Icon: Must Read

Wish

Charlie has made a wish every day since fourth grade. Then, social services send Charlie to live in Colby with a family that Charlie has never met. Charlie doesn’t let that stop her from making the same wish, but now Charlie wonders if that wish will ever come true.

Charlie doesn’t get along with the “hillbilly” kids at school; however, her backpack buddy, Howard, just won’t go away. When Charlie sees a skinny stray dog, Howard promises to help her capture the dog. With Howard’s help, Charlie is able to befriend the dog who has captured her heart.

When Charlie’s sister, Jackie, comes to visit, Charlie begins to see things in a new light. Jackie points out all of the good things in Charlie’s new home. When Charlie’s social worker tells Charlie that she will soon go home to live with her mother, Charlie wonders why she isn’t excited by the news. After all, wasn’t Charlie hoping to leave Colby?

Charlie is an endearing character who desperately wants a normal family filled with love. Because of her unhappy family life, Charlie is filled with uncertainty and anger. Like many children, Charlie says things that she doesn’t mean, worries about fitting in, and dreams of a better life. Despite Charlie’s anger, Howard befriends Charlie, and she soon learns the true meaning of friendship.

Wish is a compelling story about Charlie’s struggle to understand her broken family life. Charlie’s strong voice allows the reader to understand both her anger and her confusion. Charlie is surrounded by an interesting cast of supporting characters that help her begin to heal. With the help of her foster parents, Gus and Bertha, Charlie begins to realize that possessions don’t make people blessed—love does.

Even though Wish deals with the difficulty of coming from a broken family, Charlie’s feelings are described in ways that young readers will understand. Even though the story focuses on Charlie’s internal struggle, the story contains enough action to propel the story forward. Wish is beautifully written, and each character jumps off the page.

When Charlie allows her anger to get the better of her, she is often surprised by Bertha’s kind reaction. Bertha tells Charlie, “You can’t judge people for the mistakes they make. You judge them for how they fix those mistakes.” In the end, Charlie realizes that she has a “real family,” even if it is different than a traditional two-parent household. Wish is written with compassion and insight that will help readers understand the importance of friendship and family.

 Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When a girl makes fun of Charlie’s boots, Charlie “kicked her skinny shin. Hard. The next few minutes were a blur of crying and hollering and tattling and then I found myself sitting in front of Mr. Mason, the principal.”
  • Charlie tells her friend about a time when “I got sent home from kindergarten the very first day for poking some boy with a pencil.” She said she used the pointy side of the pencil.
  • Bertha tells Charlie a story about when her mother was in elementary school. When a boy was being mean, Charlie’s mother “stomped over to that boy and bit him on the hand so hard he hollered like she’d cut his hand off with a butcher knife. Then ran home crying while she hollered cuss words at him.”
  • When a girl accuses Charlie of lying, Charlie gets angry and “before I knew it, I was standing over her with my fists balled up and my heart beating like crazy. I felt red-hot anger settle over me like a blanket. I wanted to stomp her perfect sneakers. I wanted to yank those butterfly barrettes out of her hair.” Charlie’s friend comes over and calms her down.
  • When a boy makes fun of Charlie’s friend, Charlie got angry and ran “straight at T.J., full steam ahead. I kept my arms stiff in front of me and bam! I shoved him so hard his head snapped back and he crashed face-first into the dirt. I confess I was more than a little surprised when he got right up and shoved me back, knocking me to the ground.” The vacation Bible school teacher breaks up the fight.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Dang and Darn are used often. For example, after Charlie kicks a girl, her friend asked her, “Dang, Charlie, why you gotta get so mad about that?”
  • Heck is used once. While talking to Bertha, Charlie wonders, “What the heck kind of question was that?”
  • Charlie calls her friend a “squirrel-eating hillbilly.” She also refers to the kids that live in Colby as hillbillies.
  • Charlie’s friend calls her a “quitter and a baby.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Charlie goes to church with Bertha and Gus. Charlie “hadn’t been to church since I was little. Scrappy [her father] never wanted any part of it, calling those people do-gooders and Bible-thumpers, but Mama took me and Jackie for a while.”
  • When a snake gets into the house, Bertha stayed with a friend “for nearly a week until Gus swore on the Bible that it was gone.”
  • Charlie goes to a friend’s house for dinner. “So we sat at the table and before I knew what was happening, Howard grabbed my right hand and Dwight grabbed my left and they all bowed their heads while Burl said the blessing. He thanked the Lord for nearly everything under the sun, inkling the deviled eggs on the plate in front of him.”
  • When Charlie goes to dinner at a friend’s house, “everyone held hands and Dwight said the blessing and thanked the Lord for baked beans and new friends.”
  • Bertha and Gus invite friends over for dinner. Before eating, everyone “held hands while Mr. Odom said the blessing. Gus and Bertha weren’t the blessing type, but I guess they did it to be nice to their company. Mr. Odom sure had a lot of stuff to be thankful for, everything from this beautiful day to those turnip greens.”
  • Charlie attends vacation Bible school and learns songs.
  • Charlie thinks about “those good-hearted Odoms thanking the good Lord for me at their supper table.”

Catching the Moon: The Story of a Young Girl’s Baseball Dream

If there is anything in the world better than playing baseball, Marcenia Lyle doesn’t know what it is. As a young girl in the 1930s, she chases down fly balls, steals bases, and dreams of one day playing professional ball.

With spirit, spunk, and a great passion for the sport, Marcenia struggles to overcome the objections of family, friends, and coaches who feel a girl has no place on the field. When she finally wins a position in a baseball summer camp sponsored by the St. Louis Cardinals, Marcenia is on her way to catching her dream.

Based on Marcenia Lyle’s life, Catching the Moon shows how one girl made her dream come true, despite being discouraged from chasing her dream. Marcenia’s parents and her classmates think that Marcenia’s dream is impossible. Instead of giving up, Marcenia works harder and eventually proves that baseball isn’t just a “man’s game.”

Marcenia’s story has baseball action as well as dialogue, which keeps the story moving at a fast pace. Catching the Moon shows the prejudices that Marcenia faced during the 1930s. However, instead of being angry or giving up, Marcenia works hard to prove herself. In the end, Marcenia’s can-do attitude pays off and she eventually plays professional baseball. Marcenia’s story highlights the importance of hard work and persistence.

Catching the Moon is a picture book that uses pen-and-ink and acrylic illustrations to bring Marcenia’s story to life. The illustrations mostly use shades of brown and blue which recreates the feeling of a blue sky above a baseball field.  Catching the Moon is a picture book and has 7-11 sentences on each page. Because of the story’s vocabulary and sentence structure, parents should read the story aloud instead of having the child read it independently.

Catching the Moon will encourage readers to work hard in order to make their dreams a reality. The fast-paced story will entertain readers as it teaches the value of persistence. Catching the Moon will appeal to sports fans as well as anyone who has big dreams. Readers may also want to add Mae Among The Stars by Roda Ahmed to their reading list. Both stories encourage readers to work hard and dream big.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Twilight

When Bella’s mother gets remarried, Bella leaves her home in sunny Phoenix and goes to live with her father in the perpetually rainy town of Forks, Washington. Forks is a tiny, gloomy town and Bella is fully prepared to be miserable for her final two years of high school. She doesn’t expect anything interesting to happen in Forks; that is, until she meets Edward Cullen.

Something is different about Edward. Breathtakingly beautiful and from a wealthy family, he baffles Bella with wild mood swings. When they first meet, he instantly despises her to the point of frightening her. Then—after disappearing for a week—he appears perfectly cordial. But it’s not until Edward saves her life in a feat of superhuman strength that Bella realizes the Cullen family is guarding a dangerous secret. It would be smarter to walk away, but by the time she realizes that, it’s too late. Live or die, Bella has fallen in love with Edward and she can’t walk away no matter the consequences.

Twilight is an epic story of love overcoming all challenges. The unique storyline has spawned an entire subsection of supernatural YA novels. The well-developed cast of characters will make the story come alive and hook readers immediately. Bella is not an overpowered heroine; she is quiet and clumsy to a fault, but she is fiercely loyal and brave. Bella risks everything for love, a choice that not all adults will agree with, but that most readers will understand and respect as they follow Bella’s journey with eagerness and excitement.

