Topic: Monsters

Malamander

Twelve-year-old Herbie Lemon has always been fond of lost things. After all, as an infant, he was a “lost thing.” Herbie was found and given a home in the town of Eerie-on-Sea, where he was eventually put in charge of the Lost-and-Foundery at the Grand Nautilus Hotel. His job now is to keep track of every lost item in the hotel and, when possible, find its home.

One day, a new kind of lost thing arrives, inspiring quite an eventful case for the young detective-of-sorts. Violet Parma puts Herbie in charge of helping her track down her missing parents, who became “lost” when she was an infant while staying at the Grand Nautilus. Herbie reluctantly takes the case, and the pair works together, discovering that one legend from the town’s past may have more to do with the Parmas’ disappearance than they could have imagined.

The Parma mystery leads the duo to the malamander, a mythic creature that supposedly lives in the water surrounding Eerie-on-Sea. The malamander only comes inland once a year to lay its wish-granting egg. The power of the egg draws a variety of characters into the fray, including a gruff man with a boat hook for a hand. Herbie and Violet must consult the eclectic townspeople and watch their backs as they work to uncover the mysteries which are hidden in the mist of Eerie-on-Sea.

Taylor wonderfully builds the world of Eerie-on-Sea. From the very first chapter, it is clear Eerie-on-Sea is no ordinary island. It is home to ancient legends regarding the existence of sea monsters, which Herbie and Violet discover to be more fact than fiction. The legends– and the people who tell them– are enthralling, and each person is essential to the story being told. By the end of the novel, readers will feel as if they were on the island themselves.

Herbie is a loveable narrator who provides much needed information about the culture of Eerie-on-Sea. Herbie’s friendship with Violet also helps readers understand the mysteries of such a place. She is new to the island, as is the audience, allowing readers to identify with Violet as they learn about the stories which the townspeople know well. The balance between Herbie and Violet is engaging from their first meeting. Violet is a go-getter, who thinks quickly and is strong-willed. Herbie, while confident in some moments, is much quieter and cautious.

The malamander’s egg is central to many of the characters’ motivations, and Taylor’s story touches on the harmful nature of greed that has lasting effects it can have on others. For example, the legend of Captain K demonstrates how the captain’s desire for the egg causes his entire crew to be lost to the malamander. Captain K wishes for eternal life, and while he gets what he wished for, he becomes a shell of a man. Consequently, Captain K’s family spends generations trying to fix his mistakes. On the other hand, Herbie acts as a counter to this greed. Herbie’s job is dedicated to helping others find what they have lost. His decision to help Violet as well as his concern for the townspeople teach readers that selflessness and caring for others can lead to happiness.

The author occasionally uses advanced vocabulary, but the context clues provided make Malamander a good option for children looking to learn new words. Black and white illustrations bring the quirky characters to life; the illustrations are used periodically to aid in the visualization of some of the more significant moments in the story. Young readers who love mysteries and myths will enjoy Malamander as the story creates an interesting setting that has endearing characters and a gripping plot.

Sexual Content

  • Mrs. Fossil, a beachcomber, thinks she has some “beach finds” which would “suit a young man looking for something for that special someone in his life.” She assumes Violet and Herbie are romantically involved.
  • After hugging Herbie, Violet “looks a bit embarrassed and tries to hide it by punching [Herbie] on the arm.”

Violence

  • A man has a “large iron boat hook, ending in a long gleaming spike” for a hand. He is called “Boat Hook Man.”
  • When the Boat Hook Man comes looking for Violet in Herbie’s Lost-and-Foundery, he “shoves [Herbie] against the wall as he pushes past.”
  • Boat Hook Man uses his hook to break into the chest where Violet is hiding. “He raises his spike and brings it down with a sickening thud, driving it deep into the lid of the chest.” When he cannot find her, Herbie says the Boat Hook Man “[goes] berserk.” Herbie narrates, “He starts ransacking my cellar, sweeping his massive arms from side to side.”
  • Violet’s history becomes a large part of the story. She was “found abandoned” as a baby. Her parents left behind only “two pairs of shoes . . . left neatly on the harbor wall.” There were also “footprints in the sand, leading from the harbor wall to the sea.”
  • Herbie’s cap almost never cooperates when he tries to put it on his head. At one point he narrates “the elastic strap pings and nearly takes [his] eye out.”
  • Violet tells Herbie that “a fork bounced off the wall behind [her]” when she ran out of the hotel kitchen, where she was not supposed to be. Herbie knows that these were the actions of the head chef who “guards his kitchen like a fortress.”
  • In Herbie’s lost and found system, if red lines are crossing out a name, that means “the owners were declared dead.” Violet’s parents’ entry is crossed out in red, and Herbie apologizes while giving Violet her parents’ lost belongings.
  • Herbie teases his boss, Mr. Mollusc, to the point that he “is close to bursting a blood vessel.”
  • While walking with Violet, Herbie mentally describes how “the snow is like a swarm of icy bees—stinging [their] eyes and trying to get up [their] noses.”
  • Herbie fears he may have seen “a shadow stepping back into a doorway” when he checks to see if he and Violet are being followed.
  • While eating at the diner, Herbie notes, “Outside, where the sea mist is gathering, someone screams.” Herbie and Violet see Boat Hook Man head for the beach, “his long, hooked spike dangling like a weapon.” However, they never find out where he was going, because instead they find Mrs. Fossil, a townsperson, “clutching one arm and sobbing with pain.” Her clothes are “torn to shreds” and “there are angry red marks on her skin.” She had been bit by something with what she calls “teeth like needles.” She passes out.
  • Boat Hook Man sees Violet on the beach and “grabs Violet by her collar, lifting her in the air.” She has a hard time speaking because of where he grabbed her. She is left “clutching her throat.”
  • Herbie says, “I need to get some work done, or Mollusc will have me stewed and served up as today’s special.”
  • Mrs. Fossil receives treatment for her wound and reports that she “can already move [her] fingers again.”
  • Mrs. Fossil tells the children about the legend of the malamander. She says the creature lays an egg and then “devours it.” Since the egg has the power to grant wishes, she explains, many people have sought it. However, she tells them, “Every single one of them . . . gobbled up by the beastie!”
  • Herbie points out “all that’s left of the battleship Leviathan” is in the sea. He says, “It was wrecked years ago.”
  • Boat Hook Man corners Herbie and Violet in the fish shed. They try to escape using a rope, by jumping from the window to a suspended fishing net. Herbie misses the first opportunity for release and is left “dangling, four stories up.” He thinks, “At this point, I can let go of the rope and probably break both my legs, or I can stay dangling where I am and be filleted like a small lemon-flavored herring in a Lost-and-Foundery’s cap.”
  • Just before Boat Hook Man can use his hook to capture Herbie, Violet “strikes Boat Hook Man in the eye” with her book. Violet and Herbie manage to escape, but they fall before they get all the way to the ground. Herbie notes “the air escaping from [his] lungs with an OOF.” Violet hurts her ankle on impact and needs help running away. This event is described over four pages.
  • Jenny, the bookstore owner, explains how Sebastian Eels and Violet’s father knew each other. They were both authors interested in the malamander, and at one point “they went monster hunting together.”
  • The malamander comes to the museum when Herbie and Violet are there. It “slaps the window right in front of us with such force that it shatters.” Herbie feels “points of pain on my hands and face as the pieces cut in.” Then, the creature tries to “throw itself over the edge” of the museum walls, but Violet grabs its tail. Herbie thinks, “All I can see is that if Violet doesn’t let go, she’ll be pulled over the ramparts too, down onto the toothlike steeples of Maw Rocks, far below.”
  • When trying to save Violet, Herbie is dragged hard against the wall.” He cannot yell, because he feels “the air being crushed out of [his] lungs.” When the creature strikes Violet with its tail, they let go and the malamander falls. Herbie expects “to hear a thud, and maybe the crunch of breaking bone” but the creature simply slithers back to the ocean. This encounter is described over two pages.
  • When Herbie and Violet are caught in the museum by its owner, Dr. Thalassi, Herbie notices, “The folded umbrella [the owner] brandished as a weapon is on the desk, too, like a polite threat.”
  • In anger, Dr. Thalassi attempts to justify his luring of the malamander, which caused the attack on Violet. Herbie exclaims, “An experiment that just slashed off half of Vi’s face!” Herbie knows it’s “an exaggeration” but she was injured by the creature.
  • The museum owner tells the story of the Leviathan and its Captain. The captain led his crew into a cavern where “they found a great stinking mound of seaweed, bones, and shipwreck salvage.” They found the malamander and took its egg, causing it to attack the ship. Dr. Thalassi says, “Many lives were lost defending Leviathan against the creature.” Despite the crew’s use of weapons, the monster kept attacking. Dr. Thalassi explains, “Bullets sparked off its scales, leaving scarcely a mark, and its claws could rend iron.”
  • While the Captain was holding the egg, the malamander “delivered a . . . good, hard bite, which injected stinging venom” that numbed the captain. Then, the creature “with a single snap of its jaws tore his right hand—the hand that held the malamander egg—clean off and swallowed it whole.” The story is recounted in seven pages.
  • Herbie notices in the museum, “Above us the skeleton of a whale hangs suspended, and in the cabinets all around, stuffed and desiccated sea creatures peer out at us through glass eyes.”
  • The hotel’s owner, Lady Kraken, says, “I have no doubt [Violet’s dad] wanted the egg, too, and no doubt that the malamander devoured him for his trouble.”
  • Sebastian Eels plans to carry a weapon to confront the malamander. He claims it “will be for protection only, to scare it away if I’m seen.”
  • When Boat Hook Man is arguing with Eels, Eels says, “Don’t you wave that hook at me.” Boat Hook Man then warns Eels that the malamander will kill him if he goes after its egg. Later, Herbie watches as “Eels brings his fist down on the desk.”
  • Sebastian Eels’ plan for the malamander is to “put a dozen harpoons through its stinking fish guts before it can even spit.” If people come to stop him, he will do the same to them. Eels says, “the sea will quickly dispose of the bodies.”
  • While hiding from Sebastian Eels and Boat Hook Man in Eels’ home, Herbie and Violet are caught. Boat Hook Man goes after them, using his hook as a weapon, though he misses Herbie by inches. Erwin the cat protects them by “attacking the old mariner’s head ferociously, raking at [Boat Hook Man] with his claws.” Herbie watches as “instead of blood, only water spouts from the wounds.”
  • Herbie narrates, “the poor cat is flung to one side” by Boat Hook Man. When trying to escape the building, Sebastian Eels uses his harpoon gun multiple times on the children with one missing and “ricocheting back . . . and clonking Boat Hook Man in the face” causing him to fall. He is not fully human, though, so he is not injured when he hits the ground. Another harpoon makes its target, Violet. The harpoon hit the book in Violet’s pocket, narrowly saving her life. The incident occurs over six pages.
  • Herbie says of Eels, “hopefully the big bully will get himself eaten by the monster.”
  • Eels steals an important paper from Violet. When she tries to fight back, “he picks her up with one hand and throws her out of his way.” Erwin comes to the rescue, “hissing as he claws up [Eels’] legs and sinks his teeth into the man’s hand, making him drop the paper.”
  • Eels throws the cat away, and the cat “hits the corner of a bookshelf and . . . falls limply to the ground.” Eels then “brings his fist down on [Herbie’s] head.” This event is described in one page.
  • Eels retells the story of Achilles and the “arrow in the heel that brought about his death.”
  • Violet says to Eels, “I hope the malamander bites your head off.”
  • Eels promises to “wipe [Violet] out of existence and end [her] misery for good” with the power of the malamander egg.
  • Violet discusses the legend of the malamander, including its annual move “near the town to hunt” and lay its egg, which it then “devours.”
  • Aboard the Leviathan, Herbie thinks, “I shrink back into the darkness, still pulled by Violet, desperately hoping it is Violet pulling me and not some flubbery faceless horror from the deep.” Later, he sees actual sea creatures around him and kicks them off.
  • Herbie observes the malamander open “its cavernous tooth-needle mouth and roars an earsplitting, soul-tearing, nightmarish cry of saurian fury.” This is followed by the creature charging the pair. Herbie wonders “if it’s worth fighting for a moment or two of extra life, or if it’s better to just fall down into the water and hope the end comes quickly.” He then remembers Eels’ comment about bodies being disposed by the sea and thinks it could be true, “especially if the bodies are quite small — and devoured by a folkloric fish man in the belly of a sunken warship.” The malamander passes them over in its search for Eels.
  • Herbie sees “human bones” in the malamander’s nest.
  • Eels threatens to shoot Violet with the harpoon gun but does not.
  • In a flashback to Violet’s parents’ disappearance, her dad comes to believe that Eels could be responsible for the infant Violet’s disappearance. He says to his wife, “He said I’d pay a heavy price if I kept my discoveries from him. But surely he wouldn’t . . .”
  • Eels tries to get the egg from Violet. Eels “grabs the egg with one hand and punches Violet in the face with the other.” She falls into the cold water. Herbie dives in after her and wonders “for a moment if I’ve died without noticing” due to the “cold and dark.” When he finds her, “she gasps and coughs.”
  • The malamander resurfaces. “In its claws it is holding the broken body of Boat Hook Man.” Herbie recognizes Boat Hook Man is not dead, but “he has clearly lost the fight with the monster” as his “face is white and awful”.
  • The malamander tries to get its egg back from Eels, but he “shoots it” first. He repeatedly fires and Herbie hears the “th-TOUM” sound the gun makes. Herbie then sees that “the harpoon has buried itself deep between two of the monster’s scales, where — now that we look closely — a slim opening in its armor can be seen.” This opening is the only way the malamander can be killed. The malamander has been shot “straight through its heart” and “with a gurgling sigh, the malamander twitches one last time and then goes still.”
  • After Boat Hook Man was attacked by the malamander, Herbie describes that the creature’s victim “looks awful, his twisted body half submerged, his skin raked over with great gashes and slashes.”
  • Boat Hook Man tells Eels about his pursuit of the egg. He says, “I lost everything — my ship, my fine men, even my family, in the end.”
  • Eels uses the egg to transform malamander into a tentacle-ridden sea creature to restrain Boat Hook Man. “As we watch, the scaly corpse of the monster quivers and splits, and dozens of fleshy tendrils shoot up from it.” Eels then magically replaces Boat Hook Man’s hook with a crab pincer. Boat Hook Man uses it “to cut through one of the tentacles holding him by using his new claw.” In response, Eels turns Boat Hook Man “into a mass of squid and jellyfish and sea slime.”
  • Trying to get the egg away from Eels, Violet shoves him. She then “lands a kick in the man’s face.” Eels tries to shoot Violet at “point-blank range” but there are no harpoons, so it only makes a “fut! Fut!” sound. When Violet gets the egg, Eels pulls “his knife from its sheath.”
  • Eels gets the egg back, but the malamander’s “mouth, lined as before with tooth needles, closes with a sickening crunch over the hand that holds the egg.” The monster drags him under the water and “there’s a ripple or two . . . then there’s nothing”. The entire fight between the malamander, Herbie, Violet, Eels, and Boat Hook Man aboard the Leviathan takes place over 30 pages.
  • Herbie thinks he has drowned aboard the Leviathan. He thinks, “It’s not cold, though, so I guess being as dead as driftwood has an upside.” However, Herbie is warm because he was rescued. He feels the effects of nearly drowning, his “chest and throat feel as if they’re on fire”.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Mrs. Fossil explains that the town doctor has prevented her from “languishing in a hospital bed somewhere, pumped full of goodness-knows-what.”
  • Violet’s cut is treated with “a wad of cotton, soaked in disinfectant.”
  • In Eels’ house, Herbie sees “an empty bottle of whiskey” on the floor near Violet. She insists she did not drink it and asks him, “Do you think I drink whiskey?”

Language

  • Many of the characters use names such as weasel, fool, stupid, and creep. For example, Herbie calls Mollusc a horrible, hideous man, though not to his face.
  • Herbie narrates that “Lady Kraken is almost a recluse.” Herbie thinks, “The way her wrinkly head emerges from her sumptuous silky gown reminds me of a turtle.” He watches her “clawlike hand” and “wizened eye.”
  • Lady Kraken calls Herbie an “incorrigible dunderbrain.” She also asks if he has “cloth for brains.”
  • Lady Kraken exclaims, “Curse the clouds!”
  • Violet refers to the mermonkey cards as “freaky” and “weird.”
  • Herbie mentally describes the mermonkey as “grotesque” and “ugly.”
  • Violet thinks Eels looks “booky” and he gives her the creeps. Herbie calls him “a bit full of himself.”
  • Mrs. Fossil collects “coprolite” which she explains is “doodah…dino turd…petrified poo.”
  • Herbie thinks Boat Hook Man is an “awful man” and “freaky.”
  • Herbie calls Mollusc “old Mollusc breath.” He then refers to him as “that whiny old whinge-bag.”
  • The characters occasionally “swear” to show honesty. Jenny says Violet’s father “swore blind that he saw things” that were supposed to be only legend, not real.
  • Herbie often internally describes the museum owner as having a “Julius Caesar nose” or a “beaky nose.”
  • Mrs. Fossil uses the expression “goodness-knows-what.”
  • Herbie uses the expression “bladderwracks” occasionally.
  • Eels calls himself “just an old daydreamer” in a disparaging way.
  • Eels uses the expression, “Goodness me.”
  • Herbie calls Eels “Eel Face” in conversation with Violet.
  • Violet asks Herbie if he thought Jenny was a bit “shifty.”
  • Herbie calls himself a “ninny.”
  • Herbie says that he and Violet are “freezing [their] cockles off.”
  • In the story of Captain K, the captain calls his men “cowards” for wanting “to turn back.” They later plead, “for the love of grog, give it back its egg!”
  • The captain calls the malamander “just a dumb animal” and a “fiendish creature.”
  • Herbie calls an action in the story of Captain K “bonkers.” The museum owner agrees and says the captain was “drunk with power.”
  • After his encounter with the malamander, the captain is described as becoming “a ruin of a man, ranting and raving.”
  • Herbie asks himself, “How could I have been so stupid?”
  • Lady Kraken calls the museum owner “sly” and Violet “that sneaky little friend of yours.”
  • Damned is used occasionally. For example, Eels says, “I’ll be damned if I’m going to let that bleeding-heart Peter stand in my way, even from beyond the grave.”
  • Eels tells Boat Hook Man, “It’s not my fault you didn’t have the wit or the will to use the egg properly.”
  • Eels calls the behavior of the malamander “pathetic” and asks, “doesn’t it just make you want to puke?” He also adds, “But also, how very unsurprising that a softy like Peter Parma would be the one to discover such a ridiculous fact.”
  • Herbie assumes Eels believes “no one in their right mind would crawl into such a small and dismal hole.”
  • Hell is used several times. For example, Herbie calls the shipwreck “watery hell.”
  • Violet’s dad uses the expression “dear gods.”
  • Eels calls Violet “wretched, unimaginative child” and “as weak and pathetic as [her] father.”

