Reading Level: Elementary

Goldie Blox and the Best! Pet! Ever!

Bloxtown is hosting a pet pageant and the winner gets to name the new animal shelter. Goldie’s friend Li wants to name the animal shelter “Dr. Zhang Animal Shelter” after his grandmother. To help Li, Goldie, and her dog, Nacho, enter the contest. Even though Nacho spends his time napping and chasing his tail, Goldie is confident that she and her friends can teach Nacho everything he needs to know in order to win the contest.

When rich and snobby Zeek Zander enters the contest, Goldie is even more determined to win. Zeek doesn’t like pets and wants to call the shelter “Flea Bag Hotel for Ugly Dogs.” With the help of Zeek’s Butler Phone, Zeek sets out to get the best pet and win the race. Will Goldie and her friends be able to teach Nacho to follow commands? Will they be able to beat Zeek?

Goldie and her friends turn to engineering in order to get Nacho to run an obstacle course and follow commands. However, Nacho is more interested in sleeping and eating. In order to help Nacho get ready for the contest, Goldie and her friends make many gadgets, such as a tuxedo programmed to music. Younger readers will giggle at Nacho’s response to the gadgets and his crazy antics.

Goldie and her friends demonstrate positive friendship traits. One morning Goldie discovers Nacho missing. Her friends quickly jump in to help find Nacho. Ruby uses a drone to help find Nacho. However, Ruby used questionable methods to obtain the drone. Ruby says, “I may have borrowed one from HiBo Prep. And I may have hacked the system. And I may need you to keep it secret.” At another point in the story, Goldie enters a contest and she doesn’t win first place. But that doesn’t stop her from celebrating. The story emphasizes that winning a contest doesn’t make Goldie a winner. Instead, Goldie celebrates because “We built an awesome go-cart and had an amazing race. It was so much fun!”

Goldie Blox and the Best! Pet! Ever! will appeal to younger readers because of its humor. The story introduces readers to the idea of engineering; however, the story doesn’t explain the process that goes into making gadgets. The story is accessible to younger readers because it uses easy vocabulary, short paragraphs, and cartoonish black and white illustrations that appear every three to five pages. Goldie and her friends demonstrate positive traits such as perseverance and working together. Readers who want to delve into more books that mix science and humor should put The Data Set Series by Ada Hopper on their must-read list.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Zeek calls Goldie and her friends losers.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Sergeant Stubby: Hero Pup of World War I

Stubby, a stray bull terrier from Connecticut, isn’t going to let anyone separate him from his human, Bob—not even a war. Determined to stay with Bob, Stubby sneaks onto the ship that is taking American troops to France. Soon Stubby and Bob are whisked off to the front lines of World War I. Stubby does his best to keep up the men’s spirits, and he can also warn the men when danger is approaching. He ends up saving the G.I.s from poisonous gas attacks and a German spy. Eventually, Stubby is promoted to the rank of Sergeant! Through it all, Stubby stays close to Bob as he makes his way across Europe, fighting to defeat the enemy.

Based on a true story, Hero Pup of World War I is told from Stubby’s point of view. Stubby is determined to help the soldiers as they go to battle. Through Stubby’s eyes, the readers will learn about the daily life of a soldier. Not only were the soldiers in constant threat, but they also had to deal with rats and lice. The story tells about life in the trenches as well as the military hospital. Although the story doesn’t go into gory detail about the soldiers’ deaths, Stubby does see the loss of human life and wishes he could do more to help the injured and dead.

Because the story is told from Stubby’s point of view, the human’s personalities do not come to life. Despite this, Hero Pup of World War I will introduce younger readers to World War I. The end of the book has pictures of Stubby and Bob as well as information about what started World War I. The end of the book also has a shortlist of other books for any reader who wants to learn more about animals in the military.

Although Hero Pup of World War I is the second book in the G.I. Dogs Series, the books do not need to be read in order because each book focuses on a different dog’s experiences. Hero Pup of World War I uses kid-friendly language to show the bravery and the hardships that G.I.s faced on the front line. Stubby is a likable character, who truly cares about the troops. His extraordinary life will inspire readers. Stubby says, “If a stray dog from the back alleys of New Haven, Connecticut can help win a world war and shake hands with the president, then anything is possible.”

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When a German spy comes into the U.S. camp, Stubby barks at him. The spy begins to run, and Stubby follows. “With one last bark, I leaped and planted my teeth in his backside, getting a mouthful of gray serge material. The German was face down in the mud, struggling to get free. I kept my jaws clamped shut. . .Three American G.I.s ran up to us, and I knew it was safe to let go.”
  • The G.I.s made Stubby a gas mask, but it didn’t fit correctly. “In March, we experienced our first poison gas attack. I smelled something strange—something I had never smelled before. . . Bob and I didn’t get our masks on in time. Hours later, when the shelling finally stopped, my eyes still burned and it was hard to breathe.”
  • One morning, the Germans sent storm troopers to rush the American’s front line. “The storm troopers overran the first trench and then advanced to the next. All the American soldiers joined the battle . . . Even the company cook jumped into the trenches and started swinging his meat cleaver at the German soldiers!” Some men were killed, and others were taken prisoners. Stubby is close to an explosive when it goes off. “A piece of fiery metal hit me in the chest. It hurt so much that I couldn’t move. All I could do is howl.” Stubby is taken to the hospital and recovers.
  • During a battle, Stubby tries to find wounded soldiers. When he finds one, he barks until a medic comes. He finds Smitty and “at first look, I thought he might already be gone, but when I licked his cheek, his eyes fluttered and he focused on me just for a second. . . I ignored the blood and snuggled up next to him. . . One tear slipped down his cheek. And then he was gone.”
  • The French and American troops attack the Germans. “There were shells landing, bullets flying and men screaming.” The troops freed a town of Germans.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Howl at the Moon

Haggis and Tank go on an adventure in Scotland. After reading about Scotland’s castles, Tank wants to go explore Scotland. Haggis and Tank fly an airplane, get lost in a bog, visit a castle, and even play the bagpipes. As they explore the castle, they come to suspect that Prince Pants-A-Lot might be a werewolf. When the full moon comes out, a werewolf starts chasing them! Will Haggis and Tank be stuck in the spooky castle forever? How will they ever make it home?

Haggis and Tank use their imagination to go on another action-packed adventure. Much like Scooby Doo’s adventures, the spooky scenes are more humorous than scary. Haggis and Tank run from the werewolf. In the end, Haggis and Tank discover that the werewolf was only chasing them because they had his bagpipes. The cute conclusion shows Haggis and Tank returning home safely.

Howl at the Moon uses brightly colored illustrations to draw readers in. The cartoonish illustrations have surprising details. For example, when Tank is getting the “plane” ready, the illustration shows a wheelbarrow with “Fearless Flyer” written on the side. The story’s illustrations aren’t the only positive aspect of Howl at the Moon. The story also has fun puppy puns, onomatopoeias, and homophones, which make Howl at the Moon a perfect read-aloud book.

Readers will fall in love with Haggis and Tank and giggle at their silly antics. Newly independent readers will be able to read the story on their own. Much like a graphic novel, some of the pages only have quote bubbles. In order to move the story along, 1-2 sentence narration is included on some of the pages. The illustrated story is funny, imaginative, and full of surprising details. The story ends with five questions and gives page numbers to help readers take a closer look at the text.

Each book in the Haggis and Tank Unleashed Series can be read as a stand-alone story. However, younger readers will be eager to read each story. The series teaches vocabulary in a seamless manner that brings humor to the story. After spending time with Haggis and Tank, readers will be encouraged to use their imagination and howl at the moon.

 Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Prince Pants-A-Lot, who might be a werewolf, chases Haggis and Tank through a maze.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Notorious

Keenan has lived all over the world, but nowhere quite as strange as Centerlight Island, which is split between the United States and Canada. The only thing weirder than Centerlight itself is his neighbor Zarabeth, a.k.a. ZeeBee. ZeeBee is obsessed with the island’s history as a Prohibition-era smuggling route. She’s also convinced that her beloved dog, Barney, was murdered—something Keenan finds pretty hard to believe.

Just about everyone on Centerlight is a suspect because everyone hated Barney, a huge dog—part mastiff, part rottweiler—notorious for terrorizing the community. Accompanied by a mild-mannered new dog who is practically Barney’s opposite, ZeeBee enlists Keenan’s help to solve the mystery.

As Keenan and ZeeBee start to unravel the clues, they uncover a shocking conspiracy that dates back to Centerlight’s gangster past. The good news is that Keenan may have found the best friend he’s ever had. The bad news is that the stakes are sky-high. And now someone is after them…

Centerlight’s history is full of gangster lore and hidden treasure legends that Zeebee is excited to share with her new friend Keenan. Middle grade readers will relate to both characters because they are interesting, flawed, and struggle with typical teenage problems. Most of the chapters alternate between ZeeBee’s and Keenan’s points of view. However, some of the chapters are told from other characters’ points of view, which makes it necessary to read the chapter titles. The changing points of view and the large cast of characters may confuse some readers.

Notorious blends mystery, adventure, and suspense into a story that is hard to put down. The story contains just enough gangster lore and teenage drama to hook the reader. Keenan thinks that ZeeBee’s stories are exaggerated, while some of the local kids think that ZeeBee is crazy. ZeeBee struggles with the fact that even though she’s always lived on Centerlight, she doesn’t feel as if she belongs. All of these conflicting plots are interconnected and form a fabulously fun tale that contains many surprises.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • ZeeBee is obsessed with the town’s prohibition past. When she gives Keenan a tour of the island, she takes him to a cliff. ZeeBee says, “They call it Ripley’s Point because that’s where the gangster Meyer Lansky dumped Reuben Ripley’s body when they caught him helping himself to some of the booze shipments to sell for his own life… You used to be able to see a red stain on that sharp pointed one [rock], but it’s faded over the years.”
  • ZeeBee tells Keenan about a fourth of July when “this crew out of Detroit” was trying to “muscle in on Capone’s business here in Centerlight… Capone’s guys tossed a lit match into the fireworks… There was a lot of noise, so nobody noticed a few extra booms, pops, and bangs in there. But when it was all over, the entire Detroit crew was scattered around the park, dead.”
  • ZeeBee and Keenan are out in the forest at night when two men approach them. ZeeBee’s dog Barney “leaps on the bewildered giant, burying his teeth in the already scarred forearm.” The two men threaten the kids, and Keenan twirls “around into the familiar tae kwon do stance, and my leg launches out into the kick I haven’t been able to execute since I got sick. My whole body tenses… Whack! The sole of my sneaker smacks into the heavy piece of gold, ramming it into the side of Bryce’s head… Bryce’s eyes roll back and he crumples, unconscious, in the dirt.” Keenan injures his foot. The police show up and arrest the bad guys.

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • Keenan finds dead animals in the forest. “There must be twenty-five or thirty of them—all small animals. This is a graveyard.” Keenan thinks the animals ate poisoned meat.
  • The local fro-yo shop makes rum raisin frozen yogurt.

Language

  • There is some name-calling, such as jerk, idiot, and moron. For example, ZeeBee gets upset when Keenan begins hanging out with some boys from school. She tells him, “You’re worse than Ronnie and those idiots! They’re just brainless. You’re a sleaze!”
  • When Keenan goes to visit an elderly man, ZeeBee wonders, “So why is Keenan visiting this jackass?”
  • ZeeBee is upset that Keenan went to a party. The kids broke into a lighthouse, and ZeeBee’s father went to break it up. ZeeBee thinks, “But Dad wouldn’t be much of a border officer if he didn’t have the brains to reconstruct a crime scene. He passed every single one of those boneheads as they biked away from the lighthouse.”
  • Keenan goes to talk to his friend’s father. Later, the father tells his son, “I don’t have time to waste on some twelve-year-old nutjob.”

Supernatural

  • None

 

Spiritual Content

  • None

The Sorcerer of the North

Will is finally a full-fledged Ranger, who has his own fief to look after. Will is just getting used to the sleepy fief when he is called away on a secret mission. Lord Syron, who is a master of a castle far in the north, is struck down by a mysterious illness. Some believe that Lord Syron has been struck down by an ancient enemy who is using dark magic. One thing is known for sure: many do not respect Lord Syron’s son, Orman. Will Orman be able to guide the fief during his father’s illness?

As Will is trying to determine who is loyal to Lord Syron, Alyss shows up disguised as a noblewoman. The two hope to discover who is to blame for Lord Syron’s illness. As Will battles growing hysteria, traitors, and most of all, time, Alyss is taken hostage and Will is forced to make a desperate choice between his mission and his friend.

The Sorcerer of the North has a slow start as Will travels to his new fief. Unfortunately, Will is called away almost immediately. During the first part of the book, Halt, Alyss, and several other known characters make a short appearance. Even though their appearance sets up the book’s conflict, the action is slow. Readers who have read the previous Ranger’s Apprentice books will continue reading because they are familiar with Will and the other characters; however, those who have not read the previous books in the series will not want to start with this one.

