Reading Level: Elementary

On Point

Zayd worked hard to get on the gold basketball team. He was looking forward to a winning season and playing on the team with his best friend Adam. Zayd’s dream season is not close to reality. The team struggles to work as a team and keeps losing. To make matters worse, Adam decides he does not want to be on the team, even though he’s team captain. When the coach tells Zayd to take point, Zayd is not sure he has the skills to play the position. Zayd wants to lead his team to victory, but he wonders is he will be able to step up.

Readers will be drawn into Zayd’s daily life and his struggles on the basketball court. On Point has less basketball action than the first book of the series. Instead, the story focuses more on Zayd’s family life and the changing relationship between he and his best friend. Even though book one develops the characters, On Point can be read as a stand-alone.

Zayd faces typical dilemmas including how to deal with pressure, changing friendships, and insecurities. One dilemma Zayd faces is when a friend tells him to sign a behavioral slip for his parents, but Zayd knows that he needs to be honest. However, he does think “I suddenly realize that when I got into trouble for skipping violin practice to play basketball it was also Adam’s idea.” Through Zayd’s story readers will learn the importance of speaking up for yourself.

Zayd has a big extended family that love and support each other. The relationship between Zayd’s family members bring humor as well as show the complicated, but positive aspects of family life. Through the family’s daily life, the reader gets a glimpse into the Pakistani culture. Urdu words are scattered throughout the story; however, more context into their meaning would be helpful. The chapters are short, dialogue breaks up the paragraphs, and the word choice makes the text easy to read. On Point would be a good book for sports lovers and the relatable plot would be accessible to reluctant readers.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • “Oh my god” is used once as an exclamation.
  • Zayd’s sister calls him and his friends “dorks.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

The Locker Ate Lucy!

As hall monitor, Sam Graves is supposed to keep the kids of Eerie Elementary safe. Sam and his friends, Lucy and Antonio, know the school is alive, but they’re not prepared for how scary the school can be. When a locker eats Lucy, it’s up to Sam and Antonio to save her. Will they be able to save Lucy before they become Eerie Elementary’s lunch?

The next installment in the Eerie Elementary series, The Locker Ate Lucy, will continue to captivate readers because of its spooky, action-packed fun. Many of the pages end with cliffhangers that will make the reader want to continue reading. Black-and-white illustrations and onomatopoeia help create the story’s tone. The book contains simple sentence structures and a straightforward plot.

The easy-to-follow plot is entertaining and appropriate for newly independent readers. However, The Locker Ate Lucy will be enjoyed by older readers as well. Those who enjoy the Notebook of Doom series will want to jump into the world of Eerie Elementary. Readers will enjoy seeing the friends work together and come up with creative ways to escape. The story ends with discussion questions that add to the learning value of the book.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When a locker eats Lucy, Jack and Antonio go into a vent to search for her. In order to stop them, “the vent squeezed tighter, closing around them! It pressed against Sam’s shoulders. It pressed against his legs.” They escape when the vent comes to an end.
  • A lunch cart tried to make Sam and Antonio its lunch. “CLICK CLACK! The lid snapped like a mouth as it rolled toward them. . . Then just as it was about to hit them, the boys jumped out of the way.”
  • Everything in the basement comes to life. A dodge ball, a Frisbee, and “roller skates that shot toward his legs like cannonballs” fly towards Sam and Antonio. When they try to run, “something long that looked like a spear was headed for Antonio. A whiffle ball bat.”
  • A “maze of rusty old pipes” are alive and have Lucy, who is “suspended in midair, hanging upside down. One of the pipes was wrapped around her ankle.”
  • When Sam and Antonio free Lucy, the school tries to drown them. “Water bubbled up through the crack in the floor. It was rising fast.” The friends are able to escape.
  • Sam ends up alone in the cafeteria. As he was hanging from a curtain, “the water on the lunchroom floor began rising. It was taking shape. It was becoming something. . . The water was taking the form of a giant hand.” The hand tears the curtain that Sam is hanging on, but Sam comes up with a plan to save himself.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • “Orson Eerie was a mad scientist. He was also the architect who designed Eerie Elementary almost one hundred years ago. Orson Eerie found a way to live forever—he became the school. Orson Eerie was the school, and the school was Orson Eerie! Eerie Elementary was a living, breathing thing that fed on students.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

Power Forward

Zayd wants to take the basketball world by storm. In order to make his dreams come true, he’s going to have to overcome many obstacles. He knows he’s just a scrawny fourth-grader who weighs fifty-six pounds, but he’s convinced that size won’t get in his way. Zayd needs to step up his game to advance to the gold team. He’s prepared to practice, but his parents want him to focus on practicing the violin. Can Zayd convince his parents to let him pursue his passion?

Power Forward has a straightforward, easy-to-follow plot that is perfect for younger readers who are looking to transition into chapter books. The story focuses on Zayd’s desire to play basketball, but also includes glimpses into Zayd’s family life and integrates the Pakistani culture into the story. Zayd’s family adds humor and depth to the story.

Through Zayd’s experience, readers will be exposed to lessons about family, truthfulness, and the importance of perseverance. Many readers will relate to Zayd because he deals with the difficulty of being small for his age. He shows that one does not need to be at the top of the growth chart in order to be successful in sports. For those looking for a simple sports story, Power Forward is a slam dunk.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • “Oh my God!” is used as an exclamation three times in the book.
  • A character tells Zayd to explain why he skipped violin practice. “Maybe they’ll understand why you did such a boneheaded thing.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • A character tells someone that she is going to “the mosque to plan the fund-raiser.”

 

Pioneer Cat

Nine-year-old Kate doesn’t want to go on a wagon train. She’s upset about leaving her best friend. She’s worried about how long the trip will be. And she’s afraid someone will discover her cat Snuggs, who is hiding in the wagon. Kate knows pets aren’t allowed on the wagon train, but she can’t bear the thought of leaving Snuggs behind.

This first-person narrative has just the right amount of action and suspense for younger readers. The dangers of the Oregon Trail are described in a kid-friendly manner that adds suspense without including scary details. Short chapters, black-and-white illustrations, and dialogue help make Pioneer Cat an entertaining and easy-to-read story. The fast-paced storyline teaches about the hardships of moving to the west.

Pioneer Cat has many positive elements. Rosie, Kate’s friend on the trail, exhibits the true qualities of a good friend and speaks in fun idioms such as, “looks like a choice bowl of beans to me.” Kate’s parents are shown in a positive light and clearly care about their children. At one point in the story, Kate could have easily allowed her parents to believe a falsehood, but she tells them the truth instead. Many will pick up Pioneer Cat because of the cute cat on the cover, but they will continue reading because of Kate’s adventures and the other loveable characters in the story.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • A buffalo herd stampedes and heads toward the wagon train. The men shoot at the herd to get the buffalo to change directions. “When the men fire, several buffalo in the front of the pack crumpled to the ground. More piled up behind them. But one huge wounded beast kept coming. He plowed into a wagon near ours. There was a sickening thud. The wagon rolled over.” Most of the buffalo change directions and no one is injured.
  • Indians follow the wagon train and eventually want to trade with them. After the captain and the chief talk, one man shoots at the Indians. “Crack! A single gunshot rang out from one of our wagons. The pony one of the young Indians was riding stumbled and crashed to the ground. The rider went down with him.” The Indian is wounded, and the two groups work out their differences.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • When the scouts go to help the injured Indian, someone yells, “For God’s sake, don’t shoot!”
  • When the captain sees kittens in one of the wagons, he exclaims, “My god, what’s this?”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Pa says grace at mealtimes. At one meal, Pa prays, “Dear Lord, give us a good journey and safekeeping. And bring us finally to Oregon if it be thy will.”
  • Kate’s parents can’t find her. When she appears, Pa says, “Thank the Lord.”
  • When two children are almost swept away in the river, someone says, “Thank God, you’re all right!”

Flash’s Dash

Cressida, a unicorn-obsessed girl, is invited into the Rainbow Realm, where unicorns live. When Cressida arrives, Princess Flash is preparing for the annual Thunder Dash. For the first time ever, non-unicorns will be allowed to race. Cressida is excited to be the first human girl invited to run in the race.

Then Ernest, the wizard-lizard, has a mishap while casting a spell. Now the racetrack is covered in sticky, pink goo. Will Cressida and the unicorn princess find a way to save the race?

Flash’s Dash begins slowly because the story begins with Princess Sunbeam and Princess Flash arguing over who Cressida is friends with. Although the reader learns that a person can be friends with more than one person (or unicorn), the chapter is not very interesting.

Once Cressida jumps into preparing for Flash’s Dash, Cressida meets some new characters, including talking boulders. The story will appeal to younger readers because of the interesting characters, silly encounters, and fun conflict. However, readers will also learn the importance of practicing in order to get better.

