Topic: battle

Dungeon Academy: No Humans Allowed!

Welcome to Dungeon Academy, where monsters and creatures train for the dark world that awaits just beyond the dungeon walls! But Zellidora “Zelli” Stormclash is a bit—different. She’s the one thing monsters and creatures of the Forgotten Realms fear the most: Zelli is a human!  

Knowing she’ll never be accepted, Zelli’s parents disguise her as a minotaur in hopes she’ll blend with the academy’s monstrous surroundings. Zelli does her work, keeps to herself, and becomes “invisible” to everyone.  

While in History of Horrible Humans class, Zelli learns of the great human adventurer, Allidora Steelstrike, who oddly resembles her. Could Zelli also be a Steelstrike? Seeking answers to her true lineage, Zelli embarks on a dangerous adventure.  

But she won’t be alone. A vegan owlbear, a cowardly kobold, and a shapeshifting mimic will join Zelli on her quest for truth in a world that holds no place for them. And who knows? Perhaps these monstrous misfits may discover some truths of their own.  

Dungeon Academy: No Humans Allowed! is told from Zelli’s point of view. Like many middle-grade readers, Zelli wonders where she belongs. At first, she tries to isolate herself from others. But when she stops a bully, Zelli gains a group of unlikely friends. Each creature in the friend group goes against the usual stereotype for their species. For example, Hugo is an owlbear who is kind and has no desire to use his strength to defeat others. This allows the author to reinforce the importance of embracing each other’s differences.  

Readers who are not familiar with the world of Dungeons & Dragons may have difficulty understanding Zelli’s world. In addition, some readers will struggle with the book’s advanced vocabulary such as rudimentary, vambrace, begrudgingly, baldric, surreptitiously, and necromancy. The book also uses made-up words which at times can be confusing. For example, “The goblins ate with goblins, the oozes slorped with the oozes, and the myconids multiplied with the other myconids.” 

Since the story takes place in a fantasy world full of strange monsters and creatures, the book includes illustrations that are black and white with pops of orange. The illustrations, which appear every two to five pages, give readers a visual of all of the strange creatures as well as the battle scenes. Even though the battle scenes are described in detail, the illustrations do not show any gory details.  

Dungeon Academy: No Humans Allowed! is best suited for readers who are already familiar with Dungeons & Dragons. The unique characters highlight the importance of accepting yourself, even if you’re different than others. In addition, the story makes it clear that everyone makes mistakes—the important part is to learn from those mistakes. While the story has positive life lessons, the book’s long descriptions slow down the book’s pacing which breaks up the action and suspense. In addition, most of the action begins in chapter 11, which makes some of the adventure unexciting. Despite this, readers who are familiar with Dungeons & Dragons will enjoy entering the world where monsters, creatures, and humans come together to defeat evil. Readers who enjoy Dungeon Academy: No Humans Allowed! should also read the Dungeoneer Adventures Series by Ben Costa & James Parks. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • While in the forest, Zelli and her friends are surrounded by a pack of wolves. The group believes they are doomed, but Zelli’s friend Bauble transforms into a tambourine. “Zelli couldn’t believe what she was seeing—the banging and the noise actually worked. The wolves shied, showing their teeth, yellow eyes glowing with hungry intent, but gradually their shaggy gray heads bowed. . .slinking back toward the edge of the forest. . .” 
  • Zelli’s classmates are put under a spell and walk mindlessly into a deep cave. Zelli and her friends follow and discover a human, Allidora Steelstrike, fighting a necromancer. Steelstrike is cornered and “five skeletal warriors dove at Allidora Steelstike, overwhelming her, slamming her to the ground . . . Steelstrike’s sword tumbled out of her grip, spinning away uselessly, lost under a tide of skeletal feet.” The battle is described over four chapters. 
  • Zelli and her friends jump in to help Steelstrike. Zelli’s “sword collided with the nearest skeleton, and the impact hit her not as a human, but as a minotaur. Swinging her weapon, throwing her weight around, she felt strong and sturdy. . . she bowled [the skeletons] over easily while [Zelli’s friend] lashed out with his shield at any that managed to get by.” 
  • Soon, Zelli and her friends are surrounded by skeletons. Then Bauble [a mimic] turns into a ball and bounces through the skeletons. “Flash [a blink dog] popped out of Hugo’s bag, appearing the next instant inside the rib cage of the skeleton. . . making the skeletal minion explode in a shower of bone fragments.” The fight against the skeletons continues for a page.  
  • A necromancer, Lord Carrion, creates a fire, but Zelli’s friend, Snabla, who is a kobold, uses his shield to get through the flames. “Lord Carrion turned on the kobold, striking with the end of his staff. . . the heavy wooden weapon connected hard with Snabla’s shield, sending him flying to the floor. Dazed, Snabla tried to rise again, but Lord Carrion’s skeletons descended. . .”  
  • Lord Carrion uses a spell to freeze Steelstrike and others. Then, Lord Carrion puts the owlbear, Hugo, under his spell. Hugo’s eyes, “Suddenly filled with hatred. . . Hugo gnashed his beak and lashed out at [Nelli and her friends] with lethal claws, gouging a long scratch into Snabla’s mighty shield. His eyes flashed purple, his claws elongating, glowing like otherworldly dangers. . . Again and again, Hugo’s glowing claws beat against the shield, and Snabla did his best, but he was just a young kobold . . .”  
  • Zelli attacks Hugo with her sword, but “the owlbear’s crushing grip landed around her upper arm and with ease, he hoisted her into the air, opening his beak wide to tear out her throat. Zelli kicked and punched but to no avail . . . She thrashed and hoped he would at least miss her neck and land somewhere less vital.” 
  • When Hugo attacks Zelli, his “sharpened beak came down with a snap on her shoulder joint, and she heard the crunch of bones and felt the hot splatter of blood against her chin as the owlbear took the first bite.” The taste of flesh brings Hugo to his senses and he stops his attack on Zelli. 
  • The fight with the skeletons continues. “Hugo, now enraged in his own right, bashed [the skeletons] with his heavy fists . . . Minion after minion flew across the cave, crumbling as their frail bodies hit the stone.” The blink dog “popped up just in time to catch a broken leg bone before it could reach the floor.” 
  • Once the skeletons are defeated, Snabla goes after the necromancer. “Snabla slammed right into his legs, sending the necromancer end over end and into a dusty, musty corner. . .” The necromancer begins a speech, “But Bauble had heard enough. . . The mimic changed rapidly into an iron pan, and Zelli had the strength left. . . knocking the necromancer out of his wits before he could finish his vile spew.”    

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language  

  • There is some name calling including sneak, slimeball, fart breaths, dummy dumb, fiend, and witless worm. 
  • “By Bane’s Black Hand” is used as an exclamation once. 
  • After Zelli and her friends leave the school without permission, one of the teachers says, “By all the gods and oaths, what were you four thinking?”

Supernatural 

  • The world has magic and many monsters and other creatures. 
  • Bauble is a mimic that can change shapes. For example, when it gets scared, “the mimic shrank down into a small box with a lid and enameled handles, a miniature dancer turning behind a glass pane, gentle, tinkling music drifting out into the icy cold dungeon. Then it transformed again, this time into a quill; then it returned to its initial book form.” 
  • One of the instructors is “undead” and he is “merely a floating bespectacled skull engulfed in blue flames.”  
  • When Zelli and her friends run away from the school, they go through the Endless Forest. “The forest recognizes those who are welcome and allows us passage but anyone else will wander and wander for days until, well. . .” 
  • Part of the story deals with necromancy, which is communicating with the dead. 
  • Zelli and her friends find a blink dog, which can disappear and reappear someplace else. 
  • The necromancer opens a portal and sends monsters and creatures through it where his master will turn them into his army.  
  • Zelli is given a Steelstrike emblem that is “enchanted with powerful magic. They call to each other. . .” Her biological mother says, “Should you need me, simply hold the emblem tight and speak the words, ‘By sword and by light, Talos guide my sight, summon my kin, call the Steelstrike.’” 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

Tyrannosaurus Rex vs. Velociraptor

What would happen if a Tyrannosaurus rex and a velociraptor met each other? What if they had a fight? Who do you think would win? 

Even though Tyrannosaurus Rex vs. Velociraptor ends with a battle scene between the two dinosaurs, the book also has several pages discussing fossils as well as the reasons dinosaurs may have become extinct. Throughout the book, interesting facts are included such as “a newborn T. rex skeleton has never been discovered. Maybe you will be the person who unearths it.” Each page has large pictures as well as fun facts including dino trivia, gross facts, and definitions. For example, one gross fact is “A raptor’s arms and hands seem perfect for a dinosaur that is an aggressive hunter—quick, long, and strong. A raptor could easily rip apart its prey.”   

The nonfiction reader is packed full of interesting information about the two bear species. The book also has two pages devoted to funny bear stories. Similar to a picture book, each page has a full-page illustration. With 6 to 11 simple sentences per page, Tyrannosaurus Rex vs. Velociraptor is accessible to most readers. However, younger readers may need help with some of the vocabulary such as excavation, articulated, paleontologist, and proportionally.  

Tyrannosaurus Rex vs. Velociraptor fun format will appeal to most readers. Each two-page spread has large illustrations and explains the characteristics of each bear. Readers may be surprised by the ending battle the T. Rex dies. However, the text also explains why the outcome could have been different.  

The box is jam-packed with interesting facts, photos, and illustrations. The nonfiction text will spark reader’s attention as it teaches readers about dinosaurs. To learn more about dinosaurs, read about famous fossil hunters in Barnum Brown Dinosaur Hunter by David Sheldon and The Dog that Dug for Dinosaurs by Shirley Raye Redmond. Dinosaur-loving readers would also enjoy these fictional books: the Dino Files Series by Stacy McAnulty and Don’t Disturb the Dinosaurs by Ada Hopper.  

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • One illustration shows a T. Rex eating a smaller dinosaur. The illustration shows some blood.   
  • The end battle between the T. rex and the raptor is illustrated and includes some blood. While fighting, “the raptor slices the T. rex with its sickles. The angry R. rex bucks, and the raptor gets flung into the air. . .” The raptor calls to its pack and the pack appears. “The raptor pack slashes and cuts the T. rex. It’s over The T. rex crashes to the ground. . .” The fight is illustrated over six pages. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

Siege and Storm

After narrowly escaping the Darkling and his army, Alina and Mal are on the run. They try to make a new life for themselves in Novyi Zem, but they have to be careful. Alina, the Sun Summoner, is hardly inconspicuous wearing her amplifier made from Morozova’s stag as a collar, and the Darkling has spies everywhere. 

But she and Mal can’t outrun their enemies. They aren’t in Novyi Zem long before the Darkling finds them. He captures them and brings them on a ship led by Sturmhond, a famous privateer. The Darkling intends to drag Alina and Mal back to Ravka and continue expanding the Fold. But first, he is determined to hunt down the sea whip – the second in the triad of Morozova’s legendary creatures that can be used as powerful amplifiers – and force Alina to kill it and claim its scales as a second amplifier. This would magnify her summoning abilities and give the Darkling access to even more of Alina’s power.  

But Sturmhond and his crew are not what they seem. When they turn on the Darkling, Alina finds herself with powerful allies and renewed hope. Her new alliance with Nikolai Lantsov, the ever-witty and incredibly charming second-born prince of Ravka, throws her into Ravkan political dealings. Ravka’s precarious position in world politics means the country cannot be saved with Grisha power alone. Alina begins accompanying Nikolai to war council meetings as Ravka attempts to broker peace treaties with its neighboring countries, and she quickly realizes that Ravka was in much greater danger than she ever imagined. But will all of Alina’s efforts be enough to stand against the Darkling, who remains Ravka’s greatest domestic threat? And can Alina and Mal’s strained relationship survive Alina’s growing power and importance? 

If writing a good first book in a trilogy is hard, then writing a good sequel is even more strenuous. But Siege and Storm electrically picks up Alina’s story right where it left off and keeps the momentum going all the way to the end. The plot involves many twists and turns and never lets readers be lulled into a false sense of security. From heart-stopping action scenes to breathtaking exchanges between characters, there is never a dull moment. 

In Siege and Storm, Bardugo fleshes out her world even more, expanding on Ravka’s function as a country by placing it into a larger “world” context. Readers learn about this complicated history along with Alina, so the new information is masterfully woven throughout the story. Alina is a fascinating narrator, and readers get to experience her thought process and understand how and why she makes her decisions. Alina is not a perfect heroine by any means, but her flaws are what make her relatable. Even when she makes mistakes, she strives to fix them, and her self-awareness, compassion, and perseverance are traits that make her an admirable protagonist.  

Siege and Storm brings back all of the fan-favorite characters from the first book in the series, Shadow and Bone. Plus, several new characters are introduced that are equally quotable and loveable. Bardugo delves even deeper into her characters, forcing them to confront their darkest demons and complicating their relationships with each other. As tensions rise and power dynamics shift, Alina and her friends and allies must fight to remain united in the face of the real threats instead of turning against each other and letting their jealousies and vulnerabilities win. Siege and Storm ends on a dramatic cliffhanger that will leave readers excited beyond measure to get their hands on the next (and final) book in the series, Ruin and Rising.  

Sexual Content  

  • Mal kisses Alina harder than usual when they are in private. “His tone was light, but when his lips met mine, there was nothing playful in his kiss. He tasted of heat and newly ripe pears from the Duke’s garden. I sensed hunger in the slant of his mouth, an unfamiliar edge to his need that sent restless sparks burning through me. I came up on my toes, circling my arms around his neck, feeling the length of my body melt into his. He had a soldier’s strength, and I felt it in the hard bands of his arms, the pressure of his fingers as his fist bunched in the silk at the small of my back and he drew me against him. There was something fierce and almost desperate in the way he held me, as if he could not have me close enough.” 
  • During a fight, Mal tells Alina that he distances himself from her to protect her position as a leader. “‘Why do you think people asked me on the royal hunt? The first thing? They wanted to know about me and you.’ He turned on me, and when he spoke his voice was cruel, mocking. ‘Is it true that you’re tumbling the Sun Summoner? What’s it like with a Saint? Does she have a taste for trackers, or does she take all of her servants to her bed?’” 

Violence  

  • Alina has nightmares. “Sometimes she dreamed of broken skiffs with black sails and decks slick with blood, of people crying out in the darkness. But worse were the dreams of a pale prince who pressed his lips to her neck, who placed his hands on the collar that circled her throat and called forth her power in a blaze of bright sunlight.” 
  • The Darkling describes how he will punish Alina if Mal refuses to track the sea whip [a dragon]. “Because every day we don’t find the sea whip, I’ll peel away a piece of her skin. Slowly. Then Ivan will heal her, and the next day, we’ll do it all over again.”
  • The Darkling and Sturmhond’s crew capture and kill the sea whip. “Beads of water flew from [the sea whip’s] mane, and its massive jaws opened, revealing a pink tongue and rows of gleaming teeth. It came down on the nearest boat with a loud crash of splintering wood. The slender craft split in two, and men poured into the sea. The dragon’s maw snapped closer over a sailor’s legs and he vanished, screaming, beneath the waves.” This scene is described over three pages. 
  • After Sturmhond’s crew turn on the Darkling and become Alina’s allies, the Darkling and his army attack them. “Pistol shots rang out. The air came alive with Inferni fire. ‘To me, hounds!’ Sturmhond shouted, and plunged into action, a saber in his hands.” This scene occurs over 10 pages. The following two bullet points happen during this scene. 
  • Ivan, the Darkling’s right-hand man, is killed by Tolya, one of Sturmhond’s crew members: “The fingers of Tolya’s outstretched hand curled into a fist. Ivan convulsed. His eyes rolled up in his head. A bubble of blood blossomed and burst on his lips. He collapsed onto the deck.”  
  • The Darkling unleashes his nichevo’ya, or shadow monsters, on Alina and her allies. “The nichevo’ya reached the masts of the schooner, whirling around the sails, plucking sailors from the rigging like fruit. Then they were skittering down onto the deck. Mal fired again and again as the crewmen drew their sabers, but bullets and blades seemed only to slow the monsters. Their shadow bodies wavered and re-formed, and they just kept coming.” Sturmhond’s crew manages to confuse the nichevo’ya long enough to escape. 
  • Sturmhond tells Alina she needs to be more ruthless, and tells her how he earned the respect of his crew. The first time he ever tried to board an enemy ship, the captain laughed at him and mocked him, so Sturmhond “cut off his fingers and fed them to [his] dog while [the captain] watched.” 
  • Mal spars with other Grisha soldiers in practice fighting matches. “Eskil [a minor character who is Grisha] let out a loud oof as Mal clamped his arms around him, keeping the Grisha’s limbs pinned so that he couldn’t summon his power. The big Fjerdan snarled, muscles straining, teeth bared as he tried to break Mal’s hold. . . Mal tightened his grip. He shifted, then drove his forehead into [Eskil’s] nose with a nauseating crunch. Before I could blink, he’d released Eskil and hammered a flurry of punches into [Eskil]’s gut and sides.” This scene occurs over three pages. 
  • Alina wanders outside the city and encounters the Ravkan peasants who congregate outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of Sankta (or Saint) Alina. They crowd around her, trying to get close to her and touch her. “The bodies pressed tighter, pushing and shoving, shouting at each other, each wanting to be nearer. My feet lost contact with the ground. I cried out as a chunk of my hair was ripped from my scalp. They were going to tear me apart.” Tolya and Tamar, Alina’s bodyguards, rescue her before it’s too late, and Alina is left shaken but uninjured.  
  • The Darkling and his nichevo’ya attack the Grand Palace after Vasily, Ravka’s lazy and arrogant crown prince, double-crosses his brother, Nikolai. Nikolai is Alina’s ally and friend, and he had plans to save both Alina and Ravka. However, many people die in this nichevo’ya attack. Vasily, Alina, and many others are injured. This scene occurs over 13 pages, with several interludes for dialogue.  
  • During the fight, “Vasily lifted his saber high and charged, bellowing with rage. Mal stepped in front of me, raising his sword to block the blow. But before Vasily could bring down his weapon, a nichevo’ya grabbed hold of him and tore his arm from its socket, sword and all. He stood for a moment, swaying, blood pumping from his wound, then dropped to the floor in a lifeless heap.” 
  • Alina attacks the nichevo’ya to save her friends. “Another pack of nichevo’ya descended from the windows, clawing their way toward Nikolai and his mother. I had to take a chance. I brought the light down in two blazing arcs, cutting through one monster after another, barely missing one of the generals who crouched cowering on the floor. People were screaming and weeping as the nichevo’ya fell upon them.” Alina and many of her friends, including Mal, escape, but they don’t know whether or not Nikolai was able to get to safety. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Novyi Zem is the center of the jurda trade. Jurda is a stimulant people use to stay awake. For example, “Zemeni men liked to tuck the dried [jurda] blooms between lip and gum, and even the women carried them in embroidered pouches that dangled from their wrists. Each store window [Alina] passed advertised different brands: Brightleaf, Shade, Dhoka, the Burly.” 
  • When Mal returns from a hunt, he tells Alina about how he and the other Grisha who went on the hunt entertained themselves. “We spent more time every day playing cards and drinking kvas [an alcoholic beverage analogous to beer] than anything else. And some duke got so drunk he passed out in the river. He almost drowned. His servants hauled him out by his boots, but he kept wading back in, slurring something about the best way to catch trout.” 
  • Alina complains about how boring war council meetings are, and Nikolai jokes, “Next time, bring a flask. Every time [Vasily] changes his mind, take a sip.” Alina replies, “I’d be passed out on the floor before the hour was up.” 
  • After missing his guard shift, Mal is found hungover. Alina and Tolya find him the next morning. “[Mal] hadn’t changed his clothes from last night. There was stubble on his chin, and the smell of blood and kvas hung on him like a dirty coat.” 

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • Siege and Storm involves a magic system known as the Small Science, which is a way of manipulating matter that appears supernatural or magical. Those who can wield the Small Science are known as Grisha; many of the main characters in this novel are Grisha.  
  • The Grisha are split into three orders: Corporalki (the Order of the Living and the Dead), Etherialki (the Order of Summoners), and Materialki (the Order of Fabrikators).  
  • The Darkling and Baghra, Alina’s tutor, are Shadow Summoners, while Alina is a Sun Summoner. These are unique abilities that no other known Grisha possesses. For example, Alina uses her power when Sturmhond steers his ship through the Fold: “Hurriedly, I braced my feet against the deck and threw up my hands, casting a wide golden swath of sunlight around the [ship].” 

Spiritual Content  

  • When she and Mal reach Novyi Zem, Alina prays, “Let us be safe here. Let us be home.” 
  • Ravkans worship Saints, and some have started to worship Alina as a living Saint, calling her Sankta Alina (Saint Alina) and Sol Koroleva (Sun Queen). 
  • Some Ravkan peasants sell relics of Saints, such as fake bones supposedly once belonging to different Saints. Nikolai tells Alina, “There are rumors that you died on the Fold. People have been selling off parts of you all over Ravka and West Ravka for months. You’re quite the good luck charm.” 

Don’t Fear the Creeper

The Mob Squad are the greatest heroes the town of Cornucopia has produced since it was founded: Mal the bold, Lenna the strong, Tok the wise, and Chug the steadfast. And Jarro, who’s renounced his bullying ways to reveal a truly kind heart. Together they’ve journeyed across the Overworld, delved into the Nether, and saved the day for Cornucopia again and again.

