Reading Level: Elementary

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry is ecstatic to be attending the Quidditch World Cup with Ron and Hermione. While the match is spectacular, the appearance of Death Eaters casts a dark shadow over the event. While most people think that the old followers of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named were acting alone, Harry and a few others are concerned that odd happenings may mean something more sinister is coming.

If Harry thinks his troubles are over when he returns to Hogwarts for his fourth year, he is sorely mistaken. A magical tournament is taking place at Hogwarts with students from other magical schools coming to compete. Harry should have fun watching the tournament with Ron and Hermione—but someone secretly enters his name into the competition. Chosen as a school champion, Harry is forced to get past a dangerous myriad of monsters and challenges, all the while wondering who entered him into the tournament and if their goal is to make sure Harry ends up dead.

While Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is twice the length of the earlier books in the series, the book does not drag a bit! Fascinating new characters from other schools of magic, a once-in-a-lifetime tournament, and growing danger from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named make this an absolute page-turner. The length, action sequences, and sinister climax of this novel make Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire a slightly more mature book than the last, as the series gradually grows in complexity throughout the seven books. While still appropriate for elementary readers in terms of content, the ending may scare more timid readers. It includes someone that Harry knows dying; he does not see the death, but he does see the body directly afterward.

A whirlwind of adventure and mystery, this is another must-read that will delight elementary to young adult readers so much that they will want to read it again and again.

Sexual Content

  • Ron says he will “go starkers” before wearing the dress robes that his mother bought him.
  • Ron says his brother, “wouldn’t recognize a joke if it danced naked in front of him.”
  • Fleur kisses Harry and Ron on the cheek after they rescue her sister.

Violence

  • A man is murdered by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. “There was a flash of green light, a rushing sound, and Frank Bryce crumpled. He was dead before he hit the floor.”
  • Uncle Vernon panics and starts throwing things. “Uncle Vernon, who had lost control completely, seized a china figure from on top of the sideboard and threw it very hard at Mr. Weasley, who ducked, causing the ornament to shatter in the blasted fireplace.”
  • A group of Death Eaters, former followers of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, attack some muggles (non-magical people). “High above them, floating along in midair, four struggling figures were being contorted into grotesque shapes . . . the smallest Muggle child . . . had begun to spin like a top, sixty feet above the ground, his head flopping limply from side to side.”
  • As punishment, Professor Moody turns Malfoy into a ferret and bounces him up and down with his wand. “The ferret bounced higher and higher, squealing in pain.”
  • Harry and his class learn about the forbidden curses in their Defense Against the Dark Art class. One is the Cruciatus Curse, which causes pain. Another is Avada Kedavra, the killing curse. The professor demonstrates the curses on a spider.
  • During a verbal fight with Ron, Harry throws a badge at him. He “chucked it, as hard as he could, across the room. It hit Ron on the forehead and bounced off.”
  • Harry is attacked by grindylows. “He kicked out, hard; finally, he felt his foot connect with a horned skull, and looking back, saw the dazed grindylow floating away.”
  • After a shocking discovery, Hagrid receives hate mail. He says they included things like, “Yeh’re a monster an’ yeh should be put down.” And “Yer mother killed innocent people an’ if you had any decency you’d jump in a lake.” He says “They’re jus’ nutters” and says the best thing to do is to throw the letters away.
  • When Karkaroff spits at Dumbledore, “Hagrid seized the front of Karkaroff’s furs, lifted him into the air, and slammed him against a nearby tree.”
  • Harry hears Cedric being tortured, and then sees him, “jerking and twitching on the ground.”
  • Cedric and Harry battle a gigantic spider. “He was lifted into the air in its front legs; struggling madly, he tried to kick it; his leg connected with the pincers and next moment he was in excruciating pain.”
  • To revive He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, a spell of blood, bone, and flesh is used. “The surface of the grave at Harry’s feet cracked. Horrified, Harry watched as a fine trickle of dust rose into the air.” A Death Eater cuts off his own hand for the spell, though Harry closes his eyes during that part.
  • He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named tortures several people, including Harry, with a forbidden curse. “It was pain beyond anything Harry had ever experienced; his very bones were on fire; his head was surely splitting along his scar; his eyes were rolling madly in his head; he wanted it to end . . . to black out . . . to die . . .”
  • Cedric is killed. “A blast of green light blazed through Harry’s eyelids, and he heard something heavy fall to the ground beside him . . . he opened his stinging eyes. Cedric was lying spread-eagled on the ground beside him. He was dead. For a second that contained an eternity, Harry stared into Cedric’s face, at his open gray eyes, blank and expressionless as the windows of a deserted house.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Mrs. Weasley drinks a cup of tea with a “shot of Ogdens Old Firewhiskey” after an emotionally fraught day.
  • A team of giant, magical horses are said to only drink single-malt whiskey.
  • The fat lady, one of the magical portraits in the castle, drinks a box of chocolate liqueurs.
  • Winky, a house elf, starts drinking heavily after she is fired. “‘Winky is getting through six bottles a day now,’ Dobby whispered to Harry.”

Language

  • Damn and shut up are used a few times.
  • Ron tells Malfoy to “eat dung.”
  • During an event, Ron yells at a judge. “You lousy, biased scumbag!”
  • The word git is used twice. For example, Ron calls his owl a “feathery git.”

Supernatural

  • Harry Potter goes to a school of wizards and is a part of an entire world of magic. His studies include transfiguration, charms, and defense against the dark arts. He goes to school in a castle with talking portraits, singing coats of armor, and a poltergeist. He encounters dragons, merpeople, and Forbidden Curses. In short, Harry is surrounded by magic and supernatural occurrences every day of his life. As such, not all instances are listed here.
  • Although the series revolves around magic, the story does not encourage children to try magic on their own. To cast a spell, wizards simply say a word and wave their wand. For example, saying luminos casts light.

Spiritual Content

  • There are ghosts in the castle that behave like regular (although transparent) people. One of Harry’s teachers is even a ghost.
  • A spell causes He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’s wand to produce echoes of its most recent spells. As he killed several people, shadowy ghosts of those people appear briefly. “The smoky shadow of a tall man with untidy hair fell to the ground as Bertha had done, straightened up, and looked at him . . . and Harry, his arms shaking madly now, looked back into the ghostly face of his father.”

by Morgan Lynn

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back. Harry saw him with his own eyes. However, the ministry does not want to believe that the most powerful dark wizard in history has returned. In an effort to discredit Harry Potter’s story, they spend the entire summer publishing articles about how Harry is a troubled boy who lies for attention. By the time Harry returns to Hogwarts, it seems like everyone in school thinks he is a liar. Even worse, the Ministry has appointed the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, who is determined to bring every aspect of Hogwarts under her personal control.

While the world turns a blind eye, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is gaining strength. Connected by the strange bond that formed the night He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named tried to murder the Potters, Harry begins seeing flashes of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’s thoughts and emotions. While he is fascinated by them, the adults surrounding him urge Harry to shut He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named out of his mind. Will Harry’s stubbornness be his downfall? Or can he use his unique connection with the Dark Lord to prevent more bloodshed?

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a similar length to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, continuing the trend of a longer page count. The tone of this book is slightly darker and more serious, with plenty of edge-of-your-seat moments to keep the pages turning. Readers will love seeing more of our favorite Goblet of Fire characters, including (the real) Professor Moody, Tonks, Lupin, Sirius, and more.

For the first time, Harry and his friends start to explore dating. Harry goes on a date with Cho and kisses her once, while Ron starts dating Lavender Brown, causing a rift in his relationship with Hermione. While these exploits do not become the main plot point, they do add interest to the story. Readers will relate to Harry as he muddles through his first date and will understand his frustration when adults insist on treating him like a child.

This book may not be a good fit for younger elementary readers due to the longer page count, darker tone, and slightly more mature content in terms of language and kissing. However, more mature elementary students and junior high students will thoroughly enjoy this next Harry Potter adventure.

Sexual Content

  • Hermione kisses Ron on the cheek before a Quidditch match. “‘Good luck, Ron,’ said Hermione, standing on tiptoe and kissing him on the cheek.”
  • Harry goes on a date with Cho. They go to a café, and he is uncomfortable that everyone is holding hands because “perhaps Cho would expect him to hold her hand.” Then another couple “started kissing over their sugar bowl.”
  • Cho “gave [Harry] a swift kiss on the cheek and hurried off.”

Violence

  • Uncle Vernon grabs Harry when he thinks he has been using magic. “Two large purple hands reached through the open window and closed tightly around his throat . . . for a few seconds they struggled, Harry pulling at his uncle’s sausage-like fingers with his left hand.”
  • When Dudley and Harry are attacked by dementors, Dudley panics and punches Harry. “WHAM! A fist made contact with the side of Harry’s head, lifting Harry off his feet. Small white lights popped in front of Harry’s eyes.”
  • Hagrid tells a story about a tribe of giants he visited. After a fight, “the sun came up [and] the snow was scarlet an’ his head was lyin’ at the bottom o’ the lake.”
  • Harry and Cho kiss, but the kiss is not described.
  • Mr. Weasley is attacked by a giant snake. “He reared high from the floor and struck once, twice, three times, plunging his fangs deeply into the man’s flesh, feeling his ribs splinter beneath his jaws, feeling the warm gush of blood.”
  • Harry sees a memory of his father at school when Snape and James got in a fight. “Snape had directed his wand straight at James; there was a flash of light, and a gash appeared on the side of James’ face, spattering his robes with blood.”
  • Hagrid is ambushed. “Hagrid took two massive swipes at his closest attackers; judging by their immediate collapse, they had been knocked cold.”
  • Harry is caught sneaking into Umbridge’s office. His friends are caught too, including “Neville, who was trapped in a stranglehold by Crabbe and looked in imminent danger of suffocation.”
  • A giant gets in a fight with a herd of centaurs. “Fifty arrows went soaring through the air at the giant, peppering his enormous face . . . pebble-sized droplets of Grawp’s blood showered Harry.” Harry then flees.
  • Harry and his friends are cornered by followers of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and a fight ensues as they try to escape. It takes place over an entire chapter but is not graphic. “He turned in time to see her flying through the air. Five Death Eaters were surging into the room through the door she had not reached in time; Luna hit a desk, slid over its surface and onto the floor on the other side where she lay sprawled, as still as Hermione.”
  • Sirius is killed by a spell. “The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest. The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock . . . ”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Harry knows that his cousin has been “smoking on street corners,” but the smoking is not shown.
  • At a dodgy bar, Ron says, “I bet that bloke would sell us anything, he wouldn’t care. I’ve always wanted to try firewhisky.”
  • Dobby says he has used the Room of Requirement, “when Winky has been very drunk . . . and he has found antidotes to butterbeer there, and a nice elf-sized bed to settle her on while she sleeps it off, sir.”
  • Harry catches a “whiff of stale drink” when he meets Sirius.
  • An eccentric teacher often gives “off a powerful smell of cooking sherry.”
  • Harry and his friends often hang out in a pub. The adults there sometimes drink mead or firewhisky, but students do not. Once, a journalist “jumped so badly that she slopped half her glass of firewhisky down herself.”
  • A student in passing asks Harry if he wants to “chip in a couple of Galleons? Harold Dingle reckons he could sell us some firewhisky,” but Harry isn’t listening.
  • Before their exams, a large trade in brain stimulants pops up, such as powdered dragon claw, which is supposed to make you clever. After finding out the dragon claw is “actually dried doxy droppings,” it “took the edge off Harry and Ron’s desire for brain stimulants.”

Language

  • ‘For God’s Sake’ and ‘Good Lord’ are used as exclamations a few times. “Good Lord, boy, they told me you were intelligent.”
  • The word ‘codswallop’ is used once.
  • ‘Damn’ and ‘git’ are used several times. Once, Uncle Vernon says they were “too damn soft for our own good.” Another time Fred calls Snape a “git” behind Snape’s back.
  • Fred calls Malfoy a scumbag.
  • Hell is used once. Hagrid asks, “who the ruddy hell are you.”
  • While at a planetarium, Ron says, “Harry, we saw Uranus up close! . . . Get it, Harry? We saw Uranus.”

Supernatural

  • Harry Potter goes to a school of wizards and is a part of an entire world of magic. His studies include divination, potions, and defense against the dark arts. He goes to school in a castle with magical rooms, hidden passageways, and a phoenix. He encounters a giant, nifflers, and house elves. In short, Harry is surrounded by magic and supernatural occurrences every day of his life. As such, not all instances are listed here.
  • Although the series revolves around magic, the story does not encourage children to try magic on their own. To cast a spell, wizards simply say a word and wave their wand. For example, saying luminos casts light.
  • Professor Trelawney made a prophecy about the Dark Lord before Harry was born. She does not remember making the prophecy afterward, but it is stored in a secret Hall of Prophecies hidden in the Ministry of Magic.

