Reading Level: Junior High

Boy Bites Bug

Will wasn’t trying to prove a point. He wasn’t trying to put his friend in his place. He just wanted to fix an awkward situation. So, he ate a stink bug. Now, everyone knows him as bug boy. His new popularity brings a host of confusion—he’s feuding with his old best friend and trying to navigate a new friendship. Will wants to do what’s right, but he’s not always sure what that is.

Boy Bites Bug is a fast-paced story that brings the struggles of friendship into focus. The diverse characters are authentic, funny, and bring heart to the story. Will has a hard time figuring out how to deal with his changing friendship with Darryl. Will thinks, “Darryl and he had been friends for a long time, but would a real friend make him feel crappy for trying to be a decent person?”

As Will and Elroy become friends, Will struggles with figuring out what racism is. Even though his new friend Elroy is from Minnesota, others see him only as a Mexican, and Will makes assumptions about Elroy because of his race. Will knows it’s wrong to give someone “crap about who he was,” but wonders if his own behavior and assumptions are racist as well.

The story shows strong positive relationships between Will and his family. Even though Will’s actions have negative consequences for his sister, his sister still stands by his side. Will’s sister is one of the best parts of the book because even though her bug-eating brother causes her problems, in the end, she supports him and even makes up a bug-eating cheer for him.

Boy Bites Bug will appeal to a variety of readers because Will and his friends struggle with real-life issues—friendship, family, and figuring out life. Through Will’s journey, the reader will learn about eating bugs “on purpose” as well as get recipes that include bugs. The gross factor brings humor as well as lessons about different cultures. In the end, Will realizes that making fun of people for eating bugs isn’t funny. He also learns an important lesson about forgiveness. He learns that “some apologies would never fix things, but that didn’t mean they shouldn’t be made. It just meant they’d be harder to get out.”

Sexual Content

  • One of Will’s friends uses his father’s credit card for ridiculous items because, “his dad left Simon’s mom and taken off to Arizona with a girlfriend, leaving Simon behind with a credit card to make up for not calling much or ever visiting.”

Violence

  • Hollie accidentally gives a boy a bloody nose. “Hollie had been putting something on the top shelf of her locker when Jeremy sneaked up behind her and brushed her back. . . He’d surprised her, and when she jerked around, her elbow cracked his nose.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • During a presentation, Will talks about how many bugs can legally be in food. He said, “If one’s dad had a bear with it (pizza), he would drink twenty-five hundred aphids, too.”

Language

  • Light profanity is used throughout the story. Profanity includes crap, holy crap, holy cow, and heck.
  • Will’s sister said someone is “acting like a jerk.” She also calls her brother a “dork-face” and a “fuzz-butt.”
  • A boy calls the new boy a “cholo.” The boy “knew he’d crossed a line, but his jaw squared too-he wasn’t taking anything back.”
  • The kids in the book call each other names including bonehead, dork, jerk, loser, nerd, idiot and menso (stupid).
  • Will gets upset because his friend is making “the three of them look like prejudiced jerks.”
  • “Oh my gosh” is used as an exclamation.
  • At wrestling practice, Will changes quickly because he didn’t want “his bony butt hanging out in front of these guys any longer than necessary.”
  • Will said his father can cook, “but you only eat his chili if you want to shoot flames out of your butt.”
  • When Will is introducing someone to the sport of wrestling, he said, “If you think it’s gay, you should leave now.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

 

 

 

Nightbooks

Alex is considered a bit odd by the other kids at school because he likes to spend his time writing scary stories. Disheartened by their constant teasing, Alex sneaks out of his apartment one night to burn his notebook. On the way to the boiler room, the elevator mysteriously stops on the fourth floor. Before he knows it, a witch named Natasha has imprisoned him in her magical apartment. Natasha loves stories, and Alex’s storytelling abilities are what got him captured—and what will keep him alive.

The witch has one other prisoner, a girl named Yasmin. She has long given up hope of escape and tells Alex that to stay alive he will have to continue telling Natasha hair-raising tales. But Alex is running out of story ideas, and he can’t focus on writing while consumed with thoughts of escape.

Nightbooks blends the fairy tale elements of Hansel and Gretel into a modern story that readers will love. Unlike Disney’s version of fairy tales, Nightbooks keeps the dark elements alive by delving into how a person becomes evil. This action-packed story is full of frightening elements, interesting characters, and several twisty surprises. As Alex, Yasmin, and a cat named Lenore join together to defeat Natasha, readers will cheer as the three try to stay alive and find a way to escape.

Alex and Yasmin aren’t the only well-developed characters. The witch Natasha is a uniquely interesting character because she is cruel, but she is also clearly frightened of the creepy, ever-changing apartment in which she lives. Although Natasha is obviously evil, her well-developed character gives the reader a glimpse into her history, adding interest to the story.

Throughout the story, Alex reads his own scary tales, adding another interesting element to Nightbooks. His stories do not distract from the main story, but add more frightening elements—dead children, vampires, and an evil teddy bear. Both Alex’s stories and the main narrative are creepy and scary, but the descriptions are not gory.

Many younger readers will relate to Alex, who feels like he is abnormal and does not fit in. A theme of normalcy is integrated into the story through Alex’s struggle with his desire to be like everyone else. In the end, he realizes, “So what if I write scary stories? I might hurt someone with nouns and adjectives, but I would never hurt someone for real.”

Readers will come away from this story with a message about the importance of courage, compassion, friendship, and accepting yourself. For those who like a fast-paced, frightening story, Nightbooks is a superb scary story for middle school readers.

Sexual Content
• None

Violence
• When Yasmin accidentally feeds a magical plant the wrong food, it produces “danglers.” When a dangler opens, a creature comes out. “Two red pinchers burst through the outer layer of the sac and dug into the wood, gaining purchase and dragging the rest of the body to freedom.” The creature shreds anything it touches. A cat named Lenore tries to catch the creature. “More sounds. Hissing. A buzzing noise, like a flying insect. A pot shattering. Lenore screeched in pain.” More creatures are born, and the kids try to fight them off. Alex “felt a sharp pain in his ankle. He kicked his foot and a furry lump sailed across the room. . . something landed on his lower back and immediately began to climb higher, claws tearing through his shirt and into skin.” The attack takes place over the span of a chapter.
• The witch gets angry with Lenore. “The witch opened her hand and a tiny fireball shot at Lenore. It seared the back of her fur, leaving a black streak against the orange. Lenore yowled in pain.”
• When the witch gets upset at the children that she has captured, she turns them into porcelain dolls.
• Alex tells a story about two brothers. The younger brother dies but comes back one night. The older brother, who was sleeping, felt “something jab him again, harder this time. The mattress lifted into the air for a moment before crashing back down onto its frame.” When Keith tried to get out of the bed, “a hand grabbed his ankle. It was cold and small but strong enough to jerk him off his feet. Keith crashed to the floor.” The story implies that the dead child takes over his brother’s body.
• When Alex, his friend, and the cat go into a passage, a creature greets them. “It had the body of a horse, but its black hair was missing in patches, revealing large swatches of oozing skin.” The creature attacks. “Alex screamed, certain that he was about to be impaled in several places, but the sharp tips of the horns fell just short of his body.”
• Aunt Gris and the witch Natasha fight. “Natasha snarled with frustration and unleashed a barrage of spells, one after the other; choking mist, nooses made of flame, twin skeletons brandishing iron swords. . . Aunt Gris leaped across the room and landed on her back. . .” There was a “short scream of pain followed by horrible crunching sounds—and then nothing at all.”
• At one point, the witch, “seemed determined to fit Yasmin’s entire head in her mouth.” When Alex throws a book of stories into the furnace, the witch tries to save the book, and “Yasmin shoved her from behind. [She] fell forward into the flames.”

Drugs and Alcohol
• None

Language
• Yasmin thinks Alex’s brother “sounds like a jerk.”

Supernatural
• A witch lives in a magical apartment that entices children to enter. “The apartment does what it can to get you inside. Different for everyone . . . Traditionally, it’s some sort of food that draws them. Kids are always thinking with their stomachs, you know.”
• The apartment needs dark magic to stay alive. The witch wants Alex to tell scary stories because “the thing about dark magic, though—it thrives on nightmares. . . When you read it a scary story, you soothe its aches and pains. And then it can rest easy again—at least for a little while.”
• The witch has a business that sells “magic-infused oils. . . A hex for that annoying neighbor, extra luck for a weekend getaway to Atlantic City. And love oils.”
• Alex writes a story about a girl who turns into a vampire when her reflection was stolen.
• Alex meets the original witch, Aunt Gris, who “ate children and devoured their youth.” The witch that captured Alex had “slipped a sleeping potion into [Aunt Gris’s] tea.” Natasha keeps Aunt Gris alive, but asleep.
• When Aunt Gris wakes, she is deformed. “Its fingers were candy canes ending in chiseled nails that looked very, very sharp. They twisted and cracked, testing their newfound freedom. . . Her ears and nose were in the expected places, but her face drooped like melted taffy, and her eyes were gold-foiled chocolate coins pressed deeply into malleable flesh.”
• When Aunt Gris dies, her magic dies and the porcelain children come back to life. “They recalled their names and everything about their lives up until the moment they entered apartment 4E. . . some of the children had been missing for a decade or more and hadn’t seemed to age in the intervening years.”

Spiritual Content
• None

The Secret Sheriff of Sixth Grade

Sixth-grader Maverick dreams of being a superhero. The only problem is that he’s weak, friendless, and has a host of problems. His father died in the war in Afghanistan. His alcoholic mother brings home abusive boyfriends. His mother’s love of alcohol and inability to keep a job often leaves Maverick hungry and wearing dirty clothes.

Maverick holds on to a plastic sheriff’s badge that his father gave him. The badge reminds him to fight for those smaller than him—even if it’s hard to find someone that small. However, every time Maverick tries to defend someone else, his efforts always take a wrong turn.

The Secret Sheriff of Sixth Grade quickly pulls readers into the story because it’s told in a first-person point of view and showcases Maverick’s self-deprecating attitude and desire to help others. Even though Maverick has a host of problems, he has the heart of a hero. Readers will laugh out loud at his mishaps, cry at his misfortunes, and root for him every step of the way.

The supporting characters are so well-developed that their unique personalities jump off the page. As Maverick gets to know other people, his perception of them changes as he realizes that their actions are often misinterpreted. For example, the assistant principal who Maverick originally thinks is terrible, turns out to have a kind heart.

Domestic abuse and alcoholism are weaved into the story in a kid-friendly manner, which allows the reader to see the devastation caused by the two without giving frightening details. At one point, Maverick wonders if he will become an abuser like his dad. His aunt tells him that changing the patterns of life is difficult. “It’s hard. Sometimes making the right choices is super hard.”

The Secret Sheriff of Sixth Grade is a fast-paced, powerful story that shows the importance of kindness and standing up for others. In the end, Maverick realizes that he is not just a “shrimpy loser,” but an imperfect boy that can impact others through acts of kindness. Maverick learns that “Maybe I didn’t need webs to be a hero—or rippling muscles, or a bulletproof shield. Maybe, at the end of the day, I could just keep trying to look around for people who needed a hand, and then grab on to theirs with my own.”

Readers will keep turning the pages of The Secret Sheriff of Sixth Grade. Maverick is an unforgettable character that readers will remember for a long time after they finish the book. Maverick’s lessons of kindness and persistence will leave the readers with a sense of optimism. The Secret Sheriff of Sixth Grade is a must-read book for middle school readers.

Sexual Content

  • A girl tells Maverick that he can’t fight Bowen, but she was going to “kick his (Bowen’s) butt.” Then someone said, “Oh, she’s feisty, too! Is that how you like your women, Maverick? Big and spicy?”

