Diverse Characters – Page 11

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

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!”

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

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

Deep Blue

Serafina has always known that she will eventually rule her nation, located deep in the Mediterranean Sea. She needs to prepare for her Dokimí, when she will be introduced to the Mer people as their future ruler and will announce her future husband. But rather than worrying about her Dokimí, Serafina is obsessed with the strange dreams of sea witches that have been haunting her.

Everything changes when, during her Dokimí, a poisoned assassin’s arrow strikes her mother, and her father is killed. Now, Serafina must embark on a quest to find the assassin’s master and prevent a war between the Mer nations. Along the way, Seraphina will meet five other mermaids; will the six mermaids be able to discover who is behind the conspiracy that threatens the Mer world?

Many readers will pick up Deep Blue because of the beautiful cover image of a mermaid; however, the story is not as intriguing as the cover photo. The mermaid world has a complicated history and a confusing number of characters (both gods, humans, and mermaids). Much of the mermaid world is mundanely similar to the human world and there are overly long descriptions of clothing. Another negative aspect of the story is the main character Serafina, as her character is inconsistent. In some scenes, she is fearful and runs from danger. Other times Serafina shows bravery, but that bravery makes her make stupid choices that endanger others. Serafina never takes the advice of more knowledgeable mermaids, even when she should.

Throughout the story, six mermaids must meet and make it to the sea witches’ lair. The six mermaids eventually find each other; however, readers will question how the mermaids come together at exactly the right landmarks that lead to the witches’ lair. The action slows down considerably as the characters talk about the history of the mermaids and much of the dialogue feels stilted.

In the end, Deep Blue is a typical story about a beautiful princess who loses everything including her parents. She takes a difficult journey, which teaches her some important lessons. Serafina must learn not to believe other people’s cruel remarks and that everyone makes mistakes. She also must overcome fear. Vrăja tells her, “You fear you will fail at the very thing you were born for. And your fear torments you, so you try to swim away from it. Instead of shunning your fear, you must let it speak and listen carefully to what it’s trying to tell you. It will give you good counsel.”

Even though the story has some positive messages, Deep Blue will leave readers slightly confused, disappointed, and wondering why anyone would want the whiny Serafina to rule their realm. Readers looking for a good mermaid book may want to try Atlantia by Ally Condie instead.

Sexual Content

Serafina overhears a conversation about her fiancé’s girlfriends.
When a mean girl tells Serafina that her fiancé has a girlfriend, Serafina says she isn’t upset because “I just hope she’s done a good job with him. Taught him a few dance strokes or how to send a proper love conch. Someone has to. Merboys are like hippokamps, don’t you think? No fun until they’re broken in.”
Serafina thinks back to when her fiancé kissed her. “It was lovely, that kiss. Slow and sweet.”
She finds her fiancé and one of his friends “lying on their backs. Mahdi had a purple scarf tied around his head and a smudged lipstick kisses on his cheek. . .” Someone had drawn a lipstick smiley face on Mahdi’s friend.
A merboy says that “Merl’s so hot, she melts my face off.”
Three human girls continue to fight over a boy, even though the girls are dead. Someone explains, “Must be something irresistible about rivers to sad girls. They just have to throw themselves into them. I’ve seen a lot of river ghosts.”

Violence

A man grabs an eel and “bit into it. The creature writhed in agony. Its blood dripped down his chin. He swallowed the eel. . .”
In the past “Kalumnus had tried to assassinate Merrow and rule in her stead. He’d been captured and beheaded, and his family banished.”
During a ceremony, men attack. An arrow “came hurling through the water and lodged in her mother’s chest. . . Her mother’s chest was heaving; the arrow was moving with every breath she took. It had shattered her breastplate and pierced her left side. Isabella touched her fingers to her wound. They came away crimson. . . The assassin, barely visible in the dark waters, fired. The arrow buried itself in Bastian’s chest. He was dead by the time his body hit the seafloor.” Both of Serafina’s parents are killed as well as many merfolk.
As the invaders try to capture Serafina, they blow up a wall. Serafina “looked up, still dazed, just in time to see a large chunk of the stateroom’s east wall come crashing down. Courtiers screamed as they rushed to get out of the way. Some didn’t make it and were crushed by falling stones. Others were engulfed by flames ignited by lava pouring from broken heating pipes buried inside the wall.” Serafina is able to run away.
The invaders use a dragon in their attack. “The dragon bashed her head against the palace wall and another large chunk of it fell in . . . the dragon knocked more of the wall down. The creature pulled her head out of the hole she’d made, and dozens of soldiers, all clad in black, swam inside. The leader pointed toward the throne . . . Arrows came through the water . . . Isabella spotted a dagger next to the corpse of a fallen Janiҫari. She conjured a vortex in the water, and sent the knife hurtling at the invaders’ leader. The dagger hit home, knocking him to the floor.” The Janiҫari “gurgled, drowning in his own blood.”
When Serafina and her friend were hiding in a cave, a merman appeared demanding “rent for staying in his cave. He signaled to the morays. They swam to the mermaids and began divesting them of their jewelry. . . One of the eels had dropped the necklace he’d taken from Serafina and had thrust his head down the front of her gown to retrieve it. Sera, lashing her tail furiously, caught another eel with her fins, and sent him spinning into a wall. He hit the stone hard and fell to the cave’s floor, motionless. The other eels were on her immediately, snarling. Tiberius sank his teeth into her tail fin. Sera screamed again, and tried to pull away.” The mermaids are sold to soldiers.
Soldiers capture Serafina and her friend. “They shackled Serafina’s wrists with iron cuffs and blindfolded her. They forced an iron gag into her mouth and wrapped a net around her. Then, one of the soldiers slung her over the back of his hippokamp and rode fast. . . The ride was agony. The net’s filament bit into Sera’s skin. The gag, with its bitter taste of metal, made her retch.” When they arrive at their destination, Serafina and her friend are put in prison with another mermaid. “Her face was bruised. She held her manacled hands close to her chest. Blood swirled above them, pulsing from the stump of bone where her left thumb used to be.”
While in prison, Serafina and her friends are immobilized with a metal collar that is padlocked to the wall. Serafina sees her friend, who was “chained to another pole only a few feet away. Her eye was swollen and bruised. Her skin was a sickly gray-blue.”
A merman frees Serafina and her friends from prison. During the break-out, “the guard’s throat had been cut. He was arching his back, flailing his tail. His eyes, pleading and desperate, found Sera’s. She gasped and backed away.”
While Serafina and her friend are hiding out, men appear and try to capture them. A man points a spear gun at Serafina. “Luckily, the duca lunged at the man and grabbed his arm. The gun went off. Trailing a thin nylon line, the spear hit a wall and fell into the water. . . the duca threw a punch at him, but he deflected it, grabbed the duca, and hurled him against a wall. The duca crashed to the floor, motionless.” Two mako sharks are mortally wounded. A merman who was helping Serafina was shot with a spear gun. The speargun hit “with a sickening thunk and exited his body under his collarbone. His attacker yanked on the line attached to the spear, pulling the cruel, barbed head into his flesh.” Later Serafina learns that several were killed during the fight. The scene takes place over five pages.
When Serafina enters the mirror realm, Rorrim tries to keep her there. When Serafina tries to leave, “He grabbed her hair and yanked her back. The pain was electric. She screamed and tried to pull away, but he only tightened his grip.” Serafina cuts off her hair and is able to escape.
Serafina’s friend, Ling, gets caught in a fishing net. When she is caught, Seraphina sees Ling’s “eyes wild with terror, mouth open in a scream.” Ling’s friends are able to free her.
As Serafina and her friends are traveling, they see “on the seabed below, maybe twenty feet off the ship’s port side, were bodies. At least a dozen of them. . . They were dead. Some were lying on their backs, others facedown. Some had the kind of open, gaping wounds that were made by a spear gun. Others had bruises on their faces.”
When Serafina sat against a tree, “she was jerked against the tree roots. She heard a snarl and smelled a gut-wrenching stench. She screamed and tried to pull away, but was pulled back.” Serafina’s friend took out her blade. “The blade came down to the right of Sera’s head. An instant later, she was free. . . and a human arm was lying on the ground. She whirled around to see what had attacked her. It was a terragogg. Or what was left of him. He was dead . . .” Someone had used forbidden magic to “reanimate the human dead and make them do their bidding.”
Three river witches are in a circle, casting a spell to keep a monster in his cage. “Blood streaked the lips of one, and dripped from the nose of another. Bruises mottled the face of a third. Sera could see that the magic cost them dearly. . .the monster grabbed the witch by her throat. She screamed in pain as its nails dug into her flesh. It jerked her forward, breaking her grip on the incanti at either side of her. The waterfire went out.” Serafina and her friends try to help the witches. “With a warrior’s roar, she (Astrid) swung her sword at the monster, the muscles in her strong arms rippling. The blade came down on one of its outstretched arms and cut off a hand. The monster shrieked in pain and fled into the depths of its prison.” The scene takes place over five pages.

Drugs and Alcohol

Serafina’s fiance, Mahdi, is rumored to be a party boy.

Language

“Good gods” and “Oh gods” are used as an exclamation several times throughout the book.
The villain and his soldiers are often referred to as sea scum.

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.”
Magic is used throughout the story. One spell is a vello spell. The mermaid said, “Waters blue, Hear me cast, Rise behind us, Make us fast!”
The story has several human ghost that live inside mirrors. “Ghosts lived inside it—vitrina—souls of beautiful, vain humans who’d spent too much time gazing into it. The mirror had captured them. Their bodies had withered and died, but their spirits lived on, trapped behind the glass forever.”
A witch uses a mirror to beckon Serafina. When Serafina looks at the mirror, she raised her hand slowly, as if in a trance.” Someone else enters the mirror, and the witch leaves.
Serafina and other mermaids can use songspells. “Canta mirus was a demanding type of magic that called for a powerful voice and a great deal of ability. . . Mirus casters could bind light, wind, water, and sound. The best could embellish existing songspells or create new ones.”
A mermaid can cast a bloodsong which shows someone else their memories. When a mermaid causes herself to bleed, “the crimson swirled through the water like smoke in the air, then coalesced into images. As it did, Serafina saw the bloodsong—the memories that lived in her teacher’s heart.”
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.”
In order to help Serafina and her friend escape, a mermaid uses magic. “She pulled wind down into the water and spiraled giant vortexes one after another, until she’d raised a wall of spinning typhoons. She was no longer a mere mermaid. She was a storm system, a category five. And she was bearing down on the enemy.”
In order to escape, Serafina and her friend go through a mirror, where thousands of ghosts live. Many of the ghosts in the mirror realm are lifeless because they, “craved admiration. They become listless without it.” 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!”
One mermaid was omnivoxa and could speak and understand any language.
A river witch uses a bloodsong to show Atlantis being destroyed. “People ran shrieking through the streets of Elysia, the capital, as the ground trembled and buildings fell around them. Bodies were everywhere. Smoke and ash filled the air. Lava flowed down a flight of stone steps. A child, too small to walk, sat at the bottom of them, screaming in terror, her mother dead beside her.” The story is retold over four pages.
The sea witches teach Serafina and her companions magic. One mermaid cast a spell trying to make waterfire. “Whirl around me/Like a gyre, /This I ask you, /Ancient fire. /Hot blue flames, /Throw your heat, /Cause my enemy/To retreat.”
One of the mermaids has the power of prophecy and sees visions of the future.
Serafina and her companions perform darksong. “Canta malus was said to have been a poisonous gift to the mer from Morsa, in mockery of Neria’s gifts. The invocation of the malus spells could get the caster imprisoned: the clepio spells, used for stealing; a habeo, which took control of another’s mind or body; the nocérus, used to cause harm; and the nex songspell which was used to kill.” A bloodbind is forever and if a mer breaks it, they die. The mermaids perform the bloodbind. The girls cut themselves and share their blood. “As the last notes of the songspell rose, the blood of all five mermaids spiraled together into a crimson helix and wrapped itself around their hands. Like the sea pulling the tide back to itself, their flesh summoned the blood’s return. It came, flowing back through the waters, back through the wounds. The slashed edges of their palms closed and healed.” The spell is described over four pages.
A witch tells the mermaids about silverfish who live in the mirror realm. “Tell it where you need to go, and it will take you.”

