Title: Highland Fling
Author: Kathleen Ernst
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Cricket Books
Pages: 216
ISBN: 0-8126-2742-3
Price: $15.95
Publishing Date: 200
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts
Tanya and her sister Nan have moved from Wisconsin to North Carolina after their parents divorced. Their mother has encouraged them to become involved with Scottish re-enactors as a means of making new friends and to help forget their old home and life. It’s not working for Tanya in a big way because she is only interested in the isolation of becoming a documentary filmer behind a camera.
This YA is about coping, adapting, and coming out from one’s shell to see life from more than one’s own point of view. This award winning author who has written for the American Girls historical mystery series, portrays a girl with a lot of angst who still manages to get outside herself, finding an important new friend in the process. We rated this book five hearts.
Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Alfred A. Knopf
Pages: 552
ISBN: 0-375-83100-2
Price: $16.95
Publishing Date: 2006
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts
Although billed as a YA, this novel about a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany is for adults too. Unlike the usual holocaust novel, the protagonist is not Jewish, but a German of communistic parents. Her father has been taken away and her mother knows she will be next. Destitute, the mother brings her 10-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son by train to Molching, a suburb of Munich. Before they can arrive, the boy dies of starvation and exposure. The train is stopped long enough to have him buried. Liesel Meminger, the girl, picks up a manual on grave digging which has been accidentally dropped by a young digger. Thus starts her career as a book thief, even though at that point she cannot read.
What makes this a most unusual story is its narrator—Death. He finds himself fascinated by the young girl’s life and development under the care of the most unlikely foster parents—a foul-mouthed stub of a lady and her ever-suffering house painter, accordion-playing husband. Liesel’s teen life and her role in hiding and protecting a young Jewish man from the town folk and the Nazis presents an emotional theater is second only to her stealing books from the village mayor’s wife. We rated this book a high five hearts.
Title: Robin: The Lovable Morgan Horse
Author: Ellen F. Feld
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Willow Bend Publishing
Pages: 204
ISBN: 0-9709002-5-2
Price: $9.95
Publishing Date: 2006
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts
This mid-grade young ladies’ horse novel uses a mixture of horse and human personality types to tell the story of Karen, a girl who is badly injured by an uncontrollable horse that runs away and throws her off in the path of a car. The rest of the story chronicles how through the help of parents, true friends, and a lovable horse she eventually regains her confidence and love of riding.
The author uses just the right amount of horse terms and horse events without becoming too technical. As the characters go about their interactions with their horses, the reader’s own equine education is reinforced by the characters’ actions and their horses’ responses. She uses plenty of conflict on many levels and a string of obstacles and the characters’ solutions to craft a very interesting story with a quick pace. We rated this book five hearts.
Title: Jay
Author: W. Royce Adams
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Unlimited Publishing LLC
Pages: 115
ISBN: 1-58832-120-7
Price: $10.99
Publishing Date: 2005
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
”Jay” is a sequel to “Me & Jay.” This young adult/reluctant reader book is about a 16-year-old, newly orphaned boy who decides to run away from his Midwestern town for California and a new start. Since he has little money, he decides to ride the rails—becoming a hobo. He quickly finds a more experienced mentor/friend who begins to teach him the dangers and joys of hopping freights, dumpster diving, and getting along with much older hobos, and law enforcement figures. Unfortunately all is not well in hobo-land and tragedy results.
The author is highly experienced, retired English professor and reading specialist. He has spent his retirement filling the needs of young, reluctant readers with this series and his Rairarubia fantasy series. He knows what will keep the interest of his readers and how to pull them through a story before they even realize they’ve read a whole book. We applaud his efforts! This particular book rated a high four hearts.
Title: The Foretelling
Author: Alice Hoffman
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Little Brown
Pages: 169
ISBN: 0-316-01018-9
Price: $16.99
Publishing Date: 2005
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
Rain is an unwanted child, resulting from a gang rape of fifty some men of a young Amazon girl. Rain is also in line for taking over the queenship of a tribe of Amazons on the central steppes of Asia minor. Although her queen-mother refuses to acknowledge her and gives over her raising to the queen’s closest advisors, Rain is still expected to measure up. She raises a young bear cub to adulthood and saves her baby brother from certain infanticide death, both highly unusual acts in her culture. Finally, her mother dies and a civil war threatens because Rain defies conventions and traditions.
This YA teen book is designed to teach the conditions and historical roles of the Amazon concept. The book is a fast and easy read; however, it will cause its readers to stretch their cultural muscles to understand why women banded together as a warrior society which provided an ancient alternative to a battered women’s shelter. We rated it four hearts.
Title: Scary: A Book of Horrible Things for Kids
Author: Joaquin Ramon Herrera
Illustrator: Joaquin Ramon Herrera
Publisher and/or Distributor: Hylas Publishing
Pages: 96
ISBN: 1-59258-148-X
Price: $9.95
Publishing Date: Oct 2005
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
Kids love reading about gross and scary things. In this oh so politically correct world, kids are sheltered way too much. This book puts forth many gross but interesting fact narrated by Horris, a weird, alien being who is able to tell these things while still providing the young readers a sense of safety. They react with an attitude of being allowed to partake of delightfully forbidden fruit.
This is a good chapter book with many interesting scientific facts which are portrayed in a slightly threatening environment and context. We rated this book a score of four hearts.
