The Throne of Fire

Book Talk:
Sadie and Carter Kane are your average, ordinary modern day teenagers who just happen to be from an ancient bloodline that dates back to the Egyptian Pharaohs.  A year ago, they discovered that they were members of the House of Life, and are powerful magicians who have a direct line to the gods of ancient Egypt. 

Sadie and Carter have discovered that they have four days.  Just four days before the Spring Equinox.  Four days in which they must defeat the most powerful enemy they have ever faced - Apophsis - the chaos snake.  If they don't defeat Apophsis before the Spring Equinox, he will break free, destroy the earth, and devour the sun. 

But first, they must have an ally.  Only one god is strong enough to defeat Apophsis and banish him back to the underworld.  The sun god Ra.  The problem is, Ra stepped down amidst an ancient battle with Isis, and no one has seen Ra since.  Somewhere, there are three scrolls that give the ancient clues to find Ra. 

Join Carter and Sadie as they search for the ancient scrolls in a desperate race against time in The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan.

Reviewer's Note:
I tried to find one passage that stuck with me.  I love to read a little bit of the book out loud to give the listeners a chance to hear the book and decide whether or not it's worth the read to them.  The problem is, the book is so full of excellent passages, it's hard to choose just one.  Here are three of my favorites:

The brilliant Sadie, running through London with two of her school mates in tow, destroying Waterloo Station.
 
Bes, giving people his ugly and screaming "BOO".  I love the scene of him, scaring demons away with his ugliness while wearing his Speedo.

Carter, desperately working to save Zia and fending off evil mages in the Egyptian desert by the Nile River

I could go on and on, but I'd give away the entire story if I kept going.  Trust me, it's a good book.  If you liked the first book in the series, you'll love this.  If you enjoyed the Lightning Thief series, you'll enjoy this series, too.

Author's Web Site:
http://www.rickriordan.com/home.aspx

The Kane Chronicles:
http://disney.go.com/official-sites/kane-chronicles/index

*Teachers and Parents, take note.  Mr. Riordan has put up an activity kit on the Kane Chronicles website that ties in with The Throne of Fire.

Disclosure Notice: This post contains links to my Amazon Affiliates account.  By purchasing through this link, you support this blog.  Thank You!

Eona

Annotation:
For years, Lady Eona has been living as a man.  Unmasked at the Dragon Eye Ceremony as a woman and as the dragon eye warrior of the Mirror Dragon.  Eona is caught up in war when the Emperor's brother slays the Emperor, the wife of the emporer, and the emporer's infant son, as well as 10 of the 12 Dragon Eye Warriors.  Eona escapes the madness of the palace, as does the first born son of the emperor.  As Eona attempts to find the true heir to the throne, she realizes that she has no control over her dragon powers and must learn to control them before she destroys the entire country.

Book Talk:
Lady Eona was raised as a boy.  Living with a Dragon Eye Warrior, Eona learned to fight, to read, and to act as a man.  All these attributes are forbidden to women in the cloud kingdom.

When a new Dragon Eye Warrior is chosen, Eona is present at the ceremony.  The shock is palpable when Eona (Eon) is chosen to be a Dragon Eye Warrior for the Mirror Dragon.... a dragon that has not been seen in the cloud kingdom, or had a warrior in the cloud kingdom, for over 500 years.

After Lord Sethon murders his brother, the Emperor, chaos erupts around the palace.  Eona escapes from the palace with a handful of people.  Word is out that the Emperor's oldest son Kygo also escaped, and is at large in the countryside, making ready to challenge Lord Sethon for the throne of the kingdom.

Imagine the shock when Eona discovers that there are only two remaining Dragon Eye Warriors- herself, an untrained warrior, and Lord Ido- whose treachery enabled Lord Sethon to take over the kingdom and kill the other Dragon Eye Warriors.

As Eona attempts to heal Ryko, she discovers a horrifying truth: she has no control over her powers.  The only person who can teach her to handle her powers is the traitor, Lord Ido.