Spiritual Content

A witch, who is helping cast a spell says, “Gods help me!” As the witches are attempting to cast a spell, a witch says, “Come, devil, come. . . you’re near. . . I feel you.”
Serafina must face Alitheia. She is told, “The gods themselves made her. Bellogrim, the smith, forged her, and Neria breathed life into her. . . When Merrow was old and close to death, she wanted to make sure only her descendants ruled Miromara. So she asked the goddess of the sea, Neria, and Bellogrim, the god of fire, to forge a creature of bronze.” The creature must taste a meril’s blood to determine if she is a descendant of Merrow.
Serafina “prayed to the gods” that her magic would work.
The history of mermaids is told. When Atlantis was falling into the ocean, Merrow “saved the Atlanteans by calling them into the water and beseeching Neria to help them. As the dying island sank beneath the waves, the goddess transformed its terrified people and gave them sea magic. They fought her at first, struggling to keep their heads above water, to breathe air, screaming as their legs knit together and their flesh sprouted fins. As the sea pulled them under, they tried to breath water. It was agony. Some could do it. Others could not, and the waves carried their bodies away.”
After Serafina is questioned, the villain tells her, “Gods help you if you’ve lied to me.”
When Serafina and her friends are freed from prison, Serafina says, “Oh, thank gods!”
Serafina was told a story about the sea goddess, Neria, who “fell in love with Cassio, god of the skies. She made a plan to steal away from her palace and meet him on the horizon. Trykel found out and was jealous. He went to Fragor, the storm god, and asked him to fill the sky with clouds so he could hide in them, pretend to be Cassio, and steal a kiss. . .” The story is not completed.

The Brooklyn Nine

Baseball is in the Schneider family’s blood. Each member of this family, from family founder Felix Schneider in the 1800s to Snider Flint in the present day, has a strong tie to the game and to Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Nine begins in Manhattan, 1845, with Felix Schneider, a boy who has recently moved to America from Germany and ends up meeting the Knickerbockers. Several years later, Felix’s son Louis plays baseball during the civil war. He serves for the Union but befriends a Confederate soldier and they bond over the game. Louis’s son, Arnold Schneider, also has a love for baseball. He meets the famous King Kelly who has fallen on hard times and gone to drinking and fails to live up to the young boy’s expectations. Arnold’s son Walter tries to get Cyclone Joe Williams onto a team by pretending the man is Native American. Frankie Snider, Walter’s daughter, runs a numbers game for a mob and meets the famous reporter John Kieran, who helps her rig it.

Kat Flint, the first character unrelated to the Schneiders, joins the Grand Rapids Chicks in the first All-American Girls Baseball League. Her son Jimmy is more into baseball cards than actual baseball, but faces the threat of Sputnik and the fear of atomic annihilation during the 1950s. His son, Michael Flint, pitches a perfect game. His son, Snider Flint, helps run a pawnshop with lots of baseball memorabilia.

Each of these experiences, from Felix in 1845 to Snider in 2002, are connected by baseball. Gratz creates characters that are vivid and distinct, each with their own unique traits and personalities. The historical information and timeline of characters allow the reader to glimpse baseball and life during each character’s time period. The conflicts that characters face are realistic, and the ways they overcome them show the advantages of hard work instead of magical solutions.

Gratz also includes a large amount of accurate historical information about baseball in the stories. His main characters are fictional, but they interact with are real, historical people. For example, King Kelly was an actual baseball player who spent his fortune on alcohol, and Cyclone Joe Williams was a real African American who played as one of the world’s greatest pitchers, even though he could never play in the major leagues.

The story is broken up into nine innings, and each inning focuses on one generation. Each inning has an entirely new cast of characters and ends in a cliffhanger. Even though the cliffhanger’s questions are eventually answered, the abrupt endings of each chapter may cause some frustration for readers.

The Brooklyn Nine weaves authentic details about baseball into each fictional character’s life story. Gratz clearly illustrates the idea that baseball is more than just a game or a pastime, and the nine stories he tells are an innovative way to get that idea across. The book is relatively easy to read; none of the words or sentences should be too difficult for the author’s recommended audience of 8+. There is a small amount of violence, but nothing is extremely detailed. More than anything, the author includes powerful themes centered around the importance of perseverance and the powerful impacts that different generations can have on each other.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

Kids fight each other in the novel. “Walter got in one good blow before the kid and his two friends ganged up on him and beat the stuffing out of him.”
During the civil war, the characters hear “the pop of a rifle” before “Stuart’s leg exploded.”
Felix remarks that “shootouts sometimes erupted in the streets” of New York.
Felix’s uncle “struck” and “cuffed” Felix when he came home after losing a package in the mud.
Walter “clawed and fought” when his hat was stolen, “getting himself bloodier in the process.”
Henry is punched, leaning to “blood spurt[ing] from the boy’s busted nose.”
Eric “punched [Jimmy] in the stomach.”

Drugs and Alcohol

King Kelly walks onto stage, “with a glass of beer” in his hand, and proceeds to take “a long draw” off of his drink.
King Kelly says he spent his money on strawberries and ice cream, and a heckler yells that “the bartenders got the rest.”
King Kelly gets drunk.
King Kelly says his “act goes better when [he’s] had a little something to drink.”
Blind pigs and speakeasies, illegal bars during the prohibition era, are the setting for Frankie’s chapter.
Kat sees girls sitting on gravestones “sipping beer and smoking cigarettes.”
Babe Herman “spit a huge glop of tobacco juice.”

Language

Rawney Dutchman, bloody devil, plonker, boat-lickers, dork, are all used by characters to insult each other.
Hell, damn, and darn are used as exclamations.
During a traffic buildup, men “yelled obscenities at each other.”
The “Red-Legged Devils” were said to have gotten their name when they fought with “hell’s fury” during Bull Run.

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

Felix compares his neighbor’s apartment to “preachers who stood on street corners throughout Kleindeutschland yelling warnings of damnation and hell.”
Temperance preachers throw whiskey into the sea, saying that “alcohol is an abomination, a plague on our cities and our communities and our families.”

by Dylan Chilcoat

The Secret Mountain

Jack and his friends are hanging out in Tale Town’s magical tree when they see a surprising sight. Mayor Fitch’s guards lock a troll child in the stocks. Everyone knows that trolls are trouble, but how could it be right to hold a child prisoner? Jack and his friends, the Little Legends, decide to rescue the young troll and help her get home. With Mayor Fitch’s guards looking for them, is there any way to get the troll home?

Children will enjoy the silly magic, the non-frightening suspense, and the fairy tale characters that appear in The Secret Mountain. Cute black-and-white illustrations appear on almost every page, and help bring the diverse cast of characters to life. As Jack and his friends try to help the troll return to her home, the reader will learn that outward appearance isn’t what makes a person good or evil. Ella explains, “You get good people and bad people. Why would it be any different with trolls?”

Readers can understand the story without reading the previous books; however, reading the stories in order is suggested because The Secret Mountain often refers to events that happened in previous books. Younger readers will need help tackling the story because some of the vocabulary is difficult and the pages are heavy in text. The Secret Mountain has a large cast of characters—a talking chicken, Jack, Red, Rapunzel, Hansel, and Gretel are just a few. As the plot unfolds the story jumps from place to place, which may confuse readers.

The Secret Mountain drops readers into a fairy tale world where magic is real. The story highlights the importance of working together to do what is right. The Secret Mountain will delight confident readers looking for a fun story with cute illustrations.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

Mayor Finch’s guards put a troll child in the stocks.
When a girl was jumping on a pogo stick, a guard “swiped the pogo stick, bending it in two.”
Mayor Finch sets fire to a troll village. The event is not described.
A group was riding in a hot air balloon when people below began shooting arrows at them. “More and more arrows ripped into the balloon.” When the group crashes, they discover that a troll turned the mountain into marshmallows so no one would get hurt.
Hurrilan swings a magical crystal-topped staff. “. . . Then the crystal started glowing with a bright red light, leaving shimmering trails that twisted around each other, becoming almost solid. The light trails snaked through the air toward Rufaro and Adeola, twisting them around like a slow-motion lasso that bound them completely and dragged them back toward the glowing crystal.” The light shrinks the kids, and “the light dimmed and was sucked back into the crystal, taking Rufaro and Anansi’s mom with it.” The scene takes place over three pages.

Drugs and Alcohol

Lily the Sea Witch gives the group magic capsules that make them fall asleep.

Language

Someone told a small green monkey to move his “furry green butt.”
A chicken says, “that Mayor Finch is a stupid, sausage-faced—”

Supernatural

Tale Town has a magical tree. “If you ran your finger along the branch, the story would happen inside your head.” The tree has a spell of protection, which “means that the only way to trim off a story is using the Sacred Shiny Story-Snipping Shears.”
Cole uses fairy magic, but it “never really worked properly.” He accidentally turned his friends into hamsters.
Lily the Sea Witch uses her magic to put the town’s guards to sleep. Lily, “pulled the lid off a colored jar and flung the contents of it all over the guards, who immediately crumbled and fell fast asleep.
Lily the Sea Witch gives a group some, “magic capsules containing the concentrated essence of it wasn’t like this when I was young! This powerful spell was made up of the complaints of older people, who were always complaining that It wasn’t like this when I was young! It was one of the most boring things you could ever hear and would make everyone fall asleep immediately.
Someone meets a boy’s parents, who are trolls. Someone explains that “Anansi’s mom and uncle have been cursed by the troll warlock Hurrilan. The spell used to make them look like trolls all the time, but now it’s only in the daylight.”
Anansi can talk to spiders, and he asks them to make a hammock for him to sleep in.
“When soldiers appear, Hurrilan uses magic to turn them into goats.

Spiritual Content

None

Genesis

Noah has died again. Now he is determined to live. After an asteroid destroys the Earth, the planet is left in the hands of Fire Lake’s sophomore class. After being murdered and uploaded into a simulation, the group of 64 students is left to duke it out and hopefully make it through the Guardian’s game. There are no rules, but repeatedly dying has trained Noah. Now, he plans to lead the strong into the future. At any cost.

Min Wilder knows that survival isn’t enough. In a world where violence is king, Min rebels against allowing others to determine who lives and who dies. She will fight for what is right. She will fight against anyone who stands in her way.

The second book of Project Nemesis follows the same group of kids, alternating perspectives between Min, Tack, and Noah. The kids are told by the Guardian, the one in charge of the computer program, that they must fight each other to make it through the program and eventually return to real life. He claims that the simulation will only allow the strongest and smartest to return to the real world. This spurs the kids to form groups and turn on one another as their existence becomes a fight for survival.

