into a fairy tale.” Maryrose is a fairy who’s “trapped inside our mirror. She’s the one who takes me and Jonah into different fairy tales.”
  • When Abby, Jonah, and Nana enter the portal to return home, “It’s like we’re on a Tilt-A-Whirl.”
  • Abby and Jonah discover that “going into stories runs in our family!”

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Bad Mermaids Make Waves

Beattie, Mimi, and Zelda planned to spend the summer on land with temporary legs, but their trip is cut short when they receive a message ordering them to return home. The queen of the Hidden Lagoon, Arabella Cod, has been fishnapped. It’s up to the three friends to figure out what has happened to Arabella. When they return to the Hidden Lagoon, they discover that some seriously bad mermaids have taken over. With the help of a talking seahorse, the three go on a dangerous journey to discover who has fishnapped Arabella. Will the three be able to avoid the bad mermaids and chasing piranhas? Can they discover who the true villain is?

Readers looking for a fast-paced and silly mermaid mystery will be drawn to Bad Mermaids Make Waves because of the beautiful cover and the fun black-and-white illustrations throughout the story. The illustrations bring the magical mermaid world to life and help readers visualize the many crazily outfitted characters.

As Beattie, Mimi, and Zelda swim through the mermaid kingdom looking for clues, they interview those who may have had a hand in Arabella Cod’s disappearance. The mystery solving is more silly than serious and the three spend much of their time being chased. Bad Mermaids Make Waves will satisfy readers who like riddles, puns, and seriously silly fun.

The three main characters and a talking sea-horse, Steve, interact in hilarious ways. Another added bonus is the news-like articles from Clamzine and The Scribbled Squid that are dispersed throughout the story. The Scribbled Squid writes, “gossip and lies and things you should definitely buy,” while Clamzine gives snapshots of important characters in a fun way.

Bad Mermaids Makes Waves weaves mermaids, fashion, and mystery into a silly story that will engage reluctant middle school readers.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Arabella Cod is fishnapped by a human.
  • Piranhas chase the three mermaids. Mimi uses fin-fu, which is “a little like human kung fu, only with fins” to battle the piranhas. Mimi “was doing a weird single-finder chopping move and pinging them away.” The piranhas finally swim away.
  • The mermaids chase someone who stole a car. Beattie jumps on a shark and chases the car. “The shark lunged and snapped down. The clam car shot forward . . . the shark lunged and crunched! She opened her eyes just in time to see the robber mermaid shoot out of the car and down the alleyway.”
  • The mermaids sneak into someone’s house to investigate. When they are caught, Beattie gets stuck in the door that was shaped like fish lips. In order to get Beattie unstuck, “Mimi casually turned and fin-fun chopped the fish lips. The entire sandcastle crumbled into a pile in one dusty explosion of sand.” The mermaids then escape.
  • Someone fishnaps Goda Gar. “There on the bow was Goda Gar, being tied up with seaweed streams and carted off by the chomping piranhas.”
  • The three mermaids are captured. When a seahorse tries to help them, a shark “bit down hard on Steve. . . Beattie cried as the wriggling little sea horse went limp and floated down toward the mermaids in a trance below.” The seahorse’s “shell top is ruined,” but he’s okay.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Someone used a “powerful magic, old magic, dark magic” to control the mermaids. Somehow the mermaids’ nails are stamped with piranhas, which allows the piranhas to track them.
  • Someone found the Ruster Shells, which are “two magic shells with crocodiles carved on them.” When mermaids see the shells, they fall into a trance and do everything they are told. Whoever wears the shells can control others.

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

 

Tales of Bunjitsu Bunny

Introducing Isabel, a.k.a. Bunjitsu Bunny! She is the BEST bunjitsu artist in her school. She can throw farther, kick higher, and hit harder than anyone else! But she never hurts another creature . . . unless she has to. Tales of Bunjitsu Bunny introduces Isabel and has twelve short stories, each with a different, exciting adventure. Isabel learns lessons from bunjitsu school, pirates, and even a butterfly.

Much like Aesop Fables, each tale is simple, yet exciting. Every conflict is resolved in a peaceful manner (except one) and leaves readers with a moral, such as “Practice my art until I am good at it. And then keep practicing, study the world, and find what makes me laugh, and laugh loudly. And often.”

Each clever story is brief and ranges from 6-10 pages long. The story uses simple vocabulary, contains 1-5 sentences per page, and has simple red-and-black illustrations. The combination of illustrations and short sentences makes Tales of Bunjitsu Bunny a good option for those just transitioning to chapter books or to read aloud.

Each story can stand alone, and readers will want to go back to reread their favorites. Tales of Bunjitsu Bunny is about a fierce girl who proves that a person or a bunny doesn’t have to use their muscle to solve a problem.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Pirates take Isabel prisoner. “The pirates grabbed Isabel and pulled her into their boat. Isabel grabbed the arm of the nearest pirate and bunjitsu flipped him over her shoulder. He landed in her empty boat.” Isabel uses bunjitsu to get all four pirates onto her boat. The boat that the pirates are on begins to sink.
  • Jackrabbit challenges Bunjitsu Bunny to a fight. He says, “I will hit her so hard, she will fly to the moon.” The fight never happens because Isabel doesn’t show up.
  • A bear tells Isabel that he practices bearjitsu and “kicked Isabel so hard she slid across the field. . . He grabbed Isabel’s ears and flipped her to the ground. . . He twisted Isabel into a pretzel.” When the bear asks Isabel if she wants to give up, “Isabel kicked Bear so hard he shot straight into the cloud. When he landed, she flipped him to the ground so hard the earth shook! Then she grabbed his giant paw and twisted it behind his back.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Saint Anything

Sydney’s older brother, Peyton, holds the spotlight in their family—first for his charm, and then for his stints in rehab and his poor decision-making skills. When he lands in prison after hitting a young boy while drinking and driving, the spotlight turns on Sydney. With this new scandal, she decides to switch schools, hoping for anonymity and a chance to start over.

She starts over by becoming friends with the Chatham family, a family that shows Sydney what it looks like to have parents who are present and supportive and friends who accept you for you. Dessen does all this without feeling cheesy or unrealistic. Readers will see the lesson shown when Sydney is finally able to stand up for herself and the people she loves. Readers will appreciate the character development of Sydney as well as her parents.

Saint Anything is a heartfelt story that doesn’t only focus on romance but also captures the ups and downs of real life. With just the right amount of romance, suspense, and family drama, Saint Anything explores Sydney’s personal growth as she deals with tragedy.

Sydney’s character is genuine and relatable. Her story explores the complicated nature of family relationships. Readers will walk away feeling satisfied at having read a story that not only had a well-developed plot, but also realistic characters and an engaging conflict. The realistic dialogue and uncomplicated vocabulary make for an easy-to-read, engaging story.

Dessen writes a beautiful story that focuses on dealing with grief, guilt, and loneliness. The heart-warming story, with well-developed characters, shows readers the importance of becoming comfortable in your own skin. Saint Anything is the perfect book for those looking for a sweet romance that focuses on family and friendship.

Sexual Content

  • Margaret says to her friend, “Thank me forever for hooking you up with the guy you’re crazy about?”
  • Margaret walks up the stairs with a boy, implying that they are going to have sex. She asks Sydney what she is doing, and Sydney thinks, “Considering she was alone with the guy Jenn had clearly stated she was crushing on, in Jenn’s house, on her way to where there were only bedrooms, I wanted to ask her the same thing.”
  • While on a walk in the woods, Mac and Layla kiss. “I took my hand from Mac’s, then reached up to touch his cheek. When I did, his fingers moved to my waist, pulling me in closer. It was fluid and easy, like everything had been since we’d met, as I stood on my tiptoes and finally, finally kissed him.”
  • Layla thinks about Mac while reflecting on their new relationship, “Not just that he was a good kisser (very good, actually) and had the tightest set of abs I’d ever seen or touched.”
  • When Layla and Mac say goodbye, “he leaned in, kissing me once on the lips, then on the forehead. I felt safe enough to close my eyes.”
  • Spence and Layla kiss before going downstairs to the recording studio. As Spence is headed towards the studio, Layla “allowed herself to be pulled in for a kiss. To her surprise, not to mention mine, it quickly became open-mouthed and full-on tongue.”
  • Sydney’s mom speaks of Mac, “enunciating his name like you might the word herpes or molestation.”