Supernatural

  • The legend of the malamander is central to the story. According to the townspeople’s beliefs, “It’s a monstrous creature — half man, half fish, half goodness-knows-what” with “rows of quivering spines.” The creature lays a “magical egg” once a year. The egg’s abilities are described as the “grants-you-your-dearest-wish kind.”
  • The malamander can climb walls and swim very well, as well as survive long falls. The malamander “was not invincible . . . it could be killed” by attacking the small opening to its heart. Eels says, “the monster opens its heart when it lays its egg. Quite literally — the armored plates over its heart fold back so that its beatings can be heard in the ocean. That’s how it calls its mate.”
  • The book dispensary has an animatronic mermonkey, a monkey that “has the lower body of a fish” and dispenses the identification code for a book that it feels the reader needs. Jenny, who owns the dispensary says, “It’s the book that chooses you.” Herbie also tells Violet that many believe the machine to have “a sense of humor, too” because Herbie “met a man once who swears he belched in front of the mermonkey and got dispensed a copy of Gone with the Wind.”
  • Lady Kraken, the hotel owner, has a mechanism called a “cameraluna” which uses the moon to project “a moving image of the pier at Eerie-on-Sea, seen from above.” She uses it to spy on the townspeople in real time. She can also reverse the recordings, making the “little figures of the townsfolk dart around, walking backward at high speed, as if [Herbie and Lady Kraken] are going back in time.”
  • Herbie explains that the rumor is that the diner owner “came here as a young man and saw a mermaid from the end of the pier. Heard her sing. No one ever recovers from that.”
  • The cat, Erwin, speaks occasionally.
  • The egg can vaguely communicate telepathically with its holder. “In the captain’s wondering mind, a thousand voices seemed to whisper as one: I can make your dreams come true.”
  • Captain K, also known as Boat Hook Man, wished to “live forever” and the egg granted that wish. The egg responds, “But if you lose [the egg], your wish shall become your curse.” Captain K’s “wounds closed up as soon as they opened, and his injuries healed.”
  • Boat Hook Man exists today as half-man, half-water. He arrives in the form of a “cloud of mist” which gathers into a shape.
  • The egg’s power is used multiple times by Eels and Violet. Violet uses it to see her parents’ disappearance in a mist “like a tornado,” which displays images and sound. In addition, the mist “encircles” Boat Hook Man and transforms him into his former self, Captain K. “The boat hook on the end of his right arm evaporates, and a new hand appears there, pink and perfect.”
  • Eels uses the egg to replace Captain K’s hook with a “red crab pincer” and then turns the malamander body into multiple sea creatures. “Captain Kraken’s body trembles and ripples, then collapses into a mass of squid and jellyfish and sea slime.”
  • Violet then uses the egg to make the malamander “miraculously whole again,” raising it from the dead.

Spiritual Content

  • The diner owner says, “In my country, we leave gifts for beings like this, for spirits. Offerings. At night, when I close up, I, too, leave gifts — the fried fish that is left over — outside on the pier. In the morning, it is gone.”

by Jennaly Nolan

Daughter of the Deep

Ana Dakkar is a freshman at Harding-Pencroft Academy, a five-year high school that graduates the best marine scientists, naval warriors, navigators, and underwater explorers in the world. Ana’s parents died while on a scientific expedition two years ago, and the only family she’s got left is her older brother, Dev, also a student at HP.

Ana’s freshman year culminates with the class’s weekend trial at sea, the details of which have been kept secret. She only hopes she has what it’ll take to succeed. All her worries are blown out of the water when, on the bus ride to the ship, Ana and her schoolmates witness a terrible tragedy that will change the trajectory of their lives.

But wait, there’s more. The professor accompanying them informs Ana that their rival school, Land Institute, and Harding-Pencroft have been fighting a cold war for a hundred and fifty years. Now, that cold war has been turned up to a full boil, and the freshman are in danger of becoming fish food.

In a race against deadly enemies, Ana will make amazing friends and astounding discoveries about her heritage as she puts her leadership skills to the test for the first time.

In Daughter of the Deep, the books 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island written by Jules Verne are more factual than fictional. One of the teachers explains who the book’s characters are and where they fit into modern society. Ana also discovers that she is a descendant of Captain Nemo who “hated the great colonial powers. . . and had personal reasons to hate imperialism.” While introducing the above topic, both the Land Institute and Harding agree that “turning Nemo’s technology over to the world’s governments, or worse, the world’s corporations, would be disastrous.” Riordan repeatedly reminds readers of the danger of the world’s governments and corporations, who are more concerned with keeping their monopolies than helping citizens. This theme is not well-developed, and most teens will quickly forget these passages.

The story is told from Ana’s point of view. Even though she is the heroine, Ana is not portrayed as a perfect person. After her parents died, Ana dissociates; the narrative explains that Ana has talked to the school counselor regarding her grief. While Ana’s talk of her painful menstrual cycle makes her more relatable, the topic will make some younger readers uncomfortable. After the hostiles destroy Harding-Pencroft Academy, killing anyone on campus, Ana decides that the hostiles will be let free without any consequences. In the story’s conclusion, Ana unrealistically forgives the people who destroyed the school and then tried to kill her and her friends.

The story has a large group of characters who are both racially and religiously diverse. Plus, one character, Ester, has autism and needs an emotional support animal. However, even with readers paying close attention, the large cast of characters is difficult to keep track of. Daughter of the Deep has a unique premise, interesting characters, and fun technology; however, the story leaves the reader wondering if justice was served or if Ana’s opponents will just regroup and come back to continue their killing spree. Before jumping into Daughter of the Deep, readers who are intrigued by Jules Verne’s books should read the Max Tilt Series by Peter Lerangis.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • In order to demonstrate a Leyden, Dr. Hewett shoots a student. “The only sound is a high-pressure hiss. For a millisecond, Gem is wrapped in flickering white tendrils of electricity. Then his eyes crossed, and he collapsed in a heap.” Gem recovers quickly.
  • Students from the Land Institute attack the Harding-Pencroft Academy’s yacht. When they board the vessel, they use grenade launchers. “Two fist-size canisters plunk onto our gangway and roll hissing. . . the explosions still leave [Ana’s] head ringing.”
  • A student’s dog helps defend his person. The dog, Top, “joins the party, clamping his jaws around the guy’s throat . . . As it is, he [the attacker] crab-walks backward, screaming and trying to shake off the furious twenty-pound fluff demon attached to his windpipe.”
  • During the attack, “Two hostiles fire their silver weapons. Miniature harpoons impale Elois’s shoulder and Cooper’s leg. White arcs of electricity bloom from the projectiles, both [students] crumple.” When the hostiles continue to fire, “Drue Cardenas shoots another intruder. Unfortunately, the electricity also arcs to Nelinha, who had been in the process of pummeling said intruder with a socket wrench. Both of them go down.” No one is killed, but several are injured. The fight is described over six pages.
  • Caleb, a student from the Land Institute, attempts to kidnap Ana. They are in the ocean when Ana snaps her “head backward and hears the satisfying crunch of Caleb’s nose breaking.” As the two struggle, “help comes from an unexpected direction. Right next to us, a mass of sleek blue-gray flesh explodes out of the sea, and Caleb is body-slammed into oblivion under the weight of a six-hundred-pound bottlenose dolphin.” Ana is able to escape.
  • A huge octopus, Romeo, likes the submarine, the Nautilus. When Ana and Gem first see it, “Gem tackles me and jets me out of the way, but the creature isn’t interested in us. Eight tentacles the size of bridge cables wrap themselves around the Nautilus.” The group manages to safely detach the octopus from the sub.
  • Ana’s brother, Dev, who is captain of the Aronnax, attacks the Nautilus. “The Aronnax’s four torpedoes sail straight over our heads. . .” Before the Aronnax can cause any damage to the Nautilus, “Romeo’s enormous tentacles wrap around the Aronnax, pulling her into an embrace… Romeo snaps the Aronnax like gingerbread. Fire and sea churn together. Giant, silver air bubbles, some with people inside, billow toward the surface.” The Aronnax is destroyed, but everyone survives.
  • There is a multi-chapter confrontation between Dev’s group and Ana’s group. When Ana and Gem try to get back to base, they see “Dev’s skiff is waiting for us. . . a black wedge bristling with weapons like the spines of a porcupine fish. It faces us from only fifty feet away. . . and in the pilot’s seat is my brother. . . We sail over the Dev’s stern . . . Gem shoulders his Leyden rifle and fires two rounds straight into the submersible’s propulsion system.” Once the skiff is out of commission Ana and Gem go to free the hostages.
  • Back at the base, Ana and Gem are attacked before they can get out of the ocean. “The nearest diver jabs [Ana] with his knife. . . The razor-sharp edge rips the fabric and grazes my ribs. . . White spots swim in my eyes. Nevertheless, I use my boots to wrestle my attacker, pushing him backward into one of the pier’s pylons.”
  • In order to get away from her attacker, Ana unsheathes her “blade and stabs him in the BC vest. . . With his vest’s air bladder punctured, my opponent is blinded by bubbles. He starts to sink . . . On his way down, I kick him for good measure.” Socrates, Ana’s dolphin friend, helps in the fight. “While he headbutts the blue-eyed diver into submission, three of the local bottlenose dolphins descend on the other guy . . . The dolphins welcome him to the neighborhood with an extreme tail-fin smackdown.”
  • Gem shoots several of the opponents with non-lethal bullets. The bullets leave them with “nasty red welts in the middle of their foreheads.”
  • When Gem and Ana get to the base, they see their friends “are being held at gunpoint.” Gem uses an alt-tech flash-band and then enters the dining room “but there’s no one left to shoot at. Our friends are still alive, though they’ve looked better. . . All four hostiles are out cold, spread-eagled on the floor, goofy grins frozen onto their faces. . .”
  • Dev finds Ana and Gem. “My brother smacks [Gem] across the head with a ratchet. Gem collapses. . . My brother glares at me. . . He grabs my wrist, slapping the gun from my hand, then steps in and twists, attempting to throw me over his shoulder.” The brother and sister fight until, “[Ana] shoot[s] him three times. The last rubber bullet snaps his head back, raising an ugly red spot right between the eyes.” Dev is taken as prisoner and locked in a room. The casualties from the battle are minor. There were no deaths on either side.

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • Students from the Land Institute attempt to kidnap Ana. Ana describes, “Someone behind me locks his forearm across my throat. I feel a sharp pain like a wasp sting in the side of my neck.” Ana discovers that she has been injected with sea-snake venom.
  • Ana takes Midol for period pain.

Language

  • God, oh god and my god are all used as exclamations several times.

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • When Ana’s school is attacked and destroyed, she prays, “Three-Eyed One, Lord Shiva, who nourishes all beings, may He liberate us from death.”
  • While thinking about her ancestors, Ana thinks, “Ester and I were bound together before we were born. It makes me wonder about reincarnation and karma, and whether our souls might have met at another time.”
  • After Ana realizes that her brother destroyed their school, she said “a prayer for my brother, and for the future.”

Witches Don’t Do Backflips

Howie, Eddie, and Melody are convinced that the new gymnastics teacher, Miss Brewbaker, is a witch. When the kids decide to take Prince Diamond to gymnastics, the teacher doesn’t want the dog near her. Then, when Prince Diamond disappears, Eddie is convinced that Miss Brewbaker has turned the dog into a frog.

Eddie and Melody are determined to prove that Miss Brewbaker is a witch. Melody says, “It all adds up: a moving broom, strange rhymes that come true, and flips that look like flying.” Is Miss Brewbaker really a witch? And if she is, how will they find a way to reverse the spell and turn Prince Diamond back into a dog?

Young readers will enjoy trying to piece together the clues to prove Miss Brewbaker is really a witch. Miss Brewbaker looks like a stereotypical witch, with a big nose and a wart. However, she is nice to the kids…that is, until Prince Diamond appears. Miss Brewbaker and her black cat both want to avoid dogs. This leads to some silly speculating among the four friends. None of the clues prove that Miss Brewbaker is a witch, but the kids are still convinced that she has witchy powers.

The kids go to the library to research witches. Then during gymnastics, the kids keep finishing Miss Brewbaker’s rhymes because “the library book said that finishing a rhyme takes away the spell’s power.” In addition, the kids distract Miss Brewbaker so Eddie can look for her spellbook. Afterward, Eddie says, “I found the cookbook, or rhyme book, or spellbook, or whatever you want to call it. Then I said each one backwards. . . I bet it broke every one of Miss Brewbaker’s spells.”

In order to help readers visualize the characters and understand the plot, Witches Don’t Do Backflips has illustrations every 2 to 3 pages. The large black and white illustrations emphasize the characters’ facial expressions to show their emotions. Witches Don’t Do Backflips is perfect for emerging readers who are ready for chapter books because it has easy vocabulary, short chapters, and many illustrations.

Black cats, spells, and a missing dog combine to make a fast-paced story that readers will enjoy. Even though the story focuses on a witch, there are no spooky scenes. Witches Don’t Do Backflips is a fun story that will appeal to many readers and get them in the mood for some fall fun.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Eddie says gymnastic lessons are sissy lessons.
  • When Eddie meets the gymnastics teacher, he says, “Look at the size of her nose. If she sneezes, we’ll end up somewhere over the rainbow. Look, she even has a wart on that huge honker.”
  • Because the gymnastics teacher dresses in all black, Eddie says, “I hope she’s a better teacher than she is a dresser.”
  • The kids call each other names such as chicken, dope, and bunny brains
  • When Carey brags about how good she is at gymnastics, Eddie says, “I’d like to carefully rearrange your face.”
  • The kids are not always nice to each other. For example, when Eddie says black cats are bad luck, Liza says, “You’ve got a hairball stuck in your brain.”

Supernatural

  • Lisa thinks “witches used gingerbread houses to lure and trick kids.”
  • The gymnastics teacher uses rhymes that the kids think are spells. Below are a few examples.
  • Carey doesn’t want to mess up her hair at gymnastics. The teacher says, “Straight or curly / Black or gold / You’ll love tumbling / when all is told!” After the spell, Carey does several cartwheels.
  • Melody has a hard time doing a cartwheel until the gymnastic teacher says this rhyme, “Replace that frown, / No time to cry! / Keep on practicing and / soon you’ll fly.” After the rhyme is spoken, Melody does a perfect cartwheel.
  • Several dogs disappear and frogs show up after Miss Brewbaker says, “Leave us be, / We don’t like dogs. / Especially spotted ones / Like warty frogs!”

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Help! We Have Strange Powers!

Jillian and Jackson are twins having a normal day at the movies until a fortune teller machine changes their lives by zapping them with superpowers. Now Jillian can read minds and Jackson can make objects levitate. The twins are excited to live their new lives as real-life superheroes, but what if superpowers come with super villains?

Scientist Dr. Cranium kidnaps the twins and takes them to a lab. Dr. Cranium wants to drain the twins not only of their powers but of their minds. The twins escape the lab by lying about their powers, but their troubles are not over. They eventually go to HorrorLand, and become trapped in a creepy theme park run by monsters. Will they be able to escape, or are they trapped in HorrorLand forever?

Help! We Have Strange Powers is the tenth book in the Goosebumps HorrorLand series. The first part of the story is interesting as it focuses on Jillian and Jackson’s new powers. However, once the twins are trapped in HorrorLand, the plot becomes confusing because the twins meet all of the characters from the previous books. This will be confusing for readers who have not read the previous books, as there is no explanation for what HorrorLand is or how Jillian and Jackson get there.

Help! We Have Strange Powers is told in the first person from Jillian’s perspective. In true R.L. Stine fashion, each chapter ends on a cliffhanger, making the reader want to continue with the book. Jillian and Jackson are not admirable, as they only use their powers for selfish reasons and to mess with others. The plot is not cohesive and it uses the typical Goosebumps elements. Even though the story is just average, fans of R.L. Stine will enjoy Help! We Have Strange Powers because it is an easy-to-read thriller.