Min, Tack, and Noah all take separate journeys and handle the violence and new reality differently. Min refuses to bow to the moral pits that the violence keeps tugging the students into. Tack completely gives himself over to the violence, willing to do anything to make it out alive. And Noah believes completely in the program’s rules, until Min reminds him of his humanity. All three teenagers’ journeys spotlight different ways of handling grief, trauma, and catastrophe. The students’ struggle with whom to trust and what to believe is both interesting and thought-provoking.

In order to fully understand Genesis, readers need to read Nemesis first. Reichs does an excellent job of incorporating past events from Nemesis into the story; the short reminders help the reader stay engaged. However, what makes the reader keep turning the pages are the intriguing situations the students face—the story has non-stop action and startling surprises.

Genesis is extremely violent and has an outrageous storyline. While it takes some faith from readers, this story does an excellent job navigating this unique plot. Genesis will keep the readers guessing until the very end. Readers who enjoy suspense and adventure will enjoy the plot twists and action sequences. Readers who are fans of Maze Runner will want to pick up the Project Nemesis series.

Sexual Content

Tack says Noah is “too busy roasting people like marshmallows, or making out with his hunting knife” to look for him and Min.

Toby volunteers to take Min back to the jail in town. Min says, “Screw you, Toby.” He replies, “You offering?” As they start back into town, he “put a hand to the small of my (Min’s) back. He left it there for a few paces, then ran his fingers up and over my bra strap.”
Min announces that she’s willing to sacrifice herself so the group can make it to Phase Three. Noah is filled with emotion and insists that she’s their leader. Noah then kisses Min “in front of the others. His touch was electric, and soft, and sad.” Noah insists that he should be the one to sacrifice himself. Min says, “‘Don’t leave me, okay? I forgive you. I . . . I love you.’ I kissed him then, hard on the mouth.”
Right before Noah and Min get in their tubes to be regenerated, they share a kiss. “Then Noah’s lips found mine and I wrapped my arms around him, squeezing, losing myself in his warmth. . . I grabbed him again and mashed his face with another kiss.”

Violence

A group of kids is ambushed as they are sneaking through the woods. Their rivals who ambushed them start shooting. “Zach dropped like a puppet with its strings cut, a dark stain spreading. . .Morgan’s body jerked . . .Then she slumped onto her butt, blubbering, glossy liquid spilling from her mouth.” Later in the scene, the rest of the group gets away and sets fire to a cabin with the rivals inside. The people inside screamed and were locked inside as the cabin burned down. The people are not described as they are dying.
Chris and Mike kill Min by locking her in an elevator and blowing up the cables. “The wall exploded, shards of metal lacerating my arms and legs. Flames licked my skin. . . My legs smashed up into my body. The roof slammed down on top of me.”
While on their way to the Silo, Min and Tack run into Neb who is staying at a summer camp with four others. While talking, “Neb spun sideways. . . gasping in confusion as a red bloom spread across his chest.” Two kids are attacking the camp, and one shoots Min and Tack with an assault rifle. It is not depicted in any detail.
Min is ambushed. When the three assailants try to capture her, one “caught a fist in his teeth for his trouble.” They put a bag over her head and tie her up.
Devin drops some food, and Ethan overreacts. “. . . he raised his gun and shot Devin in the stomach.” Devin doesn’t die immediately, so Ethan shoots him again. This is all done with the understanding that he will revive at one of the reset points.
Zach, part of the team trying to ransack a store, gets shot in an ambush. “. . . a line of bullets ripped into his jacket.” Then Noah shoots the sniper who killed Zach. The sniper “toppled forward and fell to the sidewalk with a sickening crunch. . . leaving a wide smear on the icy concrete.”
The convenience store is blown up. A couple of kids standing in front of the store were shot and killed. One of them “had been tossed face-first into the gutter and was smoldering with tiny flames. The victim, a girl, lay unnaturally, her neck twisted too far around.”
In order to give Min an extra life, Tack tricks her into shooting him and causing him to reset. It is not described in any detail.
Noah and another kid use machine guns to shoot a group of kids following them. No details are given.
In order to escape the jail and show up at the reset points, Akio and a couple of other kids used a fork to kill themselves. “The most horrifying jailbreak in history—a human murder chain. . . Ran myself into a wall.”
Noah and Tack get in a fistfight. Noah’s “left fist flew, striking Tack across the face. . . Punching. Kicking. Clawing. . .” The fight lasts two pages.
Tack, Noah, and their team try to ambush Ethan’s group but instead get ambushed themselves. “The barrel hit him chest-high and broke open, covering him in flaming liquid. Richie screamed. . . he collapsed in seconds. . . A tongue of red enveloped Jamie. She made a sickly screaming sound, a red stream leaking from her mouth.” Tack and Noah throw grenades, and “Toby’s left leg was missing. . . Toby put his gun in his mouth and calmly pulled the trigger.”Noah gets ambushed. “The first shot took me in the shin. The second struck my side.”
Min must shoot Noah four times to even her life count. Noah “was lying on the ground in a puddle of warm, slick blood. . . I was down again. The drop cloth was soaked through with dark red liquid. . . I closed my eyes as she thrust the gun barrel against my forehead. . . Bang. Bang. Bang.”
Ethan’s group and Min’s group attack each other. Over twenty kids are involved in the fighting. “Then Kyle stood over his body, unloading on Chris every time he tried to get up. . . Dropping his gun, he unsheathed a KA-BAR knife from his belt and stabbed Leighton in the chest. . . Before he could fire, Ethan tried to tackle him, but Toby sidestepped in a blink and tripped him, then shot Ethan five times in the back.” The fighting lasts six pages.
Tack sacrifices himself to get the group to Phase Three of the program. “Tack put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger.”

Drugs and Alcohol

At the beginning of the simulation, Sarah “destroyed the liquor store the first week. I let Cash and Finn get drunk and smash everything.”

Language

“Jesus” and “God” are used as exclamations.
Profanity is used extensively. Profanity includes: “jackass, “ass,” “fucking,” “fuck,” “hell,” “damn,” “crap,” “freaking,” “assholes,” “pissed,” “bastards,” “shit,” “bullshit,” “bitch,” “bitchin’,” “goddamn,” “douchebag,” and “prick.”
Derrick says, “Sarah’s lost her damn mind.”Casey
is upset when Noah acts like only the boys are good at fighting. “‘Since when did sex matter?’ Casey shouted. . . ‘Don’t count up penises and assume you know the score.’”
Ferris walked across the valley to get to Noah’s house. He says that the lake was, “colder than Santa’s balls with that wind.”
Noah asks Tack to eliminate him. “No way, Noah. . . Fuck you, Noah! You want to play Jesus, do it your goddamn self.”

Supernatural

In the program, the kids figure out that as they kill each other, they gain strength and powers from the confirmed kill.

Spiritual Content

While traveling across the valley to try and unite the groups of kids against Ethan, Tack jokes, “So we’re not seeking converts along the way? . . . This is the worst mission trip ever.”
Min is worried she will be captured or killed by those after her. “Pray to God Noah isn’t sitting there waiting for me. Pray to God? Or the Guardian?”
Min says a small prayer because she believes that Sarah cannot manipulate the program.
Min is nervous when she learns that Sarah actually has the power to manipulate the program on her own. “Sarah was playing God, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.”
Sarah discovers how to change the program. Derrick says, “Sarah acting like the voice of God.”
To even people’s numbers, Hector needs to shoot someone. He refuses, saying, “My religion forbids it.”

by Hannah Neeley

Lady Knight

The Chamber of the Ordeal has given Kel a task that could win the war and save countless lives. Kill the Nothing Man, who entraps the souls of children to fuel metal killing machines. But the Chamber is unable to give her any details, leaving her wondering how she can find the Nothing Man. Is there a way to fulfill her mission without breaking her oaths and abandoning her duty? Or will Kel have to sacrifice everything—including her life?

Unfortunately, Kel quickly finds herself trapped in Tortall when Lord Wyldon assigns her to run a refugee camp. Refugees are pouring in due to the war, and Kel worries they may be a target as the Nothing Man needs children to use for his machines. Kel cannot abandon the refugees, so she sets aside the Ordeal’s mission and works to make New Haven the best fort it can be. With constant attacks by Scanran forces, things are never quiet for long. And soon, an unimaginable tragedy will set Kel on a course that will end up with her going head to head against the Nothing Man, his magic, and his army.

Many readers will relate to Kel because she faces her troubles with determination, understanding that her actions have consequences. Kel’s journey was not easy. Throughout her journey, she shows physical and mental strength, but also the strength of conviction. Kel understands the importance of duty and is willing to go to any length to protect others.

Knight is a roller coaster from beginning to end. The story has a slightly darker tone than the previous books because it focuses on war and describes war’s causalities. Kel has become the knight she always wanted to be. She is kind, and brave, and noble—a great example for girls and boys everywhere. The plot will keep readers engaged, as will the wide cast of new characters. From Scanrans to refugees, Tamora Pierce once again has managed to create a wide cast of diverse characters that are as well-developed as they are lovable. The only disappointing thing about Knight is that it is the last book in Kel’s wonderful story.

Sexual Content

Kel thinks about how, “She and Cleon had kissed, had yearned for time and privacy in which to become lovers. He’d wanted to marry her, though she was not sure that she wanted marriage.”
A man is shocked that a woman is in charge. He calls Kel, “’a shameless girl, a chit who’s no better than she ought to be!’ The insult to Kel, the claim that she was nearly a prostitute, brought the soldiers growling to their feet.”

Violence

Kel’s fort is attacked several times. “Three raiders still galloped toward the eastern wall. One of them went down, an arrow in his throat. . . . Numair’s spell had done its work: flames rose from the ground at the enemy’s rear. There was no sign of either shaman in that large blaze. He’d burned them out of existence.”
Killing devices attack the fort. “A man went down, gutted by a dagger-hand. A soldier flew off the walkway to the ground twenty feet below . . . One refugee wasn’t quick enough; the device cut him lengthwise from behind as he turned to flee.”
When her men don’t want to bury the dead after a battle, she says, “Then, sir, you shall plow the section where the bodies are, two days hence . . . The feel of a plow as it hits rotting flesh and bone must be . . . interesting.”
Two men fight over a woman. “Two young men, both larger than Kel, punched, kicked, and rolled on the ground, trying to rip one another apart.”
Kel goes to Haven after reports of a battle. She finds, “a few dead sword- or axe-cut animals . . . All had bloody muzzles and, in the case of the cats, bloody claws . . . [there] was a maroon-and-brown pile. There Oluf’s cold, dead face, his eyes wide, seemed to stare right at her. He lay on a stack of dead men, all in army maroon.”
Kel finds several dead bodies as she tracks a group of kidnapped refugees. “Though animals had fed on the dead woman, the Stormwings hadn’t touched her. The earth had protected her face. Gently Kel brushed the mud away. Through the dirt, bloat, and darkening of dead flesh, Kel recognized Hildurra.” Later, “A woman lay crumpled at the roadside. Kel thought her skirts were dull maroon until she saw that they were stained with blood.”
At a castle, “corpses hung from the walls in iron cages. Some of the bodies were beginning to fall apart. At least two looked fairly recent.”
Kel and her troops storm a castle. The fight takes place over a chapter. “The door opened and a man stuck his head out. Kel cut him down. Another man stumbled across his body to die at Connac’s hand. Inside, Kel heard men hammering at the blocked doors and shutters. Here came another soldier, half armed over a nightshirt. Kel rammed her glaive into his unprotected side while Connac chopped at the man’s neck.”
When Stenmun attacks her, Kel “hooked her leg around one of his, and jerked, a leg sweep from her studies in hand-to-hand-combat . . . He went down on his back . . . Kel didn’t wait for an invitation. She brought the iron-shod butt of the glaive down with all her strength, striking him right between the eyes, breaking through his skull. That probably finished him, but to be sure, she cut his throat.”
Kel finds Blayce. “She caught Blayce at the knees, cutting the muscles behind them. He dropped, turning visible to her unaided eyes, his control over his invisibility spell gone. Kel seized her glaive two-handed and yanked the blade toward her, neatly beheading the Gallan.”