As Cressida prepares for the race, she learns that Sunbeam doesn’t want to participate because she always loses. To make matters worse, she feels self-conscious because she overheard the boulders talking about her. How can she join the race after hearing the boulders say that she looked funny when she ran? In the end, Princes Sundance learns that the boulders actually said, “that she looked downright sunny. You know, like a streak of yellow light.” Through Princess Sundance’s conflict, the reader will learn how teasing hurts, as well as the importance of talking out problems and misunderstandings.

Flash’s Dash is the second book in this series written for children who enjoy chapter books. Beginning readers may struggle with the amount of text on a page as well as the long descriptive passages. The pictures scattered throughout the book are adorably cute; however, they only appear about every three to seven pages. This chapter book would be a good story to read aloud to beginning readers.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • A wizard-lizard makes a spell to change avocados into shoes. He chants, “Fasty Foo! Wing Feet, Fleet Feet, Fast Feet, Blue!” He also makes a magical mishap and changes a race course to pink strawberry cake batter.
  • The wizard-lizard made bandannas change into gold running shorts and a gold T-shirt. When he tries to use magic to put the clothes on Cressida, she “felt wind swirling around her body, as though she stood at the center of a miniature tornado. When the wind stopped, the gold shorts were inside out and upside down on her chest. . . “
  • Flash’s magical power is “to run so fast that my horns and hooves create lightning.”
  • Cassandra has a magical key that allows her to go to the Rainbow Realm. When she is in the Rainbow Realm, “time in the human world froze.”
  • Cassandra meets a talking boulder and talking forest animals.

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Sunbeam’s Shine

Princess Sunbeam’s magical gem disappears when a wizard-lizard accidentally casts the wrong spell. Without her magic yellow sapphire, she loses her ability to create light and heat. Princess Sunbeam needs to find a human girl—one who believes in unicorns. A human girl is the only one who can help her reverse the spell and find her gemstone.

When Princess Sunbeam goes to the human world to search for a human girl, she finds Cressida. Cressida loves everything unicorns, and despite her parent’s disbelief, Cressida knows that unicorns are real. When Cressida meets a unicorn, Princess Sunbeam, she’s excited to travel to the Rainbow Realm.

Girls may want to pick up Sunbeam’s Shine because of the beautiful sparkly cover; however, the cover isn’t the only positive aspect of the book. As Cressida searches for the gem, she shows how to use problem-solving and communication skills. The addition of talking desert creatures adds interest to the story.

In the story, the sand dunes are upset with the cacti because of a misunderstanding. As Cressida helps the friends solve their problems, the reader learns the danger of keeping secrets.

Cressida is a smart, considerate character that uses good communication skills to help others. When she travels to the Rainbow Realm, she makes sure to leave a note for her parents so they do not worry. Sunbeam’s Shine hits the mark for its intended audience. Younger readers who want to add a little magic and sparkle to their lives will enjoy jumping into the Rainbow Realm.

Sunbeam’s Shine is the first in this series written for children who enjoy chapter books. Beginning readers may struggle with the amount of text on a page as well as the long descriptive passages. The pictures scattered throughout the book are adorably cute; however, they only appear about every three to seven pages. This chapter book would be a good story to read aloud to beginning readers.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • A wizard-lizard casts a spell on an ear of corn, “Alakazam! Alakazoop! Unicorn, unicorn! Alakaboop!” The spell was supposed to turn the corn bright pink, but instead it caused Princess Sunbeam’s magical gemstone to be “dropped into a shimmering, purple canyon.”
  • Sunbeam’s magical gemstone allows her to make the sun shine.
  • In order to reverse the spell, a human girl who believes in unicorns must be found. One must believe in unicorns in order to see them.
  • Sunbeam finds Cressida and the two use a magical key to enter the Rainbow Realm. When they enter the kingdom, Cressida “had the feeling the two of them were falling. It was like being in an elevator hurling downward without stopping on any floors.”
  • A flame-bite looks like a fox, but is made of flame. “. . . It looked just like red and orange candle flame with flailing arms, legs, and a tail.”
  • Cressida meets talking sand dunes and talking cacti.

Spiritual Content

  • None

The Wrath of Mulgarath

In the fifth and final installment of the Spiderwick Chronicles, the Grace children must battle Mulgarath’s goblin army to save their mother and reclaim the Field Guide. With the help of Thimbletack, Hogsqueal, and Byron, the Grace children attempt to sneak up on Mulgarath’s goblin army. Can the small group defeat a fierce army of goblins and Mulgarath? Are the children doomed to lose everything they hold dear?

All of the characters and creatures come together in a satisfying conclusion. The griffin, Thimbletack, and Hogsqueal unite to help the Grace children rescue their mother and defeat Mulgarath. Book five of the series is darker and has some potentially disturbing descriptions. Although the final battle ends with a satisfying surprise, reading descriptions of Mulgarath’s evil deeds may disturb younger readers. In an attempt to trick the children, Mulgarath shapeshifts to appear like their father. Jared is able to see through Mulgarath’s trick and, in the end, saves his family from Mulgarath’s wrath.

Like the previous books, the Grace Children work together and come to one another’s aid when needed. When Jared’s mother finally learns the truth about Jared’s strange behavior, there is a heartwarming apology. The ending doesn’t ignore the natural consequences of Jared’s bad behavior but ends with the hopeful possibility that life will be better. In the end, Aunt Lucinda moves in with the Grace family and there is peace between the children, Thimbletack, and the family cat. When the exciting series comes to an end, the readers will be left with a smile and characters that they will remember for a long time to come.

 Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Mulgarath kidnaps the Grace children’s mother. When the children find her, she is in “one corner, bound, gagged, and unconscious.”
  • Goblins attacked Thimbletack. The fight is not described, but Jared finds Thimbletack, who “had a long, raw scratch on his shoulder and that his hat was missing.” He also had a black eye.
  • A griffin grabs a hobgoblin by the arm. “The griffin shook his head, whipping Hogsqueal back and forth.” Simon hit the griffin, “Hard on the beak with his hand,” hoping to get the griffin to let go of Hogsqueal.”
  • Thimbletack threatens a hobgoblin saying, “No. We’ll set rats to nibble off your toes, poke out your eyes, and put them up your nose. Your fingers we’ll remove with dull scissors, and we’ll wait until your confidence withers.”
  • Goblins attack the Grace children. The battle is described over three pages. During the fight, two goblins, “Grabbed hold of his (Jared’s) legs and toppled him into the dirt.” Mallory uses her swords to chase them away. One goblin “Jumped on her back, biting her shoulder.” The griffin appears and the children are able to escape.
  • While Simon is riding the griffin, a dragon attacks. “The dragon twisted, teeth sinking into Byron’s feathered and furred body. . .” Simon falls off the griffin, injuring his arm. In order to distract the dragon, Simon, “who had never killed anything. . . stepped on the head of one of the baby dragons, crushing in into a smear under his shoe. It squealed. Dragon blood stained the ground and melted the edge of Simon’s heel.” The fight ends with Byron, “Plunging his beak into the creature’s neck, he rent it wide. The dragon went limp in Byron’s claws.” The action is described over seven pages.
  • Mulgarath put fairies in honey. Simon tries to help, “but the honey was heavy and clung to their thick wings, tearing them. The sprites squealed as he set each one down on the table in a sticky, sodden heap. One was completely still and lay there limply, like a doll.”
  • Mulgarath kicks Thimbletack. “The ogre kicked the brownie, his giant foot tossing Thimbletack across the room, where Thimbletack landed like a crumpled glove beside Mrs. Grace.”
  • The story ends with an epic battle between the Grace children and Mulgarath, which is told over several chapters. At one point, Jared stabs Mulgarath in the foot with a sword. The battle ends with a funny surprise.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • When Simon hits the griffin, his sister yells, “Oh Crap, don’t do that!”
  • Hogsqueal calls the Grace names such as “beetle-guts”, “lump-meat,” and “chatter-basket.”
  • Jared says, “I want Dad to be less of a jerk . . .”
  • “Oh my god,” is used as an exclamation once.
  • Mallory calls Jared an “idiot.”

Supernatural

  • Goblins, Frey, griffins, and other creatures exist. These creatures have different magical abilities.
  • Mulgarath is raising dragons. The dragons have “hundreds of teeth, thin as needles.” When a person touches a dragon, their skin burns.”
  • Mulgarath is able to change shapes. In order to trick the children, he changes, making himself look like their father. “As Jared looked up into the familiar hazel eyes of his father, they started to turn pale yellow. His father’s body elongated, filling out, becoming a mammoth shape clad in the tattered remains of ancient finery. His hands became claws, and his dark hair twined together into branches.”
  • The children meet their great-great-uncle Arthur Spiderwick, who the elves kept captive. Arthur meets his aged daughter. When Arthur goes to hug his daughter, his “foot touched the ground, his body turned to dust and then smoke.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

The Ironwood Tree

The entire faerie world wants Spiderwick’s Guide. Even if the Grace Children wanted to give the book away, they couldn’t because Thimbletack has hidden the guide. When Mallory disappears, Simon and Jared go in search of their sister. When the boys search the old abandoned quarry, dwarves imprison them. Is there any way for them to escape and save their sister?