Violence

  • Sydney’s brother is in jail. He was driving under the influence and hit a young boy riding his bike, “head-on.” The accident is not described.
  • Margaret is speaking to Sydney about her public school and says, “I hear there are fights there every day. And that’s with the girls.”
  • A boy attempts to sexually assault Sydney. “He grabbed my wrists. . . then tightened his grip on my wrists, pushing them back, back, against my ears. That was when I got scared. . . I tried to turn my head as he put his lips on mine, squeezing my eyes shut, but he grabbed my face, jerking me back to face him. I could feel his fingers digging into my chin. . . but then my palm was connecting with his face, the sound of skin to skin loud, a smack, and he stumbled backward. . .” Sydney’s dad stops the attack. “. . . I saw my dad. He had one arm hooked around Ame’s neck, tight, the fist clenched, and was pulling him backward down the hallway, away from me.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • In the beginning, Sydney explains the backstory of how her brother ended up in jail. She describes a background of breaking and entering, smoking pot, and possession of pills in his locker.
  • Peyton’s friend has a habit of smoking cigarettes. He would “duck out occasionally to the garage to smoke cigarettes, using a sand-bucket ashtray my mom (who abhorred the habit) put out.”
  • Peyton “drank several beers, took a few shots,” and then “got into his car, and headed home.”
  • In the past, Rosie became addicted to Vicodin that the doctor prescribed to her for a knee injury. She got into trouble when she attempted to get more by faking her prescriptions. “She got a bit too fond of the Vicodin they gave her. Tried to pass off some fake prescriptions.”
  • When Jenn’s parents are out of town, Margaret, Jenn, Meredith, and Sydney drink piña coladas. Meredith and Sydney are not fans of alcohol, but they stay to make sure Jenn is okay. Jenn drinks too much and Sydney helps her to bed.
  • A newspaper story speaking about Peyton’s past states, “After a string of arrests for breaking and entering and drug possession, among other things, he’d completed a stay in rehab and had been sober for over a year. But on that February night, after an evening spent drinking and getting high. . .”
  • Layla and her friends go into the woods behind their house and drink one or two beers before coming back home. Irv says, “Beer me, someone.”
  • Layla’s boyfriend has started taking drugs. Layla tells Sydney the extent of it. “Just pot. Some pills. They make him different. But when I nag him, he gets mad, then doesn’t answer my texts.”
  • When Layla’s boyfriend shows up at her house, she “got a strong whiff of alcohol.”
  • While in the recording studio, Spence, “proceeded to drink most of his bottle of vodka.”

Language

  • “Oh, my God” and “My God” are used several times as exclamations.
  • Layla’s dad says, “Blah my ass,” and then apologizes for his language.
  • Rosie flips another character off.
  • Layla speaks about her brother’s ex-girlfriend. “She was a mean hippie. Who even knew such a thing existed? Bitch.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Layla and her brother went to church when they were young. She speaks about meeting a friend “whom I’d known since our days at Trinity Church Preschool.”
  • Mac explains that the pendant he wears around his neck is “actually a pendant of a saint.” He explains further saying it is of “Bathilde. Patron saint of children. I guess she [his mom] figured we’d need all the help we could get.”
  • Sydney thinks about Mac’s mother, “Like my mom, she was that center of the wheel, with everyone connected drawing strength from her. She needed a saint of her own.”
  • Mac and Layla deliver pizza. “At the next stop, we interrupted a teenage Bible study and were greeted at the door by a beaming girl with braces, who invited us in for a slice and some testimony. Even though we declined, she tipped generously. Jesus would have approved.”
  • Mac speaks about saints and the pendant again, saying Mrs. Chatham “always liked the idea of protection, but especially since she got sick. I’m not wholly convinced. But I figure it can’t hurt, you know?”
  • Mac speaks about saints and his mom. “But there are a few that can be applied pretty broadly. Like the saint of wanderers, travelers, the lost. Or whatever. . . My mom’s favorite is Saint Anthony, the finder of lost things.”
  • Sydney speaks about her saint pendant. “My Saint Anything. I liked the thought of someone looking out for me, whoever it might be. We all need protecting, even if we don’t always know what from.”

by Hannah Neely

Lullaby Lake

Tag, Skyla, and Blaze go to Lullaby Lake to search for the next piece of the magical Ember Stone. When they get to the lake, they find magical fairies protecting the Ember Stone. The fairies won’t let anyone near the stone. Thorn and his spies are near. How will the friends get the next piece of the stone? Will they be able to defeat Thorn’s dark magic?

The evil vulture Thorn makes an exciting appearance in the fourth book of The Last Firehawk series. Lullaby Lake adds mystery when Tag and his friends keep falling asleep and forgetting their goal. With the help of a sleepy sloth and a bit of good luck, the three befriend a nixie, who happens to be the princess. Although the story has less adventure than the first books in the series, the fairy world adds new characters, magic, and an argument with a protective fairy king.

The repetitious nature of the series may lead some readers to become bored with the series. Lullaby Lake ends with the three friends needing to find another piece of the Ember Stone. Similar to The Whispering Oak, the protector of the Ember Stone does not want to give the stone to Tag and his friends. The similarities between the plots leave the story lacking much-needed suspense.

The fourth book in the series continues to use onomatopoeias, which are scattered throughout the story and make the reading fun. Short sentence structure, dialogue, and simple vocabulary make the series easy to read. Black-and-white illustrations appear on every page and help bring the story to life.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Thorn tries to take the Ember Stone from Tag. “Quick as a flash, Thorn took another swipe at Tag’s sack. His sharp claws ripped it open . . . Skyla shot acorns from the shore while Tag and Blaze chased after the vulture by air.”
  • Tiger bats capture a nixie. Tag and his friends rescue her. “Bonk! She hit the tiger bat holding the nixie, and the tiny fairy fell to the ground. . . Blaze threw small flames at the tiger bats. They squawked and took to the sky.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Water fairies protect the Ember Stone. When they are in danger, they sing a lullaby that puts animals to sleep. The fairy uses magical bubbles to take Blaze, Tag, and Skyla to the fairies’ underwater kingdom.
  • Thorn is an evil vulture that uses black magic called the Shadow; he hopes to destroy Perodia.
  • Firehawks “were magical birds who protected the Ember stone—a stone that holds magic within.”
  • When a piece of the Ember Stone is placed on a map, “the map glowed, brighter and brighter. . . When Tag looked again, a small shining dot appeared on the map.” The magical map guides the friends to the next location to which they must travel.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Refugee 87

Shif has a happy life, unfamiliar with the horrors of his country’s regime. He is one of the smartest boys in school, and feels safe and loved in the home he shares with his mother and little sister, right next door to his best friend, Bini. Both boys dream of going to university. Bini hopes to be a doctor and Shif wants to be an architect.

Both boys’ dreams are shattered the day that soldiers arrive at their door. Soldiers accuse the fourteen-year-olds of trying to flee before they can be drafted into the military. The boys are sent to prison, where they discover the lengths the government will go to silence anyone who is seen as a possible threat. Shif and Bini’s only hope is to escape the prison, sneak across the desert, and enter another country.

Told from Shif’s point of view, Refugee 87 jumps into a hostile country where people face unthinkable cruelty at the hands of their government. Shif and the other prisoners are treated like worthless animals and are given little food. However, once Shif escapes from prison, he discovers many unexpected dangers. A woman tells Shif not to go to the refugee camps because “a tribe in this area kidnaps people who have escaped from our country. . . They have gangs who patrol the camps, waiting for anyone new. Children get good prices. . . Before selling you, they try to get hold of your family’s money.”

Readers will sympathize with Shif as they learn about the modern refugee crisis. Instead of delving into the political situation, Fountain keeps the setting vague and brings Shif’s hardships to life. Even though the story is told from Shif’s point of view, readers may find it difficult to believe that Shif did not understand the reason his mother was so cautious and the dangers people in his country faced. The easy-to-read story doesn’t waste words on detailed descriptions, which sets the fast pace of the story. However, the lack of detail leaves the reader with unanswered questions.

Even though the publisher recommends the story for children eight and older, younger readers may become upset by the story’s mature themes which include war, violence, death, and human slavery. Although the events in the story are not described in graphic detail, Shif faces the death of his best friend and other horrific treatment. The abrupt ending may frustrate readers because the conclusion does not tell readers if Shif eventually made it to the safety of Europe.