Drugs and Alcohol

Tobe thinks Kel was drunk when she bought him. “I don’t care if you was drunk or mad or takin’ poppy or rainbow dream or laugh powder, you bought my bond and signed your name and paid money for me and you can’t return me.”
When offered wine or cider, Kel chooses cider. She thinks about how, “recently she had found that wine or liquor gave her ferocious, nauseous headaches. She was happy to give up spirits; she hadn’t liked the loose, careless feeling they gave her.”
A woman had been “smuggling poppy” to the children that Blayce chose to kill.

Language

Phrases such as Goddess bless and By the gods are used frequently as a part of Tortallian culture.
An angry cook calls a dog, “you thankless rat turd.”
An innkeeper calls an orphan a “whore’s brat.”

Supernatural

Kel lives in Tortall, a world filled with monsters and magic. The monsters include griffins, centaurs, and more. Some are good, some are not. Kel even has a basilisk for a teacher.
Several people at court are mages. They have the Gift, which can be used for light, to heal, and more. For example, “Daine, known as the Wildmage, shared a magical bond with animals . . . For three years her eagles, hawks, owls, pigeons, and geese had carried tidings south while the land slept.”
Neal puts a spell on an abusive man. Neal says the spell won’t hurt the man, “as long as you don’t hit anyone. When you do, well, you’ll feel the blow as if you struck yourself.”
A little girl, “is a seer . . . She prophesied that you would come and save us from the Gallan.”

Spiritual Content

Tortall has many gods. They are named differently but are similar to the Greek gods. For example, Mithros is the god of the sun, and there is a god of death. The gods are mentioned often in the Tortallian culture but are not an integral part of the plot.
An evil mage captures the spirits of dead children and uses them to fuel killing machines, metal monsters with knife fingers.
At one point, Neal asks why the gods don’t stop the killing machines. “All the legends say they loathe necromancy. It interferes with the balance between the mortal realm and that of the dead.”
When stopping at an old battleground, Kel “added a soft Yamani prayer . . . It seemed to work with most ghosts. She’d never seen any in the Yamani Islands.”

Squire

It was Kel’s proudest moment when she passed her page examinations and was named a squire. But as months pass without any knight taking her onto their service, Kel worries that no knight will want a girl squire. Will she be stuck as a glorified scribe in the palace forever?

That is not her only worry. Now that she is a squire, the Chamber of the Ordeal weighs heavily on her mind. Every squire must enter the Chamber at the end of their squireship. If they survive, they become a knight. But some have been driven mad by the Chamber. Determined to prove herself unafraid, Kel visits the Chamber several times and places her hand on the outside of the door. And each time, the Chamber sends her horrifying nightmares built from her deepest fears.

But Kel cannot dwell on the Chamber too often, because her wildest dreams come true when Raoul asks her to be his squire. As the Knight Commander of the King’s Own, Raoul is a noble warrior that will take Kel on many adventures—not all of them enjoyable. He is a character that readers will fall in love with, as he is good and noble, but also great fun with a solid sense of humor.

Kel is a strong female character who grows and changes throughout the story. Kel has been able to succeed in a male-dominated world because of her hard work and determination. Kel stands up for other women, admires other women rather than becoming jealous, and her behavior highlights the importance of women supporting each other. Kel has a strong moral code that will encourage readers to also stand up for others.

Although Kel is a strong woman, she also has a supportive family and friends. These relationships give the story more depth and show the importance of having positive relationships. As Kel becomes older and begins to think about romantic relationships, Kel discusses sex with her mother, which helps the reader understand Tortall’s sexual morals. Even though Raoul felt uncomfortable talking about sex with Kel, they have a conversation about how it might affect her career, and he gives her advice and information to help Kel make the decision that is right for her. Although Kel never has a sexual relationship, Kel does obtain birth control. Having a sexual relationship is discussed in a nonjudgmental way that allows Kel to make the best decision for herself.

Squire does not disappoint, with an exciting plot full of monsters, magic, and fun. Raoul and the men of the King’s Own add well-developed new characters to the mix, while Kel’s page friends still make appearances. Readers will feel as though they are squires as they follow Kel on her jousts and into battle. As Kel explores being in a relationship for the first time, readers will relate to her doubts and awkwardness. With a tantalizing ending that sets up the next book, readers should be sure to have Knight handy, because they will not want to wait to read the final book in the Protector of the Small series.

Sexual Content

It’s mentioned in passing that Kel’s maid, “put out her clothes, including a fresh breastband and loincloth, and one of the cloth pads Kel wore during her monthly bleeding.”
A centaur offers to buy Kel with three slaves, which are horses he owns, and “two more if she breeds successfully within a year.”
When Peachblossom gets in a centaur’s way, the centaur “reared to show the geldings his stallion parts, and hissed.”
A woman sees bruises on Keladry’s body and thinks she is being abused. She offers Kel protection. “They’ll get the man who did it . . . Even if it’s a noble. After the rapes last winter, they have a new commander.”
“Cleon leaned down and pressed his lips gently to [Kel]’s . . . He turned crimson, and strode down the hall.”
Cleon kisses Kel a second time. “He lowered his head just a few inches to press his mouth to hers.”
Cleon and Kel start secretly dating, and kiss several times. Once, “Cleon pulled her into a corner invisible to passerby and kissed her again. Then he strode out of the tent. Kel pressed her fingers to lips that throbbed from this new and different use.”
Raoul warns that if women are in command, they’ll “take Rider men as lovers, and it’s found out, they encounter trouble. Men who dislike their orders offer to work it out in bed. Jealousies spring up.”
Twice, when Kel is challenged to a joust, Cleon says a variation of, “Gods protected me, you’re going to die a virgin.”
A man confesses to the court. “Two girls of the Lower City were attacked, beaten. A third was—must I say it?—a third was beaten and raped. I did it.”
Cleon and Kel almost get carried away twice, but they are interrupted. “That got her another round of very warm kisses. They had each other’s tunics off and were fumbling with shirt lacings when Raoul called outside.”
Just in case, Kel “found a midwife-healer traveling with the progress and purchased the charm against pregnancy.” She never uses it, however.

Violence

After entering the Chamber of the Ordeal, “a squire went mad there. Five months later he escaped his family and drowned himself.”
Kel visits a town shortly after it was attacked. “Bodies were set along the streets, pieces of cloth over their faces. Kel could only glance at those who’d burned; the sight of their swollen black flesh was too much . . . Raoul crouched beside a dead man who clutched a long-handled war-axe. He hadn’t died in a fire: five arrows peppered his corpse.”
Keladry knows the bandits she captured are going to be hung. “Kel shuddered: she hated hangings. No matter what the crime was, she saw no malice in those hooded and bound silhouettes dangling against the sky. Worse, to her mind, was the thought that the condemned knew they were to die, that a day and time had been set, that strangers planned each step of their killing.”
Centaurs say they have to cull traitorous centaurs and the dumb horses they mated with because, “You don’t want bad blood in the herd, particularly not in the slaves . . . That’s probably what Graystreak’s doing now, culling the slaves that bred with that crowd.” Kel thinks that is “obscene.”
Kel fights a centaur. The battle takes place over three pages. “He hurled the axe. Kel dodged left, still between him and escape, and stepped in with a long slash across his middle . . . Kel lunged, sinking the eighteen-inch blade deep below the centaur’s waist and yanking up. His belt dropped, cut in two; his forelegs buckled. Kel pulled her glaive free as her foe went down, clutching his belly. Blood spilled around his hands.”
Kel has several nightmares when visiting the Chamber of the Ordeal. “Another centaur clubbed her with a spiked mace. . . They were clubbed down as Kel fought to do something, anything.” Another time, the Chamber gives her a nightmare where, “Men, armed and mounted on horses, galloped down the street . . . she toppled as the man’s sword bit deep into her good shoulder. She lay on her side in the mud, blood pooling under her.”
A man “tried to run her through” during a joust. Kel unhorses him, then “flipped up his visor with her sword point and pressed the sharp tip to his nose. ‘Yield,’ she advised, her voice even. ‘Or I carve my initials right there.’”
Kel is in a brief fight with bandits. “The man who followed him carried a sword: Kel parried his cut at Peachblossom and ran him through.”
Kel fights in a battle. “Kel shot her officer squarely in the throat. He too dropped. . . Her arrow punched into the frothing man’s eye. He dropped like a stone.”

Drugs and Alcohol

Kel’s knight master, “doesn’t drink spirits, and he doesn’t serve them. He says he had a problem as a young man, so he doesn’t care to have liquor about. Captain Flyndan likes a glass or two. He serves it in his tent, but only when my lord isn’t there.”
The squires serve refreshments at a party, including “liquid refreshments: wine, punch, brandy, and, for the Yamanis, rice wine and tea.”

Language

Phrases such as Goddess bless and By the gods are used frequently as a part of Tortallian culture. Once Raoul says, “Gods . . . [she was] green the whole trip, I swear.”
Bitch is used three times. An angry knight tells Kel, “One of us will spear you through your bitch’s heart.” Later Joren tells her, “Once I’m a knight, you’d best keep an eye behind you, bitch.”

Supernatural

Kel lives in Tortall, a world filled with monsters and magic. The monsters include griffins, centaurs, and more. Some are good, some are not. Kel even has a basilisk for a teacher.
Several people at court have the Gift, which can be used for light, to heal, and more. Once, “The king reached a hand toward Vinson and twisted his fingers. The blue fire of his magic settled over the weeping squire. It blazed fiercely white, then vanished. ‘He tells the truth,’ King Jonathan said grimly.”
Squires have to spend a night in the Chamber of the Ordeal before they can become knights. “Generations of squires had entered it to experience something. None told what they saw; they were forbidden to speak of it. Whatever it was, it usually let squires return to the chapel to be knighted.”
Kel visits the Chamber several times. When she touches the door, she receives nightmarish visions of death and violence.
Daine has animal magic; she can speak to animals and shapeshift. “An eagle hurtled from the sky . . . It immediately began to change shape until a small form of Daine’s head perched on the eagle’s body.”

Spiritual Content

Tortall has many gods. They are named differently but are similar to the Greek gods. For example, Mithros is the god of the sun, and there is a god of death. The gods are mentioned often in the Tortallian culture but are not an integral part of the plot. After she passes a test, Kel thinks “Thank you, Mithros, for this gift.”
Characters often pray before meals or battles. “We ask the guidance of Mithros in these uncertain times, when change threatens all that is time-honored and true. May the god’s light show us a path back to the virtues of our fathers and an end to uncertain times. We ask this of Mithros, god of the sun.”
Raoul points out, “Haven’t you ever noticed that people who win say it’s because the gods know they are in the right, but if they lose, it wasn’t the gods who declared them wrong? Their opponent cheated, or their equipment was bad.”
Scanrans, from the country up north, sometimes froth “at the mouth as Scanrans did when they claimed war demons had possessed them.”

Shawn Loves Sharks

Sean loves sharks. He has 126 shark books, which have taught him a lot about ocean predators. Sean loves how sharks have a big mouth full of sharp teeth. Sean does not love his classmate Stacy. He loves to pretend to be a shark and chase Stacy around the playground.