Violence

  • Maverick’s mother has a string of “loser” boyfriends, who physically abuse her. Maverick gets home and sees his mom, “clutching at her left eye, and sobbing. Johnny was leaning over her, shouting so loudly that I could see the spit flying out of his mouth into her hair. . . His hand whipped through the air and cracked across my mother’s face so hard her head smashed against the couch cushion and bounced forward again.
  • Maverick sees a kid being picked on in school. In order to help, he “dropped my book bag, put my head down, and charged at Bowen . . . Too late, I dimly realized I had just knocked the little guy into a row of lockers. Oops. A split second later, my head and shoulders slammed into Bowen. . .“ Bowen is knocked into a trash can, and then the principal shows up and ends the fight.
  • Maverick’s father was a “firefighter on an artillery base. A mortar round came in at night, hit some gas cans, and set the barracks on fire.” His father died trying to save the men.
  • A father, who is a police officer, hits his son. “Before Bowen could say another word, his head rocketed sideways toward me and I heard him whimper. . . Bowen’s father had hit him, really hard, on the side of the head.”
  • Maverick comes home and finds his mother, “Holding a bloody towel under her nose . . . Mom looked down at the towel in her hand, and almost seemed surprised to see it there. Maybe she was. I could smell the alcohol rolling off her from across the room.” His mother passes out.
  • Maverick and Bowen meet at the park after school so they can fight. “He punched me, extremely hard, once. . . I felt a crack, and a slicking stab of pain. I stopped swinging, started to reach for my chest with one hand, and bent forward. As I did, Bowen swung his knee up, into that same spot of my chest. The impact jerked me fully upright. . . the entire left side of my sweatshirt was already soaked through with blood.” Bowen calls his father, who races Maverick to the hospital.
  • Maverick’s mother’s ex-boyfriend comes to the house. The ex-boyfriend and his mother argue. Before violence begins, Maverick “squirmed my way between them, and said, ‘hit me, Johnny.’” Johnny leaves. His mother celebrates by drinking “something clear that was not water.”
  • Maverick’s house burns when “your mother fell asleep with a lit cigarette.” Maverick’s pet is killed in the fire. Maverick thinks it’s his fault because, “I check in on her in the morning, and everything looked fine.”
  • Maverick thinks back to when his dad was alive. When Maverick was little, his parents began to argue, and “then I heard a sharp smack and a gasp from the porch. . . My mother had whipped a hand up to cover one side of her face. . .”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Maverick’s mother has a drinking problem, which Maverick thinks about often. Once he had to “drop out of T-ball when my mom drank up the fifteen-dollar T-shirt fee.”
  • When Maverick gets sent to the principal’s office, he doesn’t want to call his mom because “she didn’t have a car. She was probably hungover. Or still sleeping. Or, worst of all, drunk again.” Maverick calls his aunt and promises to tell his mother about being in trouble. He thinks, “I didn’t say that my plan was to wait until she’d had a bunch of drinks and was about to pass out.”
  • When assigned to make a poster about his life, Maverick thinks, “if I had been totally honest, I would have cut out a pile of vodka bottles. . .”
  • When Maverick’s mom loses her job, she “started drinking. And drinking. And drinking. . . Nothing got my mother up off the couch until the eighth day, when she ran out of alcohol.” His mother sold his father’s military medal of honor to pay for more alcohol.
  • Max is upset because his friend complained about his mom not doing laundry and now “his favorite clothes were dirty.” Maverick’s mother didn’t do his laundry, and Maverick had to worry about “when scary teen gangsters were smoking and drinking in front of the laundry room of our apartment complex, so I was afraid to do my laundry and had to wear dirty stuff to school.”
  • When Maverick’s mother’s ex-boyfriend shows up, he wonders, “Do I let him in? Should I offer him a beer?”
  • When Maverick’s aunt goes to his house, he worries, “What if there were bottles of booze all over the place? What if it reeked of cigarettes and last night’s garbage?”

Language

  • Crud, darn, jerk, and holy cow are all used twice. Freaking is used seven times. Bonehead is also used.
  • “Oh, my god,” is used as an exclamation once.
  • Maverick is upset when the P.E. coach yells at him for not having the money to pay for his P.E. clothes. He thinks, “I don’t freaking have ten dollars.” Later, he thinks that the P.E. teacher had “Been a jerk about my problem.”
  • In a humorous scene, Maverick calls someone a “cheese tool.” Someone tries to explain what a cheese tool is. “A cheese tool is the little plastic rectangle that comes in a packet of cheese and crackers.” The group of kids that heard the comments were confused. “Half the kids seemed to be muttering things like, ‘Cheese tool? What a moron!’ But the other half were like, ‘Dang! Bowen got called a cheese tool!’”
  • Someone yells at a group of boys, “We’re all going to get in trouble, just because you three boneheads couldn’t control yourselves.”
  • Someone calls Maverick a “shrimpy little idiot.”
  • When a teacher talks about having a guest speaker, a student refers to the “special guest” as “special dorks.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Speak

Instead of looking forward to starting high school, Melinda is dreading it. She attended an end-of-the-summer party, which got busted after she called the cops. Now she is an outcast. Her friends, and even random strangers, hate her. Something terrible happened at the party. And one day, Melinda will speak about the terrible events. And that will change everything.

Because Speak is written in the first person, Melinda’s personality comes to life. Although Melinda often is sarcastic, the pain and uncertainty she feels come through. The reader knows that something terrible has happened to Melinda, and they know it has to do with “IT” and the end-of-the-summer party. However, the reader is left in suspense until the end of the story, when the horrible events of the party are revealed—Melinda was raped.

Melinda is dealing with some heavy issues—parents who only talk to her through sticky notes, feelings of depression, and the overwhelming desire to have someone like her. Speak focuses on Melinda’s struggle to understand what happened to her. At one point she questioned, “Was I raped?” When Melinda finally tells a friend about her experience, Melinda is accused of being a liar. And because no one knows what happened, Melinda’s rapist is able to continue to terrorize her. Although the story is told in a realistic manner and is teen-friendly, the events in the book may still be upsetting to some readers.

Much of the story focuses on Melinda’s inner dialogue, which allows the reader to understand her thoughts and feelings. Many of the adults in the story just don’t know how to deal with Melinda’s problems, which makes it harder for Melinda to talk. Even as Melinda struggles to speak, the message of the story is clear— “don’t expect to make a difference unless you speak up for yourself.” Melinda’s story will have a major impact on readers. Speak will be remembered long after you finish reading it.

Sexual Content

  • The school board decides to change the school mascot because “Home of the Trojans didn’t send a strong abstinence message, so they have transformed us into the Blue Devils. Better the Devil you know than the Trojan you don’t, I guess.”
  • While watching the cheerleaders, Melinda thinks, “the cheerleaders are much better at scoring than the football team is.”
  • Melinda thinks the cheerleaders “have parties wild enough to attract college students. . . They rent beach houses in Cancun during Spring Break and get group-rate abortions before prom.”
  • During biology class, the class laughs when the teacher says the word “reproduce” because “they have figured out it is related to sex.”
  • Melinda’s friend has a model shoot and Melinda thinks that her friend’s, “goosebumps are bigger than her boobs.” During the shoot, “the photographer keeps saying ‘Sexy, sexy, very cute. . . think boys.”
  • At lunch, a group of girls talks about a boy who is gorgeous and dangerous. One of the girls said, “Rumor—he sleeps with anything.”
  • When the school changes the mascot, the cheerleaders come up with a new cheer, “We are the hornets, horny, horny hornets.” During the cheer, they wiggle and shake. When the cheer makes it on the television, “the TV sports guy thought the song was cute, so he did a segment showing the ‘Hornet Hustle,’ with the cheerleaders shaking their stingers, and the crowd bumping and grinding their horny Hornet heinies.”
  • Melinda sees a girl kiss a boy in the hall, the girl “smiles and then she kisses him wet. Not a Girl Scout kiss.”
  • Melinda tells her friend about her experience, “I was stupid and drunk and I didn’t know what was happening and then he hurt . . . he raped me.” Melinda’s friend thinks she is a liar.
  • On the bathroom wall, someone writes that a boy “should get it (diprosomething) every morning in his orange juice I went out with him to the movies—he tried to get his hands down my pants during the PREVIEWS!”
  • When Melinda’s friend goes to the prom with a boy, he “was all over her with his hands and his mouth.” Melinda’s friend ditched the guy.

Violence

  • While on the school bus, someone throws a Ho-Ho and it hits Melinda in the back of the head.
  • During a pep assembly, a girl yells at Melinda, and then “the girl behind me jams her knees into my back. They are as sharp as her fingernails. . . The girl yanks my hair.”
  • While at a party, Melinda meets a boy. When he “pulled me close,” she felt dizzy. “He wrapped one arm around my back. His other hand slid down to my butt. I thought that was a little rude, but my tongue was thick with beer and I couldn’t figure out how to tell him to slow down. . .  He kissed me, man kiss, hard sweet and deep. . . He kissed me again. His teeth ground hard against my lips.” Melinda doesn’t like what is happening but isn’t sure how to stop the boy from continuing. “I can hear myself—I’m mumbling like a deranged drunk. His lips lock on mine and I can’t say anything. I twist my head away. He is so heavy. . . I open my mouth to breathe, to scream, and his hand covers it. . . shirt up, shorts down, and the ground smells wet and dark and NO!. . and he smells like beer and mean and he hurts me hurts me hurts me and gets up and zips his jeans and smiles.”
  • The boy who raped Melinda attacks her at school because “you started spreading lies, and now every girl in school is talking about me like I’m some kind of pervert . . . You are one strange bitch, you know that. A freak.” The boy tries to kiss Melinda, and when she pulls away he, “slams his body against mine. . . He curses and turns, his fist coming, coming. An explosion in my head and blood in my mouth. He hit me.” The attack takes place over three pages. In the end, Melinda breaks a mirror and “wrap my fingers around a triangle of glass. I hold it to Andy Evans’s neck.” Finally, the lacrosse team shows up and helps Melinda.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • While watching television, Melinda’s dad “drops ice cubes in a heavy-bottomed glass and pours in some booze.”
  • Melinda’s ex-friend, “puts a candy cigarette between her lips. Rachelle wants desperately to smoke, but she has asthma.”
  • Melinda friend tells her, “But you just can’t cut classes or not show up to school. What’s next—hanging out with the dopers?”
  • Melinda goes to a party where she and other teens are drinking.
  • During prom season, some kids talk about “which limo company won’t tell if you drink.”

Language

  • Profanity is scattered throughout the book. Profanity includes: bitchy, bullshit, crap, darn, and pissed.
  • “Oh my god” is used as an exclamation several times.
  • A girl calls Malinda an “asshole.”
  • Someone calls a girl a “bitch.”
  • Melinda is upset with a teacher and thinks, “I’m not going to let an idiot teacher jerk me around like this.”
  • According to the writing on the bathroom stall, a girl has pissed off a whole bunch of people. One person wrote in huge letters that she is a whore.
  • Melinda thinks it’s best to stay quiet because “All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie.”
  • When Melinda’s friend tells her they are no longer friends, Melinda tries “to think of something bitchy, something wicked and cruel. I can’t.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Melinda’s “parents didn’t raise me to be religious. The closest we come to worship is the Trinity of Visa, MasterCard, and American Express. I think the Merryweather cheerleaders confuse me because I missed out on Sunday School. It has to be a miracle. There is no other explanation. Howe else could they sleep with the football team on Saturday night and be reincarnated as virginal goddess on Monday?”
  • When Melinda goes to the mall and finds that it is closed, she thinks, “It’s always supposed to be there, like milk in the refrigerator or God.”
  • A girl Melinda knows is “experimenting with Islam. She wears a scarf on her head and some brown-and-red gauzy harem pants.”

The Assassination of Bragwain Spurge

Elf historian Bragwain Spurge accepts a dangerous mission to catapult across the mountains, spy on the goblins, and deliver a peace offering to the goblins’ dark lord. No other elf has returned for the goblins’ land, but Spurge is determined to be the first.

Spurge’s host, goblin archivist Werfel, is excited to show the goblin culture to his guest. Instead of being great friends like Werfel had hoped, Spurge’s snobbish attitude and sneaky ways lead to an international crisis. Soon, the two are fugitives fighting for their lives. But in order to survive, and keep their nations from war, the two will need to put their cultural differences aside and work together.

A unique political story, The Assassination of Bragwain Spurge, is told from three points of view.  Werfel tells his version of events in first-person text; the pride and love he feels for his culture and his people shines throughout the entire story. Lord spymaster Ysoret Clivers writes reports to the elves’ leader, which allows the reader to understand lies that were told to Spurge. Spurge transmits pictures of his side of the story back to the elf kingdom. The beautiful, sometimes hilarious, black-and-white illustrations portray the goblin culture from Spurge’s perspective, often making the goblin world appear frightening.

Spurge’s story begins with illustrations of his travel to the goblin’s city. Because the story is told from three points of view, the same events can be seen through different perspectives, which allows the reader to understand how so many misunderstandings can take place between two people. Spurge portrays the goblins as frightening monsters, who leer at him and have disgusting habits. Despite Spurge’s conceited attitude, Werfel makes an excellent host, who is willing to die for the unlikable, unfriendly guest.

Many readers will relate to Spurge, who was bullied throughout school. Spurge has always been “the weed: unwanted by anyone.” Spurge accepted the dangerous mission because “I thought I would be useful. . . I thought I could be different than I was. I thought I could be one of them.” He is heartbroken when he realizes that he was used. Werfel points out that “just because you’re useful to the wealthy doesn’t mean they’ll reward you. It just means they’ll use you.” Spurge’s heartbreak and hurt make his previous behavior understandable.