Sexual Content

  • Jillian reads her classmate’s mind. He thought, “Wow. Jillian is looking totally hot today.”
  • Jillian says the gym teacher is “young and tall and very hot. The girls in school all have crushes on him.”

Violence

  • Angry that Artie, an annoying kid, got butter on his sweater, Jackson “wrapped an arm around Artie’s neck and began wrestling with him…The two of them tumbled into the aisle, wrestling, grabbing at each other, punching.”
  • As Jackson reaches into a fortune-telling booth to grab his fortune, the machine shocks him and Jillian. Jillian’s “whole body shook and danced as a powerful shock stung [her]. Jolted [Jillian] hard. And sent pain shooting out over [her] arms and legs.”
  • During a soccer game, Artie kicked the ball, which “crashed into Jackson’s stomach.” Jackson “opened his mouth in a sick groan. His face turned purple, and his eyes nearly goggled out of his head.”
  • Jackson and Artie are playing Wii boxing when Artie’s “punch went wide – and he slammed his fist into [Jackson’s] jaw.”
  • Jillian and Jackson try to see if they can fly. They break into a run and leap up. Jillian “crashed headfirst into the wire fence . . . and staggered backward, struggling to keep [her] balance. Pain shot through [her] body.” Jackson “hit the fence with a loud clang. He bounded off and tumbled onto his butt.”
  • While Dr. Cranium tries to wipe Jillian and Jackson’s thoughts, Jackson uses his powers to crash a mannequin into him. “The mannequin dropped hard and fast. It landed headfirst on top of Cranium, and he crumpled to the pavement.”
  • Jackson uses his powers to crash a chandelier onto the Purple Rage, a superhero who was trying to hurt the kids. “The chandelier crashed onto the superhero’s head and shoulders. The Rage uttered a weak cry. He toppled facedown onto the floor.”
  • Because the Purple Rage is so angry, he “exploded. His body burst apart with a loud splat . . . his purple guts went flying all over the room.”
  • Jillian, Jackson, and a few other kids try to go through a portal in a mirror that leads to Panic Park. It doesn’t work because the mirror turns back into solid glass, and Jillian runs into it. Jillian “screamed as [her] forehead cracked into solid glass.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Jackson and Jillian go see a movie called Butt-Kicker II.
  • Jackson used his powers to hurl a soccer ball at Artie. It missed Artie because he bent down to tie his shoe. Jackson said, “I’m sorry I missed that jerk.”

Supernatural

  • Jillian and Jackson obtain telekinesis and mind-reading abilities after getting zapped by a fortune-telling machine. Jillian can read people’s minds and Jackson can make things levitate. They are kidnapped by Inspector Cranium, who tries to erase their memories by “going into their brains.”
  • Jillian and Jackson eventually end up at a theme park called HorrorLand. The workers there are monsters, and they trap the two siblings and other kids in a basement where superheroes try to hurt them.

Spiritual Content

  • None

by Jill Johnson

Gargoyles Don’t Drive School Buses

There are some pretty weird grown-ups living in Bailey City. But could the new bus driver, who looks just like a statue on top of the old library, really be a living gargoyle? Howie, Melody, Eddie, and Liza are determined to find out. As they investigate, the four friends cause havoc in the library and sneak up to the roof. Soon, they learn that the city plans to tear down the gothic-style library and replace it with a new glass and steel building.

Before the city begins demolition, some really strange things begin to happen. A mysterious person replaces an expensive stained glass window and fixes the leaky roof. No one knows who made the repairs in the middle of the night, but the kids think the gargoyles are coming to life at night to make the repairs. Will the kids be able to convince the city to save the building and the gargoyles?

Gargoyles Don’t Drive School Buses will entertain mystery-loving readers. Even though the new school bus driver is a little strange, he isn’t frightening. The fast-paced story never fully reveals whether or not the school bus driver is in fact a gargoyle. Instead, it leaves enough doubt that readers can make the decision on their own. As the kids investigate the library gargoyles, they decide to save the building by gathering signatures and holding a protest. The kids’ peaceful protest is responsible for saving the old library and the gargoyles’ home.

Howie, Melody, Eddie, and Liza are relatable characters who work together to solve the mystery. However, Eddie often makes mean comments. For example, he tells Howie, “There are legends around Bailey Elementary that you’re crazy,” and “your brain is one brick short of a full load.” While Eddie’s comments are typical of some kids, his “joking” is often mean-spirited. Another negative aspect of the story is that Eddie intentionally makes a mess in the library in order to distract the librarian. When the librarian begins cleaning up the mess, the kids sneak onto the library’s roof to investigate the gargoyles.

Gargoyles Don’t Drive School Buses is perfect for emerging readers who are ready for chapter books because it has easy vocabulary, short chapters, and illustrations. The large, black-and-white illustrations focus on the characters and appear every 2 to 3 pages. The illustrations will help readers understand the plot and also show the comparison between the bus driver and the gargoyles.

While parents might not like all of the kids’ behavior, Gargoyles Don’t Drive School Buses will entertain readers and make them excited about reading. With over 80 books in the series, readers will have lots of books to choose from. Readers who love more monster mysteries may also want to check out The Hide-and-seek Ghost by Dori Hillestad Butler and Ghost Attack by David Lubar.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • At one point, Eddie says, “I think this plan is nothing but pigeon poo. . .”

Supernatural

  • The kids talk about “legends that say gargoyles can come to life at night.”
  • Howie says, “Gargoyles are trapped in stone forever. . . unless they are forced to break the spell of stone to fight off great danger.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

Octopus Stew

Ramsey loves to wear his superhero cape, but he never thought he’d ever become an actual superhero. That all changes one afternoon when Ramsey is at his grandma’s house and his grandma decides to make pulpo guisado, octopus stew. When Ramsey and his grandma go to the supermarket, Grandma chooses the biggest octopus in the store. Grandma scrubs the octopus and puts it in the pot, and that’s when the trouble begins.

The octopus grows and grows. When it grows out of the pot, the octopus grabs Grandma and refuses to let her go. Determined to save his grandma, Ramsey grabs his superhero cape. Will Ramsey be able to save his grandma? Or will the octopus have her for dinner?

Ramsey’s tale comes to life in full-colored illustrations that are at times humorous. The oil-painted illustrations pop with bright colors. Young readers will relate to Ramsey, who gets stern looks from the adults in the story. Readers will also appreciate Ramsey’s facial expressions which are full of emotion. The family dog gets a starring role in the illustrations, and readers will love looking for him in each of the story’s pictures. Even though the octopus grabs Grandma in his huge arms, his appearance adds suspense without much little fear factor. The conclusion is surprisingly sweet.

Ramsey’s family is Afro-Latino and the family’s love of telling stories is apparent. The story includes a central foldout that contains a humorous surprise. Octopus Stew would be the perfect introduction to tall tales and will encourage readers to tell their own family stories.

Octopus Stew makes a wonderful read-aloud book because it’s packed full of sound words such as bloop, kerchunk, and thum! The English text intertwines with Spanish phrases and reflects the author’s family, who spoke non-standard Spanish at home. A glossary provides definitions and pronunciations of the Spanish phrases. However, the story’s context clues are sufficient to understand the Spanish words’ meanings.

Even though Octopus Stew is a picture book, the story is intended to be read aloud to a child, rather than for the child to read it for the first time independently. Each page of the picture book has 1 to 3 complex sentences. A recipe for octopus stew is included at the end of the book.

Octopus Stew shows how oral storytelling can be fun for families, and the story will encourage readers to create a tall tale of their own. The wonderful illustrations and the unique plot make Octopus Stew an entertaining story that kids will love. In addition, the illustrations have enough detail to capture readers’ attention. Octopus Stew is a family-oriented story that will appeal to a wide range of readers who enjoy the humor, suspense, and surprising conclusions.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • A huge octopus grabs Grandma and holds her in the air.
  • The octopus “attacked, spraying ink all over my [Ramsey’s] drawing.”

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • None

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

 

 

Monsters Don’t Scuba Dive

Howie, Melody, Eddie, and Liza are spending their vacation at Camp Lone Wolf. The kids think that Mr. Jenkins is a werewolf because he is so hairy and he’s super strict. Then, when the kids get to camp, Mr. Jenkins introduces Nessie McFarland, who is going to teach the kids how to snorkel. Nessie loves being in the water and is nervous when she’s on land. Because of her shy demeanor and her strange looks, the kids are convinced that Nessie is the Loch Ness Monster. Will the kids be able to prove that Nessie is a monster?

 Monsters Don’t Scuba Dive will entertain mystery-loving readers. Even though the kids think Nessie is a monster, she is never portrayed in a scary or negative manner. For instance, when the kids fall out of a raft, the monster helps them make it back to shore safely. The fast-paced story never fully reveals whether or not Nessie is a monster. Instead, it leaves enough doubt that readers can make the decision on their own. Throughout the book, the Bailey School kids are reminded that every plant and animal deserves to live out its life in peace, including monsters.

Howie, Melody, Eddie, and Liza are relatable characters who work together to solve the mystery. However, the kids sometimes make bratty remarks to each other. For example, Howie shows his friends a book about monsters and Eddie says, “You have monsters in your head if you think I’m going to read a book on my vacation.” In addition, when the camp counselor is talking, Eddie often whispers complaints to his friends.

Monsters Don’t Scuba Dive allows young readers to wonder if monsters really exist without giving them the heebie-jeebies. The Bailey School Kids Series is perfect for emerging readers who are ready for chapter books because it has easy vocabulary, short chapters, and illustrations. The large, black-and-white illustrations focus on the characters and appear every 2 to 3 pages. The illustrations will help readers understand the plot and visualize the characters. However, Mr. Jenkins is a little bit creepy because he is so hairy and his smile shows all of his teeth, including his eyeteeth that “look like fangs.”

While parents might not like all of the kids’ behavior, Monsters Don’t Scuba Dive will entertain readers and make them excited about reading. Readers who want more monster action should check out the Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol Series by Andres Miedoso and the Notebook of Doom Series by Troy Cummings.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • None

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • When the camp counselor tells the kids they will learn how to swim, Eddie says, “But this is our vacation. We shouldn’t have to learn a doggone thing!”
  • Eddie calls his friends names such as monster breath, water brains, and octopus brain.

Supernatural

  • None

 Spiritual Content

  • None

City of Villains #1

Mary Elizabeth Heart is a high school senior by day, but by night she’s an intern at the Monarch City police department. She watches with envy from behind a desk as detectives come and go, trying to contain the city’s growing crime rate. For years, tension has simmered as the city’s wealthy elite plan to gentrify a decaying neighborhood called the Scar—which once upon a time was the epicenter of all things magical.

When the daughter of one of the city’s most powerful businessmen goes missing, Mary Elizabeth is thrilled when the Chief puts her on the case. But what begins as one missing person’s report soon multiplies, leading her down the rabbit hole of a city in turmoil. There she finds a girl with horns, a boyfriend with secrets, and what seems to be a sea monster lurking in a poisonous lake. As the mystery circles closer to home, Mary finds herself caught in a fight between those who once had magic, and those who will do anything to bring it back—even if it means creating a few monsters along the way.

This dark, fairytale-inspired world explores the reimagined origins of Maleficent, Ursula, Captain Hook, and other infamous Disney villains. Readers who expect to walk into a world of Disney characters will be disappointed to discover that while the characters are named after Disney characters, they are normal humans. To make matters worse, at the beginning of the story, a slew of characters are introduced, but most of them have only a brief appearance which leads to confusion. In addition, the characters are so underdeveloped that readers will have a hard time connecting with them. While the story is told from Mary Elizabeth’s point of view, her insight into her friends’ true personalities also adds to the confusion.

The setting of the story is unclear because it references the United States in modern day, but it also is a world that magic used to exist in. Like the characters, the world building is underdeveloped. Unlike most Disney stories, City of Villains revolves around teenagers who hang out at bars. Plus, Mary Elizabeth is an intern at the police station which gives her access to some brutal murder cases, including her own family’s murder. For example, the police are attempting to solve a gruesome case that involves a murderer leaving gift-wrapped body parts all over the city.

City of Villains will leave many Disney fans disappointed. The plot takes the reader on a winding and confusing journey through a world with little magic. The gruesome murder scenes, the underdeveloped characters, and the unrealistic conclusion make City of Villains a book that is best left on the shelf. Readers who want a fairytale-inspired story should check out Fairy Tale Reform School by Jen Calonita or the Once Upon a Con Series by Ashley Poston.

Sexual Content

  • Mary Elizabeth and her boyfriend kiss, but the kiss is not described. For example, “James and I pause to kiss while Ursula stops to answer a call on her cell.”
  • When a girl is reported to be missing, the chief of police doesn’t want to investigate. “The last thing I need is drama over a girl who’s probably in a hotel room with someone she met in some club last Saturday night, picking up parasites from the questionable bed linens.”
  • Mary Elizabeth argues with a boy at school. He tells her, “I think what Mr. Iago is getting at is that your need to engage in confrontations with me boils down to attraction and sexual tension. . . if you didn’t have that ugly birthmark and weren’t totally concave in the chest area, I might consider relieving all that tension for you.”
  • While in a bar’s bathroom, Mary Elizabeth sees writing on the wall. It says, “For a good time call Mary Elizabeth.”

Violence

  • While working at the police station, Mary Elizabeth learns about a case. “Body parts showing up all over the Scar . . . So far there’s been a thigh, an arm, a hand with the fingerprints cut from the skin. . . they come in these boxes wrapped up like holiday gifts, frozen in dry ice.”
  • A new package arrives. “A hand rests in the center, mist rising all around it as the dry ice burns off. Its fingernails are blackened and congealed blood crusts at the wrist. It’s discolored gray, and the middle finger is pointed straight upward, flipping the chief the bird.”
  • At school there is a scuffle between two boys. “Stone slams into Lucas Attenborough, who pushes him back easily, so Stone falls onto his back, loses his breath, and looks up at us in panic. Lucas gives him a kick that’s more symbolic than painful.”
  • When Mally isn’t invited to a party, she shows up with her pet bird, Hellion. Mally’s bird “flew everywhere, digging his talons into the rose blossom cake, knocking over the vat of ginger beer, pecking into the chestnut-toasted suckling pig.” Later, Mally “cut Flora’s break lines, left a roadkill on Fauna’s doorstep, and bleached Merryweather’s grass.”
  • Mary Elizabeth’s parents and sister are murdered and Mary Elizabeth sees some crime scene photos with “all that blood.” She also learns that the man who killed them “just wanted to know what it would feel like to take lives.”
  • In a vision, Mary Elizabeth sees Mally, who is trying to tell her something. “She is yanked out of the chair. She slaps against the plastic seat and whacks heavily against the floor, and then she slides along, head lolling to the side, eyes unblinking and open.”
  • Bella, a young police officer, accidentally shoots someone. “I was aiming for his leg, but I killed him.”
  • Bella tells Mary Elizabeth about a trucker who “kidnapped a couple people, and then left their remains outside of Las Vegas.”
  • The police arrest a man who “had a kill kit in his vehicle: ropes, hacksaw, trash bags. . . and we found trace elements of Ursula’s blood in his shop and on his clothes.”
  • The person who helped kidnapped Mally and Ursula tells Mary Elizabeth, “I thought they’d be drugged, poked with needles, dosed with forgetful serum, and then returned home. . . I had no idea it would turn out this way, that people would actually be monstrously altered.”
  • While trying to free Mally and Ursula, men try to stop Mary Elizabeth. “I kick the gun out of one man’s hand and then punch and duck and swerve but feel something hit my chin and something else grab me by the back of the head. . .” Ursula jumps into the fight. “She swings her arms out and the men go flying, making hard thudding noises as they hit the wall. She makes a rising motion and the men get up like marionettes, doing jigs. They are horrified and helpless as their bodies are flung to and from.”
  • While trying to escape, Mally “hurls blue lights at him. She hits him and he is singed and within seconds has disappeared.”
  • Mary Elizabeth’s boyfriend James’s hand is hit with darts. His hand begins to shrivel. In order to save his life, Mary Elizabeth grabs an ax. She swings “high and brings the ax down, severing James’s hand from his arm. . . He screams as I take off my belt and loop it around his arm tightly as I can.”
  • At the end of the battle, the police show up. “Pieces of broken glass and bodies are strewn everywhere. Medics have begun to collect Kyle’s men one by one and puts some into ambulances, while others are covered in blankets, a signal that they will need to be collected for the morgue.”

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • Mary Elizabeth’s boyfriend is “the son of a drug-lord/murderer.”
  • Mary Elizabeth and her boyfriend see a man who is “wasted.”

Language

  • The teens often call each other names such as doofus, idiot, moron, jerk, prick, loser, and crazy witch.
  • Profanity is rarely used. Profanity includes asshole, damn, bitchy, hell, pissing, and jackass.