So why can’t they get any respect from the adults who run the town? The only one who understands is Nan, Mal’s great-great-great-grandmother, who trained them to be as resourceful and adventurous as she was in her day.

So when Nan gets sick and isn’t getting any better, the kids refuse to just sit by and do nothing. There’s something out there that can help her—an enchanted golden apple that can cure just about anything. And the Mob Squad will stop at nothing to get it.

But as they venture outside the walls of Cornucopia, they aren’t counting on being followed. The kids soon discover a mysterious foe whose motives are as unknown as the face that hides behind a Creeper’s head. If the Mob Squad wants to rescue Nan, they’re going to have to save themselves first.

Don’t Fear the Creeper is a fast-paced adventure with plenty of near-death experiences to keep readers’ hearts racing. As the Mob Squad searches for the golden apple, they travel into the unknown and often end up in unexpected danger. Through it all, each member of the mob squad plays an important role as the kids work together to reach their goal. Their determination and persistence are admirable, even if their actions are often imprudent. The book’s chapters change point of view which allows each member of the Mob Squad to give their perspective. However, the alternating points of view add little to the story and the characters’ voices are not unique, which makes it difficult to keep track of who is telling the story.

While most of the events stay true to the Minecraft game, some readers may be frustrated by the Mob Squad’s careless actions. For example, when going through a cave system, the Mob Squad comes across dark green blocks. Every time someone makes noise, something shrieks. Despite this, the kids are not quiet and end up waking a monster that chases them. While they make it out of the cave safely, they nearly died because they couldn’t stop talking. 

The book’s ending also becomes a little preachy as it focuses on the Elders’ attempt to close off the town. However, Lenna thinks, “There’s value in teaching children they’re not invincible. . . There’s nothing wrong with running away when it’s the best choice.” The ending contains several epilogues that drag on. Still, fans of Minecraft will enjoy the story’s action, adventure, and the Mob Squad’s friendship. If you’re ready to delve into another Minecraft adventure, grab a copy of Minecraft: The Crash by Tracey Baptiste. 

Sexual Content 

  • None

Violence 

  • When the Mob Squad sees a goat, Chug approaches it. Jarro sees “the horns lower into position, and I see the horror on Chug’s face, and then Chug is flying through the air like a bird. . .Chug flops onto the ground, his armor clanking. . . [Lenna] takes the goat out with a few shots.” Chug isn’t injured.
  • While underwater, the Mob Squad is attacked by a “drowned” which is an underwater zombie. “When the drowned throws its next weapon, Chug bats it away and goes in for a slice with his sword.” When Chug screams, Jarro draws “my own sword and kick[s] down towards Chug, who’s hurt and having trouble continuing the fight.” The drowned bites Jarro and “the bite burns my arm, and Chug lands a hit while I struggle. . .” Finally, Chug “takes it down.” The scene is described over three pages. 
  • Fish attack the Mob Squad. When Tok sees the first one, he screams and “paddle[s] backward with my hand, but the gigantic fish is right in front of me, and it slams into me, and it feels like getting run over by a horse covered in knives, and I thrash and squeal in panic. . .” When the fish attacks, Tok describes, “a wired beam of purple wavy light burst out of its giant eye and straight for me, and I flail and dodge.” The kids escape. The fish attack is described over four pages. No one is seriously injured.
  • The fish again attacks the Mob Squad. Chug beats “the fish down with my sword, but it gets a few slams in. . . Someone screams behind me and I spin to find Mal being targeted by a fish-eye bubble ray. . . I hit it with my sword from behind, and it spins and comes after me. As I keep fighting it, trying to dodge the spikes, it suddenly feels like my entire body is on fire.”
  • As the fish surround the kids, Chug is “beating on the guardians (the fish) while they’re focused on Lenna. . . I double down on my onslaught, even when one of the guardians turns to face me, spikes out and bristling and big eye shaking like he’s going to start blowing bubbles at me again. . .” The kids escape. The attack is described over six pages.
  • In a previous book, Jarro was kidnapped. When an unknown enemy taunts Jarro, he thinks, “I’m going to end up just the way I did last time, tied up and blindfolded, abandoned in the middle of nowhere. They tied me to a tree and left me to die, alone and without weapons. . .” 
  • While on an island, a zombie appears and “Efram dispatches the zombie in a few quick slashes and moves on. Then an arrow tangs at us from the left, and Lenna takes it down with a few arrows of her own. . .”
  • A man wearing a Creeperhead attacks Tok. Tok explains, “He just hit me, again and again. . . he didn’t say a single word.” Tok was seriously injured and needed a Potion of Healing. 
  • Tok takes a Potion of Swiftness that makes him run super-fast. Lenna thinks he is a Creeper, so she “takes careful aim and lets her arrow fly. . .Tok stands before us, an arrow in his shoulder.”
  • In a multi-chapter battle, a Wither (a three headed skeleton) attacks the kids. Tok jumps into the fight when the Whiter is “headed right for Lenna, and without telling my body to do anything, it’s sprinting toward her, sword out. As the skull nears us, I swing my sword, and it swooshes right past my blade and smacks me in the chest, and the world explodes around me in a flash of white against the dark sky.” Tok is seriously injured. Tok exclaims, “my body doesn’t seem to want to work. My arms are weak, my legs exhausted like I’ve already run a mile.” 
  • The Wither and the Creeperhead appear at the same time and the Creeperhead begins throwing TNT at the kids. The Wither skull hits Mal. “She’s almost limp” and Chug carries her “like a baby back toward the open cave mouth.” 
  • As the Mob Squad fights the Wither and the Creeperhead, the Creeperhead holds a block of TNT over his head. Then, “The TNT block he was holding over his head explodes, throwing him back against the mountain.” He is knocked out and the kids tie him up, but the Creeperhead is not seriously injured.
  • The Wither follows the kids into the cave. Chug sprints “right at the Wither, running it through with my sword. I hit it again and again, so fast that it can’t seem to launch a skull. . .” Then, Tok joins in the fight. “Tok lands hit after hit. It’s perfect for him, really— [the Wither] can’t move and it can’t fight back.” The Wither explodes and its skeletons run away. 

Drugs and Alcohol 

  • Potions are often used. For example, when someone is sick or injured, they are given a Potion of Healing. 
  • In order to breathe underwater, the Mob Squad uses the Potion of Water Breathing. When Jarro drinks the potion, “the funniest feeling comes over me—like I’m inside a bubble and as light as air.”
  • After being attacked by fish, Tok gives his friends “Potions of Regeneration. They should help us heal faster, if we get hurt.” The ingredients include “a ghast tear and some Nether wart.” 
  • One of Tok’s potions uses “fermented spider eye.”
  • When given a golden apple, an elderly lady’s health is restored.

Language   

  • Poppeycock is used once.
  • The town’s people call Lenna “Loony Lenna.”
  • Heck is used once; darn is used twice. 
  • One of the Mob Squad calls someone a jerk four times. 
  • After almost dying in the fish attack, an old man saves the kids. He calls the kids “fools” and “morons.”
  • Tok is injured, but he’s still trying to talk, so Lenna says, “Shut your piehole.” 
  • Lenna calls the guards who won’t open the gates “creeps.”
  • An elderly woman calls one of the town’s elders “the little nincompoop.” 

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content 

  • None

Arazan’s Wolves

When Maddie and Will get a message that dire wolves—huge misshapen changelings, much larger than regular wolves—have been marauding and attacking through the hills and valleys of Celtica, the Rangers are sent on a mission to unravel just who or what is behind these dangerous creatures.

Will isn’t anxious to return to Celtica, especially approaching the Rift. And as they travel, Maddie must grapple with their growing dealings with the spiritual and supernatural. But they are Rangers—and they will do whatever it takes to accomplish their mission.  

After they receive some offers of help from locals, Will and Maddie learn the name of the sorceress behind these strange and dangerous attacks: Arazan. On the way to take her down once and for all, the Rangers must face dire wolves, Wargals, dark magic, and more. As Arazan’s desires have led her to the most evil of powers, Will and Maddie must form a plan of action that can outwit not just the sorceress, but the darkest forces from the beyond. 

Arazan’s Wolves takes Will back to Celtica, where Will battled evil in The Burning Bridge. However, Will has no personal reflections about the previous events nor does he explain the significance of the places he returns to. Thus, the book misses an opportunity to show Will’s personal growth from a young man to a seasoned Ranger. Because of this, readers unfamiliar with The Burning Bridge will not understand how the two books—Arazan’s Wolves and The Burning Bridge—connect.  

Readers who love The Royal Ranger Series because of the action and adventure will be disappointed. Much of the book describes Will and Maddie’s travel to Celtica, which lacks excitement. Along the way, they don’t interact with anyone of significance other than Eveningstar, whose character lacks depth. Eveningstar, despite having magical powers, does little to aid Will and Maddie. Instead of adding interest to the story, Eveningstar leaves the reader questioning her motives and why she didn’t try to defeat Arazan herself. 

Unlike the previous books in The Royal Ranger Series, Arazan’s Wolves includes acts of magic such as summoning demons, pentagrams, and telepathic conversations. This deviation from the action and adventure may take readers by surprise. To make matters worse, for the first time, Will kills a Wargal, not out of necessity, but in order to instill fear in the other Wargals. This is so out of character for Will that some readers may be upset by the events.  

Unfortunately, Arazan’s Wolves has too many plot holes, lacks character development, and includes random supernatural elements. All of this adds up to a story that will disappoint many fans of The Rangers Apprentice Series. Readers ready to move on to another epic adventure should read Rise of the Dragon Moon by Gabrille K. Byrne, The Explorer Academy Series by Trudi Trueit, and The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • A direwolf attacks three brothers. The two younger brothers run, but Owen—the oldest—has difficulties. “His joints were stiff. His muscles were sore and weary after a day of hard labor in the fields. He heard the quick rush of the dread creature behind him as it bounded in pursuit, heard its feet growing closer, claws scrapping and rasping . . . Ahead of him Dai and Gryff heard a long, drawn-out scream from their older brother as the direwolf ran him down, dragging him to the ground. Then the screaming stopped.” 
  • A group of thieves block a road in order to steal from people passing by. They try to stop Will and Maddie, so Maddie uses her sling. “The self-styled guardians of the road heard a brief whizzing sound, then a loud CLANG! as the lead slug slammed into the center of the helmet, just above the nasal. The swordsman staggered back . . . then fell.” Will makes the thieves take off their shoes and clothes before they flee. 
  • A Celtic minder who speaks out against Arazan (a suspected sorceress), ends up dead. “One morning he was found in his cottage, sitting at his table, eyes wide-open and dead as a stone. There wasn’t a mark on him.” The villagers assumed Arazan killed the man. 
  • As Will and Maddie are traveling, a direwolf attacks. “A huge shape appeared at the top of the rock wall to their left and launched itself at Will, snarling and snapping as it came. . .” Will’s horse, Tug, doesn’t panic and instead, “he swerved and bounded sideways toward the attacker, moving under its leap. . . Its jaws, ready to tear Will’s throat and upper body, snapped harmlessly at empty space. . .” 
  • During the attack, Tug fights back. The horse “swung around and delivered a thundering kick with his hind legs. . . His iron shod hooves crashed into the wolf’s side, cracking three ribs and hurling the huge animal across the clearing to smash into the rough rock wall behind it.” The wolf tries to flee, but the horse Bumper “smashed into the wolf’s muzzle, lacerating the skin and breaking bone beneath it.” The fight between the direwolf and the horses is described over three pages. 
  • While searching for Arazan, Will and Maddie are surprised by Wargals. “As the three beasts began to charge forward. . . the two bows came up and each of them snapped off a shot. . . Both shots went home, and the two Wargals tumbled onto the sand track.” 
  • The third Wargal tries to run, but “he screamed in pain as Will’s second shot struck home on the lower leg, causing him to stumble.” The Wargal runs but is followed by Will and Maddie.  
  • At one point, the Wargal “switched tactics and he turns to attack Maddie with his spear. He lunges at Maddie several times and is able to disarm her. The Wargal “bared his fangs again and uttered another blood-chilling snarl. . . He drew his spear back for one final lunge. Then jerked forward, a look of surprise replacing the triumphant snarl on his face as Will’s arrow slammed into his back. . .” The Wargal dies, but Maddie is uninjured. The scene is described over three pages. 
  • Will and Maddie hide from a group of Wargals. As they pass by, Will “drew back and released, before freezing to the side of the rock once more. . . The speeding arrow slammed into the rearmost Wargal, sending him staggering forward with a cry of pain and shock.” The Wargal dies, but the others flee for their lives. Will lets them go because, “I want them frightened. I want them reluctant to search for us and ready to disobey Arazan.” 
  • As Will and Maddie get closer to Arazan’s hideout, they see direwolves. Will shoots one with an arrow. The arrow “slammed into the creature’s chest a second before Maddie’s shot reached its target. The massive impact threw the direwolf back onto its rear legs, rising its body off the ground and laid it open for Maddie’s arrow. . .” The two rangers look at the wolf’s body. “Its eyes were open and glazed, and its tongue lolled out of its mouth over the long, yellow canines.”  
  • Arazan calls up a demon named Krakotomal. The demon had “the body of a serpent, with huge, batlike wings covered in scales. And that dreadful, horrifying face, jaws open to reveal fangs like knives.” When the pentacle becomes broken, Krakotomal is able to attack Arazan. “She cowered back, but there was nowhere for her to go. Krakotomal was upon her in one sudden leap, folding his scaly wings around her and tearing her with the cruel claws on his powerful hind legs. . . Blood was flowing from several deep wounds in her legs . . .” 
  • After Arazan is injured, the demon tries to convince Will to allow him to go through the pentacle. However, Will shoots an arrow that “covered the few meters to Krakotomal in a heartbeat and struck the demon high on his body, punching through the scales that protected him and burying the silver warhead deep in his flesh.” As Will continues to chant the banishing spell, both the demon and Arazan disappear “leaving only a swirl of green smoke and the smell of burned sulfur behind them.” 
  • After Arazan disappears, her minion Marko attacks Will. During the fight, Will’s saxe knife “bit into the hard leather. . . penetrating easily through the leather and then the flesh behind it. Marko felt a savage flare of agony as the saxe went home. . .” Marko dies. The fight is described over two and a half pages. 
  • The last direwolf ambushes Will. “Then the wolf was upon him, driving him back with the force of the huge leap from the rocks, snarling and snapping in rage. . . Using the strength of both arms, Will pushed back against the wolf, forcing its head back away from him. . . It pulled back. . . and provided Maddie with a near-perfect target.” Maddie shoots and the arrow penetrates “deep into its mouth, then reaching further still, severing the spinal column where it reached the brain, killing the wolf instantly.”  

Drugs and Alcohol   

  • Maddie and Will go into a tavern that serves ale. However, the two do not drink any. 
  • After seeing a demon, Maddie is upset and is given an herbal sleeping draft so she can sleep through the night.

Language  

  • When Will and Maddie kill two direwolfs, Will says Arazan will “only have one left, and thank Gorlog for that.” Gorlog is a Scandian god that is referred to in the Brotherband Series. 

Supernatural 

  • Arazan is a necromancer who tries to make contact with the dead. According to rumor, Arazan “was conducting unholy rituals late at night. They said she was trying to raise the spirit of the Lord of Rain and Night.”  
  • Arazan uses dark magic to try to make contact with a demon.  
  • Eveningstar is a healer who knows how to use herbs, potions, spells, and the black arts. “For the past year or so, she’s been trying to keep Arazan and her vile creatures in check.” Eveningstar can also “conjure up a fog to confuse” others. 
  • Eveningstar uses magic to show Arazan’s behavior to Will and Maddie. Eveningstar “drew a circle in chalk on the flagstone floor . . . Then she handed each of them a bunch of fresh rosemary on a long leather cord, which she instructed them to place around their necks.” Eveningstar sets up a brazier and heats stones. Then she begins chanting, “Ikab bledsr rimanatof. Ibak nimendir bledsr.”  
  • As Maddie stares at the hot coals, “shapes began to appear inside the cloud.” Maddie sees a demon. “The serpent body is black, along with the scale-covered, batlike wings. . . [Its face] was black-green, with glowing, evil eyes and a fringe of broad, triangular spikes around its neck. As she watched in horror, it opened its mouth to reveal huge, blackened fangs set in multiple rows inside its jaw.” 
  • Eveningstar writes down incantations and gives them to Will. “One is a spell of banishment . . . and this one is a shielding spell, to conceal you. . .” Later, Will chants the spell, “Ikab jandlar remko. Ikab jandlar simet. Ikab jandlar, jandlar ikabl” and banishes the demon. 
  • In order for Arazan to control the demons, she needs silver. Eveningstar explains, “Ordinary weapons won’t harm him. But weapons made from silver will be deadly to him.” 
  • Rangers have a unique connection with their horses. This connection lets them communicate. Will explains, “If it’s in my mind, he knows.” 
  • When Will concentrates, he can contact Eveningstar (a sorceress) with his mind. The first time he tried, “he felt, rather than heard, a voice in his mind, like the silken touch of a spider’s web. . .”  
  • Eveningstar gives Will and Maddie rosemary to hang around their necks to ward off evil and to keep Arazan from using her mind to watch them. 

Spiritual Content 

  • None

Polar Bear vs. Grizzly Bear

What would happen if a polar bear and a grizzly bear met each other? What if they had a fight? Who do you think would win? In this nonfiction read, two ferocious bear species are compared and contrasted.  

Polar Bear vs. Grizzly Bear’s fun format will appeal to most readers. Each page has large pictures of bears as well as fun facts, true stories, language facts, and definitions. For example, one fun fact is that “a grizzly is faster on land. A polar bear is probably faster on ice.” Each two-page spread compares the characteristics of the bears. Readers may be surprised by the ending battle because “the polar bear sees no point in fighting anymore. There is no reason to fight to the death. The polar bear runs away.” The battle between the two bears is illustrated over two pages; however, no blood is shown.  

The nonfiction read is packed with interesting information about the two bear species. The book also has two pages devoted to funny bear stories. Similar to a picture book, each page has a full-page illustration. With six to eleven simple sentences per page, Polar Bear vs. Grizzly Bear is accessible to most readers. However, younger readers may need help with some of the vocabulary such as translucent, apex predator, and carnivore. 

Polar Bear vs. Grizzly Bear will spark readers’ attention and make them want to learn more about bears. It is part of the Who Would Win? Series, which has 20+ books that will satisfy all kinds of animal fans. Readers looking for more bear humor should also read the graphic novel, Bird & Squirrel on The Edge by James Burks. 

Sexual Content  

  • None

Violence  

  • Polar bears can eat humans, “but it hardly ever happens.” However, “each year grizzlies eat a few people.” 
  • When the polar bear and the grizzly bear see each other, “the grizzly charges at the polar bear, growing and showing his teeth. . . [The polar bear] fights back. Whap! He smacks the grizzly in the face. Ouch! They claw, scratch, and bite.” The polar bear eventually walks away from the fight.  

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

Shadow and Bone

Alina Starkov never expected to be anything but ordinary. An orphan from Keramzin, a small village in Ravka, she is a mapmaker in Ravka’s First Army. Her best friend, Mal, is also in the army as a tracker. Alina wants nothing more from life. 

But that changes when her regiment attempts to cross the Fold, a swath of deadly darkness created 400 years ago by the Black Heretic that splits Ravka in half. Alina discovers that she can summon light, making her a Grisha – someone with the ability to practice the Small Science. But Alina is no ordinary Grisha – she is a Sun Summoner, who is prophesied to destroy the Fold for good. 

Now Alina will enter a lavish world of royalty and intrigue as she trains with the Grisha, her country’s magical military elite—and falls under the spell of their notorious leader, the Darkling. He believes Alina can summon a force capable of destroying the Shadow Fold and reuniting their war-ravaged country, but only if she can master her untamed gift. 

Alina begins working with the mysterious Darkling, the only Shadow Summoner and leader of the Grisha. He tells Alina that he seeks to rectify his ancestor’s mistake and unite Ravka once more. The Darkling says Alina is Ravka’s only hope. But the more Alina learns about the Grisha world, and about the Darkling himself, the more she realizes that things are even more complicated than she previously thought. With Ravka’s future on her shoulders, Alina must figure out who her allies are and possibly prevent a catastrophe bigger than the creation of the Fold itself. 

As the first book in a fantasy trilogy, Shadow and Bone has the difficult task of setting up its characters, setting, and plot in an engaging way while still leaving room for the story to develop in subsequent books, and it does not disappoint. The world-building is excellent as it introduces just the right amount of information so that the reader is not confused but is still intrigued to learn more.  Throughout the story, Bardugo expertly weaves in more details as needed. Ravka comes to life through Bardugo’s lush prose that provides just enough description without distracting from the plot so that even the most plot-driven readers will not be able to walk away from this book. 

Another positive aspect of Shadow and Bone is its vast cast of characters. Even minor characters have multiple layers of depth which keeps readers on their toes and makes them constantly examine the characters’ decisions. Alina is an easy character to relate to for anyone who has ever struggled to fit into an unfamiliar environment, and her strength and perseverance make her an admirable protagonist. This is especially evident in her struggle to merge her new life with her old dreams for her and Mal, and readers will root for her as she searches for ways to combine her ordinary past with her extraordinary present. Readers will eagerly devour Shadow and Bone, and delight in learning about the world of the Grisha alongside Alina. 

