Reading Level: Junior High

New Kid

Seventh-grader Jordan Banks loves drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade.

As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself?

Jordan is an incredibly likable kid who struggles with fitting in at his new school where most of the students are affluent and white. Jordan’s experiences highlight the way privilege, bias, and racism affect people. New Kid tackles racism and colorism without feeling preachy; instead, Jordan and his friend Drew discuss how others treat them differently because they are African American. Both of the boys are frustrated that one of the white teachers doesn’t take the time to learn their names. When the teacher continues to get his name wrong, Jordan thinks it is worse than being called names because “They’re saying that you’re not even worth their time and are insignificant.”

Middle school readers will relate to Jordan’s struggles. Jordan wants to fit in at his new school, but he’s also afraid of losing his neighborhood friends. Readers will understand Jordan’s desire to be nice to a girl who is a bit odd, even though he doesn’t necessarily want to be her friend. Readers will be surprised by the caring way that Jordan solves the problem. Another positive aspect of the story is Jordan’s mother. She clearly loves Jordan, but sometimes her enthusiasm for hugs and taking pictures drives him crazy.

New Kid is an entertaining graphic novel that has brightly colored illustrations that are at times heartwarming and hilarious. Craft does an excellent job making the character’s feelings clear by focusing on the character’s facial expressions. Jordan’s artwork is shown in black and white illustrations, which highlights his feelings about a variety of topics, such as his mother’s picture taking, books written for African American kids, and his teacher. In the end, New Kid will entertain the reader and teach the importance of not judging others based on appearance as well as speaking up for what is right.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Two boys get in an argument at lunch. When they begin pushing each other, one boy drops part of his lunch and steps on an apple. The boy falls, but is not injured.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Someone calls a couple of the sophomores “real jerks.” Jordan’s grandmother told him, “You don’t have to like everyone, but you don’t have to be a jerk about it, either.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

 

When Fairies Go Bad

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

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

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

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

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

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

Drugs and Alcohol

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

Language

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

Supernatural

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

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

 

The Dog Who Lost His Bark

Patrick has been desperate for a dog for as long as he can remember. A dog he can play with and talk to. A buddy. A best friend.

In his young puppy life, Oz has suffered at the hands of some bad people. His mother told him that somewhere out there is a boy or girl just for him, but Oz no longer knows who to trust. When Patrick finds Oz, he is determined to coax the frightened little dog’s bark back. Then they can finally both be happy, can’t they?

The Dog Who Lost His Bark is a sweet story about a boy and his dog; however, the story hits some heavy topics. Patrick and his mother are spending the summer at his grandfather’s house. During this time, Patrick continues to ask where he will see his father again. His mother avoids the question until the very end. Then she tells him, Patrick’s father “found someone new for himself in Sydney last year, and she’s coming back with him.” Even though Patrick is clearly distressed with his father’s long absence, neither his mother nor father talk to him about the upcoming changes in his life. The story never resolves the conflict, which leaves the reader with many questions.

When Oz was a puppy, he was taken home by a family that was clearly abusive. Although the story does not describe the abuse in detail, younger readers may become upset when they see Oz mistreated and eventually thrown into a trash heap. Patrick goes to a shelter and chooses to take Oz home. Patrick knows he needs help in order to bring Oz’s bark back, so he consults books. Patrick is kind and patient with the sad puppy. However, when Oz poops in Patrick’s shoe, Patrick doesn’t take him outside or teach him where to go to the bathroom. Instead, Patrick keeps putting clean shoes in the room for Oz to use.

The story uses easy vocabulary and short paragraphs, and explains Oz’s emotions in easy-to-understand terms. Some words run together and are in all caps, such as BADSTUPIDDOG, which may cause some confusion for younger readers. Beautiful charcoal sketches appear on almost every page that convey the character’s emotions. Animal lovers will enjoy The Dog Who Lost His Bark; however, because the story contains animal abuse and parents separating, parents might want to read the story with their child.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • A man and woman take Oz. They put him in a box and leave him in the car overnight without food or water. When they give Oz to their son, he begins poking Oz. “All the people were laughing now. It seemed they enjoyed the boy’s game. They laughed even louder when the boy lifted Dog by his tail, and Dog felt as if his tail would tear off.”
  • A man wraps Oz up in linoleum flooring and throws him in the dump.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Several times, a man calls Oz a STUPIDDOG.
  • After a boy knocks down the Christmas tree, “The big man made a sound: ‘OHMYGOD.’”
  • The boy calls Oz, “POOPOODOG” and “STUPIDPOOPOODOG.”
  • Patrick’s mother playfully calls Patrick “dopey.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Cape

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

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

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

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

Supernatural

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

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Storm Blown

A little rain and wind doesn’t worry Alejo—they’re just part of life at the beach. As his padrino says, as long as there are birds in the waves, it’s safe. When people start evacuating though, Alejo realizes things might be worse than he thought. And they are. A hurricane is headed straight for Puerto Rico. Worried that his padrino needs help, Alejo braves the storm in order to search for him.

Emily’s brother, Elliot, has been really sick. He can’t go outside their New Orleans home, so Emily decides to have an adventure for him. Emily wades out to a tiny island. For once, Emily wants her mother to worry about her. While hiding from her home, she befriends an injured goose and a shy turtle. Emily doesn’t know that a storm is racing her way.

As the hurricane rages across Puerto Rico and heads towards the United States, both kids will face life-threatening danger. Soon Alejo and Emily will be in the storm’s deadly path, but nothing has prepared the kids for Megastorm Valerie. Who will survive nature’s fury?

Like a wind-blown leaf in a hurricane, Storm Blown jumps from many different settings and points of view, which quickly becomes confusing. Although Alejo and Emily are the two main characters, the story also gives a glimpse of Emily’s father, the national climatic research center workers, as well as the animals trapped in the hurricane. Since the story includes so many points of view, Alejo and Emily are underdeveloped, which makes it hard for the reader to connect to them.

Storm Blown shows the devastation a hurricane can cause which leads to many daring episodes. However, some of the events are hard to believe. For example, Alejo, who does not know how to drive, is able to steal a van, drive through torrential rains, and arrive safely home. Alejo is so worried about his padrino that he braves the weather only to find an empty house. Although Alejo’s actions are brave, the reader will wonder why he and his padrino did not discuss a disaster plan. Instead, Alejo’s grandfather tapes a note to the kitchen table. In a world where natural disasters happen often, readers will question some of the kids’ daring deeds and actions.

Readers interested in extreme weather or survival stories will find Storm Blown difficult to read because of the many points of view and the challenging vocabulary. The story also ends abruptly and leaves the reader with too many unanswered questions. Instead of choosing Strom Blown, readers should try the I Survived series by Lauren Tarshis, The Raft by S.A. Bodeen, or Trapped by Michael Northrop.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Nature’s violence is shown throughout the book. A tree falls, hitting Joy. Emily goes to help her. “Swallowing a sudden nausea, Emily propped herself against the closest limb and pulled Joy to her feet. Joy swayed in the wind, blinking as the rain mixed with the blood in her matted hair. It ran down her arms in rivulets, and Emily tried not to gag as Joy hooked her elbow around her narrow shoulders for support.”
  • The helicopter pilot is injured when he was “pinned to the ground beneath a heavy limb. His face was contorted into a grimace, but he wasn’t moving. Not even as the dark water lapped against the side of his head, threatening to suck him deeper into the mud beneath their feet.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Several of the characters are given pain medication after an injury. Elliot is given pain pills, but he doesn’t like how “the pain pills made it so he couldn’t stay up for more than a few hours.”
  • When Elliot’s mother brings him pain pills, he saves them for later. After he got dressed, Elliot slipped “his pain pills into his pocket.”
  • While waiting for a hurricane, the hotel gives the guest drinks. “The hotel bar made so many Dark ‘n’ Stormies that they ran out of rum halfway through Alejo’s rounds, switching to something they were calling a Frozen Valerie.

Language

  • “Oh my god” is used as an exclamation once.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Several times in the story, the characters pray for something. For example, Emily’s father “prayed that Sarah had fixed things up with their daughter.” When Emily’s father finally made it home, “Silas prayed for a miracle.”

 

 

Don’t Date Rosa Santos

Everyone in Port Coral knows that the Santos family is cursed by the sea. After all, two generations of Santos women have loved men who were lost to the ocean. Which is why, even though she’s lived in a coastal Florida town for most of her life, eighteen-year-old Rosa Santos has never even stepped foot in the ocean.

Rosa has the next few years of her life all planned out. In a few months, she’ll be graduating from high school with both her diploma and a two-year degree from the local community college. Then it’s off to a four-year university where she’s been accepted in a study abroad program at the University of Havana. She’ll finally be fulfilling her lifelong dream of traveling to Cuba, the island of her ancestors. She just hasn’t quite figured out how to tell her Grandmother. It won’t be an easy feat. After all, Mimi Santos has always refused to talk about Cuba.

But when an offer to buy the Marina threatens to destroy Port Coral, Rosa must set her plan aside and help put together a fundraiser to save her beloved hometown. It might be more difficult than expected, considering she’ll be working side by side with the distressingly cute Alex Aquino. Her growing crush wouldn’t be that bad, except Alex happens to be the one thing that ought to be strictly off limits to a Santos girl like her: a boy with a boat.

Rosa struggles with some uniquely heavy issues like inherited grief and the immigrant experience of feeling like she doesn’t quite fit into her own culture. Although these issues might be difficult for some readers to fully comprehend, they are important, especially for Latinx teens looking to find themselves in a story. These tough themes are balanced out by the more “everyday” issues Rosa deals with, including the college application process and harboring a secret crush.

Although there are plenty of adorable and romantic moments, the story itself goes beyond the typical rom com. Moreno makes a beautiful exploration into the many ways that love can manifest itself; from the years of love and loss that bind the Santos women together, to the thrill of a relationship just beginning, to the overarching love that creates a community. The characters are all well developed and both Port Coral and Cuba come alive on the page.

Readers are sure to fall in love with the complex story of the Santos women, which is equal parts heart wrenching and hopeful. Don’t Date Rosa Santos is a wonderfully diverse story about family, identity, and finding your place in the world.

Sexual Content

  • Mimi tells Rosa that if she could go anywhere in the world, she would go to Hawaii because “I like The Rock. He is very handsome.”
  • Jonas kisses his fiancee hand.
  • When Rosa is being teased about boys, she thinks “There had been kisses at parties and group movie things, but nothing to write home about.”
  • Rosa’s mother says, “You haven’t had a crush in forever.” This prompts Rosa to reflect on her recent crushes: “An older guy in my calculus class at Port Coral Community who always held the door open for me, and a girl from the ice cream shop who never wore the same name tag and told me I smelled like strawberries.”
  • Rosa’s friend Mike teases her about “running away with an Argentinian sailor.”
  • Rosa asks Mike if he would date her. She says, “I was just curious if you’d ever think of me like that.”
  • Rosa describes Alex, the love interest, as “a very cute sailor tattooed with the sea.”
  • Rosa runs into Alex at the dock. He asks her to sit, and she decides to stay because “I needed a moment and this little seed of a crush really wanted me to sit with him.”
  • Alex runs a hand over his beard, and Rosa finds herself “wondering how it might feel to run my fingers across his beard and maybe press my face to his neck. I frowned, surprised at myself. Talking by moonlight softened a lot of edges.”
  • Rosa and her friend have a conversation about Alex in which her friend describes him as “super hot.”
  • While stuck on the side of the highway, Alex and Rosa kiss for the first time. “He smiled and ducked his head. He captured my lips in a kiss that already tasted bittersweet.” The kiss is described for about half a page.
  • Rosa’s friend tells the boys that they missed their chance with Rosa because she is “out here getting kissed by cute boys with man beards and baked goods.”
  • When Rosa is getting ready for her first date with Alex, she is advised to “Scoop him up and throw some sprinkles on that. Drizzle the caramel. You get me. Doodle his name in that little journal of yours. Doodle it hard.”
  • At the end of their date Alex tells Rosa, “I like you like you.” The two kiss briefly at the end of the scene.
  • When Rosa agrees to be Alex’s second for the regatta, he kisses her “quickly.”
  • When Alex and Rosa win the regatta, he “pulled me against him and dropped a hard, grateful kiss on my lips.”

Violence

  • During an argument, Rosa’s mother opens up about the death of Rosa’s father. “Tell [Rosa] that my love killed him. . . I loved him too much, so the sea took him. When this whole town cried for the lost boy at sea, you looked at your own daughter and her growing middle and said it was the cures. That it was me.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Rosa says that the vejitos, a group of old Cuban men living in Port Coral, act “like a person could live forever on coffee, rum, and cigars.” She later describes them as smelling like “sharp aftershave and cigars.”
  • Rosa says that Junior, one of the Peña Cousins, “used to sell weed, but now he was focused on getting his mixtape to go viral.”
  • Rosa’s mother returns home drunk after she “bought a bottle of wine and sat at the end of the dock where I drank the whole thing before slipping a note inside and chucking it into the water.”

Language

  • Oh my God, God, Dios mio, Por dios, and Jesus are all used frequently as exclamations. For example, when Mrs. Peña mentions jazz band, Ana replies “God, don’t say that so loud.”
  • Profanity is used frequently. Profanity includes: damn, hell, crap, and asshole.
  • Ana tells her brother that her drums “cost more than your shitty car.”
  • Ana tells Junior not to be “a dick.”
  • Mimi gets angry about the current state of Cuba and exclaims “Carajo qué mierda.”
  • Rosa’s mother says “Come mierda,” a phrase that literally translates to “shit eater” which Cubans often use to mean “dumbass.”