Thimbletack and the griffin do not appear in the story, but new creatures are added. Although the story is entertaining, and suspenseful, some readers may wish that the different faerie creatures were incorporated into all of the books. Humor is added when neither Jared nor Simon wish to enter the girls restroom to look for Mallory. The ending takes a dark turn, and the unexpected killing of dwarves may disturb younger readers.

In the fourth installment of The Spiderwick Chronicles, Jared continues to struggle with anger and his mother’s misperception of him. Although Jared is trying to protect his family, he often falls into trouble. Jared worries that his mother will try to send him to live with his father, but his father won’t want him.

One of the best aspects of the series is the relationship between Jared and his siblings. Their realistic sibling relationship shows how each one has unique talents that can be used to defeat the faerie creatures. Although readers will be entertained by the faerie creatures, they will continue to read because they want to know what happens to the Grace children. Is there any way they can survive when the next faerie creatures come after them? The only way to find out is to pick up the fifth and last installment of the series.

Sexual Content

  • Mallory has a crush on a boy. To tease her, Simon sings, “Chris and Mallory sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”

Violence

  • A shape-shifting creature appears looking like Jared. When the creature confronts Jared, Jared “pointed a knife at his double.”
  • Dwarfs kidnap Mallory and put her in a magical box that makes her like Sleeping Beauty. A dwarf tells the boys, “Out of this case she would be doomed to age, death, and decay—the curse of all mortals.”
  • Mechanical dogs chase the children. The children climb up a tree to avoid the dogs, but one of the dog’s “teeth caught hold of the end of her white dress and ripped it. The other dogs swarmed close, tearing the cloth.” Simon comes up with a way to get away from the dogs.
  • When Mulgarath discovers that the goblins do not have Spiderwick’s Guide, he orders the death of the dwarves. “The goblins bit, clawed, and slashed until not a single dwarf was left standing. Jared felt sick and numb. He had never seen anything be killed before. Looking down, he felt like he might throw up.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Mallory says, “Oh crap,” once.

Supernatural

  • A shape-shifting creature appears in the story. The creature makes himself look like Jared and other people. The creature’s body, “shrank, its dark hair paled into a sandy brown, and its now blue eyes went wide with terror.”
  • Dwarves live in an abandoned quarry. They have “skin as gray as stone.” The dwarves carve trees and animals out of metal. The animals are alive but must be wound up with a key.
  • A creature appears and helps the children escape. Jared thinks it is a “nodder or a banger.” The creature listens to the stones, which allows him to help the children.
  • Mulgarath is an ogre, “a massive monster with dead branches for hair.” The goblins are serving Mulgarath.

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Lucinda’s Secret

The Grace children are surrounded by problems. Thimbletack wants revenge. A hungry griffin is hiding in the carriage house. Creatures will stop at nothing to get Arthur’s Field Guide. Giving up the Field Guide isn’t an option, so the children go to see their Aunt Lucinda. But the more they learn about the fantastical world around them, the more they are convinced that the only way to stay safe is to discover more about the creatures who want to silence them.

Lucinda’s Secret takes the reader into the past and begins to answer the question: Why do the fairies want the Field Guide? The third installment of The Spiderwick Chronicles has several scenes that may scare younger readers. The children go to visit their Aunt Lucinda in an asylum, and they see several patients in straight jackets and a man “in a bathrobe giggled over an upside-down book.” Lucinda’s story of monsters that attacked her at night may also frighten readers.

Readers will be able to relate to the realistic sibling relationships. Even though the children work together and care about each other, they still squabble, fight, and disagree. Because the siblings often have conflict, the scenes when they work together are even more enjoyable. The story shows how relationships are always changing and that people can love each other and still disagree.

The introduction of new characters and new creatures adds interest to Lucinda’s Secret. Book three focuses on advancing the plot and giving important background information. However, this book also has less action than the first two books and readers will miss Thimbletack and the griffin, who do not appear in the story. The introduction of elves and a glimpse into the elves’ world adds a new, interesting element. Readers will want to continue the series to find out how the elves and Lucinda’s secret are connected.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When Aunt Lucinda was younger, monsters came looking for her father’s book. She shows the children her scars and says, “Late one night the monsters came. Little green things with horrible teeth held me down, while a giant one questioned me. I struggled, and their claws scraped my arms and legs . . . Before that night, my back was straight. Ever since, I have walked hunched over.”
  • When Mallory touches a unicorn, she sees a vision of people hunting. As the unicorn runs, “arrows fly, burying themselves in white flesh. The unicorn bellows and goes down in a cloud of leaves. Dog teeth rip skin. A man with a knife hacks the horn from the head while the unicorn is still moving.”
  • Elves capture Jared. With the wave of an elf hand, “dirty, hairy roots climbed Jared’s legs and held him.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • “Crappy” is used once. “Crap” is used three times.
  • When Jared talks about his dad leaving to take a new job, Mallory says, “You can’t really believe that load of crap.”
  • The Phooka tells the children he is “an ass or perhaps merely a sprite.”

Supernatural

  • Sprites visit Aunt Lucinda. They are “creatures the size of walnuts, whirling in on iridescent wings. They alighted on the old woman, tangling in her white hair and crawling up the headboard.”
  • Sprites gave Aunt Lucinda fruit, and when she ate it, “it tasted better than any food I’d ever imagined. . . After that, human food—normal food—was like sawdust and ashes. I couldn’t make myself eat it.” She now must rely on the sprites to feed her.
  • The children learn that wearing their clothes inside out will allow them to find the elf world. The children meet the green-skinned elves.
  • The children meet a Phooka, who speaks in riddles. The Phooka “had the body of a monkey with short, blackish brown speckled fur and a long tail that curled around the branch on which it sat.” The Phooka has a face that looks like a rabbit “with long ears and whiskers.”
  • When Mallory touches a unicorn, she sees a vision.

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

The Seeing Stone

The mysterious field guide that their long-lost great-great-uncle Arthur Spiderwick wrote is wreaking havoc on the Grace children’s lives. In an attempt to get the book, goblins kidnap Simon and his cat.  It’s up to Jared and Mallory to track down the goblins, save Simon, and make it out of the woods alive. Can Jared and Mallory save Simon before it’s too late?

Full of suspense, The Seeing Stone is more intense than the first story in the series. At the beginning of the story, the goblins are invisible to the Grace children. The fact that invisible goblins are able to kidnap Simon, put him in a cage, and may possibly want to eat him may scare younger readers. Despite the danger, Jared and Mallory learn to work together as they search for their brother. They use creative problem-solving skills to rescue Simon.

In The Field Guide, Jared is angry and only concerned about himself, but in the second book, he shows growth and proves that he is more than a troublemaker. The children learn that they must trust and rely on each other in order to defeat the goblins. Readers will relate to the realistic siblings’ relationship and the children’s struggle to get along. Although the mother cares about her children, she clearly struggles in her new role as a single parent.

Even though the children realize danger still lurks outside their home, they choose to lie to their mother because they do not think she will believe that goblins, trolls, fairies, and other creatures exist. As the children learn more about the mythical world around them, they meet Hogsqueal, a hobgoblin, who has a hilarious vocabulary and proves that not every creature is evil. When readers finish The Seeing Stone, they will want to pick up the next book in the series. The fast-paced story will end all too quickly, so you will want to have Lucinda’s Secret waiting on the shelf.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Goblins kidnap Simon and his cat; then the goblins attack Jared and Mallory. When a goblin grabs Jared by his shirt, “he went down on his stomach in the grass. . .” Mallory tries to help Jared and “he saw Mallory’s arm jerk and heard her cry out. Red lines appeared where nails scraped her.” Mallory is able to chase the goblins off when she hits them with her rapier. The attack scene takes place over six pages but is not told in gory detail.
  • A troll tries to grab Mallory, but he is burned by sunlight and she is able to escape.
  • The goblins attack a wounded griffin. When the goblins circle the griffin, “the animal couldn’t seem to raise itself very far off the ground, but it could snap at the goblins if they got too close. Then the creature’s hawk beak connected, scissoring off the goblin arm.” Simon and his siblings save the griffin.
  • When the goblins chase after the children, they make a deal with the troll to lead the goblins to him. The troll hides in the river, and when the goblins enter, “the troll grabbed them all, shaking and biting and dragging them down to his watery lair.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • A hobgoblin calls Jared a host of creative names. A few names he uses include candy butt, dribble-puss, and jinglebrains.