In The Sorcerer of the North, Will spends too much time traveling to meet different people in attempt to learn about Lord Syron’s kingdom. Instead of being interesting, the reader may quickly become bored. Once Will travels to Syron’s castle, he still spends much of his time collecting information. It isn’t until the end of the book that the action picks up, ending in a cliffhanger that will lead readers to pick up the next book in the series, The Siege of Macindaw.

Even though The Sorcerer of the North isn’t as entertaining as the previous books, readers will enjoy seeing Will become more confident as a Ranger. As Will investigates Lord Syron’s fief, he learns that things are not always what they seem. However, the story has few surprises, too little action, and an easily solved mystery. In addition, readers will miss Halt, Horace, and Evenlyn, who were prominently featured in the previous books. Despite this, readers will want to continue to read The Sorcerer of the North because they know that Will’s next exciting adventure is just around the corner.

Sexual Content

  • Will is happy to see Alyss, who “sensed his need for warmth and feminine company and affection and had been more than glad to supply all three. It hadn’t progressed past some tentative embraces and kisses in the moonlight. . .”
  • As Alyss leaves Will’s house, “she leaned forward and her lips touched his—light as butterfly wings and amazingly soft to the touch. They remained so for many seconds, then Alyss finally stepped back.”

Violence

  • Will catches a man spying on him. When the man tries to sneak into Will’s house, “Will moved quickly, grabbing the man by the wrist with his right hand and pivoting to jerk him forward into the room. At the same time, he let the pivot movement throw his left leg across the doorway as a barrier, so the outsider was jerked forward and tripped over the outstretched leg. . .” The man recovers and aims a war spear at Will, “the razor-sharp head weaving slightly as if to mesmerize his enemy.”
  • When the spy, Buttle, sneaks into Will’s house, Alyss tries to help by pointing a dagger toward the man. “Buttle swung instantly toward her, dropping into a defensive crouch, the spear ready to thrust. . . ” Will cuts the tip off of Buttle’s spear. Then, Will “brought the brass pommel of the saxe thudding into his temple.” Buttle is knocked unconscious and sold into slavery.
  • As Will and two other men try to leave the castle, guards shoot at them. “Will saw movement on the battlements ahead of them, and heard a crossbow bolt strike, skidding, on the stones in front of Tug. Without conscious thought, seemingly without aiming, he shot again and a figure tumbled from the parapet into the courtyard, his crossbow clattering on the stones beside him.” The men were able to escape.
  • When men follow Will out of the castle, Will shoots an arrow at one of them. “Instead of striking home into Buttle’s upper body, it came out of nowhere and slammed into his thigh, tearing through the fleshy part of the leg and pinning it to the hard leather of the saddle.”
  • Will tries to get Alyss out of the castle, but he is unable to. When he flees the castle, a sergeant recognizes Will and “lunged clumsily with the halbert. Will’s saxe knife was in his hand and he deflected the heavy ax head to one side. Grabbing the sergeant’s arm, turning and crouching in one movement, he threw him over his shoulder to the flagstone of the courtyard. The sergeant’s head slammed into the hard stone. His helmet rolled on one side and he lay stunned.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Will asks a stranger about an injured dog. The man replies, “John Buttle has a shepherd like that one. And he’d be the kind to injure a dog and leave it that way. Has a nasty temper, John does, particularly when he’s in the drink.”
  • The Scandians needed to raid a fief in order to get supplies, including wine.
  • Will invites the Scandians to a feast. He tells a man, “But don’t try to match them drink for drink. You’ll never manage it.”
  • Will goes into a tavern where the patrons were “tapping their wine mugs on the table” and singing along with a song. One of the songs is about a “drunken witch,” and another song talks about “the drunken king of Angledart.”
  • Will goes into the barracks rooms because he knew “nothing lessened men’s tongues like an evening of music and wine.” He gives the men “a large flagon of apple brandy to help the night along.”
  • Someone poisons Orman. Later, Will finds out the poison was “a particularly nasty toxin called corocore. It’s very obscure—not listed in any of the major texts on herbs and poisons. It takes about a week to take effect, so it was probably slipped into Orman’s food or drink sometime in the last ten days.”
  • Alyss, disguised as a noblewoman, asks for someone to bring her and her guest “the good Gallic white” wine.

Language

  • A man talks about his injured dog. He says, “little bitch tried to bite me so I taught her.”
  • Damn is used occasionally. For example, Will tells a Scandian that a man “made a damn nuisance of himself around here. . .”
  • “My God” is used as an exclamation twice. For example, when someone shows Will a weapon, Will says, “My God.”
  • “Oh God” is used as an exclamation three times. “Good God” is used as an exclamation once.
  • Alyss is working undercover as Lady Gwendolyn. She tells Will, “Now we can talk, while any eavesdroppers will hear the jongleur serenading that stuck-up twit, Lady Gwendolyn.”
  • Hell is used once. Will says, “Then we ride like hell for the gate.”
  • Someone calls a guard an idiot.

Supernatural

  • While in a forest at night, Will sees an apparition. “. . . A giant figure loomed out of the mist, towering high above the mere, seemingly to rise from the black water itself. One moment there was nothing. Then, in the blink of an eye, the figure was there, fully formed. . . This was no mortal figure he knew. This was something from the other side, from the dark world of sorcery and spells.” When the apparition tells Will to leave, Will quickly exits the forest.
  • Alyss is hypnotized.

Spiritual Content

  • As he was walking across the courtyard, Will “Breathed a silent prayer that they wouldn’t encounter Buttle on his way out.”
  • Will’s dog approaches a man. When the man begins petting the dog, Will’s friend says, “Thank God you didn’t shoot him.”

Fairest of All

Once upon a time, a mirror slurped up Abby and her brother Johan. When Abby and Johan are magically transported into the fairy tale world, they don’t mean to change Snow White’s happily-ever-after. Because of them, Snow doesn’t eat the poisonous apple. Snow doesn’t meet the prince. Abby is determined to fix Snow’s story; she’s just not sure how to make the prince meet and fall in love with Snow.

Abby and Johan are complete opposites, which adds humor to the story. Abby needs a plan for everything and constantly tries to curb Johan’s adventurous spirit. The one thing that remains constant is their desire to help Snow. Unlike the original fairy tale, in this story Snow White’s personality is multifaceted. She proves that a girl doesn’t need a prince in order to live happily ever after. Instead of following the traditional plot, Fairest of All takes the reader down a winding path where danger is behind every corner.

Fairest of All is an imaginative retelling of Snow White’s fairy tale. Told from Abby’s point of view, the story’s start is slow, but once the siblings show up at the dwarves’ cottage, the action picks up. With short chapters, easy vocabulary, and an interesting narrator, Fairest of All will appeal to a wide range of readers. The story leaves several questions unanswered, which will have readers reaching for the next book in the series, If the Shoe Fits. More advanced readers should add The Secret Rescuers series by Paula Harrison to their reading list.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Evil Evelyn tries to give Snow a poisoned apple. While arguing with Snow, Evelyn begins to sweat, and “makeup starts to smear down her face,” which allows Snow to recognize her stepmother. Johan retells the story, “Snow’s stepmom was trying to kill her with a poisoned apple, and that’s why she was wearing a disguise.”
  • Snow explains how she came to live with the dwarves. Snow’s stepmom “sends Xavier, her huntsmen, to kill me. He let me get away, but then I got lost in the forest… I came across the cottage… So I fell asleep on an empty bed, and the next thing I knew, there were seven little people staring at me.”
  • Johan tells Snow that the huntsman “told the queen that he had done it. And I think he gave her the lungs and liver of some animal, pretending it was you.” This comes up several times throughout the book.
  • Evil Evelyn tried to kill Snow using laces. The stepmother “tied them so tight Snow couldn’t breathe. We [the dwarves] came home and found Snow lying on the floor. We untied them just in time.”
  • When Prince Trevor was two, he threw a rock at a stranger.
  • Disguised as a child, Evil Evelyn offers to give Snow a cookie. Snow takes the cookie and her stepmother was “lifting the hammer and swinging it toward Snow’s head.” Abby sees the hammer and she “jumps towards Snow and push her out of the way… At the same time, the young girl’s hammer swings through the air and misses its target.” Evil Evelyn flees.
  • Snow, Johan, and Abby sneak into the castle. If they are caught, Snow says Evil Evelyn will kill them. Then Johan askes, “Do you think she’d eat our lungs and livers too?”
  • In order to try to “fix” Snow’s story, Snow pretends to be dead. As she lays in the coffin, she puts her head on a poisoned pillow. Snow screams. “Snow pops up, the tips of her hair burnt off like she stood too close to a fire.” To get the poison out of Snow’s hair, Abby dumps water on her head.
  • In order to get into the castle, Snow, Abby, and Johan swim the moat. Two crocodiles snap at the three friends. “Baby Crocodile blocks our path from behind and snaps her baby teeth… Mama Crocodile lunges again.” Johan throws stew sandwiches at the crocodile, who gobble them up. The three are able to escape.
  • Snow, Johan, and Abby try to leave the castle. They are on the drawbridge when soldiers appear. Evil Evelyn “aims a bowstring at Snow and pulls the trigger… In what seems like slow motion, he [Prince Trevor] jumps in front of Snow.” Trevor is injured, but Snow is saved.
  • The arrow hit Prince Trevor “square in the chest… Prince Trevor is still standing, but he’s shaking. After a few dramatic moments, his knees buckle, and he falls right over the bridge and into the water. Splash!”
  • Snow is able to drag Prince Trevor to shore. Trevor wakes up and says, “You kissed me. I was dead, and your kiss woke me up.” Snow explains that she didn’t kiss Trevor, but that “it was mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.” The escape scene is described over 10 pages.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Jonah and Abby travel through a mirror and end up in Snow White’s fairy tale. When Jonah knocks on the mirror three times, the mirror sucks Jonah and Abby into it.
  • Time in the real world travels slower than in Snow White’s world. Every hour in the real world equals one day in Snow’s world.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Spy School #1

Ben Ripley’s just a normal, average middle schooler until he finds a man in a tuxedo sitting on his living room couch. Recruited by the CIA and sent to their secretive training school, Ben finally has a chance at his dream job: secret agent! Unfortunately for him, his innate math skills won’t help while he’s battling ninjas, fighting off assassins, dodging insane professors, or just trying not to die on the first day of class.

With all the crazy combat and intense classes, Ben starts to miss his normal life and regrets accepting the spy school’s invitation. After learning the CIA is using him to discover an evil mole within their organization, Ben has an opportunity to prove to everyone that he’s capable of saving the day. Joining forces with Erica Hale, the top spy in the school, the duo hunts down the nefarious double-agent under the CIA’s nose. After cracking codes, stealing secrets, and dodging bullets, Ben and Erica realize the mole is closer than they think! Will Ben and Erica stop the mole before their master plan is complete?

Spy School is a non-stop spy thrill ride. From car chases in Washington to killer ninjas in math class to fighting off an assassin with a tennis racket in his underwear, it seems Ben Ripley never gets a break at his new school. However, with the intense, heart-pounding action sequences, Gibbs manages to keep the action appropriate for young readers.

Although Ben Ripley isn’t a super spy, middle school readers will relate to his insecurities and desire to fit in. Ben moves to a new school and has trouble making friends because both bullies and teachers pick on him. The administration uses him to find a flaw in their organization, and no one thinks he can succeed. As the story progresses, readers root for Ben as he fights off bad guys, makes friends, and grows confident in his spy abilities.

Fans of espionage thrillers will enjoy Spy School with its fast-paced action, witty jokes, and plot twists. The story of friendship, self-determination, and self-belief will entertain readers as it teaches positive lessons. Readers will learn the importance of being themselves and that everyone has value. With its tame violence and mild language, the Spy School series is a good precursor for other espionage series, like The Theodore Boone series and The Gallagher Girls series. Altogether, Spy School is an engaging story for readers that will keep them on the edge of their seats with its intense action scenes and surprise ending.

Sexual Content

  • Ben has a crush on Erica. When they first met, Erica tackles Ben to the ground and Ben thinks to himself, “The girl sitting on my chest appeared to be a few years older than me, fourteen or fifteen, with thick dark hair and incredibly blue eyes… She even smelled incredible, an intoxicating combination of lilacs and gunpowder.” However, Erica is often cold to Ben, and there is no “romance” in the story.

