Topic: Magic

A Summer Spell

Lisa didn’t want to spend the summer in the country with her aunt. With no friends and no TV, Lisa thinks she will be lonely and bored. When Lisa finds an orange kitten in her aunt’s barn, she’s surprised when the kitten talks to her! The kitten, named Flame, is really a lion prince in disguise. Prince Flame is hiding from his uncle, who wants to kill him. Lisa promises to help Prince Flame stay safe.

But Prince Flame isn’t Lisa’s only friend. While riding her bike, Lisa meets John, a boy about her age. Someone has accused John’s father of poaching. Late one night, Lisa and John sneak out in the middle of the night to try to find the real poachers and get evidence that proves John’s father is innocent. With Prince Flame’s magical help, Lisa is able to help John.

A Summer Spell has several fun scenes that will make readers wish they had their own magical cat. Prince Flame not only helps Lisa with the dishes, but he also makes her invisible. Even though the story revolves around Prince Flame’s magic, the story has some darker events. Not only are bad men poaching, but the men frame John’s father, who is put in jail. The story hints that John’s father is targeted because he is a gypsy. Not only that, but Lisa sneaks out of the house in the middle of the night to go find the poachers, even though she knows that they have guns. Without Prince Flame’s help, Lisa and John would most likely be dead.

Lisa is a relatable character who wants to help her friends. However, at first she is disrespectful to her aunt. And even after she promises not to go anywhere without permission, she sneaks away several times. Despite this, readers will enjoy the plot’s action and Flame’s magic. Black and white drawings appear every three to seven pages. Even though A Summer Spell has some negative aspects, the story will engage readers and have them reaching for the next book in the series, Classroom Chaos. Cat lovers should also put the Purrmaids Series by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen on their must-read list.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • While riding a bike, Lisa runs into a pony. “Lisa’s bike screeched along the road into the pony. The brakes locked up and she was launched into the air.” With a little magic, “she landed softly onto what felt like a very soft pillow.”
  • When Lisa’s friends is in danger, Prince Flame turns her into a lion so she can rescue them. As a lion, Lisa “rushed up behind the first man and slammed into the back of his legs. In a swift movement, Lisa changed directions and launched herself at another man. . . She tripped up the third man, who fell over in a jumble of arms and legs.”
  • While looking for evidence, Flame turns Lisa into a lion. Lisa, “caught the smell of death. Two deer lay in the back of the van.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Prince Flame’s uncle wants to kill him and take the throne for himself, so Prince Flame needs to hide. “A flash of bright white light crossed the sky. A shower of silver sparkles fell upon a young white lion. Before the lion had a chance to blink, it was magically changed into a tiny, fluffy, orange kitten.”
  • Prince Flame helps Lisa with the dishes. “Flame leaped up into the air like a silver fireball and landed on the draining board. Sparks crackled from the tips of his ears. He waved his front paws, and plates, spoons, forks, knives, and pans all dunked themselves in the suds.” With a little magic, the dishes wash, dry and put themselves away.
  • When Lisa forgets to buy groceries, Flame “meowed and twitched his whiskers. Lisa saw that huge silver sparks were popping in the air around him. The familiar warmth pricked down her spine.” When Lisa goes outside, “the bike’s basket was crammed with food.” Later Flame says he magically got the food from the grocery store. In order to pay for the purchases, Lisa puts money in an envelope with a note explaining what happened.
  • Several times, Prince Flame uses magic to make Lisa invisible.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Children of Blood and Bone

Children of Blood and Bone takes place in Orïsha, a rich fantasy landscape where magic users are born with white hair, signaling the powers they will inherit at thirteen. However, an evil king has wiped magic from the land in a genocide of all magic users and severed the people’s connection to the gods. The book alternates between the perspectives of the characters Zélie, Amari, and Inan.

Zélie is a seventeen-year-old girl from a small village, who has been called “maggot” most of her life because of her white hair. After her mother was killed in the slaughter of maji, survivors with white hair became second-class citizens. Bitter and stubborn, Zélie has been taking lessons to fight with a staff while trying to care for her ailing father.

Inan and Amari are the king’s children—the prince and princess of Orïsha. Amari sets off the story’s chain of events when she spies on her father, discovering a scroll that has the power to return magic to the land. Determined not to let it fall into her father’s hands, she runs away with it, and meets Zélie and her brother, Tzain. The three soon find themselves hunted by the king’s army, headed by Inan, who is haunted by an inner conflict over whether the king’s cause is just.

The majority of the narrative follows Zélie, Amari, and Tzain’s journey through Orïsha. While evading capture, they also embark on a quest to reunite the scroll with other ancient artifacts. Their goal is to perform a ritual that can restore the magical connection between the gods and the people of Orïsha.

Children of Blood and Bone includes unique worldbuilding and a magic system that proves central to the plot. Although the switches between narrators are almost dizzying, each character has a unique personality that comes alive on the page. Readers will find themselves sympathizing with the gentle Amari, the stubborn Zélie, and the conflicted Inan in equal measure.

The plot takes a few chapters to get off the ground, and the first act contains an unavoidable amount of worldbuilding. Still, it is packed with action, and the pacing will likely keep the attention of even easily bored readers. As the plot progresses, readers slowly get to see Orïshan’s magic firsthand. Each demonstration of magic will leave readers eager for more.

The story contains two central romances: Tzain and Amari, and Zélie and Inan. Both work rather well: their dynamics complement each other, and a decent amount of chemistry builds up between the two couples. In addition, readers will enjoy watching the friendship between Zélie and Amari develop from hatred into a deep mutual respect.

Fans of fantasy and magic will enjoy Children of Blood and Bone. Despite the fresh new look it gives to its magical land and teenage heroes, Children of Blood and Bone relies on the typical structure of a young adult fantasy. Seasoned readers of the genre will likely recognize the tropes of the “evil king,” the “chosen one,” and the “perilous quest.” These tropes are ubiquitous for a reason, though, and many readers won’t mind. The action, suspense, and intensity will make it irresistible.

Sexual Content

  • Amari’s complexion “makes the nobility gossip that [her mother] slept with a servant.”
  • Amari sees Tzain undress and lowers her eyes, thinking, “the last time I saw a boy’s bare body my nannies were giving Inan and me baths.”
  • Zélie and Tzain meet in a dream. Zélie thinks, “My gods, is he even wearing clothes? My eyes comb over his broad chest, the curves of each muscle. But before I catch sight of anything under the water, I jerk my eyes up.”
  • Tzain talks about Inan to Zélie, saying that he “doesn’t care about you, Zél. He just wants to get in between your legs.” A moment later, he calls her “the prince’s whore.”
  • Inan describes kissing Zélie. Inan’s “mouth presses against her neck. She gasps as I run my hands up her back. A small moan escapes her lips. . . Her fingers dig into my back, pulling me closer. Everything in me wants her. Wants this. All the time.”
  • Zélie and Inan kiss. “Inan presses his lips to mine and everything fades. His kiss is tender yet forceful, gently pushing into me. And his lips . . . soft . . . When he finally pulls away, my heart is beating so fast it feels like I’ve just finished a fight.” Before they are interrupted, they intend on going further. Zélie narrates, “I grab his head and force his lips back onto mine. Restraint can wait for tomorrow. Tonight I want him.”
  • Amari watches Zélie and Inan kiss. “The tender way he holds her, the way his hands roam, pulling her into him… an embrace like this is far too intimate to watch.”
  • Some drunken guards make a veiled insinuation that Zélie is a prostitute, and one “wraps his pudgy hands around [her] neck and presses [her] against the wooden wall.” Zélie remarks that it’s against the law for maji and non-magic users “to so much as kiss . . . but it doesn’t keep the guards from pawing at us like animals.” Zélie wants to fight back, but forces herself to remain calm until the guard unhands her.
  • Later Zélie says, “The guards grope me whenever they have a chance,” and refers to them as “rapists.”

Violence

  • During a childhood training session, Amari and Inan’s father (the king) commanded Inan to strike Amari. She still carries around the massive scar.
  • Amari watches her father kill her servant Binta, who was her best friend, after seeing her demonstrate magical ability. “One moment Binta stands. In the next, Father’s sword plunges through her chest.”
  • Zélie watches a man hit a boy with a cane that burns his skin. “The acrid smell of burning flesh hits me as the stocker presses the cane into the boy’s back. Smoke rises from his skin as he struggles to crawl to his knees.”
  • Zélie frequently fights with her staff. She hits a man in the head so hard he collapses. She kicks a man in the jaw. She smashes the bones in a boy’s hand. All of these actions are for survival or self-defense.
  • Inan destroys a village and watches a young child try to revive his dead father. “A small child hurls his body to the ground. His cries out through the night. It’s only then I discover the sand-covered corpse at his feet.”
  • A woman wearing sharp rings on her fingers smacks a servant, and “the rings cut into his skin.”
  • A man is stabbed in the chest, and “his eyes bulge and his mouth falls open. His staff drops from his hand. His blood splatters as it hits the ground.”
  • Zélie, Tzain, and Amari compete in a battle to the death. The arena is flooded, and thirty boats are launched out onto the water. A team cannot win until every other competitor has been killed. Zélie narrates, “Chaos surrounds me, pulsing through every breath and heartbeat. It sings as blood splatters through the air, screams as boats explode into oblivion… My insides lurch as a cannonball rips through the deck of another boat. Injured cries hit my ears like shattered glass. The stench of blood stains the air.”  The competition lasts for twelve pages.
  • Inan accidentally kills a military leader with his magic. “Kaea’s cries of agony grow. Her eyes turn red. Blood trickles from her ears, trailing down her neck . . . A shuddered gasp escapes her lips. Her eyes roll back.”
  • Amari beats someone up. Amari pulls “my fist back, twisting from my hips as my fist collides with her jaw. Her head snaps with a lurch. Her eyes roll before she blacks out.”
  • A mercenary explains the twenty-three scars on his arm. An unspecified enemy “killed one of my crew members in front of me, each time they carved a new one.”
  • When Zélie is captured, the king has the word “maggot” (a hateful slur) carved into her back with a knife.  In the same scene, a physician “cuts a shallow X into Zélie’s neck . . . and pushes a thick, hollowed-out needle into the exposed vein . . . removes a small vial of black liquid and prepares to pour the serum down the needle.”
  • A Burner (maji of fire) demonstrates his powers in battle. “A fire explodes from his skin. Smoldering embers rain from his body. Flames blaze around his form. The fire erupts from every limb, shooting out of his mouth, his arms, his legs.”
  • A Cancer (maji of disease) uses her power in battle. “She leaks dark green energy from her hands, trapping the men in a malignant cloud. The moment it touches the guards, they crumble, skin yellowing as disease rages through them.”
  • Zélie watches a young girl get shot with an arrow. “An arrow pierces through her gut… [she] looks down, small hands gripping the arrow’s shaft.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • A mercenary takes “a long drag off a hand-rolled cigarette.”
  • When Zélie encounters a palace guard, “the pungent smell of alcohol wafts into the air with his unwelcome presence.”
  • The characters drink palm wine during a festival. Later, during an intimate moment with Inan, Zélie thinks, “His words make my head spin. His words or the alcohol.”

Language

  • Profanity is used infrequently. Profanity includes: damn and hell.
  • Royals and nobles say “Skies!” as an invective.
  • Characters say, “Gods” or “Oh my gods.”
  • Zélie thinks, “Dammit.”
  • Tzain says, “I don’t give a damn.”
  • Tzain says, “What the hell are you doing?”
  • Amari describes a place as a “hell.”
  • Tzain tells Zélie, “You’re always screwing everything up.”

Supernatural

  • This book tightly blends the supernatural and the spiritual. The magic system in Orïsha encompasses ideas like higher powers, gods, prayer, human souls, and the afterlife.
  • Magic in Orïsha is tied to the Sky Mother, a deity who reigns over all the gods.
  • While sleeping, Zélie and Inan use magic to meet in a “dreamscape.”
  • As a Reaper, Zélie can sense spirits of the dead, and she can summon them in physical form to do her bidding.

Spiritual Content

  • Zélie believes that the gods control her fate. “No matter how much I crave peace, the gods have other plans.”
  • Amari and Inan are from nobility and have different beliefs. Amari thinks, “Gods don’t exist. Everyone in the palace knows that.”
  • The beliefs held by the Orïshan people also play a bigger part in the plot. In one scene, Zélie enlists the help of mercenaries by telling them, “[the gods] have chosen you because they want your help.”
  • Orïshan legend speaks of an afterlife. After a fire in her village claims four lives, Zélie thinks, “If their spirits have ascended to the peace of alâfia, death would be almost a gift. But if they suffered too much before they died . . . If the trauma of their deaths was too much, their spirits won’t rise to the afterlife. They’ll stay in apâdi, an eternal hell, reliving the worst of their pain.”
  • Zélie’s narration often uses the word “pray” interchangeably with “wish” and “hope.”
  • Zélie can sense people’s souls leaving their bodies as they die.
  • Zélie remembers that after the raid, she “cursed the gods for making us this way.”
  • During the climax of the book, Zélie has a near-death experience and sees her dead mother’s spirit. Her mother says, “You are a sister of Oya [a goddess], my love. You know our spirits never die.”

by Caroline Galdi

On Thin Ice

Lina’s excited about her class field trip to the aquarium. Lina has never ridden on a yellow school bus or gone to the aquarium before. When Lina finds out that her cousin will be visiting and going to school with her, Lina’s a little bit nervous. Because of his ice magic, Jack soon becomes the most popular kid in school. Lina is jealous of Jack’s ice magic skills and she is tired of him always showing off.

At the field trip, Lina and Jack see the penguins. Each one wants to prove that they can build the best ice sculpture. But soon their magic is out of control. Although the penguins love the ice slides and the mountains of snow, the other aquarium animals are in danger. Will the two cousin’s competition turn the aquarium animals into icicles? Will they ever learn to get along?

Readers will relate to Lina’s jealousy of her cousin’s ice magic skills. Lina and Jack get along fine when they are alone, but once Jack is around people he always shows off. In the end, both of them realize that jealousy can be dangerous. Eventually, Lina learns that Jack “thought that if everyone saw I was so good at winter magic, they’d ask me to come back and teach you again.” Even though their ice magic gets them into some cold situations, in the end, both Jack and Lina learn the importance of learning from each other.

Illustrated with cute black, white, and purple illustrations, On Thin Ice is perfect for any reader who dreams of being a princess. Even though Lina tries hard to be nice, she still makes mistakes.  On Thin Ice is told in a diary format using simple vocabulary. The paragraphs contain three or fewer sentences and have a variety of graphic elements to break the text into small portions. The easy-to-read story has relatable conflicts and highlights the importance of communication.

The cute illustrations include pictures of all of the characters and Lina’s activities. The bright purple-and-black illustrations appear on almost every page, and they include illustrations of binder paper with a list that helps readers understand the plot. For example, Lina makes a list of “things I’d noticed earlier this week.” In addition to the illustration, Lina’s grandfather’s words are in big, bold text, which will help the reader distinguish the speaker.

Readers who like friendship, magic, and animals will enjoy On Thin Ice. The story teaches about animals. The end of the book explains how blubber works and gives directions for an experiment. Parents will like the encouraging characters and the positive life lessons the story teaches. Scenes of a perfect pink palace in the sky are mixed with a regular school and kind characters to create a story that will please both parents and younger readers.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Lina’s granddad is the North Wind and he created the jet streams. Both Lina and her cousin Jack are winterharts who can control snow and ice.
  • In Lina’s world, some people have different powers. “Skypainters make sunsets and rainbows. Sparkarachers create lightning and thunder. Stormsirrers make big storms, like hurricanes and tornadoes. Windtamers control the wind and the weather.”
  • When Lina was practicing her magic, she “stood up straight and tall. I let my breath out slowly and spread my fingers wide. The spray of the water froze in midair, making a sheet of ice that looked just like glass.”
  • Lina thinks back to when she was a baby. “The only memory I have of my cousin Jack is from a family reunion at Granddad’s castle when Jack froze my diaper.” Later Jack says, “you ran around the room screaming, ‘Butt cold! Butt cold!’”
  • Jack tries to help Lina control her power. Jack tells her “Focus your magic on just one snowflake, and allow your magic to flow out from there, building and building, crystal by crystal.”
  • While collecting bugs for a class project, Jack “was using his frost magic to stun the insects. That made them slow enough to catch in his jar. As soon as the insects warmed up, they were flying around again, totally fine.” When Lina tries ice magic on a spider, “all of a sudden a ball of snow formed above the spider and dumped right on top of him.” The spider is not injured.
  • Both Lina and Jack want to prove that they have better ice magic. While at the aquarium, they begin making ice sculptures for the penguins. Jack “waved his fingers at the glass, and formed a slide of his own with fancy curlicue decorations made out of spindly ice crystals.” Trying to make a better ice feature, Lina “made snow fall inside the exhibit. I used my powers to scoop the snow into a ramp that the penguins could use to launch themselves in the water.” The two make so many ice features that they endanger the other animals. An employee is able to turn up the thermostat so none of the animals are hurt.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Serpent & Dove #1

In the city of Cessarine, the war between magic-wielding witches and holy men of the Church known as Chasseurs has raged for centuries. At the very heart of this war lays Louise, a Dame Blanche witch who has decided to hide in Cessarine to keep her estranged mother from finding her.

But her days skulking around dressed as a man, secretly squatting above a theater and stealing to survive come to an abrupt end when Reid, a Chasseur captain, discovers her thieving ways. After an embarrassing encounter in which Louise frames Reid as a sexual predator in front of a theater audience, the two must quickly keep themselves both from being reprimanded in the only way they can: by marrying each other.

Marriage changes both Louise’s and Reid’s lives forever. For Louise, she never meant to get this close to her Chasseur enemies, and she plays a dangerous game by keeping her true witch nature hidden while developing her relationship with Reid. For Reid, not only did he love another noble girl, but Louise is wild, untamed, and a heathen: she goes against every aspect of society’s proper female image. Yet, the longer the two are around each other, the more they fall in love. And the more dangerous their relationship becomes, the closer Louise’s mother gets to finding her. Yet, their love will overcome any obstacles that stand in their way.

Mahurin’s Serpent & Dove is a fun, exciting story from beginning until the end. Focusing on characters in a similar Romeo & Juliet styled story, Mahurin skillfully develops a story about old grudges, fanatical warriors, and love that overcomes even death. The main characters are very believable and are relatable because of how they can’t control their emotions despite realizing how complicated those emotions might make their lives. The story is fast-paced and full of surprises, twists, and heart-pounding scenes that will keep readers wanting to know what happens next. And even though many of those twists may be somewhat predictable, those secrets are revealed in very satisfying ways.