Title: The Wishing Star
Author: Rita Salter
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: iUniverse
Pages: 77
ISBN: 0-595-34109-8
Price: $8.95
Publishing Date: 2005
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This is a mid-grade fantasy which focuses on a rather spoiled boy whose wish on a star takes him back in time to the dinosaur era. He finds himself transformed into a newly hatched Brontosaurus. He tries to describe where he comes from but the other dinosaurs don’t believe. He has to learn some harsh lessons about survival. Finally, he helps the herd trap and kill a marauding Tyrannosaurus. He suddenly finds himself back in modern times—a changed boy with different attitudes about himself and others.
This is an excellent object lesson and science class taught in an entertaining way. We rated it four hearts.
Title: The Breezes of Inspire: The Remin Chronicles Book 2
Author: Nick Ruth
Illustrator: Sue Concannon
Publisher and/or Distributor: Imaginator Press
Pages: 258
ISBN: 0-9745603-3-2
Price: $16.95
Publishing Date: Sept 2005
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This sequel to the Ben Franklin Award finalist, Dark Dreamweaver, is many things: a wonderful midgrade (8-12) fantasy, a science teaching tool for symbiosis, and a really good read. This time, protagonist David includes his cousins in a visit to the other dimensional world of Remin and beyond. They have many adventures and all become wizards of magic in their own way. We scored this delightful children’s book five hearts.
Title: Fergus: The Soccer Playing Colt
Author: Dan A. Peterson
Illustrator: Ryan S. Weber
Publisher and/or Distributor: Raven Publishing, Inc.
Pages: 190
ISBN: 09714161-7-6
Price: $9
Publishing Date: July 2005
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
Fergus is a delightful polo pony colt that shows a natural talent as a soccer goalkeeper. He comes to the attention of an international audience and is taken on a tour of America’s major cities in a series of demonstration soccer matches. Along the way, Fergus is stolen by an unscrupulous rodeo stock dealer from West Texas. Will Bobby Simpson ever find him, especially now that his appearance has been altered by a cosmetologist ex-pro football player.
This is an excellent read for mid-grade boys and girls. Fergus the colt emerges as a character with his own personality, as does his pal, Bouncer the dog. The author emphasizes teamwork in both play and in the tracking down of the lost Fergus. He has given varied and interesting voices to all his characters, making them easy to delineate. This is an excellent book for reluctant readers. We rated it a high four hearts.
Title: Shelby and the Shifting Rings: Book One—Defender of Time Series
Author: A.M. Veillon
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Parity Press
Pages: 176
ISBN: 0-9762015-4-2 Hardback; 0-9762015-5-0 Paperback
Price: $18.95/$9.95
Publishing Date: July 2005
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This is an absolutely delightful mid-grade/YA time-travel fantasy with a very strong female protagonist, Shelby, who finds herself orphaned and sent to a boarding school, which come complete with bullies, good teachers, and difficult ones. Shelby finds new, supportive friends to aid her in her quest to discover and explain odd events which keep happening in her life. Ultimately, she finds herself pitted against an evil uncle who is trying to control time to his benefit. At the same time, she discovers the secrets of a special device with rings which operate a time machine. She also discovers and incubates a prehistoric egg which hatches a delightful little animal that becomes her pet. Although Shelby outwits her uncle in the end, sending him back to prehistoric times without the means to control the time machine, the last chapter indicates there is a serious crisis brewing, to be covered in the next book.
Both girls and boys will enjoy these adventures. The reader is pulled through the story and the air of mystery and discovery keeps readers second guessing. We rated this book five hearts.
Title: Oddest Yet: Even More Stories to Chill the Heart
Author: Steve Burt
Illustrator: Jessica E. Hagerman
Publisher and/or Distributor: Burt Creations
Pages: 130
ISBN: 0-9741407-1-6
Price: $14.95
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This YA collection of eclectic scary stories was created by an award-winning author (Ray Bradbury three times and a Silver Ben Franklin), and it shows. These are finely crafted tidbits meant to titillate the mind and disturb the soul. He creates believable scenarios, which makes them even scarier. Revenge, retribution, sacrifice, and redemption are common themes in his stories. They are crafted well enough to invite discussion after they’re read. We rated this book five hearts.
Title: Legend of the White Wolf
Author: Max Elliot Anderson
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Baker-Trittin Press
Pages: 118
ISBN: 0-9752880-3-2
Price: $10.95
Publishing Date: 2005
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
Brian and his friend Tommy live near the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Brian’s father is the head game warden in the Gallatin National Forrest. His father is busy trying to nab some poachers who have been stealing wolves from the preserve. Brian frees an all white wolf pup from a steel trap and from that day, the wolf watches Brian from hiding. Brian’s Native American friend, Windwalker, says the wolf may now consider him a brother. This idea seems probable when the now-grown white wolf saves the boys from a mountain lion attack. Will Brian be able to do the same when wolf-nabbers capture his white guardian with the intent to cremate him?
This is an excellent reluctant-reader’s chapter book for ages 8-12. All of the books in the author’s series are exciting. This is certainly true for the white wolf book. The author always manages to build in a good values lesson based on Christian ethics without being preachy about it. We rated this book five hearts.