As Eona and Kygo work together to retake the kingdom from Lord Sethon, Eona frantically searches for a way to control her powers and unlock the mystery of the mysterious red folio that came from the last Mirror Dragon Warrior - her kinswoman, Kinra, who was put to death for her treachery to the Emperor.

Can Eona learn to control her powers without the help of Lord Ido?
What secrets are held within the red folio?
Why was Kinra killed by her husband, the emperor, 500 years ago?
Will Kygo succeed in his bid to retake the throne from his Uncle, Lord Sethon?
What exactly is the secret of the black folio?
And why does Eona feel the compulsion to rip the sacred pearl from the throat of Lord Kygo whenever they are together?

Find out the answers to these questions and more in Eona...

Reviewer's Note:
I read and reviewed Eon, the prequel to this book over a year ago. I didn't re-read Eon before I picked up Eona.  Within the first 100 pages, I was reminded of all of the major plot twists from the first book.  This book is a stand alone book- you don't have to read Eon to understand Eona, but if you haven't read Eon, you will want to go back and find out the back story of the Dragon Eye Warriors and how Eona came to be known as Eon.

Author's Website:
http://www.alisongoodman.com.au/

Disclosure Notice: This post contains links to my Amazon Affiliates account.  By purchasing through this link, you support this blog.  Thank You!

The Hobbit

Book Talk:
Bilbo is an ordinary and most respectable Hobbit.  He never does anything extraordinary or unexpected like having adventures. 

And then, one gorgeous fall day, Bilbo is visited by the strangest person he has ever met: Gandalf the Wizard.  Bilbo remembers Gandalf from when he was a much younger hobbit and Gandalf would come and visit the old Took.  But Bilbo is a respectable Hobbit who doesn't go about having adventures and associate with wizards.

After Bilbo sends Gandalf on his way, he is shocked to find 13 dwarves standing on his doorstep the next afternoon, just in time for tea.  Gandalf shows up, and the party begins.  Somehow, Bilbo finds that he has been hired to be the burglar for the group who will be departing the very next day for the Lonely Mountain.  They hope to challenge the dragon Smaug and regain their treasure that Smaug stole when he overtook the mountain many long years ago. 

The party makes a long and dangerous trek through the Misty Mountains where they are separated by the Goblins. 

It is here that a crucial turn of events takes place.  For deep down in the mountain, far out of knowledge of man, dwarf, or goblin Bilbo stumbles across a ring in the dark.  This ring, is a magic ring which makes the wearer invisible.

But what next?  Can Bilbo use this ring to find his way out of the mountain?  Will he ever find the dwarves?  What will become of the treasure guarded by the dragon?  Will the dwarves ever regain their mountain home?

Reviewer's Note:
I first read this book almost 30 years ago.  It remains one of my top 10 all time favorite books. 
With Peter Jackson working on the film version of The Hobbit well -  reading this book for the first time, or re-reading it again - it's worth your time!

Disclosure Notice: This post contains links to my Amazon Affiliates account.  By purchasing through this link, you support this blog.  Thank You!

A Wind in the Door

A Wind in the Door.  1973.  Farrar, Straus and Giroux.  Square Fish, An Imprint of Holzbrinkck Publishers, New York, NY.

Book Talk:
Charles Wallace is a little odd, and very different from other children his age.  He began first grade this year, and his problems became overwhelming when he mentioned his mother's research into Mitochondria and Farandolae.  Marked as different by the other students in his school, Charles Wallace finds himself to be the subject of every bully with a point to prove.

Meg Murray is very worried about her brother and his inability to adapt to school.

She becomes terrified when Charles Wallace mentions that his mitochondria are sick, and that he might die from this disease that he has.

Her horror grows as she realizes that the battle that Charles Wallace has raging inside of him is the same battle that is raging across the solar system and has entire galaxies disappearing as if they had never existed.

Meg and her friend Calvin meet up with a giant Cherubim named Proginoskes (who looks like a giant, many winged dragon) at the star gazing rock.  They have been called by a cosmic teacher to fight the battle against the things that are destroying the galaxies- and also Charles Wallace.

Can they find the key to defeating these horrors that are raging around them before Charles Wallace himself is destroyed?

