Topic: Heroes

Secret in the Stone

Claire and her older sister, Sophie, never imagined that climbing a ladder in a fireplace would take them to another world—Arden. Arden used to be a land of unicorns and magic. Now, the unicorns and the great guardians of magic have disappeared. The sisters, the only descendants of Arden’s royal family, can bring all the unicorns back.

Claire doesn’t think Sophie should be the heir—Sophie is the brave one, but Sophie lacks magic. The two sisters travel to Stonehaven, a Gemmer school on Starscrape Mountain, where Sophie hopes to learn how to be Arden’s heir and harness the magic of stone. The fate of Arden relies on Sophie learning how to wake the legendary moontears and bring back the unicorns. As Claire and Sophie make the treacherous trek to bring back the unicorns, they realize that some allies are traitors in disguise. With danger lurking around every corner, can the sisters unlock the secret of the unicorns before it’s too late?

Secret in the Stone focuses on the complicated sibling relationship between Claire and Sophie. Claire feels inferior to Sophie, who always acts brave, confident, and decisive. Like many siblings, Claire and Sophie do not have a calm relationship, instead they argue and fight. At one point Claire tells Sophie, “I hate you!” However, as soon as Sophie needs her, Claire jumps into danger to help her. The story highlights the girls’ love for each other and their willingness to help each other at all costs.

The story weaves in background information from The Unicorn Quest, which helps the reader keep track of the important events that happened in the previous book. Like the previous book, Secret in the Stone builds an intriguing world that revolves around warring guild villages. The story has a vast cast of characters, many of which only appear for a brief period; this may confuse some readers.

Several themes run throughout the book. Readers will learn the dangers of making assumptions about other people as well as the importance of forgiving each other. Another theme the book reinforces is the importance of thinking about how your actions affect others. Often, even when the characters have good intentions, their actions lead to negative consequences. The story also shows that when evil exists, people must face it. When Claire meets a neutral village, she tells the leader, “It’s not fair—you can’t just keep your eyes shut when the world around you is falling apart! You have to do something! What kind of a safe place is this if you’re ignoring the real problems Arden is facing?”

Secret in the Stone is an engaging story that will keep readers turning the pages. However, the book is a stepping stone to book three. The story doesn’t resolve any of the conflicts but rather sets the story up for the next book. Readers who expect a book about unicorns will be disappointed because unicorns never appear in the story. Secret in the Stone will delight readers who want to enter a world of magic; however, readers must read The Unicorn Quest first. Readers who enjoy Secret in Stone should add the Sisters of Glass series to their reading list because the book also takes readers to a captivating world where magic exists.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • A stone knight comes to life. When it comes close, Sophie swings a “dagger at the stone leg, sparks flying as the blade scraped rock. The knight paused, as though confused about the tiny thing near its feet making such a big fuss. He gave the nuisance a kick, and the dagger spun through the air as Sophie fell on her side.” Before the girls could run, the knight paused, and “slowly the knight unfolded from his crouched position, and rose to a towering height.” The knight then bows to Claire and Sophie.
  • A scholar tells Claire a story about a father who sacrificed his daughter. The king “took his ailing daughter to a glade, and slipped a dagger into his only daughter’s heart. And as her royal red blood spilled onto the grass, a unicorn did finally appear. . . He placed his horn to the daughter’s heart.” The girl then transformed into a unicorn.
  • Claire and Sophie discover that Anvil and Aquila Malchain have been frozen into statues. “Anvil’s ax was raised above his head, looking as if he were about to chop something, his face snarled in an expression of rage. Aquila’s grandmother’s bun had unraveled, and her gray hair streamed out behind her as if she had been running, one hand gripping a knife while the other was clenched into a fist.” A Gemmer had turned their blood to rubies.
  • When a wraith attacks Claire, “a thick darkness flooded all of Claire’s senses—her ears, eyes, nose, mouth. The cold wasn’t just the cold of a winter’s night or the cold of a northern ocean. It was the cold that belonged to those alien, barren stretches of space. It was a cold that wrapped. That suffocated. That dragged her under.” Sophie helps Claire when she “just poked it [the wraith] and it ran, like shadows before light.”
  • Wraiths attack Claire and Sophie. Before they are hurt, riders appear. “Ropes of light crisscrossed across the night sky then snagged on the monsters, pushing them back, pulling them down. . . Each time a rope hit one, it’d scream and rear back.” The riders take Claire.
  • When Claire is taken to a secret village, a man traps her. The man “snapped his fingers and Claire was swept up into the air. The world swung back and forth as a thick net scooped her up into its valley. Its loose edges wove themselves together quickly, anchoring her to the ceiling above. She was trapped in a rope cage.” Sophie saves Claire.
  • When Claire and Sophie try to leave the hidden city, a tree root captures her. The root “reached for her ankle and wrapped around it. . .” Someone helps Claire escape the root.
  • A girl is found guilty of stealing and is sentenced to death.
  • A water plant “drifts around the lake like an animal. It’s called a Gelatinous Fish.” The Gelatinous Fish grabs Claire. Claire “felt what seemed to be rubbery tentacles, or lake weed, wrapping around her ankle, pulling her back into the deeper waters. . . The pain intensified. Black dots swarmed the edges of her vision. The passageway darkened. . .” Someone uses light to chase the fish away.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Someone gives Claire and Sophie a Kompass that is “a rare magic known only to the Malchain family that always pointed toward the one person or thing it was forged to find. In this particular case, it was Aquila.”
  • Claire and Sophie find a ladder in a fireplace. When they climb the ladder, they end up in Arden—a world where magic is real.
  • In Arden, there are four guilds of magic. Forgers work with metal, Gemmers work with rocks and gems, Spinners weave magic from thread, and Tillers work with all that grows from the earth. “Our magic, guild magic, only extends to what’s around us. . . The magic doesn’t come from within us, but from the things around us—plants, rocks, thread, metal. All we do is encourage the magic that naturally exists in those things, to make plants grow bigger and faster and stronger, for instance.”
  • In Arden, people are able to use magic, but “the only magic we have isn’t really magic at all. It’s just the ability to see the potential in each block of stone, medallion of metal, loop of thread, or seed. If someone doesn’t have magic, I think it’s just because she hasn’t learned enough about herself yet.”
  • Wraiths are dangerous creatures that kill humans. Claire describes a wraith as “big and dark and cold. It kind of looked like a skeleton wrapped in shadows.”
  • When Claire uses her Gemmer magic, it feels like a “buzz in her bones—a slight tingle that felt like her fingers were going asleep.”
  • A group uses magic to hide an entire village.
  • Sophie uses magic to make a cloak fly. Sophie and several others use cloaks to escape.
  • While trying to help a friend, Claire and her group run into Thorn, a boy they know. As they are traveling, Nett falls because “wrapped around his ankle was the thin end of a whip, its handle clutched in Thorn’s fist. Thorn gave a slight tug to the whip, and the first foot or so of the cord broke off on its own, binding Nett’s ankles together. . . He cracked the whip in Claire’s direction. She yelped; she felt the cord rush by her, coiling into a mini-Thornado above her head before dropping down.” Sophie uses her magic to free her friends and bind Thorn. “The whip had wrapped carefully around Thorn, binding him mummy-like from his feet and ending right below his nose—allowing him to breathe, but not giving him a chance to yell for help.”
  • An old fortress has Mesmerizing Opals. If people look at the light of the opals, “they would become entranced by the stone and would be no better than puppets, their minds numb and unable to think for themselves.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

Survival Tails: World War II

The messenger pigeon Francis is on a mission. He must carry an urgent message to code breakers so they can warn London of an upcoming Nazi attack. Francis wants to do his part to help win World War II, but while on a dangerous assignment, Francis is injured. Now Francis cannot fly and is stranded in the middle of the London Zoo, but he is still determined to deliver his message and help win the war.

While at the zoo, Francis meets the world-famous panda Ming. Since coming to the zoo, Ming has always been too afraid to speak. When Francis lands in Ming’s enclosure, Ming knows she must do something to help Francis and the other animals at the zoo. With the help of a kind zookeeper, two mischievous monkeys, and other friends, Ming fights to help Francis recover his strength. When the war finally arrives in London, Francis, Ming, and the other animals must work together to save themselves. . . and maybe even London itself.