Spiritual Content

  • There are ghosts in the castle that behave like regular (although transparent) people. One of Harry’s teachers is even a ghost.
  • After his godfather dies, Harry asks a ghost if his godfather will come back. The ghost says no, because “He will have . . . gone on.” When Harry asks him what comes after death, the ghost says, “I know nothing of the secrets of death Harry, for I chose my feeble imitation of life instead.”

by Morgan Lynn

Under Suspicion

When the police show up at Highcrest Academy, Friday isn’t expecting them to take her to the police station. She has to clear her name with the help of a vagrant she meets. Life is no easier once she gets back to school, as she quickly jumps in to investigate a quiche back-off scandal as well as discover why holes are being dug everywhere.

The second installment of the Friday Barnes mystery has many of the same characters. Friday’s best friend Melanie spends all of her time sleeping, skipping out on classes, and obsessing over Friday’s love interests. Melanie’s nemesis Ian is willing to do anything to earn a scholarship, even framing Friday for a crime she didn’t commit. Many of the characters are portrayed as rich kids who are willing to do anything, including lie and cheat, to win. Besides the cast of characters from the first series, cute boy Christopher makes an appearance, which gives Melanie another boy to tease Friday about.

Throughout the story, Friday focuses on several smaller mysteries that end up all coming together for a big reveal at the end of the story. Throughout the story, Friday uses her power of observation to solve mysteries. Although Friday is socially awkward, she is clearly a genius who isn’t afraid to show that she is smart. Friday understands her weaknesses, which include social interactions. Even though the girls at the school ignore her, she is still willing to help them when they are in need.

Black and white illustrations appear every 4 to 8 pages. The illustrations help bring the quirky characters to life as well as show some of the action in the story. Although the Friday Barnes Series does not need illustrations to get readers to turn the pages, they add a nice touch and are often humorous.

Unlike many children’s books, the Friday Barnes Series doesn’t shy away from larger vocabulary words. Friday is a genius, and her vocabulary includes words like laboriously, repugnant, extrapolate, and fastidious. Even though readers may not understand all of Friday’s references and words, this doesn’t take away from the book’s enjoyment. Friday’s curious personality jumps off the page. Even though the reader knows that she will solve every case, there are plenty of surprises. Friday Barnes Under Suspicion is the perfect mix of dry humor, action, and suspense.

Sexual Content

  • When Friday and Ian are arguing, Melanie says, “You should write down some of this witty banter so you can read the transcripts to your grandchildren one day.” Another person replies, “I didn’t know Barnes and Waincott were planning to start a family.”
  • In order to get Friday to run, a boy grabs her hand. “Friday was surprised. No boy had ever held her hand before. It didn’t tingle like in the romance novels, but it did feel nice in an inexplicable, visceral way.”

Violence

  • The school gardener is found unconscious. He was hit in the head with a tool “but only because someone took the tool and swung it at him. . .”
  • Someone threatens to break Friday’s arm. He says, “I know that if I used my knee as a fulcrum and your forearm as a lever, I could snap your elbow like a dry twig.” He then uses a zip tie to secure her on the top of a lawn mower grass catcher.
  • Someone soaks Friday’s hat in gasoline and “produced a lighter from his pocket and set Friday’s hat alight.” Then the person, “threw the flaming hat through the broken window, then calmly walked back to where Friday was tied up.” The fire alarm went off and the school was evacuated.
  • When someone swung a spade towards Friday’s head, Ian tackles the person. “Ian had knocked him over and they were wrestling among the rosebushes.” The person brandishes gardening sheers at Friday and Ian. When the person goes to flee, Malcom, “burst out from the bushes at the edge of the forest and came sprinting down the slope towards the lawn mower. . . Malcom pivoted himself up and raised his fist to deliver a blow.” Friday yells at Malcom, who stops himself from hitting the person.
  • Malcom tells a story about someone who, “tried to trick an eighty-five-year-old lady. . . Little did he realize she was a retired professional wrestler. She hit him over the head with her walking frame, then held him in a leg lock until the police arrived.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Twice, someone calls Friday an Idiot.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Meet the Bigfeet

Blizz Richards is a loyal friend with a gigantic heart—he’s also a Yeti. Blizz and others like him have vowed to never be seen by the outside world, which makes it really difficult to have a family reunion. Blizz’s cousin decides to have a big party so the family can get together. The only problem is that an evil man with a camera is determined to prove that Bigfoot really does exist. Will Blizz and his friends be able to stay hidden or will the evil man be able to snap a photo of Bigfoot?

Each page of the story contains full-page black and white illustrations that introduce the many mysterious creatures that Blizz Richard knows. Readers will love the silly illustrations and enjoy the comical plot that pits a man with a camera against a group of creatures including a goatman, a goblin, and a skunk ape.

Meet the Bigfeet’s plot is at times random, and much of the story revolves around introducing characters. Even though the story’s conflict is weak, readers will enjoy the easily understood plot and the interesting characters. Each page has 2-4 sentences, which makes the story accessible to struggling readers. Meet the Bigfeet includes gags, jokes, and silly situations to entertain readers and take them into an imaginary world where Yetis and unicorns do exist.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • OMG is used once.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

 

 

The Great Pet Escape

Guinea pig George Washington thinks that being a second-grade class pet is like being in prison. He dreams of escaping and leading his two friends to freedom. When he finally escapes, he goes to find his friends, Barry and Bitter. George Washington is shocked to find out that his friends like being classroom pets.

George Washington convinces his friends to leave with him. A mouse named Harriet and her many mouse minions stop the three friends from escaping. Will George Washington be able to battle his way out of this terrible mess?

The Great Pet Escape is an outrageously silly story told from George Washington’s point of view. The graphic novel format will keep younger readers entertained. Although the story is written for those ready for chapter books, they may not understand all of the humor. For example, one of Barry’s former partners in crime has turned into a yoga-loving, herbal tea-drinking, pacifist. Even though some of the humor may not be understandable, readers will still fall in love with the class pets.

Readers will giggle when Harriet’s mouse minions fight George Washington and his friends. The colorful pictures are adorably funny and bring the action to life. Readers will want to read the story again and again, not only to enjoy the illustrations but also to relive the food fighting action. The Great Pet Escape is a unique, ridiculously silly story that will capture reader’s hearts.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • The animals have a food fight. They throw fish sticks, fruit, vegetables, and pasta at each other.
  • Two animals have a sword fight with uncooked spaghetti.
  • During the food fight, Jell-O is used as a holding cell.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • One of the characters thinks he wants to get his friends and “get the heck out of here.”
  • Someone calls a hamster a “moron.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Rosie Revere, Engineer

Rosie Revere dreams of being a great engineer. During the night, she uses trash and other supplies to construct inventions. Her ideas are endless. She makes hot dog dispensers, helium pants, and python-repelling cheese hats. When her uncle laughs at her creations, Rosie decides it’s best to hide the gizmos she creates. Will Rosie find the courage to share her creations, or will they stay hidden under her bed?

Younger readers will enjoy the full-page illustrations that bring Rosie’s creations to life. Each page has fun illustrations, short sentences, and rhyming text that will make the story fun to read aloud. Some of the vocabulary, such as ‘perplexed’ and ‘dismayed,’ may be difficult, and parents will have to explain the meaning. Even though Rosie Revere, Engineer is a picture book, the story is intended to be read aloud to a child, rather than for the child to read it for the first time independently.

Many readers will relate to Rosie Revere who is afraid of failing and having someone laugh at her. The entertaining story shows how Rosie “kept her dreams to herself.” With the help of her great-great-aunt, Rose learns that “The only true failure can come if you quit.” The ending of the book has the same classroom teacher and diverse students as Iggy Peck, Architect and Ada Twist, Scientist. Readers may enjoy comparing the pictures in all three books.

 Rosie Revere, Engineer teaches readers that making mistakes does not make a person a failure. The creative illustrations, relatable character, and the important lesson make Rosie Revere, Engineer a story that will entertain readers as well as encourage them to build “gizmos and gadgets and doohickeys too.”

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

I Am Underdog

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

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

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

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

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

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

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

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Summer Ball

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

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

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

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

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

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

by Hannah Neeley

 

Bunjitsu Bunny’s Best Moves

Isabel the Zen Bunny is back! Isabel is the BEST bunjitsu artist in her school. She can throw farther, kick higher, and hit harder than anyone else! But her strongest weapon is her mind. Isabel has thirteen new adventures with even more fun and wisdom. Isabel learns lessons from a mountain goat, one hundred squirrels, and a lynx.

Much like Aesop Fables, each tale is simple, yet exciting. Every conflict is resolved in a peaceful manner and leaves readers with a moral, such as “never start a fight, learn from those who know more than I do, and keep my body strong and healthy.” The story ends with instructions on how to make a bunny face out of paper.

Each clever story is brief and ranges from 6-10 pages long. The story uses simple vocabulary, contains 1-5 sentences per page, and has simple red-and-black illustrations. The combination of illustrations and short sentences makes Bunjitsu Bunny’s Best Move a good option for those just transitioning to chapter books or to read aloud.

Each story can stand alone, and readers will want to go back to reread their favorites. Bunjitsu Bunny’s Best Moves is a about fierce girl who proves that a person or a bunny doesn’t have to use their muscle to solve a problem.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Isabel and her brother make their shadows fight. “His shadow kicked its foot in the air. Isabel blocked the kick.” The two do several other play fighting moves.
  • A mountain goat will not let Isabel pass on a bridge. The mountain goat tells her, “You can pass if you beat my mighty horns.” Isabel backs up and “got a running start. Isabel and Mountain Goat met head-to-head.” They do this several times before Isabel figures out how to pass the mountain goat without bumping heads.
  • A group of squirrels tries to take Isabel’s cookies. “She fought them one, two, three, ten, fifty at a time. They kept coming back.” She finally tricks them into fighting each other. “They were so busy fighting one another, they didn’t see Isabel tiptoe away with the tray.”
  • Lynx wants to fight Isabel. “He leapt at Isabel. The two fought until she held him to the ground.” This happens several times until Isabel lets the Lynx win, so he will leave her alone.
  • At bunjitsu school, the classmates practice moves and practice attacking each other. The different moves are illustrated.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Race to Victory Mountain

Adam Raccoon is excited to run in a race. He is confident that he can make it to the finish line. King Aren, the ruler of the forest where Adam lives, reminds Adam to stay on course. But along the way, Adam gets distracted. Adam soon finds that the sun is quickly setting, and he might not be able to finish the race. When someone offers Adam a map that shows a shortcut, Adam welcomes the chance to save some time. Will the shortcut help him finish the race or will it led him into danger?

Much like the tortoise in the parable the Tortoise and the Hare, Adam is confident he can finish the race, so there is no need to hurry. He allows temptation to distract him from the set course. Along the way, Adam often stops to enjoy himself. Children will understand the message about the importance of staying on course and following God’s word. King Aren reminds Adam, “It’s easy to get off track. But when you do, get back on course and finish the race.”

Adam Raccoon is a lovable character who has a knack for getting into trouble. The simple story, with full-colored illustrations, will appeal to readers. The cartoonish pictures show how temptation comes in many forms. As Adam Raccoon explores the course, the illustrations portray him in funny situations and shows his changing emotions.  Each page has one to two sentences of text, which makes Adam Raccoon: The Race to Victory Mountain an excellent bedtime story. However, the story is intended to be read aloud to a child, rather than for the child to read it for the first time independently.

Readers will relate to Adam Raccoon as he struggles to do what is right. His story is engaging, fun, and teaches a lesson about temptation. In the end, King Aren saves Adam from his despair and helps him win the race. Adam Raccoon’s actions are never portrayed as bad. The cause and effect of Adam’s actions are easy to understand.  Young children will enjoy reading about Adam’s adventures because the story uses humor to create a lovable, relatable raccoon.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Tales from a NOT-SO-Friendly Frenemy

Nikki thinks this school year will be better because her arch nemesis MacKenzie Hollister now attends North Hampton Hills (NHH). But Nikki’s luck is about to run out. As part of a student exchange week, Nikki will spend a week at NHH. How will she survive a week at the same school as her enemy?

Tales from a Not-So-Friendly Frenemy’s conflict revolves around all the drama in Nikki’s life. At one point in the story, Nikki makes a homemade facial cream hoping the cream will give her flawless skin. Instead, the cream turns her face neon blue. The story contains many such silly scenes, which may make readers giggle.

Readers will enjoy the format of the story, which uses lists, quote boxes, emoji’s and text talk such as “BFF and R U kidding me?” Cute black-and-white illustrations show Nikki and the others in stylish clothes. Since the story is written in diary format, most paragraphs consist of one to two sentences and much of the text is stereotypical preteen talk.

Because the story is written in diary format, Nikki’s thoughts are recorded. However, her thoughts are often mean, such as when she thinks, “Listen, Tiffany! I have to go to the bathroom! So while I’m there would you like me to pee and poop for you too?”