Serpent & Dove themes also come through naturally, and are built into the story’s backdrop. Louise and Reid learn that centuries-old grudges need to be overcome in order to find love and happiness. In the beginning, both Louise and Reid believe the other is one-dimensional and evil. By the end of the story, both Louise and Reid are willing to sacrifice everything for one another. The story also highlights the dangers of recognizing one’s faults, as seen in the Dames Blanches and the Chasseurs.

Overcoming prejudice is the novel’s main crux and it’s incorporated into the story quite charmingly. Watching Louise and Reid follow their hearts and find lives worth living is heartwarming. Serpent & Dove is a great story because of how well this point is executed, and because it truly does feel like at any moment their love could be torn apart by every other character. The story is thrilling from the moment Louise and Reid meet until the very end of the novel. Mature readers who enjoy a good mix of action and romance will want to add this book to the top of their reading list.

Sexual Content

  • Near the beginning of the novel, Louise and her friend visit a brothel in order to learn the whereabouts of a magical object. Louise comments on the working ladies at the brothel, “To be fair, however, many of them weren’t wearing corsets. Or anything at all.”
  • Many characters often give each other compliments on their looks. Babette, a courtesan working at the brothel, gives Coco a compliment, “Cosette, you look ravishing, as usual.”
  • Louise and Reid constantly think about the other’s sex appeal. Louise thinks Reid is, “Irritatingly I couldn’t help but stare. Thick lashes framed eyes the precise color of the sea.”
  • Bas, a thief friend of Louise, notices Louise’s sex appeal often. “He leaned forward, dark eyes setting on my lips.” Louise thinks Bas is “handsome enough to court. Certainly handsome enough to kiss. From across the cramped table, I eyed the dark line of his jaw.” She also thinks he has “such a tight little ass.” Yet since Bas only saw her as a friend-with-benefits, Louise thinks, “Perhaps that was why I’d stopped loving him.”
  • Madame Labelle, the owner of the brothel, kisses a man. “Grasping Tremblay’s arms with a wide smile, Madame Labelle kissed both his cheeks . . .”
  • When Louise and Coco are confronted by two men, Andre and Grue, at the brothel, Louise thinks, “I dreaded to think what they would do with immediate access to anything. Especially sex and violence.”
  • After Coco gives Louise her favorite food, Louise thinks, “I could’ve kissed her.”
  • When Louise wants free food from a pastry chef, she flirts with the chef, Johannes Pan. “Most days I only had to bat my lashes. Others I had to get slightly more. . . creative.”
  • One of the witches’ Goddesses “represents fertility, fulfillment and sexuality.” Similarly, Adam and Eve are mentioned. “Eve seduced Adam into sin.”
  • Reid’s fellow Chasseurs gossip about Louise, “I heard she’s a whore.”
  • When Louise and Reid finally make love to each other, Louise thinks, “The time for games was done.” And then she says, “I wanted him to touch me. I wanted him to become my husband in every sense of the word.” And, later in the same scene, it’s revealed that “Reid had never had sex. He was a virgin.” And, once again, later in the same scene, “I watched his throat bob, heard his breath hitch.”

Violence

  • There’s frequent violence throughout the novel, including the sight or mention of corpses. For instance, Reid says, “Thirteen bodies had been found throughout Belterra over the past year.”
  • Witches are commonly burned on pyres, as well as anyone who might conspire with witches. “But the flames come first with the Church. Questions second.” Estelle, a witch after Louise, is caught by Reid and burned alive. Louise thinks, “Though tears clouded my vision, I forced myself to watch the flames lick up Estelle’s dress. I forced myself to hear her screams.”
  • A young noblewoman was found with her throat slashed.
  • Louise is willing to get her hands dirty when her life is threatened. Babette, a courtesan, threatens Louise with blackmail if she doesn’t become a courtesan, “If Babette wasn’t careful, she’d soon learn just how wretched and violent we could be.” Louise kills two thugs after her life. “Gritting my teeth, I seized Andre’s knife and plunged it into his throat, slashing through skin and tendon and bone.” After that fight, Louise tries to clean herself up: “Deep purple bruises had seeped beneath my eyes, and dried blood spattered my cheeks. I scrubbed at it with the cold water from the tap, rubbing my skin until it was pink and raw.”
  • Witches use their magic to create havoc and bloodshed. While attacking the royal family during a parade, the witches were“Laughing as bodies fell around them with the simplest flicks of their fingers.”
  • Children are also harmed by witches. Reid says, “Last month, a child had been found without its eyes. . . More than twenty bodies circled the air around the witches now—some unconscious, heads lolling, and others painfully awake.”
  • When Louise uses magic, she has to give something in return, typically meaning she has to harm herself. “Though I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood, a small groan still escaped as I snapped a second finger.”
  • Several times, Louise is threatened by two guys that hold a grudge against her. A man, Grue, “smash[ed] my face into the ground. My nose cracked, and blood spurted sickeningly into my mouth.” When defending herself, Louise “exploded beneath him in a blur of limbs and nails and teeth, clawing and biting and kicking every bit of him I could reach.”
  • Reid displays a desire to attack and kill witches quite frequently, especially towards Morgane, Louise’s mother: “And Morgane—never before had I longed to kill a witch as I did now, to plunge a knife into her throat and sever her pale head from her body.”
  • Later, Reid also kills his foster father. “A small, pleading noise escaped him, but he could do little else before I fell upon him. Before I drove my knife home in his heart.”
  • The Chasseurs will kill any witch, even children and babies. “They showed no mercy, cutting through woman and child alike without hesitation.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Aristocrats in Cessarine drink alcohol at social parties. Louise notes, “Judging from the loud, slurred voices of the aristocrats nearest me, they’d been hitting the bubbly for hours.” While at the King’s social party celebrating Reid’s heroics, Louise “grabbed a flute of champagne from a passing servant and down[ed] it in one swallow.” Louise thinks, “After a few moments, delicious warmth spread through my body.”
  • When Morgane, Louise’s mother, sends witches after Louise, the witches inject her with drugs in order to capture her. When a needle is stabbed into Louise’s neck, she“had no physical strength left to give, and my mind was too drug-saturated to distinguish patterns.”
  • After Louise runs from Reid, Louise’s friend defends her, “She was drugged and obviously injured.”
  • When Morgane has finally captured Louise, Morgane says, “Extraordinary, those little injections. When Monsieur Bernard brought one to me, I perfected the medicine.” Morgane’s injections mess with Louise’s ability to use her magic, “Panicked, I focused on bringing a pattern forth—any pattern—but the gold winked in and out of focus, blurred and disjointed from the drug.”
  • After days of being injected with her mother’s drug, Louise thinks, “Though the drug paralyzed my body, it did nothing to dull the ache in my bones.” Later on, Louise “scowled and focused on the burning sensation in [her] hands and feet—the first indicator of the drug waning.”
  • When speaking with one of her fellow witches, Louise tells the witch about how she feels being under the drug. “If I could move, I’d puke all over your lap.” The witch calls the drug a medicine, and Louise responds, “Is that what you call it? Medicine? That’s an interesting word for poison.”
  • At the end of the novel, Louise discovers that she shares a connection with Prince Beau of Cessarine. Louise comments, “It would seem we frequent the same pubs.”

Language

  • Ass and shit are used frequently. For example, aristocrats and other haughty characters are often referred to as “pompous ass.”
  • Fucking appears a few times in the novel. A thug, Andre, verbally abuses Louise, saying “I’m going to cut you into fucking pieces.”
  • Damn, hell, and whore are each used a few times. For example, Louise tells Babette, “You are a goddamned hound.”
  • A noble insults a courtesan. The noble says, “it’s locked away in my townhouse, you salope ignorante—”
  • Louise calls someone a “twit.”
  • A pastry chef is called a “halfwit.”
  • When talking about someone possibly betraying Louise and Coco, Coco says, “That bastard will renege as soon as he’s out of sight.” Bastard is used frequently.
  • Similarly, Louise calls someone a “worthless coward.”
  • Louise says, “Nature could piss off.”

Supernatural

  • Magic is a common theme and backdrop for this novel. The main conflict stems from a fanatical group of witches, the Dame Blanches, attempting to overthrow the royal family of Cessarine to win back their land and free themselves from persecution. Witches within Cessarine hide in plain sight, “Any one of us could be a witch.” Many believe, “The witches are vicious.”
  • When Louise witnesses the parade of the Royal family, she feels magic in the air. Louise “recognized the faint brush of energy against my skin, the familiar thrumming in my ears. Magic.”
  • Magic typically has a smell that “always followed the witches. Sweet and herbal, yet sharp—too sharp. Like the incense the Archbishop burned during Mass, but more acrid.”
  • There are magical objects as well. Some are even trafficked in the black market, “But while Filippa might’ve had no enemies, her pompous ass of a father had accumulated plenty while trafficking magical objects.”
  • Angelica’s Ring, a magical object, is sought after by Louise because “it renders the user immune to enchantment. Sort of like the Chasseur’s Balisardas.”
  • Louise is a witch herself, the daughter of Morgane, the leader of the Dames Blanche witches. When Louise has a conversation with a thief, she thinks, “The ancient feud between the Church and witches didn’t affect me anymore—not since I’d left the world of witchcraft behind.”
  • Dame Blanches use magic by seeing golden patterns in the air.
  • Dame Rouges, another coven of witches, use blood magic instead of seeing golden patterns in the air.
  • Some believe that basic remedies will keep witches away. “Please, monsieur, return home. Salt your doors and windows.”
  • Witches can use their magic to control others, even controlling corpses. When attacking the royal family during a parade, “The witches cackled and continued contorting their fingers in unnatural ways. With each twitch, a helpless body rose. Puppeteers.”
  • Most witches are viewed as demons, as Reid says, “But witches weren’t human. They were vipers. Demons incarnate.” Witches are also commonly referred to as “it.”

Spiritual Content

  • The Christian Church and its teachings are a main backdrop of this novel. Mass is mentioned, but never directly put in any scene.
  • The Archbishop makes several appearances.
  • The Chasseurs are the holy warriors of the church. Only men can be Chasseurs. “Sworn to the Church as huntsmen, Chasseurs protected the kingdom of Belterra from the occult—namely, the Dames Blanches, or the deadly witches who haunted Belterra’s small-minded prejudices.”
  • Chasseurs wield Balisardas, weapons that negate magic. For Balisardas, “Each had been forged with a molten drop of Saint Constantin’s original holy relic, rendering us immune to the witches’ magic.”
  • Biblical references are common. When Reid watches his best friend and fellow Chasseur, Reid notices, “Though he also wore no uniform, the crowd still parted for him like the Red Seas for Moses.”
  • God is mentioned frequently throughout the story. For example, the Archbishop said, “May God have mercy on your soul.” The Archbishop says, when talking about the Triple Goddess, “As if God could be a woman.”
  • Hell is mentioned several times. Just before a witch escapes from Reid’s grasp, he laments, “before I could unsheathe my blade and send her back to Hell where she belonged.”
  • The Bible, scripture, and other religious sayings are quoted frequently throughout the book. “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” Another is, “Witches do not worship our Lord and Savior, nor do they acknowledge the holy trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They glorify another trinity—an idolatrous trinity. The Triple Goddess.”
  • The Triple Goddess is also mentioned several times, either in the form of the Maiden, the Mother, or the Crone. The Triple Goddess is worshipped by the witches; it’s considered “Triple” because the witches use it to mock the Trinity.
  • The Garden of Eden is mentioned.
  • Many of the characters, especially the Chasseurs, often pray. Others, like Louise or witches, use prayers to mock holy men and women. Witches generally mock every part of Christianity.

by Jonathan Planman

 

The Story Web

When Alice was little, she found a gigantic spider web deep in the forest. Her dad called it the Story Web and told her how its strands were woven from the stories that hold our world together.

Years later, Alice’s dad has gone away for reasons Alice is sure are her fault. Now she won’t even talk about her dad—and definitely no longer believes his far-fetched stories. But when animals in town start acting strangely, she can’t ignore them. The Story Web is in danger—and the fabric of their world is breaking. The only way to mend it is to tell honest tales from the heart, even if they are difficult to share.

The Story Web tackles some heavy issues including friendship, hurtful rumors, and PTSD. The story focuses on Alice; however, the story is told from a third-person point of view and often shifts; it includes both human and animal points of view. The always-changing points of view break up the story’s action and may confuse some readers.

Although the story has an interesting premise, the storyline tries to do too much and lacks action. Alice’s father was in the military and has PTSD. Despite this, Alice feels like she is responsible for making her father go away. Throughout the story, Alice reads letters from her father that have many references to The Odyssey by Homer. Greek gods and the theme of the hero’s journey are also incorporated into the story. Readers who are unfamiliar with the Greek references will be confused. Readers may also have difficulties with the advanced vocabulary, such as precocity, coalition, and reprobate.

The story highlights the importance of teamwork and discusses what makes a person heroic. Alice thinks, “Some superheroes want to be heroes. Like Batman or Captain America. They make it happen. Other ones don’t really have a choice.” Alice learns that being a hero isn’t like in the movies, instead “it’s showing up, doing your job—that’s what makes a hero.” Despite the positive messages, The Story Web may be difficult for readers to slog through.

 Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • There is a rumor that Melanie’s aunt is a witch. People say, “She’d cut off your toes and feed them to her birds. She’d cast a spell on you and turn you into a crow.”
  • When a boy sees Lewis, he talks badly about Alice in order to start a fight. A boy tells Lewis, “Are you going to punch me? Go on, do it! I can’t believe wimpy Lewis Marble is actually going to punch someone!” An adult intervenes before anything happens.
  • When the smoke alarm goes off, Alice’s father thinks he is back in the war. “He lunged toward her, grabbed her around the shoulder, and pulled her roughly to the floor. . . He pressed her into the floor. She felt the ridges of the linoleum on her cheek. ‘Dad,’ she said, struggling to breathe under the weight of his body.” When Alice’s father realizes what he did, he runs to his bedroom and locks the door.
  • While in a crowded room, a man accidentally shoots a gun. “The gunshot reverberated round the old room. It rattled the metal folding chairs. It echoed off the huge lights that hung like bells above them. . . Mr. Sykes stared at the gun, mystified. . . He’d dropped it, and it went off. The bullet flew the length of the room just above the floor and left a small hole in the cinder-block wall.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Alice goes to a restaurant with her family and sees a man she knows. “Alan Sykes sat there, a golden-hued beer and a plate of cheese fries in front of him.”
  • Alice goes to the hospital to see her father, who is taking medication. Alice’s mother tells her, “I’ve been talking to the doctors the whole time, honey. They are being careful. It can be hard to get the dosage right, but what they have now seems good. . . I know that meds that work on your personality can seem weird and scary, but some people really need them. Like you wouldn’t look down on someone for taking acetaminophen for a headache, right? These meds are the same.”

Language

  • “What the—” is used twice.
  • “Oh my g—” is used once.
  • A boy calls Alice “Dingaling.”
  • Someone asks, “What kind of idiot would do that?”
  • Darn is used once.
  • Heck is used twice.

Supernatural

  • The story revolves around the Story Web, which is created when “the people tell their stories out loud or on paper, and the spiders weave them into the web. We’re always making and remaking it. It’s a very fragile thing.” The spiders gather the stories, weave them, and “the strands lace together, crisscrossing one another to make the fabric that ties the whole world together.”

Spiritual Content

  • Someone says that a true miracle is “when the supernatural world comes into the human world and helps out.”
  • Alice’s father taught her that “the constellations were set in the sky by the Greek gods whose stories he loved to tell.” The gods and constellations are described.

The Fire Keeper

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 Sexual Content

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

Violence

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

Drugs and Alcohol

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

Language

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

Supernatural

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

Spiritual Content

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

The Star Shepherd

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

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

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

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

Supernatural

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

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Jonathan Planman

House of Salt and Sorrows

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

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

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

Sexual Content

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

Violence

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

Drugs and Alcohol

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

Language

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

Supernatural

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

Spiritual Content

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

by Morgan Lynn

 

Frost Friends Forever

Lina has never had a sleepover before. She’s excited that Claudia is coming up to the clouds for the first time. Lina always has fun at Claudia’s sleepovers, and Lina wants her sleepover to be extra special and fun. Lina has everything planned—snow cones, pizza, and staying up late.

When Lina’s Great-Aunt Eastia visits, everything that Lina has planned must be changed. Instead of pizza for dinner, they’re eating turnip soup. There also won’t be snow cones, snow fun, or staying up late. Instead, Great-Aunt Eastia wants Lina to act like a proper princess. Lina doesn’t want Great-Aunt Eastia to ruin her fun. How will Lina and Claudia have a snowingly perfect sleepover without following Lina’s plan?

Readers don’t have to be princesses to understand Lina’s conflict—Lina just wants to have a good time with her best friend. Even though Lina really loves her great-aunt, Lina doesn’t want to follow her advice. The magical princess has been banned from creating snow. In an attempt to have some snow fun, Lina and Claudia sneak onto Lina’s father’s airplane. Once the plane has landed, the girls head to a snow hill for some amazing sledding. When an unexpected blizzard arrives, the girls discover that they are lost.

Like a Disney princess, Lina is sweet, but not perfect. Lina tells her own story in a diary format, which allows readers to understand Lina’s conflicting emotions. In the end, Lina learns that she didn’t need exciting plans to have a fun sleepover with her best friend. Even though Lina doesn’t follow instructions, she still shows her great-aunt respect. Lina knows she can’t talk back to her aunt “because it would be rude.” Readers will understand Lina’s frustration and her mischievous side, but also see the dangers of sneaking away from her home.

Adorable blue-and-black illustrations appear on almost every page, showing Lina’s adventures. Some of the illustrations look like a piece of blue binder paper and have a list that helps reinforce the story’s ideas. For example, after Lina realizes that she and Claudia are lost in the snow, she makes a list of “Why I felt, really, really awful.” Readers will enjoy seeing Lina and Claudia’s fun sleepover, Lina’s house in the clouds, and her cute husky puppy.

Frost Friends Forever is not only a magical princess story, but also introduces the science of friction through an easy-to-understand explanation. The story also gives a practical example—Lina and her friend use ice friction to turn the ballroom floor into a sledding rink. The end of the book also explains how to make an ice lantern like the one Lina and Claudia made.

Readers will want to read about Lina’s adventures again and again as they learn important lessons about friendship and appreciating people’s differences. Readers do not have to be princesses to apply the story’s message to their life—being a princess is acting honorably as well as thinking about others, and keeping promises.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Lina is a Winterheart, “which means that I have magic powers over ice and snow.”
  • Most of Lina’s family members are Windtamers, which means “they can control the wind and weather.”
  • Lina and her family live on a magic cloud. “Otherwise we’d all be dropping out of the sky right now.”
  • When Lina and Claudia are lost, “Great-Aunt Eastia swooped through the clouds. She was using her Windtamer powers to warm the air and blow the blizzard away.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

Spin the Dawn

Maia loves to sew. She dreams not only of becoming a master tailor but becoming the imperial tailor. However, it’s a far-fetched dream as only boys are allowed to become tailors in A’landi. As her father’s only daughter and youngest child, Maia is expected to be quiet, obedient, and eventually raise a family. After her older brothers die in war and her father becomes too sick to sew, the burden of caring for her family becomes even greater, and her dream of becoming a tailor fades.