The life of a carrier pigeon comes to life with the introduction of Francis, who is patriotic, brave, and dedicated to helping his country and others. Readers will fall in love with the fearless pigeon as he befriends the zoo animals. Francis’s mission is never far from his mind, and he continually works to find a solution to his problem. Because the war is told from the animals’ point of view, readers are given a unique view of World War II. Even though the focus is on the animals’ fears, the story doesn’t leave out the danger to humans.

Unlike Francis, panda bear Ming desires to be silent because she is afraid of making deep connections with others. At a young age, Ming was traumatized when she was taken away from her panda bear family. However, with the help of Francis, Ming is able to find her voice and help others. When Ming sees others take risks to help Francis deliver his message, she learns to put her own fears aside. Francis tells Ming, “Don’t let fear stop you from doing what you want to do. What you need to do.”

Survival Tails: World War II will grab readers’ attention from the very first page. The non-stop action and suspense will keep readers flipping the pages until the very end. Readers will connect with Francis and the other animals as they help each other survive. Francis’s dedication to the war effort and his friends is inspiring. Even though Francis is just a pigeon, he will leave readers with valuable life lessons and will encourage them to never give up.

The end of the book has historical background on the Blitz, a World War II timeline, and a glossary. At the end of the story, Francis says, “Hopefully, the world will have learned something from this tragedy. That is the one good thing that could come of it.” Survival Tails: World War II will help younger readers learn about the sacrifices made during World War II. The story will introduce younger readers to the events in World War II and help spark their curiosity about the time period.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • A soldier brings an important message to a lieutenant general. When the soldier appears, “blood trickled down his face from beneath his helmet, dripping into his eyes, and his uniform was ripped and muddied.” The soldier says, “I came as fast as I could to get the message to you, sir. Didn’t even stop when the Nazis started shooting at me.”
  • When the Nazis bomb London, the panda bears saw “planes [that] flew in a V formation, like a flock of geese, gliding low over London, seeking their targets. Gunfire echoed around the city, then thud, thud, thuds in quick succession as the bombs landed. . . snaking trails of black smoke rose high into the sky.”
  • When Francis is trying to deliver a message, shots are fired at him. “As Francis flew closer, the gunfire came again, but this time he was ready. He easily dodged the bullets, then moved into position so that he still had the pillbox in sight. . . Francis passed safely out of range. . .”
  • Francis sees a plane start shooting. Then the plane “veered to the left[,] but caught its wing on one of the barrage balloon’s thick cables. Its entire left wing sheared off and the plane fell into a tailspin, exploding in a blast of blinding light and heat that erupted toward Francis.” Francis tried to fly higher to avoid being injured but “his wings finally gave up on him. He froze in midair for a split second before he began to fall.”
  • While walking around the zoo, Francis gets hit on the head. “It was an empty peanut shell. . . He pretended to walk away, but then spun to face his attacker, getting hit directly in the face by another nut.” His “attacker” was two monkeys, who were trying to have fun.
  • When Ming sees a polar bear for the first time, a blackbird tells her, “Sometimes I hang around here at feeding time, and it’s just a bloodbath! The way they use their sharp teeth to rip into the. . .”
  • When a Toucan takes the canister with the message inside, Francis goes after him. Fighter planes appear and “huge missiles fell from the sky in quick succession, whistling as they dropped lower, lower, lower, then hit their target with an enormous blast that threw both Francis and Toca off course.”
  • In order to get the canister back, Francis “opened his beak wide and, with a loud war cry, dove at Toca, knocking them both into a spin. Their wings and claws became entangled as they both struggled to break free, sending a flurry of feathers through the air as the solid, unforgiving ground rose fast and faster to greet them.” Francis gets the canister but is injured.
  • The animals watch as Nazis drop incendiaries over London. “All around them, more and more incendiaries fell from the sky, raining down like droplets of fire.” Fire quickly spreads around the zoo and animals panic. “The fires continued to rage all around them, and now, along with the incendiaries, bombs were being dropped. There were screams as humans ran for shelter. Their cries were drowned out by the echoing explosions and drones of planes—both enemies and allies—flying above.” The animals race toward a tunnel so they can hide. As they ran, a “bomb exploded within the zoo grounds and a huge geyser of water burst forth from the ground as it hit the main water pipe. Francis fought against the heavy spray, but his wings were waterlogged.”
  • As Francis looks for animals to help, his friend Paddy follows him. Paddy is injured, and Francis “wrapped his good wing around Paddy as the two hobbled along toward the tunnel. There was another explosion as the camel house as hit, blocking their path. Francis and Paddy were thrown back against a wall by the blast.” When Francis finds Paddy, he sees “a small bundle of bloodied fathers lay unmoving on the ground.” Paddy dies. The scene of the zoo being bombed is described over eight pages.
  • The zoo that the pandas were moved to is also bombed. “Before Ming could shout out a warning, the bomb landed just beyond the giraffes’ paddock. She threw herself at Tang and Sung and knocked them to the ground, sacrificing her own safety to shield them with her own body. Ming felt as though she were caught inside a firestorm. The explosion sent a fierce blast sweeping over them in scorching waves.” The humans put out the fire.
  • After the zoo was bombed, Francis notices “a few animals still wandering the zoo, looking as dazed and exhausted as Francis felt. . . Francis had seen humans with the same lost expressions at Normandy—those who had returned from the front line, some inured, some worse, with their eyes glazed over.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • In order to relocate the panda bears, they are shot with a tranquilizer gun. After being shot with the tranquilizer, “Ming’s vision blurred in and out of focus. Thang lay still beside her, his tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth.”

Language

  • Ming says someone is a coward.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • When Francis was sent to deliver a message, he “spread his wings, praying that they were ready for the long, dangerous journey ahead.”

The Hidden Oracle

There is no way to punish an immortal god, right? That is what almighty Apollo, god of the sun, thought, but he is quickly proven wrong as his father, Zeus, casts him down to the mortal world as a powerless, friendless, and—even worse—ugly sixteen-year-old boy named Lester Papadopoulos. As if it can’t get any worse, Apollo (now Lester) can’t even remember how he incurred Zeus’s mighty wrath.

With nowhere and no one to turn to, Apollo lays his trust in a runty twelve-year-old girl named Meg and the teenage demigods that reside in Camp Half-Blood. There he seeks help from the campers, including some of his own children, and begins to discover disturbing secrets that may endanger those he grows close to.

Fast-paced and witty, The Hidden Oracle is a humorous read for younger and older readers alike. Fans of Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus series will rejoice as Riordan once again paints a world of mystery and mythology that enthralls readers. However, the book touches on sensitive topics such as sexuality and battle violence that may be of concern for some parents. Nevertheless, it is an entertaining novel that is well worth the read.

Sexual Content

  • Apollo mentions his hope that Meg does not develop a crush on Percy Jackson.
  • Apollo has two loves of his life that he mentions several times throughout the novel. Both of his relationships ended in tragedy. One of his loves was Hyacinthus, a strong hero who happened to be a man. The other love was Daphne, whom he dreams of and describes as having, “those lips I had never kissed but never stopped dreaming of.” Due to losing these loves, he swears off marriage as others “had never possessed my heart” as his true loves once had.
  • Apollo encounters some of his demigod children at camp Half-Blood. When he meets each of them, he remembers the romantic relationships that he had with their parents. “To my teenage self, our romance felt like something that I’d watched in a movie a long time ago—a movie my parents wouldn’t have allowed me to see.”
  • Apollo is embarrassed by the attention of some female campers, and he says, “My face burned. Me—the manly paragon of romance—reduced to a gawky, inexperienced boy!”
  • Nico di Angelo and Apollo’s son, Will Solace, are dating. Apollo has no problems with their relationship because he has had “thirty-three mortal girlfriends and eleven mortal boyfriends? I’ve lost count.”
  • Apollo once created a child with another man.
  • Apollo “accidentally saw Ares naked in the gymnasium.”
  • One of Apollo’s former girlfriends, Cyrene, got together with Ares to get revenge on Apollo.
  • Apollo argues that gods are almost always “depicted as nude, because we are flawless beings. Why would you ever cover up perfection?”