Another negative aspect of the story is the way teachers are portrayed. When Nikki first gets to NHH, a student goes through the list of teachers and explains their negative attributes. For example, the student says, “Mr. Schmidt is a senile old dude who loves ranting about when he attended NHH as a kid during the stone age.”

The students are NHH are portrayed in a stereotypical way. The beautiful, fashionable girls are mean and cruel to the boys in the science club. Most of the main characters look similar, and there is little diversity among the students. The stereotypical characters might give younger readers the wrong idea about what junior high is actually like.

Overall, Tales from a Not-So-Friendly Frenemy is an easy-to-read story that could lead to a good discussion about how people should act. The story is humorous, but the characters have many qualities that parents will not want their children to emulate. Although this fun story will entertain readers, it misses the opportunity to teach valuable lessons.

Sexual Content

  • Nikki has a crush on Brandon. In class, they “started to text message and blush. Then we stared at each other and blushed. All of this staring and blushing went on, like, FOREVER!”

Violence

  • MacKenzie shoves Nikki.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Nikki thinks Mackenzie is a “sicko.”
  • Tiffany calls someone a “clumsy idiot” and says, “You science club geeks are so pathetic!”
  • OMG is used often.
  • Heck is used once.
  • Darn is used once.
  • Someone says they are a “cruddy cook.”
  • Nikki uses the phrase “I threw up in my mouth” several times.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Nikki was “praying she’ll [a teacher] select me to go to Paris.”
  • When Nikki is late to class, she “took off running and prayed that I’d get there before it was too late.”

Stage Fright

Ed and his friends accidentally enter a writing contest. They do their best to create a wacky play that no one will like. Their wacky play is chosen to be performed on the night of a blue moon. Ed tries to keep his strangeness under control, but it’s difficult to watch every word he speaks. Can Ed keep the strangeness under control? Will the blue moon make even stranger events happen?

The fourth installment of the Loonivers Series keeps all of the same lovable characters from the previous books. Ed really wants to keep the strangeness at bay, so he is careful with every word he says. This conflict adds fun and suspense as Ed visualizes what would happen if he said the wrong thing. For example, he imagines saying “I laughed my head off.” He then imagines his head floating off his body.

Ed’s adventure teaches readers the meaning of idioms in a delightful way. The idioms often come to life in interesting ways with illustrations showing what the literal meaning of the idiom would look like. The black and white illustrations on every page will cause smiles and giggles. Besides teaching the meaning of idioms, the story also teaches the importance of thinking before you speak.

Easy-to-read text and fun illustrations make Stage Fright a good choice for beginning readers. The plot does not revolve around the previous books in the series. However, the story does make a few references to previous books. Stage Fright will delight younger readers with the outrageous events, the silly illustrations, and the reoccurring characters. If you’re looking for a silly series that teaches as well as entertains, Stage Fright will be an excellent addition to your child’s library.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Ed finds a magic coin called the Silver Center. The coin “gave me the power to make strange things happen.”
  • Ed says, “Time flies when you’re having fun.” Then his “watchband had unbuckled itself. The ends started flapping like little leather bat wings,” and his watch flies away.
  • When Ed says a hamburger looks like a flying saucer, “it started to spin. Then it floated up until it was about a foot above her plate.”
  • Ed’s head turns into a horse’s head.
  • Because it is the night of a blue moon, strange things happen, including freezing people. Ed and his friends are pulled into the air. Ed and his friends, “were at least twenty feet off the ground. I wondered whether we’d get dragged all the way to the moon.” Ed comes up with an idiom that brings them back to Earth.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Travel Team

Danny Walker has a head for basketball. With his dad being the famous Richie Walker, a professional basketball player, basketball is in Danny’s DNA. Just as his dad led his seventh-grade travel team to the finals, Danny hopes to have the same chance this year. But when he doesn’t make the team due to his size, those hopes fade. With his dad back in town and a band of unlikely teammates, Danny tries to have an amazing season with a new team.

Travel Team is an exciting story about family and second chances. Danny’s dad comes back to Middletown to get closer to his son and help him develop his basketball skills. His dad is a heavy drinker, but quits to become a better coach and father. Richie teaches the team what it means to play for the love of the game.

The story examines the complicated relationships between parents and children. Danny’s dad has been absent for a lot of his life, but he still hopes for an authentic relationship with him. Although Richie is not a perfect parent, he supports Danny and wants the team to succeed. One of Richie’s flaws is his use of inappropriate language around his wife and his son. Richie is the reason for most of the inappropriate language in this story. While the story includes some explicit language, the story clearly expresses that it is not appropriate language for children. In contrast, Danny’s mom is a character many readers can look up to as an example of a great parent. She understands Danny’s love for the sport and his friends, but she knows when he needs a break. She supports him in his passion for basketball.

Sports lovers will enjoy the detailed play-by-play action. With a balanced mix of characters who play and those who don’t, even readers unfamiliar with the sport will be engaged by the story as they learn about basketball. With an action-packed narrative and funny dialogue between friends, Travel Team is an entertaining read. It does have a relatively familiar sports plot, where the underdogs ultimately come out on top.

Travel Team will engage readers who are looking for a good sports book that also teaches about overcoming obstacles. As the story explores real-life problems, Danny learns the importance of taking responsibility and shows that anyone can become a leader.

Sexual Content

  • Tess, a girl Danny likes, “leaned over and kissed him on the cheek” while they were sitting on the swings in his backyard.

 Violence

  • After Teddy Moran insulted his family, Danny tackled him. After they separated, Danny thought of “Teddy hitting the floor hard as Danny heard people start to yell all around them.” Danny threatens him, “You’re the one who’s going to get hurt.”

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • When his wife asks a difficult question, Richie answers as “he drank down about half his beer in one gulp, like he was incredibly thirsty all of a sudden.”
  • Being dramatic, Richie says the team is “where all the bad boys go when they come out of drug rehab.”
  • Danny’s mom is upset with her husband’s drinking habits. She tells him, it’s “. . . not the children’s fault that you’re still hungover the next night. . . . Quit drinking. Now. . . It’ll be better that way than letting your son be the last one to find out what a drunk you are.”
  • Danny is thinking about parents and how they can be “pissed off” or “hungover.”
  • Richie gets in a car accident in Middletown and tells Danny and his wife that he “wasn’t drunk.” Later, Richie tells his son about the car crash that destroyed his basketball career. “I lost control of the car because I was drunk. . . That was one of the nights I drank a whole six-pack before I got in my jeep.”

 Language

  • Danny’s father, Richie, is one of the few characters who use foul language. Profanity includes: Goddamn, rat’s ass, hell, damn, screw’em, ass, bitching and moaning, for Chrissakes, swear to God, and frigging. Most of these are only used once.
  • Danny describes the park in Middletown, “to feed the butt-ugly ducks.”
  • Danny watches Mr. Ross get upset about try-outs. Danny was “curious to see when Mr. Ross, the most important guy in Middletown, was going to figure out what a jackass he was making of himself.”
  • After the fight, Danny says, “I should have kicked his ass.”
  • Danny says he “could tell how pissed off his mom was” when she is arguing with his father about drinking.
  • Danny uses the word “crap” several times.
  • Coach Kel, an old travel coach of Danny’s, uses “damn” several times. It serves to develop his character.
  • Ross speaks to Ali and Danny about his mistake in not giving Danny a position on his team. He says, “I was so hell bent on maintaining the process.”
  • Danny and Richie talk to each other about Danny coaching the Warriors himself. Danny expresses worry and at one point says “heck no,” to which his dad replies “shut your piehole.”
  • Danny calls the opponents “scumweasels” and “scumwads” while hyping up his team in an important game.

 Supernatural

  • None

 Spiritual Content

  • Richie speaks about planning to start a new basketball team. “It’s like your mom says. You want to make God laugh? Tell Him about your plans.”
  • Richie is talking to his players at the end of a very important game and says, “Thirty seconds in basketball is longer than church.”
  • Danny thinks about his mom and her strange expressions. “God Bless America. It was one of his mom’s expressions when she wanted to swear.”
  • Danny describes his mom’s plans. “His mom was meeting Will’s mom for a girls’ brunch after church on Sunday.”
  • Danny thinks about the possibility of Ty playing for his team. “Having just come from church, he wasn’t sure whether he should be praying for stuff like this, but he was praying hard now that Ty Ross didn’t really hate his guts.”
  • Danny’s teammate Will is sitting on the bench during a game “with a towel on his head that he’d fashioned into some kind of turban.” Danny says to him, “Uh, Mohammed?” Will replies by saying, “I was actually going for that do-rag look.”

By Hannah Neeley

Minecraft: The Crash

Bianca doesn’t think before she acts because her best friend, Lonnie, has always been there to catch her when she falls. But when Bianca and Lonnie are in a horrific car crash, Bianca learns that thoughtless actions can lead to severe consequences for her and for others.

Bianca wakes up in the hospital with painful injuries. She is afraid to find out what has happened to Lonnie—did he survive or has Bianca lost her best friend? To avoid the painful truths of reality, Bianca jumps into the virtual reality world of Minecraft. When she meets a glitching avatar that might be Lonnie, Bianca vows to do everything she can to help Lonnie in the virtual world.

Bianca teams up with Esme and Anton, two other kids who are in the hospital. While in the Minecraft world, the kids must face dangerous mobs that are generated by their fears and insecurities. With the help of her new friends, can Bianca overcome her fears and return to reality?

Minecraft: The Crash begins with a graphic crash scene, which leaves Bianca wondering what happened to Lonnie. Bianca’s resulting fear and guilt conflict drive much of the story. Her time in the Minecraft world adds interest to those who play the game, but fans may not like that the story does not stay true to the actual Minecraft game. Instead, the author changed many of the game’s elements to fit the story’s plot. On the other hand, if someone is not familiar with the Minecraft game some events will be confusing.

Bianca, Esme, and Anton interact like typical teenagers—they argue and disagree, but they also work together (most of the time.) Esme and Anton show the importance of working together to solve a problem. They also encourage Bianca to face her issues. Esme and Anton are likeable characters who stick with Bianca through everything. However, Bianca is hard to relate to because she comes off as a self-centered person who is dishonest when it benefits her. Although Esme and Anton are doing everything they can to help her, Bianca does little to contribute to the group’s plan. Instead, she does what she wants even if it may cause harmful consequences to others. Although she feels guilty for causing the car accident, she has not learned from the event.

