Icon: Good for Reluctant Readers

The Bad Guys in Alien vs Bad Guys

The Bad Guys are stuck on the moon and an alien villain is trying to trap them! One by one, the Bad Guys vanish. An alien creature with tons of teeth and way too many butts is stealing them one by one. Snake is afraid he will be the next victim. Snake leaves his friends behind and blasts off in an escape pod. What will happen to The Bad Guys? Will this be the end of their story?

The sixth installment of The Bad Guys continues the story of the alien Marmalade who hopes to control the earth. The humor continues as The Bad Guys try to figure out how to defeat Marmalade and return to Earth. With non-stop action, a surprising plot twist, and an unexpected hero, readers will not be able to stop flipping the pages of The Bad Guys in Alien vs. Bad Guys. The story contains many comical events, and also uses humor that refers to butts.

Readers will relate to The Bad Guys, who argue with each other, but in the end always try to do what is right. The unique characters show bravery in the face of danger, even as they run from it. The Bad Guys Series will engage readers and help them build reading confidence. Each book begins with news reporter Tiffany Fluffit recapping the previous book’s events; however, readers will get maximum enjoyment if the books are read in order.

The Bad Guys in Alien vs. Bad Guys pulls readers into the text in various ways. The large text has nine or fewer sentences per page, and many of the words are huge and bold. In addition to the large text, black-and-white illustrations appear on every page. Some of the illustrations are full-page, while others appear in panels. The illustrations show the story’s actions as well as the characters’ facial expressions.

The Bad Guys in Alien vs. Bad Guys is a highly entertaining story that highlights the importance of helping your friends. Readers who enjoy the silly humor of The Bad Guys Series may also want to try the Fly Guy Series by Tedd Arnold. Both series focus on unexpected heroes in a comical way.

 Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • In order to save his friends, Snake drives a robot and attacks the villain. The battle is illustrated over nine pages. At the end of the battle, Snake yells, “I just kicked your butts!”
  • Wolf and his friends run to the escape pod. The alien and his friends chase the group. Wolf and his friends slip in slippery drool, but are able to escape.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • The villain Marmalade is an alien and he has tentacles with butts at the end. The story has many references to the butts. For example, Piranha yells, “We have to go! It has too many butts! Too many butts!” Later Snake asks, “You really want to go looking for a creature with great, big, poopy butt hands?!”
  • The story has some name-calling, such as “Mr. Farty-Pants”, “rotten little diablo”, and “butt handed monster.”
  • Piranha yells at someone, “You are the most selfish, mean-hearted, son of a worm I’ve ever. . .”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

When Fairies Go Bad

Everyone knows rule #1 in the dragon world: Never, ever mess with a dragon’s mama. So when Danny Dragonbreath’s mom gets kidnapped by fairies, Danny, his best friend Wendell, and know-it-all Christiana hop on the first bus to the Faerie realm to show those fairies who’s boss. But these are not the sparkly Tinkerbell kind of fairies. These guys play dirty. Escaping fairyland with Danny’s mom is no easy task, even for a sort-of-fire-breathing dragon.

When Fairies Go Bad uses fairy folklore to create a hilarious, action-packed story that will have readers giggling. When Danny’s mother is kidnapped by fairies, Danny and his friends, Wendell and Christiana, are determined to save her. As they march through fairyland, they must stay on the path in order to stay safe. However, several of fairyland’s creatures try to trick the three friends into straying off the path. Fairyland’s creatures are more silly than scary, and readers will enjoy seeing how the friends work together to keep focused on their goals.

While in fairyland, Christiana is cursed and all of her sentences must end in a rhyme. To add to the humor, Christiana also doesn’t believe she is really in fairyland. At one point she says, “Yet more talking mammal dreams? My subconscious is obsessed, it seems.” Christiana’s rhymes add humor to the story. Readers will enjoy the humor of the story as well as how Danny and his friends are able to free Danny’s mother.

Green and black illustrations add to the allure of the book. Drawings with dialogue balloons help break up the text and keep the action moving. Dragonbreath shows the value of friendship and will get even the most reluctant readers engaged in the story. Although When Fairies Go Bad is the seventh book of the Dragonbreath series, the story can be enjoyed as a stand-alone story. Readers who enjoy the Dragonbreath series may also want to try The Notebook of Doom Series by Troy Cummings.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Danny wakes up in the middle of the night because he hears a strange noise. “The music rose to a screaming whine, and something reached out of the fairy right, closed over Danny’s mother’s wrist, and yanked her into the right. She vanished. The music halted as if it had been cut with a knife.” Danny’s mother is kidnapped by fairies.
  • Danny finds his mom, who was locked in a cage by the fairies.
  • When Danny tries to talk to his mom, “the fairy king waved a hand. Danny’s mother’s voice cut off abruptly. Her mouth kept moving, but no sound came out. She realized she’d been muted. . .”
  • The fairy king threatens to turn Danny’s mom into a tree. Danny “had no idea what he’d do if the king actually did turn her into a tree. Take her home and plant her in a nice pot in the backyard? Keep her watered with coffee?”
  • Creatures follow Danny and his friends. “Figures staggered out of the woods, moving with jerky, shuddering steps. When they got a little closer, Danny realized that they were little more than sticks lashed together. They didn’t have heads or hands or anything, just twigs animated by some malign magic. . . Wooden claws closed on Danny’s shoulder. Another one grabbed at his mother. . .” Danny breathes fire and “the wood dried up beautifully. The twig-creature dropped him and staggered back.”
  • When the fairy king sends a guard after Danny and his friends, “Danny’s mother lunged at the fairy guard. The fairy plainly hadn’t been paying attention to her at all and went down under a hundred and sixty pounds of very angry female dragon.”
  • Danny threatens to turn a pig into bacon.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Danny’s friend looks at some mushroom in Danny’s yard. The friend says the mushrooms “look like an Amanita to me. They’re really poisonous. Some of them make you hallucinate too.”

Language

  • Christiana has been cursed and must rhyme all of her words. She tells Danny, “Thanks, dude. . . I think I’m screwed.”
  • While in fairyland, Christiana thinks, “We got too close to the mushrooms in your yard, and now we’re hallucinating hard.”
  • Christiana shows a fairyland creature a spook and asks, “Is this what you’re after, you ugly moose-pafter?”
  • Danny’s mother tackles a guard. The guard then asks, “What the heck was that?”
  • Danny’s grandfather says that fairies are “mean little cusses.”

Supernatural

  • A fairy says a curse, “Ash and bone and hag-skin fat, boar’s black tongue and snout of bat, the rhymer’s curse I lay upon thee—from dawn to dusk in heart of faerie.” After Christiana is cursed, all of her sentences have to rhyme at the end. When Christiana says a word that can’t rhyme, she has “the mother of all coughing fits. She rolled around, tearing up handfuls of grass and hacking.”
  • While in the fairies’ world, Danny and his friends must stay on the path because “the white stones seemed to act like a force field.”
  • When bushes begin to talk to Danny and his friends, Wendell says, “Fairies can disguise themselves as all kinds of things. I bet those aren’t really bushes.”
  • In order to break a fox’s spell, Christiana puts in the tear of the fox. “The tear fell onto the spell. There was a shout that seemed to come from all directions of the woods, and the spell gave a great hiss and fizzle. The fox leaped to his feet, did a backflip, and tore off into the woods.

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

 

The Bad Guys in Intergalactic Gas

The bad news? The world is ending. The good news? The Bad Guys are back to save it! But, they might have to “borrow” a rocket, there might be something nasty in one of the spacesuits, and Mr. Piranha might have eaten too many bean burritos. Surviving this mission may only be one small step for man, but it’s one giant leap for the Bad Guys.

Younger readers will giggle their way through The Bad Guys in Intergalactic Gas. Wolf and his friends head into space in order to track down the villain Marmalade. The Bad Guys are convinced that they can keep Earth safe, but readers will never expect how bean burritos and farts help save the day. The story contains many humorous events, but also uses body humor. For example, when Wolf finds Piranha in a spacesuit, Piranha is embarrassed to admit that “I needed somewhere to poop out my burritos and I decided to do it in the spacesuit.”

The Bad Guys in Intergalactic Gas pulls readers into the text in various ways. The large text has nine or fewer sentences per page, and many of the words are huge and bold. In addition to the large text, black-and-white illustrations appear on every page. Some of the illustrations are full-page, while others appear in panels. The illustrations add to the humor by showing the story’s actions as well as the characters’ facial expressions.

Even though The Bad Guys in Intergalactic Gas is not great literature, the story will engage readers and help them build reading confidence. Readers will enjoy the silly situations, plot twists, and unique characters, including the character Piranha, who sprinkles Spanish words into his dialogue. Each book begins with news reporter Tiffany Fluffit recapping the previous book’s events; however, readers will get maximum enjoyment if the books are read in order.

The Bad Guys Series will introduce the joy of reading to younger readers and have them clamoring for the next book in the series—The Bad Guys in Aliens vs. Bad Guys. Readers who enjoy the silly humor of The Bad Guys Series may also want to try the Inspector Flytrap Series by Tom Angleberger and Cece Bell. Both series use humor and an unexpected character to show children that reading can be fun.

Sexual Content

  • Snake yells at Wolf, “If we survive, your precious Agent Fox will give you a kiss.” Shark accuses Snake of being jealous. Snake says, “What?! You think I’m jealous that Agent Fox thinks this numbskull is ‘sweet’?”

Violence

  • Wolf and his friends steal a spaceship. When they get close to the moon, beams shoot the ship, “ZAP! ZAP!” The spaceship is “trapped in some kind of tractor beam” and gets pulled to the moon’s surface.
  • Legs, Snake, and Shark are tied to the wall after the ship is pulled to the moon’s surface.
  • The villain threatens Legs, saying, “Keep quiet, Legs, or I’ll pull off all your furry little digits and they’ll have to start calling you Body instead.”
  • Piranha’s farts touch the flames from a jetpack and cause an explosion. After the explosion, the “poisonous gas” causes the villain to faint.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Snake gets upset and begins yelling, “I get the feeling the international league of heroes is just a big load of . . .”
  • Characters call each other names, including idiot, monster, coward, poop burglar, and maniac.
  • Shark calls the villain an “evil lunatic.”
  • The villain turns into an alien that has tentacles “with a butt on the end of it.” There are several illustrations and references to the tentacles’ butts.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

The Sonic Breach

Tom gets to take all sorts of cool classes at the Swift Academy of Science and Technology, but robotics may be the one excites him the most. His teacher is holding a battling robot tournament, and Tom and his friends have to build a machine that will come out on top.

With the final battle coming up, Tom and his friends need as much time as possible to refine their masterpiece. But the rest of their teachers have been giving so many pop quizzes that they can barely focus in class, never mind concentrate on the tournament. Naturally, everyone is frustrated with the trend. . . until a mysterious new phone app appears. If students get pop quizzes during first period, they can warn everyone else about it by getting their phones to emit a high-pitched sound—a mosquito alarm—that adults can’t hear.