Find out in: A Wind in the Door.

Author's Web Site: http://www.madeleinelengle.com/
Note: This Web Site is currently under construction and only contains the front page for the 50th anniversary of "A Wrinkle in Time". 

Reviewer's Note:
I first read this book in 1975, when I was 10, and fell in love with the Murray family.  I always wished that I could be as smart as Meg, but alas... that was not meant to be.   This book cemented my love of the Fantasy genre.  I still go back and read the books in the series when I'm feeling in need of comfort books.  (Like comfort food, only not as fattening.)   The other books in this series include A Swiftly Tilting Planet, A Wrinkle in Time, Many Waters.

"There are dragons in the twin's vegetable garden"
 Charles Wallace to Meg... Page 1 of A Wind in the door.

Disclosure Notice: This post contains links to my Amazon Affiliates account.  By purchasing through this link, you support this blog.  Thank You!

The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide

Meyer, Stephenie.  The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide.  2011.  Megan Tinley Books, Little, Brown, and Company, New York, New York.

Book Talk:
The Twilight Series of books is one of the biggest selling series written for young adults.  This series transcends age and appeals to people of all ages and walks of life.

Join Stephenie Meyer and her friend, author Shannon Hale, author of the The Books of Bayern and the Newberry Honor Winner The Princess Academy as they discuss the writing process, the thoughts that went into writing the Twilight Series of books, and the tough choices and decisions that Stephenie had to make while writing the book.

Read the in-depth histories of all the characters: Human, Vampire, and Werewolf.  Find the history of the Covens and the Quileute Indians, their Packs, and the Tribe itself.  Follow the history of Forks, the High School, and the people located within the town.

Stephenie also includes a timeline of events in the books, as well as the key plot points for each of the main characters.

For the Twilight Fan who just can't get enough, Stephenie includes a playlist of songs that should accompany major events in each of the books.

True fans of the Twilight Series will enjoy this look inside the books and into the mind of the author.

Author Web Site:
http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/

Disclosure Notice: This post contains links to my Amazon Affiliates account.  By purchasing through this link, you support this blog.  Thank You!

Bones of the Holy

Allison, Jennifer.  Gilda Joyce, Psychic Investigator; Bones of the Holy.  2011.  Dutton Children's Books, New York, NY.

Book Talk:
When Gilda's mother flies to Florida with a friend for the weekend, Gilda becomes suspicious when she finds all new clothes tucked into her mother's suitcase.  Upon her Mother's return, Gilda finds a diamond ring tucked away into her mother's luggage.  Curious, she calls the number on the jewelry box and finds out that her mother is engaged to be married - on the day after Halloween.

When Gilda and her mother show up in St. Augustine, Gilda begins getting strange vibrations from the house.  Not only is she concerned about her mother getting married so quickly, she is concerned about the past history of the man her mother will be marrying, and the history of his being left at the altar by his "Charlotte".

When Gilda begins to see the ghost of a young woman, wearing a filmy white dress who matches the description of Charlotte, she becomes concerned that Charlotte did not leave her fiance at the altar, but that she is dead.

Can Gilda convince her mother that she is making a mistake while there is still time?
Who is the mysterious ghost who wanders around the house, and what is she trying to tell Gilda?
Find out in "Bones of the Holy" a Gilda Joyce mystery.

Author's Web Site:
http://www.gildajoyce.com/gilda_joyce_author.html

Disclosure Notice: This post contains links to my Amazon Affiliates account.  By purchasing through this link, you support this blog.  Thank You!

Pick-Up Game

Aronson, Marc and Charles Smith.  Pick Up Game; A Full Day of Full Court.  2011.  Candlewick Press, Somerville, Mass

Annotation:
A short story anthology about a basketball court in Harlem.  Authors in this anthology include Walter Dean Myers, Bruce Brooks, Willie Perdomo, Sharon G. Flake, Robert Burleigh, Rita Williams-Garcia, Joseph Bruchac, Adam Rapp and Robert Lispsyte.