Maia cannot think of anything more abhorrent than abandoning her sewing, but she sees no alternative until her father is called upon by the emperor. The emperor is getting married and needs a new imperial tailor to create his betrothed’s wedding gowns. There is to be a competition of the best tailors in the land, and her father is invited to join. Maia’s father is too sick to travel to the capital, so Maia disguises herself as her father’s son and goes in her father’s place. Soon she finds herself competing with tailors who are decades more experienced than herself, who are willing to cheat, and who would possibly even be willing to commit murder in order to become the next imperial tailor.

Spin the Dawn has a lovable, interesting cast of characters that will hook readers. The land of A’landi is foreign, beautiful, and magical. The rich characters, court intrigues, and mysterious Lord Enchanter keep the tailoring competition from becoming cliché. Readers will be delighted when magic becomes a part of Maia’s life and will understand her moral struggle in deciding whether or not to use it.

While Part I of Spin the Dawn is a delightful read focused on the tailoring competition, Part II takes an entirely different track with Maia going on a journey to create three magical dresses for the emperor’s betrothed. The lore behind the dresses is fascinating, but the journey feels rushed and some conflicts are resolved too easily to be believable. Still, the Lord Enchanter accompanies Maia on her quest and their relationship is enchanting to watch. While Part II is weaker than Part I, the delicious dynamic between Maia and the Lord Enchanter will be enough to keep readers reading until the end.

Sexual Content

  • When speaking of the emperor, Maia’s brother says, “So you’ve heard how handsome he is from the village girls? Every one of them aspires to become one of the emperor’s concubines.” Maia says, “I have no interest in becoming a concubine.”
  • A village boy wants to marry Maia. “I thought with dread of Calu touching me, of bearing his children, of my embroidery frames collecting dust . . . I stifled a shudder.”
  • There are rumors that the emperor’s betrothed has a “lover. But it’s all court gossip. No one knows for certain.”
  • While pretending to be a boy, Maia had “been wearing at least three layers to help obscure my chest.”
  • When Norbu finds out that Maia is a girl disguised as a boy, he “touched my cheek and pressed his thigh against my leg. ‘I always thought you were a pretty boy. Perhaps a little kiss?’ “
  • Maia and the Lord Enchanter almost kiss. “He pressed a gentle kiss on the side of my lips, just missing my mouth. His lips were soft, despite the desert’s unrelenting dryness. A shiver flew up and down my spine, even though his breath was warm, and his arm around me even warmer.”
  • Maia and the Lord Enchanter kiss several times. “His lips pressed against mine. Gently at first, then with increasing urgency as I started to respond with my own need. His hand was tight on my waist, holding my wobbly knees steady.” Another time, “he tilted my chin and kissed me. Heat flooded me from my lips to my toes, and my heart hammered, its beat rushing and skipping to my head.”
  • Maia and the Lord Enchanter sleep together. “He kissed me, exploring my mouth with his tongue, then tantalizing my ears and my neck until I was dizzy and feverish. Finally, when my knees weakened and I couldn’t bear to stand any longer, Edan eased me onto his cloak against the soft, damp earth. Our legs entwined; then we became flesh upon flesh. All of me burned, my blood singing wildly in my ears.”
  • When Maia is captured by bandits, one of them says, “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve felt a woman?” Maia is then rescued.
  • Maia and the Lord Enchanter kiss goodbye. “I crushed my mouth against his, wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his hips. His kisses moved to my cheeks, my neck, my breasts, back to my lips. Passionate, then tender. Then passionate again, as if we couldn’t make up our minds.”

Violence

  • A man breaks Maia’s hand. “Norbu stepped on my wrist, pinning my hand to the ground . . . He was carrying one of the heavy metal pans we used for smoothing our fabrics. I tried to yank my wrist away, but he was too strong. Too quick. He raised the pan high, then brought it crashing down onto my hand. Pain shot up from the tips of my fingers and flooded my brain. I screamed.”
  • When it’s discovered that Maia is a girl, she is thrown into a dungeon. The guards “struck me in the ribs and kicked me to my knees so that I landed in a rotten pile of hay, coughing and whimpering.”
  • Maia is whipped for lying to the emperor. “The guards tore my tunic and ripped off my chest strips—so fast I’d barely crossed my arms to cover myself when the whip burned into my skin, a stinging line of fire. Blood splattered onto the cold stone floor. . . Each lash bit into me, gashing my back, and I chewed on my lip so hard my mouth grew hot with blood.”
  • Maia is chased by wolves, which then turn on each other. “Soon I was forgotten as the wolves fought one another. The sight was gruesome, blood on fur on sand. I buried my face in my hands until the snarls became whimpers, then nothing.”
  • Maia stumbles upon an old battlefield. “Broken drums, slashed war banners, mounds of bones—human bones. And bodies . . . Some of the men had frozen to death. I could tell from their ashen faces, tightly drawn blue lips, and curved-in shoulders.”
  • Maia and the Lord Enchanters are attacked several times by bandits. Once, the Lord Enchanter “fired three arrows in quick succession. Vachir eluded each shot, but the men behind him weren’t as lucky. Two fell.”
  • Maia fights a demon. “I lunged forward and slammed my dagger into his shoulder. He cried out, an anguished scream that made my blood curdle.”
  • Maia is attacked by bandits. “I slashed at the one who’d spoken, but I missed his throat and scored his cheek instead. I made a long, jagged gash.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • A fellow tailor “reached into his robes for a flask. He offered it to me, and after I declined, he took a long drink.”
  • Maia turns in early one night. In the morning, she discovered “It was a good thing I’d refused to go out with Norbu and the others. After their bath, they’d gone to the local drinking house, where Master Taraha and Master Garad drank themselves into a stupor. Now they were spending the day retching. Even from my table, I could smell it.”
  • While traveling, Maia and the Lord Enchanter stay the night with a group of travelers. The travelers pass around a wine gourd after dinner, and Maia accidentally gets drunk. “I was so mortified I simply took another drink. And another. The more I drank, the less it burned my throat . . . Normally I wouldn’t have stared at him so obviously, but the wine had washed away my caution.”

Language

  • Variations of the phrase “demon’s breath” are used a few times as profane exclamations.
  • A man says a country’s wine “tastes like horse piss.”
  • Damn is used a few times. The Lord Enchanter says, “I want to get out of this damned place.”

Supernatural

  • Maia “repaired amulets for travelers who asked it of me, though I didn’t believe in magic. Not then.”
  • A man says to Maia, “The A’landans are superstitious people. Constantly praying to their dead ancestors. If you believe in spirits and ghosts, I don’t see why you wouldn’t believe in magic.”
  • Maia meets the emperor’s Lord Enchanter. Maia “knew little of enchanters, lord or not, other than that they were rare and drifted from land to land.” Longhai tells Maia, “The Lord Enchanter advises Emperor Khanujin on many matters. He served the emperor’s father for years, yet he hasn’t aged a day!” Maia later finds out that the Lord Enchanter can transform into a hawk, which is his spirit form. “Feathers sprouted over his skin and spine. A pair of wings erupted from his shoulders and fanned down across his arms.”
  • Maia discovers that the scissors passed down from her grandmother are magical. “The scissors glided over the shawl, possessed in a way that my hands could only follow. Invisible threads repaired the cloth’s damage, giving it life anew, and colors from my paint pots soaked into the silk . . . Impossible as it appeared, the scissors not only cut but embroidered . . . My hand wouldn’t let go of the scissors, no matter how much I tried to pry them away, no matter how much I wanted to put them down. I was under a spell, drunk with their power.”
  • In Part II of Spin the Dawn, Maia is forced to go on a journey with the Lord Enchanter. On this journey, magic becomes a part of daily life. From enchanted carpets that fly, using magic to heal, and a magical tablecloth that creates an entire meal from nothing, Maia’s journey is filled with magic.
  • Maia is given an impossible task by the emperor’s betrothed. She is told to make a dress out of the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of the stars. These three dresses are called Amana’s dresses, and it is said that whoever possesses them will receive a wish from the goddess Amana herself.
  • Maia goes to an island filled with ghosts. While there she meets a demon—a creature who used to be a sorcerer but was cursed when he killed his master. The demon steals a piece of Maia’s soul, which means he can follow her anywhere.
  • When Maia finishes the dresses, the goddess Amana speaks to her. Amana’s statue in the temple glows and a “low and powerful, yet kind” voice says, “Ask me your heart’s greatest desire, Maia. And I shall grant it.”

Spiritual Content

  • It is mentioned in passing that “Toward the end of every month, [Maia] helped the women who were preparing their gifts for the dead—usually paper clothing, which was tricky to sew—to burn before the prayer shrines in honor of their ancestors.”
  • Maia lives in a land with many gods. The gods are often mentioned in passing. A tailor says, “The gods are listening to us, masters. Do you want to invoke their wrath?” The emperor’s betrothed says, “The imperial tailor is a master chosen by the gods. I expect him to be able to work with any material, whether it be glass or silk.” Another time, a man says, “The gods watch over me, I am very grateful.”
  • Two gods are more developed and become part of the plot. The first is the goddess Amana, whose magical dresses Maia is tasked with sewing. People often say, “Amana be with you.” The other is the sun god, who Maia indirectly encounters during her search for the laughter of the sun. While in the desert, the Lord Enchanter says, “The sun is worshipped in many lands. He’s a brilliant, brutal deity. And now we are in the heart of his kingdom.”
  • The Lord Enchanter says, “Pigs are smarter than people give them credit for! Where I grew up, we almost worshipped them.” Maia “couldn’t tell if he was joking.”
  • Maia confesses that she doesn’t “even trust the gods. Not to listen, anyway. My father prays to Amana every morning, every night. . . But Finlei and Sendo died.”
  • The Lord Enchanter grew up in a monastery. “The monks I grew up with were different from the ones here. Not generous and kind. And the gods we worshiped were harsh and unforgiving.”
  • Maia asks a monk, “What if there are no gods? What if there is only magic, only enchanters and demons and ghosts?” The monk replies, “You must keep your faith . . . The gods watch over us, but unlike the spirits of this realm, they do not interfere in our lives. Not unless we anger them greatly, or impress them.”

by Morgan Lynn

 

Freya and the Magic Jewel

When eleven-year-old Freya hears a Doomsday prophecy from her magical jewel, she isn’t sure what to make of it. Mere seconds after the prediction, she receives a mysterious invitation to Asgard Academy from the powerful Odin, who commands her to “bring her magic” to Asgard.

With encouragement from her twin, Frey, Freya reluctantly heads out on the new adventure. Freya’s first challenge begins before she even steps foot in Asgard. While trying to navigate the treacherous Bifrost Bridge, she drops her magical jewel off the bridge, and a sneaky pair of dwarves take her jewel down to the world of Midgard!

Without that jewel, Freya thinks she is powerless. But with the help of her pod-mates at Asgard, Freya discovers a world that is bigger and more mysterious than she ever imagined! There, she learns the true terror of Ragnarok, the doomsday that her jewel warned her about, and what it could mean for Asgard Academy if she and her new friends, the Thunder Girls, don’t stop it!

Fans of Goddess Girls will enjoy this new series, which focuses on Norse Mythology. At first, Freya comes across as shallow because of her intense love of fashion and her assumption that everyone male will find her crush-worthy; she is the goddess of love and beauty after all! On the positive side, Freya has a positive attitude even when times are difficult. In the end, Freya learns that her best ability is fostering friendship. Readers will relate to Freya, who wonders if she is “in-like” with someone, and worries about hurting someone’s feelings if she does not like them in the same way.

Freya soon learns that Mason has a crush on her. In order to win her heart, he promises to “rebuild Asgard’s wall to protect her, if only she will give me her heart in return, plus the sun and the moon.” Freya doesn’t want to make the promise, but she knows the Asguard’s wall must be rebuilt. She reluctantly agrees because she doesn’t think Mason can succeed at building the wall. Although this is one of the main plot points, Mason is delegated to the background, so the ending falls flat.

Readers who are unfamiliar with Norse mythology will want to read the glossary first. The story introduces Norse mythology in a kid-friendly way, while still staying true to the original stories. Readers will enjoy the Norse world, Loki’s mischievous pranks, and the fast pace of the story. Although the story lacks depth, the characters are stereotypical, and Freya is not well developed, younger readers will enjoy getting to know Freya and the other Norse god and goddesses.

Sexual Content

  • Mason thinks he has won Freya’s heart. “Then he closed his eyes and leaned forward, puckering up.” Freya gives him something other than a kiss.

Violence

  • The large painted friezes that covered a wall come to life. “At first it was only the blinking of eyes or the twitch of a hand, as if those carved, painted heroes were waking up from a long sleep. . . And because they were all warriors, they immediately went into battle mode. Painted hands grabbed turnips, carrots, and crab apples from painted fields and trees or from platters on carved feast tables, depending on the scene. Arms drew back. Fists punched forth from the friezes. . . The moment food was lobbed out of a frieze, it temporarily turned real.” The kids had to evacuate.
  • Dwarves make a boar that comes alive. “Waving their arms, the four dwarfs chased the boar, trying to shoo it out of their workshop without getting stuck by its sharp tusks. . . Alfrigg wasn’t fast enough, though. Oomph! The board head-butted him in the rear.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Freya has a marble that contains cats and a cart. When Freya says “catnap” the cats and cart grow. The first time Freya uses the marble, she thinks “if anyone had been watching at that moment, the cats and cart would’ve seemed to instantly disappear. However, in reality, they had only shrunk down to a single cat’s-eye marble.”
  • Fraya has a magical jewel that can tell the future. The jewel “had the power to show Freya the future, sometimes it only revealed bits of information. It didn’t always answer her questions, either, so she could never be sure what it did or didn’t know.”
  • A message acorn had “cute faces and hats, and sweet voices.” One acorn “hopped right up into her (Freya’s) palm.”
  • Sometimes characters use vine slides to travel. Freya gives her brother a vine slide, which “could enlarge back into the huge spiral slide for Frey anytime he wished to travel through it. And then shrink anytime he wasn’t using it.”
  • Ice giants appeared normal-sized, but “magically shot up to five times their normal height” and made it snow.
  • While trying to enter Asgard, the Bifrost became hot for the frost giants. “When the frost giants were huge, the bridge probably sensed they were troublemakers and was trying to make them turn back from Asgard by giving them, and only them, a case of hot foot.”
  • When Freya drops her jewel, “gnarled hands reached up and snatched at Brising (the jewel) like snapping turtles. Fingers captured it before it could even hit the ground.”
  • Doors appear in thin air and allow people to travel to different locations.
  • Freya drinks juice that won’t make her immortal, but will make her “stay the same age.”
  • Several characters are shapeshifters. Others can grow bigger.
  • One character has a box that “expanded into a box large enough to hold many apples.”
  • Freya puts her toes and nose against a tree. “Whoosh! Instantly she found herself standing inside a hollowed-out space in the very middle of the tree trunk. . .”
  • One of the characters only has a head.

Spiritual Content

  • The story focuses on Norse mythology and includes Norse gods and goddesses as characters.
  • The main character, Fraya, is the goddess of love and beauty. She is also a seer. Another character, Odin, was “the leader of the Asgard gods and the supreme rule of all the worlds.” (This is not a complete list of the Norse gods that appear in the book.)

Snow Place Like Home

Lina lives in the clouds and is a Windtamer, learning to control the wind and the weather. Lina loves her family and living in the sky, but she really wants to go to a regular school with her best friend, Claudia. Lina has promised her parents that she can keep her magical powers a secret from the other students.

Lina tries her hardest to keep her magical abilities under control, but every time she has a surge of emotions, she turns things to ice. Lina didn’t mean to make the boy’s bathroom into a skating rink. She didn’t mean to freeze the water fountain. But, even with the help of her granddad, Lina keeps making things cold! How can she learn to control her power? If she can’t learn to control her power, will she be banned from going to regular school?

Lina is a friendly, magical princess who struggles with controlling her emotions. Lina doesn’t mean to cause “magical disasters,” but she keeps making mistakes. Her granddad is convinced that Lina just needs to practice her magic more, but Lina has more to worry about than just pleasing her granddad. Lina and Claudia are working on a school science project, and Lina is afraid that her magic might lead to another disaster. Younger readers will enjoy characters who are diverse, friendly, and adventurous.

Snow Place Like Home is told in a diary format using simple vocabulary. The paragraphs contain three or fewer sentences and have a variety of graphic elements to break the text into small portions. The easy-to-read story has relatable conflicts as well as shows positive family interactions. No one expects Lina to be a perfect princess, and when she makes mistakes, both her best friend and her parents forgive her.

The cute illustrations include pictures of all of the characters, a husky puppy, and Lina’s activities. The bright pink-and-black illustrations appear on almost every page, and they include illustrations of binder paper with a list that helps readers understand the plot. For example, Lina makes her parents a list of why they should let her go to “Groundling school.” In addition to the illustration, Lina’s grandfather’s words are in big, bold text which will help the reader distinguish the speaker.

Readers who like friendship, magic, and science will enjoy Snow Place Like Home. Lina makes a quick reference about solids and liquids, and gives a recipe for “goop.” The end of the book explains why the “goop” behaves as it does. Parents will like the encouraging characters and the positive life lessons the story teaches. Scenes of a perfect pink palace in the sky are mixed with a regular school and kind characters to create a story that will please both parents and younger readers.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Lina’s mother and grandfather are Windtamers, who “have the power to control the wind and weather. Whenever she wants to go somewhere, she just waves her hand and calls up a gust of wind. The wind holds her up and carries her where she tells it to go.”
  • Lina’s home is a cloud palace that can “float anywhere in the sky Mom tells it to go.”
  • While playing tag, Lina gets upset and accidentally uses her power to stop a boy. When the boy stops, Lina “realized that Dylan’s fancy, fast sneakers were frozen to the ground in solid blocks of ice.” Lina also has several other “teensy tiny slipups,” including: “froze the water fountain, frosted over the windows in the cafeteria, and turning the boys’ bathroom into an ice-skating rink.”
  • Lina discovers that she is a Winterheart and can control snow and ice.
  • In Lina’s world, there are different types of magic: making storms, creating lightning and thunder, and making sunsets and rainbows.

Spiritual Content

  • None

The Revenge of Magic #1

Thirteen years ago, books of magic were discovered in various sites around the world alongside the bones of dragons. Children born after this so-called “Discovery Day” have the power to use magic.