Violence

  • When Alexander Hale and Ben arrive at Spy School, Alexander knows something is wrong. The campus was quiet when it “ought to be crawling with people right now.” Ben gets out of the car and runs as “something crackled in the distance. A tiny explosion erupted in the snow to my left. Someone was shooting at me!” Alexander shoots back as Ben reaches the dormitory door. Ben runs into the dormitory area and “something suddenly swept my feet out from under me. I landed flat on my back. A split second later someone dropped on me, sheathed entirely in black except for the eyes. Each knee pinioned one of my arms to the ground.”
  • During the fight, Ben meets his attacker, Erica Hale. Erica is a fellow student who hands him a taser and commands him to follow her as they head to the Nathan Hale Administration Building. As they head up the stairs, Erica notices two enemy agents, so she commands Ben to cut through the library and make it to the principal’s office. Erica attacks them and Ben runs into the library as “gunfire raked the carpet behind me and splintered the doorjamb as I lunged for safety.” Ben heads up a spiral staircase and “a bullet pinged off the banister just as I reached the third floor.”
  • Ben notices a black-clad man clutching a machine gun darting toward his staircase. Ben grabs a book from one of the shelves and drops it from the railing. “From below came the distinct thud of book colliding with a skull, followed by the grunt of the assassin collapsing.” As enemy agents start to surround him, Ben quickly finds the principal’s door. Ben throws himself against the locked door. Ben “flipped on my taser and jammed it into the keypad. The tiny screen flickered as I shocked the system. Then the electricity overloaded, and every light in the hall blew out, plunging me into darkness.” Ben makes it into the principal’s office where Alexander Hale, Erica, and the principal inform him he just failed the first test of Spy School. This scene takes place over 15 pages.
  • After talking in Professor Crandall’s Introduction to Self-Preservation class, Professor Crandall tests Ben’s knowledge with a pop quiz. Crandall opens a door by the podium and three ninjas vault through. They are clad in black from head to toe and armed to the teeth. As Ben tries to escape through the back door, “a throwing star embedded in the door. I spun to find the ninjas creeping slowly up the steps. The one in front spun a pair of razor-sharp sai knives. The other two twirled nunchucks.” As Ben runs away, he hears something whistling through the air behind him. Ben “turned to find a nunchuck quickly closing the gap between the ninja who’d thrown it and my forehead. This was followed by an absolutely incredible amount of pain.” Ben is knocked unconscious. This scene takes place over two pages.
  • During the school’s annual war game, Ben is chased by an attacker he recognized from Chemistry 102: Poisons and Explosives. Ben jumps down a snowy slope head first as “a paintball whistled past my ear and splattered a rock.” Ben lands on rocks below, feet first, as his attacker levels a gun. All of a sudden, “a red paintball nailed her in the helmet, splattering all over her faceguard.” Zoe, one of Ben’s friends and teammates, shoots the attacker in the head.
  • Then, Ben and Warren decide to attack the other team’s flag on the other side of campus. There’s only one problem, the enemy team has Bullseye Bailey, the best sniper “rumored to be able to decapitate a flea with a bullet from a mile away.” As Warren distracts Bailey, Ben becomes distracted, and Warren ends up covered in blue paint. “As this happened, something burst out of the snow on our side of the mill, away from the action. It took me a moment to realize it was a person. Someone who’d somehow dug through the snow to within mere feet of the guards without them noticing.” Erica appears from out of the snow and captures the flag before anyone realizes what has happened.
  • As Ben is held in the school’s security room, he watches as Alexander and a team of agents surround the enemy on campus. “Video images were now coming up faster and faster as the agents tried to track everything that was happening on the surface at once. I caught glimpses of the enemy hurtling past cameras in the woods, teams of CIA agents en route to the dormitory.” The agents attack the enemy and “a dozen nets were launched at once. Four hit their target, while two took out agents who got caught in the crossfire. The enemy went down in a heap, tangled in nets, then rolled over to find fifty agents converging on him with guns raised.” However, the enemy turned out to be Mike Brezinski, Ben’s best friend. At that moment, “an explosion blew the steel door off its hinges behind me… Sedation darts took out the agents at the monitors before they could even reach for their guns.” Another dart nailed Ben in the shoulder. This scene takes place over four pages.
  • Murray tries to escape the school, but Ben orders Murray to stop or he will shoot him with his M16. “Murray froze and turned around, allowing me to see he also had a gun in his hand. He aimed right back at me.” Murray opens fire and the first bullets hit a tree two feet to Ben’s right. Ben returns fire, hitting the roof of the Hale Building. “The ice on the steep peaked roof had frozen into a crust several inches thick. Both my bullets pounded into it, sparkling a network of fractures. A few small glaciers calved free and rocketed off the roof, knocking a dozen massive icicles loose from the eaves en route.” Ice flattened Murray, who is arrested. This scene takes place over two pages.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Ben calls Chip a jerk. Erica says, “Jerks hang you up from the flagpole by your underwear. They don’t blow up schools.”
  • Ass is used one time. Ben tries to break into the principal’s office by slamming himself against the door. However, “It was locked. I bounced off it and landed on my ass in the hall.”
  • Ben tells Erica how someone tried to coerce him into hacking the school’s mainframe. Erica says, “And thus would’ve kept his hands clean. Doing something stupid isn’t so stupid if you can get someone else to do it for you.”
  • In an attempt to save his own life after an assassin sneaks into his room, Ben tries to ramble on about how to break into the CIA’s mainframe. The assassin detects Ben’s lies and says, “I’m not an idiot. And I’ve run out of patience. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
  • Chip doesn’t believe Ben took on an assassin all by himself and says, “He’s a dork. If that had been a real assassin, he’d be dead.”
  • During Chip and Ben’s fistfight after the war game, “dozens of students and faculty had just returned from the war game only to find us writhing about on the floor like a couple of idiots.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Matthew Perkey

Ida B: and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World

Ida B doesn’t like change. Every day, she has the same thing for breakfast: oats with raisins. Every day, she has the same thing for lunch: peanut butter on one slice of bread, milk, and an apple. Ida B also wants to spend “every day with her Mama and Daddy, Rufus and Lulu, the trees and the mountains and the snakes and the birds. All day, every day.”

When Ida B goes to kindergarten, she quickly changes from an inquisitive girl to a quiet, sullen one. Her parents decide to homeschool Ida B. Ida B is happy to spend every day with her parents. When the trees tell Ida B that trouble is coming, Ida B doesn’t think anything will really happen. When Mama gets cancer, Ida B is forced to return to school. Ida B feels betrayed and hardens her heart; she doesn’t want to ever be hurt again.

Instead of making friends at school, Ida B keeps her classmates away with glares. She refuses to talk to her parents, and she no longer goes to visit the trees. Ida B is determined to “stand there with my mouth closed tight, my lips zipped, glued, and stapled together to keep the angry words that were banging to get out…” The only bright spot in Ida B’s world is her teacher Mrs. W, who quietly encourages Ida B to share her feelings.

Ida B chronicles one girl’s struggle to deal with the changes that come with her mother’s cancer. Since Ida B is written from Ida B’s point of view, the reader will be able to understand her hurt and confusion. Ida B’s feelings are explained in ways that younger readers will understand. However, some readers may have difficulty understanding Ida B’s ability to talk to nature. Readers may also struggle with the story’s difficult vocabulary, such as forbearance, engulfing, dismemberment, and foe.

At the end of the story, Ida B learns the importance of apologizing and sharing her feelings with others. The story doesn’t end with a cheerful conclusion where every problem is solved. Instead, Ida B eventually shares her feelings, which lightens her burden. Even though Ida B teaches positive lessons, readers who love adventure and fantasy books may quickly become bored with Ida B’s story because it focuses on feelings rather than actions. However, anyone who has been faced with a difficult situation will relate to Ida B. Because much of the book revolves around Ida B thinking about her feelings and talking to nature, young readers may have a difficult time finishing the book. If you’re looking for realistic fiction that teaches life lessons, you may want to try Wish by Barbara O’Connor instead of Ida B.

 Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Ida B angrily kicks a tree. “…I kicked its trunk as hard as I could so my foot ached something fierce, but I didn’t even whimper.”

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • When Ida B learns that her father is selling part of the orchard, “the only thing I cared about was putting together a plan to save me and my valley. But for all my wishing and hoping and sending out ten different kinds of prayers for a good one, not a single decent plan came out of me.”

Ghost

Ghost (or Castle Cranshaw, as he would rather not be known) knows how to run all too well, and since the night his father tried to shoot him and his mother, running is all he can do to handle his wild emotions. When he shows up at a running practice, Coach Brody sees Ghost’s natural talent and insists he joins the team with one condition: that Ghost keep his head straight. For Ghost, who has a knack for running into trouble, this might be the most difficult task of all.

Ghost speaks to audiences that are otherwise underrepresented in middle grade literature, as Ghost and his friends are a diverse bunch. Ghost himself lives in a poverty-stricken part of the city. The novel tackles weighty themes like absent/abusive parents, race, and substance abuse; it contextualizes them through the lens of a thirteen-year-old who is learning to come to grips with his rage and fear. Ghost’s story in particular examines the effect of his father’s drinking and imprisonment on Ghost’s emotional state. Characters like Coach Brody and the other runners help him comprehend his situation, and their story is one about forging a new family through track.

As a character, Ghost can be arrogant. He delivers snap judgments of others. At times, he makes questionable decisions, including a major plot point where he shoplifts shoes because he cannot afford them. Despite these traits, he’s a sympathetic character who embodies what it’s like to be a kid dealing with a difficult home life, and emotions like humiliation, rage, and fear. By the end, Ghost realizes he “was the boy with the altercations and the big file. The one who yelled at teachers and punched stupid guys in the face for talking smack. The one who felt…different. And mad. And sad. The one with all the scream inside.” By the end, Ghost learns how to manage his emotions in a healthier way, as running track gives him a productive outlet.

Overall, Ghost is an entertaining read, and Reynolds does a good job delivering realistic characters that display both good and bad qualities. The plot is smart, straightforward, and doesn’t fall into predictable stereotypes. The biggest strength of the book is its ability to relate to students who otherwise don’t have a voice in middle school literature.

Although Ghost will resonate with those who love sports, any reader who has felt lost will relate to Ghost. The story shows how much of an impact one person or team can make in a kid’s life. Ghost is a must-read because it presents a growth in emotional maturity and shows that anything is possible with a support system and self-discipline.

Sexual Content

  • Ghost briefly mentions that Damon started a rumor at school. Damon “told everybody that I kissed a girl named Janine, who was the only pretty girl who liked me, but I didn’t.”
  • Some of the other runners tease Patty about having a crush on Curron, another runner. She quickly dispels that idea when she says, “Ain’t nobody got a crush on Curron!”

Violence

  • In a drunken rage, Ghost’s father tries to shoot Ghost and his mother. As they run away, Ghost “saw him, my dad, staggering from the bedroom, his lips bloody, a pistol in his hand… As soon as she swung the door open, my dad fired a shot… I didn’t look to see what he hit, mainly because I was scared it was gonna be me. Or Ma. The sound was big, and sharp enough to make me feel like my brain was gonna pop in my head, enough to make my heart hiccup.”
  • Ghost makes an offhand comment when he thinks about his mom meeting Coach Brady. Ghost says, “I’ve seen those weird shows where psychos pose like coaches and stuff and get you caught up and the next thing you know my mother’s in jail too for handling this guy.”
  • Another student bullies Ghost and strikes him with a chicken drumstick. The bully says a series of insults, and then the bully “threw the chicken wing at me. It hit me in the chest… I brushed the over-fried wing off my lap, opened my milk carton, took a swig, and then, with all my might, beamed the container at Brandon’s head…before he could even make a move, I had picked up my plastic tray and whacked him over the head.”
  • Ghost watches a fight break out between a group of men on the basketball court. One man, nicknamed Sicko, pushes someone. Ghost says, “A fight. As usual. Stupid Sicko pushed the wrong guy… And then Pop got into it. And then Big James. Then Big James’s girl. And then some other girl.”
  • Coach Brody details his father’s abuse. Coach Brody says that his father “punched me in the mouth when I was fifteen because I asked him to change the channel on the TV.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Ghost’s father is an alcoholic, which Ghost talks openly about throughout the novel. Ghost says, “It was three years ago when my dad lost it. When the alcohol made him meaner than he’d ever been.”
  • Ghost observes the drug addicts hanging around the basketball courts. He says, “And junkies. They’d just be zombied out, roaming around the outside of the court… Goose was the dope man… Super flashy, but an all-around nice guy. Well, except for selling drugs.”
  • Coach Brody talks about his own father’s addiction and overdose. Coach says that his father “was an addict… Three weeks later, he…he stole my medal for a twenty-dollar high. He overdosed, right there on those steps.”