Supernatural

  • Magic used to exist, but now the only place that is magical is the Ever Garden. “Once someone tried to sell hot dogs from a cart and was hurled out by a redwood.”
  • Mary Elizabeth’s boyfriend shows her a blue ball of light. “So I keep looking at this light until I’m part of it, until I am the swirl and I can see it isn’t just a flat blue. . . It’s alive and beckoning, its fingers reaching for me. Half a second later, the light shoots into my chest.”
  • Due to a magical experiment, Mary Elizabeth’s best friend, Ursula, is changed. “She has tentacles, black ones that look to be part of a backless dress.” At one point, Ursula “changes from a human to an eel to a giant floating jellyfish and back to a human in a matter of seconds.”
  • While looking in a mirror, Mary Elizabeth sees a reflection of a different version of herself. She can step through the mirror into another place. She pushes the glass and “the glass gives, turning opaque like silver satin as my fingers disappear to the knuckle.”
  • At one point, Mary Elizabeth levitates.
  • Mary Elizabeth’s boyfriend uses magic to put her to sleep. “He presses his lips against mine and pulls me in close. . . He pulls back, puts a thumb to my forehead. . . ‘Sleep,’ he says, and blue light shoots into my head. The world abruptly fades to black.
  • Mally turns into a “badass” dragon.

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

The Girl Who Drank the Moon

Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest, to keep the witch from terrorizing their town. But the witch, Xan, is really kind and gentle. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon. Xan rescues the children left in the woods and delivers them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest.

One year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby with moonlight, filling the ordinary child with extraordinary magic. Xan decides she must raise this girl, who she calls Luna, as her own. As Luna’s thirteenth birthday approaches, her magic begins to emerge with unpredictable consequences, just as it’s time for Xan to go collect another child. Meanwhile, a young man is determined to free his people by killing the witch. And a volcano, dormant for centuries, rumbles within the earth. . .

The Girl Who Drank the Moon has many elements of a classical fairytale. A witch who lives in the woods, a swamp monster who recites poetry, a tiny dragon, and a curious girl filled with magic. Like a classical fairytale, the story is often dark, scary, and teaches a lesson. Despite this, readers may get bogged down in the long, repetitive descriptive passages that often use difficult vocabulary words. Between some of the chapters, there is a one-sided conversation between an anonymous speaker and another person. Because the speaker is unknown, these pages are more confusing than interesting.

The complex story uses an omniscient point of view so the reader can understand all of the characters’ thoughts. However, the story jumps to many characters—Xan, Glerk, Fyrian, Luna, the Madwoman, Sister Ignatia, Antain, Grand Elder Gherland, and Ethyne. While all the stories merge at the end, the large cast of characters and the winding plot make The Girl Who Drank the Moon best for strong readers.

Xan, a beautifully complex witch, shows love through every action. When she collects the abandoned babies and finds them new homes, she truly believes that she is doing what is right. Later she realizes that “I was wrong not to be curious. I was so wrong not to wonder.” Xan’s compassion allows her to understand others’ pain, and her love gives her the strength to fight for others.

The story deals with the difficult topics of death, grief, and political corruption. But beauty is woven into each page as the characters realize that family is not always determined by one’s birth, but by love. Luna’s family—Xan, the swamp monster, and the tiny dragon—is formed by love, loyalty, and the willingness to sacrifice for each other.

Even though The Girl Who Drank the Moon won the Newbery Award, the story may hold more appeal to adults than to middle-grade and teen readers. While the story has some interesting elements, the length of the story, the long descriptive passages, and the slow world-building make the story difficult to complete. Readers looking for a story about a witch that steals children may want to skip The Girl Who Drank the Moon and read Nightbooks by J.A. White instead.

Sexual Content

  • An anonymous speaker dreams about her son. She says, “Last night I dreamed that he waited next to a tree for a girl to walk by. And he called her name, and held her hand, and his heart pounded when he kissed her.”

Violence

  • Every year, the youngest child in the village is sacrificed to a witch. The town Elders take the baby into a clearing in the woods and leave the child there.
  • Paper birds come alive and attack a boy called Antain. “A paper raven swooped across the room, slicing its wing across Antain’s cheek, cutting it open, letting him bleed. . .” The birds permanently disfigure the boy’s face.
  • A man tries to take a sacrificed baby, but Xan stops him. “She could feel her magic rush from the center of the earth. . . like massive waves pushing and pulling the shore. She reached out and grabbed the man with both hands. He cried out as a surge hit him square in the solar plexus, knocking his breath clear away.” Xan turned into a bird and “lifted the baby into the sky.” Both the man and Xan were trying to keep the baby safe, but they did not realize it.
  • Xan turns into a sparrow. She flies over a frightened man. She tries to comfort him. “She fluttered out of her hiding place and circled over the figure. A young man. He screamed, loosed the stone in his hand, and hit Xan on the left wing. She fell to the ground without so much as a peep.” The sparrow’s wing is broken so the man binds the wing and carries the bird with him.
  • The Sorrow Eater feeds off of grief. In order to feed, she finds a starling nest. “She reached in and grabbed a tiny, wriggling nestling. She crushed it in one fist as the horrified mother looked on. The mother sparrow’s sorrow was thin. But it was enough. Sister Ignatia licked her lips and crushed another nestling.”
  • Sister Ignatia threatens Luna. In order to protect the girl, paper birds attack Sister Ignatia. “The birds cut her hands. They cut her forehead. They attacked without mercy.”
  • Sister Ignatia tries to take magical boots off of a woman. Sister Ignatia “balled her hands into two tight fists and raised them over her head. When she swept them back down, uncurling her fingers, they had four sharp knives. Without hesitating she reared back and snapped her hands forward, shooting the knife blades directly for the madwoman’s heart.” The madwoman moves just in time and is not injured.

 Drugs and Alcohol

  • The town Elders “grew big and strong on beef and butter and beer.
  • Luna gave “ale to the geese to see if it made them walk funny (it did).”
  • A woman goes mad after her baby is sacrificed. She is given “special potions to keep her calm.”
  • The Elders drink wine with lunch.

Language

  • A monster says, “As the Poet famously said, dear lady: ‘I don’t give a rat’s—‘” The monster stops talking when he is interrupted.
  • “My god” is used as an exclamation once.
  • When Antain asks to see the Elders, which is unusual, his uncle says, “Tradition be damned. The council will be ever so pleased to see you.”

Supernatural

  • Sister Ignatia is a Sorrow Eater, who “spreads misery and devours sorrow.” When someone feels grief, Sister Ignatia’s “tongue quickly darted out and disappeared back into her mouth. She closed her eyes as her cheeks flushed. As though she had just tasted the most delicious flavor in the world.”
  • Xan is a witch and can change forms. She picks up the sacrificed infants and feeds them starlight. “Once it was dark enough to see the stars, she reached up one hand and gathered starlight in her fingers. . . and fed it to the child.”
  • In order to hide from the Elder, Xan “transformed herself into a tree—a craggy thing of leaf and lichen and deep-grooved bark, similar in shape and texture to the other ancient sycamores standing guard over the small grove.”
  • When Luna was an infant, she drank moonlight, which “enmagicked” her.
  • Xan believes that “magic should never be used to influence the will of another person.” Despite this, she uses magic to make Luna sleep. When Luna begins transforming things, such as turning bread dough into a hat, Xan uses a spell to keep Luna from using magic. Xan is afraid Luna will hurt herself or someone else.
  • Xan uses her magic to cure a young woman of headaches.
  • Xan has a memory of protecting people “who lived in a castle. . . She remembered how she put protective spells on each of them—well, each of them but one—and prayed to the stars that each spell would hold as they ran.”
  • A girl is told a story about a witch who had boots that “could travel seven leagues in a single step.” The witch ate “sorrow, or souls, or volcanoes, or babies, or brave little wizards.” Soon, the girl discovers that the witch and the magical shoes are not just a story, but are real.
  • A woman learns how to transform herself into small things such as a cricket, a spider, or a waterbug.
  • Luna discovers a library, where the books are eager to have their voices heard. “Each book and each paper, as it turned out, had quite a bit to say. They murmured and rambled; they talked over one another; they stepped on each other’s voices.”
  • A flock of paper birds helps a “madwoman” escape from prison. The paper birds appear several times in the story.

Spiritual Content

  • A creation story explains how everything came from a bog. “In the beginning there was the Bog. And the Bog covered the world and the Bog was the world and the world was the Bog. . . But the Bog was lonely.” So the Bog created life on earth.
  • Xan remembers another time in her life when “she could remember climbing into her bed and clutching her hands to her heart, praying to the stars that she might have a night free from bad dreams. She never did.”

Brute-Cake

With no monsters to fight, Alexander and his friends have drifted apart. The Super Secret Monster Patrol used to protect the town from monsters. Without monsters, Alexander is dreading summer vacation. In order to keep Alexander busy, his father has signed him up for a summer camp at the library.

But then Alexander starts finding super creepy monster cards. He’s convinced that the monsters are back, but Rip and Nikki don’t believe him. When Rip invites his friends over to see his new house, the kids decide to explore the attic. When a brute-cake jumps out of a can, the friends know that they must fight the monster together.

Fans of The Notebook of Doom Series will look forward to reading about the S.S.M.P.’s return. The same monster-fighting friends come together to fight new, non-scary monsters. Instead of having a Notebook of Doom to explain the monsters, Alexander keeps finding monster cards that have important information about each monster. Each card is illustrated on one page and has pictures of the monsters, their habitat, their diet, and more exciting information.

Even though the brute-cake wants to turn other monsters into statues, the spooky scenes are more funny than scary. Every page has large, black-and-white pictures that bring the action to life. The large text is comprised of short sentences and easy vocabulary. The Binder of Doom is a companion series; however, readers who have not read The Notebook of Doom will be able to understand Brute-Cake’s plot. The story’s dialogue and use of onomatopoeias make Brute-Cake a great book to read aloud. Full of friendship, mystery, and a funny fighting fruitcake, Brute-Cake will be devoured by independent readers. Readers who like monsters and adventure should add The Yeti Files by Kevin Sherry to their reading list.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • Rip, Alexander, and Nikki find a monster brute-cake. The brute-cake heats up the kitchen and then “the cake swelled up until it was the size of a baby elephant. Then – WHAM – it socked Rip in the jaw with nut-covered fist. . . Nikki jabbed the brute-cake with her spatula. Crumbs flew everywhere. . . The cake shoved Nikki into Alexander and Rip. They stumbled backward into a rack of pots and pans.” The scene is described over two pages.
  • When Nikki charges the brute-cake, the monster “blasted Nikki with a gush of warm glaze. Instantly, she became a shiny white statue.”
  • Rip and Alexander go after the brute-cake. “The monster yanked an enormous candied walnut from its own gut. WHOOMP! It chucked the nut at Rip.” Rip takes an ant out of his pocket. The ant grows to a gigantic size. The brute-cake tries to crush Alexander. “The brute-cake jumped in the air, directly above Alexander. As the monster came down, Alexander rolled sideways. . .”
  • The brute-cake charged towards Alexander. “Alexander dove aside at the last second. The giant cake rammed into the drill-pickle’s pointy drill and—PLOMPFF! The monster crumbled to pieces.” The last battle scene is described over five pages.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Rip calls Alexander a “weenie” one time.
  • Crud is used three times. For example, Alexander thought, “This crust crud on my shirt must be icing!”

Supernatural

  • While in Rip’s attic, Alexander opens a tin can. Then, “Plonk! The tin burst open. A small brownish creature leaps out and smacked into Alexander’s shoulder.” The creature runs away.
  • Alexander and his friends find a brute-cake that is “eighty times tougher than a regular fruitcake.” The monster is “bumpy, brown and covered with shiny bits of fruit and nuts.”
  • After the brute-cake falls apart, Nikki comes back to life.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Lintang and the Pirate Queen

Lintang loves her family, but she doesn’t want to be a homemaker. Lintang dreams of leaving her island home. She longs to go on dangerous and daring adventures. When she meets the infamous pirate, Captain Shafira, Lintang wants to join her crew. When she gets her chance, Lintang promises to follow orders. However, Lintang’s curious, impulsive attitude always gets her into trouble.

Lintang discovers that living on a pirate ship can be difficult. Her loyalties are divided when she finds that her best friend, Bayani, has stowed away and is desperate to stay hidden. Lintang knows that Bayani is hiding a secret that could change the world. However, she has promised the pirate queen that she will never lie to her. How can Lintang impress the pirate queen and keep Bayani’s secret at the same time?

Readers will relate to Lintang, who has a difficult time following orders. Despite her best intentions, Lintang gets into trouble time and time again. When Lintang is demoted to a cabin girl, she gains the crew’s respect through her positive attitude and work ethic. During her voyage, Lintang “had turned into Lanme Vanyan (the mother of all monsters), faced a Kanekonese siren, fought a dragon, almost drowned twice, battled a sea serpent, [and] worked as a cabin girl.”

Moss creates a beautiful world full of mythies. Some mythies are friendly and others are deadly. In order to introduce the different creatures, many of the chapters being with a page from The Mythie Guidebook, which describes each type of mythie. The information describes how to eradicate the mythie, their behavior, danger level, and provides a description.

Lintang and the Pirate Queen has non-stop action as Lintang, Captain Shafira, and her crew embark on a dangerous journey where they fight fearsome monsters. The story ends in an epic multi-chapter battle that has many surprises. Because of the complex world, the complicated plot, and the large cast of characters, Lintang and the Pirate Queen is best for strong readers. However, adventure-loving readers will love this tale of friendship and adventure.

Sexual Content

  • Lintang tells a legend about Pero, who “was not afraid of the Goddess of Death.” When he left home, he “packed his bag, said goodbye to his mother, kissed the barmaid, and left.”
  • Avalon is transgender. One of the ship’s crew treats him unkindly. She says, “Avalon pretends she is a boy. I remind her she is not.”

Violence

  • While walking in the forest, Lintang and Bayani are attacked by a malam rasha. “A night terror (malam rasha) is a humanoid forest mythie in the predator category. It appears as a woman with wooden skins, long dark hair, and a white dress. Instead of arms, it has tree roots, which are sharp enough to dig through flesh.” Bayani’s fey friend, Pelita, helps. “Before it could attack, a ball of white light zipped in front of its face. The malam rasha recoiled, snarling.” Lintang raised her sword and the “malam rasha reared up. It moved to strike with its arm of tree roots, but she stabbed and it retreated. Slash. Dodge. Stab. Dodge. . . Lintang ran to Bayani, shoved him to the ground, and threw herself over him.” When the two are laying on the ground, someone chases the mythie away. The fight scene takes place over four pages.
  • The malam rasha goes to the temple and goes after Lintang. “The mythie barreled into her. She landed on the stone floor, winded. Pelita fluttered out of the way just in time. The malam rasha curled its lip and slashed at Lintang’s stomach. . . The malam rasha tried again, clawing and tearing until the front of Lintang’s sarong was in tatters.” Panna leaves that were smeared on Lintang protected her. Captain Shafira jumped in to help. “Captain Shafira aimed sword blows at the malam rasha so fiercely that it was forced to retreat.” The Captain’s crew assists her in capturing the malam rasha. “Captain Sharfira brought her sword down and chopped off its arm. It released an earsplitting shriek.” The battle is described over three pages.
  • Once the malam rasha is captured, Captain Shafira “directed a kick to the malam rasha’s wooden head, and it slumped, unmoving.” Later when the light of day appears, the mythie “burst into flames, leaving only a silhouette of ash and the broken fishing net.”
  • A predator mermaid uses her power to make Lintang jump into the sea. “Stinging spread across her body, from both the impact and the chill. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered anymore. She was with the mermaids now.” The mermaids try to pull Lintang deeper into the ocean. “Splinters sliced at Lintang’s lungs. Her head felt light. . . She barely noticed the flash of steel, or the clouds of blood in the water, or the fact that the mermaids had released their deadly grip.” Lintang is saved. The scene is described over a page.
  • When leaving the island, Nyasamdra picks up Captain Shafira’s ship. Nyasamdra “let them float in the air. She watched them swirl inside the bubble, her face childlike with curiosity.” Trying to help, a “bird darted past Nyasamdra’s fingers and pecked the bubble. There was a pop, and everyone had to hold on as the ship plummeted back into the waves.” Bayani comes above deck and gives Nyasamdra the correct tribune, then she lets them pass. The scene is described over four pages.
  • A sea serpent attacks Captain Shafira’s ship. The huge serpent tries to break the ship up by squeezing it. “Lintang acted without thinking. She raced forward and shoved a harpoon into the serpent’s mouth to wedge it open. The serpent started to snap but stopped as the dragon’s claw dug into the roof of its mouth and sprayed blood across the deck.” One of the crew members “swung out on a rope, caught the harpoon with one hand, and used the dragon talon to slash the serpent through the neck.” Lintang is injured. The fight is described over three pages.
  • When Governor Karnezis tries to get Lintang to give up Captain Shafira’s location, Lintang tries to escape. “. . . Governor Karnezis snatched her hair. She cried out as he yanked her backwards.” Lintang uses a dart to put the governor to sleep. Captain Shafira and her crew help Lintang escape.
  • Farah and her family helped Captain Shafira when she was injured. The Vierzan counsel sent “people to kill Farah’s family and burn the place down.”
  • While under the sirens’ spell, Avalon attacks a crewmember, Mei. “Avalon lunged. He wrapped his arm around Mei’s throat. . .Mei strained to pull his arm from around her neck. Her round cheeks turned pink. She was suffocating.” A crew member hits Avalon over the head with a frying pan, causing him to pass out.
  • Captain Shafira boards Captain Moon’s ship and the two fight with swords. “The two thrust and parried, each as skilled as the other. A few clashing blades and a clever maneuver later, they’d switched positions. . . Captain Shafira managed to kick Captain Moon’s ankle, dropping her to one knee. Captain Moon blocked an attack while she was down, then stabbed forward so violently that Captain Shafira had to jump two steps down the staircase. . .” When the sirens threaten both ships, the two captains work together.
  • The ship’s dragon awakens. Captain Shafira and Captain Moon bait the dragon, causing it to tear down a locked door.
  • At one point in the fighting, Bayani is “standing on the bridge with the spear side of the khwando pointed at Zazi’s neck.”
  • Lintang jumps in the ocean, then turns into the mother of monsters named Lanme Vanyan. Lanme attacks a dragon. Lanme “sprang, clamping her hands on the dragon’s shoulder. It tried to toss her aside, but she held on and slashed at its wings. They twisted in the air like a whirlwind.” She flings the dragon away and then attacks a siren. “Lanme zipped toward it and bit it beneath the arm. . . The siren tried to crush her with its free hand. She bit its fingers. Bubbles hissed from its mouth, but it didn’t pull back.” The siren swims away.
  • The dragon returns and attacks Lanme again. Lanme “whipped her tail into the air, wrapped it around the dragon, and slammed it onto the waves. The dragon shuddered with the impact, then floated, stunned.” Then, Lanme turns back into a human.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • The Vierzans developed a medicine that “kills dangerous things in your body. Stops illnesses, disease; you name it, the Curall fixes it.” When Pelita is sprayed with Curall, she glows brighter. “Pelita’s squeaks turned into tiny shrieks. She sounded like she was in pain. . . And then, as swiftly as a sneeze, a human body burst out of the pixie. A girl lay in Pelita’s place, an Islander barely ten years old.”