Sean loves sharks more than anything else in the world. When his teacher announces that every student will do a report on a predator, Sean is excited write about the shark. But he isn’t assigned the Great White Shark. When Stacy begins researching sharks and acting like one at school, Sean turns mean. Is there any way sharks can bring Sean and Stacy together?

Young shark lovers will love Sean Loves Sharks. Although the story has shark facts, it is also about building new friendships and discovering new things. Sean acts like a shark as he goes through his day—he chops his food and pretends to chomp the cat and his classmates as he chases them. When Sean is forced to learn about seals, he is incredibly disappointed, but as he reads he learns that seals are actually really amazing.

At one point, Sean is really mean to Stacy. As he thinks about his behavior, he realizes that “he knew that even a fast and clever seal could never be friends with a shark.” The conclusion is absolutely, adorably wonderful and will lead to some great discussions between parents and their young readers. Readers will not only learn facts about sharks and seals, but will also learn about bullying, friendship, and being kind to others.

Besides being an entertaining story, Sean Loves Sharks also has beautiful, often funny, full-colored illustrations. The illustrations will put giggles into young readers because humor is often incorporated into the pictures. For example, Sean’s cat is dressed as a shark, and the students pretend to be predators. Another positive aspect of the illustrations is that they show diverse characters; Stacy has dark hair and slanted eyes; Sean has brown skin; the students in the classroom are also drawn showing different ethnicities.

Even though Sean Loves Sharks is a picture book, the story is intended to be read aloud to a child, rather than for the child to read it for the first time independently. The engaging story is fun to read aloud. Since there is little text on each page, the story is a quick read making it an excellent bedtime story. Sean Loves Sharks is not only an entertaining story containing ocean creature facts but also has a positive message about being kind to others.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

None

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

None

Game

In this second installment, the basic setup of the story has not changed. It is Jasper hunting a serial killer, this time the Hat-Dog killer who has been terrorizing New York. Jasper is brought on as a consultant by the NYPD. Outside of that story arc Jasper also has to deal with the fact that his famous serial killer dad, Billy Dent, has escaped from prison and is now on the loose!

Seventeen-year-old Jazz, the son of the world’s most prolific serial killer, is called to New York. The NYPD needs Jazz’s help finding the Hat-Dog killer, who has been terrorizing New York. Along with finding the killer, Jazz also must help find his father, Billy Dent, who has escaped from prison.

Jazz brings his girlfriend Connie to help with the case. Soon, Connie is receiving mysterious information about Jazz. Connie drags in Jazz’s friend, Howie. All three teens are trying to help find the killer. To solve the murders, Jazz must work with a hardened New York cop and an FBI agent seeking revenge on Billy Dent. By the end of the novel, Jazz and his friends have only just begun unraveling the mystery of his father, the killing game, and everything involved with the killings in New York.

Game keeps readers’ attention better than the first book in the series, I Hunt Killers. The engaging story gives the perspective of the people tracking the killers as well as the perspectives of the killers themselves. Even with all this information, it’s still a mystery as to what’s going on. Lyga keeps giving almost enough clues to figure out the mystery, but readers just can’t piece it all together.

Unlike the first book, we get a slightly expanded POV cast. Jasper’s girlfriend Connie and his best friend Howie are also featured and have a few mysteries of their own to deal with in their hometown.

One of the novel’s most gripping elements is the number of twists that keep arriving. Similar to the first book, it’s difficult to predict what’s going to happen because of the insanity of it all. Jazz is dealing with serial killers, and their minds are nearly impossible to understand. Each event that unfolds seems like it’s as bad as it gets, but another gruesome murder or unforeseen twist always comes up.

Game features relatable characters; Connie and Howie both face problems with their parents and peers that normal teenagers would go through as well. The novel is an exciting, engaging read with an excessive amount of profane language and gore. The mystery will keep readers interested as they try to understand the clues. Readers will want to use caution since Game is a gory, brutal story told in a fittingly brutal way.

Sexual Content

Jazz has recurring sexual dreams throughout the novel that include sentences like, “his fingers glide over the warm, supple flesh. . . his skin on hers. . .”
When they were talking, Jazz “kissed the back of [Connie’s] neck.”
Connie considers Jazz a, “sexy, brooding boyfriend who didn’t realize exactly how sexy and brooding he was.”
Billy has a career of, “raping, torturing, and murdering mostly young women.”
Howie orders, “dirty movies on pay-per-view.”
Howie thinks that his hemophilia means that girls are, “much less willing to get naked and sweaty with him in the way nature prescribed.”
When they are alone in a hotel room, Hughes urges Jazz and Connie to “use protection.”
When Connie and Jazz are in bed together, she tells him, “We’re just gonna get real close and mess up one of the beds, is all.”
One of the serial killers, “rapes the women, makes up for it by castrating the men.”
Jazz wishes, “he’d thought to bring condoms.”
Jazz thinks about Billy’s voice, “urging him to sucker Connie’s legs apart and slide between them.”
When Jazz and Connie are sleeping together, “he kissed her and she kissed back just as urgently and fumbled with the drawstring on his pajama bottoms and reached for him there. . .” Jazz doesn’t allow it to escalate any further.
Connie tells Jazz that she “brought condoms” and “knew [they’d] be alone here.”
Connie thinks, “they were ready for the next step, and once she knew that, she was desperate for it.”
Connie calls their time in bed together, “a late-night/early morning grope-fest.”
Jazz remembers how he and Connie were, “reaching for each other. Familiar touches gone explosively unfamiliar, explosively craved.”
Jazz opens his email to find, “spam and porn links from Howie.”
Jazz tells Connie, “Your boobs are pretty big.”
Howie says he will “sleep with” and “knock up” Samantha.
Connie theorizes about a serial killer. “Maybe tough chicks make his little pee-pee hard.”
Connie asks that Howie, “stop thinking with the contents of [his] jock strap for a second.”
Connie also asks that they, “just stipulate that [Howie] made a killer double entendre with ‘rubbed off.’”
Howie makes an innuendo. “Because you know what they say about guys with big feet.”
A serial killer has his “underpants dropped to his ankles” and “his turgid junk gripped in one hand and waving proudly.”
Hughes tells Jazz, “no one had to clean up [the killer’s] grungy spooge.”
Billy asks if Connie likes to “go all ghetto in bed” with Jazz.
“Jazz did wonder about Morales’s breasts.”
Jazz wonders, “Would it be terribly stereotypical – as a guy and as a potential future serial killer – to steal a pair of used panties?”
Howie thinks about, “Billy Dent doing his own sister.”

Violence

The book opens with a killer who “decided on the left hip” and “began to carve” a woman he took captive.
There are numerous descriptions of violent events, including a killer who, “had removed the eyelids first” and “opened [Jerome’s] gut.”
In addition to the actions of killers, gruesome descriptions of dead bodies are provided, including the image of a serial killer reaching into, “a blood-slippery mass of intestines from the thing’s [victim’s] open cavity” and a body “slit open from breastbone to waist, the gaping wound of her gut revealing the shiny-slick loops of intestines.”
Howie, a hemophiliac, recounts a time when kids were, “poking bruises into [his] arms.”
When a police officer enters their house, Jazz’s grandmother yells at Jazz to “gut him!”
Jazz has memories and dreams that involve, “the knife meeting the flesh. . . then parting it.”
Descriptions of crime scenes include things like “lots of mutilation” and “maiming,” as well as more specific details like “disemboweling.”
Jazz compares serial killers to Jeffrey Dahmer- “drilling holes in the heads of corpses in an attempt to make sex zombies.”
A victim has, “her throat slit with a precision Jazz couldn’t help but admire.”
Multiple victims’ “genitals had been excised.”
“A crude dog had been carved into [a victim’s] shoulder.”
“Slashing wounds gave way to multiple stab wounds, choking, and – later – disembowelment.”
When comparing two rape scenes between a “hat” killer and a “dog” killer, an “ME found less vaginal tearing and few bruises than the hat.”
A serial killer “killed,” “gutted,” and “de-eyed” one of his victims.
An ME describes how a victim has “been enucleated,” which he explains, “means her eyes were taken out.”
An ME recalls a story where “some toes were missing and we found them in the victim’s throat.”
A killer “leaves their [his victims] guts in a KFC bucket.”
Jazz is shot, and there is a descriptive scene where “blood had matted around the wound,” and pours bleach “right on the wound… to clean it.”

Drugs and Alcohol

Jazz says that Billy inhaled “a pot smoker’s hearty toke.”

Language

There is a large amount of profanity in the novel, including: dumbass, hell, damned, bastard, jackass, freaking, mofo, crap, smartass, poop, dyke, bastard, fucking, pissed, hardass, bitch, BS, goddamn, moron, and sumbitch.
“We have every terrorist in the world gunning for this city . . . You want to know how many of them have succeeded? I’ll give you a hint: It starts with Z and ends with a fucking zero.”
Connie says, “Jesus, Whiz. Talking to you is better than yoga sometimes.”
Connie threatens Jazz by saying, “I’ll kick your ass so hard you’ll poop from the front.”
Jazz offers to let Howie, “tattoo [his] freakin’ ass.”
Hughes says that Morales is “a dyke, you know.”
Howie thinks of himself as a “stupid, joking, horny, useless bleeder.”
One of the serial killers refers to women as “whoresluts.”
As he attempts to heal a bullet wound, Jazz yells, “Oh, Jesus Christ!”

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

Samantha claims, “There isn’t a hell in the universe hot enough for [her] brother.”
Whiz reminds Connie not to take “the Lord’s name in vain.”

by Dylan Chilcoat

The Genie’s Curse

Rapunzel loves being a princess because it’s so much fun. Disaster strikes when she accidentally breaks a magical urn and blames it on Ella. The urn belonged to a genie, who is now very angry. The genie cast a spell on Rapunzel. Now everyone in Tale Town blames everything on Rapunzel. In order to avoid the angry town people, Rapunzel leaves town. Can a little green monkey called Alphege help Rapunzel? Will Rapunzel lose her new friend, Ella, if she tells the truth behind the curse?

Each book in the series focuses on a different character but continues from plot points in previous books. The Genie’s Curse has non-stop action and funny humor. The plot jumps from disaster to disaster, which makes the story interesting, but confusing. The large number of characters and difficult vocabulary make The Genie’s Curse a good choice for confident readers. There are several characters that have been cursed and only appear as humans for part of the time; this may cause confusion for some readers.

Rapunzel’s parents are absent for most of the book and are more concerned with vacationing than being good rulers. Although the story has a good theme—honesty is the best policy—the ending falls flat. When the queen discovers that Rapunzel lied, she says, “I’m very proud of you, Rapunzel. Your brave words have shown me that there is more to life than being pretty and having lovely things. And to reward you, I shall buy you two new ponies and a party dress!”

Black-and-white pictures help bring the characters and actions to life. The evil villains are not scary, but add suspense to the story. The Genie’s Curse is an entertaining story that allows readers to jump into the fairy tale world.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

Rapunzel accidentally destroys a hermit genie’s home. When she lies to her parents about who broke the urn, the genie curses her. He tells Rapunzel, “From now on every single thing that goes wrong in Tale Town will be blamed on. . . YOU!”
A troll tries to cook Alphege in a pot of oil. “The troll held Alphege just above the pot and grinned as he lowered the small green monkey toward the bubbling oil.” Alphege turns into a boy and “kicked his legs out and knocked the pot over, splashing oil all over the floor.”
Town people chase Rapunzel. The group chases her, “throwing silverware, dishes, bread, cushions, and anything else they could find.”