Supernatural

  • A brownie lives in the Grace house. When Jared grabs the brownie, “the little brownie squirmed in his grasp, abruptly changing shape into a lizard, a rat that bit Jared’s hand, then a slippery eel that flailed wetly.”
  • The Grace children encounter goblins, who eat small creatures such as cats. The goblins “are born without teeth and so find substitutes, such as the fangs of animals, sharp rocks, and pieces of glass.”
  • The Grace children put hobgoblin spit in their eyes so they will have “the Sight.”
  • A hobgoblin uses children’s teeth instead of glass and other items. When Jared asks if he steals children’s teeth, the hobgoblin replies, “Come on, Dumbellina, tell me you don’t believe in the tooth fairy!”

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

The Field Guide

Jared, his twin brother, Simon, and their older sister, Mallory, are not happy about moving to a new town and into their Aunt Lucy’s dilapidated mansion. When a series of pranks happen and strange bruises start appearing on Simon and Mallory, Jared is blamed.

Then Jared stumbles upon Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You. He believes the creatures in the book are real and that a boggart is the one causing all of the problems. No one else in the family believes the boggart is real. How can Jared prove that he isn’t responsible for destroying the house and hurting his siblings?

The story focuses on issues that children will be able to relate to including having problems with parents and difficulty expressing emotions. The plot focuses on Jared, who is having difficulty containing his anger. As Jared learns about the boggart, Jared is able to think about the boggart’s perspective. Jared doesn’t want to help the boggart, but “he knew what it was like to be mad, and he knew how easy it was to get into a fight, even if you were really mad at someone else. And he thought that just maybe that was how the boggart felt.”

The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field Guide is a fantastical story that will engage even the most reluctant readers. The easy-to-read story has a fast-paced plot that deals with the difficult topic of divorce in a child-friendly manner. Black and white pictures and maps are scattered throughout the story, which will help readers picture the events in the story. When the story ends, readers will be reaching for the next book in the series.

 The Spiderwick Chronicles is an excellent series; however, parents should read the reviews for all of the books before beginning the reading journey. Younger readers may not be ready for scary events that the Grace children face before their adventure comes to an end.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • While Mallory was sleeping, someone tied her hair to the bed. “Long pieces of her hair had been knotted to the brass headboard. Her face was red, but the worst part was the strange pattern of bruises that decorated her arms.”
  • The boggart steals Simon’s mice and tadpoles. “Each of Simon’s tadpoles was frozen into a single cube in the tray.” Later, they discover the boggart is keeping the mice as pets.
  • The book refers to a fight at school that Jared got into. His mother says, “I was shocked to learn that you broke a boy’s nose.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • When Mallory’s mother says the house is just like she remembered, Mallory replies, “Only crappier.”
  • “Crud” is said once.

Supernatural

  • The children learn that there is a boggart living in the house. Boggarts are “malicious. Hateful. Hard to get rid of. In their brownie form, they were helpful and nice.” The boggart causes havoc for the family.
  • The children meet the boggart. When they see him, he is standing on a desk in “worn overalls and a wide brimmed hat, was a little man about the size of a pencil. His eyes were as black as beetles, his nose was large and red . . .”

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Roller Girl

Ever since second grade, twelve-year-old Astrid has done everything with her best friend Nicole. When Astrid’s mother takes her and Nicole to a roller derby event, Astrid decides she wants to be just like roller derby girls and signs up for a roller derby summer camp. Astrid assumes Nicole will sign up with her, but Nicole signs up for ballet instead. This starts a conflict between the two friends and is the start of a difficult summer for Astrid.

At first, Astrid seems like an angry, bratty character who chases her best friend away. However, as the story progresses, the reader begins to see deeper into Astrid’s mixed emotions. Astrid struggles with the idea that Nicole wants to spend time with other people, including boys. When Astrid eavesdrops on one of Nicole’s conversations, she is upset that Nicole doesn’t stand up for her and reacts in anger. Like many preteens, Astrid must learn the difficult task of navigating friendships, but, in the end, she learns some valuable lessons including how to control her anger, how to forgive, and how to put other’s needs first. Another positive aspect of Roller Girl is that Astrid shows that through hard work and perseverance, a person can improve their skills and contribute to their team.

Readers will be drawn to Roller Girl because of the colorful cartooning that excels at showing the characters’ emotions. They will continue reading because of the fast-paced plot that covers many issues that preteens deal with: friendship, boys, parents, honesty, and feeling like a failure. The conclusion is heartwarming because Astrid changes from an angry girl into a supportive friend.

Sexual Content
• When Astrid sees her friend with a boy she thinks, “Was she on a DATE with Adam? I don’t know why this made me feel so weird . . . but it did.” As her friend walks away she wonders, “Was she going to hold hands with Adam? Was she going to KISS him?”

Violence
• In one of the pictures, siblings are shown hitting each other.
• When Astrid overhears her best friend talking to someone else about how to stop being friends with Astrid, she feels angry and throws soda at them. “I don’t know why I did it. I didn’t mean to hit them—I just meant to throw my soda at their feet.”
• Astrid is learning roller derby, which has pushing, shoving, and blocking. At practice, Astrid is thinking about hitting Nicole and hits someone else instead.

Drugs and Alcohol
• A girl tells Astrid’s friend that Astrid is “probably on drugs or something.” Astrid does not do drugs.
• When Astrid’s mother finds out Astrid has been lying to her, she says, “. . . and you’re going to be a teenager soon. How do I know you won’t lie to me about smoking, or skipping school, or doing drugs?” Astrid wonders, “Why does everyone think I’m doing drugs?”

Language
• Several characters call others names including “jerk”, “moron”, “rat-faced jerk”, “weirdo”, and “losers.”
• “OMG” and “OHMYGOD” are used as exclamations.
• “Crud” is used once.
• A character calls her siblings “turd buckets.”
• Astrid talks about how other kids call her “Ass-turd.”

Spiritual Content
• None

How to Rope a Giganotosaurus

Josh admires the legendary dino wrangler Terrordactyl Bill, who just captured a T. rex. Josh knows that he can be the next great dinosaur cowboy. In order to be like Terrordactyl Bill, Josh wants to capture his own giant dinosaur. Finding a T. rex can’t be done, but Josh, with the help of his friends, can nab a giganotosaurus. With a little bit of luck and a whole lot of rope, can Josh prove he has what it takes to be the best dino rider in The Lost Plains?

Whether reading this as part of the series or reading the story as a stand-alone, How to Rope a Giganotosaurus will engage younger readers with an easy-to-read story and fun illustrations. The second installment of the Dino Riders series will captivate readers because of Josh’s friendships, his daring spirit, and his desire to be great. Similar to the first book in the series, the story has several scenes that contain dino dung and dino slobber. Josh and his friends even cover themselves in dino dung and dino feathers. Although the bully is a bit stereotypical and the conclusion is far-fetched, that doesn’t take away from the book’s enjoyment. Anyone who enjoys adventure and dinosaurs will find How to Rope a Giganotosaurus fun to read.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Josh and his friends try to capture a giganotosaurus, but the snare they build does not hold. The dino charges the kids and chases Josh. “He could feel the breath of the giant on his back as he powered towards the edge of the rocky outcrop. His heart pounded. His stomach went tight.” As the dino chases Josh, it falls into a swamp and dies. “A spray of stinking swamp water was thrown high into the air over Josh’s head.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • A bully calls Josh a “little dweeb.” Later the bully says that Josh and his friends look like “idiots.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

A Sassy Surprise

Big Apple Barn hasn’t always been Happy Go Lucky’s home. Since coming to Big Apple Barn, she has learned how to make friends and how to be a school pony. When a new pony, Sassafras Surprise, comes to live at the barn, Happy has a new set of worries. Everyone seems to be interested in Sassafras Surprise. Happy worries that Ivy will want to ride Sassafras Surprise instead of her.

A Sassy Surprise jumps into the theme of friendship and how a new horse (or person) can change the dynamics of a friendship. When Sassafras Surprise moves into the barn, Roscoe begins avoiding Happy, which adds suspense to the story. In the end, Happy, Roscoe, and Sassafras Surprise learn to talk about their feelings, which allows them to become better friends.

Like the previous books in the series, A Sassy Surprise has a simple plot, which is easy to read. To help beginning readers, the author uses short sentences and dialogue that give the horses personality. Black and white illustrations help break up the text and keep readers engaged. Although A Sassy Surprise is the third book in the series, readers can understand the events without having read the first two books.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

The Hide-and-Seek Ghost

Kaz is an ordinary ghost who hasn’t figured out how to glow. When the house that Kaz and his family live in is torn down, the wind scatters the ghosts and carries Kaz to a library. While at the library, Kaz meets Claire—a human who can see him. Together the two look for Kaz’s family and solve ghostly mysteries in the process.

One of Claire’s classmates, Eli, is known for his pranks. So when he asks Claire to help him rid his family home of a ghost, Claire isn’t sure if Eli really needs help or if he is just trying to pull another prank. Can Kaz and Claire discover if Eli’s home is really haunted?