Supernatural

  • The Santos Women believe that they are cursed. The men they love are destined to die at sea. Rosa explains, “The lullaby of my life is that to know the sea is to know love, but to love us is to lose everything. We’re cursed, they still whisper, but whether it’s by an island, the sea, or our own stubborn hearts, I don’t know.”
  • Rosa’s grandmother acts as the neighborhood curandera. According to Rosa “The neighborhood curandera oversaw concerns about struggling gardens, bad dreams, career changes, and terrible luck, and she brewed hope frothier window that smelled like herbs and dryer sheets.”
  • Mimi owns a magical wind chime. “There was a wood and steel wind chime that was steady when the day was nice, a little wilder with the rain, and as agitated as a scared kid when bad luck was coming.”
  • Rosa owns a magical backpack. “Mimi had sewn it before I started high school, enchanting it with powerful words so it would always carry whatever I needed and never get lost.”
  • Rosa’s mother coming home has interesting consequences. “She and the house were like warring siblings, and it always knew when she returned, because it stopped working. Food burned, candles wouldn’t stay lit, and worst of all, my laptop always struggled to find the Wi-Fi signal.”
  • Rosa’s mother practices tarot. “Sometimes there was a knock at the door, late at night when she was home, and a sad eyed soul waiting on the other side. Mom would sit with them, cards spread across the old wood table. My mother was a storyteller fluent in spells and heartache.”
  • Mimi keeps a notebook that has “ingredients listed for different oils and potions,” as well as accounts of miracle helpings back in Cuba.
  • Rosa says that she puts acorns on windowsills “so lighting won’t strike my house.”
  • When Ana loses her drum sticks, she asks Rosa to “Give me some brujeria, Rosa. Throw down some shells, fire up some smoke! I need that tracking-lost-things spell!”
  • Mimi uses magic to create a replica of Havana in the middle of Port Coral.
  • When Mimi is describing Cuba, she says that Tia Nela warned her not to leave. “She warned me our land was bleeding and the sea would demand a sacrifice.”
  • Rosa knows something is wrong because the wind chime “was wild with panic.”
  • Rosa and her mother participate in a ritual where they see and hear Mimi and Alvaro’s spirits. The description lasts for about three pages.

Spiritual Content

  • When Rosa asks if Mimi would ever return Cuba Mimi responds, “My spirit will, mi amor.”
  • Rosa has an altar set up in her room, which includes, “a couple of pastel candles and fresh flowers sat beside a faded sepia picture of my grandfather and the single Polaroid I had of my father.”
  • When he sees Rosa, a sailor makes an old warding sign, “To keep evil away.”
  • After Rosa’s mother returns home, Mimi cleanses the house. Rosa’s mother claims it’s because of her “bad juju.”
  • Mimi and Rosa both pray to saints and ancestors throughout the story. For example, when Rosa’s mother comes home drunk, “Mimi reached for the saint medallion on her nightstand and muttered a prayer.”
  • Rosa and Ana perform a cleansing spell. “[Rosa] exhaled a shaky breath before asking for protection and guidance. Anna dimmed the lights, watching me. With the swipe of a match, I lit the wick and held the egg over the flickering candle light for a few seconds before closing my eyes and mindfully holding it to the top of my head.” The description of the full ritual is spread out over about six pages.
  • Rosa cleans off her altar and asks her deceased father and grandfather for advice. She says, “I could really use some help with college. Can you see the future? Yeah, it probably doesn’t work like that. But maybe you can get together with my other ancestors and let me know what you think? Some clarity on this would really help.”
  • Rosa listens to one of Mimi’s patients talking about a healing miracle. The patient says that it was “like listening to someone describe a version of la Virgen.”
  • When Mimi is describing Cuba, she says “If her cities fall, if we’re all gone, may God watch after her.”
  • While at the hospital, Ana and her mother pray silently.
  • When Alex offers to spend the night, Rosa says that she needs to lose herself in “inherited rituals.”

by Evalyn Harper

Sisters

Raina wants a little sister, but once Amara shows up, things aren’t how she expected them to be. Amara cries a lot. She’s grouchy. To make things worse, Amara always has to get her own way. As the two sisters grow up, their relationship doesn’t improve. When their baby brother is born, the tiny apartment that they live in becomes even more cramped.

When the family is invited to Colorado for a family reunion, Raina’s mom decides to take a road trip without their dad. Being stuck in a car for three weeks doesn’t bring the sisters any closer. Instead, they argue their way across three states. Is there anything that will bring these two sisters together?

Sisters doesn’t just focus on the family car trip, instead, it continuously jumps back to the past to show how Raina and Amara’s relationship has always been full of conflict. Both girls are mean, argumentative, and do things just to irritate each other. Amara is a complete brat, while Raina tries to block out everything by wearing headphones and ignoring everyone. While younger readers may think the sisters’ behavior is silly, parents will not want their children to emulate the siblings’ behavior.

Throughout the story, the two girls are never disciplined. At one point, Raina’s parents give up their bedroom, so Raina can have her own space. Because the parents knew Amara would be “a little put out,” they let her get a pet snake. However, the family doesn’t research the pet before they purchased it, and the snake eventually ends up lost in the family van.

Sisters is a simple story told through both illustrations and text. Each page contains eight or fewer sentences. The easy vocabulary, simple sentences, and bright pictures make Sisters accessible to all readers. The brightly colored pictures do an amazing job at showing the facial expressions of the characters, which brings the character’s emotions to the forefront. Although the story will engage readers, parents may want to skip picking up this book and instead try Raina Telgemeler’s graphic novel Ghost which shows a healthy sibling relationship and has a positive message. Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson is also an excellent graphic novel that contains a positive message.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • While riding in the car, Raina ignores her sister, so Amara reaches over and punches her in the arm.
  • Amara’s pet snake tries to bite her.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Amara calls Raina a moron and an idiot.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Beverly, Right Here

Fourteen-year-old Beverly has run away from home before. But this time, she plans on leaving for good. Beverly wants to make it on her own. She finds a job and a place to stay, but she can’t stop thinking about her drunk mother and her dog Buddy, who is buried under the orange trees back home. She also worries about her friend Raymie, who she left without saying a word.

Beverly doesn’t want to make friends. She doesn’t want to care about anyone. In a world where everyone has left her, Beverly decides to only care about herself. But soon, she realizes that there are good people around her. There are people that care about her and depend on her. As she begins to find a sense of community, she learns about herself as well.

It’s 1979 and Beverly hops in a car with her cousin, who drops her off in a random town. She has no money, no friends, and no idea where her steps will take her. Luckily, Beverly finds Iona, who takes in Beverly and treats her like a beloved niece. Iona is funny, truthful, and an overall wonderful person. However, the story never hints at the dangers of running away and trusting complete strangers.

Set in 1979, Beverly, Right Here does not show the dangers of the modern world. For example, in one scene, when an older man pinches Beverly’s butt, the waitress tells her not to complain. Another troubling aspect of the story is Beverly’s relationship with Elmer. Although Elmer’s age is never revealed, he is preparing to go to college. Even though Elmer is a sweet soul, and Beverly and him only dance and hold hands, the age difference is alarming.

Unlike its companion book, Louisiana’s Way Home, the characters and themes in Beverly, Right Here are not as developed, which leaves too many unanswered questions. Even though Beverly’s mother is a drunk, it is unclear why Beverly felt the need to run away. In addition, Beverly talks about the death of her dog; however, the reader doesn’t know how the dog died and why the dog’s death had such a negative impact on Beverly. Lastly, at the end of the book, Iona’s son shows up, questions her decision-making skills, threatens to take away Iona’s car, and tells Beverly she is “nobody” and must leave.

Beverly, Right Here is realistic fiction that highlights the importance of making connections. The short chapters and easy vocabulary help propel the action forward. Although there are several interesting characters, including Iona and Elmer, Beverly’s actions are at times confusing. The abrupt conclusion leaves the reader wondering what will happen to Iona and Beverly. Beverly, Right Here is a companion book to Raymie Nightingale and Louisiana’s Way Home. However, each book can be read as a stand-alone.

Sexual Content

  • While working at a restaurant, “a fat old man with a cigar in his mouth pinched [Beverly] on the butt.”

Violence

  • Beverly’s friend, Elmer, tells her about a school bully who “beats the crap out of you, for being a poetry-loving sissy.”
  • When Elmer was in high school, he was bullied. A boy duct-taped Elmer to a chair and locked him in a janitor’s closet. When the janitor found him and let him loose, “he cried. And I cried.”
  • A man comes into a restaurant and threatens the owner with a whiffle bat. As the man leaves, he yells, “If you call the cops, I’ll come back here to this stupid fish place and break everybody’s bones. I promise you I will.” After the owner gives the man money, one of the employees chases the thief down and tackles him.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Beverly mentions that her mother was “drunk all the time.”
  • When Beverly calls her mother, she thinks that her mother “didn’t sound too drunk.”
  • Beverly thinks about her mother “sitting on the back porch, drinking beer and cigarettes. . .”
  • Beverly tells a friend that her mother is “drunk most of the time.”

Language

  • Beverly’s cousin yells at her, “Dang it! You always did think that you were better than everybody else on God’s green earth.”
  • When a woman sees Beverly’s wet, sandy clothes, the woman says, “Lord, child. What have you been doing?”
  • When Beverly was younger, she would eat glue because “it was just a way to piss the teachers off.”
  • A woman calls Beverly “con artist trash.”
  • Crap is used six times. For example, Beverly wonders, “why was there so much crap in the world?”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

The Girl the Sea Gave Back

For as long as she can remember, Tova has lived among the Svell, the people who found her washed ashore as a child and use her for her gift as a Truthtongue. Her own home and clan are long-faded memories, but the sacred symbols and staves inked over every inch of her skin mark her as one who can cast the rune stones and see into the future. She has found a fragile place among those who fear her, but when two clans to the east bury their age-old blood feud and join together as one, her world is dangerously close to collapse.

For the first time in generations, the leaders of the Svell are divided. Should they maintain peace or go to war with the allied clans to protect their newfound power? When their chieftain looks to Tova to cast the stones, she sets into motion a series of events that will not only change the landscape of the mainland forever but will give her something she believed she could never have again—a home.

The Girl the Sea Gave Back is a Vikings-inspired story that is bloody and brutal. The story focuses on both Tova and Halvard’s points of view and continually jumps between the two character’s perspectives. Because the story switches points of view, there are often times when the same scene is retold from another character’s point of view. In addition to switching points of view, the story also flashes back into each character’s life. The always-changing point of view and the flashbacks makes the plot both choppy and confusing.

Although the story focuses on Tova, she is not an easy character to relate to. It is clear that the Svell dislike her; however, the reason for their fear is never explained. In the beginning, Tova seems content to follow orders and do what she is told. Although she does not like foretelling death, she doesn’t think about the consequences of her actions. Of the two characters, Halvard is more likable and interesting. He constantly doubts his worthiness but is willing to take risks to save those he loves.

In the end, The Girl the Sea Gave Back is a tale of war and fate. Long bloody battles propel the story forward, and although there is plenty of action, the characters lack development. Even though war is described in detail, it is not glorified. Instead, the story makes it clear that peace is difficult to obtain, but it is worth working towards. Halvard learns that “war is easy. It comes again and again, like waves to a shore. But I lived most of my life driven by hate, and I don’t want that for my grandchildren. Or yours.”

Although beautifully written, The Girl the Sea Gave Back lacked in world-building and will leave the reader with many unanswered questions—both about the characters and what will happen to the warring tribes. The complicated story uses graphic imagery that will leave some readers squeamish. Only strong readers who are looking for a Viking-inspired war story should read The Girl the Sea Gave Back.

Sexual Content

  • One of the woman warriors “had never been motherly in nature and though she’d had several lovers through the years, she’d never had children.”
  • In a brief moment alone with Tova, Halvard “took a step toward me and my heart kicked in my chest, the blood running faster through my veins. . . He leaned down, hiding me in his shadow as he pressed his lips softly to the corner of my mouth. His hands wound around my waist and for a moment, I melted into him.”

Violence

  • As a child, Tova went into town, and “something hot hit my face and it wasn’t until I reached up that I realized it was blood—a prayer to their god, Eydis, to ward off whatever evil I might bring. I still remember the way it felt, rolling down my skin and soaking into the neck of my tunic.”
  • When two tribes meet, the chieftain’s brother betrays him by attacking the other tribe’s chieftain. The man “suddenly reared back with the sword, launching it forward with a snap, and it sank into Espen’s stomach. The tip of its blood-soaked blade reached out behind him where it had run him through.” The two tribes fight. Halvard tries to protect his friend, Aghi. Halvard “twisted my sword in an arch around me to catch him in the gut. He tumbled to the grass and I lifted the blade before me, thick blood dripping onto the golden grass.” During the battle, Aghi is stabbed with a knife. “Aghi doubled over and it wasn’t until he hit the ground that I saw it. The handle of my knife was lodged between his ribs. I swallowed a breath as bright, sputtering blood poured from his lips and when I opened my mouth, I couldn’t hear the sound of my own screams.” As the battle continues, Halvard plunged the blade into Bekan’s heart. His head rolled back and he gasped, coughing on the blood coming up in his throat. . .” Many people die during the 12 pages of battle.
  • When the Svell lose the battle, Vigdis is upset and attacks Tova. “. . . He screamed, shoving Jorrund aside and snatching up my arm. He threw me back and I hit the ground hard before he came over me, taking a handful of my hair into his fist. . .” Vigdis threatens to set Tova on fire, but she convinces him that she can still be useful so he lets her live.
  • When Halvard was a child, his village was attacked and he was captured. Some of the captives were tied behind a cart. “The rope cut into the skin around his wrist and his arms ached, blood trailing up into the sleeves of his torn tunic. The woman tied beside him had fallen before the moon had even risen above the treetops and her lifeless body dragged over the ground beside him.” Halvard was saved by his brothers.
  • When the Svell attack a village, Tova could hear the screams. “The light of dusk caught the glistening of wet blood on armor and the warriors passed us. . .” The man Vigdis was looking for was not in the village, so “Vigdis lifted his hand, rearing back and swinging his arm to slap me [Tova] across the face. I fell to the ground, my hands sliding over the wet soil as my mouth filled with blood.”
  • Halvard thought back to his childhood when the Svell attacked his village. Most of the dead “weren’t even wearing their armor or their boots, cut down as they tried to flee in the dark. They’d been sleeping when the Svell came out of the forest and set fire to their homes. . . The bodies of people I’d known my whole life had been strewn throughout the village bright red blood staining the crisp, white snow. . .”
  • At the end of the battle, friends of Halvard appear and save him when “arrows suddenly fell from the sky, arcing over my head and hitting their marks before me. Svell warriors hit the ground hard. . .”
  • Halvard and his men approach the destroyed village and find “bodies still lying where they’d fallen in the fight.” Halvard sees a Svell warrior and “the blunt side of the blade caught him in the jaw. The sword fell from his hand as he tumbled backward, sliding on the stone until he rolled over the threshold, landing in the mud outside.” More Svell appear and “Asmund lifted his ax, stopping the man’s blow overhead, and slammed his closed fist into his face. . . Asmund kicked him in the chest sending him backward.” When it looks like Asmund might die, Halvard “let the knife in my other hand sink back behind my head and slung it forward, letting it fly handle over blade through the air, it hit its mark finding the flesh between his shoulder blades, and he fell face-first into the dirt at Asmund’s feet.”
  • When Tova refuses to cast the stones, “a man’s face appeared over me before he bent down low, lifting me back to my feet. He didn’t even look up as a sob wracked my chest. His hand took hold of the neck of my tunic. . .” The man drags Tova to the meeting place and “he shoved me inside and I toppled forward, sliding on the ground. My palms scraped against the dry, cracked mud. . .” A man threatens to kill her if she does not read the stones.
  • During the final battle there are many deaths. The battle is described over multiple chapters. “An axe flew over my [Halvard’s] head, catching a Nădhir woman behind me, and she was knocked from her feet, hitting the ground hard. I stood just in time to catch the man who’d thrown it with my blade, dropping him with one strike. . .” When a woman attacks Halvard, “I brought my axe down onto her shoulder and she fell to her knees, reaching for Fiske. He toppled backward, driving his sword up to impale the woman with it. The length of the blade shone with blood as Fiske pulled it from where it was wedged between her bones and stood, heaving.” As the battle rages, Tova joins in. “A man crashed into the mud behind me, Halvard’s knife buried in his chest. He coughed blood as I pulled it free and got back to my feet.”
  • During the battle, a Svell man tries to kill Tova. “In the next instant, his knife was swinging wide, catching me in the arm. . . Before he could bring the knife down, I rolled to my side, covering my head with my hands. The blade ripped into my other arm, the edge of the iron hitting the bone, and I cried out.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • When Tova is injured, Jorrund has to stitch the injury. “Her blood shone on the needle as Jorrund pulled the thread in one long motion and tied it off. When a tear finally rolled down her cheek, he gave her another drink of the sour ale. She swallowed it down until the burn in her throat reached her chest.”
  • While preparing for a battle, the Svell drink ale. “Outside, the Svell gathered around smoking fires, drunk on ale and eating what would be for some of them a last meal.”
  • When a woman warrior is injured, she is given ale to help with the pain.
  • During a ceremony to make Halvard the new chieftain, Halvard cuts his palm and allows the blood to pool in a cup. The other leaders then drink the blood.
  • The night before the final battle, Halvard and his family drink ale.
  • After the battle, some of the warriors were “drinking our winter stores of ale.”