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

Tale Town has a magical tree. “If you ran your finger along the branch, the story would happen inside your head.” The tree has a spell of protection, which “means that the only way to trim off a story is using the Sacred Shiny Story-Snipping Shears.”
Spells are cast throughout the story. For example, the wicked witch cast, “a spell on Ella that makes her want to fix everything. Someone gives Ella a necklace that makes it so ‘no spells or curses will have any effect on her at all!’”
Alphege was cursed so that he looks like a green monkey most of the time. He can “look human for one day every week. . . I can change back and forth as often as I like. . . so long as I’m not a boy for more than twenty-four hours every seven days.”

Spiritual Content

None

The Chupacabras of the Rio Grande

Professor Fauna hears a news report about something that has completely drained the blood from a cow’s body! The professor thinks a chupacabra may be the culprit. Professor Fauna bursts into Elliot and Uchenna’s classroom and flies them to Laredo, Texas.

Once they arrive in Texas, the kids team up with local kids Lupita and Mateo, their brilliant mother Dr. Alejandra Cervantes, and their father Israel. However, helping the chupacabras isn’t the only problem. The people of Laredo are also angry about the building of a border wall. Is there any way to help this divided community? Can the Unicorn Rescue Society save the bloodsucking creature?

As Uchenna and Elliot search for clues that will help them find the chupacabras, they also learn the complicated issue of building a border wall. When talking about the border wall, Professor Fauna said that a border wall is intended to enforce the law, but it is also, “dividing communities and families who have always lived on both sides of the border.”

The kids also meet Andrés, who is having a difficult time because he is separated from his parents. Andrés was born in the United States, but his parents weren’t, so they were taken to a detention center. The story shows that people can disagree about the border wall but still be friends. In the conclusion, the theme is made clear; “Governments create borders. But for families—of chupacabras and people—borders just keep them apart.” The author’s view on immigration is made clear; although it ties into the story, the story only shows one side of the argument.

The Chupacabras of the Rio Grande has a well-developed plot full of suspense and adventure. The addition of the Cervantes family allows readers to learn about the Mexican heritage. Although the story takes a more serious tone than the previous books, readers will enjoy the interaction between the characters. In the end, the story highlights the importance of working together despite differences. The Chupacabras of the Rio Grande is an entertaining story that could be used as a starting point for a good discussion on immigration.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

The chupacabra runs into a flea market where it, “leaped from the table and slammed into an elote cart, knocking it over. Corncobs and kernels and cream and liquid chili went spraying all over the asphalt.” At one point an, “elderly woman . . . threw a charger at him.”

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

“Heck” is used twice.

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

When Uchenna and Elliot go to the Cervantes’s house, they see a niche that has a statue of the Virgin Mary. The Cervantes’s also have an, “alter to our abuela. . . She was the family matriarch.”

Sasquatch and the Muckleshoot

Elliot wants life to be normal. Uchenna wants adventure. But when Professor Fauna takes the kids to the Pacific Northwest on another mission in the Muckleshoot territory in Washington, they discover that film crews have arrived in masses. The news crews want to find Bigfoot. But the news crews aren’t the only danger. The Schmoke brothers plan to clear the forest. Is there any way the Unicorn Rescue Society can help keep the Sasquatch hidden? Will the Sasquatch’s territory be destroyed by chainsaws?

The third installment of The Unicorn Rescue Society has the same lovable characters and the same evil villains. As the group heads to the Pacific Coast, the narration shows a strong love of nature and teaches the importance of taking care of the natural world, which includes logging responsibly. When the group arrives at their destination, they meet Mack, who shares the Muckleshoot’s culture.

Mack shares some of the Native Americans’ history, including how the “white folks. . . believed the white way of life was superior.” Because of this belief, the whites forced the Native Americans to give up their languages and customs. The white called this, “Kill the Indian and save the man.” Now the Native Americans are using some of their casino money to buy back the land that the whites stole from them. Even though the story shows the Muckleshoot people care for the forest and the animals, much of the dialogue seems to promote a political agenda instead of teaching about the Native American culture.

Sasquatch and the Muckleshoot is not as enjoyable as the first two books because the plot focuses less on the adventure of helping the mythical creature. The professor and kids do very little to help Mack find a solution to help the Sasquatch. In addition, the absent-minded professor is taken to the extreme. Even younger readers will have a hard time believing that the professor is so clueless that his plane runs out of gas. And how many times can the professor crash land his plane without anyone getting injured?

Readers will enjoy the black-and-white illustrations, funny puns, and the way Mack calls Elliot by a variety of names such as “Screams A Lot.” Other positive aspects of the story are the diverse characters and the use of Spanish and Lushootseed words and phrases. Sasquatch and the Muckleshoot has some humorous scenes, and readers will enjoy watching Elliot overcome his fear. Unlike the first two books in the series, Sasquatch and the Muckleshoot is missing much of the action and adventure that made the first two books fun to read.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

Four men capture the professor. The professor is, “smacked on the face with his shoe, but the others quickly grabbed his arms and legs. He struggled, but their hands were strong as tree roots.” The men tie up the professor.
When Uchenna, Elliot, and a friend dress up like Sasquatch, men try to grab them. The men, “grabbed the three juvenile Sasquatch and tried to wrestle them to the ground. The small furry ones fought valiantly, striking out with their fists and kicking the shins of the hard-hatted attackers. But they were overpowered and pinned to the mossy forest floor.”

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

“Darn” is used once.
A news reporter calls someone an “idiot.”
One of the characters knew someone in middle school who was a “real jerk.”
A man calls someone a “fool.”

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

None

Page

Kel survived her first year as a page, but her training is only increasing as she gets older. She still has her studies and combat training, riding, and etiquette lessons. But now that Lord Wyldon has discovered her fear of heights, he constantly gives her tasks that test her limits—such as climbing to the top of the palace wall and mapping the lands beyond. To her friends, Kel insists that Lord Wyldon is just training her to be a better knight, but secretly she wonders if he is trying to drive her to quit.

Meanwhile, Joren claims he wants to turn over a new leaf and be friends. Kel outwardly agrees, but worries Joren is merely becoming craftier. Still, she has little time to worry about what Joren and his friends are up to because she is horrified to discover that she is becoming a woman. First, her breasts begin to grow, and then she starts her monthlies. While Kel wants things to stay exactly how they were, at least one of her friends has begun to notice that Kel is a girl…

Page is a strong follow-up to the first Protector of the Small novel. The same enjoyable cast remains, with the interesting addition of new characters such as Kel’s maid Lalasa. Similar to the first book, Kel has to prove herself capable despite her perceived “weakness” of being a girl. One obstacle that Kel must overcome is her deep fear of heights. Even though she does not want to confront her fears, she proves that she has the strength to pursue her dream. As Kel progresses through her training, Page continues with the theme of behaving honorably, as a true knight should.

Readers will enjoy the advancement of Kel’s training and watching as her relationships with her friends grow and change. Kel’s maid Lalasa is a well-developed character that grows throughout the story. At first, Lalasa is timid because she has suffered great abuse from men. However, while she is in Kel’s service, Lalasa develops confidence and flourishes into a capable young lady. This story highlights the importance of friendship as well as the importance of perusing one’s dreams.

While this book covers the span of three years, where the first book covered only the span of one, the story does not feel rushed or lacking. Kel is a unique heroine who must fight against her own fears as well as discrimination. Both male and female readers will be drawn to Kel’s world and will come away with a positive message—with hard work and determination, dreams can come true.

Sexual Content

Garvey asks Kel’s friend, “So, Faleron, you’re friends with her now because you can have her whenever you want?” In retaliation, Neal says, “Joren is so pretty. Say, Garvey, are you two friends because you can have him?”
When thinking about self-defense, Kel remembers how, “Nariko had taught the court ladies, including Kel’s family, how to preserve their honor from rapists.”
Kel tells Neal, “What you said about Harvey and Joren—it’s not an insult in Yaman. Some men prefer other men. Some women prefer other women.” Neal replies, “In the Eastern Lands, people like that pursue their loves privately . . . Manly fellows like Joren think it’s a deadly insult to be accused on wanting other men.”
Kel is shocked to notice she is growing breasts. “Flabbergasted, Kel stared at the front of her nightgown. Sure enough, there were two slight bulges in the proper area for such a thing.”
Kel starts her period. “Blood was on her loincloth and inner thighs. She stared at it, thinking something dreadful was happening. Then she remembered several talks she’d had with her mother. This had to be her monthlies, the bleeding that told every girl she was ready to have babies if she wanted them.”
Kel’s mother tells her that she, “didn’t have much of a bosom until I got pregnant . . . your sister Patricine, though, she developed at twelve . . . Remember-you may be able to do so, but no one can force you to have babies. You do have a choice in these things. I’ll get you a charm to ward off pregnancy until you are ready for it.”
Owen asks Kel, “When did you turn into a real girl?” Kel replies, “I’ve been a girl for a while, Owen.” He then exclaims, “It’s not like you’ve got melons or anything, they’re just noticeable.”
When a man attacks her maid, Kel threatens to take him, “‘before the court of the Goddess . . . A man convicted of hurting women in the Goddess’s court faced harsh penalties; those for actual rape were the worst of all.”

Violence

Kel gets in a fight with a group of bullies. “Garvey came at Kel from the right, punching at her head. She slid away from his punch, grabbed his arm, pushed her right foot forward, and twisted to the left. Garvey went over her hip into Vinson, who’d attacked on her left. Joren, at the center, came in fast as his friends hit the wall. Kel blocked Joren’s punch to her middle, but his blow was a feint; his left fist caught her right eye squarely.”
The squires get in a fight when Neal insults Joren. “Garvey roared and charged, but Joren got to Neal first. Before they landed more than a punch each, Neal’s friends, including Kel, attacked them. More boys entered the brawl, kicking and hitting blindly, striking friend as often as foe. Kel nearly fainted when someone’s boot hit her bruised collarbone.”
Kel and her friends are attacked by a group of bandits. The fight takes place over the course of eleven pages. “The enemy coming at her raised a short, curved sword. She saw he would be unable to touch her until he was directly alongside. Kel dropped her extra spear out of her way, making sure she wouldn’t trip on it. She brought her other spear point-down by her right calf, holding it in the glaive position broom-sweeps-clean. The Hillman was almost on her, just five yards, now –She stepped forward, to the right of the charging raider, and brought the spear up in a firm, sweeping movement. The leaf-shaped blade, razor-sharp, cut deep into the man’s leg before Kel had to dodge the downward sweep of his sword. The man turned his horse and came back at Kel. This time she drove her spear through his belly, where it lodged.”
Kel fights off a man who attacked her maid. “Rather than shatter Vinson’s kneecap, she hit just above it, where the thigh muscle narrowed. He lurched, knocking Lalasa against the window frame, then let go. Lalasa scrambled back inside Kel’s room, tears streaming down her face.”

Drugs and Alcohol

Adults sometimes drink a goblet of wine with dinner.

Language

Phrases such as Goddess bless and by the gods are used frequently as a part of Tortallian culture.
The word wench is used several times.

Supernatural

Kel lives in Tortall, a world filled with monsters and magic. The monsters include griffins, centaurs, and more. Some are good, some are not. Kel even has a basilisk for a teacher.
Several people at court have the Gift, which can be used for light, to heal, and more. One time, the king, “called a ball of light from the air so he could read.”

