Icon: AR Test

A Friend for Dragon

At the beginning of the story, Dragon is looking for a friend. When an apple falls from a tree, landing on the lonely dragon, a snake decides to play a trick on Dragon. The snake makes Dragon believe that the apple can talk, but when Dragon takes the apple home, the apple stops talking. The apple’s silence worries dragon who takes him to the doctor. The doctor eats the apple, leaving behind a core that soon rots. Dragon must bury his friend, who he misses deeply. But in the spring, dragon goes for a walk and finds a new apple to be friends with.

Written using simple sentences, with easy vocabulary, A Friend for Dragon is perfect for those transitioning to chapter books. Seven or fewer sentences appear on every page, and every page has colorful pictures that will help readers visualize the plot and bring Dragon’s friendship with the apple into sharp focus. Dragon tells his friend stories, jokes, and even makes him a midnight snack. Dragon also talks about the qualities that make a good friend.

Readers may find A Friend for Dragon entertaining or heartbreaking depending on their unique personalities and experiences. Some readers may think that the snake’s joke is funny because obviously, an apple would not make a good friend. But other readers may walk away saddened by the snake’s joke, especially because Dragon is so lonely. The snake’s joke is never revealed and in the end, Dragon finds a new apple to take his friend’s place. Dragon deeply mourns the loss of the apple and even buries him. An illustration shows Dragon grieving over the apple’s tombstone.

While Dragon is a lovable character, some may find A Friend for Dragon upsetting. Dragon demonstrates the qualities of a true friend, as well as highlights the fact that it is okay to mourn the loss of a friend. The story definitely brings up topics that parents should discuss with their children. A Friend for Dragon has an easy-to-understand plot that many readers will find enjoyable, while others may become saddened by Dragon’s experiences.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Hello, Crabby!

Crabby is NOT happy. Sun is in Crabby’s eyes. Salt is in Crabby’s teeth. Sand is in Crabby’s shell. Plankton tries again and again to cheer Crabby up — with laugh-out-loud results! Will Crabby ever crack a smile? Or will Crabby always be crabby?

Hello, Crabby! is perfect for children who are learning to read. Crabby—the crabby crab—will have readers giggling with his over-the-top grumpiness. Bright colorful artwork appears on every page, showing the character’s emotions through their expressions. Pages are broken into colorful panels, which make it easy for readers to follow along with the plot.

Readers will be drawn to the story because of the bright color and the humorous pictures. But they will also enjoy the storyline as well as the rhyming words that appear throughout the text. The text uses simple sentences and easy vocabulary, and the speech bubbles are color-coded to distinguish each speaker. Each page contains five or fewer sentences, which makes the story assessable to new readers.

Hello, Crabby is not only full of humor, but it also introduces a word with different meanings. The dialogue is full of humor and includes a joke as well as several puns. Readers will fall in love with the cranky crab and laugh as Plankton tries, unsuccessfully, to make Crabby smile. Hello, Crabby! will help beginning readers build confidence as well as instill a love of reading.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Caterpillar Summer

Eleven-year-old Cat is used to taking care of her younger brother, Chicken. She knows that he isn’t like other seven-year-olds. Cat understands that Chicken gets upset easily; He doesn’t like loud noises, tags in his shirt, or being called Henry. Sometimes he acts out, and Cat has become an expert at calming him.

Cat is looking forward to spending three weeks in Atlanta. Unexpectedly their plans change, and Cat and Chicken go to stay with their grandparent that they have never met. She isn’t excited about spending time with her mother’s estranged parents, Lily and Malcon. She doesn’t think they can take care of Chicken as well as she can. But as she adjusts to her grandparents and life on an island, Cat realizes it has been a long time since she has been able to be a kid. The more that she learns about her grandparents, the more she wonders why her grandparents haven’t been a part of her life.

Beautifully written, Caterpillar Summer is written from Cat’s point of view and does an excellent job putting Cat’s emotions into language that younger readers can understand. Her mother works hard to provide for the family, and her father has died, which leaves Cat in charge of her brother. Cat is a remarkably relatable character, who clearly loves her brother, but gets frustrated that she must always watch him. As Cat learns to trust her grandparents to care for Chicken, she is given more freedom and becomes aware of her own needs. Because of her newfound independence, she learns the importance of advocating for herself.

Readers will also love Chicken, who loves sharks and who wants to do things his way. Cat soon learns that her overprotective nature has not allowed Chicken to solve his own problems. And although Chicken needs to be watched over, he also needs to be able to interact with others and solve conflicts on his own. In addition to the lovable characters, the story also has cute black and white illustrations of a chicken and a caterpillar that connect to the characters and help the reader understand the conflict between the two siblings.

The story focuses on family relationships and the misunderstandings that can lead to lasting hurt. The story also hints at the difficulties biracial children encounter. The story is realistic and shows the complicated nature of family relationships. Themes of family love, forgiveness, and friendship are woven through the story. As Cat meets new people, she learns that people are “good and bad, at the same time.” Readers will come away understanding that all people have good qualities and bad qualities.

McDunn uses beautiful language and well-developed realistic characters to create an honest story about families. There are several scenes that are funny, some scenes that are heartwarming, and some that will make readers grab a tissue. Even though the story is written using easy vocabulary and simple sentences, many younger readers may not connect with the story because of the lack of action. If you are interested in action, adventure or fantasy, Caterpillar Summer will not appeal to you. Readers interested in realistic fiction will definitely find Caterpillar Summer worth reading. If you like Caterpillar Summer, you may also want to read Bob by Wendy Mass & Rebecca Stead.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • While at the library, Chicken and another boy get in an argument. The boy’s sister says, “Neddie told me he grabbed Chicken’s book, but Chicken wouldn’t let go. When Neddie lost his grip he smacked himself in the nose with his own hand.”
  • While on the merry-go-round, Chicken falls off and “then a foot thwacked him in the eye. He rolled onto his back.”
  • Cat sees two boys kicking their brother.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Cat’s grandfather tells her, “My plan for your mom’s life did not include a husband and a child, living on the other side of the dadgum country.”
  • Heck is used twice.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Anger is a Gift

Moss Jeffries is anything but an average teenager. Ever since his father was shot by the Oakland police outside their home, Moss has dealt with intense anger issues and constant panic attacks. In addition, Moss has a difficult time going outside because of the kinks of the homosexual community, his popularity amongst protesting groups, and his constant fear of the local police. After meeting Javier on a metro train and falling in love, it seems everything is finally coming together for Moss. He is happy; his friend Esperanza is going to a great school; his mother just received a promotion–life is good.

However, when school starts things begin to change. Due to a lack of school funds and the influence of the local police, Moss and his friends encounter more troubles as they are harassed and berated by the school’s administration. However, after a school cop brutalizes one of Moss’s friends, police-patrolled metal detectors cripple another, and his organized school-wide walkout turns chaotic and deadly, Moss personally takes the fight to the police, gathering a city-wide protest that will change the city, and leave readers with a new sense of community and self-determination.

With its diverse characters, Mark Oshiro paints a brutal yet beautiful picture of problems today’s teens face. The well-developed characters each have their own individual type of problems. Esperanza is adopted and struggles to keep in tune with her own culture. Reg was crippled by a car accident when he was younger. Moss struggles with his anxiety. But Oshiro makes them appear to be real people with their own type of language, jokes, and emotions. Readers will fall in love with these realistic characters and root for them.

Moss has a huge group of friends, and the large cast of supporting characters may confuse some readers. The diverse group of characters gives a wide range of people a voice—the story focuses on minorities and also includes the following: gay characters, non-binary characters, bisexual characters, asexual characters, Muslim characters, undocumented characters, and disabled characters. The one thing that brings these groups together is the social injustice they face.

Anger is a Gift has a rapid and suspenseful plot with a perfect mix of teen society and real-world problems. However, Oshiro pushes the extremes of some of the moral problems today’s young adults face. Told from Moss’s point of view, it allows the reader to get a glimpse of what a person feels when they are faced with PTSD and panic attacks. Moss’s descriptions of his grief and anger, in addition to the brutal descriptions of the senseless acts of violence, can, at times, be hard to read.

Besides detailing the oppression minorities face, Anger is a Gift has a hint of romance. Issues of sexuality, race, ethnicity and class affect each of the characters, while senseless anger and violence threaten them all, killing some and injuring others. This book is not for the faint of heart and is intended for older readers. Nonetheless, Anger is a Gift is a book for those wishing for a new perspective on how police brutality, oppression, and racism affects poor people of color from the author’s perspective. The character development mixed with the book’s brutal, bloody action scenes will leave readers with a different perspective of racism in America.

Sexual Content

  • Ever since they started to date, Javier and Moss make a game out of kissing each other when they see each other. When they see each other, they will peck each other on the cheek. For instance, “Moss kissed him back for just a little bit longer, pushing back against the awkwardness that tried to conquer him. He had never kissed anyone in front of his friends, but he focused on how it made him feel. Warm. Secure. Admired.”
  • Before Moss’s first date with Javier, his mom asks, “You have any condoms?”
  • On their first date at Javier’s apartment, Moss and Javier get intimate. “But Javier pulled Moss to him again, only this time they faced each other, and Javier brought them back down on the couch. He wrapped his leg around Moss’s and squeezed his hand. Moss felt moisture and thought his palms had started sweating again, but it was Javier’s sweat this time. Moss went still, and he could feel Javier’s heart beating against his chest. It was racing even faster than Moss’s was. The two enjoyed the warmth of each other’s bodies. . .” They do not have intercourse.
  • On a brunch date, Moss asks Javier, “Maybe you just wanted me for sex. We’re gay men. That’s not exactly an unbelievable suggestion.”
  • While escaping the chaos after the school walkout, Moss suggests that they escape out the back of the school through the hallway down by the science labs “where the football players always take their girlfriends to make out.”
  • After Javier’s death, Moss remembers him, thinking about how much he loved Javier, “The way you kissed my jaw. The way sweat ran down your chest. The feel of the muscles in your arm, the scent of your breath, the blackness of your hair, the curled smile.”

Violence

  • Wanda tells Moss that she stopped protesting after she saw a cop that had previously threatened her “standing over your father’s body.”
  • After finding drugs in Shawna’s locker, “Hull’s arm shot out, hard, and his forearm hit the spot just below Shawna’s throat, and the man pinned Shawna against a locker, her back hitting the metal so hard that it buckled. Moss dropped his lock on the ground, heard it clatter against the tile, and Shawna tried to yelp.” Shawna is epileptic and falls to the ground, shaking, as students gather around them. This scene takes place over four pages.
  • After the metal detectors are installed in the school, Reg refuses to go through due to the six metallic pins in his knee. One of the officers shoves him through, and “Reg didn’t make it through. His right knee jerked to the side and the metal detector seemed to respond to Reg. Thrum! His body hit the frame hard, hard enough that it made a hollow ringing like a steel drum, and Moss saw that Reg’s breath had been knocked out of him. As his hands went to his chest, Njemile and Kaisha shouted, scrambling to reach their friend as he doubled over, his arms shooting out to the ground to catch himself.” Reg goes to the hospital and has to go through surgery and physical therapy. This scene takes place over eight pages.
  • After their school-wide student walk-out turns chaotic, Moss and his friends seek shelter in a nearby room to plan their escape. A cop finds them and uses the infamous Mosquito weapon – a weaponized sonic sound used to disperse crowds of teenagers. After being blasted by the sound, “Chandra threw up. It was violent, loud, and her wrenching caused Sam to do the same, and it was in their hair, all over the floor.” Moss and some of his friends remain uninjured while Chandra and Sam go unconscious. This scene lasts over two pages.
  • During the same walkout, Javier is shot by Officer James Daley. “The beet-faced cop had a gun trained on Javier. And then he fired. it wasn’t the first time Moss had heard the pop of a gunshot. Nor was it the first time he’d heard the sickening sound of the air leaving someone’s body. The sound that meant the worst. Javier curled into himself; his brown hands jerked up to his chest, and blood squirted out between his fingers. Moss screamed, again and again, and pitched himself forward as Javier crumpled to the ground, the life too quickly draining out of him.” Javier dies, Mr. Jacobs and Moss are beaten, and many of the students are sent to the hospital. This scene takes place over three pages.
  • Moss’s city-wide protest turns chaotic after the militarized Oakland PD uses a Silent Guardian, an infamous heat ray, against the protestors. The narrator describes the Silent Guardian in action saying, “The antenna on the top of the box would move sluggishly, and as soon as it seemed to be pointing at someone, that person would drop to the ground. Hands scraped at skin. People clawed at their faces, into the side of a car, trying to escape the sensation that Martin had described to him, and she lay still on the ground.” Many protestors are sent to the hospital, Haley dies, and Moss’s mother almost dies. Moss and his friends’ wounds are described later. “He watched Kaisha and Reg sit as still as they could, saw the sweat on Reg’s bloody face, felt his own pulse pounding in his head.” This scene takes place over fourteen pages.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • During Shawna’s locker check, Officer Hull finds drugs in her locker. Moss describes the encounter saying, “Hull held a Ziplock bag up in the air, and Moss’s heart dropped. White pills. Lots of them.” They are Shawna’s epilepsy medication.