Tom is unsure about the whole thing, but it technically isn’t cheating, right? But when someone changes the app to break all the rules, the ethics aren’t debatable anymore. The longer the perpetrator remains unknown, the more harshly teachers treat all the students, and the pressure won’t stop until Tom and his friends track down the person behind the app takeover.

Like the first book in the series, The Sonic Breach incorporates mystery and technology. However, unlike The Drone Pursuit, The Sonic Breach doesn’t have as much interaction between Tom and his friends, which takes some of the enjoyment out of the story. Book two is also told from Tom’s point of view, and the story has an easy-to-read, conversational tone which allows the readers to understand Tom’s thinking process.

As Tom and his friends solve the mystery of who hacked the Pop Chop app, the readers will learn the importance of perseverance and helping others. At one point, Tom thinks, “Mistakes are ways to learn, overcome, and move forward. I would much rather have had our robot fail during a sparring match than during the final battle. This way we can learn from our design mistakes and make it better than it was before.”

The cover of The Sonic Breach shows two students battling their robots. However, the battle bots take backstage to the moral question of using a new app—Pop Chop. The story focuses on Tom’s moral dilemma: is using Pop Chop a form of cheating? Although the topic is relevant to students, readers may quickly become bored with the lack of action. In the end, Tom and his friends discover who hacked the Pop Chop app, but the mystery’s solution is unrealistic and comes too easily.

Readers looking for non-stop action and an in-depth mystery may want to leave The Sonic Breach on the shelf. However, readers who enjoyed the first Tom Swift book and are interested in technology will find The Sonic Breach entertaining. Tom Swift is an intelligent, likable character who models good communication skills. Plus, parents will appreciate the story’s positive relationships and messages.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Tom and his friends build a robot that says the phrase, “Get to za Choppa.” The phrase comes from an Arnold Schwarznegger movie, and the kids at the school often repeat it. One of the students “was creative with his altered Arnold phrase, ‘Get to the crappa.’”
  • When a news crew shows up at the Swift Academy, the reporter walks over to the fencing team. A student wonders why the reporter is covering the fencing team when there “are two perfectly good robots over there beating the crap out of each other.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Odd Gods

Oddonis may be the son of Zeus, but he’s a little bit odd for a God. He’s so odd, in fact, that he’s not sure if he has any powers at all. And if that isn’t enough, his twin brother Adonis is the most popular, most athletic, and most otherworldly handsome God of them all.

Oddonis’s future at Mount Olympus Middle isn’t looking bright, especially when he makes the last-minute decision to run against Adonis to be class president. With the help of his friends Mathena (Goddess of math and poultry), Germes (God of all things sniffling and snotty), Puneous (the smallest God of them all), and Gaseous (enough said?), Oddonis is determined to win the race, prove that his friends are as good as any Greek God, and maybe, just maybe, find out what his true powers really are.

Anyone who has ever felt like an outsider will relate to Oddonis, who is not handsome, strong, or amazing like his brother, Adonis. Oddonis’s tale features other misfits, including Gaseous, who farts his way through the story. Unfortunately, Gaseous’s farts smell like “feta cheese, a wet ferret, and feet.” Later at an assembly “Gaseous lets out one of those loud, long, air-going-out-of-a-balloon farts, and the auditorium goes crazy.” In the end, Gaseous uses his fart-power to help Oddonis.

Odd Gods has easy vocabulary, short paragraphs, and humorous black-and-white illustrations on every page. Despite the juvenile humor, Odd Gods has several positive messages about the importance of liking yourself (flaws and all). Even though Oddonis was bullied and called names, he realizes that it’s okay not to be perfect. In the end, Oddonis looks at his reflection and thinks, “I maybe even like what I see. . . And that makes me smile.”

Throughout the story, Oddonis finds a unique group of friends, who were often criticized by others. When Oddonis decides to run against his brother, his friends use their unique talents to help Oddonis. Through their experiences, the reader will learn the importance of friendship, forgiveness, and working together. The message is clear: people who are different should be proud of their differences. Even though Odd Gods has gross humor, readers will enjoy the ridiculously humorous story as well as learn some valuable lessons.

Sexual Content

  • Adonis is the “God of beauty and desire.”

Violence

  • On the school chariot, Poseidon “opens his mouth, a tidal wave comes out” and drenches Oddonis and his friend. The illustration shows Oddonis and his friend swimming with fish and crabs, while other gods laugh at them.
  • On the first day of school, Oddonis, Gaseous, and Puneous are in the hall when “Ares and Apollo pick the three of us up, stuff us in an open locker, and slam the door shut.”
  • When Oddonis sticks up for another kid, “Hercules slams his mighty fists down on our table, and before I can say, ‘Where are we going’ –I’m FLYING UP IN THE AIR!” And it’s not just me—Gaseous, Puneous, Mathena, and Clucky and Ducky are flying, too!” The group ends up in the dumpster.
  • While in the dumpster, Gaseous farts and “Boom!!! WHAM!!! Back we land, right at our table, right where we were sitting before.”
  • Adonis, Poseidon, and Hercules are racing towards Oddonis in a chariot. When the chariot gets close, one of Oddonis’s friends “grabs a level next to the steering wheel and pulls hard. One side of the dumpster drops down and empties its putrid payload. . . right on Adonis’s chariot!” The three gods are “coated with stinky slimy slop! (The cafeteria’s ‘Tuna Surprise’ never looked better!)”
  • Oddonis looks in his brother’s backpack and sees a picture of himself being hung on a noose.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Someone calls Gaseous “Fire Butt.”
  • “Oh My Gods” is used as an exclamation twice and also OMG is used twice.
  • The story contains a lot of name calling, including apes, birdbrain, fish face, jerk, weirdos, idiot, dummy, doofus, bonehead, stupid, halfwit, dimwhit, blockhead, and nincompoop.
  • “What the—” is used twice.
  • Heck is used three times.
  • When Oddonis tells Echo, “But now what do I do, do, do?” Echo giggles and says, “You said doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • When Puneous comes back from a spying mission, Oddonis says, “Thank Gods you’re okay!”

The Last Kids on Earth and the Midnight Blade

Surviving their first winter after the Monster Apocalypse was no easy feat, yet Jack and his buddies waste no time springing to action against some of the nastiest, most evil monsters around. When Jack discovers his Louisville Slicer has new otherworldly powers, he’s thrown into epic training to find out what kind of destruction the blade can wield. But between fighting off zombies, fleeing from strange, glowy Vine-Thingies erupting from the ground, and squeezing in a video game session or two, there’s barely time left to figure out what’s wrong with their buddy, Dirk. Dirk has been acting weird any time he’s around the undead. When an unexpected villain appears, can Jack and his friends save themselves—and the rest of the world—from cosmic domination?

The fifth installment of The Last Kids on Earth brings back some old friends and enemies. The action-packed sequences begin with Jack and his friends trying to help Dirk get over his depressed state. Younger readers will enjoy the entertaining activities that Jack plans to help Dirk. However, the fight scenes with the Vine-Thingies may be slightly confusing. In the end, Jack learns that “being different and not fitting in—that’s good sometimes.”

Like the previous books, the story will keep readers entertained with its fast pace, funny scenes, and epic battles. The easy-to-read text contains dialogue bubbles, alliteration, and onomatopoeias that make reading the story a joy. The black and white illustrations that appear on almost every page bring the kids’ world to life as well as adds humor.

At first, The Last Kids on Earth and the Midnight Blade may look like just another graphic novel. However, the characters are surprisingly well-developed and readers will come away with a valuable lesson about working together. Both the human kids and the monsters work together to defeat evil. Throughout the story, Jack realizes he has to do what’s best for his friends, even when it may be painful for him.

This story can be understood without reading the previous books in the series, but for maximum enjoyment readers should read the books in order. Readers will like The Last Kids on Earth and the Midnight Blade because the story keeps the same humorous, non-frightening format as the previous books. The story ends with a conclusion that makes it clear that Thrull will return, and it gives the possibility that Jack’s friends just might find their parents.

Sexual Content

  • Jack and Bardle need a place to keep a group of zombies. They ask a monster if the zombies can stay on her property. Warg gives her permission, but says, “there is one condition.” Jack replies, “I don’t have to watch you guys make out, do I?”

Violence

  • Jack and his friends sneak into Ghazt’s lair and are discovered. Biggun tries to help Jack and his friends by “hurling zombies right and left. June and Quint are back-to-back, battling the Cabal of the Cosmic. Crack! Ghazt’s tail smacks me, and I’m hurled across the room. I land against a half-inflated pile of bowling lane bumpers.” During the fight, “Skaelka’s razor-sharp blade slices through Ghazt’s tail! The creature SHRIEKS. His eyes go wide and his face contorts into an ‘oh no now my tail is just a nub’ face.” Ghazt eventually falls through the floor and disappears. The fight scene is described over seven pages.
  • A huge eyeball is attacked by vines. Jack and his friends try to help the eyeball by attacking the vnes. Dirk screams “MALLET MELEE!!!” and the fight begins. “Each goo-slime-covered swing melts, slices, and tears through the vines! Soon, only one titanically thick Vine-Thingy still chokes it.” The group try to help but, “Vine-Thingies burst through the pavement, like hundreds of spindly branches. They clutch Hairy Eyeball monster. The monster shrieks and struggles, but it’s no use. An instant later, the eyeball is gone—pulled, howling, into the crumbling pavement.” The battle is described over ten pages.
  • The vines try to capture Jack and his friends. Someone “uses the Gift’s Wolverine-style blade to slice through vines. Green goo splatters the ground.” The kids run for their lives.
  • In an effort to take control of the zombies, Thrull appears. When Bardle raises his sword, “Thrull lifts the war hammer and it seems to hang in the air, defying gravity, then he swings. A crashing boom. A flash of energy. And then metal crunching—Bardle slamming into a nearby car. Thrull’s blow catapulting him out of the wreckage and across the street.” After a ten page battle, Bardle dies.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Freaking is used occasionally.
  • Crud is used seven times. When June makes a joke, Jack thinks, “the teasing—it makes it all feel normal again. And I appreciate the crud out of June for it.”
  • When Bardle is hurt, Jack says, “Holy crud, that scared me!”
  • Jack calls Thrull a “DOOF! WAD!”