As realistic fiction, Refugee 87 will help readers understand why people flee war-torn countries and the dangers that refugees face. The story also touches on themes of friendship, endurance, and the predatory nature of humans. Refugee 87 explores the refugee crisis in a manner that is appropriate for younger audiences and will engage readers of all ages. Readers who enjoyed Refugee 87 or want to learn more about refugees should also read Refugee by Alan Gratz.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Shif and other prisoners are walking. One of the guards pushes Shif “in the back with the butt of his rifle and points ahead. He pushes me again. . . ‘eyes down!’ the guard shouts, and pushes me so hard that I fall to my knees on the stone ground.”
  • Shif and Bini try to escape the prison. As they run, the guards shoot at them. “Seconds later, I hear a bullet ricochet from the tree trunk. Another whizzes past my head like a bee. Puffs of dirt jump in the air as more bullets hit the earth around us.” The boys run and hide in a crack in the desert floor.
  • When Shif and Bini walk through the desert trying to escape from the prison’s soldiers, they hear a vehicle coming. As they begin to run, “There is a puff of dust from the ground beside me. Bullets. Which means they are close enough to fire at us. . . Bini shudders and yells out, then falls to his knees in front of me, clutching his arm.” Because of his injury, Bini tells Shif to leave him. As Shif runs, he “hears Bini shouting at the guards. I hear two shots behind me, then silence.” The scene is described over three pages.
  • Shif meets a woman who was injured. She tells him, “A land mine exploded when we were crossing the border. Two people we were crossing with were killed. I was hit with some pieces of shrapnel. We managed to get the pieces out, but the cuts were deep and I wasn’t able to clean them properly so they became infected.”
  • Shif stays with a family, who has a young daughter named Almaz. While shopping in the market, someone steals Almaz’s money. “Almaz darts down a dusty street after the man. I skid to a stop at the top of the street. Halfway down I see the man has stopped too. He is holding Almaz by the waist. She has her back to him and is struggling to kick him or twist around to scratch at his face.” Shif helps Almaz. “I push at his shoulder and try to grab his arm. He pins Almaz against the wall with one hand, then hits me in the face with the other. I fall backward; my cheek and nose explode with a coldness that almost immediately turns to throbbing pain.” Shif and Almaz escape. The scene is described over two pages.
  • While trying to escape the country, the smuggler yells at a woman who needs to pay more money. Shif hears “screaming and shouting in the corridor, and a loud cracking sound, then she is quiet.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • When Shif and Bini are shoved into a prison room, one of the men tells them, “Whatever you do, don’t piss on anyone in the night.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • When Shif and Bini hide from the soldiers, Shif prays “that we look like nothing more than two rocky bumps in the uneven desert landscape.”

 

 

Boy Bites Bug

Will wasn’t trying to prove a point. He wasn’t trying to put his friend in his place. He just wanted to fix an awkward situation. So, he ate a stink bug. Now, everyone knows him as bug boy. His new popularity brings a host of confusion—he’s feuding with his old best friend and trying to navigate a new friendship. Will wants to do what’s right, but he’s not always sure what that is.

Boy Bites Bug is a fast-paced story that brings the struggles of friendship into focus. The diverse characters are authentic, funny, and bring heart to the story. Will has a hard time figuring out how to deal with his changing friendship with Darryl. Will thinks, “Darryl and he had been friends for a long time, but would a real friend make him feel crappy for trying to be a decent person?”

As Will and Elroy become friends, Will struggles with figuring out what racism is. Even though his new friend Elroy is from Minnesota, others see him only as a Mexican, and Will makes assumptions about Elroy because of his race. Will knows it’s wrong to give someone “crap about who he was,” but wonders if his own behavior and assumptions are racist as well.

The story shows strong positive relationships between Will and his family. Even though Will’s actions have negative consequences for his sister, his sister still stands by his side. Will’s sister is one of the best parts of the book because even though her bug-eating brother causes her problems, in the end, she supports him and even makes up a bug-eating cheer for him.

Boy Bites Bug will appeal to a variety of readers because Will and his friends struggle with real-life issues—friendship, family, and figuring out life. Through Will’s journey, the reader will learn about eating bugs “on purpose” as well as get recipes that include bugs. The gross factor brings humor as well as lessons about different cultures. In the end, Will realizes that making fun of people for eating bugs isn’t funny. He also learns an important lesson about forgiveness. He learns that “some apologies would never fix things, but that didn’t mean they shouldn’t be made. It just meant they’d be harder to get out.”

Sexual Content

  • One of Will’s friends uses his father’s credit card for ridiculous items because, “his dad left Simon’s mom and taken off to Arizona with a girlfriend, leaving Simon behind with a credit card to make up for not calling much or ever visiting.”

Violence

  • Hollie accidentally gives a boy a bloody nose. “Hollie had been putting something on the top shelf of her locker when Jeremy sneaked up behind her and brushed her back. . . He’d surprised her, and when she jerked around, her elbow cracked his nose.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • During a presentation, Will talks about how many bugs can legally be in food. He said, “If one’s dad had a bear with it (pizza), he would drink twenty-five hundred aphids, too.”

Language

  • Light profanity is used throughout the story. Profanity includes crap, holy crap, holy cow, and heck.
  • Will’s sister said someone is “acting like a jerk.” She also calls her brother a “dork-face” and a “fuzz-butt.”
  • A boy calls the new boy a “cholo.” The boy “knew he’d crossed a line, but his jaw squared too-he wasn’t taking anything back.”
  • The kids in the book call each other names including bonehead, dork, jerk, loser, nerd, idiot and menso (stupid).
  • Will gets upset because his friend is making “the three of them look like prejudiced jerks.”
  • “Oh my gosh” is used as an exclamation.
  • At wrestling practice, Will changes quickly because he didn’t want “his bony butt hanging out in front of these guys any longer than necessary.”
  • Will said his father can cook, “but you only eat his chili if you want to shoot flames out of your butt.”
  • When Will is introducing someone to the sport of wrestling, he said, “If you think it’s gay, you should leave now.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

 

 

 

The Next Level

Ellie attempts a new project and accidentally makes a big mess. As punishment, her parents have Ellie help their elderly neighbor, Mrs. Curran. Ellie and her friends, Kit, and Toby, are supposed to help with little things like stuffing envelopes. However, when Ellie sees things around the house that need fixing, she puts her engineering skills to work.

Mrs. Curran assumes that Toby is responsible for fixing things around the house, even though they are Ellie’s ideas. Ellie wants to prove to Mrs. Curran that girls can do anything, even be engineers. How can Ellie use her engineering knowledge to change Mrs. Curran’s assumptions about engineers?

 Ellie, Engineer focuses on showing that girls can be smart and creative, but it also examines other stereotypes. Ellie makes many assumptions about “grandma-age people.” However, as she gets to know Mrs. Curran, she learns that those assumptions are incorrect. Through Ellie’s experiences, the theme becomes clear—making assumptions about others is wrong. Boys can play with dolls. Girls can be engineers. Not all old people are the same. Even though the story focuses on Mrs. Curran and her assumptions, she is not well-developed. However, in the end, Mrs. Curran’s perception changes, both about others as well as herself. The ending has a cute surprise that readers will enjoy.

Ellie, Engineer is a fun story about friendship and has the added benefit of teaching important lessons. Even though Toby acts like a know-it-all, Ellie realizes that “It didn’t seem right to be friends with Toby but still call him a name behind his back.” The story also reinforces the importance of asking permission before using someone else’s things.

Although the story’s plot is easy to understand, there is very little action that propels the plot forward. The first chapter starts out strong, with Ellie and her friends having an engineering disaster; however, after the first incident, the three friends do not discuss how to make the invention better. Instead, they seem to build a working elevator without much planning.

The story contains some fun illustrations of Ellie’s sketches; however, the story is text-heavy, which might make the story daunting for some readers. The story’s plot is easy to understand and would be engaging for elementary readers. Ellie, Engineer’s vocabulary isn’t difficult, but the sentence structure is complex. Strong female characters, important life lessons, and positive adult interactions make Ellie, Engineer a story worth reading. Ellie, Engineer would be an excellent choice for more advanced readers or to read aloud with a parent.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Spotlight on Coding Club!

Erin loves being on stage. When the school announces an upcoming talent show, Erin knows she can come up with a winning performance. Erin also agrees to help the coding club with developing an app to help score the contestants. Erin knows she’s taking on a lot, but she’s determined to distract herself. Erin doesn’t want to think about her father’s deployment and staying busy is her solution.

With operation distraction in full force, Erin’s anxiety gets the best of her. She wants to pretend that everything is okay, but her stress levels keep increasing. Her friends from the coding club have always been there for her, but Erin doesn’t want to tell them what’s really going on in her life. Will Erin be able to handle the pressure? If she tells her friends the truth, will they still like her?

The fourth installment of the Girls Who Code series has the same lovable characters but is told from Erin’s point of view, which allows the story to focus on a new conflict. Readers will get a look at Erin’s thought process as she tries to use humor to diffuse stressful situations. Erin tries to hide her true feelings from her friends. Readers will relate to Erin’s struggle with anxiety and her fear of telling others. The story makes it clear that having anxiety should not be viewed as an embarrassment. Erin is told, “I think it’s really cool that you talked to a therapist about this. Getting professional help was definitely the mature way to handle it.”

Spotlight on Coding Club uses texting bubbles, emojis, and simple vocabulary, which makes the story easy to read and assessable to younger readers. The fourth book in the series focuses less on the girls’ friendship and more on Erin’s personal struggle. Although Erin’s struggle is real, the story contains less action than previous books. Along with Erin’s personal struggle, Maya struggles with asking a girl on a date. Although dating is a topic many preteens are interested in, Maya’s romantic interests seemed forced and added little to the plot. In the end, Spotlight on Coding Club teaches a valuable lesson about friendship and anxiety but lacks action and suspense.

Sexual Content

  • There is a short conversation about Maya asking another girl out on a date. Later in the story, Maya asks the girl to the movies and it is “definitely a date.”