Sexual Content  

  • A beautiful Grisha girl smiles flirtatiously at Mal. His friends tease him. “‘You know she’ll be staying at camp,’ Mikhael said with a leer. ‘I hear the Grisha tent’s as big as a cathedral,’ added Dubrov. ‘Lots of nice shadowy nooks,’ said Mikhael, and actually waggled his brows.”  
  • Mal taps on Alina’s tent after hours. One of her fellow soldiers hears the knock and giggles, “If it’s that tracker, tell him to come inside and keep me warm.” 
  • The night before their regiment crosses the Fold, Alina and Mal reminisce about their childhoods. They are interrupted and when Mal gets up to leave, he tells Alina to wish him luck. She does, and then thinks sarcastically, “Good luck? Have a lovely time, Mal. Hope you find a pretty Grisha, fall deeply in love, and make lots of gorgeous, disgustingly talented babies together.”  
  • Alina’s friend Genya usually spends her time at the Grand Palace because the Queen and especially the King like to keep her close. It is insinuated that the King treats Genya as if she is a prostitute. Genya later confirms this to Alina, telling her that “the King has his way with lots of servants.” 
  • The Darkling kisses Alina in an empty room at the Little Palace. “I’d been kissed before, drunken mistakes, awkward fumblings. This was nothing like that. It was sure and powerful and like my whole body had just come awake. I could feel my pounding heart, the press of silk against my skin, the strength of his arms around me, one hand buried deep in my hair, the other at my back, pulling me closer.” This scene occurs over two pages. 
  • As Alina wanders the outskirts of the city, a drunk man stumbles out of an inn and grabs Alina by the coat. He says, “Hello, pretty! Have you come to keep me warm?” He makes a few more comments in the same vein; Alina quickly gets away by blinding him with her light powers. 

Violence  

  • When Alina’s regiment attempts to cross the Fold, they are attacked by volcra, deadly creatures who live in the Fold and feed on humans. There are many injuries and casualties, including Alina’s friend Alexei. Alina “gasped as Alexei’s arm was yanked from mine. In a spurt of flame, I saw him clutching at the railing with one hand. I saw his howling mouth, his wide, terrified eyes, and the monstrous thing that held him in its glistening gray arms, its wings beating the air as it lifted him from his feet, its thick claws sunk deep into this back, its talons already wet with his blood. Alexei’s fingers slipped on the railing . . . His screams faded into the sounds of battle as the volcra carried him into the dark. Another burst of flame lit the sky, but he was gone.” This scene occurs over four pages. 
  • When Alina is being taken to the Little Palace by Grisha guards, they are attacked by Fjerdan assassins. Alina “huddled on the floor [of the carriage], clutching the knife’s heavy hilt, my knees to my chest, my back pressed against the base of the seat. Outside, I could hear the sounds of fighting, metal on metal, grunts and shouts, horses whinnying. The coach shook as a body slammed against the glass of the window. I saw with horror that it was one of my guards. His body left a red smear against the glass as he slid from view.” This scene occurs over four pages. Many unnamed people die, and a few are injured.  
  • Alina has a nightmare where she “threw open the door . . . and screamed. There was blood everywhere. The volcra was perched on the window seat and, as it turned on me and opened its horrible jaws, I saw it had gray quartz eyes.”  
  • During a combat training session, Alina spars with Zoya, one of the most powerful Grisha. Zoya “pressed her advantage and lunged forward. That was her mistake . . . I [Alina] stepped to the side, and as she came in close, I hooked my leg around her ankle. Zoya went down hard. . . But before I had a chance to even register my victory, Zoya sat up, her expression furious, her arm slashing through the air. I felt myself lifted off my feet as I sailed backward through the air and slammed into the training room’s wooden wall. I heard something crack, and all the breath went out of my body as I slid to the ground.” 
  • In the woods, thieves attack Alina and Mal. Alina’s training saves them. “Before he could recover, I [Alina] slammed a knee into his groin. As he bent double, I put my hands on the back of his head and brought my knee up hard. There was a disgusting crunch, and I stepped backward as he fell to the ground clutching his nose, blood spurting between his fingers.”  
  • The Darkling kills Morozova’s stag in order to use its antlers to make an amplifier for Alina. The Darkling “strode forward and without hesitating slit the stag’s throat. Blood gushed into the snow, pooling around the stag’s body. I watched as the life left his dark eyes, and a sob broke from my chest.” 
  • Alina has a nightmare. “That night, I dreamed of the stag. I saw the Darkling cut his throat again and again. I saw the life fading from his dark eyes. But when I looked down, it was my blood that spilled red into the snow.” 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Alina watches a friend “take a swig from the bottle [of kvas] and then lurch forward.” Kvas is the Ravkan equivalent of beer. 
  • While en route to the Little Palace, Alina, the Darkling, and the rest of the Grisha guards sit around a fire and “pass a flask back and forth.”  
  • Genya, Alina’s best friend at the Little Palace and a Grisha servant to the Ravkan King and Queen, describes the King as “probably drunk” and says that he “devotes all his time to hunting, horses, and imbibing.”  

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • This book involves a magic system known as the Small Science, which is a way of manipulating matter. Those who can wield the Small Science are known as Grisha. The Grisha are split into three orders: Corporalki (the Order of the Living and the Dead), Etherialki (the Order of Summoners), and Materialki (the Order of Fabrikators).  
  • The Darkling and Baghra, Alina’s tutor, are Shadow Summoners, while Alina is a Sun Summoner; these are unique abilities that no other known Grisha possess. For example, here is a description of when Alina summons light for the first time on purpose and by herself: “I called and the light answered. I felt it rushing toward me from every direction, skimming over the lake, skittering over the golden domes of the Little Palace, under the door and through the walls of Baghra’s cottage. I felt it everywhere. I opened my hands and the light bloomed right through me, filling the room, illuminating the stone walls, the old tile oven, and every angle of Baghra’s strange face. It surrounded me, blazing with heat, more powerful and more pure than ever before because it was all mine. I wanted to laugh, to sing, to shout. At last, there was something that belonged wholly and completely to me.” The Darkling’s power works in a similar way: “He brought his hands together and there was a sound like a thunderclap. I gasped as undulating darkness spread from his clasped hands, spilling in a black wave over me and the crowd.” 

Spiritual Content  

  • Many Ravkans worship Saints, and consider Alina to be a living Saint because she is the Sun Summoner. 
  • The Apparat, the King’s spiritual advisor, tells Alina, “There is something more powerful than any army. Something strong enough to topple kings, and even Darklings . . . Faith.”  
  • Alina checks the casualty lists every week, looking for Mal’s name, and each time she doesn’t see his name she “gives thanks to all the Saints that Mal was safe and alive.” 
  • When Alina is on the run, she can’t resist slipping into a tiny church to hear the priest say Mass. The priest “offered prayers for the congregation: for a woman’s son who had been wounded in battle, for an infant who was ill with fever, and for the health of Alina Starkov. ‘Let the Saints protect the Sun Summoner,’ intoned the priest, ‘she who was sent to deliver us from the evils of the Shadow Fold and make this nation whole again.’” 
  • Alina describes Genya as “a painted icon of a Saint, her hair a burnished copper halo.” 

Ultimate Shark Rumble

Sixteen different sharks battle it out in a huge underwater fight! Who will be the champion? 

This nonfiction read compares and contrasts 16 ferocious sharks. Readers will learn about each animal’s anatomy, behavior, and more. Then, they’ll the animals will compete before finally revealing the winner!  

Ultimate Shark Rumble’s fun format will appeal to most readers. Each page has large pictures of sharks as well as shark facts, true stories, language facts, and definitions. For example, one fun fact is that “some Native Hawaiians believe that tiger sharks are the spirits of their ancestors.” Each “shark rumble” explains the characteristics of each shark as well as which shark would win in a battle. The pictures show the battles, including a shark’s sharp teeth biting another shark; while not gory, some blood is shown.  

Anyone who wants to learn more about sharks needs to read Ultimate Shark Rumble. Similar to a picture book, each page has a full-page illustration. With six to eleven simple sentences per page, Ultimate Shark Rumble is accessible to most readers. However, younger readers may need help with some of the vocabulary such as cartilage, positioned, caudal fins, and remoras.  

Ultimate Shark Rumble is jam-packed with interesting shark information. The nonfiction book will spark readers’ attention and make them want to learn more about sharks. The Who Would Win? Series has 20+ books that will satisfy all kinds of animal fans. Readers who want to take a bite out of more shark-related books should add The Great Shark Escape by Jennifer Johnston and Shark Lady by Jess Keating. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • In each shark rumble, the text explains which shark would win and why. For example, in a fight between a hammerhead shark and a tiger shark, “the tiger shark glides to the side and bites off one of the hammerhead’s eyes. The hammerhead is in trouble. The tiger shark then bites it in the back. Tiger shark wins!”

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None

Language  

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

The Stern Chase

The Herons are home in Skandia—preparing to celebrate two of their own and working on sea trials in the newly constructed Heron. But during a short excursion, they encounter an Iberian pirate ship raiding the coast of Sonderland, so Hal and his crew take action.

Though the Herons quickly triumph, the Iberians voice their fury at the Herons, vowing to take revenge. And soon they do—raiding the harbor and stealing or destroying as many ships as they can. Though there is little proof the Iberians are behind it, the Herons take their ship—the only one that survived the raid—and race after their enemy in hot pursuit. They will take down these pirates and get justice, no matter what.  

The Stern Chase lives up to its name since the majority of the story focuses on the Skandians chasing the pirate ship. At first, Hal and his crew, The Brotherband, are trying to discover what country the pirates come from. Then, they need to figure out which direction the pirates went. And then, they must find the pirate’s secret hiding spot. Unfortunately, the search lacks action and readers may quickly become bored with the chase. Another of the book’s flaws is that The Stern Chase follows the same format as all the other books in the series, which doesn’t allow any surprises to unfold.  

While the previous books in the Brotherband Chronicle are action-packed and interesting, The Stern Chase is stale. There is little interaction between the characters and none of the characters show any personal growth. The story begins with Invgar and Lydia’s engagement party, however, once the party is interrupted there are few scenes that feature the couple. The Skandian Oberjarl, Erik, also joins the expedition, but he only has a small role. Overall, none of the characters are given a chance to shine.    

One of the best aspects of the Brotherband Chronicles is the sense of comradery among the crew and the action-packed scenes. However, The Stern Chase is missing both of these elements, which will leave readers disappointed. If you’ve sailed through all the Brotherband books, you can find additional excitement and adventure by reading the Starcatchers Series by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson and Lintang and the Pirate Queen by Tamara Moss. 

Sexual Content  

  • When a member of the Brotherband, Thorn, is about to leave to search for pirates, he says goodbye to his girlfriend and kisses “her on the lips. It was a long kiss . . .” 

Violence  

  • Iberians attack a trading ship and the Brotherband jumps in to help. “Thorn charged into the rank of the Iberian crew. His massive club smashed into one man, hurling him to one side, then he swung back again and took another in the chest as the startled pirate turned to face him.” 
  • The battle continues and the ship’s captain “leapt forward, bringing his long-bladed sword down onto the helmet of the pirate captain who had faced him. . . The sword blade sank deep into his helmet, cleaving a deep cut in the metal. The pirate’s last conscious thought was that he had dropped his own sword and was now unarmed and at the mercy of his former prey.” It is implied that the pirate dies. The scene takes place over four pages. 
  • The Brotherband captures the remaining pirates, who are closest to the harbormaster. “The pirates, their hands bound behind them and secured in a line by a rope around their necks, were marched down the quay by the trader’s crew. . . Piracy was a capital crime, and they had been caught red handed.” 
  • Pirates sneak into the Skandia harbor and damage their ships. In the morning, the Skandia guards are discovered dead. One of the guards is, “lying on his back, staring unseeingly up at the sky. . .he had been stabbed.” 
  • The pirates anger a bear that attacks them. “One massive, claw-laden paw swiped at him before he could bring his sword forward. The huge claws opened four red weals across his face. . .” The bear struck the pirate who smashed “into the rock wall behind him. His limp body slid slowly to the ground. The pirates run from the bear, but “the terrible bear snapped and smashed at those nearest it, leaving a trail of broken bodies.” Six men “paid the ultimate price, their bodies hurled to the rocks on either side, or lying still where they fell.”  
  • A sailor describes a pirate attack. His men were outnumbered and were quickly killed and “their bodies thrown overboard.”  
  • The Brotherband meet the pirates on the open sea. The pirates began shooting arrows towards the Brotherband. “An arrow flashed down at Thorn, grazing his arm and leaving a bloody welt.” Thorn “hurled the grapnel overhand back toward the ship behind them. . . Thorn’s blind throw had been effective. A man tumbled off the bow of the big ship, falling into the sea and being driven under by her plunging forefoot.” During the short confrontation, men on both sides are injured. 
  • Several members of the Brotherband spy on the pirates. The Brotherband hears a small party of pirates approaching. Lydia, a member of the Brotherband, throws a dart, and a pirate “felt a jolting impact in his right shoulder. The force of it spun him half around and the impact jarred the sword from his grasp. He staggered. . . then his legs gave way and he sank to the ground, gasping as he felt the first waves of pain seizing his upper body.” The man dies. 
  • The Brotherband tricks the pirates into following them. The Brotherband’s ship, Heron, purposely runs into the other ship’s oars. “The air was filled with the splintering, cracking sound of the oars being smashed and shattered. Lethal splinters of white oak flew above the two ships. . .” Several of the pirates “fell, struck by sharp daggers of white oak. . . Within seconds, a good half of the rowing crew were injured or disabled, lying groaning or unconscious on the rowing benches. . .” 
  • One of the Brotherband sets off “the Mangler,” which throws a giant bolt ball at the pirates’ ship. “It smashed into the men crowded around the mast, cleaving a deadly path through them, throwing bodies left and right before it sailed clear over the side into the sea.”  
  • The Brotherband boards the ship. “Thorn led the way. . . His massive club-hand smashed out to left and right, shattering shields, breaking limbs and fracturing ribs among those who opposed him.” 
  • During the battle, the Skandian Oberjarl, Erik, was wounded “but he seemed impervious to them, ignoring the blood streaking his arms and legs, dealing out quick vengeance to any who struck him. The pile of fallen pirates grew around him as he shattered and smashed his way along the blood-streaked deck.” The bloody battle is described over 12 pages. The pirates started with a crew of forty. After the battle there are “fewer than a dozen left standing.”   

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • The Skandians throw an engagement party. During the party, alcohol is put out “so that revelers could fill and refill their tankards as they pleased.” Many of the adults get drunk. 
  • The Brotherband finds a sinking ship that had been attacked by pirates. One of the wounded men is given a “painkilling draft.” 

Language  

  • Oh my Lord and Oh God are both used as an exclamation once. 
  • “Gorlog’s beard” and “Gorlog bite him” are both used as an exclamation once.  

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • The Brotherband gives a sailor from another ship a funeral. Hal wonders how to perform the ceremony because he “wasn’t familiar with whatever gods the Gallicans might pray too, and Skandians weren’t a particularly religious group, regarding their own gods with a kind of affectionate disdain.”  
  • The pirates hear a “low rumbling sound, full of threat and menace, and wonder if such an unearthly sound might come from a djinn or a demon.” A djinn is an intelligent spirit of lower rank than the angels, able to appear in both human and animal forms, that can also possess humans. 
  • When the pirates see a bear, “one of the men. . . let out a yelp of fear, calling on his gods to protect him.”  

The Game Master: Mansion Mystery

Rebecca Zamolo has managed to foil the Game Master’s plans before, but this time the Game Master has snake-napped Nacho, her good friend Miguel’s pet. No way is Becca going to let the Game Master get away with this dastardly plan. When the clues lead Becca and her new friends in the direction of the one house in their entire neighborhood that none of them ever want to go near, they know they have no choice but to screw up their courage and dare to investigate if they want to rescue Nacho. 

But the problem is that getting into the super spooky house is way easier than getting out. The Game Master is up to their old tricks, and Becca, Matt, Kylie, Frankie, and Miguel are going to have to face their fears and use all their smarts and strengths to solve the puzzles and games and save the day. 

Mansion Mystery is another action-packed adventure from the super-sleuthing team Rebecca and Matt Zamolo, stars of the popular Game Master Network.  

In the second installment of The Game Master Series, the kids must face their deepest fears in order to defeat the Game Master and find Frankie’s pet snake. In this spooky adventure, the kids no longer argue and disagree. Instead, they work together and encourage each other to face their fears. While most of the challenges are harmless—collecting squirmy bugs, making it through a maze, eating mud pudding—in order to escape the mansion the kids must take a perilous walk on the mansion’s roof and climb into a huge tree. When the kids find a tree house, they realize that the Game Master has been using a telescope to spy on them and the Game Master has detailed notes of each person’s behaviors. Unfortunately, instead of being completely freaked out by this, the kids believe that the Game Master may be someone who wants to be their friend.  

While the plot is farfetched, the easy-to-read story will appeal to young readers because the fast-paced mystery focuses on friendship and working together. Another positive aspect of the story are the black and white illustrations that appear periodically. Readers will relate to the diverse cast of characters, who have common fears such as a fear of spiders. While the mansion has some creepy elements such as a red stain that could be blood, it is spookily mysterious instead of scary. 

While The Game Master Series lacks character development and the plot is at times unbelievable, readers will still enjoy the escape-room-styled mystery. In the end, the kids are only able to escape the mansion by working as a team to overcome their fears. Readers who enjoyed The Game Master Series should also check out the Zeus The Mighty Series by Crispin Boyer; both series are engaging and show the importance of using a person’s individual talents to overcome an obstacle.  

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • None 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language    

  • Heck is used four times. 
  • Darn is used three times. 
  • Dang is used twice. 
  • Holy fruits and holy cats are both used as an exclamation once. 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

Breaking Time

When a mysterious Scotsman suddenly appears in the middle of the road, Klara thinks the biggest problem is whether she hit him with her car. But, as impossible as it sounds, Callum has stepped out of another time, and it’s just the beginning of a deadly adventure.

Klara will soon learn that she is the last Pillar of Time—an anchor point in the timeline of the world and a hiding place for a rogue goddess’s magic. Callum believes he’s fated to protect her at all costs after being unable to protect the previous Pillar, his best friend, Thomas. For a dark force is hunting the Pillars in order to claim the power of the goddess—and Klara and Callum are the only two people standing in the way.  Thrown together by fate, the two must learn to trust each other and work together. . . but they’ll also need to protect their hearts from one another if they’re going to survive.

Since the death of her mother and moving to Scotland, Klara’s life has been turned upside down. Things only get worse when Callum arrives. At first, Klara doesn’t believe he has traveled from the past nor does she understand the strange powers that have manifested through her. While many readers will relate to Klara’s grief and her inability to be honest with her father, Klara is not a very memorable character. Even after a man steps out of a mist and tries to kill her, Klara is still unwilling to believe Callum’s story. This conflict takes too long to resolve and slows the story’s pacing.

Breaking Time introduces many ancient Gods as well as some lore for the Fair Folk; however, some of the story’s magical elements are inconsistent. For example, while one goddess is only able to appear to Klara at a mystical site, another appears to her through a dream, and demon monsters can appear anywhere. Since Klara doesn’t understand her powers, she goes on a quest to different mystic sites in an attempt to understand them. At each place, she learns more about herself and what it means to be a Pillar. Unfortunately, the story’s worldbuilding is lacking and the magic elements are inconsistent which causes confusion.  In addition, some of the people and events are not clearly connected to the central conflict. To make matters worse, the conclusion is ambiguous and doesn’t wrap up any of the conflicts, which many readers may find frustrating.

Unfortunately, Breaking Time’s unremarkable protagonist and inconsistent worldbuilding make the story difficult to enjoy. Readers who have some previous knowledge of Scottish folklore may still find Breaking Time an interesting read; however, readers who have no previous knowledge of Scottish folklore may want to leave the book on the shelf. If you’re looking for a time-traveling romance, Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone and the Ruby Red Trilogy by Kerstin Gier both have mystery, excitement, and some swoon-worthy scenes.

Sexual Content

  • Klara sees Callum watching for danger. Klara goes to him and Callum “took her waist between his strong hands, pulling her close. In a swift movement, he turned Klara so that her back was against a nearby tree. His body flush against hers. She could feel every inch of him. . . His lips pressed hungrily against hers, and she grasped the nape of his neck, wanting him closer. . . Their lips danced. She willed him to move faster, harder against hers. Her tongue dipped into his mouth and he moaned at the contact.” The two do not go further. The scene is described over a page.
  • After kissing Klara, Callum thinks about how “He had only kissed one girl before.”
  • After a near death experience, Klara tells Callum to kiss her. “His lips descended on hers, slow and meaningful. . . He slid the palm of his hand down to the back of her neck, she shuddered.”
  • Klara told Callum that she could send him back to his own time. He refuses her offer. Then, “his lips found her hairline and lingered there. He felt her palms up his back, felt his muscles tighten in response to her touch. . . Klara wanted him here, too. . . Everything that was fierce and gentle in Callum flowed out of his touch and into her . . .” They stop kissing when they are interrupted. The scene is described over a page.
  • While listening to a band and dancing, Callum “pulled her even closer, lifting her so she was on her toes. . . She pushed her fingers into his hair. He moaned, feeling euphoric. His lips descended to hers.” The kiss is described over half a page.