Violence

  • When Apollo crashes on Earth, a group of hoodlums beat him up. “My ribs throbbed. My stomach clenched . . . I toppled out and landed on my shoulder, which made a cracking sound against the asphalt.” His opponents pull out a knife, but it is not used. One of the boys “kicked me in the back. I fell on my divine face. . . I curled into a ball, trying to protect my ribs and head. The pain was intolerable. I retched and shuddered. I blacked out and came to, my vision swimming with red splotches.”
  • A lightning wielding cyclops kills one of Apollo’s sons. The death is not described.
  • Percy, Meg, and Apollo get into a car crash in which their car is totaled. No one is seriously injured.
  • A mythical grain spirit called a karpoi bites the head of a nosos clean off in one chomp.
  • Meg slaps Apollo’s face to wake him from a dangerous trance. He promptly vomits afterward.
  • Meg “poked Connor Stoll in the eyes and kicked Sherman Yang in the crotch.”
  • There is a famous story about Apollo in which he slays the mighty monster Python. He “killed Python without breaking a sweat. I flew into the mouth of the cave, called him out, unleashed an arrow, and BOOM!”
  • There is a legend about Apollo “skinning the satyr Marsyas alive after he challenged me to a music contest.”
  • After a dangerous camp activity, “Chiara had a mild concussion. Billie Ng had come down with a case of Irish step dancing. Holly and Laurel needed pieces of shrapnel removed from their backs, thanks to a close encounter with an exploding chainsaw Frisbee.”
  • Two satyrs die attempting to retrieve and bring the Oracle of Delphi back to Camp Half-Blood. Their deaths are not described.
  • Apollo wishes that he could have “picked a nice group of heroes and sent them to their deaths.”
  • Apollo and Meg battle killer ants who attack in groups, snap through Celestial bronze, and spit acid. “Meg’s swords whirled in golden arcs of destruction, lopping off leg segments, slicing antennae.”
  • The pair meet a geyser god that suggests that they do not jump in his water unless they “fancy boiling to death in a pit of scalding water.”
  • A man almost stabs himself to obey the orders of his master, Emperor Nero.
  • Apollo attempts to fight Nero and “let out a guttural howl and charged the emperor, intending to wring his hairy excuse for a neck.” Later, he fights one of the emperor’s bodyguards and “spun Vince like a discus, tossing him skyward with such force that he punched a Germanus-shaped hole in the tree canopy and sailed out of sight.”
  • There is a large battle near the conclusion of the novel in which many characters fight a giant mechanical statue. It is described over several chapters and many are hurt in the process, but the ending is victorious for the heroes.
  • Nyssa slaps Leo in the face because he was missing for several months.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Ambrosia is the food of the gods and their immortal bodies allow them to eat it as their normal food. Demigods eat ambrosia if they are sick or injured because it instantly heals them. However, if mortals attempt to eat it, they burn up inside and possibly combust.

Language

  • “Crud” and “darned” are each used once.
  • Meg tells Apollo that he has landed in Hell’s kitchen and he thinks, “It seemed wrong for a child to say Hell’s Kitchen.”
  • Apollo is dragged across a river, “scolding and cursing.”
  • Many demigods mutter ancient Greek curses when they are angry.
  • A demigod calls a friend, “Idiota,” when she does something wrong.
  • Many characters use the expressions, “thank the gods!” and “oh, gods.”
  • Percy “yelped a curse that would have made any Phoenician sailor proud.”

Supernatural

  • Most of the characters are demigods and have magical powers that they have inherited from their godly parent. For instance, Meg can control elements of nature (plants, soil, grain spirits, etc.) because her mother is Demeter, the goddess of agriculture.
  • Many Greek mythological creatures and monsters appear in the story.
  • Nico, the son of Hades, uses his powers to sit with his boyfriend by saying that the “zombies stay away” if he is seated near him.
  • It is mentioned that Leo died and then came back to life. The details of this event are found in one of Riordan’s previous books.
  • When a demigod is claimed at Camp Half-Blood, a glowing symbol appears above their head to show their parentage.  This happens to Meg during the campfire ceremony.
  • Some trees in the woods of Camp Half-Blood are the ancient Grove in Dodona, which is a powerful force that whispers prophecies. Finding this grove is the catalyst for the majority of the novel’s plot. The wood from these trees was used for the mast of the Argo, which could “speak to the Argonauts and give them guidance.”
  • Meg tells Apollo about a looming threat to which he responds, “I had been hoping she would say something else: giants, Titans, ancient killing machines, aliens.”
  • Magical creatures emerge from the woods to aid Apollo in his quest to stop the evil Emperor Nero. “The shimmering forms of dryads emerged from their trees—a legion of Daphne’s in green gossamer dresses . . . They raised their arms and the earth erupted at their feet.”

Spiritual Content

  • In this book, the Greek gods are real and have a presence in the world. All of the legends about them are true, and they are immortal. The main character is a god who has been turned mortal.
  • The source of the gods’ powers is their presence in the minds of humankind, and if they are forgotten they will eventually fade. “Gods know about fading. They know about being forgotten over the centuries. The idea of ceasing to exist altogether terrifies us.”
  • It is discussed how in ancient Greece, priests tended and cared for the sacred Grove of Dodona.
  • When the character of evil Emperor Nero is introduced, Christians are mentioned as being scapegoated by him. In response to these accusations, he says, “But the Christians were terrorists, you see. Perhaps they didn’t start the fire, but they were causing all sorts of trouble.” A terrifying event is then mentioned in which Nero had “strung up Christians all over his backyard and burned them to illuminate his garden party.”

by Morgan Filgas

 

League of Archers #1

Elinor Dray and her friends idolize Robin Hood. Calling themselves the League of Archers, they illegally hunt on Lord de Lay’s land. Although the game is scarce, the meat they obtain is used to feed their families and help the poor. One night, Ellie meets a man in the woods who has been shot with a poisoned arrow. When Ellie takes the man to the nunnery, Ellie discovers the man’s identity—Robin Hood. And the abbess of the nunnery is Maid Marian.

When Maid Marian’s secret is revealed, the Lord de Lay arrests Marian and blames Ellie for Robin Hood’s death. The villagers believe Ellie is a traitor to the poor and vow to hunt her down. Living as an outlaw, Ellie and the League of Archers attempt to clear Ellie’s name, free Maid Marian, and keep Robin Hood’s legacy alive.

Action-packed and full of battles, League of Archers has a strong female protagonist, who wants to do what is right. As Ellie fights to stay alive, she struggles with the need to hurt the baron’s guards in order to stay alive. Ellie truly cares about the needs of others and often wonders, What would Robin Hood do? Throughout the story, the hero Robin Hood is not portrayed as a perfect hero, but as a man who makes mistakes. Although many of his great deeds of legend are true, many of his deeds are exaggerated. However, it is clear that Robin Hood, flaws and all, is still a great man.

Despite the high-interest topic of the story, the plot is complicated and not necessarily believable. The character’s dialogue is not true to the time period, and the storyline is not historically accurate. Even though junior high readers may not pick up on all of the inaccuracies, some will question how a twelve-year-old girl was able to successfully use Robin Hood’s bow.

Friar Tuck, Maid Marian, and the League of Archers—all of them could have been interesting characters. However, none of them are developed into individual people. Ellie is the only character whose thoughts and feelings are shown, but her conflict lacks more specific details that would explain how she came to be a master archer who wants to be like Robin Hood. Ellie and the League of Archers go into battle after battle with grown guards and although the violence is not described in gory detail, there is blood, pain, and death. The many battles are what drives the suspense in the story and keep the reader interested in the outcome.