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • “Oh my god” is used as an exclamation three times.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Nightbooks

Alex is considered a bit odd by the other kids at school because he likes to spend his time writing scary stories. Disheartened by their constant teasing, Alex sneaks out of his apartment one night to burn his notebook. On the way to the boiler room, the elevator mysteriously stops on the fourth floor. Before he knows it, a witch named Natasha has imprisoned him in her magical apartment. Natasha loves stories, and Alex’s storytelling abilities are what got him captured—and what will keep him alive.

The witch has one other prisoner, a girl named Yasmin. She has long given up hope of escape and tells Alex that to stay alive he will have to continue telling Natasha hair-raising tales. But Alex is running out of story ideas, and he can’t focus on writing while consumed with thoughts of escape.

Nightbooks blends the fairy tale elements of Hansel and Gretel into a modern story that readers will love. Unlike Disney’s version of fairy tales, Nightbooks keeps the dark elements alive by delving into how a person becomes evil. This action-packed story is full of frightening elements, interesting characters, and several twisty surprises. As Alex, Yasmin, and a cat named Lenore join together to defeat Natasha, readers will cheer as the three try to stay alive and find a way to escape.

Alex and Yasmin aren’t the only well-developed characters. The witch Natasha is a uniquely interesting character because she is cruel, but she is also clearly frightened of the creepy, ever-changing apartment in which she lives. Although Natasha is obviously evil, her well-developed character gives the reader a glimpse into her history, adding interest to the story.

Throughout the story, Alex reads his own scary tales, adding another interesting element to Nightbooks. His stories do not distract from the main story, but add more frightening elements—dead children, vampires, and an evil teddy bear. Both Alex’s stories and the main narrative are creepy and scary, but the descriptions are not gory.

Many younger readers will relate to Alex, who feels like he is abnormal and does not fit in. A theme of normalcy is integrated into the story through Alex’s struggle with his desire to be like everyone else. In the end, he realizes, “So what if I write scary stories? I might hurt someone with nouns and adjectives, but I would never hurt someone for real.”

Readers will come away from this story with a message about the importance of courage, compassion, friendship, and accepting yourself. For those who like a fast-paced, frightening story, Nightbooks is a superb scary story for middle school readers.

Sexual Content
• None

Violence
• When Yasmin accidentally feeds a magical plant the wrong food, it produces “danglers.” When a dangler opens, a creature comes out. “Two red pinchers burst through the outer layer of the sac and dug into the wood, gaining purchase and dragging the rest of the body to freedom.” The creature shreds anything it touches. A cat named Lenore tries to catch the creature. “More sounds. Hissing. A buzzing noise, like a flying insect. A pot shattering. Lenore screeched in pain.” More creatures are born, and the kids try to fight them off. Alex “felt a sharp pain in his ankle. He kicked his foot and a furry lump sailed across the room. . . something landed on his lower back and immediately began to climb higher, claws tearing through his shirt and into skin.” The attack takes place over the span of a chapter.
• The witch gets angry with Lenore. “The witch opened her hand and a tiny fireball shot at Lenore. It seared the back of her fur, leaving a black streak against the orange. Lenore yowled in pain.”
• When the witch gets upset at the children that she has captured, she turns them into porcelain dolls.
• Alex tells a story about two brothers. The younger brother dies but comes back one night. The older brother, who was sleeping, felt “something jab him again, harder this time. The mattress lifted into the air for a moment before crashing back down onto its frame.” When Keith tried to get out of the bed, “a hand grabbed his ankle. It was cold and small but strong enough to jerk him off his feet. Keith crashed to the floor.” The story implies that the dead child takes over his brother’s body.
• When Alex, his friend, and the cat go into a passage, a creature greets them. “It had the body of a horse, but its black hair was missing in patches, revealing large swatches of oozing skin.” The creature attacks. “Alex screamed, certain that he was about to be impaled in several places, but the sharp tips of the horns fell just short of his body.”
• Aunt Gris and the witch Natasha fight. “Natasha snarled with frustration and unleashed a barrage of spells, one after the other; choking mist, nooses made of flame, twin skeletons brandishing iron swords. . . Aunt Gris leaped across the room and landed on her back. . .” There was a “short scream of pain followed by horrible crunching sounds—and then nothing at all.”
• At one point, the witch, “seemed determined to fit Yasmin’s entire head in her mouth.” When Alex throws a book of stories into the furnace, the witch tries to save the book, and “Yasmin shoved her from behind. [She] fell forward into the flames.”

Drugs and Alcohol
• None

Language
• Yasmin thinks Alex’s brother “sounds like a jerk.”

Supernatural
• A witch lives in a magical apartment that entices children to enter. “The apartment does what it can to get you inside. Different for everyone . . . Traditionally, it’s some sort of food that draws them. Kids are always thinking with their stomachs, you know.”
• The apartment needs dark magic to stay alive. The witch wants Alex to tell scary stories because “the thing about dark magic, though—it thrives on nightmares. . . When you read it a scary story, you soothe its aches and pains. And then it can rest easy again—at least for a little while.”
• The witch has a business that sells “magic-infused oils. . . A hex for that annoying neighbor, extra luck for a weekend getaway to Atlantic City. And love oils.”
• Alex writes a story about a girl who turns into a vampire when her reflection was stolen.
• Alex meets the original witch, Aunt Gris, who “ate children and devoured their youth.” The witch that captured Alex had “slipped a sleeping potion into [Aunt Gris’s] tea.” Natasha keeps Aunt Gris alive, but asleep.
• When Aunt Gris wakes, she is deformed. “Its fingers were candy canes ending in chiseled nails that looked very, very sharp. They twisted and cracked, testing their newfound freedom. . . Her ears and nose were in the expected places, but her face drooped like melted taffy, and her eyes were gold-foiled chocolate coins pressed deeply into malleable flesh.”
• When Aunt Gris dies, her magic dies and the porcelain children come back to life. “They recalled their names and everything about their lives up until the moment they entered apartment 4E. . . some of the children had been missing for a decade or more and hadn’t seemed to age in the intervening years.”

Spiritual Content
• None

Amy on Park Patrol

When Amy volunteers to help pick up trash at the park, she learns that new stores will be built on some of the park’s land. She’s worried about all of the insects and animals who make that park their home. Can Amy and her friends help save the park and the creatures who live in it?

Amy on Park Patrol teaches the importance of caring for the environment. Amy shows she cares about the environment by picking up trash, planting pollinator-friendly plants, and teaching about nature. Amy and her friends make a petition to save the neighborhood park. The petition process is difficult. Some want to save the park, while others are looking forward to having new stores. Even though Amy and her friends have difficulty gaining signatures, they do not give up on their plan.

Amy on Park Patrol’s main goal is to teach about the process of pollination as well as the importance of pollinators. The story focuses on insects and birds, which might disappoint some readers. However, younger readers will enjoy the adorable artwork that appears on almost every page. Large type, short sentences, and plenty of dialogue will help newly independent readers stay engaged.

Despite being part of a series, Amy on Park Patrol can be read as a stand-alone book. Amy on Park Patrol will engage younger readers while allowing them to see that children can make a difference in our world. After reading about the importance of pollinators, readers may want to plant some flowers of their own.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Rosie Revere and The Raucous Riveters

Rosie Revere loves engineering. When Rosie’s Aunt Rose and her friends—a group of women who built airplanes during World War II—ask her to complete an important project, Rosie is excited to help. One of the Riveters has broken both her wrists and can’t participate in the Art-A-Go contest. Rosie and her friends use all of their knowledge to invent a tool to help her paint. Building a paintapolooza comes with setbacks. When Rosie begins to lose hope, her friends step in to help. Will Rosie and her friends be able to finish the paintapolooza in time for the big event?

Readers will initially be drawn to Rosie Revere and the Raucous Riveters because of the cheerful illustrations but will continue reading because of Rosie’s personality. Rosie is a strong character who uses problem solving to create her inventions. Rosie’s struggle is realistic; she doesn’t find the solution to her problem without failure. When Rosie feels “frustrated and frazzled,” she uses smart strategies to refocus. For example, Rosie’s great imagination causes her to focus on what-ifs, and “when that happened, Rosie had to remind herself to stop and think differently.”

Rosie’s illustration notebook, which contains lists and alliterations, will engage readers transitioning to chapter books. Rosie and her friends use imagination and teamwork to help someone in need. The story portrays the older generation in a positive light, and through her interactions with the Riveters, Rosie learns the importance of strong friendships. The story’s positive message is clear: “The only true failure can come if you quit.”

After the story concludes, additional text is included: a poem about a valve, information on valves, and historical information about the Riveters. The book ends with a “think about this” section that guides readers to apply the story to their life.

Instead of focusing on a simple plot, the book delves into too many characters and too many subplots. For instance, Rosie misinterprets one character’s behavior, but later discovers that the person was allergic to sunlight. Although there is historical information about the Blue River Riveters, the facts do more to complicate the story. For beginning readers interested in engineering, readers may want to begin with the Ellie, Engineer series before moving to The Questioneers series.