Language

  • While practicing sword fighting, Lintang says to her best friend, “You ebony-nosed loobatoon! You brown-tailed barbanees! You blood-eyed ruberrince!”
  • “By the Gods” is used as an exclamation four times.
  • When Lintang scares the ship’s cook, she says, “Mother of monsters, you scared the petticoats off me!”
  • Someone calls another character a gnome.

Supernatural

  • Lintang’s world has various mythies, such as sirens, propheseeds, mermaids—both predator and friendly types. For example, “Propheseeds are sky mythies that take the form of three glowing dandelion seeds. They appear harmless, giggling childishly, and do not physically attack. . . The propheseeds will say your name three times, then, in a form of a riddle or rhyme, give you the time and details of your imminent death.”
  • Those born on the twin Islands have “small, shiny fish scales” on the back of their necks. A ship can only leave the island if they have someone from the Twin Islands. But the island’s mythie guardian Nyasamdra drowns ships “that tried to leave her territory unless they carried someone with her mark.”
  • Sirens are predator mythies. “Like the common siren, it calls for males, but unlike the common siren, it gives power to its victims, making them strong and violent, unable to think of anything but getting close to the mythie.”
  • Mythies did not appear in Lintang’s world until “shooting stars had passed overhead when the mythies arrived. No one knew why the Three Gods had sent the mythies. The creatures had caused havoc throughout the world, but the priest always said in serene voices that the Gods had reasons for everything they did, even if humans could not understand them.”
  • One of the characters is a talking clamshell.
  • Lintang turns into the mother of monsters named Lanme Vanyan.

Spiritual Content

  • People believe in Ytzuam, which is “high above, past the clouds, past the sun, there’s a world in the stars. . . It’s separated from our world by a single thick curtain. There are three Gods who live there: Niti, Patiki, and Mratzi.”
  • As Lintang walks she sees the temple, which makes her think about the gods. “Lintang used to learn about the Gods from the priest there when she was younger, but the only time she visited now was during seasonal festivals.” The three gods are Neti, the creator of the stars, Patiki, the planter of stars, and Mratzi, the harvester of stars.”
  • When Lintang accidentally sets the house on fire, she needs water fast. “Their offerings to the Three Gods had been freshly lain on the stone alter that morning. She reached between a scattering of juicy bubleberries and thin, smoldering sticks of mollowood to take the earthen jug.” She uses the water to help fight the flames.
  • When Lintang fights the malam rasha, she was “praying to the Three Gods that her plan would work.” Then she “dredged up a memory of a prayer from temple. ‘Hear me, Niti, Patiki, Mratzi—Gods of Ytzuam, givers of life, guardians of stars. Please protect us, please don’t let the malam rasha eat us.”
  • People believe that when someone dies, they continue to live. Lintang thinks about her dead grandfather. “Lintang hoped her grandfather’s star, blazing high in the sky” was not ashamed of her.
  • Bayani had died and Mratzi told him that the mythies were human. She then allowed him to return to the living.
  • Lintang trusted the Pirate Queen, but then “prayed to Niti she wasn’t wrong.” Later, when the Pirate Queen decides to stay with Lintang until she gets to her destination, Lintang “sent a silent prayer of thanks to the Gods.”
  • In Vierzan, the people have destroyed the Gods’ monuments because “they think the Gods sent mythies to wipe humans out. . . Now they refuse to pray or build temples or leave offerings.”
  • When Lintang must jump off a building, Bayani thinks she is injured. When he discovers that she is fine, he says, “Thank the Gods, thank the Gods—”
  • When almost drowning, Lintang sees a vision. Shooting stars crashed “through a field of unplanted seeds. . . the impact of the shooting stars scattered seeds throughout the world. . . She saw a man unwittingly absorb one of the star seeds, then he burst apart as a gnome sprang from him.” The vision shows Lintang how humans became mythies.
  • Lintang turned into a mythie.

Scarlett Hart Monster Hunter

Scarlett Hart isn’t afraid of monsters. As the orphaned daughter of two legendary monster hunters, she is prepared to rid the entire city of monsters! The only problem is that the Royal Academy for the Pursuit and Eradication of Zoological Eccentricities says she’s too young to fight perilous horrors. But that doesn’t stop Scarlett and her trusty butler. They fight mummies, a horrid hound, and save the city from a monster attack.

Scarlett is a plucky heroine who isn’t afraid to fight. With the help of her butler, Napoleon, Scarlett is able to keep her monster hunting a secret. However, her parents’ rival, Count Stankovic, wants all of the monster hunting glory for himself. The Count will try anything to get Scarlett out of the way. Every time Scarlett turns around, the Count is hiding in the shadows, waiting for his chance to get proof that Scarlett is breaking the law. When a group of monsters starts mysteriously manifesting, Scarlett knows she has to risk breaking the rules and being put in jail. She will do whatever it takes to save the city.

Scarlett goes around the city fighting sea monsters, fire-breathing monsters, and gargoyles. Even though the monsters always meet their demise—sometimes in creative ways—the illustrations keep out the bloody gore. Most of the story revolves around battling monsters and the Count. However, Sedgwick includes enough detail and family background to give the story a little depth.

Scarlett Hart Monster Hunter is an entertaining story with elements of steampunk. Even though the action revolves around monsters, no one is seriously injured. The story has many elements that will entertain middle school readers, like the string of funny, creative insults Scarlett uses when referring to the Count. The illustrations use many onomatopoeias, such as, “creak, fazaza, tweak, phut, phut, sputter.” The cartoon-like illustrations use shades of brown to mimic the darker tone of the story.

Readers who love monster fighting fun and have read The Last Kids on Earth series will miss the humor and friendship that is lacking in Scarlett Hart Monster Hunter. Despite this, Scarlett Hart Monster Hunter is a fast-paced story that is worth spending an afternoon reading. However, readers may want to make sure they aren’t alone in the house when they decide to jump into Scarlett’s spooky world. Monster-loving graphic novel fans should also add Ghostopolis by Doug TenNapel to their reading list.

Sexual Content

  • When the Count is running after Scarlett, his pants slip down and show his buttcrack.

Violence

  • While walking, a monster jumps out and a man falls into the water and sinks.
  • The Count uses a rocket launcher to fire a weapon that blows up a monster. The scene is illustrated over two pages.
  • Scarlett reads a newspaper article that says, “The Black Dog of Suffolk County. Also known as Black Shuck. Ghost-dog with glowing red eyes. Has caused four deaths this past month alone. Last sighted in Devil’s Hollow.”
  • Scarlett goes to capture the Black Dog. When she shoots at it, the Black Dog attacks her car. When the Black Dog runs off, Scarlett chases it and hits it with her car. They load the dead dog into a sack and put it on top of the car. The scene is illustrated over five pages.
  • When a mummy sees Scarlett and Napoleon, it says, “Urrr. Brains. Fresh brains. . .” The mummy chases Scarlett and Napoleon. A group of mummies appears, trapping the two monster fighters. Scarlett uses her sword and a stage curtain to capture the mummies. The scene is illustrated over five pages.
  • While hunting a ghost, a ghostly bishop jumps out of a closet and chases Scarlett and Napoleon. The Count shoots the ghost who shrivels. “Fzzzzz. Pop.” The ghost disappears. The scene is illustrated over four pages.
  • When the Count takes a picture of Scarlett ghost hunting, she holds a gun up to threaten him. The Count gives Scarlett the camera and leaves.
  • Scarlett follows the Count. When he hears her, he shoots at her. Scarlett shoots back. Then, she throws a container of black spiders at the Count, who freaks out and drops the gun. The scene is illustrated over three pages.
  • Scarlett and Napoleon go to a cathedral and see swarms of living gargoyles attacking people. The Count drives up and begins shooting the gargoyles. When a gargoyle grabs the Count, Napoleon drives into the creature, saving the Count. A gargoyle grabs a boy and Scarlett shoots the gargoyle. The boy falls safely to the ground. The scene is illustrated over 10 pages.
  • Napoleon tells Scarlett about a dance her parents attended. Scarlett’s father and the Count argued over a girl. The Count “went to punch your father. . . Stankovic (the Count) fell over a balcony into a fountain. He was humiliated. Everyone laughed at him. He left in a huff, and no one saw him for months.”
  • When Scarlett and Napoleon are put in jail, someone slams a car into the building to free them.
  • When a group of monsters attacks, several people (including Scarlett and Napoleon) try to stop them. People use a variety of weapons, including a gun, a shovel, and a sword. A giant octopus-like monster with many eyes goes after Scarlett. She jumps in a car with Napoleon and drives away. The battle takes place over 14 pages.
  • Scarlett jumps in an airplane and looks for an octopus-like monster. When she finds the monster, she shoots it. The monster throws parts of a building at the plane. Scarlett drops a bomb into the monster’s mouth and it blows up. The fight is illustrated over 16 pages.
  • When Scarlett is flying home, she sees the Count hit Napoleon with a car. The Count points his gun at Napoleon. Scarlett flies close and the Count shoots at the plane. When Scarlett turns the plane around, she flies close to the Count, who falls off a cliff. He falls into a shark’s mouth. Later, the Count is seen hanging onto the shark’s fin; it is not clear if the Count is a zombie or still living. The scene is illustrated over eight pages.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • Scarlett goes into a pub and orders “a triple whisky and easy on the ice.” The bartender glares at her. Then she says, “Just kidding. Ginger beer, please.”
  • After battling monsters, Napoleon tells Scarlett, “Since you will arrive first, perhaps you could ask Mrs. White to pour me a glass of beer? A large one.”

Language

  • Scarlett exclaims, “leaping lizards, piston heads, and gaskets and cylinder rings.”
  • Scarlett says, “I’m just a great idiot.”
  • Scarlett calls the Count a series of names, including: “pea-brained tire muncher,” “scabby nosed cat eater,” “animal-faced sewer dweller,” “dog-bottomed ferret face,” and “weasel-headed monkey brain.”
  • Scarlett says, “that toad faced Count stole our kill the other day.”
  • Someone calls Napoleon “an old fusspot.”
  • Someone calls the Count a “swine.”

Supernatural

  • Scarlett has a pair of ghost goggles that let her see ghosts. Without the goggles, ghosts “only materialize when they want to scare you.”
  • The Count learns how to bring monsters to life.

Spiritual Content

  • While hunting ghosts, Napoleon takes holy water and Scarlett takes the Bible.

Enter the Core

Max Tilt thinks his luck is finally changing thanks to his great-great-great-grandfather Jules Verne’s unfinished, unpublished manuscript, The Lost Treasures. Using the clues Verne left behind, Max and his cousin Alex were able to bottle the magical healing elements needed to cure his mother’s illness just in the nick of time.

But then Max and Alex discover that the vials were stolen by their former friend, Bitsy. She has plans to use them to save the world, but her plans might be much more deadly than they seem. And so now it’s up to Max and Alex to stop her before it’s too late.

Working against the odds, the two kids glean clues from one of Verne’s best-loved books, Journey to the Center of the Earth. In it, they discover a map to their most dangerous destination yet—the very core of the world. So, now the two cousins are off on their most unlikely, most important quest yet—literally to save the world!

Max Tilt: Enter the Core has everything that adventure seekers could want in a book: non-stop action, interesting clues to solve, and a wonderful cast of diverse characters. Readers will be taken on a heart-stopping hike into the center of the earth where prehistoric creatures survive. As Max and his friends travel down the dark corridors and enter creepy caves, they use their combined knowledge (and a couple of ancient talismans) to safely solve the clues that Jules Verne left behind.

Even though the same villain from the previous books appears, the villain creates suspense and conflict without taking center stage. Instead, the focus remains on the descendants of Jules Vernes and his friend Arne Saknusseumm. The story highlights the importance of doing what is best for humanity, instead of what’s best for yourself.

Because many of the characters appear in all three books in the series, readers will want to read the previous books first. Unlike the previous books, Max Tilt: Enter the Core leaves the topics of death and illness out and focuses on the adventure, as Max and his friends follow Jules Verne’s footsteps as described in Journey to the Center of the Earth. In addition to the adventure, readers will enjoy the interplay between Max and his cousin, Alex.

Max Tilt: Enter the Core has the perfect blend of action, suspense, and interesting characters. Readers will want to read to the very last page. The heart-warming conclusion will leave readers with a smile. Sci-fi and action-seeking readers should definitely pick up the Max Tilt Series.

Sexual Content

  • Someone saw Alex “kiss the lucky fellow.”

Violence

  • When the bus driver tried to help Bitsy with her backpack, she bit him. “For a big walrus of a man, the driver had an oddly dainty scream. He yanked his arm away, Bitsy’s mouth was left with the taste of stale coffee, laundry detergent and old polyester.”
  • Max gets upset and Brandon “grabbed him by the shoulders, but Max turned and kicked him.” Max began taking deep breaths to calm himself down.
  • While in a cave, a “white object dropped to the ground. A bone. Then a grinning white face burst through. As Alex let out a piercing shriek, Max dove to the ground. He covered his head as a cascade of bones and skulls rained on top of him.”
  • While in a cave, Max falls and slips down a passage and a creature grabs him. Max tried to run, but the thing “held Max tight—with arms, legs, or tendrils, he couldn’t tell. But it was smothering him, smushing his face into its fur, lifting his feet off the ground.” Max hits the creature with his flashlight. “As Max tried to wriggle free, he heard a scream. Something sharp stuck his left ankle. . . The beast let out a guttural moan. It let go of Max and he fell to the ground.”
  • A creature grabbed Max with its talons. “Max felt himself rise, in ridiculous pain. He let out a scream that seemed to come up from below his toenails.” The creature drops Max.
  • While in a cave, Brandon falls off a cliff. Later, Max’s group finds Brandon’s body and Brandon cannot be revived. A creature comes towards the body and Alex attacks the creature. “From the front of the creature’s torso, hidden under the thick mass of hair, an orange tentacle whipped forward. It wrapped around Alex’s arm and tossed her to the side like driftwood. She screamed in surprise, her trowel flying away and into the water.” Later, someone else “blindsided the creature from the other side. With a roar like a creaky door, the hairy thing fell back.”
  • When a crowd of creatures comes towards Max and his group, Brandon “went into a pitching stance, kicked, and hurled the rock into the advancing crowd.” There is a lot of screaming and confusion. Something touches Max and “Max yelled in shock, twisting his body always, instinctively spinning and kicking. His right foot landed square in the face of a furry, monkey-like beast with wings. It fell to the ground, whimpering, and immediately ran away.” Then, Max squirts raspberry Gatorade towards a creature’s eyes causing it to run away. The scene is described over three pages.
  • Prehistoric birds appear and try to snatch up Max and his friends. Before the birds can hurt anyone, “Three of the hairy creatures—just like the one who had poured the liquid over Brandon—were picking the birds out of the sky with their tentacles.” The birds fly away.
  • The villain throws “a small black pellet that missed Max by inches, hitting the wall. . .it exploded into fragments and black dust.” A man is killed, but his death is not described.
  • The villain pulled a gun from his pocket and threatened Max’s group. The villain throws pellets at Max’s group, and “it landed about four feet in front of [the door] and exploded.” No one is injured.
  • Max’s group sets off an explosive that collapses a cave. It is implied that the villain and his daughter die in the explosion.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • While hiking, Max and his group find a “plastic foil wrapper” of Xantax.

Language

  • Heck is used four times. Several times someone asks, “What the heck is that?”
  • When prehistorical birds appear, someone says, “Dear Lord.”

Supernatural

  • Max is given “one of the most powerful talismans of the ancients. . . While wearing this talisman, you will always face the true path.”
  • A creature puts “a clear liquid” on Brandon’s forehead and chest. “Brandon’s skin let out a hiss, sending up wisps of green smoke. . . Where the hissing liquid had touched his body, his pale greenish skin was darkening. From a series of thin lines along his forehead and torso, it spread like the branching of nerves, setting off blotches of deep color that grew and joined until he no longer had the same tinge as the lake.” Brandon’s body repairs itself and he comes back to life.
  • Two men drink a serum that makes them immortal. “The serum slowed the body’s aging mechanism—it destroyed the marker that signals the end of life. In curing disease, the curious side effect was eternal life.”