If a reader is wildly interested in the topic of Robin Hood, League of Archers will interest them. The fast-paced plot with many battles will entertain readers. Reluctant readers will want to leave this book on the shelf because the detailed descriptions are cumbersome and slow down the plot’s otherwise fast pace.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Ellie’s mother was caught poaching because they “needed to eat. But her mother was caught, dragged in ropes to the baron’s castle. The village was invited to watch as an executioner made Ellie an orphan at the baron’s command.”
  • Ellie witnesses Robin Hood being shot with an arrow. When it happens, “Ellie saw the bright red of the arrow’s fletching, and the way it pierced the stranger’s shoulder like a knife through meat. A bloom of dark blood spread across his cloak as he dropped to his knees.” The arrow was poisoned and, “the skin around it bubbled like fat atop a pot of soup.” Robin Hood dies from the wound.
  • The baron’s men enter the covenant in order to arrest the abbess. When the abbess resists, a novice is grabbed, and the baron’s guard, “pressed the flat of a knife to Ellie’s throat . . . The blade was cool against her skin.”
  • The baron parades Ellie around town, accusing her of killing Robin Hood. A riot begins, and Ellie tries to escape. When Ellie’s friend tries to defend her, a guard whips him. Later, when Ellie tries to defend herself, “the guard’s knife pierced the heavy blue dress, drawing a gasp from her as it cut into her skin. She felt a trickle of blood mingling with sweat in the small of her back.”
  • A mob of people throw rocks, mud, and horse dung at Ellie. In order to escape, Ellie grabs a guard’s wrist and “yanked the blade from his hand, then wheeled around and struck him with Robin’s bow, still clutched in her other fist. He fell sideways off the cart. . .” Ellie escapes.
  • While traveling, a friar is attacked by guards. The friar hits one guard on the head with a bottle. When three other guards appear, the friar fights back, but is wounded. In order to help, Ellie “pulled an arrow from her quiver and strung it on her bow. It flew straight and true and hit the guard in the eye before he could bring down his knife. He fell down dead. The fighting takes place over four pages. Another guard is injured when “Alice flung a knife that caught him between two ribs, then he fell.”
  • A group of drunk men tries to capture Ellie. The League of Archers helps Ellie. “Jacob yanked a pitchfork from one of the men and swung it like a scythe, forcing others to run clear. . .” A man grabs Ellie and “had wrapped an arm around her neck, squeezing until stars exploded in front of her eyes.” Ellie and the League are able to escape.
  • The gamekeeper shoots arrows at Ellie and the League of Archers. In order to save her friends, Ellie shoots the gamekeeper. “She swung the bow to the right and released the string. Her arrow slid neatly into the gamekeeper’s hand.”
  • A man grabs Ellie in order to take her into the village and hang her. “He grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and stood her up, facing the door.” The man also tied up Ellie’s friends. In order to escape, Ellie “took a breath and drove her head straight into his nose. He screamed and reeled backward, clutching his face. Blood spurted through his fingers.”
  • When trying to free one of the baron’s prisoners, the guards try to stop Ellie and the League of Archers. Someone hits a guard over the head with a club. Ellie shoots at a guard, and “one of her arrows found the meat of a man’s leg as he swung his sword at Marian’s exposed side. A second shaved a slice off a guard’s ear as he tried to hoist Alice over the side of the drawbridge. Then he dropped her, one hand lifting to feel the blood running down her face. She turned on him savagely with her knife.” In order to save her friends, Ellie lets “the arrow fly and watched as it slid into the heart of the guard lowering the gate.” The battle lasts over a chapter.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Several characters are given ale or wine to drink.
  • One of the characters makes “home-brewed liquor,” selling it to the villagers. He is often drunk.
  • Ellie and her friends go into a tavern. While there, “she watched a man slap a woman’s hip as she delivered his tankard, and another one crash down drunkenly from his chair.”
  • Ellie and the League of Archers come across a group of drunk men who are patrolling the forest.

Language

  • Someone uses “Oh, God” as an exclamation.

Supernatural

  • When talking about Robin’s silver arrow, which never missed its mark, the friar said, “I’m a religious man, so talk of magic doesn’t sit right with me. But there’s something about that arrow. There was never any questions it would find its way to where Robin intended.”
  • A woman tells Ellie her fortune by casting “a handful of dry brown bones.”

Spiritual Content

  • Several of the characters live in a convent and the life of a nun is described including going to prayer. Ellie also says the “compline prayer.”
  • The baron chastises Ellie. “‘God made us men in his image girl,’ he said. ‘You should show your betters a mite more respect.’”
  • A friar tells Ellie, “Whether he’s a saint or a sinner is not for us to say. . . We must trust in God to sort it out.”
  • One of the characters tells Ellie, “But there are some who, like you, would go to any lengths to save the abbess’s life—and I believe God is on their side. And justice, too.”
  • When a woman wants to tell Ellie her fortune, Ellie asks, “Is fortune-telling not a tool of the devil, Mother Barkbone?” The woman answers, “The devil and I walk different byways. . . I respect his power just as I respect that of God’s. But I worship the things I can see, the spirits who speak back to me. Those of the land, those of my ancestors. They guide me true and would never lead me into the devil’s mouth.”
  • Ellie tells someone who committed murder, “I forgive you. May God, too, have mercy on you.”

Not If I Save You First

When they were ten, Maddie and Logan were best friends. Maddie thought they’d be friends forever. Maddie never cared that Logan was the president’s son. But fate dealt their friendship a deadly blow. When her Secret Service Agent father almost dies trying to save the president’s son, everything changes.

After he almost dies, Maddie’s father exchanges the White House for a cabin in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness. Maddie had no phone. No internet. No friends. And no Logan. When she first moved to Alaska, Maddie wrote letter after letter to Logan, but he never replied.

Six years later, Logan appears outside of her cabin and Maddie wants to kill him. Before she can take action, an assailant appears, almost killing Maddie and dragging Logan off into the wilderness. Maddie could go back for help, but the weather is treacherous and getting worse. Maddie goes after Logan, but she’s not sure if she’s going to save him or kill him.

In typical Ally Carter style, Not If I Save You First begins with suspense and leaves the reader turning pages until the very end. Maddie is a strong heroine who doesn’t need to rely on a guy—not even the Secret Service men—to save the day. She hides her strength and smarts behind a girly persona, which makes her incredibly likable. Her conflicting emotions regarding Logan add interest and suspense to an action-packed story.

Unlike her other books, Not If I Save You First contains violence that is often described in bloody, but not gory, detail. The storyline revolves around a kidnapping, which is a more realistic storyline than Carter’s previous books. Because of this, readers can put themselves in the character’s situation. The story has several plot twists that will surprise readers and the ends with an epic fight between good and evil. When readers finish Not If I Save You First, they will feel as though Maddie is a new friend.

Sexual Content

  • When Maddie kisses Logan, he wishes he wasn’t in handcuffs because he “couldn’t hold her, touch her, pull her close and keep her near and never, ever let her go.” He’s disappointed when he discovers that she kissed him, so she could give him the keys to the cuffs.
  • Logan and Maddie kiss several times. One time, “he was growing closer and closer and then her lips were on his again, warmer now. She tasted like snow and berries and it was the sweetest thing that Logan and ever known.”
  • When Maddie and Logan are at school, Logan kisses her, “right there in front of their school and his Secret Service detail—right in front of the world. So she kissed him back again. And again. And again.”

Violence

  • Russian terrorists attempt to kidnap the president’s wife. In the process, one of the terrorists shoots at the president’s son. Maddie’s father jumps between the man and the president’s son and shoots at the terrorist. The terrorist, “looked down at his chest, at the place where blood was starting to ooze from beneath his ugly tie, and he dropped to his knees. Then the floor. He didn’t move again.”
  • While trying to protect the president’s wife and son, Maddie’s father is shot. Even though he is hurt, he tries to go help the first lady, and “he was still dragging himself toward the box. Blood trailed behind him. . .” During the altercation, the president’s son was shot too.
  • A man kidnaps Logan and in the process, hurts Maddie. “And Maddie spun just in time to see the butt of a gun slicing towards her. She actually felt the rush of air just before the sharp pain echoed through her face, reverberating down to her spine.” When she tries to get up, the man kicks her, “a sharp pain slammed into her stomach.” The man then pushes her off a cliff and leaves her to die.
  • Logan attempts to escape, knocking the man to the ground. “The two of them rolled, kicked and tangled together. Logan managed to strike the man in the stomach, but it was like he didn’t even feel it.” Logan stops fighting when the man has him pinned down.
  • Logan attempts to escape again. Even though his hands were cuffed, “he slammed them into the man’s gut, pounding like a hammer with both fists. . .” The man pulls a knife and begins “cutting into the soft flesh between his pinkie finger and its neighbor. . . then he saw the bright red drop of blood that bubbled up from his too-white skin.”
  • Logan tries to take a satellite phone from the man. “Logan elbowed him in the ribs, but a moment later he was pinned against the ground. . . Facedown in the mud, the cold seeped up from the ground and into Logan’s bones. . .” When Logan’s face is pushed into the mud, Maddie appears and the fight stops.
  • To prove that he doesn’t value Maddie’s life, the man, “pulled back his hand, and hit her hard across the face. Her head snapped and Logan actually heard the blow. . . His hand was around her throat, fingers not quite squeezing, but close.”
  • The man shoots a ranger. “He fired. Once. Twice. And the ranger fell.”
  • In a plot to escape, Maddie blows up a bridge. “. . . the old ropes and wood exploded in a wave of color and fire and heat. . .”
  • The man recaptures Maddie and, he “jerked Maddie against him, sliding the barrel of the gun along the smooth skin of her cheek like she needed a shave.” Logan tries to help her and the two men fight, so Maddie “kicked Stefan’s shin, right where the bear trap must have caught him, because he howled in pain, dropping the gun and bringing both hands to his legs.”
  • Another bad guy surprises Maddie by grabbing her and “the man pulled her back against him and squeezed her tight, his own gun suddenly pressed to her temple.” Later Maddie, “dropped to the icy ground and kicked at his legs, knocking him off balance. . .” She shoots at the trees causing limbs to break and fall on the man. “. . .When the ice-covered limb landed atop him, he didn’t move again.”
  • The climax takes place over several chapters in which punches are thrown, people are shot, and Maddie’s father has a knife held against his throat. In order to save a life, Maddie throws a knife at a man, and, “he looked from the knife in his own hand to the blade that was stuck hilt-deep in his chest, right where his heart would have been if he had one.” The man dies.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Freaking is used twice.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