Language

  • Slang and otherwise grammatically incorrect sentences are used in dialogue to simulate authentic speech. For instance, Ghost says, “running isn’t anything I ever had to practice. It’s just something I knew how to do.”
  • Ghost frequently insults people’s appearances. For instance, upon seeing Coach Brody, Ghost says that Coach looks like a “turtle with a chipped tooth.” Later he calls Coach “this bowling-ball-head coach.”
  • When describing people, Ghost will sometimes refer to their race. For example, “milk-face running boy” and “fancy, white-black boy.”
  • Ghost compares a bully to Jack from Lord of the Flies, calling him a “power-hungry dummy.”
  • Ghost and the other kids frequently use words like dang, stupid, weird, crazy person, and jerk.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Ghost references God once, saying, “His skin was white. Like, the color white. And his hair was light brown. But his face looked like a black person’s. Like God forgot to put the brown in him.”

by Allison Kestler

 

Let Sleeping Dragons Lie

Odo and Eleanor are excited to be knights. The only problem is that nothing ever happens in their sleepy little village. While Odo is happy to wait for some action to come his way, Eleanor is eager to go on the next adventure. Both knights know they are prepared to go on a quest, especially since they have their trusted and talkative enchanted swords.

When bilewolves attack the village, two strangers show up to dispatch the evil creatures. The strangers, Edga, and Hundred, are determined to prevent an unbearable imposter from taking the crown. Odo, Eleanor, and their swords join the quest. They will wander through unfamiliar lands, fight unseen enemies, and prepare for an epic battle.

The second installment of the Have Sword, Will Travel Series loses its humor and lacks a lot of the charm of the first book. When Odo and Eleanor join the quest, they meet two new characters, Edga and Hundred. Unfortunately, neither of these characters is relatable. Years ago Edga abdicated the thrown, and now he believes Kyndryk should be king. However, Kyndryk rarely appears. When he does, none of his actions prove he is worthy of becoming king.

Several new characters appear in book two. However, a bat that has been taught to recite letters in order to deliver messages is the most interesting character. All of the new characters are one-dimensional. Even though their quest is admirable, their personalities do not pop off the page. As the group travels to stop the coronation, the action lags. When the group finally makes it to their destination, a dragon appears, but his appearance is anticlimactic. Instead of adding an interesting element, the dragon does nothing to add to the story’s plot.

Readers who fell in love with Odo and Eleanor in Have Sword, Will Travel will be slightly disappointed in the sequel, Let Sleeping Dragons Lie. The simple plot, the slow pace, and the lack of enchanted sword action all add up to a mediocre sequel. If you’re looking for an excellent fantasy series, the Riders of the Realm Series by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez and the Max Tilt Series by Peter Lerangis both take readers on an adventurous journey full of wonder.

  Sexual Content

  • None

 Violence

  • “Four enormous, shaggy, wolf like creatures, each the size of a small horse” attack two people—Hundred and Edga. The man’s weapon “was a blur, leaping out to punch one bilewolf’s snout, then jab another’s forefoot. The woman was equally as adept, though she wielded a curved sword, the blade moving swiftly…”
  • When Odo and Eleanor see the fighting, they also notice “three villagers lay dead or seriously wounded, their torn and jagged clothes still smoking from the bilewolves’ acid-spewing jaws.”
  • During the battle against the bilewolves, Sir Halfdan rides his warhorse towards a bilewolf. “A bilewolf turned towards the galloping horse and charged, leaping at the last moment to avoid Sir Halfdan’s lowering lance…” Sir Halfdan “flicked the point up, taking the beast in the shoulder, the steel point punching deep. Bilewolf shrieked, the lance snapped, and then horse, knight, and dying bilewolf collided and went flying.” Sir Halfdan dies. Three other villagers are killed, but their deaths are not described.
  • During the battle, a “bilewolf bunched itself to leap up at Odo…but Runnel’s sharp point cut through its leg even as it sprang. It fell sideways, yelping and Biter came down to separate its massive head from its body…” At the end of the battle, all the bilewolves are “slain, one with a crushed skull and the other with a sliced-open throat. All four carcasses lay steaming, the grass beneath them turning black and smoking…” The above battle takes place over six pages.
  • Edga, Hundred, and some of the villagers sneak into the village’s manor house to take some men prisoner. Hundred “brought down the guard with one hand across her mouth and a forearm tight against her throat. The guard struggled for a minute, then fell unconscious.”
  • The group sneaks into the manner when all of the men are sleeping. The group seizes the sleeping men, “swiftly trussing them up like livestock, wrist tied to ankles.”
  • While the group is herding the men out of the manor, “the front door burst in, admitting the single remaining guard… Hundred tripped the guard and Odo fell on him, one knee pinning him to the ground…and they both tied him up.” No one is injured. The scene is described over three pages.
  • Someone uses a craft-fire to have birds attack Edga’s group. “With a furious flapping of wings, a dozen black shapes converged on them from all sides, claws and beaks reaching for their eyes… Edga spun his staff overhead, knocking a raven to the ground. Hundred produced a whip and cracked it twice. Three birds fell dead, instantly slain.” Everyone is able to escape without injury.
  • A hooded figure appears and when he gestures, “tiny darts hissed out of the trees, striking them each in the throat. Odo felt a string of pain, followed by a rushing, clouding sensation as darkness swept over him once more.” Everyone in the group becomes unconscious, but they wake up safely.
  • When traveling into the urthkin’s tunnels, “something moved behind her [Eleanor] and she felt a tiny pinprick at the neck. ‘Move, tall one, and I will spill your lifeblood to the dirt,’ said the urthkin holding the curved knife to her throat.”
  • Someone uses craft-fire to make birds and bugs attack Edga’s group. “An eagle and dozens of sparrows…swarmed from the sky. Scorpion, spiders, and ants issued from cracks in rocks…” The humans were able to run and escape the attack.
  • When trying to stop Edga’s sister from becoming king, Edga’s group “attacked the backs of the watching Instruments. Two fell with throwing knives buried deep in their shoulders. Another two dropped with tendons cut in their ankles.”
  • During the battle, “Odo lowered the shield from his face long enough to block a wicked slash to his ribs from a skinny woman… The blow jarred every joint in the left side of his body.”
  • In order to stop the attacking birds, “Hundred’s blades caught the craft-worker. The bearded man went down with a cry, and his green-flamed torch went out. The animals were instantly released.”
  • Hundred tries to stop Lord Deor. Hundred “threw a knife that glanced off his shoulder without doing any harm… The third bit into his neck, and he turned with a snarl.” The fighting is described over seven and a half pages.
  • Trying to capture Lord Deor, Odo continues the fight. “Blood still flowed freely down his [Odo’s] side, and his smile was looking forced.”
  • The huge rock where the fight took place began to crumble, and Lord Deor “with a cry, he fell into a fiery crack and disappeared. There came a sound like giant jaws crunching and he was gone.”
  • As Edga’s sister tried to run, the dragon caught her and wrapped her in “his lightning-fast tongue. The dragon held her like that for a few seconds, then whipped his tongue back, sending the regents spinning dizzily away until she fell over a stone and lay there, sobbing angrily.”
  • In the epilogue, an enchanted sword “lunged, killing the peasant with a single stab to the throat.”

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • Edga asks Hundred to sing. “Give us a round of ‘Drunk Eyes Fair See What Fair Might Not Be.”
  • While traveling, Edga’s group stops for the night. As they talk to other travelers, they “passed around a flask of warming spirits that made Odo’s eyes water, just sniffing it.”
  • Someone uses poison darts to put Edga’s group “to sleep.”

Language

  • Eleanor calls someone a “slimy cumberwold.”
  • Edga’s sister says he is a “dullard.”
  • Eleanor tells Odo, “don’t be such a lubberwort.”
  • Kyndryk’s grandmother calls him a fool.
  • Edga’s sister says, “You’re supposed to be dead, you old fool!”

Supernatural

  • Biter and his sister sword are enchanted swords that are able to talk and control their movements.
  • Someone uses a craft-fire to deliberately call the bilewolves.
  • Some people believe that “the dead were dead and likely to stay that way—unless talked about too much.”
  • In order to help Edga grieve the loss of his friends, Odo built a grave. Hundred explains, “These are twigs and berries—an old Karnickan ritual, I believe. A stick for the body, a seed for the soul? To put grief to rest and let the happy memories thrive?” The group buries the stick and seed to represent the dead.
  • Urthkin, “pale-skinned, reed-slender demi-humans” that have “paws like a mole’s, with digging claws,” only come out at night because light hurts their eyes. Edga’s group asks for permission to use the Urthkin’s tunnels.
  • Edga and his group are taken to a forge that is able to create enchanted swords. Odo’s sword, Biter, asks a smith to repair a nick in his sword. Biter is “washed in sweet oils, bathed in three fires, hammered by a master smith.” Afterward, Biter’s memory comes back.
  • Kyndryk paints a mural of a dragon. He chants, “Dragon, dragon, heed our call. Come to aid us, one and all. From a cruel and dreadful fate, save us now, ere it’s too late.” After Kyndryk says the chant several times, the dragon comes alive. “But the dragon was flying too low. The broad wings flapped almost carelessly a third and final time. Then, with a soundless crash that somehow made the stone quiver faintly underfoot, it struck the vertical cliff face and became a mural once more.”

Spiritual Content

  • While trying to sneak past sentries, Odo “kept his face carefully neutral, praying his relief was perfectly concealed.”

Max: Best Friend. Hero. Marine.

When Justin finds out his older brother, Kyle, has been killed overseas, Justin is devastated. Kyle was a marine, a hero trying to live up to his father’s reputation, yet in an instant his life was over. Now, Kyle’s only connection to Justin is Max, Kyle’s former canine partner and a discharged K-9 marine.

When Max was at Kyle’s side, he was meant to sniff out explosives, search for enemy soldiers and weapons, and keep Kyle and his unit alive. Max, just like Kyle, was trained for war. He was trained to be a hero. While Max’s presence doesn’t make it easy for Justin and his parents to grieve, they soon discover that without a home, Max will be put down. With no home to place Max in, Kyle’s partner is placed in Justin’s care.

After Kyle’s death, it isn’t easy for Justin and his family to see Max alive and well. It isn’t easy for Max to move on from his days on the frontlines. Most people misunderstand Max, believing he is too aggressive. Max isn’t meant to be a pet. He is meant to be a hero. Justin is the only one who understands Max is also grieving for Kyle. Both Justin and Max find it difficult to adjust to each other. Soon the two bond over Kyle’s death, supporting each other and giving each other a purpose.

When Tyler, Kyle’s best friend, is discharged from the marines, Justin begins to ask questions. Justin and Max work together to figure out what really happened to Kyle. Can they find the truth and still protect Justin’s family from the dangerous people Tyler is working with?

Shotz’s novel about a war dog coming home to his handler’s family is a wonderfully wholesome story. Justin and his family are well-written characters that deal with the guilt, shame, and sadness that accompanies a loved one’s death. Max serves as the means to which Justin’s family can work out their emotions surrounding Kyle’s death, as well as the means to which everyone comes together in the end. Max is also a stand in for Kyle; since Kyle is gone, Max helps Justin protect his family and sniff out Tyler’s true intentions, just as Kyle would have done.

Max: Best Friend. Hero. Marine. shows that heroes come in many forms. Kyle is considered a hero because he followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the marines. Justin struggles with his father’s pressure to live up to his brother’s legend. Justin’s father, who was discharged early on from the marines because of a leg injury, struggles to connect with Justin because Justin doesn’t want to be a marine. However, Justin proves himself to be as much of a hero as Kyle. At the end of the story, Justin earns his dad’s trust and lives up to Kyle’s memory.

Unlike Kyle, Tyler chose to lie and deceive his best friend’s family in order to smuggle weapons across the border. Tyler will eliminate anyone that stands in his way. The story emphasizes that someone doesn’t need to go into the military to be a hero, and that not all marines are heroes.

Max: Best Friend. Hero. Marine. is fast-paced, and the suspense builds from the moment Justin’s family is told Kyle has died. The believable twists will keep readers turning the page until they reach the heartwarming conclusion. Max: Best Friend. Hero. Marine. is a must-read because of the realistic characters and wonderful storytelling. For more heroic dog stories, try the G.I. Dogs Series by Laurie Calkhoven.

Sexual Content

  • When Justin meets Carmen, “her dark eyes were still zeroed in on him, making his cheeks feel kind of hot.” Justin thinks Carmen is pretty.
  • When two of Justin’s friends are in his backyard, “they looked up to see Justin framed in his window, shirtless.”
  • When Carmen is invited over to Justin’s house for dinner, Justin feels awkward. “Then again, Justin had never brought a girl home for dinner.”
  • After triumphing over Tyler, Carmen and Chuy meet up with Justin. Then, Carmen “stepped forward and planted her lips on his. Justin was so startled that he didn’t know what to do at first. Then he quickly came to his senses and kissed her back.”