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Tova is a Truthtongue and uses runes to tell the future. Before she drops the stones, she chants, “Eye of the gods. Give me sight.” After she throws the stones, she interprets them.

Spiritual Content

  • The story revolves around the Spinners of Fate who “sat at the foot of the Tree of Urṍr weaving the density of mortals.” When Tova was born, her mother consulted the Spinners of Fate and they told her what would happen in the future.
  • Different tribes believe in different gods. Although the gods’ names are mentioned, there is no explanation of how the gods are different from each other.
  • Jorrund is the tribe’s healer and the “interpreter of Eydis’ will.” When he finds Tova on the beach, he thinks Tova is an omen for Eydis.
  • The people believe in an afterlife and refer to it often. For example, a man’s “only child was taken to the afterlife and there she’d wait for her father until he took his last breath.” When a person dies, their body is cremated so they can travel to the afterlife.
  • While preparing to meet another tribe’s leader, a man says, “we’ll make a sacrifice at dawn and ask Eydis to give us her favor.”
  • People, including Tova herself, think that Tova “was a living curse. A betrayal to the Svell god. . . She was a scourge. And there were many that wanted her dead.”
  • When Halvard’s friend Aghi dies, Halvard thinks that he would also like to die in the battle because “it was an end that the gods would favor.” Because Aghi’s body could not be cremated, Halvard performs a ritual. Halvard takes his knife and “I wound my fingers tightly around its blade before I slid it against my calloused palm. The hot blood pooled in the center of my hand before I pressed my finger into it, carefully writing Aghi’s name across the face of the stele.” Someone says a prayer and Halvard thinks, “It had been a long time since I’d prayed to Thora or Sigr. Not because I didn’t believe in them, but because I wasn’t sure they listened.”
  • Someone tells Halvard the story of Truthtongues. When one of the god’s sisters dies and is buried, the god “swore vengeance of the Spinners for taking her life. As an offering, the Spinners gave Naṍr a mortal child with the mark on her chest. They called her the Truthtongue and promised that every woman born into her lineage would have the ability to read the runes and see into the future.”
  • When the Svell were ready to attack a village, Tova tells a man, “There isn’t a single god who looks favorably upon dishonorable killing.” Tova feels guilty that she helped the soldiers find the village. She thinks, “I hadn’t planned the massacre in the glade but it was my rune cast that had justified it. . . I had always known that I was cursed. That something dark had marked me.” Tova thinks she was sent out of her village because her god didn’t want her.
  • The characters often pray to their gods. For example, during a ceremony, a man shouts, “We ask you, Thora and Sigr, to entrust your people to Halvard, son of Auben.”
  • Before battle, a man says a prayer. “We call upon you! We ask for your protection and your favor as we take the fjord!” The tribe’s healer then “dropped the torch at his feet and the flame caught the pitch, writhing over the grass in the paths he’d laid. . .It was an ancient symbol, the shield of the fallen Svell warrior.”
  • As the warriors are praying, Tova thinks, “But there was no one I could call upon. No one who was listening. Instead, I made my plea to the Spinners. I asked for their forgiveness. I begged for their help.”
  • When Tova offers to cast the stones for Halvard, he refuses by saying, “I don’t want to know. I trust the gods.”
  • The night before the final battle, Tova doesn’t pray to a god. “Instead, I prayed to the woman in my vision.” Later, she discovers that the woman in the vision was her mother.
  • When Tova meets her mother, her mother tells her, “The Spinners brought us here to find you. But we don’t know yet what other purpose they have for us. We won’t know until they tell us. . . Mortals and gods cannot be trusted to obey the warnings of the Spinners.”

Saving the Whole World

Hilo doesn’t remember much about his past, but that’s not stopping him from settling into life on earth. Hilo has discovered bowling, knock-knock jokes, and some good friends. Strange portals begin opening up all over town, and strange creatures are coming through them. Hilo has a plan to send the giant mutant chickens, Viking hippo, and the millions of killer vegetables back to their homeworld. Can Hilo, D.J. and Gina send these creatures back to their worlds before they destroy the earth?

Saving the Whole World digs deeper into Hilo and his friends’ backgrounds as well as introduces a sorceress martial-arts cat named Polly. In addition to being a lot of fun, the ferocious Polly jumps into every battle. D.J.’s family also plays a positive role in the story. Readers will enjoy the hilarious awkward parental interactions. Readers will laugh out loud when D.J.’s mom finds monsters in her house and yells, “Monsters are in my kitchen! There’s a talking cat! And Hilo can fly! I need an explanation! Now!”

Hilo isn’t just a fun story about a super-strong robot boy. Saving the Whole World hits on topics such as family, friends, and fitting in. Several times Hilo reinforces the idea that “Trying to find stuff out is the best part of not knowing something.” Without sounding like a school lesson, Saving the Whole World introduces new vocabulary through Hilo’s speech. For example, Hilo says “Y’see, I lured Razorwark into this limbo. Lured. Isn’t it a great word? Lured: verb, past tense. To tempt a person or animal to do something or go somewhere.”

Brightly colored illustrations will capture readers’ attention, but readers will want to keep turning the pages because of the engaging story and the likable characters. The detailed illustrations show exaggerated facial expressions which will help readers understand the characters changing emotions.   For maximum enjoyment, the stories should be read in order. Even though, the first chapter recaps the events in the previous books, the stories’ plots build on each other.

The book ends in a cliff-hanger that will have readers reaching for the next book, The Great Big Boom. Viking hippos, a magical warrior cat, and attacking vegetables combine to make a wonderful story that all ages will enjoy. If you’re looking for a story full of action and humor, Hilo is a perfect choice.

Sexual Content

  • Lisa has a crush on Hilo. Whenever she sees him, a heart pops up over her head.

Violence

  • Hilo and his friends find a robot in the bowling alley. When Hilo talks to the robot, the robot slams Hilo into a wall. Then, the robot begins “chucking bowling balls. Hilo throws the robot into the snow, where it short-circuits. Hilo sends the robot back to its home planet.”
  • Hippopotamuses fall from a portal and Polly shoots them with a laser. Polly yells, “That’s right whale bellies!” Then the hippopotamuses fight back with their own lasers.
  • A monster robot falls from a portal and begins pounding a “mighty mart.” The robot grabs Hilo and Hilo uses his power to knock out the robot.
  • A jabberwocky appears. When Hilo and his friends try to put the big bird into a cage, the bird steps on Polly.
  • When four monsters appear in D.J.’s kitchen, D.J. throws tennis rackets at them. The monsters chase D.J. who runs outside and jumps on a trampoline. When the monsters follow, the trampoline breaks, and the monsters get stuck.
  • Rapscallions, living vegetation, begin taking over everything, including buildings. Hilo and his friends begin whacking them with maces and lasers. Hilo yells, “I think we’ve got these veggies on the run!” When it looks the vegetation might win, Hilo blasts them with ice. The rapscallions are sent through a portal to the void.
  • Razorwark controls another robot and grabs Hilo, so Hilo cannot help his friends. In an attempt to hurt Hilo’s friends, Razorwark opens a portal that sucks Gina up. When Razorwark tries to convince Hilo to join him, Hilo shoots the robot with his laser hands

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Hilo is in a space void. Hilo says the void smells “like a gorilla’s armpit.” Later Hilo gets “hurled into a new spot. Smells like elephant butt.”
  • Some kids call D.J. a dweeb.
  • “Holy Mackerel” is used as an expression occasionally.
  • While eating dinner, D.J. and his sibling discuss how mangos make Dexter “poop weird.”
  • When fighting hippopotamuses appear, Polly yells, “Come back and fight, you bloated, zit-caked boils from a troll’s butt.”
  • There is some name-calling. For example, space squid, bubble butt, phlegm-spitting ogre.
  • “Dang” is used twice.

Supernatural

  • Polly is a magical warrior cat and an “apprentice sorceress third class.”
  • Hilo is a living, feeling robot who can shoot lasers out of his hand. He discovers that he can also “freeze your hands with your breath and blast ice.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

The Fire Keeper

Living on a secluded tropical island should bring happiness to Zane Obispo. He is surrounded by his family and his friends. Zane is frustrated that he still can’t control his newfound fire skills that he inherited from his father. Zane is also convinced that he is the only one who can save his father, the Maya god Hurakan, who is now in prison. Plus, there is a painful rift between him and his dog ever since she became a hellhound.

Zane and his shape-shifting friend, Brooks, plan to take action and find a way to save Hurakan. But their plans come to a sudden halt when they discover that their island home is a prison. They can’t leave the island. When another godborn shows up, Zane and Brooks know they must come up with a plan to save Hurakan as well as the godborns who are in danger. Zane has no idea how to find the godborns or who would have taken them hostage.

Zane and his friends must race against time and save his father before he is executed. But first he must find the godborns before they can be hunted down and killed. In a world where Maya gods cannot be trusted, who can Zane trust to lead him in the right direction? How can a mere boy save both the godborns and his father?

The Fire Keeper is an action-packed adventure that never lacks a dull moment. As Zane and his friends jump through portals looking for clues to the whereabouts of the godborns, they meet several gods and monsters. Even though Zane doesn’t trust Ah-Puch, the previous god of death, he teams up with the god in a desperate attempt to save both the godborns and Hurakan. The constant question of who can be trusted adds to the suspenseful tone of the story.

Before readers pick up The Fire Keepers, they will need to read The Storm Runner. Zane’s story includes a huge cast of characters—monsters, magical creatures, godborns—which are introduced in The Storm Runner. Another aspect that may cause readers confusion is when Zane and his uncle occasionally mix Spanish words into their dialogue. Although readers should be able to use context clues to understand the word’s meaning, struggling readers may find the mix of English and Spanish difficult. Both The Storm Runner and The Fire Keepers have a complicated plot and an extensive cast of characters which may intimidate struggling readers.

All of Zane’s friends make an appearance in the second installment of the story. The addition of Ren, who is also a godborn, gives the story more humor. Ren is convinced that the Maya gods are aliens, and her refusal to change her mind breaks up the tense scenes. In addition to Ren, Ah-Puch has a starring role in the story which allows readers to see the god of death in a unique way. Some readers may be disturbed by Ah-Puch because he drinks bat’s blood to gain power. For example, he grabbed several bats and “snapped their necks, and turned his back to us as he drank their blood.”

The Fire Keeper brings the magic of Maya mythology to life in a fast-paced, action-packed story that will leave readers with a new understanding of the complicated nature of people (and gods). Zane is a very likable character, who clearly cares about others. The Storm Runner series is perfect for fans of the Percy Jackson series or of Aru Shah and the End of Time. However, Zane’s story takes a more serious tone and lacks the humor of the other series.

 Sexual Content

  • Zane thinks back to when he “almost kissed Brooks last month at the bonfire. Emphasis on almost. It didn’t happen, okay.”