Sexual Content
• None

Violence
• None

Drugs and Alcohol
• None

Language
• None

Supernatural
• None

Spiritual Content
• None

The Secret Sheriff of Sixth Grade

Sixth-grader Maverick dreams of being a superhero. The only problem is that he’s weak, friendless, and has a host of problems. His father died in the war in Afghanistan. His alcoholic mother brings home abusive boyfriends. His mother’s love of alcohol and inability to keep a job often leaves Maverick hungry and wearing dirty clothes.

Maverick holds on to a plastic sheriff’s badge that his father gave him. The badge reminds him to fight for those smaller than him—even if it’s hard to find someone that small. However, every time Maverick tries to defend someone else, his efforts always take a wrong turn.

The Secret Sheriff of Sixth Grade quickly pulls readers into the story because it’s told in a first-person point of view and showcases Maverick’s self-deprecating attitude and desire to help others. Even though Maverick has a host of problems, he has the heart of a hero. Readers will laugh out loud at his mishaps, cry at his misfortunes, and root for him every step of the way.

The supporting characters are so well-developed that their unique personalities jump off the page. As Maverick gets to know other people, his perception of them changes as he realizes that their actions are often misinterpreted. For example, the assistant principal who Maverick originally thinks is terrible, turns out to have a kind heart.

Domestic abuse and alcoholism are weaved into the story in a kid-friendly manner, which allows the reader to see the devastation caused by the two without giving frightening details. At one point, Maverick wonders if he will become an abuser like his dad. His aunt tells him that changing the patterns of life is difficult. “It’s hard. Sometimes making the right choices is super hard.”

The Secret Sheriff of Sixth Grade is a fast-paced, powerful story that shows the importance of kindness and standing up for others. In the end, Maverick realizes that he is not just a “shrimpy loser,” but an imperfect boy that can impact others through acts of kindness. Maverick learns that “Maybe I didn’t need webs to be a hero—or rippling muscles, or a bulletproof shield. Maybe, at the end of the day, I could just keep trying to look around for people who needed a hand, and then grab on to theirs with my own.”

Readers will keep turning the pages of The Secret Sheriff of Sixth Grade. Maverick is an unforgettable character that readers will remember for a long time after they finish the book. Maverick’s lessons of kindness and persistence will leave the readers with a sense of optimism. The Secret Sheriff of Sixth Grade is a must-read book for middle school readers.

Sexual Content

  • A girl tells Maverick that he can’t fight Bowen, but she was going to “kick his (Bowen’s) butt.” Then someone said, “Oh, she’s feisty, too! Is that how you like your women, Maverick? Big and spicy?”

Violence

  • Maverick’s mother has a string of “loser” boyfriends, who physically abuse her. Maverick gets home and sees his mom, “clutching at her left eye, and sobbing. Johnny was leaning over her, shouting so loudly that I could see the spit flying out of his mouth into her hair. . . His hand whipped through the air and cracked across my mother’s face so hard her head smashed against the couch cushion and bounced forward again.
  • Maverick sees a kid being picked on in school. In order to help, he “dropped my book bag, put my head down, and charged at Bowen . . . Too late, I dimly realized I had just knocked the little guy into a row of lockers. Oops. A split second later, my head and shoulders slammed into Bowen. . .“ Bowen is knocked into a trash can, and then the principal shows up and ends the fight.
  • Maverick’s father was a “firefighter on an artillery base. A mortar round came in at night, hit some gas cans, and set the barracks on fire.” His father died trying to save the men.
  • A father, who is a police officer, hits his son. “Before Bowen could say another word, his head rocketed sideways toward me and I heard him whimper. . . Bowen’s father had hit him, really hard, on the side of the head.”
  • Maverick comes home and finds his mother, “Holding a bloody towel under her nose . . . Mom looked down at the towel in her hand, and almost seemed surprised to see it there. Maybe she was. I could smell the alcohol rolling off her from across the room.” His mother passes out.
  • Maverick and Bowen meet at the park after school so they can fight. “He punched me, extremely hard, once. . . I felt a crack, and a slicking stab of pain. I stopped swinging, started to reach for my chest with one hand, and bent forward. As I did, Bowen swung his knee up, into that same spot of my chest. The impact jerked me fully upright. . . the entire left side of my sweatshirt was already soaked through with blood.” Bowen calls his father, who races Maverick to the hospital.
  • Maverick’s mother’s ex-boyfriend comes to the house. The ex-boyfriend and his mother argue. Before violence begins, Maverick “squirmed my way between them, and said, ‘hit me, Johnny.’” Johnny leaves. His mother celebrates by drinking “something clear that was not water.”
  • Maverick’s house burns when “your mother fell asleep with a lit cigarette.” Maverick’s pet is killed in the fire. Maverick thinks it’s his fault because, “I check in on her in the morning, and everything looked fine.”
  • Maverick thinks back to when his dad was alive. When Maverick was little, his parents began to argue, and “then I heard a sharp smack and a gasp from the porch. . . My mother had whipped a hand up to cover one side of her face. . .”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Maverick’s mother has a drinking problem, which Maverick thinks about often. Once he had to “drop out of T-ball when my mom drank up the fifteen-dollar T-shirt fee.”
  • When Maverick gets sent to the principal’s office, he doesn’t want to call his mom because “she didn’t have a car. She was probably hungover. Or still sleeping. Or, worst of all, drunk again.” Maverick calls his aunt and promises to tell his mother about being in trouble. He thinks, “I didn’t say that my plan was to wait until she’d had a bunch of drinks and was about to pass out.”
  • When assigned to make a poster about his life, Maverick thinks, “if I had been totally honest, I would have cut out a pile of vodka bottles. . .”
  • When Maverick’s mom loses her job, she “started drinking. And drinking. And drinking. . . Nothing got my mother up off the couch until the eighth day, when she ran out of alcohol.” His mother sold his father’s military medal of honor to pay for more alcohol.
  • Max is upset because his friend complained about his mom not doing laundry and now “his favorite clothes were dirty.” Maverick’s mother didn’t do his laundry, and Maverick had to worry about “when scary teen gangsters were smoking and drinking in front of the laundry room of our apartment complex, so I was afraid to do my laundry and had to wear dirty stuff to school.”
  • When Maverick’s mother’s ex-boyfriend shows up, he wonders, “Do I let him in? Should I offer him a beer?”
  • When Maverick’s aunt goes to his house, he worries, “What if there were bottles of booze all over the place? What if it reeked of cigarettes and last night’s garbage?”

Language

  • Crud, darn, jerk, and holy cow are all used twice. Freaking is used seven times. Bonehead is also used.
  • “Oh, my god,” is used as an exclamation once.
  • Maverick is upset when the P.E. coach yells at him for not having the money to pay for his P.E. clothes. He thinks, “I don’t freaking have ten dollars.” Later, he thinks that the P.E. teacher had “Been a jerk about my problem.”
  • In a humorous scene, Maverick calls someone a “cheese tool.” Someone tries to explain what a cheese tool is. “A cheese tool is the little plastic rectangle that comes in a packet of cheese and crackers.” The group of kids that heard the comments were confused. “Half the kids seemed to be muttering things like, ‘Cheese tool? What a moron!’ But the other half were like, ‘Dang! Bowen got called a cheese tool!’”
  • Someone yells at a group of boys, “We’re all going to get in trouble, just because you three boneheads couldn’t control yourselves.”
  • Someone calls Maverick a “shrimpy little idiot.”
  • When a teacher talks about having a guest speaker, a student refers to the “special guest” as “special dorks.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

The Whispering Oak

In order to find the third piece of the magical Ember Stone, Tag, Skyla, and Blaze will have to cross the tornado-filled Shifting Sands. The Ember Stone can be found close to the Whispering Oak, but the way is dangerous and Thor’s spies are everywhere. Can the three friends save Perodia? Will Thorn’s spies beat them to Whispering Oak and find the Ember stone first?

The third book in The Last Firehawk series follows the same format as the first two books. The three friends travel to a new location, encounter Thorn’s spies, and meet new friends that help them find the next piece of the Ember Stone. New characters—talking bees and grumpy bears—add a new element to the story that brings interest. The three friends continue to use teamwork and must use logic to convince the bees to give them the Ember Stone.

The Whispering Oak will introduce newly independent readers to the adventure genre. The Whispering Oak should be read after the first two books in the series. Onomatopoeias make reading fun as well as add to the threatening mood. Short sentence structure, dialogue, and simple vocabulary make The Whispering Oak easy to read. Black-and-white illustrations appear on every page, which helps bring the story to life.