Language

  • Typically, characters use profanity in the heat of the moment. Profanity is used infrequently but includes phrases like “dickwad,” “piss,” “jerk,” “ass,” every variation of “shit,” derogatory terms, and “assholes.”
  • When Reg is trying to go through the metal detectors for the first time, someone shouts “Hurry up, dickwad!”
  • Before shooting Javier, James Daley snarls, “You little shits never learn.”
  • After Javier’s death, Moss gets angry and yells at Esperanza, “I hate your mother, and if her nosy, white savior ass hadn’t called Mr. Elliot, Javier might be alive today.”
  • During the Oakland Police Department’s press conference at the end, somewhere near the back of the crowd, someone yells out “Bullshit!”
  • Afnan describes Mr. Jacobs when he says, “That man was a smug asshole…I bet no one has ever told him otherwise”.
  • During Moss’s protest, Martin hands him an empty bottle and says, “You’re gonna have to take a mean piss eventually.”
  • After slipping on a canister, James Daley falls and Reg shouts out, “Did you see that jerk hit the ground?”
  • During the discussion amongst friends after Javier’s death, Kaisha suggests, “Do you think the cops aren’t capable of just making shit up?”
  • Moss reflects on his father’s death when he says, “Months of those Piedmont assholes teasing me at school, telling me he deserved it because he was a thug and the streets were cleaner without him.”
  • Racist terms are used throughout the book, and the characters’ skin colors come up a lot. One time during a discussion about what to do about the metal detectors, a man in the audience steps up and says, “You call a spade a spade.” Another time, when thinking about Javier, Moss thought to himself, “Oh god, he thought, that makes me sound so white.”
  • “Oh my god” and “Oh god” are used as exclamations.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Matthew Perkey

Night of the Zombie Zookeeper

Welcome to Kersville, a town with a spooky history and a collection of ghosts and spirits who are major mischief-makers. Most kids spend their days without ever seeing or dealing with a ghost, but some kids get stuck with a haunt. When that happens, they call Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol. There’s no job too spooky, icky, or risky for Desmond.

Andres Miedoso is not like that at all. He’s Desmond’s best friend and ghost patrol partner. Desmond Cole and he are excited to go on a field trip to the zoo. They have planned out each and every exhibit they want to go to. They want to make sure they see all the animals. When the field trip day comes, they head to the back of the zoo. But when they see a zombie feeding the giraffes, their plan goes out the window. Instead of enjoying the animals, they’re chasing a zombie.

When it comes to Desmond Cole and Andres, they are opposites. Desmond wants to chase after the zombie, while Andres wants to run in the other direction. Readers will love the two boys who chase the zombie around the zoo. The story has suspense, humor, and a little bit of gross factor—the zombie accidentally dumps goo on Andres. Even though the story features a zombie, it is not scary. Instead, Desmond and Andres discover that zombies make great zookeepers. After all, zombies “don’t mind cleaning up the really stinky number twos! Also, zombies are never grossed out by the slimy, icky food they have to feed the animals.”

Night of the Zombie Zookeeper is the fourth installment in the Desmond Cole series, however, none of the books need to be read in order. The story is told in nine short chapters with easy-to-read vocabulary which is perfect for emerging readers. A black-and-white illustration appears on almost every page. The often humorous illustrations use exaggerated facial expressions so readers can tell what the characters are feeling. Readers will laugh as Desmond and Andres find themselves in unexpected situations. Readers who enjoy Night of the Zombie Zookeeper should also try the Notebook of Doom series by Troy Cummings.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • A zombie goes underneath water without scuba gear.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Simon Thorn and the Viper’s Pit

Simon Thorn recently discovered that he is an Animalgam, a secret race of people who can change into animals. Now Simon is going to school at a secret Animalgam academy, which is hidden under the Central Park Zoo. Even though Simon does not get along with his newly discovered Animalgam brother, he makes some true friends as he learns about his new power and learns how to fight.

But life still has challenges. Simon’s evil grandfather, Orion, killed Simon’s uncle and took his mother captive. Orion wants to rule over all Animalgams, but to do so, he needs to find all of the pieces of the predator—a terrible weapon that will change the Animalgam world forever. In order to stop this, Simon is determined to find his mother and the pieces of the predator. Simon and his friends head across the country, battling not only the bird kingdom but rogue Animalgams as well. Can Simon and his friends work together to overcome dangerous enemies, torn loyalties, and unexpected setbacks?

Simon Thorn and the Viper’s Pit has the same cast of characters as the first book in the series and adds a few interesting new characters. Each character has their own unique ability, which allows them to work as a team to get out of dangerous situations. As the kids race across the country, they must avoid the bird kingdom as well as other mammals. This conflict adds non-stop action that involves more running away than actual fighting. At one point along the way, Simon is told, “Life is hard, and it changes in ways we don’t want or expect. Running away isn’t the answer. We have to find the good in what we have, and we have to appreciate it. Otherwise you’re never going to be happy no matter where you are.”

Simon and Winter, who are the most developed characters, add an interesting contrast. Simon is an extremely likable character, who has compassion for others and wants to do what is right. On the other hand, Winter’s prickly personality and insecurities are more consistent with a rebellious teenager. Simon and the others stick by Winter’s side even though she is at times difficult to deal with. The friends’ interactions highlight the importance of individuality and accepting yourself. After all, “When it comes to you, the only opinion that matters is your own.”

Aimee Carter brings the complex Animalgam’s world into sharp focus as she creates well-developed characters that are unique. The action-packed sequel to Simon Thorn and the Wolf’s Den is just as amazing as the first book. Readers will enjoy the non-stop action and will root for Simon and his friends as they try to defeat an evil villain. Simon Thorn and the Viper’s Pit takes the reader on an exciting adventure that focuses on friendship, loyalty, and family. Readers will not be able to stop turning the pages of the Simon Thorn series, so make sure you have the next book in the series, Simon Thorn and the Shark’s Cave.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • After a boy makes mean remarks, Simon “launched himself at the bigger boy with a feral cry. Garrett fell, his elbows knocking against the wooden floor with a hard crack. Simone scrambled over him trying to pin his legs and arms, but before he could get any kid of grip, Garrett began to shift.” Garrett turns into a mountain lion, shoves Simon, and taunts him. “Simon wheezed, struggling to breathe as his vision went red.” Simon’s uncle, in wolf form, appears and, “tackled the mountain lion, sending Garrett flying.” The fight then ends. The fight scene takes place over three pages.
  • During a school match, Nolan changes into a wolf, and “in a flurry of fur and teeth, Nolan snarled and jumped, his paws landing against Jam’s chest as they fell to the ground. Jam’s glasses flew off into the sand, and Nolan bared his teeth an inch from Jam’s throat. While he didn’t bite him, Jam winced with pain, and Simon noticed the wolf’s claws digging deep into Jam’s black uniform.” Jam’s shirt is ripped, but he is not injured. Simon jumps in and stops the fight.
  • When a man tries to capture Simon, he aimed “a swift kick at Perrin’s knee before taking a sharp turn into the park. Perrin howled with pain.” Simon is able to run away.
  • When Perrin grabs Simon, Simon’s mouse, Felix, helps him. “Simon turned his head just in time to see Felix sink his teeth into the soft space between Perrin’s thumb and finger. With a cry, Perrin released his grip, snatching his hand away.” One of Simon’s friends turns into a snake, and Perrin “snatched the snake out of the air and hurled her against the wall. She hit the brick with a sick crack, and there was a loud ringing in Simon’s ears as panic overtook him.” Simon is able to escape, and he takes the unconscious snake with him.
  • Simon is on a train that makes a stop. While Simon is walking, “he was pulled through the door and off the train, spilling out onto the cold, dark platform. Simon fought his abductor with all his might, kicking and yelling into the warm palm stifling his cries for help. He struggled against the unyielding grip that held him in place on the platform, but it was no use.”
  • When Perrin again tries to capture Simon, “the humans formed a ring around Simon and his friends, and the adults began to shift. . . Talons clawed at fur, teeth ripped out feathers, and in the midst of it all, Simon saw the woman leap from the dusty street toward Perrin, shifting into a red fox in midair.” Perrin is able to escape uninjured, but when he comes back, Simon turns into an eagle and attacks. Simon “caught Perrin’s wing and dragged him back toward the brawl in town. . . he flung Perrin’s delicate bird body toward a waiting coyote. . . But at last Perrin spread his wings, catching a current before the coyote could take a bite out of him.” Perrin flees and Simon is safe.
  • When Malcom goes to get Simon and his friends, some of the mammals try to stop them. Malcom shifts into a wolf, and a man pulls a gun. “But before his fingers could curl into claws, Jam appeared behind Keval and kicked him between the legs. Hard. Keval cried out and dropped the gun. . .a cottonmouth snake struck Keval’s exposed ankle with a hiss, and a shiny black spider appeared on his collar and sank her fangs into his neck.” Keval collapses, and the kids are able to escape.
  • When a man catches Simon, he “pulled a long knife with a jagged edge and rested it against Simon’s throat. . . He could feel the sharp edge of the blade pressing against his skin, only a slip away from opening an artery, and the fiery knot in his chest constricted.”
  • Simon’s mother tries to keep Orion from hurting Simon. “His mother slammed into Orion, and together they tangled as they half flew, half fell. . . Simone spotted a figure he thought might be a golden eagle crumpled on the ground.”
  • Malcom finds the reptiles that are holding Simon and his friends captive. The reptiles hand the kids over to Celeste, and “In a flurry of howls and growls, the mammals shifted and launched themselves at the reptiles. . . Celeste yanked Simon backward toward the elevators. He stumbled and tried to grab hold of a nearby couch to resist, but Celeste dragged him to the doors and jabbed the button. . . an armadillo and a badger raced towards them, and they too jumped onto the wolf’s back. Celest screamed, and Simon darted past her and down the corridor.”
  • A man turns into a poisonous snake and bites Simon’s friends. When he corners Simon, someone hits the man, whose “expression went blank, and seemingly in slow motion, crumpled to the floor.” Simon’s friends are given the antidote.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Another student calls Simon a “birdbrain.”
  • Twice someone is called a “jerk.”

Supernatural

  • The story revolves around Animalgams, “a human who could not only talk to animals, but developed the ability to turn into one, too.” This ability is passed down by family. “Nearly all Animalgams could only shift into a single animal, and they belonged to one of the five Animalgam kingdoms: mammals, birds, insects, reptiles, or underwater creatures.” Nolan and Simon are special, they can shift into any animal.

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

 

 

Neverwas

Neverwas continues the story of Sarah and Jackson in Amber House, who are not quite the same people. History has shifted thanks to Sarah’s successful rescue of her brother and aunt. As a result, this Sarah’s parents are happily married. There are other changes too, some good and some bad. Jackson’s aunt Ruth is dying. Hathaway’s mother never left him. Sarah’s best friend no longer exists.

The small changes Sarah understands, but there are deeper changes as well from farther back in history. The American Revolution failed. Nazi Germany won the war. North America is split into three countries, with Amber House located in the Confederate-like country where slavery has only recently been abolished.

How could saving her brother and aunt have caused such large changes to history? It makes no sense, and Sarah doesn’t want to fix it. She doesn’t believe that she can fix it. Together, she and Jackson start to unravel what happened—Jackson eagerly, Sarah unwillingly. Together they realize where history went wrong, and that it’s up to them to fix it, again.

Neverwas is a strong second book in the Amber House series. Though it lacks the beautiful imagery that made the first book a delight, Neverwas is based on an interesting “what-if” concept that will hook readers. The story explores what might have happened if the American Revolution failed, and the ripple effects it would have on world history; these changes keep the story interesting enough to keep the pages turning. The authors also did a wonderful job developing the alternate-Sarah. Sarah is still clearly herself, yet there are changes to her personality and how she views the world, changes that are there due to the fact that her parents are happily married, her aunt is alive, and other small alterations to her past.