The Ember Stone

The powerful vulture, Thorn, is using dark magic to destroy Perodia. Tag, a small owl, and his best friend, Skyla, want to save their home. Tag hopes to join the Owls of Valor and become a brave warrior. Tag is small and inexperienced, but he is brave. When Tag and Skyla meet the last firehawk, the three begin a journey in search of the magical Ember Stone. Can the three friends find the stone and save Perodia?

Written for newly independent readers, The Ember Stone will appeal to adventure seekers. The story has many elements that will keep readers interested. The illustrations show emotion, and the tiger bats add danger and suspense to the story. Mystery is added when Tag and Skyla come across a magical golden egg. Onomatopoeias are scattered throughout the beginning of the story, which makes reading fun as well as adds to the threatening mood. Short sentence structure, dialogue, and simple vocabulary make The Ember Stone easy to read. Black-and-white illustrations appear on every page, which helps bring the story to life.

Tag is a brave little owl, who wants to help stop the dark magic from destroying his home. Although Tag is clearly the hero in the story, he finds the firehawk egg and a piece of the Ember stone by accident. Tag has the bravery to be a hero, but his actions lack intention. The hope that the newly hatched firehawk will learn to speak soon, and will then be able to “tell us what to do” is unrealistic.

The book begins with an introduction to help readers understand the conflict. A two-page map of Perodia gives a visual of the geography and location of important landmarks. The last page of the book contains four questions and an activity, which will reinforce important comprehension skills. Readers who love animals and a good adventure will enjoy The Ember Stone.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Tiger bats attack Tag and Skyla, who hide in a hollow tree trunk. “Clack, clack, clack. Tag and Skyla held their breath as the tiger bats’ beaks snapped above them.”
  • Later in the story, the tiger bats attack again. “Skyla fired a pinecone at its head. ‘Stay back!’ she shouted, hitting it between the eyes.” The battle lasts for several pages. The tiger bats leave when the firehawk appears and “there was a flash of light and heat. . . He heard the whoosh of many winds, then all was quiet.”
  • Prickle ants attack Tag, Skyla, and Blaze. “The three friends hopped along, trying to escape. But the prickle ants crawled up their legs, biting and stinging.” The friends jump in the water to escape.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Firehawks “were magical birds who protected the Ember stone—a stone that holds magic within.”
  • One of the owls, Grey, has yellow eyes that “sparkled with magic.” When Grey waves a wing, “an image appeared beside his head” showing Tag why going to the caves will be dangerous.
  • When a piece of the Ember Stone is placed on a map, “the map glowed, brighter and brighter. . . When Tag looked again, a small shining dot appeared on the map.” The magical map guides the friends to the next location to which they must travel.

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Perfect Scoundrels

Katarina Bishop grew up in a family of criminal masterminds. Her family knows how to stay under the radar. They know how to steal. And Katarina knows that her family has her back. Although Kat’s family welcomes Hale into their lives, Kat was never meant to enter Hale’s ultra-rich world. When Hale’s grandmother dies leaving her billion-dollar corporation to Hale, everything begins to change.

With the death of Hale’s grandmother, Hale’s family gathers around to fight for the family fortune. In Hale’s family, when money is on the line, all bets are off. Everyone wants a piece of the family dynasty. As Hale becomes more entangled in the family drama, Kat realizes that there is no place for her in Hale’s world. When Kat learns that someone might have tampered with his grandmother’s will, she comes up with an elaborate plan to learn the truth. But first, she has to decide if learning the truth is more important than keeping her boyfriend.

Through Katarina’s eyes, Perfect Scoundrels brings Hale’s extremely wealthy world to life. From the outside, Hale’s life seems to be full of freedom that only money can buy, but in reality glamourous, greedy people surround him. Right from the start, the reader will be pulled into Kat’s struggle, as she keeps secrets from Hale in order to help him. As Kat and her family rally around each other to find the truth, their ambitious plot brings intrigue, suspense, and surprises around every corner.

The third installment in the Heist Society series will not disappoint readers. However, this is not a stand-alone novel. Those who have read the first two books in the series will be invested in the lives of the characters, which makes the conclusion even more surprising and satisfying. In typical Ally Carter style, Perfect Scoundrels is appropriate and will be enjoyed by both junior high and high school readers.

Sexual Content

  • After an argument, Kat and Hale are alone, and “Hale’s breath was warm on Kat’s skin. She could feel the rise and fall of his chest, and she wanted to kiss him, hold him, breathe him in . . . For a split second, he looked down at her, and she knew he was feeling that way too.” The moment is lost when Kat apologizes.
  • In order to hide, Kat and Hale go into a closet. While there, “Kat felt Hale’s mouth press against hers. His fingers wove into her hair, holding her close, gripping her tightly. It was the hungriest kiss she’d ever known, and Kat let herself get lost in it.” Hale then apologizes for kissing her.
  • Kat and Hale kiss several times, but the kisses are not described.

Violence

  • Hale’s family lawyer confronts Katarina, and he traps her against a wall. When he grabs her, Kat notices that “his breath was acrid and hot on her cheek. He brushed a finger down the side of her face until his hand rested on her throat. He squeezed gently at first. Then harder.” He then lets her go.
  • Kat and her Uncle Eddie meet up with the family lawyer to make a deal. When the deal goes wrong, Eddie ran at the lawyer and, “in a flash, Eddie was on the lawyer, the lawyer was spinning, striking the old man across the head with the metal briefcase. Blood rushed from Eddie’s mouth and he stumbled, disorient, too close to the edge. . .” Eddie falls over the barrier and a bystander says, “The man’s dead.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • While at a corporate event, Hale and another character “got into the liquor cabinet” and got drunk.

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

Heist Society

Katarina Bishop knows how to steal. She knows how to lie. After all, at the age of three, her parents took her to the Louvre to case it. Katarina’s family—all of her family—is made up of masters at thievery. She had hoped to leave the family business. She had hoped to live a normal life. But when Kat’s friend, Hale, appears, Kat realizes that walking away from her old life and her family may not be possible.

Hale wants Kat to return to her life of crime, and he has a good reason. A powerful mobster’s priceless art collection has been stolen. The mobster is convinced that only one thief could have taken his priceless paintings—Katarina’s father. In order to help her father, Kat goes on a hunt to find the missing paintings. The job would be risky for even the most seasoned thief. Kat is determined to find the paintings. She has two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family’s history. And in the end, she hopes she can steal back the normal life she left behind.

Is there any way a fifteen-year-old girl can pull off this con?

For a story that revolves around a mobster and the threat of death, Heist Society tells a suspenseful story that will have readers engrossed in Kat’s story. The plot contains twists and turns that will have readers guessing what characters can be trusted. The interplay between the diverse characters makes the story interesting and enjoyable. By the end of the story, readers will wish they could join Kat’s family at the kitchen table and plan a heist of their own.

Similar to Carter’s Gallagher Girls series, Heist Society is appropriate for younger readers but will engage readers of all ages. Heist Society delves into the themes of family, loyalty, and good versus evil.  Fast-paced, easy to read, and just plain fun, Heist Society will allow readers to fall into the world of the super-rich and leave with lessons on artwork stolen during the Holocaust.