Spurge and Werfel are not necessarily heroes, but in the end they band together to help bring peace between their people. The conclusion allows the reader to know that there is always the possibility of peace when two people begin to understand each other’s culture. The action-packed, visually inspiring, and funny tale teaches the value of friendship and understanding others’ perspectives. The Assassination of Bragwain Spurge will draw in readers because of the many illustrations; however, only dedicated readers will make it to the end of the book because of the changing points of views, the complexity of the plot, and the length of the story.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • While giving the history of the goblin city of Tenebrion, Ysoret Clivers writes about twelve elves who went into the city. Only two came back alive, “but raving mad—unable to explain the horrors they’d seen, and not just because their tongues had been cut out. Their minds had been blasted.”
  • When being introduced to a goblin family, the host tells Spurge, “I, for one, am going to try right now to forget all the elves I killed in all sorts of ways during the war, and I am not going to think of all of my friends you people shot and stabbed and cut apart. Oh, and burned from the air. And imprisoned without food.” Another guest tells Spurge, “When most goblins took elfin prisoners, they cut off their arms at the elbow. Not me, sir. . . I always cut off your people’s hands right at the wrists.”
  • When Spurge was a child, the other boys would tease him. Ysoret Clivers and the other boys, “burned his desk with him tied to it . . . (and) dragged him down to the crypt and forced him to eat grave-worms or have his pale little head kicked in.”
  • When Ysoret Clivers displeases the king, a bodyguard cuts off his finger. “He spread my hand out on my desk and, taking out his ax—” By the end of the book, Ysoret Clivers has lost three fingers.  When the third finger is removed, blood splatters the page, but it is not described.
  • Spurge and Werfel are surrounded by bandits, who make the goblin give up his clothes. The bandit grabs Spurge, and “she spit in the elf’s face, then threw him backward to the floor. . . She kicked Spurge as hard as she could. Spurge writhed in pain.” Werfel stops the bandit from killing Spurge. But then “the goblins surrounded them, jabbing at them with short swords and knives, forcing them back toward the balcony railing and the darkness beyond it. . .” The bandits push the two off the balcony, but they are uninjured. The attack is described over a chapter.
  • A goblin challenges Spurge to a duel. The battle is described in 19 pages’ pictures. The goblin attacks Spurge with a mace, but Spurge is able to defeat him.
  • An elf knight hits Werfel’s pet. “One of the guards swung a sword and hit her with the flat. Werfel heard the crunch. Skardebek went whirling over their heads and hit the ground. She lay there twitching as the knights pulled their two prisoners away.
  • Werfel’s pet helps him and Spurge escape from the elves. “She darted forward and clamped herself angrily over the executioner’s hooded face. He gagged and clutched at her. . . Skardebek flapped away—and Spurge slammed the guard over the head with the pike. The man collapsed.”
  • As Werfel and Spurge are trying to escape, a knight sees them. There is a brief altercation. “Werfel grabbed his weapon. He shoved his hand over the man’s mouth. . . Skardebek flapped in his face and he choked. . .” Spurge hit “the guard in the stomach. The picket guard fell backward, the breath knocked out of him.”
  • When the elves and goblins’ leaders meet, a weapon detonates and explodes. The leaders and their armies disappear into a black hole. The meeting is described in pictures.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • To welcome Spurge, the elfin scholar, to the goblin city, a champagne fountain is prepared.

Language

  • When the goblins consider someone a friend, they insult them by calling them names. Spurge calls a neighbor’s children “little jerks” and “awful spawn.”
  • If the goblin’s find out Werfel is a spy, Ysoret Clivers writes that “we can claim that he was just a nincompoop or a madman.”
  • A goblin challenges Spurge to a duel, calling him a “cowardly, lily-livered, stitch-faced desperado.”

Supernatural

  • Spurge uses a communication spell to send pictures back to the elves. “Werfel could tell it was a spell because the elf was floating several inches above the bed, surrounded by crackling sparks.”

Spiritual Content

  • When a group of angry goblins surrounds Spurge and Werfel, Werfel “clenched his hands and started to say a prayer to Great Rugwith.”

The Roar of the Crowd

Manny has always been a star on the soccer team. This year, he has decided to try football instead. Manny is determined to get in the game even though it’s his first year as part of the Hudson City Hornets. Manny doesn’t want to sit on the bench, but compared to the other guys, Manny isn’t big. When he tries to tackle the offense, he ends up eating dirt. When the team loses, the coach sits Manny on the bench. Manny needs to prove that he is as tough as anyone else out on the field. Can he prove to his coach, his teammates, and himself that he belongs on the field?

Sports lovers will enjoy the play-by-play football action, both during the games and on the practice field. Many boys will relate to Manny because even though he is small, he still wants to make an impact on the field. Manny knows he is fast, but he worries because, “the other players had everything that he didn’t have—strength, height, confidence.” Throughout the story, the football players appreciate Manny’s efforts and even consider him part of the team, even though he sat on the bench for the entire game.

Although the story focuses on football, Manny’s family also appears frequently. Manny’s two-parent family is portrayed in a positive light. Manny’s little brother adores him, which adds depth to the family dynamics. One drawback of the story is a brief conversation in which Manny and another boy talk about a girl who is “short but built.” During the conversation, the boy makes it seem as if every girl in school “is after” the star football player. Because many children model behavior in books, parents may want to have a conversation about this event.

The simple plot and easy-to-understand vocabulary make The Roar of the Crowd an easy read for younger readers. Readers will learn the importance of focusing on an individual’s strength and never giving up. However, there are better sports books for younger readers, such as Soar by Joan Bauer or the Ballpark Mystery series by David A. Kelly.

Sexual Content

  • Another boy tells Manny that a girl is “out of your league.” The boy said that she is “after Firorelli” who is a football player. The boy jokes that the girl “can probably run him down faster than you could.” The boy thinks that “every girl in the school seems to be after him (Fiorelli).”

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • When Manny was tackled, he said “crap.”
  • When someone shoved Manny, he said “screw you.”
  • A football player said “crud.”
  • The boys say butt occasionally, such as “Get ready to sprint your butt off, man.” Manny also told his friend that he “ran my butt off.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Manny and his family attend mass on Sunday morning. “But all during the sermon he thought about those kickoffs, how he’d been so overpowered by the blockers.”

 

My Father’s Words

A terrible accident takes the life of Fiona and Finn’s father. Lost in grief, a friend suggests Fiona and Finn volunteer at an animal shelter. They meet two dogs that need their comfort. As Fiona and Finn help the dogs, they reflect on their father’s words.

Beautifully written, My Father’s Words will captivate readers from the beginning. Being told from Fiona’s point of view allows the story to focus on the family’s grief and how each member of the family responds differently to grief. Fiona worries that her brother has lost his ability to laugh. Introducing the two shelter animals adds heart as well as a little bit of humor.

Fiona and Finn’s father’s caring attitude and wisdom come through as Fiona and Finn think about his actions and words. Finn struggles with whom to blame for the accident that killed his father, but in the end, he realizes, “I can’t blame her anymore. I can’t blame her little boy. And I can’t blame my father.” Finn comes to accept that his father’s death was an accident, and no one was at fault. The story imparts another lesson when Fiona recalls how her father taught her that when a problem can’t be solved, you need to be able to let go.

The two siblings face varied emotions—love, anger, blame, and concern for others. As they process their emotions, they learn the importance of helping others. One of Duncan’s patients, Thomas, helps Fiona with her own grief; through their phone calls Fiona reexamines her belief that Thomas was a “nut case.”

Simple words, short sentences, dialogue, and short paragraphs—many are only one sentence—make the story accessible to younger children. However, because of the topic of death, My Father’s Words would be a good book to read with an adult, who can understand the emotional impact of losing a parent. Anyone, regardless of age, would benefit from reading My Father’s Words since it shows how a loved one is never truly gone. This emotionally engaging story will leave readers in tears, but also with the feeling of hope.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Declan’s will said that he wanted people to “eat cake, drink champagne, and play basketball” at his funeral.

Language

  • Fiona thinks that one of her father’s patients is a “nut case.” Once her father heard her call someone a “nut case” and he “talked to me about the dignity of people.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soof

Aurora knows all the Heidi stories. All of her life, Aurora has heard about Heidi and how Heidi brought her family luck. But sometimes Aurora thinks her mother doesn’t feel so lucky to have her as a daughter. Her mom thinks she’s weird and wants her to have friends. Aurora has her dog, Duck, as a best friend, and Duck’s friendship is enough.

When Aurora’s mom announces that Heidi is coming for a visit, everything changes. Her mom is obsessed with making everything perfect for Heidi’s visit. Right before Heidi’s visit, bad luck hits the family. When a fire damages their house, Duck disappears, and Aurora and her mother begin fighting like alley cats.

Aurora knows her mother believes in Soof, which means love. But she’s left wondering if her mother loves Heidi more than her.

Although Soof is the companion novel to So B. It, Soof can be read as a stand-alone novel. However, reading So B. It will help readers understand the relationship between Aurora’s mother and Heidi. Soof, which is told from Aurora’s point of view, focuses on Aurora’s struggle to feel loved. Aurora doesn’t mind being labeled as “weird” and not having friends; however, her mother has taken her to several doctors to see if she is “on the spectrum.” Aurora sometimes wonders if her mother was hoping to have a daughter like Heidi, not a weird daughter like herself.

Aurora is a complex character who understands herself, yet still feels insecure. The interactions between Aurora and her family drive the story. Her imperfect family is portrayed in a positive light. Even though Aurora’s family loves each other, the reader can understand why Aurora feels threatened by Heidi’s visit.

 So much of the story focuses on Aurora’s internal conflict that the story lacks action. Although Aurora and her parents are interesting characters, the complicated family issues that drive the story may be difficult for younger readers to understand. For readers who are interested in family dynamics, Soof would be a good choice. So much time is spent building suspense around Heidi’s visit that the short interaction between Heidi and Aurora is a disappointment.

Soof teaches the importance of communication as well as accepting yourself, even if others think you are weird. The satisfying conclusion of the story will leave readers with a smile and a feeling of hope. The easy vocabulary and short sentences make Soof an easy read; however, the story will be best suited for readers who are ready to delve into the interpersonal relationships of families.

 Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • On Aurora’s parents’ anniversary, her parents have champagne with dinner and Aurora has sparkling cider. During dinner they, “clinked glasses, and after a few more toasts my parents were both a little tipsy and I was ready for bed.”
  • Aurora and her mom meet a woman who is smoking a cigarette.

Language

  • Aurora’s dad says “darn” once.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • When Aurora is looking for her dog she says, “Dear Saint Anthony, please come around, something’s lost that must be found.”

 

In Plain Sight

Megan, who has moved all over the country, knows how to make friends. Now living in Las Vegas, Megan “Cause Queen” Caliente organizes a protest, where she is detained by police. When her mother comes to pick her up from jail, the police arrest her mother. Megan discovers that her mother has been living under an assumed name, and her father is a convicted terrorist.

Megan’s life is suddenly turned upside down. Her friends turn against her, and gossip spreads like fire. Megan struggles to understand her mother’s decisions. She also wonders if she will follow in her father’s footsteps.

Written from Megan’s point of view, In Plain Sight focuses on Megan’s journey to understand her mother’s choices as well as how her father’s terrorist act will affect the person she becomes. After people discover who her father is, Megan must deal with gossip, and one student shouts, “Muslim go home!” Suddenly, Megan is stereotyped as an extremist and some of her friends abandon her.

Throughout the story, Megan learns about the impact of choices. Her friend Matt shares his own troubled background and teaches Megan that genetics don’t determine who you become. Matt tells Megan, “Everything in life is a choice . . . You can choose to be you. Or you can let someone else choose for you.” This theme is reinforced when Morgan struggles to deal with her father’s deadly actions and decides to go to a memorial for those who her father killed. While there, a girl whose father died in the bombing, tells Megan, “. . .but if you came here looking for forgiveness, you’re not going to get it. . . It’s not yours to get. . . You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Written as a part of the Orca Soundings books, which are specifically written for teens, In Plain Sight is a fast-paced book that looks at the timely issue of terrorism in a teen-friendly manner. Teens will enjoy this high-interest, easy-to-read story.

Sexual Content

  • Megan is upset when she finds out who her father is. In anger, she yells at her mom, “Well, sharing that [a computer] got you into a shit-load of trouble. And sharing your body got you pregnant.”
  • Megan and Matt go on a road trip. They sleep in the vehicle for the night. When they get out their sleeping bags, Matt suggests, “Why don’t we zip them together?” When Megan declines, Matt said, “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • During a protest, Megan saw a tourist with a can of Coors Light.
  • Megan’s “big love is current events, not parties and weed.”
  • Megan’s aunt drinks a glass of wine.
  • Matt tells Megan, “I’m the son of a guy who dealt drugs for a living, and you don’t see me selling the white stuff.”

Language

  • Profanity is scattered throughout the book and includes ass, bitch, crap, damn, hell, pissed, and shit.
  • “Oh my god” and “my god” are each used as an exclamation once.
  • Someone calls Megan a “lying hag.”
  • A police officer tells a protester, “Stay where you are and stop being a smart ass. . .”
  • When Megan’s friend is goofing off, she thinks, “He’s such a smart ass.”
  • Megan makes a huge mistake and tells her mom she won’t do it again. Her mom replies, “Damn right you won’t do it again.”
  • When Megan yells at her mother, she thinks, “I know I’m being a bitch. . .”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Chemistry Lesson

Maya has her summer all planned. She has an internship at MIT and the perfect boyfriend, but before the summer fun can start, Maya’s boyfriend breaks up with her. Maya, who is still grieving her mother’s death, has one thing on her mind—getting Whit back.

When Maya finds her mother’s old notebooks, she thinks she’s discovered the perfect way to get her boyfriend back. With the help of her mother’s lab intern, Ann, Maya makes a love serum. But before Maya can use it on Whit, she needs to test out the serum on two test subjects. Maya embarks on an adventure that leads her to discover the unpredictability of love.

The best part of Chemistry Lesson is the relationship Maya has with her best friend, Brian. Realistic, funny, and kind, Brian shows what true friendship should look like. Another positive relationship in the story is between Maya and her father. Both are trying to deal with the loss of Maya’s mother and struggle with the grieving process.