Book Talk:
There is a basket ball court in Harlem that is famous.  Court #4 is known as "the" court.  It's a public court, but not just anyone can play there.  You must first earn the right to play on this court by playing in other courts around the city.  The best of the best have played on this court.  On a hot summer day, you will find dozens of young men, waiting for their turn to play against the best the city has to offer.  College Scouts and Pro Basketball scouts make frequent stops at the cage, watching the young men, looking for the best players.  Scholarships are handed out frequently to the best players on the court.

Follow the adventures of Court #4 on a hot summer day.  In this short story collection, we look through the eyes of nine different people on and around the basketball court that day. Players, who are waiting their turn to take on the best that the city has to offer, and see how they measure up.  Young women, watching the game, and the boys playing on the court.  A young film-maker who wants to be the next Spike Lee, looking for the perfect film for his admission packet for Columbia.  Each story picks up where the previous one left off, but the characters weave in and out of all the stories.

Do you have what it takes to join the pick up game?

Website of the compilers of the anthology:
Marc Aronson: http://www.marcaronson.com/young_adult_books.html
Charles R. Smith Jr: http://www.charlesrsmithjr.com/

Disclosure Notice: This post contains links to my Amazon Affiliates account.  By purchasing through this link, you support this blog.  Thank You!

My Name is Mary Sutter

Oliveira, Robin.  My Name is Mary Sutter.  2010.  Penguin Books, New York, New York.

Annotation:
Mary Sutter is a young woman living during the time of the Civil War.  She is a midwife who wants to be nothing less than a doctor.  Follow Mary through her journey across the battlefields of the Civil War.

Book Talk:
Mary Sutter is a young woman who is one of the most gifted midwives in all of Massachusetts.  Her mother was a good midwife, but Mary is better.  Whenever anyone is having trouble giving birth, Mary is called in to help save the life of the mother and child.

But, Mary wants more.  So much more.  She wants to be a doctor.  Specifically, she wants to be a surgeon.  She has read every anatomy book she can lay her hands on, but no medical school will admit her because she is a woman.

When the Civil War begins, a call is issued by Dorothea Dix for young women to serve as nurses during the unrest.   Mary runs away from her family and travels to Washington in order to become a nurse and receive more medical training.

As Mary serves in the nursing wards, she finds herself caught in the middle of two powerful surgeons, both of whom fall in love with her. 

As she travels from battlefield to battlefield, Mary finds that the line between nurse and doctor is blurred, and she learns even more about medicine than she ever imagined possible.

Will Mary survive the terrors of working in Civil War hospitals?  Will she ever realize her dream of becoming a recognized doctor?  What of her family, left behind in Massachusetts? 

Step back in time with Mary Sutter in her book... "My Name is Mary Sutter"

Author's website: http://www.robinoliveira.com/

Reviewer's Note:
I debated with myself over whether or not to post this book at all. It is an amazing book.  It is the best book I've read so far this summer.  It's also an adult book, not strictly a YA book.  Since this blog is a YA Blog, I did debate long and hard about whether or not to post.   I finally decided that when I was in High School, I would have read this book.  And I would have loved it just as much then as I do now.

The book is full of insightful writing into a time of utter chaos in our national history. 

Many forget that there was a time when an educated woman was an embarrassment to the family.  Higher education was not encouraged among young women, either by the families or by the institutions of higher learning.  A woman in the classroom was taking away a seat from a man who would need the spot in order to furthur his education in order to feed his family.

When I was reading this book, I kept thinking "Finally - a smart woman's Gone With the Wind".  No one lusting after Ashley Wilkes.  No one playing stupid mind games in order to get the attention of a man.   Instead, the book has a smart, intelligent woman who is more about garnering more education.  OH, there is romance in the book.  There is heartbreak in the book.  But, this book keeps everything in balance.  It is a beautifully well written piece of work.

I'd recommend this book to anyone in high school or above.

Disclosure Notice: This post contains links to my Amazon Affiliates account.  By purchasing through this link, you support this blog.  Thank You!

Eat Fresh Food, Awesome Recipes for Teen Chefs

Eat Fresh Food: Awesome Recipes for Teen Chefs. Gold, Rozanne.  Eat Fresh Food: Awesome Recipes for Teen Chefs.   Bloomsbury, New York, 2009.