The length of the book, the complexity of the plot, and some difficult vocabulary combine to make Minecraft: The Crash more appropriate for middle-school readers than younger readers, as does the fact that the story deals with the difficult topic of death. Although Bianca recognizes that she is to blame for Lonnie’s death, the ending of the story does not acknowledge the long-term ramifications of the car crash or the pain Lonnie’s death caused others. Despite these drawbacks, this book will keep readers who want to jump into the Minecraft world entertained with battle after battle.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Bianca and her friend are in a car crash. Bianca could see the driver of the other car; “his head lurched back as his green car collided with our blue one.” During the crash, “there was the smell of smoke. And the taste of blood. And the scrape of something against my body that felt like it had gutted me open somewhere in the middle. I wondered if I’d been halved.” Bianca is seriously injured. Her friend dies.
  • While in the Minecraft word, Bianca meets a zombie mob. She began “plowing through green guys with the sword like an Amazon warrior. . . I was screaming and chopping and generally having a great time until one of them hit me, and the energy bar at the top of my vision went down half a heart.” The battle takes place over three pages. During that time, Bianca kills zombies. When she kills one, “green slime burst in pixelated arcs that fell on the ground and disappeared in seconds.”
  • While in the Minecraft world, Bianca tries to go into another player’s house. She triggers an explosion and “blocks exploded, lava erupted, and a series of sparks bloomed in front of my eyes.
  • Spiders charge the three kids. Bianca “picked up my sword again and hacked at the charging spider. It broke into blue pieces and fell to the ground . . .” Then Anton “did a spin and swiped at another spider. It broke apart, but the river of spiders just kept pouring out of the house.”
  • A group of villagers attacks and “they all turned on us, mercilessly raining down blows. . . Anton got the brunt of the blows.”
  • While in a tunnel, zombies attack. Lonnie and Esme “started slashing through the mob. . .” Later, creepers appear. As Bianca tried to escape, “creepers pressing in. One on the far end popped and set off a chain reaction.”
  • Witches begin throwing potions at the group. As Bianca was fleeing, “a potion hit me and exploded. My movements instantly became slower. My heath bar over my head dipped. . . . Ashton kept on hitting until the witch died.”
  • A line of endermen appear and “this group seemed to be gunning for us, arms outstretched in attack mode. . . I swung my sword, just missing it, and giving it enough time to reach me. My health points took a big hit when it landed a blow. . . The endermen pounded me with its fists. I put my arms up, unable to do anything else. . .” The battle takes place over two pages.
  • Endermen attack the group again. Endermen “rained down on us like black hail. . . Esme fired arrow after arrow into the crowd of them. I hacked my way through at one side . . .”
  • When Bianca’s friends try to get her to leave the game, she “thought about the TNT I had in my inventory, and how I needed a distraction. It suddenly appeared and detonated instantly in front of us. We were blown back in different directions. My heath bar took a major hit.” Bianca’s friends were “thrown back into the exit portal.” They were forced out of the game.
  • A slime mob attacks a house. Bianca “charged in, giving my best warrior yell. I bashed through the little slimes that were at my feet while keeping the skeletons away from Lonnie.” The battle takes place over three pages.
  • Zombies come into a bobby-trapped house. When the zombies got to the door, “there was the click of a trigger, and the sound of a low whistle that got louder and louder, and then bam! Both of them got smashed by an anvil.” The battle takes place over two pages.
  • While in the bobby-trapped house, Bianca steps on a pressure plate. She runs, but “a series of flaming arrows flew towards us. Most stuck in the ground, burning in place, but a few of them hit us. The sharp stab of the arrow piercing me was bad enough, but the fire . . . I started to crawl away, but Lonnie sat where he was, pinned by three arrows that hit his legs and arm. . . d” No one is seriously injured.
  • Zombies attack again. Bianca “continued slashing with my sword while pushing Lonnie backward, away from danger. . . a zombie hit me, sending me sprawling. My body felt leaden as I hit the floor, and I didn’t know if I had the energy to escape the approaching zombie. . . “ Lonnie pulls her to safety.
  • Bianca and Esme get into an argument. Bianca “pushed her to the ground and started to hit her with my fist, but she was back up on her feet a moment later, punching back. . . I pulled my hands up to shield my face, hoping the blows would end soon, and a moment later she stopped.” Someone pulls Esme off Bianca.
  • A scarred enderman appears and Bianca “thrust upward with the sword. I caught the enderman’s arm. It staggered back a step, but then reached around with its other arm to strike me. . . the enderman’s arm flashed out, lightening quick, thwacking my face. The blow burned like fire. . .” Esme shoots the enderman, but others appear. Anton has TNT so he “lobbed the bombs over our heads as we kept firing. . .” The group is able to escape. The battle takes place over 2 ½ pages.
  • Witches ambush Bianca. “They pelted potions, and I warded them off with my sword as best I could. Then I charged the closet witch—the one on my right—slashing until it died, droppings ticks and glass bottles.” Someone saves Bianca.
  • Wither skeletons with swords attach the group. “Anton killed one at close range by sticking its torso, and one of Esme’s arrows found its target, destroying the third one.”
  • Ender pirates attack. Bianca tries to escape, but one “extended its hand and knocked me over. I fell to the floor, but I didn’t seem to have taken much damage. The fighting continued around and over me for a second before I regained my footing.” The battle continues for 3 ½ pages and ends when Anton detonates an explosion, “The yellow and orange of the bomb was bright against the sky. . . I (Bianca) jumped up onto the rail, and dove into the water as the pirate ship blew up behind me.”
  • Someone steps on a pressure plate and enemies appear. “The silverfish looked vicious, and they came straight toward us with their jaws unhinged, as if they meant to take a bite out of anyone who got close enough. . . They swarmed around us, unrelenting and hideous, but our armor kept us relatively safe. . .” They escape through a portal.
  • Bianca and her friends jump through a portal, but an enderman appears and grabs Bianca. “The enderman grabbed me by the hand, pulled me backwards, and threw me down on the ground. It kneeled over me, wrapped its hands around my neck, and squeezed. I choked for air. My legs and arms flailed as I tried to dislodge myself from the enderman’s grasp.” The game glitches and Bianca reappears somewhere else.
  • In a final battle, Bianca and her friends fight a dragon. “Its eyes blazed as it charged straight toward us. I could feel the heated air radiating from its flapping wings. . . The dragon dropped its wing and clipped Anton on his back. He lurched forward, landing at Lonnie’s feet and staring up at the sky.” The battle takes place over 10 pages.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • While in the hospital, doctors gave Bianca painkillers. When she woke up, she “considered that the drugs were making me loopy.” Later Bianca’s father is told that doctors have “administered the strongest painkillers we can under the circumstances. . .”

Language

  • Darn, jeez, heck, and crap are each used one time.
  • Pissed is used five times. For example, Bianca thinks that another player “looked pissed.”
  • Anton says that Esme is “a jerk sometimes.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Attack at the Arena

Mr. Whittaker finds a mysterious letter inside the Imagination Station. The letter leads Patrick and Beth to fifth-century Rome on a quest to find a special cup that belongs to a monk. The cousins jump back in time and end up at the Roman Colosseum.

Before long, Beth and Patrick are separated. Patrick meets Telemachus, a monk, who believes fighting is wrong. Telemachus wants the emperor to end the gladiator battles. Telemachus guides Patrick as he looks for his cousin.

Meanwhile, Beth is mistaken as a slave and is sent to serve in the emperor’s palace. As the Emperor’s servant, Beth must attend Emperor Honorius’s gladiator battle. Patrick also attends as a monk’s apprentice but is captured and sent to fight in the arena. Will Patrick be able to survive?

History is incorporated into the story through Telemachus, Emperor Honorius, and the arena fighting. The story describes the horrors of the arena fighting in child-friendly terms and leaves out graphic violence. After reading the story, many may want to know more about ancient Rome.

Attack at the Arena has a fast-paced, action-packed plot with a strong message of faith. Since lessons in faith are delivered through the monk Telemachus, the lessons do not come across as preachy. Instead, readers will see how Telemachus lives his faith. Through Telemachus’s actions, the reader will learn that, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for a friend.”

Readers who enjoy The Magic Tree House will want to add Attack at the Arena to their reading list. Both series have likable characters, mystery, and time travel. However, Attack at the Arena teaches how God can change people. This book is the second installment of The Imagination Station Series; as each book builds on the previous story, readers should read Voyage with the Vikings first. The interesting plot will keep readers turning the page until the very last page.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When Patrick and Beth go back in time, they land in an arena with a tiger. The tiger “crouched down like a cat searching for a mouse. Its eyes burned bright. It ran straight toward Patrick.” Someone uses a whip to scare the tiger away.
  • A soldier sees Beth and “picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.” He takes her to the palace to work as a slave.
  • A soldier thinks Patrick is trying to help Beth escape. The soldiers “grabbed his arms. They roughly pulled him back.” One of the soldiers “pulled out a shiny sword. . . He pointed the sword at Patrick.”
  • A man hears soldiers coming to capture him. When the monk tells the man to hide, the man instead “pulled the knife out of his belt. He pointed it at Telemachus (the monk).” The man steals a chalice and then flees.
  • A soldier thinks Patrick is trying to help Beth escape again. He “picked him up and threw him into a wood cart. . . Patrick fell onto the bottom of the cart. His face was in the mud and straw.” Patrick is taken to the arena.
  • At the arena, “Slaves fought the wild creatures. The men screamed and ran when the animals attacked.”
  • Patrick and other prisoners are forced to fight in the arena. At the emperor’s signal, “prisoners began to fight each other. Each man battled for his life. An old prisoner quickly knocked Patrick’s knife out of his hand.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Mr. Whittaker has an Imagination Station that allows Beth and Patrick to travel back in time. When they get into the Imagination Station, “the machine jerked forward. Patrick felt as if he were on the subway. . . The machine whirled. Suddenly, everything went black.”
  • Mr. Whittaker also has a ring that “you can only see it when my hand is in the machine.”

Spiritual Content

  • The monk tells a soldier, “All children belong to God.”
  • The monk tells Patrick, “God may let you find your friend later.”
  • The monk tells Patrick that he is in Rome because “God told me to come here.” The monk didn’t know why God wanted him in Rome, but “it is for me to obey and go.” Later, the monk goes to the arena for the same reason. The monk says that God told him to go, “in my prayers this morning.”
  • The monk tells Patrick, “there are no what ifs? with God. When He speaks, we’re to listen and obey.”
  • The emperor, Honorius, says he is Christian and that “by law the emperor must be a Christian.”
  • The monk tells the people watching the fighting, “In the name of Jesus who shed His blood for us. . . don’t take pleasure in the bloodshed! Stop—in the name of Christ—stop!”

 

Dinosaur Disaster

Ed and his friends are excited to see the robotic dinosaurs at Dinosaur Discovery. After going to see the dinosaurs, a real-life dinosaur follows Ed home. Ed’s sister, Libby, wants to keep the dinosaur as a pet. Ed needs to figure out how to use his powers for strangeness to send the dinosaur home. With the help of his friends, can they come up with a plan or will the dinosaur cause a disaster?

The same lovable characters from the first two Looniverse books appear in Dinosaur Disaster. A dinosaur that acts like a dog is the main conflict of the book. Readers will enjoy the playful dinosaur and Ed’s silly antics. The story doesn’t teach any dino facts or have as many of the fun play on words as the previous books.

Ed’s little sister, Libby, takes a starring role in the book. The brother-sister relationship is portrayed in a positive light, and Ed treats his sister with care. Ed’s mother briefly appears in the story and trying to keep the dinosaur in the backyard a secret helps create suspense.

Dinosaur Disaster will appeal to those who like dinosaurs and outrageous, silly events. The large black-and-white illustrations bring the story to life and show the range of emotions that the characters feel. The easy-to-read text and fun illustrations make the story a good choice for younger readers. Readers do not need to read the previous books to enjoy the third installment of the Looniverse Series.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Ed saw a robotic T-rex “chomping Derwin’s butt.
  • Ed falls in a pile of dinosaur poop. “Bluebird had left me a present. A big, stinky one.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Ed has a coin that allows him to do strange things. “Mouse could do strange things I suggested, like lifting himself up in the air, even if they seemed impossible. And Derwin could make sayings come true. My power as the Stranger worked on both of them, but in different ways.”
  • Ed sends the dinosaur back to where it came from. “The air around her (the dinosaur) shimmered. Then it changed. All around her, like a movie was being shown, I could see a world of giant plants. A huge insect flew past. A warm gust of air washed over my face.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

Dragon Pearl

Thirteen-year-old Min lives an ordinary life. No one knows that her family comes from a long line of fox spirits. Her family hides their powers, and Min’s mother doesn’t allow any of them to use fox-magic. Instead of shape-shifting and using Charm, Min always appears as a human.

Min dreams of leaving her dust-ridden planet and joining her brother Jun in the Space Forces. When Min gets older, they hope to see more of the Thousand Worlds together. Then an investigator appears and informs the family that Jun has deserted. The investigator thinks Jun is searching for the mythical Dragon Pearl that is rumored to have tremendous power.

After reading a strange message from Jun, Min knows that something is wrong. Min runs away to search for her brother. During her journey, she will meet gamblers, pirates, and ghosts. She will have to use deception, sabotage, and magic. Min will need all of her courage to complete her journey. Will she be able to find the answers she needs to find her brother?

Sci-fi enthusiasts will enter an imaginative world that includes Korean mythology. The Korean mythology is seamlessly integrated into Min’s story and helps create an interesting world. The story is a perfect blend of mystery, action, and space travel. Although most of the story is fast-paced, parts of the story are difficult to read because of long descriptions.

Dragon Pearl is told from Min’s point of view, which allows the reader to understand her thought process as she searches for her brother. Middle school readers will enjoy reading about Min because of her daring actions and can-do attitude.

Although Min has spent her life hiding her magical abilities, once she leaves her house, she consistently relies on Charm. Readers may question how she can be so skilled using her Charm when she has had no practice. Another bothersome inconsistency is that Min notices when other supernaturals use their powers, but no one notices when Min uses her Charm. Even though Min uses her Charm to deceive others, she is still a likable character. At the end of the book, Min realizes that she should rely less on magic, but it would have been nice to see Min use her brain to solve some problems throughout the story, instead of always using Charm.

The ending is a little predictable, but there are enough surprises to satisfy readers. Middle school readers who are interested in mythology may want to begin with the Percy Jackson Series or Aru Shah and the End of Time, which have better character development as well as humor. Overall, Dragon Pearl creates an interesting world filled with magic. The danger, magic, and mystery will draw readers into the story and keep them engaged. However, some readers may struggle with the long descriptions and difficult vocabulary.

Sexual Content

  • Some people wear “a small symbol next to the name that let me know they should be addressed neutrally, as neither female or male.” One of the characters, a goblin, is gender neutral and referred to as they.