Violence

  • At the beginning of the novel, Justin is playing a military-themed video game. In the game, the “virtual army let out a series of grunts and pumped their fists in the air or fell to the ground.” The game makes Justin think of his brother, Kyle, a soldier overseas. “Sometimes Justin tried to picture Kyle as one of these guys, but it was just too weird. He couldn’t imagine his brother shooting anyone.”
  • Chuy, Justin’s friend, has a cousin named Emilio. Emilio is “pretty hard-core—possibly even in a gang—and he wasn’t going to be happy when he learned that Chuy had misplaced his new  (video) game.”
  • Kyle is never seen in the present day because he dies fighting in Afghanistan. When a solider comes to Justin’s house, “Justin knew for sure: His brother was dead. Kyle was dead.”
  • In a flashback, Justin thinks about the time Kyle picked him up from school. Justin had gotten into a fight. “He didn’t know how to tell Kyle that he’d gotten in a fight over a stupid bike. Or that he’d been sucker-punched. Or that he’d managed not to hit back, because he didn’t think it was worth it.”
  • During another flashback, Justin remembers Tyler, Kyle’s friend, speaking to his parents over video call. “‘We’re making trouble, Mrs. W.,’ Tyler said, ‘For the bad guys, that is.’”
  • When Justin confronts his dad about Kyle, he says, “Being a man and enlisting and getting killed, like Kyle? Or being a man and getting my leg shot up, like you? Tell me what I’m supposed to learn from either of those things.” Later, Justin tells his dad, “‘You’d like me to get myself killed,’ Justin said, holding his dad’s ‘Wouldn’t you?’”
  • Justin’s mom gets a call about Max, Kyle’s dog. She tells the family, “Sergeant Reyes called. They’re going to kill Max.”
  • Tyler tells Justin’s dad that Max is the reason Kyle was killed. Justin sees “his father was standing in front of Max’s crate, his gun drawn and pointed at Max’s”
  • When Justin is hunted by a pair of rottweilers, Max fights one of the dogs. “The two dogs rolled around in the dirt, a frenzy of growls and bites and scratches, battling each other fiercely.” Justin found Max injured later.
  • Justin watches as his dad, Ray, is about to be attacked by Stack, a sheriff deputy and Tyler’s accomplice. “What his dad couldn’t see—which Justin and Max both could see—was that Stack was running at Justin’s dad from behind, holding a giant rock in his fleshy hands, raised high in the air. He was about to slam it down onto Justin’s dad’s” Max saves Ray, “Stack stumbled, and Max flew over Ray and crashed into Stack’s chest, knocking him to the ground.”
  • During the final battle with Tyler’s gang, Justin sees “his dad, who pointed a gun straight at the windshield and fired. The truck swerved and crashed into the side of the hill. The back of the truck exploded in a burst of flame, and suddenly a thousand gunshots pinged around the ravine. The ammunition in Tyler’s truck had ignited.” No one is injured or hurt in the explosion.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Tyler is given pain medication for a shrapnel injury. Tyler says, “But they got me on so many painkillers, I hardly notice it.”
  • When Tyler comes over to talk to Justin’s dad, “Justin was surprised to see his dad limp over to the mini-fridge under his desk and take out two beers. It was early for him to start drinking.”
  • When Tyler asks Justin’s dad for a favor, Justin’s dad took “another swig of beer, as if for courage.”

Language

  • During a flashback, Justin remembers a time when he and his parents were talking to Kyle over video chat. Justin says, “Kyle’s so awesome even his frickin’ dog is a hero.”
  • When going to see Max at the military kennel, Justin thinks, “He was one pissed-off dog, that was for sure.”
  • When Justin thinks about his dad, he thinks, “His dad cared more about a stupid dog that had once belonged to Kyle than he did about his own living, breathing son.”
  • Someone tells Justin, “Yo, you look like crap.”
  • Before Kyle and Tyler became soldiers, Tyler used to tease Justin. Tyler “would make fun of Justin—calling him a serious loser or computer nerd.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Kyle’s funeral is at a church. At the church, Justin’s “Mother’s sobs carried up and over the singing of the choir.”

by Jonathan Planman

Bird & Squirrel On Ice

After Bird and Squirrel crash land in the South Pole during a raging blizzard, a penguin named Sakari thinks Bird has come to rid her village of a hungry Killer Whale. But when Squirrel finds out that Bird will actually be fed to the Killer Whale as a sacrifice, they hatch a crazy plan to escape. With good timing, a little luck, and help from Sakari, they just might make it out alive. Or they might end up as whale food!

Bird & Squirrel on the Run consisted of funny cat chases and misfortunes. While Bird & Squirrel On Ice has more of a storyline, there is less interaction between Bird and Squirrel. For much of the story, Squirrel is trying to save Bird’s life, while Bird is clueless, convinced that Squirrel is just jealous. The storyline has a darker tone and revolves around Bird being sacrificed to a whale.

The story’s serious tone is offset by the funny chases and the introduction of Sakari’s penguin family. Sakari and her father disagree about sacrificing Bird; in the end, Sakari proves that she has a “mighty spirit and an even mightier heart.” Many readers will enjoy seeing a female character save the day. Because of Sakari’s determination to listen to her heart and Squirrel’s dedication to his friend, Bird is saved in the end.

Interesting characters, slapstick humor, puns, and a fast-paced plot combine to create an entertaining graphic novel. The story is illustrated with brightly colored panels. Much like a cartoon, the illustrations use exaggerated facial expressions to add to the humor. Each page contains one to six simple sentences. Bird & Squirrel On Ice will appeal to even the most reluctant readers. Bird and Squirrel’s silly antics will keep readers interested while they explore family dynamics and jealousy.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • A penguin stabs Squirrel with a spear. Squirrel takes off running and yells, “Something bit me!!”
  • A seal jumps out of the water and tries to eat a penguin. The penguin attacks the seal with her spear, and the seal jumps back into the water. The scene is illustrated over two pages.
  • Sakari discovers that her father plans to sacrifice Bird to a whale. Sakari tells her father, “It isn’t his sacrifice to make. You have to stop it.”
  • Before Bird can be sacrificed, Sakari jumps into the ocean and attacks the whale with her spear. The whale tries to eat Sakari. She swims out of the bay. While Sakari is leading the whale away, Squirrel tries to break a snow bridge. As Squirrel is working, a seal smacks him. Bird begins throwing rocks at the seal. In the end, everyone is safe from the whale. The scene is illustrated over 14 pages.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Squirrel tells Bird, “You’re the most self-centered birdbrain I’ve ever met!”

Supernatural

  • Squirrel goes to see a woman who gives him advice. The woman says, “The fire shall provide the light you seek. One cannot be found until one is lost.” Squirrel looks into a fire’s smoke and sees a vision.

Spiritual Content

  • None

All the Pieces Fit

In book five, D.J. and Hilo traveled to Hilo’s home planet. In order to keep their activities secret, they left robot versions of themselves on earth. When government agents appear, they are determined to take D.J. and Hilo into custody. With the help of Gina and Polly, the secret agents end up running from the scene. However, now Gina’s parents discover the truth about D.J. and Hilo.

Being a hero isn’t easy. Hilo had no idea it would be this hard. Hilo came to earth because he was running from Razorwark. He’s done running. Razorwark has come to earth, and the time has come for one final face-to-face showdown. What happens will decide the fate of the robot world…and Hilo’s future. The sacrifice will be great but with Izzy’s help, Hilo finally knows what he has to do because THIS is how all the pieces fit.

Fans of the Hilo series will not be disappointed with the sixth installment of the series, which brings all of the characters together to fight Razorwark. All the Pieces Fit is a fast-paced story that contains many exciting battles. However, the fighting is broken up with humorous scenes, such as a hurricane of hamsters and a force field around the city. However, the philosophy about Hilo’s empatis will confuse some readers. However, the ending is surprising and shows how “we all have a purpose. We have a place we’re supposed to fit.”

All the Pieces Fit uses brightly-colored illustrations that keep the action moving. The detailed illustrations show exaggerated facial expressions, which will help readers understand the characters’ changing emotions. For maximum enjoyment, the stories should be read in order. Even though the first chapter recaps the events in the previous books, the stories’ plots build on each other.

Hilo is the perfect series for all ages. The sci-fi story shows the importance of friendship and sacrifice, and the heartwarming conclusion will leave readers smiling. Even though Hilo’s story is wrapped up, readers will be excited that the actions continues in Gina—The Girl Who Broke the World.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Government agents try to take custody of D.J. and Hilo. Gina uses her magic wand to knock “buttface here on his butt.”
  • Polly shoots lasers at the government agents, who jump out of the way. Then Gina uses her magic wand to make vines grow around the agents. Later, Polly makes two agents clothes blow up like balloons. Polly hits the agents with a stick and they go flying.
  • Gina and her friends continue to harass the agents. When one of the agents tasers D.J., they discover that a robot has taken D.J.’s place. The government agent fight is illustrated over eight pages.
  • To chase off the rest of the agents, Polly uses magic to send “a wee hurricane of hamsters” to attack. The agent tasers Gina. When he tasers Hilo, he discovers that Hilo has also been replaced by a robot.
  • When Polly creates a “giant monster hedgehog,” the remaining agents run away. The scene takes place over four pages.
  • As a force field covers a town, a car is split in half, separating the passenger from the driver. No one is injured.
  • While flying in the sky, Razorwark grabs Hilo and throws him to the ground. Hilo is uninjured.
  • Razorwark and Hilo fight. Hilo blasts Razorwark with freezing lasers. Razorwark blasts Hilo with a laser, and Hilo falls to the ground. The battle scene is illustrated over five pages.
  • Hilo destroys the portal so Razorwark cannot escape. Then, Razorwark and Hilo blast each other with lasers. Razorwark tells Hilo he wants revenge because people “wanted me to be the sole fighter of their wars! And I was! They wanted me to be a murderer! And I was!” Razorwark plans to kill all of the humans so the “society” of robots has a world of their own.

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Lisa calls a government agent a buttface. When Lisa’s father gets upset, her mom says, “No, she’s not totally wrong. They are kind of buttfaces.”
  • Someone calls the government agents “dirt weasels.”
  • When a force field covers the town, an agent says, “holy mackerel.”

Supernatural

  • Razorwark opens a portal to allow robot pieces to enter Earth’s atmosphere. Then Razorwark uses magic to assemble the pieces.
  • Izzy touches Hilo’s heart with a flower that transfers Izzy’s energy to Hilo. When Izzy’s power is drained, she dies. Hilo explains to his friends, “Razorwark gave me some of his empatis and he gave some to Izzy. It’s the energy that brought us to life. Without it we’re empty. We’re broken machines. Without it we die. Izzy gave me all of hers. She gave me everything.”
  • Gina uses her magic wand to make a tree grow to make magic wands. She tells her friends, “You all have wands that can do stunner spells. These won’t hurt the robots! But it’ll knock them on their cans.” The group uses their wands to stun the robots. During this time, the scene flashes to Hilo and Razorwark fighting.
  • Razorwark surrounds Hilo in a “crystal thing.” When D.J. finds Hilo, he breaks the “crystal thing” freeing Hilo.
  • During the final battle between Razorwark and Hilo, the two appear to blow up and “this rain…it’s energy. It’s what made Razorwark. And Izzy…and Hilo…alive.” The energy falls onto the robots, making them come alive.
  • Polly takes the robots through a portal so they can build an entire society.
  • Hilo falls to the ground in a flash of light. Although it’s not explained how, Hilo is now a human.
  • Gina uses a “magic gem. The orb of fellbeck. It cast a spell that makes the entire world forget everything that’s happened in the last two days.” After the spell, Gina says, “Time is the stone that falls. Time is the river that crawls. Turn back the water and rock. Turn back the sun and the clock.” After Gina uses the spell, only four people remember what happened.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Hurricane Rescue

A dangerous hurricane is racing towards Ben’s hometown. Ben promises his father that he will stay safe inside their home. Ben doesn’t mean to disobey his father, but when Jack and his puppy, Scout, go missing, Ben knows he has to help. With the help of his friend Noah and retired search-and-rescue dog Hero, Ben sets off into the woods in search of his missing friend.

Ben, Noah, and Hero desperately try to locate Jack. When they find Jack, they soon realize that a raging flash flood has made it impossible to continue their trip. Together, Hero and Ben fight to keep everyone alive. But can Hero battle his way past alligators, mudslides, and raging floods?

With howling winds, angry alligators, and danger hiding in every corner, Hurricane Rescue is a fast-paced story that has surprises around every corner. Hurricane Rescue is told from Ben’s point of view, which allows the reader to understand his thought process and experience Ben’s worry about his missing friend Jack. Through their harrowing ordeal, Hero comes to the rescue time and time again. However, in the end, everyone must work together to make sure that everyone makes it out alive.