This Sarah is not as likable as the Sarah in book one. The Neverwas Sarah is not as strong, she can be frivolous and clueless, and she would rather bury her head in the sand than try to change history again. But with Jackson and her brother urging her on, she does a commendable job of pulling herself up by her bootstraps, and in the end, she does all she can to rectify history and bring a better future. Overall, Neverwas has a theme of helping others, even when the cost to yourself may be great.

 Sexual Content

  • When a boy sees that he and Sarah are under the mistletoe, “his lips softly brushed my cheek.”
  • In an echo of the past, Sarah sees two people whose “lips met in a kiss that made me look away.”
  • In another echo, “A man had Maeve pinned against the wall. She was struggling to get away from him, but he had her arm twisted up behind her back. He kissed her. Hard. A possessive, violent gesture.” She is rescued, and tells him, “I should kill you, Ramsay. Just know if I ever see you on my property again, I will shoot first and swear you tried to rape me later.”
  • Jackson kisses Sarah once. “His lips met mine. Gently—so gently—but also fiercely. As if this belonged to him. As if he had waited for it. As if there was nothing in the world but that kiss. It could have lasted forever and it would have ended too soon. My first kiss.”

Violence

  • Deirdre finds a female slave who was “a tumble of limbs, her face battered and bloody.”
  • Sarah lives in an alternate world where Nazi Germany won the war and still exists. She is furious when a Nazi comes to her family’s Christmas party. “In seventy-five years, the Nazis had wiped out all the Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, and disabled people in Europe.”
  • Jackson hits his head and has a seizure as a result. “He got to his feet abruptly, bumping his head hard against the mantel. He lifted his hand to his temple and brought away fingers wet with blood. Then his head jerked backward as he crumpled to the floor…his left arm and leg began to shake, and a trickle of blood oozed from his nose.”
  • A racist man asks Jackson, “What happened to you, boy? Half a lynching?”
  • Jackson and Sarah are attacked. “Jaeger raised a hand, and a blade into view. He stabbed it into Jackson. I saw the crimson of blood spreading all around the wound.” Sarah later shoots Jaeger. “Jaeger staggered back, sinking to one knee, his hand clapped to his shoulder. He brought his hand away to see; it was covered with blood.”
  • When a Nazi tries to stab a Jew, another man’s “hand came up and slammed into the Reichsleiter’s face…then [the Reichsleiter’s] face sank into the circle of backs surrounding him. The crowd seemed to swallow him. His protests ceased. The thud of blows continued.”
  • A man tries to kill Nyangu. “She reached out with claws and slashed his face…She grabbed the door frame and leapt up, jamming her bent legs forward to hit the Captain’s midsection with her heels. He doubled over, gasping, and she jerked loose, scrabbling up and away.”
  • When the Captain tries to kill her, Nyangu throws a sack of poisonous spider eggs at him. The spiders hatch, and “I saw tiny spiders swarming his face. Hundreds of them. More. They filled the claw marks down the cheek. They crawled along the lashes of his staring eyes.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Sarah describes a bow of hers as, “hanging drunkenly to one side.”
  • A boy teasingly asks Sarah if she has “been sampling too much eggnog” when she spaces off.
  • In an echo, Sarah sees a man who “wavered slightly on his feet, and I understood he was drunk.”

Language

  • “God,” “Good Lord,” and other variations are used as exclamations frequently. For example, Sarah’s mother says, “Oh, my God.” Another time Rose exclaims, “Lordy, child.”
  • “Holy Jesus” is used once. A man says, “Holy Jesus, I just about lost my lunch looking at you.”
  • A boy calls himself a “git.”
  • “Damn it” is used twice. A sheriff yells, “Stop, dammit! You come back here.”
  • Sarah’s brother tells her, “You always get the crappy fortunes.”
  • “Bitch” is used in a poem once, referring to a dog. “A restless hound intent to make her bed…one chance there is to bring this bitch to heel.”
  • When a Jew calls a Nazi a murderer and grabs his arm, the Nazi says, “Unhand me, you filthy Jew.”
  • A news report in a Confederate-like state says, “The only known casualty is a negro youth who is presumed to have set the blaze.”

Supernatural

  • Sarah can see visions of things that happened in Amber House’s past when she touches items from its past, such as a doorknob or Christmas ornament. They are called echoes.
  • Jackson can see pieces of the future and different possible futures.
  • Sarah can feel where Jackson is, even when she cannot see him. She can use this strange sense of “Hotter, Colder” to find him.
  • Sarah finds an evil coin that a man used to change the future. “It seemed almost to squirm. My mind’s eye exploded with telescoping images…I felt possessed, attacked…violence surrounded them, every form of corruption, every kind of death, and I was drowning in it.”

Spiritual Content

  • Sarah’s family goes to a Catholic church service. The service itself is described very briefly; the morning is treated more like a social outing.
  • A girl says, “Merciful Lord” and “crossed myself to ward off evil,” when she finds a nearly dead woman.
  • A little girl says she doesn’t like the story of Pandora or of Eve from the Bible. Her grandmother says, “I used to think that too, Annie. But then I thought, what if we should be grateful to Pandora and Eve instead of blaming them? What if they did exactly what God wanted them to do—to choose choice itself? To bring change and chance into an orderly world.”
  • Sarah has her fortune told by a woman who says she is Catholic. The woman owns The New Dawn Metaphysical Bookshop and says, “Person can’t help it if she can see things other people can’t.”
  • Sarah’s aunt says, “Maybe God is an artist. He saw something deeper. And you must be here to help Him lay it bare.”

by Morgan Lynn

The Prince Problem

Prince Telmund loves to read fables. But in every fable, the oldest children are always bullies. That’s why Telmund was just a little upset when his youngest brother was born. One day, Telmund was racing around, trying to keep his little brother out of trouble, when a nasty witch accused Telmund of being a bully. In an effort to teach Telmund a lesson, the witch cursed him. Now, every time he falls asleep, he will transform into a different type of animal.

Princess Amelia doesn’t care for fairy tales, but she loves facts. The practical princess has a wide range of skills, but none of them will help her escape the ball her parents have planned. Her idealistic parents want Amelia to choose her future husband. Amelia’s parents believe in love at first sight and happily ever after’s. Amelia knows that bad things happen. That’s why she isn’t surprised when Prince Sheridan has her kidnapped.

When Prince Telmund discovers that Princess Amelia is in trouble, he vows to save the princess. But how can a dreamer prince with no skills save the day? Is there any way the two can work together and defeat the dangerous Prince Sheridan?

The Prince’s Problem is a fun, imaginative twist on a fairy tale that has interesting, well-developed characters. When Telmund changes into different animals, he understands that he has the instinct of the animal, and although he understands this, he cannot ignore the animal instincts. Seeing the world through the animal’s point of view adds interest and humor to the story. When Telmund discovers a princess in trouble, he’s determined to help despite his transformations. Telmund wanted to be “like the heroes in stories, who do brave deeds, who help those in need, who keep trying and never give up, and who are unmindful of what danger they might get into if they do the right thing.”

Amelia is not a typical princess. Instead of dresses and jewels, she’s interested in learning about facts. Although she is unconscious for the first part of the story, when she finally awakens, she comes across as a bit bossy. However, as the story progresses, she learns to respect Telmund despite his idealistic nature. When Amelia and Telmund interact, comical misunderstandings and mayhem arise.

In the end, both Amelia and Telmund learn the importance of understanding others, and that “it is unfair to make judgments based on appearance.” Unlike most fairy tales, the prince and the princess must work together. They must use both facts and fairy tale bravery in order to save each other. Although the story is a bit predictable, reading The Prince’s Problem is enjoyable because of the unique aspects of Amelia and Telmund. For those wanting a fresh look at a fairy tale, The Prince’s Problem will entertain and delight.

Sexual Content

  • A prince that wants to marry Princess Amelia, “gave her a light kiss on the throat as though to seal the bargain. She knew that—in the way of marriages arranged for diplomacy and alliances—there often was a big difference in the ages between the partners. The knowledge didn’t help. Prince Sheridan was her parents’ age, and his intentionally menacing yet flirtatious manner was unsettling. She rubbed her wrist over the spot as though she could wipe the kiss away.”

Violence

  • When Telmund is a rat, floating down a river, a boy begins throwing stones at him.
  • When Telmund is a rabbit, a cat chases him, but Telmund is able to hide under a log. “Telmund pressed his back to the space where ground and log met, and ducked his head. The claws touched his whiskers, but not enough to catch hold of him. The cat hissed and scratched at the dirt.” A fairy saves Telmund.
  • Amelia is outside the castle when “she heard the crunch of a footstep behind her. Before she could turn, someone had one arm around her waist and the other around her neck, with his hand over her so that she couldn’t scream—his dirty, foul-smelling hand. No, it was a dirty, foul-smelling cloth that someone was holding over her face.” The cloth had Henbane on it, which caused Amelia’s, “senses swirled dizzying, and the last thing she was aware of was her legs collapsing under her.”
  • While riding in the back of a wagon, Amelia sees Telmund, and she assumes he is a villain. “She shoved, and he toppled off the edge of the wagon and onto the road, headfirst. He didn’t get back up. Amelia hoped, in a fuzzy sort of way, that she hadn’t killed him—even if he was a villain.”
  • When Telmund is a chicken, someone “slipped a sack over his head” intending to eat him.
  • Amelia smacked Telmund on the arm.
  • Amelia is able to escape her captors, but when she is in the forest, she saw a man and began to run. “The man ran after her. Still hiding in the water, Telmund could hear the scuffle. It was short-lived. The man came back into view, holding Princess Amelia under his arm as though she were a sack of onions. Amelia kicked and slapped at his arms and legs, and used words most princesses would not.”
  • One of Amelia’s captors “took hold of her by the hair, not exactly yanking, but not gently, either, and pulled her head back.”
  • As Amelia and Telmund are trying to find their way back to the castle, a person catches Telmund. The man clapped “a hand over his mouth as though to prevent him from calling out . . . in another moment Telmund’s senses swam—probably something to do with the fact that it wasn’t an empty hand held over his mouth but a cloth with a familiar smell.”
  • Amelia’s captor “grabbed hold of her by the hair, and this time it could only be called roughly.”
  • When a dragon appears, Amelia’s captor lets go of her and “shoved Amelia at the dragon. She stumbled to her knees, sliding forward on the ground, her outstretched and still-bound hands making contact with the dragon scales. . .” Everyone runs off. Amelia is not injured.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Several times, Henbane was used to make someone unconscious.

Language

  • A man calls Telmund’s brother a “clumsy oaf.”
  • A villain calls his companion a “dunderhead,” a “dolt,” a “twit,” and “pudding head.”
  • A villain calls his companion “mush-for-brains.”
  • Amelia says Telmund has “porridge for brains.”
  • A lord calls someone an “incompetent fool.”

Supernatural

  • A witch puts a spell on Telmund, which causes him to transform into different animals. A fairy tells him, “I can see the spell you’re under. Every time you fall asleep, you’ll wake up as something else. Every other time, it’s your natural form.”

Spiritual Content

  • When Telmund changes into a chicken, someone captures him. “Telmund wondered if it was God saying to him, Tell ME the only thing chickens are good for is eating. I spent time creating them, you know, same as I created you.”
  • A cook tells Amelia, “God be with you.”

The Escapades of Clint McCool

Walter wants everyone to call him Clint McCool. He’s always thinking of new ideas. Clint McCool tries to stay out of trouble, but some days trouble seems to find him. Clink McCool’s two friends Marco and ML are coming over after school. As they are walking home, Clink McCool and his friends stumble across a sci-fi movie set. Clink McCool is determined to find a way to be the star of the show. With Clink McCool’s six-button hat, which brings him special pretend powers, Clint McCool knows he can help make the Octo-Man’s movie even better. But he ends up ruining some of the movie props and angering his friends. Is there any way Clint McCool can still save the day?

Readers will relate to Clint McCool as he goes on his escapades. Clint McCool always has new ideas. “Zing, zong, zing. Brain Flash!” But other people don’t always appreciate his great ideas. Clint McCool seems to get into trouble even when he’s trying to help. In one afternoon, he upsets his teacher, his mother, his two best friends, and the crew of the Octo-Man movie. As he goes on his adventures, blue and white comic-style illustrations bring the story to life.

Clint McCool has a hard time concentrating and focusing on one idea. A member of the film crew tells Clint McCool that if he doesn’t focus on one idea, “You won’t get anything done. Don’t let your ideas run wild. Be their boss.”