Twilight is a delightful start to a wonderful quartet. Parents may not want younger readers to pick up this book as Bella lies to her father about her relationship with Edward, and Edward frequently climbs in Bella’s window and stays the night (though they don’t go further than kissing). Aside from that caveat, Twilight is a wonderful story that swept through a generation of young readers like wildfire and will continue to be picked up by swarms of readers in years to come.

Sexual Content

  • When Bella and Edward kiss for the first time, “Blood boiled under my skin, burned in my lips. My breath came in a wild gasp. My fingers knotted in his hair, clutching him to me. My lips parted as I breathed in his heady scent.”
  • The second time Bella and Edward kiss, “His fingers traced slowly down my spine, his breath coming more quickly against my skin. My hands were limp on his chest, and I felt lightheaded again. He tilted his head slowly and touched his cool lips to mine for the second time, very carefully, parting them slightly.”
  • Edward and Bella kiss a few more times. These kisses are described briefly, such as “for the shortest second, his lips were icy and hard against mine” or “his lips touched mine gently.”
  • When saying goodbye, Edward “leaned in to swiftly kiss me just under the edge of my jaw.”
  • Bella gets lost in a bad part of town and is followed by several men. She considers dropping her purse, “But a small, frightened voice in the back of my mind warned me that they might be something worse than thieves.” Edward rescues her.
  • Bella asks Edward if marriage for vampires is “the same as it is for humans.” She then says, “Well, I did wonder…about you and me…someday…” Edward says he doesn’t think that would be possible, as humans are so breakable.

Violence

  • Esme tells Bella that after her baby died, “It broke my heart – that’s why I jumped off the cliff, you know.”
  • After Carlisle became a vampire, he “tried to destroy himself…He jumped from great heights…He tried to drown himself in the ocean.”
  • Bella is tortured and almost killed by a vampire. “A crushing blow struck my chest…He was over me at once, his foot stepping down hard on my leg. I heard the sickening snap before I felt it. But then I did feel it, and I couldn’t hold back my scream of agony.” This scene takes place over three pages.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Once, Bella “did something I’d never done before. I deliberately took unnecessary cold medicine – the kind that knocked me out for a good eight hours…tomorrow would be complicated enough without me being loopy from sleep deprivation.”

Language

  • Bella thinks, “Forks was literally my personal hell on earth.”
  • Bella says, “Holy crow!” a few times.
  • Bella says, “Darn it,” once.
  • Damn is used three times. Once, Edward says “Damn it, Bella! You’ll be the death of me.” Another time, Bella says “Dammit, Edward! Where are you taking me?”
  • When Jacob’s father sends him to warn Bella, Jacob asks, “Should I tell him you said to butt the hell out?”

Supernatural

  • A legend of the indigenous Quileute people “claims that [they] descended from wolves – and that the wolves are our brothers still.”
  • Edward and his family are vampires, and Bella meets another coven of vampires that pass through Forks. Unlike most vampires, Edward and his family survive off the blood of animals, so they do not have to murder people.
  • Some vampires have special abilities. Edward can read minds; his brother Jasper can control the emotions of those around him; his sister Alice can see bits and pieces of the future.
  • Edward tells Bella about a time in his life when he was a true vampire who fed on humans. He says that he “had a typical bout of rebellious adolescence…I wasn’t sold on [Carlisle’s] life of abstinence, and I resented him for curbing my appetite.”

Spiritual Content

  • Before the prologue, there is a Bible verse. “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest therof thou shalt surely die. Genesis 2:17”
  • At first, Edward tries to stay away from Bella because he thinks it would be safer for her. Then he decides “as long as I was going to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly.”
  • When Bella asks to be turned into a vampire, Edward says, “I refuse to damn you to an eternity of night.”
  • Carlisle’s father was a pastor who was “enthusiastic in his persecution of Roman Catholics and other religions. He also believed very strongly in the reality of evil. He led hunts for witches, werewolves…and vampires.”
  • In passing, Bella hears a legend that the indigenous Quileute people “tied their canoes to the tops of the tallest trees on the mountain to survive like Noah and the ark.”

by Morgan Lynn

A Good Kind of Trouble

Twelve-year-old Shayla is allergic to trouble. All she wants to do is follow the rules. (Oh, and she’d also like to make it through seventh grade with her best friendships intact, learn to run track, and have a cute boy see past her giant forehead.)

But in junior high, it’s like all the rules have changed. Now she’s suddenly questioning who her best friends are and some people at school are saying she’s not black enough. Wait, what?

Shayla’s sister, Hana, is involved in Black Lives Matter, but Shay doesn’t think that’s for her. After experiencing a powerful protest though, Shayla decides that some rules are worth breaking. She starts wearing an armband to school in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Soon, everyone is taking sides and she is given an ultimatum.

Shayla is scared to do the wrong thing (and even more scared to do the right thing), but if she doesn’t face her fear, she’ll be forever tripping over the next hurdle. Now that’s trouble, for real.

Told from Shayla’s point of view, A Good Kind of Trouble effectively explains the Black Lives Matter movement and Shayla’s budding awareness of political activism. When Shayla and her friends begin junior high, they struggle with the changes that come with growing up—crushes, changing friendships, and figuring out their own beliefs.

Readers will relate to Shayla as she struggles with the difficulty of junior high. Shayla’s teacher assigns an “eyeball journal” so students can write down their observations. As Shayla writes in the journal, her thoughts and emotions come to the forefront, which allows the reader to connect with Shayla on a deeper level.

As the story explains the Black Lives Matter movement, most of the information is introduced as Shayla’s parents listen to news about a trial where a black man was killed by a police officer. Shayla’s parents and several adults talk about the trial, but the events are not described in detail. Even though the story focuses on how African-Americans are unjustly stereotyped, the story also touches on how other races are also stereotyped. Shayla’s friends are different races—Isabella is Latin and Julia is Asian.

Throughout the story, Ramée incorporates quotes from famous people, such as author Ralph Waldo Emerson. Shayla’s parents and teachers also give positive advice. For example, one teacher says, “You can be different from the generations before you. You can celebrate people’s differences. Or step up and challenge beliefs you know are wrong.” As Shayla explores her own personal beliefs, she thinks about everyone’s opinions and applies them to her own life.

A Good Kind of Trouble will entertain readers as it introduces them to some heavy topics. The story will show the importance of taking a stand as well as discovering your own belief system. A Good Kind of Trouble would be an excellent story for parents to read and discuss with their children.

Sexual Content

  • Isabella tells her friends that “my dad has a new girlfriend. And you know my mom. She’s all freaked out about it, and worried that I’m going to freak out about it. . .”
  • For a science lab, Shayla is paired up with a cute boy. During the lab, “We both reach for the honey at the same time, and our hands brush. Then a few minutes later, there is this one moment when our heads get really close together. Thank God I brushed my teeth real good this morning!”
  • The students at school play a game and “command” a person to do something embarrassing. At the school dance, Tyler is “commanded” to kiss Shayla. Tyler asks Shayla to dance and “before I can say anything, Tyler kisses me. I’m not talking a peck on the cheek; his mouth is smothering mine. . . I know it’s not a nice kiss. It is slobbery, and even though he must’ve just had a mint so at least his breath isn’t bad, his lips are chapped and scratchy.”
  • Shayla is upset when everyone talks about her and Tyler’s kiss. When she talks to Tyler, she tells him, “And you should know it’s not cool to just kiss somebody. You can’t be all up on somebody who didn’t say it was okay.”