The Hide-and-Seek Ghost brings Claire’s world and the ghost world to life with black-and-white illustrations that will help readers visualize the characters and actions. The plot focuses on an argument between Kaz’s parents and another ghost as well as the mystery of Eli’s haunted house. The multiple plots make the story choppy and may cause some confusion. Readers will enjoy following the clues to the mystery and looking at the many illustrations that show the characters’ emotions.

The ghosts in the story are not scary; however, there are several scenes where ghosts are separated from family when they leave a building and the wind blows them away. The idea of being accidentally separated from family and not being able to return may frighten some readers. A glossary of ghostly terms helps readers understand those that are used in the story.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Many of the characters are ghosts who can choose to be seen and heard by “solids” and who can glow, shrink, expand, and walk through walls.

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Lilly and Fin: A Mermaid’s Tale

Two merpups, Lilly and Fin, love to sneak out of the mermaid city to explore caves. Adults have warned about the dangers of Two-Legs and the Kraken, but surely, they are just stories. Then one day, Lilly and Fin decide to go to their favorite cave. What they don’t know is that there is a couple of Two-Legs that are hiding in the shadows. Will Lilly and Fin fall into the humans’ trap?

Beautiful full-colored illustrations are sprinkled throughout Lilly and Fin: A Mermaid’s Tale. The illustrations of the characters, ocean creatures, and the submarine help bring the story to life. Readers will smile at the comical illustrations of the humans. Another positive aspect is that the larger illustrations have hidden pictures that give readers another fun way to interact with the story.

The easy-to-follow plot of Lilly and Fin: A Mermaid’s Tale cleverly weaves in the adults’ stories of the dangers of the Kraken and the Two-Legs. In the end, the merpups discover that the adults’ stories were not merely made up to make them behave. One negative aspect of the story is that Lilly and Fin lie to their parents on a regular basis. In order to sneak out of the city, Lilly tells her parents she is going to Fin’s, and Fin tells his parents he is going to Lilly’s. Lilly’s love for adventure shines throughout the story, but she isn’t the best friend. She completely ignores Fin when he suggests they do not go to the cave because his scales itch, which means there will be trouble. However, she does convince the Kraken to help free Fin.

The beginning of the story starts out slow, but once Lilly and Fin get out of the mermaid city, they meet interesting characters. The reader knows that Mr. and Mrs. Snorkel are on the hunt for mermaids, which adds suspense to the story. Although the book is written for younger readers, many of the pages only have text, with long paragraphs, which may intimidate some readers. Lilly and Fin: A Mermaid’s Tale would be a humorous story for confident readers of chapter books. The story would also be fun to read aloud for those who are not yet ready for chapter books.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When Lilly and Fin tried to swim past Neptune, “the fat king grabbed them with his fingers and held them in front of his red eyes.” When the two talk disrespectfully to Neptune, “the fat man howled, shaking his fist, and the merpups with them.”
  • Mr. and Mrs. Snorkel capture Fin. When the submarine is close, Fin’s “wide eyes were just staring at the terrible pinchers, and before Lilly knew what was happening, one of them had sucked up her friend. It closed with a loud clang. And Fin was gone.”
  • In order to free Fin, the Kraken grabs the submarine, and it “began to shake as though it was in the grips of a mighty storm. Mr. Snorkel and Mr. Harkenear were rolling around the floor like marbles.” The group escapes in a pod.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • “Darn” is used twice.
  • The Kraken calls Lilly a “dimwit.”
  • Lilly refers to Neptune as “the fatso.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Escape to the Above

Wily has spent the twelve years of his life underground learning how to be a trapsmith. Wily makes traps to keep invaders from the cavern mage’s treasure. Even though Wily wonders what life in the Above would be like, he knows he can never leave.

Then a group of treasure hunters appears—an elf, a moss giant, a warrior with a magic arm. They want the caver mage’s treasure, including Wily himself. With the help of Wily, the group can invade every other dungeon and flee the Infernal King’s realm. Wily is about to go on an adventure, which will lead to a battle against the Infernal King, who uses gearfolk to terrorize and imprison the innocent. But is there any way this diverse group can work together and escape the Infernal King’s gearfolk?

A fun fantasy, Snared: Escape to the Above starts strong from the start. Wily’s underground world comes alive. When Wily leaves the cave he has lived in, seeing Wily’s perception of everyday things, such as a butterfly, is interesting and brings humor. Although Wily and his group must flee from horrors, the violence is not graphically described. Through Wily’s experience, he learns that “a prison doesn’t need cages to make you feel trapped. If you take away a person’s choices, they could be in the most beautiful place in the world and still be caged.”

Advanced elementary and junior high readers will enjoy the quirky characters and the interesting traps that Wily encounters. Although the plot is a bit predictable and the Infernal King is defeated too easily, readers will enjoy the adventure along the way. Full of humor and lessons about friendship and doing what is right, Snared: Escape to the Above will please adventure-seeking readers.

Sexual Content

  • None.

Violence

  • When invaders go into an underground cavern looking for treasure, they must go through various traps. Hobgoblets attack a knight from behind, but “the furious hobgoblets were both knocked unconscious by the flat side of a sword . . . The third hobgoblet was struck in the back of the head by the blunt end of the weapon.”
  • When a group of treasure hunters meets the cavern mage, he tries to stop them from taking his trapsmith. The mage throws magical bolts, but they do not hit anyone. Then he “snatched a quill . . . and used it to scribble ancient hieroglyphs in the air. A small tornado formed around the symbols, sweeping them up and churning them like dirty undershirts in the laundry cauldron. The blast of air struck the moss giant—and did nothing at all.” There is a fight that takes place over three pages.
  • When guards try to stop the group from leaving the underground cavern, the moss giant, “swiftly grabbed the guards in his large earthen hands and smashed their heads together. They both slid to the ground, unconscious.”
  • The king sends snagglecarts to round up citizens and put them in prison, even though they have done nothing wrong. Wiley watches a “dragon-size snagglecarts was rolling toward the mother and children with its mechanical mouth open, hungry for more prisoners. . . the gearfolk prodded the mother and two daughters, forcing them to walk up the ramp and into the jaws of the snagglecart.” A person wrapped in a cloak attacks the snagglecarts and gearfolk and “the front of the snagglecart exploded into a twisted mess of metal.” The humans are able to escape.
  • When the gearfolk try to capture Wiley and his friends, they fight back. A bounty hunter “Grabbed a wooden billy club from his rob and charged the gearfolk. The gearfolk was about to scream again when his head was knocked off by a trident. Someone is hit in the chest with a “crackling black energy,” but was uninjured. The battle takes place over a chapter, but Wiley and his friends escape unharmed. A baby crab dragon grabs the knight, “a giant claw clamped down on his leg, squeezing so tightly it was bending the metal armor around the knight’s thigh . . . The baby crab dragon made a playful click before lifting Pryvyd up and smacking him against the ground again.” Wiley is able to talk to the crab dragon, who then lets the knight go.
  • Wiley and his friends try to sneak into the king’s dungeon, but they were captured in a never-scape that was “submerged into ankle-high water.” The never-scape was slowly being submerged in water, but one of Wiley’s friends is able to help them escape.
  • At the end of the story, there is a battle between Wiley’s friends and the gearfolk, mechanical soldiers, and the cavern mage. The battle is not described in gory detail, and no one is injured.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • When invaders go into the underground cavern looking for treasure, the “ale cellar reeked of stale mushrooms and alcohol. Gigantic wooden barrels lined the walls, each big enough to store ten thousand swigs of ale.”

Language

  • When a fairy is caught spying, someone said, “Damn rust fairies are all over the city.”

 Supernatural

  • A knight has an enchanted floating arm that helps him in battle.
  • When going into a destroyed forest, ghosts appear. “Out of the mist, a stampede of spectral elk burst forth, beating their hooves against the ground. Their twisted antlers and hooves glowing a pale green like a bat’s eye while their chests were a deep emerald like the moss on Moshul’s knuckles.” When the Elk struck Wiley, he feels pain but is physically uninjured.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Tales from a NOT-SO-Popular Party Girl

Middle school can be traumatizing for any girl.  But for Nikki, middle school is a nightmare. Nikki dreams about going to the Halloween dance with Brandon, but so does popular mean girl MacKenzie.  Then in a strange turn of events, MacKenzie resigns as the dance chairperson and so do all of the cool kids, leaving Nikki and her two friends in charge.  Now Nikki and her friends must decide if they should cancel the dance or if they can plan it all on their own.

To add to the drama of Nikki’s life, her little sister has a tooth fairy phobia that has become Nikki’s problem. Her parents drag her to a funeral where she has an uncontrollable fit of hiccups. And to cap it all off, she has to dress as a rat at a little kid party and paint faces—on the same night of the Halloween dance.

 Dork Diaries is written in the form of a diary, which allows Nikki’s thoughts and feelings to take center stage.  The diary contains a lot of text talk such as BTW and OMG.  Plus, there are many references to pop culture stars such as Jessica Simpson and Tyra Banks. Although Nikki’s days are filled with funny events, the books show a stereotypical junior high full of mean girls, boy drama, and cool kid drama.