The story also highlights the importance of forgiving each other. Even though readers will find humor in Clint McCool’s outrageous escapades, parents may find his behavior obnoxious. Clint McCool is self-centered, doesn’t listen to anyone, and has a habit of destroying things (film props and his friend’s shirt). Even though he repeatedly sneaks onto the movie set and destroys props, in the end, he is forgiven and given a small role in the movie. The end of the story illustrates how everyone wants people to like them, even when they make a mistake, as well as the importance of apologizing.

Emerging readers who are transitioning to chapter books will enjoy the engaging art as well as the mischief Clint McCool gets into. Even though some pages only have text, the text uses simple sentences with easy vocabulary. Reading the story is fun because of the dialogue, onomatopoeias, and pictures that are scattered throughout the story. Octo-Man and the Headless Monster is an entertaining story with relatable characters that teach positive lessons. However, parents will not want their children to emulate Clint McCool’s behaviors.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Trying to keep Clint McCool off of the movie set, a guard grabs him. “I try to pull away. I have to get to Octo-Man. The shirt rips. I fall forward. I crash into Octo-Man. He drops the jar. Glass breaks. His brains ooze all over the sidewalk.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

 

The Wonky Donkey

A bird was walking down the road and saw a donkey. The donkey only had three legs. The story builds, until the end when the donkey is a spunky, hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey. Each page repeats a portion of the story and then adds more funny facts about the wonky donkey.

Younger readers will enjoy the repetition, rhyming story that has funny pictures of the bird and the donkey. The bird snatches an eye from the donkey and carries it away, which may scare some readers. The Wonky Donkey will cause giggles if it is read aloud because the main phrase becomes a tongue twister. The Wonky Donkey, which is a picture book, is intended to be read aloud to a child, rather than for the child to read it for the first time independently.

Readers will either love or hate The Wonky Donkey. Some may find the illustrations and the rhyming words used to describe the donkey funny, while others may think the donkey and his many defects a bit creepy. The snappy rhyming words and the repetition of the donkey saying, “Hee Haw,” make The Wonky Donkey a fun book to read aloud; however, the story has no educational value.

.Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Two Dogs in a Trench Coat Go on a Class Trip

Every day Sassy and Waldo put on a trench coat so that everyone thinks they are a human kid named Salty. Then they go to school with their boy, Stewart. When their teacher announces that the class will go on a field trip to a museum, Sassy and Waldo are excited. They love trips!

Stewart isn’t so excited about the field trip. Steward says everyone will have to learn facts. When Sassy and Waldo have to fill out the permission slip that says lunch on it, they wonder how can a trip to a place with lunch be bad?

Sassy and Waldo will entertain readers with its comical, easy-to-read writing style and hilarious black and white illustrations. Much of the humor comes from the fact that it is absolutely obvious that Waldo and Sassy are dogs, but no one notices. The font changes each time Sassy and Waldo talk, making it easy for readers to follow along with the conversation. Many of the words appear in large, bold font, which adds interest to the page and also highlights the dog’s obsession with food.

Two Dogs in a Trench Coat Go on a Class Trip is silly enough to entertain even the most reluctant readers. Even though the third book in the series does not have the educational value of the previous book, readers will enjoy watching Sassy and Waldo chomp on a dinosaur bone, run from the guards, and lead students on their own version of a museum tour.

The story ends with a short lesson on the importance of trying new things as well as getting to know new people. The guards and the tour guide have a rivalry, which causes them to avoid each other. They just make up nicknames for each other. With the help of food, the guards and tour guides begin to build a friendship.

If you’re looking for a fun series that will engage readers and encourage them to read for enjoyment, then pick up any of the Two Dogs in a Trench Coat books, which do not need to be read in order. The silly story Two Dogs in a Trench Coat Go on a Class Trip will have readers giggling through the entire book. Look for the fourth installment of the series, Two Dogs in a Trench Coat Enter Stage Left.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Darn is used twice by a museum tour guide.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 Rogue Wave

Four thousand years ago an ancient evil destroyed Atlantis. This evil is stirring again, and it will take six mermaids—Serafina, Neela, Ling, Ava, Becca, and Astrid—to defeat it. The mermaids are descendants of the Six Who Ruled—powerful mages who once governed Atlantis. In order to defeat this evil, the mermaids must find the magical talismans that belonged to the six.

Serafina mourns the loss of her betrothed—the traitor who is working for the man who destroyed her realm. But Serafina doesn’t have time to mourn; she must research the location of the talisman and discover its hidden location before anyone else can. While following leads, she must avoid death riders, who have been ordered to capture her.

Neela travels to her home realm, Matali, to warn her parents of the impending danger. However, her parents don’t believe her outlandish story and confine her to her chamber so she can rest and recover. Neela needs to escape so she can find a talisman, which is in the possession of the fierce razor mouth dragons. As they hunt for the talismans, both Serafina and Neela need to rely on courage, cunning, and their allies. Can they endure danger, defeat death, and discover the secret locations of the talismans?

Rogue Wave, the second book in the Waterfire Saga, is full of action, intrigue, and a hint of romance. Even though the first book, Deep Blue, focuses on bringing the six mermaids together, none of the mermaids work together in the second book. Instead, Rogue Wave jumps back and forth between Serafina and Neela, as they both look for a talisman. Often one mermaid’s experience would end with a cliffhanger, and then jump to the other mermaid’s story.

Despite the interesting mermaid world, many of the events were extremely unrealistic. One minute Serafina is a strong, brave girl ready to face down evil, and the next minute, she makes rash decisions that make no sense. Instead of connecting with Serafina, some readers may find the whinny, impulsive mermaid hard to relate to. On the other hand, many readers will relate to Neela, who tries to cope with difficulties with eating sweets. Neela’s parents are more concerned with Neela’s appearance than anything else. Neela has been taught that as royalty, she must always look pretty wearing jewels. Readers will root for Neela as she tries to break out of her parents’ mold.

Rogue Wave continues the intrigue that began in book one. As Serafina travels looking for the talisman, she meets an interesting Spanish princess and is reunited with her betrothed. Serafina hopes to defeat evil and help her realm; however, she is unwilling to accept the obvious and naively ignores clues that prove some people plotted against her mother. Younger readers may enjoy the mermaid world and the intrigue, but more advanced readers will have a difficult time believing Serafina can become a strong leader. The conclusion of Rogue Wave reveals an important plot twist, and readers will want to read the third book in the series, Dark Tide, to discover how the other mermaids fit into the complicated plan of saving the mermaid realm.

Sexual Content

  • As part of a disguise, Serafina uses a spell to give her an enormous bosom. Serafina complained, “It looks like I have two sea mounts stuck on the front of me. . . All I can see is my chest.” Her friend says the goal is to make the soldiers focus on her bosom, “not the face.”
  • Mahdi and Serafina kiss. “And then she was in his arms and his lips were on hers, silently telling her who he was. Hers. Always. And for a moment there was no safe house, no danger, no grief. All she knew was the heat of his kiss and the feel of his heart beating under her hand.”
  • The ghost of a Spanish princess tells Serafina about a pirate trying to capture her. The ghost says, “I vowed I would not be taken. I was a princess of Spain, meant to be wife to a French prince, not a wench to warm a pirate’s bed.”
  • Mahdi tells Serafina that he has kissed another girl but that it meant nothing.
  • Serafina and Mahdi get married, and Mahdi “cupped Sera’s face in his hands and kissed her, and Sera kissed him back, forgetting there were others nearby.”
  • After Sera and Mahdi are married, as part of his secrete identity, he becomes betrothed to another.

Violence

  • Serafina goes to Atlantis, where the Opafango live. Someone warns her, “The Opafango eat their victims alive. . . while their hearts are still beating and their blood’s still pumping.”
  • Serafina ties a man up.
  • When a soldier comes into a room, Serafina threw a dagger at him. His arm was “immobilized because her dagger had pinned his sleeve to the door.” The soldier is uninjured.
  • A villain tortures people to get information. “Four days ago, he cut a finger off a child—a child, Sera—to make her mother tell him where her father was hiding. I saw him do it.”
  • Someone tells Serafina about the raids that have been taking place. “Some of the villagers must’ve tried to fight. There were bloodstains on the wall and floors of the houses. They scribbled notes and left them behind. Please tell my wife . . . Please help us . . . They’ve got my children. . .”
  • Death riders attack a safe house. Serafina uses a spell and “the explosion was instantaneous. The concussive force was so great, it shook the ground. . . she heard the impact of debris as it was flung against the iron and the bubbling and hissing of lava.” Someone tells her, “No one could survive a blast like that.” The scene takes place over two chapters. Most of the scene is running from the death riders.
  • Someone captures Serafina in a net, but lets her go when they discover she is one of them.
  • Someone tells Serafina about a man’s experiences with soldiers. “Traho’s soldiers beat him so badly, he lost consciousness. They left him for dead.” Someone found the man and took him to safety, but the soldiers “were rounding everyone up. . . My dad tried to fight them off, but they beat him up.”
  • The ghost of a Spanish princess explains how she died. A pirate “locked me in my cabin. He boarded his ship and gave orders to bombard my vessel. . . I can still hear the cannon shot. I can smell the gunpowder. I faced death bravely, as a princess of Spain must. . . Drowning is not an easy death.”
  • Neela and several others try to take a moonstone from a dragon’s nest. A baby dragon clawed her. “A swipe of pain across her back, sudden and blinding, made her scream. She dropped the moonstone. . . Blood rose from the jagged tears in Neela’s skin, curling through the water.” When Neela and the others try to leave the dragon’s lair, a baby dragon screeches and the father comes after them. The dragon knocks a girl down and “was advancing on her now, lashing his tail, baring his horrible teeth.” The group flees, and when the dragons follow, the mermaids lead dragons to a bloom of jellyfish. The scene takes place over 7 pages.
  • A woman “nodded at two of her guards and they sized the grand vizier. She drew a crimson-tipped finger across her throat and they dragged him away.”
  • During the introduction of the new regime, goblins patrol the crowds. A merman was “cheering halfheartedly. A goblin noticed, and punched him.”A human captures a mermaid and wants information. “His right hand was bloodied. Across from him was a mermaid bound to a chair with a rope. Blood dripped off her chin. Her head lolled on her chest. . . The mermaid lifted her head and spat out a mouthful of blood. Her lip was split. One of her eyes was swollen shut.” The man tells her, “I’d like to kill you, I’d like that very much. . . Unfortunately, I can’t. You’re valuable to me and you know it.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Serafina uses a potion to put a group of men to sleep.
  • Mahdi tells Seraphina about his partying and playing a beer game.

Language

  • Someone calls Serafina an “idiot girl.”
  • Serafina calls a man a “lumpsucker.”
  • Several times, someone is referred to as “sea scum.”
  • “My gods” is used as an exclamation several times.
  • Hell is used twice. Someone tells Serafina death riders are coming and to “Get the hell out of here.”
  • A death rider calls his companion a “dumbwrasse.”

Supernatural

  • Some mermaids have magic. “Magic depended on so many things—the depth of one’s gift, experience, dedication, the position of the moon, the rhythm of the tides, the proximity of whales. It didn’t settle until one was fully grown.”
  • Serafina and several other mermaids cast a bloodbind spell, which required them to mix their blood. The mermaids now share each other’s powers. For example, Serafina can now understand other ocean creatures’ languages.
  • Some ghosts live in mirrors. An unknown evil man tries to use the mirror to get to Serafina. He watches Serafina through a mirror, but “Long, jagged cracks, running through the glass like a network of veins, held him back now. The spaces between the cracks were too small to fit his body through but large enough for his hand. Slowly, silently, they pushed through the mirror, hovering only inches from the mermaid. It would be so easy to wrap them around her slender neck and end what the Iele had started. But, no, the man thought, drawing back.”
  • The ghosts, vitrine, that live in mirrors “stayed within the bounds of their own mirrors; others wandered through the realm. Some spoke to the living, others refused to. There was, however, one all were bound by: when a vitrina’s own mirror was broken, the soul was released from the glass.”
  • While in the mirror realm, Serafina meets Rorrim, who feeds off of dankling. Rorrim explains, “It’s a little piece of fear. They burrow into backbones. A few of them will infest a nice strong spine, and then as the bones weaken, more come. . . There’s nothing, absolutely nothing, as tasty as fear. Doubt is delectable, of course. Insecurities, anxieties—all delicious, but fear? Oh, fear is exquisite!”
  • Serafina uses a bloodsong, and “even after four thousand years, the blood came to life under Sera’s hand. It brightened as if newly spilled, then spun up from the floor in a violent crimson vortex. The mermaids heard a voice. And then another. And more. Until there were dozens of them. Screaming. Sobbing. Pleading. Shrieking.”
  • In order to create an escape route, Serafina uses a vortex spell to make pikes burst.
  • Several times throughout the story mermaids use transparensea pearls. “The songspell of invisibility used shadow and light and was notoriously difficult to cast. Spellbinders—highly skilled artisans—knew how to insert the spell into pearls that a mermaid could carry with her and deploy in an instant.”
  • Serafina meets the ghost of a Spanish princess. Serafina agrees to take the princess back to Spain. The princess took Serafina’s hand “and Serafina arched her back, gasping. It was as if the ghost had reached inside her and wrapped a cold hand around her heart.” When the princess got to an island off of Spain, “Her body glittered now, became a million points of silver light, and then crumbled into a fine, shimmering dust. As Serafina watched, the warm Spanish winds swept her away, until all that remained was the echo of her laughter.” However, Serafina was exhausted because “the ghost had taken too much from her.” Serafina’s friends find her and help her recover.
  • Orfeo appears even though he has been dead for four thousand years.