Although the storyline has an interesting premise, Maya’s willingness to ignore moral codes to get Whit back seems farfetched. Whit’s early disappearance from the story leaves the reader wondering why Whit is worth all of the effort to create a love potion. For a person who is so smart when it comes to science, Maya is completely clueless when it comes to guys. By completing the experiment, Maya does learn about herself and others, but her naivety when it comes to boy-girl relationships comes off as false.

Chemistry Lesson is a quick, easy read that has a diverse cast of characters. Even though the story focuses on a love potion, the love scenes won’t stir up much emotion. For those looking for a fun, unique love story, Chemistry Lesson will hit the mark.

Sexual Content

  • Brian is gay, but the only reference to his sexuality is when Maya asked, “Were you ever this upset about Matt?”
  • Maya’s aunt has a female partner “of more than 20 years.” Pam tells Maya that when she “had crushes on women and men while I was with Pam,” but because she was older, she was “able to ignore the crushes.”
  • Maya’s friend Yael told Maya “how a woman she’d met in undergrad pursued her for months only to dump her for a guy on the rugby team.”
  • Maya and her boyfriend, Whit, decided “we’d have sex in four weeks—once Whit moved into off-campus housing, where he’d have his own room.” Maya was “unable to stop myself from imagining what was going to happen in less than a month.”
  • When Maya’s boyfriend breaks up with her, her friend tells her, “This whole ‘losing my virginity thing is a heteronormative concept anyway.”
  • Maya makes out with Kyle. The scene is described over three pages. As they kiss, “He tipped me back so that my head rested against a couch pillow, and then he was half on top of me, one leg on the couch, one on the floor. . . He shifted so that his knee fell in between my legs.” Maya stops Kyle. Then he said, “This kind of thing happens all the time in college.”
  • Maya thinks back to visiting Whit at college where, “I’d seen students bring strangers back to their rooms and then say goodbye forever the next morning.”
  • One of Maya’s friends “hooked up with one of the techs from next door.”
  • Maya makes out with a boy at a party. “He pulled me close and hugged me, and I reciprocated with my arms around him. Then I felt a tickling wetness on my neck. . . He put one hand on my butt like it was no big deal . . . I couldn’t do much besides keep my mouth open as his tongue began wagging from side to side inside it.” The scene is described over four pages.
  • Someone tells Maya, “sometimes the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else.”
  • When Maya is in Whit’s room, she teases him for having Bananagrams in his nightstand. She says, “You’re supposed to have condoms and drugs in there.”

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • For an experiment, Maya takes drops. When her friend catches her taking the drops, she tells him, “I’m ingesting a pheromones-masking formula to get Whit back.”
  • Maya thinks back to “the wine that Whit once stole from his parent’s liquor cabinet so we could share it on one of our first real dates.”
  • After dinner, Maya’s aunt poured her a “full glass of sweet wine.”
  • Maya goes to several parties where there was alcohol. At one, “Most of the kids were drinking beer procured by someone’s older brother.”
  • When trying to explain an experiment, one of the characters mentions Viagra.
  • Maya, her father, and her friend go to an outdoor play. Her father brought “water bottles filled with his special juice drink.” Maya’s father said, “I’m teaching her that alcohol isn’t something you consume in excess for the purposes of getting drunk.”
  • Maya goes to a party where teens are drinking and she “could see a pack of adults smoking something in a circle.”
  • When Maya hurts herself, she takes Percocet for the pain.

Language

  • When someone makes fun of Kyle’s singing, he “lifted his middle finger in our direction.”
  • When Maya visits her aunt, her aunt uses profanity including “goddamned.” The aunt’s accent is so thick that the curse words sounded like “fahckin’ or ‘gawhddamned.’”
  • “Oh my god” is used as an exclamation.
  • Profanity is used infrequently but includes bullshit, dammit, hell, and shit.
  • After Maya sings karaoke, her friend says, “you sounded like a fucking robot.”
  • “Jesus” is used once as an exclamation.
  • When Maya falls down, a guy says, “Holy shit, she’s down.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Since You’ve Been Gone

Emily was ready for summer. She had it all planned out: she and her best friend Sloane would find fun part-time jobs, go on weekend trips, and take everyday adventures together. However, everything changes when Sloane mysteriously disappears, leaving behind a list for Emily to accomplish. Seeing this as the only way to get her best friend back, Emily is determined to finish the list. The list contains thirteen tasks designed to push Emily’s comfort zone like “riding a horse” or, even scarier, “kissing a stranger.”

Emily embarks on a completely unexpected summer filled with risky exploits, play-writing parents, and new friends that allow her to discover who she is as an individual, not just half of a whole.  Since You’ve Been Gone is a delightful novel that makes the reader long for those days of summer that seemed endlessly filled with possibilities. Fans of Morgan Matson’s other books will be thrilled by this adorable adventure that is in her same spellbinding style.

This book is perfectly appropriate for teen readers and is relatable in many aspects through the struggles Emily faces to discover her individual identity. Nonetheless, there is a great deal of romance throughout the book and sexual content is found on several occasions, so parents of younger readers may heed caution. Despite this, Since You’ve Been Gone is a delightful book full of hilarious scenes in which the readers feel as though they are part of a group of friends. The characters and plot make Since You’ve Been Gone well worth reading.

Sexual Content

  • Sloane and Emily make a plan to find “summer boys.”
  • A boy absentmindedly stares at Sloane when she is at a craft fair, and he unknowingly picks up a macaroni necklace during his entrance of her beauty.
  • Items on Sloane’s list include skinny dipping and kissing a stranger.
  • When Emily goes to The Orchard, a popular hangout place, a couple of parks next to her car and “started furiously making out in the front seat.”
  • When Emily sees Frank lift up his shirt to reveal his surprisingly ripped abs, she “felt my feet tingle.”
  • When Emily meets Dawn for the first time, Dawn is crying about the fact that her boyfriend is cheating on her with her best friend.
  • Sloane’s boyfriend, Sam, was “sliding his arms around Sloane’s waist and kissing her cheek.”
  • Emily’s parents’ play has a kissing scene that Emily and Frank almost have to perform.
  • Emily makes out with a stranger in the small pantry of Frank’s house. “His lips were on mine . . . he wrapped his arms around my waist, and started kissing me for real . . . And soon I was kissing him back, my pulse racing and my breath catching in my throat, his hands twined in my hair. It was only when his hands slipped under the hem of my shirt . . . that I came out of the make-out trance.”
  • Emily’s former boyfriend Gideon is a “good kisser.” They kiss a few times in the book.
  • Sam kisses Emily, making Sloane break up with him.
  • Emily and Frank kiss in her car as the rain is pouring down on them through the sunroof. “And it was a kiss that felt like it could stop time . . . We were kissing like it was a long-forgotten language that we’d once been fluent in and we were finding again, kissing like it was the only thing either of us had wanted to do for a long, long time, kissing with the urgency of the rain that was pounding down all around us . . . His hands were tangled in my hair, then touching my bare back, and I was shivering in a way that didn’t have anything to do with the cold.”
  • At the conclusion of the novel, Frank and Emily engage in a passionate kiss that is not described in detail.

Violence

  • When attempting to break into her own house, Sloane falls over the windowsill and lands “with a thump that I could hear even from the ground.”
  • A character commits arson in the play Bug Juice that Emily’s parents wrote.
  • Frank hits Collins on the back affectionately and Emily remarks, “I had no idea why boys, when they become affectionate, got violent.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • At the apple orchard where many parties are held, there are ladders, and “only the bravest‒or drunkest‒people ventured up them.”
  • The Orchard is described as having, “a small group smoking. There was a keg and a stack of red Solo cups, an open cooler at his feet.”
  • Emily gets a cup of beer that was “mostly. . . a cup of foam.” She “took a tiny sip, wincing at the warm, metallic taste, wondering how much longer I had to stay.”
  • Collins hits on a girl who is, “smoking a cigarette and talking on her phone.”
  • Sloane acquires fake IDs for herself and Emily to go into a bar and hear one of their favorite bands perform. Emily does not go in the first time, but returns after Sloane has gone missing. Within the bar, she sees “the shelves of liquor stretched up almost to the ceiling.” When she orders a diet coke, the bartender asks her if she wants it “with rum,” to which she refuses.
  • At Frank’s birthday party, Emily gets tipsy.
  • When Emily sleeps over at Sloane’s house, she is sent to get a bottle of wine from the fridge for them to drink while they binge watch Psychic Vet Tech.

Language

  • Phrases using the word “god” as an exclamation are used frequently.
  • Profanity is used frequently throughout the novel. Profanity includes holy crap, hell, and damn.
  • Collins jokingly insults Frank and says, “You complete moron. I thought I was going to have to get the ladder and pull you out like a damn cat!”
  • Emily thinks that some people at a party think that she is a “narc.”
  • A girl in a bar says, “Jared has been cheating on me with some skank named Penelope.”
  • Frank says to Emily, “Don’t be stupid.”

Supernatural

  • When thinking of Sloane’s mysterious disappearance, Emily says, “I was negotiating with some cosmic dealer who could guarantee this for me.”
  • An example of the trivial text exchanges between Sloane and Emily is, “Have you noticed it’s been a while since anyone’s seen the Loch Ness monster?”

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Morgan Filgas

Resistance

Chaya Linder is living in Nazi-occupied Poland. Her Jewish family is in danger. Her sister is deported to one of the camps and her brother disappears. After losing their two children, Chaya’s parents have given up hope. In an effort to make a difference, Chaya becomes a courier and travels between the ghettos of Poland. She takes lifesaving supplies like forged papers and food. Sometimes, she even smuggles out children.

When Chaya joins a resistance cell, she hopes to use the Nazis’ supplies to help her people. When a mission goes wrong, most of Chaya’s network is killed or captured. Alone, with nowhere to go, Chaya isn’t sure what to do. When Esther, a former member of her cell, appears, Chaya begins a journey to the Warsaw Ghetto where a large uprising is being planned. Chaya is determined to save as many lives as possible, even if she loses her own life. Her only desire is to live or die with honor.

Told from Chaya’s point of view, Resistance gives the reader a grim picture of the persecution Jews received during World War II. The story begins with suspense, which continually builds as Chaya survives her ordeals, while many of the other resistance members are killed. Many of the events are violent, and although they are not described in bloody detail, death is common. Although the publisher recommends the book for ages 8-12, the descriptions of death and torture would make this a difficult book for younger readers.

As Chaya’s world crumbles around her, the reader gets a better understanding of why some Jews did not fight back. Some of the Jewish people were so overcome by fear, or some didn’t believe the stories of the death camps, so they didn’t fight back. Others refused to fight because they believed that killing was wrong—even if they were fighting to save their own life. Several times in the story, the characters discuss the morality of killing the Nazi soldiers. In the end, the story makes it clear that leaving the Ghetto in order to survive, or staying in the Ghetto are both valid choices. “We’ll all die one day, no one escapes that fate. Our only decision is how we live before that day comes. Our path requires courage, but so does theirs. Both paths are ways to resist.”

As Chaya and Esther travel to Warsaw, they meet people from all lifestyles and religions. This helps the reader understand people’s different responses to the Jews. Some of the Poles ignored the problem, while others took advantage of the Jewish people, and even physically attacked them. Yet, there were still many Poles that risked their lives to help save the Jews. In the end, the story shows that there were evil people as well as good people who were willing to die fighting.

