Daisy's Book Review

Summer of the Sea Serpent

The Summer of the Sea Serpent  is a great story it has adventures and saving her friend they find a note from their  friend. The critters name are Jack and Annie they want to help her friend she left a note jake and annie want to help so they began there to save their friend so they mate meen diferite people they meet a nite, with there horse that has a fishtail then they meet a SPIDER QUEEN but it was a friendly spider queen she is a BIG spider and if you like adventures and scary books this can be the book that you need this can be a book that you can read if you like scary books then they found  another cloud but it was a poem the decided  to read it the books is a very good book it’s help me to help other people and to make me feel like i should do that this is a very good book i think that people should read the book it is a nice book.   – Daisy

The Girl Who Circumnavigated...

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In a Ship of Her Own Making

by Catherynne M. Valenti (2011)

Full of interesting creatures and people, a spunky, resourceful heroine, very Alice in Wonderland-like. I like books that I can hear myself reading to a class; even though the vocabulary in high, the story has a captivating tone and many reading levels would be able to follow along.

Rump

Rump

by Liesl Shurtliff (2013)

Orphaned "Rump" must find his real name and find his own destiny, amid greedy kings, trolls, feisty friends, magical aunts, and a stubborn donkey. Cute details, funny scenes, interesting characters (love to read more about his friend "Red"), and bad guy situations that keep the peril coming. The last chapters were slightly disappointing, what felt like a build up to action filled climax tended to get bogged down in Rump's inner turmoil/debate/reflection as he figures out who he is and what he needs to do. But overall, very enjoyable.

Someone needs to get a collection together of all the "True Story of..." fairy tale books and tv shows. We've been watching "Once Upon a Time" and the boys like figuring out which character is who.

Shadow and Bone

Shadow and Bone

by Leigh Bardugo (2012)

Several reviews call this "Hogwarts in Russia" -- orphan has magical powers, battles the dark power -- but it's not as imaginative or cute as HP and the teen romance gets a bit racier. But it is set in Russia, with snow and mythology and royal courts, and it does have some spooky creatures and dangerous battles, with an feisty underdog heroine and a quick pace that made it a good read.

Reminded me of a more serious, Santa-free The Guardians of Childhood, as well as Westerfeld's Leviathan and Pullman's Golden Compass.

The Shadow Thieves

The Shadow Thieves 

Anne Ursu (2006)
Book One of The Cronos Chronicles

Just started this one, supposed to be really good ("Harry Potter-like!"). So far the language, allusions, etc seem to be at a higher level than HP or Riordan's Lightning Thief, we'll see when the action starts...

If it keeps me up past midnight to finish it, it's a good book. This one is a good book, so I may nod off in middle of re-zzzzzzzz....
view.

Creepy yet nattily attired underworld villain, emotional teens, mythological action & adventure, with an almost Douglas Adams-like sense of humor. I started off thinking "12+" because of some vocabulary and the inferring asides, but a good 10+ reader would enjoy it too. Like some Sesame Street skits, you don't get what you don't get but you still can get it. Enjoyable, especially for fans of Percy Jackson and crew, great connections to Greek mythology, and strong family/personal courage and responsibility message.

Archer's Quest

Archer's Quest

Linda Sue Park (2006)
Newbery winner for A Single Shard

Just an afternoon adventure with a time travelling, expert archer King and Legend of ancient Korea, doesn't that happen to every 12 year old boy?

A lot of discussion of respect, discipline, bravery, and trusting one's abilities to solve a problem, as well as Korean history and the Chinese Zodiac. And archery. Clever story, a little humor and enough adventure to keep the pages turning.

The Scarecrow and his Servant

The Scarecrow and His Servant

Philip Pullman (2004)

Fun sometimes silly story of a boy, a scarecrow, and the Kingdom of Birds. A smart boy and a dim scarecrow embark on Quixotic adventures involving desert islands, battles, dancing brooms and lots of birds.

Thor's Wedding Day

Thor's Wedding Day

Bruce Coville (2005)

 The story of Thor having to cross-dress to get his hammer back, as told by his goat boy.  Good intro/connection to the Norse myths, with lots of humor.

Hereville

... How Mirka Got Her Sword

Barry Deutsch (2010)

Entertaining and Educational! Learn numerous Yiddish phrases and all about the Sabbath while enjoying a cute story of a rebel girl and a magic pig.  And a troll. Who knits.

The website has interesting looks at the creative process as Deutsch readies the next book of Minka's adventures, including sketches and rough drafts.

Nicholas St. North

... and the Battle of the Nightmare King

William Joyce and Laura Geringer (2011)

Very cool, on so many levels. Not the least of which is the author is the guy who created Rolie Polie Olie.  The illustrations are cool, the chapter titles are cool ("In Which a Twist of Fate Begets a Knot in the Plan"), the setting is cool, and the posters for the upcoming movie are cool.

Too much with the "cool"?

Good story, lots of familiar yet altered characters (Santa Claus, before he became a claymation TV star, was a thief and weapons expert?), orphans, magic, and of course the battle between good and evil. Characters grow and change, the mind is valued over muscle, and people/creatures look out for each other.  Very imaginative, visual, and has a lot of good vocabulary words, which is why I think it's going to beat out The Hobbit for my end of year read aloud.

update: Finished the sequel last night, E. Aster Bunnymund... (2012).  Not as action-filled as the first book, but more illustrations (love the wry captions), more playful interaction between characters, and more humor -- including the dreaded puns on "egg" -- would have been a good book to read before the spring break. Pitch, the bad guy, is back, and the search continues for the means to stop him.  