Spiritual Content

  • Morsa, the scavenger goddess of the dead, can change forms and practices necromancy, “the forbidden art of conjuring the dead.”
  • When someone dies, a priest places a white pearl under the person’s tongue to catch the soul as it left the body. Horok—the ancient coelacanth, the Keeper of the Soul—would take the pearl and carry it to the underworld.
  • When Orfeo’s wife died, he built a temple for Morsa and summoned the goddess. Morsa gave Orfeo power, and he sacrificed people for Morsa. At first, he sacrificed “those without families in Atlantis, those who wouldn’t be missed. Then he came for us. He came at night. . . Orfeo gave her death, and in return, she gave him her forbidden knowledge. It made him so powerful that he created Abbadon and declared he would use the monster to march on the underworld” and take his wife back.
  • When Neela finds a sweet, she says, “Oh, thank gods!”

The Queen’s Secret

Horses have been banned in the country for centuries, and most people believe that horses were carriers of disease. Anthea and her family know the truth—horses are majestic creatures who can share their thoughts with people through the Way. The queen wants to reintroduce horses into the kingdom, but the king has demanded that horses and riders with the Way follow his every command.

When a deadly plague breaks out, people believe that horses are the cause. People’s fear of horses rises as more fall ill and the death toll increases. Anthea and her friends are asked to transport a lifesaving vaccine, but the people fear the medicine that can save their lives. To complicate matters, Anthea learns the queen’s secret—but will revealing the queen’s secret help or hurt their cause?

The second installment of The Rose Legacy series continues to focus on Anthea, who is an extremely likable and strong protagonist. The story introduces a group of all-female scientists that are struggling to understand the disease that is rapidly infecting people. Although the scientists discover a vaccine, the discovery comes because of a chance encounter instead of through their hard work and research. In the end, the story shows women in a variety of roles—the queen, mothers, young girls, and a villain.

Much of the plot revolves around the spread of the disease and people’s fear of both horses and vaccines. Although the plot takes an unexpected direction, the story is fast-paced, interesting, and enjoyable. The story highlights the dangers of allowing fear and misconceptions to overtake reason. Readers will appreciate seeing girls take action and face danger in order to help, even when others doubt their ability. Readers will be eager to read the next book in the series to find out why the villain has kidnapped horses and why the villain seems eager to start a war.

The Queen’s Secret is full of conspiracy theories and intrigue, but what makes the story even more enjoyable is the relationship between horses and their riders, as well as the friendships that Anthea makes. Jessica Day George creates a unique world that builds suspense without graphic violence, romance, or using cliché characters. Anyone who wants to read an engaging horse-related adventure should pick up the Rose Legacy series.

Sexual Content

  • Finn grabs Anthea’s “gloved hands. . . Now both of their faces were red, but it was not from the cold. . . Greatly daring, Anthea leaned forward and gave him a peck on the cheek, then pulled her hand away.”
  • After not hearing from Finn, Anthea finds him and, “she wasn’t even embarrassed to hug him tightly and kiss his cheek. Then she pushed herself away just as he tried to hug her.”
  • Jilly gives an account of her relatives. One relative’s “second wife ran away with a blacksmith.”

Violence

  • The queen tells others about an incident with the Kronenhofers. When two Kronenhofer ships entered the river, the Knonenhofer’s refused to answer guards who “hailed the ship to ask their intent. But the guards didn’t get an answer. Instead, the ship went into battle mode. . . The garrison disabled the Kronenhofer ship. One of them sank, and the other burned almost to the waterline, and there were only a handful of survivors.”
  • An injured man shows up at the farm, and “Anthea nearly fainted at the sight of the flesh underneath: bruised, bloodied, and with a large round hole that seeped more blood with every one of the major’s breaths. The blood looked dark and thick. . .” The man survives.
  • Men shoot at Anthea and two other girls, but they are able to escape unharmed.
  • A strange vehicle enters a village and attacks. “The man was destroyed. The front was simply gone. A gaping hole had been blasted in the beautiful stone façade, and there were flames pouring out of it. . .” During the attack, a princess and some horses were kidnapped.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Sometimes smugglers bring in alcohol. “There are Coronami who enjoy Leanan ale. . . And many Leanans prefer the Coronami wines to their own ale.”
  • Anthea says, “Liquor really is the root of all evil, as Miss Miniver said.”
  • An injured man is given an injection. “Morphine probably.”
  • Anthea is given a glass, “and she tossed back the water like it was whisky and slammed the glass down for emphasis.”

Language

  • Anthea calls a horse a “big idiot.”

Supernatural

  • People who have “the Way” can communicate with horses and feel the horse’s emotions.
  • A village is surrounded by stones that guard the place and helps it stay hidden. People and horses are not able to use the Way to communicate with others outside the village.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Pedro for President

Pedro is running for class president against Katie Woo. He has to write a speech about what he would do as president. But Pedro is stuck! He can’t even write one word. Will anyone vote for Pedro?

In Pedro for President, Pedro and Katie Woo show that they can still be friends even though only one of them can win. As Pedro goes through his day, he helps others and encourages them. Even though the ending is a bit predictable—Pedro wins—younger readers will still enjoy the story which is written with simple vocabulary that beginning readers will be able to master. Although Pedro for President is part of a series with many of the same characters, it does not need to be read in order.

Full-color illustrations appear on every page, showing Pedro and his diverse classmates. Short chapters that only have four or fewer sentences make the story accessible to independent readers. The end of the book contains a glossary, questions, writing prompts as well as two pages of jokes. Pedro for President wins the vote—it’s an engaging story for young readers! Readers who enjoy the Pedro series should also try the Katie Woo series because it has many of the same characters and is written in the same format.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

 

 

Katie the Kitten Fairy

The pet fairies and their special pets help all animals find safe homes. But Jack Frost has stolen the special pets, who were able to escape to the human world. When Rachel and Kirsty go to the park, they see a dog chasing a kitten. When they go to help the kitten, it changes into a tiger and then back into a kitten. Rachel and Kirsty know they must help the kitten get back to the fairy world, but Jack Frost’s goblins appear; they want the kitten for themselves. Can Rachel and Kirsty find the purr-fect solution to their problem?

Younger readers will enjoy Katie the Kitten Fairy because it combines fairies, animals, and goblins. The easy-to-read story has cute black-and-white illustrations on every page. The goblins add non-scary suspense, and readers will enjoy guessing what the goblins will do next. The story highlights the importance of being a good pet owner. For example, when James finds a kitten in the park, his dad won’t allow him to keep it until they call the animal shelter to make sure it doesn’t belong to someone else.

Katie the Kitten Fairy has likable characters who are kind to others. The story has easy vocabulary and short sentences, which make it perfect for readers transitioning to chapter books. Even though the story and characters are not well developed, younger readers will want to read every book in the series because the stories are so much fun. Younger readers will be able to read Katie the Kitten Fairy without assistance, and the stories will help them not only build confidence, but a joy for reading as well. There are seven books in the Pet Fairies series as well as the Sports Fairies series, the Fairy Tale Fairies series, and Special Editions.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Goblins try to capture the kitten. “With angry cries, two of the goblins dropped their butterfly nets and dove toward the girls. They stretched their gnarled green hands out to grab the kitten.” Rachel and Kirsty use fairy dust to escape.
  • The fairy queen tells Rachel and Kirsty that Jack Frost stole the fairies’ pets and, “He took them to his ice castle, and then sent out a ransom note.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • A fairy’s kitten pet is in the human world. When a dog chases it, the kitten changes form. “A sudden flash of light flickered through the air. A cloud of amber-colored sparkles swirled around the kitten. Seconds later, the kitten had vanished—and an enormous striped tiger had appeared in its place!”
  • The kitten uses magic to knock a man’s plate on the ground. The kitten then eats the food.
  • The kitten uses magic, so Rachel and Kirsty can understand it. “Sparkles streamed out of its mouth and swirled around in the air! The kitten meowed again, but this time the girls could hear words in its meows.”
  • Rachel and Kirsty use fairy dust to go to the fairy world.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Where Does Thursday Go?

Thursday was Bruno’s birthday. It was such a special day that he doesn’t want it to end. Bruno wonders what happens to Thursday when night comes. Where does it go? Can Bruno and his friend Bert find it in time to say goodbye?

Where is Thursday has cute colorful illustrations that show Bruno, who is a bear, and his friend Bert, who is a bird, exploring the natural world looking for Thursday. With adorable pictures and four or fewer sentences on a page, Where is Thursday is the perfect bedtime story. The story contains dialogue, personification, and onomatopoeias, which make reading fun. The picture book illustrates the abstract idea of time in a fun story that focuses on two friends.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

 

Satellite

Named after constellations, Leo, Libra, and Orion have been trapped since birth on Moon 2, a space station orbiting Earth. Not old or strong enough to survive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, the teens have been parented by teams of astronauts, training their entire lives to one day return home. Each teen anxiously awaits their sixteenth birthday, the day they would be declared strong enough to return home. They meticulously plan out their bucket lists for Earth while Earth taunts them from outside their windows.

However, after mechanical errors send them hurtling back to Earth earlier than expected, the group of teens soon find their new environment hard to adapt to, despite all its wondrous beauties. To survive, the friends must defy unimaginable odds while facing a dangerous monopoly, a new and strange world, and their own self-identity problems. Their bonds of friendship and their definition of home and family will be put to the test. Going back home will not be as easy as they thought.

With its text-speech writing style, futuristic setting, and an incredible amount of space facts, Nick Lake tells an extraordinary tale. Lake explores the meaning of home and family, the definition of love, and the search for one’s self-identity. Lake’s use of interludes and first-person narration makes Leo come alive on the page, causing readers to empathize with the teenager searching for a place to call home. Riddled with space politics, action, and references to our own modern-day culture, the fast-paced story is a page-turner from start to finish. A diverse set of characters will leave readers crying at the end.

Satellite has a unique plot with the perfect mix of action, space, suspense, and drama. The well-developed characters, who are all distinctly different, act like real people. Even though Leo has a secret crush on Orion, the story does not go overboard on the romance. Instead, the story focuses on Leo’s relationship with his grandfather and his mother as he strives to find out who he really is. Through Leo’s experience, the reader will be forced to look at Earth in a new light. When Leo gets to earth, he is overcome with wonder when he sees birds, fire, and even the simple act of throwing a ping-pong ball for the first time while other characters think of their surroundings as “just Nevada.”

Often called Andy Weir’s The Martian for teens, Satellite is so much more. It explores some of the true moral questions young adults have about life, and it seeks to answer these questions by teaching readers about the value of home and family. However, due to the constant cussing by the characters during stressful times, this book is best suited for older readers. The story’s text-speech, which mimics those of NASA commands, does not demonstrate proper grammatical concepts, which may frustrate some readers. Nevertheless, it is a must-read – not only entertaining young readers but teaching them not to take their everyday lives for granted.

Sexual Content

  • At the beginning of the novel, Leo describes how both he and the twins ended up being born in space and how they were conceived. Leo says, “1 of the results of the experiment was unexpected: if u put male and female astronauts in a confined space for 2 years, they will eventually have sex.” Leo also describes his own conception saying, his mother “had a fling a few nights before she launched.”
  • Throughout the book, Leo has constant feelings for Orion and Soto, which he recounts in detail saying, “he stands still while i get up, & i put a hand on his shoulder. i feel the strength of his muscles thru his shirt. a little electric current goes thru me. i feel something happen, in the center of me.”
  • Just before Orion dies due to his inability to live in 1g, Leo says, “u can’t go anyway u can’t … u can’t because I always thought my first kiss would be with u I always dreamed of it anyway and u can’t go because I haven’t had my first kiss, so u can’t go u can’t go u can’t go.” Orion and Leo kiss while Orion imagines Leo as Leo’s mother.