Fort Fitzgerald has no idea books of magic exist. Then, while on vacation with his father, a giant creature bursts through the earth, attacking Washington DC. The creature grabs Fort’s father, taking him underground. Fort is devastated and dreams of getting revenge. Six months later, a man named Dr. Opps invites Fort to a government-run school to learn magic.

Life at the school is difficult and Fort has no idea who to trust. Everyone is keeping secrets. What does Jia, Fort’s tutor, know about the attacks? Why does Rachel, master of destructive magic, think Fort is out to destroy the school? And why is Fort reliving memories of an expelled girl every time he goes to sleep? Fort must find the answers or more attacks will come–and this time nothing will stop the creatures.

The Revenge of Magic starts with action and adventure that continues to the very end. Many of the supporting characters are stereotypical, including trope roles such as: the bullies, the tough girl, and the closed-mouthed military commander. However, Fort and Cyrus, a clairvoyant, are well-developed and Cyrus’s matter-of-fact tone adds some much-needed humor to the story. Although Fort’s reason for hating the creatures that took his father is understandable, Fort’s focus on revenge may make it difficult for readers to connect with him.

Fort learns more about the attack on Washington DC through a series of memories that are shared with him. Even though the memories appear in a different font, some readers may have a difficult time keeping the past and the present separated. Several times the creatures are able to control humans, and one creature takes over a student’s body, transforming the human body into the alien’s form. In the end, the creatures reveal their desire to return to earth and enslave humans. The large cast of characters, the complicated plot, and several scary scenes make The Revenge of Magic best suited for stronger readers.

The Revenge of Magic is a strong start to a new series. Even though several mysteries are revealed, the ending leaves unanswered questions that will have readers looking for book two, The Last Dragon. Readers who enjoy high-action adventure stories should also try the Simon Thorn Series by Aimée Carter and the Snared Series by Adam Jay Epstein.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Giant hands erupt from the earth and attack. “Enormous black-scaled fingers pushed up through the ground, sending grass, rock, and dirt flying in every direction. A muffled roar sounded from somewhere beneath them, and Fort felt it even through the ground shaking.” As people flee, more hands erupt from the ground. “A noise like torrents of rushing water thundered behind him, and turned to find a nightmare rising from the middle of the Reflecting Pool, a giant black-scaled head covered in some sort of crown. . .More helicopters flew in, this time painted black, and these actually made it close to the creature. A missile rocketed out of one, slamming into its head, but the monster didn’t even seem to notice.”
  • As the hands attack, Fort tries to stay with his father, but “the creature’s hand curled around him, rupturing the remains of the memorial as it descended back into the ground. . . the creature’s massive hand disappeared within the earth, and his father went silent.” The battle takes place over eight pages.
  • Dr. Opps goes to Fort’s house to tell him about the school. When Dr. Opps touches Fort’s aunt, she collapses on the floor. Fort tries to attack Dr. Opps, but “before he could strike, though, something burning hot slammed into his side, sending him crashing across the room into the opposite wall. . . Fort groaned, rubbing his head, then quickly moved his hands around to feel where he’d been hit, finding his shirt blackened and charred by whatever it was that had struck him.”
  • While in the cafeteria, a student put his hand on the metal table. “His hand began to glow. . . Fort didn’t realize what was happening until it was too late. His tray began to sizzle, turning white-hot with heat, and he yelped as it burned his hands.”
  • When Rachel sees three boys bullying Fort, she “flicked a finger, and a tiny magic missile slammed into the boy’s stomach, sending him crashing across the table, taking Fort’s burning-hot tray with him. He tumbled into the back wall as the soldiers nearby all leaped out of the way, their weapons now aimed at Rachel.”
  • A creature comes out of the ground and into the officer’s mess hall. The creature was “floating in midair. . . Whatever it was shimmered transparently, like a ghost or even a holographic projection. It wore some kind of opaque crystal armor, but beneath the armor, where a human being’s feet would have been, a multitude of tentacles squealed as they dragged across the floor.” A soldier tries to take Fort out of the room, but the creature turned to follow Fort. Then Dr. Opps “stepped between them, holding the same medallion he’d used on Fort’s aunt in her apartment. . . Dr. Opps shouted, and light shot out from the medallion, some sort of magical burst.” The medallion burst and the creature left. The scene is described over six pages.
  • Three bullies attack Fort in the dormitory. “Fort plowed into the boy, crashing them both to the ground. Blane landed hard, still surprised by the attack, and Fort punched him in the stomach, once, twice, a third time, rage overwhelming his mind. . . Someone yanked him backward, and he lashed out wildly but missed as Blaine rose unsteadily to his feet, one of his hands burning with a deep red flame.” One of the boys sets Fort’s shirt on fire. As the boys continue to threaten Fort, another boy “lunged forward, grabbing Blaine’s hand. The fire was extinguished, and the boy started to yell in pain as some sort of pustules begin to grow on his hand.” Chickenpox began popping up all over the boy’s body, ending the fight. The scene is described over four and a half pages.
  • The three bullies corner Fort. “Bryce’s hands pulsed with red energy, and Fort’s feet froze in place, ice forming on the ground around his boots.” Fort “swung his fist out wildly but only succeeded in almost falling over his stuck boots.” One of the boys sends a “magic missile slamming into Fort’s shoulder even as Fort tried to slap out the fire.” Eventually, a soldier stops the bullies.
  • Fort sees a memory of when Damian created a portal for the creatures to come through. Several students tried to stop the boy. A girl “slid toward Damian on the ground and threw a hand out to grab his ankle. Blue light began to glow from her hand, and the creature in the portal pulled back abruptly from Damian.” During the memory, Fort learned how the attack in Washington DC began. The memory is described over five pages.
  • Later Fort again sees the memory. “Damian stood in the middle of the room, his eyes wide, his mouth hanging open, as a creature out of a horror book floated in the air above him, its transparent and vaguely humanoid body covered in crystal armor, its tentacle fingers locked on Damien’s head. . .” The creature uses Damian to communicate with the humans.
  • When Fort sneaks into the room where the books are kept, a student sees him. The student “leaned forward and grabbed Fort by the shirt, dragging him inside, then threw him down the stairs toward the podium with the books.” The girl throws a fireball at Fort and “he leaped into its path and took the spell right in his chest. Fire exploded all over his torso and face, and he quickly dropped to the ground, rolling around to put it out, trying his best not to shriek in pain in spite of the agony he felt.” Fort uses a spell to lessen the pain.
  • Fort is found in a girl’s hospital room. When he tries to escape, “the colonel grabbed Fort’s arm as he passed, then yanked it behind Fort’s back painfully. Fort immediately stopped short, groaning in pain, as two guards ran into the room.” Two guards take Fort to the disciplinary barracks.
  • Back in the memory, Fort sees “Damian raised a hand and sent a magic missile flying into the doctor’s chest. Dr. Opps went flying, slamming into the nearest wall, groaning as he landed on the floor. Sierra immediately cast Mind Blast, sending it at the creature’s mind, but Damian waved his hand as if batting aside an annoying insect, and the spell seemed to have no effect.” A student, Michael, tried to get Damian to close the portal and threw a fireball. “With no way to protect himself against his own spell, Michael took the fireball right in the chest, letting out a piercing scream. His clothes on fire, he dropped to the floor, rolling to quench the flames, but the magical blaze refused to go out, and the boy continued to cry out in pain.” Michael dies.
  • In an epic end battle, the Old One tries to come to Earth through a portal. One of the creatures takes over Michael’s body. “The shadowy, half-transparent Old One from the officers’ mess pushed its way into Damian’s body, overlapping him completely. . . The boy’s hands and feet stretched out and split into a mass of tentacles, as did his teeth, now protruding from a skull-like helmet. And within seconds, where there had once been a human boy, now there was only an Old One, Damian’s body transformed by the creature into its own form. . . Tentacles exploded out from the Old One’s hand, piercing the two soldier’s minds. They screamed, their bodies shaking violently, only to abruptly go silent and stand up straight. And then they turned their weapons on Fort.”
  • During the battle, “a giant black claw exploded through the floor beneath him, throwing the bed against the nearby wall as a second and third finger rose up around him [Fort].” Fort uses a healing spell to hurt the creature. Fort “wanted the creature to feel pain, as much as or more than what it had put him through when it had taken his father. . . The giant monster roared in anguish as the finger Fort held began to wither away, the muscle dying and the bones crumbling beneath his hand. . . Wrapping one arm around a finger, Fort watched triumphantly as the creature wailed in agony, its head slamming back and forth against the cavern wall.” When the finger goes back through the portal, another creature attacks Fort. “The creature’s tentacles reached out to surround Fort’s head, but this time, they pushed into his ears, nose, and mouth. He tried to scream but couldn’t get any air. . .”
  • The creature is able to create a portal in the sky. The students work together to try to stop the Old One. “. . . Rachel, meanwhile, went to fire another magic missile, but before she could, the Old One thrust its tentacles down towards her. . . One slicked into Rachel’s leg, dropping her to the ground. . .” The students are able to close the portal and the creatures leave. The action takes place over 42 pages.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • A student calls Cyrus a “future turd.”
  • A student says most of the Destruction kids are “jerks.”
  • A student calls Fort an idiot and a jerk.

Supernatural

  • During the attack on Washington DC, someone tried to take control of Fort’s body. “Fort watched his actions helplessly, almost from a distance, like he was staring down at himself from the wrong end of a telescope.”
  • Dr. Opps has a silver medallion that allows him to speak to others “mind-to-mind.” This medallion allows Dr. Opps to show his memories to Fort.
  • In the past, books were found that “contained formulas. The formulas, when read out loud, unlock previously inaccessible powers within the human body.” The use of the books allows some characters to gain the power of destruction, the power of healing, or clairvoyance.
  • In order to find out which power Fort can access, he must read a spell from one of the books. When Fort says a destructive spell, “immediately, power flowed through his body and out of his hands, setting them aglow.” He only makes a small flash. When Fort reads a spell from the healing book, “Fort’s hands seemed to lower in temperature, and he felt some weirdly cold energy leave his fingers and pass into the man’s arm. . . the cut had disappeared.”
  • Kids who were born on the day that the books were found can read them. Those before that day cannot read the books.
  • A student explains healing magic to Fort. “Healing is restorative, meaning it restores something to an earlier state. If you think about it that way, reattaching a leg is just putting something back where it belongs. The magic. . . encourages the leg to become what it used to be, one complete bone.”
  • Fort uses an “Ethereal Spirit” spell on himself and other students. The spell turns their bodies “ghostlike” and allows them to walk through walls. When he uses the spell, “at first, the magic made each of them glow a bit, which wasn’t exactly the best for sneaking round. But gradually each of them grew more transparent until he could see right through the others, and the glow disappeared.”
  • Sometimes Fort can hear others’ thoughts.
  • Healers can heal disease as well as give some a disease. Someone gave Fort the flu, and another student healed him. The student ran her hands “over his head and chest, and the energy passed into his body, immediately curing him of the flu.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

The Unbelievable Oliver and the Four Jokers

Oliver wants to learn magic, but he’s struggling to master a simple card trick. Even though Oliver can’t perform a simple card trick, his two best friends the twins, Teenie and Bea, have gotten him invited to a classmate’s birthday party as the paid entertainment. Desperate for help, he visits the Great Zoocheeni’s Magic Emporium. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have enough money to pay for any new magic paraphernalia. Dejected, Oliver leaves with only a moth-eaten top hat.

Oliver is surprised when he finds a wisecracking rabbit named Benny living inside the top hat. Benny agrees to help Oliver wow the audience. Oliver reluctantly goes to the birthday party, but soon he’s accused of stealing one of the birthday boy’s gifts. Is there any way for Oliver to prove his innocence? And will Benny be able to help Oliver wow the crows with their grand finale?

The Unbelievable Oliver and the Four Jokers blends magic, mystery, and a group of mean boys to create an entertaining story. The large text, simple vocabulary, and the black and purple comic illustrations that appear on almost every page make the story accessible to all readers. The text explains the meaning of several words and idioms that readers may not understand. The story uses slapstick scenarios, some bathroom jokes, puns, and a worldly rabbit to create humor. Even though the story focuses on a group of mean boys who love to bully others, the tone is humorous instead of serious. Although Oliver prevails, the reader will not learn any positive lessons about the dangers of bullying.

Although the talking rabbit is funny, younger readers may not understand all of the humor. Benny’s speech is peppered with slang, idioms, and references to his Las Vegas days. The rabbit is running from gambling debts and fears that bounty hunters are after him. While hiding, the rabbit thinks, “Could he be blamed for betting all his money on a horse named Turnip Thunder? Turnip was his favorite root vegetable!” Even though Benny would like to skip town, he stays with Oliver to the very end.

Anyone who has ever felt left out will relate to Oliver. Readers will enjoy the fast-paced story, the funny illustrations, and the conclusion that leaves Oliver victorious. Although The Unbelievable Oliver and the Four Jokers doesn’t teach a moral lesson, it does gives directions on how to perform Oliver’s card trick. The story is perfect for readers who want to relax with a fun, entertaining mystery.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • A boy dumps trash over Oliver’s head.
  • The birthday party has an inflatable castle bounce house. Maddox didn’t want to play with Teenie, so he tells his friend to “get her out of here.” His friend “picked up Teenie and tossed her straight into the moat. She slid all around the castle and back to the entrance, where the other children had left their shoes.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Maddox calls Oliver a loser.
  • Darn is used once.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Lair of the Beast

Wily Snare spent most of his life below ground creating clever tricks to ensnare treasure-seekers. Once he escaped from the dungeon, he was able to befriend a group of adventurers. Stalag, the mage who once kept Wily locked away, wants revenge. He plans to build an army of stone soldiers and take over Wily’s kingdom.

Even though Wily has sworn to keep his kingdom safe, he isn’t prepared for the pressures that come with being a prince. In order to stop Stalag, Wily will need the help of all of his friends. They must travel to find an oracle, find passage into the Below, and fight frightening beasts. The only way that Wily and his friends will succeed is if they work together to quell a creature that is as big as a castle and more dangerous than the deadliest dungeon.

Wily Snare is an imperfect protagonist that genuinely cares about the people of his kingdom. Even though Wily knows how to be a great trapsmith, he has no idea how to be a good king. Wily is afraid of failure, but others remind him that “You don’t need to be perfect. You can’t get everything right. In fact, most things you will get wrong. And that’s okay. That’s part of life.” Despite his fears, Willy uses his brains to get out of difficult situations. Readers will be able to cheer for Wily as he fights beasts, guides his companions, and fights for his kingdom.

Snared: Lair of the Beast is the second book in a fantasy adventure series. Reading the first book in the series, Snared: Escape to the Above, is essential because most of the characters appear in the first book and the second installment does not explain important events that took place in book 1. Wily and his misfit treasure-seeking friends are interesting and are willing to face danger to help others. Even though Wily and his friends face many different types of magical creatures, the battle scenes are not scary. Readers will enjoy seeing how the oracle’s prophecy comes true, as well as how Wily uses his mind to defeat evil.

Advanced elementary and junior high readers will enjoy the quirky characters and the interesting monsters that Wily encounters. The story continually reinforces the idea that everyone makes mistakes. In the end, Wily doesn’t need to prove that he is perfect, he just needs to do the best that he can. Snared: Lair of the Beast is an entertaining fantasy that teaches a positive message about friendship, forgiveness, and perseverance.

Sexual Content

  • Someone sings the following song: “My sister kissed a troll down by the river. She thought that a kiss would break a cursed spell. But the troll was just a troll down by the river. Still, she married him and now they’re doing well.”

Violence

  • Wily and his companions enter an underground chamber. They meet a monster who shows them a map. “As he put his tiny eyes up to the etched map, Odette smashed him in the face with the back of the shield. The boarcus collapsed to the floor.”
  • When Wiley is stealing treasure, he “looked up to see faceless humanoids emerging from the slime around the small island on which he was standing. The bodies and outstretched arms dripped with viscous green ooze. One of the strange creatures lunged at Wily.” Wily and his companions run from the humanoids, because “legend says they can melt metal with a single touch.” As they run, they meet a quill grizzler, who “shot a series of sharp needles at the fleeing adventurers. . . the quill grizzler grabs Wily, who “felt the quill grizzler’s claws snap closed around him. The fanged bear lifted him off his feet and began to squeeze. The pressure was intense . . .” Wily and his companions are able to escape uninjured. The chase scene is described over seven pages.
  • Two golem’s try to capture Wily and his companions. When Moshul, a moss golem, charges, “the bearded stone golem swung his arm. The back of his hand struck Moshul in the chest. Wily watched as the moss golem was knocked to the ground as easily as a straw man. . . The bearded golem reached out and grabbed Moshul by the shoulder. He lifted him into the air and threw him—off the side of the mountain.” Moshul is not injured.
  • After Moshul is thrown off a mountain, “Pryvyd and Odette, both rage-filled, charged them. The quartz-fingered golem punched Pryvyd’s shield so hard that every metal spike that had been sticking out from it was snapped clean off. Pryvyd tumbled backward, his brass armor clattering and clanging.” Wily and his companions flee.
  • Slither trolls invade a town. “The slither troll was about to swing the rake at the terrified woman when Righteous flew across and blocked the blow with a sword.” In order to defeat the trolls, Wily creates a slingshot and his companions throw tomatoes. “The soft projectiles soared through the air and struck the trolls on their legs and bellies. The trolls both let out pained yelps. ‘Oh that burns!’ one screamed. ‘Ouch. Ouch. Ouchie.’” The trolls run away. The scene takes place over four pages.
  • A monsoonondom is a “giant furry beast with long tusks that spark like lightning bolts. Their footsteps churn the wind into a fury. A shake of their fur causes torrential downpours.” Wily and his companions flee from a monsoonondom, but before they get away “the powerful gusts blowing off the beast knocked her [Wily’s mother] off her feet and into a tree.” A group of animals and people made a barricade, but the monsoonondom “hit the moss golem straight in the back. Moshul was knocked off his feet and Roveeka went flying off his shoulders. But Moshul caught her in his mud hands before she struck the ground.” Wily’s mother is injured. The scene takes place over six pages.
  • Wily tries to quell a manticorn, which is a two-headed beast with six clawed legs. “it had the body and tail of a giant panther. . . One head resembled an eagle with a giant horn sticking out from between its eyes. The other looked as if it had been taken from a goat, except that it had dagger-sharp fangs where its teeth should be.” Wiley jumps on the manticorn’s back, and “the manticorn shook its back with such force that Wily went flying into a bolder on the edge of the Web’s jagged cliff. All the air went out of him, and when he was finally able to breathe again and looked up, the manticorn was practically on top of him.” Someone helps Wily, who is uninjured.
  • A group of people throws arrows at Moshul, the moss golem. “Pryvyd blocked one with his shield while Righteous plucked another from the air. Moshul was struck with four in his chest and a fifth in his arm. The moss golem stumbled backward. . .” When the group finds out that Moshul was not a stone golem, they stop shooting arrows.
  • While in an underground chamber, Wily and his companions see a mold-ogre. Wily “walked straight up to the mold-ogre and kicked one of its big hairy toes.” Wily discovers that the mold-ogre is not real.
  • When an elf tries to keep Wily and his friend Valor prisoners, “Valor seized the opportunity to give the haggard elf a kick to the stomach, sending her tumbling backward.” The two are able to escape.
  • While in the underground tunnels, Wily and his friend are attacked by “ants the size of wolves. . . They snapped their pincers as their antennae waved wildly in the air.” When Wily tries to escape, “the first group of ants skittered toward Wily, attempting to bite his legs and waist. Balor came to his defense, slicking the air with her wooden hand claws. Her right-hand blade slicked off the antennae of three of the ambush ants. With her other hand, she punched the head of a snapping ant.” When Valor smacks another ant, the “ants bit down on Valor’s ankle, breaking the skin. Wily grabbed a hammer from his tool belt and smashed the ant attacking Valor on the side of the head. The ant crumpled as another took its place.” Wily’s others companions find them and help defeat the ants. The ant battle is described over four pages.
  • In a battle against good and evil, two golems attack. Before they could hit anyone, “the lair beast swung its spiked tail in a wide arc. The ball at the end hit the quartz-gingered golem in the chest, sending chips of stone flying as he was knocked off his feet.” During the battle, a giant Infernal Golem appears. The lair beast “flapped toward the sun before diving, heading straight for the Infernal Golem. . . The Infernal Golem grabbed the lair beast by the tail, plucking it out of the air. Then, with what seemed like no little effort at all, he tossed the mighty lair beast back into the sky. . .” The golems are defeated when they sink in the mud, but no one else is injured. The battle is described over ten pages.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Someone calls a person an idiot.
  • Darn is used once.