Violence

  • At school, a group of boys try to put Alex in the garbage can. Bernard tries to help. “Most of the boys are laughing, and a few try to grab Bernard’s arms, but Bernard is stronger than they are, and he hauls off and punches a guy and then yanks Alex from Daniel. . . Bernard pushes Alex behind him and then he clobbers Marcus, and that’s just when Principal Trask walks outside the cafeteria.”
  • Some of the students wear armbands in support of Black Lives Matter. “In fifth period I found out the fight was all about Noah Randolph getting commanded to take off his armband and he wouldn’t, so a bunch of other boys started whaling on him.”
  • Shayla’s father tells her about a woman who was “selling incense in front of a store.” When the police were called, “two officers shot her.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • While talking about other people, several characters are referred to as “jerks.” For example, when Shayla sees a boy in the school hallway, “A bunch of boys surrounded Alex, and I can tell they’re being jerks just by the way they’re laughing and nudging each other.”
  • While walking in the school hallway, a boy yells, “My dad says Black Lives Matter is racist.” Shayla thinks, “I want to tell him his dad is an idiot. . .”
  • Shayla’s sister calls her a dummy one time.
  • Dang and damn are both used once.
  • “Oh my god” is used as an exclamation once.
  • When a boy says, “Blue lives matter.” Shayla tells him, “Of course blue lives matter, stupid.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Shayla’s family prays before dinner. “Usually our prayer before dinner is really fast. Just a quick thank-you to God for the food, and sometimes Daddy will add something silly like thanking God for Momma’s brown eyes. . .But tonight Momma’s voice is slow and serious. . . ‘And protect our daughter, Hana, as she struggles to understand the horrible shootings and this troubling verdict. Keep her on the path of peace and nonviolence. And give solace to the poor families, Lord, who have lost young men way too soon.’”
  • During a relay, Shayla was afraid she would drop the baton. During the event she was “praying we’ll connect.”

Hair Love

Zuri’s hair lets her be her. It coils and kinks to perfectly match a princess tiara or a super-hero cape. This morning, Zuri is too excited to sleep because her mom is coming home. Zuri knows that she’s beautiful, but today she wants an extra-special hairstyle.

Zuri knows her father has had to work extra hard while her mom was away, so she doesn’t want to wake him up. Zuri wants to do her own hair, but she accidently wakes up her daddy. He is convinced that styling Zuri’s hair will be “a piece of cake.” Soon, Daddy realizes that Zuri’s hair has a mind of its own.

While Zuri’s father loves the hairstyle he has created, Zuri and her cat aren’t impressed. After several styles and some tears, Daddy watches a tutorial. “Daddy combed, parted, piled, and twisted. He nailed it!” When Mommy comes home, she gives Zuri a big hug and tells her, “And your hair is beautiful.”

Hair Love isn’t only a book about expressing yourself, but also a beautiful story of a father and daughter. Both Zuri and Daddy show each other their love through actions. Zuri makes her father breakfast—cereal, an apple, and a juice box. Zuri lets him sleep because she knows he is tired. Zuri’s father also acknowledges Zuri’s need to look beautiful and creates several hairstyles before he finds the perfect one.

Told with full-page pastel illustrations, Zuri’s plight becomes real. When Daddy tries to style her hair, the results are often comical. Both the cat and Zuri’s opinions of each hairstyle are portrayed through the characters’ expressions. Even though the illustrations are often humorous, Hair Love does an excellent job of showing how Zuri’s hair allows her to express herself. The ending of the story shows Zuri’s mother, who is wearing a scarf over her head, hinting that she is undergoing cancer treatments. Even though most readers will not pick up on this aspect of the story, readers who know someone with cancer will understand the illustration’s significance.

Readers will fall in love with Hair Love and want to read the story over and over. Through both the illustrations and text, the story shows the special bond between father and daughter and highlights the family’s love for each other. The story’s message is simple and readers will understand Zuri’s need to feel beautiful and to express herself. Hair Love will leave readers with a smile and a new understanding of family love.

Even though Hair Love is a picture book, the story is intended to be read aloud to a child, rather than for a child to read it for the first time independently. Most pages contain 1-2 sentences, which makes the story a quick read and an excellent bedtime story. Hair Love should be in everyone’s home library because the story showcases healthy family relationships and highlights the importance of expressing yourself. If you’re looking for another picture book that explores family relationships, add Mars Needs Moms by Berkeley Breathed to your reading list. Another must-read picture book that shows the importance of loving yourself is Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

A Wrinkle in Time

Meg’s father is a physicist. Or at least he was, before he disappeared. While her mother insists that he will come back, Meg and the rest of the town doubt he’ll ever return. It doesn’t help that Meg is having trouble at school and thinks that her curls, glasses, and braces make her a “moron.” In fact, Meg is convinced that her life will be terrible forever–until Mrs. Whatsit blows into her kitchen one stormy evening.

Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which definitely aren’t from Earth, and Meg doesn’t trust them. But her little brother Charles says they’re alright, and Charles has always been able to see below the surface of people. When Mrs. Whatsit says they can help the children find their father, Meg doesn’t care what they are, as long as they can help. Suddenly Meg finds herself traveling to other planets with Charles and their friend Calvin. Together will the three of them be able to rescue Meg and Charles’ father? Or will they too become lost?

A Wrinkle in Time has memorable characters that will quickly find their way into readers’ hearts. Meg is very relatable to young readers, as she deals with her fears, her braces, and with not fitting in at school. Watching Meg struggle, grow, and find her inner strength will leave readers cheering for her. The beautiful, imaginative planets that Meg journeys to will awe and delight.

Throughout A Wrinkle in Time, Meg will glimpse a cosmic battle between good and evil, light and darkness, and knowledge and ignorance. While rescuing her father is just a tiny piece of this battle, Meg’s journey is filled with gravitas. Numerous lessons are learned along the way: Meg learns how to be brave, how to take responsibility rather than blaming others, and she discovers the one thing that the Shadow doesn’t have: love.

Sexual Content

  • The rumor is that Meg’s father “left your mother and [went] off with some dame.”
  • When Meg has to go into mortal danger to save her brother, she says goodbye to Calvin. “Calvin came to her and took her hand, then drew her roughly to him and kissed her. He didn’t say anything, and he turned away before he had a chance to see the surprised happiness that brightened Meg’s eyes.”

Violence

  • Charles thinks a man is a robot, so he “darted forward and hit the man as hard as he could.” When he realizes the man is not a robot, he says, “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
  • The mind in charge of a planet that has been lost to the Dark Thing tells Meg, “We let no one suffer. If it is so much kinder simply to annihilate anyone who is ill . . . Rather than endure such discomfort they are simply put to sleep.”
  • When Charles is hypnotized, Meg tries to knock him back to his senses. “She hurled herself at him. But before she could reach him his fist shot out and punched her hard in the stomach. She gasped for breath.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Charles says, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
  • Moron is used often. The town thinks Charles is a moron because he never talks, and Meg calls herself a moron several times. When Charles speaks to Calvin, Calvin is surprised. “Aren’t you the one who’s supposed to be the moron?”
  • Calvin calls Charles and Meg “dope” several times as an affectionate nickname. “Look, dope. I just want to get things straight.”
  • Ass is used once. Mrs. Who says, “And old ass knows more than a young colt.”

Supernatural

  • Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which are not from earth, though they can appear in human form. It’s never directly stated what they are, but it’s mentioned that Mrs. Who is a “paltry few billion years” older than Mrs. Whatsit, and that Mrs. Which is even older.
  • At one point, Mrs. Whatsit morphs into a new form. “Outwardly Mrs. Whatsit was surely no longer a Mrs. Whatsit. She was a marble white body with powerful flanks, something like a horse but at the same time completely unlike a horse, for the magnificently modeled back sprang a nobly formed torso, arms, and a heard resembling a man’s but a man with a perfection of dignity and virtue.”
  • The children tesser across space (a form of faster than light travel) several times with Mrs. Which. “All light was gone. Darkness was complete . . . Just as light and sound had vanished, she was gone, too. The corporeal Meg simply was not . . . She was lost in a horrifying void.” They visit several different planets and meet the occupants of those planets.
  • The children visit the “Happy Medium,” a very happy woman who can see the entire universe through a crystal ball.
  • The children visit a planet that has been lost to the Shadow. There, they find a man who is possessed by IT, the mind in charge. “His eyes were bright and had a reddish glow. Above his head was a light, and it glowed in the same manner as the eyes, pulsing, throbbing, in steady rhythm. Charles Wallace shut his eyes tightly. ‘Close your eyes . . . He’ll hypnotize you.’ ”
  • The children finally meet IT and realize, “It was a brain. A disembodied brain. An oversized brain, just enough larger than normal to be completely revolting and terrifying. A living brain. A brain that pulsed and quivered, that seized and commanded.”