Throughout the book, there are cute drawings that add to the storyline.  Because the story is written in diary format, most paragraphs consist of one to two sentences and the vocabulary is typical of a preteen. Although the story is entertaining, there is no educational value.

Sexual Content

  • When Nikki thinks Mackenzie is going to the dance with Brandon she says, “She was buying a new lip gloss JUST for Brandon. I knew what THAT meant.”

Violence

  • When Nikki was embarrassed she thinks, “I was so angry I wanted to grab them both by their necks and squeeze until their little heads exploded.”
  • A cool girl purposely bumps Nikki’s food plate, which splashes chocolate onto Nikki’s dress.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • The narrator uses words like crud, craptastic, dagnabbit, darn, OMG and what the . . .”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

CRIME BITERS! It’s a Doggy Dog World

Jimmy Bishop has a story that he doesn’t think anyone will believe, not even his best friend Irwin. Abby, Jimmy’s new dog, is a crime-fighting vampire dog. It’s true.

The other crazy things that happen to Jimmy are just as true.

Jimmy Bishop is obsessed with Stop Police—a TV show about a vampire detective. He has an older sister who teases him, two parents, and a best friend. His life appears to be pretty normal, but trouble seems to follow him.

Jimmy wakes up with a strange blotch on his face just days before school starts. Then his father has a series of job interviews and his parents hire a strange babysitter who tries to feed him fried beets in pea sauce. Then a new girl moves next door. But the most exciting and strangest event of all is when Jimmy brings home Abby, a new dog.

Crime Bitters is full of suspense, humor, and adventure. As Jimmy’s day-to-day life unfolds the reader will be captivated by the realistic characters as well as the illustrations. The story is easy to read, fun, and full of interesting facts. For example: “Fact: There are a lot of great bald people in the world. But unfortunately, none of them are in this book.”

Because Jimmy tells his own story, the reader gets a glimpse of how it feels to be bullied, how even relationships with best friends be full of strife, and how talking to a girl can be the scariest thing of all.  Crime Bitters has a fast-paced plot that will keep younger readers enthralled.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When the babysitter swats Abby on the nose, Abby goes into attack mode.  “She (Abby) crouched down, like you see on one of those nature shows, where the panther suddenly spots the defenseless gazelle . . . Then Abby jumped, right onto Mrs. Cragg’s shoulder.” Jimmy’s mother appears and grabs the dog.
  • When a man tries to take Abby, Mrs. Cragg’s tries to stop him. “Then, without another word, Mrs. Cragg suddenly ripped her own hair off her head . . . and wrapped it around Mr. Bratford’s eyes, like a blindfold.”
  • When the kids discover that Mr. Bratford is a thief, he chases them. “He pinched my cheek so hard that tears came to my eyes then put one of his pimply hands on Abby and started petting her fur. . . The next thing I knew, Mr. Bratford had picked me up by the shirt and was carrying me over to Mrs. Cragg.”
  • Abby attacks Mrs. Bratford, “In one split second, she jumped out of my arms, bared her teeth, leaped onto Mr. Bratford, and clamped her jaws around his neck . . . Mr. Bratford screamed and feel down. Abby clamped harder, and they started rolling around on the ground.”
  • Jimmy hits Mr. Bratford in the knees with a cane.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Abby is a “superhero crime-fighting vampire dog” that has fangs.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Alanna, The First Adventure

Alanna may look like her brother, but where Thom is timid and studies magic, she is reckless and filled with a desire to learn how to wield a bow and sword. When Alanna is to be sent to a convent and Thom to become a knight, the twins take their lives into their own hands. By forging their father’s letters, Alanna becomes Alan, a page in training to be a knight, and her brother goes to learn sorcery. Training to be a knight would have been difficult without hiding her true sex; with that secret on her shoulders, it becomes almost impossible. But Alanna isn’t one to quit, and being a knight is all she’s ever wanted.

The first book in a quartet, this novel is a wonderful introduction into a richly drawn world of knights and magic. Alanna is a noble and stubborn girl who will sweep readers along on her adventures and will have you rooting for her every step of the way. While there is much fighting in her story, the lack of gory descriptions and clean language will make this story entertaining for teenagers and younger readers alike.

Sexual Content

  • When Alanna begins to grow, she has to bind her breasts to keep them hidden. “Watching the glass closely, she bounced up and down. Her chest moved. It wasn’t much, but she had definitely jiggled. Over the winter her breasts had gotten larger.”
  • Alanna doesn’t know what is happening when she has her first period. “She got out of bed–and gasped in horror to find her things and sheets smeared with blood.” A woman healer asks her, “Did no one ever tell you of a woman’s monthly cycle? The fertility cycle? . . . It happens to us all. We can’t bear children until it begins.”
  • Alana is given a pregnancy charm, which she claims she’ll never use. The healing woman asks, ” ‘Do you know what happens when you lie with a man?’ Alanna blushed. ‘Of course.’ “
  • When Alanna visits George, “he wasn’t dressed–he always slept bare.” When Alanna reveals that she is a girl, George orders her to turn around while he gets dressed. She does, but she says “That’s silly. I’ve seen you naked before.”
  • Alanna and Jon fight beings of power who are nearly immortal. They expose her secret by vanishing her clothes. “Her clothes were gone. All she wore was her belt and scabbard . . . She looked at Jonathan. Her friend was openly staring . . . [Jon] pulled off his tunic and handed it to her.”

Violence

  • George hints that he killed the last Rogue and took his place. “Who knows when some young buck will do for me what I did for the king before me, just six months back.”
  • When the bully Ralon tries to force Alanna to swim, she “rammed herself into Ralon’s stomach. The older boy yelped as he tumbled into the pool . . . When Ralon finally surfaced, he was half blind and three-quarters drowned.”
  • A boy bullies Alanna mercilessly, and as a result they get into several fights. “She hit low and hard. Ralon doubled over, clutching his lower belly.” During another fight, “She bloodied Ralon’s nose. Ralon broke her arm.” When Alanna finally beats the bully, “She slammed a fist up and under, into his stomach again, knocking the breath from his body. Swiftly she broke his nose with the other hand. Ralon collapsed, crying like a small child. ‘Never touch me again. If you do, I swear–I swear by Mithros and the Goddess–I’ll kill you,’ ” Alanna tells him.
  • In an attempt to protect Alan, her friends “beat Ralon thoroughly.” When Ralon doesn’t stop the bullying, “Gary held Ralon. Raoul administered the beating, his face impossible to read.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • George gives Alanna a tankard of ale, and he and his (adult) friends often drink at his inn.

Language

  • A bully tells Alanna, “If I say you’re the goatherd’s son, you say, ‘Yes, Lord Ralon.’ ” Alanna responds, “I’d as soon kiss a pig! Is that what you’ve been doing–kissing pigs?”
  • Ralon calls Alanna “dunghill trash.”

Supernatural

  • Some are born with The Gift, which can manifest in different ways. Some are great healers, while others use their Gift to control the weather or to fight.
  • Alanna threatens to make a man see things that aren’t there, unless he helps her become a knight. She also admits that she has made people see things in the past. “Coram turned pale. The afternoon the tarts were discovered missing, Cook started to see large, hungry lions following him around the kitchens… When the twins’ godmother came to Trebond to snare Lord Alan as her next husband, she had fled after only three days, claiming the castle was haunted.”
  • Magic is used to send a fever to the palace, in an attempt on the prince’s life. “The fever continued, drying Jon’s lips till they cracked and bled.”
  • Alanna uses her magic to heal. “She reached inside herself. It was there: a purple, tiny ball of fire that grew as she nudged it with her mind. Her nose started to itch, as it always did when she first called on her magic.”
  • Alanna asks the Goddess for aid, and the Goddess tells her to call her friend back from edge of death. Alanna has to go through the Black God to get to her friend. “She was twisting in a black, writhing well . . . Shrieks and cackling and the screams of doomed souls sounded all around her. She was on the edge, between the world of the living and the Underworld . . . A huge, dark shadow shaped like a hooded man came between them . . . This must be the Dark God, the Master of all death.”
  • Alanna and Jon fight powerful beings who say, “We are gods and the children of gods . . . We were here before your Old Ones, and we laughed when their cities fell.”

Spiritual Content

  • There are many gods in Tortall, such as the Black God and the Crooked God. Some gods guide mortals, while most never interfere directly.
  • Alanna discusses whether or not she should use her magical Gift. She says, “If a person has power–something that can be used for good or evil, either way–should they use it?” Her mentor tells her, “Magic isn’t good or evil by itself. I believe you should only use it when you are absolutely certain your cause is just.”

by Morgan Lynn

Lioness Rampant

Alanna is restless. She has already accomplished the impossible by becoming a female knight, but that is not enough. She craves the sort of adventure that can only be found in legends. Luckily for Alanna, her life is quickly making her story legendary. Lioness Rampant introduces enjoyable and richly developed characters. Along with the reappearance of an old evil, Alanna must decide where she fits in. Will she ever be welcomed back at court, or will she spend the rest of her life wandering along the edge of the world?