The book begins with an introduction to help readers understand the conflict. A two-page map of Perodia gives a visual of the geography and location of important landmarks. The last page of the book contains four questions and an activity, which will reinforce important comprehension skills.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Crag beetles try to stop the friends from getting through a tunnel. “The beetles climbed on top of each other—one by one, until there were no longer hundreds of beetles but one gigantic, mega beetle!” Tag charged the beetles “Knocking some beetles to the ground. . . “Tag continued using his dagger to break up the giant beetle, while Skyla attacked it with her paws and Blaze attacked it with her beak.” The friends are able to escape.
  • Tiger bats attack the friends. “They attacked again and again. Tag felt his wing getting weaker as he tried to hold off the bats.” Blaze is able to chase the bats away.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Thorn is an evil vulture that uses black magic called the Shadow; he hopes to destroy Perodia.
  • Firehawks “were magical birds who protected the Ember Stone—a stone that holds magic within.”
  • When a piece of the Ember Stone is placed on a map, “the map glowed, brighter and brighter. . . When Tag looked again, a small shining dot appeared on the map.” The magical map guides the friends to the next location to which they must travel.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Knights vs. Dinosaurs

For the Knights of Camelot, peace has brought boredom. They don’t have much to do, and most have never seen a dragon. During the knightly feast, the knights begin to boast about their heroic deeds. When Sir Erec boasts that he slew forty dragons on his last quest, Merlin decides to teach the knights a lesson and sends them on an adventure.

Four knights and one squire enter a cave and come out during another time. Suddenly, they are surrounded by the most terrible lizards of all: dinosaurs. Will the knights be able to survive the snapping jaws of these gigantic lizards?

Fast-paced, funny, and full of surprises, Knights vs. Dinosaurs blends graphic-style illustrations with a unique adventure. Black-and-white illustrations are scattered throughout the story, and several of the graphic-novel style battles appear over multiple pages. As each knight goes off alone, they encounter different terrible lizards. Seeing each knight’s perception of the different dinosaurs adds interest and humor to the story.

The knights engage in battle after battle, but the story still develops each knight’s unique personality. Sir Hector clearly loves books. Sir Bors believes that, “Might makes right.” The Black Knight is silent and skilled. The characters don’t only clash with the dinosaurs, they also clash with each other. In the end, the knights’ adventures teach them the dangers of boasting and the necessity of working together. The knights discover that each one of them has a specific talent and they need to take advantage of each person’s strengths and work together in order to survive.

For those who like knights, dinosaurs, and battles, Knights vs. Dinosaurs has an entertaining, engaging story that will keep readers turning the page. Younger readers may find some of the vocabulary difficult. In order to create the same feel as medieval times, difficult words such as lummox, smote, peruse, and inscrutable are used. This is the perfect book for reluctant readers who want to fall into a fabulously funny story.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When the knights leave the cave, a dinosaur “snatched him up in its mighty jaws. The beast lifted Bors twenty feet off the ground and shook him like a puppy’s chew toy. Fortunately, Bors’s armor held.” When the Black Knight enters the fight, “a broadsword to the lower leg made the creature toss Bors aside.”
  • The knights see a group of dinosaurs and the “attacking cows” stampede. “Erec was knocked aside. Bors tripped over Erec’s leg. His sword flew straight up, then came back down. Bors, eyes bulging, shifted just as the sword struck the ground an inch from his chest.” The knights retreat.
  • When two of the knights begin arguing, another knight tries to break up the argument but “was kicked in the shin for his effort. So he kicked back instead. They pushed. They slapped. They fell over. It was clanging and awkward.”
  • When Erec sees a dinosaur, he charges it with his lance. “The creature charged. Erec charged. His lance hit the creature directly between the eyes. The beast grunted, veering off to the side.” The battle is described in words and pictures over four pages. At one point, the creature “scooped him off the ground. It shook him once, twice, three times, then tossed him aside like a twig.”
  • One of the knights sees a group of dinosaurs that look like chickens. He assumes they are friendly, but one of them “locked its little jaws around Hector’s finger, clamping down hard with a row of tiny razor-sharp teeth.” Hector hits the dinosaurs with a book, but then “even more appeared. . . Hector tripped and was instantly set upon by the tiny, vicious cuties. They scratched, nibbled and pecked at the noble knight.”
  • A knight sees a dinosaur, and the two “squared off. They burst into action at the same moment, bludgeoning and punching, biting and kicking.” The two fight until a bigger, fighting dinosaur appears. Both the knight and the dinosaur run into the woods.
  • The knights take a swim in a lake. Suddenly, “The lake erupted beneath them as an enormous serpent broke the surface . . . the serpent dived for Erec.” The knights battle the serpent over the course of five pages. One of the knights throws a rock, and “it sailed straight to Magdelena’s hand, and in one smooth movement she brought it down on the serpent’s head. The creature ceased its struggle instantly and sank below the surface, down to the depths.”
  • A flying lizard grabs a knight and takes her to its nest. The knight almost becomes food for a newborn dinosaur.
  • The knights work together to fight a T-Rex. “Erec was the first to find himself lifted several feet off the ground. His armor kept the teeth from puncturing his vital organs, but the pressure of the monster’s bite was tremendous . . .” The battle is described in words and in pictures over ten pages. In the end, Sir Bors “brought his sword down on the monster’s foot . . .He swung one powerful fist in a precisely placed uppercut. The punch connected. The terrible lizard’s eyes crossed . . .” The dinosaur topples over and the knights escape. To prove that they battled the dinosaur, a knight “grabbed a single tooth and pulled and pulled and tore it right out of the king’s gum. It opened its mouth in a roar of pain.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • The Black Knight takes off her helmet for the first time, and “wine was spit out in surprise.”

Language

  • Occasionally the knights call each other names including “dunderhead” and “oaf.” One knight is called a “bookworm.”

Supernatural

  • When Merlin sends the knights on a quest, they enter a cave and are magically transported into another time period.
  • Some believe that Merlin has an enchanted owl that writes and draws. Two knights argue about if an owl can write. One replies, “Merlin enchanted us to this wretched place. I should think he could manage to teach an owl to draw.” The ending of the book shows the owl working on a book.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Speak

Instead of looking forward to starting high school, Melinda is dreading it. She attended an end-of-the-summer party, which got busted after she called the cops. Now she is an outcast. Her friends, and even random strangers, hate her. Something terrible happened at the party. And one day, Melinda will speak about the terrible events. And that will change everything.

Because Speak is written in the first person, Melinda’s personality comes to life. Although Melinda often is sarcastic, the pain and uncertainty she feels come through. The reader knows that something terrible has happened to Melinda, and they know it has to do with “IT” and the end-of-the-summer party. However, the reader is left in suspense until the end of the story, when the horrible events of the party are revealed—Melinda was raped.

Melinda is dealing with some heavy issues—parents who only talk to her through sticky notes, feelings of depression, and the overwhelming desire to have someone like her. Speak focuses on Melinda’s struggle to understand what happened to her. At one point she questioned, “Was I raped?” When Melinda finally tells a friend about her experience, Melinda is accused of being a liar. And because no one knows what happened, Melinda’s rapist is able to continue to terrorize her. Although the story is told in a realistic manner and is teen-friendly, the events in the book may still be upsetting to some readers.

Much of the story focuses on Melinda’s inner dialogue, which allows the reader to understand her thoughts and feelings. Many of the adults in the story just don’t know how to deal with Melinda’s problems, which makes it harder for Melinda to talk. Even as Melinda struggles to speak, the message of the story is clear— “don’t expect to make a difference unless you speak up for yourself.” Melinda’s story will have a major impact on readers. Speak will be remembered long after you finish reading it.

Sexual Content

  • The school board decides to change the school mascot because “Home of the Trojans didn’t send a strong abstinence message, so they have transformed us into the Blue Devils. Better the Devil you know than the Trojan you don’t, I guess.”
  • While watching the cheerleaders, Melinda thinks, “the cheerleaders are much better at scoring than the football team is.”
  • Melinda thinks the cheerleaders “have parties wild enough to attract college students. . . They rent beach houses in Cancun during Spring Break and get group-rate abortions before prom.”
  • During biology class, the class laughs when the teacher says the word “reproduce” because “they have figured out it is related to sex.”
  • Melinda’s friend has a model shoot and Melinda thinks that her friend’s, “goosebumps are bigger than her boobs.” During the shoot, “the photographer keeps saying ‘Sexy, sexy, very cute. . . think boys.”
  • At lunch, a group of girls talks about a boy who is gorgeous and dangerous. One of the girls said, “Rumor—he sleeps with anything.”
  • When the school changes the mascot, the cheerleaders come up with a new cheer, “We are the hornets, horny, horny hornets.” During the cheer, they wiggle and shake. When the cheer makes it on the television, “the TV sports guy thought the song was cute, so he did a segment showing the ‘Hornet Hustle,’ with the cheerleaders shaking their stingers, and the crowd bumping and grinding their horny Hornet heinies.”
  • Melinda sees a girl kiss a boy in the hall, the girl “smiles and then she kisses him wet. Not a Girl Scout kiss.”
  • Melinda tells her friend about her experience, “I was stupid and drunk and I didn’t know what was happening and then he hurt . . . he raped me.” Melinda’s friend thinks she is a liar.
  • On the bathroom wall, someone writes that a boy “should get it (diprosomething) every morning in his orange juice I went out with him to the movies—he tried to get his hands down my pants during the PREVIEWS!”
  • When Melinda’s friend goes to the prom with a boy, he “was all over her with his hands and his mouth.” Melinda’s friend ditched the guy.