Spiritual Content

  • The plane that Max was on crashed in freezing water. “Saying a prayer, [Max] jumped out the door.”
  • Someone tells Max and his group that they should “Go back to your family and pray for the best.”

 

 

The Sorcerer’s Shadow

In the twelfth book from The Kingdom of Wrenly series, Prince Lucas and Clara go on an adventure in the forest realm of Trellis! All is not right in the forest realm of Trellis. Birds have left their nests, and bears have abandoned their dens, as mysterious magic threatens the natural order of the deep, dark woods. Together with a band of knights, Prince Lucas and Clara set out on an adventure that pits them against a dreaded sorcerer’s shadow. There’s only one problem: How can a shadow be defeated?

Unlike typical royalty, Prince Lucas interacts with everyone regardless of their station. When the prince and Clara see a kid named Petros being bullied, they jump in and help the boy. Even when others avoid Petros, the prince and Clara stick by his side and treat him kindly. The theme of the story is clear: “You must watch how you behave. No hurtful words or calling names. No hateful playground bully games.”

The Sorcerer’s Shadow has a darker, more frightening tone than previous books in the series. Because others have bullied Petros, his anger and hatred has transformed into a shadow beast that can turn people into wooden statues. When Petro gets angry, the beast grows and mimics Petro’s feelings. For example, when Petros cries, it begins to rain. Lucas and Clara help Petros realize that he has a gift—the gift of goodness, forgiveness, understanding, and love.

Readers will be able to relate to Petro who is upset when others treat him badly. The positive message in The Sorcerer’s Shadow is complicated because readers will need to understand the cause and effect of the events. Even though the message might not be clear, every reader will understand that words can be hurtful.

The story’s illustrations are beautifully drawn in black and white and appear on almost every page, which will help readers visualize the story. One of the characters is a lady knight, and although she does not have a large role in the story, she is portrayed in a positive light and appears in several of the illustrations. Easy-to-read vocabulary, dialogue, and simple sentence structure make The Sorcerer’s Shadow a perfect book for beginning readers. Although The Sorcerer’s Shadow is the twelfth installment of a series, the previous books do not need to be read in order to enjoy the story.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • When Prince Lucas and Clara enter a town, “they heard a ruckus up ahead. The two kids had tripped another boy, who tumbled into a fruit cart, knocking it over. Strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries speckled the road.” Prince Lucas and Clara help the boy clean up the mess.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • When Petros goes to the playground, someone yells, “Get out of here, you clumsy oaf, before you break the whole playground.”

Supernatural

  • No one knows why, but a “dark, ghostly cloud swirled from inside the great oak lift. The vapor formed into a showdown that roared an eerie warning.” The voice tells the town people that “the knights who tried to do some good have now been turned to bark and wood.”
  • The prince learns that Petros has magical powers that he cannot control. Petros didn’t know he had magical powers “until other kids began to make fun of me. The more upset I got, the more bad things would happen. . .When I get angry, the evil side of my powers begin to grow. Now my evil side has grown into a powerful, menacing shadow.”
  • Prince Lucas and Clara try to help Petro focus on his good powers. “Then the shadow reached dark tendrils out that touched Lucas and Clara. Instantly the two of them were rooted in place. Lucas looked down. Their feet had turned to wood.”
  • Lucas learned that he needed to “tame the evil magic with positive feelings!”

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 Ruins of Gorlan

Will doesn’t know who his father is, but he has always believed that his father was a knight who died in battle. Will wants to join Battleschool and be like his father. But when it’s time for the fifteen-year-old to get accepted as an apprentice, Will is disappointed that his request to join Battleschool is denied.

Will’s only choice is to become a Ranger’s apprentice. The Rangers’ shadowy ways have always made Will nervous. Will doesn’t understand that Rangers are the protectors of the kingdom who fight the battles before the battles reach the people. Halt, a gruff Ranger, begins to train Will, but neither realizes that a large battle is brewing. The exiled Morgarath, Lord of the Mountains of Rain and Night, is gathering his forces for an attack on the kingdom. This time, Morgarath is prepared to win at all costs.

The Ruins of Gorlan paints a vivid and realistic picture of medieval times. As a Ranger’s apprentice, Will learns how to blend into the background in order to gain information; he also learns how to defend himself. Horace, a Battleschool student, is the target of intense bullying. Even though he is training to become a knight and defend the kingdom, Horace falsely believes that bullying is part of Battleschool’s initiation process. The two apprentices’ friendship gradually changes. As the boys begin to understand each other, their relationship evolves into a strong friendship. The story uses a third-person omniscient point of view to focus on Will’s and Horace’s thought processes, which allows the reader to understand their actions.

 The Ruins of Gorlan has many positive aspects: well-developed characters, a believable setting, and realistic, exciting conflicts. As the apprentices learn new skills, the reader comes to understand the importance of hard work, perseverance, loyalty, and honor. The male friendships that are forged give the reader insight into the importance of respecting others and never gloating. Because of their training, both Will and Horace learn how to develop their individual strengths. In the end, Will sets his childhood dream aside because he realizes that becoming a Ranger will bring him more happiness and satisfaction.

The story’s long descriptive scenes and advanced vocabulary such as quartering, gyrate, tumult, and debilitating, make The Ruins of Gorlan perfect for strong readers. Full of action, adventure, and boy-bonding, the story will keep the reader’s attention until the very end. With fantastical monsters, honorable characters, and an epic battle at the end, The Ruins of Gorland tells an engaging story while teaching that one should never “judge a man by his position in life.”

Sexual Content

  • Someone retells a story about one of the wards letting rabbits loose in someone’s study. The person says it was disruptive because, there was “a male and a female rabbit, my lord, if you take my meaning. . . And as I said, my lord, it was spring.”
  • A boy meanly tells Horace, “Baby’s a Ward brat. Mummy ran off with a riverboat sailor.”
  • While out with his former ward mates, a girl kisses Will. “Her lips on his were incredibly, indescribably soft. Hours later before he finally feel asleep, he could still feel them.”

Violence

  • As part of the world-building, an old battle is described. The armies fought, and “with attack and counterattack and massive loss of life. The Slipsunder was a shallow river, but its treacherous reaches of quicksand and soft mud had formed an impossible barrier. . .” The losing army retreated.
  • When the cook saw Will steal some cakes, the cook hit him “on the head with his wooden spoon. Will grinned and rubbed his head thoughtfully. He could still hear the CRACK! made by the spoon hitting his head.”
  • Three bullies force Horace to do pushups. As one of the boys insults him, “His foot shoved viciously into Horace’s back, siding him sprawling on the floor.”
  • Horace becomes angry and “he turned back to George and gave him a heavy shove in the chest.” Then Will tricks Horace into riding a horse. The horse quickly bucks him off and then the two boys fight. “In an instant, Horace scrambled to his feet, his face dark with rage. He looked around, saw a fallen branch from the apple tree and grabbed it, brandishing it over his head as he rushed at Tug [the horse].” When Horace again tries to hit Tug, “Will was on him. He landed on Horace’s back and his weight and the force of his leap drove them both to the ground. They rolled there grappling with each other, each trying to gain an advantage. . . Blood ran down the bigger boy’s face. Will’s arms were hard and well muscled after his three months’ training with Halt. . .[Horace] drove a fist into Will’s stomach and Will gasped as the air was driven out of him.” An adult finally breaks up the fight.
  • A wild boar attacks “with an infuriated scream, he threw off one of the dogs that still clung to him, paused a moment, then charged at the hunters with blinding speed.” A knight was ready with his spear. “The boar had no chance to turn. His own rush carried him onto the spear head. He plunged upward, screaming in pain and fury, trying to dislodge the killing piece of steal. . . With one last screaming roar, the huge boar toppled sideways and lay dead.”
  • After the boar is dead, another one attacks. Will shoots arrows at it. “The arrows stuck out of the boar’s thick hide like needles in a pin cushion. They did no serious harm, but the pain of them burned through the animal like a hot knife.” The boar goes after Will. “Screaming in fury, the huge animal spun in its tracks, skidding in the snow, and came at him again. . . The boar came at a trot, fury in its red eyes, tusks slashing from side to side, its hot breath steaming in the freezing winter air.” Will’s horse, Tug, goes after the boar. “Tug’s hooves caught the pig n the ribs and, with all the force of the pony’s upper legs behind it, sent the boar rolling sideways in the snow.” Finally, Halt shoots an arrow at the boar. “The boar reared up in midstride, twisting in sudden agony, and fell, dead as a stone, in the snow.” The scene is described over three pages.
  • The three bullies are upset that Horace “made a fool of the entire Battleschool” because Will had to help him during the boar hunt. “Jerome shoved him against the shoulder as he spoke, pushing him back against the rough stone of the wall.” One of the boys puts a “heavy hessian sack over Horace’s head before he could resist, pulling a drawcord tight so that he was contained from the wait up, blinded and helpless.” The bullies continue to hit Horace. “On and on it went as he writhed on the ground, trying in vain to escape the blows. . . they continued until, gradually, mercifully, he fell still, semiconscious. . . He ached and hurt viciously in every part of his body.” The scene is described over two pages.
  • After the bullies beat up Horace, they go to find Will. They tried to put a sock over Will’s head, but Will “dived forward toward Alda, rolling in a somersault that took him under the sack, then letting his legs sweep around, scything Alda’s legs from under him so that the bigger boy went sprawling. . . Jerome brought his cane around in a ringing crack across the back of his shoulders. With a cry of pain and shock, Will staggered forward, as Bryn now brought his cane around and hit him across the side. . . Instantly, the three Battleschool apprentices crowded forward, ringing him, trapping him between them, the heavy canes raised to continue the beating.” Horace appears to help Will.
  • Halt sees the boys fighting and stops the fight. However, one of the bullies, Alda, is defiant and disrespectful to Halt. Alda “felt a searing pain as Halt stamped backward with the edge of his boot, catching the apprentice’s foot between the arch and ankle and driving into it. As Alda doubled over to clasp his injured foot, the Ranger pivoted on his left heel and his right elbow slammed upward into Alda’s nose, jerking him upright again and sending him sprawling back, eyes streaming with the pain. . . Halt’s larger knife, razor edged and needle pointed, was just under his chin, pressing lightly into the soft flesh of this throat. . . The knife pricked a little harder against his throat and he felt a warm trickle of blood sliding down under his collar.”
  • After Halt takes care of Alda, he makes the other two bullies face Horace, individually. “Then, as he [Horace] blocked Bryn’s fourth stroke, he flicked his wooden blade down the length of the other boy’s cane in the instant before the two weapons disengaged. There was no crosspiece to protect Bryn’s hand from the movement and the hardwood drill sword slammed painfully into his finger. With a cry of agony, he dropped the heavy stick, leaping back and wringing his injured hand painful under his arm.” When Bryn tries to stop fighting, Hale says “If he’s going to be a baby, I suppose you’ll just have to paddle him.” Horace likes the idea and, “then he proceeded to whack the older boy’s backside with the flat of the drill sword, over and over again, following him around the clearing as Bryn tried to pull away from the remorseless punishment.”
  • Next, Horace faces Jerome. “Jerome was driven back by a whirlwind of forehands, backhands, side and overhead cuts. He managed to block some of the stokes, but the blistering speed of Horace’s attack defeated him. Blows rained on his shins, elbows, and shoulders almost at will.” When Jerome drops to the ground, and covers his head, “his backside was raised invitingly in the air. . .” Will kicks him in the butt.
  • Halt then throws the cane to the injured bully, Alda. During the fight, Alda drops his weapon and “stood defenseless before Horace.” Horace then hits Alda in the jaw. “Will’s eyes widened slightly as Alda came off his feet and hurtled backward, to come crashing down in the cold snow beside his two friends.” The bullies are exiled from the fief. The bullying and fighting scenes are described over 10 pages.
  • A group of men which includes Will, travel to find Halt and the Kalkara. When they see the creature, it has a “cluster of arrows that protruded from its chest. There must have been eight of them, all placed within a hand’s breadth from each other.” The injured Kalkara went after the men. “The sharp iron penetrated, smashing through the matted hair. The force of the charge drove the Kalkara from its feet and hurled it backward, into the flames of the fire behind it. . . Then there was a blinding flash, and a pillar of red flame that reached ten meters into the night sky. And quite simply, the Kalkara disappeared.”
  • Halt was injured and his “leg, numb where the Kalkara had clawed him, was beginning to throb painfully and he could feel the blood seeping past the rough bandage he had thrown around it. . . He was wounded and unarmed. His bow was gone, smashed in that first terrifying charge when he had fired arrow after arrow into the first of the two monsters.”
  • Halt comes out of his hiding place to warn the men about the Kalkara. Halt “brought his knife hand up, back and forward in one smooth, instinctive memory throw, seeing the target moving in his mind’s eye, mentally aligning the throw and the spin of the knife. . . It took the Kalkara in its right eye and the beast screamed in pain and fury as it stopped to clutch at the sudden lance of agony that began in its eye and seared all the way to the pain sensors of its brain.” As Halt ran towards the men, “screaming a blood curling challenge, it leapt after him. . . The massive arm swung, catching Halt a glancing blow and sending him rolling forward, unconscious.” The baron steps between the beast and Halt, but the monster “slammed its talons into Arald’s exposed back before he could recover from the stroke. . . Arald grunted in pain and surprise as the force of the blow drove him to his knees. . . blood streaming from half a dozen deep slashes in his back.”
  • Will dips an arrow in a flammable substance, sets it on fire, then shoots the Kalkara. “The monster beat at the flames on its chest with its paws but that served only to spread the fires to its arms. There was a sudden rush of red flame and in seconds the Kalkara was engulfed, burring from head to toe, rushing blindly in circles in a vain attempt to escape. . . Then the screaming stopped and the creature was dead.” The fight with the Kalkara is described over 10 pages.
  • Halt describes the battle that Will’s father fought in. Will’s father “killed one [creature] with the spear, then another smashed the head of the spear, leaving Daniel with only a spear shaft. So he used it like a quarterstaff and knocked down the others—left, right! Just like that!”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • While cooking, “a generous dash of red wine” was added to the vegetables.
  • While talking to Sir Rodney, “Karel reached across and poured himself another tankard from the jug of beer that was on the table between them. . . He finished the last of his beer in two quick drafts. . .”

Language

  • Three boys continuously bully Horace and call him “baby.”
  • Damn is used eight times. Halt says that Will is “a damn good shot already.” However, most of the time damn is used to describe the Kalkara as the “damn thing.”
  • When a boy compliments Jenny, she tells him, “You are a complete idiot.”
  • When Will shows up at the castle with an urgent message, the men-at-arms, stop him from entering. When Sir Rodney sees this, he yells, “What the hell do you think you’re doing, you idiot! Don’t you recognize a King’s Ranger when you see one?”
  • When he hears a Kalkara’s “hellish” scream, the baron exclaims, “Good God, what is that?”
  • When the Kalkara bursts into flame, someone asks, “What the devil was that?”

Supernatural

  • A group of Kalkara are on the hunt. Halt describes them. “Think about a creature somewhere between an ape and a bear, that walks upright, and you’ll have an idea of what a Kalkara looks like.” The creature has red eyes and “if you look into its eyes, you are frozen helpless—the way a snake freezes a bird with its gaze before it kills it.”

Spiritual Content

  • When trade masters were choosing new apprentices, Will prayed “that one of them would relent and accept him.”

 

The Princess in Black and the Science Fair Scare

Princess Magnolia is excited. Excited and nervous. She’s going to the Interkingdom Science Fair today to present her poster about seeds and plants. Even better, when she arrives, she sees that her friends are there too! Princess Honeysuckle made a mole habitat, Princess Sneezewort has built a blanket fort, and Tommy Wigtower has a talking volcano that’s saying “EAAAAT!” Wait, what?

Instead of a volcano that spews lava, Tommy’s volcano has a goo monster living inside. But every time the goo monster tries to eat or find a new home, the goo monster gets yelled out. The goo monster needs a new home and the Princess in Black is willing to help. Will the Princess in Black be able to defeat the goo monster?

Although the science fair is the scene of the story, the story only has a smattering of science. In one part, in order to carry the goo monster, the princesses must figure out how to distribute the weight. The science portion introduces some basic concepts but does not go into confusing detail. This story also highlights the importance of working together.

Readers will love the princesses who are prim and proper when they need to be, but they are also a little bit awkward. Even though the Goat Avenger only makes a small appearance, he adds humor to the story. The Goat Avenger loves to “wage battle.” When the Goat Avenger “wages battle,” he uses a duster to tickle a monster back to his home.

The Princess in Black and the Science Fair Scare is an excellent book for beginning readers. Colorful illustrations appear on almost every page to help readers visualize the story’s actions. The chapters are short with easy-to-understand language. Each page has eight or fewer sentences that appear in large font. The monster of the story is more humorous than scary. Even though The Princess in Black and the Science Fair Scare is the sixth installment of the series, readers do not have to read the previous books to understand and appreciate the story.