Spiritual Content

Tortall has many gods. They are named differently but are similar to the Greek gods. For example, Mithros is the god of the sun, and there is a god of death. The gods are mentioned often in the Tortallian culture, but are not an integral part of the plot.
Characters often pray before meals or battles. “We ask the guidance of Mithros in these uncertain times, when change threatens all that is time-honored and true. May the god’s light show us a path back to the virtues of our fathers and an end to uncertain times. We ask this of Mithros, god of the sun.”
When climbing a terrifyingly high tower, Kel thinks that “When I reach the Realms of the Dead . . . I’m going to find the genius who designed this tower and I’m going to kill him a second time. Horribly.”

by Morgan Lynn

The Mystery Valentine

Zeke doesn’t understand the Earth tradition of Valentine’s Day. Harris tries to explain why people give candy and cards on Valentine’s Day, but Zeke is still confused. When Zeke gets an anonymous valentine, Harris wants to help him discover who sent it. In order to decide who gave Zeke the valentine, he decides to give some of the girls in his class a gift. He gives gifts that the girls on his home planet would love, but the girls on Earth don’t like the same things. How can Zeke find his secret admirer? Will he come up with a gift that an Earth girl will like?

Earth children will giggle as Zeke tries to find the perfect valentine gift. Even though Zeke wants to show his appreciation, he doesn’t understand what Earth girls like. The story has many silly situations such as when Zeke presents a bucket of worms to a girl, who isn’t happy about the “gross” gift. The fun black and white illustrations show the characters’ reactions to Zeke’s gifts as well as his confused facial expressions.

The sixth installment of The Alien Next Door series takes a humorous look at the traditions of Valentine’s Day. Readers can enjoy the story even if they have not read any other books in the series. Although the story focuses on Zeke, Harris makes an appearance and helps Zeke understand the differences between how humans see things, like mice, in comparison to how Zeke sees things. Readers will learn the importance of thinking about other people’s perspectives.

The Mystery Valentine has the same format as other books in the series—easy vocabulary, short sentences, and dialogue. Readers who are transitioning to chapter books will enjoy the illustrations and the easy-to-read format. The Mystery Valentine is a silly story that will leave readers wanting a chocolate bar and wanting to read more about Zeke’s adventures on Earth.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

None

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

None

First Test

Keladry of Mindelan dreams of becoming a lady knight. A generation ago, that would not have been possible. But ten years ago, the King announced that ladies could try for their knighthood. In the decade since, no girl has dared to try. Until now.

Kel knows becoming a knight will not be easy. Years of hard training and study lie between Kel and her dream. But that’s not all. Kel did not know she would be placed on probation—something no boy has ever endured. And she did not realize how much resistance she would meet. Knights don’t think she is strong enough, her trainer does not think women should be knights, and the other trainees are determined to drive her away.

A delightful start to the Protector of the Small Quartet, First Test is a thoroughly enjoyable read. Kel is a brave and kind soul that readers will fall in love with. The other characters in this book are also refreshingly well-developed, from her training master and friends, to her enemies and even her horse. Protector of the Small is an enjoyable story filled to the brim with equal parts fun and excitement. It teaches readers how to be a true knight—how to be honorable, selfless, brave, and to always protect those who are weaker than yourself.

Kel wants to fight, but she’s not interested in glory. She wants to use her shield to protect those who can’t protect themselves. Unlike many female heroines, Kel doesn’t disguise herself as a boy or throw temper tantrums. Instead, she uses quiet determination and her intelligence to overcome obstacles. Kel’s story touches on themes of friendship, bravery, and shows the importance of not bullying others.

Several characters from the Song of the Lioness series appear throughout The Protector of the Small series, which will be a treat for fans of Alanna. However, readers do not have to read the Song of the Lioness series first in order to understand this series. Jump into a medieval world where fantasy and action combine to create a girl-centered adventure that will keep readers turning the pages until the very end.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

Kel survived a pirate attack when she was a girl. “The lady tumbled to the ground. Kel slid out the door on her belly. Turning, too startled to cry, she saw the lady at her mother’s feet. There was an arrow in the Yamani woman’s back.”
Kel fights with a group of boys when they try to drown a bag of kittens. No one is seriously injured. “Another lad grabbed a branch and swung at her; she blocked it with hers, then rammed the length of wood into his stomach. He doubled over, gasping.”
Kel tries to rescue a bag of kittens from a spidren that wants to eat them. The spidren bites a kitten in half, then comes after Kel. Kel freezes in terror, and she does not see when soldiers kill the spidren.
Kel fights a group of bullies several times. “Gripping Zahir’s index finger, Kel jammed her thumbnail into the base of Zahir’s own nail . . . He yelped and let go. Joren lunged for her. She stepped back, ducking under Zahir’s frantic punch . . . She grabbed Joren’s tunic and turned, kneeling as she did. He went flying over her shoulder.”
The pages say that “a page failed the examinations about six years ago and jumped off the Needle.”
The pages go on a spidren hunt with a group of knights. The spidren took a woman, and the knights say they have to find the spidrens because, “Often they bite off a victim’s limb, then slap a web on it, to keep them from dying of blood loss. The woman they took may yet live.”
The pages fight when the knights find the spidrens. “The weapon’s slim razor point sliced through the spidren’s chest and arm, releasing a spray of dark blood. Kel reversed the spear and cut back, dragging the blade down. It bit into the spidren at the neck and stuck there as crossbow bolts riddled the immortal.”
After the battle, soldiers rolled, “a barrel of blazebalm into the [spidren’s] nest. A mage whispered, and the blazebalm roared into flames. Hearing the young shriek as they burned, Kel found it was her turn to vomit.”

Drugs and Alcohol

Adults sometimes drink wine with their meals.

Language

Phrases such as Goddess bless are used frequently as a part of Tortallian culture. One time, Alanna thinks, “Goddess bless . . . How will I ever get on with him if I’m to help this girl Keladry?” Another time, Neal asks Kel, “Why in the name of all the gods in all the Eastern and Southern Lands would you start a fight with them?”

Supernatural

Kel lives in Tortall, a world filled with monsters and magic. The monsters include griffins, centaurs, and more. Some are good, some are not. Kel even has a basilisk for a teacher. “The creature was fully seven feet tall, not counting the long tail it used to balance itself, and it was viewing her with fascination. Its large gray slit-pupiled eyes regarded her over a short, lipless muzzle.”
Several people, called mages, have the ability to use magic and some can heal with magic. Kel’s friend Neal is one of them. “Neal rested her foot on his hands and bowed his head. A soft light of such a deep green as to be nearly black shimmered between his palms and Kel’s flesh . . . The pounding in her foot began to soften until it had ceased. Her toes shrank back to their normal size as she watched.”
“A mage was briefly granted the power to raise the dead last year.” One of the things he brought back to life was, “a kind of living skeleton, a creature of bone and air. It had flown to perch on her, yet its wings were empty, slender fans made of very long finger bones.”

Spiritual Content

Tortall has many gods. They are named similarly to the Greek gods. For example, Mithros is the god of the sun, and there is a god of death. The gods are mentioned often in the Tortallian culture but are not an integral part of the plot.
Characters often pray before meals or battles. “We ask the guidance of Mithros in these uncertain times, when change threatens all that is time-honored and true. May the god’s light show us a path back to the virtues of our fathers and an end to uncertain times. We ask this of Mithros, god of the sun.”
While visiting a foreign land, Kel hears about their sacred relics. “They are the swords given to the children of the fire goddess, Yama . . . The short sword is the sword of law. Without it, we are only animals. The long sword is the sword of duty. It is the terrible sword, the killing sword.”

by Morgan Lynn

Baseball Blues

Baseball season brings excitement to Zeke, Harris, and Roxy. They are all on the same team and are looking forward to playing together. Zeke doesn’t know how to play baseball. After watching baseball on T.V., Zeke learns that he can use his alien powers to hit and pitch better than anyone else on the team. Harris thinks Zeke is cheating. He wants Zeke to play without using his powers, but Zeke doesn’t see what’s wrong with using his special abilities. Will the baseball season be the end of Zeke’s and Harris’s friendship?

Readers do not need to be a fan of baseball in order to enjoy Baseball Blues. Although the story focuses on baseball, it also touches on themes of friendship and doing what is right. Even though Zeke doesn’t know anything about baseball, he is one of the best players on the team. Harris thinks Zeke should improve his skills through practice instead of using his powers. When Zeke uses his powers to redirect the baseball, Harris tells him, “It’s a shortcut and it’s cheating. It’s not fair to the other players. You need to improve your skills through practice.” In the end, Zeke learns that playing fairly is more important than winning the game.

The story also models how to be a good friend. When Harris is upset with Zeke, he talks to him and explains why he is upset. Harris also worries “more about his friendship with Zeke than about Zeke using his powers.” To make matters more difficult for Harris, he can’t tell Roxy why is he upset with Zeke’s impressive baseball skills because he “promised to keep Zeke’s secret, even if it costs me his friendship.”

The fifth installment of The Alien Next Door series takes on a more serious tone as it teaches the importance of honesty. However, the readers will still enjoy the fast-paced story and the black and white illustrations that appear on every page. The pictures highlight Harris’s emotions as he tries to work through his problem with Zeke. Like the previous books in the series, the story uses large font, simple vocabulary, and short chapters which are perfect for students who are transitioning to chapter books. Baseball Blues will be a hit with younger readers.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

None

Drugs and Alcohol

Roxy tells Zeke that some professional baseball players cheated by using steroids. She explains, “It’s something the league banned that makes players unfairly strong, no matter how hard the other players exercise and practice.”

Language

None

Supernatural

Zeke is an alien who can change shape. Zeke explains, “People from Tragas have the ability to change our appearance. We can make ourselves look like the inhabitants of whatever planet we’re currently on.”

Spiritual Content

None

Trick or Cheat?

Harris is excited about sharing the traditions of Halloween with Zeke. Zeke discovers that he can use his true form for his “costume.” Zeke wants Harris to have an amazing costume, so Zeke uses his powers to create a costume for Harris. Now Roxy feels left out because she and Harris always make their costumes together.

When Halloween finally arrives, Roxy is still upset with Harris. To make matters worse, another student is jealous of Zeke’s costume and tries to ruin it. Can Harris and Roxy keep Zeke’s costume from being destroyed? Who will win the Halloween costume contest?

Harris is the only human that knows that Zeke is an alien. When Zeke goes to school as his true self, others wonder about his “costume.” Will Zeke be able to keep his identity a secret? Readers will keep turning the pages to discover the answer. The story doesn’t just revolve around Zeke’s “costume,” but also focuses on Roxy’s hurt feelings. Even though Roxy is upset with her friends, she still helps them. Readers will learn that friends can be upset with each other and not want to talk to each other; this doesn’t mean that the friendship is over.

Readers will be drawn to the book because of the cute cover and the black and white illustrations that appear on every page. The fun illustrations will help readers recognize the characters’ emotions. The story will keep the reader engaged with its fast-paced plot, large font, simple vocabulary, and short chapters. Although Trick or Cheat? is the fourth installment of the series, the story can be enjoyed without reading the previous books. The humorous story is perfect for students who are transitioning to chapter books.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

A student puts a bag of flour over a door. The student was trying to destroy Zeke’s costume, but instead, “it fell right on top of Mr. Mulvaney. A cloud of white exploded right on the gym teacher’s head, and Zeke looked over to see him covered in flour.”

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

Zeke is an alien who can change shape. Zeke explains, “People from Tragas have the ability to change our appearance. We can make ourselves look like the inhabitants of whatever planet we’re currently on.”
Zeke used his power to “redirect” a bag of flour.