Book Talk:
Just about everyone loves food.  Eating it is wonderful.  This book shares some amazing recipes that are easy to make and stress the use of fresh produce.

Spring Rolls, Tabouleh, Chick-Pea Burgers with Mango Salsa, and Eggless Ceasar Salad are just a few of the yummy recipes waiting to be tried.

(While you are talking, hold open the book and show the beautiful full-color pictures of the completed dishes.)

The directions are clear, concise and easy to follow.  The author also includes helpful information, such as how to pick the best produce, and how to slice a mango.  The recipes all require the use of a sharp knife and cutting board, so if you want to try them, make certain that you know how to safely handle a knife before you start!

Bon Appetit!

Author's Web Site:
http://www.rozannegold.com/

Reviewer's Note:
We now own this book.  We cooked our way through the book.  I tried tabouleh for the first time in my life, and it was amazing!  I have many new favorite recipes from this book.  Many of her recipes are healthier recipes than the more traditional recipes (my Mom's) that I have been using for a while now. (The meatloaf and Ceasar Salad recipes pop to mind.)

I think most anyone could follow the recipes, but you do need to make certain that whoever is doing the slicing and dicing is familiar with a knife.  Many school districts have now cut their Home Economics programs, and we have a generation of kids who aren't familiar with how to safely slice produce without slicing off a finger.  If you're going to use this book with your kids, invest some time in working on knife handling skills before you set them loose. 

I also think this would be a great book for anyone who is moving out on their own for the first time and needs some easy to follow, healthy recipes to get started with.

Disclosure Notice: This post contains links to my Amazon Affiliates account.  By purchasing through this link, you support this blog.  Thank You!

The Darwin Awards, Next Evolution

Northcut, Wendy.  The Darwin Awards, Next Evolution.  Chlorinating the Gene Pool.  Dutton Press, New York, New York.  2008.

Annotation:
A compilation of the stories of people who have won, or received an honorable mention by the Darwin Awards.

Book Talk:
The Darwin Awards are handed out annually to a handful of people.  These people are those who have fearlessly dived headfirst into the shallow end of the gene pool.  In order to qualify for a Darwin Award, you have to have done something so stupid, so insanely dumb, that you have removed yourself from the gene pool.  These stories serve as cautionary tales.... many of the stories end in the death of the persons involved.

Let's take a look at one of the winners in this compiliation:  
One spring morning when a bug crawled across his desk, and adult education teacher gave twenty-five students an improptu and involuntary lesson in safety- during his safety class.  You see, Teach had an unusual paperweight, a 40 mm shell he had found on a hunting trip.  It made a unique conversation piece.  Using opaque reasoning, he assumed that the ordnance must be inert.  But, this particular ordnance ws the teacher's ticking ticket to fame.

Back to the spring morning when a bug crawled across his desk.  Should he squash it with a tissue?  Sweep it out the door?  Leave it to pursue its happy existence and continue with his lesson?  No, the teacher picked another alternative.  He hefted the "inert" artillery shell and slammed it ont the short-lived insect.

The impact set off the primer, and the resulting explosion caused burns and shrapnel lacerations on his hand, forearm, and torso.  No one else in the classroom was hurt.  To the teacher's further consolation his actions did succeed in one respect.  the bug was eliminated.

(page 175, At Risk Survivor, Flyswatter, Confirmed True by Darwin.)

Read more incredible tales of stupidity in "Chlorinating the Gene Pool".

Author's Web site:
www.darwinawards.com

Disclosure Notice: This post contains links to my Amazon Affiliates account.  By purchasing through this link, you support this blog.  Thank You!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 2

This is not a book review, I know...

I did go see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows over the weekend.

Awesome movie. 

I have thought for a while now that the first Deathly Hallows movie was one of the best out of that franchise in a while.  The second Deathly Hallows movie lived up to the promise of the first.