Sexual Content

  • Gabrielle’s beauty and short skirts are mentioned several times. When she goes into a museum, “there was something about her that simply demanded the guards’ attention. Some said later it was her short skirt. Others wisely observed that it was more likely the legs that protruded beneath it.”
  • As a distraction, Nick kisses Kat. “. . . She was in Nick’s arms and he was kissing her right there in the middle of the Henley’s hallway.”
  • When Kat dresses for an event, her cousins notice her boobs. Her cousin asks, “Seriously, Kat . . . when did you get boobs?” The conversation about her boobs takes place over two pages.

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • One of the characters pretends to be drunk to distract the museum guards.

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

The Serpent’s Secret

Kiran’s parents are just a bit odd, and she has never really fit in. Even so, she thought she was just a regular sixth grader living in New Jersey. Then, on her twelfth birthday, her parents disappear and a rakkhosh demon crashes through her house to try to eat her.

When two princes show up, trying to rescue her, she realizes that her parents’ stories are really true—she really is a princess that comes from another world. With the help of the two princes, Kiran is taken to another dominion, one with magic, winged horses, moving maps, and annoying talking birds. Before she can save her parents, she must fight demons, unlock riddles, and avoid the Serpent King of the Underworld.

The Serpent’s Secret is an interesting and action-packed retelling of Indian mythology. Filled with riddles, jokes, and a talking bird, the story will entertain middle school readers. Black and white illustrations will help readers visualize the characters. As Kiran learns about her cultural background, she also learns to accept herself. Although there is violence, the scenes are appropriate for younger readers because they are not described in detail and much of the action is running away from demons instead of battling them.

Kiran and the two princes talk like stereotypical teenagers. The main character’s dialogue is filled with slang and idioms such as when Kiran looks at the prince and thinks, “While I got my fill of Lal-flavored eye candy.” There is a lot of creative name-calling throughout the story, which does not involve cursing.

A dynamic story with a strong heroine, The Serpent’s Secret will delight those who like a good adventure story.  For readers interested in adventure stories or India’s mythology, Aru Shah and the End of Time is a must-read.

Sexual Content

  • The king has multiple wives.

Violence

  • A rakkhosh, or demon, swallows Kiran’s parents and then tries to swallow her. When Lal tries to help, the rakkhosh knocks him out. “I shrieked as the monster’s fist managed to connect with Lal’s head. The prince slumped forward, unconscious, and then began to slip off the rakkhosh’s neck.” The fighting takes place over several chapters.
  • A teenager spits at Lal. “The goober hung on a lone blade of grass, shimmering like a disgusting jewel.”
  • The Demon Queen attacks Kiran. “. . . The rakkhoshi ripped a handful of her own hair from her head and threw it at me . . . As soon as the magical hair hit me, I couldn’t move at all.” Neel saves Kiran, but not before the Demon Queen turns Neel’s brother and friend into spheres. The battle lasts over several pages.
  • When Kiran and Neel try to steal a stone that is being protected by a python, the “snake grabbed a hold of Neel, wrapped itself around him, and began to squeeze. . . Neel’s face got redder as the snake squeezed.” The battle scene takes place over a chapter. In the end, the python is defeated. “The python’s giant body lay still, oozing dark blood on the cavern floor. Trying to reach the jewel, it had instead split itself in two on Neel’s sword.”
  • A baby rakkhosh wants to eat Kiran, her parents, and Neel. “That snot-nosed newborn demon transformed himself into a whirlpool.” When the rakkhosh “eats” them, they end up in a cave with a seven-headed snake, who “wrapped Ma, Baba, and even poor terrified Tuntuni in his coils. As a last flourish, he slapped his nasty tail over all their mouths.”
  • The serpent king imprisoned Neel in a flaming sphere. “The prince screamed in pain—a sound that made my blood run cold. He writhed around within the glowing orb, his body twisting in unnatural contortions, as if he were being tortured.”
  • Kiran and the Serpent King battle. “He shot bolt after bolt of green fire, but I met them all with the shimmering, diamond light of my own.” Kiran’s moon mother shows up, and “as he launched the cracking lightning from his hands, the moon shot a white-hot beam at the Serpent King. He glowed an incandescent green, but then began to writhe and decay, his energy going from green to brown to gray to black.” The Serpent King disappears and everyone is safe.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • A rakkhosh sings a song, “Hob, gum, goom, geer! Pass the blood! Pass the beer!”
  • A “band of drunken demons” chase Kiran and Neel.
  • Kiran sees a warning sign that reads, “After whisky, fighting demons risky.”

Language

  • A bangle seller says her bracelets are for “generously proportioned and the skinny-butt offspring of slimy snake creatures alike.”
  • The Demon Queen calls Kiran a “snake in the grass” and “cobra dropping.
  • When Kiran is fighting a python, she thinks, “Holy serpent poop.”
  • Kiran thinks that Neel’s “Granny still had some chutzpah left in her.”
  • Kiran calls Neel a “Royal Pain-in-the- Heinie.”
  • Crap is used twice and heck is used once.

Supernatural

  • The story focuses on Indian mythology, including mythological monsters and demons.
  • Kiran’s parents are “swallowed by a rakkhosh and whisked away to another galactic dimension.”
  • Kiran’s father was a serpent king and her mother was a moon maiden. Her adoptive parents found her “in a clay pot floating down the River of Dreams.”
  • Kiran’s biological mother exiled her to New Jersey and put a protection spell over her and her adoptive parents. “Anyway, an expired spell also makes everything around it unstable—in this situation, the boundaries between the various dimensions . . . which is how the rakkhosh came into your world.”
  • Kiran’s tears have healing properties. “I remembered how Tuni had seemed dead, but how he’d come to life in my arms.”
  • Kiran can understand horses. “And then, as clearly as if the horse were speaking to me, I heard his voice in my mind.”

Spiritual Content

  • Kiran explains that her “Baba always tells me we’re all connected by energy—trees, wind, animals, people, everything. . . He says that life energy is a kind of river flowing through the universe.” Neel continues the thought and says, “When our bodies give out, that’s just the pitcher breaking, pouring what’s inside back into the original stream of universal souls . . . so no one’s soul is ever really gone.”

Aru Shah and the End of Time

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sexual Content

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

Violence

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

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

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

 Spiritual Content

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

The Lightning Thief

Percy’s life consists of him being moved from boarding school, to military school, to private school. Pretty much any school that will take him. Because no matter where he goes, or how good he tries to be, something always goes wrong.

At the end of sixth grade, Percy figures out why is life has always been so difficult. He is the son of the Greek god Poseidon, which makes him a half-blood. A demi-god. Monsters are attracted to him. To protect himself, Percy goes to Camp Half-blood, where he learns sword fighting, archery, and a myriad of other skills that he will need to survive. He soon learns that his father is on the brink of war with Zeus and that he may be the only one who can stop it. The Lightning Thief is an enjoyable adventure that will keep readers engaged. There is a lot of fighting with monsters, but asides from that this book is friendly to younger readers.

Sexual Content

  • Dionysus is on probation because he, “took a fancy to a wood nymph who had been declared off-limits.”

Violence

  • Percy is taught in class how Kronos ate his children “And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters.”
  • It turns out Percy’s teacher is a monster in disguise. “She snarled, ‘Die, honey!’ And she flew right at me . . . I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword. The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. Hisss!”
  • Percy is in a car crash. “There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom!, and our car exploded. I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried and hosed down all at the same time.”
  • Percy loses his mother. “Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother’s neck, and she dissolved before my eyes, melting into light, a shimmering golden form . . . A blinding flash, and she was simply . . . gone.”
  • Furies attack Percy. “I turned and sliced the Fury on the right. As soon as the blade connected with her neck, she screamed and exploded into dust.”
  • Percy kills Medusa. “I slashed up with my sword, heard a sickening shlock!, then a hiss like wind rushing out of a cavern – the sound of a monster disintegrating . . . I could feel warm ooze soaking into my sock.”
  • A Chimera attacks Percy. “Before I could swing my sword, it opened its mouth, emitting a stench like the world’s largest barbecue pit, and shot a column of flame straight at me. I dove through the explosion. The carpet burst into flames; the heat was so intense, it nearly seared off my eyebrows.”
  • Percy kills a monster. “The ropes readjusted themselves at my command. Crusty’s whole head struck out the top. His feet stuck out the bottom . . . I had no qualms about what I was about to do . . . I swung the sword. Crusty stopped making offers.”
  • Percy goes to the Underworld. “Even from far away, I could see people being chased by hellhounds, burned at the stake, forced to run naked through cactus patches or listen to opera music. I could just make out a tiny hill, with the ant-size figure of Sisyphus struggling to move his boulder to the top. And I saw worse tortures, too – things I don’t want to describe.”
  • Percy kills a wild boar in self-defense. “I slashed upward. The boar’s severed right tusk fell at my feet, while the disoriented animal charged into the sea . . . a wave surged up from nowhere and engulfed the boar, wrapping around it like a blanket. The beast squealed once in terror. Then it was gone, swallowed by the sea.”
  • Percy’s mother turns her abusive husband to stone with Medusa’s head.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • The director of Camp Half-Blood is Dionysus, the god of wine. “He waved his hand and a goblet appeared . . . The goblet filled itself with red wine.”