Resistance ends with the events of the Warsaw Uprising, which gives the reader a vivid description of the death of many civilians, and resistance fighters. The cruelty of the Nazis and the heroic deeds of the Jews are depicted. Although the story gives a historic perspective, sensitive readers may be upset by the death the surrounds Chaya and the Jewish people. Resistance ends with a list of the historical resistance fighters who fought for their people and should be considered heroes.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Chaya’s father is stopped by a Polish police officer who, “ripped out pieces of my father’s beard, one fistful at a time. With every tear, my father grunted with pain, but he said nothing and offered no form of resistance. The crowd that had gathered pointed at him and laughed, as if humiliation and pain were some kind of joke.”
  • Chaya and some others were stealing provisions from a train car when “a gunshot rang through the night and Jukub yelped with pain.” Charya shot a Nazi soldier who was “running toward us with his pistol out, shouting for his comrades.”
  • The resistant fighters attack a café. One threw a grenade through the window. Soldiers, “began to emerge, many with obvious cuts on their faces or uniforms. They became the target of my first grenade. . . My third went inside the café and exploded with enough force to blow some of the bricks off the building.” The surviving Nazis began shooting, and Chaya “saw bodies in civilian clothes fall.”
  • Some of the resistance fighters who survived were sent to Montelupich Prison were, “If the Draengers were there, then they had experienced torture worse than anything I could imagine, and even what I could picture turned my stomach. They would be kept at the edge of death in an attempt to make them talk.”
  • While in a ghetto, Esther drops potatoes, and “two desperate women suddenly became five, and then all of them fought for anything that was left. To get it off Esther’s shoulders, one woman knelt on her back. They were suffocating Esther, but the only thing that seemed to be in their vision was the bag.”
  • When Chaya and Esther are trying to escape from a ghetto, a boy who is helping them is shot. “Henryk hadn’t yet shut the window before a bullet caught him from behind. He fell forward across the windowsill. . .”
  • When Esther is hiding in a barn, the Gestapo finds her. “Ester was hit again and probably knocked unconscious, because she made no other sounds.”
  • In order to create a distraction and save Esther, Chaya cuts the gas line to the Nazi’s trucks and then lights the gas on fire. The gas, “immediately ignited a booming fire that popped the truck’s hood open and set the engine aflame . . . The last truck exploded into the air with a booming sound that would be heard for kilometers around.”
  • When Chaya found Esther, she was tied to a tree’s trunk. When Chaya got closer, “I noticed the bruise was even worse than it appeared from a distance. There was a cut on her cheek too, and other smaller bruises on her neck and probably elsewhere that I couldn’t see.” Esther’s arm was injured as well.
  • Esther recounts what the Gestapo did to her. She was put in a dark room, and “someone slapped me or hit me to get my attention, and they were telling me what would happen if I didn’t talk.”
  • The end of the story focuses on the Warsaw uprising, the description of the battle is told over ten chapters. The resistance fighters throw Molotov Cocktails on the soldiers. When the first explosives were thrown, “bodies fell, and the troops who survived it scattered.” During the battle, Esther threw a “fuel-filled wine bottle” onto a tank, and “the top hatch burst open like a popped cork. Flames shot from within the tank.”
  • During the battle, the Nazis “found the hospital. . . They killed everyone inside. Revenge for our fighting.” How the patients died was not described, but Chaya thinks, “I didn’t want to know, or think about it.”
  • The Nazis have a long-barrel machine gun that they use to kill the Jews. A sniper killed the gunner, “who kneeled over his gun, dead.” Chaya throws a grenade at the vehicle and “the explosion knocked me off my feet.”
  • The Germans escorted civilians and “each was placed on their knees, row by row by row. . . A fighter rose from her knees with a gun. . . She took aim at one of the commanding officers and fired, hitting him squarely in the chest.” Then an officer “gave the order to shoot and every Jew on the street was killed.”
  • Chaya is shot in the leg. When she looks at the wound, she “saw blood spurting from my thigh, almost like everything was happening in sudden slow motion.”
  • When a SS officer sees Chaya, “his hand unfolded, revealing a grenade. . . He pulled the pin and raised his arm to throw it. Then a bullet whizzed past my ear, hitting the grenade itself, which exploded in his hand.”
  • German soldiers would throw poison gas grenades into the sewer system, just in case Jews were hiding in there. As Chaya and a group were trying to escape, poisoned gas was thrown into the sewer, and “Then I heard a splash, and in the light beneath the manhole, I saw Mr. Pilzer’s body go down. He didn’t fall like a dead body would. Instead, he used himself as a shield from the gas, deliberately spreading out his clothes to contain as much of the smoke as possible.”
  • Esther intentionally leads a soldier away from a group of Jews. “A few minutes later, the silent darkness was broken by a single shot fired inside the sewer line.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Several times during religious services, people passed around wine.
  • Chaya thinks that on Adolf Hitler’s birthday, he probably had, “a hearty slice of birthday cake to go with a glass of wine.”

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • As Chaya and Esther were hiding from Nazi soldiers, Chaya was upset that Esther did not do a better job as a lookout. Chaya thought, “Even God wouldn’t expect me to forgive her.”
  • During Shabbat, Chaya, “covered my eyes with my hands, giving myself a private moment with God to ask for healing, happiness, and prosperity.”
  • Chaya and Esther are about to take a trip, and Esther thinks the snow is a warning. Esther said, “Maybe God is telling us to wait one more evening.” Chaya replies, “Maybe God is offering to cover our tracks if we hurry.”
  • One of the characters tells Chaya, “The greater our need, the nearer our God, no?” A boy replies, “And God is very near now.”
  • Chaya asks a group of teens if they will try to escape the ghetto. A boy tells her, they will remain because “We’ve given our lives to God. Whatever happens to us now is alright.” The group discusses the moral implications of staying or trying to escape to fight. One of the group members tells Chaya, “The highest honor we can give God is to die in His name.” Another character said, “Defending one’s life in the moment is allowed. But killing them is different. That’s murder!”
  • Chaya and Esther discuss their belief in God and his promises. Chaya said, “I believe in God’s promises. . . But I’ve run out of patience waiting for them. I believe in God’s laws, but. . .” They also discuss if killing Nazis is murder. One of Chaya’s friends believed that “God has given us the right to defend ourselves.”
  • When Chaya and Esther miss Shabbat, Ester is upset. Chaya tells her, “God will understand, Esther! He understands why we missed Shabbat, and why I wear the crucifix. He understands the gun inside my bag, and if I have to use it again, then I hope He will understand that too . . .”
  • The evening before Passover, a group discussed God. One of the men, Tamir, gave encouraging words, “Didn’t Moses once say to our people, ‘Be strong and courageous! God is the one Who goes with you.”  Chaya thinks that Tamir was “giving praise and honor to a God who might not save him from his fate. But he did so, confident that this coming fight was worthy of God’s blessings.”
  • Esther found a belt buckle in one of the Nazi soldier’s bags. The buckle had an “eagle standing on top of the Nazi swastika” with the words “God With Us.” Chaya thinks about how the Christians are beginning to prepare for Easter. She thinks, “how could these soldiers commit such atrocities on this day, all while wearing an emblem that suggested God supported their actions?”
  • An escaped prisoner tells Chaya, “Hitler wants no Gods other than himself.”

 

Screenshot

Skye had big plans for her life, including getting a summer internship at Senator Watston’s office. Sky makes sure that her social media account always reflects her best self. Then her best friend, Asha, posts an embarrassing video of Skye at a sleepover. Once the post is deleted, Skye thinks everything will be all right.

When Skye gets a threatening text, with a screenshot from the video attached, she’s afraid her carefully crafted image will be ruined. The person threatens to share the embarrassing photo if Skye doesn’t do whatever they say. How far will Skye go to keep the picture under wraps? And who is trying to ruin her life?

Teens will relate Skye as she faces many real-life issues that come with being a teen in a world obsessed with social media. Screenshot tackles real issues that teens face including body image, dating, changing friendships, and online bullying. Most of the book is written from Skye’s point of view, which allows readers to understand her confusion and anguish. However, other parts of the story awkwardly switch to a third-person point of view. This adds depth to the story as it allows the readers to see into the lives of other characters and understand their struggles.

The one drawback to the story is the relationship between Skye, Emma, and Asha. The three girls have been “inseparable” since they were ten years old. However, after the beginning of the book, the three friends rarely have any interaction. The fact that they all are keeping secrets from each other, have negative feelings about each other and don’t encourage each other, makes it hard to feel invested in their friendship. In the end, the reader is left wondering why the three girls were friends in the first place. In the end, Skye learns to be more confident and less consumed with her image. She also learns the importance of standing up for herself.

As Skye struggles with her own image, she begins to see other teens differently and realizes that outward appearance can be deceiving. The easy-to-read story has engaging dialogue, short sentences, and text messages scattered throughout. For those looking for a quick, entertaining story that won’t make you think too much, Screenshot will hit the mark.

Sexual Content

  • Luke is Skye’s “first real boyfriend. The first guy who ever kissed me in the school hallway.”
  • Luke and Skye kiss three times, but the kisses are never described. For example, Skye gave Luke “a quick kiss on the lips.”
  • Ryan’s cousin found out that “Ryan had never had an actual girlfriend. He’d gone on dates-to school dances and movies-and had even kissed a couple of girls.”
  • Skye talked to her best friend about everything including her, “first kiss I shared with Ned Blakely behind the gym in middle school.”
  • Skye has a new boyfriend. When he comes over, “I kiss him full on the lips. Soft. Tentative . . . My head feels fuzzy and I can hardly breathe.” After that first kiss, “he finds my mouth and kisses me again. I melt into his body. This feels so different from when Luke and I would kiss. But different in a good way.” They jerk apart when Skye’s sister walks into the room.

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Skye goes to a pizza shop full of college students and “the place is full of empty beer glasses.”

Language

  • “Oh God” and “OMG” are used as exclamations several times.
  • One of the character’s father calls his wife a “stupid idiot.” The father yells, “Why would anyone marry such an ignorant pig? Look at yourself.”

Supernatural

  • Ryan’s grandmother wants to move because “there’s an old white woman ghost that hangs out in the hallway near the bathroom . . . Ghost aren’t a laughing matter to my Lola. That’s why she wants new construction. No ghosts.”

Spiritual Content

  • A Kmart employee used to give other employees samples of lattes “until a cashier told him that was practically stealing. Mr. King is super active in the New Life Baptist Church. So I no longer get free caffeine samples and Mr. King has to pray a little extra for his generosity.”
  • Skye thinks her friend doesn’t need to work out because, “for some weird reason only known to the god of genetics, she doesn’t have to.”

Tell

David isn’t sad that his stepfather is dead. However, he didn’t expect to become the prime suspect of his murder. The detective investigating the case is convinced that David is keeping secrets—and he’s right. David knows the truth about his stepfather’s death. But can he convince the police that he’s not guilty of shooting his stepfather and leaving him to die?

Tell, published by Orca Book Publishers, is specifically written for teens who want to read short, high-interest novels.  The story focuses on David and his struggles with his stepfather, Phil. The easy-to-read story shows the harsh realities of life without going into graphic descriptions. Even though David tells his own story, the mystery of his stepfather’s death leaves the reader wondering if David is actually the murderer.

The suspenseful story has a dark undertone. David struggles with his brother’s death, his mother’s deceit, and his stepfather’s manipulation. As David interacts with his mother, her uncaring and lying nature becomes obvious. In the end, Tell shows that sometimes the monsters in people’s lives are the ones living under their own roof. The sad ending can lend itself to some good discussion between parent and child.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • David’s brother, Jamie, “drowned when he was eight years old.”
  • David thinks Phil intentionally let his brother die. David said, “Phil could have saved him. Phil was right there. He was a good swimmer. He could have saved Jamie, but instead, he did nothing.”
  • After Phil goes to an ATM, a man approaches him. “Phil shoved him away and swore at him. He turned away from the guy. Then I saw the guy take out a gun. He pointed it at Phil . . . The guy shot him.” When David approached Phil, “he was making a sort of gurgling sound . . . Then Phil stopped making that noise. . . and I ran.” David didn’t get Phil help because Phil didn’t help his brother.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Throughout the story, people talk about how David’s stepfather would drink beer. Sometimes he goes to the bar and drinks. He would also play poker with his friends and they would drink beer.
  • David said that Phil carried the picture of his dead brother around because “he got a lot of sympathy from it. One time he told me he got a lot of free drinks too . . .”
  • Jack, a friend of David’s mother, “took a quick gulp of beer” while he was talking to Dave. Jack is also seen drinking beer several times in the story.

Language

  • Profanity is used a few times. “Ass” is used once. “Damn” and “pissed” are each used twice. When Phil gets home from work, his stepson would act up, which “really pissed Phil off. . . “
  • A character said Phil could be a “jerk.” Later, David said he “wanted his mom to know what kind of jerk she married.”
  • Phil calls David a “pain in the ass.”
  • “Oh my god” is used as an exclamation once.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

City of Ghosts

A screech of wheels. The grip of freezing water. Death. When Cassidy almost drowns, everything changed. She can now enter the world of the dead. To make things stranger, her best friend, Jacob, is a ghost.

Cassidy didn’t think life could get more complicated. Then her parents agree to film a TV show about the world’s most haunted places and the family heads to Edinburgh, Scotland. Restless ghosts haunt the graveyards, castles, and even the pubs. When Cassidy meets another girl who can see the dead, Cassidy realizes she has a lot to learn. Cassidy soon discovers that in a city of ghosts, danger hides in unexpected places.

Victoria Schwab writes a creepy ghost story that is just the right balance of cuteness, chills, and charm. Scotland’s people and lore come to life as Cassidy visits the historical landmarks including Edinburgh Castle and Mary King’s Close. As Cassidy encounters different ghost stories, Scotland’s history unfolds.

Cassidy’s best friend, Jacob, is a fun addition to the cast of characters. Even though Cassidy has told her parents about Jacob, and Cassidy’s parents research haunted places, they do not believe in ghosts. Cassidy’s caring, quirky parents bring ironic humor to the story that middle school readers will understand.