Spiritual Content

None

The Storm Runner

Zane keeps to himself because other kids tend to tease him about his limp and because he walks with a cane. But he doesn’t mind, because he spends his days exploring a nearby sleeping volcano with his dog. One evening, as Zane is exploring the volcano, a plane with twin engines crashes. Even stranger, as the plane was going down, Zane thought he saw a monster in the cockpit.

Things get more complicated when a girl named Brooks shows up demanding that Zane meet her at the volcano. Zane follows the beautiful girl who leads Zane down a twisted path. Soon Zane is running from monsters controlled by the Maya god of death. According to an ancient prophecy, Zane’s decisions may allow the god of death to escape a prison that is centuries old.

Zane soon realizes that magic, monsters, and Maya gods are more than just fables. In a web of secrets, the Gods are trying to manipulate Zane to their own advantage. Zane tries to do what is right, but what does a flawed eleven-year-old boy know about stopping the destruction of the world? In a battle against good and evil, is there any way Zane can win against a Maya god?

The Storm Runner brings the magic of Maya mythology to life in a fast-paced, action-packed story that will leave readers wondering who can be trusted. Despite being self-conscious about it, Zane doesn’t let his disability deter him from trying to save the world. Although some of Zane’s decisions are questionable, his imperfections make him a truly relatable character.

Zane is not the only well-developed character; the story contains a cast of interesting characters including giants, demi-gods, and even an overprotective mother. The Storm Runner is perfect for fans of the Percy Jackson series or Aru Shah and the End of Time. However, Zane’s story takes a more serious tone and lacks the humor of the other series.

The Storm Runner contains elements common to other mythological fantasy books—for instance, a boy discovers that his father is a god and must travel to strange places in order to save the world. Despite these similarities, this story effectively brings Maya mythology to life through an exciting series of events.

The length of the story, the complicated plot, and the extensive cast of characters may be overwhelming for some readers. The first third of the story introduces a lot of people, gods, and situations that cause the pace to drag. Despite a slow start, the monsters, the magical creatures, and the relationship between the characters make The Storm Runner an exciting adventure well worth reading. Readers will root for Zane as he fights evil, and they will pull their hair in frustration as Zane makes well-intentioned, but stupid decisions. In the end, readers come away with the powerful message that a person’s flaws don’t define them.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

A demon attacks and kills Zane’s dog and then attacks Zane. The demon, “grabbed me by the arms, sinking its long claws into my flesh. I screamed in pain and fell to the ground . . . Slime sizzled through my shirt sleeve, burning my skin like acid.”
Zane finally stabs the demon with his cane. “It sank right into the creature’s gel-like body, and there was a disgusting sucking sound as the cane disappeared inside. . . I blinked as the monster dissolved into a dark pool of thick mucus. . .” The scene is described over four pages.
A creature tries to kidnap Zane. “While my uncle tussled with the alux, she hauled me back through the bank and out the front doors, then stuffed me in the car.” The creature “jerked Mom’s head back by her hair and mimicked her desperate voice.” Brooks turns into a hawk and picked, “up the monster by the back of its neck. . . Brooks shook it hard like it was her mouse prey and she was trying to break its neck.” The scene is described over three pages.
Ah-Puch eats a creature. He “scrambled to clutch the thing. Bones snapped. Then he brought it to his mouth, bit its neck, and sucked all the blood from it before tossing the drained corpse to the cave floor below. . . “
Demon runners attack Zane and Brooks. When Zane tries to escape, “The hair reached me, climbed my body, and wrapped itself around my neck, covering my mouth and pinning me to the asphalt.” Zane is able to jerk “my guy’s neck back” and “his thick-skinned neck ripped open easily.” Hondo threw a screwdriver that wedged into the demon’s skull. The demon’s “face began to crack like dried mud, crumbling to the ground to reveal. . . a blue-skinned monster head. Green veins throbbed and budged.” The fight takes place over six pages.
Twins who were fathered by a god are grabbed by creatures. “The creatures holding Bird and Jordan folded their wings tighter and tighter. Each of the twins’ faces puckered like their heads were being sucked dry. Their skin turned gray, and purplish veins spread beneath. Their eyeballs bugged out and turned dark red.” The creatures take the twins away.
Zane throws a spear at Ah-Puch’s bird. “Muwan released a terrible scream and started tumbling through the air. I watched in horror as she crashed into the bare trees below. They shook on impact, their sharp branches splitting her open.”
The final battle takes place over several chapters. Ah-Puch and his demons attack Zane and his group. Demon runners attack Ah-Puch’s army. “They shrieked, leaping onto the back of Ah-Puch’s little army with amazing force. Teeth gnashed. Claws ripped. Hair chocked.” Finally, Zane turns into a jaguar and Ah-Puch turns into a snake. Zane attacks, “launching myself onto his neck as we hurtled over the step’s edge, down, down, down. . . As I sank my teeth into his slimy scales, I prayed that he didn’t bleed maggots. He did. They poured into my mouth as he screamed.”

Drugs and Alcohol

One night, Zane’s uncle Hondo drinks beer and smokes cigars.

Language

Crap and heck are used often. One example is when Brooks shows up at Zane’s house, he wonders, “How the heck had she found me?”
“Oh God” is used as an exclamation a few times.
A monster attacks Zane and his uncle. His uncle asks, “What the hell was that little thing?”
Someone tells Zane, “Believe me, when I catch the idiot bonehead who let Ah-Puch out, I’m going to send him spinning into the center of the Milky Way.”

Supernatural

Gods and monsters from Maya mythology are real. Brooks explains, “Myths are real, Zane. Well, most are. And gods are very real—an important part of the universe and its balance.”
The first creature, a demon, has “pasty bluish gray” skin. “Its bloated body was covered in patches of dark hair. Cauliflower-like ears drooped down to its bulging neck.”
Brooks is a nawal (a shapeshifter) who can turn into a hawk.
Ah-Puch, the Maya god of death, disaster, and darkness, is trapped in a magical artifact until Zane lets him out. Ah-Puch “looked like a bloated zombie with decomposing gray skin with nasty black spots, and he had a dark, twisted smile. He wore this weird helmet that had eyes hanging off it, the eyes of the people he’d recently killed.”
Ms. Cab works as a psychic and is a Maya seer. A god later turns all seers into chickens.
Zane discovers that he is the son of a Maya God. He can spirit jump, which allows him to leave his body and appear in another realm.
Pacific, the keeper of time, helps Zane.
When going to a party, Zane and his friends wear enchanted clothes that “fix all imperfections.” When they get to the party, a “gray-bearded skeleton materialized. . . Eyeballs floated in his eye sockets, and he wore a long white tuxedo jacket with a dead red rose pinned to one of his silk lapels.”

Spiritual Content

Zane gets a scholarship to attend a Catholic school. When Zane gets into trouble at school, his punishment is “ten rosaries, detention for a week, a call to Mom, and an apology to the jerk I’d torpedoed with my cane.”
After an explosion, Zane’s mom says, “Thank the saints, he’s safe now.”
Zane sent “a prayer up to the saints and anyone else listening.” Later in the story, he says a couple of Hail Mary’s.
Zane splashes holy water on a picture of a demon.

I Am Underdog

Kemba isn’t good-looking or popular. He’s a nobody. Kemba thinks he is too lame to have any friends. He goes through the day unnoticed, but he wishes he was cool like the computer game superhero Underdog. Underdog helps the weak but Kemba gets beat up by the sixth-grade bully. When Kemba witnesses an act of cruelty, will he find the strength to speak out?

Designed to engage struggling readers, Kemba uses short sentences, simple vocabulary, and an easy-to-follow plot. Simple black and white sketches appear on almost every page. The sketches help break up the text and make the book more accessible. However, the sketches are not detailed and look a bit like doodles. Because the story is written for struggling readers, the characters and plot are not developed and the story does not include detailed descriptions.

Kemba’s struggle to fit in is realistic and relatable. His fear of talking to others and being rejected is one that many readers will understand. Kemba struggles with bullying and learns the importance of speaking up for those weaker than him. I Am Underdog will engage its target audience—reluctant, struggling readers. I Am Underdog will entertain those who enjoy reading graphic novels and are not ready for text-heavy books.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

At lunch, Richie and his gang come up to Kemba. “Richie ripped off Kemba’s jacket. He threw it into a puddle. . . Richie and the other boys laughed. They stomped on it. Then they left, still laughing.”
While walking home, Kemba sees a boy “holding a girl by her arm. She was crying. . . ‘You are mine,’ the boy shouted. ‘Don’t you forget it!’”
Richie throws a boy’s lunch on the ground.

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

After Richie is mean to another kid, Kemba yells, “You’re evil, Richie Mason! You stinking creep!”
Someone calls Richie a jerk.

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

None

Summer Ball

Danny’s team has won the national championships. Now he, Ty, and Will head to Right Way Basketball Camp, a prestigious summer camp for kids who are serious about improving their basketball skills. Now that Danny is thirteen, he worries his height may finally be the obstacle that keeps him from truly competing with his peers.

When Danny gets placed with an old school coach who seems to believe Danny would do better in soccer, he becomes more determined than ever to prove that size isn’t everything. This sequel to Travel Team brings new characters and the same love of the game as the first book. The main characters from Travel Team also show up in this sequel. However, new friends such as Zach and Rasheed add a new dynamic to the group.

The novel shows the stereotypical summer camp, along with the problems that come along with it such as homesickness, bullying, and a struggle to fit in. This story, while similar to the first, is still an entertaining read that dives into friendships on the court. Danny and his new friend Zach learn how to deal with bullies and how to overcome obstacles through hard work.

Throughout the story, Danny must overcome several obstacles. The reader will understand Danny’s feelings as he tries to deal with these different conflicts. Although Danny had to deal with some difficult situations, he perseveres and is able to come up on top.

Summer Ball has scenes that depict the character Lamar bullying Zach and Danny, one time physically. The rest of the scenes describe Lamar gives them a hard time on the court or in passing. They are not violent scenes, but they may upset sensitive readers who have struggled with bullying in the past.

As a sequel to Travel Team, readers do not need to read the first book to enjoy Summer Ball. However, reading Travel Team will help to better understand the characters and their relationships. Overall, Summer Ball is an entertaining sequel with a predictable plot. After reading Summer Ball, sports enthusiasts will want to hit the court and play some ball.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

Zach, Danny, and Lamar get into a fight. While verbally bullying them, Lamar ruins Zach’s basketball by breaking off a needle inside it. Then “Zach stepped back and whipped it right at Lamar’s head, the ball either catching Lamar on the side of his head or his shoulder. . . he grabbed Zach by his shoulders and started shaking him, hard. Zach’s head bounced around like he was a bobblehead doll.”
After Danny stood up for Zach, “Lamar took his big right hand, the one he had on Zach, and flicked it into his stomach like a jab.”

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

Crap is used twice.
When he doesn’t want to hang out and go to the movies, Will calls Danny a “knothead.”
When Danny tells his dad about his difficult coach, his dad says “Oh, God . . . Did he give you all that BS about. . .”
A bully named Lamar asks Danny, “But what’s the point if you can’t get the dang ball to the dang basket?” He also calls Danny a “midget” four times in this scene.
When she finds out about her son’s knee injury, Ali Walker uses “Good Lord” as an exclamation.
A character says in exasperation, “Oh, sweet Lord.”

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

Danny thinks about how some players are trying to make their practice into a “guard’s game. The way God intended, as Richie Walker liked to say.”
Danny is practicing on his own, trying to fix his mistake from the previous game. He thinks, “Like the hoop gods—his dad was always talking about the hoop gods, as though they watched every single game—were giving him a do-over.”

by Hannah Neeley