Hurricane Rescue is an engaging story that doesn’t only focus on the hurricane. Instead, the story also shows the importance of the father-son bond. While Ben lives in a traditional two-parent household, Jack’s parents are recently divorced, which makes it difficult for Jack to see his father on a regular basis. Jack’s grief over missing his father causes him to make the dangerous decision of sneaking off in order to try to make it to his father’s house, which is in a different town.

Told from Ben’s point of view, the readers understand why Ben isn’t truthful. Ben lies to Jack’s mother, intentionally disobeys his father, and leads his friend into danger. Even though the story ends happily, Ben should have been honest with the adults in his life instead of jumping into a dangerous situation on his own. Ben’s impulsive actions and dishonesty were also portrayed in the first book of the series.

Hero plays a main role in the story, and readers will enjoy seeing how Ben and Hero work together. The suspenseful story has likable, well-developed characters who show bravery and courage. However, some of the rescue scenes are unrealistic. Despite this, Hurricane Rescue will keep readers engaged until the last page while it illustrates the importance of rescue workers, such as the National Guard and police officers. Readers who enjoyed Hurricane Rescue should also try Survival Tails: Endurance in Antarctica by Katrina Charman.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • An alligator keeps Hero from helping a dog in trouble. Hero distracts the alligator. “The alligator’s front half was on land. His giant jaw stretched open, revealing sharp, angled teeth. . . Ben’s stomach flipped as the alligator snapped his jaw shut with a loud clack.” No one is injured.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • After a strange encounter, Ben’s friend asks him, “What the heck was that about?”
  • When Ben first met Jack, Ben thought Jack was “kind of a jerk.”
  • While Jack is trapped under a tree, he says, “Well, it kind of feels like it’s all on me, so why don’t you wimps lift this thing off me already?”
  • Jack tells his friend, “I’m sorry, Ben. I’m a total idiot.” Ben replies, “Well, now you’re a total idiot who’s been rescued.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • When Ben’s friend is in trouble, Ben thinks that he should “pray that Jack and Scout would be okay.”

Spider-Man: Far from Home: Peter and Ned’s Ultimate Travel Journal

Spider-Man is off to Europe on a science exploration, crime-fighting adventure! While on vacation, Peter Parker and his best friend, Ned Leeds, decide to create a travel journal where they jot down all the exciting things that happened to them during their trip. From St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice to the Globe Theatre in London, Ned tells readers about the most astounding and historic spots to visit in Europe. While web-slinging, Peter introduces readers to European street food, including German pretzels and English toasties. Mary Jane introduces Europe’s most notable, historic women to the boys as she takes them to the weirdest and scariest places in Europe, including Cemetery Island in Venice and the Museum of Communism in Prague. The ultimate, web-shooting travel journal really has it all!

From the Venetian gelato to the London Eye, their international trip seems to be going great until Peter finds himself having to save the world again. As he fights world-threatening monsters, Peter struggles with becoming a big-time superhero and his new crush on his friend, Mary Jane. It’s a big step up from being just the friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man. Will Peter be able to come to terms with his new identity, defeat the monsters, and finish the journal—or will the world fall into chaos?

 Peter and Ned’s Ultimate Travel Journal is a fun, educational read for young readers. Peter, Ned, and Mary Jane’s adventures across Europe, along with their witty humor, make the book fun to read. It introduces young readers to Europe’s many different, historic cultures. Throughout the book, Ned introduces historical buildings to the readers, Peter introduces cultural food, and MJ introduces historic European women. Along the way, the trio even has intellectual debates discussing if Italian pizza is better than American pizza, if Nikola Tesla is smarter than Thomas Edison, and if Michelangelo is more influential than Leonardo Da Vinci.

However, readers should watch the movie Spider-Man: Far from Home before reading the travel journal. The journal makes many references to the crime-fighting antics of Spiderman’s on-screen personality, and the journal could be confusing for readers who have not seen the movie. The camaraderie between Peter, Ned, and MJ is entertaining; however, the characters often go way overboard on teen-talk. Even though the plot is not well-developed, the theme of friendship is portrayed throughout the journal.

Nonetheless, the fun, colorful illustrations will interest readers. The artwork appears much like the Spider-Man comic books with colorful pictures of Spider-Man in action and cartoonish pictures of European landmarks. However, some of the pictures are reused, which may bother some readers. With its mild language, this book is a fun read for superhero fans that are interested in learning about other countries.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • On the plane, Mr. Hutchinson tells Peter that “his ex-wife faked her own death in the Battle of New York …”
  • Ned thinks he is a great friend because “he will take a tranquilizer dart to the neck courtesy of NICHOLAS FURY and not complain about it.” In the movie, Ned is shot in the neck by Nick Fury.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Ned’s “No Lips” face will make Peter “laugh so hard he pees his pants.”
  • While in St. Mark’s Square, “a pigeon pooped on” Peter.
  • Ned thinks that “Betty is going to think I’m so smart when I tell her about these kick-butt ladies tomorrow!”
  • Ned thinks it’s funny to “imagine a baby country peeing in a diaper.”
  • Peter wants to snuggle with Mary Jane during the opera while they share opera glasses, but he wonders if there’s “another word for snuggle so I can just ask her without sounding like a dweeb?”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Matthew Perkey

The Dragon Thief

Jaxon had just one job—to return three baby dragons to the realm of magic. When he got there, only two dragons were left in the bag. His best friend’s sister, Kavita, is a dragon thief!

Kavita only wanted what was best for the baby dragon. Now every time she feeds it, the dragon grows and grows! How can she possibly keep it secret? Even worse, stealing the dragon has upset the balance between the worlds, and the gates to the other realm have shut tight! Jaxon needs all the help he can get to find Kavita, outsmart a trickster named Blue, and return the baby dragon to its true home.

The sequel to Dragons in a Bag continues Jaxon’s story; however, many of the characters from the first book only make a very brief appearance. Instead, The Dragon Thief jumps back and forth between Jaxon’s and Kavita’s points of view. Jaxon and Kavita both want to return the dragon to the realm of magic, but they don’t work together until the very end. Much of the story focuses on both Jaxon and Kavita trying to figure out how to return the dragon. With talking animals, magic, and a cast of helpful characters, the story has many interesting elements.

Readers may be disappointed that the dragon rarely appears in the story. However, several new characters add interest to the story. Jaxon meets a feisty fairy and gains the help of a classmate. At one point Jaxon thinks, “A week ago, a talking pigeon would have freaked me out. But over the past few days, I’ve encountered a very determined squirrel, actual dinosaurs, a talking rat, and three baby dragons. I’ve learned to take it all in stride.”

The Dragon Thief hints at some important themes, but they are undeveloped. Several times the story mentions slavery and freedom, but the information is not integrated into the story and seems random. Jaxon’s family only appears at the end of the story, but he thinks, “This is my family. Sure, we’re different from other families. Ma’s a witch, and I’m her apprentice. Mama’s a widow, and Trub’s reformed thief. We’ve all made mistakes—big and small—but we stick together because that’s what you do when you love someone.”

The Dragon Thief has some interesting elements, but the undeveloped plot will leave readers with many questions. One positive aspect of the story is that both Jaxon and Kavita are diverse characters who want what’s best for the dragon. Overall, The Dragon Thief has enough mystery and magic to interest fantasy fans, but the abrupt ending and the many characters may confuse some readers.

 Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • At the end of the story, Ma tells Jaxon, “Then let’s get this party started boy! Bring me a beer!” Ma means a root beer, but readers won’t know that unless they’ve read the first book in the series.”

Language

  • As Jaxon is walking in a park, he almost steps on “a pile of dog crap.”
  • Kavita’s brother tells his friend that Kavita is a brat and a “pain in the butt.”
  • A boy tells Jaxon that “a lot of kids at our school are jerks.” Later, the same boy says Blue is a jerk.
  • While looking for Blue, Jaxon asks a rat for help. The rat tells Jaxon, “Blue’s a nasty piece of work. Trash, really…He hasn’t got a selfless bone in his freaky blue body.”
  • A boy calls Blue a creep.
  • Three times, someone calls the trickster Blue a fool.
  • Blue calls Jaxon and his friends “rotten brats.”

Supernatural

  • Ma is a witch who can travel to another dimension where magic exists.
  • Kavita and Aunty go to see Bejan, an astrologer and psychic. Bejan explains, “Jyotisha, or the science of light, involves the study of the stars and planets.” Bejan uses a dragon’s birthday to give Kavita and Aunty advice.
  • Jaxon can talk to animals.
  • Jeff, a fairy, “raises his arms once more, but this time when he lowers them, a circle of blue light appears. It’s as if the fairy traced a bubble in the air and then willed it into existence.” The bubble allows Jaxon to talk to someone who is in another dimension.
  • Blue takes animals from another dimension and turns them into tattoos. Blue explains, “These are my guests… We share space and show respect… Real tattoos are permanent, but these…are just temporary.” Later, Blue’s tattoos are taken away. “We see movement beneath his clothing and hear a faint clamor as Sis extracts the creatures tattooed on Blue’s skin. One by one the mermaid, parrot, sea serpent, unicorn, and others peel off and float toward Sis. Still in miniature, the creatures huddle together and are soon encased in a clear spear that forms above Sis’s outstretched palm.” The creatures are taken back to the realm of magic.
  • Blue uses the tattoos to give him power. He creates “potions, spells, curses, and hexes. Everything humans most desire—love, wealth, revenge, success. Put it in a bottle and slap on a price tag.”
  • A dragon appears and then changes into a “human form.”
  • Jaxon is given a potion that will wake up Ma. He is instructed to put three drops in a glass of water “before the moon wanes.” When Ma drinks the potion, she awakens.
  • In order to transport the dragon to the proper diminution, “Sis points at the creature and draws a circle around it once, twice, and by the third time another elastic sphere has formed. Unlike Blue’s tattoos, however, the dragon doesn’t accept its fate. It whines and claws against the sphere, but to no avail.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

Brute-Cake

With no monsters to fight, Alexander and his friends have drifted apart. The Super Secret Monster Patrol used to protect the town from monsters. Without monsters, Alexander is dreading summer vacation. In order to keep Alexander busy, his father has signed him up for a summer camp at the library.

But then Alexander starts finding super creepy monster cards. He’s convinced that the monsters are back, but Rip and Nikki don’t believe him. When Rip invites his friends over to see his new house, the kids decide to explore the attic. When a brute-cake jumps out of a can, the friends know that they must fight the monster together.

Fans of The Notebook of Doom Series will look forward to reading about the S.S.M.P.’s return. The same monster-fighting friends come together to fight new, non-scary monsters. Instead of having a Notebook of Doom to explain the monsters, Alexander keeps finding monster cards that have important information about each monster. Each card is illustrated on one page and has pictures of the monsters, their habitat, their diet, and more exciting information.

Even though the brute-cake wants to turn other monsters into statues, the spooky scenes are more funny than scary. Every page has large, black-and-white pictures that bring the action to life. The large text is comprised of short sentences and easy vocabulary. The Binder of Doom is a companion series; however, readers who have not read The Notebook of Doom will be able to understand Brute-Cake’s plot. The story’s dialogue and use of onomatopoeias make Brute-Cake a great book to read aloud. Full of friendship, mystery, and a funny fighting fruitcake, Brute-Cake will be devoured by independent readers. Readers who like monsters and adventure should add The Yeti Files by Kevin Sherry to their reading list.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Rip, Alexander, and Nikki find a monster brute-cake. The brute-cake heats up the kitchen and then “the cake swelled up until it was the size of a baby elephant. Then – WHAM – it socked Rip in the jaw with nut-covered fist. . . Nikki jabbed the brute-cake with her spatula. Crumbs flew everywhere. . . The cake shoved Nikki into Alexander and Rip. They stumbled backward into a rack of pots and pans.” The scene is described over two pages.
  • When Nikki charges the brute-cake, the monster “blasted Nikki with a gush of warm glaze. Instantly, she became a shiny white statue.”
  • Rip and Alexander go after the brute-cake. “The monster yanked an enormous candied walnut from its own gut. WHOOMP! It chucked the nut at Rip.” Rip takes an ant out of his pocket. The ant grows to a gigantic size. The brute-cake tries to crush Alexander. “The brute-cake jumped in the air, directly above Alexander. As the monster came down, Alexander rolled sideways. . .”
  • The brute-cake charged towards Alexander. “Alexander dove aside at the last second. The giant cake rammed into the drill-pickle’s pointy drill and—PLOMPFF! The monster crumbled to pieces.” The last battle scene is described over five pages.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Rip calls Alexander a “weenie” one time.
  • Crud is used three times. For example, Alexander thought, “This crust crud on my shirt must be icing!”