Title: Upside Down and Backwards / De cabeza y al revés
Author: Diane Gonzales Bertrand
Translator: Karina Henández
Publisher and/or Distributor: Arte Público Press
Pages: 64
ISBN: 1-55885-408-8
Price: $9.95
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
Upside down is a back-to-back printed bilingual chapter book printed in English from one end and in Spanish from the other. This 8-12 chapter book is a collection of short stories. Each includes fun, excitement, a bit of the Hispanic culture, and a values lesson. Each story stands along and often shows the importance of the extended family in the Hispanic culture. We rated this book four hearts.
Title: Keeper of the Empire
Author: H.J. Ralles
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Top Publications, Ltd.
Pages: 258
ISBN: 1-929976-25-9
Price: $9.95
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This is the third book in a series for mid-grade lovers of computer games. The author’s highly imaginative use of a computer game environment as the framework for her stories effectively captures the attention of those who might spend more time on the computer than in reading. Each book raises the bar, tension wise, thereby encouraging the series readers to clamor for the next installment, just like the different levels of computer games.
She is to be commended for tackling an anti-reading environment and turning it into a highly attractive means toward encouraging reluctant readers. Each book presents more complex problems and greater risks. We rated this book and its series four hearts.
Title: Aunt Puff and Missing Minerva
Author: David Whitewolf
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: iUniverse
Pages: 112
ISBN: 0-595-32724-9
Price: $10.95
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This mid-grade book is like a cross between “James and the Giant Peach” and “The Perils of Pauline.” A really cutely wacky tale, this story features 12-year-old Alexandra and her eccentric and somewhat secretive Aunt Puff. Their miracle performing abilities are challenged to the max when Aunt Puff’s best friend, Minerva comes for a visit and winds up missing. They follow strange clues with the help of a Great Dane dog, Ludwig, and an intelligent Cockatoo, Ciber. With their combined talents and an ever ready magical purse to carry all kinds of solutions, the group flails from one misadventure to another. At the same time, Alexandra must rediscover her self-worth after an unfortunate accident on the ice by her best friend, Liz. To make matters more complex, a mysterious organization, the Elcarim Foundation, constantly lurks in the background.
The author makes good use of imagination to spin this enjoyably improbable story to its final conclusion. Kids will love this book. We rated it a high four hearts.
Title: Forever My Lady
Author: Jeff Rivera
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: JoAnne/Horatio Books
Pages: 192
ISBN: 0-9762838-0-8
Price: $12.95
Publishing Date: January, 2005
Reader: Judy Schuler
Rating:
When seventeen-year-old Dio Rodriguez first arrives in prison boot camp, all he wants is to do his time and get out as soon as possible. But his training officer, Jackson, won’t let him slide. Unable to see his girlfriend, who is in the hospital severely injured from a drive-by shooting, Dio is frantic, but helpless. He manages to correspond with her in letters, but can feel her becoming more and more distant. Then they find out she’s pregnant and he knows things will be okay. He’ll get out, turn his life around and make a home for himself and his family. But will he? She’s heard his promises before and has dreams of her own. She has a life and he’s stuck in boot camp until he graduates. Can he turn his life around and achieve his own dreams?
Forever My Lady is a fast-paced coming of age novel set in the barrio and in prison boot camp. Jeff Rivera has done a wonderful job bringing his teenagers to life. From Dio to the cruel Grossaint, to the skinny rich-kid loner, Simon, each has a story. Parental guidance is advised, but I think it should be a must read for any teen, especially those exposed to gang activity. We give it five hearts.
Title: Aidan of Oren
Author: Alan St. Jean
Illustrator: Judith Friedman
Publisher and/or Distributor: Moo Press, Inc.
Pages: 208
ISBN: 0-9724853-5-X
Price: $19.95
Publishing Date: Oct 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This midgrade fantasy is an entertaining study in the values of courage, compassion, and responsibility. On his thirteenth birthday, Aidan leaves with his two best friends and fellow orphans, Lilly (the wise) and McKensie (the warrior) and his talking pet falcon (who is afraid to learn to fly), on a quest to bring peace to the land. Prompted by a dream of a white flying horse, Aidan sets out to find the elves, so they can help him find his father and the long missing guardian dragons.
This book ends with the successful first leg of his journey, indicating there will be a series. It is an easy read for ages 7-12. It moves along quickly in short chapters. The values taught are not preached but given by examples of both the right way and the wrong way to use these values. This book really focuses on the value of compassion toward others and how many win when it is given appropriately. We rated it four hearts.
Title: The Dark Dreamweaver: The Remin Chronicles Book 1
Author: Nick Ruth
Illustrator: Sue Concannon
Publisher and/or Distributor: Imaginator Press
Pages: 224
ISBN: 0-9745603-1-6
Price: $16.95
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This is a mid grade fantasy that entertains while teaching the life science of Monarch butterflies. David has horrible nightmares. He’s not alone; more and more people are having them too. His accidental discovery of a wizard trapped in the life cycle of a Monarch butterfly leads him to the land of dreams—Remin. There he must safeguard his wizard mentor while seeking to overcome the evil dreamweaver, Thane. All the while he is on his quest, the wizard is gradually going through the developmental stages to an adult butterfly. Will David be able to return the wizard to his normal state of being, conquer the dreamweaver, and get back home safely?
The author does an excellent job of incorporating life science in with the story in such a way as to teach without being obvious about it. He makes the book more real to its young readers by urging them to plant milweeds—the primary food source for the Monarch butterfly—in hopes young people will plant the weed to attract the butterflies to their own homes. We rated this delightfully educating book five hearts.