Violence

  • When an investigator finds out that Min is a fox, he “snatched me up by the throat. I scrabbled for air, my fingernails lengthening into claws, and tore desperately at his fingers.” Min turns into a block of metal and fell on the man’s foot. When he lets her go, “I snatched a saucepan and brought it crashing down against his head. He fell without a sound.”
  • Mercenaries attack the ship that Min is on. Min “cried as a burst of violet fire hit us in the side.” The scene takes place over nine pages. Someone pulls Min “behind the copilot’s seat. Great timing: A bolt sizzled over me, where my head had been just a second earlier. . . Two more bolts flew over my head. I peeked around the side of the seat and fired once at the first shadowy figure I saw. I heard a yelp.” Min is hit and “slid out of consciousness.” Later, Min discovers that one cadet died.
  • A person accidently crashed into Min, who is appearing as a boy. Min “emitted a strange yell when the person’s knee accidently connected with my crotch. I was going to have to be more careful about guarding that part of my body!”
  • A space ship is attacked, and the Goblin is injured. “Sunjin jumped back from their workstation, clutching their side. An enormous burning line of light had seared the goblin from the neck all the way to their waist, as though someone had slashed them with a whip of fire. . .”
  • Min discovers that the colonist, “stopped making offerings to the pox spirits, and the spirits took their vengeance by wiping out the colony.”
  • Min helps two mercenaries escape. They get on a ship and the pilot, “blew open the hatch with a missile at short range. . . Acceleration slammed us sideways as our ship veered hard to starboard, then rolled.”
  • Min turns into a bird, and someone shoots at her. “Fire pierced my right wing. . . I plummeted, struggling. . . The pain made me light headed.”
  • A man grabs Min. “I stifled a gasp as his fingers dug into my flesh and he yanked me toward him, wrenching my injured shoulder.” The ghost helps Min escape.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • When Min knocks the investigator unconscious, her family discusses using a “subtle poison” to kill him.
  • Min questions a guard, who tells her that he got his information from a “drunk spacer who was spilling secrets last night.”
  • Min meets a guard who had, “the flushed skin of someone who had been drinking too much cheap wine, and he reeked of the stuff.”
  • For a few hours, Min works in a gambling hall where she serves wine and uses “Charm to encourage customers to relax.” While working, she gives wine to customers.
  • When Min is injured, she is given a dose of painkiller.

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • The main character is a fox spirit, who lives as a human. A fox spirit can, “shape-shift into whatever she wants: human, animal, even a dining room table.” Fox spirits can choose to be female or male. Fox spirits can also use Charm “to manipulate human emotions and make people see things that aren’t there.”
  • Besides fox spirits, there are other supernatural creatures, “such as dragons, who can control weather, and goblins, who can conjure things out of thin air.”
  • Shamans can communicate with ancestors and spirits.
  • Throughout the story, Min uses Charm to disguise herself. The first time, she made, “myself plainer, drabber, harder to see.” She also uses Charm to turn into an inanimate object several times. The majority of the story, she disguises herself as a cadet who had been killed. The cadet is a ghost and gave Min permission to pretend to be him.
  • The story revolves around the Fourth Colony, “whose entire population had perished when they’d angered disease spirits a few centuries ago.” The ghosts of the colonists haunt the planet.
  • A ghost is one of the supporting characters. “Ghosts weren’t necessarily unfriendly, but many of them became vengeful over time, especially if the unfinished business that bound them to the world of the living went unresolved.” Later in the story, the reader learns that “most ghosts were bound near the site of whatever had felled them.”
  • Ghosts can be dangerous because, “wrongful death warped people’s souls and made them vengeful toward the living.”
  • Several times, the goblin uses his magical sport to create food. The first time the goblin uses the magic, “Sunjin waved the sport, and a box of chocolate-dipped cookies magically appeared.”
  • People are looking for the Dragon Pearl, which could, “transform an entire barren world, give it forests and seas and make it suitable for habitation, it could just as easily destroy a world, turn it into a lifeless desert.”
  • Both people and space ships have an energy flow, which affects luck. “Just like you could have flows of good or back luck in a room, depending on how furniture and ornaments were arranged, there could be flows of good or bad luck across star systems and beyond.”
  • Min meets her brother’s ghost. “Through the disheveled locks I recognized the face—what remained of it, anyway. Half of it flickered with ghostly flames, as though he were on fire. Between that, and the hair, I could barely see his surviving eye.”
  • A shaman was “going to rid the Fourth Colony of its ghosts by singing us into the underworld.” The ghosts stop her.
  • Min uses the Dragon Pearl to give the ghosts a proper burial. “The ghosts shimmered, and I could sense their joy.”

Spiritual Content

  • A pilot whispers a “spacer’s prayer that heaven would see us safely through the gate.”
  • When Min’s escape pod crashes, she “prayed to every ancestor I knew to watch over us.”
  • Min sees that the dead colonist “didn’t have gruesome lesions of smallpox, the disease that gods had once wielded to teach humankind respect. . .”

The Penderwicks at Last

The Penderwicks are back for the final installment of Jeanne Birdsall’s beloved series about family, friendship, and adventure. The entire family is coming together once again for a wedding, and it just so happens to be at their favorite place in the world, the Arundel estate. Lydia, the youngest Penderwick sister, is now eleven years old and is a boundless ball of dancing energy, excited to experience the wonderful place that she has heard so many stories about. New surprises await as the charming family returns to the estate where it all began.

Following the same simple, yet charming style of the first four books, The Penderwicks at Last is a delightful read. However, it is the least interesting of the series. Although it has the trademark humor and wonder that captivated readers from the beginning, this book tends to drag and lose momentum. Curious readers excited to discover the fate of the family that they have grown to love may find that part of the magic has faded.

The best elements of the book include when Lydia interacts with her family, rather than what the majority of the book focuses on–her relationship with her new friend Alice. As Lydia becomes a better person over the course of her stay at the enormous estate, she learns important lessons about kindness, friendship, and familial bonds.

The story revolves around Lydia as she navigates and discovers Arundel for the first time. She begins to understand the secrets of what makes the Berkshire estate so magical to her family, from the gardens to the rolling fields, allowing the reader to feel the wonder and excitement along with her. Since Lydia was only in the last two books of the series, she is less fascinating than her siblings are. Readers willing to overlook this will find it an enjoyable tale of weddings, space alien movies, and new friendships.

Although The Penderwicks at Last can be read as a stand-alone novel, readers will find the story more amusing if they have read the previous books. Younger readers may find the diction difficult and may not be interested in the older characters and their adult problems.

Despite disappointments for long-time fans of the series, Birdsall uses her trademark style to create a story that is still pleasant to read. Mimicking the mood and story arc of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, The Penderwicks at Last is a feel-good story for readers of all ages.

Sexual Content

  • Batty has a boyfriend from college named Wesley who is a dedicated art student. “Lydia liked him more than any of Batty’s boyfriends from high school. Indeed, he was among her top four or five picks of all her sisters’ boyfriends put together.”
  • Jane has distinctive views about love in her life. “She cared only about becoming a great novelist. Everything else was secondary, including love and romance. Those she’d sworn off after a few heartbreaks had used too much of her writing time.”
  • When they were young, Enam promised to marry Lydia when they grew up. When Enam gets a girlfriend when he is older, Lydia “wasn’t awfully upset, but was also comforted when Aunt Claire told her that boys–even her own two sons–can be dopes when it comes to love, and then took Lydia out for ice cream and a movie.”
  • Tifton perpetually is getting married, divorced, and remarried.
  • Alice tells Lydia the story of how her parents fell in love. “Dad met her when they both started teaching . . . and fell in love with her because of how talented she was, but then he had to beat out the math teacher, the gym teacher, and also Mom’s boyfriend from college before he could win her heart.”
  • When Lydia is trying to stage a procession rehearsal for the wedding, Rosalind, “sneaked off with Tommy to hide behind the pavilion, where they thought they couldn’t be seen.” Alice laments that they are kissing again.

Violence

  • Lydia dislikes a girl in her dance class. Lydia wishes that she could, “do something dramatic about her dislike–shout it to the world or kick Deborah in the shins.”
  • Alice has a conspiracy theory about Mrs. Tifton murdering her husbands in her giant mansion. “She could have poisoned them and used the ax to chop them into pieces. Look right there….I bet that’s blood.”
  • In a tragic scene of Ben’s sci-fi movie, Alice acts out the part of a dying alien who gets murdered. They shoot this scene several times and Alice is regarded as being very good at it.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Jeffrey comes back home to Arundel. “He spotted me at the tunnel and thought, What the heck is that, and do I need to protect my friends from it–”

Supernatural

  • Arundel is described as a magical place. “Jane had said that the stone pillars were a magical boundary that kept out the real world.”
  • Alice believes that all of Mrs. Tifton’s husbands became ghosts after she allegedly killed them. “The husbands could now be ghosts, waiting for their revenge.” These ghosts make Lydia reluctant to sleep alone in the mansion.

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Morgan Filgas

 

 

Tales from a NOT-SO-Perfect Pet Sitter

Nikki is excited that mean girl MacKenzie is no longer going to her school. She thinks MacKenzie is out of her life for good, but she is wrong. By accident, Nikki finds out that MacKenzie is telling her new friends all kinds of lies. Should Nikki tell MacKenzie’s friends the truth?

Then Nikki and Brandon find Holly and her seven puppies outside of Fuzzy Friends, a dog shelter where Brandon volunteers. The shelter is full, and Brandon is worried because “Not all places in the city have a no-kill policy like we do.” The friends think about hiding the dogs in the shelter even though it’s “a serious violation that could get us shut down.” When MacKenzie overhears Nikki and Brandon’s plot, they decide to take care of the dogs themselves.

Nikki lies to her mother, telling her that, “due to a family emergency, a good friend of mine needs a pet sitter for his dog.” Since Nikki’s mother said she didn’t want a dog in the house, Nikki decides to hide Holly and her puppies. Nikki’s friends help her come up with a plot to keep Nikki’s parents out of the house. When her mom unexpectedly stays home, Nikki and her friends try to hide the dog at the school, which requires more lies and plotting. When Nikki involves her friends and another girl in her schemes, she says, “I felt like a snake. A dishonest, manipulative, and very desperate snake!” That is an accurate description of Nikki’s character.

The conflict of hiding Holly and her puppies would be sufficient to keep readers entertained. Adding the character MacKenzie simply brings out the worst in Nikki and turns her into a mean girl. At one point, Nikki thinks the mean girl MacKenzie is like a disposable baby diaper because, “they’re both plastic, totally self-absorbed, and full of poop!!” However much like MacKenzie, Nikki’s treatment of MacKenzie and her sister makes Nikki come across as self-absorbed and snotty.

Dork Diaries is written in the form of a diary, which contains lists, quote bubbles, emoji’s and text talk such as “BFF and OMG.” The cute black-and-white illustrations show Nikki and the others in stylish clothes. Since the story is written in diary format, most paragraphs consist of one to two sentences and much of the text is stereotypical preteen talk.

The fun story will entertain readers. However, Tales from a Not-So-Perfect Pet Sitter shows Nikki being dishonest and still being rewarded. In the end, Nikki’s parents never learn of her deception, and her parents decide to bring home the exact puppy that Nikki had wanted. Tales from a Not-So-Perfect Pet Sitter is an easy-to-read, fun story, but the main character has many qualities that parents will not want their child to emulate.

Sexual Content

  • Nikki has a crush on Brandon. They go to a cupcake shop and “then we just stared at each other and blushed. All this staring, gushing, and blushing went on like, FOREVER!” While there, “dozens of butterflies started fluttering in my stomach. It made me feel very giggly and a little queasy. All at the same time. Like I wanted to. . .vomit. . . rainbow-colored. . . CUPCAKE SPRINKLES!”
  • MacKenzie interrupts an almost kiss between Nikki and Brandon.
  • MacKenzie flirts with Brandon. When talking to him, she was “batting her eyelashes all flirtylike as she twirled her hair around and around her finger in a blatant attempt to hypnotize him to do her evil bidding.”
  • Makenzie starts a rumor that Brandon, “had kissed her on a bet just to get free pizza.”

 Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • OMG is used often.
  • Brandon tells MacKenzie that, “I don’t hang out with sociopaths!”
  • “Oh crud” is used once.
  • MacKenzie calls a group of kids “idiots.”
  • Nikki uses the phrase “I threw up in my mouth” several times.
  • Nikki thinks that her little sister is “bratty.”
  • When Nikki meets her friend’s uncle, she thinks, “I’d much rather spend the weekend with a pack of wild dogs than her whiny, slightly nutty, germophobic Uncle Carlos.”
  • When MacKenzie sees her sister talking to Nikki’s sister, MacKenzie yells, “I told you never to talk to that little BRAT or her PATHETIC sister again!”

 

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

The Last Kids on Earth and the Cosmic Beyond

Jack and his friends are looking forward to their first Christmas celebration since the monster apocalypse. Jack wants to show the monsters the joy of sledding, snowball battles, and gift giving. But their winter plans are put on hold when an evil human villainess begins hunting them.

The villainess hopes to create a portal to bring Ghazt, the general of the undead, to Earth. But first she needs Jack’s monster-slaying tool, the Louisville Slicer. When his prized weapon is stolen, will Jack and his friends be able to get it back? Will they be able to stop the villainess’s evil plan?