Violence

  • To pay for their meals, Callum and his friend, Thomas, fought in a local pub. Callum recalls one fight when “Thomas got pummeled. . . Sounds still rang in Callum’s ears: the thud of fist and flesh, the sickening crunch of bone.”
  • One night, Callum comes across Thomas lying in the street. “Thomas lay on the ground, his legs splayed at sickening angles. Blood seeped through his shirt. . . [Callum] pressed his hands against the deep slice that marred his friend’s torso. A knife wound.” 
  • While Callum kneeled next to Thomas, his “world flipped sideways. A blow had hit Callum like a runaway carriage. . . pain exploded along his ribs.” Thomas’s killer steps out of the shadows and “Callum didn’t see the blow coming, only felt the pain searing across his temple as he was thrown to the ground again.” 
  • During the fight, the man stabs Callum. “Callum touched his side, and his fingers came away with blood. He watched as crimson spread across his shirt. . . He tried to take a step, only to crumple to the ground beside Thomas, whose head rested limp against his chest.” Callum passes out. When he awakens, he is in another time period and he assumes Thomas is dead. The fight scene is described over four pages. 
  • A man steps out of a fog and grabs Klara’s throat. “He squeezed tighter, making her sputter. Her lungs worked fruitlessly, burning and straining like her ribs had been welded shut. He was trying to kill her. Was killing her.” Callum jumps to Klara’s aide and “ lunged forward and sunk his dagger into the man’s thigh. . . crying out in pain, the man released his grip slightly, allowing Klara to pull out of his grasp.”
  • While fighting the man, “A powerful burst of energy exploded inside [Klara], moving in electric waves outward from her chest into her limbs. Her fingertips felt like live wires. . . it suddenly sparked into a bright, white light that wiped away everything else.” Klara’s power sends the man into a different realm. The fight scene is described over four pages.
  • A beast appears “standing as tall as a horse and twice as wide, it bore the head of a snake, the form of a panther, and the cloven hooves of a demon.” The beast corners Klara, and Callum comes to her aid. “The creature lunged at Callum. He threw all of his strength at the beast, ducking down and ramming his shoulder into its stomach. . . [Klara] slam[ed] her phone into the beast’s snapping jaws.” 
  • During the fight with the beast, “the monster swung its neck like an unbroken horse, throwing Callum head over heels into the nearest partition wall. . . His body exploded with pain.” While Callum is down, “The monster lumbered toward [Klara], its tongue lashing the air as its hideous head darted and swayed. Its monstrous skull smashed into Klara’s side and sent her sliding along the floor.”
  • As the fight with the beast continues, Callum “slammed the rock into the beast’s spine, the spot on the neck where the scales met fur. The monster shrieked in pain. . . its scaled back, [was] now slick with dark blood as the monster fell on its side.” After being injured, the monster turned into “a pile of dust on the floor.” The bloody fight is described over five pages.
  • While fighting in the pubs, if Callum had a bad fight, his master “would be so mad that the beatings wouldn’t stop until I did better in the next fight.”
  • While in the forest, a god in the shape of a stag appears to Klara. Soon, another monster appears and attacks the stag. “The stag was crumpled before her, his neck in the jaws of another beast. Familiar teeth sunk into the animal’s furred flesh.”
  • Once the stag is out of the way, the monster goes after Klara. The beast “snapped its head up from the stag’s neck, blood dripping from the pearly points of its teeth.” Klara ran, but “spit flew from its mouth and landed with a heavy smack on the tree, acid sizzling where it met the bark—right next to her face.” Eventually, “the leopard-like tail came around and pinned Klara against the tree. Splinters cut through the back of her jacket and into the soft flesh of her skin. She convulsed with a full-body shiver as its jaws opened.” 
  • During the fight, the stag recovers and charges the monster that has Klara pinned against a tree. Once free, “Klara grabbed the broken antler from the forest floor and rammed it into the beast’s eye. The black pupil sunk like putty around the shard, which shuddered violently in her hand the deeper she plunged it in . . . the beast shrieked then collapsed into darkly shimmering dust.” The fight is described over six pages.
  • Aion, a man who Callum has only seen once, follows Callum. When Callum confronts him, Aion refuses to answer any questions. “Callum’s knuckles sunk into Aion’s cheek and nose, glancing off bone. His cry was muffled by Callum’s fist. He drew his hand back, chest heaving. A line of dark blood trickled from Aion’s nostril and over his lip.”
  • While at a mystic site, another monster attacks Klara and Callum. “Callum crouched in front of the beast, sword raised. With a twist of her heart, she noticed the blood splashed across his leg. His limp. . . [Callum] lunged again, this time striking the beast’s neck with the broad side of the sword. Rearing its head, the beast cried out. Then, it swung down in a flash. . . sinking its teeth into Callum’s side.”
  • As Callum and the beast fight, Klara jumps in. “She grabbed the hilt and ran headlong toward the creature. . . leaping as high as she could, Klara bore down and drove the blade into the monster’s open mouth.” When nothing else works, Klara uses her power against the beast, causing the beast to dissolve “until nothing more than a shimmering curtain of gold dust remained.” The scene is described over four pages.
  • Four beasts that “looked as if they were plucked straight from the pits of hell” attack Callum. When the lead beast runs at him, Callum “dropped, flattening his body against the ground to avoid the snarling beast . . . One hand grasped the beast’s muzzle, the other the meat of its neck. Callum felt the crunch of its crooked and uneven teeth under his fingers as he tightened his grip, then used the beast’s own weight to swing it away—and let go.”
  • As the fight continues, “Callum fell to his knee and thrust the dirk upward, catching the creature’s soft belly with his blade. . . The terrible sound of ripping flesh filled his ears. Hot blood splattered in his hair and face. . .” 
  • The beasts almost overtake Callum when one of them “sunk its claw into the front of Callum’s chest. The bite of fang and flesh tore a scream from his lungs.” After Callum fights the beasts, Llaw, a demigod who is trying to kill all of the Pillars, appears and attacks. “Llaw was strong. He stole the remaining breath from Callum’s belly with a sharp kick, sending his body reeling like he had run full force into one of the standing stones. Pain flared in his injured shoulder. Callum fell to his knees. Llaw drove a fist into his chest.”  At the end of the six pages of fighting, Callum’s “vision faded, along with the beat of his heart.”
  • When Klara finds Callum’s body, she pleads to the god Cernunnos. However, Llaw appears. “Llaw’s boot slammed against her chest, pinning her to the ground. The hound by his side. . . crouched. With its sickening sharp claws carving up the earth as it moved, the creature inched toward her until its snapping, snarling jaw was nearly pressed against her throat.” Llaw “pressed his foot down on her chest until a rib snapped.”
  • Klara calls on her powers and is able to distract Llaw. Then, she swung her sword. “The hilt shuddered in her fingers as the blade met resistance—as it cut through the flesh and bone of Llaw’s arm. Then the sword was free again, a swatch of blood on silver the only evidence that she hadn’t missed.”
  • At the end of the fight, Klara stabs Llaw in the chest. “He shuddered violently, like he’d been pushed onto her blade. . . She felt his body go limp.” Klara and Llaw’s fight scene is described over seven pages. 

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Callum thinks back to a time when he had whisky at a pub.     
  • After Callum gets into a fight, Klara calls a doctor. The doctor assumes Callum is drunk. The doctor said, “this young man needs aspirin, water, and perhaps to reconsider his life choices, if he’s already this drunk so early in the morning.” 
  • Klara and Callum go to a bar to listen to a band. Other people are served beer.
  • Klara’s grandmother “smoked a joint every Christmas.”
  • Klara’s father talks about the night before he married Klara’s mother when they had champagne.

Language

  • Profanity is used infrequently. Profanity includes ass, bastard, crap, damn, hell, pissed, and shit.
  • Goddamn is used once.
  • God, oh my God, and Jesus are used as exclamations a few times. 

Supernatural

  • In the woods, Klara and Callum come across an area that looks like a fairy ring. Then, a fog begins to take form. “The air in front of [Klara] began to shimmer as if it was the height of summer—but the air turned suddenly cold. . . The mist grew thicker still with every passing second, until it was a curtain of light and shadow. . . Callum watched in horror as a hand emerged from the mist and reached for her.” A man steps out of the fog. 
  • The story revolves around Samhain, “a Gaelic holiday, similar to Halloween, celebrating the barriers of the human and spirit world thinning out on October 31 through November 1, allowing crossover from both realms.”
  • Callum learns that Thomas was visiting mystical centers. A man tells Callum, “Different centers are thought to be closer to different gods or different locations in the Otherworld. . . Some say energy flows at these sites – at these mystic centers, or thin places— especially at certain times of the year, or with specific celestial events, the power of which is beyond our understanding.”
  • If Klara concentrates, she can feel the “pull of the Otherworld.” While trying to understand her powers, Klara walks into a forest and a stag steps out of the mist. “She watched in awe as the stag fell away, its body transforming until the only thing that remained of the beast were its antlers” that “crowned a man.” The man is Cernunnos, the god of the wilds, of nature, and of life itself. He tells Klara that “my essence is connected to the soil, the leaves, the trees, the ocean.” 
  • Callum wants to find the “bean-nighe” who is part of the Fair Folk. The bean-nighe “appears to those she chooses, and those who will die.” To find a bean-nighe, Callum will need to go to a lake, take part of his shirt, “soak it in your blood, and leave it in the waters. With it, you must swear to leave your life—if the bean-nighe would so choose to take it.” When Callum follows these directions, he asks the bean-nighe for “the strength of ten men” so he can protect Klara.
  • Klara goes to a mystic site. While there, a “pearl of light” appears. “The pearl grew. . . the spin stopped abruptly, and it flattened in the air in front of her, casting her in a blaze of white. . . Klara cried out, at first in shock, then in agony. It felt like she was being scorched alive.” The light takes her through a vision of the past.

Spiritual Content

  • Arianrhod, the Goddess of the Silver Wheel is “a primal figure of female strength—often associated with the moon, she had dominion over the sky, reincarnation, and even time and fate itself.” The goddess appears to Klara and Callum. Arianrhod shows a vision to Callum. “The fog gathered around them again. . . A familiar form took shape in front of Callum’s eyes. His chest wrenched open with disbelief and wonder.” Callum is shown his friend Thomas, and Arianrhod explains that “Thomas’s life was precious—more precious than most of the humans who walk this earth. There was a power in his blood more valuable than any mortal treasure. . .”
  • The Goddess reveals that Callum’s friends, Thomas, and Klara are both “pillars.” Arianrhod divided her powers “amongst ten human souls that would be born into your world. . . Spread across the centuries, each of the ten chosen ones became a Pillar of Time, with my power sealed within their blood.” 
  • Arianrhod’s son, Llaw, is a demigod who is trying to kill all the Pillars so he can gain their power. The goddess explains that “Llaw has already taken the power from the other nine vessels, but my power can all be restored as long as you live past Samhain.” If Llaw isn’t stopped, chaos will reign and time itself will be destroyed.

Minecraft: Mob Squad #1

The village of Cornucopia is practically perfect in every way. Plenty of food, cozy homes, and a huge wall to keep everyone safe from the scary world outside. What more could a kid possibly need?

Well, a lot, actually.

Mal, a fearless girl, needs adventure, and her friends are right there with her. There is Lenna, a dreamer whose family underestimates her every day, and Tok and Chug, two brothers who love to build stuff (Tok) and smash stuff (Chug). They’re best friends, and in a town whose grown-ups value safety over bravery and fitting in over standing out, they’re the bad apples.

But when a mysterious mob sneaks past Cornucopia’s defenses, the village is in huge trouble. And nobody knows what to do. Finally faced with the adventure they’ve always wanted, Mal and her friends defy the rules their elders have always followed and set out beyond the wall for the first time.

On their journey across the Overworld, they discover wonders they’ve never dreamed of and dangers they’ve never imagined. To save the day, they’ll have to prove they’re more than bad apples. They’re the Mob Squad!

Minecraft fans will love Mob Squad’s action and adventure. As the four friends venture out into the unknown, they quickly learn that they aren’t “bad apples” like the people of Cornucopia have labeled them. Instead, they begin to understand how their unique talents are perfectly suited for the world outside of Cornucopia’s wall. As they fight mobs, they discover more about the world as well as themselves. Through their experiences, the kids gain confidence and realize being different is what makes them special. 

The Mob Squad shows the world of Minecraft from the viewpoint of the four friends. Readers will enjoy seeing aspects of the game through their point of view. Each chapter alternates between the four kids; however, the characters’ voices are not very distinct so readers will need to pay attention to the name that appears at the beginning of each chapter. 

Mob Squad’s quick pace will keep readers interested with plenty of action, adventure, and battles against mobs. The battle scenes are suspenseful, but not long or gory. However, what makes The Mob Squad shine is the friendship between the kids. Not only do they learn to survive on their own, but they also learn the importance of teamwork. When the kids save the town, they realize that their destiny doesn’t have to be chosen by their family, but they can choose to do what is best for themselves. Readers will be eager to learn what happens to Mal, Lenna, Tok, and Chug in their next adventure which appears in Mob Squad: Never Say Nether.

Sexual Content 

  • None

Violence 

  • A group of boys corner Tok in an alley. Tok’s brother, Chug, punches the leader of the bullies, Jarro. Then Chug “lands a kick right in Jarro’s backside.”  
  • Tok was running into town when Jarro put his arm out causing him to fall flat on his back. Chug is “just about to give in and woop some rumpus when a shadow looms over us all.” An elder stops the fight. 
  • Once the four friends leave Cornucopia, they fight mobs often; not all fights are listed below. On the first night out of Cornucopia, Tok forgets his cat outside. However, Chug and the others must help because zombies are waiting for them. Chug is “hacking at one monster, but it hits him back, and he grunts in surprise. . .” Lenna shoots arrows and “one of the zombies makes a splattery hiss and flops over dead. . . Lenna aims for the two zombies on the left with her arrows, one after the other, while Chug and Mal hack away at the one with the sword and helmet.” 
  • During the fight, Chug and Mal work together. “Mal swipes at [the Zombie’s] legs with her diamond pickaxe, and the moment it turns to groan angrily at her, Chug deals a massive blow against its back with his sword, and the zombie finally falls over.” The fight is described over three pages.
  • Skeletons start shooting at Lenna. Lenna describes, “On instinct, I throw the torch at the skeleton and use its moment of distraction to reach into my pocket and prepare my own weapon. I fire off two shots before it returns an arrow.” An arrow hits Lenna in the leg. “It feels hot and dull, and I yank it out and shoot it right back at the skeleton, destroying it.” The scene is described over three pages.
  • While in the wilderness, zombies attack the Mob Squad. Lenna takes down a zombie. “We’re all feeling confident, right up until someone runs around the corner and hits Mal with an ax.” Mal “stagger[s] back, seeing stars. . . The monster sprints at me again, axe raised, and my arm feels dead. An arrow lodges in the creature’s chest, and then Chug darts forward and gets in a strike with his new diamond sword.” 
  • The kids have to fight evokers, vindicators, and other mobs. When a vex attacks, Lenna takes “it down with two fiery shots. . .I’ve landed two shots on it when Poppy yelps and something slashes at my legs. I look down and see a spectral fang rolling past. My leg burns with pain, and I stumble.” No one is seriously injured.
  • The story concludes with vexes, vindicators, and other mobs attacking Cornucopia from inside the wall. One of Cornucopia’s members, Krog, is commanding the mobs. As the mobs climb out of an underground cavern, “three vindicators barrel out, axes ready, grunting. Chug and [Mal] engage them, working as a team as Lenna keeps harrying the vexes with flaming arrows. . . More vexes fly out, and one lands a hit on my back before Lenna can nock another arrow. The cry of pain flies out of my mouth before I can stop it.”
  • During the battle, “more vexes swarm out the door of Krog’s house, followed by their evoker. Ghostly white fangs ripple up from the ground, hitting Dawna [a resident of Cornucopia] in the leg and making her scream. . . Dawna reaches for one of Tok’s swords, takes her first swing at a vex, and incredibly, lands a solid hit.”
  • As the battle continues, someone grabs Lenna. Lenna “flail[s] and shout[s] . . My elbow catches someone in the face—I feel the pop of their nose at the solid hit, and they grunt and drop me.” Lenna discovers the person is her sister.
  • Tok is surprised when he hears “a snort and look[s] up to find a huge beast snarling at me. It’s like a cow crossed with the biggest, ugliest rock I’ve ever seen. It paws the ground with an enormous hoof and charges.” Tok runs for his life, leading the beast into a narrow alley. Tok jumps onto the beast’s back. “The creature screams and throws me, and I skid on my back across the cobblestones. It hurts. . . . I look up, and all I see is a ton of stinky beast butt. I raise my sword. . . I stab it.”
  • When the villain, Krog, begins throwing harmful potions at the Mob Squad, Tok hits him on the head with an iron sword. Krog “topples forward.” In the end, Krog is arrested and the mobs are defeated. The village attack is described over 30 pages.

Drugs and Alcohol 

  • A vex puts a potion on all of Cornucopia’s crops, causing them to die.
  • Chug licks a potion off the floor. Afterwards, he describes how he doesn’t “feel every rib when I breathe. I can do cartwheels again.”
  • Someone throws a slowness potion at Mal. The potion makes her do everything “super slowly.”
  • Krog throws a poison at Mal.  Once the poison hits her, “her cheeks are sinking in, there are purple hollow pooling made her eyes, her lips are going dry and cracked.” Mal feels “like being sunburned on the inside, like I’m drying out, all my blood turned to ash.” Mal drinks milk which reverses the effects of the potion.
  • Krog throws a potion of weakness at Chug. Chug’s arms feel like they “are made of noodles. I can barely lift the sword.” When he drinks milk, his strength returns.

Language 

  • Chug insults Jarro by saying, “You’re a thief? You certainly stole all the ugly around town for yourself.” 
  • Because of her imagination, Lenna’s family refers to her as “loony Lenna” and “liar.”
  • Lenna’s sister calls her an idiot.
  • The town people call the Mob Squad “Bad Apples.”
  • An adult calls the Mob Squad kids “rapscallions,” “scalaways,” and “dunderheads.”
  • Darn is used three times.
  • Chug tells his brother to “shut your piehole.”
  • Twice, Chug calls someone a jerk. For example, when thieves steal from Chug and his friends, he calls one of the men a jerk. 

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content 

  • None

Wild & Chance

When a girl wakes up trapped on a sinking ship with no memory of who she is, she has nothing but her instinct to survive. As she fights her way to freedom, she quickly discovers two incredible facts: she is a dog and she can understand human speech. Soon, she befriends a thirteen-year-old boy named Chance who gives her a name of her own: Wild. 

But Wild and Chance find themselves running for their lives, pursued by relentless Animal Control officers. Joined by a mysterious hacker girl named Junebug, the unlikely trio fight for survival while trying to solve the mystery of Wild’s extraordinary strength, super-intelligence, and high-tech collar.

Wild’s heart-pounding story will grab readers from the very first page when she almost dies in a yacht explosion. After surviving the ocean, a dog fighting ring, and Animal Control, Wild thinks her problems are over. When Chance befriends Wild, the two connect over the discovery that they are both looking for a home. However, the two are forced to flee as they realize that Maelstrom, a secret military organization, will stop at nothing to silence Wild forever.

Readers will instantly get wrapped up in Wild’s fight for survival. Wild’s unique perspective shows her struggle to fight against her breeding—she was genetically engineered to make humans love her and then kill them. Wild has no desire to hurt anyone, but she must constantly fight her instincts. Despite her past, Wild is determined to keep her new friends, Chance and Junebug, safe. However, Wild isn’t completely sure that Junebug can be trusted. Despite this, Wild is determined to keep her promise to Chance and reunite him with his mother.

Even though Wild is a dog, many readers will relate to her desire to understand her past and determine her own future. The fast-paced mystery is full of action-packed chases, several intense dog fights, and a dramatic conclusion that will leave readers in tears. Wild, Chance, and Junebug are complex characters who are thrown together by circumstance but connect through friendship. While Wild & Chance is a heart-stopping, entertaining book, readers who want to avoid violence should instead read the Wild Rescuers Series by Stacy Plays and the Survival Tails Series by Katrina Charman.