Title: Runt the Brave
Author: Daniel Schwabauer
Illustrator: CDS Creative Design (www.cdscreativedesign.com)
Publisher and/or Distributor: Clear Water Press
Pages: 223
ISBN: 0-9742972-1-6
Price: $16.99
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
Who would have guessed that just behind a modern housing development lay a field and a forest which had become the setting for a genocidal war between field mice and an invading army of rats. JaRed, better known as “Runt” because of his diminutive size, is the first common mouse to discover the enemy rats’ advance scouts. His report of this discovery to the King’s Guards starts him on a journey that may land him on the King’s throne. That is, if his family doesn’t betray him first and something untoward happens to his new-found friend, the King’s son.
This is YA/Mid-grade fantasy at its absolute best! It not only earned five hearts, it scored an almost impossible 100% score using our demanding evaluation rubrics. The author has worked with troubled youth, and typical troubled personalities were scattered amongst the various characters. In places, the differences between good and evil were clearly defined. In others, we learn redemption and forgiveness are still possible—evil can become good and merely weak can become evil under the right conditions. Although not scored, the illustrations, the cover, and the interior design were absolutely top-notch—better than much which comes out of England and New York. This was an amazing read, richly deserving its five hearts.
Title: The Cats of Storm Mountain
Author: McKay Daines
Illustrator: Cameron Daines
Publisher and/or Distributor: Shine Publishing
Pages: 279
ISBN: 0-9749467-1-0
Price: $28.95
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This is a wonderful adventure book, written with animal characters like Jacques’ Red Wall series. Young Alley Cat is tired of being a servant in the Mayor’s household. He’d much rather be out on his own, seeking his fortune. He becomes mixed up in a blackmail scheme that targets the four most powerful members of the town in Rainbow Valley, including the mayor. He is exiled to the forests surrounding Storm mountain and would die of inexperience except for being befriended by Cougar and Bobcat, two Huckleberry Flynn-like characters who love being free to do whatever they want more than anything else in the world.
The author has taken stories his father used to make up and finely crafted them into an excellent book. This is a master craftsman of a writer who knows how to leave the reader hanging at the end of every chapter. Young adults and mid-grades will anxiously await the next book from his keyboard. His illustrator brother is every bit as good producing superlative pencil and pen drawings of the characters and their actions throughout the book. The book cover is eye-catching, the back cover has exciting blurbs from accomplished writers. We predict this may become a classic series and rate the book five hearts.
Title: Flip
Author: David Lubar
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Starscape Books
Pages: 304
ISBN: 0-765-34048-8
Price: $5.99
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This is one of the most exciting books for mid grade and YA reluctant readers I have seen this year. Fraternal twins Ryan and Taylor stumble across fifty some disks, which are virtual recordings of some of history’s best heroes’ lives. The disks are activated by flipping them into the air and absorbing them into one’s hand. The thoughts, abilities, and personality characteristics of that disk’s hero are imparted to the flipper. Devil may care Ryan and his perfectionist sister Taylor are constantly embroiled in all kinds of adolescent angst situations, which include bullies, teachers with grudges, cliques, and demanding parents. Ryan, especially, uses the disks to help him overcome all these obstacles and much more.
I was particularly struck by the shortness of chapters, each one a cliff-hanger, which are used to draw along the reluctant reader. The book imparts some excellent history lessons while addressing typical problem areas for many adolescent readers. We are handselling this book like hotcakes from our bookstore. If I had to compare it to a recent book of similar popularity and impact, it would have to be Holes. We rated Flip a high five hearts.
Title: The Peacock Stone
Author: Faith Richardson
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Fox Song Books
Publisher Website: www.foxsongbooks.com
Pages: 180
ISBN: 0-9744989-1-2
Price: $12.95
Publishing Date: 2003
Reader: Judy Schuler
Rating:
Eleven-year-old Shahumin lives in a mythical, prehistoric time. Her tribe’s history is handed down orally from generation to generation. Shahumin is just beginning to learn the tribal wisdom from her grandfather during private ceremonies between the two of them. She has heard talk of the “Others,” strange creatures who supposedly prey on village children, and wonders about them. One day, while gathering wood for the village fires, she meets a strange youth, not from her village. His coloring is different from her people’s, but he’s friendly and they become close. They find an unusual stone while playing in the creek and feel that it binds them together. Trouble finds the young people when her village learns of her friendship with this stranger. Can she convince them that “Others” aren’t bad, only different?
The Peacock Stone is a lyrical and poetic story that teaches a valuable lesson. Through Shahumin’s growing friendship and later struggle to hold onto it, we see that people have more in common than they have differences. Faith Richardson has written a beautiful story with a Native-American flavor. We give it five hearts.
Title: Edgar & Ellen Tourist Trap
Author: Charles Ogden
Illustrator: Rick Carton
Publisher and/or Distributor: Star Farm Productions
Pages: 153
ISBN: 1-58246-111-2
Price: $12.95
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
At last, an answer to the Lemony Snicket series! This midgrade story about Edgar and Ellen, fraternal twins, who have been abandoned by their parents, live in a knurly mansion overlooking the town dump and cemetery. When they learn about the pretentious mayor of Nod’s Limbs’ idea to bring world-class tourists to their small town, they set out to ruin his plans. At stake are the dump and their tumble-down house.