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Percy Jackson is a demi-god, the son of Poseidon. He goes to Camp Half-Blood, where there are demi-gods, satyrs, nymphs, a centaur, and even a minor god. All the monsters of Greek mythology are real too.

 

Spiritual Content

  • Percy and Chiron discuss the existence of the Greek gods. Percy said, “You’re telling me there’s such a thing as God.” Chiron replies, “God – capital G, God. That’s a different matter altogether. We shan’t deal with the metaphysical . . . gods, plural, as in, great beings that control the forces of nature and human endeavors: the immortal gods of Olympus. That’s a smaller matter.”
  • Percy visits the Underworld, ruled by Hades.
  • After every meal at camp, “everyone was taking a portion of their meal and dropping it into the fire, the ripest strawberry, the juiciest slice of beef, the warmest, most buttery roll . . . Burnt offerings for the gods.”

The Sea of Monsters

Percy is a year older, but much remains the same. Once again, Percy is expelled from school when attacked by monsters, and he must flee to Camp Half-Blood. But Camp Half-Blood is not the safe haven Percy was looking for. The camp’s magical boundaries are dying, and soon Percy is on another quest. Joined by Annabeth and his new half-brother Tyson, Percy traverses the Sea of Monsters to both rescue Grover and save the future of Camp Half-Blood.

A wonderfully engaging story, Percy takes readers on an epic journey of strength and heroism. The reader will learn about acceptance alongside Percy because one of the themes is not to judge someone based on his or her looks.  The Sea of Monsters has many, well, monsters. As a result, there is much fighting, but the violence is not portrayed in a bloody manner.

Sexual Content

  • When they win a race, “Annabeth planted a kiss on [Percy’s] cheek.”

Violence

  • Percy plays dodgeball with cannibals. One cannibal says, “We Laistrygonians aren’t just playing for your death. We want lunch!” Then the cannibal “waved his hand and a new batch of dodgeballs appeared on the center line . . . They were bronze, the size of cannon balls, perforated like wiffle balls with fire bubbling out the holes.”
  • Annabeth kills one of the cannibals. “Suddenly the giant’s body went rigid. His expression changed from gloating to surprise. Right where his belly button should’ve been, his T-shirt ripped open and he grew something like a horn—no, not a horn—the glowing tip of a blade.”
  • Tantalus tells the story of why he was punished. “No one noticed that his children were missing. And when he served the gods dinner, my dear campers, can you guess what was in the stew?”
  • Percy is attacked by a Hydra. “There was a flash of light, a column of smoke, and the Hydra exploded right in front of us, showering us with nasty green slime that vaporized as soon as it hit, the way monster guts tend to do.”
  • Percy’s boat explodes. “I spun in the air, got clonked on the head by something hard, and hit the water with a crash . . . The last thing I remembered was sinking in a burning sea, knowing that Tyson was gone forever, and wishing I were able to drown.”
  • Percy runs into piranha sheep. “The deer stumbled and was lost in a sea of wool and trampling hooves. Grass and tufts of fur flew into the air. A second later, the sheep all moved away, back to their regular peaceful wanderings. Where the deer had been was a pile of clean white bones.”
  • Percy and Clarisse fight the Cyclops. “She charged the Cyclops again and again. He pounded the ground, stomped at her, grabbed at her, but she was too quick. And as soon as she made an attack, I followed up by stabbing the monster in the toe or the ankle or the hand.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Percy drinks a potion that turns him into a guinea pig.

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Percy is a half-blood, the son of Poseidon. The Greek gods, monsters, and most things from the old Greek tales are all true.

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Morgan Lynn

The Titan’s Curse

Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia are working together to save a pair of half-bloods from the monster who kidnapped them. But when Annabeth is lost, Percy will stop at nothing to save her. Meanwhile, Kronos bides his time, forever scheming to take over the world. His General has escaped eternal punishment and is amassing an army to take down Olympus.  A prophecy tells of a quest to stop the upcoming terror, and Percy joins despite not being chosen to go. Soon he is traveling across the country with Thalia and three of Artemis’ Hunters on a journey to save Annabeth, a goddess, and the world itself.

This installment of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is riveting and full of suspense. As Percy grows he comes into his own as a powerful son of Poseidon. New characters keep this book fresh, while the constant action keeps readers on the edge of their seats. Aside from the frequent, non-graphic violence, there is little in this book that would exclude younger readers.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When Apollo’s sun bus crashes into a lake, “steam billowed up . . . ‘Well,’ said Apollo with a brave smile . . . ‘Let’s go see if we boiled anyone important, shall we?'”
  • Thalia and Percy get into a fight. “Thalia pushed me, and a shock went through my body that blew me backward ten feet into the water . . . Anger roared in my ears. A wave erupted from the creek, blasting into Thalia’s face and dousing her from head to toe . . . Thalia yelled, and a blast of lightning came down from the sky, hit her spear like a lightning rod, and slammed into my chest.”
  • Percy fights a lion with his friends. “Immediately, arrows pierced the lion’s maw—two, four, six. The lion thrashed wildly, turned, and fell backward. And then it was still.”
  • Percy fights skeleton creatures. “I thought I was doing pretty well, until the other two skeletons shot me in the back . . . I landed face down in the street. Then I realized something . . . I wasn’t dead. The impact of the bullets had been dull, like a push from behind, but they hadn’t hurt me.”
  • Bianca climbs into a giant robot to stop it from killing her and her friends. When Bianca stops the robot, it collapses, and Bianca “was gone.” Bianca’s friends assumed she died.
  • Dionysus, the god of wine, saves Percy from a manticore (a flying monster) and skeletons. “SNAP! It was the sound of many minds breaking at the same time. The sound of madness. One guard put his pistol between his teeth like it was a bone and ran around on all fours . . . the planks under his paws erupted into grape wines, which immediately began wrapping around the monster’s body . . . until he was engulfed in a huge mass of vines, leaves, and full clusters of purple grapes. Finally the grapes stopped shivering, and I had the feeling that somewhere inside there, the manticore was no more.”
  • Zoe is wounded in a fight. “She leaped between her father and Artemis and shot an arrow straight into the Titan’s forehead, where it lodged like a unicorn’s horn. Atlas bellowed in rage. He swept aside his daughter with the back of his hand, sending her flying into the black rocks.”
  • Luke is mortally wounded. “Talia kicked Luke away. He lost his balance, terror on his face, and then he fell . . . We rushed to the cliff’s edge . . . They were staring at Luke’s broken form on the rocks.”
  • The Olympians debate whether to smite Percy and his friends. Poseidon says, “They are worthy heroes. We will not blast my son to bits.”
  • While fighting a monster, Percy is injured. “My coat and shirt were pinned to the wall by some kind of spike—a black dagger-like projectile about a foot long. It had grazed the skin of my shoulder as it passed through my clothes, and the cut burned. I’d felt something like this before. Poison.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Thalia’s mother died. Someone explains her death: “heavy drinker, and apparently she was out driving late one night about two years ago, and . . . “
  • Dionysus mentions wine several times and procures it once or twice. “He glanced up innocently from the pages of Wine Connoisseur He said, ‘Ah, pinot noir is making a comeback.'”

Language

  • Percy and his friends visit Hoover Dam and start making jokes about “the dam snack bar” and “some dam French fries” and “the dam restroom.”