Spiritual Content

  • On one of the planets they visit, centaur-esque creatures are singing a song of pure joy. Mrs. Whatsit tries to translate the song into words: “Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles; and the inhabitants thereof. Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift their voice; let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory onto the Lord!” When Meg hears the song, she “felt a pulse of joy such as she had never known before.”
  • The children learn their father was taken prisoner while fighting the Dark Thing. Meg sees the Dark Thing, a huge shadow stretched across space. “What could there be about a shadow that was so terrible that she knew that there had never been before or ever would be again, anything that would chill her with a fear that was beyond shuddering, beyond crying or screaming, beyond the possibility of comfort?” When they ask what it is, Mrs. Which says, “Itt iss Eevill. Itt iss thee Ppowers of Ddarrkknesss!”
  • The children realize that many people have fought the darkness on Earth for years. Mrs. Whatsit says, “They’ve been lights for us to see by.” They include Jesus, Gandhi, Buddha, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Bach, Pasteur, Madame Curie, Einstein and more.
  • Meg’s father said, “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
  • When struggling to describe Mrs. Whatsit to aliens, Calvin says they are “Angels! Guardian angels! Messengers! Messengers of God!”
  • Before Meg goes to confront It, Mrs. Who tells her, “The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble men are called, but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are.”

by Morgan Lynn

 

 

I Am Enough

This story is a gorgeous, lyrical ode to loving who you are, respecting others, and being kind to one another—from actor and activist Grace Byers and artist Keturah A. Bobo. Byers’s story uses an unnamed narrator, who appears in illustrations with dark skin and curly black hair. In the beginning of the book, the girl compares herself to things, such as the sun, time, rain, etc. For example, “Like the moon, I’m here to dream.”

Towards the end of the book, the story shifts to focus on other ways the narrator is different from other people. For example, “I know that we don’t look the same: our skin, our eyes, our hair, our frame.” The theme is clear: despite everyone’s differences, we should love and help each other. While writing the book, Byers hoped to “empower young girls against the effects of bullying.” Even though bullying is not mentioned, the story does show that girl’s differences make them special.

Each page is illustrated beautifully, using crayon accents and realistic pictures of young girls. The girls are diverse: there are girls of different ethnicities, one girl is in a wheelchair, and one girl is wearing a hijab. The diverse group of children reinforces the idea that girls should help each other despite their differences. Each page has 1 to 4 lines of text. Even though the story uses simple vocabulary, readers may need help understanding the deeper meaning of the story. I Am Enough would be an excellent book to read aloud and discuss with a child. The picture book uses both text and illustrations to encourage girls to embrace their uniqueness as well as be kind to each other.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

In the Spotlight

Ellie’s best friend Kit loves to be in pageants. Kit wants to share the pageant experience with Ellie. Ellie is excited to spend time with Kit and meet new friends. Plus, Ellie has plenty of engineering ideas to help the other contestants with their acts, like building a light-up skateboard ramp for Kit.

One contestant, Kit’s not-so-nice pageant rival Melody, makes fun of Ellie’s tool belt and thinks engineering isn’t “ladylike.” Then Melody’s rabbit—part of her talent act—goes missing. Ellie knows she can build a contraption to catch him, but will Melody’s attitude make Ellie doubt that engineering has a place in the pageant?

In the Spotlight begins with several of Ellie’s engineering plans and sketches. Each sketch explains engineering ideas in a kid-friendly manner. The beginning of the story is slow, but once Ellie and Kit begin their pageant activity the pace picks up and has several positive life lessons. At first, Ellie is fearful that others will not appreciate her engineering talents, but her love of engineering and her knowledge of electricity and circuits refuses to be quelled. Through Ellie’s experiences, readers will learn to appreciate people’s different skills.

At first, mean girl Melody comes across as stereotypically selfish. However, as the story progresses her character becomes more well-rounded. Even though Melody is mean to Ellie and Kit, instead of being mean in return, both girls show Melody kindness. Kit believes that “sometimes it’s more important to be nice than to be right.” Because of the girls’ kindness, Melody realizes that her cruel behavior was wrong. Kit and Ellie also learn how forgiveness can be a path to friendship.

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

Instead of being a stereotypical beauty pageant story, In the Spotlight is a cute story of friendship and accepting yourself. With realistic conflicts, engaging characters, In the Spotlight teaches life lessons along with electricity. Readers who enjoyed In the Spotlight should also try the Girls Who Code Series and Rosie Revere and The Raucous Riveters by Andrea Beaty.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Melody calls someone a weirdo.
  • One of the characters repeats their tee-ball coach who says, “Don’t get distracted! Stop scratching your butt!”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Cape

Josie O’Malley’s family is all doing their part in fighting the Nazis. While her father is off fighting in the war, Josie’s mother works two jobs and Josie works at a diner to help pay the rent. Josie wishes she could do more—like all those caped heroes who now seem to have disappeared. Josie can’t fly and control weather like her idol, Zenobia. But when Josie sees an advertisement for puzzlers, she thinks maybe she can put her math smarts to use cracking puzzles for the government.

After Josie takes the test, the official throws all of the girls’ tests in the trash. Josie is disheartened, but it soon becomes clear that a top-secret agency has been watching Josie, along with two other applicants: Akiko and Mae. The three girls all love superheroes like Fantomah, Zenobia, and the Black Cat. The girls never dreamed that they would have powers like their favorite superheroes. But when a villain sets fire to a building and puts innocent people in danger, the girls step up to help and discover that they have new superhero powers. As the girls’ abilities slowly begin to emerge, they learn that their skills will be crucial in thwarting a shapeshifting henchman of Hitler, and, just maybe, in solving an even larger mystery about the superheroes who’ve recently gone missing.

Readers will fall in love with the endearingly imperfect girls who highlight the importance of helping others. The diverse cast of characters includes Josie, who is Irish, Akiko, who is Japanese, and Mae, who is African American. The diverse characters give the readers a glimpse of the prejudice of the time period. Akiko’s family was put in a Japanese internment camp even though her brother was fighting in the war. When Josie and her friends go into a restaurant, the manager chases them away because they don’t serve “their kind.” It is at this point that Josie realizes that “prejudices were a lot like allergies. They made it hard for us to really see.”

Josie and her friends love to figure out puzzles and secret messages. They give examples of different ciphers and explain how to decipher them. Even though Josie and her friends have the brainpower to solve puzzles, the girls are treated unfairly. At one point, Josie wonders if she really is just a “stupid girl.” However, she soon learns that others, including her Aunt Kate, are using their mathematical minds to help defeat the Nazis. Cape brings the ENIAC Six into the story and shows how the pioneer programmers did important work during World War II.

Even though the story talks about superheroes, the superheroes’ attributes are never fully explained. Despite this, readers will understand how the superheroes helped encourage Josie and her friends to be better people. Cape blends historical facts into an entertaining, action-packed story that teaches that girls can do anything. Themes of prejudice, friendship, and fighting evil are developed using kid-friendly descriptions. Even though some of the story’s elements are not fully explained, readers will still enjoy the story.

Cape might even encourage readers to learn more about World War II, and the story lists recommended resources for readers who want more. The story ends with historical information on the ENIAC Six, the spy ring, radio news reports, and a list of recommended resources. Cape will leave readers with a positive message that “you’re the one who decides what kind of person you’ll be.”