Violence

  • While on the school bus, someone throws a Ho-Ho and it hits Melinda in the back of the head.
  • During a pep assembly, a girl yells at Melinda, and then “the girl behind me jams her knees into my back. They are as sharp as her fingernails. . . The girl yanks my hair.”
  • While at a party, Melinda meets a boy. When he “pulled me close,” she felt dizzy. “He wrapped one arm around my back. His other hand slid down to my butt. I thought that was a little rude, but my tongue was thick with beer and I couldn’t figure out how to tell him to slow down. . .  He kissed me, man kiss, hard sweet and deep. . . He kissed me again. His teeth ground hard against my lips.” Melinda doesn’t like what is happening but isn’t sure how to stop the boy from continuing. “I can hear myself—I’m mumbling like a deranged drunk. His lips lock on mine and I can’t say anything. I twist my head away. He is so heavy. . . I open my mouth to breathe, to scream, and his hand covers it. . . shirt up, shorts down, and the ground smells wet and dark and NO!. . and he smells like beer and mean and he hurts me hurts me hurts me and gets up and zips his jeans and smiles.”
  • The boy who raped Melinda attacks her at school because “you started spreading lies, and now every girl in school is talking about me like I’m some kind of pervert . . . You are one strange bitch, you know that. A freak.” The boy tries to kiss Melinda, and when she pulls away he, “slams his body against mine. . . He curses and turns, his fist coming, coming. An explosion in my head and blood in my mouth. He hit me.” The attack takes place over three pages. In the end, Melinda breaks a mirror and “wrap my fingers around a triangle of glass. I hold it to Andy Evans’s neck.” Finally, the lacrosse team shows up and helps Melinda.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • While watching television, Melinda’s dad “drops ice cubes in a heavy-bottomed glass and pours in some booze.”
  • Melinda’s ex-friend, “puts a candy cigarette between her lips. Rachelle wants desperately to smoke, but she has asthma.”
  • Melinda friend tells her, “But you just can’t cut classes or not show up to school. What’s next—hanging out with the dopers?”
  • Melinda goes to a party where she and other teens are drinking.
  • During prom season, some kids talk about “which limo company won’t tell if you drink.”

Language

  • Profanity is scattered throughout the book. Profanity includes: bitchy, bullshit, crap, darn, and pissed.
  • “Oh my god” is used as an exclamation several times.
  • A girl calls Malinda an “asshole.”
  • Someone calls a girl a “bitch.”
  • Melinda is upset with a teacher and thinks, “I’m not going to let an idiot teacher jerk me around like this.”
  • According to the writing on the bathroom stall, a girl has pissed off a whole bunch of people. One person wrote in huge letters that she is a whore.
  • Melinda thinks it’s best to stay quiet because “All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie.”
  • When Melinda’s friend tells her they are no longer friends, Melinda tries “to think of something bitchy, something wicked and cruel. I can’t.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Melinda’s “parents didn’t raise me to be religious. The closest we come to worship is the Trinity of Visa, MasterCard, and American Express. I think the Merryweather cheerleaders confuse me because I missed out on Sunday School. It has to be a miracle. There is no other explanation. Howe else could they sleep with the football team on Saturday night and be reincarnated as virginal goddess on Monday?”
  • When Melinda goes to the mall and finds that it is closed, she thinks, “It’s always supposed to be there, like milk in the refrigerator or God.”
  • A girl Melinda knows is “experimenting with Islam. She wears a scarf on her head and some brown-and-red gauzy harem pants.”

The Assassination of Bragwain Spurge

Elf historian Bragwain Spurge accepts a dangerous mission to catapult across the mountains, spy on the goblins, and deliver a peace offering to the goblins’ dark lord. No other elf has returned for the goblins’ land, but Spurge is determined to be the first.

Spurge’s host, goblin archivist Werfel, is excited to show the goblin culture to his guest. Instead of being great friends like Werfel had hoped, Spurge’s snobbish attitude and sneaky ways lead to an international crisis. Soon, the two are fugitives fighting for their lives. But in order to survive, and keep their nations from war, the two will need to put their cultural differences aside and work together.

A unique political story, The Assassination of Bragwain Spurge, is told from three points of view.  Werfel tells his version of events in first-person text; the pride and love he feels for his culture and his people shines throughout the entire story. Lord spymaster Ysoret Clivers writes reports to the elves’ leader, which allows the reader to understand lies that were told to Spurge. Spurge transmits pictures of his side of the story back to the elf kingdom. The beautiful, sometimes hilarious, black-and-white illustrations portray the goblin culture from Spurge’s perspective, often making the goblin world appear frightening.

Spurge’s story begins with illustrations of his travel to the goblin’s city. Because the story is told from three points of view, the same events can be seen through different perspectives, which allows the reader to understand how so many misunderstandings can take place between two people. Spurge portrays the goblins as frightening monsters, who leer at him and have disgusting habits. Despite Spurge’s conceited attitude, Werfel makes an excellent host, who is willing to die for the unlikable, unfriendly guest.

Many readers will relate to Spurge, who was bullied throughout school. Spurge has always been “the weed: unwanted by anyone.” Spurge accepted the dangerous mission because “I thought I would be useful. . . I thought I could be different than I was. I thought I could be one of them.” He is heartbroken when he realizes that he was used. Werfel points out that “just because you’re useful to the wealthy doesn’t mean they’ll reward you. It just means they’ll use you.” Spurge’s heartbreak and hurt make his previous behavior understandable.

Spurge and Werfel are not necessarily heroes, but in the end they band together to help bring peace between their people. The conclusion allows the reader to know that there is always the possibility of peace when two people begin to understand each other’s culture. The action-packed, visually inspiring, and funny tale teaches the value of friendship and understanding others’ perspectives. The Assassination of Bragwain Spurge will draw in readers because of the many illustrations; however, only dedicated readers will make it to the end of the book because of the changing points of views, the complexity of the plot, and the length of the story.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • While giving the history of the goblin city of Tenebrion, Ysoret Clivers writes about twelve elves who went into the city. Only two came back alive, “but raving mad—unable to explain the horrors they’d seen, and not just because their tongues had been cut out. Their minds had been blasted.”
  • When being introduced to a goblin family, the host tells Spurge, “I, for one, am going to try right now to forget all the elves I killed in all sorts of ways during the war, and I am not going to think of all of my friends you people shot and stabbed and cut apart. Oh, and burned from the air. And imprisoned without food.” Another guest tells Spurge, “When most goblins took elfin prisoners, they cut off their arms at the elbow. Not me, sir. . . I always cut off your people’s hands right at the wrists.”
  • When Spurge was a child, the other boys would tease him. Ysoret Clivers and the other boys, “burned his desk with him tied to it . . . (and) dragged him down to the crypt and forced him to eat grave-worms or have his pale little head kicked in.”
  • When Ysoret Clivers displeases the king, a bodyguard cuts off his finger. “He spread my hand out on my desk and, taking out his ax—” By the end of the book, Ysoret Clivers has lost three fingers.  When the third finger is removed, blood splatters the page, but it is not described.
  • Spurge and Werfel are surrounded by bandits, who make the goblin give up his clothes. The bandit grabs Spurge, and “she spit in the elf’s face, then threw him backward to the floor. . . She kicked Spurge as hard as she could. Spurge writhed in pain.” Werfel stops the bandit from killing Spurge. But then “the goblins surrounded them, jabbing at them with short swords and knives, forcing them back toward the balcony railing and the darkness beyond it. . .” The bandits push the two off the balcony, but they are uninjured. The attack is described over a chapter.
  • A goblin challenges Spurge to a duel. The battle is described in 19 pages’ pictures. The goblin attacks Spurge with a mace, but Spurge is able to defeat him.
  • An elf knight hits Werfel’s pet. “One of the guards swung a sword and hit her with the flat. Werfel heard the crunch. Skardebek went whirling over their heads and hit the ground. She lay there twitching as the knights pulled their two prisoners away.
  • Werfel’s pet helps him and Spurge escape from the elves. “She darted forward and clamped herself angrily over the executioner’s hooded face. He gagged and clutched at her. . . Skardebek flapped away—and Spurge slammed the guard over the head with the pike. The man collapsed.”
  • As Werfel and Spurge are trying to escape, a knight sees them. There is a brief altercation. “Werfel grabbed his weapon. He shoved his hand over the man’s mouth. . . Skardebek flapped in his face and he choked. . .” Spurge hit “the guard in the stomach. The picket guard fell backward, the breath knocked out of him.”
  • When the elves and goblins’ leaders meet, a weapon detonates and explodes. The leaders and their armies disappear into a black hole. The meeting is described in pictures.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • To welcome Spurge, the elfin scholar, to the goblin city, a champagne fountain is prepared.