One more cool: the website for the books, especially where Mr. Joyce visits the moon.

The Neverending Story

The Neverending Story

by Michael Ende (1979)

About half way through, but I've been enthralled since the beginning -- and confused: Why have I never read this before?!?

I think it's because the movie came out in 1984, and as a high school senior I wouldn't be caught dead even debating seeing a silly puppet kid's flick... I still haven't seen it, and I've exposed my kids to The Dark Crystal and every Muppet epic.

......

update: Finished! It's a long one, could almost say it felt ne.  ver.  en.  ding, but well worth the full read.  Heroes, self-worth, scary and silly creatures (very Narnia-like), finding and following the right priorities of love for family and friends.  I think the first half would be a great read aloud for the classroom, but the second half gets a little long and deep.

An adventure, magic, fantasy story with elements of bullying, self-image, being who you are, reaching your potential, and putting others above self.

Love to find more info on the author and the story (beyond Wikipedia).

SF, Fantasy, Horror!

The Internet Speculative Fiction Database

and Alternative History, too -- The Alternate History List

The Magician's Elephant

The Magician's Elephant

by Kate DiCamillo (2009)

Old fashioned, in a good way -- beautiful illustrations, magic, soldiers, orphans finding/being found by childless couple... It really does have an old time fairy tale feel to it, and the art is a big part of it (almost has a Hugo Cabret look).

Skulduggery Pleasant

Skulduggery Pleasant

by Derek Landy (2007)

Similar to Alchemyst but in more of a gangster (with an er) crime setting; I really like the main characters and wish the story would have gone deeper into our heroic skeleton... but since this is probably 1 of umpteen in a series, maybe that's for another book.
Didn't really like the video game violence, pages of "then she answered with a scissor kick, only to be met with a sweeping blow to..." gets boring. Then again, I'm not 10 anymore...

The Alchemyst

The Alchemyst

by Michael Scott (2007)

I generally try to stay away from books that

a) Son #2 retells me for a breathless hour every morning,
b) looks to be part of a series of 6 (minimum) books,
c) and, in sort of a combo deal of a and b, Son #2 reads said series at a pace of a book a night so that by the end of the week his summaries are so fantasy-imbibed and sleep-deprived as to be fairly incomprehensible...

But of course he's still cute enough to convince me once in a while to try a book.  I like this one for the sibling rivalry and the mythical characters -- of all cultures and times, mixed together in a good vs evil plot -- but as I look at how few pages I have left compared to how many unresolved issues (what about the brother's powers? do we trust this Flammel guy?!?), I know I've been sucked in again.  Fast paced, lots of characters, a little humor, contemporary setting/references.

The Crossroads

The Crossroads

by Chris Grabenstein* (2008)

Sons 2 & 3 are into spooky books and scary stories; of course #3 usually invades our bed at night because 1 & 2 try to freak him out, which is why I try to hide the scary books he checks out as soon as we're home from the library... anyway, I picked this one up for #2 but he'd already read it, so I gave it a try.  About 1:15 am I was wishing I hadn't started it after the sun went down...

Traditional ghost story, the dead at unrest, the past attempting to control the future, bad people deserve their painful fate... almost too many characters here, especially in the beginning, we don't know who's minor or major, dead or alive, past or present... but they're all connected and it all sorts out.  The dead mother was a bit much, didn't add to the story and/or could have been a story all it's own. Some minor characters are very well done and I'd read more of (Davey the farm-boy ghost and the Librarian).
Overall, good read.




*really? Grabenstein? Chris Grab-en-stein writes spooky books? that's perfect...

Rapunzel's Revenge

Rapunzel's Revenge

graphic novel

fairy tale meets wild west meets grrrl power...

Deathnote

Deathnote (12 volume manga series)

Tsugumi Ohba/Takeshi Obata (2003)

I'm not a big violence fan, even in my comics; this does have a lot of frequent and indiscriminate murder, although mostly "off screen" and not graphic at all.  For older students it does raise questions regarding capital punishment, the battle of right vs. wrong, corrupt power, etc.  It's well done with twists and puzzles, interesting characters, and bits of humor.  The later issues tend towards inner monologues and less action.

The Grey King

The Grey King

by Susan Cooper

Newbery Medal 1976

One of the middle books in a series, The Dark is Rising Sequence, of which I have not read any of the others, but each story seems able to stand alone. Magic spells, prophecy and destiny, Good vs. Evil, English boy in Wales.

Very poetic,

connections: A Wrinkle in Time, The Golden Compass

The Time Warp Trio

The Good, the Bad, and the Goofy
and
Me Oh Maya

by Jon Scieszka (say it like "fresca")

Oh, those three wacky kids and their magical book! Traveling backwards and forwards through time (usually backwards) and getting involved with a variety of historical characters and events, with interesting factoids tossed in for good measure. Some of these read like the weaker Magical Treehouse series, the kids are only put in trouble to get them out quickly, but with much more personality and humor.