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • A group of bullies steal Josie’s brother’s bikes. Josie tries to get them back. When she sees one of the boys who stole the bikes, she “whipped my broom out ahead of me and caught his feet, I sent him spilling onto the sidewalk. . . I pressed the handle of the broom to his chest, in the little round spot just between his collarbones.”
  • When a bully implies that Josie’s father is dead, she gets upset. Then the boy “shoved me back. I stumbled a few steps but caught myself. Without thinking twice, I dove for him, knocking him to the ground.” When Josie’s friends try to help her, the boy “and the others knocked Akiko to the ground.” One of the boys “kicked at” Mae who then, “stumbled onto the pathway, scraping one of her knees.”
  • Mr. Hisser tries to flee a building, but the Stretcher “reached out to grab Mr. Hisser. His long black arm stretched nearly the whole length of the room! Just as the Stretcher caught hold of Mr. Hisser’s suit collar, the room erupted in a burst of white light. . .” After the smoke clears, Josie “noticed a few sparks sizzling into the smoky air. All that remained of the Stretcher was a pair of black boots, a shimmery black cape, and a black mask.” Someone explains that “This is what we’re up against. . . A force darker than any of us could have imagined. With each attack, another caped hero disappears. Vaporized.”
  • Mr. Hisser set a building on fire. Josie, Akiko, and Mae use their powers to get people safely out of the building. No one is injured. The scene is illustrated over 11 pages.
  • Mr. Hisser and his crew plan to blow up a ship. The men put dynamite in fake rats. The girls attack Mr. Hisser, who turns into a snake and hits the girls with his tail. One of the girls is injured and Mr. Hisser carries her away in his snake mouth. The scene is illustrated over 11 pages.
  • Later, Akiko says she used fire to get away from Mr. Hisser. Although the scene is not described, Josie notices Mr. Hisser’s head, “which was red and blistery from a burn.”
  • Josie tells her brothers a story about their father fighting in the war. Their father was eating breakfast when he heard the air-raid sirens. “. . . Daddy raced upstairs as enemy fire strafed the quarterdeck. Dodging bullets and bombs, he rushed to an injured crewmate and threw him over his shoulder.”
  • A boy and his friends put a rope around a raccoon’s neck. In order to help the raccoon, Mae “unleashed a gale-force wind and knocked Toby and the other bullies to the ground. As they climbed to their feet, Akiko transformed into a bowling ball and knocked Toby out at the knees. Again he fell to the ground, this time scraping the palms of his hands.” During the confrontation, Josie “used a bit of telekinesis—staring at one, two, three, four, five heads, then flicking my eyes—to knock their skulls together.” The boys run away.
  • Mr. Hisser and his gang show up at a top-secret location. When he sees the girls, “Mr. Hisser flicked his dangerous rattlesnake tail and slammed it into the building, just above our heads. Wood and bricks exploded into the air, then crashed down around us. . . Akiko flung fireballs at his henchmen in the street.” During the fight, “his deadly split tongue shot from his mouth and slammed me [Josie] backwards into the lamppost. My head rang like a telephone, but I had to shake it off.” Josie saves some “innocent people,” then notices that she was bleeding. “One of the Hisser’s razor-sharp fangs must have sliced my skin.” Josie picks up a car and “using all the strength I could muster—and with searing pain shooting through my left shoulder—I heaved the car forward. It landed on the Hisser’s deadly tail with a devastating thud.” The action is described over 10 pages.
  • The action continues over 12 illustrated pages. One of the girls hits Hisser with a chair. People are hit with furniture, Hisser is wrapped in chains, and a man is hit over the head with a machine that is like a typewriter. The FBI arrive and arrest Hisser.
  • Hisser escapes. “Hisser’s hideous snake form fled the room, his scaly, serpentine body slithering around and around in a dizzying hypnotic threat. With a whip of his rattlesnake tail, he swatted Harry and the agents. They flew backward, slamming into the blinking black steal of the ENIAC machine.” One of the girls changes into a mongoose, and “she lunged for the Hisser’s throat with her sharp front teeth as Mae and I dodged out of the way.” The scene is described over five pages.
  • Hisser captures three women and attempts to kidnap them. Josie used “all my powers of concentration, I imagined the statue ripping off its pedestal and hurtling into the path of the Hisser’s oncoming car. As soon as I thought it, the statue followed the direction of my eyes and soared through the air, landing just in front of the Hisser’s wagon. Brakes screeched, but there was no time for the Hisser to stop.” Hisser is arrested and the captives are set free.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • The characters call others names. The infrequent use of name-calling includes: marauding meatheads, lunkhead, knucklehead, fleas, dumbbell, knuckleheads, brats, and traitorous scum.
  • Hisser calls the girls names, including: Green Fungus and Emerald Irritant.
  • Several times, one of the characters uses “Hauntima’s ghost” as an exclamation.
  • Someone calls Hisser “demon reptile.”

Supernatural

  • In the story, superheroes exist and have different abilities, such as: flying, super-human strength, shape-shifting, telekinesis, causing weather events (like wind), controlling fire, teleportation, etc.
  • Josie Akiko and Mae link arms. When Josie talks about doing something good, “a beam of golden light burst from the center of our huddle, radiating upward from our connected hands . . . And the air hummed like it was filled with a thousand bumblebees. . . The crackling electrical charge exploded in my ears now, and energy shot through my veins. . .” Then the girls gain super powers, including how to fly. After the three completed their task, their “costumes suddenly morphed back into our regular clothes, right before our eyes.” This process happens several times.
  • When handling a difficult situation, Hauntima’s ghost appears and gives the girls guidance. Sometimes when Hauntima appears, she has an “angry skulled face.”
  • Mr. Hisser can turn into a snake.
  • Josie gets injured, but her injury heals quickly.

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Sulwe

Sulwe wants to be like everyone else, but she is darker than everyone in her family. She is darker than anyone in her school. Sulwe believes that because she is darker, she is not beautiful. To be beautiful, she needs to have lighter skin like her mother and sister.

One night, a star appears and takes Sulwe on a magical journey in the night sky. Sulwe is shown the story of two sisters, the Night and the Day. Even though the two were sisters, people didn’t treat them the same. “People gave Night names like ‘Scary’ and ‘Bad’ and ‘Ugly.” She felt hurt every time.” Upset by her treatment, Night left the earth. Because of Night’s absence, people realize they need Night. They learn “Brightness isn’t just for daylight. Light comes in all colors. And some light can only be seen in the dark.”

Night realizes that she does not need to change, she is beautiful just as she is. After hearing Day and Night’s story, Sulwe realizes that “she belongs out in the world! Dark and beautiful, bright and strong.” At the end of the book, the author explains how “it is important to feel good about yourself when you look in the mirror, but what is even more important is working on being beautiful inside. That means being kind to yourself and others. That is the beauty that truly shines through.”

Using language that young readers can understand, Sulwe shows the pain that colorism can cause. Even though the story focuses on colorism, anyone who has ever wanted to look different will understand Sulwe’s pain. Like everyone, Sulwe wants to fit in and make friends. However, she thinks that her problems would be solved if her skin was lighter. At one point, Sulwe tries to remove the darkness from her skin with an eraser. Sulwe’s sadness is shown in her words, her actions, and the illustrations.

The animation-styled illustrations are beautiful and moving. The illustrations show both Sulwe’s family and classmates and show the variations of their skin colors. Characters’ emotions are clearly shown through facial expressions and their actions. The book also has gorgeous images of light and dark that show the beauty in both.

Both Sulwe’s prose and illustrations are beautiful and show the importance of accepting yourself. This important message is one that every child needs to hear. Even though Sulwe is a picture book, the story is intended to be read aloud to a child, rather than for the child to read it for the first time independently. While many of the pages only have one sentence, readers will need assistance with the vocabulary. Sulwe would make an excellent addition to anyone’s library because the story shows that “you are beautiful because you choose to be.”

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • A star came into Sulwe’s bedroom. “Sulwe hoped onto the star and off they went.” The star shows Sulwe the beginning of time and the story of Night and Day.

Spiritual Content

  • Sulwe went to bed and “turned to God for a miracle.” She prays “Please make me as fair as the parents I’m from. I want to be beautiful, not just to pretend.”

 

 

Survival Tails: The Titanic

Mutt loves his human girl, Alice. When he discovers that his owner and best friend, Alice, plans to sail to the new world on the Titanic without him, he’s determined to find a way on the ship. Mutt is terrified of the water, but he won’t let an ocean separate him from Alice. A friendly rat, King Leon, helps Mutt sneak aboard the ship. But it isn’t long before the captain’s cat, Clara, discovers the stowaways. Reluctantly, Clara agrees to help Mutt find Alice. But first, Mutt must agree to look after three abandoned kittens that Clara found in a lifeboat.

A mangy dog, a friendly rat, and a pamper cat work together to stay hidden from the humans and keep the kittens alive. But when the unthinkable happens and the so-called unsinkable ship hits an iceberg, Mutt and his new friends have to race against the clock to find their humans—and to survive.

Survival Tails: The Titanic takes the reader on a trip back in time when everyone thought the Titanic was unsinkable. Told from Mutt’s point of view, the story takes a unique look at the ship through the eyes of animals. For the stowaway animals, life on the Titanic is dangerous. Not only do they have to scrounge for food, but they also have to avoid the humans who most likely would throw overboard. As the story unfolds, readers will fall in love with each animal, whose unique personality comes to life. Even though the animals could have easily become enemies, they unite to form an unlikely friendship that puts the kittens’ needs above their own.