Language

  • When the goblins consider someone a friend, they insult them by calling them names. Spurge calls a neighbor’s children “little jerks” and “awful spawn.”
  • If the goblin’s find out Werfel is a spy, Ysoret Clivers writes that “we can claim that he was just a nincompoop or a madman.”
  • A goblin challenges Spurge to a duel, calling him a “cowardly, lily-livered, stitch-faced desperado.”

Supernatural

  • Spurge uses a communication spell to send pictures back to the elves. “Werfel could tell it was a spell because the elf was floating several inches above the bed, surrounded by crackling sparks.”

Spiritual Content

  • When a group of angry goblins surrounds Spurge and Werfel, Werfel “clenched his hands and started to say a prayer to Great Rugwith.”

Liz’s Night at the Museum

Liz has been dreaming about sleeping over at the Santa Vista Art and History Museum. But when the lights go out, Liz hears spooky noises, and she sees scary shadows. Are the strange sounds and shadows her imagination? What’s causing the noise? Will Liz’s museum sleepover turn into a nightmare?

Adorable artwork appears on almost every page, which helps readers visualize the events in the story. Large type, short sentences, and plenty of dialogue will help newly independent readers stay engaged.  Fun onomatopoeias are scattered throughout the story. Although the story focuses on Liz’s fear, and some of the pictures have a spooky feel, the story is more suspenseful than frightening.

Readers will be able to relate to Liz’s sleepover fear. The illustrations show the character’s emotions, which adds to the suspense. The fast-paced story will keep readers engaged. Several of the events are connected to each other, which helps readers understand the effect of having an active imagination. Despite being part of a series, Liz’s Night at the Museum can be read as a stand-alone book.

Younger readers will enjoy the animals, the friendships, and the artwork. Liz’s Night at the Museum would make an excellent addition to any reading list.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Roar of the Crowd

Manny has always been a star on the soccer team. This year, he has decided to try football instead. Manny is determined to get in the game even though it’s his first year as part of the Hudson City Hornets. Manny doesn’t want to sit on the bench, but compared to the other guys, Manny isn’t big. When he tries to tackle the offense, he ends up eating dirt. When the team loses, the coach sits Manny on the bench. Manny needs to prove that he is as tough as anyone else out on the field. Can he prove to his coach, his teammates, and himself that he belongs on the field?

Sports lovers will enjoy the play-by-play football action, both during the games and on the practice field. Many boys will relate to Manny because even though he is small, he still wants to make an impact on the field. Manny knows he is fast, but he worries because, “the other players had everything that he didn’t have—strength, height, confidence.” Throughout the story, the football players appreciate Manny’s efforts and even consider him part of the team, even though he sat on the bench for the entire game.

Although the story focuses on football, Manny’s family also appears frequently. Manny’s two-parent family is portrayed in a positive light. Manny’s little brother adores him, which adds depth to the family dynamics. One drawback of the story is a brief conversation in which Manny and another boy talk about a girl who is “short but built.” During the conversation, the boy makes it seem as if every girl in school “is after” the star football player. Because many children model behavior in books, parents may want to have a conversation about this event.

The simple plot and easy-to-understand vocabulary make The Roar of the Crowd an easy read for younger readers. Readers will learn the importance of focusing on an individual’s strength and never giving up. However, there are better sports books for younger readers, such as Soar by Joan Bauer or the Ballpark Mystery series by David A. Kelly.

Sexual Content

  • Another boy tells Manny that a girl is “out of your league.” The boy said that she is “after Firorelli” who is a football player. The boy jokes that the girl “can probably run him down faster than you could.” The boy thinks that “every girl in the school seems to be after him (Fiorelli).”

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • When Manny was tackled, he said “crap.”
  • When someone shoved Manny, he said “screw you.”
  • A football player said “crud.”
  • The boys say butt occasionally, such as “Get ready to sprint your butt off, man.” Manny also told his friend that he “ran my butt off.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Manny and his family attend mass on Sunday morning. “But all during the sermon he thought about those kickoffs, how he’d been so overpowered by the blockers.”

 

Midnight Sun

Katie can’t be in the sun. Even the smallest amount of sunlight will cause her great pain because of a rare disease, forcing Katie to sleep during the day and lead an isolated life at night. Her best friend Morgan and her widowed father are her only companions until one night, Katie goes to the train station to play her guitar. As she plays her music, a chance encounter opens her world and her heart.

All-star athlete Charlee Reed thought his life was planned out for him until he met Katie. When he sees Katie playing her guitar, everything changes. He doesn’t know about Katie’s rare disease, but he’s determined to steal her heart.

Midnight Sun’s plot is typical, predictable, and cliché. Despite that, many teens will relate to Katie’s desire to be normal and her struggle to lead a life that matters. Katie’s love interest Charlie—handsome, kind, and generous—is every girl’s dream. The two quickly fall in love and force each other to step out of their comfort zones and follow their dreams.

Midnight Sun follows the same format as The Fault in Our Stars and Me Before You. Romance fans will enjoy this book because of its strong character development. This story encourages readers to follow their dreams and tells them anything is possible. However, the use of cursing and texting abbreviations such as FOMO seems unnecessary. Because of Charlie, Katie seems to accept the progression of her disease and her impending death with little emotion. Although she wonders what death will be like, her acceptance of dying young does not ring true.

Cook missed an opportunity in this novel to focus on the dangers of drinking. Even though Charlie, drunk and foolish, injured himself and lost his scholarship, Charlie still goes to a party and plays beer pong. During the party, drinking to excess is depicted as fun, without much risk. Although this book has some flaws, it is an easy-to-read story that will please readers looking for a character-driven romance.

Sexual Content

  • Katie fantasizes about Charlie. She wishes she could invite him into her room, “Run my fingers through that gorgeous hair. Kiss him.”
  • Morgan is excited that Katie is “meeting up with the guy you’ve lusted after for a decade.” They have a conversation about hooking up. Morgan says, “I am not losing my virginity to a guy I’ve talked to exactly twice in my life.”
  • Charlie and another girl used “to hook up once in a while . . . But it’s not something I’m proud of or want to repeat or anything.”
  • Charlie tells Katie that kids often grind when they dance. Then he shows how it’s done. “He puts a hand on my lower back and starts swaying his hips side to side like a pendulum. I follow his moves.”
  • Charlie kisses Katie. She thinks, “It is pure magic, so everything I ever hoped it would be, I can’t even move or think or breathe for a second. But then instinct kicks in and I feel everything, everything. My nerve endings tingle, my brain is on fire, my heart is a goner.”
  • Charlie and Katie kiss several times. It is described, but not in graphic detail. The first time, “he softly kisses me. He adds just the right amount of lips, tongue, and time.” Later, they kiss again and Katie thinks his lips “taste like sugar and cream and pure goodness . . . I’ve never felt so buzzed on life.”
  • Morgan kisses a boy, but it is not described. Later, Morgan said that she did “make out” with the boy.

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Katie, Morgan, and Charlie go to a party where teens are drinking and playing beer pong. Charlie explains the rules of beer pong and then he and Katie play. Katie doesn’t drink, but her friends do.
  • Katie, Morgan, and Charlie go to a party where the host bought a keg, but doesn’t know how to open it. Morgan complains, “This really is a tame, safe, parent-friendly party!”
  • While playing guitar at the train station, Katie sees a man who “seems drunk.”
  • At a party, someone says, “And that girl over there, she has a prescription drug problem.”
  • When Charlie is drunk, his friend “bet me I couldn’t jump off the roof into the pool and I clipped the edge and I’m an idiot.” He injured himself jumping, which led to him losing his scholarship.

Language

  • Profanity is used often. Profanity includes ass, bitches, crap, damn, jerk, freaking, hell, shit, and WTF.
  • “Goddamn” is used once.
  • Morgan said, “Tonight is going to be fan-fucking-tastic, and so are you!”
  • A girl calls Morgan a “douchebag.”
  • “Oh my God,” is used as an exclamation several times.
  • Morgan tells Katie, “it took gigantic cojones to come to this party.”
  • When Morgan gets her diploma, she “strikes a pose and mouths, Yeah, bitches!”
  • A friend of Katie’s dad “has great stories about what a little pain in the ass my dad was as a kid.”
  • Morgan calls a popular girl a “whore” and “flaming crotch rot.”
  • An advice columnist writes, “everyone has their shit sandwich. The only difference is some people aren’t willing to talk about it.”
  • Morgan tells Katie, “You’re a hot, young, badass woman in charge of her own life, and you text him whenever you damn well please.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Katie wonders what happens after a person dies. She wonders if death is “just you, in the dark, awake and aware. I sincerely hope not, because that would be unnecessarily cruel.”
  • Katie’s mother died in a car crash when she was younger. Katie wonders what happened when her mom died. “Was there a white light, did her grandparents escort her to heaven? Will she get me when it’s my turn? Or will it just be blackness, a big void, a curtain coming down and that’s it, like I never existed at all?”

 

 

 

 

 

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