Unlike the Snicket series, these two protagonists make things happen, rather than wait for the worse to befall them. Granted, the twins are weird beyond reason, but they definitely believe in being in charge of their own destinies. They remind me of a mixture of the Aadams family’s children and Boris and Natasha in Rocky, the Flying Squirrel. We rated this wonderfully dark book a solid five hearts.
Title: Well of Evil
Author: Joel Shatzky
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: N&S Publishers
Pages: 337
ISBN: 0-9753268-0-5
Price: $8.95
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This is an interesting YA fantasy that mixes coming of age elements with Dante’s Inferno. Three friends, all brighter than most and all from slightly abnormal backgrounds, represent three different cultures—Christian, Jewish, and Hindu. They are best friends at school, to the exclusion of most other people. A mysterious man, “Seeker,” challenges them to go down the well of evil to repair a leakage of evil from contaminating the world. Once they learn that no matter how long it takes, it will be as if they have been gone less than a second, they agree to the quest. What follows is an interesting journey through different levels of damnation upon which they meet many flawed people who are stuck in whatever scenario deemed appropriate as a punishment for their actions in life.
As in Dante’s work, there are many allegorical lessons illustrated by this author. The central theme that comes out of this work is the importance of seeking to understand those you feel have wronged you and learning to forgive them. This is a good book to open adolescent eyes to the world around them, shifting their focus away from “me” to “you”. We rated it four hearts.
Title: Terror at Wolf Lake
Author: Max Elliot Anderson
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Tweener Press
Pages: 140
ISBN: 0-9729256-6-X
Price: $10.95
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Judy Schuler
Rating:
Eddie Thompson is a cheater. He sees no reason to work at something if he can get good results by cheating. After all, his father doesn’t mind lying when he needs to. Neither does the rest of his family. When Eddie and his two friends, Rusty and Chet, and their fathers vacation at his family’s cabin near snow-bound Wolf Lake, he learns that cheating and keeping what isn’t yours isn’t the best way. While the boys are sitting in a snow fort they built, two criminals toss a bag of stolen money into the backyard and then take of, followed by police cars. Eddie wants to keep the money, but even his father won’t back him up. They turn the money in and return home, thinking they’ll surely be safe there. The bad guys wouldn’t have any way to find them and try to get their money back, would they? Rusty, a Christian, convinces Eddie that praying can help in scary situations, and that following Jesus’ example will help him in life.
Terror at Wolf Lake is a fast-paced adventure with a Christian theme. The two less-than-intelligent bad guys provide some fun, if a bit cartoony, comic relief and the boys could be kids anywhere, facing problems many kids face. We rate Terror at Wolf Lake four hearts.
Title: Please Pass Grandma’s Leg—AKA The Case of the Sacked Potatoes
Author: Christine Petrell Kallevig
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Storytime Ink International
Pages: 124
ISBN: 0-9628769-3-3
Price: $9.95
Publishing Date: March, 2004
Reader: Judy Schuler
Rating:
Sixth-grader, Roland (WeeWee) Weedervich’s family embarrasses her. The family beagle is noted for causing problems in the neighborhood, Roland suffers from juvenile diabetes and must watch her food intake, and her grandmother not only wears a prosthetic leg, she takes it off and passes it around for everyone to see. In the mall. In front of some snooty older kids. When a friend’s mother is accused of stealing food from the school’s lunchroom supplies, Roland must work around her handicaps to help solve the mystery.
Please Pass Grandma’s Leg is a hilarious middle-grade novel, full of wacky characters. In addition, it contains useful information about diabetes. Ms. Kallevig tells a truly funny tale. We give Please Pass Grandma’s Leg five hearts.
Title: Lorenzo’s Revolutionary Quest
Author: Lila and Rick Guzman
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Pinata Books
Pages: 192
ISBN: 1-55885-392-8
Price: $9.95
Publishing Date: May 31, 2003
Reader: Judy Schuler
Rating:
Captain Lorenzo Bannister’s mission is to buy five hundred cattle from the Spanish near San Antonio, Texas and drive them to the Mississippi River. There they will be loaded onto flat-bottom boats for shipment to General George Washington and his troops. The young captain’s quest isn’t easy. To succeed he must fight rustlers and a Union spy, whose knowledge of the meeting site for the cattle and the boats could jeopardize, not only the mission, but the whole American Revolution.
Lila and Rick Guzman have written a fast-paced young-adult historical novel, full of information about the southwest and the American Revolution. The characters and setting are very well drawn, combining historical figures and events with realistic fictional characters. We give Lorenzo’s Revolutionary Quest five hearts.
Title: North Woods Poachers
Author: Max Elliot Anderson
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Tweener Press
Order Number: 1-800-741-4386
Pages: 153
ISBN: 0-9729256-8-6
Price: $10.95
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
North Woods Poachers is a great mid-grade adventure mystery. Andy Washburn and his cousin C.J. have been going on a Canadian fishing trip with their families every year for as long as the boys can remember. This year they decide to spice it up by exploring the big forest whenever they can get away with not fishing. Unfortunately, the boys and their sisters stumble onto an international wild-animal poaching operation. Suddenly their families’ lives are in grave danger.