Supernatural

  • When Jack swings the Slicer at a zombie, Jack feels “the Slicer catch—like the blade and the zombie are connected by some strange magnetism.” Everything freezes, then “the hovering zombie is thrust down, too. Its knees buckled and it crumples to the floor in a drooling, groaning heap.”
  • A Scrapken, which is an octopus-like creature, grabs Jack’s hand, causing him pain. Jack uses the Slicer to cut off the Scrapken’s tentacle. “The Scrapken howling. Dirk stammering. Me clutching my arm and shouting up at the monster.” Jack apologizes and “the severed tentacle waves in front of me, leaking thick blue-green ooze.” The tentacle acts like a glove and allows Jack to hold the burning hot Slicer.
  • Thrull and the kids fight to get Ghazt’s tail because of its ability to control zombies. When Jack touches the tail a “big mass” of “dark other-dimension energy” courses through his glove. The “rat tail’s skin begins to bubble. It’s being pulled into the glove. . . I smell burning and I see the last bit of energy extracted from the tail. After the process is complete, Thrull’s left with a long, winding, skeletal appendage.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

Top Secret Smackdown

Ravens have been stolen from the Tower of London! Mac B.’s top-secret mission? Travel to Iceland and retrieve the ravens. . . or Britain is ruined!

In Iceland, Mac discovers secret submarines, hungry polar bears, mysterious blueprints, and his old archnemesis! Is the KGB man behind this birdnapping? Can Mac get the ravens to safety? It’s time for an epic, top-secret smackdown between these two secret agents!

The third installment of the Mac B. series continues the punny fun. Mac learns more about the United Kingdom’s history as well as the difference between dolphins and porpoises. Mac discovers how a simple story can become an important legend. The queen of England orders Mac to travel to Iceland and solve the mystery. Even though the majority of the story focuses on the mystery of the missing ravens, Mac’s difficulties with his mother’s boyfriend also plays a part in the story.

The queen’s outlandish behavior will make readers giggle. Readers will enjoy the conclusion because it ties all of the events together in a unique way. Top Secret Smackdown mixes humorous puns, a mysterious enemy, and wrestling to create a fun story that will entertain even the most reluctant readers. Short sentences and simple vocabulary will help readers build confidence. Large purple and orange illustrations appear on almost every page, which helps readers envision the story’s events.

Mac tells his own story with humor and puts a spotlight on the absurd. Younger readers will love the adventure, intrigue, and interesting characters. Although Top Secret Smackdown can be read as a stand-alone book, for maximum enjoyment the books should be read in order. Readers who enjoy silly, illustrated stories may also want to read Two Dogs in a Trench Coat Series by Julie Falatko.

Sexual Content

  • The story implies that Mac’s mother’s boyfriend stays the night when he thinks, “usually on Saturday mornings, my mom’s boyfriend, Craig, was camped out in front of the TV watching WrestleFest.”

Violence

  • When Mac goes to Iceland, he looks for clues, and “someone hit me on the head with something very heavy and knocked me out.” When he woke up, Mac was tied to a chair.
  • The president of Iceland is telling Mac a story. She acts out part of the story when “she punched me lightly on my arm. When I tried to block it, she punched me harder in the ribs.”
  • The KGB man ties Mac to a chair. Mac breaks out of the ropes and pretends he is a wrestler on WrestlingFest. Mac “jumped onto the KGB Man’s back. He shook me off. . . I jumped on his back again. The KGB man stood up and threw me to the floor. He tore off his shirt.” During the scuffle, Mac throws a chair, accidentally sparked TNT, and “something exploded. The camera zapped. Its wires fried. The submarine was filling with water.”
  • When Mac escapes the sinking submarine, “there was another blast. . .pieces of metal came flying and knocked my legs out from under me.” Mac falls into the river but is saved.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • The KGB man calls a group of people “fools.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • When Mac is afraid that he might drown, he thinks about Father Thames. “Some people say there is a river god named Father Thames who lives in the waters that run through London. They say he has lived there for a long, long time.” Mac thought he saw Father Thames, but then he realized it was a dolphin.

 

 

The Unbelievable Oliver and the Four Jokers

Oliver wants to learn magic, but he’s struggling to master a simple card trick. Even though Oliver can’t perform a simple card trick, his two best friends the twins, Teenie and Bea, have gotten him invited to a classmate’s birthday party as the paid entertainment. Desperate for help, he visits the Great Zoocheeni’s Magic Emporium. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have enough money to pay for any new magic paraphernalia. Dejected, Oliver leaves with only a moth-eaten top hat.

Oliver is surprised when he finds a wisecracking rabbit named Benny living inside the top hat. Benny agrees to help Oliver wow the audience. Oliver reluctantly goes to the birthday party, but soon he’s accused of stealing one of the birthday boy’s gifts. Is there any way for Oliver to prove his innocence? And will Benny be able to help Oliver wow the crows with their grand finale?

The Unbelievable Oliver and the Four Jokers blends magic, mystery, and a group of mean boys to create an entertaining story. The large text, simple vocabulary, and the black and purple comic illustrations that appear on almost every page make the story accessible to all readers. The text explains the meaning of several words and idioms that readers may not understand. The story uses slapstick scenarios, some bathroom jokes, puns, and a worldly rabbit to create humor. Even though the story focuses on a group of mean boys who love to bully others, the tone is humorous instead of serious. Although Oliver prevails, the reader will not learn any positive lessons about the dangers of bullying.

Although the talking rabbit is funny, younger readers may not understand all of the humor. Benny’s speech is peppered with slang, idioms, and references to his Las Vegas days. The rabbit is running from gambling debts and fears that bounty hunters are after him. While hiding, the rabbit thinks, “Could he be blamed for betting all his money on a horse named Turnip Thunder? Turnip was his favorite root vegetable!” Even though Benny would like to skip town, he stays with Oliver to the very end.

Anyone who has ever felt left out will relate to Oliver. Readers will enjoy the fast-paced story, the funny illustrations, and the conclusion that leaves Oliver victorious. Although The Unbelievable Oliver and the Four Jokers doesn’t teach a moral lesson, it does gives directions on how to perform Oliver’s card trick. The story is perfect for readers who want to relax with a fun, entertaining mystery.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • A boy dumps trash over Oliver’s head.
  • The birthday party has an inflatable castle bounce house. Maddox didn’t want to play with Teenie, so he tells his friend to “get her out of here.” His friend “picked up Teenie and tossed her straight into the moat. She slid all around the castle and back to the entrance, where the other children had left their shoes.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Maddox calls Oliver a loser.
  • Darn is used once.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

The Drone Pursuit

When your dad funds the Swift Academy of Science and Technology, you’re bound to have a bunch of tech at your disposal. So, no one bats an eye when Tom and his best friend, Noah, test their new virtual reality drone before class. At the academy, once class starts and the drone is parked, their brainiac friends launch into farfetched discussions about the curriculum. When they watch a documentary about the FBI’s most wanted hackers from the eighties, they quickly start speculating that the academy custodian is one of them.

At first, Tom dismisses the idea as another one of his friends’ conspiracy theories. But using their new drone, he spies the custodian acting suspiciously around the school. As Tom and his friends search for evidence that the custodian is the missing hacker, the signs become impossible to ignore when Tom gets threatening messages that warn him away from investigating. When someone releases a virus in the school servers, all bets are off as the adjoining servers at the tech giant Swift Enterprises come under fire. Can Tom and his friends uncover the true culprit before it’s too late?

Although Tom and his friends are not well-developed characters, they are likable kids who aren’t afraid to geek out over technology. As they sneak around trying to discover if the school janitor is a famous hacker in hiding, they cause some innocent havoc—spilled soda in the cafeteria, a drone racing through the halls, and hiding in a closet. Told from Tom’s point of view, the story has an easy-to-read, conversational tone which allows the readers to understand Tom’s motive for keeping the adults in his life in the dark.

Tom’s father only makes a brief appearance in the story; however, Tom’s father makes Tom a priority and doesn’t let work get in the way of spending time with his son. When Tom’s father discovers Tom’s secret sleuthing, he lets Tom know that he “could always come to him about anything; that it won’t matter how crazy or outlandish my theories may seem.” Even though Tom’s father is extremely wealthy, Tom doesn’t try to use his father’s wealth to get out of trouble. Instead, Tom and his friends serve their punishment without arguing or complaining.

The Drone Pursuit incorporates mystery, action, technology, and a touch of humor into an easy-to-read story that younger readers will enjoy. Even though the inventions are not amazing, younger readers will like the fast-paced, entertaining story. Readers who are not ready for the Alex Rider Series or the Theodore Boon Series will find The Drone Pursuit to be the perfect alternative.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • A man tries to knock a drone down with a broom. When the drone backed into a corner, “the man regained his balance and began stabbing at the drone.” The drone gets away.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Someone gives a teacher some type of poison. The person “hacked a dating app so she could be matched with Mr. Jenkins. They went on a date and she slipped something into his food.”

Language

  • Heck is used once.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Attack of the Ninja Frogs

Danny Dragonbreath knows girls are nothing but trouble. And the new foreign exchange student, Suki the Salamander, is the worst: she’s reduced his best friend, Wendell, to a blithering, lovesick tadpole. But when a group of ninja frogs attempt to kidnap her, Danny knows he must step in. Danny and Wendell have watched lots of kung fu movies and can totally take on a bunch of ninja frogs. Or, um, so Danny hopes . . .

Readers will be able to relate to Danny who is a daydreaming, comic-loving dragon who longs for adventure and pizza. The friendship between Danny and Wendell is one of the best and funniest parts of the story. Danny and Wendell are complete opposites, and yet they are amazing friends who always help each other. For example, when Wendell walked towards the school bully, “Danny, realizing that Wendell was about to do something profoundly stupid, hurried after him. (He wasn’t quite clear on whether he was going to stop Wendell doing something stupid, or help him do something stupid, but after all, that’s what friends are for.)”

Attack of the Ninja Frogs will entertain and delight readers who want a fun adventure with plenty of surprises. Even though some of the story revolves around girl stereotypes, such as girls having cooties, Suki’s smarts and skills are what eventually save the three friends. The frog ninjas want Suki to be their leader, which upsets Suki because she wants to be a veterinarian.

The humorous story has black and green illustrations that appear on almost every page. Drawings with dialogue balloons help break up the text and keep the action moving. Cool ninja facts and information about the Japanese culture are woven into the story. Even though the majority of the book is easy to read, the story does have some advanced sentence structure and vocabulary. Dragonbreath will get even the most reluctant readers engaged in a suspenseful story about ninjas, dragons, and friendship.

Sexual Content

  • Danny thinks that Wendell has a girlfriend. “Wendell and Suki both glared at him, then sighed simultaneously. As horrible as the notion of losing his best friend to love’s saccharine clutches was, Danny was starting to think they were made for each other. How revolting.”
  • Before Suki returns to Japan, she gives Wendell and Danny a hug. Danny thinks, “I suppose now I’ve got cooties.” Wendell is illustrated with a dazed expression and hearts dance around his head.