Suspense builds from the very first page and ends with the heart-wrenching sinking of the Titanic. The story contains pockets of humor and has three black and white pictures that help bring the scenes into sharper focus. The animal’s loyalty to each other and their humans is heartwarming. However, Survival Tails: The Titanic doesn’t shy away from showing the discrimination between the first-class passengers and the third-class passengers. In the end, it didn’t matter what class a person was. When the Titanic was sinking, the passengers realized, “in the end, few things truly mattered.”

Survival Tails: The Titanic uses a unique point of view to create a suspenseful, beautiful story of friendship and love. Even though the story focuses on the animals, it stays loyal to the historical facts of the Titanic. Although the sinking of the ship is described in a kid-friendly manner and the death of people is never described, the ending is heart-wrenching and will have readers crying as several of the characters they loved are doomed to death.

Readers who have read The Last Firehawk series may be tempted to pick up Survival Tails: The Titanic because they share the same author. However, The Last Firehawk series is intended for a younger audience. Younger readers may not be ready for the intense events portrayed in Survival Tails: The Titanic. At the end of the book, readers will find a glossary, as well as more historical information about the Titanic. Everyone who enjoys a suspenseful animal story should read Survival Tails: The Titanic; the characters will leave a lasting impact on readers and make them think about the nature of friendship.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When Mutt was trying to get onto the Titanic, a woman sees Mutt and, “let out an ear-piercing shriek as Mutt peered sheepishly back up at her. She swung her handbag, hitting Mutt full-force in the head before he had a chance to scarper. With a low whine, Mutt turned and ran as fast as he could. . .”
  • Mutt tries to steal an abandoned sandwich from a plate. Mutt’s friend tried to warn him, but “before Mutt could figure out what had King Leon spooked, he heard an almighty screech. Razor-sharp teeth clamped down on the end of his tail. It was all he could do to not howl and give himself away to the nearby humans.”
  • Mutt, King Leon, and three kittens sneak into the kitchen to try to eat scraps of food. When the humans returned, “they took one look at the dog, rat, and three kittens eating their food and ran at them, screaming and shouting. . .” The animals run and Mutt ducked “as one of the humans swung an empty frying pan at his head. . . The man spun around and around, trying to catch on of the furry blurs, until he became so dizzy he fell over, crashing not a pile of crockery, which smashed to the floor.” The animals are able to escape.
  • When the Titanic was sinking, an officer was trying to load a boat with women and children. A group of men tried to “push past and swarm the lifeboat, which was already swinging precariously out over the water. A woman screamed, and before Mutt knew what was happening, an earsplitting gunshot rang out as an officer fired his gun in the air, silencing the crowd.”
  • When Mutt is in the ocean, a man grabs onto his tail. “Water closed over his head as Mutt sank beneath the surface. His lungs screamed with the desperate need for air as he kicked his legs wildly. . . But the man still would not let go, so Mutt did the only thing he could, hoping it might save them both. Mutt turned and sank his teeth deep into the man’s hand, yanking it upward in the direction of the surface. The man immediately released his grip and swam back up the surface.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • When Clara was walking along the boat’s deck, she saw a group of men “playing cards and drinking in the smoking room.”
  • When the Titanic hit an iceberg, some of the men “were drinking whisky and smoking cigars as though they hadn’t a care in the world.”

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • As the Titanic was sinking, Mutt walks by a “group of humans standing before a man dressed in a black robe, like the reverend at Alice’s church. Their eyes were closed and they knelt on the deck, listening to the man’s prayers, even as chaos erupted all around then.”
  • Mutt isn’t sure if he should jump into the water or stay on the sinking ship. As he considers his options, “The Titanic ripped apart into two halves. As the stern started to fall back toward the water, almost in slow motion, Mutt recalled a prayer that Alice’s mother used to make Alice recite every night before she went to bed. He didn’t’ know much about what it was for, or why she did it, but it seemed to bring Alice’s mother comfort.

Guardians of the Taiga

Stacy doesn’t remember her human family. She has been raised by wolves who taught her how to survive in the wild. Stacy and her wolf family rely on each other for all their needs. The powerful, playful wolves—Addison, Basil, Everest, Noah, Tucker, and Wink—are the only family Stacy has ever needed.

As much as possible, Stacy and her pack avoid humans and try to keep the other forest animals safe. Full of courage, Stacy and the wolves are able to accomplish risky rescue missions. But Stacy soon finds that humans pose a risk to their home. Developers want to change the landscape, destroying the animal’s habitat and forcing them to leave the forest. Powerful businessmen are determined to make their resort a reality. How can Stacy and her pack face the dangers that threaten them?

Stacy takes precarious risks to care for animals in need. From the first page, readers see Stacy jumping into danger and relying on her wolf family to protect her. The Guardians of the Taiga’s non-stop action will have readers eager to turn each page. The story is not only entertaining, but it also teaches about animals, the dangers that humans pose to wildlife, and how developers can encroach on animal’s habitats. The story never feels like a lecture or a textbook, but instead teaches lessons through the characters’ experiences. For example, Stacy talks about an electric company that destroyed the beauty of nature when they “leveled a great swath of the forest for the electrical substation, and then shot at the wild creatures for trespassing on ‘their land.’ And the worst part was they acted entitled—as if the forest belonged to them more than it did to the wolves and the deer and the rabbits and even the bats.”

Even though Stacy is a unique character, readers will relate to her daring attitude, her concern for her wolf family, and her awkwardness around humans. Each wolf has a distinct personality, and although they do not talk, the reader is still able to connect with the animals. Even though Stacy is being raised by wolves, the wolves make sure Stacy has an education. For example, Stacy reads books such as Physics for Dummies, and at one point, Stacy uses physics in order to save a dog’s life. The physics is described in kid-friendly terms.

Readers will love the story because of the non-stop action, the danger, and the unique plot. Parents and teachers will appreciate Guardians of the Taiga because of the educational value. Not only does the story highlight the need to care for nature, but it also helps readers gain new vocabulary skills. The book contains some difficult vocabulary such as pelage, crepuscular, biomes, and satiated; however, many of these words appear in the glossary in the back of the book. Another positive aspect of the story is the black and white pictures that are scattered throughout the book.

The only negative aspect of the story is the abrupt conclusion that leaves many unanswered questions. Instead of wrapping up the story, the author sets up the sequel—Escape to the Mesa. The book ends with a selection of other reading material—an author interview, the inspiration for one of the characters, and an interview with a wolf researcher. Guardians of the Taiga will appeal to a wide range of readers including those who love animals, daring characters, and action. Readers who enjoy this series should add the Simon Thorn series to their list of must-read books.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • During a fire, a tree “cracked in two and toppled over, flames licking at its branches. It fell right in the middle of the wild pack, crushing several of its members. Stacy screamed, unsure of how many wolves had just been killed right in front of her.” Stacy tries to convince the wolves to follow her but Dusty, who was the alpha, wouldn’t move. Dusty “was illuminated by the flames, and Stacy could see a large patch of dark red on the wolf’s hindquarters. . . blood. Dusty wasn’t placing any weight on her back left leg. She’d been shot!” Stacy couldn’t help Dusty and eventually “the flames enveloped what was left of the den and consumed Dusty.”
  • Lightning strikes a wolf. “The wolf had a jagged, bloody strike down the left side of her body. . . Basil was stunned but alive.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Stacy wonders, “why are there so many dang bats here?”

Supernatural

  • Stacy and the wolves are able to communicate, and the wolves can perform some human-like tasks.
  • A dog can communicate with bats through echolocation and is also able to understand Stacy’s words.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Spark

In Algorria, storm beasts and their guardians create perfect weather every day, bringing prosperity and peace to Algorria. Twelve-year-old Mina has been carefully tending a storm beast egg, and is eager for the egg to hatch. Everyone is surprised when a lightning beast hatches from Mina’s egg. Mina’s family thinks that their quiet, shy daughter should not be paired up with a lightning beast, a creature of fire and chaos.

Unlike her family, Mina is sure that she, her storm beast, and Pixit are perfect for each other. Mina and Pixit are enrolled in lightning school and begin to learn the skills of lightning guardians. Even though Mina has always dreamed of completing daring acts, she struggles at school. She is unable to learn the basic skills and often feels as if she doesn’t fit in anywhere.