Sexual Content 

  • None

Violence 

  • Wild wakes up on a yacht that smells of gasoline. She sees a boat of soldiers off to the side. One soldier shoots a flare. “There’s a loud whoosh as the flare hits the yacht and the fuel ignites. The explosion comes less than a second later, a thunderclap that shakes the entire vessel and causes the deck to tilt at a steep angle.” Wild jumps into the ocean before the yacht sinks.
  • A man captures Wild and takes her to a dog fighting ring. Not wanting to fight, Wild tries to get off the platform. “I try to run between [the bystanders’] legs to get away, but they kick at me, boots connecting with my hindquarters.” 
  • Wild is forced to fight Thunder, a rottweiler. “The moment I turn, he leaps at me, mouth open wide as he springs for my neck. . . It seems there’s no way to escape this fight, but I no longer want to escape. I want this dog’s throat in my teeth.” Wild forces herself not to kill Thunder. Instead, she twists “to the side, flinging Thunder away from me, hearing him yelp as the big dog goes airborne across the pit. . . “. The dog fight is described over three pages before Wild finds a way to escape the fight.
  • Wild comes across a kid who is corned by a group of boys. “Without warning, the older kid punches him in the stomach, doubling him over. The boy tries to get away, but he’s trapped between a brick wall and the three kids hovering over him.” The older boy hits the kid again and Wild jumps in. Wild is “overwhelmed by a desire to protect the skinny boy. . . I bare my teeth and roar at full volume.” The bullies leave. The scene is described over two pages.
  • Chance hides Wild in his closet. The next morning, two men dressed as animal control appear offering money in exchange for the dog. In the exchange, the men reveal that they plan to kill Wild. When Wild runs, “both officers flick open their zappers and sparks fly. . . The small officer points his zapper in my direction, and an arc of electricity shoots out like a lightning bolt.” In order to escape, “I spin and kick him in the chest with my hind legs, hard enough to knock him backward into the small officer and send the two of them crashing to the ground.” Wild and Chance run. The scene is described over four pages.
  • In order to remove a GPS tracking device, Wild uses her teeth to bite it out. Wild bites “down, ignoring my disgust, and get a fang into my skin. I feel a sharp pain as my tooth pierces the flesh. . .” The dog removes the tracker and throws it out the window.
  • Chance, Wild, and Junebug get picked up by a police officer, who puts them in the back of his police car. The kids know they are in trouble when the police officer drives past the police station and begins heading to a remote location. On the way there, a truck intentionally runs into the police car. “The truck hits us at full speed. Metal grinds against metal and glass shatters. For a few seconds, the patrol car is airborne, and then it crashes down hard, rolling over on itself, flinging us violently from side to side.” The kids and Wild wake up with their wounds cleaned and no serious injuries.
  • In order to find out why Wild has special abilities, Wild and her friends go to see Dr. Pao, who lives in a fenced compound. While there, they hear an explosion. “Another explosion knocks us to the ground, and the rear wall of the compound shatters in front of me. . . A wall of electricity floods the compound, beams crisscrossing, smashing whatever they touch.” Dr. Pao shows the kids a way to escape.
  • As the kids try to escape the soldiers that are on the compound, “Junebug rears back and kicks him hard in the groin, cutting off his sentence and doubling him over with a grunt of pain.” Junebug runs, but Chance disappears. Wild finds Chance. “A Maelstrom soldier has an arm around Chance’s throat, holding him tight. He also has a fully charged zapper with sparks flying from the tip.” Wild free Chance and the two escape. The chase scene is described over eight pages.
  • Another specialized Maelstrom dog is sent to kill Wild. Wild describes, “The dog turns to Chance, his eyes red, drool flowing. He charges without warning . . . I howl and attack, my heart pumping, eyes blind with range. I crash into him from the side, catching him off guard, and my jaws close around his neck.” When Wild realizes that the dog will hurt the children, Wild twists “and throw[s] him high into the air, as hard and as far as I can.” The dog falls over a cliff and dies. The scene is described over four pages.
  • Wild has a flashback to before she was on the yacht. Wild was placed with a family so she could spy on the mother. Once Maelstrom had enough information, Wild was ordered to kill the family. Wild refused and instead, she “lunged at my handler, clamping down on his arm, stripping him of the zapper, and attacking him. His screams are the ones I’ve been hearing in my nightmares.”
  • General Rupani, a Maelstrom soldier, holds Chance captive in order to force Wild to kill a family. Instead of killing the family, Wild breaks into the Maelstrom command center. “The soldiers realize what’s going on and come at me, but I’m moving on instinct, arcing in the air and smashing as I go, a whirlwind of legs and body strikes, and take out the entire room in a matter of seconds.”
  • In order to save Chance and Wild from her father, Junebug takes a zapper “using it like a baseball bat and striking the general in the back of the head with a loud smack. General Rupani grunts and his eyes roll back into his head.” The escape scene is described over six pages.

Drugs and Alcohol 

  • A man finds Wild who is thirsty and hungry. In order to capture Wild, the man gives Wild “a little something. . .to relax you.” The drug makes Wild fall asleep.
  • When Wild wakes up, she’s in a warehouse with a bunch of rich people who are drinking cocktails.
  • Chance’s mom is in drug rehab. Chance tells Wild, “She isn’t a bad person, Wild. She’s an addict. The drugs make you do things you wouldn’t do if you were thinking straight.”

Language   

  • Bullcrap is used once.
  • Heck is used twice.
  • Damn and darn are both used once.
  • As Chance and Wild are running from Animal Control, they hear a helicopter. Chance shouts, “Animal Control doesn’t have friggin’ helicopters!”
  • Junebug says, “My dad can be a real jerk sometimes.”

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content 

  • None

A Grimm Warning

While his sister, Alex, decided to stay in the fairy world to become a fairy trainee, Conner hasn’t had any adventures and he’s starting to like it that way. While he misses the Land of Stories and its endless fun, the real world has presented Conner with exciting opportunities, such as a school trip to Europe with his crush, Bree. While Alex busies herself with her upcoming acceptance into the Happily Ever After Assembly – the council of kings, queens, and fairies – Conner travels to Europe for a reading of three recently recovered stories written by The Brothers Grimm that had been sealed away for 200 years. 

But the final story reveals a grave warning for the fairytale world, and Conner knows fate has brought him here to decipher the message. He must warn Alex and his friends that General Marquis, a French officer from Napoleon’s Army, wanted to launch an attack on the Land of Stories centuries ago. The Brothers Grimm were able to delay them until the present time, but very soon a portal will open and the French Army will pour into the fairytale world to wreak havoc. Conner must warn them before the army arrives. 

Bree, who has been suspicious of Conner’s tales, tags along as they travel through Europe with the help of a German boy named Emmerich and search for an entrance to the Land of Stories. Conner warns Alex of the coming threat, but sadly, Alex has news in return: The Fairy Godmother, their grandma, is sick. Despite their grandmother’s impending death, the twins work together to rally the kingdoms and prepare for war. Though the battle is difficult, the fairytale world is able to beat back the French Army, but the victory is bittersweet. The Fairy Godmother passes away and now Alex must step up and take on the role of Fairy Godmother. But at least through everything, the twins still have each other.

Alex and Conner are entertaining and relatable narrators. Alex’s serious and scholarly nature contrasts Conner’s witty and easy-going personality, making them a fun duo. As the twins grow older, this installment of the Land of Stories attempts to deal with more mature themes, such as first love and the death of close family members. However, Alex and Conner always support each other during rough times. The twins’ selflessness is admirable, as is their dedication to doing what’s right even if it interferes with their personal desires.

Though the plot for this novel was a bit more outlandish than the previous stories, the Land of Stories series stays true to its themes of relying on family, protecting one’s friends, and staying brave in the face of evil. Additionally, one of main conflicts in this book is that to defeat General Marquis’ army, all the factions in the fairytale world will need to work together. The kingdoms haven’t always seen eye to eye, and they have also excluded certain groups like the elves and troblins (the name used to refer to the troll and goblin community) due to past grievances. However, everyone is stronger together. Alex says, “Every creature is an individual and we can’t punish an entire race for mistakes made by individuals. As easy as it is to label large groups with the reputation of their ancestors, it isn’t right.” 

With the new council in place, Alex and Conner hope that the Land of Stories can recover from the war and move towards a more united future. However, the book ends by suggesting that the twins’ greatest personal battle is about to begin: a strange, masked prisoner who vows to eliminate all fairies is caught stealing an unknown potion from the twins’ late grandmother’s bedroom. It seems that Alex and Conner will still have plenty of adventures ahead of them. Readers who enjoy epic stories with feats of bravery should also check out the Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series by Rick Riordan and the Kingdom Keepers Series by Ridley Pearson

Sexual Content 

  • Conner makes a joke to Alex about how their personalities are so different. Conner says, “Alex, I’ve been impressed by you since the womb. I’m sure your part of the uterus was much neater and more organized than mine.” Alex replies, “Really, Conner? A uterus joke?”
  • Goldilocks and Jack, members of the Land of Stories, kiss at their wedding. “Jack and Goldilocks locked lips and their crowd of guests cheered wildly.”
  • Rook, a village boy who Alex is crushing on, kisses Alex several times throughout the story. “Rook stepped even closer to [Alex] and placed a hand on the side of her face. He looked into her eyes for a moment and then slowly leaned his head closer to hers. . . Rook kissed her for the first time.” Later, Alex says that her favorite days are the ones that end with a good-night kiss from Rook. 
  • Bree kisses Conner on the cheek. Conner says, “I’ve come to the conclusion that I might – possibly – maybe – do have a crush on you.” Bree replies, “I have a crush on you too.” 

Violence 

  • General Marquis threatens the Brothers Grimm. “. . . The brothers were gagged again, their hands retied behind their backs, and the black sacks placed over their heads. . . “ Then the general says, “Find a portal in two months or I’ll make you watch as I personally kill everyone you love.”
  • The talking lion statue explains how Mother Goose and the Brothers Grimm made the magical portal open. “Mother Goose took a dagger and made a cut in her hand and one in Wilhelm Grimm’s hand . . . they held their hands tightly together and let some of the magic from Mother Goose’s blood flow into his.”
  • When the portal is opened and all the French soldiers fall out, the scene is gruesome. “Hundreds of men and pieces of equipment rained from the sky . . .  many soldiers barely missed being crushed by the carriages or cannons or horses that fell beside them . . . Most of [the soldiers] held their heads in agony or vomited.” 
  • General Marquis executes an old man who helped the soldiers. “‘Unfortunately, you know too much,’ [General Marquis] said. ‘Get rid of him.’ The old man screamed. ‘No! Please! I have a family!’ he pleaded, but it was no use. The general didn’t have an ounce of mercy to spare. [The soldiers] dragged the old man into the foggy woods and his screams echoed through the trees around them. A moment later a gunshot was heard and the woods were silent again.”
  • While Alex and Conner are on the back of one of Mother Goose’s geese—Lester—a cannon shoots him. “A rogue cannonball bolted through the sky and blasted through Lester’s right wing. The gander squawked in pain as he and the twins began rapidly descending toward the trees on the horizon. . . They crashed hard into the ground. . . Alex and Conner were too wounded to get to their feet. They both had broken several bones. They heard Lester squawking in the distance – he was perhaps in even more pain than they were.” Alex and Conner fall unconscious. Their injuries are magically healed by a witch. 
  • A witch describes how she healed Little Bo Peep’s broken heart. “I cut out a small piece of Little Bo’s heart, the part that was full of hurt and longing for the men in her life, and I turned it to stone.”
  • General Marquis shoots two of his soldiers. “General Marquis turned to [the soldiers] and shot them both in the foot. They fell backward and slid down the canyon walls. They moaned as they tried to get to their feet. A low growling noise vibrated up the canyon walls and the [soldiers’] moaning increased. A series of deafening screeches echoed next from the canyon, but they weren’t human. . . the camp heard the [soldiers] scream as they were eaten alive” by a dragon.
  • The battle between General Marquis’s army and the Land of Stories takes place over nearly 40 pages. A few people’s deaths are described. There is some violence, such as when Alex fights back by using magic. “Alex swished her wand through the air at [the soldiers]. Their rifles were transformed into long-stemmed roses that pricked their fingers before they could shoot.” 
  • When Rook betrays Alex, she gets angry and lashes out violently. “Without thinking, Alex took her heartbreak out on the soldiers charging at her. She cracked her wand like a whip and a burst of white light sent the soldiers flying into the air.” 
  • Gator, a troll, dies in the battle. “Gator was too small to fight the soldier off alone and lost his balance. The soldier stabbed him in the stomach and Gator fell to the ground. . . the little troll died before he could say another word.” 
  • Little Bo Peep dies. “Bo Peep clutched the side of her chest. . . [she] collapsed on the ground and became very still. . . Little Bo Peep had died of a broken heart.” 
  • The unicorns help fight the dragon. “The unicorns stabbed their horns into the dragon’s feet and he roared in pain. The dragon picked the unicorns up with his front claws and threw them into the forest. . . The dragon grew impatient and scorched the remaining unicorns with his breath.” 
  • The dragon turns on General Marquis and kills him. “The dragon took a deep breath and exhaled a long and powerful fiery geyser from his lungs. The geyser hit the general and he was consumed in its vicious flames. When the dragon stopped, the ground beneath the general had been scorched black and General Marquis was gone.” 
  • The Fairy Godmother kills the dragon. “A long, silvery trail erupted from the tip of the Fairy Godmother’s wand. She happily waved her wand in the air as if she were conducting an orchestra and the trail slashed through the air like a giant whip. The trail grew longer and longer by the second. The dragon jumped back and forth, trying to avoid it. Eventually, the trail was so long the dragon tangled himself in it when he tried flying away. . . She cracked her wand like a whip again, and the trail that was wrapped around the dragon grew brighter and brighter. The others covered their eyes at the blinding sight and the dragon burst into clumps of ash.” 
  • When defeating the dragon, the Fairy Godmother exhausted her powers. “The Fairy Godmother’s eyes closed for the final time. Her body became weightless in [the twins’] hands, transformed into hundreds of bright sparkling lights.”  

Drugs and Alcohol 

  • Mother Goose gets poisoned while in a tavern. 
  • Mother Goose says, “Last time I officiated a wedding, Puss in Boots drank all my bubbly.” 
  • Mother Goose has a flask hidden in her hat and “takes a swig” from it twice. 
  • Mother Goose talks about a tavern that she went to with her “drinking buddies.” 
  • Mother Goose wakes the unconscious Conner by splashing him in the face with alcohol. “Mother Goose removed her flask from her hat and splashed [Conner’s] face with the liquid inside.”

Language   

  • General Marquis calls Mother Goose an “old lush.” 
  • Mother Goose calls Lester, her goose, “mattress filler”
  • Queen Red Riding Hood refers to her rival Bo Peep as “Little Bo Bimbo” and, “A pain in the shepherdess.” 
  • When the fairies don’t want to join the war, Conner says, “Screw the code.” 
  • Conner calls Rook a “stupid boy who needs a haircut.” 
  • Conner refers to the evil enchantress Ezmia as a “narcissistic wench.” 
  • General Marquis calls Conner a “stupid, pathetic, ignorant little boy.” 

Supernatural 

  • All fairytale stories are true in the Land of Stories . . . there is a portal connecting the Land of Stories to the human world, called the Otherworld.
  • Because Alex and Conner’s mother is from the human world but their father is from the Land of Stories, they have a bit of magic in their blood which brings them good luck.
  • The Fairy Godmother can do magic. She is described by General Marquis as someone who “wears robes that sparkle like the night sky, has white flowers in her hair, and carries a long crystal wand.” She can travel between the fairytale world and the Otherworld as well as transform objects. 
  • Mother Goose is another main character in the story. She can do magic, such as teleport, and she travels on a giant goose named Lester. 
  • Mother Goose escapes the Marquis by using magic. “She reached out an open hand and the golden egg floated straight out of the box and into the wagon where she sat. And, with a blinding flash, Mother Goose and the golden egg disappeared into thin air.”
  • Conner has a magic mirror that allows him to contact the fairy world so he can talk to Alex. He uses it periodically throughout the story.
  • Alex uses magic to transform her clothes. “Alex picked up her crystal wand from her nightstand and waved it around her body. Her plain nightgown was instantly turned into a long, sparkling dress the color of the sky, and a headband of white carnations appeared on her head.” 
  • Alex has a unicorn. Unicorns have silver horns that can guide them to people in need. 
  • As part of Alex’s fairy training, she goes out each day and performs three wishes to townspeople in need.
  • Conner and Bree get information from a talking lion statue. 
  • Conner and Bree open the portal to the fairy world with a magical panpipe.
  • The twins cast a magic spell that teleports all the soldiers of the Land of Stories’ kingdoms to the same place. “The world appeared in slow motion as they raised the wand above their heads. The twins could feel magic rush through their bodies and into the wand in their hands. . . a gigantic blast of white light erupted from the tip and surrounded them… Alex and Conner had turned themselves into a shooting star that bolted across the sky faster than anything had ever traveled before. . . Upon seeing it, every soldier of the armies, on duty or in hiding, turned into his or her own sphere of light and instantly shot through the sky to join the twins.” 
  • General Marquis hatches a dragon, the first of which to be seen in the fairytale world for many years. “The dragon emerged from the trees and landed at the edge of the fairy gardens. He was almost as tall as the fairy palace. Red scales covered his body and a forked tongue slipped in and out of his sharp teeth. He had two horns and sharp spikes covered his head and traveled down his spine. Two large wings grew out of the dragon’s back and a long tail whipped around behind him.” 

Spiritual Content 

  • Mother Goose says, “Thank God.” 
  • Conner sees a painting of Jesus in a castle in Germany. 
  • When the dragon attacks and there is little hope left, Conner says that the only thing they can do is pray. 

The Game Master: Summer Schooled

Rebecca Zamolo is almost finished with summer school. Today she’s going to present her final assignment, and then she’ll finally be free to have fun. 

But as Becca waits for her teacher to arrive, a menacing voice comes over the intercom. It’s the Game Master! They’ve locked the doors, scared off all the teachers, and made it clear that if Becca and her friends don’t solve the clues that have been left behind, the kids will never escape.  

Becca doesn’t know who is behind this, but she won’t let them win. Will she and her classmates be able to work together and solve the Game Master’s puzzles before time runs out? Join YouTube’s favorite mystery-solving team as they go toe-to-toe with the Game Master in the first book of this series from YouTube creators Matt and Rebecca Zamolo, stars of the popular Game Master Network. 

Summer Schooled is a fast-paced story that highlights the importance of working together. Each chapter alternates between Matt’s and Becca’s points of view; however, the characters’ voices are not unique which makes it difficult to distinguish between the two characters’ points of view. While none of the characters are well developed, Matt is known for making practical jokes and no one trusts him. In the end, he learns to look at things from other people’s points of view. While readers may sympathize with Matt, Becca is not a very likable character because she is self-centered. Much of Becca’s inner dialogue revolves around being nice to others but only because she wants their help finding her grandmother’s zoetrope, which was taken by the person with the menacing voice. 

Readers familiar with the Game Master Network will feel an instant connection to Summer Schooled. The story is easy to read and has several black and white illustrations. Most of the time, the kids are locked in various rooms of the school, trying to find the next clue. While the clues are entertaining, readers do not have the ability to try to solve them on their own. Plus, some of the story’s events are difficult to believe. For example, one of the clues is hidden inside a cupcake. While only one kid eats a single cupcake, the key is luckily found. Plus, part of a clue includes fake blood being poured over one of the kids.   

Summer Schooled is an easy-to-read story with a simple plot that will entertain readers. The diverse cast of characters all have unique talents and one character uses the pronoun they. Neither the plot nor the characters are well developed which makes Summer Schooled a good choice for emerging and reluctant readers. Summer Schooled turns Matt and Becca’s school into an escape room with lots of clues and a creepy Game Master. Throughout the adventure, the kids learn about the importance of friendship. Readers who enjoy Summer Schooled will also enjoy the fast-paced, friendship based books Tom Swift Inventors’ Academy Series by Victor Appleton and Minecraft: The Crash by Tracey Baptiste. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • None 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • None 

Language    

  • Heck is used four times. 
  • While looking for clues the kids find a note that “labels us as troublemakers. . . Who did this? What a jerk!” 
  • OMG is used four times and Oh my god is used three times. 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

Code Name Badass: The True Story of Virginia Hall

When James Bond was still in diapers, Virginia Hall was behind enemy lines, playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with Hitler’s henchmen. Did she have second thoughts after a terrible accident left her needing a wooden leg? Please. Virginia Hall was the baddest broad in any room she walked into. When the State Department proved to be a sexist boys’ club that wouldn’t let her in, she gave the finger to society’s expectations of women and became a spy for the British. This boss lady helped arm and train the French Resistance and organized sabotage missions. There was just one problem: the Butcher of Lyon, a notorious Gestapo commander, was after her. But, hey—Virginia’s classmates didn’t call her the Fighting Blade for nothing.

So how does a girl who was a pirate in the school play, spent her childhood summers milking goats, and rocked it on the hockey field end up becoming the Gestapo’s most wanted spy? Audacious, irreverent, and fiercely feminist, Code Name Badass is for anyone who doesn’t take no for an answer. 

Code Name Badass chronicles Virginia Hall’s fight against societal norms and the Nazis. Hall’s experience highlights the amazing power of perseverance, bravery, and never taking no for an answer. As part of the French Resistance movement, Hall faced constant danger. However, she never stopped fighting.  

With historical photos and excerpts from historical documents, Code Name Badass brings the women who helped win World War II to light. A list of other exceptional women spies appears at the back of the book along with a long list of resources that Demetrios utilized. While Hall’s story is motivating, Demetrios’ tone and constant reminders of sexism become a little off-putting. For example, Demetrios writes, “Dindy (Hall’s nickname) had a lot of luck. Buckets of it. She had a lot of bad luck, too, but, with one major exception, that bad luck stemmed only from the fact that she had a vagina.” 

Readers who love history, especially World War II history, will find Code Name Badass full of little-known facts. While Hall’s story is interesting, it is not for the weak of heart. The brutality of the Germans is repeatedly described, and many of Hall’s contacts lost their lives because of the Germans’ cruelty. Because of the book’s difficult vocabulary and detailed descriptions, Code Name Badass is not the book for readers looking for a light, entertaining historical fiction book. However, anyone interested in spycraft, World War II, or the women who have impacted our world will find Code Name Badass informative and interesting.  