Violence

  • While on the beach, Zane sees “a small shadow, no bigger than a fist, slid over the boat’s edge and began to grow into a tall column. Before I could blink twice, three shadow monsters emerged from the column, spreading their colossal wings. Long insect-like arms and legs sprouted from their swollen, pulsing bodies. . . Rosie exploded into killer-hellhound mode, shooting fireballs out of her mouth and eyes. . . One monster swiped Brooks away, sending her crashing into the violent black sea.” When Ren wakes up, the shadows disappear. The scene is described over three pages.
  • A mud monster takes the shape of Ms. Cab. “This demon version of Ms. Cab reached into her dress pocket and pulled out a small red bird. Using a small knife from the table, she split the bird’s chest open, and a flurry of tiny winged beetles escaped. . .The bedazzled beetles swarmed me [Zane], climbing all over my body, their teeny feet stepping across every inch of my skin, up my cheeks and across my scalp.” Zane surprises the demon when he “swept my storm runner leg across the intruder’s ankles, bringing her to the ground with a loud thud.” Brooks and Rosie show up and help Zane. “Flames erupted from Rosie’s eyes and mouth. . . Bright blue flames engulfed Ms. Cab as her screams rose into the air. . .The thing’s skin dripped to the ground in a sizzling heap of goop that smelled like canned spinach and burning hair. All that was left of Monster Cab was a lumpy statue made of hard, cracked mud, its expression frozen with terrified eyes and a wide contorted mouth.”
  • When Ren dreams, she creates shadow monsters. One of the monsters attacks Zane and his dog. When Zane tries to help his dog, his “spear sailed right through the form and looped back to me. I drop-rolled to the ground, swiping at Top Hat’s remaining stilt with my leg. I connected with nada. . .The shadow reached for me. I tried to scramble away from his grasp, but in a flash, he caught me, clutching my ribs so tightly I couldn’t move or breathe.” Ren wakes up and the shadow disappears.
  • Zane and his group are attacked by bats. “They were bats with curled, flesh-colored claws and crooked fangs. . .The bats landed on me [Zane]. . . Their little claws tap-danced all over my back, up my neck, and across my head. Their mouths pressed against my ears and cheeks, breathing hot puffs of air. . . One of the beasts had his mouth wide open, and he plunged a mouthful of fangs into the back of my hand.” Ah-Puch “stood upright, seizing the bats out of the air with such incredible speed his arms were only a blur.” The bat’s blood gives Ah-Punch more strength and the group is able to escape. The scene is battled over three pages.
  • Zane falls into a trap and when he wakes up, he “couldn’t open [his] eyes. I was blindfolded. I couldn’t move, either—my hands and feet were bound to some kind of tree or wooden pole.”
  • To free Zane, his uncle Hondo attacks the bats. “Hondo whirled, did a backflip, and kicked a few of the bloodsucking beasts in midair before landing. . . Hondo swung his crowbar mightily, but he was losing. The bats attacked him claws-first, tearing at his cheeks and neck.” When it looks like someone might die, Ah-Puch helps. “Then in a whirl of shadow and dust, Ah-Puch surfaced and blindsided the one god with a massive shard of glass, driving it deep into the bat’s ribs and slicking upward with a nauseating ripppppp.” During the fighting, Ah-Puch is attacked by a god. The god “leaped at the god of death, fangs bared. His claws slashed, ripping Ah-Puch like paper. Thick blood spilled onto the dirt.”
  • During the multi-chapter battle, Zane shoots “fire bullets from my hands, aiming precisely for the guy’s eyes. His bat wings didn’t deflect them fast enough this time. He screamed, shook his head, and looked back at us with empty, scorched sockets.”
  • Zane tries to free his father by attacking the villains. Zane “went after them, shooting dozens of fire bullets from my hands and nailing them in the chest, but it didn’t stop their rage. . . Just then, Rosie appeared by my side, blue flames exploding from her mouth as Jordan swept down with ferocious speed, slicking my neck with a razor-sharp claw.” A friend saves Zane.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Someone gives Zane a drugged candy. After he eats it, he feels terrible, and “felt a sharp pain in my back, like I’d been stabbed with an ice dagger. . . Cold sweat dripped down my face, and my insides felt like a giant fist was wringing them out. Uncontrollable shivers gripped me as my mind stumbled over all my memories. . .”
  • Zane walks through a wedding reception, where “a few guys stood in the corner doing shots and slamming their fists on the table. . .” When a waiter comes by carrying “a tray of what might have been champagne,” Zane’s uncle yells, “How about a drink?”
  • After fighting with huge bats and surviving, Ah-Puch drinks “a one-hundred-year-old bottle of tequila.”

Language

  • Crap and heck are used occasionally. For example, when Zane goes through a portal, he lands on a frozen lake. He thinks, “Crap! Crappity crap!”
  • “Oh my gods” is used as an exclamation once.
  • Zane calls people a jerk three times. Zane thinks the gods are “jerks” because “they wanted to be rid of godborns.”
  • Someone tells Zane, “Hey, wake your flojo butt up.”
  • “Holy hell” is used once.
  • Hondo refers to someone as a “moron.”
  • Several times someone calls Zane an “idiot.”

Supernatural

  • Gods and monsters from Maya mythology are real. Ixtab, the queen of the underworld, uses shadow magic to hide Zane from the other gods. However, the shadow magic also makes Zane and Brooks prisoners who cannot leave the island they are living on.
  • Brooks is a nawal (a shapeshifter) who can turn into a hawk.
  • Zane’s dog, Rosie, is a hellhound who can breathe fire. In the previous book, Rosie went to the underworld. Zane can also talk to Rosie telepathically. When Rosie licks a wound, the wound heals. Rosie can also teleport. During the adventure, Rosie sprouts wins and can fly.
  • Zane’s father is a Maya god. Zane is trying to learn how to control fire. “Ixtab had told me that my skin and anything touching it was nonflammable.”
  • Zane’s father gave him a jaguar tooth and “the amulet was fused with the most ancient and potent magic in the universe. I could use the amulet to spirit jump to the Empty, and also to grant any power to whoever I gave it to.”
  • Ren’s mother is a goddess. She can make shadow monsters appear, but she doesn’t know how to control them.
  • Ms. Cab was a Maya seer, but “ever since Ixtab had turned her into a chicken for a short time, Ms. Cab could actually speak bird, which helped them trust her.”
  • Ms. Cab tells about the first humans who were made from mud. “But the people ended up being dumb and weak, so the gods destroyed them.”
  • Ixtab takes Zane to a scrying pool, and tells him, “Souls live inside the sacred waters and help me see things.”
  • Zane must find the Fire Keeper because “the Fire Keeper can read each lick of the flame, each glimmer in the embers. He sees what no one else can—places, people, events—with perfect clarity. Choices and outcomes. He can even manipulate the future.”

Spiritual Content

  • When Zane goes into a church, he can hear people’s prayers through the candles they lit. While in the church, Zane lights a candle and “said a silent prayer.”

The Star Shepherd

All Kyro wants is to be a Star Shepherd, like his dad, Tirin. Star Shepherds are the heroes that save the stars that fall to the ground. Without them, the stars would fizzle out and die.

Star shepherding is hard enough when Kyro is just trying to impress his dad, but when clusters of stars all begin to fall at once, Kyro realizes something is very wrong. His father goes out to investigate but never comes back. Now, with only his dog, Cypher, and his friend, Andra, Kyro must journey across the land to find out what’s happening to the stars. He may become the Star Shepherd he always dreamed of being, but it won’t be easy.

Focusing on Kyro, the story unfolds from his perspective as he journeys around the land trying to find his father and solve the mystery of the falling stars. Kyro is a likable character who works to overcome the many obstacles in his way. He has many fears, including the fear that he isn’t good enough to be a Star Shepherd, and the fear that his father may be too obsessed with saving stars to love Kyro anymore. However, Kyro not only overcomes these fears but strives to protect even Star Shepherds who don’t help him and those who hate Star Shepherds.

One of the best aspects of the story is Kyro’s relationship with Andra, his only friend. Even though the townspeople do not like Kyro, Andra doesn’t care. She is a steadfast and loyal friend who believes Kyro when no one else does. When Kyro is abandoned by the townspeople and by the other Star Shepherds, Andra takes it upon herself to support Kyro. Without Andra, Kyro might not have found the strength to see his journey through to the end.

Even though the story has some difficult vocabulary, the plot is easy to understand and the writing flows well. Young readers will enjoy watching Kyro journey from place to place through the well-thought-out world, especially as more fantastical parts of the story are revealed. While there are moments of potential violence, the scenes are done tastefully, never going too far. Also, there are illustrations within the book, one at the start of each chapter. These illustrations are in black and white and illustrate the characters and creatures in the novel. These illustrations usually take up half a page, though a few take up entire pages.

Overall, The Star Shepherd is a great read for middle schoolers. The unique setting will engage readers because it includes mythical creatures, ancient robots, and stars. Readers will root for Kyro, who fights for what he believes in and ends up succeeding in the end. Throughout the story, Kyro gains confidence and learns more about himself.  The Star Shepherd is more than an adventure story; it shows the importance of communication, the effects of grief, and the importance of friendship.  With a well-paced story, fun characters, and an interesting plot, The Star Shepherd would be a great book for any middle school reader who love fantasy.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Stars fall from the sky every so often. If a Star Shepherd can’t return a star to its rightful place in the sky, then the star dies. “When one fell, it was the Star Shepherd’s job to bring that family member home. If one died, they were separated forever.” Kyro hates to see a star die, “He never again wanted to see one die in a vissla’s hands like he had a week ago.”
  • Many of the stars that fall down are intentionally cut down. Kyro tells Andra, “Since then, I’ve discovered someone isn’t just taking the stars; someone is cutting them down. See?” Since the stars are being cut down, clusters of them all fall at once. Andra’s father says, “A whole slew of them crashed right here in the market. Set the rooftops ablaze. We’re lucky no one was killed.”
  • Kyro is attacked by a giant, insect-like creature in a desert. “It opened its maw and let out an earsplitting scream, then lunged toward them. Kyro ducked to the side, narrowly avoiding one of the terrible pincers, then jumped out of the way of the thing’s tail.”
  • The vissla are evil creatures that haven’t been seen in hundreds of years. Kyro describes his encounter with one. “It was cold, like it radiated pure evil. One of them got to a star before me, and the vissla killed it.”
  • Andra’s father, Bodin, blames all of the village’s misfortunes on Kyro and his father. Therefore Bondin continually puts Kyro down. A ship captain reprimands Bodin for badmouthing Kyro, saying “I didn’t expect to find you bullying a mere boy.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Tirin, Kyro’s father, isn’t well-liked by the villagers of Drenn. When Tirin goes into town to pick up a fallen star, the village leader says, “You are a fool.” That animosity extends to Kyro as well. Bodin tells Kyro, “You two fools have done more than enough damage to our village.”
  • The Star Shepherd council accuses Tirin of being a traitor to the Star Shepherds. Kyro defends him by saying, “He is not a traitor!”
  • Kyro tells a ship captain that the Star Shepherd council banned him from saving the stars. The man responds, “Then they’ve grown stupider with age.”

Supernatural

  • If the stars fall to the ground, they can die if they aren’t sent back into the sky. Kyro fails to save a star. “The sun rose, its rays bursting over the sky. The molten star’s light sputtered out, leaving only a gray rock cooling in Kyro’s hands.”
  • The stars hold back evil creatures called vissla. Kyro meets a vissla in a forest. “Shrieks began to echo from all sides. The cold wormed all the way into Kyro’s bones, making him completely numb.” Kyro thinks about the legend of the star net, “When the stars were first hung and the starlight net formed by interconnected beams of light, the dark creatures were banished underground and to the darkest corners of the world.”
  • The stars can be used to attack the vissla. However, the vissla can also destroy the stars. Kyro thinks, “But the vissla could destroy a star if it wasn’t being actively used against them. The creature had done the deed quickly, as though it couldn’t stand to touch the star for too long.”
  • Star Shepherds can collect stardust from fallen stars. Tirin gives Kyro some. “His father picked up two large vials of sparkling powder from the kitchen table and shoved them into Kyro’s hands.”
  • During the final fight with the vissla, Kyro merges with a star to keep the darkness away. “Suddenly, warmth flooded his veins. Brilliant light flared, pouring from his eyes and mouth. Everything was bright as day despite the late hour.”
  • The giants are said to be the ones that hung the stars in the sky hundreds of years ago. Kyro and Andra eventually meet the fabled giants. One of the giants tells them, “We wove the star casings, Stitchers sewed the pieces together, and Framers crafted the hooks to hang them in the night sky.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Jonathan Planman

The Darkest Part of the Forest

Fairfold is just like any normal, small-town—except for the faeries. The people of Fairfold have always lived alongside the Faerie Folk and have grown accustomed to their way of life. They live alongside each other by appeasing the faeries. They thread flower garlands for the Alderking. They don’t go to the forest hills at night. They don’t even bat an eye when a tourist goes missing after a visit to the forest to try and catch a glimpse of the Folk.

Even among all this strangeness, the biggest mystery of all is the horned boy in the glass coffin. In the woods, for as long as anyone can remember, a glass box has sat on the forest floor with a sleeping boy inside. Tourists come from across the world to see the boy, but no one can explain his existence or his ageless body. Anyone that attempts to break open this glass coffin has been met with explainable injuries, so the boy has stayed in his resting place for centuries.

Hazel and her brother, Ben, have lived in Fairfold all their lives and have always been drawn to the Folk. As children, Hazel and Ben secretly would go to the forest at night to hunt the Folk. Ben used his unearthly gift of music to lure creatures to them, while Hazel used her strength and sword to cut down the Folk. A near-death experience caused them both to retire from hunting, but they always had an internal pull to the Folk and to the boy in the glass coffin. They grew up fantasizing about who the boy in the glass coffin truly was. They knew they would never get the real answer . . . until the day the boy woke up.

The Darkest Part of the Forest is an adventure through a mystical town that exists in the human world. Magic and humans coexist in Fairfold, and Hazel and Ben have always thrown themselves into the dangerous faerie world. When the mysterious boy in the glass coffin awakens, they are caught on a mission to help save the boy and get him back to his home.

Hazel wants to help the boy, but she also has a secret to keep. As a child, Hazel made a bargain with the Alderking and now owes him her services. She now must choose between helping the horned boy and fulfilling her bargain to the Alderking. As Hazel, Ben, and the horned boy become friends, mysteries unravel, friendships blossom and love awakens. Will Hazel choose to help the boy or fulfill her bargain? Will Hazel and Ben be able to save the horned boy? Will they survive the journey to bring the boy home?

Fans of Holly Black will not be disappointed with this gripping story of faeries and young love. The Darkest Part of the Forest takes the reader through a fantasy world filled with betrayal, trickery, and most of all, love. The Darkest Part of the Forest is well-written, but the story can be confusing because of the intricate world stuffed into one novel. This story features unique characters and different points of view, but the excessive background information slows the plot. Readers will enjoy the relatable characters in a mystical world filled with mystery, romance, fantasy, and a satisfying ending.