Supernatural

  • A knight has an enchanted floating arm that helps him in battle.
  • People can create golems out of stone or earth and bring them alive by magic.
  • The group passes the Archway of Many Eyes; the archway has eyes that send an alert when it sees someone.
  • Someone cast a spell to make oglodyte minions look like children.
  • A levitating skull tells jokes.
  • Wily and his companions go to see the Oracle of Oak, who uses acorns to predict the future. When Wily asks her questions, she “swept her hand around a bowl of acorns, stirring them as if cooling a bowl of soup. She stared at the patterns that were forming.” The oracle makes predictions based on the patterns.
  • When inside a mountain, Wily sees a cavern mage who “lifted her frail hands and pointed at the mouth of the tunnel. Suddenly, a pair of giant spectral hands formed. They grabbed the rock walls and pulled them wider as easily as if the walls were made out of clay, adding several feet on either side.”
  • Someone cast a spell that makes a cave cricket grow until it was so big a man could ride it.

Spiritual Content

  • None

A Photo Journal Mission

Cyrus’s English teacher has given the class a photo journal assignment. Cyrus isn’t sure what to put in his journaling notebook. He and his friends head to the library and talk to the librarian Ms. Gillian. In order to help Cyrus figure out what to put in his notebook, Ms. Gillian takes him and his classmates into the past to meet two historical figures that used different methods of creating notebooks that documented their area of study. When Cyrus returns to school, he uses what he learned to begin his own notebook.

A Photo Journal Mission, which is a graphic novel, features Cyrus who isn’t afraid to ask for help on a difficult assignment. The diverse cast of characters jump back into time and meet John Audubon who wrote about birds. Audubon explains how he studied nature and wrote about it in a scientific journal. Audubon explains the importance of pairing illustrations with observations. After speaking with Audubon, the group meets an English botanist Anna Atkins, who was the first person to use photographs in a book. Atkins shows how she used photosensitive paper to create her images.

The story has a lot of positive aspects—it teaches vocabulary, introduces historical figures, and has wonderful illustrations. Each page contains six or fewer easy-to-read sentences, and the plot moves at a fast pace. For those who want to learn more about keeping a research journal, the book includes a list of further resources. The full-color drawings are interesting, detailed, and have both white text bubbles that show characters’ dialogue as well as black boxes for the narration. Words that readers may be unfamiliar with are in bold text, with a glossary in the back of the book. The back of the book also contains directions for making a photo journal.

Because the story is so short and the characters and the plot are not well developed, more advanced readers will quickly become bored with the Adventures in Makerspace series. However, for readers who are just transitioning to chapter books or are reluctant readers, A Photo Journal Mission will give them a simple, entertaining story that will help them build reading skills.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • When the librarian opens a book of Birds of America, the librarian and the students poof and enter the past.

Spiritual Content

  • None

A Tale Dark & Grimm

Hansel and Gretel were once children who had to run away from their own scary story, but when they flee, they find eight other scary fairy tales that they must endure. As the children run, they encounter witches and warlocks, hunters with deadly aim, and a baker with ovens that are just right for baking children. . .

Gidwitz retells the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel, plus expertly weaves pieces of other fairy tales into Hansel’s and Gretel’s story. Like the title suggests, Gidwitz’s version of Hansel and Gretel is both dark and grim. Many scenes are described in bloody detail, and there is no shortage of scary characters, including an evil witch, the moon, and the Devil. Parents and many adults are portrayed in a negative light, which is the main reason Hansel and Gretel continue to run away. They just can’t seem to find a family that has caring parents.

A Tale of Dark and Grimm describes a world full of terrible monsters, evil humans, and violent death. Readers who enjoy being frightened will want to jump into Hansel and Gretel’s fairy tale story. However, younger readers may be so frightened that they will crawl into their parents’ beds for many nights to come. This unique look at Hansel and Gretel will give readers a better understanding of the original fairy tales as well as add some surprising twists.

In the story, Johannes, a faithful servant, explains the importance of understanding others. He understood the king and queen in the “ancient sense. I understood. . . I planted my feet beneath them and took upon my shoulders their burden—their choice, their mistake, and their pain.” The story highlights the importance of forgiveness, but also acknowledges that a person may not be ready to forgive.

Throughout the story, the narrator breaks in and warns the reader about parts that may be upsetting. For example, Gidwitz writes, “if you’re feeling sick to your stomach because of all the blood, now’s a great time to stop.” The narrator’s voice adds humor as well as breaks up tense scenes. A Tale of Dark and Grimm is broken up into short, easy-to-read sections. A Tale of Dark and Grimm is highly entertaining, frightening, and at times humorous. Readers looking for a scary story will enjoy the Hansel and Gretel retelling and will cheer when the two children are able to defeat evil and finally return home.

Sexual Content

  • The king sees his servant, Johannes, bent over the unconscious queen, “and with his two rotten teeth, bit her lip until he drew blood. Then ever so tenderly, the unhandsome man sucked three drops of blood from her lips with his mouth.” Johannes did this because a prophecy told him it was the only way to save the queen’s life, but the king didn’t know this and sentences Johannes to death.

Violence

  • Johannes kills a horse because of a prophecy. Before the king could mount the horse, “Johannes slipped onto its back, drew a blade, and cut the horse’s throat, soaking its silken coat with warm, red blood. It collapsed to the ground in a heap.”
  • The king sentences Johannes to death. “The executioner lit his torch and brought it to the pyre, its sparks leaping eagerly at the dry timer. . .” Before the king can kill Johannes, Johannes reveals the prophecy and “when he had, he turned to stone, from the core of his heart to the top of his head. And he died.”
  • The king “beckoned Hansel and Gretel to his side, drew a sword from its place on the wall, and cut off their heads. Their lifeless bodies dropped to the floor.”
  • A woman tries to cook Hansel. She puts him in the oven. “He was cooking. And he did smell just like a chocolate cake, because he had eaten so much of it since coming to the baker woman’s house.” Hansel tricks the woman into coming into the oven, and he is able to escape and lock the woman inside. “The baker woman began to sweat more. Her face was burning.” Hansel ignores her pleas and leaves with his sister.
  • In order to open a door, Gretel “picked up a sliver of ice, as sharp as a knife, and brought it down on her middle finger, severing it from her hand. . . Gretel’s face was white and her voice trembled. . . She was bleeding swiftly from where the finger used to be, but she stood and walked, resolute and grim, to the door of the mountain.” She uses her finger to open the door.
  • While living in the wild, Hansel acts like a wild beast. One day after killing a dove, he returned home. “Blood covered his arms and his face, and he carried in his hands the broken, eviscerated carcass of the white dove. . . Then he looked down at the dead bird. He noticed that his arms were covered in blood, and his shirt was stained with a mix of blood and berry juice.”
  • A hunter sees Hansel, who looks like an animal-boy. The two stare at each other, and “there was a snap and a hiss like a snake. An arrow flew through the air—a straight, simple harbinger of death. Hansel watched it all the way to his chest, to exactly where his heart was. It buried itself there. He felt a searing bolt of pain and fell to the forest floor.” The hunter takes the beast-boy to town. “The huntsmen dug their knives into the beast’s skin just below the jaw and began to run their blades between the fur and flesh. Their hunting knives shone red as clumps of meat and animal hair stuck to their blades. . .” When they peel the skin back, they discover, “The blood-soaked form of a boy.” Gretel was freed from the body and given to a lord and a lady to care for.
  • A man was playfully throwing Gretel in the air, when she hit a branch. “She cried out in pain. When he lowered her to the ground, red blood was running in a narrow rivulet down her face. Her forehead had struck the branch and left a deep cut just above the eyebrow. She was having trouble seeing out of her left eye through the steady stream of blood. . .” Gretel meets a man who, “Invites girls to his house, and he reaches down their throats and rips their souls from their bodies, and he traps the souls in cages in the form of doves, to let them rot under his eaves. Then he hacks the girls’ bodies to pieces to make our supper.” She watches as the man, “threw the girl on the oaken table, and from a nearby cupboard produced a filthy iron cage. Then he reached his hand into the girl’s mouth until his arm was buried deep in her throat. Slowly, painfully, and with great struggle from the girl, he pulled forth a beautiful white dove. . .” Gretel watched the man “hack the girl’s body into bits and toss each piece in the boiling cauldron. The blunt butcher’s knife rose and fell, rose and fell. He licked the blood from his hands and sent piece after piece sailing into the pot.”
  • When Gretel tells the towns folk about a murder, “the young man leaped from his chair and began to chant the words of a dark curse, but before he could finish someone came up behind him and knocked him unconscious with a tray of sausages.”
  • A dragon attacks a village. “At the end of that first day, one town was utterly gone, and hundreds and hundreds of people were dead.”
  • The dragon comes back and attacks. “Its mouth opened wide and snapped down on a woman with a bow. She hadn’t even moved to defend herself. There hadn’t been time.” The dragon drinks wine that Hansel and Gretel left for him. When the dragon is drunk, Gretel hit it with an ax. “The dragon screamed. . . It pierced Gretel’s head like a spear.” The dragon chases Gretel, who scurries up a tree. “The dragon flew closer to Gretel. It snapped at her feet. Gretel could smell its hot, horrible breath; see the blood and the foam mingling between its long, sharp teeth; hear the beating of its enormous heart out of time with the beat of its enormous wings.” During a chase, Gretel “plunged the dagger into the dragon’s neck with all her might.” The dragon scene, which includes descriptions of the dead bodies, is described over 15 pages.
  • Gretel discovers that her father was the dragon, and chops off his head. “Hansel’s sword took off their father’s head at the neck and sent it rolling across the floor and into a corner of the room. The king’s headless body fell on top of Gretel.” A baby dragon climbs out of the king’s body, and “Hansel flung himself at it, striking its skeletal body with his sword. One furious blow broke its back. The next decapitated it completely. . . He raised the sword and brought it down again and again and again, until the evil little creature was nothing more than a mess of black, pulpy pieces on the floor.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Gretel sees a man who “Stood with the other men, drinking beer from a great mug and laughing about this and that.”
  • A lord had a secret weakness—gambling. “At night, he would sneak out of the house and go to alehouses to gamble.”
  • A village gives Hansel a gift—a cart filled with barrels of wine.

Language

  • A raven said, “good god, that’s terrible!”
  • The devil uses hell as a curse word three times. For example, when the Devil loses his glasses he asks, “Where the hell did I put them?” Another time Hansel, disguised as the Devil’s grandmother, pulls out a strand of the Devil’s hair. The Devil yells, “What in hell was that?”
  • The Devil yells at his grandmother, “Damn it, Grandmother! Can you stop your infernal singing for one bloody instant?”

Supernatural

  • Johannes’s stone statue tells the king how to save him. Johannes says, “You must cut off the heads of your children, and smear my statue with their blood. And then, and only then, will I return to life.”
  • After the king smeared Johannes’s statue with blood, Johannes came alive. Then he, “placed little Hansel’s head back on his body, and little Gretel’s head on hers, and instantly they began to leap and play as if nothing had happened, and as if they were not covered in blood.”
  • A man is upset with his sons and wishes “they would all just turn into birds and fly away” and they do. Later, they turn back into boys and return home.
  • When Hansel is injured, a man uses a piece of magical twine to heal the wound. He took the twine, and “wrapped it around her head, so that it ran crosswise over the cut. . . And when he took the twine away and wiped the blood form Gretel’s face, she saw that the bleeding had stopped and that her head no longer hurt at all.” Later in the story Gretel uses the twine to heal someone else.
  • Hansel travels to hell and jumps into the fire. “Pain. Greater pain than he could have imagined. Burning so terrible and unnatural that every inch of Hansel’s body screamed to get out of the fire. . .”
  • The moon is alive and likes to eat children.

Spiritual Content

  • The queen goes to church to pray. When she goes back to the castle, she told the king, “I can barely pray. I think only of Johannes and how we killed him.” After the queen agrees to kill their children, the king exclaimed, “Thank God you said that!”
  • When Hansel and Gretel meet a woman who lives in a candy house and feeds them well, Hansel asks, “Do you think this is Heaven?” Gretel replies, “It must be Heaven.”
  • A lord gambles with the devil. “If you gambled away to the devil. . . you are damned to excruciating pain for all eternity, no matter what you do, no matter how good you are, or how many times you ask, ‘Please pretty please with a cherry on top?’ the Devil will never, ever, let you out.”
  • When a dragon attacks a village, a woman says, “My priest said it was once a man, but now he’s possessed by a dragon-spirit.”
  • After the dragon attacks, the queen sees Hansel and Gretel. She runs to them and says, “Oh, thank God you’re safe!”
  • The queen goes to the church to pray. When she returns, she tells her children, “Oh, I can barely pray. I think only of the dragon, and of our poor kingdom.”

 

 Rogue Wave

Four thousand years ago an ancient evil destroyed Atlantis. This evil is stirring again, and it will take six mermaids—Serafina, Neela, Ling, Ava, Becca, and Astrid—to defeat it. The mermaids are descendants of the Six Who Ruled—powerful mages who once governed Atlantis. In order to defeat this evil, the mermaids must find the magical talismans that belonged to the six.

Serafina mourns the loss of her betrothed—the traitor who is working for the man who destroyed her realm. But Serafina doesn’t have time to mourn; she must research the location of the talisman and discover its hidden location before anyone else can. While following leads, she must avoid death riders, who have been ordered to capture her.

Neela travels to her home realm, Matali, to warn her parents of the impending danger. However, her parents don’t believe her outlandish story and confine her to her chamber so she can rest and recover. Neela needs to escape so she can find a talisman, which is in the possession of the fierce razor mouth dragons. As they hunt for the talismans, both Serafina and Neela need to rely on courage, cunning, and their allies. Can they endure danger, defeat death, and discover the secret locations of the talismans?

Rogue Wave, the second book in the Waterfire Saga, is full of action, intrigue, and a hint of romance. Even though the first book, Deep Blue, focuses on bringing the six mermaids together, none of the mermaids work together in the second book. Instead, Rogue Wave jumps back and forth between Serafina and Neela, as they both look for a talisman. Often one mermaid’s experience would end with a cliffhanger, and then jump to the other mermaid’s story.

Despite the interesting mermaid world, many of the events were extremely unrealistic. One minute Serafina is a strong, brave girl ready to face down evil, and the next minute, she makes rash decisions that make no sense. Instead of connecting with Serafina, some readers may find the whinny, impulsive mermaid hard to relate to. On the other hand, many readers will relate to Neela, who tries to cope with difficulties with eating sweets. Neela’s parents are more concerned with Neela’s appearance than anything else. Neela has been taught that as royalty, she must always look pretty wearing jewels. Readers will root for Neela as she tries to break out of her parents’ mold.

Rogue Wave continues the intrigue that began in book one. As Serafina travels looking for the talisman, she meets an interesting Spanish princess and is reunited with her betrothed. Serafina hopes to defeat evil and help her realm; however, she is unwilling to accept the obvious and naively ignores clues that prove some people plotted against her mother. Younger readers may enjoy the mermaid world and the intrigue, but more advanced readers will have a difficult time believing Serafina can become a strong leader. The conclusion of Rogue Wave reveals an important plot twist, and readers will want to read the third book in the series, Dark Tide, to discover how the other mermaids fit into the complicated plan of saving the mermaid realm.

Sexual Content

  • As part of a disguise, Serafina uses a spell to give her an enormous bosom. Serafina complained, “It looks like I have two sea mounts stuck on the front of me. . . All I can see is my chest.” Her friend says the goal is to make the soldiers focus on her bosom, “not the face.”
  • Mahdi and Serafina kiss. “And then she was in his arms and his lips were on hers, silently telling her who he was. Hers. Always. And for a moment there was no safe house, no danger, no grief. All she knew was the heat of his kiss and the feel of his heart beating under her hand.”
  • The ghost of a Spanish princess tells Serafina about a pirate trying to capture her. The ghost says, “I vowed I would not be taken. I was a princess of Spain, meant to be wife to a French prince, not a wench to warm a pirate’s bed.”
  • Mahdi tells Serafina that he has kissed another girl but that it meant nothing.
  • Serafina and Mahdi get married, and Mahdi “cupped Sera’s face in his hands and kissed her, and Sera kissed him back, forgetting there were others nearby.”
  • After Sera and Mahdi are married, as part of his secrete identity, he becomes betrothed to another.