Sexual Content  

  • While discussing Dindy’s “badassery,” Demetrios writes: “Never take no for an answer. (Unless someone says they don’t want to have sex with you, kiss you, be touched by you, etc. Then no means no.)” 
  • During wartime, women were sexually assaulted and raped as “a key strategy” to breaking down “civilians and combatants alike.”  
  • During the French occupation, Germans visited brothels. 
  • One double agent was known to keep mistresses. 
  • One female agent “got knocked up in the field” by another agent. 
  • Another female agent “drove one agent so batty with love that he literally threw himself into the Danube, intending suicide.” The agent was known to cheat on her husband with “sexy spy guys.” 

Violence  

  • During a hunting expedition, Dindy accidentally shot herself. “The shell ripped into her left foot, tearing past the skin and driving through cartilage and bone. Virginia collapsed, staring down at what had once been called a foot.” Dindy’s foot is amputated. 
  • During the Battle of France, “Bullets started flying, bombs began to drop, and shit got real. . .” Dindy helped by becoming an ambulance driver, who “saw men dying around her every day in the most horrible of ways, the soil once again being soaked with French blood.”  
  • During the battle, roads were bombed, “caring little that the dusty streets and highways and country lanes were filled with refugees who were desperate to get away from the fighting.” 
  • During World War II, “the French government would cut off your head if you had an abortion.” 
  • During the war, William Simpson was “shot down” and sustained “terrible burns and los[t] both hands.”  
  • Resistance fighters “killed a Gestapo agent, then dumped the body on the steps of [the Germans’] headquarters with a note: ‘With the compliments of British Intelligence.’”  
  • Dindy has dinner with Olivier, another spy. The restaurant’s “door crashes open, and a dozen gendarmes swam in, guns, batons, or haughty chins raised. Screams fill the café, and glass shatters as tables are overturned and precious rationed food and drink fall to the floor. . .” With help, both spies escape.
  • The Gestapo was cruel to prisoners: “Dogs let loose on prisoners, fingernails pried off, prisoners tied up with spiked handcuffs. . . Agents and Resistance fighters were often tortured for information.”  
  • Dindy’s supervisors told Dindy that a “dangerous man” had infiltrated her group. The supervisor told Dindy “she was fully authorized to have him disposed of as neatly as possible.” 
  • Two men put their family on a ship heading to England. “Their parents, wives, and Alfred’s three children all drowned when their ship . . . was torpedoed by the Germans.”  
  • The book mentions people who were killed by the Germans. Most accounts are not graphic. For example, according to Dindy, “the Germans had gotten all ancient Rome on the Resistance, skewering their bodies on iron posts as a warning to all.” 
  • Several agents were “brutally murdered in the Dachau concentration camp. . . all three were shot in the back of the head, then their bodies shoved into the camp’s crematoriums.”   
  • One man refused to do the Germans’ biddings. The man “tried to cut his throat rather than bend his will.”   
  • If Dindy and her crew saw Germans lurking around, they would kill the Germans. “One story has it that Dindy’s boys would drop German bodies in the Lignon River after they’d done away with them.” 
  • One spy was captured and “he was beaten, tortured, and then shipped off to Buchenwald, where he suffocated and died in a cattle car stuffed with more than 150 prisoners.” Another captured spy “had her front teeth knocked out and her arm broken.” 
  • Gestapo agent Klaus Barbie was brutal. “His accusers testified about Barbie raping female inmates in the presence of not only other guards, but also of the Resistance members waiting in the hallway to get tortured . . . Barbie encouraged German shepherds to chase naked women around their cells; each time the women were viciously bitten, Barbie would laugh maniacally. He beat children.” 
  • Spy Odette Sanson “underwent fourteen Gestapo interrogations. . . was held captive by the Germans for two years. . . they branded her back with a hot iron and pulled out all her toenails.” 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Occasionally, the book mentions adults drinking alcohol. For example, during prohibition, Dindy traveled to Europe where she could “enjoy oodles of wine.” 
  • After accidentally shooting herself, Dindy was given morphine in the hospital. 
  • Spies were given cyanide pills to use “on themselves or others.”  
  • To help agents’ stamina, they were issued amphetamines. “For Dindy, popping those bitter-tasting blue Benzedrine pills was sometimes the only way she could juggle the revolving door of agents, Resistance workers. . . who knocked on her door, day and night.” 
  • Dindy loved to drink “gin and Italians, a mix of gin and vermouth.”

Language    

  • Profanity is used often. Profanity includes ass, bastard, bitch, dumbass, damn, dicked, pussy, fuck, hell, and shit. 
  • When Dindy was nineteen, she “became engaged to a complete douchebag.”  
  • Gaulle was a “total dick when it came to how he treated the foreign agents.”  
  • Klaus Barbie, an evil Gestapo agent, “was a real motherfucker.” 

Supernatural 

  • After accidentally shooting herself, Dindy “insisted until her dying day that on ‘several occasions’ her deceased father, Edwin Hall, came to visit.” 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

Victor Dowd and the World War II Ghost Army

It’s a true story of deception: Meet the top-secret Ghost Army, a group of artists and sound engineers trained to fake out the Germans in World War II with inflatable rubber tanks and loudspeakers broadcasting the sound of marching troops. And meet real-life Sergeant Victor Dowd, who served in the fight for Normandy, through France, and across the Rhine.

It’s a mystery to solve: There are clues embedded in the story’s text and illustrations, and Spycraft materials come in an envelope at the beginning of the book. Now put on your spy thinking cap and find out what happened to Victor Dowd’s missing sketchbook. 

Unfortunately, Victor’s story lacks action and suspense. Since there is no dialogue, Victor and the other Ghost Army members are not developed, making them easily forgettable. Even though Victor is the narrator, readers will have a hard time connecting to him because he does not have a distinct voice. Plus, the action is discussed in the past tense, which eliminates the suspense. While there are many interesting facts about the Ghost Army, readers may have difficulty staying engaged in the book because of the bland storytelling. 

Despite the book’s flaws, the format is visually appealing. Every page has a graphic element, including pictures that are drawn in black, white, and red. Plus, most of the pages have a quote set apart from the other text. These quotes are printed in large fonts and help break up the text. The graphic elements are essential because hidden in the pictures and text are clues and codes. Readers will use a cipher wheel, a Morse code, and other methods to decipher Victor’s letters. 

Readers will enjoy using the spy tools and finding clues throughout the story. However, the lack of direction makes this task difficult. In addition, many of the clues are given by putting a red film over the pictures; while the clues are fun to look at, no code-breaking is involved. Since many of the clues are difficult to understand, adults may want to read the answer key that appears at the end of the book so they can assist young readers in finding and understanding the clues.  

Readers who are excited to try and uncover secret messages will enjoy testing their spycraft skills while reading Victor Dowd and the World War II Ghost Army. However, the lackluster story will only appeal to readers who are fans of history. If you’d like to learn more about the history of spying, sneak into the library and grab George Washington’s Spies by Claudia Friddell and Night of Soldiers and Spies by Kate Messner. 

Sexual Content  

  • None 

Violence  

  • After D-Day, Victor looks around the beach and sees “the casualties. Wounded men lay on the runway, waiting to be airlifted to medical units. Beyond them, Vic could see the bodies of soldiers who had lost their lives on the beach.” 
  • During one of the operations, the enemy fired on the unit. “The ground in front of them shook. It felt like an earthquake. The next shell flew over their heads and hit the truck behind them. Pieces of metal flew in every direction. . .” One member of the Ghost Army “was killed when his truck was hit by shrapnel. . . Fifteen other men were wounded. Some of them lost limbs.” The illustration shows a truck being blown up.

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • After setting up the fake tanks and guns, the ghost army went into the local bar and talked about their “fake” unit over beers. The illustration shows the men drinking beer. 

Language    

  • None 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • None 

Rebel Spy

Rebellious Frannie Tasker knows little about the war between England and its thirteen colonies until a shipwreck off her home in Grand Bahama Island presents an unthinkable opportunity. The body of a young woman floating in the sea gives Frannie the chance to escape her brutal stepfather—and she takes it.

Assuming the identity of the drowned Emmeline Coates, Frannie is rescued by a British merchant ship and sails with the crew to New York. For the next three years, Frannie lives a lie as Miss Coates, swept up in a courtship by a dashing British lieutenant. But after witnessing the darker side of the war, she realizes that her position gives her power. Soon she’s eavesdropping on British officers, risking everything to pass information on to George Washington’s Culper spy ring as agent 355. Frannie believes in the fight for American liberty—but what will it cost her? Inspired by the true “355,” Rebel Spy is rich in historical detail and intrigue. 

Rebel Spy was inspired by the true “355,” who was part of the Culper spy ring. However, 355’s identity has never been discovered, and Frannie is completely fictional. Frannie is a complex character whose stepfather, Sewel, is a tyrant. In order to escape Sewel’s abuse, Frannie makes a desperate move and assumes a dead woman’s identity. While on a ship sailing to New York, Frannie witnesses the British soldiers’ savage nature. These events lead Frannie to believe that “tyranny was wrong. Abuse was wrong. And power ought never be misused.” Frannie struggles between her desire to live a comfortable life as a lady and her belief that no one should be forced to live under a tyrant’s rule. 

As the events of the war unfold, readers will learn how the war affected the entire world, not just the colonies. Because Frannie is living the life of a Loyalist, she becomes friends with many people who believe the Rebels deserve their fate. While the cruelties of war are not glossed over, many of the Loyalists and British soldiers were good people fighting for what they believed was right. However, Frannie helps the Rebel cause because she is convinced that, “Access to life, liberty, and happiness should be equal to all. We should all have a say in deciding our own fates.” Even so, Frannie points out that women will not have this ability even if the Rebels win the war. Instead, they are controlled by their fathers or husbands. 

While Frannie’s story is interesting, she is slightly self-absorbed and doesn’t think about how her actions will impact others. For example, Frannie allows Duncan, a British officer, to court her and she has every intention of marrying him. Frannie claims to care for Duncan, but she often spies on Duncan and relays important information to the Rebels. Frannie never considers how her actions will affect Duncan. Since Frannie’s life is full of lies and deceit, she does not always come across as a sympathetic character.  

Full of danger, suspense, and interesting facts about the Revolutionary War, Rebel Spy will please readers who enjoy historical fiction. While Frannie is not necessarily a relatable character, readers will empathize with her struggle as a young woman living in colonial America. From Frannie’s experiences, readers will learn that “reading will strengthen your expression. Words have power. Learn them and that power becomes yours.” To learn more about how women played a pivotal role in the Revolutionary War, check out Susanna’s Midnight Ride by Libby Carty McNamee. 

Sexual Content  

  • When Frannie was a child, her mother was falsely accused of “having relations with men—some of them enslaved men—and she became a woman of ill fame. . . People crossed the road when they saw her. They hissed ‘filthy strumpet’ and ‘bloody doxy.’ They threw eggs and rubbish at our shop.” In order to survive, Frannie’s mother ended up “doing just what she’d been accused of.”  
  • The captain of the ship “brought the shore’s enjoyment to the Ambrosia—the ‘shore’s enjoyments’ being libations and women.” 
  • While sailing toward the colonies, Frannie meets a man. After dancing, Frannie “threw my arms around his neck, and kissed him. Asa pulled me in tight, his lips parting, his tongue sweeping against mine, and suddenly time disappeared. There was nothing beyond our mouths, gently searching.”  
  • On a different night, Frannie and Asa again kiss. Frannie often gets distracted by “Asa’s lips, which turned me liquid, and his chest, which was a perfect place for me to rest my head.” 
  • Frannie goes out on a midnight errand and sees “brothels and molly houses—brothels catering to men who favored men. Places where the orphaned and destitute often ended up. Where I might’ve ended up, if not for Miss Coates.” 
  • After a servant, Malcom, and Frannie are out most of the night, Malcom’s mother sees them. Malcom’s mother assumes they “snuck away to—” Malcom and Frannie do not correct his mother’s assumption because “the truth is. . . well, it’s worse.” 
  • Frannie’s guardian has arranged for her to court Lieutenant Duncan. After a brief conversation with him, Frannie felt “a velvety heat spreading through me. One thing I couldn’t deny: my body knew exactly how it felt about Lieutenant Duncan.” 
  • The British officers would board with the colonists. However, the officers were less than kind. One woman said, “A girl of barely twenty was got with child by a redcoat who breaks bread with her and her husband every night. Another has been told she will never bear children—she was savaged by five men, redcoats all.”  
  • Frannie is attracted to Duncan, who is courting her. When he leaned close to her, “his lips brushed my cheek, sending waves of heat down my center. He had yet to kiss me. I was so desperate for it to happen. . .” 
  • When Duncan kisses Frannie for the first time, she describes, “He was perfect. His kisses gentle, soft, warm. Desire struck me, and I stepped closer and clutched his arm.” 
  • Frannie gets upset that Asa isn’t “fighting” for her. After a brief argument Asa “wrapped me in his arms and kissed me. Deeply. Passionately. For blissful moments, we clung to each other like we’d only breathe again if we became one.” 
  • Frannie goes to talk to another spy. When the spy goes inside, a man on the street calls, “What’s wrong with us, trollop? We got the same parts he’s got!” 
  • When Duncan gets sent away, he goes to say goodbye to Frannie. “Alone in the dim entryway, we had kissed. It felt like our mouths were discussing something complicated and trying to reach an understanding.” 

Violence  

  • After Frannie backtalks to her stepfather, Sewel, he orders Frannie to go into the ocean even though a shark is nearby. Frannie “was praying for God’s protection as I lowered myself into the water, inch by terrible inch. And crying, too, though crying only ever turned him wickeder.” 
  • Sewel is a convicted murderer. He was “fighting in a tavern over a spilt drink and kill[ed] somebody. . . By reciting a Bible verse and getting the brand, he was saved from swinging by a rope round his neck.”  
  • While out to sea, a ship gets stuck on a reef. Frannie grabs the boat’s paddles in order to go help. Sewel orders her to stop rowing. When she doesn’t, Frannie attests, “something slammed into my back. The breath drove out of me. I flew forward, cracking my head on the keel. The world flashed white and went black.” 
  • After hitting Frannie, Sewel grabs her. “He leaned down, bringing his face close to mine. I kicked and thrashed, but he held me by the neck. . . His hand shot under my shirt and squeezed, hard.” Sewel tells Frannie, “You’ll learn and you will obey me.” 
  • In order to get away from Sewel, Frannie “reached back and swung the oar with every bit of strength in me. The paddle struck Sewel between the shoulder blades with a deep thud. . . Sewel flew forward and plunged into the foamy water. He disappeared without a splash, the sea swallowing him whole.” Another boater rescues Sewel. 
  • Before Frannie’s mother died, Sewel would hit her. After Frannie’s mother dies, Sewel announces that he is going to take Frannie as his new wife.  
  • While traveling to the colonies, two sailors disagree with who is right – the British or the Rebels. The two men get into a fight. “Hackett lunged at him – so fast, a blur – but suddenly everything seemed slow, like it was happening under water. He slammed into Lane and drove him back. . . Lane and Hackett grappled and swung, the sounds of their blows horrible.” The men are bruised, but not seriously injured. 
  • A sailor threatens Frannie, demanding that she give him jewels. The Sailor says, “Fail me and see if ‘old buzzard’ don’t slice you open gullet to gizzard, then dance a gig on your entrails.” 
  • The British come aboard the Ambrosia and force men to join the army. When Asa refuses to volunteer, two soldiers “tacked Asa to the deck, the sound of bone and muscle against wood thunderous. Asa kept struggling even as men piled on him. Then two men slipped cudgels from their belts and swung them.” Asa is beaten until he is bloody. Then, he is “dragged off the Ambrosia.” Asa’s beating is described over a page.  
  • While out on a midnight errand, Malcolm accompanies Frannie. A man “rammed into Malcom. He flew back and crashed into the dirt.” When the man holds a knife to Malcolm’s neck, Frannie “pulled my pocket watch over my head and threw myself on the man’s back. I slammed the hard silver into his ear as I came down. He yelled and rolled away, the knife falling from his hand.” Frannie and Malcom escape. The scene is described over three pages. 
  • While in a tavern, Lieutenant Duncan takes a soldier outside and “there was a grunt. The sound of a body thudding against brick.” Lieutenant Duncan warns the soldier to watch his mouth. 
  • When Frannie’s stepfather, Sewel, finds her, he kills one of the servants, Malcom. Frannie finds his body “lying in the dirt.” Malcom’s mother “pressed her hands to his neck, trying to stop the blood that poured out of him. So much blood. It was everywhere.” Malcom dies. 
  • Frannie has a plan to meet Sewel and frame him for spying. However, when she meets him, he kidnaps her and takes her out on a skiff. In order to get away, Frannie “dove at him, aiming the knife at his neck. . . The blade sank into his shoulder. He roared with pain and swung, his fist crashing into my temple.” In retaliation, Sewel tries to strangle her. A patrol of redcoats approaches the skiff. 
  • When Sewel sees the redcoats, he shoots. “The marines fired back, raising a thunderous noise. Wood popped and shattered all around [Frannie]. The skiff shuddered and shook.” When Sewel refuses to stand down and instead grabs his rifle. The redcoats fire. “Cracks exploded into the night. His body jerked back. His shoulder tore off. His hand disappeared in a bloody spray. Other pieces of him burst and broke.” Sewel is killed and Frannie is taken prisoner. The scene with the soldiers is described over three pages. 
  • When Frannie is imprisoned on a boat, she learns that a starving prisoner was “bayoneted through the gut for trying to filch a piece of bread.” 
  • When the Rebels found a major spying for the British, the traitor is “sentenced to death by hanging.” 
  • On a rainy night, Frannie jumps off the prison ship and into the ocean. As she swam away, Frannie “sensed the bullets slicing around me, but I kept going, even when one found my calf and bit.” 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • Frannie’s stepfather is a drunk who often drinks rum.  
  • After being found on the beach half drowned, Frannie is offered laudanum, which she refuses. However, when she is offered a drink, Frannie “drank it half down before my throat lit with burning coals. It was watered rum—and not much watered.” 
  • During meals, Frannie and other adults are served wine. Alcohol is also served at parties. 
  • When Frannie takes on Emmie’s identity, her friends celebrate Emmie’s birthday by sharing a bottle of “spirits.” The girls get drunk.  
  • When Frannie gets upset, Duncan wants her to take laudanum. She refuses it. 
  • When Duncan’s uncle gets upset, he is given laudanum to calm him down. 
  • When Duncan and Frannie get engaged, they have a celebration and drink champagne. 

Language    

  • Lord is used as an exclamation infrequently. 
  • Frannie calls a sailor an “old hellhound.” 
  • Damn is used three times. Hell is used once. 
  • A sailor says that he is his father’s “bastard.” 
  • Frannie injures a man who attacked a servant. Afterward, the man calls Frannie a bitch.  
  • Bloody is used as profanity several times. For example, a soldier says, “bloody hell.” 

Supernatural 

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • Frannie occasionally prays. For example, when a storm is near, Frannie “saw thick clouds bunching on the horizon and whispered a quick prayer they’d stay there.” 
  • In the past, Frannie’s stepfather, Sewel, was almost killed. He said, “God looked out for drunks, fools, and sailors.” Frannie thinks, “God must’ve loved Sewel fierce ‘cause he was all three.” 
  • Sewel tells Frannie, “Lying’s a terrible sin. An abomination unto the Lord.” 
  • When Frannie sees a dead girl laying on the beach, she takes the girl’s clothes and the girl’s identity. When a sailor finds her, he says, “Unnatural, a lass surviving such a trial. God’s had a hand in this.” Someone replies, “or the devil.” 
  • After taking Emmeline Coates’ identity, Frannie “prayed for God’s forgiveness.” 
  • Frannie reads a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine, who wrote, “all men were born of equal power and no one could be born to preference. The Bible supported this notion, he wrote, which made kings and monarchies ungodly and wrong.” 
  • When Duncan reprimanded Frannie, she thinks, “it was a wife’s duty to obey. He for God and she for him. . . that was the proper order of things.” 
  • One of the servants tells Frannie, “I pray for you . . . Every night, I pray you find your place.” 

Escape from Falaise

After their plan to rescue the Prince of Gallica has gone horribly wrong, Will Treaty and his apprentice, Maddie, are being held captive at the Chateau des Falaises in Gallica. The dangerous baron, Lassigny, is intent on keeping them—and the prince—no matter what. But Will and Maddie are determined to escape.

If they ever want to return to their home, they’ll have to find ways to outwit the baron and get outside the locked tower. When friends from home endeavor to find their own way to help, it seems escape is closer than ever. But the dirty tricks of the baron are no laughing matter.

Facing dangerous threats, battles with knights, and a new and risky plot to save the prince, the odds are stacked against them. But the Rangers will use all the tools of their trade to save themselves and save the day.

Escape from Falaise concludes the story arc that began in The Missing Prince. In this installment, Horace and Halt join in the effort to free Maddie and Will. Even though the two Rangers successfully escape the castle, they go back in to finish their mission—free the Gallican prince, Giles. The story highlights the qualities of an honorable leader by using Lassigny and the Gallican king to demonstrate examples of abuse of power. The political intrigue is interesting and introduces a new twist to the Royal Ranger Series.