Supernatural

  • The ancient Greek gods, heroes, and monsters are all real.
  • Bianca pledges herself to Artemis, and when she becomes one of Artemis’ maidens, she is granted immortality.
  • Zeus brings a pair of angel statues to life, so they can help his daughter.

Spiritual Content

  • After a battle, Artemis thinks the monsters are stirring. She says, “Let us pray I am wrong.” Percy asks, “Can goddesses pray?”

by Morgan Lynn

The Last Olympian

Percy has reached sixteen, the age at which the Great Prophecy will be revealed. Percy can’t spend time worrying about what the prophecy means because Kronos has stepped out of the shadows and has declared war against Olympus. It will take all the Olympians and demigods that Percy can muster to stop Kronos, and that might not even be enough.

The Last Olympian’s content grows with Percy, who must deal with death and war. The entire second half of the book spans a series of battles that take place in New York City. This is by far the most action-packed book in the series. While a couple of deaths are intense, the majority are monsters simply disintegrated into dust and the war is not graphically described.

Sexual Content

  • Rachel hints that she wants Percy to kiss her. Rachel says, “And so . . . hypothetically, if these two people liked each other, what would it take to get the stupid guy to kiss the girl, huh?”
  • Percy thinks about how demigods aren’t related to the children of other gods. “A demigod would never think about dating someone who had the same godly parent . . . But a daughter of Aphrodite and a son of Hephaestus? They’re not related. So it’s no problem.”
  • Annabeth kisses Percy. “Then she laughed for real, and she put her hands around my neck . . . When she kissed me, I had the feeling my brain was melting right through my body.”

Violence

  • Percy kills a giant crab monster. “I jabbed Riptide into the chink in its armor . . . The monster shuddered and hissed. Its eyes dissolved. Its shell turned bright red as its insides evaporated.”
  • Percy and Beckendorf blow up an enemy ship, but Beckendorf doesn’t make it out. “The Princess Andromeda blew up from both sides, a massive fireball of green flame roiling into the dark sky, consuming everything. Beckendorf, I thought. Then I blacked out.”
  • Percy gets frustrated with a stubborn satyr. “I grabbed him by the shirt, which seriously wasn’t like me, but the stupid old goat was making me mad.”
  • Percy fights an army of the dead. “There was nothing left of them but weapons in the sand and piles of smoking, empty uniforms. I had destroyed them all . . . I looked down at my clothes. They were slashed to pieces and full of bullet holes, but I was fine. Not a mark on me.”
  • Conner thinks about looting a candy store when everyone in New York City is asleep.
  • Luke destroys Kronos by killing himself. “He stabbed himself. It wasn’t a deep cut, but Luke howled. His eyes glowed like lava. The throne room shook.”
  • The last half of this book is a giant war that takes place in New York City. There is a lot of violence and some deaths, but most of it is not graphically described.
  • “An entire phalanx of dracaenae marched in the lead, their shields locked together, spear tips bristling over the top. An occasional arrow would connect with their snaky trunks, or a neck, or a chink in their armor, and the unlucky snake woman would disintegrate.”
  • “I tossed [the Minotaur] over the side of the bridge. Even as he fell, he was disintegrating.”
  • “Annabeth and I raced from block to block, trying to shore up our defenses. Too many of our friends lay wounded in the streets. Too many were missing.”
  • “Her features, once beautiful, were badly burned from poison. I could tell that no amount of nectar or ambrosia would save her.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Percy says “Oh, gods” once or twice.

Supernatural

  • The Oracle gives prophecies about the future that always come true.
  • Percy rides on a hellhound, who can travel through shadows.
  • Luke’s mother sees horrible visions of the future. “My child . . . Must protect him! Hermes, help! Not my child! Not his fate – no!”
  • Morpheus puts the city of New York to sleep.
  • Percy is dipped in the River Styx and becomes invincible.
  • Kronos resides in Luke’s body because Kronos has no form of his own.
  • Percy is a half-blood, the son of Poseidon. The Greek gods, monsters, and most things from the old Greek tales are all true.

Spiritual Content

  • Percy feels guilty for the deaths of the demigods who were killed when he blew up the enemy ship. Poseidon tells Percy, “They all chose to battle for Kronos . . . they chose their path.”

by Morgan Lynn

The Battle of the Labyrinth

The inevitable fight with Kronos is still building, and this time Percy must travel with his friends into the depths of the ever-changing Labyrinth. No one knows who to trust, as Kronos continues to convert monsters, half-bloods, and demons to his side of the war. Percy finds himself battling monsters he has never seen, all while dealing with his confusing relationship with Annabeth and helping Grover finally track down the lost god Pan.

The setting is full of tension and excitement.  New characters arrive on the scene, adding intrigue and mystery. The ending will leave the reader gasping in surprise as they reach for the next book in the series.

Percy has finally reached high school, and begins to notice the opposite sex; however, there is no romantic relationship. There is a burgeoning physical attraction between him and Annabeth. The Battle of the Labyrinth is a little more mature, and the fight scenes become slightly more graphic. Despite this, the novel is appropriate for younger readers.

 Sexual Content

  • When Percy meets two empousai (monsters similar to vampires) they use their powers to charm him. One asks Percy for a kiss. He thinks, “She smelled like roses and clean animal fur–a weird but somehow intoxicating smell.”
  • Sea demons watch a video about puberty. “As a young sea demon matures, the narrator said, changes happen in the monster’s body. You may notice your fangs getting longer and you may have a sudden desire to devour human beings. These changes are perfectly normal.”
  • Annabeth kisses Percy. “Annabeth glared at me like she was going to punch me. And then she did something that surprised me even more. She kissed me.”

Violence

  • An empousai attacks Percy and Rachel. “I slashed with Riptide. Tammi tried to dodge my blade, but I sliced straight through her cheerleader uniform, and with a horrible wail she exploded into dust all over Rachel.”
  • Percy meets flesh-eating horses. “Come inside! Eat you! Tasty half-blood! . . . Poseidon can come in, too! We will eat you both! Seafood!”
  • Percy fights a monster called Geryon. “I went on the attack. Geryon parried my first strike with a pair of red-hot tongs and lunged at my face with a barbecue fork. I got inside his next thrust and stabbed him right through the middle chest.”
  • Daedalus kills his nephew. “Somehow he managed to grab the rim of the tower with his fingers as he fell. ‘Uncle!’ He screamed. ‘Help me!’ The old man’s face was a mask. He did not move from his spot.”
  • Percy meets Antaus, who decorates his court with skulls. “They grinned from pikes at the back of the stands and hung on chains from the ceiling like horrible chandeliers. Some of them looked very old–nothing but bleached-white bone. Others looked a lot fresher. I’m not going to describe them. Believe me, you don’t want to know.”
  • Percy kills Antaus. “I stabbed the giant in the stomach. He bellowed, and sand poured out, but he was too far up to touch the earth, and the dirt did not rise to help him. Antaeus just dissolved, pouring out bit by bit, until there was nothing left.”
  • During a battle, Nico summons the dead to help him. “The earth trembled. A fissure opened in front of the dracaenae, and a dozen undead warriors crawled from the earth.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Half-bloods drink nectar when they are injured. The nectar heals and strengths them.

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Nico, son of Hades, summons the dead. ” ‘In my day, we used animal blood,’ the ghost mumbled . . . The grave started to bubble. Frothy brown liquid rose to the top like the whole thing was filling with soda . . . Nico had summoned the dead with Coke and cheeseburgers.”
  • Percy meets many monsters, such as giants, hundred-handed ones, and Kampe. “It was sort of like a centaur, with a woman’s body from the waist up. But instead of a horse’s lower body, it had the body of a dragon–at least twenty feet long, black and scaly with enormous claws and a barbed tail.”
  • Kronos possesses Luke’s body. “Luke sat bolt upright. His eyes opened, and they were no longer blue. They were golden, the same color as the coffin. The hole in his chest was gone. He was complete.”

Spiritual Content

  • Percy and his friends discuss how immortal gods and monsters can still die. “Even immortality has limits. Sometimes . . . sometimes monsters get forgotten and they lose their will to stay immortal.”
  • Daedalus, who has cheated death for two millennia, decides to pass on. ” ‘Whoa,’ I said. ‘Pass on? But you can’t just kill yourself. That’s wrong!’ He shook his head. ‘Not as wrong as hiding from my crimes for two thousand years . . . My time has come.’ “

 

 

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