Violence

  • Serafina goes to Atlantis, where the Opafango live. Someone warns her, “The Opafango eat their victims alive. . . while their hearts are still beating and their blood’s still pumping.”
  • Serafina ties a man up.
  • When a soldier comes into a room, Serafina threw a dagger at him. His arm was “immobilized because her dagger had pinned his sleeve to the door.” The soldier is uninjured.
  • A villain tortures people to get information. “Four days ago, he cut a finger off a child—a child, Sera—to make her mother tell him where her father was hiding. I saw him do it.”
  • Someone tells Serafina about the raids that have been taking place. “Some of the villagers must’ve tried to fight. There were bloodstains on the wall and floors of the houses. They scribbled notes and left them behind. Please tell my wife . . . Please help us . . . They’ve got my children. . .”
  • Death riders attack a safe house. Serafina uses a spell and “the explosion was instantaneous. The concussive force was so great, it shook the ground. . . she heard the impact of debris as it was flung against the iron and the bubbling and hissing of lava.” Someone tells her, “No one could survive a blast like that.” The scene takes place over two chapters. Most of the scene is running from the death riders.
  • Someone captures Serafina in a net, but lets her go when they discover she is one of them.
  • Someone tells Serafina about a man’s experiences with soldiers. “Traho’s soldiers beat him so badly, he lost consciousness. They left him for dead.” Someone found the man and took him to safety, but the soldiers “were rounding everyone up. . . My dad tried to fight them off, but they beat him up.”
  • The ghost of a Spanish princess explains how she died. A pirate “locked me in my cabin. He boarded his ship and gave orders to bombard my vessel. . . I can still hear the cannon shot. I can smell the gunpowder. I faced death bravely, as a princess of Spain must. . . Drowning is not an easy death.”
  • Neela and several others try to take a moonstone from a dragon’s nest. A baby dragon clawed her. “A swipe of pain across her back, sudden and blinding, made her scream. She dropped the moonstone. . . Blood rose from the jagged tears in Neela’s skin, curling through the water.” When Neela and the others try to leave the dragon’s lair, a baby dragon screeches and the father comes after them. The dragon knocks a girl down and “was advancing on her now, lashing his tail, baring his horrible teeth.” The group flees, and when the dragons follow, the mermaids lead dragons to a bloom of jellyfish. The scene takes place over 7 pages.
  • A woman “nodded at two of her guards and they sized the grand vizier. She drew a crimson-tipped finger across her throat and they dragged him away.”
  • During the introduction of the new regime, goblins patrol the crowds. A merman was “cheering halfheartedly. A goblin noticed, and punched him.”A human captures a mermaid and wants information. “His right hand was bloodied. Across from him was a mermaid bound to a chair with a rope. Blood dripped off her chin. Her head lolled on her chest. . . The mermaid lifted her head and spat out a mouthful of blood. Her lip was split. One of her eyes was swollen shut.” The man tells her, “I’d like to kill you, I’d like that very much. . . Unfortunately, I can’t. You’re valuable to me and you know it.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Serafina uses a potion to put a group of men to sleep.
  • Mahdi tells Seraphina about his partying and playing a beer game.

Language

  • Someone calls Serafina an “idiot girl.”
  • Serafina calls a man a “lumpsucker.”
  • Several times, someone is referred to as “sea scum.”
  • “My gods” is used as an exclamation several times.
  • Hell is used twice. Someone tells Serafina death riders are coming and to “Get the hell out of here.”
  • A death rider calls his companion a “dumbwrasse.”

Supernatural

  • Some mermaids have magic. “Magic depended on so many things—the depth of one’s gift, experience, dedication, the position of the moon, the rhythm of the tides, the proximity of whales. It didn’t settle until one was fully grown.”
  • Serafina and several other mermaids cast a bloodbind spell, which required them to mix their blood. The mermaids now share each other’s powers. For example, Serafina can now understand other ocean creatures’ languages.
  • Some ghosts live in mirrors. An unknown evil man tries to use the mirror to get to Serafina. He watches Serafina through a mirror, but “Long, jagged cracks, running through the glass like a network of veins, held him back now. The spaces between the cracks were too small to fit his body through but large enough for his hand. Slowly, silently, they pushed through the mirror, hovering only inches from the mermaid. It would be so easy to wrap them around her slender neck and end what the Iele had started. But, no, the man thought, drawing back.”
  • The ghosts, vitrine, that live in mirrors “stayed within the bounds of their own mirrors; others wandered through the realm. Some spoke to the living, others refused to. There was, however, one all were bound by: when a vitrina’s own mirror was broken, the soul was released from the glass.”
  • While in the mirror realm, Serafina meets Rorrim, who feeds off of dankling. Rorrim explains, “It’s a little piece of fear. They burrow into backbones. A few of them will infest a nice strong spine, and then as the bones weaken, more come. . . There’s nothing, absolutely nothing, as tasty as fear. Doubt is delectable, of course. Insecurities, anxieties—all delicious, but fear? Oh, fear is exquisite!”
  • Serafina uses a bloodsong, and “even after four thousand years, the blood came to life under Sera’s hand. It brightened as if newly spilled, then spun up from the floor in a violent crimson vortex. The mermaids heard a voice. And then another. And more. Until there were dozens of them. Screaming. Sobbing. Pleading. Shrieking.”
  • In order to create an escape route, Serafina uses a vortex spell to make pikes burst.
  • Several times throughout the story mermaids use transparensea pearls. “The songspell of invisibility used shadow and light and was notoriously difficult to cast. Spellbinders—highly skilled artisans—knew how to insert the spell into pearls that a mermaid could carry with her and deploy in an instant.”
  • Serafina meets the ghost of a Spanish princess. Serafina agrees to take the princess back to Spain. The princess took Serafina’s hand “and Serafina arched her back, gasping. It was as if the ghost had reached inside her and wrapped a cold hand around her heart.” When the princess got to an island off of Spain, “Her body glittered now, became a million points of silver light, and then crumbled into a fine, shimmering dust. As Serafina watched, the warm Spanish winds swept her away, until all that remained was the echo of her laughter.” However, Serafina was exhausted because “the ghost had taken too much from her.” Serafina’s friends find her and help her recover.
  • Orfeo appears even though he has been dead for four thousand years.

Spiritual Content

  • Morsa, the scavenger goddess of the dead, can change forms and practices necromancy, “the forbidden art of conjuring the dead.”
  • When someone dies, a priest places a white pearl under the person’s tongue to catch the soul as it left the body. Horok—the ancient coelacanth, the Keeper of the Soul—would take the pearl and carry it to the underworld.
  • When Orfeo’s wife died, he built a temple for Morsa and summoned the goddess. Morsa gave Orfeo power, and he sacrificed people for Morsa. At first, he sacrificed “those without families in Atlantis, those who wouldn’t be missed. Then he came for us. He came at night. . . Orfeo gave her death, and in return, she gave him her forbidden knowledge. It made him so powerful that he created Abbadon and declared he would use the monster to march on the underworld” and take his wife back.
  • When Neela finds a sweet, she says, “Oh, thank gods!”

Deep Blue

Serafina has always known that she will eventually rule her nation, located deep in the Mediterranean Sea. She needs to prepare for her Dokimí, when she will be introduced to the Mer people as their future ruler and will announce her future husband. But rather than worrying about her Dokimí, Serafina is obsessed with the strange dreams of sea witches that have been haunting her.

Everything changes when, during her Dokimí, a poisoned assassin’s arrow strikes her mother, and her father is killed. Now, Serafina must embark on a quest to find the assassin’s master and prevent a war between the Mer nations. Along the way, Seraphina will meet five other mermaids; will the six mermaids be able to discover who is behind the conspiracy that threatens the Mer world?

Many readers will pick up Deep Blue because of the beautiful cover image of a mermaid; however, the story is not as intriguing as the cover photo. The mermaid world has a complicated history and a confusing number of characters (both gods, humans, and mermaids). Much of the mermaid world is mundanely similar to the human world and there are overly long descriptions of clothing. Another negative aspect of the story is the main character Serafina, as her character is inconsistent. In some scenes, she is fearful and runs from danger. Other times Serafina shows bravery, but that bravery makes her make stupid choices that endanger others. Serafina never takes the advice of more knowledgeable mermaids, even when she should.

Throughout the story, six mermaids must meet and make it to the sea witches’ lair. The six mermaids eventually find each other; however, readers will question how the mermaids come together at exactly the right landmarks that lead to the witches’ lair. The action slows down considerably as the characters talk about the history of the mermaids and much of the dialogue feels stilted.

In the end, Deep Blue is a typical story about a beautiful princess who loses everything including her parents. She takes a difficult journey, which teaches her some important lessons. Serafina must learn not to believe other people’s cruel remarks and that everyone makes mistakes. She also must overcome fear. Vrăja tells her, “You fear you will fail at the very thing you were born for. And your fear torments you, so you try to swim away from it. Instead of shunning your fear, you must let it speak and listen carefully to what it’s trying to tell you. It will give you good counsel.”

Even though the story has some positive messages, Deep Blue will leave readers slightly confused, disappointed, and wondering why anyone would want the whiny Serafina to rule their realm. Readers looking for a good mermaid book may want to try Atlantia by Ally Condie instead.

Sexual Content

  • Serafina overhears a conversation about her fiancé’s girlfriends.
  • When a mean girl tells Serafina that her fiancé has a girlfriend, Serafina says she isn’t upset because “I just hope she’s done a good job with him. Taught him a few dance strokes or how to send a proper love conch. Someone has to. Merboys are like hippokamps, don’t you think? No fun until they’re broken in.”
  • Serafina thinks back to when her fiancé kissed her. “It was lovely, that kiss. Slow and sweet.”
  • She finds her fiancé and one of his friends “lying on their backs. Mahdi had a purple scarf tied around his head and a smudged lipstick kisses on his cheek. . .” Someone had drawn a lipstick smiley face on Mahdi’s friend.
  • A merboy says that “Merl’s so hot, she melts my face off.”
  • Three human girls continue to fight over a boy, even though the girls are dead. Someone explains, “Must be something irresistible about rivers to sad girls. They just have to throw themselves into them. I’ve seen a lot of river ghosts.”

Violence

  • A man grabs an eel and “bit into it. The creature writhed in agony. Its blood dripped down his chin. He swallowed the eel. . .”
  • In the past “Kalumnus had tried to assassinate Merrow and rule in her stead. He’d been captured and beheaded, and his family banished.”
  • During a ceremony, men attack. An arrow “came hurling through the water and lodged in her mother’s chest. . . Her mother’s chest was heaving; the arrow was moving with every breath she took. It had shattered her breastplate and pierced her left side. Isabella touched her fingers to her wound. They came away crimson. . . The assassin, barely visible in the dark waters, fired. The arrow buried itself in Bastian’s chest. He was dead by the time his body hit the seafloor.” Both of Serafina’s parents are killed as well as many merfolk.
  • As the invaders try to capture Serafina, they blow up a wall. Serafina “looked up, still dazed, just in time to see a large chunk of the stateroom’s east wall come crashing down. Courtiers screamed as they rushed to get out of the way. Some didn’t make it and were crushed by falling stones. Others were engulfed by flames ignited by lava pouring from broken heating pipes buried inside the wall.” Serafina is able to run away.
  • The invaders use a dragon in their attack. “The dragon bashed her head against the palace wall and another large chunk of it fell in . . . the dragon knocked more of the wall down. The creature pulled her head out of the hole she’d made, and dozens of soldiers, all clad in black, swam inside. The leader pointed toward the throne . . . Arrows came through the water . . . Isabella spotted a dagger next to the corpse of a fallen Janiҫari. She conjured a vortex in the water, and sent the knife hurtling at the invaders’ leader. The dagger hit home, knocking him to the floor.” The Janiҫari “gurgled, drowning in his own blood.”
  • When Serafina and her friend were hiding in a cave, a merman appeared demanding “rent for staying in his cave. He signaled to the morays. They swam to the mermaids and began divesting them of their jewelry. . . One of the eels had dropped the necklace he’d taken from Serafina and had thrust his head down the front of her gown to retrieve it. Sera, lashing her tail furiously, caught another eel with her fins, and sent him spinning into a wall. He hit the stone hard and fell to the cave’s floor, motionless. The other eels were on her immediately, snarling. Tiberius sank his teeth into her tail fin. Sera screamed again, and tried to pull away.” The mermaids are sold to soldiers.
  • Soldiers capture Serafina and her friend. “They shackled Serafina’s wrists with iron cuffs and blindfolded her. They forced an iron gag into her mouth and wrapped a net around her. Then, one of the soldiers slung her over the back of his hippokamp and rode fast. . . The ride was agony. The net’s filament bit into Sera’s skin. The gag, with its bitter taste of metal, made her retch.” When they arrive at their destination, Serafina and her friend are put in prison with another mermaid. “Her face was bruised. She held her manacled hands close to her chest. Blood swirled above them, pulsing from the stump of bone where her left thumb used to be.”
  • While in prison, Serafina and her friends are immobilized with a metal collar that is padlocked to the wall. Serafina sees her friend, who was “chained to another pole only a few feet away. Her eye was swollen and bruised. Her skin was a sickly gray-blue.”
  • A merman frees Serafina and her friends from prison. During the break-out, “the guard’s throat had been cut. He was arching his back, flailing his tail. His eyes, pleading and desperate, found Sera’s. She gasped and backed away.”
  • While Serafina and her friend are hiding out, men appear and try to capture them. A man points a spear gun at Serafina. “Luckily, the duca lunged at the man and grabbed his arm. The gun went off. Trailing a thin nylon line, the spear hit a wall and fell into the water. . . the duca threw a punch at him, but he deflected it, grabbed the duca, and hurled him against a wall. The duca crashed to the floor, motionless.” Two mako sharks are mortally wounded. A merman who was helping Serafina was shot with a spear gun. The speargun hit “with a sickening thunk and exited his body under his collarbone. His attacker yanked on the line attached to the spear, pulling the cruel, barbed head into his flesh.” Later Serafina learns that several were killed during the fight. The scene takes place over five pages.
  • When Serafina enters the mirror realm, Rorrim tries to keep her there. When Serafina tries to leave, “He grabbed her hair and yanked her back. The pain was electric. She screamed and tried to pull away, but he only tightened his grip.” Serafina cuts off her hair and is able to escape.
  • Serafina’s friend, Ling, gets caught in a fishing net. When she is caught, Seraphina sees Ling’s “eyes wild with terror, mouth open in a scream.” Ling’s friends are able to free her.
  • As Serafina and her friends are traveling, they see “on the seabed below, maybe twenty feet off the ship’s port side, were bodies. At least a dozen of them. . . They were dead. Some were lying on their backs, others facedown. Some had the kind of open, gaping wounds that were made by a spear gun. Others had bruises on their faces.”
  • When Serafina sat against a tree, “she was jerked against the tree roots. She heard a snarl and smelled a gut-wrenching stench. She screamed and tried to pull away, but was pulled back.” Serafina’s friend took out her blade. “The blade came down to the right of Sera’s head. An instant later, she was free. . . and a human arm was lying on the ground. She whirled around to see what had attacked her. It was a terragogg. Or what was left of him. He was dead . . .” Someone had used forbidden magic to “reanimate the human dead and make them do their bidding.”
  • Three river witches are in a circle, casting a spell to keep a monster in his cage. “Blood streaked the lips of one, and dripped from the nose of another. Bruises mottled the face of a third. Sera could see that the magic cost them dearly. . .the monster grabbed the witch by her throat. She screamed in pain as its nails dug into her flesh. It jerked her forward, breaking her grip on the incanti at either side of her. The waterfire went out.” Serafina and her friends try to help the witches. “With a warrior’s roar, she (Astrid) swung her sword at the monster, the muscles in her strong arms rippling. The blade came down on one of its outstretched arms and cut off a hand. The monster shrieked in pain and fled into the depths of its prison.” The scene takes place over five pages.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Serafina’s fiance, Mahdi, is rumored to be a party boy.

Language

  • “Good gods” and “Oh gods” are used as an exclamation several times throughout the book.
  • The villain and his soldiers are often referred to as sea scum.

Supernatural

  • Some mermaids have magic. “Magic depended on so many things—the depth of one’s gift, experience, dedication, the position of the moon, the rhythm of the tides, the proximity of whales. It didn’t settle until one was fully grown.”
  • Magic is used throughout the story. One spell is a vello spell. The mermaid said, “Waters blue, Hear me cast, Rise behind us, Make us fast!”
  • The story has several human ghost that live inside mirrors. “Ghosts lived inside it—vitrina—souls of beautiful, vain humans who’d spent too much time gazing into it. The mirror had captured them. Their bodies had withered and died, but their spirits lived on, trapped behind the glass forever.”
  • A witch uses a mirror to beckon Serafina. When Serafina looks at the mirror, she raised her hand slowly, as if in a trance.” Someone else enters the mirror, and the witch leaves.
  • Serafina and other mermaids can use songspells. “Canta mirus was a demanding type of magic that called for a powerful voice and a great deal of ability. . . Mirus casters could bind light, wind, water, and sound. The best could embellish existing songspells or create new ones.”
  • A mermaid can cast a bloodsong which shows someone else their memories. When a mermaid causes herself to bleed, “the crimson swirled through the water like smoke in the air, then coalesced into images. As it did, Serafina saw the bloodsong—the memories that lived in her teacher’s heart.”
  • Several times throughout the story mermaids use transparensea pearls. “The songspell of invisibility used shadow and light and was notoriously difficult to cast. Spellbinders—highly skilled artisans—knew how to insert the spell into pearls that a mermaid could carry with her and deploy in an instant.”
  • In order to help Serafina and her friend escape, a mermaid uses magic. “She pulled wind down into the water and spiraled giant vortexes one after another, until she’d raised a wall of spinning typhoons. She was no longer a mere mermaid. She was a storm system, a category five. And she was bearing down on the enemy.”
  • In order to escape, Serafina and her friend go through a mirror, where thousands of ghosts live. Many of the ghosts in the mirror realm are lifeless because they, “craved admiration. They become listless without it.” While in the mirror realm, Serafina meets Rorrim, who feeds off of dankling. Rorrim explains, “It’s a little piece of fear. They burrow into backbones. A few of them will infest a nice strong spine, and then as the bones weaken, more come. . . There’s nothing, absolutely nothing as tasty as fear. Doubt is delectable, of course. Insecurities, anxieties—all delicious, but fear? Oh, fear is exquisite!”
  • One mermaid was omnivoxa and could speak and understand any language.
  • A river witch uses a bloodsong to show Atlantis being destroyed. “People ran shrieking through the streets of Elysia, the capital, as the ground trembled and buildings fell around them. Bodies were everywhere. Smoke and ash filled the air. Lava flowed down a flight of stone steps. A child, too small to walk, sat at the bottom of them, screaming in terror, her mother dead beside her.” The story is retold over four pages.
  • The sea witches teach Serafina and her companions magic. One mermaid cast a spell trying to make waterfire. “Whirl around me/Like a gyre, /This I ask you, /Ancient fire. /Hot blue flames, /Throw your heat, /Cause my enemy/To retreat.”
  • One of the mermaids has the power of prophecy and sees visions of the future.
  • Serafina and her companions perform darksong. “Canta malus was said to have been a poisonous gift to the mer from Morsa, in mockery of Neria’s gifts. The invocation of the malus spells could get the caster imprisoned: the clepio spells, used for stealing; a habeo, which took control of another’s mind or body; the nocérus, used to cause harm; and the nex songspell which was used to kill.” A bloodbind is forever and if a mer breaks it, they die. The mermaids perform the bloodbind. The girls cut themselves and share their blood. “As the last notes of the songspell rose, the blood of all five mermaids spiraled together into a crimson helix and wrapped itself around their hands. Like the sea pulling the tide back to itself, their flesh summoned the blood’s return. It came, flowing back through the waters, back through the wounds. The slashed edges of their palms closed and healed.” The spell is described over four pages.
  • A witch tells the mermaids about silverfish who live in the mirror realm. “Tell it where you need to go, and it will take you.”