When Mina accidentally learns that Alorria’s perfect weather comes at a devastating cost, she discovers that powerful people are willing to do anything to hide the truth. Mina has never been able to speak out, but now without her help people will die. Mina and Pixit both dream of being like storybook heroes that change the world for the better. Is there any way that Mina can find her voice?

Readers will pick up Spark because of the beautiful cover of a storm beast, but they will keep turning the pages until the very end because of the beautiful relationship between Mina and Pixit. Anyone who has been afraid to speak up will relate to Mina, who is happy to let others take over the conversation. Yet within the quiet girl’s heart is the dream of making a positive impact in the world. Mina often struggles with feelings of insecurity, but with Pixit’s help Mina learns that being “different isn’t wrong.” In order to help others, Mina does not need to change herself. Instead, she only needs to use her own unique talents.

This engaging story uses a unique setting to bring modern-day problems to the forefront. As part of Mina’s studies, she is introduced to the idea of isolationism which is explained as follows: “Isolationism—defined as caring only about your own country—had the benefit of limiting the area that the early storm beast and guardians had to protect. Here’s the important bit to understand: all the world’s weather is connected, and more complex than you can comprehend.”

As Mina learns more about her country, she gets a lesson in false propaganda and how the political leaders are willing to suppress the truth because they fear change. However, the message is clear: “you can’t dismiss the facts just because you don’t like where they lead.” Even though Mina is quiet, she finds a way to become a leader. However, becoming a leader was not an easy choice for Mina. Her self-doubt and worry come through because Pixit can hear Mina’s thoughts. The relationship between Mina and her storm beast is so endearing that it will leave readers wishing they had a storm beast of their own.

Not only is Spark an exceptional story, but it also teaches readers that it is possible to change the world for the better. By the end of the story, Mina and Pixit feel like friends who have made a positive impact on you. Spark is an unforgettable story that will resonate with children and leave them wanting to be kinder, better people who do good in the world.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • A fight broke out in the school’s dining hall. A student “launched herself across the tables, and dozens of her friends joined her. . . dozens of other students threw themselves into the battle. . . Mina, unable to run, unable to move, stared as students and beasts fought in front of her, over the tables, and up on the metal ladders, chains, and other obstacles.” Pixit joins the fight, and Mina “felt pain shoot through her arm as another beast bit into him.” Some students began throwing potatoes. A teacher breaks up the fight, which lasts for two pages.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • One of the students tells Min, “Mina, tell him he’s an idiot. He doesn’t believe me when I say it.”

Supernatural

  • Storm beasts and their guardians create perfect weather every day. Wind beasts blow the clouds away, sun beasts produce balmy temperatures, rain beasts water the crops, and so on.
  • When a person is chosen to care for a storm beast’s egg, the person must spend time each day with skin-to-egg contact. When the egg hatches, the person and the storm beast are linked. Mina’s brother “Gaton had told her what it felt like to be linked mind-to-mind to a storm beast: he couldn’t hear all of Arde’s thoughts the way he heard his own, and Arde couldn’t always hear his, but he could always feel Arde’s emotions like a constant hum in the back of his mind. . . And when he wanted to talk to Arde, all he had to do was concentrate on both the words and his beast. It was like shouting. But quietly.”
  • Mina and Pixit can feel each other’s emotions. For example, when Mina and Pixit were about to fly into a storm, Mina “felt Pixit’s nervousness, like bubbles in her veins.”
  • Lightning beasts can store lightning, and the guardians can then discharge the lightning’s energy. During a storm, Mina “rose in her seat, and she reached her arms up, hands high over her head, fingers spread. . . Roaring, Pixit flew into the lightning. Mina felt it hit her fingers and rattle down her arms. She brought her hands together, holding the lightning steady above her. . . Mina opened her hands and released the electricity. Some of it spread through the air and slammed down, harmlessly, on the blackened hills below. But most of the energy was absorbed into Pixit, causing him to glow an even more brilliant yellow.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

Jada Jones Rock Star

When fourth-grader Jada Jones’s best friend goes away, she doesn’t want to go to school. Now, Jada doesn’t have anyone to share her love of rock collecting. When the class is given a rock and minerals project, Jada misses her best friend even more. Jada is excited to share her rock knowledge with her group of three. But being in a group of three has its own problems, especially when one of her teammates doesn’t seem to like any of Jada’s ideas. Is there any way Jada and her group can work together to make a winning science project?

Jada Jones is a relatable character who struggles with missing her best friend and all of the changes that happen when her best friend moves. Jada’s struggle comes to life with black and white pictures that have a pop of purple. As Jada tries to make new friends, she learns the importance of showing kindness to others, even when they are not nice in return. Even though the story focuses on Jada, it also shows how her teammate was mean because she was afraid Jada would steal her best friend. Jada Jones Rock Star highlights the importance of trying to understand others as well as the importance of trying new things.

Jada Jones Rock Star is intended for readers who are transitioning to chapter books. The story has seven short chapters, easy vocabulary, and illustrations on almost every page. The story does have several pages with only text, and some complicated sentence structure. Jada Jones is a relatable character that has many positive qualities—she’s kind, smart, creative, and isn’t afraid to share her love of rocks. Jada Jones Rock Star is an entertaining story that has positive life lessons.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

The Friendship War

Grace and Ellie have been best friends since second grade. Grace doesn’t mind that Ellie always gets her way and is always the center of attention. When it comes to Ellie, Grace is used to tagging along and doing what Ellie wants.

Everything changes when Grace shares part of her button collection at school, and accidentally starts a new fad. Soon students in her grade, and then the entire school is trading and fighting over buttons. Grace has always been okay with fading into the background, but when button fever hits her, she just has to have the button with a blue pinwheel. Soon Grace and Ellie argue over a button, and it looks like their friendship might just be over. Button collecting may have cost Grace one friend, but it also leads her to a new one—Hank, the biggest button collector in the sixth grade. Is there any way the two new friends can figure out how to stop the button craze?

Readers will relate to Grace, who connects to the world through math. Grace is always counting, collecting, and overthinking. Her unique flaws and the way she connects with others will give readers a unique perspective as well as show how people with different personalities and interests can still be friends. Throughout the book, readers will learn new words because Grace explains several scientific words and ideas. The vocabulary is so ingrained into the plot that learning new concepts never feels like a school lesson. Learning about science, math, and the history of buttons has never been so much fun!

Another positive aspect of the story is Grace’s strong relationship with her family, who understands her crazy collections. Her family relationships extend to her grandfather, who writes letters and texts to Grace. Scattered throughout the story are conversations about Grace’s recently deceased Gramma, which gives insight into the grieving process.

The Friendship War, which is written by the same author of Frindle, is a fast-paced story that highlights the complicated nature of friendship. Through Grace’s experiences, the reader will learn not only the value of friendship but also how friendship should not be one-sided. At one point, the school principal tells Grace, “It’s a great thing to have one good friend, but to have two looking out for you? That’s nothing short of wonderful.” The story also highlights the importance of forgiveness and taking responsibility for your actions. The Friendship War is a highly entertaining story that not only shows the family in a positive light but is also packed with life lessons that are so ingrained in the story that the message is never preachy.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Grace thinks that her brother is “acting like a jerk today.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Grace and her mom have a two-page conversation about what happens after someone dies. Grace’s mom says, “If you’re asking me if your grandmother is still herself, still somewhere, then I would say yes, I believe she is. But do I know that, the same way I know that the sun comes up every morning? Then, no, I don’t know it like that. . . I believe that Gramma is still herself, still thinking, still loving you and Ben and your dad and me and Grampa. . . And I guess I won’t completely know any of this for sure until that moment when I die, or rather, when I don’t die—when I figure out that I haven’t stopped thinking or stopped being myself. Where I will be at that moment, or what any of that will be like—I have no idea.”

 

 

The Prince Problem

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sexual Content

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

Violence

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

Drugs and Alcohol

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

Language

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

Supernatural

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

Spiritual Content

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

Satellite

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

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

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

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

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

Sexual Content

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

Violence

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

Drugs and Alcohol

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

Language–

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

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

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

by Matthew Perkey

 

Ender’s Game

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

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

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

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

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

Sexual Content

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

Violence

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

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

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

Supernatural

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

Spiritual Content

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

by Morgan Lynn

 

 

Lady Knight

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

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

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

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

Sexual Content

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

Violence

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

Drugs and Alcohol

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

Language

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

Supernatural

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

Spiritual Content

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

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.”