The easy text and the detailed illustrations will make younger readers want to read the story over and over. The illustrations are sometimes funny, but they always do an excellent job of capturing the character’s emotions. If you’re looking for a high-energy, enjoyable book with strong female characters, then The Princess in Black series should be added to your reading list.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • The hungry goo monster eats Princess Mongolia’s poster. Then “the goo monster and the Princess in Black waged battle. Volcano Rumble. Bucket Bash! Twinkle Twinkle Little Smash.”
  • The goo monster jumps into a mole habitat, but “the moles and the goo monster couldn’t all fit in there. The moles felt jammed. The moles felt crammed. The moles bit the goo monster. It yelped. It leaped out of the mole habitat.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Tommy accidentally makes a goo monster. The goo monster hides in Tommy’s volcano.

Spiritual Content

  • None

Major Monster Mess

Welcome to Kersville, a town with a spooky history and a collection of ghosts and spirits who are major mischief-makers. Most kids spend their days without ever seeing or dealing with a ghost, but some kids get stuck with a haunt. When that happens, they call Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol. There’s no job too spooky, icky, or risky for Desmond.

Andres Miedoso is not like that at all. He is Desmond’s best friend and ghost patrol partner. Desmond Cole loves the cafeteria food, but Andres always brings his lunch. Unlike most schools, the lunch at Kersville Elementary is great. Desmond always has a plate heaping with food. When a cafeteria worker smells Andres’ lunch, strange things begin happening. Andres soon wonders if a monster is after his lunch.

In the sixth installment of the Desmond Cole Series, Andres takes center stage as he tries to find out why he comes home smelling like a monster. Another conflict is introduced when a shadow keeps trying to take Andres’s lunch, which is made up of traditional Hispanic foods. Major Monster Mess has a lot of aspects that will have younger readers turning the pages. Besides featuring a ghost that lives in Andres’s basement, there is also the threat of monsters, as well as the mystery of the shadow. As usual, Desmond and Andres discover that there is little to fear when it comes to monsters. Even though they may have scary appearances, they have good intentions—to cook the students of Kersville a delicious lunch.

The Major Monster Mess has a unique and humorous plot that has mystery and a satisfying, unexpected conclusion. The story contains just enough gross factor and scary monsters to keep readers turning the pages. Even though The Monster Mess is the third book in the Desmond Cole series, readers do not have to read the previous book. The story is told in ten short chapters with easy-to-read vocabulary; perfect for emerging readers. A black-and-white illustration appears on almost every page. The often humorous illustrations use exaggerated facial expressions so readers can tell what the characters are feeling. Readers will laugh as Desmond and Andres find themselves in unexpected situations. Readers who enjoy The Scary Library Shusher should also try the Notebook of Doom series by Troy Cummings.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • On the way to school, a black shadow tries to take Andres’ lunch. “A black shadow streaked across the ground and flew right behind me! Then something grabbed my backpack and wouldn’t let go! The shadow was trying to pull me off my bike.” Andres pedals into a brier bush and the shadow “yowled and let go.”
  • While in the cafeteria, a black shadow tries to take Andres lunch. “. . . There was no way I was going to let some monster tear it away from me. So I fought back. The next thing I knew, we were in a tug-of-war. . .Before I knew it, he had pulled me into the air. We zoomed around the lunchroom while the monsters kept eating their food, splattering glop all over the place.” Desmond tries to help Andres and they both end up in a pile of goop. “It was filled with apple cores, pencil shavings, and toenail clippings.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • Zax is a ghost that lives in Andres’s basement.

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

Knights vs. Monsters

A group of knights has fought dinosaurs, but now they are searching for the holy grail. Sirs Erec, Bors, Hector, the fearsome Black Knight Magdalena, and Mel the archer are all ready for a real adventure. So, when an enchanted ship appears, they do the only thing that makes sense—they board it.

The ship takes them to the Orkney Isles, where Queen Morgause plans their demise. Once the knights are out of the way, she can dethrone King Arthur. With the help of her children, Queen Morgause puts her plan into action. Each night when the sun sets, a mist will bring a hoard of monsters. As the knights face the monsters and try to keep the village safe, they must defeat a vampire, werewolves, ogres, and a host of other strange and terrible creatures.

The exploits of the knights began in Knights vs. Dinosaurs, but the tone of Knights vs. Monster is darker and more sinister. In order to kill the knights, Queen Morgause uses her black magic to conjure deadly monsters. While the first book in the series focused on the knights learning the importance of working together, Knights vs. Monster highlights the gloomy Scottish island, and a mother who is willing to sacrifice her children in order to gain more power. Adding Queen Morgause to the plot kills the humorous banter of the knights which helped make Knights vs. Dinosaurs so enjoyable.

Like the first book in the series, Knights vs. Dinosaurs blends graphic-style illustrations with a unique adventure. Black-and-white illustrations are scattered throughout the pages, and there are several graphic-novel style battles that are illustrated over multiple pages. The story is fast-paced, gloomy, and full of surprises. However, some of the monsters seem out of place. For example, a vampire appears and bites a woman and Erec then conveniently steps in a sunbeam and disintegrates. Once the vampire disappears, there is no mention of what happens to the people who were bitten. The story arch ends abruptly, leaving the reader to wonder how the scenes fit into the overall story.

The knights engage in battle after battle, but unlike Knights vs. Dinosaurs, the characters do not learn from their experiences. The story ends with an epic battle that brings the villagers, the knights, and most of Queen Morgause’s children together to defeat evil. The introduction of the Scottish mythological creature the nuggle adds interest to the end battle. Knights vs. Dinosaurs should be read first, because it introduces all of the main characters, and understanding the characters’ backgrounds will increase the reader’s enjoyment. Even though Knights vs. Monsters has a darker tone, readers will still enjoy the action-packed scenes and the fight between good and evil. Anyone interested in King Arthur or the battle between good and evil should pick up Knights vs. Monsters; the unique story will not disappoint.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • While on a boat looking for the holy grail, monsters appear out of the mist. “An enormous hairy arm with fiendish claws burst from the mist and sliced Erec’s garment. . .”
  • As the Black Knight was searching, “an enormous tentacle whipped through the mist and wrapped around her legs, knocking her to the ground. She dropped her sword but still held the knife. The Black Knight slashed at the tentacle but could not quite reach it. . . An arrow pierced the tentacle. The mysterious beast roared.”
  • While at sea, a kraken attacks the ship. “The crew held on to whatever they could grab as the kraken pitched the ship through the air. It landed hard in the water, splintering on impact.”
  • After landing on an island, a brute kicked Erec.
  • Monsters attack a village, and the group of knights go to the village to help. “Screams, yells, gasps, and various breaking noises filled the thick air. They approached the village gate, and the strange mist swallowed them. Cries for help seemed to come from every direction.”
  • When Mordred tries to stop Mel from joining her friend in the fight, she shoots an arrow at him. “Mel’s arrow pinned Mordred’s sleeve to the oak wardrobe behind him.”
  • While helping the village, “Hundreds of small, big-eyed, biting creatures swarmed Erec, pulling his clothes, nibbling his ears, and dragging him backwards until he tumbled over the wall. . . Erec thrashed, tossing several beasties against the wall. But more came. More always came.”
  • A monster attacks Magdalena. “The monster growled, struggled to its feet, and swung its ax.” Bors joins the fight and “he buried his sword in the monster a second before its ax reached the Black Knight.”
  • During a conversation, Gareth calls Magdalena a traitor. Then, “Magdalena’s leg swiped out so fast no one was sure what happened. But Gareth was flat on his back in the road with Magdalena standing over him.”
  • Monsters take over the village at nighttime, and the knights try to defend the city. “Erec chased a nasty-looking goblin through the village, finally cornering it by a wall and slaying it. . .” As Erec walked towards a house with a lit candle, he saw Greer sleeping. “And a rail-thin, pale figure with a bald high-domed head, pointed ears, and wide eyes was leaning over her. Its lips parted, exposing two long, sharp fangs. With a rat-like squeak, the fiend bit Greer on the neck. . . Erec lunged, but the monster held up one hand, its long, spidery fingers outstretched. An invisible force threw Erec back.” The monster uses his magic to drag Erec around until Eric is able to break the spell. “It squealed as they scuffled. Erec got a few good punches in.” The fiend changed into a bat, bit Erec, and was eventually defeated when a sunbeam touched it. “The fiend disintegrated into a small pile of dust.” The scene takes place over five pages.
  • A man pressed a dagger against Erec’s throat.
  • The bi-clops wakes up and “its mighty hand shot out and grabbed Bors by the throat. Mel rolled out of the way as the bi-clops tossed Bors against the rocks. It stood and the monstrous head roared. . . The bi-clops lifted Bors off the ground, held him high above its heads, and prepared to throw him over the cliffs.” Mel shoots the bi-clops, and “the creature gasped, dropping Bors to the ground. For a moment it wavered, then fell by the rocks.” The battle takes place over three pages and when it is finished, Bors is back to himself.
  • A giant appears and threw a man over a hill. “More monsters came. They were all sizes and shapes. Some had flaming heads. Some had no heads at all. . . All stood frozen as the colossal, unspeakable horror oozed out of the rubble, tentacles flailing, the din of a thousand screams blasting out. . . The Horror rose to full height and then paused suddenly. . .The blade of a sword slicked out from inside the belly of the beast. The Black Knight emerged, covered in slime but victorious.” The battle takes place over three pages.
  • Using magic Queen Morgause “pointed at Gorp and flicked her wrist. Mist engulfed him in an instant, lifted him from the ground, and blew him over the cliff’s edge to the sea below. . . Morgause snapped her fingers. A galloping sound echoed from the moors. . .” Nuggles appear and when Queen Morgause runs, the knights climb on the nuggles’ backs and give chase. The scene takes place over seven pages.
  • When the knights chase Queen Morgause, a ship appears. When Mel tried to board the ship, “the nuggle dove under the waves. Mel slipped from its back, but the nuggle’s seaweed tail wrapped around her leg and dragged her down into the darkness.” Merlin appears and helps the knights.
  • Morgause creates a whirlpool, but Merlin “leapt from the boat. A great whale surfaced and Merlin landed upon its back, riding the whale toward Morgause and the whirlpool. . . the whale’s mighty tail slapping the water and knocking the nuggle over. Morgause and Mordred hung on. Merlin and the whale attacked again. As they fought, both the nuggle and the whale were sucked into the center of the whirlpool. It swirled and churned around them.”

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Bors calls one of his companions a “dunderhead.”
  • Bors tells Erec, “But you’re out as leader if you make any boneheaded decisions.”

Supernatural

  • The group of knights takes a ride on an enchanted ship.
  • A man transforms into a beast. “The man’s tunic was, in fact, ripping open, his body contorting, fur sprouting all over him. His nose had grown long like a snout, his eyes turned golden, his teeth sharpened into fangs.”
  • Some of the monsters include a vampire, sword-wielding skeletons, and winged harpies. Mordred makes a potion that turns Hector into a bi-clops, which is a two-headed cyclops.
  • Queen Morgause goes into the center of the circle of stones and uses magic. “She raised her arms slightly, and the stones began to glow with a sickly green light. Mist swirled at her feet, rising slowly from the ground.”
  • Queen Morgause conjured nuggles, which are like horses but “its hooves were webbed and clawed. But it was the eyes that most set the creature apart. The eyes of the beast were not at all the kind, thoughtful eyes of a horse. They were black, empty, remorseless eyes of a shark.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

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!”

Game of Stars

Twelve-year-old Kiranmala just wants to be normal, despite having been born an Indian princess in the Kingdom Beyond, an alternate dimension. So, when the Demon Queen shows up in her dreams, Kiranmala doesn’t want to listen to the demoness.

After a visit with some all-seeing birds, Kiranmala finally, reluctantly goes to the Kingdom Beyond and finds that the Kingdom Beyond is in danger. A game show reigns supreme, society is fraying, and everyone is running scared or imprisoned. Kiranmala knows her father is behind the game show, but is there any way she can beat him at his own game?

The second installment of the Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond Series, Game of Stars takes readers on an action-packed ride through the Kingdom Beyond. The story brings back some beloved characters from the first book and adds new characters as well. This story will be confusing if readers have not read The Serpent’s Secret first!

The story revolves around the Indian culture and mythology, with many of the creatures straight out of Bengali folktales. For those not familiar with the culture, some of the references to Indian food, clothing, and monsters may be confusing as they lack adequate description. The cute black and white illustrations scattered throughout the story help the readers visualize some characters and events, but there needed to be more of them. Although it is exciting to have an Indian heroine, the story may be frustrating to follow for those unfamiliar with the customs.

A drawback to this book is that none of the characters talk like normal people, and much of the dialogue is childish. Some creatures talk in rhymes and riddles, which is fun. However, the characters continually use name calling throughout the story, which adds to the childish tone. For example, someone calls the Serpent King a “scummy snake” and a “pooper-scooper.” Even the Demon Queen’s and the Serpent King’s dialogue makes them seem more like whiny children rather than strong adults.

As Kiranmala travels through the Kingdom Beyond, she considers the nature of good and evil. Through her experiences, she learns that being human or a rakkosh doesn’t define you; instead, it is how people act that makes them good or evil. Throughout the story, Kiranmala worries that she will become evil like her father. A professor tells her, “No one turns good or evil by magic. That’s not how it works. You become evil when you choose to act against your conscience again and again. Being good or evil is about the decisions you make each and every day. It’s not something that just happens to you.

For those who haven’t picked up the Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond Series, you may want to try Aru Shah and The End of Time first because it is less confusing but still revolves around India’s mythology. Middle school readers will enjoy the riddles, the funny characters, and the exciting chases.  Overall, Game of Stars is an action-packed story that shows that a strong, smart girl is capable of heroic deeds and saving the prince.

Sexual Content

  • A store vendor tells Kiranmala a story. “Well, when the Raja wasn’t having any heirs, he called upon a rishi, one of those sadhu-sanyasi guys who meditates on the mountaintop and knows all sorts of magic shajik. . . So, anyhoo, this guy gave the ranis a super-magical fertility root to share so they would all have babies.”
  • As part of the contest, there is a promotional poster that shows Kiranmala about to kiss a boy.

Violence

  • Kiranmala sees her imprisoned friend and thinks, “Neel did look terrible. . . he also looked skinny and, weirdly for a half rakkhosh who hardly needed sleep, tired. He had big dark circles under his eyes, a fading bruise on his cheek, and one side of his lip looked puffy, like he’d been on the wrong side of somebody’s fist. . . Both of his wrists were bound in cruel metal shackles. The chain from his wrists led to shackles that bound his ankles too.”
  • When Kiranmala tries to free Neel from prison, Bogli tries to stop her. Kiranmala “let my arrows fly. Unfortunately, about 50 percent bounced right off Bogli’s scales. The other 50 percent that found their mark didn’t’ seem to do much damage, but hung there, kind of boinging” Neel uses a fork to stab “Bogli’s slimy skin.” During the fight, Bogli “smacked Neel hard across the face. Because of his shackles, Neel didn’t have super balance, so he fell hard, unable to use his hands too much to break his fall. . . He got in a blow to the monster’s thigh with both his shackled hands before Bogli flicked him off like a mosquito, then pinned poor Neel under a giant, warty foot.” The fighting continues for nine pages; no one is seriously injured.
  • When Kiranmala takes the Serpent king’s tooth, he tries to get it back by “flinging uneven green bolts of energy at us in between giggles. . . I nocked arrow after arrow in my bow, but they didn’t seem to bother Sesha. And as if the flying bolts of pain weren’t bad enough, at the Serpent King’s cry, the scraggly lawn outside the dentist’s office filled with snakes of all kinds. . . they slithered viciously in our direction, surrounding Ai-Ma in a trice. They hissed and snapped at us.” The scene takes place over two pages.
  • When Kiranmala goes to talk to a professor, he starts throwing fish at her. Kiranmala “found myself being pelted by something wet and slimy. A story of wet of slimy things actually. . . I put my hands up to protect my face, but the onslaught of rapid-fire fish kept flying at me, flapping on my skin with their scaly cold.” The professor stops throwing the fish when he realizes Kiranmala is not a ghost.
  • Soldiers parade Kiranmala past a prison cell, where she sees Neel’s grandmother Ai-Ma, “her shoulders hunched and face grim. There were some disposable teacups hanging from her few strands of hair and little burn marks like someone had thrown hot tea at her. Off her skin hung strange patches of vegetable peels and plastic bags too, like people had been using her as a target for throwing garbage.
  • Kiranmala must pass a test and if she does not, a witch and her sister will “eat you and the prisoner’s livers for a snack! While they’re still in your bodies.”
  • In order to save Neel, Kiranmala must rip off a bee’s wing, but because the bee is the Rakkhosi Queen’s soul, the queen will also die. The Rakkhosi Queen tells Kiranmala, “Do it!” When Kiranmala refuses to rip off the bee’s wing, the Rakkhosi Queen, lunged at me. I screamed. I really thought she’d just had it and was going to kill me, but it wasn’t me she was after. Her sharp talons grabbed the bee out of my hand, and in one swift motion, she tore off its wing. Her scream. . . Deep and horrible, like someone was being cut in two. The demoness dropped the sword and then fell down heavily next to it . . . She writhed now on the floor, her arm at a horrible, unnatural angle.”
  • The Serpent King tells Kiranmala, “I want to kill you and the Rakkhoshi Queen both.” The Serpent King then “shot a bolt at me, encasing me in one of his green orbs of pain and torture. Immediately, I dropped to my knees inside the floating bubble. The sharp, hot pain on my skin and in my bones was so intense, I couldn’t stop from crying out.” Neel charged “at Sesha with his sword raised. They clashed, sword to green bolt, making an enormous explosion of light every time their weapons made contact.” During the fight, Kiranmala must fight a ghost who took Neel’s brothers’ form. The Serpent King uses two stones, and when their power combines, “Neel’s mother was floating up off the ground now, her glowing body losing its form, becoming water and then fire, earth and then air, over and over again.” The battle scene takes place over three chapters. With the help of her friends, Kiranmala is able to free Neel and save his mother.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • Crapola and crud are used once.
  • Dang and heck are used twice.
  • Darn in used four times. For example, when Kiranmala sees Neel in prison, she yells, “I’ll rescue you if I want to and you’ll be grateful, darn it!”
  • Throughout the story, there is name calling. For example, a demoness calls Kiranmala Loonie-Moonie, pea-brained tree goat, and a pathetic puppy from Parsipppan.” Someone calls the Serpent King a “scummy snake” and a “pooper-scooper.”
  • Several times the skateboarding resistance is referred to as scum.
  • Neel’s mother calls him an idiot.