Sexual Content

  • Hazel is known for kissing many boys “for all kinds of reasons.”
  • Hazel regrets kissing Robbie Delmonico because “ever since they’d made out at a party, he’d follow her around as though he was heartbroken.”
  • Hazel also shares a kiss with her brother’s boyfriend. “His mouth was soft and warm, and while she didn’t kiss him back, she didn’t exactly squirm away.”
  • In order to trick Hazel into drinking the faerie wine, a faerie girl kisses her “full and deep with soft lips and a cool tongue.”
  • Hazel asks a boy to “distract her.” So, “leaning over, not speaking, he brought his mouth to hers. She rolled toward him, and his arm came around her, pressing her closer, his fingers against the small of her back.” She removes his shirt and they continue to kiss on the ground until interrupted. This scene lasts about one page.
  • The horned boy, Severin, kisses Ben. “It was a searching, hungry kiss. His hand wrapped around Ben’s head and Ben’s hands fisted in Severin’s hair, bushed over horn, rough and cold as the back of a seashell.”

Violence

  • Hazel talks about some of the tourists’ disappearances. “Some got dragged down into Wright Lake by the water hags. Some would be run down at twilight by horses with ringing bells tied to their manes and members of the Shining Folk on their backs. Some would be found strung upside down in trees, bled out and chewed upon.”
  • There’s violence in Hazel’s stories of them hunting faeries. “Ben lulled faeries with his music, while Hazel struck them down with her sword.”
  • A water hag kills Hazel and Ben’s dog by “slamming him on the ground as if he weighed nothing.” Hazel avenges her dog by killing the hag, doing so by “hefting a large sword like a baseball bat and brought it down, bashing the edge against the monster’s head. Her skull split like a rotten melon.”
  • Hazel goes hunting alone one night and finds her classmate, Natalie “hanging upside down with her throat cut.”

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • Hazel and Ben attend parties in the forest where people often “looked flush with alcohol and good cheer.”
  • At these parties, different characters, including Hazel and Ben, drink alcohol. For example, “Leonie Wallace lifting her beer high over her head” and “Stephen drank moonshine from a flask.” There are multiple parties described throughout the book in flashbacks, and the novel begins at a party that Hazel is attending.

Language

  • Profanity is used sparingly. Profanity includes: hell, shit, damn, asshole, and bastard.
  • A mother tells the faerie woman, “damn the consequences and damn you, too.” Then she tells the faerie to “get the hell out.”

Supernatural

  • Supernatural events are a huge part of the plot since the town of Fairfold coexists with faeries and deals with them every day.
  • There’s a glass coffin in the woods and “in it slept a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives.”
  • The town of Fairfold lives alongside the Folk. In the forest “it wasn’t odd to see a black hare swimming in the creek or spot a deer that became a sprinting girl in the blink of an eye.”
  • The townsfolk feared a creature in the forest that “lured tourists with a cry that sounded like a women weeping, with fingers of sticks and hair of moss.”
  • People can go to a tree in the forest to “bargain for your heart’s desire.” A local girl had gone to the tree “and wished herself into Princeton, promising to pay anything the faeries wanted. She’d gotten in, too, but her mother had a stroke and died the same day the letter came.”
  • Townfolk tell a story about Carter’s parents and how their child was taken and replaced with a changeling. Carter’s mother had “gathered the neighbor ladies” and “baked bread and chopped wood and filled an old earthenware bowl with salt.” Carter’s mother then heated a poker and pressed it against the changeling’s shoulder because “burning a changeling summons its mother.” The faerie mother arrived carrying a bundle and Carter’s mother confronts her. The faerie woman gives back Carter and “reached out her arms for her own wailing child, but Carter’s mother blocked the way.” Carter’s mother states as a punishment for taking her child, she would be keeping both boys to raise as her own.
  • When Ben was a baby, his mother took him into the forest for a picnic. His mother was painting the scenery when a faerie woman comes out of the forest and compliments the drawing. The faerie woman asked the mother to draw her a picture. When she was done, the faerie woman gifted her with a “boon.” The faerie touched Ben and said, “I can’t change his nature, but I can give him the gift of our music. He will play music so sweet that no one will be able to think of anything else when they hear it, music that contains the magic of faeries.” Ben uses his musical talent later to save Hazel and to lure faeries to them.
  • Hazel makes a bargain with the Folk to get her brother a full scholarship to a music school. In exchange, Hazel must serve the Alderking for ten years.
  • Something possesses a classmate’s body. “Hazel knew that she might be looking at Molly’s body, but Molly was no longer looking out through her eyes.”
  • At one point, Hazel is hiding in the bathroom and sees a monster that is “easily over seven feet in height and looked roughly human shaped, if a human could be made from branch and vine and soil.”
  • To get into the faerie’s realm, Hazel must “stomp three times,” make up a rhyme, and then step through a moss-covered archway.

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Adeline Garren

Locker Hero

Max Crumbly is like any other teenage boy. He likes comic books and video games, and his uncanny ability to smell pizza from a block away has helped him out in some really sticky situations. However, after being homeschooled by his grandmother for years, Max is about to face the scariest thing ever: South Ridge Middle School. Awkward and alone, Max tries to make friends with the other students, but within days becomes the favorite target of the school bully, Doug “Thug” Thurston.

Despite Thug’s repeated attempts to throw him in his locker every day, Max succeeds in his attempt to make friends. He meets Brandon, his best friend in the world, at a pet store and they work at the local shelter together on weekends. Max also develops a crush on one of the most popular and smartest girls at his school, Erin. All the boys love Erin, especially Thug. When Erin meets Max, she is really nice to him and develops a small crush on him. Erin invites Max to help paint the backgrounds for the school play with her. But, after Erin tells Max that the play is canceled, they eventually stop speaking to each other, much to the dismay of Max.

But, all that drama is trivial after Thug traps Max in his locker on a Friday afternoon before a three-day weekend. Alone and with no way to call home, Max must find his way out of the school before he dies of starvation or boredom (whichever comes first). While in the locker, Max uncovers three criminals’ plots to rob the school of its brand new computer center. After the phone lines are cut, Max must find a way to singlehandedly stop the thieves and save the school. Will Max become the superhero he always wanted to be or will the thieves catch up to him?

Russell created a flawed character, who struggles with fitting in at his new school and being ‘hip’ and ‘cool’ around the other students. Throughout the book, Max grows as a person and rises above his middle school problems to think of others, like valuing saving the school’s computers above going home and taking a nap. At the end of the story, Max may inspire readers to put other people’s problems above their own.

Max Crumbly: Locker Hero is the companion series to Dork Diaries, but focuses on a male protagonist. Parents should be concerned about the book’s level of bathroom humor. Many of the jokes come from Max either unintentionally puking or peeing on other students, or just making a fool of himself. However, the black-and-white illustrations along with consistently funny jokes will help reluctant readers transfer their reading skills from picture books into full-fledged novels. Readers who are struggling with a new school or the transfer to middle school will enjoy this fun, easy-to-read story.

Similar to the movie Home Alone, the antics in Max Crumbly: Locker Hero’s are hard to believe, and the over-the-top action comes to an abrupt end. None of the story conflicts are resolved, which may upset some readers. Instead of wrapping up the story, Russell leaves off on a cliffhanger. Readers will want to jump into the next book in the series The Misadventures of Max Crumbly – Middle School Mayhem.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • After Thug finds out that Max isn’t Dark Vader’s son, he threatens to “beat my face into a pulp.”
  • One of Max’s favorite comic book superheroes, Electrostatic Man, “actually ZAPPED his OWN MOTHER with 10,000 watts,” killing her.
  • Ralph swears that once he gets his hands on Max, he’s “GONNA RIP HIS FACE OFF.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Max believes that if he had superpowers, life in middle school would be better. He would never “miss the stupid bus again” because he could just fly to school.
  • In one of the images where Max draws himself flying, he gets pooped on by a bird. Max thinks, “Getting bombed by an angry bird is NOT cool.”
  • Max is calling his book THE MISADVENTURES OF MAX CRUMBLY and it will be “a highly detailed record of all the CRAP I’ve had to deal with! my experiences here at this school.”
  • Max has a socially anxious bladder and he pees when he gets nervous or scared. In one of his drawings, he imagines peeing on Thug.
  • One day in gym class, Max vomited on Thug’s shoe.
  • Max “had exactly forty-eight seconds to get my BUTT on the bus” before his big fight with Thug.
  • Max would have loved the janitor’s pretend rock and roll show “a lot better if I hadn’t been watching it from, you know …. INSIDE OF MY STUPID LOCKER!!”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Matthew Perkey

 

 

 

 

House of Salt and Sorrows

Annaleigh Thaumas was once one of twelve sisters, but four of them have gone to an early grave. After burying four sisters who were lost to various circumstances—the plague, a freak accident, a suicide, and falling from a cliff—the townspeople start to whisper that the Thaumas girls are cursed. Despite a large estate and a grand coming out party, no one is interested in courting the sisters, even though five of them are already of age. Despairing of ever finding a match, the sisters stumble upon a magic door used by the god Pontus. It will take them anywhere they desire, and soon the girls are wishing themselves to a new ball every night, hoping desperately to find a suitor from far away who hasn’t yet heard a rumor of the cursed Thaumas sisters.

But Annaleigh starts to wonder if there is something sinister behind her sister’s deaths. As she tries to discover what happened the night her sister fell from the cliffs, she discovers that she was pushed. Someone murdered her, and they might be coming after the rest of them. Haunted by horrifying visions, Annaleigh doesn’t know if the ghosts of her dead sisters are trying to warn her, if they’re angry with her, or if she is simply going mad. As the hauntings escalate, Annaleigh becomes desperate for answers. When she meets a handsome man named Cassius, who seems perfect and wants to help, Annaleigh falls for him instantly but doesn’t know if she trusts him. And even worse—can she trust herself?

House of Salt and Sorrows is a delightful tale of magic and wonder. Erin A. Craig paints vivid pictures of fairy shoes and magical balls and does a skilled job developing a wide cast of characters. While the number of sisters can be hard to keep track of at the beginning, the Thaumas family takes readers on a fun adventure that is worth the ride. There are some inconsistencies and implausible occurrences at the beginning of the book that might turn off more advanced readers, but most of them are actually resolved by the end of the book. While a magical story, there are disturbing images in the second half of the book when the Harbinger of Madness and Nightmares starts tormenting Annaleigh. House of Salt and Sorrows is sure to enchant readers who are brave enough to stomach the more graphic images without having nightmares.

Sexual Content

  • Annaleigh accidentally bursts into her father’s room when he is having intercourse with his wife, Annaleigh’s stepmother. “From the noises coming out of the bed—its drapes blessedly closed—it was suddenly painfully obvious that Papa was not sleeping. Morella’s cries of ecstasy turned into a strangled howl of frustration.”
  • Rosalie jokes about finding a man. “‘I need a man at home on the ocean. One who can handle the curves and swells of the waves.’ She ran one hand down the curve of her own hip, dipping theatrically, her voice growing husky. ‘One who can maneuver his ship into any port, however tempestuous. . . One with a very large, very thick, very hard. . . mizzenmast.’”
  • Annaleigh gets lost and ends up in the red light district. “The first storefront I saw was bathed in a pink glow, and my stomach turned as I guessed at what merchandise was sold behind such lurid trappings. . . Some had girls in the windows, waving and posing. Others were awash with tinsel and gaudy paste jewels.”
  • Cassius kisses Annaleigh. “His mouth was warm against mine and softer than I’d ever imagined a man’s could be. My skin sizzled as his hands cupped my cheeks and he pressed a kiss to my horsehead before returning to my mouth. I dared to bring my fingers up to explore his jawline.”
  • Cassius kisses Annaleigh again. “I tilted my chin, and his lips were on mine, soft and achingly sweet. I ran my fingers up his chest, letting them linger on the back of his neck and twist into his dark curls.”
  • Cassius and Annaleigh kiss one more time. “Cassius released a murmur of pleasure before sweeping me into a kiss. His mouth was soft against mine before his arms tightened around me, pulling me into a more intimate kiss, a sweeter ache.”

Violence

  • Annaleigh discovers her little sister Verity has been drawing horrible images of her dead sisters, who Verity says have been haunting her. “She flipped to a scene in black and gray pastels. In it, Verity cowered into her pillows as a shadowy Eulalie ripped the bedsheets from her. Her head was snapped back unnaturally far . . . Octavia curled up in a library chair, seemingly unaware that half her face was smashed in and her arm was too broken to hold a book straight…I turned the page and saw a drawing of all four of them, watching Verity as she slept, hanging from nooses.”
  • A man saw Annaleigh’s sister fall from a cliff. “I’ll never forget that sound as long as I live…Like the slap of meat landing on the butcher’s block.”
  • Annaleigh sees a dead man who died from falling. “Edgar lay in a growing spread of blood, his body broken and smashed on the cobblestones. His spectacles lay feet away, one of the lenses cracked.”
  • At a party buffet, Annaleigh sees “A sea turtle…showcased on a bed of dead eels.” She sees the turtle’s head move and thinks maybe she can save him, but then, “The turtle’s eyelids burst open as a string of fat white maggots fell from the hole. They poured out of the poor loggerhead’s skull onto the platter. His body was full of them, ready to explode.”
  • Annaleigh discovers her friend has been dead for weeks and his body was possessed by a goddess. Annaleigh sees the goddess come out of her friend’s body. “Thick, viscous phlegm spewed from his mouth, landing on the floor like globs of tar. His body shook from the force, struggled to expel whatever was lodged deep in his throat. When his lips began to peel away, curling back like rolls of coiled tree bark, I pressed my face into Cassius, fighting the urge to throw up…Fisher’s body lay split open, pieces and parts flung out in a gruesome explosion. In the center of this absolute horror stood a figure, her back turned to us. Covered in viscera, she rolled her neck from side to side, stretching her muscles, delighting in her sudden freedom after such a tight confinement.”
  • When Annaleigh hears a horrible cackling in her head, “I smacked my temple to dislodge this most unwelcome intruder, but the cackling only grew. I hit myself again. And again, using more force…If I could just break it open, even a little, the voice could escape and leave me in peace.”
  • Annaleigh’s stepmother reveals that she met Annaleigh’s father when she was a prostitute. When he got bored of her, “He struck me. In front of his new little whore. He didn’t even care that she saw. He called me names, screamed, berated me.”
  • Annaleigh’s stepmother is killed by a Trickster. “Cries rose from the chaos, and for one awful moment, they echoed the sounds I’d heard her make when I’d walked in on her with Papa. But the pleasure was short-lived, and her whimpers of ecstasy soon turned into shrieks. The shrieks turned to screams. And then the screams cut off into silence.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Annaleigh’s sister Lenore drinks champagne at her coming out party. “She downed a glass of champagne in one swallow…I began to suspect that was not her first or second glass of champagne.”
  • Before going to a ball, Annaleigh’s friend snagged “three glasses of wine.” He says, “I filched it from the kitchen—thought we might need a little courage.”
  • At a feast, “wine flowed freely all evening. The women sipped with restraint, but the men were already a little worse for wear.”
  • Annaleigh’s father gets drunk at a feast and becomes belligerent. “‘Stop meddling with me! He roared, lashing his arm out to knock her aside.” When someone tells him that he is drunk, he replies, “And if I am? This is my house. My home! You can all be turned out into the cold if you don’t like it.”
  • Annaleigh goes to many balls, which usually serve wine and champagne. At one, there “was a fountain spouting wine. Couples in formal court fashions mingled around the circular base, sticking out cups to catch the scarlet liquid as it flowed from an ornate bronze battle scene.”
  • A man at a party offers her a drink from her flask. Annaleigh declines.
  • Annaleigh’s stepmother admits that she “mixed a bit of hemlock into [Annaleigh’s mother’s] nightly medicine, and [Annaleigh’s mother] died in her sleep, none the wiser.”