The author really knows how to write a book that can capture the attention of a reluctant reader. The pace is fast. The family dilemmas are realistic and easy to identify with. In general, this is a fun read. It is scary, but not too scary. We rated this book a solid four hearts.
Title: The Ghostly Rider and Other Chilling Stories
Author: Hernan Moreno-Hinojosa
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Arte Publico Press
Pages: 82
ISBN: 1-55885-400-2
Price: $9.95
Publishing Date: October 31, 2003
Reader: Judy Schuler
Rating:
Set in rural South Texas, The Ghostly Rider is a collection of spooky short stories. Many are retold tales from before the time of radio and television, and some more modern. “The Vanishing Hitchhiker” and “God Works in Mysterious Ways” are ghost stories, while witches inhabit “Belia” and “The Year of the Witch.” Paranormal experiences, such as ghostly lights and appearances by Lady Death, make up other stories. The Ghostly Rider has something to scare everyone. It’s sure to be a favorite among middle-graders, who love to scare themselves and each other at sleepovers and camp outs. It rates four hearts.
Title: Menace in the Walls
Author: N.L. Eskeland
Illustrator: n/a
Publisher and/or Distributor: Science2Discover
Pages: 142
ISBN: 0-9673811-6-9
Price: 10.95
Publishing Date: February 2004
Reader: Jane Deskis
Rating:
Menace in the Walls in the first Joshua Keegan solves the mystery story and it could be the first of many. This new teenage mystery solver has a lot going for him and a lot of help from his little sister. Their teaming up together to solve mysteries will be a big hit with the early teenagers. Author Eskeland did a great job showing the “brother-sister” relationship that all teenagers experience, but she also showed how they can pull together and solve a crime. Menace in the Walls is based on a true story about a mysterious mold that hit the Cleveland area in the 1990’s. The author is able to include science along with medical information in her stories that is also educational to the reader. This book gets 4 hearts.
Title: Roll Over, Big Toben
Author: Victor M. Sandoval
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Pinata Books
Pages: 126
ISBN: 1-55885-401-0
Price: $9.95
Publishing Date: October 31, 2003
Reader: Judy Schuler
Rating:
Fifteen-year-old David Lopez’s life is in turmoil. His father died and he’s sold the pigeons he loves to help his mother pay bills. He feels the only people who understand him are his gang members. But should his loyalties lie with his friends or his family? What direction will his life take? David must choose.
Set in the mid fifties, Roll Over, Big Toben shows that things haven’t changed all that much. David’s problems could be taking place today. Victor Sandoval has written a book about a past time, which reflects problems still plaguing urban inner cities nationwide. We give it three hearts.
Title: The Great Good Thing
Author: Roderick Townley
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Pages: 216
ISBN: 0-689-84324-0
Price: $17.00
Publishing Date: 2001
Reader: Judy Schuler
Rating:
What do storybook characters do when nobody is reading the book? In Roderick Townley’s The Great Good Thing they have their own lives. Like actors in a stage play, they rush to their marks when their warning bird sounds the alarm, “Reader! Reader! Book open!” But when the book burns, how will they survive? Under the leadership of twelve-year-old Princess Sylvie, they cross over into the mind of a reader. But readers grow up and forget childish stories. And then they die and characters fade away with them. How can Sylvie save her family and friends from that fate?
Roderick Townley has crafted a multi-layered story that sparkles, a unique idea that will appeal to kids and adults, especially writers. We rate it five hearts.
Title: Newspaper Caper
Author: Max Elliot Anderson
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Tweener Press
Pages: 136
ISBN: 0-9729256-4-3
Price: $9.95
Publishing Date: 2003
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
Newspaper Caper is a wonderful mid-grade mystery adventure book for reluctant readers. Tom Stevens is a nine-year-old businessman who has talked he two best friends into working for him on his morning newspaper route. They witness, try to solve, and become enmeshed in a car theft ring.
This book teaches the work ethic, honesty and many positive values, while not preaching. The action is fast, and young people will quickly get pulled into the story. We feel this author is providing a much-needed resource for those readers who would rather not read if they don’t have to. We rated it five hearts.
Title: Teen Angel
Author: Gloria L. Velasquez
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Piñata Books
Pages: 154
ISBN: 1-55885-391-X
Price: $9.95
Publishing Date: May 2003
Reader: Judy Schuler
Rating:
Fifteen-year-old Celia is even allowed to date. Her father, a traditional Catholic immigrant, rules the house with a firm hand. When she meets her friend’s cousin Nicky, she falls hard and fast. She sneaks out to meet him and believes him when he says he loves her. And then she gets pregnant and her world falls apart. Nicky denies responsibility and Celia’s father kicks her out. How can she manage by herself? Will she have to abandon her dream of college in order to support her child?
The story of an innocent teenager, ill equipped to deal with the sudden and complicated feelings brought on by puberty, Teen Angel deals with teen pregnancy realistically and with compassion. Gloria Velasquez shows her teens as individuals who could go to any multicultural school in the U. S. Teen Angel should be required reading for all middle-school girls. We rated this one four hearts.
Title: Brielle and the Castle Siege
Author: Jane A. Deskis
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: The Writers’ Collective
Pages: 195
ISBN: 1-932133-48-8
Price: $11.95
Publishing Date: 2003
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 4 hearts
Brielle is the type of heroine all young girls should aspire for. Spirited away from the King’s castle, which was under siege, she is raised by a loyal nobleman and his family. Although Brielle is unaware she is a princess, she grows up with a mind of her own and an adopted brother who is both her nemesis and her life’s love. Imagine their surprise when they learn they are betrothed. Evil parties are also surprised when it becomes known Brielle is the missing princess. Both her life and her love’s are now in dire danger. What will become of the young couple now that the black knight is out to kill them?