Spiritual Content

  • A witch, who is helping cast a spell says, “Gods help me!” As the witches are attempting to cast a spell, a witch says, “Come, devil, come. . . you’re near. . . I feel you.”
  • Serafina must face Alitheia. She is told, “The gods themselves made her. Bellogrim, the smith, forged her, and Neria breathed life into her. . . When Merrow was old and close to death, she wanted to make sure only her descendants ruled Miromara. So she asked the goddess of the sea, Neria, and Bellogrim, the god of fire, to forge a creature of bronze.” The creature must taste a meril’s blood to determine if she is a descendant of Merrow.
  • Serafina “prayed to the gods” that her magic would work.
  • The history of mermaids is told. When Atlantis was falling into the ocean, Merrow “saved the Atlanteans by calling them into the water and beseeching Neria to help them. As the dying island sank beneath the waves, the goddess transformed its terrified people and gave them sea magic. They fought her at first, struggling to keep their heads above water, to breathe air, screaming as their legs knit together and their flesh sprouted fins. As the sea pulled them under, they tried to breath water. It was agony. Some could do it. Others could not, and the waves carried their bodies away.”
  • After Serafina is questioned, the villain tells her, “Gods help you if you’ve lied to me.”
  • When Serafina and her friends are freed from prison, Serafina says, “Oh, thank gods!”
  • Serafina was told a story about the sea goddess, Neria, who “fell in love with Cassio, god of the skies. She made a plan to steal away from her palace and meet him on the horizon. Trykel found out and was jealous. He went to Fragor, the storm god, and asked him to fill the sky with clouds so he could hide in them, pretend to be Cassio, and steal a kiss. . .” The story is not completed.

Aru Shah and the Song of Death

Aru and Mini are just beginning Pandava training. But then someone steals the god of love’s bow and arrow, and the thief isn’t playing Cupid. Instead, the shape-shifting thief is turning men into heartless, fighting zombies. The Otherworld is in a panic, and they think Aru is the thief. The gods have decided that Aru must find the weapon within ten days, or both she and Mini will be kicked out of the Otherworld—forever!

Aru won’t be alone on her quest. Along with her Pandava sister, Mini, Aru unwillingly teams up with super-strong Brynne and Aiden, the boy who lives across the street. But Brynne and Aiden are keeping secrets, and Aru isn’t sure she wants them on her team. Still, they must find a way to battle demons and travel through the dangerous serpent realm together.

Getting along with Brynne and Aiden isn’t Aru’s only challenge in Aru Shah and the Song of Death. She must also overcome her own mind, where the Sleeper’s words, “You were never meant to be a hero,” still resonate. Will Aru be able to overcome her self-doubt? Can she prove that she has what it takes to be a hero?

This second installment in the Pandava series takes the reader on a wild ride through the Otherworld. Full of action and adventure, the story adds interesting characters including a crab that is angry that his brother can sing, a handsome boy, and another Pandava sister. Still, readers who fell in love with Mini and Boo will miss them in this book; Boo has a tiny appearance, and Mini spends much of the story in the land of the sleep.

This story highlights the complicated nature of people. Although the villain is clearly acting villainous, the villain is shown to have other sides to her nature. As Aru learns more about India’s history, she discovers that just a hero can also be a monster. The theme is reinforced when Aru’s mom says, “sometimes villains can do heroic things and heroes can do villainous things.” The villain’s story shows that there are always two sides to every story; however, the villain’s past does not excuse their bad behavior.

Also threaded throughout the story are strong messages of treating people with respect, as well as putting others before yourself. Since several of the characters can shape-shift, the reader will see that physical appearances can be deceiving. At one point in the story, Aiden says, “I just don’t think people should be mean to someone because they don’t like the way they look.”

Aru Shah and the Song of Death is a highly entertaining story that brings India’s mythology to life. Because the story has many characters based on mythology, readers not familiar with India’s mythology will need to use the glossary that appears at the back of the book. The different realms of the Otherworld are beautifully described, the gods are diverse and interesting, and the battle scenes are often filled with humor. This book will leave readers thinking about the complicated nature of people and the importance of compassion. As one god said, “Just because something is not fair does not mean it is without reason or even compassion.”

Sexual Content

  • There is a brief passage when Aru thinks about Aiden’s parents being divorced. She thinks, “Lots of kids at school had divorced parents, and not all families needed a dad and a mom to be whole. Some had two dads, or two moms, or just one parent, or no parent at all.”
  • Aiden’s mother was an apsara, a heavenly dancer. In order to be with Aiden’s dad, she had to give up her place in the heavens. Aiden’s parents are getting divorced, and Aiden wonders, “What if she regrets her life? She gave up everything for my dad. And then he leaves her to marry a girlfriend he met while he was still with my mom.”
  • Because Aiden’s mother was an apsara, Aiden has the ability to smolder. “In stories, apsaras were the ultimate temptation, because they were unnaturally beautiful and magical. . . apsaras have a kind of hypnotic power. They render themselves impossible to look away from, and even make people follow them.” Aiden uses his power to get past the sage’s waiting room.
  • The god of love gives Aiden an arrow. The god of love says, “an enchanted arrow from my own collection, to do with as you wish. But know that you cannot change someone’s free will. And there is no way magical cure for grief. All this arrow can do is open the pathway for love. It doesn’t make someone smitten, and the love doesn’t necessarily have to be romantic.” Aiden uses the arrow on his mother.
  • When Aiden says, “I like you Shah,” Aru’s “heartbeat jittered and she felt a not unpleasant swoosh low in her stomach, like butterflies taking wing.” Aru is a little upset when Aiden then says that he likes her as a friend.

Violence

  • Zombies attack Aru and Mini. Aru “flung Vajra as if it were a javelin. The lightning bolt zapped the wooden peg out of the zombie’s hand, and he pulled his arm back, stung. . . An enchanted flower stall turned its pumpkin vines into a row of exploding jack-o’-lanterns, and the kitchen appliances section summoned an army of wooden spoons to beat a group of zombies over the head.” The attack ends when “fake Aru sent the Pandava girl-jaguar flying back against a wall, where she slid to the floor, unconscious. In a flash of blue light, the big cat turned back into a girl.” The attack lasts for two chapters.
  • As Aru and another girl are fighting, “a blast of wind shot Aru straight up into the sky. Her arms started pinwheeling. She glanced down—that was a huge mistake. Everyone looked like really tiny ants. As she fell, the last thing she saw before blacking out was a pair of giant hands reaching to snatch her out of the sky.”
  • A giant swan attacks Mini and her friends. Mini uses Dee Dee, and “purple light exploded in a burst in front of them. The swan squawked and stomped back. . . Then Brynne morphed. Blue light blazed around her. Where she had once stood, there was now a blue elephant almost as large as the swan.” Elephant-Brynne “charged at the bird.” The scene takes place over eight pages. No one is injured.
  • When trying to get through customs, “the floor opened beneath Aru plunging her into frigid pitch-black waters.” Then a “cold tendril wrapped around her ankle and dragged her under.” Aru discovers that she can breathe and walk underwater. She can also talk to sea creatures.
  • A giant crab tries to eat Brynne, Aiden, and Mini. “The crab reared up, swinging one of its pincers, and Brynne went flying against the wall. She slid down, shook her head, and then got back to her feet. . .” Mini uses a shield, but “the shield broke. Down came the pincer. The four of them rolled in different directions. The crab rotated, trying to catch them all at the same time. . .” During the attack, the crab eats Brynne, who turns into an elephant, which the crab throws up. The scene takes place over seven pages.
  • The serpent king attacks Aru. He tries to bite her, and “his jaws missed her face by an inch. As she pivoted out of the way, Vajra jumped into her hand, fully expanded. Aru threw the lightning bolt. . .Vajra shot forward like an arrow. But Takshaka was faster. His powerful tail whipped out and knocked the lightning bold aside like it was a toy. . . Takshaka’s tail lashed through the air and caught her in the stomach. She crashed into the wall and slid down, shaking her head.” The fight takes place over six pages. Aru and her friends are able to escape.
  • The serpent king tries to stop Aru and her friends. “he zigged and zagged, his great coils winding way up the shelves and blocking the entrance to the ceiling above. . . Takshaka’s fangs lengthened. They were stained yellow, and one was chipped. Venom dripped onto the ground, hitting the floor with a teaming hiss. . . A rush of air hit Aru just as Takshaka lunged.” The wind blows Takshaka backwards. A boy appears and helps the group escape. The scene takes place over five pages.
  • A group of asuras try to block Aru and her group from passing. Aru’s group uses their celestial weapons. “They herded the attackers with invisible jabs, forcing them into a tight circle. Brynne blasted them with wind, and Aru added the finishing touch: a golden electrical net to catch and pin them in place.” The asuras flee as soon as the net is taken off.
  • Sparky will not allow Aru and his group to go into the Ocean of Milk. He challenged Brynne to an eating contest. As he is eating, “his skin, which had always been a bit ruddy, now reminded her of embers. Even his hair, once a rust color, like a bad dye job, had changed. Now it looked multicolored—blue at the roots, orange in the middle, and yellow at the tips. Like a flame. . . Sparky wasn’t some kid with ugly sunglasses and an appetite that could destroy a city. He was Agni, the god of fire. And he was on the verge of consuming them. . . The fire continued to move closer. Aiden raced back toward them. There were soot marks on his face and he was out of breath. . . Waves of fire skirted around them, nearly blistering their skin and blackening the wooden planks beneath their feet. Agni opened his jaws, getting ready to swallow them whole. All Aru could see were searing flames, “the air in front of her heat-warped and furious.” Aru is able to use a godly gift to defeat Sparky. The scene takes place over ten pages.
  • The story ends in an epic, multi-chapter battle scene. When the villain shoots an arrow at Aru, “Aiden dove in front of her. . . The arrow hit him with full force. Aiden crumpled up on the ground.” Aiden turns into one of the heartless. As the battle continues, “Mini aimed Dee Dee at the first line of Heartless, which included Aiden. A burst of violet light blasted them, and they fell to either side. Almost immediately, they started to get back up. . . Aru steadied herself, preparing for his next blow. When it came, Aru fell to the ground. . . Aiden roared, ready himself to plunge his blades straight through her. At the last second, Aru rolled out of the way. Aiden snarled. He tried to life the scimitars to strike again, but they were stuck in the damp sand.” The villain is defeated.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • When Aru meets Varuni, the goddess changes colors. Aru thinks the goddess is sparkling; “It reminded Aru of champagne. Which was disgusting. The one time she’d sneaked a sip from her mom’s New Year’s Eve glass, it had tasted like rotten soda.”
  • While Varuni is talking to her husband, he implies that Varuni drinks too much. Later in the story, Varuni “sipped on something that looked like tomato juice and had a piece of celery sticking out of it.”

Language

  • “Oh my god” is used as an exclamation once, and “Oh my gods” is used an exclamation twice.
  • “Heck” is used twice.
  • Brynne calls two obnoxious asuras “pigs.”

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.
  • During a fight, a shapeshifter “shifted into a blue world and was carrying a large bow and arrow in her mouth as she ran.” Later the person shifts into the likeness of Aru.
  • Each Pandava has a celestial weapon. Mini has Dee Dee, which can cast a shield of invisibility. Aru has Bajra, which is a bracelet that can turn into a lightning bolt.
  • Aru and the other Pandavas can speak to each other telepathically.
  • When Aru and her group go to see a sage, he is cursing people. One curse is, “May all the chocolate chip cookies you reach for turn out to be cleverly disguised oatmeal raisins.” Another curse is, “May you always fumble with your credit card in Starbucks when there’s a huge line behind you.”
  • When Aru and her group go to the Queen Uloopi’s old palace, they find a cursed place littered with skulls. When Mini touched a skull, “the jaws snapped open. . . nearby another skull—or, honestly little more than a jawbone—laughed and whispered.” Mini goes into a trance which allows her to talk to voices. The voices give Mini the knowledge that she seeks, but then “a serpent tail as thick as a redwood trunk curled around her body and yanked her toward the cave.” Mini is taken to the land of the sleep, “far from the reaches of mortals.”
  • Aru and her group see “huge night-black hounds prowling toward them. Saliva dripping from their jaws. Their eyes looked like round mirrors, but instead of reflections, they reveal moving images.” The hound’s eyes reflect the person’s worst nightmare.
  • When Queen Uloopi is given her heart jewel, “a bright light washed over her, and Uloopi was transformed. . . Her wrinkled skin glowed, and the gray in her hair shone like silver. Her eyes sparkled . . .” When her heart jewel is restored, she is able to catch “up on all the things she hadn’t properly seen.”

Spiritual Content

  • One of the characters is a Rakshasa, which is a “mythological being, like a demigod. Sometimes good and sometimes bad, they are powerful sorcerers, and can change shape to take on any form.”
  • Brynne is part asura, which is why she can shapeshift. She is the daughter of Lord Vayu, the God of the wind, so she never loses her direction.
  • Aru and her friend are looking for someone’s soul song. They find it, and “in the astral plane, the song orb had taken on a strange pulsing glow, reminding Aru that this was actually a part of someone’s soul. Someone had wanted the god of love’s arrow so dearly that they’d been willing to part with their very essence.”
  • Aru has an encounter with the god of waters, who is “known for being as fickle as the sea itself.” She then meets his wife, Varuni, who is the goddess of wine.
  • Aru and the other Pandavas have been reincarnated. However, the reincarnated are not the same person they once were. Aru, who was reincarnated from Arjuna said, “Arjuna and I are completely different people. That’s like expecting Brynne to have the power of ten thousand elephants just because she’s Bhima reincarnated! Or asking Mini to rule a country now just because she’s got Yudhistira’s soul! I’m not Arjuna!”
  • When an enemy of Arjuna appears, he wants revenge. Aru argues, “I mean, that was like a millennium ago. And I’m not Arjuna. We just have the same soul. It’s like getting someone’s hand-me-down socks, honest.”
  • Aru and her friends meet with a sage. “A sage is a very wise person. Aru’s mom had told her that some have special powers, because of their religious focus. Once there was a sage so formidable he put a curse on the gods themselves—he caused them to lose their immortality.”
  • Agni, the god of fire, explains how “I’m a sacred part of every prayer! You know at weddings, that there’s a holy fire for the bride and groom to walk around? That’s me!”

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

Apprentice Needed

Ozzy Toffey has had enough adventure. But on a dark and windy night, he gets out of bed, jumps out of the window, and walks into the ocean. After almost drowning, Ozzy sure could use the help of Rin, the wizard he hired to help find his parents. But Rin is missing.

Then Ozzy receives an envelope with an airplane ticket to New York. Ozzy and his friend Sigi are convinced that Rin sent the tickets. The two set out on what they hope will be a quick trip to find Rin. Clark, the mechanical bird Ozzy’s father left him, has a hard time getting through airport security.

When Ozzy, Sigi, and Clark get to New York, they don’t find Rin. Instead, they find a rich and powerful man who wants to capture Ozzy. Will Rin appear and help save the day? Will Ozzy figure out why he keeps walking into the ocean?

The second installment of Wizard for Hire is full of action, adventure, and humor. Clark takes a bigger role in Apprentice Needed. Readers will laugh as Clark continues to fall for metal objects. His fascination with the mailbox, spoons, and other metal objects is humorous, but it also highlights everyone’s need to feel appreciated. Everyone who reads Apprentice Needed will wish they had a metal bird-like Clark.

The villain adds suspense to the story, in a way that is more humorous than scary. Readers will have a hard time not feeling sorry for the villain, who continually is outsmarted by two kids and a wizard. The wizard, Rin, may or may not be magical—much of the magic in the story is questionable. It’s not clear if Rin causes the weather that helps Ozzy and Sigi escape or if it was a coincidence. Plus, Rin finds magic in ordinary events, like an Uber showing up when needed.

As the story progresses, Ozzy learns the importance of letting go of things that he cannot control. Rin also teaches an important lesson about being careful with what you say. Rin says, “You may throw your words around callously, but they leave impressions on all who are struck.” Apprentice Needed has well-developed, interesting characters that readers will love. The pacing of the story leads to one suspenseful event after the other. Instead of ending the story with a satisfactory conclusion, the story ends with many unanswered questions. After reading Apprentice Needed, readers will be eagerly looking for the next book in the series.

Sexual Content

  • Ozzy finds Clark in the bathtub with a flash drive, a set of keys, and Ozzy’s portable CD player. Later, Ozzy says, “Something’s flashing.” Clark replies, “There was none of that. Just talking and listening to music. Yes, the stapler kept sort of glimmering at me, but there wasn’t any flashing. Your dad didn’t build me to be that kind of bird.”