The Last Kids on Earth and the Cosmic Beyond takes a step back from monster fighting and focuses more on the kids’ winter activities. In order to show the monsters that snow is fun, the kids do a series of snow activities including ice fishing and snowball fights. But the activities make the “monsters extra freaked out. They’ve become afraid of snow in both flake form and ball form.” Readers will laugh as Jack and his friends try to show the monsters their traditions. Through these humorous scenes, readers will learn the importance of understanding different cultures. The story shows that some people may find different traditions strange because they have never heard of them.

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

At first, The Last Kids on Earth and the Cosmic Beyond may look like just another graphic novel. But the characters are surprisingly well developed and readers will come away with a valuable lesson about the importance of community. When Jack and the kids seek out a Warg, Jack realizes that “maybe she was watching because she felt that feeling, that’s the worst of all feelings. That feeling of being, like, left out?”

This story can be understood without reading the previous books in the series, but for maximum enjoyment readers should read the books in order. Readers will enjoy The Last Kids on Earth and the Cosmic Beyond. The story keeps the same humorous, non-frightening format as the previous books.

Sexual Content

  • Jack has a crush on June. At one point, June “looks deep into my (Jack’s) eyes. I’m wondering if this might be sort of a romantic moment or something. . .” It’s not.
  • When Dirk is bitten by a zombie, he is “stretched out on the poker table. . . I expected it to be like a scene from one of those TB shows with doctors running around emergency rooms. You know the ones, where they spend like half their time saving lives and the other half making out in the hospital closets?”
  • Meathook grabs Jack, and his “gray-purple tongue snaps and smacks me across the face. I half expect it to follow that with a French kiss of death.” Meathook grabs Jack’s weapon and then lets him go.

Violence

  • While catapulting in a sled, the kids jump out of the sled before they slam into a monster. “There’s a gulp—and the great beast’s belly rumbles. The sled has been swallowed.”
  • An “above ground-like octopus” attacks Jack. Before the monster can hurt him, “a rolling library cart slams into the monster. There’s a wet SPLAT and the monster is suddenly airborne, sailing across the library.”
  • A zombie tries to bite Jack, but June stops the zombie by putting her gum in its mouth.
  • An evil human villainess captures the kids. In order to escape, Jack throws “a handful of dry, shredded gum into her face.”
  • Meathook tries to smash the kids, but they use a string of lights to try to trip him. Jack “sees the string of lights snapping in the air and then—THWACK!—the harpoon slams into Meathook’s scaly hide.” The trick does not work, but “the string of lights circle around me (Jack). My butt’s jerked from the seat.” During this battle, a zombie bites Dirk. Evie grabs Jack, but then, “a pair of zombies soars past our heads. Like, airborne undead. . .Another zombie sails past us. Its pinwheeling arms nearly take Evie’s head off. . . ” The scene is described over seven pages.
  • Meathook grabs Dirk. Jack sees Dirk, “sagging, spinning, hanging from the monster’s tongue.” The two disappear.
  • In an epic battle that takes place over several chapters, Meathook tries to stop Jack and the others from helping Dirk. “His one massive paw swipes, slashing the air, engulfing me. . . Quint cries. He’s scooped up, too. Our heads clonk tougher and my world spins.” Meathook captures all three kids.
  • Jack escapes Meathook and jumps on Evie’s back. “It’s a whole hero-villainess piggyback situation. My hands grasp her cloak.”
  • Jack and his friends have been “overrun by the undead. . . the zombies are on us! Quint’s robes are shredded! Teeth sink into June’s shoulder pads! A dripping mouth on Quint’s wrist. Hands tearing open my big white puffy pants. . . The zombies are flung backward on the heels. It’s like they’re being yanked by invisible strings.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Crud is used twice. When a monster goes to hit Quint, Jack yells “crud.”
  • Dirk calls Jack a dork. Later he calls the evil villainess’s zombies “her dork collection.”
  • Freaking is used once.
  • Ghazt tells Evie she is a fool twice.
  • Evie calls Jack an “idiot boy.”

Supernatural

  • A new monster appears called Meathook. His characteristics include, “Big fist! Powerful Paw! Action Arm!”
  • Monsters that look like eyeballs appear. When Jack sees the “goo-ball things” he thinks, “It’s a reminder of just how bizarre the world is now that the sight of a rolling, gooey, eyeball creature only medium weirds us out.”
  • Warg has “spiny bone tentacles, and an outer eyeball layer. When the monster stomps on the floor, “at once the eyeballs roll toward her. They leap up, veering at her like some coat of peeping pupils.”
  • Ghazt is the general of the undead.
  • Dirk begins turning into a zombie. When Dirk moans, “it’s an awful combo cry: a howling human and a groaning zombie, mushed into one awful noise.”
  • Something happens to the Louisville Slicer that makes it “different. It has some new power because of what happened.”

Spiritual Content

  • Evie, an evil human villainess, is a worshiper of the Destructor of Worlds. While trying to understand the villainess, the kids find a book that explains that the worshipers want to build a portal. Quint explains, “Apparently, these worshipers had some success. They called themselves the Cabal of the Cosmic. . . Any creature can be a Servant—they need not be from a specific dimension.”
  • The evil human villainess plans to use a three-step ritual to bring an evil being from another dimension. Part of the ritual is to “capture an undead human being. . . place the artifact in the zombified human’s hands to open a portal, allowing Ghazt to enter the zombified body. Ghazt will then take control of that person’s body. Forever.”

Shark Wars

Gray is bigger than the other sharks in his clan and when his stomach rumbles, Gray follows the food and gets into trouble. Gray is banished from his reef and is forced to journey into the Big Blue. Luckily, his best friend Barkley goes with him. As they hunt for food, they enter an ocean world where the battle for hunting grounds is fierce. Gray and Barkley must find out which sharks are friends and which sharks are foes. How will the two friends keep from becoming someone else’s dinner?

The action-packed story follows Gray, who struggles with his large size and his hunger. Because the story is written in the third person point of view, the reader knows that sharks are keeping secrets from Gray. The reader knows that Gray should not be so trusting, adding suspense to the story.

Shark Wars creates a believable world where sharks rule the underwater realm. As the shark clans fight for food, Gray struggles to learn fighting skills, as well as to determine which sharks are trustworthy. Gray learns that even though he doesn’t like a fellow shark, that doesn’t mean they cannot work together for the good of the group.

As Gray meets other fish, he wonders if he is “swimming a good current.” In the end, he discovers the importance of loyalty and standing up for his friends. Shark Wars teaches the importance of doing what is right. The author tells Gray’s struggle for survival in an interesting way. Altbacker includes shark language such as landsharks, shiver, chop chop, and greenie. The cover of the book has a picture of each shark, which allows readers to understand the size and physical differences of characters. With 248 pages and no pictures, Shark Wars is a good choice for fluent readers. For those wanting a story that combines sharks, friendship, and fighting, Shark Wars will keep you entertained. But be warned, once you read Gray and Barkley’s story, you will be hooked and want to have the next book of the series waiting on the shelf!

Sexual Content

  • Valenka rubs up against the male sharks when she is trying to convince them to do something. For example, when trying to convince Goblin to do something, Valenka, “rubbed against him and whispered in his ear.”

Violence

  • A tiger shark attacks Gray and Barkley. “Gray heard a satisfying ‘Whufff!’ as he rammed the shark in the soft underbelly by his liver. The tiger tried to turn but was momentarily paralyzed. Barkley hammered the dazed attacker next. Or he tried. Because of his small size, he bounced off like a sea horse against hard coral.”
  • Gray’s clan is attacked and many of them are sent to the Sparkle Blue. The attack is not described, but Gray is upset. “A reddish haze descended over his eyes as he thought of someone eating sharks from his shiver family.”
  • Goblin and other sharks attack Gray and his friends. “Gray swam towards Goblin, who taunted the sawfish by nipping at his tail as his other shiver sharks laughed. Gray picked up his pace by ferociously whipping his tail back and forth. . . Gray hit the great white in the side, doing no real damage but forcing him from Snork.
  • The sharks play a game where they try to eat wahoo, which are really fast fish.
  • A shark, Thrash, taunts a mother turtle and threatens to eat her babies. The shark “lazily slid with the current so he was now facing the turtles and blocking them from the safety of the greenie. He gnashed his teeth together. “ ‘Just swim inside! You won’t feel a thing’ . . . Thrash laughed and then opened his mouth to bite the momma turtle in half with his jagged teeth. She screeched in fear. . .” Another shark appears and stops Thrash.
  • Thrash taunts a beta fish, then gets beat up by it. “Then the little fish caught Thrash by the tip of his tail with its frilly fins and somehow swung him in circles! And fast. . . The little fish threw Thrash into the distance, several body lengths away.”
  • Two shark clans battle. “The cries of bloody victory and death receded until he only heard his heartbeat and the water whisking past his gills. Gray rammed one attacking bull hard, sending it spinning away just before it could bite Thrash. . . Goblin battered a blue shark away from Churn, then bit a dorsal fin off another.” Several sharks die. The battle takes place over four pages.
  • A group of Goblin’s shiver sharks set a trap and attack others. “Ripper barreled into Shell, knocking him senseless. . . Barkley didn’t even feel the tiger’s impact on his side. Suddenly he felt the water cool and sweet, and he was floating by the Coral Shiver reef.” The sharks are put into a cage.
  • In a fit of anger, Gray “whirled and gave Striker a tremendous tail slap to the face. Gray actually felt it all the way up to his spine.”
  • When Gray tries to free his friends, other sharks try to stop him. Thrash “launched himself at Gray, who barely missed losing his left fin. He jammed Thrash as he passed flank side with his dorsal fin, raking the tiger.” The battle is described over three pages.
  • There is an epic multipage fight between Goblin’s clan and another clan. “Everything was flashing teeth, blood, confusion, and above all, the thunderous fin of the Bluefin siege flashing by, a relentless, speeding, silvery mass. . . He [Gray] butted two attacking bulls off the safe area, and both were sucked into the Run as if jerked away by a giant octopus tentacle. . . Striker smashed into Shell’s pursuer, biting him in the gills and forcing the dying shark into the current.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Gray gets stuck. When his friend teases him, Gray yells, “Shut your cod hole and push!”
  • A fish calls other fish “morons.”
  • Heck is used three times. For example, Goblin asks, “Who the heck are you?”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Sharks that die go to the “Sparkle Blue.”

The Sword of Summer

Magnus Chase isn’t your average 16-year-old kid. After a terrible incident that killed his mother, Magnus was forced to survive on the harsh streets of Boston for two years. Then everything changes, and not necessarily for the better when Magnus discovers the truth about his parentage. This knowledge is dangerous, and after attempting to outmaneuver his suspicious Uncle Randolph, Magnus lands in more trouble than he ever has before.

Escaping who he believes to be evil, Magnus falls into the hands of his worst enemy, a fire giant named Surt. Magnus dies and his soul is sent to Valhalla, the hall of warriors who will fight with Odin during Ragnarok (the end of the world). This is the beginning of an unlikely story of emotional growth, the development of strength, and the family found in friendship.

Fans of Rick Riordan’s previous works will be pleased as they travel into a fascinating world of Norse mythology. A character from the beloved Percy Jackson and the Olympians series even makes a cameo, making a fun crossover between magical worlds.

This family-friendly adventure is an exciting ride throughout. The characters are well developed and believable, but the sheer amount of characters may become confusing for less attentive readers. Nevertheless, even the timidest readers will enjoy this story as it is filled with well-placed humor. The plot is action-packed, leaving readers excited to turn the next page.

Although this book is entertaining and amusing, there are battles with monsters throughout the book that may upset some readers. The battles are not told in gory detail, but characters are injured and must deal with the consequences of their battles. Ultimately, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer is a delightful read full of humor, action, and magic.

Sexual Content

  • Samirah has an arranged marriage to Amir Fadlan. When Magnus questions her feelings on the matter, Sam responds, “Ugh! You don’t get it. I’ve been in love with Amir since I was twelve.”
  • Every time a giant comes to barter or make a deal with Freya, the goddess of love, sex, beauty, fertility, and gold, they always ask for her hand in marriage.
  • Magnus’s father Frey lost the Sword of Summer because he fell madly in love with a frost giantess. The only way that he could heal his heart was by offering the Sword of Summer to Skirnir.
  • Freya has lots of dwarven children. Every time she wants jewelry made by dwarves, she goes to Nidavellir and marries a dwarf in exchange for their craftsmanship. These one-day marriages each end with a child. This interaction is not described beyond this, but it is acknowledged that Blitzen is a child of Freya and a dwarf.
  • Magnus describes his first kiss when he is involuntarily given mouth-to-mouth by a goat. “My only previous experience with kissing had been with Jackie Molotov in seventh grade, behind the bleachers at a school dance…. Anyway, with apologies to Jackie, getting mouth-to-mouth from a goat reminded me of her.”
  • In the past, a son of Loki was sent to Valhalla and fell in love with the lead Valkyrie, Gunilla, but he “betrayed her. Turned out she was a spy for [Loki]. Broke her heart.”
  • After Halfborn nearly sacrifices his life for Mallory in battle, they are on good terms, and it appears that there may be romance in the future for them. “As my hallmates headed back home, I was happy to see Halfborn Gunderson slip his arm around Mallory Keen’s waist. She didn’t even cut his hand off for doing so.”