 One positive aspect of the story is that the Rangers go out of their way to avoid killing someone. For example, Lassigny’s guards use deadly force to try to stop Maddie and Giles from escaping the castle. Despite this, Will and Halt try to incapacitate the guards instead of killing them. Another positive aspect of the story is the camaraderie and respect among the rangers. Even though Maddie is significantly younger than Will and Halt, both men listen to her and take her opinion into consideration. Plus, they trust her to save Giles even though she must do it alone.

Readers who fell in love with the characters in the Ranger’s Apprentice Series will enjoy seeing them in a new light. While the story focuses on Maddie’s role as a ranger, Halt, Horace, and Will play a major role in the story’s plot. Because the Royal Ranger Series is an extension of the Ranger’s Apprentice Series readers will want to read it before they jump into Flanagan’s companion series, the Brotherband Chronicles. If you’re looking for a book series with honorable characters who demonstrate loyalty, courage, and perseverance, all of Flanagan’s series will hit the mark.

 Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Armand, one of the king’s senior officers, is “unpopular among the servants” because he “wasn’t above physical punishment for those who attracted his anger. He was free with his fist when it came to the male servants and had been known to lash out at some of the female staff with the short riding whip he always carried.”
  • Armand and Maddie have a duel. Maddie “let fly with two rapid shots, smashing the lead-weighted hardwood arrowhead into the heavy iron helmet. . .” During the fight, Maddie uses her arrows repeatedly. “Three massive blows slammed against Armand’s helmet, deafening him, blurring his sight and hurling him sideways to the right. . .” Maddies’ horse Bumper charges Armand’s roan “shoving him upward and sideways.” Armand falls of the horse, ending the battle.
  • To escape from captivity, Halt, Will and Maddie hide in a stable. When the stablemaster is about to see them, “an iron-hard arm clamped around his throat from behind. The stablemaster gave a short, startled gasp. . .He struggled wildly for a minute or so, but Halt’s grip was relentless, tightening further and further, cutting off the air to the man’s lungs.” When the stablemaster is unconscious, Halt ties him up.
  • While trying to leave the castle, a solider attempts to stop Halt, but his horse Tug “set his shoulder and thudded into the man, knocking the halberd from his grasp, and sending him crashing against the stone wall . . .Fortunately for the guard, he was wearing chain mail and a helmet, as his head slammed into the stonework. His eyes glazed and he slid down the wall, semiconscious.”
  • When Will and Maddie escape, Lassigny gets angry and orders someone to flog several of the soldiers.
  • Maddie sneaks into Lassigny’s castle to free Giles, who is being held captive. While they are sneaking out of the castle, Maddie uses her sling to incapacitate two guards. “The smooth, round stone slammed into the guard’s forehead . . . He gave a startled grunt, threw out his arms and crashed over. . .” Then Maddie throws a stone at the other guard. “The impact of the stone on the man’s head. . . was sickening. Like his comrade, the guard threw out his arms and collapsed backward onto the floor.” Maddie checks the men, who are unconscious but breathing.
  • When Giles is moaning in fear, Maddie “drew back a hand and slapped him hard across the cheek. Instantly, he sat up, his eyes wide-open. . . The moaning stopped.” Later, to escape, Maddie hit Giles again, knocking him unconscious.
  • As Maddie and Giles are escaping the castle, soldiers spot them. Halt shoots at the men. “Maddie saw another guard on the battlement go down.”
  • When Lassigny and his soldiers start leaving the castle, Will and Halt shoot arrows. “The results were devastation. The three riders in the front rank behind Lassigny were plucked from their saddles. Two of them lay where they fell.”
  • Lassigny challenges Horace to a “fair combat.” Lassigny charges Horace. “Lassigny, prepared to resist an upward flick, was caught unprepared for the powerful downward force of Horace’s stroke. The point of his lance was hammered violently down, so that it slammed into the ground. . .Then the lance shaft could bend no further and it shivered into splinters, and he fell, crashing down on his back.”
  • Lassigny recovers and attacks Horace with his sword. When Horace “delivered stroke after stroke,” Lassigny’s arm “was numbed by the impact and his knees buckled beneath him, forcing him to give ground.” After Lassigny gives up, Horace turns his back. Lassigny’s “face was a mask of hatred as he stepped towards Horace’s unprotected back, raising the dagger for a treacherous killing stroke. The three Rangers shot within the same heartbeat. Three arrows thudded into Lassigny, the force of the triple impact hurling him sideways.” The scene is described over five pages.
  • The king orders his brother to be executed for treason.

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • During a meal, alcohol is served, but “Maddie didn’t drink alcohol, and Will only imbibed sparingly.”
  • At another meal, alcohol is served. “Will signaled that he would have a glass. Maddie opted for water.”
  • When Will and Maddie are being held prisoner in the castle, they are served wine.
  • When Maddie sneaks the prince out of the castle, she waits for two men to move off the stairs. The men “were sitting and passing a flask of wine back and forth.”
  • While eating with the king, wine is served.

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

The Missing Prince

Will Treaty and his apprentice, Maddie, have been urgently summoned to Castle Araluen. When they arrive, they learn a shocking truth: the Prince of Gallica is missing—and the King of Gallica has asked for help. All reports suggest that the young prince has been taken prisoner by the dangerous and powerful Baron Joubert de Lassigny. King Duncan knows that sending troops to Gallica to rescue the prince could start a war, as could openly helping Gallica resolve internal conflict. But there’s another way to save the prince: the Ranger Corps.

Soon, Will and Maddie are on the road to rescue the missing prince, disguised as father and daughter jongleurs. Maddie will have to use her knife-throwing skills to keep up her disguise, and her ranger’s apprentice training to complete the mission. But going undercover is dangerous—and the road presents its own hazards. Can she and Will use all of their talents to save the prince, or will the arrogant Baron uncover their plans and put their lives– and their kingdom– at risk?

Unlike the other books in the Ranger’s Apprentice Series, The Missing Prince is missing action. For most of the story, Will and Maddie are traveling to the castle where the Prince of Gallica is being held captive. Along the way, Will and Maddie face bandits which adds excitement to the story. However, their trip drags and when the two finally reach their destination, the book suddenly ends leaving the reader wondering what will happen in the next book, Escape from Falaise.

Will and Maddie are admirable characters who willingly face danger in an attempt to free the missing prince. However, the book’s slow start focuses more on the political reasons to help the Gallican prince. In addition, Maddie’s mother is reluctant to let Maddie go on a ranger mission. Readers may quickly become bored with the political and parental aspects of the story. Despite this, fans of the Ranger’s Apprentice Series will be happy that Will Treaty plays a major role in The Missing Prince.

Some of the story’s plot feels redundant because Will again disguises himself as a jongleur. Despite this, fans of the Ranger’s Apprentice Series will enjoy Will and Maddie’s relationship and the two working together. Plus, the conclusion has several surprises and leaves readers with several unanswered questions. Even though The Missing Prince lacks the action of other books, the cliffhanger will have readers reaching for Escape from Falaise.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • To stop a band of thieves, Will dresses like an old farmer. When the thieves see Will, they try to stop him. Will shoots an arrow and “Jem was down, rolling in agony on the ground and clutching an arrow that had transfixed his left calf.”
  • One of the bandits, Barton, tries to hit Will, who lifts the man and throws him. “Barton landed with a heavy thud, flat on his back. . . When he recovered, he found himself looking along the blade of a very sharp saxe knife, which pricked the soft skin of his throat.” Will and Maddie take the men to the local law.
  • While Will and Maddie are entertaining, thieves appear and demand everyone’s money. A young man tries to intervene, but “the bandit leader stepped in close to him and swung the butt of the crossbow so that it slammed into Simon’s forehead.” The man is injured.
  • As the thieves are celebrating their newfound wealth, the leader “held his bottle up prior to drinking from it. Will’s arrow smashed through it, showering the drunken bandit chief with wine and shattered fragments of glass, before thudding, quivering into a log lying ready by the fire.” To take down the bandit leader, Maddie “whipped the sling up and over and the lead shot hissed through the air across the clearing, striking Vincent’s skull behind the ear with an ugly thud. The bandit’s eyes glazed, and he let out a sickly little moan. . . he crashed to the forest floor, stunned.” The scene is described over four pages.
  • While Will and Maddie are restraining the bandits, “a man rose onto one knee and leveled the crossbow.” Will sees the movement and “he drew his throwing knife and sent it spinning across the clearing. . .the knife hit him in the center of his chest.”
  • While searching the castle tower for the missing prince, “a burly figure” sees Maddie. When the man grabs her, “she suddenly stepped toward him. . .she grabbed a handful of tunic, bent her legs and shoved her backside into his body.” She then knees him in the groin and runs.

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • Will and Maddie pose as jongleurs and perform in local taverns. The customers often drink wine and ale. When they eat at the castle, ale and wine are also served.
  • A man who has been following Will and Maddie goes into a tavern and is “nursing a tankard of ale.”
  • After the thieves rob the townspeople, they hide in the forest. The eight men were “sprawled around the camp. They stole some wine from the tavern last night and they’re all drinking.” The men turn into a “nosy, drunken group.”
  • Will and Maddie see a peddler who had “casks of ale and wine.”

Language

  • A man thinks that the Gallic king is a “pompous prat.”
  • Damn is used once.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

 

The Angel Experiment

Meet the flock. Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel are six kids who grew up in cages as the School’s most successful test tube experiments. The School is a science lab located in Death Valley, California where the scientists—or whitecoats—experiment on children’s genes. Four years prior, Jeb Batchelder, one of the scientists and the group’s father figure, escaped with the kids and took them to a cabin in Colorado. Two years afterwards, he disappeared, leaving the kids without an adult to care for them.  

These six kids aren’t your average American children. The whitecoats had the flock’s genes spliced with avian DNA, giving them the ability to fly via physical wings attached to their backs, along with some special abilities. Max, self-named Maximum Ride, is the oldest and leader of the flock at 14 years old. She serves as a mother figure even though she is still a kid herself. Fang is four months younger than Max, a sort of second-in-command, and is usually very quiet, “like a dark shadow come to life.” Iggy is younger than Max and blind due to the scientist’s unsuccessful attempt to surgically enhance his night vision. Nudge is an 11-year-old and, according to Max, “is a great kid, but that motormouth of hers could have turned Mother Teresa into an ax murderer.” The Gasman, or Gazzy, is eight years old, named after his ability to produce very rancid farts. He can also mimic any voice or sound. Lastly, Angel is Gazzy’s intelligent six-year-old sister who has the ability to read minds. 

Suddenly, the School’s Erasers capture Angel and plan to return the rest of the flock to the School. Erasers are half-human, half-wolf mutants who are usually armed and bloodthirsty. At first, they look like male models, but they can transform into hairy beings with claws and fangs. Leading the Erasers’ hunt is Ari. The last time Max saw Ari, he was a three-year-old boy. Now he’s a grown Eraser. Terrified about going back, the flock must rescue Angel from the School without getting. However, along the way they discover new things about themselves, their pasts, and the big plans the School has in store for them. 

James Patterson tells a fascinating story filled with science, action, and kids with wings and superhuman abilities. While most of the story is told from Max’s point of view, when the flock is separated, readers get a third-person perspective from a member of each group. The changing points of view allow readers to keep up to date with everyone. Occasionally, Max also addresses the reader using the second person, adding a memoir-like tone to the novel. Max’s voice is very distinct because of her sarcastic and sassy tone. Readers can easily fall in love with everyone in the flock and look forward to joining them in discovering who really they are. 

Some of the more prevalent themes are freedom, family, and fate. The flock hasn’t talked about their experiences and, as Max explains, they prefer to “forget when we were at the mercy of sadistic jerks in a place that’s a total nightmare and ought to be firebombed.” Because of their experiences, the flock values their freedom. In addition, the flock’s relationships show that family is not always formed through blood and that having a strong base of friends can be all the support one needs. Fate also becomes a part of this story as Jeb says, “Max, everything you’ve done, everything you are, everything you can be, is tied into your destiny.” According to Jeb, Max’s fate is predetermined, which makes her question her own autonomy and freedom.  

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment is a strong start to this sci-fi series. The chapters are short, the pacing is fast, and the language is clear and concise. These aspects of the novel match well with a large amount of action and the plot, which can be confusing. Max gives readers a warning in the beginning, saying, “If you dare to read this story, you become part of the Experiment. I know that sounds a little mysterious—but it’s all I can say right now.” So, if you decide to read this book, be prepared to become part of the flock. 

Sexual Content  

  • After a fight, Max went over to Fang to look at his injuries and, “With no warning, I leaned down and kissed his mouth, just like that.” 

Violence  

  • During one of Max’s dreams, she’s running from the Erasers. Her “arms [are] being scratched to ribbons by a briar” and her “bare feet hitting every sharp rock, rough root, [and] pointed stick.” When she comes across a drop-off on the mountain, she “let [herself] fall over the edge of the cliff.” However, one of the Erasers raises his gun and “a red dot of light appeared on my torn nightgown.”  
  • While the flock are picking strawberries, Erasers attack them. Max “landed another blow, then an Eraser punched me so hard that my head snapped around and I felt a burst of blood in my mouth.” While they fight, Max watches as “three other Erasers [were] stuffing Angel, my baby, into a rough sack. She was crying and screaming, and one of them hit her.” The fight ends when Max saw a “huge, black boot come at my head, felt my head jerk to one side, and everything went black.”  
  • After Max wakes up, she immediately thinks of Angel as “horror-filled images flashed through my mind—Angel being chased, being hurt, being killed.” 
  • In order to save Angel, the flock fly to the Humvee carrying Angel. Fang smashes a tree branch into the windshield. “The vehicle swerved, a window rolled down. A gun barrel poked out. Around [Max], trees started popping with bullets.” As a helicopter carries Angel away, Max tries to hang on to the landing skid and someone “picked up a rifle and aimed it at [Max].” 
  • The flock watches as the chopper carries Angel away. Max’s anger gets the best of her and she “made fists and punched the chunky bark of the fir tree hard, over and over, until finally, actual pain seeped into my seared consciousness. I stared at my knuckles, saw the blood, the missing skin, the splinters.” 
  • When the flock returns to the house, “Iggy howled and swept his hand across the kitchen counter, catapulting a mug through the air. It hit Fang in the side of the head.” 
  • At the School, the scientists force Angel to be experimented on. During the experiment, Angel ran on a treadmill for three and a half hours and was zapped by a “stick thing” any time she slowed down or stopped. The stick thing “jolted electricity into her, making her yelp and jump. She had four burn marks already from it.” By the end of the experiment, Angel collapses, and her feet get tangled in the treadmill belt. The scientists do a final scan of her body. As the scientists pull electrodes off of Angel’s skin, “ripping sounds and a new, searing pain on her skin pulled Angel back” from a dream.  
  • While traveling to California, Max sees a girl getting cornered by three guys. She decides to help. One of the men, “was holding a shotgun loosely in the crook of his arm.” Max confronts them and a fight breaks out. Max kicks the first guy and “a blow that would have only knocked Fang’s breath away actually seemed to snap a rib on this guy.” Max grabs the shotgun’s barrel and cracks it against his head. Max then punches the last guy, “feeling his nose break, and there was a slow-motion pause of about a second before it started gushing blood.”  
  • After Max beats up three bullies, one of the guys cocks the gun and runs at her but she flies away. The men start shooting at her and she felt “a sudden, searing pain in my left shoulder. I gasped and glanced over to see blood blossoming on my sleeve.” The bullet grazed her shoulder and nicked the bone of her wing. She also has a scratch on her cheek as well as a black eye.  
  • While Nudge and Fang wait for Max to return, they find nests of ferruginous hawks, the largest raptor in the U.S. They sit down at the mouth of the cave and watch as “one of the hawks had a partially dismembered gopher in its mouth” and gave it to its fledglings. 
  • In between experiments at the School, Angel is kept in a dog crate. The scientists had “taken blood from her arm, but she’d fought them and bit that one guy.” Angel bit a scientist, so he hit her. Then, Angel read the mind of another scientist who was thinking about the incident and the scientist thinks, “If he wrecks this specimen, I’ll kill him.” 
  • Iggy and Gazzy decide to build bombs for protection. They find an Eraser camp nearby and set an oil trap for the Humvees. The Humvees “hit the trees at an angle and went airborne, sailing upside down about fifteen feet before landing with a heavy crunching sound.” 
  • The Erasers ambush Iggy and Gazzy, but Iggy and Gazzy fly away and set off a bomb. In the air, “a fireball ten yards in diameter rose from where the cabin had been.” In the aftermath, Gazzy watches as “one dark body had flown upward in the blast,” and “the other Eraser had crawled a few feet away from the cabin, a burning silhouette that had collapsed, its outlines blurred by flame.” 
  • At the School, Angel runs in a maze that changes each time she finds the exit. “If she slowed down, she got an electric shock so strong it scrambled her brain, or red-hot wires under her feet burned her.” 
  • Angel reads the minds of the scientists around her and there are several mentions of them wanting to dissect her brain. 
  • In Arizona, Nudge and Fang are confronted by Erasers. Ari, an Eraser, and Fang fight each other. “Ari was sitting on Fang’s chest, punching him. Nudge gasped and put her hand over her mouth as she saw blood erupt from Fang’s nose.” Then “Ari roared and brought both hands down onto Fang’s chest with enough force to snap his ribs.” Ari pulled out a gun and a bullet soared by Nudge’s ear as Fang and Nudge flew away. 
  • Erasers ambush Max, Fang, Nudge, Iggy, and Gazzy. When the flock uses a van to escape, Max crashes into a sedan head-on. The airbags give Max a bloody nose. Max tells everyone to run, “then hissed in a breath as my nose took another jarring blow” from an Eraser. The Erasers capture Max, Fang, and Nudge but Gazzy and Iggy escape.   
  • At the School, Max, Fang, Nudge, and Angel are stuck in cages with other mutants. “Sometime in the next half hour, [Max] realized the ‘experiment’ was no longer breathing. It had died, right next to me.” 
  • Ari teases Max through the bars of her cage. Max “leaned over and chomped hard on Ari’s fingers.” Ari yells in pain, and “was shaking my cage, slamming it with his other hand, and my head was getting snapped around like a paddleball.” 
  • Iggy and Gazzy arrive at the School and free the others. Max, “backhanded [a scientist] against the jaw, feeling teeth knock loose.” Fang and Ari fought, and “Fang smashed him sideways with a kick, then punched the side of Ari’s head.” 
  • Several times, Max collapses due to “a blinding, stunning pain [that] exploded behind my eyes.” Nobody knows what causes this pain but after the pain passes, she hears a “Voice” in her head that gives her advice. 
  • While the flock navigates the underground rails of Manhattan, Gazzy asks what a sign saying to stay off the third rail meant. Fang says, “It means the third rail has seven hundred volts of direct current running through it. Touch it and you’re human popcorn.” 
  • In New York, the flock is running from Erasers, and “a heavy clawed hand grabbed [Max’s] hair, yanking me backward, right off my feet.” The Eraser starts to drag Max away when, suddenly, the Eraser “hit the ground with a sickening thud, and [Max] cracked [her] head against the sidewalk so hard [she] saw fireworks.” The Eraser had suddenly died. 
  • The flock was surrounded and grabbed by Erasers. Fang was “locked in battle with Ari, who raked his claws across Fang’s face, leaving parallel lines of red.” Max begged Ari to stop attacking Fang, but “Ari seized Fang’s head and brought it down hard on a rock.” Ari then “cracked Fang with an elbow. Blood sprayed from Fang’s mouth, and again he went down.” The fight ends when someone appears and tells Ari to back off.  
  • Max and Ari fight. While they exchange blows, “Ari punched [Max] again, and I thought I heard a rib crack.” Max then grabbed Ari’s neck and it “slammed against the hard side of the tunnel,” breaking his neck and killing him. 

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • The flock talks to a kid who was kicked out of MIT because he wouldn’t take his Thorazine. He said he didn’t like the Thorazine, “or Haldol, or Melleril, or Zyprexa.” 

Language    

  • God is used several times as an exclamation. 
  • The word hell is spelled out once as “h-e-double toothpicks” and used one other time. 

Supernatural  

  • None 

Spiritual Content  

  • The flock seeks refuge in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. “As we passed through the door, the air was instantly cooler and scented with something that smelled ancient and churchy and just. . .  religious somehow.” Everyone in the flock starts to pray. 

This Vicious Grace

Alessa is the latest finestra in a long line of people chosen by the goddess Dea to protect her island. Her powers are supposed to help her save her home, but so far they’ve only managed to kill three suitors simply through her touch. Her suitors, called Fonte, are paired with her in order to hone her power and strengthen their own, but instead, she overwhelms them. Alessa’s running out of time to learn how to use her power and save her people. There are only a few weeks left until the god, Crollo, sends his demons to attack and wipe out all human life from the island.  

In order to keep her safe, Alessa is separated from her family, her old life, and even her name. In order to train, she is locked away. She is lonely. The Fontes she’s paired with are supposed to supply her with a partner, a mate, and a friend, but instead, their unusual deaths have caused an even deeper rift between her and everyone else on the island. Then, a powerful priest begins convincing people that her inability to control her power is evidence that she is a false prophet. He begins to amass a following of very angry, very scared people that are willing to do anything to prevent her from harming others, including kill her. One night, one of Alessa’s own guards even tries to assassinate her. In response, she hires a bodyguard, Dante, to protect her until she can learn how to control her powers and defeat the demons.  