Violence

  • Ozzy thinks back to the past when his parents created a Discipline Serum that gave people “power to control one’s will, and the ultimate power to control the will of others if needed.” Their business partner “kidnapped the doctors. In doing so, they’d left Ozzy for dead. But science demands sacrifice and Ozzy’s demise was a sacrifice that Ray and Charles had been willing to take.” Later, Ray had “done away with” Ozzy’s parents.
  • Ray tries to take Ozzy and Sigi to a private location. “Ozzy and Sigi were so focused on Ray that they failed to notice the two bodyguards slipping up behind them. The men grabbed them and lifted Ozzy and Sigi as if they were made of nothing but feathers . . .” In order to escape, “Ozzy lifted his right leg and threw it back into the knee of the man who was holding him. The man’s leg buckled and they both fell to the snow-covered ground. Sigi went limp and slipped halfway out of the arms of her attacker. He attempted to squeeze her harder, but her teeth connected with his right forearm and she bit down with a sense of purpose.” Rin appears and with the weather’s help, Ozzy and Sigi are able to escape.
  • A man kidnaps Sigi. “One moment she had been standing in the parking lot of the Devil’s Punchbowl and the next she had been picked up and whisked away into the trees. She had kicked and fought as hard as she could, but the man holding her was strong, and something on a cloth near her nose had knocked her out.” Sigi is not hurt.
  • A man sneaks into a house and pulls a gun on Ozzy. The man catches Clark in a net and “then slammed it against the wall.” Rin tells Ozzy and Sigi to drop to the ground, which they do. Then Rin “spun like he was possessed, sending book after book flying with incredible accuracy. Jon’s gun hand was nailed by the M volume of an encyclopedia, and the weapon went flying across the room and up against the wall. Rin kept spinning. Book after book thwacked Jon as he struggled to fend them off and stay standing. . . Rin sent a collegiate dictionary across the room, and it made full contact with Jon’s face. The man dropped onto his stomach and then blacked out.” The group escapes.
  • Ozzy and his friends flee in a car, and Jon follows them. Jon is stuck in a traffic jam, so he “jammed the gears into reverse and flew backward into the sedan. The airbag in the red car went off as Jon gave the vehicle gas and pushed the red car back a foot or so.” Several cars are damaged, but no one is hurt.
  • As Jon is chasing Ozzy and his friends, Clark goes under the car and starts pulling and biting wires and hoses. Clark “just kept biting and tearing. Clark cut the brake lines and when Jon tried to stop, the beige Corollas kept flying straight toward where Ozzy and the others had entered the trees. Jon screamed as the car launched off the side of the road into the forest.”
  • Jon pulls up to Ozzy and his friends, who are stranded on the side of the road, and “with no fight or arguing, Rin dropped his staff and they all spun around and put their hands behind their backs. Jon cautiously bound their hands with a roll of packing tape he’d pulled from the van.” In order to escape, “Rin pushed his feet up against the seat beneath him and with all the strength he had in his legs, he propelled himself forward over the middle seat and up over Jon’s head. . . Most of Jon was smashed beneath him. Rin wriggled and bucked like a fish doing the worm. The surprise caused Jon to drop the gun. . .” Sigi “aimed her legs at Jon’s right side and began kicking wildly.” Ozzy and his friends escape.
  • Ozzy and his friends duct tape Jon to a tree.
  • Jon pulls another gun on Ozzy and his friends. “Ozzy looked up to see Jon holding Sigi, his left arm around her and the gun in his other hand. . . Sigi was putting up a fight, but her captor was strong and held a weapon while she didn’t.” Ozzy points his buzzing finger at Jon, and he “began to tremble as he held onto Sigi. His head shook and his eyes grew wide with fear. He lowered the gun he was holding and then, with one surprising move, he brought his arm up and smashed the gun against the side of his own head. The blow stunned him and caused him to stumble forward.” Sigi hits the man, and “the hired goon fell to the deck, out cold. . .”
  • Rin jumps into the ocean, and then “something exploded out of the water and made contact with the Spell Boat.” The boat is split in two. “Both of the remaining halves were beginning to sink.” Jon is able to swim to the lifeboat.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • The wizard casts spells. For example, he says, “Resped unidino,” and “the words caused a small flame to burn in his hand and light the space.”
  • Rin “snapped his fingers” and made someone temporarily mute. The man was “trying to scream obscenities—but no sound came from his mouth.”
  • Someone or something is taking over Ozzy’s mind and causing him to walk to the ocean. The first time this happens, Ozzy crawls out of bed and smashes his bedroom window. “Ozzy just stood there, his mind feeding him messages he didn’t want to obey. Without warning or reason, he ran across the room, barreling directly into the already fractured glass with his right shoulder.” When Ozzy flew through the window, “His body crumpled up as it came to a stop near two large boulders.” Ozzy walked into the ocean and “he moved deeper, as wave after wave came thundering down on top of him. . . Water filled his mouth and blinded his eyes. . . The sea ripped his legs out from under him, and Ozzy sank below the wet and deadly surface.”
  • Someone or something is taking over Ozzy’s mind and causing him to drive his motorcycle too fast through the woods. A branch hits Ozzy’s helmet, causing it to spin and cover his eyes. “The motorcycle was running at top speed, and Ozzy was weaving and maneuvering through the forest like a skilled, blindfolded pilot.” When Ozzy gets to the beach, “the back of the bike flipped up and sent Ozzy sailing straight into the ocean. . .” When Ozzy hits the water, he “instantly came to—his mind was his again.”
  • Ozzy’s finger, which has a strange birthmark, begins to buzz. When a police officer tries to arrest Ozzy, “his finger vibrated, his mind cleared, and electricity shot up through his legs and into his mind. Ozzy reached out and pointed toward Officer Greg, who was sitting in the police car’s driver’s seat with the door open. The officer’s body went rigid and he threw the vehicle into drive. Then, without a moment of hesitation, he slammed his right foot onto the gas pedal.” The officer drives towards a cliff but jumps out before the car crashes into the ocean.
  • When Ozzy goes into the ocean, “a strong rubbery rope of water coiled around his ankle” and pulled him under. “Going limp, his finger buzzed. The thick water gripping his left hand relaxed and was smothered by the ocean. Ozzy reached his free hand over and touched the wet ropes around his right arm. Immediately they unraveled and joined the greater body of water he was sinking in.” Ozzy is able to break the bonds of the water and resurface.

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

The Unicorn Quest

Claire’s great-aunt Diana mysteriously disappeared. As her only family, Claire, Sophie, and her parents plan to spend the summer cleaning out Diana’s house, which is cluttered with her aunt’s collection of strange artifacts. When Claire and Sophie discover a ladder in the fireplace, Sophie leads the way up. . . and up. . . and up. They discover a fantastical land called Arden, filled with castles, magic, and dangerous creatures. Claire makes Sophie promise never to climb the stairs again.

When Sophie disappears, Claire knows she must be brave enough to search for her sister by going up the ladder. When Claire gets to Arden, she discovers a world full of danger. Four guilds of magic no longer trust each other. All of the unicorns have disappeared. Horrible wraiths roam at night. And Sophie is missing. Claire must find the courage to search for her sister, but first she must discover the secret of the unicorns.

Claire is fearful that her sister is in danger, which propels her to team up with two others—Netta and Sena—in order to find Sophie and a stolen unicorn relict. Because Arden’s war happened in the past, the action included in the book is not scary. Instead, readers will be enthralled with Arden’s strange creatures and magic.

The land of Arden is well developed, and the author uses beautiful descriptions to bring the setting to life. Even though the story contains some exciting scenes, the long descriptions slow down the pacing of the plot. The story follows a typical epic format—a girl is forced to go on a quest, teams up with others, and travels from place to place searching for answers. Readers expecting a story about sisters and unicorns will be disappointed, because there is little interaction between Claire and her sister, and the unicorn only appears for a brief flash at the end.

The Unicorn Quest will entertain strong readers who like reading about magical lands and characters going on a quest. Although the story is not unique, Claire is a believable character that overcomes her fear as she searches for her sister. The sweet ending has several surprises and will leave the reader wanting to pick up the next book in the series—Secret in the Stone. The Unicorn Quest will appeal to those who like stories such as The Last, by Katherine Applegate, and Podkin One-Ear, by Kieran Larwood.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • A wraith tries to attack Claire, but before it does Sophie, “had thrown herself onto the thing’s back and was desperately pounding at its shoulder blades, her fist sinking into the shifting, smoky blackness that hung around it. . . Claire scooted away from the creature, but then there was another shriek—from Sophie this time—and Claire watched in horror as the beast’s clawed hand reached behind and finally peeled Sophie off its back, throwing her to the ground.” With help, the girls are able to escape.
  • When Claire climbs up the ladder to get to Arden, she is attacked. “The air whooshed out of Claire as something—someone—tackled her from behind. She felt a knee land firmly on her lower back, pinning her to the ground. Pain ripped through her shoulders as her arms were yanked behind her. . .Claire coughed, spitting out the dirt that coated her mouth from the fall. Something cold and hard suddenly pressed at her throat: the edge of a knife.” Claire is then taken into the city, where she is put in jail.
  • While stuck in a cave a wyvern appears. Claire uses magic to put the wyvern in a cage. “The wyvern strained, its shoulders pounding against the rock-cage. To Claire’s dismay, the wyvern’s scales seemed to be chipping away at the bars, widening the space little by little.” Claire calms the wyvern, and the group gets out of the cave safely.
  • A man tries to club Claire, so she holds her sword as if it is a baseball bat and, “swung at the club, trying to keep it away from her. Sword and club met with a clang that reverberated through her.” Someone stops the man from hurting Claire.
  • When Sophie is shot with an arrow, “a scream burst out of Claire as her sister’s blood poured over her knees. . . Sophie’s pitiful whisper made Claire grab on to her tighter. . .” A man picks up Sophie and lays her, “at the foot of Queen Rock,” in order to perform a ceremony.
  • A wraith grabs Claire. “As its skeletal hand, smelling of rotten flesh, tightened around her neck, Claire knew, in that horrible way one always knows, that she had made an irrevocable mistake. She gasped for breath as the wraith dragged her slowly back. . . Dark thoughts wrapped around Claire’s mind as she felt herself drowning in the wraith’s cold.” Claire uses magic to save herself.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Claire is given Sinceri Tea, which is, “distilled from forget-me-not petals for recollection, sunflower seeds for openness, and a blade of hedgehog grass from the beaches of the Sunrise Isles. It will ensure you cannot lie when you answer.”

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • 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.”
  • 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.”
  • Nett uses Mile High Potion to turn a blade of grass into rope. Nett, “let a drop of something green tumble onto a blade of grass. With his thumb and forefinger, he pinched the blade and gave it a twist . . . The blade of grass was growing longer and larger, going from the length of some floss to shoelace size in a matter of seconds.”
  • While in a shop, Nett finds a revealer, which, “reflects a person’s greatest flaw. . . It’s a horrible thing to have the nastiest, most secret thoughts within you revealed to all.” He also finds an herb that will, “take away the eater’s ability to make decisions for an hour, or four years, depending on the amount consumed.”
  • Claire discovers that she is a Gemmer and can talk to wyverns.
  • A woman uses a magic threat to choke a man. “Francis dropped to his knees as though someone had set a bag of bricks on his shoulders. His arm flailed as he tried to push his Royalist cloak off, but as hard as he tried, he could not lift the garment from his shoulders. There were a few snaps as his ribs cracked.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The ministry has fallen to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, who is the new Minister of Magic in all but name. Wizards and witches across the nation whisper, too frightened to fight, unsure of who to trust. And elsewhere, the Hogwarts Express is on its way to school without three of its students – Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Rather than return to school, the three friends set off on a quest to find He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’s horcruxes—and destroy them. Only then can He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named be stripped of his immortality and defeated. But seemingly insurmountable obstacles pile up, leaving the trio of friends scared, confused, and frustrated with the world and with each other. Near-death experiences abound in the most harrowing, adventured-packed book of the series. While the first half of the story may drag for some readers, the payoff is spectacular and the novel ends in a whirlwind of revelations.

This epic conclusion to the Harry Potter series satiates readers with a deluge of their favorite characters from all seven books, woven together in a realistic and nostalgic masterpiece. With plenty of twists and turns, readers will be reeling by the time they finish and sad that this marvelous adventure has finally come to an ending that is heartbreaking and joyful at the same time.

Sexual Content

  • Ginny kisses Harry on his birthday. “Then she was kissing him as she had never kissed him before, and Harry was kissing her back, and it was blissful oblivion, better than firewhisky; she was the only real thing in the world, Ginny, the feel of her, one hand at her back and one in her long, sweet-smelling hair.”
  • Auntie Muriel comments that “Ginevra’s dress is far too low cut.”
  • In a hallucination, Harry and Hermione kiss. “Riddle-Hermione . . . stretched like a snake and entwined herself around Riddle-Harry, wrapping him in a close embrace: Their lips met.”
  • Ron and Hermione kiss. “Running at Ron, she flung them around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth. Ron threw away the fangs and broomstick he was holding and responded with such enthusiasm that he lifted Hermione off her feet.”

Violence

  • He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named kills a witch. “The flash of green light illuminated every corner of the room. Charity fell, with a resounding crash, onto the table below.”
  • Harry and Hagrid are chased by Death Eaters. The fight takes place over eight pages. “As he looked back again two jets of green light flew past his left ear: Four Death Eaters had broken away from the circle and were pursuing them, aiming for Hagrid’s broad back.”
  • George loses an ear. Harry isn’t there during the fight, but afterwards he sees, “George, who was unconscious and whose face was covered in blood . . . Harry’s stomach lurched: One of George’s ears was missing. The side of his head and neck were drenched in wet, shockingly scarlet blood.”
  • The Order of the Phoenix raises a toast to a dead comrade. “The firewhisky seared Harry’s throat. It seemed to burn feeling back into him, dispelling the numbness and sense of unreality, firing him with something that was like courage.”
  • During a heated argument, “Scrimgeour limped toward Harry and jabbed him hard in the chest with the point of his wand: It singed a hole in Harry’s T-shirt like a lit cigarette.”
  • Kreacher has to punish himself when he misbehaves. “The elf was already punishing himself: He fell to the ground and banged his forehead on the floor.”
  • Kreacher hits Mundungus “over the head with a saucepan.”
  • When escaping from the Ministry of Magic, Harry “raised an enormous fist and punched him, sending him flying through the air.”
  • Ron accidently splinches himself. “Hermione laid bare Ron’s upper arm, where a great chunk of flesh was missing, scooped cleanly away as though by a knife.”
  • A snake disguises itself as a woman. “She moved weirdly: He saw it out of the corner of his eye; panic made him turn and horror paralyzed him as he saw the old body collapsing and the great snake pouring from the place where her neck had been.” There is a fight that takes place over three pages. “There was a loud bang and a flash of red light, and the snake flew into the air, smacking Harry hard in the face as it went.”
  • After Ron runs away, “Hermione launched herself forward and started punching every inch of him that she could reach.”
  • Hermione is tortured. It is not shown, but Harry heard. “Hermione’s screams echoed off the walls upstairs.”
  • Wormtail tries to kill Harry. “Wormtail’s wand emitted sparks; his silver hand closed around Harry’s throat . . . Wandless, helpless, Pettigrew’s pupils dilated in terror. His eyes had slid from Harry’s face to something else. His own silver fingers were moving inexorably toward his own throat . . . Harry tried to pull the crusting metal fingers from around Wormtails’s throat, but it was no use. Pettigrew was turning blue . . . he gave a last twitch, and was still.”
  • He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named kills several people in a fit of rage. “Green light erupted through the room; the kneeling goblin rolled over, dead; the watching wizards scattered . . . again and again his wand fell, and those who were left were slain, all of them.”
  • Dobby is stabbed. “Harry looked down at the silver hilt of the knife protruding from the elf’s heaving chest.”
  • Harry uses an Unforgivable Curse. “The Death Eater was lifted off his feet. He writhed through the air like a drowning man, thrashing and howling in pain, and then, with a crunch and a shattering of glass, he smashed into the front of a bookcase and crumpled, insensible, to the floor.”
  • Professor McGonagall duels Snape. “She brandished her wand at a torch on the wall and it flew out of its bracket . . . the descending flames . . . became a ring of fire that filled the corridor and flew like a lasso at Snape – Then it was no longer fire, but a great black serpent that McGonagall blasted to smoke, which re-formed and solidified in seconds to become a swarm of pursuing daggers.”
  • The final battle at the end of the book spans five chapters, with a few calmer scenes in between. Several people die. At one point, “The world was rent apart. Harry felt himself flying through the air . . . He heard the screams and yells of his companions without a hope of knowing what had happened to them – And then the world resolved itself into pain and semidarkness: He was half buried in the wreckage of a corridor that had been subjected to a terrible attack . . . and Fred’s eyes stared without seeing, the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face.” Later on, “The house-elves of Hogwarts swarmed into the entrance hall, screaming and waving carving knives and cleavers . . . Harry saw Yaxley slammed to the floor by George and Lee Jordan, saw Dolohov fall with a scream at Flitwick’s hands, saw Walden Macnair thrown across the room by Hagrid, hit the stone wall opposite, and slide unconscious to the ground.”
  • He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named kills Snape. “The snake’s fangs pierced his neck . . . his knees gave way and he fell to the floor . . . [Snape] fell sideways onto the floor, blood gushing from the wounds in his neck.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • The adults often drink a glass of wine or brandy, either with dinner or during meetings.
  • After a fight, Hagrid asks if Mrs. Weasley has brandy “Fer medicinal purposes.”
  • Fred reminisces about an uncle. “Before he went loopy he was the life and soul of the party . . . He used to down an entire bottle of firewhisky, then run onto the dance floor, hoist up his robes, and start pulling bunches of flowers out of his –”
  • Champagne is served at a wedding.
  • Hermione gets catcalled by “a group of men . . . singing and weaving across the pavement.” They tell her to “ditch ginger and come and have a pint!”

Language

  • God is used as an exclamation once. Ron says “God, that’s revolting.”
  • Ron uses the word git several times.
  • Damn and hell are used a few times. Harry says, “Let’s get rid of the damn thing.”
  • Ron tells Malfoy, “That’s the second time we’ve saved your life tonight, you two-faced bastard!”
  • Neville tells He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, “I’ll join you when hell freezes over.”
  • When Bellatrix almost kills Ginny, Mrs. Weasley shouts, “NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!”

Supernatural

  • Harry Potter is a wizard and lives in a world full of magic. He went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he studied charms, potions, and defense against the dark arts. He is fighting a dark wizard who split his soul into seven pieces in order to become immortal. He works together with dragons and goblins in order to save the wizarding world from dementors and violent giants. In short, Harry is surrounded by magic and supernatural occurrences every day of his life. As such, not all instances are listed here.
  • Although the series revolves around magic, the story does not encourage children to try magic on their own. To cast a spell, wizards simply say a word and wave their wand. For example, saying luminos casts light.
  • Professor Trelawney made a prophecy about the Dark Lord before Harry was born. She does not remember making the prophecy afterward, but it is stored in a secret Hall of Prophecies hidden in the Ministry of Magic.
  • Harry can see flashes of what He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is thinking and seeing, which causes his scar to burn.

Spiritual Content

  • There are ghosts in the castle that behave like regular (although transparent) people. One of Harry’s teachers is even a ghost.
  • He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named splits his soul and hides pieces of his soul in precious, hidden objects. His goal is to become immortal and unkillable. If he is killed, the pieces of his soul remain, and therefore he cannot truly die.
  • When visiting his parents’ gravestone, Harry asks about the inscription, “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” Hermione says, “It means . . . you know . . . living beyond death. Living after death.”
  • When He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named tries to kill him, Harry has an out-of-body experience, a vision of being in a train station. He speaks to Dumbledore who tells Harry that he can go back and continue to fight, or he can board a train. Harry asks, “‘Where would it take me?’ ‘On,’ said Dumbledore simply.”

by Morgan Lynn

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