City of Ghosts is the perfect ghost story for younger readers. The easy-to-read text contains short sentences and is a good blend of action, description, and dialogue. The Harry Potter references will delight readers. Although the plot contains only a few surprises, the story is still solid and engaging. Cassidy’s inquisitive mind and courage will draw the reader into the story. Her relationship with Jacob and her parents are an added bonus. City of Ghosts takes the reader on a spooky adventure that will be hard to forget.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • The narrator almost dies while riding her bike. She is on a bridge when “the truck whipped around the curve and hurtled toward me. I swerved out of the way, and so did the truck, tires screeching as my bike slammed into the railing hard enough to make sparks fly.” She goes into the river, where a boy ghost saves her.
  • A long time ago, a boy died in a school fire. The fire began during a school play. In a panic, the boy “shuffles on his hands and knees until he reaches the trap door (of the stage). . .He pulls the door up and climbs down into the dark just before a piece of burning set collapse on top of the stage, pining the trapdoor shut.”
  • When Cass enters the veil, she sees “a man being hauled toward a platform, where a noose hangs waiting.”
  • Cass’s dad explains how some people would rob graves and take the bodies to medical theaters so medical students could practice on them. Two men, “Decided that instead of digging up corpses, they would simply create their own. . . They murdered sixteen people before they were caught and tried . . .Burke was hanged, and then dissected in an anatomy theater, just as his victims had been.”
  • While in the veil, The Raven, a ghost who steals children, puts Cass under a spell. Then, “her fingers harden like claws. . . she thrust her hand straight into my chest. Cold rushes through me, a bone-chilling cold, worse than the bottom of the river. It feels like icy fingers wrapped around my heart.” She tears Cass’s life’s ribbon out of her chest. In order to come back alive, The Raven must dig up her corpse and place the life’s ribbon in her chest. Cass attempts to get her life’s ribbon back and the struggle is told over several chapters. Cass crawls into a grave, and when The Raven finds her, “The Raven grabs me and throws me out of the grave. . . I land hard on the ground. . . and hit a gravestone, knocking all the air out of my lungs.”
  • While in the veil, Cass sees a ghost who is on a platform, and “a course rope is cinched around his neck.” The execution doesn’t come.
  • Ghosts chase after Cass and Jacob. The ghost children “close in, opening their mouths, and instead of different voices coming out, there’s only one. The Raven’s. Her eerie hypnotic song pours from their lips.” The chase takes place over several chapters.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • One of the characters has two pints of beer—one for himself and one for his friend’s ghost.

Language

  • “Oh god” is used as an exclamation. When Cassidy’s parents want to talk to her, she thinks, “Oh god. I’m going to be a big sister.”

Supernatural

  • Jacob, a ghost who is attached to a living girl, is one of the main characters in the story.
  • Cass can see ghosts and cross the veil between the living and the dead. The narrator explains, “It takes a lot of spirit power for a ghost to reach across the Veil—the curtain between their world and ours. And the ghosts that have that kind of strength, they tend to be really old and not very nice. . . the dead grow strong on darker things. On pain and anger and regret.”
  • Lara casts a spell on a ghost and then reaches in and pulls the ribbon out “. . . The dark thread comes free in her hand, hanging limply from her fingers for a moment before crumbling away to ash. An instant later, the main crumbles, too, just . . . falls apart.” Later Lara explains that she sent him, “To the great unknown? To the silent side? To peace and quiet? Call it what you like. I sent him to the place beyond. Where he’s supposed to be.”
  • The Raven puts two teen boys under a spell. The boys “stand chest-deep in the grave. . . Their expressions are glassy, their breaths fogging as they shovel mound after mound of dirt out of the pit. . . “The boys dig up the Raven’s corpse.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Girl at the Grave

When Valentine was a child, her mother murdered a wealthy man. After her mother was hung at the gallows, Valentine was left in the care of her neglectful father. Forced to learn to care for herself, she lived in a ramshackle house and spent most of her time alone.

Now Valentine is a senior at the prestigious school, Drake Academy. Even though she has earned excellent grades, her mother’s death still haunts her. An outcast among the other students, Valentine relies on Sam’s friendship especially when a local man is murdered and people begin whispering that Valentine may be a murderer like her mother.

As Valentine searches for the truth behind her mother’s death, she soon finds that powerful people will do anything to keep their secrets. Unexpectedly, Rowan Blackshaw, the son of the man her mother murdered, begins spending time with her. Because of Rowan’s interest in Valentine, the other members of her school begin to include her in their group. Valentine longs to be accepted by society, but is acceptance worth burying the secrets of the past?

The first chapter grabs the reader’s attention by setting up the mystery, hinting that Valentine’s mother might have been innocent. Valentine and her two love interests are all well-developed. Because the story is told from Valentine’s point of view, the reader has the ability to understand and care about her struggle. Rowan’s character is an unexpected delight because he does not conform to the rich boy stereotype.

As Valentine begins to unravel the mystery of her mother’s death, her discoveries show the different motivations of some of the characters, which adds interest. When Valentine’s father and another woman disappear, the town sheriff, Valentine, and other town people seem uninterested in their disappearance, which seems unrealistic. The lack of drama that surrounded their disappearance made the discovery of their deaths anticlimactic.

The middle part of the book spent so much time on the love triangle that the mystery faded into the background. The ending of the book contained several surprises, which highlighted how far people will go to protect those they love. The fact that Valentine chooses to follow an unexpected path instead of marrying the boy of her dreams is an added bonus. In the end, what drives the story is Valentine’s personal struggle. Even though the story lacks danger and suspense, Girl at the Grave is an entertaining book that is worth reading.

Sexual Content

  • When Valentine pulls away and won’t let Sam kiss her, he says his brothers, “think I’m a right fool, letting you lead me around on a leash. They kiss a different girl every week.”
  • Valentine learns that her father “has a woman across town. When he’s not home, that’s where he is.”
  • Valentine spends time with Rowan. Once while he was at her house, he “reached around my waist. . . I tilted my head, making room for him at my shoulder, and he lingered there . . . If I moved at all, he would do the rest. I felt him wanting it, his lips poised over my skin, his heart only inches from mine. But my body sways with uncertainty.” They don’t kiss.
  • Valentine and Sam kiss twice. The first time, “I leaned forward and touched my lips to his in the kiss that should have happened a long time ago . . . our lips soon warmed and softened, our heads tilting into one another, his arms sliding around me.”
  • Rowan and Valentine kiss several times throughout the story. “He leaned closer and brushed his lips against mine. Just a touch, then drew back. . . Then he kissed me again—and this time our mouths immediately molded to one another, warm and perfectly fitted, as if our lips had been made for this purpose, for this tasting and breathing and exploring one another.”
  • When Valentine tells Rowan she loves him, he kisses her. He “drew me into his arms, kissing me before I could catch my breath. A desperate kiss. A starving kiss. . .”

Violence

  • Valentine’s mother shot a man. She was hung on the gallows three days later. Throughout the story, Valentine revisits the memory. When Mr. Blackshaw was shot, the sound of the shot came from “everywhere, jolting my bones and filling my nostrils with the burning stench of gunpowder. . . I see Mr. Blackshaw sway on his feet, looking startled, then topple slowly backward, landing hard on the walkway, his arms sprawled.
  • Valentine remembers when her mother “hangs by her neck from a rope, her head tilting and her eyes staring fixedly, her hands clasped behind her back. Her boots dangle motionlessly at the bottom of her best black dress.”
  • When Valentine was younger, the Frye boys would torment her by “chasing me in the schoolyard. . . They’d tied me to trees and stolen my mittens.”
  • Valentine finds Mr. Oliver on the floor with a gash in his head. Valentine, “held his cold cheeks and felt his life sliding away beneath my hands, his face sagging, his body relaxing.” Later, she finds out he was poisoned.
  • Mr. Fry hits his wife and kids. Valentine thinks, “I’d seen what a punch from one of his enormous fists could do; Sam had outgrown them, but not Mrs. Fry and the younger boys.”
  • Valentine finds her father’s dead body. He is “on his back, staring upward, his eyes wide but seeing nothing. Icy and damp, both frozen and thawed.” Later she finds out he was poisoned, probably when someone gave him “a swig of liquor.”
  • Birdy’s body was next to Valentine’s father’s body. “A dark gash split the back of her head, separating her thatch of short hair.”
  • A woman attacks Valentine. “She grabbed a kitchen knife and lunged. . . She lunged with a furious screech . . . her knife sliced my upper arm.” They both grab for the knife and fight for control of it. Valentine pushes the woman, and “she stumbled back with a cry, blood flowing from a deep gash above her eye.” The woman falls, “hitting her head with a loud crack, then she crumpled to the floor.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Alvina Lunt’s “drunken father had broken both legs.” While he was in the hospital, Alvina learned about the unfair treatment of “lunatics.”
  • Sam takes his mother to visit her brother. When his brothers took his mother, “they got drunk and beat up the neighbor.”
  • Someone calls the doctor a “drunken fool.”
  • When Valentine was ill, Mrs. Blackshaw drugged her, so she would keep sleeping.

Language

  • Sam calls someone an “arrogant ass” twice.
  • Someone tells Valentine that she was “spawned by that tramp of a woman.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Devotionals are part of the school day on Fridays. During devotionals, Mr. Oliver reads from the Bible. “Man in his natural state . . . unassisted by the grace of God.”
  • When Valentine finds Mr. Oliver, she prays, “Father who art in heaven. . . Please, God. Please help Mr. Oliver.”
  • One of the characters could not get pregnant, and “she’d pleaded with the Lord for twenty years before her precious Philomena arrived, and her husband’s death soon after had only magnified the value of the blessing.”
  • When Valentine’s mother is hung, Mr. Oliver tells her, “But take comfort, for your mother confessed her sins. She is in God’s hands now, and he knows all.”
  • Some men think having a woman run a bank “is against God’s law.”

 

Addison Cooke and the Treasure of the Incas

Twelve-year-old Addison longs for adventure, but his aunt and uncle, both respected curators at the New York Museum of Archaeology, always leave Addison home when they travel the world to find hidden treasures. When Addison’s aunt and uncle discover an ancient Incan key that leads to treasure, they are kidnaped by the evil Russian Professor Ragar.

Addison convinces his sister, Molly, and two of his friends to set off to South America on a mission to rescue his aunt and uncle. Once they arrive, they find adventure, danger, and booby-traps. Can Addison and his team find the treasure, outsmart Professor Ragar, and save his family?

This fast-paced adventure takes readers on an epic journey through South America. Addison, who is eccentric and optimistic, leads his friends into one dangerous situation after another. Although the group is often in danger and narrowly escapes death several times, the events are often humorous. Even though the group is young, they are able to figure out ancient clues, outsmart Professor Ragar, and escape mercenaries.

Full of mystery, suspense, and evil villains, adventure seekers will keep turning the pages of Addison and the Treasure of the Incas. Young readers will learn about the conquest of Pizarro as they follow the exciting travels of Addison. However, the story is not always historically accurate, and the path the kids take is geography inaccurate. Despite these inaccuracies, the story will pique middle graders’ interest in the Ancient Incan Society and increase their love of reading.

The publisher recommends this book for children as young as eight. Although younger children may enjoy the story, the length of the book and the complexity of the writing would make Addison and the Treasure of the Incas difficult for beginning and struggling readers.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • During the time of the Incas, Pizarro kidnapped Atahualpa. Atahualpa’s, “brother’s army attacked Pizarro before the ransom could be delivered. . . Pizarro burned Atahualpa alive at the stake.”
  • Professor Ragar and his mercenaries kidnap Uncle Nigel and his wife. “Immense men in dark suits crowded the room. They held Uncle Nigel pinned down, his face pressed against his desk.”
  • During the kidnapping, the mercenaries also try to seize Uncle Nigel’s niece and nephew. There is a chase. The two kids are cornered so they put an electrical cord into water. The mercenary “kicked his foot and the giant floodlight crashed into the water. Electricity jolted through the reflecting pool with a thunderous zap. Bodyguards collapsed like felled oaks, hitting the water in a sizzling, giggling mess.” The men are not seriously hurt, and the kids are able to escape.
  • Addison talks about the Spanish Inquisition, when non-Catholics were killed “often by burning them at the stake, like King Atahualpa. People would say they were Catholic to avoid being killed. So the Inquisition would torture them to find out who was telling the truth.”
  • The kids go into an ossuary and discover ancient trip wires. Eddie falls “into a vat of skulls, the mummy on top of him. . . The skull bin tilted, pulling an ancient trip wire, releasing a boulder. The falling stone yanked a rope through a pulley, sending a massive scythe blade whipping through the air.” While trying to get up, “Raj sprinted and Eddie followed, their feet dancing across the pile of bones. A massive blade sprung from the ground, splitting every bone in its path.” The boys are not injured.
  • When Professor Ragar and his men find the kids in the ossuary, there is a chase. One of the kids pulls a trip wire and a “steel scythe rocketed toward the surprised guard. Terrified, he leapt…striking his head on the rocky ground. The man lay crumpled in a heap of clattering foot bones.” Another man “slipped on a femur, and crashed down the mountain of bones. . . Boulders tumbled from the ceiling, pelting the guard on the head. The man sank to his knees, stunned senseless.”
  • When Professor Ragar tries to catch Addison, one of his men, “slashed with his knife. Addison crab-walked backwards on his hands, the knife barely missing his throat.” When Addison is caught, “Ragar wound up his open palm and slapped Addison across the face. Addison’s cheek stung, and his head rang for a few seconds.”
  • Zubov, one of Professor Ragar’s men, threatens to cut off Addison’s fingers. “Zubov began squeezing Addison’s windpipe. . . Zubov pressed his knife to Addison’s cheek.” One of Addison’s friends helps him.
  • While in the Amazon jungle, Molly is attacked by a giant spotted anaconda that “dropped onto Molly. The ten-foot constrictor wrapped its muscled body around her legs, then waist, and worked its way up her chest.” Someone pokes the anaconda with a flaming brand. “It hissed viciously, tightening its grip on Molly, and wrapped a coil around her throat.” The snake eventually releases Molly.
  • The kids are chased by tribesmen who shoot poison-tipped spears and darts at them.
  • Don Guzmán is rumored to kill people by putting them in a freezer.
  • Don Guzmán locks the kids in a room. In order to escape, Raj “took a running start and swung his plank hard into a man’s stomach. It connected with a satisfying smack, like a Jell-O mold chucked from a high window and meeting the pavement.” The group runs through a wedding where “Guadalupe lay pinned to the dining room table, Zubov’s hand clutching her throat. . . Zubov brushed the hair back from Guadalupe’s neck and ran the blade along the fold of her ear.” The kids are able to escape.
  • The kids, Ragar, and Zubov have a conflict during the wedding of Don Guzmán’s daughter. Zubov “gripped his stiletto and stabbed at Addison. Addison leapt back, but too late—the knife struck him square in the chest. He fell to the ground, stunned. . . “ Rager stops Zubov from killing Addison, because he doesn’t want to upset Don Guzmán. During their escape, Molly landed “a well-placed kick right in the guard’s stomach.”
  • As the kids are fleeing, they steal a limousine, but they are followed. Eddie smashes the limousine into a jeep and they are able to pull ahead. Eddie “plowed directly through a supermarket. The limousine smashed through the front window and into the cereal aisle. It crashed through frozen foods and baked goods before blasting out the rear wall of the store, onto a new street.”
  • When one of Ranger’s men try to enter a treasure vault, he triggers a booby trap and is impaled by “spikes like a shish kabob.” A second man “plummeted into the river a hundred feet below with a terrified splash. . . The man’s screams echoed until the trapdoor slid shut.”
  • Zubov tries to kill Molly by throwing knives at her. Molly, “wound up and kicked Zubov as hard as she could. This time, she aimed a few feet higher than his shin. . . Zubov turned purple and crumpled to his knees, winching.”
  • Ragar ties the kids up with rope, intending to burn them alive. “The flames snapped and jumped, devouring the kindling. Addison felt the growing heat inching closer to his toes . . . the raging flames touched Addison. The cuffs of his pants ignited, the blaze racing up his legs.” The group is able to escape.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Addison sees a “weather-beaten man sipping a bottle of foul-smelling liquid from a brown paper bag.” The man offers Addison the bottle, but Addison declines saying, “Arnold Palmers are as strong as I go.”
  • While in South America, Addison and the others see “local women with gold hoops in their noses who drank corn wine from gourds . . .” Later, the kids see women “drinking white rum.”