The Wild Robot Escapes

After being repaired, Roz is sent to Hilltop Farm, which is unlike the remote island that Roz considers home. Roz still speaks the language of the animals and is able to make new friends on the farm. She talks to the cows and the farmer’s children and works to help keep the farm in check as wolves and natural disasters assault the small homestead.

Even though Mr. Shareef and his children consider Roz part of the family, Roz still misses home. Eventually, Roz begins to yearn for the friends and family she left behind. Flocks of geese begin migrating and stopping on the farm, reminding her of her son Brightbill. Roz can’t escape due to a tracker installed in her body, but she works with the farmer’s children to research the tracker and remove it.

After Roz escapes for the second time, recovery robots quickly capture her and bring her to her creator. She is destroyed to appease the public, but Roz’s creator gives her a new body with more features than she had before. They travel to the island Roz came from and reunite her with her old friends and Brightbill. Throughout Roz’s journey, she wonders why she isn’t like other robots. Roz questions, “Is being different the same as being defective?”

Like the previous book in the series, The Wild Robot Escapes is a story of a robot trying to fit in with a new crowd. Roz encounters a number of friendly characters while she tries to get back to the home she knows, which shows that we’re never completely on our own. With the help of friends, Roz is able to overcome many obstacles.

Roz’s destruction, reconstruction, and return to her island also show the darker sides of society. Even though she eventually returns to her family, she has to fake her own death to please the world that thinks she is a rogue robot. The Wild Robot Escapes teaches the importance of friends and family, while also considering the realities of death and society. It’s a heartwarming book with unnervingly realistic undertones about judgment and fear.

The story refers to characters and events from the first book in the series, so readers should read The Wild Robot first. Many readers will be able to relate to Roz, who is a hard-working and compassionate robot who questions her purpose in life. The Wild Robot Escapes is an intriguing, illustrated story that is both entertaining and educational.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Roz recounts the time from the first book when she, “tumbled off a cliff . . . killed two geese and smashed four of their eggs.”
  • Roz finds the carcass of, “a dear [that] had recently been killed and eaten.”
  • Mr. Shareef, “hand[s] Roz a rifle.” Roz uses it to intimidate wolves, but she doesn’t fire it.
  • Wolves “slash her [Roz’s] chest,” and Annabelle then “land[s] a hard kick” on the wolves.
  • Mr. Shareef says, “sometimes farmers have to kill animals.” Mr. Shareef tells Roz, “I order you to kill those wolves.”
  • During a storm, a tool “hit the back of her [Roz’s] head.”
  • A wolf named Shadow says, “You can eat all the animals you like. . . after we kill the robot.”
  • During a hailstorm, “a stone hit Brightbill’s shoulder, and he fell to the ground.”
  • While hunters are looking for prey, “a gunshot echoed throughout the mountains.”
  • A ram “smashed right into the robot.”
  • When Roz is melted down, “a blazing beam of light filled the picture, and the robot parts turned orange.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Roz, “slipped on cow dung.”
  • Similar to the first book, many animals mistake Roz for a “monster” or “creature” before they get to know her.
  • Annabelle calls a group of wolves “brutes.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • A character says a prayer before they eat. “Thank you, God, for this yummy food.”
  • Shadow and Barb say that Roz was, “towering above them, looking like a demon.”

by Dylan Chilcoat

 

Squire

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sexual Content

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

Violence

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

Drugs and Alcohol

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

Language

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

Supernatural

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

Spiritual Content

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

After Zero

Elise has spent years hearing her friend Mel talk about her friends at school. When Elise’s mother finally decides that Elise can go to public school, she is excited. But she soon discovers that it’s easy to say the wrong thing. When Elise accidentally spills a secret and makes a social media mistake, she decides it’s better to be quiet. Now, Elise tries to say as few words as possible. She keeps a notebook full of tallies, marking each word she says. Her goal is to get to zero words spoken.

At school, Elise is known as the quiet girl. She has made no friends, and even Mel is drifting away from her. Now, Elise isn’t sure she could talk if she wanted to. But when she learns a shocking family secret, Elise learns that silence may not be the answer for everything.

After Zero is a beautifully written story about Elise’s personal struggle. Readers will relate to Elise’s desire to make friends and her inability to understand social norms. Like many, Elise would like to connect with someone, but she’s so afraid of saying the wrong thing that she is unable to talk. The story focuses on Elise’s thoughts and struggles, which allows the reader to understand Elise’s thought process. Some of the girls become hostile because they misunderstand Elise’s silence. They do not understand that Elise truly believes that, “silence is the means of avoiding misfortune.”

Although Elise is lonely and bullied at school, her family life is even worse. Her mother hardly ever talks to her. When she gets in an argument with her mother, her “mother’s eyes flash. I’ve seen it before. Whether the loathing is for me or my father, or both, I’m not sure.” Elise lives in a silent world, which forces her to spend too much time focusing on her inner thoughts. After Zero explains Elise’s anxiety in a way that is understandable, allowing the reader to feel compassion for her.

The first person narration allows Elise’s personality to jump off the page. The story is the perfect blend of Elise’s internal turmoil and outside conflicts. The easy-to-read story highlights the importance of forgiveness and friendship. Elise’s story is not only enjoyable, but it will also stay with readers for a long time. Anyone who reads After Zero will come away with a new understanding of others’ struggles with anxiety. The story will also show readers the importance of having empathy for their peers.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When Elise is lost in the woods, she comes across three teenagers who steal her backpack. “The girl and the curly-haired boy yank my wrists behind me and push me to the ground, pinning me there on my stomach. I jerk and squirm and try to shake them off. . . They put their weight on me with their hands and elbows, and one of them rests the sole of a boot against my cheek, pressing my face to the ground.” In order to get loose, Elise kicks the boy and later slams her elbow into the girl’s leg.
  • When Elise is lost in the woods, she sees a house. She’s afraid when she hears someone coming closer. “A boot plants itself in the grass behind me. I summon my muscles, or what’s left of them, and swing around, punching him hard, wherever my fist hit first. . . It turns out I hit a private area. He staggers back, clutching himself, his face contorted.”
  • At school, a group of girls gets upset that Elise won’t talk to them. One girl, “comes towards me, whipping a nail file out of her pocket. . . She grabs my wrist and twists it behind my back so fast and hard that I almost cry out. . .She pushes me against the guardrail again, and it rattles. . .” When Elise begins to fight back, a teacher appears and saves her. The scene takes place over five pages.
  • One of the teachers presents a poem about her sister that committed suicide.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Elise had been told that her father was killed by a drunk driver. Later, she discovers that her father was driving drunk and had killed her two brothers.
  • Elise finds a picture of her father standing with her brothers. Her father, “was raising a beer bottle to the camera.” In another picture, “Emerson is sitting on my father’s shoulders while my father smiles at the camera, a beer can in hand.”

Language

  • A boy calls his friend a “doofus.”

Supernatural

  • Elise has a vision of her brother and Granny P. When she tries to talk to Granny P., she disappears. Later, the story hints that Elise hallucinated because she was so tired.
  • One of Elise’s teachers has a stuffed raven. The story implies that the raven comes to life and helps Elise in several situations. When the stuffed raven disappeared from the classroom, the teacher tells Elise, “Sometimes when we feel lost, the universe sends a little help. Something or someone to guide us on our path…And that can come in the most unexpected form.”

Spiritual Content

  • Elise’s mother does not celebrate her birthday, and her friend thinks it may be because she’s a Jehovah’s Witness. But Elise’s mother, “isn’t religious. I still remember the day a pair of missionaries came to our door and asked if she believed in God. ‘Once upon a time,’ she replied, and she shut the door in their faces.”
  • Elise finds a card that someone gave her mother. The card says, “praying your sons will pull through.”

Page

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

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

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

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

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

Sexual Content

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

Violence

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

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Adults sometimes drink a goblet of wine with dinner.

Language

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

Supernatural

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

Spiritual Content

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

by Morgan Lynn

 

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