Violence

  • The school bully blocks Suki’s path. Wendell and Danny come to her aid. The bully leaves when Danny tells him, “Did you know somebody wrote something rude about you in the second-floor bathroom?”
  • Frog Ninjas attack Suki. “Suki was hanging between two creatures, kicking at them and slapping furiously with her tail. . . Suki’s attackers were identical. They wore black suits that covered everything but their eyes, and they had broad, sticky pads on their fingers.
  • The three friends walk into a trap and are caught up in a net. A frog ninja cuts them out, and “the trio of kids crashed to the ground with a thud.” The frogs tie their hands and lead them to their hideout.
  • Frog ninjas tie Danny and Wendell and swing them out to the center of a volcano. “A blast of hot air roared off the volcano, like standing in front of an oven, only a lot worse.” As the two argue, Danny cuts the rope holding them. Before they can hit the lava, a crane catches them and flies them to safety.
  • A fight between the salamanders and the ninja frogs appears on two pages. The three friends escape and return home.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Wendell calls Danny an idiot three times; Suki calls Danny an idiot once; Danny calls Wendell an idiot once.
  • When Wendell and Danny see ninja frogs, Danny exclaims OMG, which is used multiple times.

Supernatural

  • In order to get advice, the friends go to Danny’s great-grandfather who tells Suki that, “I will need to look into your past lives.” Danny’s great-grandfather touches her head with his hands. After a few minutes, he tells Danny, “Your little friend is the reincarnation of the great warrior Leaping Sword, who used to rule the Spurtongue Clan of ninja frogs a few years ago.” Because of her past life, the frog ninjas want Suki to lead them.

Spiritual Content

  • None

The Great Art Caper

Things at Daisy P. Flugelhorn Elementary School have been quiet—too quiet. Cuddly yet calculating class hamster GW spends his days in second grade and his nights poetry slamming and jigsaw puzzling with his friends, Sunflower and Barry. GW has even started warming up to the second-grade students. Could he be making human friends?

When the school art show is announced, GW learns of a dastardly plot—Harriet and her many minions are planning to ruin it! Once again, it’s up to GW, Sunflower, and Barry to stop to Harriet’s mousy madness.

G.W. and the other lovable classroom pets are adorably cute as they get into hilarious situations. G.W. wants to make Carina a special picture, but the regular classroom supplies aren’t sparkly enough. So G.W. and his friends go to find the mysterious room on the second floor of the school. The class pets are able to make crayons, glitter, and artwork amazingly funny. Readers will love how G.W. learns many lessons about friendship. When G.W. finds out that his friend Carina drew a picture of someone else, Sunflower reminds G.W. that “just because she loves her dad, it doesn’t mean she loves you any less.”

Even though the classroom pets are comical, they also teach lessons about friendship and doing the right thing. At the end of the story, G.W. gives himself up in order to protect Carina’s drawing and the library books. Harriet and her minions add comic suspense to the story while G.W. and his friends are able to conquer the minions with cookies. Readers will appreciate the ironic, heartwarming conclusion.

The Great Art Caper is the perfect graphic novel to add to your reading list. The colorful, comic illustrations exaggerate the character’s facial expressions in order to help readers understand the animal’s emotions. Readers will love the illustrations, the classroom pets, and the special bond that G.W. has for Carina. The Great Art Caper brings humor and joy to the reading experience and should be read by anyone who loves a good story. Although the story can be understood without reading the first book in the series, The Great Pet Escape, readers will want to enjoy both books in the series.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Harriet and her minions use yarn to tie G.W. and his friends up. After the friends are wrapped in yarn, Harriet strings them up so they are hanging from the ceiling. Harriet says, “With these three locked in the supply closet, nothing can stop our evil plan!”
  • Harriet and her minion have a battle with G.W. and his friends. The group uses art supplies such as crayons and markers to battle each other. The fight is illustrated over six pages.
  • Harriet falls into Plaster of Paris and hardens into a statue.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • After tying up G.W. and his friends, Harriet says, “Sleep tight suckers!”
  • When breaking into the library, Harriet says, “Maybe NOW the Minions and I will just. . .make a mess out of the whole darn library.”
  • When Harriet destroys a painting, G.W calls Harriet a monster.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

The 13-Story Treehouse: Monkey Mayhem!

Andy and Terry write books together while they live in every young boy’s dream—a 13-story treehouse! The treehouse is the most amazing treehouse in the world—complete with a bowling alley, a see-through swimming pool, a marshmallow machine that follows you around and shoots marshmallows in your mouth, a secret underground laboratory, swinging vines, a tank of man-eating sharks, and an endless lemonade fountain. It seems like the fun never ends for Andy and Terry.

But when faced with a range of slapstick scenarios, they soon realize they still have not finished their next bestselling book. With the threat of going back to their atrocious old jobs, they must bond together as they fight off a pack of wild monkeys, a giant gorilla, and a sea monster while writing their next book before their deadline. Will Andy and Terry succeed or will they be forced to go back to their old jobs – at the monkey house?

Griffiths and Denton created a silly, funny, and ridiculous story that readers will laugh at from beginning to end. The book also teaches readers about the importance of friendship. Andy and Terry demonstrate the importance of friends working together in order to solve problems. Without each other, they would not be able to survive a giant gorilla, a sea monster attack, or even write a book. Also, the funny black and white illustrations contribute to a positive reading experience and will help engage even the most reluctant readers.

Even though the story is funny, much of the humor comes from bathroom jokes and immature humor. Many of the jokes are inappropriate for young readers, and sometimes the jokes can be cruel and inconsiderate, such as when Terry painted Jill’s cat bright yellow without telling her. These jokes can leave a bad impression on a young audience. Readers will either love or hate The 13-Story Treehouse. Some will find the story laugh-out-loud funny while others will find the repetitious nature of the story and Terry and Andy’s jokes crude and annoying. But in the end, readers who want a story that’s ridiculously outrageous should pick up The 13-story Treehouse.

Sexual Content

  • Terry and a mermaid kiss so he can become a merman.

Violence

  • After fighting about Terry’s new invention and their new giant banana, Terry whacks Andy over the head with the banana causing Andy to go unconscious. Terry thought, “I’d killed you!” when Andy wakes up.
  • Andy eavesdrops on the sea monster’s plan to eat Terry. The sea monster thinks, “I’ll lure him down beneath the water, and then his body I will slaughter. Oh how I’ll enjoy devouring him – I’ll tear him apart, limb from limb. I’ll eat his eyes and ears and nose and suck the marrow from his toes.”
  • Terry wards off a wild pack of monkeys with a giant banana. When the monkeys attack, “Terry picked up the giant banana and, holding it like a baseball bat, began whacking back the marshmallows, pens, pencils, erasers, paintbrushes, paints, and monkey poop being hurled in our direction. And then he began knocking the monkeys right out of the tree!”
  • A giant gorilla intentionally squishes Barky the dog. Andy describes, “ the giant gorilla lifted up one of its gigantic feet and stomped on him.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • When the marshmallow machine automatically shoots marshmallows into Terry and Andy’s mouth, Andy asks, “How do you shut this stupid thing off?”
  • Andy thinks Terry’s favorite TV show has the “world’s dumbest dog on the world’s dumbest TV show.”
  • Andy says Terry is out of his “tiny, pea-brained, numbskull-sized mind!”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Matthew Perkey

 

 

 

 

The Heir

Eadlyn, the daughter of Maxon and America, is next in line for the throne and will be the first woman in her country’s history to rule by herself. Eadlyn is powerful—the last thing she needs is a man to get in her way. When unrest begins to develop throughout the country, Eadlyn’s parents come to her with a solution to distract the people while they attempt to settle the turmoil in the country—a Selection of her own.

Eadlyn is against the idea. She doesn’t see how babysitting 35 boys will solve the country’s problems. Eadlyn finally agrees to an attempt at finding a husband through the Selection but plans to sabotage it by acting as unpleasant as possible, encouraging the boys to leave on their own and finishing the Selection her way. However, Eadlyn quickly discovers that she must play to the eye of the public in order to win the public’s favor of herself as the next ruler in line for the throne.

As the Selection runs its course, Eadlyn finds herself enjoying some of the boys and doesn’t entirely hate the thought of them being in her house. However, with fights and attempted inappropriate touching, the press begins to show that Eadlyn doesn’t have control over her own Selection. Will Eadlyn finish her Selection with a husband and continue on to rule the country?

Readers won’t be able to put down this installation of the Selection series as they watch the newest generation of Illea’s royalty work through a possible uprising, budding romance, and a whole new type of Selection. Although the first few chapters of The Heir are slow, the pacing picks up and will leave the readers turning the pages to find out if Eadlyn will find the love of her life and still rule Illea. Readers will want to read the previous books of the Selection series in order to fully enjoy and understand The Heir.

Eadlyn is shown as a powerful, headstrong heir to the throne, who learns how to let her walls down. Eadlyn discovers that letting people see her as more than just a ruler, will actually benefit herself. At the beginning of the book, her condescending, blunt, and rude personality may turn away readers. However, readers will eventually fall in love with Eadlyn as she learns how to be the “people’s ruler.” Entertaining characters from previous books make appearances along with new, well-developed characters. Overall, these components create a storyline that will keep readers turning the pages. The story highlights the importance of family and friends and shows that with the help of others, anything can be accomplished. Because the conclusion of The Heir ends with a cliffhanger, readers will want to have the next book of the series, The Crown, on hand.

Language

  • When Kile and Eadlyn greet one another on a date, Eadlyn jokes, “It’s ‘Royal Pain in the Ass’ to you, sir.”
  • Kile apologizes for calling Eadlyn “bratty.”
  • After a parade ends in a disaster, Eadlyn’s parents ask her what happened. Eadlyn replies, “Hell if I know.”
  • “Darn it” is used once.
  • Loser is used twice. Eadlyn jokingly tells someone, “Come in, loser.”
  • Erik tells Eadlyn, “That’s really none of my business, and you’re obviously having a rough day. I’m an ass.”

Sexual Content

  • General Leger is seen kissing his wife, Miss Lucy. In the studio, “General Leger was there, kissing Miss Lucy on her forehead and whispering something to her.”
  • When Eadlyn recounts her disastrous meeting of the Selected men, she says, “one blatantly stared at my chest for the entirety of our meeting.” Eadlyn later sends this man home for the reason, “‘When we met, you couldn’t stop staring at my breasts.’”
  • Kile and Eadlyn kiss in a hallway with the hopes of being photographed by paparazzi. Eadlyn describes their kiss saying, “Kile leaned down, lips meeting mine, holding them there. Then his lips parted and closed and parted again.” Their kissing is described for about a page.
  • Ahren, Eadlyn’s twin brother, makes fun of her for her lack of relationship experience. Ahren says a picture in the paper does not count as a relationship and, “Neither does making out with Leron Troyes at that Christmas ball in Paris.”
  • When going on a date with Baden, Eadlyn says, “Baden and I are going to make music…. I mean that literally, by the way.”
  • Eadlyn invites Kile over to her room and they kiss. Eadlyn recounts that she “wrapped my hand around his head, pulling him to me, and an instant later his arms were around my waist.” Eadlyn describes their kissing for a page.
  • Eadlyn is overwhelmed and goes to Kile for help. Eadlyn pushes Kile into a closet. “I was so overwhelmed, I pressed my lips into his, knowing that would make everything else stop for a minute.” As their kissing gets hotter, Eadlyn begins to remove his shirt, but Kile stops her.
  • Henri and Eadlyn kiss in the kitchen. Eadlyn describes their kiss as delicate. “I pressed my lips into his, trying to tell him without words that this was okay, that I wanted him to hold me.” Their kiss is described for half a page.
  • Camille, Ahren’s girlfriend, comes to Illea from France. When Camille arrives, Ahren, “held her tightly and kissed every corner of her face.”
  • Camille and Ahren sneak off to spend more time together. “Ahren snuck away with Camille, kissing her every step of the way.”
  • When Camille and Ahren don’t show up to breakfast one morning, Eadlyn assumes that either, “Ahren had come to his senses and told her that he needed to consider other options, and they were both in the process of avoiding each other… or they’d spent the night together and were maybe still in bed.”