Violence

  • Wile e Coyote and the Road Runner are mentioned continuously throughout the book along with the various ways the main characters can die during space travel including burning to death, exploding, splattering, and suffocating.
  • When traveling through a ghost town in Sonoma County California, Leo notices that there are long lines at both the bank and multiple gun stores while other businesses have no activity. Leo asks his grandfather why, and Grandpa says, “hard to make a living these days. So people want to keep their money liquid. & they want guns to protect it.”
  • Grandpa is a rancher and during the book, Leo watches as they send cows to slaughter. Although not explicitly stated in the book, Leo ponders how his grandfather’s cows are raised only to die.
  • After discovering Leo’s location, a group of rebels against the Company tries to rescue Leo by attacking the ranch. When Leo’s grandfather walks in and sees one of the mercenaries pointing a gun at Leo, Leos says that his grandfather “doesn’t hesitate for a moment. He fires as easy as breathing, and the man is thrown back against the wall, a spray of blood, an arc of it, his head hitting the wood with a thud.” All three mercenaries die, Leo sprains his wrist, and Leo’s mother dislocates her shoulder during the fight.
  • While escaping Mountain Dome, Leo glances back and sees the muzzle flare and hears the “whistling sound” of a bullet as he notices one of the facilities guards shooting at them. None of them are injured.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Virginia describes Commander Boutros when she says, “get him drunk, he’s a whole different person.”
  • Before their launch, Grandpa, Yuri, and Leo all drink vodka mixed with rocket fuel for good luck. Yuri, of course, leaves out the vodka for 16-year-old Leo.
  • Medications are used frequently throughout the book, such as acetaminophen used to treat Leo’s fever and painkillers used to relieve the pain in Leo’s mother’s dislocated shoulder.

Language–

  • Profanity is used in the extreme. Almost all the characters at one point in the novel use it. Profanity includes: shit, fuck, fricking, bitch, ass, piss, oh my god, and goddamned.
  • Leo’s grandfather bets Leo that he cannot play catch on Earth because “gravity is a bitch.”
  • After astronaut Brown dies, Virginia responds with “fuck. what went wrong with the program? what did I do?”
  • After realizing that they will place a huge reliance on the boosters of Moon Two to maintain attitude instead of using their gyros, engineer Singh says, “shit.
  • After realizing they will never be able to survive on Earth outside of a hospital, Orion says, “well, this sucks ass, doesn’t it.”
  • Grandpa describes Kazakhstan as “a bit of a shithole.”
  • After seeing a Soyuz rocket, Grandpa says, “holy shit.” Later, he fights with Yuri about the legitimacy of their mission saying, “we can’t fly a Soyuz either! It’s a goddamned rocket.”
  • Former cosmonaut Yuri and former astronaut Freeman are “piss brothers for life” after their many adventures in space together.
  • After the Soyuz rocket fails to detach from Moon 2’s peripheral system, astronaut Sara says “dammit.” Later, astronaut Sara does her first EVA and describes space as “in-fricking-sane.”
  • When Leo saves Sara from dying by using his EVA suit rockets, he says, “I can hear her still in my helmet saying oh my god oh my god like all other words have been wiped from her mind.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Libra loves plants and dreams of being a botanist. While at Mount Dome, she spends most of her time in one of the company’s projects where they attempt to create perfect biodomes for construction on earthlike plants. The project is entitled Creating Eden.
  • The book references an EE cummings poem with the starting line of “I thank You God for most his amazing day.”
  • Throughout the book, Leo, Orion, and Libra are referred to as angels returning to Earth from heaven, and when Leo returns to Moon 2, he is like an angel returning to heaven once more.

by Matthew Perkey

 

Rise of the Dragons

Joss and Allie have always feared the Raptors and the wave of death caused by the vicious beast. When Joss finds a dragon egg, he never imagined the love he could feel for the Silver dragon or the danger the dragon would bring into his life.

The Lennix’s are a cruel and power-hungry family who wish to rule over all dragons and humans. They have trained their Raptors to follow commands and prey on unsuspecting humans. But some of the raptors are questioning the Lennix’s rule. They are convinced that possessing the Silver dragon is the key to their continuing rule.

Sirin lives in the Lost Lands, where dragons no longer live. Most people have forgotten the dragons and no longer believe they existed at all, but Sirin hopes that she will one day meet a dragon. While Sirin dreams of dragons, her real life is full of grief. When her mom is hospitalized, Sirin is forced to live with several different families. Sirin wonders if her life will be filled with grief forever.

Rise of the Dragons weaves together three stories—Joss and Allie, the Lennix family, and Sirin—and eventually ties the stories together. Most of the story focuses on Joss and Allie, the indentured servants who find the Silver’s egg. When the Lennix family tricks Joss and Allie into going to their compound, life only gets worse for the siblings. Readers will be engrossed in the unique, but cruel, dragon world.

Even though the reader knows that Sirin’s story will eventually connect to Joss and Allie’s story, readers may have a hard time connecting with Sirin’s story, which is realistic fiction. The chapters about Sirin pop in at unexpected places and slow down the plot. The conclusion brings Sirin and a dragon together in a fun, unexpected way and clearly sets up a sequel.

The story contains detailed, concise descriptions, as well as short chapters that often focus on one character. However, some readers may struggle with the difficult vocabulary, such as “ensconced,” “undulating,” “lugubriously,” “cantilevered,” and “soporific.” Rise of the Dragons may best suit middle school readers because younger readers may be frightened by the raptors’ cruelty; several of the characters’ parents are killed by raptors, and the characters are then enslaved by the Lennix family.

Sage creates an interesting dragon world, where death and violence are everyday occurrences. Although the characters are not well developed, the story has enough action and suspense to keep the pages turning. Rise of the Dragons has plot twists, truly evil villains, and a protagonist with whom readers will sympathize.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Joss thinks about his parents, who died when raptors “dived onto his mother and father, and the shine of their sharpened talons, curved and lethal, as they emerged from their sheaths for the kill.” Later Joss again thinks about his parents and how “they had been attempting to escape a Lennix roundup, and it hadn’t worked. He remembered Raptors diving down, taking his parents hundreds of feet up into the sky, and then dropping them into the sea.”
  • When Joss is riding his dragon, Lysander, they are chased by a group of dragons. As Joss and Lysander try to flee, “Joss felt a burst of heat as a spume of dragonfire hit Lysander’s tail. The flames fell away from Lysander’s silver scales like water from oiled feathers, but the shock of it caused him to shoot rapidly forward. . .” Joss and Lysander fly through a portal and are safe.
  • Lysander frightens a flock of sheep, and they run into an old quarry. Joss tells his sister about how he “climbed down into the quarry and they were piled up. Dead on the quarry floor. Well, they weren’t all dead. Some were injured and bleating. So . . . so I had to hit them on the head. To put them out of their pain. It was. . . Oh, it was horrible.”
  • When Joss trips, D’Mara “Grabbed Joss’s arm and pulled him roughly to his feet, gripping him so hard he could feel her nails digging into skin.” When Joss and Allie try to run, D’Mara “threw herself at Joss and caught his neck in an armlock. Allie hurled herself at the traveler, but a well-aimed kick sent her sprawling to the ground. . . The traveler jerked her arm hard against Joss’s throat, making him gasp for breath.” Armed guards appear and they shoved the sack over Lysander’s head. “At once he lay down upon the ground in defeat. . .They pulled her (Allie) arms behind her back and roughly tied her hands, then threw a net over her and wrapped her up so tightly that she could hardly breathe. Allie began to gasp in panic. . . As Allie took a shuddering gulp of air, Tamara kicked the back of her knees and Allie fell to the ground.” Joss is also tied up, and the two were taken to Fortress Lennix to be prisoners.
  • When Sirin and Ellie are walking home from school, some girls bully them, telling them they must pay a toll to pass. One girl grabs Sirin by the collar. Later, the same girls corner Sirin and her foster mother, Mandy. Mandy tries to help, but “Mandy looked down and saw the point of a jagged knife pressing into her all too thin cardigan. . . but the pressure of the knife point reminded her to keep quiet.” One of the girls “pulled out a knife, drawing the tip of the blade across Sirin’s stomach.”
  • The Lennix twins take Allie to a notoriously violent raptor and have her thrown into his room. They giggle as they hear the dragon roar and they assume Allie is being eaten. However, the dragon does not injure Allie.
  • When the Lennix’s catch a Green dragon, the other dragons punish the Green. “Bellacurx sent a short burst of flame flickering across the ground, so that they curled around the delicate feet of the Green and sent her hopping from one foot to another—much to the amusement of the other Raptors. . . In a sudden movement, the red dragon brought her wings down in such a way that their sharpened barbs gouged deep grooves through the scales of the Green and tore into her wings.” The Green is then imprisoned.
  • The Lennix’s raptors go on a raid, attacking the Greens and “demolished their nest.” D’Mara’s husband tells the raptors, “The free Greens are finished. But the Reds, Yellows, and Blues remain . . . Raptors, tonight we shall go in for the kill. We go to the Islands of the Blues where they hold their eggs deep in caves beneath the ocean. From them we shall take a tribute: a living infant that we shall tear to shreds before their eyes, and then we shall leave them in grief. We shall return again and again and again until the Blues show us their hiding places of their clutches and beg us to take them.”
  • The epic battle between the Lennix’s raptors and other dragons takes place over three chapters. During the fight, “Wave after wave of firestiks rained down from Flight Vengeance. Bellacrux and Lysander ducked and dived. . . And then a firestik found its mark—on Lysander’s left wing tip. Lysander pitched to one side and sent the weapon bouncing off his armored silver scales. The sudden lurch sent Joss sliding out from the rider’s dip.” Joss is able to rebalance, and the fight continues. One aggressive raptor named Valkea goes after Bellacrux. “Valkea let loose a long, focused spume of fire. It caught the tip of Bellacrux’s tail but did little damage, for the tail-thrashing doused the flames and the burn alerted Bellacrux to her pursuer . . . Bellacrux sent a long, thin steam of brilliant orange flame straight into Valkea’s face. The Red wheeled backward and the flames shot down the soft and vulnerable front of her neck. . . In agony from the burn, she thrashed her neck to and fro, trying to cool the burn. . .” During the battle, one dragon is injured when someone throws a firestik, and the raptor’s “tail exploded into flames,” causing the raptor to fall to his death.
  • When a burning raptor falls to his death, he hits a dragon’s wing. When the raptor’s tail hits the dragon, “there was a snap like a pistol shot, and suddenly her wing was hanging down, useless. Herlenna screamed. . . She keeled over to one side, and with a crashing and cracking of branches, she disappeared through the canopy of trees like a drowning swimmer beneath the waves. Lysander and Joss heard a deep thud, and then all was silent.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • D’Mara calls her husband a “spineless little liar” and “slick of dragon slime.”
  • D’Mara calls a dragon an “idiot.” Later she calls Joss an “idiot.” Several other characters also call someone an “idiot.”
  • Kaan calls his brother a “dumbo” and then tells him, “Oh, go boil your stupid fat head.”
  • D’Mara tells her husband, “And I always thought that Lock of yours was a bit of a bonehead.”
  • A girl tells Sirin’s foster mom, “Bleedin’ Nora, you’re effing crazy, you are.”

Supernatural

  • Humans can lock with dragons. “Some people were lucky enough to become so close to a dragon that they stayed together for life. They even understood each other’s thoughts.” Once a dragon and human have locked, they can communicate through thought.
  • A silver dragon is able to travel through a portal to the Lost Lands. “All Silvers can travel through the invisible portals that link our two worlds. And if a Silver touches its tail to another dragon, they can both go through. Indeed, you can have a whole chain of dragons going through.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

A Good Team

Yeti is good at bouncing a ball on his head, but Unicorn cannot bounce a ball on her head. Unicorn is good at running races, but Yeti can’t run fast. Even though Unicorn and Yeti aren’t good at the same things, they can still have fun together. They play ring toss, run a race, and go ice skating.

Designed for children who are learning to read, A Good Team contains easy-to-read text. When each character talks, their words appear in different colored quote boxes. Each page has a full page of illustrations, and contains three or fewer sentences. Beginning readers should be able to read the text alone, and will enjoy flipping through the story multiple times to look at the colorful, silly pictures.

A Good Team is the second installment in the series but can be read as a stand-alone story. Although the story does not have a plot, the characters enjoy a special friendship. As they play games, Unicorn and Yeti encourage each other to try new things, and they demonstrate positive communication skills. A Good Team is not as funny as the first book in the series, but readers will still enjoy the sweet story. A Good Team will build confidence, fluency, and a love of reading.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Unicorn uses magic to make ice skates and hot coco appear.