Supernatural

  • Barngoma and Bangomee, are birds with human heads. When Kiranmala sees them, “they didn’t speak out loud but somehow, their words slipped into my brain. . . their voices floated into my head in a weird, nasal unison.”
  • Barngoma and Bangomee use their power to hypnotize Kiranmala. “They opened their eyes wide, and again, I felt like I was falling into their swirling rainbow irises. Those swirly, whirly birdie eyes somehow pulled me out of myself so much that I actually felt separated from my body and spirit. . . Falling into the giant birds’ eyes was the wackiest, weirdest thing. I felt like I was flying through a movie on super-duper fast forward.” When she is in a trance, she sees her friend imprisoned and can interact with him.
  • Barngoma and Bangomee create a wormhole that takes Kiranmala to the Kingdom Beyond. Kiranmala advises, “If you have never driven an auto rickshaw through a rip in the fabric of space-time created by two giant, hippopotamus-sized birds, I strongly recommend wearing a bike helmet when you do.”
  • Kiranmala learned that “rakkhosh were actually, in some weird, interdimensional way, the same thing as back holes.”
  • Bolga was “born from a well of dark energy.” She has “webs between her toes, gills along her neck, and webbing fanning out beneath her giant arms.”
  • Kiranmala sees the birth of the Chintamoni and Poroshmoni stones. When she enters the wormhole, “the last thing we saw floating by us in space-time were some gods and demons churning an ocean of milk. They pulled on a familiar-looking snake wrapped around a mountain that operated as a churn. Out of the ocean rose medicine and poison, light and dark, good and evil, and then a sparkling white stone and a glowing yellow one.”
  • Kiranmala explains “the power of Chhaya Devi’s vials. They held the shadows of trees inside. Once freed, the shadows reconstituted themselves like expanding sponges. Super-powerful, tree-shaped magic sponges, that is.”
  • Kiranmala is able to understand parkkhiraj horses.
  • Kiranmala and Neel are able to communicate through the moon’s reflection. Neel says, “When I look up at the moon through the cell window, I can see you reflected there.”
  • Kiranmala has to face ghosts, which is dangerous because “looking at a ghost face-to-face while it was calling me would make my soul forfeit for the taking.”
  • Before Kiranmala dives into the ocean, someone “spun some sort of land rakkhosh dryness spell over me so that my clothes, pack, and weapons would stay dry and I dived into the water.”
  • Kiranmala goes to a hotel and sees a ghost, who was carrying its head. Later, she discovers that the hotel is alive.

Spiritual Content

  • The story focuses on Indian mythology, including mythological monsters and demons.

 

The Collectors #1

Van notices things. He keeps his eyes open and finds all sorts of things that other people don’t notice. A marble in the grass. A tiny astronaut with one arm raised. But Van is small and most people don’t notice him.

One day, Van notices a girl and a silver squirrel stealing a coin from a fountain. But what’s even stranger is that the girl notices Van. When Van sees the silver squirrel stealing a birthday wish, Van decides to follow the squirrel and find the mysterious girl. What he finds instead is a dangerous place where wishes are real. He discovers that the Collectors steal wishes and put them away before they can come true. But soon, Van realizes that not all wishes are good, and some good wishes can have dangerous consequences.

Beautiful descriptions create an enchanting mythology around wishes. Van’s curiosity, powers of observation, and desire to do what is right lead him into a world of trouble. Van isn’t sure who to trust—Mr. Falborg who is friendly and seems kind or the Collectors who are shrouded in secrets. This conflict lasts until the end of the story and leads to an unexpected conclusion.

Van’s character is not only well developed, but he is also unique. He must use a hearing aid and often has difficulty communicating. Van struggles to understand people who don’t face him as they speak or when they speak too quickly. Throughout the story, Van has to work out what he thought someone said and translate it into what they most likely said. Having a main character with a hearing impairment allows readers to understand Van’s disability. At one point in the story, Van gets angry, asking, “Why does everybody think I want to hear the way THEY do!?” Van shows that he doesn’t need to be “fixed” and be like everyone else.

The Collectors explores the idea of power and unintended consequences. When it comes to Wish Eaters, “It’s not a matter of good or bad. It’s not about kindness or evil. It’s not even a matter of intentions. You can mean to do good and still do terrible things. . . If you give someone, anyone, too much power, enough power that they can control everyone around them—then you run a terrible risk.” The Collectors is a fantastic book that has magic, suspense, humor, and a talking squirrel that is obsessed with the smell of food.

This kid-friendly mystery is suspenseful, but not scary. At one point in the story, Van wonders if Wish Eaters are, “more dangerous than a bunch of guys who steal me out of my bed in the middle of the night and angle me over a bottomless pit?” Strong readers will want to pick up The Collectors to find out the answer.

Sexual Content

  • A boy thinks that Van’s mother and his father are “probably kissing.” When the boys go to spy on their parents, they discover that “Their hands were very close together, but their lips were several inches apart.”

Violence

  • When Van discovers where the Collectors conduct their business, a man threatens him. The man says, “Do not come back here. Do not mention anything about us, or about this place, to anyone. We will be watching you. . . And if we find out that you have spoken of us, you and anyone you’ve told will have to be . . . removed.”
  • Two dark-coated men kidnap Van. “Someone tugged a black cotton bag over Van’s head. Van felt the jostle of being lifted over the window. . . He tried to scream, but the bag seemed to trap the sound inside his own head. . .” Van is not injured.
  • Van’s mother is hit by a car. Van sees her “leg was bent at an impossible angle.”
  • Collectors try to capture a Wish Eater that “was larger than a city bus.” The monster charges at Van. “Van could hear its huffing, hungry breath. . . Cell doors rattled as it charged by.” The Collectors chase after the Wish Eater. “The beast spun. Its whipping tail knocked several people off their feet. Its teeth snapped at two others, catching and tossing them backwards.” The scene takes place over 4 pages. No one is injured.
  • Someone makes a wish that puts Van in an underground train tunnel. Van was, “standing on the tracks. He was deep, deep below the earth. There was not a platform in sight . . . There was no safe space to escape to, and no time to run.” Van is uninjured.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • God is used as an exclamation once.
  • Someone calls Van a moron.
  • Someone calls Van a “little idiot.”

Supernatural

  • The Collectors are a group of people who “see things normal people don’t see and hear things they don’t hear. We live longer than normal people can live. We don’t get born. We’re wished.”
  • The Collectors take people’s wishes and put them in bottles so that the wish can never come true. Pebble explains that people’s wishes shouldn’t come true because “Do you want to get trampled by dinosaurs? Do you want an eight-year-old boy to be king of the whole world? Do you want every food in the world to taste like chocolate ice cream?”
  • A wish is an unpredictable thing because “wishes are extraordinarily hard to control. And once a wish becomes a dead wish, once no limitations remain, once that wish is nothing but magical energy—it becomes an exceedingly powerful thing. It is pure chaos.”
  • Wish Eaters can be of various shapes and sizes. One Wish Eater was “a giant, roaring, rippling beast. It was shaped like a stretched-out crocodile, with a thrashing tail, a triangular head, and a long . . . long . . . impossibly long snout full of jagged, needle-sharp teeth.”
  • If a Wish Eater eats a wish, the wish comes true, if it is a “variable wish. A living wish. An authentic wish. A wish with its roots in the magic of millennia.”
  • When Van wishes to go somewhere unnoticed, a toy sleigh and reindeer come to life and grow. The sleigh “hung in the night air just outside his bedroom window, twinkling with a haze of pearly mist. It swelled and stretched until it was the size of an actual sleigh, and the plastic reindeer were as big as real reindeer, and the plastic Santa that turned its cheery smile towards Van was just the right size for a jolly old elf.” The sleigh takes Van to his destination.
  • Someone makes a wish that makes Van let Wish Eaters out of their cage. “Panic spread through Van’s chest. What was he doing? Why was he doing it? And how was he doing it without even trying? . . . Something was controlling him. Van realized it with a dizzying jolt. Something else was moving him . . .”

Spiritual Content

  • None

The Storm Runner

Zane keeps to himself because other kids tend to tease him about his limp and because he walks with a cane. But he doesn’t mind, because he spends his days exploring a nearby sleeping volcano with his dog. One evening, as Zane is exploring the volcano, a plane with twin engines crashes. Even stranger, as the plane was going down, Zane thought he saw a monster in the cockpit.

Things get more complicated when a girl named Brooks shows up demanding that Zane meet her at the volcano. Zane follows the beautiful girl who leads Zane down a twisted path. Soon Zane is running from monsters controlled by the Maya god of death. According to an ancient prophecy, Zane’s decisions may allow the god of death to escape a prison that is centuries old.

Zane soon realizes that magic, monsters, and Maya gods are more than just fables. In a web of secrets, the Gods are trying to manipulate Zane to their own advantage. Zane tries to do what is right, but what does a flawed eleven-year-old boy know about stopping the destruction of the world? In a battle against good and evil, is there any way Zane can win against a Maya god?

The Storm Runner brings the magic of Maya mythology to life in a fast-paced, action-packed story that will leave readers wondering who can be trusted. Despite being self-conscious about it, Zane doesn’t let his disability deter him from trying to save the world. Although some of Zane’s decisions are questionable, his imperfections make him a truly relatable character.

Zane is not the only well-developed character; the story contains a cast of interesting characters including giants, demi-gods, and even an overprotective mother. The Storm Runner is perfect for fans of the Percy Jackson series or Aru Shah and the End of Time. However, Zane’s story takes a more serious tone and lacks the humor of the other series.

 The Storm Runner contains elements common to other mythological fantasy books—for instance, a boy discovers that his father is a god and must travel to strange places in order to save the world. Despite these similarities, this story effectively brings Maya mythology to life through an exciting series of events.

The length of the story, the complicated plot, and the extensive cast of characters may be overwhelming for some readers. The first third of the story introduces a lot of people, gods, and situations that cause the pace to drag. Despite a slow start, the monsters, the magical creatures, and the relationship between the characters make The Storm Runner an exciting adventure well worth reading. Readers will root for Zane as he fights evil, and they will pull their hair in frustration as Zane makes well-intentioned, but stupid decisions. In the end, readers come away with the powerful message that a person’s flaws don’t define them.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • A demon attacks and kills Zane’s dog and then attacks Zane. The demon, “grabbed me by the arms, sinking its long claws into my flesh. I screamed in pain and fell to the ground . . . Slime sizzled through my shirt sleeve, burning my skin like acid.”
  • Zane finally stabs the demon with his cane. “It sank right into the creature’s gel-like body, and there was a disgusting sucking sound as the cane disappeared inside. . . I blinked as the monster dissolved into a dark pool of thick mucus. . .” The scene is described over four pages.
  • A creature tries to kidnap Zane. “While my uncle tussled with the alux, she hauled me back through the bank and out the front doors, then stuffed me in the car.” The creature “jerked Mom’s head back by her hair and mimicked her desperate voice.” Brooks turns into a hawk and picked, “up the monster by the back of its neck. . . Brooks shook it hard like it was her mouse prey and she was trying to break its neck.” The scene is described over three pages.
  • Ah-Puch eats a creature. He “scrambled to clutch the thing. Bones snapped. Then he brought it to his mouth, bit its neck, and sucked all the blood from it before tossing the drained corpse to the cave floor below. . . “
  • Demon runners attack Zane and Brooks. When Zane tries to escape, “The hair reached me, climbed my body, and wrapped itself around my neck, covering my mouth and pinning me to the asphalt.” Zane is able to jerk “my guy’s neck back” and “his thick-skinned neck ripped open easily.” Hondo threw a screwdriver that wedged into the demon’s skull. The demon’s “face began to crack like dried mud, crumbling to the ground to reveal. . . a blue-skinned monster head. Green veins throbbed and budged.” The fight takes place over six pages.
  • Twins who were fathered by a god are grabbed by creatures. “The creatures holding Bird and Jordan folded their wings tighter and tighter. Each of the twins’ faces puckered like their heads were being sucked dry. Their skin turned gray, and purplish veins spread beneath. Their eyeballs bugged out and turned dark red.” The creatures take the twins away.
  • Zane throws a spear at Ah-Puch’s bird. “Muwan released a terrible scream and started tumbling through the air. I watched in horror as she crashed into the bare trees below. They shook on impact, their sharp branches splitting her open.”
  • The final battle takes place over several chapters. Ah-Puch and his demons attack Zane and his group. Demon runners attack Ah-Puch’s army. “They shrieked, leaping onto the back of Ah-Puch’s little army with amazing force. Teeth gnashed. Claws ripped. Hair chocked.” Finally, Zane turns into a jaguar and Ah-Puch turns into a snake. Zane attacks, “launching myself onto his neck as we hurtled over the step’s edge, down, down, down. . . As I sank my teeth into his slimy scales, I prayed that he didn’t bleed maggots. He did. They poured into my mouth as he screamed.”

 

Drugs and Alcohol

  • One night, Zane’s uncle Hondo drinks beer and smokes cigars.

Language

  • Crap and heck are used often. One example is when Brooks shows up at Zane’s house, he wonders, “How the heck had she found me?”
  • “Oh God” is used as an exclamation a few times.
  • A monster attacks Zane and his uncle. His uncle asks, “What the hell was that little thing?”
  • Someone tells Zane, “Believe me, when I catch the idiot bonehead who let Ah-Puch out, I’m going to send him spinning into the center of the Milky Way.”

Supernatural

  • Gods and monsters from Maya mythology are real. Brooks explains, “Myths are real, Zane. Well, most are. And gods are very real—an important part of the universe and its balance.”
  • The first creature, a demon, has “pasty bluish gray” skin. “Its bloated body was covered in patches of dark hair. Cauliflower-like ears drooped down to its bulging neck.”
  • Brooks is a nawal (a shapeshifter) who can turn into a hawk.
  • Ah-Puch, the Maya god of death, disaster, and darkness, is trapped in a magical artifact until Zane lets him out. Ah-Puch “looked like a bloated zombie with decomposing gray skin with nasty black spots, and he had a dark, twisted smile. He wore this weird helmet that had eyes hanging off it, the eyes of the people he’d recently killed.”
  • Ms. Cab works as a psychic and is a Maya seer. A god later turns all seers into chickens.
  • Zane discovers that he is the son of a Maya God. He can spirit jump, which allows him to leave his body and appear in another realm.
  • Pacific, the keeper of time, helps Zane.
  • When going to a party, Zane and his friends wear enchanted clothes that “fix all imperfections.” When they get to the party, a “gray-bearded skeleton materialized. . . Eyeballs floated in his eye sockets, and he wore a long white tuxedo jacket with a dead red rose pinned to one of his silk lapels.”

Spiritual Content

  • Zane gets a scholarship to attend a Catholic school. When Zane gets into trouble at school, his punishment is “ten rosaries, detention for a week, a call to Mom, and an apology to the jerk I’d torpedoed with my cane.”
  • After an explosion, Zane’s mom says, “Thank the saints, he’s safe now.”
  • Zane sent “a prayer up to the saints and anyone else listening.” Later in the story, he says a couple of Hail Mary’s.
  • Zane splashes holy water on a picture of a demon.

Monsters on the Run

Vanessa, the Loch Ness monster, doesn’t like being alone. In the lake where she lives, everyone seems to have another friend just like them—the turtles, the fish, the frogs, and even the seaweed. Vanessa wants a friend just like her. When Vanessa calls on Blizz Richards, he’s willing to help out. His team travels 65 million years into the past to find another sea monster. But when they get there, they realize there are other jagged-toothed creatures that want to snap them up.

Monsters on the Run has a variety of interesting characters including a bigfoot, goblins, leprechauns, arctic foxes, and more. All of the creatures work together to help Vanessa find a friend that looks like her. The story is a bit random and jumps from topic to topic, but is still enjoyable.

Each page has black and white illustrations with googly-eyed monsters and cartoonish dinosaur predators. Most pages have one to two sentences, while a few pages have up to six sentences. This is a fast-paced, silly story that will engage readers who are just beginning to pick up chapter books.

Sexual Content

  • None

Violence

  • After someone accidentally sits on a dinosaur’s tail, the dinosaur chases him.
  • While swimming, a predator tries to eat Nessie.

Drugs and Alcohol

  • None

Language

  • None

Supernatural

  • To time travel, a leprechaun takes “strands of the rainbow and separates them, picking out two colors to combine.”

Spiritual Content

  • None

 

 

 

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