Violence

  • When Kile calls Eadlyn “bratty” his mother “twacked her son over the head.”
  • When Jack tries to take things too far with Eadlyn, Ahren comes to Eadlyn’s defense. As Jack continues to torment Eadlyn in front of Ahren, Eadlyn had “never seen Ahren throw a punch before. It was almost as shocking as Jack’s limp body after my brother’s fist forced his head to whip back at an awkward angle.”
  • During a group date, Burke and Fox get into a heated argument over their cooking styles. As their argument continues to heat up, “Burke threw a punch that knocked Fox back several steps. I sucked in a breath, frozen. Fox came back at him, and I was pushed to the floor by Burke’s arm pulling back for another punch.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • As Eadlyn and her parents prepare for the arrival of the Selected men, her mother and the chef discuss the need to finalize the first seven-course dinner. Eadlyn “groaned internally. A true seven-course meal could take six hours from the first sip of a cocktail to the final bite of chocolate.”
  • Eadlyn hides away from her people. She says she “took shelter in long baths or a drink with dinner.”
  • After Eadlyn’s parade for the Selected men goes awry, Eadlyn’s mother and father “were both drinking something a little stronger than wine—a rare occasion—though it didn’t appear to be doing much for their nerves.”
  • When Eadlyn invites Kile into her room, Kile “spotted the wine I’d provided and wasted no time in pouring himself a glass.”
  • When Ean questions Eadlyn on what her favorite food is, Eadlyn answers, “Do mimosas count?”

Spiritual Content

  • When Eadlyn comes across two guards, one of the guards says, “Thank God. Go to the king and tell him we’ve found her.”
  • When Eadlyn’s mother has a heart attack, Eadlyn rushes to the hospital wing. When she gets there, “Aunt May sat next to Miss Marlee, who appeared to be deep in prayer.”
  • When the Selected men find out that Eadlyn’s mother is in the hospital wing, they come to show their support. As they approach Eadlyn, Kile says, “We’ve come to pray.”

Supernatural Content

  • None

A Photo Journal Mission

Cyrus’s English teacher has given the class a photo journal assignment. Cyrus isn’t sure what to put in his journaling notebook. He and his friends head to the library and talk to the librarian Ms. Gillian. In order to help Cyrus figure out what to put in his notebook, Ms. Gillian takes him and his classmates into the past to meet two historical figures that used different methods of creating notebooks that documented their area of study. When Cyrus returns to school, he uses what he learned to begin his own notebook.

A Photo Journal Mission, which is a graphic novel, features Cyrus who isn’t afraid to ask for help on a difficult assignment. The diverse cast of characters jump back into time and meet John Audubon who wrote about birds. Audubon explains how he studied nature and wrote about it in a scientific journal. Audubon explains the importance of pairing illustrations with observations. After speaking with Audubon, the group meets an English botanist Anna Atkins, who was the first person to use photographs in a book. Atkins shows how she used photosensitive paper to create her images.

The story has a lot of positive aspects—it teaches vocabulary, introduces historical figures, and has wonderful illustrations. Each page contains six or fewer easy-to-read sentences, and the plot moves at a fast pace. For those who want to learn more about keeping a research journal, the book includes a list of further resources. The full-color drawings are interesting, detailed, and have both white text bubbles that show characters’ dialogue as well as black boxes for the narration. Words that readers may be unfamiliar with are in bold text, with a glossary in the back of the book. The back of the book also contains directions for making a photo journal.

Because the story is so short and the characters and the plot are not well developed, more advanced readers will quickly become bored with the Adventures in Makerspace series. However, for readers who are just transitioning to chapter books or are reluctant readers, A Photo Journal Mission will give them a simple, entertaining story that will help them build reading skills.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • When the librarian opens a book of Birds of America, the librarian and the students poof and enter the past.

Spiritual Content

  • None

A Coding Mission

Ms. Gillian has set up The Makerspace in the library so students can work together on projects. A group of students built a diorama of a labyrinth, complete with the Minotaur and the Greek hero Theseus. A group of students decides they want to make a code to help Theseus find his way out of the labyrinth. What better way to try out the code than use Ms. Gillian’s magic book to take them into the center of the labyrinth? Will the students be able to write a code that leads them out of the labyrinth before the Minotaur finds them?

A Coding Mission, a graphic novel, has a diverse cast of characters that aren’t afraid of showing that they are smart. The story weaves together coding and Greek mythology. The kids, with the librarian’s help, use trial and error to design a code to help them find the way out of the labyrinth. The code is illustrated on a device, so readers can get a general idea of what code looks like.

The full-color drawings are interesting, detailed, and have both white text bubbles that show the characters’ dialogue as well as black boxes for the narration. Words that readers may be unfamiliar with are in bold text, with a glossary in the back of the book. The back of the book also contains directions for making a maze and using an algorithm to solve the maze.

The story has a lot of positives aspects—it teaches vocabulary, introduces a Greek myth, and has wonderful illustrations. Each page contains six or fewer easy-to-read sentences, and the plot moves at a fast pace. For those who want to learn more about coding, the book includes a list of further resources. However, because the story is so short, the characters and the plot are not well developed. More advanced readers will quickly become bored with the Adventures in Makerspace series. However, for readers who are just transitioning to chapter books or are reluctant readers, A Coding Mission will give them a simple, entertaining story that will help them build reading skills.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • When the librarian opens an old book, the librarian and the students poof and enter a labyrinth.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Two Dogs in a Trench Coat Go on a Class Trip

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Darn is used twice by a museum tour guide.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

The Raft

Robie feels lucky living on the small island of Midway which sits in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. But sometimes being the only kid on the island makes her feel like she’s going crazy. To keep Robie sane, she goes to visit her aunt in Hawaii. After her aunt suddenly has to leave the island for work, Robie decides to catch a cargo flight home. When the plane hits a nasty storm, Robie thinks everything will be alright. Robie is wrong.

Suddenly, Robie is submerged in water. She’s fighting for her life. Then Max, the only other survivor, pulls her onto a raft, and that’s when the real terror begins. They have no water. Their only food is a bag of skittles. There are sharks. They have no idea if help is on the way. How long can they survive in the middle of the ocean?

The Raft is a sensational survival story that has several twists that will surprise readers. The story is told from Robie’s point of view, which allows her fears to jump to the surface. When Robie is on the raft, she finds a “Survival at Sea” card that adds irony to the story, as well as helps Robie stay alive. Robie clearly loves nature but also fears nature’s violence. Through Robie’s experiences, the story highlights the dangers humans pose to wildlife by throwing trash into the sea; this aspect of the story will encourage readers to make small changes that can dramatically help ocean creatures survive.

The story doesn’t only focus on survival at sea. Max is dealing with overcoming a tragedy. As his story unfolds, Max retells his story of love and loss. Readers will be pulled into his story and will cry at his loss. Max’s story adds suspense and a unique aspect to the story.

The story has short chapters, and some of the paragraphs are only one sentence; this makes the story easy to read as well as increases the story’s suspense. Robie makes several references to The Hunger Games which adds an interesting element to the story. The Raft is a fast-paced story that pulls the reader in from the very first chapter. Fans of survival stories will absolutely enjoy The Raft. For those who want to dip their toes into other ocean survival stories, add Adrift by Paul Griffin and Surrounded by Sharks by Michael Northrop to your reading list.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • While walking home, a man thinks Robie is someone he knows. The man attacks Robie. Unexpectedly, “a hand grabbed a chunk of my cornrows and yanked. My food went flying as I whipped around. . . He grabbed my cornrows tighter, forcing my head down so I could only look at the ground . . .” Some men begin yelling at the man, and he lets Robie go.
  • A shark attacks a seal, which is able to escape to the beach. To stop the seal’s suffering, Robie grabbed a board, and “just as I was ready to bring the board down, her head fell my way, both of her eyes looking up at mine. There was no surprised in her gaze. Like she expected me to be there. To help her. . . Then I cried out as I brought the board down as hard as I could.”
  • Max’s journal details how his girlfriend, Brandy, died in a car crash. His truck rolled over, and Max found her body. “Brandy lay where she’d been thrown through the windshield as soon as we’d rolled, just off the road. . . Oh God. Her neck was at an impossible angle, and I held her hand to my chest.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Crap and holy crap are used occasionally.
  • Frickin’ is used five times. For example, when Robie was on an airplane, she “tried not to think about the dark and the water underneath us. Nothing by dark and all that frickin’ water.”
  • Hell is used several times. When a man sees Robie on a deserted island, he asks, “What the hell is she doing out here?”
  • Oh my God and Oh God are used as exclamations six times.
  • Pissed is used four times. Robie is upset when she drops a partial bag of Skittles, she “blubbered, as part of me cursed the carelessness that had just lost us all the food we had, and another part was just pissed that I hadn’t eaten them all when I had the chance.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • When Robie is on a plane, an engine stops. She prayed, “God, please please let everything be okay. Please don’t let us crash and please just let me get to Midway. And please let them (the pilots) be calm when I look up there.”
  • The plane crashes, and Robie is pushed out into the ocean. When she is underwater, she prays, “God, please kill me already. This is more than I can take.” As she is still submerged, she prays, “God, please, let me reach the light. I want to live.”
  • Robie found a “Survival at Sea” card in the raft. As she was reading it, the card explained how to escape a fire caused by a plane’s oil slick. Robie thought, “Thank God for small favors. My plane crashed, but at least there wasn’t a fiery oil slick to deal with.”
  • When Robie hears a plane’s engine, Robie “said a silent prayer” hoping that it would find her.
  • When Robie finds a tube of Carmex, she “cradled it to my chest for a moment, thanking Max, thanking God, thanking whoever put that ditty bag on the beach.”
  • When Robie is worried that she is going to die, she says a prayer. Then she thinks, “When I was little, I did say my prayers every night. But when it was just me, and I was older, without Mom and Dad putting me to bed, I stopped. Midway didn’t even have a church. We did have a white cross though, on an edge of the island, overlooking the lagoon. . . Every Easter, the residents of Midway did gather at the cross at sunrise. Sometimes someone read from the Bible or said a few words. Usually we sang a hymn. This year I had slept in.. . I could bargain with God. Isn’t that what people did in these situations?” Robie decides she is too tired to plead her case, and God could make his own decision on what happens to her.
  • When Robie is rescued and calls her mom, her mom says, “thank God.”