A group of prospective Fonte joins Alessa in order to figure out who, if any of them, can handle her power enough to use it. These Fonte are the only hope Alessa has at defeating the demons. Alessa’s relationship with her new group of prospective Fontes starts off rocky. Because of her failures with the three prior Fontes, the new Fontes are skeptical of her abilities and wary of her motives. When Dante realizes he can handle Alessa’s power, he helps her understand how to wield it. Then, Dante slowly paves the way for Alessa to build a friendship with the new Fontes, and to work alongside them to master her powers.  

This Vicious Grace is told from Alessa’s point of view, and she is a very likable main character. Alessa is a kind, level-headed main character with an affinity for justice. Despite how she’s treated, she still chooses to fight the good fight over and over again and is rewarded for it in the end. Alessa stays true to herself and is a fair and good person who is willing to do whatever it takes to save her people.  

A tale of friendship, overcoming loneliness, and holding out hope despite insurmountable odds, This Vicious Grace is a good novel for readers who enjoy a slow burn romance within a fantasy world filled with gods, demons, and war. This Vicious Grace is Emily Thiede’s debut novel. It includes a lot of references to malevolent gods, vicious demons, and mystical powers and abilities. Though it is a fantasy world, it is not hard to understand the complicated plot and numerous characters. This action-packed book is a fun and interesting read for fantasy lovers. Readers looking for more books set in a fantasy world should also read Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin. 

Sexual Content  

  • While playing a drinking game, Dante asks Alessa, “If you could do anything before Divorando, what would it be?” Alessa replies, “Lose my virginity.” 
  • Dante and Alessa are sleeping in the same bed when Dante starts to kiss and touch her in his sleep. Dante’s “lips brushed the sensitive spot just below her ear, kindling a fire just below her navel. Her thoughts scrambled as his fingers grazed the underside of her breast.” 
  • Alessa kisses Dante outside of her room one night on their way back from rescuing Dante from prison. “Parting her lips, she traced his lips with her tongue, and his control snapped. His hands were everywhere at once—cupping her face, running through her hair, gripping her waist. He pressed her against the door, pressed his mouth to hers, pressed his hips into her. . . ” 
  • Alessa and Dante have sex. There is an intense kissing scene that takes place over two pages prior to this. Dante’s “fingers cupped her bottom, pulling her into him, and she melted, softness yielding to the hard planes of his body. When his hand cupped her breat, she forgot how to breathe . . . He nuzzled her through fabric, his breath warming the bare skin of her thigh . . . ” 

Violence 

  • Alessa’s gift causes her to overwhelm people when she touches them. This causes them severe injury and even death. When she was younger, she almost killed a boy during a race. “She was sitting on his chest. . . she’d touched his forehead and declared ‘you lose’. . . Tendons taut as bowstrings, blood-flecked foam between clenched teeth, he’d spasmed beneath her. He’d nearly bitten his tongue off and still talked with a lisp.” 
  • A masked figure breaks into Alessa’s room and tries to kill her in her sleep. The assassin is convinced that she is a false prophet. She wakes up in her bed to someone choking her. “Something – someone – had her pinned, trapped, crushing her windpipe . . . Hands, encased in thick gloves, tightening around her neck.” 
  • Alessa is in the city and watches two fighters brawl. “The Bear landed his first blow, his fist smashing into the Wolf’s jaw . . . The Wolf landed a punch to the big man’s gut, but the next blow he took sounded like it cracked a few ribs . . . The Wolf slammed a fist into the big man’s cheek and looked about to land a second hit when someone smashed a glass against the bars . . .  The Bear’s opponent’s back was turned, and he slammed his fist into the Wolf’s lower back. He dropped.” The scene continues over two pages. 
  • Alessa unintentionally sneaks up on Dante. Before he sees who it is, he stabs her with his two knives in self defense. “Dante turned so fast she didn’t have time to speak . . . twin fires tore through her abdomen . . . she looked down at his fists, clutching the hilts of his knives, pressed against her . . .blood dripped between his fingers. With a ragged gasp, Dante pulled the knives free.” She begins bleeding out and Dante saves her from the brink of death using healing powers.  
  • Alessa, Dante, and the Fontes fight the demons. When Alessa looks at Dante, “he was already on the ground. A wide gash ran from his chin to one ear, and he was covered in so much blood.” A couple other characters have injuries but none are described, or serious.  

Drugs and Alcohol  

  • After watching a fight in town, Alessa goes to a bar and overhears one of the fighters ordering a whiskey. She orders one for herself as well. “Alessa swirled the glass, watching the whiskey hug the sides and inhaled the sweet heat before she took a sip.”   
  • Alessa and Dante play a drinking game with limoncello in her room. Alessa says, “Truth or challenge . . . if you don’t perform the challenge or answer the question, you take a drink.” 
  • Someone tried to put poison in Alessa’s pastries.   

Language  

  • Profanity is used intermittently. Profanity includes shit, damn, and ass. 
  • Dante and Alessa are talking about how civilians have to pay families to take in their kids in case they die in battle. Alessa says, “It’s not my fault . . . I don’t make the rules I just have to follow them.” Dante replies, “Yeah, well, it’s a bit late to give a shit now.” 
  • Alessa hires Dante to be her bodyguard and they argue about what his duties will be. Dante says, “I don’t half-ass any job. You want me to guard, this is how I do it.”

Supernatural  

  • Demons sent by the malevolent god, Crollo, are the main antagonists in the book. There is no specification on where they come from or whether or not they have powers. They are sent to wipe out humanity because Crollo insists that people are “too flawed and too selfish to endure.” 

Spiritual Content  

  • The book includes God-given magic – the main character Alessa is referred to as a “divine weapon of the gods” throughout the book. There are also frequent references to their religious text, “Holy Verita,” their patron goddess, Dea, and the evil god, Crollo, who sends demons to the island.  
  • The Day of Divorando is a day when demon-like creatures will attack the islands. Kaleb, one of the prosepctive Fonte, says, “On the day of Divorando, we’re supposed to use our powers to ward off the invasion . . . The gods gave us the gifts for defense, so that is what we will use.” 
  • Alessa calls herself a “divinely ordained warrior.” 

Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane

Several months have passed since Gregor’s first trip to the Underland. Just as his life is returning to normal, his baby sister Boots is kidnapped by the cockroaches, and Gregor is forced to journey back to the subterranean city of Regalia. Once there, Gregor reunites with the rebellious Luxa and his bat Ares whom Gregor has pledged his loyalty and protection. Gregor soon discovers that the Underlanders have kidnapped Boots because of The Prophecy of Bane. This ancient prophecy implies that if Boots were to be killed, the rats would have the key to power. 

The Underlanders believe that Gregor is the prophesied Warrior who must kill an evil rat cloaked in a coat of white: the Bane, an enormous, snow-white 10-foot rat that threatens to destroy Regalia and subject all of the Underland to his rule. The Prophecy of Bane mysteriously says that the Warrior will be fatally weakened if: “Die the baby die his heart, die his most essential part. Die the peace that rules the hour. Gnawers [another term for rats] have their key to power.” Believing that Boots is the baby spoken of in the prophecy, the rats kidnap her.  

In order to save his sister, Gregor and his companions must embark upon a long and dangerous voyage, sailing into the heart of rat territory.  Gregor is determined to destroy the Bane before the rats can kill Boots. Gregor must learn to fight for those he loves while encountering dangers, close calls, and surprises along the journey. He must also discover what it means to be a warrior. 

Those who read Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane will enjoy its simple yet engaging plot, its pulse-pounding action, and its variety of characters and settings. The character and mythos of the Underland are deepened in this worthy sequel. New and dangerous creatures are introduced, the uncharted, watery depths of the Underland are explored, and at the end of this long voyage lies a mysterious and powerful foe: the Bane. 

Once readers enter the world of the Underland, the quick-moving plot and the dynamic characters will sweep middle school readers up, keeping their minds and imaginations engaged for the entirety of the book. To keep the suspense high, each new chapter introduces a new danger, an exciting development, and an intriguing complication to the plot. The action, often violent and bloody, is kicked up a notch from the first book. However, like the first book in the series, it is often the creatures and not the humans that suffer wounds and death in battle. Despite this, sensitive readers may be upset by the vivid battle descriptions. 

Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane is rife with themes of familial love and sacrifice, compassion, friendship, and duty. Gregor will stop at nothing to protect his friends and family. However, Gregor is faced with many difficult situations and moral dilemmas, all of which develop his character. Gregor discovers that he possesses incredible powers as a fighter. In fact, whenever he is near or in the midst of battle, Gregor’s mind enters into “rager mode;” a “rager” is a gifted warrior who possesses fighting abilities that approach the supernatural. Throughout the book, Gregor must learn to harness and control these abilities, lest they control him. The danger of letting his violent, rager instincts overpower his kind nature forces Gregor to consider the nature of violence and how it should be used only to protect and defend. 

Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane provides a story that is an incredibly entertaining blend of mystery, travel, and adventure. Every chapter ends on a cliff-hanger, providing ample reason for even the most reluctant of readers to devour it quickly. Furthermore, the ending perfectly sets up the sequel, Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods. Readers will not be able to help themselves, they’ll have to immediately reach for the next installment. 

 Sexual Content 

  • None 

Violence 

  • The Underlanders practice their swordplay by having a contraption that throws small, golfball-sized balls at them in rapid succession. The Underlanders’ goal is to slice as many balls as possible. These balls are filled with red liquid that mimics blood. Gregor first goes into “rager mode” when training with the blood balls. “He was aware only of the blood balls flying toward him from all directions . . .  He could hear his blade making a whistling sound. Something splattered against his face. . . He could feel liquid dripping off his face and hands. The pounding of his heart was audible. He looked down at the ground. At his feet lay the oozing shells of fifteen balls.” 
  • The verbiage of the Prophecy of Bane itself is somewhat violent. For example, “If Under fell, if Over leaped,/ If death was life and Death life reaped,/ Something rises from the gloom,/ To make the Underland a tomb./ Hear it scratching down below,/ Rat of long forgotten snow,/ Evil cloaked in coat of White,/ Will the Warrior drain your light?/ What could turn the Warrior weak?/ What do burning Gnawers seek?/ Just a barely speaking pup / That holds the Land of Under up/ Die the baby, die his heart/ Die his most essential part/ Die the peace that rules the hour,/ Gnawers have their key to power.” 
  • Twitchtip, a rat that aids the humans in their mission, threatens a giant talking firefly, saying “. . . if you don’t stop your incessant babble, that big rat sitting in the boat next to you [referring to herself] will rip your head off.” 
  • While discussing effective ways to kill rats, Ares the bat says, “The neck is vulnerable. The heart, but one must get past the ribs. Through the eyes to the brain. Under the foreleg is a vein that bleeds greatly. If you strike at the belly, you may not kill instantly, but the rat will likely die within days from infection.” 
  • As the group is sailing, they are attacked by a giant squid. Gregor is grabbed by “a slimy red tentacle,” and nearly pulled overboard. However, Ares manages to grab him, and “a tug-of-war ensued, with Gregor as the rope.”  
  • As the battle against the squid continues, Gregor “sank his teeth into the tentacle as deeply as he could” and “slice[d] through a tentacle that had encircled his ankle.” Trying to free Gregor, the humans and bats slice and claw at the tentacles. Gregor enters again into rager mode and, “His sword began to move—not in a premeditative way, but with some instinctive precision and force utterly beyond his control. He hacked away at tentacle after tentacle.”  
  • After the battle, “Four angry red circles, sucker marks, swelled on his forearm” where Gregor was initially grabbed. These sucker marks “begin to ooze pus.” The scene is described over three pages. 
  • Gregor’s tentacle wound worsens. “The whole forearm was badly swollen. The sucker wounds, which had turned a revolting shade of purple, oozed fluorescent green pus. They burned as if they were on fire.” 
  • As Pandora, a bat, flies over a volcanic island, a large cloud of flesh-eating mites emerges from the jungle. “[Pandora] had no time to react. One moment she was darting around eating mites, the next moment they were eating her. In less than ten seconds they had stripped the writhing bat down to the bone. Her white skeleton hung for an instant in the air, then crashed into the jungle below.” Ares barely escapes these flesh-eating mites and is bitten on his tail several times while fleeing. 
  • The group is attacked by large, dinosaur-like serpents. As the monsters attack, large waves wash the rats “into the serpents’ mouths.” Various members of the quest are injured. “One of Mareth’s pant legs was soaked in blood. In front of him, Gregor saw the shuttering heap of wet fur that was Twitchtip. Blood poured from her nose, which appeared to have been smashed in, and oozed from the stump that had been her tail.” 
  • When a serpent tries to eat Twitchtip, Gregor stabs the serpent’s tongue. As a fellow quester is attempting to dress Mareth’s wound, he rips “off the remains of Mareth’s blood-soaked pant leg, revealing jagged flesh around a gaping wound.” 
  • Two rats, Snare and Goldshard, fight each other to the death. “The fighting was vicious . . . Snare lost an eye. Goldshard’s ear dangled from a shred of fur. You could see the bone in Snare’s shoulder. Goldshard’s left front paw was snapped in two. Finally, the gold rat came in on her opponent’s blind side and locked her fangs on his neck. In the final throes of death, Snare got his hind feet between their bodies and slashed open the length of Goldshard’s belly . . . Her intestines spilled out on the ground . . . With a terrible gurgling sound, Snare suffocated in his own blood.” 
  • After returning from their journey, the Regalian crowds that have gathered are outraged to learn that Gregor has not killed the Bane. They begin throwing objects at him and Ares. “Something hit [Gregor] on the side of his head. His hand went up and came away bloody . . . More objects began to rain around him . . . The one thing they had in common was that they were all made of stone . . . he and Ares were being stoned to death.”  
  • Because of his failure to slay the Bane, Gregor and the other Underlanders stand trial for treason. Ares informs Gregor that if convicted, “They will bind my wings and your hands and drop us off a very high cliff to the rocks below.”  

Drugs and Alcohol 

  • None 

Language 

  • In response to the taunting of Ripred (a rat), Gregor says, “Just shut up, okay?” 
  • After the mission’s failure, Ripred offers Gregor a warning saying, “And you know, there will be hell to pay in Regalia.” 

Supernatural 

  • Nerissa, a member of Regalia’s royal family, is a soothsayer, and interprets the Prophecy of Bane. 

Spiritual Content 

  • None 

The Duel at Araluen

King Duncan and Princess Cassandra are trapped in the south tower of Castle Araluen and under near-constant attack from the Red Fox Clan. Sir Horace and Ranger Commandant Gilan are holed up in an old hill fort, surrounded by the enemy. And Ranger’s apprentice, Maddie, is the only one who can save them all.

With the help of Hal, Thorn, and the rest of the Heron brotherband, Maddie will have to break her father and his men out of the hill fort, but will they reach Castle Araluen in time?

As the third installment of the Royal Ranger Series, Duel at Araluen continues the story of the Red Fox Clan who plan to kill King Duncan, Princess Cassandra, and Maddie. Unlike the previous two books in the series, Duel at Araluen describes many skirmishes between the rebels and the Araluens. While the book has less adventure, there is non-stop action as three groups—the Scandians, Horace and his soldiers, and Cassandra and her loyal army—prepare to defeat the Red Fox Clan.

While the book revolves around war, there is never senseless killing. Even though the Red Fox Clan planned to kill Horace and his men, when the rebels are defeated, Horace doesn’t execute the traitors. Instead, Horace orders his men to “leave the tents there for them so they won’t die of exposure. . . We’ll leave them what medical supplies and bandages we can spare and they can take care of one another.” Like the previous books, many people die, but all of the killings are in self-defense.

Duel at Araluen highlights the importance of loyalty, friendship, and bravery. For example, Jesper, one of the Scandians, makes several mean comments to one of his shipmates. Afterwards, Jesper claimed he was just joking. Hal scolds Jasper, saying, “A joke is when everyone can have a good laugh together. But when you do something that’s spiteful and hurtful and causes misery to someone else, that’s not a joke. That’s cruelty.”

Duel at Araluen uses the same format of all The Ranger’s Apprentice books. Even though the format is familiar, readers will be happy to see returning characters such as the Scandians from the Brotherband Series. Seeing the world from Maddie’s point of view gives the setting a fresh outlook. Plus, both Cassandra and Maddie have strong roles that involve leadership, planning, and fighting. Instead of being portrayed as stereotypical damsels in distress, Cassandra and Maddie are well-developed, capable characters who have many admirable traits. Readers who want to explore books with a strong female character and plenty of action should also add the League of Archers Series by Eva Howard to their reading list.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • After the Red Fox Clan took over the castle, the King, Cassandra and a group of loyal soldiers lock themselves in a tower. The Red Fox Clan started throwing projectiles at the tower. In response, Cassandra’s archers shoot arrows at the invading army. “Two of the first three shots found their targets. One man fell away from the windlass, an arrow in his upper body. Another. . . went down with a shaft in his thigh.”
  • The Red Fox Clan builds a trebuchet and uses it to throw rocks at the castle tower. Cassandra’s archers shoot fire arrows at the trebuchet and the invading army. “Two men went down. One of them stayed down. The other one hauled himself to his feet. . . an arrow through his lower leg. . . All the while, the tree archers peppered the trebuchet with arrows, but to no real effect. The only reward for their efforts was a sole figure lying unmoving on the flagstones.”
  • The Red Fox Clan begins throwing fire bladders at the tower. “Cassandra started in fear as the bladder struck the tower. . . Almost instantly, there was a roar of flame as the oil and pitch ignited, and a flood of fire erupted over the balcony, some of it clinging to the walls, while the rest dripped down and spread tendrils of flame over the floor.” No one is injured by the fire bladders.
  • The Red Fox Clan plan to swarm the fort that Horace, Gilan, and their army are hiding. “The light flared up, revealing a mass of some twenty men on the walkway. Instantly, the archers on the east and west walls drew, aimed and shot. A storm of arrows slammed into the attackers as they bunched together. . . more arrows slammed into them as they hesitated.”
  • During the attack, the rebels use ladders to scale the fort’s walls. “Their leader ran to be the first down one of the ladders. But, five spaces short of it, he was struck by an arrow and hurled back against the rough timbers of the palisade.”
  • One of the rebels lunges at Gilan with a sword. “Gilan’s sword, gleaming blood-red in the smoky firelight, struck like a viper, driving the man’s upper body, piercing the chain metal there. The swordsman gasped and stepped back. . . [Gilan] swung in a diagonal overhead cut at the man on his left. The stroke went home and the man fell to his knees, crying out in pain and shock. Then he toppled sideways.” The battle is described over nine pages.
  • After the battle, a man gives a casualty report. The Araluen’s lost two men and three others were injured. The rebels lost at least a dozen men and eight are wounded and cannot flee.
  • Along with the Scandians, the Araluens attack the rebel army. The Araluens use their lances to try to break up the enemy’s shield wall. “Some of the lances penetrated, forcing their way between the shields, hitting bodies, legs, and arms.” The battle is described over eight pages.
  • During the battle, one of the rebels “reared up in agony, clutching vainly at an arrow that had magically appeared between his shoulder blades.”
  • One of the leaders of the rebel army, Trask, steals his own soldier’s horse and tries to flee. But Maddie sees Trask and uses her sling as a weapon. Trask “felt a thundering impact on his helmet, right in the center of his forehead. . . Vaguely, he felt himself topple backward from the saddle and crash onto the soft grass. Then everything went black.”
  • The rebels set a door on fire, trying to chase Cassandra and her army to flee. One of Cassandra’s sergeants goes around the wall and a crossbowman “raised his weapon and shot. . . Then the crossbow bolt hit him and he reared back, falling dead at Cassandra’s feet.”
  • The book ends with a multi-chapter battle between the Araluens and the Red Fox Clan, where many people die. During the battle, one of Cassandra’s archers is stabbed and “with a startled cry of pain, the archer fell back on the steps, his spear clattering on the stonework as he dropped it.” Many men are killed in a similar manner.
  • During the attack, one of the rebels “felt a chill of fear clutch his heart as he realized he was seriously outmatched. . . In total panic, he turned to run, but Hal leaped forward and, reversing his sword, brought the heavy hilt down on the back of the man’s head, sending him sprawling unconscious on the boards of the walkway.”
  • Cassandra and the rebel leader, Dimon, fight. Cassandra injures him. “Blood dripped slowly from Dimon’s left arm, but not in sufficient quantities to weaken him.” At one point, Cassandra “twisted desperately to the right. The blade scored across her ribs, opening a long, shallow slash in her side. Blood welled out instantly, staining her jerkin.” Cassandra kills Dimon. The sword fight is described over five pages.

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • One of Cassandra’s sergeants was “nursing a mug of ale—a small mug, in view of their limited supply.”

Language

  • Damn is used three times. For example, Dimon says, “I should have thought of this damned tower, should have remembered how impregnable it can be.”
  • Maddie’s horse says, “By Blarney’s perpetual beard, when you sleep, you really sleep, don’t you?”
  • Maddie calls her horse a know-all and a blowhard.
  • Twice a Scandian uses “Orlog’s ears” as an exclamation.
  • The king calls the rebel’s leader scum.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • Maddie’s horse makes a comment about Blarney, “a minor Hibernian deity. . .His beard grew constantly down to his feet, no matter how often he cut or shaved it.”
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7

Latest Reviews