Language

  • Damn is used a few times. A man says, “Damned storm took us three days off course.” When drunk, Annaleigh’s father says, “Damn this coffee and damn these madeleines! Where’s my brandy?”
  • Cassius was born out of wedlock, so he tells Annaleigh, “I’m a bastard.”
  • Phrases referring to the gods are used occasionally as exclamations. For example, Hanna says, “Be sure to space them out evenly, and for Pontus’s sake, don’t set them too close to the plants!”

Supernatural

  • A dressmaker hints that she “design[s] dresses for the goddess of beauty.”
  • Annaleigh thinks her dead sisters are haunting the manor. “As she leaned in to find the stopper, a hand reached out of the water, grabbing her neck and dragging her under. Elizabeth surfaced from the churning waters, her eyes filmed a sickly green.”
  • It’s said the gods had magic doors to travel to and from the mortal realm. Annaleigh and her sisters find a hidden door that takes them wherever they want, and they use it to go dancing at elaborate balls every night in the hopes of finding a suitor.
  • Annaleigh’s sister Verity says their dead sister and their sister’s dead fiancé are in the room. Annaleigh doesn’t look, but she hears “a soft rustling, silk skirts raking across the marble tiles. . . the footsteps stopped behind me, and I suddenly felt them, felt their presence.” When Annaleigh asks her dead sister who killed her, the ghost “shoved me forward with such force, I struck my head on the marble tiles.”
  • Annaleigh remembers how a performance caught fire and “One of Pontus’s daughters. . . summoned a waterspout to rain down its fury upon the flames. When the fire was out, the stage was a mess of puddles and soot, but everyone cheered for the goddess’s quick thinking.”
  • Cassius reveals he is the goddess Versai’s son, which makes him half-god.
  • When in Versai’s temple, Cassius and Annaleigh see “Versai’s postulants. The Sisters of the Night. They live at the abbey, tending to the wishing wall and paying homage to my mother. They’re about to begin their first service of the day.”
  • Annaleigh meets Kosamara, “Harbinger of Madness. . . And Nightmares.” Annaleigh discovers that Kosamara has been plaguing her sisters with the goal of driving them mad to the point of killing themselves.
  • Things start to fly off shelves and the piano plays by itself. Annaleigh thinks it’s a poltergeist.
  • It’s revealed that Annaleigh’s stepmother summoned a Trickster to make Annaleigh’s father love her and marry her. To seal the deal, she had to let the Trickster “ravish me.” When she gives birth to twins, one is Annaleigh’s father’s son and the other is a monster that the Trickster comes to claim.

Spiritual Content

  • Annaleigh’s world has many gods. “Other parts of Arcannia worshipped various combinations of gods: Vaipany, lord of sky and sun; Seland, ruler of earth; Versai, queen of the night; and Arina, goddess of love. There were dozens of other deities—Harbingers and Tricksters—who ruled over other aspects of life, but for the People of the Salt, Pontus, king of the sea, was the only god we needed.” While the gods used to be “much more active in the affairs of mortals,” they have become less and less involved over time.
  • The islanders believe Pontus created them. “The High Mariner says Pontus created our islands and the people on them. He scooped salt from the ocean tides for strength. Into that was mixed the cunning of bull shark and the beauty of the moon jellyfish. He added the seahorse’s fidelity and the curiosity of a porpoise. When his creation was molded just so—two arms, two legs, a head, and a heart—Pontus breathed some of his own life into it, making the first People of the Salt. So when we die, we can’t be buried in ground. We slip back into the water and are home.”
  • At her sister’s funeral, Annaleigh’s “Papa stepped forward to place two gold pieces at the foot of the crypt—payment to Pontus for easing my sister back into the Brine.”
  • At a feast, the Higher Mariner says they are gathered “to give our thanks to mighty Pontus for his great benevolence, blessing us with a season of bountiful plenty.”

by Morgan Lynn

 

 Dog Days

The trials and tribulations of middle school life are temporarily over for Greg Heffley. As summer approaches, there are no bullies or classes to worry about. Greg is ready to kick back and enjoy junk food, TV, and video games. However, after his summer vacation is canceled, a three-month guilt trip starts for Greg. Greg now has to put up with his mom’s constant demands to go outside and read a book, his dad and his “bonding” experiences, a terrible birthday party, a new dog, and a fight with his best friend, Rowley. How will Greg survive?

Written in Greg’s own journal, the conflict of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days revolves around everything that happens in Greg’s life. It is written from his 12-year-old perspective. The story contains a lot of bathroom and childish humor. At one point in the story, Greg, who is almost naked, has to chase after his dog. At another point in the story, Greg has to save his younger brother, Manny, before he accidentally washes his hands in the urinal.

Greg Heffley is a well-developed and relatable character for young audiences. Although Greg is lazy, petty, narcissistic, and cowardly, he does have moments of kindness. Greg will show readers the importance of sharing and thinking of others. He even points out some of the flaws in his own terrible behavior, showing kids that procrastinating and sleeping all day isn’t worth it. The consistently funny black-and-white illustrations, which look more like a comic strip than a highly illustrated graphic novel, help break up the text and keep even the most reluctant readers engaged.

Greg’s perspective is often pessimistic and at times can be downright mean. Greg demonstrates qualities, such as laziness and selfishness, that parents would not want their children to emulate. However, the story has relatable conflicts and shows readers the different perspectives of children and parents. Greg’s behavior could lead to a good discussion between parents and children about how people should act. Readers do not have to read these books in order to enjoy them. The fun, easy-to-read story will teach valuable and practical lessons to readers. Despite the childish humor, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days will entertain readers and have them laughing out loud.

Sexual Content

  • At the beginning of the book, Greg and Rowley are strolling around the country club pool and he says, “We’re both bachelors at the moment, and during the summer it’s better to be unattached.”
  • Greg has a crush on Heather Hills, a lifeguard at the public pool, and hits on her every day for weeks. However, he “…didn’t mention Heather Hills to Mom, because [he doesn’t] need her getting in the middle of my love life.”

Violence

  • Rodrick shoves Greg off the high dive.
  • Grandpa accidentally runs over Greg’s dad’s dog while Rodrick’s fish eats Greg’s fish.
  • Greg snaps Rowley with a rubber band, leaving him with a red mark on his arm.
  • Rowley “crushed [Greg’s] hand to smithereens” with a hammer because he thought it was the Muddy Hand (a terrifying horror movie character) coming to get him.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Both bathroom and immature humor are used frequently and include words like poop, idiot, pee, and dumb.
  • Poop jokes are told frequently. For example, Rodrick wants to name the dog Turtle so he can call it “Turd for short.”
  • Scared that he’s not going out enough, Greg’s mom invites Fregley over and suggests that he and Greg should play outside together. Greg glances out the window and says, “I think Fregley might be naked” when he sees Fregley shirtless behind a tree.
  • When Greg was younger, he used to go swim in the baby pool, but he quit after he figured little kids would pee in the pool.
  • Greg’s dad went back-to-school shopping and the next day Greg says, “Well, THAT was a dumb move because Dad did all of his shopping at the pharmacy.”
  • Greg’s at the public pool and asks a lifeguard, “Does Mrs. Arciaga REALLY think it’s a good idea to wear a bikini when she’s eight months pregnant?”
  • Greg has the highest score on an arcade machine called Thunder Volt at the boardwalk, and his name was at the top of the high scores list. However, the person that had the second highest score on the list listed their name as “Is an idiot.” The high score list says “Greg Heffley …. is an idiot.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Greg’s Gramma prays to the Lord to help her find her dollar savers coupon book while Greg prays, “Dear Lord, please let Mr. Jefferson get hit on the head so he forgets about the money I owe him. And please let me get past the third level of Twisted Wizard without having to use any of my bonus health packs. Amen, and thank you in advance.”
  • Greg describes a church trip on Sunday. He says, “Today’s sermon was called ‘Jesus in disguise,’ and it was about how you should treat everyone you meet with kindness because you never know which person is really Jesus pretending to be someone else.”

by Matthew Perkey

 

Sif and the Dwarfs’ Treasures

Twelve-year-old Sif attends Asgard Academy, but she’s keeping important secrets from her podmates. No one knows that her magical hair allows the wheat crop to grow. When mischievous Loki cuts her hair in a horrible prank, Sif must rely on her podmates and Loki for help.

Sif has a prophetic dream that gives her a hint on how to solve the problem. Sif and Freya must convince Loki to go to Ivaldi’s sons, dwarves who are skilled blacksmiths. Loki must strike a bargain with them to help Sif get her hair back. An overconfident Loki strikes a deal with the blacksmiths, and as part of the deal he could lose his head—literally.

To make things worse, there are rumors of a looming attack that could hit Asgard Academy. Sif is afraid that Ragnarok, or doomsday, might be about to begin. Is there any way Sif can save the wheat crops and her beloved school?

Fans of Goddess Girls will enjoy this new series which focuses on Norse Mythology. Sif is a relatable character who has a difficult time overcoming her embarrassing insecurities. She doesn’t want anyone to know that she is a seer—or that she has a difficult time reading. As Sif gets to know her podmates better, she realizes that no one, not even a goddess girl, is perfect.

Sif and the Dwarfs’ Treasures has many positive messages that pertain to younger readers. Odin has created the school in order to get people from different worlds to interact. “[He] wished them to understand and appreciate everyone’s differences.” As Sif learns more about her roommates, she realizes the importance of working together. Sif also knows that looks do not define a person’s (or a god’s) character. Even though “many girls found Loki cute,” Sif knows that “a person’s behavior, not his appearance, was what made him attractive.”

Readers will enjoy learning about Sif, who is a well-rounded and caring goddess. Sif and the Dwarfs’ Treasures has interesting characters and actions, humorous puns, and a sprinkle of crushing moments that will entertain readers. Although many of the characters appeared in Freya and the Magic Jewel, the stories do not need to be read in order. Each book is told from a different goddess’s point of view and allows the reader to see that even goddesses need help from others.

Readers who are unfamiliar with Norse mythology will want to read the glossary first. The story introduces Norse mythology in a kid-friendly way, while still staying true to the original stories. Sif and the Dwarfs’ Treasures uses a relatable character to embed important life lessons in an entertaining story that readers will love. Readers will eagerly look for the next book in the series, Idun and the Apples of Youth.

Sexual Content

  • Freya has noticed Sif and Thor looking at each other and thinks the two are “crushing on each other” because “crushes often start with just looking.”
  • After Sif and Thor have several conversations, Sif thinks, “She likes him, too. As a friend anyway. As far as crushing. . . well. . . time would tell.”

Violence

  • The large painted friezes that covered a wall come to life. When Sif and her friends are eating, “all four girls studied the nearby frieze, [and] an armor-clad warrior reached out of it to grab a dish of lemon-flavored snow pudding from a Valkyrie rushed by with a tray of desserts. With a wide grin on his face, the warrior took aim and then flung the snow pudding at a painting of heroes directly across the room.” A food fight begins. Most of the food being thrown “was directed at warriors occupying friezes on opposite walls, but occasionally the thrown food accidentally hit students, too!” They start a food fight several times in the story.
  • When Loki says a mean joke, Thor gets angry. “In an instant Thor was across the room, his fists balled to punch Loki out. Before he could follow through[;] however, Loki shape-shifted into fire. ‘‘Yow!’ Thor leaped back, blowing on his singed fingers to cool them.”
  • Loki changed into an eagle and stole an apple, “even though he could eat them anytime he wanted in the Valhallateria.” When Loki stole the apple from Idum, she scraped her knee and it was bleeding.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • After Loki plays a mean trick, someone calls him a bonehead.
  • Loki says, “It’s easy to predict events that have already happened. Even a dummy like Thor could do that!”
  • Someone calls Loki a rat.
  • Loki calls a group of students idiots.