Burning Blue

Nicole has it all. She’s rich, beautiful, and popular. When unknown assailant splashes acid onto Nicole’s face, her tragedy is splashed over the national news. As Nicole tries to come to terms with her disfigurement, the reporters follow her trying to get a gruesome picture of her wounds.

Jay has always been a loner. Because of an embarrassing epileptic seizure he had during an assembly, his classmates treat him like a freak. When he sees Nicole’s damaged face, he decides to find out who did it. As he begins to dig for clues, he discovers that Nicole is surprisingly down-to-earth. Jay uses his hacking skills to try to uncover the truth, but this leads him into danger. He realizes that everyone is a suspect—teachers, friends, and even Nicole herself. Can Jay find the assailant before there is another attack?

After a chance meeting in the school counselor’s office, Jay and Nicole form a fragile relationship. Both are trying to deal with an event that has changed the way their classmates see them. Both are trying to figure out how to deal with a difficult situation. The author highlights that people who face trauma do not bounce back immediately. Instead, they need time and therapy to heal their wounds.

Readers will be able to relate to Jay, who not only has a troubled relationship with his father, but also struggles with fitting in with his peers and allows his fear of being embarrassed to control his choices. Because Jay has been the target of other’s mean comments and has faced difficulty because of his epilepsy, Jay has empathy for others. Jay’s hacking abilities give the story an interesting twist. As Jay hunts for clues, the reader will want to continue turning the pages to find out what happens next.

There is never a dull moment in Burning Blue, which has elements of romance, teenage anguish, and high school drama. The wide cast of possible suspects allows the readers to question each person’s motives. The ending contains several surprises and will leave the reader questioning the nature of evil. Teens looking for an action-packed mystery will want to grab Burning Blue. Besides being a highly entertaining story, Burning Blue highlights that appearances can be deceptive. After you’ve read Burning Blue, you may want to check out Griffin’s book Adrift, which is another packed story.

Sexual Content

  • Nicole’s boyfriend was usually a gentleman, but one “afternoon he was jacked up on too many Red Bulls or whatever, desperate. He wouldn’t let her go. He kept saying, ‘One last kiss.’”
  • When the police were interviewing people, Jay thinks the police “were looking for someone who hated Nicole, not somebody who was trying to bone her.”
  • Jay hacks into someone’s social media and sees a text that says, “Somebody should blow her boyfriend and post the video on her fb.”
  • After Nicole’s face is burned, a girl stops and stares “like she’d stumbled onto a rape in progress.”
  • Some boys invite a girl to a party with “the intention of having her pull the train.” Jay takes the girl outside “with the intention of walking her home. She was smashed, tackled me onto the hood of this Mercedes sedan, rammed her tongue down my throat.” Then she pukes. This girl was the “only girl I (Jay) had ever kissed. I mean, I’d gotten hand jobs before from this chick in my building who was a year older than I was, but when you kiss a girl on the mouth, even if it’s only for three seconds and she pukes after, that’s kind of serious in my book.”
  • Jay sees a custodian’s email. “Somebody named Isabella1801 had emailed what she wanted to do with him that night. No whips or chains, but it was borderline hard-core.”
  • A girl likes to take her friends’ phones and send texts. Someone explains, “You’d check your Sent folder and see you’d just zipped the dude an invitation to give him a blow job.”
  • Someone asked Jay if he’d “boned her (Nicole) yet?”
  • Jay kisses Nicole. “I put my hands on her face as I leaned in and kissed her. I kissed her checks, her eyes, her mouth. In time, we stopped trembling, and the cold was gone from us. . .”

Violence

  • Someone squirts acid on Nicole’s face. She screamed as she was “trying to wipe off the acid made the situation worse. She burned her hands.”
  • Jay pinned someone in a wrestling match. Afterwards, the boy got his friends together for revenge. “After practice the guys stuffed up the sink and held my head under the water until Dave came in. He shoved everyone back. . .”
  • A reporter was trying to take pictures of Nicole and wouldn’t leave her alone. Jay “grabbed his camera and smashed it on the pavement.”
  • Someone attacked Jay. He “ran, but she kicked my foot from behind. She smashed my head face-first into musty green mini-golf carpet. I felt her knee in my back and something smooth, cold and heavy behind my ear. Metal, the nose of a pistol.” The police appear and help Jay.
  • While in a car, a boy grabs Jay. “The arm was around my neck, and the chokehold was tightening. . .My neck was pinned to the edge of the seat back. . .I was fading out. . . I was sure they were going to kill me, and I panicked. With images of that childhood car crash blinding me, I drove my feet into and through the back of the driver’s seat.” The car crashed. Jay ends up in the hospital and one person was seriously injured.
  • A girl was having sex with David. She’s angry that he “let me such your dick no problem, but you’re embarrassed to be seen in public with me.” She thinks his dad would say she is a “low-class whore.”
  • Nicole’s mom “poured the oil onto herself.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • There is a rumor that one of the boys was “willing to do anything to win, including possibly giving himself steroid-induced testicular cancer.”
  • Jay takes anticonvulsant medication for his epilepsy.
  • After Nicole is burned, she is given pain medication, but sometimes she flushes it down the toilet because it makes her feel numb. She also takes Xanax to help her sleep. Later in the story, she takes Prozac.
  • Jays dad was drinking “a bottle of red wine, the second one.” It is implied that Jay’s dad has a drinking problem and has gotten a DUI before.
  • A reporter “liked to buy the cops ending their eight-to-fours a pony beer or two.”
  • Jay takes an adult friend “a six of Becks.”
  • Jay didn’t want Nicole to see his apartment because, “once in a while people hung out in the lot and smoked weed and drank and yelled and fought.”
  • An adult tells Jay that he’ll give him twenty bucks if he got a haircut. Jay jokes, “Might just blow it on meth too.”
  • When a girl had “a few too many drinks” and puked in the bathroom, Nicole helped her out.
  • Jay’s dad calls to check on him, and Jay says, “I’m just mainlining a little heroin.” Jay was upset that when his dad called he had been drinking.
  • When Jay called a friend, she said she was drinking “straight vodka.” Later she tells Jay that, “If you were really thankful, you’d get me the Budweiser.” Jay recommends she go to rehab.
  • Jay, his mother, and father went to a party. Jay’s mother and father had been drinking. His mom drove even though she’d “had a few.” The car hit black ice and crashed. His mother died.
  • After a car accident, Jay is given pain killers.

Language

  • Crap is used often.
  • Profanity is used occasionally and includes ass, bitch, damn, hell, piss, and shit.
  • “Oh my God” is used as an exclamation six times. “Goddamn” is used once.
  • When Jay breaks a reporter’s camera, the man yells, “fuck you.”
  • Jay calls a guy a “douche.” Later, someone calls someone a douche bag.
  • Dick is used three times. Jay asked Nicole if her dad was “being a dick about money.”
  • Jay says he needs to act tough or he’d get his “ass kicked.”
  • Jay thinks, “I was going to catch the son of a bitch who burned Nicole Castro.”
  • Someone said Nicole’s father was a “bona fide prick.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

The One

As Maxon’s Selection has been narrowed down to the final four girls, competition between the girls is tight. America has noticed her growing love for Maxon, and her jealousy grows as she watches the other girls get closer to the man she loves. The King, however, will do anything to make sure Maxon doesn’t choose America, since she is from a lower caste, and the king can’t manipulate her. The King has started pressuring her to leave the Selection. Plus, America’s previous love, Aspen, has started working as a castle guard, and his presence threatens to unravel the progress Maxon and America have made in their relationship.

As the Selection wears on, rebels against the monarchy are becoming restless and threaten to overthrow the kingdom along with the caste system. Members of the Northern Rebels sneak into the castle and ask for Maxon and America. The rebels strike a deal with them on the promise that if the caste system is ended once Maxon becomes king, the Northern rebels will keep the Southern, more violent and ruthless rebels, at bay. Can Maxon and America trust the rebels? Or will the rebels overthrow the monarchy before the Selection even ends?

Readers will be kept on the edge of their seats in this final installment of the Selection series. The book’s twists and turns will help to drive the plot as America and Maxon make their way to the end of the Selection. This third and final book of the series picks up in excitement and romance that was lacking in the second book, The Elite. Though this book is very entertaining, readers will want to have read the previous two books of the series to understand the dynamic characters, the competition between the girls, and the Selection process as a whole.

America is once again shown as the headstrong, powerful woman that was introduced in the first book of the series. Entertaining characters from the previous books will make their appearances, along with new, well-developed characters that add excitement and more diversity to the plot. Themes of friendship, family, and standing up for oneself are seen throughout the story and will help to encourage readers to stand up for what they believe in. With the book’s heavy focus on America’s family and friends’ love and support, readers will recognize that with the support of their own friends and family, they can do anything.

The One has many surprises and a satisfying conclusion. Readers will want to have the first book of Cass’s continuation of the Selection series, The Heir, on hand.  The Heir jumps 20 years into the future, where readers learn more about Maxon, America, and their children.

Language

  • Damn is used twice.
  • Darn is used once. When he proposes, Maxon states that he’s had the ring for a long time and, “I’ve been sleeping with that darn thing under my pillow.”
  • After there is a misunderstanding of whether or not America has seen Maxon without his shirt on, Celeste is upset and yells, “‘You slut!’”
  • Hell is used three times.
  • The king threatens Maxon, saying that he will force America to go home. The king says to America, “I’ll give you some time to find out where you stand. If you won’t do this, then rules be damned, I’ll be kicking you out by Christmas Day.”
  • Maxon describes himself as being “an absolute ass.”