This is a wholesome midgrade medieval fantasy that emphasizes true love and loyalty against all odds. The first in a series, this book is great, wholesome reading. We rated it four hearts.
Title: Firewing
Author: Kenneth Oppel
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Simon and Schuster
Pages: 270
ISBN: 0-689-84993-1
Price: $16.95
Publishing Date: 2003
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts
This is a good midgrade fantasy featuring a cast of various bats. It’s educational and interesting. Griffin accidentally injures his good friend, Luna, when he drops a burning brand onto her furry wings. He is thrust down into an underworld by an earthquake–an underworld peopled by dead bats. He is horrified to chance upon Luna, realizing she is now dead. His father, Shade, voluntarily enters the underworld to look for his son. While there they all fight against an evil bat god. Will they get back? What happens to dead bats who enter a knot hole in a giant, flaming tree? Will they be sent to earth, heaven, or hell?
The author tells a gripping tale and manages to include all manner of interesting facts about bats while moving the story along quickly. We rated this book five hearts.
Title: GLORY
Author: Jodi Lynn
Illustrator: N/A
Publisher and/or Distributor: Puffin Books
Pages: 176
ISBN: 0-14-250038-0
Price: $9.99
Publishing Date: April 2003
Reader: Jane Deskis
Rating: 5 hearts
GLORY is a heart wrenching young adult novel. I didn’t want the story to end. I wanted more; I needed to know that she made it okay. This story might be fictional, but you won’t believe it is once you get to know the characters. I want to know if Glory Mason made it to Boston and I want to know if she found God as her friend again. The hard struggles in her life make you angry that a child could be treated that way. But it is the hard struggles that make her the person she is. This is a compelling story that will make the reader think; think about whether or not they could have survived her early life struggles. You want to fight right along with her and make sure that she reaches her goal.
This story gets 5 hearts.
Title: A Good Place for Maggie
Author: Ofelia Dumas Lachtman
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Arte Publico Press
Pages: 154
ISBN: 1-55885-372-3
Price: $9.95
Publishing Date: October 31, 2001
Reader: Judy Schuler
Rating: 3 hearts
Maggie Cruz runs to her grandfather in the desolate mountain town of Twisted Creek. She’s lonely in Los Angeles, with her father dead and her mother and stepfather busy with their own lives. She longs for the solitude and quiet she thinks Twisted Creek can give her. In Twisted Creek, she discovers that both cities and small towns have advantages and disadvantages, and avoiding progress doesn’t necessarily make life better. As she stands up to a restrictive city father in her adopted town, she realizes that she could do the same with the problems that faced her in the city.
Ofelia Dumas Lachtman captures the essence of a lonely teenage girl and brings the reader into the story through her vivid descriptions of the town and the mountains surrounding it as well as the characters who live in it. A Place for Maggie will be a hit with ten-to-fourteen-year-old girls. We give it three hearts.
Title: Ring from Rairarubia
Author: W. Royce Williams
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Rairarubia Books
Pages: 126
ISBN: 0-9712206-3-8
Price: $10.95
Publishing Date: 2003
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 4 hearts
Author W. Royce Williams has produced yet another excellent mid-grade fantasy adventure novel. Molly Dugan is summoned back to Rairarubia to return a ring accidentally given to her mother. Suddenly, she finds herself in a totally different dimension with few hopes of ever returning home.
William’s books are essential materials for the development of children’s imaginations. His stories rely on the characters exercising their imaginations. This provides wonderful role models for youthful readers. We rated this book a high four hearts.
Title: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Author: J.K.Rowling
Illustrator: Mary GrandPre'
Publisher and/or Distributor: Scholastic Press
Pages: 876
ISBN: 0-439-35806-X
Price: $29.95
Publishing Date: 21 June, 2003
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
Rowling does it again, with even more material. Harry Potter finds himself becoming an object of disbelief and derision after the Daily Prophet newspaper conducts a summer-long smear campaign against him and Headmaster Dumbledore. Power politics are afoot in the Ministry of Magic and Harry is caught in the middle amongst their political machinations, Voldemort's Death Eaters, and a clandestine group of anti-Voldemort wizards.
In this volume, we find 15-year-old Harry frustrated by puberty, confusing romantic interests, and plot obstacle after plot obstacle. It is especially the latter, which causes young and old readers alike to wade through 800+ pages as quickly as they can. Harry is becoming more complex, more impatient, and more lonely. He also discovers some negative aspects of his parents' lives. Now to search for other fantasy surrogates until we can get our next Harry Potter fix. We rated it five hearts.
Title: Tess
Author: Jocelyn Reekie
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Raincoast Books
Pages: 296
ISBN: 1-55192-471-4
Price: $7.95
Publishing Date: April 1, 2003
Reader: Judy Schuler
Rating:
When thirteen-year-old Tess Macqueen leaves the only home she's ever known in Scotland in 1857 and boards a ship for Canada, she does it reluctantly. She resists the desire to run away and return home only because her father is all the family she has left. She wants to stay with him more than anything. Her natural friendliness and curiosity lead her to become familiar with the ship and its inhabitants. She becomes friends with a young girl, traveling to Vancouver with a group of young women to find work to pay for their passage.