Supernatural

  • Sif takes a class on how to read Runes and the students share their “‘rune-words’ meanings and suggest[ed] prophecies that might be connected to them.”
  • In order to hide from Thor, Sif “transformed into a rowan tree. It was one of only two forms she could take, the other being a swan.”
  • When Sif was younger, she was “proud” of her talent at prophecy and tried to use her talent at school. However, soon people started calling her “fortune-tattler instead of fortune-teller.” She also lost her best friend. Sif was trying to help her friend by carving the rune word for brave, but Sif made an error and wrote the rune word for poison instead. When Sif’s friend became ill, the friend’s parents wouldn’t allow them to spend time together.
  • A dwarf chanted a spell, “For one whole day, you’ll zip your lip. Nothing will you say. Nothing will you sip.” The spell makes it so the Loki cannot speak or eat for a day.
  • The large painted friezes that cover a wall come to life. “These painted friezes cover all of the V’s walls and were peopled with heroic warriors who had died in battle. The warriors had been brought into the friezes by Odin’s Valkyries as painted figures that magically came to life toward the end of every meal.”
  • Freya has a marble that contains cats and a cart. When Freya says, “catnap,” the cats and cart grow. The first time Freya uses the marble, she thinks, “if anyone had been watching at that moment, the cats and cart would’ve seemed to instantly disappear. However, in reality, they had only shrunk down to a single cat’s-eye marble.”
  • Freya drinks juice that won’t make her immortal, but will make her “stay the same age.”
  • Several characters are shapeshifters.
  • Mimir, an oracle, only has a head. When Sifi sees him, “suddenly a column of bright-blue water shot through one of the tubular slides to bubble up in a tall, fountain-like spout at eye level. Atop the spout sat a disembodied bald head!”
  • Sif goes to the library to learn about rune spells and charms. One of the things she learns is that “difficult rune interpretations can sometimes be solved through dreams.” Later in the story, she uses the book’s advice and has a prophetic dream.
  • Talking acorns can give students a message. Odin uses one to deliver a message to Sif.

Spiritual Content

  • The story focuses on Norse mythology and includes Norse gods and goddesses as characters.
  • Sif is a seer, a shapeshifter, and also the “girl goddess of bountiful harvest.” Her power comes from her hair; however, how her hair helps the harvest is never explained. When Sif’s hair is cut, the humans’ wheat fields begin to wither.
  • Freya is the goddess of love and beauty. She is also a seer. Another character, Odin, was “the leader of the Asgard gods and the supreme ruler of all the worlds.” (This is not a complete list of the Norse gods that appear in the book.)

Flunked

For the royals, Enchantasia is a grand place to live. But for Gilly’s family, life is difficult. Gilly and her five little brothers and sisters live in a run-down boot. Gilly doesn’t want her family to go hungry, so she gets creative. Gilly doesn’t think it’s wicked to steal from the royals. She just doesn’t want her family to suffer.

When Gilly gets caught stealing for the third time, she’s sentenced to three months at Fairy Tale Reform School—where all of the teachers are former villains. The Big Bad Wolf, the Evil Queen, and Cinderella’s Wicked Stepmother have all changed. When Gilly meets fellow students Jax and Kayla, she learns there is more to this school than its heroic mission. When strange events begin to happen, Gilly wonders if the bad guys have truly turned good.

Told from Gilly’s point of view, Flunked takes a fun, fresh look at fairytale villains. Fans of fairy tales will enjoy seeing the evil villains in a new light. Although the story had several interesting characters, Gilly is the only character that is well-developed. Gilly’s roommate, Kayla, plays an important role in the story; however, she quickly disappears and only makes a brief appearance at the end. The princesses and the villains also only appear for a brief time, which may disappoint some readers.

Flunked breaks up the chapters and recaps some events by using Happily Ever After Scrolls—tabloid-like news articles. The interesting setting and fast-paced plot will keep readers entertained. The ending of the story has several twists, but the climactic end scene is over too quickly. Although middle school readers may wish for more depth of character, younger readers will enjoy the fun trip into Enchantasia. All readers will benefit from the theme—everyone, no matter how villainous, can change their evil ways and find a new, better path.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Gargoyles attack Gilly and Jax. The gargoyles “are wrinkly and dark grey with red eyes and long wings that fold under themselves, but the long, sharp claws on their hands and feet frighten me the most. One lets out a long wail when he sees us and Jax shoves me forward again, shaking me from my trance…” A Gargoyle grabs Jax, and his “face twists in pain and he begins sliding backward into the tunnel… I drop the grate and grab Jax’s hands, pulling as hard as I can and getting nowhere. It’s like we’re locked in a tug-of-war and Jax is the rope.” Jax is able to get free. Kayla uses a mirror that shoots bolts. A bolt hits the gargoyles and the kids are able to escape. The scene is described over four pages.
  • A student makes a loud noise that causes Madame Cleo, a Sea Siren, to “scream so loudly that bubbles take over the tank and the floor actually begins to quake…  And that’s when the tank begins to crack.” Jax uses his watch to break the lock. As they are leaving, the student “continues to chant, a smug smile on her face. When I look back Madame Cleo has passed out and is just floating in the middle of the tank.” Gilly jumps on the girl in order to get her to stop chanting. No one is injured.
  • One of the students lists some of the black magic that has been causing problems. “The crack in the tank, the swarm of pernicious peony ants that were accidently released in the botany lab, the poisoned fruit found in the cafeteria at the breakfast buffet.”
  • During a class, the students hear “the sound of a crash from above that sends glass raining down on the room.” Then gargoyles appear and a “thick, purple fog fills the room.”
  • As the students try to escape the gargoyles, “a gargoyle grabs hold of one of the Ladies-in-Waiting and takes off again. She screams and kicks, but it’s no use. She’s a goner…” The students try to hide, but Jocelyn gets picked up by a gargoyle. “I watch as she swings wildly with her sword and nicks one of the gargoyle’s legs. The gargoyle drops Jocelyn like a hot potato. She falls to the ground and bumps her head as the fog evaporates. We stare at her as she lies there motionless.”
  • During the gargoyle attack, teachers and students are sucked into a bubble. Harlow, a teacher, “throws her sword through the air. Maxine screams as the sword hits the bubble and bounces off of it. The gargoyles jump up and down excitedly as Harlow picks up a few of the discarded swords on the ground and aims another one at the bubble… This sword pierces the bubble and hits Princess Snow in the arm… Harlow throws another sword, and it pierces the bottom of the bubble, hitting a student in the shoe.” Gilly runs towards Harlow and slides as “hard as I can into Harlow, knocking her straight off her feet. I cover my head as swords rain down on me, and then the world goes black.” The scene is described over seven pages.
  • Later Gilly finds out that “Professor Harlow lost her pinkie in the mess and had to charm it back on.”
  • The villain shoots purple bolts from her hands and locks a student, Jocelyn, in a cell. When Jocelyn starts a chant, the villain “notices and flings bolts toward the bars, Jocelyn goes flying back…”
  • In order to break the students out of a cell, “Professor Wolfington transforms… Wolfington’s clothes begin to tear, his hair begins to grow, and he falls to all fours before letting out a wolf howl…” He is able to break the cell bars and free the students.
  • Gilly points a magic mirror at the villain. When two mirrors are pointed at each other, “the connection causes an explosion that sends us both flying backwards. The ground shakes, and large chunks of the ceiling begin to cave in…” The villain runs away.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Someone says, “God, no!”
  • “Oh God” and “Oh My God” are both used once.
  • Heck is used twice.
  • “What the—” is used once.

Supernatural

  • Mira lives in a mirror, but can “come and go between mirrors as I please.”
  • Some of the characters can perform magic and cast spells. Kayla’s mother was upset when she “caught me flying over Royal Manor. I was already grounded for casting a spell on my sister that made her nose as big as her face.”
  • One of the teachers “snaps her fingers” and makes Gilly’s boots disappear. In the boot’s place are the school shoes.
  • Gilly is given a quill. “I dip the quill in the ink, and nothing happens. Then I try putting the quill to paper. That’s when things get weird. I know what I want to write, but instead, different words come out.” Using the magic quill allowed Gilly’s roommate to secretly leave Gilly a note.
  • The school’s hallways are always shifting and making new ones.
  • A student casts a spell “on Maxine that made her right ear as big as her head.”
  • While dancing, a girl gets upset, and “her lips begin to move, and a glow emits from her eyes…  Gayle lets out an ear-piercing scream, and her troll partner flies backward, hitting one of the torches on the wall, which falls and causes a small fire that short-circuits the music.”
  • Kayla was sent to reform school after “[she]’d been busted for flying without a license, illegal use of magic, and casting love spells on people who hate each other.”
  • The villain is revealed when “a purple cloud of smoke surrounds her, and within seconds, Gottie’s ragged clothes, wart-covered face, and white frizzy hair have disappeared.” The villain’s appearance drastically changes.
  • Rumpelstiltskin made Kayla’s family forget her and “turned them all into hollow trees.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

Home Court

Eleven-year-old Amar’e Stoudemire has a lot going on. He loves to go skateboarding in the park. He takes his school work very seriously. He helps out with his dad’s landscaping company. He also likes to play basketball with his best friends – but just for fun.

When a group of older kids starts disrespecting his boys on their neighborhood basketball court, there is only one solution. Amar’e must step in and use his athletic ability and intelligence to save the day. This experience leads Amar’e to realize that basketball is his true passion. This story is based on the life of All-Star NBA sensation Amar’e Stoudemire who overcame many obstacles to become one of the most popular figures in sports today.

Like many readers, Amar’e is interested in a wide range of activities—skateboarding, basketball, and hanging out with his friends. When his friends need him, Amar’e isn’t afraid to take on some trash-talking older kids. Anyone who has been mistreated will relate to Amar’e’s difficulties. Amar’e’s struggles are illustrated with simple black and white drawings which are scattered throughout the book. Amar’e tells his story using easy vocabulary and short paragraphs to create an easy-to-read, entertaining story.

Sports fans will enjoy the play-by-play basketball action. However, the story doesn’t just focus on sports. Amar’e also enjoys learning tricks on his skateboard, helping his father, and doing well in school. Amar’e worries about his history writing assignment on Dr. King. In the end, Amar’e is able to connect Dr. King’s message to his life. He writes, “One person could do a lot, but the more people you have behind you, the more you could accomplish.”

Amar’e’s diverse interests give additional intrigue to the story, but also make the story choppy. One positive aspect of the story is Amar’e’s strong connection with his family and friends. Because the story is written from Amar’e’s point of view, readers will understand why Amar’e believes it’s important to be a good student, a good friend, and a hard worker. Younger sports fans will enjoy Home Court because of the positive message that is delivered by a relatable character. Readers who are looking for similar books should try the Zayd Saleem Chasing the Dream Series by Hena Khan.

Sexual Content

  • While playing a basketball game, Amar’e and his friends huddle up. An older boy tells them to hurry up “unless y’all are making out in there.”

Violence

  • While playing basketball with some older kids, Carlos intentionally tripped Amar’e. “My eyes were on the ball, so I didn’t see Carlos stick out his leg. I sure felt it, though. His shin banged into mine just above my ankle and I tumbled hard onto the pavement.”
  • While playing basketball with some older kids, “Yeti clobbered Duece on a moving pick. It was the bigger player on the court taking out the smallest, and it was hard to miss the foul.”
  • While playing basketball, an older boy “jammed his elbow hard into his lower back. Mike grimaced in pain and lost his dribble.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Some older kids trash-talk Amar’e and his friends. Afterward, one of Amar’e’s friends calls the boys “jerks.” Later Amar’e thinks, “Yeti was hanging on the rim again like a jerk.”
  • When an older boy throws trash on the ground, Amar’e asks, “Shouldn’t you go back to the garbage dump you came from?”
  • An older boy calls Amar’e and his friends “losers.”
  • “What the—” is used once.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Tunnel of Bones

Cassidy isn’t excited to be in one of the most haunted cities in the world—Paris. While her parents are filming their TV shows about haunted cities, Cassidy doesn’t plan on attracting danger. But when her parents take her to the creepy underground Catacombs, Cassidy finds danger lurking in the shadows.

When Cassidy accidentally awakens a frightening, strong spirit, she must rely on her still-growing skills as a ghost hunter and her friends, both old and new, to help her unravel a mystery. As the spirit grows strong, Cassidy realizes that she’s not the only one in trouble. Soon the ghost causes disaster after disaster, which endangers the people Cassidy loves. Can Cassidy stop the angry spirit, or will he haunt her city forever?

The second installment of the City of Ghost series will not disappoint. As Cassidy follows her parents through Paris, Cassidy gets a firsthand look at some of Paris’s ghostly stories. While many of the ghostly encounters could be deadly, Cassidy’s best friend (and ghost), Jacob, is always waiting in the shadows in order to keep Cassidy out of trouble. Readers will enjoy Cassidy’s inquisitive mind and courage.

Cassidy’s adventures take her into Paris’s underground as well as to several of Paris’s landmarks. The adventure is at times creepy and suspenseful, but always interesting. Tunnel of Bones adds several new and interesting twists. As Cassidy tries to help a young ghost remember his past, she begins to wonder if Jacob will also begin to lose his memory of his earthly life. The parallel between the two ghosts adds an interesting dimension to the story.