Sexual Content

  • Competition is rising between the girls, and in order to get ahead of one another, they begin to make physical advances towards Maxon. America begins to think about what she’s done with Maxon and is concerned that, “According to the king, the other girls were making advances toward Maxon—physical advances—and he’d said I was far too plain to have a chance of matching them in that department.”
  • America attempts to seduce Maxon by dressing in a revealing dress. After dinner, Maxon comes up to her room to talk. As he comes into her room, “he focused on me, his gaze traveling up my exposed leg.” They sit on America’s bed and talk, as America continues her attempt to seduce him. “Sliding my hands down Maxon’s arms, I guided his fingers to the zipper on the back of my dress, hoping it would be enough.” They talk some more and Maxon eventually leaves the room. The encounter lasts for three pages.
  • After coming up with a plan to make the king like her, America and Maxon kiss. “With an impish grin on his face, he (Maxon) came very close and gave me a long, slow kiss.”
  • In an argument between the girls, America focuses the attention on Celeste by bringing up an encounter where she saw Celeste and Maxon together. America says, “Celeste was half-naked up against him in a hallway!”
  • During an argument between the girls, someone mentions how far they have gone with Maxon physically. Kriss then questions, “We need to clear this up. Who has done what with Maxon?’”
  • As she is recounting the argument with the other girls to Maxon, America explains to Maxon why she mentioned that she had seen Maxon without his shirt on. America states that “‘The girls know I saw you without your shirt on…now they just think we were in the middle of some big make-out fest.’” She continues to explain that, “‘They (the other girls) know I was your first kiss. And I know everything you have and haven’t done with them.’”
  • America walks in on Maxon kissing one of the other girls. America sees “the back of Maxon’s head as Kriss’s hand slid just barely into the neck of his suit. Her hair fell to the side as they kissed, and, for her first, it seemed like it was going really well.”
  • Maxon and America sneak out onto the roof of the castle while it’s raining. “I raised my face to Maxon’s, placing a hand on his cheek, pulling him down for a kiss. His lips, wet, met mine with a brush of heat.” They kiss several times and the kiss is described in detail.
  • Celeste and America discuss Maxon. Celeste says Maxon is “cute. And a great kisser.’”
  • While Maxon and America are in the back of a truck, they “went over a pretty jarring bump, and he grabbed me. I felt our noses brush in the dark, and the urge to kiss him came unexpectedly fast.” Their kissing is described for about a page.
  • America meets a girl named Paige who lives on the streets and makes money through prostitution. Paige explains to America that, “Just this week I found a group of girls. We work together and share all the profits. If you can forget what you’re doing, it’s not so bad. I have to cry afterwards.”
  • Maxon is telling America how he feels about her. Maxon begins to describe his feelings, and “a devilish smirk came to his face. He moved his lips to my ear. ‘I can think of a few other ways to show you how you make me feel,’ he whispered…I trembled as he ran his open lips over a tiny patch of skin, his breath so very tempting.” This encounter lasts for two pages.
  • When Maxon proposes to America, she “laughed in shock and started giving him kisses and giggling between each one.” Their intimacy grows more intense as, Maxon’s “lips traveled down my neck as he loosened his tie, throwing it somewhere near our shoes.” During their encounter, kissing is described in detail and they somewhat undress before stopping. This lasts for three and a half pages.
  • Aspen walks in on Maxon and America sleeping next to each other in bed. Aspen is alarmed and America is embarrassed. Maxon says, “Don’t be embarrassed. It’s not as if we were naked. And it’s bound to happen in the future.”
  • Maxon starts to leave America’s room after talking about their future. Maxon stops as he is leaving and “tackled me (America) on the bed, covering me with kisses.” This scene continues for half a page.
  • Aspen finds America and Maxon sleeping next to each other. Aspen says to America that he, “‘just can’t believe you slept with him.’” However, nothing happened between America and Maxon.
  • Maxon and America kiss after Maxon is shot. Then America “bent to kiss him. It was every kiss we’d ever had, all the uncertainty, all the hope.”
  • After the battle, one of America’s maids, Lucy, goes to find the boy she loves. After finding him in the hospital wing, Lucy “fell into his arms, kissing his face over and over.”
  • Maxon finally gives America a ring after the battle is over. Maxon kisses America, and she “felt my life settle into place.”
  • A girl talks about what the night after Maxon and America get married will be like. She jokes, “‘Wait until tonight.’”

Violence

  • Southern rebels attack them while America and Maxon are outside the castle with their Northern rebel allies for a meeting. The Southern rebels pull guns on them and as they are trying to escape, America is shot in the shoulder. America “looked down, and in the faint glow of a streetlight, I saw something wet coming from a rip in my sleeve. I’d been shot.” The scuffle occurs over three pages.
  • A girl name Paige finds America in an alley after she is shot. Paige explains her story of how she ended up on the streets. Paige said, “Two weeks after Dad died, she (her aunt) started hitting me. I had to sneak food because she said I was getting fat and wouldn’t give me anything to eat.”
  • Southern rebels overrun the castle in an attempt of taking over the monarchy. Many people are injured or killed. America recounts the invasion as she “watched in confusion as a red-marked guard walked up behind Celeste and put a bullet squarely through the back of her head. The screaming and gunfire exploded at once. Guttural shouts of pain filled the room, adding to the cacophony of chairs screeching, bodies hitting walls, and the stampede of people trying to escape as fast as they could in their heels and suits.” This battle lasts for seven pages.
  • During the attack on the castle, Maxon jumps in front of a bullet for America, and it hits him in the chest. America “scurried under the table to find Maxon breathing with great labor, a large red stain growing across his shirt. There was a wound below his left shoulder, and it looked very serious.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • People are drinking alcohol at a Christmas party. America describes her involvement in the party. “As the relatives started getting tipsy on eggnog, I slipped away, not up to pretending to be jolly.”

Spiritual Content

  • America prays to God after Maxon is shot. She “pinched my eyes together, begging God to keep him alive.”

Supernatural Content

  • None

by Kate Kucker

Edge of Flight

The boxes are packed. Tuition has been paid. But before Vanisha leaves, she wants to go rock climbing with her friends one last time. So far, she has been unable to complete the Edge of Flight, the toughest rock climbing route Vanisha has ever faced. This time, she’s determined to make it up the cliff.

When Vanisha and her friends, Rusty and Jeb, set up their campsite, they discover an illegal marijuana grow. When Jeb decides to explore the marijuana field, a group of bikers discovers him. When Jeb is shot, he needs immediate help. But the bikers are looking for the kids. In order to save her friend, Vanisha must conquer the Edge of Flight, hike into town, and avoid unexpected dangers. Can Vanisha overcome her fear to save her friend?

Edge of Flight is not only about rock climbing, but also about teens making decisions about their future. Vanisha plans to attend college in the fall; however, she is unsure of what she wants to do. Through her experiences, she learns, “You’ve got to take one road or the other. You’ve got to decide. And no one can decide for you. It’s your decision. Because it’s your road. You’re the one who has to walk it. Not your mom. Not anyone else.” The story has a positive message about discussing your dreams with your parents, but also the importance of making decisions that are best for you.

Vanisha’s college conflict will resonate with many high school students. The easy-to-read language, straightforward plot, and short length will appeal to reluctant readers. However, those not familiar with rock climbing may not understand all of the terminology without the aid of the glossary, which is at the back of the book. Although the story should be suspenseful, the character development is lacking, which makes it difficult to connect with Vanisha and her friends. Confident readers should skip Edge of Flight and instead read Jaimet’s other book, Endangered: A Death on a Deadline Mystery, which is an excellent mystery.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Jeb goes to explore an illegal marijuana grow and someone shoots at him. “Another shot rings out. Jeb stumbles and crumbles to the ground.”
  • A group of men is at a campsite drinking beer, and they smash Jeb’s truck with a tire iron.
  • A man grabs Vanisha. “He laughs, his breath hot in my ear, and drags me towards the campsite.” Vanisha’s friend tries to help. A short fight ensues, and someone pulls a hunting rifle on the group. No one is injured.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Vanisha and her friends come across an illegal marijuana grow. The experience makes Vanisha wonder if she can trust her friend. She wonders, “What if he’s got a stash of weed in his glove compartment, or hidden under a seat? What if he’s got a couple of cans of beer hidden among all of the junk in the back of his trunk?”
  • A woman tries to help Vanisha. In order to get around the men, she tells Vanisha, “Honey, if I know them boys, they’re already drunk and stoned already. They’ll pass out eventually. I’m just gonna help them along with a little home brew and Southern charm.”

Language

  • A boy says “‘scuse my dumb ass for livin.’”
  • “Sweet Lord Jesus” is used as an exclamation once.
  • A boy calls his friend a moron.
  • A man is “pissing against” a truck.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Aquaman: Undertow

Thirteen-year-old Arthur Curry wonders why his mother left when he was only three years old. He wonders why he doesn’t fit in with the other students at school. Arthur doesn’t like when other students call him freak or fish boy. When Claudia befriends him, Arthur wonders if she’ll decide he’s too weird to be her friend.

Arthur wants to learn about his mother. He also wants to figure out why he seems more comfortable talking to an octopus than kids his own age. When a huge storm strikes Amnesty Bay, Arthur discovers that he has the ability to help others. But should he help the boys who have bullied him for years?

Younger readers will enjoy Aquaman: Undertow because it shows that even superheroes can often be misunderstood. The short chapters and easy vocabulary make the book feasible for reluctant readers. The story does not follow the movie, which might disappoint some readers. The bullying conflict comes to a satisfying end that highlights the importance of helping others, no matter who they are or what they’ve done.

Aquaman: Undertow gives a unique insight into Arthur’s early teenage life. Although the plot is not well developed, readers will be able to relate to Arthur as he struggles with being bullied. The story has rough transitions, and some of the scenes end abruptly. The story jumps from Arthur’s current life to his nightmares, and then to Arthur’s father telling stories about the past. Despite the choppy transitions between scenes, readers will enjoy getting to know the boy who becomes Aquaman.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • At a school field trip, Arthur is looking at fish. “The next thing Arthur knew, a hand was palming the back of his head, and his face was shoved against the glass tank. Arthur winced.” A friend helps Arthur.
  • At the aquarium, two boys bully Arthur. One of the boys, “grabbed his shirt and banged him up against the glass. Arthur noticed that the crowd of classmates and other aquarium visitors were not staring at him. . . His back was pressed against the glass as Arthur watched Matta and Mike continue their taunting, their name calling, their bullying.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Matt and Mike call Arthur names, including “freak” and “fish boy.”
  • Claudia calls a boy a “jerk” several times.
  • Arthur says “dang” once.
  • A boy says “frickin’” once.
  • A fisherman exclaims, “What the hell?!” Later another person asks the same question.

Supernatural

  • Arthur can understand how fish feel, can swim under water, and has superhuman strength.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Blue Water Hues

Paramedic Ashley Grant moved to a Caribbean island hoping for a laid-back life. When Ashley responds to a fire at a beach resort, she recognizes the victim. The victim’s cousin, Darlene, pleads for help. But there are people who don’t want the two women asking questions. As Ashley learns more about the murder, she becomes a target herself. Will Ashley be able to learn the truth or will she be silenced forever?

 Blue Water Hues is a solid mystery that takes the reader into the heart of Ashley’s investigation. Darleen takes Ashley around the small Caribbean island where Ashley finds plenty of people to question. The fast-paced story keeps the reader guessing until the very end. Many of the characters are fearful, and they do not want Ashley digging into the murder. This fear adds suspense and leaves the reader guessing until the very end.

 Blue Water Hues is part of Orca Publishers Rapid Reads collection. Readers who do not have a lot of time will find the story’s straightforward plot, easy vocabulary, and interesting characters the perfect fit. Since the story is only 160 pages, the characters are not well developed. However, the mystery drives the story and will keep the reader entertained.

Sexual Content

  • A customer was angry that it rained during his vacation but still had to pay the hotel bill. He posted a “review that said the maids were servicing customers in guests’ beds.”