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • While in South America, Addison sees women selling voodoo dolls.

Spiritual Content

  • The kids see a mural painted with angels and “dozens of Incan gods. Some gods were male and some female. Some were part jaguar, llama, or snake.”
  • The Incas considered King Atahualpa a god. “The Incan emperor was considered the child of the sun. Inti, the sun god, the most powerful Incan god.”

Bob

Five years ago, Livy told Bob to hide in a closet. Since then, he’s built a Lego pirate ship sixty-three times. He’s played chess with a Lego pirate monkey. He began reading the dictionary. And he’s wondered why Livy hasn’t come back.

It’s been five years since Livy visited her grandmother in Australia. Once she’s back, she knows she’s forgotten something very important. She’s forgotten all about Bob.

Bob, a short greenish creature, hasn’t forgotten about Livy, but he has forgotten who he is and where he came from. Five years ago, Livy promised to help him find his home. Now that Livy is back, they work to solve the mystery of where Bob belongs.

Each chapter switches between Livy’s point of view and Bob’s point of view. Hearing the different perspectives of each character adds interest and allows the reader to peek into each character’s world. Younger readers will relate to Livy, who is afraid to stay the night at her friends’ houses and struggles between growing up and remaining a child. Bob adds an interesting perspective showing how Livy has changed since they parted five years ago. In the end, Bob realizes that “Livy’s not just Old Livy or New Livy, she’s every age she’s ever been, and sometimes they get jumbled but they are all there.”

The simple writing style and beautiful pictures will engage even the most reluctant readers. Bob has spent much of his time reading the dictionary and uses his knowledge to explain the meaning of words in a fun way that is completely integrated into the story, so readers will learn new words without feeling like they are sitting through a vocabulary lesson. The story contains short paragraphs, lists, and dialogue that break up the test and keep younger readers interested.

The mystery of where Bob came from and what he is adds interest. The friendship between Bob and Livy will touch reader’s hearts. Bob and Livy are well developed; however, the other characters lack personality and added little to the plot. The ending is a surprise and wraps everything up nicely. Not only does Bob show the value of friendship, but he also realizes that “All the things I choose to put in my head are what make me, me. I plan to choose wisely.”

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Livy carries a black pawn from a chess set to help her remember Bob. When she doesn’t have the pawn. She forgets Bob.
  • Bob is a well dweller. They live in between wells and are responsible for bringing the rain. Well dwellers are “tied to the earth and the sky . . .”

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Wizard for Hire

When Ozzy was six years old, men took his parents. Since then, he’s lived alone. When Ozzy finds Clark, a robotic talking raven, the two venture into town. All Ozzy wants is to find his parents, but he’s not sure how a fourteen-year-old boy can discover the secrets to his parents’ disappearance.

Then Ozzy sees an advertisement: wizard for hire. Ozzy isn’t sure if wizards are real, but he’s read enough about Harry Potter that he has hope that wizards do exist. When Labyrinth “Rin” appears in his bathrobe and high-top tennis shoes, Ozzy has his doubts. Can Rin cast any magic spells and help him find his parents?

Wizard for Hire will cast a spell over readers, making it hard to put the book down. From the very first page, the story begins with an engaging mystery and a unique character that is easy to love. After living alone for so long, Ozzy struggles with how to talk to others, which is a dilemma many readers will relate to. The surprising appearance of a magical raven brings humor and heart into the story. Clark gives Ozzy encouragement, advice, and a reason to leave his small cabin. Clark’s crushes on metal objects add a fun element to the story.

Once Rin enters the story, Ozzy (and the reader) are both left questioning Rin’s wizardly abilities. Rin could be using magic or modern technology to help Ozzy, but the reader is left guessing about Rin’s magical ability. Rin casts a spell to make Ozzy invisible, which only works because the man is blind. Even though Rin may or may not be a wizard, he embarks on a quest to find Ozzy’s parents. As Rin and Ozzy investigate to find Ozzy’s missing parents, they must avoid the police who are looking for Ozzy, which adds suspense to the story. One additional bonus is Rin’s occasional words of wisdom. For example, when Ozzy is worried about his future, Rin tells him, “Too many of you humans are scared by ghosts that haven’t yet formed.”

Humor, heart, and Harry Potter references make Wizard for Hire a must-read. This coming-of-age story shows the importance of being unique and true to yourself. Although the ending isn’t a happy-every-after, Ozzy does find the answers to his questions. Although there is very little violence, some sensitive readers may be upset by the idea that Ozzy’s uncle was responsible for his parents’ deaths and, in the end, desires to kill Ozzy for greed and personal gain.

Sexual Content

  • Clark, a metal bird, is attracted to metal objects. “Clark sort of gets funny crushes on anything bird-related—or made of metal.” Once he tells Ozzie that “your fork isn’t unattractive. Maybe you could bring it home.” Later in the story, Clark has a crush on a dumpster.

Violence

  • Men came and took Ozzy’s parents. “One of the men put a rag over Emmitt’s mouth. Another did the same to Mia. Ozzy’s parents thrashed and kicked, but their mouths were covered and they were no match for the hulking men who had them bound.” Ozzy hides from the men, who leave him, thinking he will die.
  • A man breaks into Ozzy’s home. Later, Ozzy discovers who the robber was and Clark follows him. “Something hit Ed in the back of the head, causing a good deal of pain and making his sunglasses fly off of his head. Ed swore. . . Something slammed into the right side of his face. Ed spun around twice before regaining his footing. . . Something slammed into and stung his lower back. It took everything he could do to keep the bike under control.” The man crashes the bike, but “he scrambled up screaming and swearing.”
  • There is a car chase. Trying to lose the men who were chasing them, Rin goes into a graveyard. “The SUV followed suit. They were considerably bigger than the white car and kept hitting gravestones on their right side. . .” The SUV crashes.
  • Ozzy finds out that his uncle took his parents “and brought them to a bunker in New Mexico, leaving Ozzy for dead.” When Ozzy’s parents wouldn’t tell his uncle the formula, his uncle ended “his parents’ lives.”
  • During another car chase, Clark “shot through the window” of the SUV. “The bird bounced around inside the vehicle like a possessed pinball. He knocked the driver’s glasses askew and broke a tooth of the large goon with the mean eyes.” The SUV “flipped onto its side and went skidding across the freeway.”
  • The bad guy, with a gun, confronts Ozzy. Clark saves his friend when he “slammed into the right side of Charles’s head. The evil half-uncle swore and waved his gun at the dark sky. . . Clark swooped in again and hit him from the left. Charles spun and shot into the air, hitting the bird and dropping him like a rock down onto the deck.”
  • Ozzy tackles Charles and “the gun flew from his hand and Charles’s head slammed against the railing. Ozzy began to punch him as if he were the root of all his sorrow ever. And since he was, Rin let it go for a few moments before he pulled the boy off.”
  • Charles grabs Rin’s wizard wand and “raised his fist, intending to thrust the wand into Ozzy’s chest, but at that moment, the dark sky opened up and a terrific bolt of lightning snaked down and made contact with the wand. . .” Charles is dead and “Ozzy saw, “his lifeless body smoldering.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • When the wizard first discovers that Ozzy lives deep in the words, he tells Ozzy, “Listen, if your family is out here doing something illegal, like making moonshine or fireworks, I want no part of it.”

Language

  • The bad guy yells, “The formula your parents came up with could have changed the world. No more idiots letting their free will ruin things for others.”

Supernatural

  • Ozzy’s dad makes a metal bird named Clark that is alive.
  • Rin said he went to Quarfelt, which is another dimension, where wizards live.
  • Ozzy’s parents thought they “discovered a formula that could help people have better control over their own free will. The formula had the potential to cure apathy and misunderstandings.” They tested the formulas on unsuspecting people. One man, under the influence of the formula, enters a polar bear enclosure and walks towards the bears. “Timsby stood up in the water and began to walk toward the bears. Before he could get to them, four zookeepers entered the enclosure from the door.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

80 Days or Die

Jules Verne’s left behind an unpublished manuscript, The Lost Treasure. When Max and his cousin, Alex, follow the clues and end up rich, they think all of their problems are solved. But when Max’s friend becomes gravely ill and Max’s mother’s illness returns, Max and his cousin take a deeper look into Verne’s history.

They discover that Verne miraculously recovered from a near-fatal gunshot wound. The Lost Treasure hints that Verne discovered magical healing elements that allowed him to recover from his wounds. Using clues from Around the World in 80 days, Max and Alex set out on a daring adventure to learn more of Verne’s secrets and heal Max’s mom and friend.

80 Days or Die begins with fun riddles that readers will enjoy trying to figure out. When Max and Alex head out on their journey, they meet several new people who they bring on their trip. Although Max seems fascinated by facts, he doesn’t take the time to do any research on the people who travel with him. Can these new friends be trusted? The question adds to the suspense, but the blind faith in random strangers doesn’t ring true.

Like the first installment of the Max Tilt series, 80 Days or Die jumps from location to location in a rush against time. Younger readers will enjoy seeing a fascinating underground cavern, strange wolf people, the icy Antarctica and a glimpse of the desert. Several times throughout the story, Max and Alex just happen to run into the perfect person to assist them. Although the additional characters were needed to advance the plot, their appearance and willingness to help is unrealistic.

Lerangis writes a solid adventure, sprinkled with surprises and interesting landscapes. However, having a cast of untrustworthy supporting characters made the story less fun. After all of the hardships Max and Alex endured in Fire the Depths, their trusting nature seemed misplaced. Max and Alex’s blind trust in other people will bother some readers, especially when one of the characters they trust ruins a perfectly happy ending.

Sexual Content

  • When looking for someone, Max and his friend “stopped at a booth where a couple in matching black leather jackets were in the middle of a long kiss.”

Violence

  • When Max takes an object, the natives threw a rock at a man in the group. “With a soft thud, the rock hit the back of Sergei’s head, and he dropped to the ground. The wolf people were surrounding him now. . . With a leap, he decked one of the wolf people with a solid martial-arts kick to the jaw. . . The wolf people backed away.” During the fight, a kid is pushed into a hole, where her arm is injured.
  • Max and another man race toward a house. They jump on yaks, but when Max pulls ahead, Nigel grabs him. Max “hit the ground hard, the pain shot up his spine . . . The pain came in waves.” Later, someone causes a yak to collide into Nigel and the man falls, and “he moaned, writhing in agony.”
  • A woman holds a gun on Max and is friends. There is a struggle for the gun, and the woman falls into a crevice. Max also falls into the crevice. “He was panting. Sweating. Achy.” His friends save him and help the woman.
  • Two people are arguing when a man with a gun approaches. Max jumps at the man, “With a cry, they both fell to the ground. The gun flew out of the man’s hand and slid off.” After a short scuffle, the man “Lifted Max off the ground. Mag struggled against the man’s grip, but his fists were like stone.” Someone helps Max by hitting the man on the head, and the attacker “fell to the ground, limp.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • In a moment of excitement, a character says, “Good God, what is it?”
  • Someone says, “I’ll be darned.”
  • One of the characters asks Max if “Plan B stands for ‘boneheaded’?”
  • “Oh dear Lord” is used as an exclamation once.