There is slightly less fighting in this book than the others, but still plenty of excitement to keep readers engaged. Alanna takes a lover, as she did in book three, but there are no graphic descriptions and her relationship is not the main plot. Alanna continues to be a likable heroine and a fun character to follow.

Sexual Content

  • Coram tries to warn Liam off, but Liam assures him that his interest in Alanna is because he likes her, not because she is famous. “I’m not a village lad wanting to boast of having the Lioness’s pelt in my hut, Master Smythesson. I like her.”
  • When Alanna tells Coram that Liam didn’t touch her, Coram says, “maybe he’s plannin’ to.” Alanna responds, “Nothing wrong with that.”
  • Alanna gets involved with Liam, who is a Shang Dragon, a great warrior. She sleeps with him, but nothing more than kissing is ever described. “He kissed her gently, then passionately, and Alanna surrendered. Any misgivings she had were put away for thought at another, less interesting time.” Another time, “His first kiss was gentle, the second passionate. Alanna let him pull her into his arms, thinking, We should talk some more about why he was angry. I don’t think lovemaking will settle anything. The Dragon was so determined, however, that once again she put her questions aside to be dealt with later.”
  • Alanna kisses Liam a few times. “He jumped down and held his hands up to her. She slid into his grasp, and they kissed.”
  • A background check is run on a man called Claw. It is discovered that “He was disinherited after the attempted rape of the second daughter of the bailiff… The girl’s maid threw acid in his face, thereby leaving the purple scars of which you spoke.”
  • George kisses Alanna awhile after she breaks up with Liam. “He cupped Alanna’s face, his grave hazel eyes searching out her own. He nodded, liking what he saw, and kissed her gently.”

Violence

  • A group of rogues tries to kill Alanna and her man-at-arms. “The thieves understood simultaneous attack. Alanna and Coram blocked automatically . . . One of the staffmen swung and missed–she ran him through. Coram shouted fiercely, and someone screamed. When a swordsman looked to see the screamer’s fate, Alanna slashed his leg.”
  • Alanna finds a pile of dead bodies, the aftermath of a war. “Here the dead had been piled up and left, until only skeletons remained . . . Bone hands still clutched weapons. Kneeling, Alanna slid a lowland sword out of the pile.”
  • Buri tells a story of a queen who killed herself in protest of how her people were being treated. “Lowlanders take us for slaves; they steal our horses . . . She and Thayet tried to make the Warlord stop . . . Kalasin stood at her window and sang her death chant, about her shame at jin Wilima’s laws. A crowd was there to witness: nobles, commonborn, and slaves. My mother and brother were killed, but they held the door until it was too late for the Warlord’s men to stop her from jumping.”
  • An assassin shoots an arrow at a princess, then jumps off a roof to escape capture. “She lifted the assassin’s headcloth. The face, sickeningly misshapen after the fall, was male and coarse, the cheeks filled with a drunkard’s broken veins.”
  • Alanna battles an elemental for the Dominion Jewel. When she decides she does not want to kill the beast, it gives her the jewel. “She ducked and dodged. When he gave her an opening, she executed one of the jump kicks Liam had taught her, slamming into the ape’s shoulder and making him roar. When he swung to chop her down, she was away and circling. She sought her chance and flew in again, hitting the same shoulder . . . “
  • After the Queen dies, the King kills himself by jumping into a ravine. This act is not described, and the reader only learns about it when the Prince tells his friend.
  • A man is attacked. We don’t see the fight, but Alanna finds him afterward. “The old man staggered in, clutching a bloody right arm. Alanna grabbed a towel and swiftly bandaged the priest before he lost more blood, fighting brief nausea. Si-cham’s right hand was gone.”
  • Alanna is attacked by her once-friend, Alex. “He lurched once more, cross-cutting with a speed she could not dodge, slashing across her cheek and her bare right hand. In the split-second opening in the path of his sword she rammed forward, crushing his windpipe with one fist as she struck his nose with the other, thrusting bone splinters deep into his brain.”
  • Alanna kills the evil sorcerer who tries to destroy Tortall. “The effect was like loosing a bolt from a crossbow. Released from her pull, the sword shrieked as it flew . . . He didn’t even seem to know what she’d done until Lightning buried itself in his chest. Roger grabbed the hilt. Amazingly, he laughed. He laughed until his dying lungs ran out of air.”

 

Drugs and Alcohol

  • A man buys a glass of wine for Alanna, who is now an adult.
  • Alanna’s man-at-arms, Coram, drinks regularly. His worst behavior while drinking, is singing raucous songs that are not described. “Coram awoke late, with a head he would not wish on his worst enemy. For a long time he waited for his knight-mistress to arrive with her hangover cure.”

Language

  • A jealous girl calls Alanna a slut.

Supernatural

  • Many people in Alanna’s world have the magical Gift. Some use this Gift for fighting, while others use it for healing or to control the weather.
  • Alanna searches for the Dominion Jewel, which “may be more directly used, in healing and war, for fertility and death. A knowledgeable ruler, knowing fully the creation of magical formulae, may create new land from ocean deeps, or return the breath of a dead child.”
  • Alanna has a magical cat who can talk.
  • Thom’s magic is stolen by an evil sorcerer.

Spiritual Content

  • Tortall has many gods, such as the Crooked God, Mithros, and the Black God. Alanna was chosen by the Great Mother, also known as the Goddess. The Goddess visits Alanna occasionally, to bestow advice.

by Morgan Lynn

Aru Shah and the End of Time

Aru makes up stories such as having a fancy chauffeur and traveling to Paris. She doesn’t mean to tell lies, she just wants to fit in at her private middle school. While her classmates are vacationing in exotic places, Aru is stuck at home, which just happens to be connected to the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture.

Not all of Aru’s classmates believe her stories. One day, three students show up at Aru’s home hoping to catch her in a lie. Aru told them that the museum’s Lamp of Bharata is cursed. When they dare her to light the lamp, Aru doesn’t really believe anything bad will happen.

Aru doesn’t know that lighting the lamp will change her life forever. When the fire touches the wick, it awakens the Sleeper, an ancient demon, who is intent on awakening the God of Destruction.  Now Aru’s mother and her classmates are frozen. Aru must do something to save them, but how is a young girl supposed to defeat an ancient evil?

Aru Shah and the End of Time will captivate readers from the first page. Action, adventure, humor, and interesting places in Indian Mythology come to life. The beautiful descriptions and interesting characters (including a pigeon sidekick) are just some of the reasons readers will fall in love with Aru’s world. Although the story contains many Indian words, the reader can figure out most of them through the story’s context. The back of the book contains a glossary that helps explain the Indian Mythology and terms.

Told from Aru’s point of view, readers will relate to her desire to fit in and her struggle with being truthful. Aru and her companion, Mini, are unlikely, lovable heroines. As the two girls fight to defeat the Sleeper, they discover that one doesn’t have to be perfect in order to accomplish great things, such as saving the world.

Told with compassion and humor, Aru Shah and the End of Time is a must-read for middle school girls. Not only will the story take readers on an amazing adventure, but it also teaches the importance of friendship, working together, and honesty. Because of Aru’s experiences, she realizes the importance of looking at situations from different perspectives. The many lessons in the book are seamlessly integrated into the plot and never feel forced. Once you open the pages of Aru Shah and the End of Time, you will not want to put the book down.

Sexual Content

  • At a school dance, the chaperone yells, “Leave enough room between you for Jesus.” As the dance progressed, she begins yelling, “LEAVING ROOM FOR THE HOLY TRINITY.”
  • When Aru looks into the Pool of the Past, she sees her mother and father. “They were strolling along the banks of a river, laughing. And occasionally stopping to . . . kiss.”