Supernatural

  • While in Rip’s attic, Alexander opens a tin can. Then, “Plonk! The tin burst open. A small brownish creature leaps out and smacked into Alexander’s shoulder.” The creature runs away.
  • Alexander and his friends find a brute-cake that is “eighty times tougher than a regular fruitcake.” The monster is “bumpy, brown and covered with shiny bits of fruit and nuts.”
  • After the brute-cake falls apart, Nikki comes back to life.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Up for Air

Annabelle is relieved to be finished with seventh grade, and she’s ready to swim the summer away with her two best friends, Jeremy and Mia. In school, Annabelle struggles due to a learning disability, but when it comes to swimming, she’s the fastest girl in middle school. In fact, she is so fast that she is recruited to join the high school summer swim team. She is excited to hang out with her new teammates, especially Conner, a cute sophomore who just can’t seem to take his eyes off her. However, after an accident that leaves her unable to swim, she realizes how fragile her popularity really is. She starts to question if Conner really likes her, who her real friends are, and who she is without swimming.

Morrison addresses difficult topics through the eyes of an incredibly perceptive thirteen-year-old. Annabelle wants to express her sympathy to others, such as Jeremy’s older sister, Kayla, who is recovering from an eating disorder. Although Annabelle has never had an eating disorder, she understands how hard it must be for Kayla to wear a swimsuit or go to an ice cream parlor. She tells Kayla, “I’m sorry you had to go through that. It must have been really hard. And I’m really happy you’re better.”

Annabelle also struggles with the changes in her home life. Annabelle’s parents got divorced four years ago due to her father’s drinking problem. Since then, her father moved away and her mother remarried. Annabelle feels guilty for having a good relationship with her stepfather when she isn’t even sure she wants a relationship with her biological father.

Although Annabelle is a competitive swimmer, Up for Air hardly talks about the sport itself. Instead, it focuses on how being on the high school swim team affects Annabelle, her friends, and her family. Even though Annabelle makes mistakes throughout the book, readers will still love her as she grapples with the changes that come with adolescence. Like many girls, Annabelle struggles with insecurities, anxiety, and the desire to be liked.  Up for Air explores the themes of self-confidence, friendship, and trust, making it the perfect bridge between elementary and young adult books.

Sexual Content

  • Annabelle describes her new swimsuit, which is more revealing than her previous ones. “The straps were thin and the front dipped low enough that she could see the freckle in the middle of her chest – the one most of her shirts covered up. Her other racing suits flattened her out, but this one didn’t. And the leg openings were cut extra high, which meant her legs looked extra long.”
  • At the pool, Annabelle notices she looks more like the high schoolers now that her body has changed. She is excited when Conner looks at her in her swimsuit and tells his friend she is “all grown up.”
  • It is implied that Annabelle cannot buy a shirt because it is too revealing. “When Annabelle had stepped out of the dressing room, Mia’s mom had said, ‘Va-va-voom! Honey, I don’t think you can wear that shirt to school!’”
  • Elisa, an older swimmer, tells Annabelle, “Coach Colette was practically salivating about how she’ll get to coach you once you’re fourteen.” Conner says, “What’s that now? Who’s salivating?” Elisa responds, “If anybody says anything that could in any way be twisted around to sound inappropriate, there you are.”
  • Annabelle admires her swim coach, Colette’s, body. “Annabelle hoped that when she did peak, her body would look a lot like Colette’s. People talked about how hot, pretty, and strong Colette was. Annabelle wanted people to talk about her like that, too.”
  • Annabelle invites Mia to get ice cream, so Mia can see the guy who was flirting with her last time they went.
  • At lunch, Annabelle sits with a few high schoolers. They are playing a game where one person names two people, and the others have to choose one. The high schoolers tell Annabelle the purpose of the game is to choose who they would want to “spend an afternoon alone with.” Annabelle doesn’t understand the underlying meaning.
  • When a guy asks Annabelle to choose between two guys, she says, “I don’t know. Why don’t you choose first?” She feels bad for making this joke. She knows they only laugh because they’re uncomfortable with homosexuality.
  • At a meeting with her principal to discuss her low test scores, Annabelle reflects that while her body is developing earlier than her peers, her brain is developing later than her peers.
  • When someone suggests going swimming, Annabelle notices no one has a swimsuit. “Were they going to swim in their clothes? Or – ack – not in their clothes?” In the end, they don’t swim.

Violence

  • Annabelle and her friends attempt to sneak into the backyard of a famous director. They hoist her up to unlock the gate, but she falls when the alarm goes off. “Her left knee smacked one of the iron bars halfway down, and her right ankle twisted under her weight when her foot hit the ground. But that was nothing compared to the pain that knifed through her right wrist when she put down her hand to stop her fall.”
  • Annabelle looks at her injured wrist a few minutes after falling. Her wrist “had puffed up pretty badly, and the tender skin on the side of her thumb was turning blue.”
  • The morning after she injures her wrist, “her wrist and thumb were even bigger, and the tender skin was pink and purple, like the ugliest sunset imaginable. She couldn’t rotate her hand at all. She could barely even flex her fingers.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Annabelle’s biological father had a drinking problem. She flashes back to one day when he came to pick her up from swim practice. He was swaying and talking “funny, as if he had marshmallows inside his cheeks.” Annabelle’s mom drove her home.
  • When Annabelle’s dad still lived with her and her mom, Annabelle would “wake up in the middle of the night and find him sitting on the couch with a glass of amber liquid in his hand.”
  • Annabelle remembers her mom telling her dad, “I’m worried about the drinking. I’m worried you haven’t started looking for another job. I’m worried you don’t seem like your old self.”
  • Annabelle goes to a party where a few high schoolers are drinking beer. Annabelle does not drink.
  • Annabelle has “never been able to forget the way her dad had slurred late at night or the way he swayed and couldn’t focus his eyes on her that terrible day when he showed up drunk at swim practice.”

Language

  • Jeremy tells Annabelle, “I can’t believe those dicks left you!”
  • Mia tells Annabelle, “It sounds like you really treated Jeremy like crap.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Jill Johnson

 

The Storm Dragon

Sophy was picking apples in an orchard when a cute dragon falls from the sky. The injured little dragon, named Cloudy, is in danger. The queen and the captain of the guard don’t like magical creatures. Sir Fitzroy and his guards are searching everywhere for Cloudy. They want to lock him in the dungeon.

With the help of a magical stone, Sophy is able to talk to Cloudy. It will take courage and creativity to keep Cloudy safe. With the help of a friend, Sophy knows how she can help heal Cloudy’s injured wing…but how can Sophy sneak Cloudy out of the castle, find the healing plant, and save her cute purple friends?

The Dragon Storm shows that you don’t have to be royal in order to be special. Sophy is a castle maid, but she is still able to keep Cloudy safe. Sophy’s kind nature shines as she smuggles Cloudy into the castle. Suspense is created as Sir Fitzroy and his guards hunt for the dragon; however, his exploits are silly and will cause readers to giggle. Readers will enjoy seeing Cloudy using his magic to stop Sir Fitzroy from yelling at Sophy. With a cute dragon, a sweet friendship, and a fairy tale setting, The Dragon Storm will delight younger readers.

The story uses easy vocabulary, simple sentence structure, and black and white illustrations to make The Storm Dragon accessible to younger readers. Illustrations appear every 1-3 pages, and they help readers understand the story’s plot. Readers will fall in love with Sophy and will be excited to read the next book in the series, The Sky Unicorn. Much like Harrison’s Rescue Princess Series, The Secret Rescuers will encourage readers to be kind to animals, brave in the face of danger, and ready to help a friend in need.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • Cloudy eats dragonweed. Sophy picks some of the plant and “Cloudy munched those too and then flapped his wings. This time his injured left wing looked as strong as the right one!”

Language

  • When a guard says he doesn’t believe a dragon is near the castle, Sir Fitzroy yells, “It was a dragon, you fool!”

Supernatural

  • Sophy finds a magic “Speaking Stone” that allows her to talk to dragons. A dragon tells Sophy, “A Speaking Stone is very powerful and very precious. Each stone chooses a keeper and will work for the person alone.”
  • When the Queen and Sir Fitzroy yell at Sophy, Cloudy causes a gust of wind. “Then a sheet floated out of the basket, followed by a pair of the queen’s royal bloomers, trimmed with golden thread… More clothes and sheets sailed into the hall as the wind become wilder… Five small whirlwinds were sneaking across the hall, twisting and turning as if they were dancing. The silverware rattled on the banquet table, and the royal tablecloth flew upward, scattering pie crumbs everywhere.”
  • Cloudy is a storm dragon. Storm dragons “bring rain clouds from the ocean and blow them across the dry land. My brother says that’s how the trees and flowers and vegetables get the water they need to grow.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

Star Dreams

Flame meets Jemma Watson in an alley, and this ordinary girl soon realizes that she is dealing with an extraordinary kitten. Flame’s magic powers come in handy as Jemma auditions for dance school while trying to look after her younger siblings. But the fun can’t last forever as Flame senses his enemies close by and must return to his kingdom. . .

Jemma loves having Flame, and she takes him everywhere she goes, including school. Flame often uses his magic to help Jemma out. One time, Flame’s magic is too much, which creates a funny food fight at school. Readers will fall in love with Flame as he uses sparkly magic to help Jemma with everyday problems.

Jemma loves to dance and is excited about trying out for a dance class. When the new girl, Fran, asks Jemma if she can come over, Jemma is nervous. Jemma knows that some kids think Fran is a snob. “But, she [Jemma] hadn’t had the chance to get to know her yet. Anyway, she liked to make up her own mind about people.” Because Fran has new clothes and her mom drives an expensive car, Jemma is worried to invite her over. Jemma doesn’t want Fran to see her run-down house; however, Jemma gets over her fear. When Fran comes over, she doesn’t make a comment on Jemma’s house.

Many readers will relate to Jemma, who worries about her family’s financial situation. However, Jemma doesn’t let this stop her from befriending Fran. Jemma is a positive character who helps her mother by babysitting and helping around the house. The story shows that a person’s character is more important than their financial status.

When Jemma performs, she makes a mistake in the routine, but she keeps going. Jemma was sure that her mistake would disqualify her, but in the end she has a happy surprise. The judges “were impressed because I didn’t let a small mistake get in the way.” Black and white drawings appear every 3-7 pages. Star Dream will engage readers as it teaches positive life lessons. Even though Star Dreams is part of a series, the books do not need to be read in order. Each book introduces a main character as Flame tries to hide from his uncle.

 Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Flame’s uncle is looking for him. His uncle wants to kill Flame so he can keep the throne.
  • When sandwiches and other foods begin spilling out of Jemma’s brother’s lunch box, the kids go crazy and start a food fight. When Mr. Butler comes over and yells at the kids, Jemma’s brother threw a cherry cake at him. “The cherry cake hit Mr. Butler in the chest. Squish! The teacher’s face reddened with anger and he gave a roar of rage. An enormous chocolate éclair torpedoed into his open mouth as one boy with particularly good aim looked very proud of himself.” Flame uses magic to make all the food disappear and everyone forgets what happened.
  • A boy picks up Flame and “pretended to throw Flame over a nearby garden wall. Flame gave a terrified wail. His paws clawed at the air. He seemed too scared to do any magic.” When Jemma offers the boy money, he gives Jemma the kitten.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Jemma’s brother “leaped onto the bed and began playing with Flame.” Jemma yells at him and calls him a big jerk.
  • “Oh, heck” is used twice. When Jemma’s brother drops something, he says, “Oh, heck!”

Supernatural

  • Flame uses magic to change into a kitten and jump into a different world. When he changes, “sparks crackled in Flame’s fur and there was a flash of dazzling white light. A silky cream kitten with brown spots sat where the young white lion had stood just a moment ago.”
  • When Flame enters another world, Jemma sees “silver sparkles shot out of Flame’s fur. His green eyes began to glow like coals and his whiskers trembled with electricity. Jemma felt a tingling sensation.”
  • In order to make Jemma’s baby sister stop crying, Flame “raised a paw and a fountain of silver sparks whooshed into the air. Big, shiny, rainbow-colored bubbles appeared. They floated in the air, tinkling like silvery bells when they bumped gently into each other.”
  • Flame makes lunch for Jemma’s brother. Jemma “saw piles of ham and cheese sandwiches, cookies, and lemonade.” However, Flame’s magic was too strong. When Jemma’s brother opens his lunch box, “shooting out of it was a multicolored volcano of sandwiches, potato chips, cookies, and candy?”
  • Flame uses magic to make himself invisible.
  • When Jemma’s brother makes a mess in the kitchen, Flame cleans it up. “A minute later, the vacuum cleaner burst into action. It zoomed around wildly, making clean trails through the flour. . . The vacuum cleaner whizzed back into the closet. Swish! Cushions, carpets, and curtains flicked back into place. Phloop! Flour and sauce disappeared back into bags and jars.”
  • When Jemma is going to be late for tryouts, Flame transports her. “Opening the door, she poked her head outside. There was a long line of people twisting all down the hallway.”
  • Flame transforms Jemma’s backyard. “The flowers were all planted and the lawn had been mowed. The paving stones were in place.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

A Boy Called Bat #1

Bixby Alexander Tam (nicknamed Bat) likes routine. When his mom, who is a veterinarian, is late coming home one day, Bat becomes upset. When Bat’s mom arrives, she has a good surprise. She has brought home a stray baby skunk that needs to be taken care of until they can hand him over to a wild animal shelter.