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

The Spooky Sleepover

Katie Woo is having a sleepover. She and her friends are going to eat yummy food, play dress-up, and tell spooky stories. After telling spooky stories, Katie Woo worries that there is a monster under her bed. She has a scary dream, and when she wakes up, her lucky kimono is missing. Did a monster steal it? Is there a ghost in the house? What happened to Katie Woo’s lucky kimono?

Younger readers will relate to Katie Woo and her sleepover fears. Even though Katie Woo and her friends have fun, Katie still worries about monsters. Independent readers will enjoy the easy-to-understand plot and the bright colorful illustrations that appear on every page. Each page contains four or fewer sentences, with simple vocabulary. Although Katie’s Spooky Sleepover is part of a series with many of the same characters, it does not need to be read in order.

At the end of the story, readers will find a glossary, questions, and writing prompts. Younger readers can continue the fun with the pancake recipe at the end of the book. Readers will enjoy Katie Woo’s sleepover adventure and improve their reading skills along the way. Readers who enjoy the Katie Woo series should also try the Pedro series because it has many of the same characters and is written in the same format.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Ender’s Game

Earth has been attacked twice by the Buggers—aliens attempting to colonize Earth’s solar system. The whole world waits with bated breath for the Third Invasion and sends its best and brightest children to Battle School when they are six years old to be trained in strategy and warfare. Eventually, these children will become the pilots, commanders, and soldiers that will save the human race from extinction.

Ender is a governmentally approved Third child in a world with a strict two-child rule. He was allowed to be born in the hopes that he will be a genius like his two older siblings, but with the correct temperament for Battle School. The experiment succeeds, but Ender doesn’t want to go to Battle School. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone. He especially doesn’t want to leave behind his beloved sister Valentine, though he will not miss his psychopathic brother Peter. But Colonel Graff tells Ender that the world needs him, and Ender believes him.

What follows is Ender’s journey through Battle School, where his brilliance generates both respect and hatred from the other children. As the children study how to fight, Ender finds himself at the center of an immense web of manipulations, all designed to turn him into the Commander that Earth needs to defend itself. It doesn’t matter that Ender doesn’t want to kill anyone; it’s what he is good at and will become great at with the right push. And push him, they do.

Ender’s Game is a masterpiece, which is why it is required reading at many high schools. There is heavy content that is inappropriate for younger and sensitive readers: profanity and name-calling are used often, there are bouts of violence (including attempted murder), and there is a thematic question of whether cruel, immoral means are justified by an end that benefits humanity.

These masterfully woven questions will keep readers up at night, and readers will relate to Ender and his struggle to define himself. Is he a monster like his brother Peter? Is he a killer like the teachers want him to be? It is Ender’s emotional turmoil of self-loathing, loneliness, and despair that will haunt readers long after they read the last page—more than the aliens, the fights, and even the theological questions. Ender’s Game will leave readers desperately wishing that Ender’s life had not been so hard. Readers will forget that Ender is just an ink-and-paper boy from a story, and not the son, brother, or friend that they have fondly come to know him as.

Sexual Content

  • When Valentine says she has an oral exam at school, her brother says it could be worse. “It could be an anal exam.”
  • Dink says, “Hey, look! Salamander’s getting babies now! Look at this! He could walk between my legs without touching my balls!”
  • When Valentine is offered a weekly column in a newspaper, she says, “I can’t do a weekly column…I don’t even have a monthly period yet.” Later in the same argument, Peter asks her, “Are you sure you’re not having a period, little woman?”
  • When Peter is also asked to write a column, he says, “Not bad for two kids who’ve only got about eight pubic hairs between them.”
  • After a bully makes fun of another boy’s butt, “Look how he shimmies his butt when he walks,” the other boys start calling the bully, “Buttwatcher.”
  • One of the commanders “had programmed his desk to display and animate a bigger-than-lifesize picture of male genitals, which waggled back and forth as Rose held the desk on his naked lap.”
  • Ender jokingly calls his friend, “you circumcised dog.”
  • When the Buggers procreate, “each male in turn penetrated the larval queen, shuddered in ecstasy, and died, dropping to the tunnel floor and shriveling.”

Violence

  • Ender is attacked, and he beats the main bully thoroughly, to make sure no one is ever bold enough to attack him again. “Ender walked to Stilson’s supine body and kicked him again, viciously, in the ribs. Stilson groaned and rolled away from him. Ender walked around him and kicked him again, in the crotch.”
  • Ender’s older brother threatens to kill him. Peter “knelt on Ender, his knee pressing into Ender’s belly just below the breastbone. He put more and more of his weight on Ender. It became hard to breathe. ‘I could kill you like this,’ Peter whispered. ‘Just press and press until you’re dead. And I could say that I didn’t know it would hurt you, that we were just playing, and they’d believe me, and everything would be fine. And you’d be dead.’”
  • A boy hits Ender repeatedly when they are on a space shuttle. “Just as the next blow was coming, Ender reached up with both hands, snatched the boy by the wrist, and then pulled down on the arm, hard…The boy sailed through the air, bouncing against the ceiling, then down against another boy in his seat, then out into the aisle, his arms flailing until he screamed as his body slammed into the bulkhead at the front of the compartment, his left arm twisted under him.”
  • Two teachers mention a prior student’s suicide in passing. “Everybody looks like Pinual at one time or another. But he’s the only one who killed himself.”
  • Ender plays a computer game that sometimes has gruesome deaths. One time, “the Giant cut him open along the spine, deboned him like a fish, and began to eat while his arms and legs quivered.” Another time, “He jumped at the Giant’s face, clambered up his lip and nose, and began to dig in the Giant’s eye. The stuff came away like cottage cheese, and as the Giant screamed, Ender’s figure burrowed into the eye.”
  • A commander slaps one of his soldiers. “Madrid stepped closer to the girl and slapped her across the face with the back of his hand. It made little sound, for only his fingernails had hit her. But there were bright red marks, four of them, on her cheek, and little pricks of blood marked where the tips of his fingernails had struck.”
  • Ender’s commander hits him after Ender disobeys orders. “Suddenly Bonzo swung at him, caught his jaw with a vicious open-handed slap. It knocked Ender sideways, into his bunk, and he almost fell. Then Bonzo slugged him, hard, in the stomach. Ender dropped to his knees.”
  • Ender and his friends are attacked by an older group of guys in the Battle Room. “Someone caught Ender by the foot. The tight grip gave Ender some leverage; he was able to stamp firmly on the other boy’s ear and shoulder, making him cry out and let go. . . the boy had hung on too well; his ear was torn and scattering blood in the air, and Ender was drifting even more slowly. I’m doing it again, thought Ender. I’m hurting people again, just to save myself. Why don’t they leave me alone, so I don’t have to hurt them?”
  • Ender gets picked on several times during Battle School. “So Ender got knocked down in the shower that morning. One of Bernard’s boys pretended to trip over him and managed to plant a knee in his belly.”
  • Valentine, “had seen a squirrel half-skinned, spiked by its little hands and feet with twigs pushed into the dirt. She pictured Peter trapping it, staking it, then carefully parting and peeling back the skin without breaking into the abdomen, watching the muscles twist and ripple.”
  • Bonzo tries to kill Ender. “Bonzo’s tight, hard ribs came against Ender’s face, and his hands slapped against his back, trying to grip him…instead of kicking, he lunged upward off the floor, with a powerful lunge of the soldier bounding from the wall, and jammed his head into Bonzo’s face. Ender whirled in time to see Bonzo stagger backward, his nose bleeding.” The fight takes place over two pages.
  • “Late one night [Ender] woke up in pain…He saw that in his sleep he had been gnawing on his own fist. The blood was still flowing smoothly.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • “Bastard” is used often. Peter tells his brother, “No, no, I don’t want your help. I can do it on my own, you little bastard.” Another time Colonel Graff says, “We promise gingerbread, but we eat the little bastards alive.”
  • “Hell,” “asshole,” and “ass” are used several times. Valentine says her older brother is “The biggest asshole.” Graff tells a teacher, “your ass is covered, go to hell.”
  • “Damn” is used a few times. Graff tells Ender, “I told them you were the best. Now you damn well better be.” Another time a student says, “I be the best soldier I can, and any commander worth a damn, he take me.”
  • Another student tells Ender to “kiss butts if you’ve got to.”
  • Variants of “piss” are used several times. One boy in the Game Room tells Ender, “Beating you…would be as easy as pissing in the shower.”
  • At Battle School, the boys’ slang includes frequent name calling. For example, Graff says, “Scumbrains, that’s what we’ve got in this launch. Pinheaded little morons.” Other variants include pisshead, fartface, etc.
  • “Son of a bitch” is used once. “I’m a pilot, you son of a bitch, and you got no right to lock me up on a rock!”
  • “There was a myth that Jewish generals didn’t lose wars.” The commander of Rat Army is Jewish, so it, “was often called the Kike Force, half in praise, half in parody of Mazer Rackham’s Strike Force.”

Supernatural

  • An alien race, called “Buggers,” invaded Earth’s solar system twice before. All of Earth is preparing for the Third Invasion.

Spiritual Content

  • When talking about how humans won the last war, Graff says, “Call it fate, call it God, call it damnfool luck, we had Mazer Rackham.”
  • Graff says if Ender is not the one, “then in my opinion God is a bugger. You can quote me on that.”
  • After a battle, Ender saw that some people “knelt or lay prostrate, and Ender knew they were caught up in prayer.”
  • An admiral says piloting is “a god. And a religion. Even those of us who command by ansible know the majesty of flight among the stars.”
  • Speaker for the Dead is a book that became “a religion among many religions” on Earth. “But for those who traveled the great cave of space and lived their lives in the hive queen’s tunnels and harvested the hive queen’s fields, it was the only religion.”

by Morgan Lynn

 

 

The Host

Earth has been invaded and successfully conquered by tiny, worm-like aliens called “souls,” who invade the bodies of humans and take over their minds. The invasion is over, the souls have won, and only a handful of wild humans are left in hiding.

When one of those humans is captured, Wanderer is inserted into its body to report to the other souls what life this wild human led, and to discover if there were other wild humans with her. But when Wanderer enters Melanie’s body, Wanderer is shocked to find Melanie still conscious and resisting. This is Wanderer’s body now; Melanie should have faded away.

Melanie’s presence frightens and shames Wanderer, who feels weak at not being able to control her host body. But then Melanie’s memories start to seep in, memories of a human brother and a lover who are still in hiding, memories of what it means to be human. Wanderer starts to love these people who she has never met and longs for them. When the opportunity arises, will Wanderer destroy Melanie and sell out her family to the other souls? Or will Wanderer turn her back on her fellow souls and attempt to find Melanie’s family to taste just what makes humanity so special?

Many readers will want to pick up The Host because Stephenie Myers is the author. Even though The Host is considered an adult novel and has more advanced vocabulary than the Twilight series, the content level is similar to Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. One area that may be controversial is that Melanie has a romantic relationship with a slightly older man; during The Host Melanie is 21 and her love interest is 29. However, there are many flashbacks to when Melanie is 17 and first met Jared, who was then 26. When she wants to be intimate, Jared initially says no because he does not want to take advantage of her. They do get together at some point after that, though their ages are not specified.

The Host is an emotional story that explores the bounds of love and examines what it means to be human. Wanderer is a kind, gentle soul who hates her host at first, but then grows to love her; Melanie is a spirited and sometimes violent girl who has learned to survive in the world the souls have created. Both Melanie and Wanderer have to set aside their preconceived ideas about the other species and find common ground. There is an array of characters who are all richly drawn and satisfyingly complex. The story contains enough danger to constantly keep readers on their toes. For readers looking for love, adventure, and an emotionally wrenching story, The Host is sure to delight.