Supernatural

  • Wolf people watch over coils. The coils “fell from the sky one day, like holy rain. They do things—make people sick, punish for bad hunting season . . . the usual local superstitions.” The coils changed the people, making them look like wolf people. The people believe the coils are sacred and “they must protect holy coils from intruders.”

Spiritual Content

  • Max, who likes facts, said, “God is in the factoids.”

 

Fire the Depths

Thirteen-year-old Max Tilt’s life changes in a moment. When his mother becomes ill, his cousin Alex comes to care for him. When Max discovers his parents are in danger of losing their home, Alex and Max want to find a way to help. They head to the attic to find items to sell and discover Max’s great-great-great-grandfather Jules Verne’s unfinished manuscript The Lost Treasures. What begins as a quest for artic items becomes a treasure hunt as Alex and Max learn that everything Jules Verne wrote in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea was true.

As Alex and Max begin their journey, a strange skunk-haired man named Spencer Niemand appears. He’s determined to steal The Lost Treasures’ manuscript and claim the treasure as his own. However, he needs the kids’ help. Can Max and Alex outwit the devious man who is willing to use violence to gain the treasure?

There is a lot to like in Max Tilt: Fire the Depths. Right from the start, the story is fast-paced and interesting. Although the story is a bit far-fetched, especially the part where his parents leave knowing the electricity will be turned off and the house repossessed, these events explain why Max and Alex are willing to go on a dangerous treasure hunt in order to help.

As the two cousins begin their journey, they don’t realize the danger that follows. As the two follow Jules Verne’s path, they use clues he left behind, but they are soon trapped in a submarine with a villain. As they struggle against an evil villain, they dive to a city beneath the ocean, explore an ice cave in Greenland, and fight a giant squid. This page-turner keeps readers engaged using suspense, adventure, and a bit of humor.

The interplay between Alex and Max helps readers engage in the story. Throughout the story, the two cousins build a friendship and learn to rely on each other in dire situations. Each shows their bravery in different ways. Alex is unique in that he has synesthesia (where one sense substitutes for another) and the effects of synesthesia are shown in a simple, unique way.

Although this adventurous story is written for the ages of eight and up, the story is more appropriate for middle school students because of the violence and the truly evil villain. Although the violence is not described in graphic detail, the villain kills others in order to satisfy his greed. The action-packed plot takes Max and Alex on a submarine ride to an epic adventure that will engage students and teach that, “Sometimes you can’t be ready to do the things you really need to do. You just do them. And that makes you ready.”

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When a man grabs Niemand’s wrist, Niemand, “drew a knife from his pocket, and slammed it downward. As the man yanked his hand back, the blade sank into the tabletop.”
  • In order to eliminate witnesses, Niemand locks people into a warehouse and then sets off explosives. Niemand tells the event from his point of view, “on four, he heard sudden shouting and frantic footsteps inside the building. They finally realized. Good. Let them know there was no escape . . . On seven, the warehouse exploded.”
  • Niemand throws hot coffee in someone’s face. The man, “was squirming in pain on the worship floor.”
  • When bullies steal Max’s lunch, he uses a drone to get his lunch back. The drone hovers over the bullies’ heads and Max hits the release button. “The apple conked Dugan in the head. As he screamed and jumped aside, Max guided Vulturon downward, where Claw #3 grabbed onto his lunch bag.”
  • When a bad man tries to grab Alex, she hits him. The man, “recoiled with a howl of pain. But his reflexes were quick enough to wrap one beefy hand around Max’s throat.” Someone grabs the man’s foot and he lost his balance, “falling to the floor. His head smacked against the solid-steel edge of the Tilts’ coffee table.”
  • A man shoots at Alex and Max, but someone stops him before anyone is hurt.
  • In a letter, Verne writes about how Captain No One destroys an underwater civilization. “With a flash of fire, the carapace was breached. A hole shattered the thick material, jagged and mean as a lightning bolt. An explosion turned the sea to red.” Captain No One looted the city, and when two crew members tried to steal, they “were shot for their greed.”
  • A man falls from an icy ledge, “and then came the scream—deep, raw, animal-like—as Basile fell off the ledge and into the teeming white mass below.” Later, he is discovered alive.
  • Niemand ties Alex and Max to a snowmobile. “He circled it around each of them individually. He tied it down to various places on the snowmobile . . . Niemand flipped the lever to Drive. And he walked away.” The kids then fall into the frozen ocean, but they do not die. When the squid grabs Alex, Basile “swung the ax at the appendage that held Alex . . . The blade split it in two, the top part skirting upward in a violent spray of milky liquid.” The squid finally retreats.
  • A giant squid attacks the submarine and is able to get inside. Basile, Alex, and Max fight the squid in a battle that lasts eight pages.
  • When Niemand tries to capture Alex and Max, Max fights back. “As André approached, Max thrust himself off with his hands and kicked upwards, landing a solid hit on André’s chin. The scraggle-haired man fell backwards, arms flailing.” André grabs Alex and tosses her “like a bale of hay. Max saw her body fly over a thick copse and smack against a tree trunk. He heard her head thump and saw her limp body drop down to the forest floor.”
  • Niemand tells Alex to dig his own grave, but before he can get the work done, Alex hits Niemand on the head with a shovel. The kids are able to get away.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • “Crap!” is used once.
  • Max tells someone that they are about to feel like “asses.”
  • Someone yells at a bad driver, “Watch where you’re going, idiot!”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • While hiking, a character thinks “if God had meant for humans to live among hills, he would have made them goats.”
  • After defeating the squid, Alex said, “Thank God it’s over.”

Mac Undercover

Mac Barnett is just an ordinary kid growing up in the 1980s. Then the phone rings. It’s the Queen of England. And she needs Mac’s help. The Crown Jewels have been stolen and the Queen of England wants Mac to find them. Mac, the newest secret agent, takes a trip to England, where he meets the Queen in the Tower of London. From there, Mac travels around the globe looking for the stolen treasure. Will the kid spy be able to find the treasure?

Mac Undercover will entertain even the most reluctant readers with its fast-paced plot, interesting characters, and funny historic facts. Short sentences and simple vocabulary will help readers build confidence. Readers will understand Mac’s disappointment when he’s not invited to a karate birthday party and laugh at his secret identities. Every page contains large blue and gold illustrations that add to the humor of the story. As the story unfolds, readers will learn historical facts, geography, and word origins. Each new fact is integrated into the story in a seamless manner, which makes learning fun.

Mac tells his own story with humor and puts a spotlight on the absurd. Younger readers will love the adventure, intrigue, and corgis. The only negative aspect of the story is that the French are portrayed in a stereotypical rude manner. Mac Undercover will leave readers in giggles and with some cool new knowledge.

Sexual Content

  • When Mac is exploring London, “two people with purple liberty spikes kissed against an ancient wall.”

Violence

  • The story includes historical facts such as how “Henry VIII kept many of his wives, friends, and relatives at the Tower of London, before he chopped off their heads.”
  • A KGB wanted to have a karate match with Mac. The KGB Man “twisted my arm behind my back and pushed my face into the carpet . . . The KGB Man placed me in a vicious headlock. His bicep was lodged against my windpipe. I could hardly breathe.” Mac ends the match by licking the KGB Man’s arm.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Supergifted

Noah Youkilis has never been normal. With an extremely high IQ, this super gifted kid dreams of having an opportunity to fail. After years at the Academy for Scholastic Distinction, Noah dreams of being in remedial classes, being a failure at something, and having some unpredictability in his life. When Noah enrolls in his friend’s school, both of their lives begin to change.

Noah may be super gifted when it comes to school, but he’s not super gifted at making friends. Noah makes enemies out of the cheerleading captain Megan Mercury and lacrosse player “Hashtag” Taggart.  Sticking up for Noah makes Donovan a target, and he’s told to stay away from Hashtag, or else. When a freak accident makes Donovan a hero, he can’t let anyone know. In order to help his friend, Noah steps in and becomes “Superkid.” When the fame goes to Noah’s head, Donovan wonders if the lie may just cause more chaos than telling the truth.

Younger readers will be pulled into the stereotypical life of junior high as they watch Noah go from friendless to popular. One simple lie drives the suspense in the story and will keep readers wondering how Noah will ever keep his secret.

The story is told from a first-person point of view, which allows the readers to understand the different characters’ motivations and feelings. However, the point of view changes between five different characters and becomes confusing. Although the story focuses on Noah, it really is a story about Donovan trying to save his family pet and his friend. The balance between Donovan’s home life and school life adds interest and heart to the story.

Supergifted has many stereotypes—the mean cheerleader, the bully jock, and the smart kid who can’t pick up on social clues. The only character that breaks the stereotypical mold of a junior high student is Donovan. Donovan wants to keep Noah out of trouble and goes to great lengths to keep the bullies from harassing him—the only problem is that Noah doesn’t seem to notice anything that Donovan does for him. And when Noah becomes Superkid, he also becomes a super terrible person. At the end of the story, Noah doesn’t even seem to recognize what a super friend Donovan is.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • A boy goes to the park with the intent of beating up Noah. Donovan sees the boy, who is “hauling Noah up by his shirt . . . He wrestled Noah to the ground and straddled him, a knee pinning each arm.” Donovan tackles the boy. “It hurt like mad when my nose slammed into his shoulder, but not as much as when I slid through the wood chips, picking up splinters over at least half of my body.” The fight ends when a dog bites the bully.
  • Donovan goes to a party he was not invited to. He climbs a tree and falls. “I pictured him dropping from the sky into the middle of my party. . . And I remembered what had happened a few seconds after that—that same Donovan tackling Peter out of the way of a falling tree branch.”
  • At an event, a robot malfunctions and “lurched around the room firing projectiles in all directions. Cries of shock and pain rang out as golf balls bounced off heads and shoulders. People tripped over each other’s feet and ran into one another trying to get out of harm’s way.” Donovan jumps on the robot and turns it off.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Someone calls a person a “jerk” and an “idiot.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Switch

Gypsy Beaumont used to love being a whirly-twirly girl who picked flowers and danced. She has been dreaming of her savvy—the extraordinary talent that strikes every Beaumont on their thirteenth birthday. Gypsy had imagined getting the wings of angels or being able to catch candy necklaces instead of fish, but when her thirteenth birthday arrives, Gypsy gets blurry vision and catches glimpses of the past and future.

Then in a strange turn of events, everyone’s savvy is switched and things become topsy-turvy. Gypsy must learn to use her new powers and try to stop the events of the last vision she saw. As she tries to change the future, Gypsy embarks on an adventure that will lead to new friendships and closer relationships with her family.

Right from the start, readers will want to turn the page to see what happens next in this entertaining story of adventure and magic. Switch shows the power of friendship and family in a heartwarming story. Being told from Gypsy’s point of view allows the reader to peek inside of her mind and understand her hopes, fears, and uncertainties. Gypsy’s personality comes to life and shows the difficulties of being different; however, the story goes on to show how being different should not be seen as an embarrassment, but as a gift.

Switch tackles several difficult issues including changing friendships and the effects of aging. Gypsy’s self-confidence takes a hit when her best friend stops talking to her because Gypsy acts like a “baby.” The story also focuses on Gypsy’s grandmother who is beginning to have difficulties remembering people and often lives her life in the past. Switch expertly weaves lessons about friendship, family, and accepting yourself into a beautifully written story with memorable characters.

Sexual Content

  • Two characters kiss twice. When it’s close to Valentine’s Day, Gypsy is reminded of the way, “Samson and Nola had secretly kiss-kiss-kissed behind Grandma’s house.”

Violence

  • Tucker throws a tantrum and grows “as tall as the house itself.” In his anger he uproots “trees in our front yard like they were daisies . . . tossed two leafless maples and a blue spruce into the field across the road.” He also “kicked over a tool shed.” Someone finally calms him down by offering him candy.
  • A bully tells B-Bug to punch someone. “B-Bug was already reaching over the counter. With an apologetic look, he grabbed the front of Del’s hoodie. Then he pulled back his arm, aiming his knuckles at the smaller boy’s face.” Before B-Bug can hit him, Gypsy stops time.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Savvy family members have special powers. At the beginning of the book, Gypsy can see into the future and past.
  • Samson can make fire. When he first learns of the power, he “glanced down at his hands as each of his fingers lit up in licks of red-and-yellow flames. He looked like he was holding ten candles. A second later, there was a whoosh and a crackle, and Samson’s entire body became a bonfire.”
  • Tucker grows bigger (he can grow larger than a house) when he is angry.

Spiritual Content

  • Gypsy’s family attends church once and Gypsy prays. In one scene she “asked God and all the angels to make everything go back the way it was before Mrs. Kim called . . . before we learned that Grandma Pat was ill and had to live with us . . .”
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