Tunnel of Bones will entertain readers with a good ghost story. The easy-to-read text contains short sentences and offers action, description, and dialogue. Although several ghosts make a short appearance that does not enhance the plot, a little boy ghost continues to reappear which gives the story an air of mystery and unexpected danger. Cassidy’s faithful friends and encounters with frightening ghosts mixed with a dash of humor creates a highly entertaining ghost story. Although Tunnel of Bones can be read as a stand-alone novel, readers will not want to miss the first book of the series, City of Ghost.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When Cassidy goes into the Veil, she drops a necklace and begins to look for it. “But before I can reach it, the ghost grabs me by the collar and pushes me back against a tree. I try to twist free, but even though he’s a ghost and I’m not, the Veil levels the playing field.” Cassidy’s friend Jacob comes to her aid. “The ghost looks sideways just as Jacob swings the bucket at his head. The man staggers, black tar dripping down his face, and I gasp, dropping to the ground.” Cassidy uses her mirror to send the man on. The scene is described over three pages.
  • In order to see a ghost, Cassidy climbs onto a roof. When the ghost sees her, he pushes her off the roof. Cassidy is “falling, and somewhere between the edge of the roof and the lawn below, I cross back through the Veil and land hard on the ground beside the crypt. The fall knocks all the air from my lungs and sends pain jolting up through my right arm, and for a second all I can do is blink away the stars and hope I didn’t break anything.” Cassidy’s arm “zings” but she isn’t seriously injured.
  • When Cassidy opens the Veil, she sees a man “in an old-fashioned suit. He lifts an old-fashioned pistol and aims it straight at me, and Jacob wrenches me back out of the Veil before the shot goes off.”
  • The poltergeist opens the back door of a truck and “the contents begin to spill out. Boxes and crates smash into the street, followed by a massive golden frame that hurtles straight towards me.”
  • When Cassidy goes into the Veil, she is on a train car. When she changes train cars, she sees a ghost. “And as he turns, I see the knife buried in his stomach. His own hand curled around the blade as if to keep it from falling out. The sheen of blood running down his front.” Jacob drags Cassidy out of the train car and slams the door.
  • While looking for the poltergeist, Cassidy runs into a man. “The man snarls and grabs me, shoving me against a wall of bones that rattle as they dig into my back. I gasp, but I manage to swipe the cap from his head before Jacob lunges at the spirit from behind, hauling him backwards. . . Jacob slams the other ghost into a pillar of skulls. The bones topple with a crash, and the man drips, dazed, to his hands and knees.” Cassidy and Jacob run away.
  • In order to help the poltergeist remember his past, Jacob grabs ahold of the boy. The boy “thrashes, trying to twist free. The air around him ripples and glows red, and the whole tunnel begins to shake as the crimson light spreads over everything, splitting across the floor, the ceiling and the walls of bone. . . The whole ground begins to shake with the force of Thomas’s displeasure. Even the wall of bones to my left begins to tremble and shift.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Someone tells a story about a man that was invited to a party. When the man goes to the party, “he found a party in full swing, and passed the night with music and wine and excellent company. . . And then something hits me. Not the frame, but a pair of hands. They plant themselves against my back and shove, and I stumbled forward to the pavement, scraping my palm as the frame crashes into the stone wall and rains glass onto the street behind me.”
  • Cassidy’s parents are in their hotel room “sharing a bottle of red wine.”

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Cassidy’s best friend, Jacob, is a ghost and can read her mind.
  • Cassidy can travel through the Veil and the in-between where ghosts live. Cassidy explains, “That’s the thing about the Veil: It only exists where there’s a ghost. It’s like a stage where spirits act out their final moments, whatever happened that won’t let them move on.”
  • When Cassidy goes into the Veil, “the world around me—vanishes. The carnival lights, the crowds, the sounds and smells of the summer night. Gone. For a second, I’m falling. And then I’m back on my feet.”
  • In order to get a ghost to move beyond the Veil, Cassidy holds up a mirror for the ghost to look into. Then she says, “Watch and listen, see and know. This is what you are.” When Cassidy says the words, “the whole Veil ripples around us, and the ghost thins until I can see through him, see the dark thread coiled inside his chest. Lightless, lifeless. I reach out and take hold of the thread, the last thing binding him here, to this world. It feels cold and dry under my fingers, like dead leaves in the fall. As I pull the cord from his chest, it crumbles in my palm. Vanishes in a plume of smoke. And then, so does the ghost.” Cassidy completes the same pattern on two other ghosts, and the ghosts disappear.
  • Cassidy awakens a poltergeist. Cassidy’s friend tells her, “It’s a spirit drawn to spectral energy… It was probably dormant until it sensed yours, Cassidy. . . That cold sensation you’ve been feeling, it is a kind of intuition, a warning that strong spirits are near. . . Poltergeists are wanderers. They’re not stuck in a loop or a memory, and they’re not tied to the place they died.”
  • While trying to understand ghosts, Cassidy calls a friend that tells her “the Veil is tailored to fit the ghost, [and] the place they died, which means it’s essentially tied to the ghost’s memory—that’s what binds it there. So if a poltergeist isn’t bound to the Veil, it’s because—they don’t remember.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

The Sonic Breach

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

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

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Dragon Captives

Identical twins Fifer and Thisbe have amazing, uncontrollable magical abilities. They want to learn more about magic, but their brother Alex is the head mage of Artimé and he doesn’t think the girls are ready. Alex knows the girls are more gifted than anyone else, including himself. In order to keep the girls from learning any magical spells, Alex orders everyone in Artimé not to do magic in front of Fifer and Thisbe.

On the Day of Remembrance, an ice blue dragon named Hux shows up with terrible news. His siblings have been enslaved by the notoriously evil Revinir, the ruler of the dragon land. In order to survive, Hux needs someone to return to the dragon’s land to make the dragons new wings. Without Alex’s help, Hux’s sibling will die. Although Alex feels bad for Hux, Alex refuses to leave Artimé.

When Thisbe and Fifer discover Hux’s need, they decide to help the dragons themselves. The girls want to show Alex they are ready to be taught how to use their magic. Thisbe, Fifer, and their friend Seth sneak away to rescue the dragons. Will their untrained abilities be enough to save the dragons—and themselves—when they come face-to-face with Revinir?

Readers will quickly connect to Thisbe, Fifer, and Seth, who want to prove that they can do something good. When the children take off on their journey, they don’t expect to find a hostile land where they will be imprisoned. Despite being in a strange new land, the three spend most of their time trapped in a prison. Because of their plight, each of the characters discover the importance of perseverance.

Dragon Captives is set ten years after the great battle that left Thisbe and Fifer without parents, which will cause confusion for those who haven’t read The Unwanteds Series. The first part of Dragon Captives has many of the same characters as The Unwanteds Series. Even though the story tries to recount the important events from the previous series, readers will have an extremely tough time learning about the magical world and keeping track of the many characters that were developed in The Unwanteds Series.

Even though readers may struggle with the beginning of the book, readers will not regret staying with the story. Once the children make it to the dragon’s land, the story shows interesting cultural differences between the two worlds. Magical spells, chase scenes, and betrayal all come together to make Dragon Captives a fast-paced, exciting story. The action-packed scenes are not gory; however, some readers may be upset by the idea of humans being sold to the highest bidder. Dragon Captives does not have a feel good ending. Instead, the story ends with a scary cliffhanger that will have readers reaching for the next book in the series, Dragon Ghost.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • A magical creature in the shape of a scorpion chases Thisbe and Fifer. The girls try to escape by climbing a tree, but “the scorpion slid to a stop below them. It gripped the tree with one of its pinchers. Then it snapped the trunk in two, sending the top portion with the girls in it falling through the air and crashing to the jungle floor.” Thisbe’s ankle is caught under the tree, and the “scorpion, moving steadily towards her with its poisonous tail raised, knocked her flat with its pincher. Then it pinned both girls to the ground with its spindly front legs.” A magical Panther appears, and the frightened Thisbe uses a magic spell. “Sparks flew from the girl’s fingertips and slammed into Panther’s flank. The creature’s scream stopped abruptly. With a loud crack and a horrible thud, the black stone beast hit the ground. Slit completely in two.” The girls escape and someone is able to fix the Panther. The scene is described over five pages.
  • Thisbe has strong, uncontrollable magic. When she was two years old, she killed someone—“an actual human.” “She’s also nearly killed others in her younger years, including Alex, with almost effortless magic that was beyond her control.”
  • Fifer and Thisbe go into a town when a man grabs them. “Thisbe whirled around in surprise, she felt a strong calloused hand reaching over her mouth, then a scratchy cloth placed over her nose that had a sickly sweet smell. She tried to scream. . . She gasped for breath, the horrible sweetness from the cloth permeating her nose and throat, and traveling to her brain. She felt a strange fuzziness creep in and take over her. . .” She passes out and wakes up a captive.
  • A snake tries to bite a boy named Dev. “Thisbe pointed at it (the snake). ‘Boom!’ she cried. As Dev twisted and spun around, trying to get away, the snake’s head froze in midair. For a split second it hung there. Everyone held their breath. And then the snake exploded into dozens of pieces that went flying far and wide.”
  • When Thisbe, Fifer, Seth, and the dragon Hux get to the castle, they are taken prisoner. “The soldiers forced the children to one side, taking their supplies for the wings and throwing them to the ground. Then they whipped poor Hux until he backed into the empty stall and they continued whipping him even though he was doing exactly what they told him to do.”
  • Thisbe yells at a guard, and “immediately the soldier pushed Thisbe against the wall. He pulled a dagger from his belt and pressed the point to Thisbe’s chest.” Seth and Fifer try to help, but “the other soldier grabbed Fifer and Seth and pulled them back while the two holding Thisbe dragged her to the ramp and began to ascend it.” Thisbe is taken deeper into the prison and locked in a cell.
  • As the soldiers were forcing Thisbe to leave her friends, Thisbe “flicked her fingers the best she could, hoping something else would happen. Fiery sparks flew out of them, hitting the soldiers in the face. . . the head soldier held her, kicking and screaming. Next to her, Seth landed a well-placed kick and managed to break loose from his captor. . . He pulled out a few scatterclips and sent them flying. They snagged one soldier, dragging him backward and stacking another behind the first, and pinned them to the wall.” In the end, Seth and Fifer are separated from Thisbe.
  • Seth tries to look for Thisbe, but a soldier “stuck out his leg, tripping the boy. Seth went sprawling hands first and landed on his stomach. The head soldier grabbed him by the back of his vest and brought him to his feet, then pulled his dagger and held the point to Seth’s neck.”
  • While trying to escape, one of the dragons “torched anyone who got in his way.” When the dragons got close to the door, “the dragons roared and dove for the exit, dodging spears and swords, spewing fire from their mouths with reckless abandon, caring only about their freedom now. . .”
  • Simber and Seth try to find Thisbe, but soldiers stop them. “A valiant soldier stood fast in front of Simber, holding a spear pointed at the cheetah’s eye. Simber ducked and plowed into him. The soldier and his spear flew up in the air and landed hard in the path of dust and rubble Simber left behind him. One by one Simber clobbered all the men and women who stood in his way.”
  • Seth uses the glass spell. “This time a sheet of glass appeared between him and the soldiers, cutting them off. They slammed into it. The last thing Seth saw was four faces pressing against it before he turned and vaulted onto Simber’s back once more.
  • When Simba and his friends were trying to escape the prison, “soldiers charged, but Simber batted at them with his wings or butted them with his head and didn’t slow down. Before long, he was trampling the ones who wouldn’t get out of the way. As soon as the Artiméans came to the entryway, Simber spread his wings wide, knocking more soldiers down, and began flapping.”
  • When Simber and his friends were running from the guards, someone began lowering the gate. One of the stakes “caught the collar of Thatcher’s shirt. Thatcher was violently yanked off Simber’s back and thrown to the ground under the portcullis. . . The sharp iron points were about to run him through. He screamed and rolled away, his shirt ripping down the back.” Thatcher is able to escape unharmed.
  • Thisbe and Fifer were tied up and taken to the market to be sold. During the ride, “their wrists were tied down.” When they arrive at the market, the soldiers “shackled the girls to two wooden posts.”
  • Simber tries to save Thisbe and Fifer, but he didn’t notice the glass barrier. “Before anyone could warn him, Simber smashed right through the invisible glass barrier that Thisbe had cast in front of Fifer. The girls screamed. Shards of glass flew everywhere. . . Fifer’s face, at first joyous at seeing Simber coming toward them, turned to shock at the impact, and then horror afterwards as she glanced down at her body. Bright red bloodstains spread over her clothing. And then, without a word, she slumped unconscious, only her shackles keeping her from falling face-first to the stage.” Fifer is wounded and Thisbe is kidnapped.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Crud is used six times. Seth tells a dragon, “go up the ramp and torch the crud out of any soldiers who come this way.”
  • Thisbe says someone is “kind of a jerk.”

Supernatural

  • Artemé is a magical island that has “creations carved from stone or molded from clay and brought to life with strong magic.”
  • People can travel through a large glass tube. When Thisbe and Fifer press the button, “the girls’ world went dark for a second or two. When it became light again, they were looking upon a completely different landscape. Indeed, they were on a completely different island, far from home—it would take several days’ journey by ship to get here.”
  • One of the characters is an octogaor, “who had an alligator head and an octopus body.”
  • When Fifer lets out a whoop, glass breaks. Fifer can also make glass disappear and reappear.
  • In the past, Artemé’s mage was killed and “Artemé had disappeared because the world couldn’t exist without a head mage running it. Every last one of the living statues and creatures. . . had immediately ceased to be alive.”
  • Alex “rarely did magic anymore, other than simple spells like flicking on a highlighter in a dark corner of the Museum of Large or sending a seek spell whenever he couldn’t find his sisters and wanted them to come home. A seek spell merely required him to hold an artistic item created by the person he was seeking.”
  • A dragon, Hux, goes to Artemé hoping someone can make him new wings so he can fly again. Later, Thisbe and Fifer sneak in to see Alex turn vines, flowers, and cloth into dragon wings. Alex “closed his eyes and concentrated for several moments, imaging the wing taking flight. He pictured it sparkling in the sun, flowing with ease, as light and free as the petals that adorned it… And finally he spoke a single wood. ‘Live.’ The wings began to move.”
  • In Artemé, “a blackboard was like a magical host in the living area of each apartment. Each personality delivered messages, kept an eye on the residence, offered help, guidance, and sometimes attitude, and some even shared gossip from the other blackboards.”
  • Thisbe can make invisible hooks. “Thisbe quirked her finger away and pointed at a wall. A spark shot out and supposedly an invisible hook attacked itself to the wall, though neither girl felt like going to feel around for it.”
  • In order to get out of a locked cell, Thisbe uses magic to make the bamboo grid come to life. “The bamboo grid began to billow, and suddenly the top right corner of it worked its way out of the stone. It waved this way and that, and with a series of little pops, the grid came loose one bar at time. . .People in the market noticed what was happening. A wave of panic spread through the area. . .the people in the marketplace ran away screaming, and the grid, filled with exuberant magical life, wiggled and tumbled and chased after them.” The girls are able to escape. As they flee, the prison door chases Seth. “A moment later one corner of the bars hooked Seth by his shirt and took him on a ride into the air. Then it slammed him into the ground and dragged him around again in the same manner as it rolled through the square.” Eventually, the girls are able to pull Seth free and “he hit the ground with a sickening thump, his face slamming into the pavement. Luckily some squashed tomatoes kept him from hitting it too hard.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

 

 

Odd Gods

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

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

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

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

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

Sexual Content

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

Violence

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

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

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

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

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

The Last Kids on Earth and the Midnight Blade

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

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

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

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

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

Sexual Content

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

Violence

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

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

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

Supernatural

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

Spiritual Content

  • None
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