Violence

  • A woman is murdered, but her death is not described.
  • A man is shot in the chest and his chest, “was drenched in blood.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Ashley goes to a house where, “men stood on the porch, drinking from cans of beer.”
  • Ashley goes to a restaurant where “four men . . . had a pile of beer bottles collecting in front of them.”
  • Ashley goes out to dinner and has a glass of wine. A man at a table next to Ashley complains about the wine.
  • A group of people goes out to dinner and a man orders a beer.

Language

  • Heck is used twice.
  • Someone says a man is, “a mean son of a bitch.”
  • Someone asks, “What the hell is going on with her, man?”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • The town only has one ambulance, and the drivers, “pray it doesn’t break down.”
  • An ambulance worker is going to be late for a date. He tells his partner, “My date doesn’t mind waiting. She knows I’m doing the Lord’s work.”

 

I Believe in A Thing Called Love

Desi has a plan for everything. With a plan, anything is possible. That’s how she became the student body president and a soccer star. That’s how she’ll get into Stanford. Desi knows how to plan. She knows how to study. But, when it comes to boys, Desi is a flailure. “Flirt + failure = flailure.”

Desi is a disaster at romance. But when a hot art student moves to her school, Desi decides she wants to capture his attention. After watching Korean dramas, Desi realizes that love is, “like a freaking equation!” Desi is determined to be like the K drama’s unlucky heroine, who always ends up with her true love. Desi follows her, “K Drama steps to True Love,” and goes after the moody, elusive artist Luca Drakos. After a boat rescue, love triangle, and staged car crash, will Desi end up in the arms of Luca?

I Believe in A Thing Called Love will capture the reader’s heart from the first chapter. Told from Desi’s point of view, readers will laugh at Desi’s crazy antics, understand her insecurities, and root for her as she goes after the guy of her dreams. Desi wants to control everything, but this smart nerdy girl is hilariously clueless when it comes to boys. Desi isn’t portrayed as a stereotypical smart girl; she also isn’t perfect, and Desi’s imperfections make her even more lovable.

Desi has a strong and warm relationship with her father. Despite the fact that he is a mechanic and often has grease-stained hands, despite his imperfect English, and his love for watching K dramas, Desi is never embarrassed by her father. Desi’s father isn’t just a background character, but a well-developed part of the story. Desi’s father understands her quirks but doesn’t try to change her. The readers will appreciate the scenes with Desi and her father just as much as the failed romance scenes.

I Believe in A Thing Called Love isn’t just a typical teen romance. Through Desi’s experiences, readers will learn valuable lessons. When Desi is afraid that she is acting weird, Luca tells her, “Everyone’s weird, though. If you’re not even a little weird, you are truly weird. In a bad way. Not in the good way.” When Desi thinks about giving up on love, her father tells her, “You cannot control who you love, Desi, but you can always control how hard you fight, okay?” In the end, not all of Desi’s plans work out and despite the pain of failure, Desi knows life can still be good.

Do not pick up I Believe in A Thing Called Love unless you have time to finish the book because once you pick it up, you will not want to put it down. I Believe in A Thing Called Love takes a humorous look at first love and will leave readers with a smile. Desi is a heroine that will not be forgotten easily. The story ends with a list of K dramas that readers may want to watch. And after seeing Desi put the K drama’s love formula to the test, readers may also become hooked on K drama’s themselves.

Sexual Content

  • Desi thinks back to fourth grade when “a boy asked me if I want to look at his ‘special’ books and I told him I wasn’t allowed to look at pornography. Turns out it was comic books and he didn’t even know how boys were made yet. I was the fourth grade perv.”
  • Desi thinks about how Korean romantic comedies are different than in America. One difference is that “in American shows, the leads would barely blink twice before jumping into bed.”
  • Desi tells her friend, “I’m not an experienced seductress who like, has men drinking champagne from her high heels.”
  • Desi’s friend tells her, “I, too, think one should get laid before entering college.”
  • When Desi talks about her crush, a friend says, “I don’t want to see flailure heartbreak. I was hoping it was just you needing to round out your high school years with a good old-fashioned devirginizing.”
  • Desi goes to a “sex party” that was, “fertile ground for hooking up. . . there were rooms for spin the bottle and seven minutes in heaven.” Desi goes into the seven minutes in heaven closet with a friend. They just sit around and look at their phones.
  • Desi wonders, “Was everyone having sex but me? God.”
  • Desi’s friend Fiona is a lesbian, who has dates with a lot of girls. “Girls lined up for Fiona every year. Sometimes it was the classic bad-girl type and they’d make out rebelliously in the hallway at school.” The story talks about how her family reacted when she came out. “Her family eventually recovered, although they still weren’t thrilled with her active love life. I’m pretty sure that would have applied to boyfriends, too, however.”
  • Desi and another girl see Luca kissing a girl.
  • Desi thinks Luca is going to kiss her. “His eyes met mine and suddenly. . . suddenly it felt real . . . This was it. Kiss time. Holy crap. A wave of heat passed between us—the vibrations of our bodies’ atoms and molecules transferring heat. . . And then he blinked.”
  • Luca and Desi kiss. “Lips met mine, soft, a little chapped, and warm. My eyes were open in true K drama heroine fashion.”
  • Desi, “brushed my lips against his. Soft and a bit hesitant. And he kissed me back just as softly, with a little pressure at the very end.”
  • When Luca picks Desi up, he quickly kisses her. “My skin buzzed, every part of me awake and alive.”
  • When Luca finds out he got a scholarship, Desi and he begin jumping around. “Then suddenly we weren’t jumping anymore—just a whole lot of kissing.”
  • Desi and Luca kiss. “He strode over, pulled me into his arms, and kissed me. Not a gentle, sweet kiss—but an urgent one.”

Violence

  • Desi thinks back to first grade when, “I kicked my first crush, Jefferson, in the nuts during taekwondo class, and he had to be taken to the ER.”
  • Luca covers Desi’s mouth so she will be quiet. She, “responded by biting his gloved hand. I tasted rubber. He yelped and let go of me. . .”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • After binge watching television series all weekend long, someone asks Desi, “What! Are you on speed?”
  • When Desi is at home, her dad took, “a sip of beer.”
  • Desi and her friends go to a “sex party” where there is alcohol.
  • Someone asks Desi, “Are you high?”
  • Someone is upset that Desi didn’t want to be her friend. The girl says, “You would never talk to art freaks who smoked pot.”
  • Desi and her friends go to the beach and her friend, “took a swig of beer.”

Language

  • Profanity is used often. Profanity includes ass, bitch, bitchiness, badass, bullshit, crap, dang, damn, douche, f-ing, hell, holy shit, freaking and shit.
  • Pissed, motherf-ing and fuck are all used once.
  • Oh my god, God, Oh Lord, Oh Sweet Jesus, and Jesus are often used as exclamations.
  • Desi thinks, “I might be a flailure in love, but I was the motherf-ing boss of studying.”
  • Someone asks a boy, “Why do you even hang out with a bunch of girls, anyway, you caveman douche.”
  • When someone suggested getting a hummer limo for prom, Fiona says, “I’d rather eat dick.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Trapped

When the snow started falling, students were excited to be released from school early. Scotty and his friends Pete and Jason are among the last seven kids at their high school waiting to get picked up. But as the snow continues to fall, they realize that no one is coming for them. The boys aren’t too upset about staying the night at the school, especially because there are two pretty girls who are stuck with them.

At first, being trapped in the school doesn’t seem so terrible. After all, they are safe from the snow, and there’s enough food to feed 400 students for a week. But then the power goes out, then the heat, and then the pipes freeze. The students watch as the snow continues to fall. As the days pass, the snow inches higher and higher. Suddenly, the roof shudders and begins to cave in. How will they survive in a freezing school that is in danger of crushing them? Should someone set out for help?

Told from Scotty’s point of view, the story uses a matter-of-fact tone to discuss the disastrous blizzard. Although Scotty is clearly worried about the snow, he also worries about typical teen issues—missing basketball, talking to a pretty girl, getting rid of a big zit, and keeping the peace. Readers will be drawn into the suspenseful story not only because of the impending disaster, but also because Scotty is a relatable teen.

Scotty is trapped in the school with several people that he considers stereotypical teens. He thinks that one boy is a trouble maker and the other is an emotionally disturbed goth. However, when Scotty is forced to spend time with the two boys, he realizes that his perception of them was incorrect.

The ending is abrupt, and although the reader learns what happens to many of the characters, the conclusion does not answer all of the questions about who lives or dies. The story will make readers question why the characters withheld information that may have led to the death of another. The quick read will leave readers wondering what they would do in a similar situation. Trapped is an engaging story that both reluctant and strong readers will enjoy.

Sexual Content

  • A boy said that he was going to go to the dance “‘cause I’m going to get me some.” The boy was planning on going to the dance with a girl with whom he had, “gotten his hands up her shirt just last week.”
  • Scotty thinks that his friend snuck off to make out with a girl. “It just kind of bothered me that he didn’t feel like he couldn’t tell his friends about it.”
  • When Scotty is alone with a girl, he thinks about “making a move, try to kiss her.”

Violence

  • After a misunderstanding with a girl, Pete hits Les. Pete “took the first swing, which I guess is how he landed it. Then Les had just dismantled him. He hurt practically every part of him. . . Pete was lying on his side on the floor, holding his hand up to his nose or high right eye or maybe both.” Pete is not seriously hurt.
  • A boy flips a snow-kart and the cart lands on him, killing him. Scotty finds his body. “I saw it all: the soft horrible blue that had crept into his face, the way his hands were frozen stiff, like the curled talons of a bird.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • A boy talks about a blizzard that happened in the ’60s. Scotty said the blizzard probably lasted a day. “Those people were stoned.”

Language

  • Profanity is used occasionally. Profanity includes crap, piss, frickin’.
  • When the electricity went out, kids were upset, and there were “F-bombs going off like fireworks.”
  • A group of boys plans on working on a “crappy go-kart.”
  • Someone calls a boy a jerk. Later someone calls a boy a moron.
  • “Screw you” is used several times.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • When a girl stops two boys from fighting, someone thinks, “Thank God there are girls around.”
  • After being stuck in the school for several days, Scotty prays. “I prayed for myself. I prayed for my mom. I prayed for all of us. . . I just curled up tight in the scratchy wool and whispered.” Soon, his friend Jason joins in the prayer. Scotty thinks, “It was probably the ten-thousandth time I’d heard Jason say ‘Jesus,’ but it was the first time I’d heard him mean it.”
  • Scotty and several others pray. Someone calls them “Bible thumpers.” When Scotty prays, he decided to pray to “the archangel Gabriel. He’s the one with the trumpet, the one that made the announcement.”
  • Scotty “prayed to Gabriel again. I figured God and Jesus were hearing from a lot of people at this time of night. But who else was praying to the less glamorous of the two archangels. . . I prayed for him to keep my mom safe instead, though if I’m being honest, I was sort of hoping he’d be impressed by my selflessness. . . I’m pretty sure they (angels) don’t fall for dumb tricks like that.”
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