Violence

  • Magnus engages in a battle with the fire giant, Surt. “I smacked Surt in the head with my rusty sword. . . The blade didn’t seem to hurt him, but the swirling flames died. . . Then he punched me in the gut.” Later in the battle, “Surt kicked me in the ribs and sent me sprawling. . . Surt must have kicked me hard enough to trigger a near-death hallucination.” After a brief time period, Magnus’s sword begins to act on its own and guides Magnus’s actions. “It spun in an arc, dragging my arm along with it, and hacked into Surt’s right leg. The Black One screamed. The wound in his thigh smoldered, setting his pants on fire . . . Before he could recover, my sword leaped upward and slashed his face. With a howl, Surt stumbled back, cupping his hands over his nose. . . Just as he reached me, my sword leaped up and ran him through.”
  • Magnus describes his death. “I actually died. One hundred percent: guts impaled, vital organs burned, head smacked into a frozen river from forty feet up, every bone in my body broken, lungs filled with ice water…. It hurt. A lot.”
  • When getting a tour of Hotel Valhalla, Magnus is “pushed down as a spear flew past. It impaled a guy sitting on the nearest sofa, killing him instantly.” The guy is already dead, so this is just a temporary “death” as he will regenerate in a few hours.
  • Magnus and all those who inhabit Hotel Valhalla observe how newly inducted einherjar (inhabitants of Hotel Valhalla) died. In one video, a warrior “saved a bunch of kids at her village school when a warlord’s soldiers had tried to kidnap them. She’d flirted with one of the soldiers, tricked him into letting her hold his assault rifle, then turned it on the warlord’s men . . . The video was pretty violent.”
  • Mallory is excited to “see the new boy get dismembered.”
  • The einherjar participate in practice battle exercises to prepare for Ragnarok, when the nine worlds will fall. One of these “battles” is comically described, but each “death” is also shown. Many characters get shot, punched, or stabbed to “death” in the heat of battle.
  • In a dream, Surt threatens Magnus by saying, “When we meet again, you will burn, son of Frey. You and your friends will be my tinder. You will start the fire that burns the nine worlds.”
  • Samirah attacks Magnus after he leaves Valhalla. “She charged from behind the concession building and kicked me in the chest, propelling me backwards into a tree. My lungs imploded like paper sacks.”
  • An eagle drags Magnus away from his friends to convince him to do something for him. “The eagle veered, slamming me into the fire escape. I felt my ribs crack, like vials of acid breaking inside my chest. My empty stomach tried unsuccessfully to hurl.”
  • When Blitzen competes in a dwarf craftsmanship competition, Magnus acts as his bodyguard. “A random dwarf charged me from the side-lines, swinging an axe and screaming, ‘BLOOD!’ I hit him in the head with the hilt of my sword. He collapsed.”
  • Otis, a goat who belongs to Thor, marvels at Magnus’s talking sword. Otis exclaims, “I’ve never been killed by a talking sword before. That’s fine. If you could just make a clean cut right across the throat-”
  • For Odin to learn the secrets of the runes, he sacrificed an eye and “fashioned a noose and hanged himself from a branch of the World Tree for nine days.”
  • Magnus attacks and kills two giantess sisters. Magnus threw a knife and, “The spinning steak knife hit her in the chest. It didn’t impale her . . .She lowered hands, grabbing instinctively for her chest, which allowed Jack full access to her nose. A second later, Gjalp was lying dead on the floor next to her sister.”
  • The book concludes with a giant final battle in which warriors of Valhalla fight fire giants and attempt to rebind Fenris’ wolf. Within this battle, several warriors get hurt and three Valkyries die, including Gunilla. “Blitzen was so angry—between the Wolf gloating about his dad’s death and Surt stealing his fashion ideas—that he howled like Crazy Alice in Chinatown and rammed his harpoon right through the giant’s gut. The fire giant stumbled off, belching flames and taking the harpoon with him.” “Halfborn Gunderson buried his axe in the breastplate of a giant. X picked up another fire-breather and tossed him off the side of the ridge. Mallory and T.J. fought back-to-back, jabbing and slashing and dodging blasts of flame.”
  • Magnus’s Uncle Randolph is poisoned by Loki. “Randolph smelled the poison before he felt it. Acrid steam curled into his nostrils. The side of his face erupted in white-hot pain. He fell to his knees, his throat seizing up in shock.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Magnus thinks, “Random police and park rangers I could deal with. Truant officers, community service volunteers, drunken college kids, addicts looking to roll somebody small and weak—all those would’ve been as easy to wake up to as pancakes and orange juice.”
  • The mead of Valhalla doesn’t contain alcohol as it is magical goat milk that tastes like a mixture of delicious flavors. However, this topic makes Magnus share his own experience with alcohol. Magnus says, “Yes, I’ve tried alcohol, thrown up, tried alcohol again, thrown up.”
  • The god Aegir is a brewer who “spends all his time at the hops shop, or going on brewery tours with his buddies…. He’s always talking about microbrews. He has a cauldron a mile wide!”
  • Magnus and his friends go to Nabbi’s tavern and the dwarves that he travels with order mead (not the Valhalla kind).
  • Thor, the thunder god, “loved drinking mead.”
  • When the group comes across giantess sisters, the enormous monsters are drunk. Magnus thinks, “They’d obviously been hitting the mead pretty hard.”

 Language

  • Profanity is used a few times throughout the book. Profanity includes ass, dammit, crap, and idiot.
  • Many characters exclaim, “Gods of Asgard” and “gods” as a form of profanity.
  • When Gunilla introduces a new video system that shows how einherjar die, “the warriors cheered and banged their mugs, drowning out the sound of Sam cursing next to me.”
  • Magnus is angry towards a Valkyrie that he dislikes and thinks, “No, but your dad was apparently a jackass!”
  • While trying to escape Valhalla, “Mallory cursed in what was maybe Gaelic. Our little hallway group was a veritable United Nations of Cussing.”
  • When attempting to arrange his dead body, Magnus’s “hands had come unclasped so I appeared to be giving everybody the finger.”
  • When Blitzen talks about his mother’s requests, he says, “She wants her damnable earrings.”
  • Thor could “cuss like a drunken, creative sailor. ‘Mother-grubbing scum bucket!’ he yelled (or something along those lines. My brain may have filtered the actual language, as it would’ve made my ears bleed.)”
  • Magnus wants to comfort Hearthstone. “I wanted to hug the poor guy, bake him a batch of cookies, and tell him how sorry I was about his crappy childhood, but I knew he wouldn’t want pity.”

Supernatural

  • The story exists in a world where Norse mythology is real, including all of the gods, heroes, and monsters. For example, Magnus is the son of Frey, the god of peace, fertility, rain, sunshine, and summer.
  • In the beginning of the book, Magnus doesn’t understand why Blitzen hates daylight. He says, “Maybe he was the world’s shortest, stoutest homeless vampire.”
  • Two magical, evil wolves broke into Magnus’s apartment and killed his mom when he was fourteen. “From the hallway, two beasts emerged, their pelts the color of dirty snow, their eyes glowing blue.”
  • Surt is a fire god and has powers. “Around Surt, flames began to swirl. The firestorm spiraled outward, melting cars to slag heaps, liquefying the pavement, popping rivets from the bridge like champagne corks.”
  • Due to Magnus being a demigod, he has magical abilities. He doesn’t have a problem in extreme temperatures, can walk through fire, can heal others, and mentally communicates with horses.
  • There is a vala who is a “seer. She can cast spells, read the future, and… other stuff.” She can also read/use the runes, which is a form of non-inherited Norse magic.
  • Hearthstone is an elf, and Blitzen is a dwarf. Their identity gives them special abilities like fashion sense, craftsmanship, and rune magic.
  • As an einherjar, Magus acquires super strength, has more muscles, and has accelerated healing.
  • Heartstone uses rune stones and eventually becomes a runemaster. These stones allow him to perform magic, usually to help his friends on their quest.
  • The group encounters Mimir, a disembodied head who floats in water and knows the secrets of the nine worlds.
  • The Sword of Summer is a magical weapon that Magnus wields. It can speak and fight on its own. Magnus transforms it into a stone on a chain that he wears around his neck. Magnus “could easily pull it off the chain. As soon as I did, the stone grew into a sword. If I wanted it back in pendant form, all I had to do was picture that. The sword shrank into a stone, and I could re-attach it to the necklace.”
  • Valkyries can fly, camouflage magically, and teleport back to Valhalla in a poof of light.

Spiritual Content

  • Norse gods are real, but they are not worshipped. They are treated more like characters than all-knowing deities.
  • Magnus describes the place where his funeral occurs. “It was set up like a chapel: three stained glass windows on the back wall, rows of folding chairs facing an open coffin on a dais. I hated this already. I’d been raised non-religious. I’d always considered myself an atheist.”
  • Magnus says, “If there is an Almighty God up there, a head honcho of the universe, He was totally laughing at me right now.”
  • Samirah is Muslim and wears a hijab. When arguing with Magnus she says, “A good Muslim girl is not supposed to hang out on her own with strange guys.”
  • Thor is described as watching television religiously. Then Magnus says, “Can I say a god did something religiously?”

by Morgan Filgas

Refugee

Three kids. Three different time periods. Three refugee families flee their countries. Each family faces unimaginable dangers. But they have no choice but to press on and hope for a better tomorrow. Although decades separate them, they discover that they are all connected in the end.

Joseph is a Jewish boy living in 1930’s Nazi Germany. His family boards a ship set for Cuba. They hope to avoid the concentration camps and certain death. But will a country on the other side of the world take them in, or will they be sent away?

Isabel is a Cuban girl in 1994. Her family faces hunger, violence, and an uncertain future. But when her father is threatened with jail, the family sets out on a homemade raft. They hope to make it to Miami. Can they make it to America and keep their family together?

Mahmoud is a Syrian boy in 2015. His country is being torn apart by war. Violence, death, and destruction are everyday occurrences. When his family’s neighborhood is destroyed by bombs, they head towards Europe. Can they safely make it to a country that welcomes refugees?

Refugee sheds light on the historical and political aspects of each time period. Readers will learn about Kristallnacht, The Night of the Broken Glass, as well as the history of how the war in Syria began with Assad bombing his own people. Isabel’s story also explains the U.S. policy of “Wet Foot, Dry Foot.” The end of the book has historical information as well as a section on what readers can do to help.

Each section of the story is told from a young person’s point of view. This gives the book a tragic feeling because none of the young people have any control over the events that lead to their need to flee. The harrowing story of each family does not shy away from the harsh realities of the time period. Each family has stories of cruelty, violence, and death, which are often described in graphic and frightening detail.

The goodness of random strangers is seldom. However, in Josef’s story, a Hitler Youth protects Joseph, and the captain and most of the crew of the ship treat the Jews with respect. The story shows how small deeds can make a huge impact. Even though the story shows the kindness of a few, cruelty and violence overshadow the kindness in the book.

As Mahmoud and his family try to escape the violence, he realizes that it was easy for people to forget about the refugees until “refugees did something they didn’t want them to do—when they tried to cross the border into their country, or slept on the front stoops of their shops, or jumped in front of their cars, or prayed on the decks of their ferries—that’s when people couldn’t ignore them any longer.” Mahmoud struggles with wanting to stay invisible but wondering if he needs to be visible. “If you were invisible, the bad people couldn’t hurt you, either. If you stayed invisible here, did everything you were supposed to, and never made waves, you would disappear from the eyes and minds of all the good people out there who could help you get your life back.”

The publisher recommends Refugee for readers as young as nine, but younger readers may be upset by the horrors of war and the tragic decisions the families must make in order to survive. Younger readers who are interested in World War II may want to begin with the books Lifeboat 12 or Resistance, which also tell compelling stories without the graphic violence.

Refugee is an engaging story that brings the suffering of refugees to light. The situations that the characters face are emotional, but the characters could be better developed. Since each chapter focuses on a different family, the story was often disjointed. Some readers may have a difficult time following a story that changes characters every chapter. The book shows the reasons the family left but doesn’t mention the difficulties that countries face when dealing with thousands of refugees coming into their country.

Although the story is easy to read, the book’s emotional impact is hard-hitting. Refugee takes the reader on a harrowing journey where each family must deal with a tragic loss of life and cruelty from others. Refugee shows how families have been impacted in past and current times. The story gives voice to the current refugee crises and shows the desperation of people who want to live without fear of death.