The minute Bat sees the baby skunk, he decides to become an expert skunk caregiver. Bat hopes his mother will change her mind and allow Bat to keep the baby skunk. Bat names the little skunk Thor and takes care of his needs. Bat even contacts a skunk expert in order to get advice about being a good caregiver. But can Bat convince his mom that Thor belongs with him?

Bat’s story doesn’t only focus on Bat’s love of the baby skunk, but it also shows how Bat doesn’t pick up on social cues. Through Bat’s eyes, the reader sees how Bat struggles to make eye contact, to understand others’ actions, and to make friends. Even though Bat is autistic, his difficulties are a natural extension of the story; Bat’s emotions are explained in a way that young readers will understand.

As Bat cares for Thor, he learns interesting information about skunks. Even though Bat is a good caregiver, the story makes it clear that Thor will need to be returned to the wild. Bat’s mother continually reminds Bat that wild animals should not be pets.

A Boy Named Bat is a sweet story that will appeal to animal lovers. Readers will relate to Bat and understand Bat’s desire to keep Thor as a pet. Adorable black and white illustrations appear every 3-7 pages and help readers visualize the characters. As readers learn about skunks, they will also see how Bat’s life is impacted because of his parent’s divorce. Even though the story focuses on Bat’s perspective, younger readers may have a difficult time with the advanced vocabulary. A Boy Named Bat is an entertaining story that would be an excellent choice for parents to read with their child. The story would lead to a discussion on many topics including animal care, family relationships, autism, and friendship.

 Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Dreams That Sparkle

Belissima is the prettiest pony at the Enchanted Pony Academy — everyone says so. The problem is, no one seems to see what else Belissima is: talented and hardworking. She dreams that someday everyone will see that her magic doesn’t have anything to do with her looks! When the royal children come to the Academy for the selection ceremony, Belissima is determined to show that she’s not just a pretty pony. It’s her last chance to prove that she can be so much more than a show pony.

Belissima is upset that people always make comments about her beauty. She wishes someone would notice that “she had the top grades in her class, or that she was a leader who always tries to be patient and pleasant with all the ponies at school.” Belissima even tries to hide her beauty because she is afraid that a royal child will choose her based on her looks and not on her personality. This story teaches that ponies (and people) have many aspects that make up his/her personality.

The students use the Magic Treats and Eats Cookbook to make some magical treats, which add some humor to the story. However, the story has little action and mostly focuses on Belissima’s attempts to hide her beauty. Some readers may have a hard time understanding Belissima’s conflict. Although Belissima finds her perfect match in the end, the two rarely interact. Unlike the previous books, this story has less action and the message is harder to understand.

Dreams that Sparkle will entertain those who have already transitioned to chapter books. Cute black and white illustrations help break up the text and appear every three to five pages. Although the vocabulary isn’t difficult, the text-heavy pages and long sentences may be overwhelming for beginning readers. Fans of the Enchanted Pony Academy books will enjoy the story. The Enchanted Pony Academy series does not need to be read in order; however, readers new to the series should begin with Let It Glow or Wings That Shine.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Darn is used once.

Supernatural

  • Each pegapony has a different Glitter Gift. The Glitter Gifts include being able to become invisible, being able to talk to winged animals, teleportation, and making flowers bloom. One pegapony can even shoot sparks out of his horn.
  • Belissima’s Glitter Gift is making her coat change color and sparkle. Later she learns that her other Gift is healing magic, which only works on her perfect match.
  • Several times in the story, someone levitates an object. For example, “Daisy galloped into the stable with a tray levitated by her side.” Daisy’s tray has posy pies on it.
  • Trying to make herself less beautiful, Belissima cast a spell by saying, “With these shinny shears, snip my mane shorter than my ears.” When she chants the spell, “the scissors zoomed through the air, and she watched as strands of her mane fell to the barn floor around her.”
  • Belissima casts a spell so she can see what she looks like. She says, “In front of me here, make a mirror appear.” She uses the mirror and sees that her mane grew back.
  • Belissima cast a spell so she can write a message to a friend. She chants, “To Sunny, send this note, so she can see what I wrote.” After Belissima says the spell, “the note folded itself and flew through the air, right out the door.”
  • Daisy finds a book, Magic Treats and Eats Cookbook, and makes posy pie. When Belissima eats the treat, her breath smells like flowers for hours.
  • A pony makes a recipe that allows him to eat a treat and then a rainbow will appear out of his horn. When the pony does this, “a rainbow arched over the arena, and the colorful light enveloped [Belissima]” The rainbow makes Belissima’s Glitter Gift ever stronger.
  • Belissima makes a treat that will make her less beautiful. When she eats the treat, “her soft purple coat was covered in moldy green spots. . . The moldy spots were bigger and fuzzier than she’d expected. They were darker green, too. The rainbow must have really enhanced the power of the recipe.”
  • Headmaster Elegius can teleport through a silvery orb.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Jinxed

Lacey Chu has always dreamed of working as an engineer for MONCHA, the biggest tech firm in the world and the company behind the baku, which is a customizable “pet” with all the capabilities of a smartphone. But when Lacey is rejected by the elite academy that promises that future, she’s crushed.

One night, Lacey comes across the broken form of a highly advanced baku. After Lacey repairs it, the cat-shaped baku she calls Jinx opens its eyes and somehow gets her into her dream school. But Jinx is different than any other baku she’s ever seen. . . he seems real.

As Lacy settles into life at school, competing with the best students in a battle of the bakus that tests her abilities, she learns that Jinx is part of a dangerous secret. Can Lacey hold on to Jinx and her dreams of a future?

Lacey has always been focused on academics, but being successful at Profectus is not going to be easy. When she learns that she has been chosen as part of a baku battling team, Lacey is determined to make friends. Lacey was prepared for Profectus’s academic pressures, but Lacey wasn’t prepared for the challenges of having a baku that has its own opinion and agenda. Lacey soon learns that some of the students will stop at nothing to make it to the top of the class.

Lacey’s world is unique, fascinating, and full of unexpected surprises. Everyone in Lacey’s world depends on their baku, and each baku has the ability to make its owner happy. Whether it’s playing an upbeat song, helping instruct a recipe, or giving directions, each baku is essential for day-to-day life. However, Lacey’s baku, Jinx, is different. He doesn’t follow commands and often leads Lacey into trouble. The interactions between Lacey and Jinx create suspense as well as show Jinx’s unique personality.

Jinxed is an action-packed story that keeps the readers guessing until the very end. Although some of the characters are predictable—the mean kid, the rich cute boy, and the best friend who feels left out—the story never feels cliché. Instead, Lacey’s world gives the reader a realistic view of the future, where everyone is connected to a device 24/7. The end of the story will leave the reader with many unanswered questions, which might frustrate some readers.

Through Lacey’s experiences, the readers will learn important lessons about choosing your own path; it doesn’t matter where you come from, your choices and decisions make you who you are. The message that Jinxed portrays is clear: loving someone doesn’t give you the right to decide what’s best for them.

 Sexual Content

  • Lacey gives Tobias a handshake and “he clasps my hand. I don’t know if he feels it too. A spark. A moment where electricity leaps from my hand to his, where all the neurons in my palm seem to light up. It takes my breath away.”
  • When Tobias winks at Lacey, she feels butterflies in her stomach and feels “my face burning bright red.”
  • After Tobias grabbed Lacey’s hand, her “palm doesn’t stop tingling for the rest of the weekend.”
  • When Tobias holds Lacey’s hand, her “heart pounds, my brain is unable to compute that Tobias Washington is holding my hand.”

Violence

  • A woman holding a “creature” runs from someone with a pulse gun. “She ducked and the shot flew over her head, obliterating the trunk of a beech tree in front of her. . . The next shot hit her shoulder, and she wasn’t sure who screamed louder: her or the creature.” The creature falls over a cliff into a ravine, then “the men turned back to her, gun barrels leveling at her head. She closed her eyes and accepted the inevitable.” The two-and-a-half-page scene ends without saying what happened to the woman or the creature.
  • The school allows teams to battle their bakus. During the battles, some of the bakus are destroyed and cannot be fixed. During a battle, Tobias immediately makes a hit on Dorian’s snarling wolf baku, his eagle stretching his talons out, wing spread wide to keep him hovering—and to enable a quick getaway from the wolf’s surprisingly high jump.” During the battle, one of the girls is upset because she thinks her baku is destroyed and cannot be repaired.
  • When a boy is being rude, Jinx scratches the boy’s hand, which “beads with blood.”
  • During another baku battle, “The cloud leopard is lightning fast, rounding on poor Jupiter with barely a delay. . . Frost swipes out with a sharp paw and part of Jupiter’s surface paneling is torn.” When it looks like Jupiter will be completely torn apart, Jinx jumps into the fight. “The boar falters, twitching and convulsing, as something is destroying him from the inside out.”
  • When Lacey’s baku is stolen, Lacey and her friends go to get it back from Carter. Carter’s panther baku “leap past their bakus and aim their attacks at the people themselves. . . While Tobias is distracted by my screams, he sends hunter up to bring Aero down. There’s a sickening crunch of metal against metal, as Hunter’s tusk pierces Aero’s belly.” Lacey is able to pin Carter to the ground.” Lacey and her friends are able to free Jinx. Tobias has “one arm around Ashley, who is bleeding from a scratch along her hairline, and another arm supporting River, who is getting shakily to his feet.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Jerk is used multiple times. For example, a boy from school is mean to Lacey. Lacey’s friends say, “He’s a jerk. Forget about him.”
  • Lacey’s friend tells her, “You’ve worked hard all friggin’ year. You’re allowed to take a break and relax.”
  • “Holy baku” is used as an exclamation once.
  • Heck is used four times. When Jinx scratches a boy, the boy says, “What the heck?”
  • Darn is used twice. For example, when a teacher tells Lacey that she’s late for class, Lacey thinks, “Darn.”
  • Oh my god is used as an exclamation three times. God is used as an exclamation once.
  • While working on a baku, Jinx’s “paw brushes against a smashed-up printed circuit board—if one of the bakus is missing that, they’re going to be seriously screwed.”
  • When a team captain thinks an opponent isn’t going to show up, he says the girl is a coward.
  • Jinx refers to an opposing team captain, saying “only idiots could have broken what you fixed. I mean, I wouldn’t put it past them to be idiots, but. . .”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Lacey and her friend Zora run into a mean boy from school. The boy is rude to Lacey. “Zora doesn’t immediately follow, and I whisper a silent prayer for her to drop it. . .”
  • When Lacey tells her friend that she found her baku, “she responds almost right away with a series of ‘Praise the Lord’ emojis.”
  • Jinx plays loud music and draws attention to Lacey. When the music stops, she thinks, “Thank god.”

Digging for Dinos

Haggis and Tank go on a dinosaur adventure! They play games with a triceratops and try to hatch a dinosaur. But then, the ground starts shaking and a volcano erupts. Haggis and Tank need to get home fast!

Dino-loving kids will laugh as Haggis and Tank sit on dinosaur eggs and wait for them to hatch. As the two talk, homophones are cleverly weaved into the dialogue. The use of homophones creates some silly confusion. For example, while looking for dino eggs, Tank says, “I’ve been told I have a strong sense of smell!” Haggis replies, “That’s true. But you need a strong sense of smell. You need to be a good smeller.” The homophones will not only cause giggles but will also teach multiple meanings of words.

Anyone who has ever wished they could meet a real dinosaur will love Haggis and Tank’s dino adventure. Haggis and Tank’s adventure is illustrated in brightly colored panels. Much like a graphic novel, some of the pages only have quote bubbles. In order to move the story along, 1-2 sentence narration is included on some of the pages. The illustrated story is funny, imaginative, and full of surprising details.

Younger readers will laugh as Haggis and Tank walk in circles and play games with a triceratops. Digging for Dinos is part of Scholastic’s early chapter book line called Branches which is aimed at newly independent readers. With 1-3 sentences on each page, independent readers can read the story to themselves. The story ends with five questions and gives page numbers to help readers take a closer look at the text. Even though Digging for Dinos is the second book in the series, each book can be read as a stand-alone story.

Digging for Dinos will take young readers on a fun adventure. Readers who love Haggis and Tank and want more dinosaur fun should read The Dino Files by Stacy McAnulty.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Haggis and Tank run from a T-rex. “Suddenly, a giant T-rex came crashing through the trees.” A volcano erupts, sending the T-rex running.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

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