Violence

  • Aru and Mini trick a demon to make herself turn into ash. “The demon’s palm landed with a loud thunk on her own scalp. A horrible shriek ripped through the air. Flames burst around Brahmasura’s hand… Aru covered her face. Her ears rang with the sound of Madam Bee’s screams.”
  • Boo attacks the Sleeper and poops on him. The Sleeper “growled and threw Boo across the room. The pigeon hit a shelf with a loud smack and slumped to the floor.”
  • Shukra becomes consumed with his beauty. Because he spends so much time focusing on himself, his wife stops loving him. Shukra’s wife tells him, “How can I love someone I no longer know?” In anger, he kills her. “I do not remember doing what I did. . . It was only when the red had cleared from my eyes that I saw her corpse.”
  • Memory-stealing snow falls on Aru and Mini. “This time, when the snow landed on Aru, it stung. Because it (the snow) was taking. With every flake another memory was ripped from her.” Later Aru causes someone to lose his memories.
  • Aru, Mini, and the godly mounts plan an ambush. The ambush is described over a chapter. When the Sleeper arrives, he brings demons with him. “Aru ducked under the guest sign-in table as someone’s head (literally) flew past her . . . The seven-headed horse shook its head. Blood and spit flew over the walls . . . Boo acted quickly, and bird droppings rained across the demon’s eyes and forehead.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • The story focuses on Indian Mythology and includes gods, demigods, monsters, and demons.  The back of the book includes a glossary of Indian mythology, so the reader can understand who the mythological characters are.
  • Aru lights the Lamp of Bharata and awakens the “Sleeper, a demon who will summon Lord Shiva, the fearsome Lord of Destruction, who will dance upon the world and bring an end to Time.”  When Aru lights the lamp, people are “suspended in time… Their skin was warm. A pulse leaped at each of their throats. But they didn’t move.” The Sleeper is a demon that can take many forms.
  • In order to save Time, Aru and Mini must find the keys to the Kingdom of Death. The first one is found in the hair of a demon—anything that touches the demon turns to ashes.
  • Aru discovers that her mother is a part of a sisterhood. “Five women who are reincarnations of legendary queens from the ancient stories. These days their job is to raise and protect us.”
  • Aru and Mini meat the Seasons, who are tailors. Winter explains, “We dress the world itself. I embroider the earth with ice and frost, the most delicate in the world.” The Seasons give the girls magical gifts that will help them on their journey.
  • Aru and Mini go to a market that has a library of living books.
  • The Sleeper turns the “mounts of the gods” into clay and puts them in a birdcage. Aru uses a magical ball to free them.

 Spiritual Content

  • Aru and Mini are “siblings because you share divinity. You’re a child of the gods because one of them helped forge your soul.”
  • When trying to explain the Otherworld, a character explains, “Many things can coexist. Several gods can live in one universe. It’s like fingers on a hand. They’re all different, but still part of a hand.”
  • Aru’s mother said, “the Hindu gods were numerous, but they don’t stay as one person all the time. Sometimes they were reincarnated—their souls were reborn in someone else.”
  • Aru and Mini go to the Halls of the Dead, where Aru can “hear the final words of people who have died: No, and not yet. . . And I hope someone clears my internet browser. But mostly, Aru heard love. Tell my family I love them. Tell my wife I love her.”
  •  After leaving the Hall of the Dead, Mini remembers, “in Hinduism, death wasn’t a place where you were stuck forever. It was where you waited to be reincarnated. Your soul could live hundreds—maybe even thousands—of lives before you got out of the loop of life and death by achieving enlightenment.” Later in the story, Aru and Mini visit that place where reincarnation takes place. The sign says, “REMAKE, REBUILD, RELIVE! REINCARNATION MANUFACTURING SERVICES.”
  • Aru and Mini go to an office where a character explains karma. The story talks about Chitrigupta, who “kept a record of everything a soul had ever done, both good and bad. This was why karma mattered.” Later, someone explains, “As you live, your good deeds and bad deeds are extracted from karma . . .”

Took

When Daniel and his sister move to rural West Virginia, Daniel doesn’t think things can get any worse.  The students at his new school torment him. The teachers are indifferent. He has no friends. His parents are unhappy. And to make matters worse, his sister spends all of her time talking to her doll.

When Daniel hears stories of Old Auntie, who kidnaps a girl every 50 years, he thinks it’s just an old tale used to frighten children. But then he feels someone watching him. He sees strange shadows. And when his sister suddenly disappears, Daniel is convinced Old Auntie isn’t just a story.

As Daniel’s parents lose themselves in grief, Daniel decides he must face his fears and bring his sister home. With the help of his neighbor and one of Old Auntie’s descendants, Daniel fights for his sister’s freedom.

Right from the start, Took: A Ghost Story will capture the reader’s attention. Young readers will be able to relate to Daniel, who feels as if all of life’s decisions are out of his control. Although Daniel clearly cares for his parents and sister, his frustration with them is understandable. Daniel is a likable character, who faces his fears and in the end, brings his family back together.

The story is primarily told from Daniel’s point of view but has several chapters told from Old Auntie’s point of view. This adds suspense to the story and helps develop the creepy mood. This is not a book to read with the lights out. Because Old Auntie and Bloody Bones are described in such realistic, vivid detail, readers will be entertained and frightened.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Bloody Bones kills someone. “Tore him clean apart with the panther’s teeth and ate him up. Then he dug his grave with the bear’s claws and brushed the ground smooth with the raccoon’s tail.”
  • The kids at school are mean to Daniel. They “accidentally” hit him and kick the back of his seat on the bus.
  • When Daniel and his sister, Erica, are in the woods, Daniel sees something and forces Erica to leave with him. They get into a fight. “. . . She struggled harder to get away from me, crying and screaming . . . she managed to bite me twice and scratch my face.”
  • Bloody Bones is going to throw Daniel off of a cliff, so Eric throws rocks at him. “Bloody Bones plunged over the edge of the cliff, screaming as he bounced from rock to rock, his bones flying apart and scattering as he went.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Daniel and Erica’s parents are seen drinking wine. When Erica is “took,” their parents drink even more. “There was an empty wine bottle on the table and an ashtray full of cigarette butts and ashes.”
  • When Daniel goes to a friend’s house, his friend’s father smells of beer and cigarette smoke.

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • The story revolves around Old Auntie, a “conjure woman” who takes a girl every 50 years. When she takes a girl, she returns the one that was “took;” however, the girl is the same age as she was when she was first “took” and has no memory of her former life. Auntie weaves spells to influence people’s decisions.
  • One character describes Old Auntie as “a haunt come back from her grave.”
  • Old Auntie takes the form of a girl, so she can talk to Erica without scaring her. Auntie also uses a doll to convince Erica that no one loves her except Auntie.
  • Auntie has a razorback hog, called Bloody Bones, which she called back from the dead. “His bones put themselves together and rose up on their hind feet. His skull jumped on top of the bones, and off he danced.”

Spiritual Content

  • The townspeople are mean to the new family because they do not join the only church in town. “We weren’t only outsiders, we were godless outsiders.”

The Rose Legacy

Since the death of her parents, Anthea has never felt wanted. Her family shuffles her from relative to relative. Her life is uprooted when she receives a letter from an uncle who lives in the exiled lands. Anthea dreams of being a Rose Maiden to the queen like her mother, but she fears that being sent to live beyond the wall will end her dream. Feeling scared of living beyond the wall, Anthea’s nightmare becomes worse when she learns that her uncle breeds horses—animals thought to be extinct after bringing a plague to Corona.

Anthea questions everything that she has been taught as she learns more about her family, her country’s political history, and herself. When Anthea tries to flee, she meets Florian, a horse from her childhood. For years, Florian has dreamed of being reunited with Anthea. With the help of Florian and a mix of interesting characters, Anthea learns that things are not always what they seem.  When danger threatens her new family, Anthea learns to trust others as well as herself in order to save the horse that she has come to love.

Jessica Day George’s cast of characters in The Rose Legacy is diverse, interesting, and captivating. The story is told from both Anthea’s and Florian’s points of view. This allows the readers to understand Anthea’s confusion, fear, and her desire to be wanted. The connection between Anthea and Florian is remarkably sweet and shows the true meaning of love.

Anyone who loves a good story should add The Rose Legacy to their reading list. Full of suspense, emotion, and surprises, the story will captivate readers of all ages. The story isn’t just about horses, but the power of friendship and overcoming one’s fears as well.

Sexual Content

  • As part of the narration, Anthea mentions that a man had “gotten fresh” with her teacher.
  • A boy gives Anthea a necklace for her birthday and “kissed her on the cheek and then fled.”  Anthea thinks, “It had been a very nice kiss. . . . His lips had been very warm and soft.”

Violence

  • When Anthea tries to save an owl, a horse named Constantine gets angry and tries to trample her. Another horse, Florian, intervenes, and the stallions fight. “Constantine bit Florian’s neck with his yellow teeth. . . . Constantine came thundering toward them, seeing that Anthea was about to escape . . . lashed the boards, trying to break through to get to them.”
  • One of the horses gets caught in a hunter’s snare. When Anthea tries to free him, “the wires that were still wrapped around his legs arced through the air with a singing noise. . . . A wire slashed open her face just below the left eyebrow, narrowly missing her eye, and a rivulet of blood obscured her vision.”
  • A hunter shoots and hits a horse and Anthea. “When the bullet ripped through her side, Anthea honestly didn’t understand what had happened.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • A train conductor offers Anthea’s uncle a glass of whiskey.

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • People who have “the Way” can communicate with horses and feel the horse’s emotions.

Spiritual Content

  • One of the characters says, “Then they’ll probably find some long-lost sacred tablet that says that horses are the devil’s pets and we have to destroy them all or burn in hell!”
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