Sexual Content

  • Jared kisses Melanie. “He kisses me again, and this time I feel it. His lips are softer than his hands, and hot, even in the hot desert night.”
  • When Melanie says she wants to share a room with Jared, he says that’s a bad idea because when he was stocking his place, “birth control was pretty much the last thing on my mind.”
  • Jared kisses Wanderer to test her reaction. “I think he just meant to touch his lips to mine, to be soft, but things changed when our skin met. His mouth was abruptly hard and rough, his hands trapped my face to his while his lips moved mine in urgent, unfamiliar patterns.”
  • The first time Ian kisses Wanderer, he “ducked in and touched his lips to my forehead.” The second time, “His lips were soft and warm. He pressed them lightly to mine, and then brushed them back and forth across my mouth. . . He caught my lower lip between his and pulled on it gently.”
  • After a soccer game, two friends are playing around. “She laughed, tugging away, but Wes reeled her in and planted a solid kiss on her laughing mouth.”
  • Wanderer and Ian kiss twice more, both described in similar fashion. When they kissed, Wanderer “shoved my mouth against his, gripping his neck tighter with my arms…Remembering how his mouth had moved with mine before, I tried to mimic that movement now. His lips opened with mine, and I felt an odd thrill of triumph at my success. I caught his lower lip between my teeth and heard a low, wild sound break free from his throat in surprise.”
  • When Wanderer and Jared kiss, “My hands knotted in his hair, pulling him to me as if there were any possible way for us to be closer. My legs wrapped around his waist, the wall giving me the leverage I needed. His tongue twisted with mine, and there was no part of my mind that was not invaded by the insane desire that possessed me. . . My hands fisted around the fabric of Jared’s T-shirt, yanking it up.”
  • When they agree to move into the same room, Wanderer thinks, “Ian and I would be together, partners in the truest sense.”

Violence

  • When Melanie is robbing a house, a man grabs her. “‘One sound and you die,’ he threatens gruffly. I am shocked to feel a thin, sharp edge pushing into the skin under my jaw.”
  • When Jared first kisses Melanie, “his lips come hard on mine…I jerk my knee up in a sharp thrust.”
  • Wanderer reads the headlines of an old human newspaper. There are stories including “Man Burns Three-Year-Old Daughter to Death” and “beneath this was the face of a man wanted for the murders of his wife and two children.”
  • When Jared first sees Wanderer, “his arm shot out and the back of his hand smashed into the side of my face. The blow was so hard that my feet left the ground before my head slammed into the rock floor. I heard the rest of my body hit the floor with dull thumps, but I didn’t feel it. My eyes rolled back in my head.”
  • A group of humans try to kill Wanderer. The struggle takes place over two pages. “His hands wrapped around my throat, choking off my air. I clawed at his hands with my useless, stubby nails. He gripped me tighter, dragging my feet off the floor.”
  • Jamie hits Jared. “There was a sharp crack, and someone gasped…Jared had one hand over his nose, and something dark was oozing down over his lips. His eyes were wide with surprise.”
  • Kyle tries to kill Wanderer; the fight is described over eight pages. “His hand locked on the back of my neck, forcing my face into the shallow stream…He fought to push me back into the stream, but I wriggled and wedged myself under him so that this own weight was working against his goal…He jumped over the smaller stream with a bound and carried me toward the closest sinkhole. The steam from the hot spring washed my face. He was going to throw me into the dark, hot hole and let the boiling water pull me into the ground as it burned me.”
  • Wanderer discovers that the humans tried to cut out one of the alien souls. “Brighter than these were other silver things. Shimmering segments of silver stretched in twisted, tortured pieces across the table…tiny silver strands plucked and naked and scattered…splatters of silver liquid smeared on the table, the blankets, the walls.”
  • Wanderer asks Jared to hit her face with a rock, to cover a scar. “It made a squishing sound and a thud—that was the first thing I noticed—and then the shock of the blow wore off, and I felt it, too.”
  • To fake an injury, Wanderer deliberately stabs herself with a knife. “I jammed the knife into my arm. The headrest muffled my scream, but it was still loud. The knife fell from my hand—jerking sickeningly out from the muscle—and then clunked against the floor.”
  • Ian punches Jared. “Ian’s fist struck Jared so fast that I missed the blow—I just felt the lurch in his body and saw Jared reel back into the dark hall.”
  • Melanie attacks Jared when she thinks he killed Wanderer. “He’s got my right hand, so instead of punching, I throw out a vicious backhand with my left, catching his face across the cheekbone. The force of the blow stings in the bones of my hand.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None.

Language

  • “Hell” is used a few times. When Wanderer remembers her host body’s death, she was, “sucked into the hell that was the last minute of her life.” Another time Jeb says, “How the hell would I know?”
  • “Damn” is used several times. One time Jared says, “Damn it, Jeb! We agreed not to—”?”

Supernatural

  • Earth has been overrun with aliens called souls, which take over the body of their human hosts. “The soul shone in the brilliant lights of the operating room, brighter than the reflective silver instrument in his hand. Like a living ribbon, she twisted and rippled…her thin, feathery attachments, nearly a thousand of them, billowed softly like pale silver hair.”

Spiritual Content

  • When Melanie asks Wanderer if souls believe in an afterlife, Wanderer says, “There’s a reason we call it the final death…We have so many lives. Anything more would be…too much to expect…When I die here, that will be the end.”
  • When a friend dies, Wanderer says at his funeral, “I hope your fairytales are true. I hope you find your Gladdie.”
  • A soul commits suicide. “Then his face went blank, and his body slumped, unresisting, to the cot. Two trails of blood flowed from his nostrils.”

The Shark Whisperer

Tristan Hunt is known for being clumsy, which is why his parents aren’t surprised when he falls into a pool of sharks. After his strange experience in the shark tank, Tristan is invited to an ocean-themed summer camp in the Florida Keys. But this camp has a secret. All of the campers have a special talent when it comes to the ocean.

While at camp, the ocean animals ask for help figuring out who is finning sharks in the Bahamas. When several of the campers go to investigate, they disappear. With the help of sharks, dolphins, a quick escape-artist octopus, and other sea creatures, can the campers stop the shark-finning, reef-blasting billionaire?

Tristan Hunt and the Sea Guardians takes the reader on an underwater adventure, where sea creatures of all types come to life. As the campers learn about sea life, they discover an array of sea creatures from a toothless shark in a rehabilitation center to chatty seagulls. Several scenes are from a shark’s point of view, which adds interest. Tristian meets several sharks with a Bahamian accent, and one humorous shark laughs at Tristan’s fear of sharks and tells him that humans taste awful. The interaction between humans and sea life, and the variety of sea creatures with their different personalities make the story a lot of fun.

As Tristan and the other campers learn about their skills, their different reactions are interesting. At first, Tristan is a clumsy, insecure boy. However, as the story progresses, Tristan becomes more confident, is able to speak his mind, lead others, and can also laugh at his clumsiness on land. The story connects sea creatures’ behavior to the campers’ behavior and shows the importance of leadership, cooperation, and helping each other.

As a marine scientist, Prager beautifully describes the ocean sea creatures and their habitat as well as highlights the importance of taking care of the ocean. Although the ocean descriptions accurately explain the ocean, some of the long descriptions and advanced vocabulary may make the story difficult for some readers. Tristan Hunt and the Sea Guardians mixes adventure, action, and ocean life to create an exciting, educational fantasy that readers will enjoy. Readers will want to jump into this series, which continues in The Shark Rider.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Someone is finning sharks. Tristan explained, “Finning, that’s totally disgusting. It’s when people slice off a shark’s fins and then throw the dying shark back into the water.”
  • The bad guy’s crew kidnapped some of the campers. The kidnapping was not described.
  • The sea life reported that “men from the ship killed and finned ten lemon, two bull, and five bull sharks. Took the fins and dumped the sharks. A few pilot whales were injured by the blasts; hurt their ears and they’re having trouble navigating.”
  • In order to free the kidnapped campers, the sea life attacks the bad guy’s yacht. A group of birds “dove like kamikazes toward the men on the upper deck at the back of the ship.” Then a group of birds poops on the men. When the kids try to escape, “the security man also tried to pull out his gun, but the birds had aimed well. The firearm kept slipping in his grasp due to a heavy coating of poop and slime.” The kids jump off the yacht, and the men tried to start the Jet Skis’ engines. “At that very moment, however, another team was preparing to go on the attack. The flying fish swam fast to build up speed. They leapt out of the water, stretched their fins out wide, and used their tails as rudders. The eight-inch, silvery fish glided low, swift, and silently over the water’s surface. . . They hit their target in quick successions, pummeling one of the men in the face and chest.” The attack happens over four pages.
  • After the campers are rescued, and with the help of humans, the sea creatures put explosives on the ship. Tristan “noticed that the ship was leaning. Its right side was lower in the water than the left. . . Men started yelling. Black smoke began billowing out from inside the ship.” The yacht sinks, but no one is injured.
  • When one of the bad guy’s men finds a group of campers, they trick him into driving his Jet Ski into an ooid sand wave. “The water over the top of the ooid sand wave was too shallow for the heavy Jet Ski. It hit the sand and stopped with a tremendous jolt. Somehow the man was able to stay aboard and upright on his machine. He reached for his gun. Just as he was about to swing his weapon around, a heavyweight rammed him from behind. The man flew off the Jet Ski as if he’d been hit by a dump truck.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • As the kids were flying over an island, “Coach Fred came on the intercom and told them about a secret navy base there that specialized in capturing drug smugglers.” One of the teens asks if the Navy shoots the drug smugglers. Coach Fred replied, “No, they do not shoot the drugs smugglers. . . well only if necessary.”

Language

  • Darn is used twice.
  • Heck is used once. When a man sees a strange shadow in the ocean, he asks, “What the heck was that?”
  • Oh my God is used twice. Tristan’s father said, “Oh for God’s sake.”
  • Hugh’s family has a chef. He said, “Thank God we do. My mom can’t cook at all.”
  • Someone calls Tristan an idiot.
  • A shark calls Tristan a “lame brain.”
  • A man calls a group of people dorks.
  • frickin’ is used once.

Supernatural

  • All of the kids at camp have different abilities. Ms. Sanchez explains why. “Well, as you and the others know, life on Earth is believed to have started in the ocean. Over hundreds of millions of years, animals evolved and adapted to life in the sea—like dolphins. . . Humans have always lived on land. But since life began in the sea, our very earliest ancestors came from the ocean. In some people there are still traces of the genes that allowed those organisms to adapt to and live in the sea. At the right age and with the right help, these genes can sort of, well, be turned on, at least for a few years.”
  • When the kids at camp drink a pink-colored water, their hands and feet change. After drinking the pink-colored water, “there was a thin sheet of skin between their toes, like the webbing on a duck’s feet.” The effects of the water are temporary.
  • Some of the students can communicate with sea animals. Others have “excellent mucus deployment skills.”
  • When an octopus touches Hugh, “the creature turned brown with blue polka dots. Hugh smiled. Then an even more shocking thing happened. Hugh’s hand also turned brown with blue polka dots.” Hugh discovers he has the ability to camouflage and communicate with animals. Ms. Sanchez explains, “I bet in seawater you’ll be an excellent mimic. Your skin will have the ability to change color and maybe even texture when you’re in the ocean.”
  • Sam discovers that she can echolocate. Sam was swimming in a lagoon, and “after she made the clicking noises she had more than a feeling that the sharks were coming. It was like she had a full-screen 3D image of them in her head.”
  • When the students are in the water, their wounds heal quickly.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Prince Fly Guy

Buzz has a hard homework assignment. He has to write a fairy tale. With Fly Guy’s help, Buzz brainstorms story ideas. Fly Guy puts himself into Buzz’s story suggestions—an ugly troll, a smelly pig herder. Fly Guy decides he wants to be a handsome prince. Prince Fly Guy flies to a dark castle, fends off a giant, and rescues a beautiful princess.

The fiftieth installment of the Fly Guy series does not have to be read in order because the plot does not build on previous books. Like the previous books, the story uses slapstick comedy and humorous full-colored illustrations. Much of the humor comes from the illustrations that show Fly Guy as different fairy tale characters. At the end of the story, Prince Fly Guy lives happily ever after.

Prince Fly Guy introduces the process of brainstorming ideas for a story. Throughout the story, Buzz and Fly Guy discuss different story possibilities. For every story possibility, Fly Guy imagines himself as the character going through the scenario. Readers will giggle at the illustrations that show Fly Guy as a fairy tale character who runs from a giant, kisses a frog, and eats cold porridge. Although the story is not unique, younger readers will still enjoy the story, and the conclusion is sure to please.

Designed for younger readers, each page contains large illustrations that use exaggerated facial features to help readers read the character’s emotions. The story will give emerging readers confidence as they move from picture books to chapter books. Prince Fly Guy has three chapters, and most pages have only one sentence. The story’s short sentences, simple vocabulary, and pattern of wording make Prince Fly Guy a good choice for younger readers.

Prince Fly Guy uses the same format as the others stories in the series. Although the story does not have a lesson, the story shows how fun the creative process of writing can be. Prince Fly Guy is an entertaining story that may just lead readers to pick up a pen and try to write their own fairy tale.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When a giant swats Prince Fly Guy and the princess, “The princess threw her crown. It hit the giant on the nose. The giant fell down.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None
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