Tess just gets used to the shipboard routine, when they land and her world changes again. She loses track of her new friends. And her father is forced to leave Tess with his brother while he works in a mine to make a home for her in another town. Independent Tess resents her uncle's cruel domination. She manages to handle what life throws at her with spunk and ingenuity. Tess is an historical novel that teaches as well as entertains. We give it five hearts.
Title: Monday Redux
Author: Robert Favole
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Flywheel Publishing
Publisher Website: www.flywheelpublishing.com
Pages: 194
ISBN: 1-930826-11-7
Price: $15.99
Publishing Date: May 15, 2003
Reader: Judy Schuler
Rating:
Reginald Poppel doesn't believe his friend, Lance, when he threatens to get back at all the people who "disrespect him." When Lance brings guns to school and starts shooting, Reggie is racked by guilt. A mysterious email invites him to step through a "wormhole" in time and relive the day. He accepts, but tries to be a hero, and things don't turn out the way he expects. Will a final chance do the trick?
Robert Favole takes us into the world of today's teens in his young-adult novel, Monday Redux. Reggie and Lance could be kids at any high school in the country. Ordinary kids and ordinary lives until one of them decides he needs "justice." This story rings true, especially after Columbine, and the chilling twist at the end is also all too real. We give this one four hearts.
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Title: Summer of the Skunks
Author: Wilmoth Foreman
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Front Street books
Publisher Website: www.frontstreetbooks.com
Pages: 156
ISBN: 1-886910-80-4
Price: $15.95
Publishing Date: May 30, 2003
Reader: Judy Schuler
Rating:
Ten-year-old Jill's summer starts with a family of skunks under the house. That's just the beginning of a vacation filled with heart-warming adventures in a rural southern setting. Jill and her siblings, sixteen-year-old Margo, fourteen-year-old Calvin, and little brother Josh sometimes bicker and sometimes conspire. Their conspiracies often succeed, but usually don't turn out as planned. By summers end, Jill has learned much about herself and her family.
Summer of the Skunks has a fifties feel to it, with its laid-back rural setting and talk of gardening, canning, and chores. Wilmoth Foreman's middle-grade novel takes us away from the fast-paced lives of city kids and into a very real rural area. The kids could belong to any era, but always in the country. I think city kids will wish they could visit such a place, where skunks can set up housekeeping under your home, cows might take a notion to chase you, and kids can make real contributions to the family. We give Summer of the Skunks five hearts.
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Title: Starlight, Star Bright
Author: Janet Muirhead Hill
Illustrator: Pat Lehmkuhl
Publisher and/or Distributor: Raven Publishing
Publisher Website: www.ravenpublishing.net
Pages: 192
ISBN: 0971416125
Price: $9.00
Publishing Date: June 2003
Reader: Jane Deskis
Rating:
An intriguing story that horse lovers won't want to put down. Miranda struggles with her love for Starlight and her desire to have him as her own. She also has to struggle with being separated from her mother and finding out that her mother wants to marry again, to someone she doesn't like. Miranda focuses her attention on Starlight for his owner wants to run him in the races. Does Miranda really interfere with his training as the ranch hand says, or is she teaching Starlight what he needs to know to be the best? A cute series about a wonderful horse, mid-grade readers will find it hard to put down. We give this story three hearts.
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Title: Swords for Hire
Author: Will Allen
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Center Punch Press
Publisher Website: www.centerpunchpress.com
Pages: 168
ISBN: 0-9724882-0-0
Price: $6.95
Publishing Date: 2003
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating:
This manuscript was written in 1979 by twenty-two year old Will Allen who died of melanoma cancer shortly thereafter. It was recently entered by his brother, Paul, in the Writer's Digest book competition, where it won an award and accolades. Its foreword was written by Nancy Cartwright, the Emmy-winning voice of Bart Simpson and longtime friend of Will Allen.
This wonderful middle grade young adult fantasy with lots of tongue-in-cheek humor tells the story of how young farmboy, SamHatcher, links up with a fumbling king's guardsman, Rigby Skeet, to restore the rightful King Olive to his throne. Swords for Hire was a delightful read and will provide nonstop enjoyment for many a young reader. We rated it a high four hearts.
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Title: Circle of Doom
Author: Tim Kennemore
Illustrator: Tim Archbold
Publisher and/or Distributor: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publisher Website: www.fsgbooks.com
Pages: 208
ISBN: 0-374-31284-2
Price: $16.00
Publishing Date: May 2003
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 4
This delightful British mid grade story reminded me of Roald Dahl's writing. Lizzie Sharp and her two younger brothers live at the end of a lane, across from a very grumpy older couple. Liz decided the couple must go, so she concocts a potion using ingredients based on an acronym. She sprinkles the vile concoction around the couple's property, and lo' and behold, the old women falls and breaks her hip. This results in their moving to a long-term care facility. The rest of the story deals with Liz and her youngest brother, who are firmly convinced she has supernatural powers, while the other brother remains skeptical and uses Lizzie's beliefs to mess with her head.
I found myself laughing out loud at some of the children's antics. This book is funny and shows how differently people can look upon and interpret incidents in their lives. We gave this one four hearts.
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