Sexual Content

  • While in Havana, Isabel sees “couples kissing under palm trees.”
  • Isabel’s grandfather flirts with a young girl. He tells her, “Your face must be Summer, because you’re making me sweat!” Isabel knew that “Lito was giving her piropos, the flirtatious compliments Cuban men said to women on the street.”

Violence

  • During WWII, Nazis break into Josef’s home and “threw him to the floor. Another shadow picked up Ruth by the hair and slapped her. ‘Be quiet!” the shadow yelled, and it tossed Ruth down on the floor beside Joseph.” The strangers trash the house, gather his family into the living room, and arrest his father.
  • A group of Hitler Youth attack Josef after school. The group “fell on him, hitting and kicking him for being a Jew, and calling him all kinds of names.”
  • During a medical check, Josef’s father becomes agitated and starts mumbling. Josef “slapped his father across the face. Hard.” Josef tells his father that the medical examiner is “a Nazi in disguise. He decides who goes back to Dachau. He decides who lives or dies. . . .” Josef’s father is scared into silence.
  • Crew members ransack the room of Josef’s family. “They swept Mama’s makeup and perfume off the vanity and smashed the mirror . . . they tore the head off Ruthie’s stuffed bunny.”
  • While in a concentration camp, Josef’s father says how the Nazis choose one man to drown every night. “They would tie his ankles together and his hands behind his back and tie a gag around his mouth, and then they would hang him upside down, with his head in a barrel. Like a fight. . . They would fill the barrel with water. Slowly. So they could enjoy the panic. So they could laugh. . . He would thrash around and breathe water until he drowned. Drowned upside down.
  • Josef’s father jumps into the ocean and when a policeman tries to help him, Josef’s father yells, “Let me die! Let me die!” Josef’s father survives.
  • A group of men tries to take over the ship. One of the passengers slam “the helmsman and sends him tumbling to the floor. The mutineers quickly surrounded the other sailors, threatening them with their makeshift clubs.”
  • When Cuba sends the ship away, a policeman “swept the gun back and forth, and the other policemen drew their pistols and did the same.” The captain is able to convince the passengers not to attack the police.
  • While he is running from Nazis, soldiers shoot at Josef. “A pistol cracked, and a bullet blew the bark off a tree less than a meter away. Josef stumbled again in panic, righted himself, and kept running.” Josef and his mother are caught and taken to a concentration camp.
  • Boys attack Mahmoud’s friend because he is a Shia Muslim. “. . . Khalid had been curled into a ball on the ground, his hands around his head while the other boys kicked him. . . With a battle cry that would have made Wolverine proud, Mahmoud had launched himself at Khalid’s attacker. And he had been beaten up as badly as Khalid.”
  • Mahmoud’s mother was a nurse who came home “every day with horror stories about people she’d helped put back together. Not soldiers—regular people. . . Children with missing limbs.”
  • Mahmoud’s entire neighborhood is bombed. “The walls of his apartment exploded, blasting broken bits of concrete and glass through the room. . . His breath left him all at once and he fell to the floor with a heavy thud in a heap of metal and mortar.” No one in his family is seriously injured.
  • While trying to escape, Syrian armed soldiers stop the car at gunpoint and then pile in the backseat. As they are traveling, “gunfire erupted. .. and bullets pinged into the car.” One of the soldiers is killed. “Mahmoud screamed again and pushed the man away . . .” The scene is described over four pages. The family hides in a ditch until they can escape.
  • The rubber dinghy that Mahmoud and other refugees are in pops. “The cold water was like a slap in Mahmoud’s face. . . He tumbled backward, head down in the murky water, his arms and feet thrashing, trying to right himself. Something else—someone else—fell on top of him, pushing him deeper down into the water.” Later Mahmoud takes a life jacket off of a dead man so that he and his mother do not die.
  • As Mahmoud and his mother tread water, they grab onto a dinghy. A man “reached down and tried to pry Mahmoud’s hand from the dinghy. . . He sobbed with the effort of fighting off the man’s fingers and hanging onto the dinghy.” A woman takes Mahmoud’s baby sister but leaves Mahmoud and his mother behind. They survive.
  • A taxi driver pulls a gun on Mahmoud’s family and demands money.
  • When a group of refugees swarm the Hungarian border, soldiers “hurried to stop them, firing tear gas canisters into the crowd. . . Mahmoud’s eyes burned like someone had sprayed hot pepper juice in them, and mucus poured from his nose. He choked on the gas, his lungs seized up. He couldn’t breathe. . .”  Many of the refugees are arrested and taken to a detention center.
  • While being taken to a detention center, Mahmoud’s dad yells at a soldier, who then “whacked him in the back with his nightstick, and Mahmoud’s father collapsed to the ground. . . He kicked Mahmoud’s father in the back, and another soldier hit Mahmoud’s father again and again with his stick.”
  • While in town in Cuba, people riot in the streets. People “yelled and chanted. They threw rocks and bottles.” Isabel sees her father “just as he reared back and threw a bottle that smashed into the line of police along the seawall.” When the police catch her father, a policeman beats him. The scene plays out over four pages.
  • As a group tries to flee Cuba, “a pistol rang out again over the waves. . . The police were shooting at them.” The boat is hit, but no one is injured.
  • While Iván is cooling off in the ocean, a shark bites him. “The water around Ivan became a dark red cloud, and Isabel screamed. . . Iván’s right leg was a bloody mess. There were small bites all over it, as though a gang of sharks had attacked all at once. Raw, red, gaping wounds exposed the muscle underneath his skin.” Iván dies.
  • Before Iván’s body is pushed into the ocean, someone shoots a shark. “The shark died in a bloody, thrashing spasm, and the other sharks that had been following the boat fell on it in a frenzy.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Joseph sees a man, who “staggered a little, bumping into things as he tried to move through the tight little room. Joseph had seen drunk people leaving pubs in Berlin the same way.”
  • When Josef’s mother goes to the doctor to get a sleeping draught for her husband, she “told the doctor the sleeping draught was for me. . . and he made me—made me take it right there.”

Language

  • When the Nazis break into Josef’s house, one of the men laughs because “the boy’s pissed himself.”
  • A group of kids are called “Jewish rats.”
  • At a funeral, Josef’s father says, “At least he didn’t have to be burning in the hell of the Third Reich.”
  • “Oh, God” is used an exclamation once. “Oh, my God” is also used as an exclamation once.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Mahmoud and his family practice the Muslim faith. The prayer ritual is described through Mahmoud’s actions.
  • Mahmoud’s father says, “God will guide us.”
  • After taking a lifejacket off a dead man, Mahmoud says a prayer. “Oh God, forgive this man, and have mercy on him and give him strength and pardon him. Be generous to him and cause his entrance to be wide and wash him with water and snow and hail. Cleanse him of his transgressions. . .Take him into Paradise, and protect him from the punishment of the grave and from the punishment of hellfire.”
  • Mahmoud’s family and other refugees pray. Mahmoud “recited the first chapter of the Qur’an, Mahmoud thought about the words. Thee alone we worship, and thee alone we ask for help. Show us the straight path.”
  • After Joseph’s apartment is bombed, his mother cries, “Thank God you’re alive!”
  • During a funeral, a rabbi says a prayer, and “the mourners said together, ‘Remember, God, that we are of dust.’”
  • When Iván dies, his mother wants “to say something. A prayer. Something. I want God to know Iván is coming.”

Lifeboat 12

Life for thirteen-year-old Ken is difficult. His father is out of work. He thinks his step-mum dislikes him. He often gets into trouble, and the Nazis are bombing his city. But when he is given the chance to be evacuated with ninety other boys and girls, Ken isn’t excited. He wants to stay home. However, Ken’s father says he’s lucky to be chosen to go to Canada aboard the SS City of Benares.

When the children board the luxury ship, Ken can’t believe his good luck. He’s making new friends, eating delicious food, and doesn’t have to endure his stepmom’s glares. When the ship is 600 miles from shore, everyone thinks they’re safe. They’re wrong.

Five days after they leave port, an explosion rocks the ship. They’ve been torpedoed. With the

Baranes sinking quickly, Ken rushes to Lifeboat 12. Ken, five other boys, one woman, and 39 men are all crammed onto one lifeboat. Will Lifeboat 12 be rescued? If not, how will they survive lost in the ocean?

Lifeboat 12 is a gripping story that will keep readers turning pages until the very end. Beautifully written in free verse, every word develops the characters and advances the plot. The author uses alliteration, onomatopoeia, and sense words to give a clear, sharp picture of World War II. Hood describes the events of World War II without showing the gory details of death while keeping the intensity of danger at the forefront.

The story is told from Ken’s point of view and is divided into three sections—Escape, Afloat, and Rescue. Each section describes Ken’s day-by-day experiences. Since the story is told from a thirteen-year-old’s perspective, the descriptions remain appropriate for even younger readers. Ken’s thoughts and emotions add to the intensity of the story and allow the reader to understand his conflicting emotions. The conflict will keep readers engaged; they will want to know if Ken survives his harrowing experience.

Although Ken’s story is fictionalized, the events and many of the character’s words are based on Hood’s research. Even though the story is filled with historical information, the book never sounds like a history book. Instead, Ken’s experiences and observations bring history to life in an engaging story that is difficult to put down.

Hood’s research, which appears at the end of the story, includes more information about Lifeboat 12, photos of the children, and a list of survivors. The research also includes information about the Lascars. Seeing the pictures and reading Hood’s interview notes has an emotional impact on the reader as it is impossible to deny the horrors and the kindness of people. For readers who would like more information about the topic, the book contains a list of interesting websites and videos.

Even though the devastation of World War II is clear, Lifeboat 12 shows the courage and kindness of others. Ken said, “I survived thanks to the kindness of people I didn’t know, people who were all different, people who wanted to help.” Lifeboat 12 is a suspenseful, gripping story that everyone should read, not only for the historical value but because it is a captivating story that will leave you gripping the edge of your seat. Ken’s story will remain with readers for a long time to come.

Sexual Content

  • While hiding, Ken hears a woman say, “Sweetheart, of course I love you! But don’t kiss me here! It’s not proper.”

Violence

  • The Nazis bomb England several times; however, the bombing is not described in detail. The first time the bombs drop, Ken hears “Boom!” He knows the bombs are close because “blasts shatter the air. The earth shudders. Margaret wails.” The families “huddle under the table. Blasts flash in the dark, momentarily exposing the fear on our faces as the table jumps and the cutlery rattles.”
  • During one air-raid Ken’s family goes to a shelter. The shelter is “damp and dark inside, lit only by a candle stuck in a flowerpot, casting eerie shadows on the wall. . . My family and I hunker down, listen to the drone of the planes, the ack ack ack of the antiaircraft guns, then the high-pitched whistle and BAM! Of the bombs.”
  • The ship that Ken is on is torpedoed. “BAM! I jolt awake, jumping up in the dark. The floor shudders, the night split with sounds of splintering wood, creaking metal, clattering glass. Then nothing.” As the boat is being evacuated, “two more explosions flash in the night, the light exposing a horror show—people clinging to overturned lifeboats, swimming to overloaded rafts, grabbing at floating deck chairs with flailing arms beseeching hands.” The boat eventually sinks.
  • One of the chaperones tells a story about a fictional character, the hero sees a prisoner who “was bent over in pain, a torture device called a thumbscrew beside the coded papers on the table.” The hero “crashes through the window and knocked over the candle. Bulldog landed a punch; Peterson went down. . . Bulldog slung the prisoner over his shoulder. . . and ran through the door. . .”
  • One of the men jumps into the ocean even though he can’t swim. Some men try to reach him, “but the waves whisk him away. He surfaces again, coughing and calling, but he’s too far gone. . . with a one-two punch from the sea, he goes down, for the last time.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • One of the chaperones tells a story about a fictional character whose drink had been drugged, causing him to pass out.

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • When someone tries to catch a seagull to eat, a man says, “harming a seabird is bad luck, is what it is. . . They carry the souls of dead sailors. Kill one and it’ll be an albatross around all of our necks.”

Spiritual Content

  • “As the ship is being evacuated, people pray. Some pray to God. Others pray to Allah.”
  • One of the children’s chaperones is Father O’Sullivan. He tells someone “God be with you.”
  • Father O’Sullivan and the children, “say grace before and after our meal.”
  • One of the men says, “Allah the Compassionate will save us if He so wishes. Or He will send storms if He thinks it best. God is wise.”
  • While on the lifeboat, “my friend prays to Allah, and like many of his fellow crewmen, bows to the east five times a day.” Ken sees “other crewmen crossing themselves as Father does.”
  • When a ship is near, Father O’Sullivan tells the boys to pray. He says, “Come now, we must help the Lord lead that ship this way.”
  • When Ken sees an airplane, he “prayed like I’ve never prayed before.” Others pray as well.
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