If you haven't seen the movie yet, I'm not going to ruin it for you here.  I will say that you might want to watch Part 1 again before you see Part 2.  Part 2 picks up exactly where Part 1 ended.  And, if it's been a year since you saw Part 1, you are going to have a moment of "What?" before you remember what is going on.

I thought that the director did a great job of keeping the movie close to the story.  It's not exactly true to the story.  It does deviate in places.  That does have to happen in the interest of storytelling when you are making a written story into a visual story.

One word of note - there is violence in this movie.  There is death in this movie.  There are some disturbing images in this movie.  This is NOT a movie for young children.  If you have a child easily scared,  this isn't for them.  If you want to see the movie, but think you'd like to drag your young child along so you don't look like an idiot going to see a child's movie by yourself- hire a babysitter, and look like an idiot.  I can honestly say that we saw no young children in our showing.  (We were at a matinee.)  The youngest kids I saw in the audience were older teenagers.

Mischief Managed.

Wicked Girls

Hemphill, Stephanie.  Wicked Girls.  Harper Collins, New York.  2010. 

Annotation:
A fictional account of the Salem Witch Trials, told from the point of view of the real girls involved in the story.

Book Talk: 
The Salem Witch Trials are one of the most infamous periods in Colonial American History.  In 1692, more than 220 people were accused of being witches by a group of 7 girls, ranging in age from 8 to 17.  In total, 144 people had legal action brought against them.  19 people were hanged, and one man was pressed to death.  3 women and several infants died in jail.

To this day, no one knows what sparked the accusations.  The girls would fall into fits on the floor during the trials, and claim that witches were poking them, cutting them, or otherwise hurting them.  They would then name the names of people in the town.  Many of those accused of witch craft went ahead and confessed to being a witch.  For those who did not confess, they were sent to trial.  If they were found guilty, they were hanged.

Journey back in time and join Salem Village at the height of the Salem Witch Hunts.  Follow along from the perspective of each of the girls who were the "seers" of the village.

Here, we join Ann Putnam, Jr (age 12) as she is in the middle of a seizure and sees the witches tormenting her:

I AM AFFLICTED

Someone makes my legs
whip about like sheets in the wind.
Someone curls and bends
my arms behind my neck.
All turns black and cold.
"who goes there?" I cry.

I scream until the room comes lit,
and then I see witches
the same as the Minister's girls-
Tituba, the Parrises' slave, and Goody Good.
I swear to Father 'tis the witches
who twist my limbs and cause me ache.
I blink my eyes and the witches disappear,
but I saw them stand bfore me,
felt them pinch my arm,
I know that I did.

(Wicked Girls, page 58)

Find out more in "Wicked Girls" by Stephanie Hemphill.

Author's Website: http://www.harperteen.com/author/microsite/about.aspx?authorid=35978

Reviewer's Note:
I was enchanted by the set up of this book.  Each girl has a say in this story. 
Here is the thing: the story of each child is told in a beautifully written, succinct free verse poem.  Each poem is titled, and the person who is telling the story is listed below the title of the poem, along with their age.
The story moves, almost dances through the ugly accusations and trials of Salem.
It did take me a few minutes to adjust to the poetry set up of the story, as it is not what I would consider a "traditional" story. 
This book is well worth your time!

Disclosure Notice: This post contains links to my Amazon Affiliates account.  By purchasing through this link, you support this blog.  Thank You!

Bad Boy

Bad Boy, A Memoir.  Walter Dean Myers.  Harper Collins Publishers, New York.  2001.


Annotation:
Walter Dean Myers writes about the challenges of growing up in Harlem in the 1940's and 50's.  He was what we would now call ADD/HD.  His teachers called him simply a "Bad Boy".  His stories lovingly recall his adoptive parents, his teachers, and his journey through school.  Funny and poignant, these stories tell the tale of a young man trying to find his way in a hostile world.

Book Talk:
Walter Dean Myers was adopted by his father's first wife, Florence Dean, after the death of his own mother.  Walter was taken to live with the people he would come to know as his family, and moved to Harlem, in New York City.

Walter grew up surrounded by the love of his adopted family in a neighborhood rich with color and history. 

Unfortunately, trouble seemed to follow Walter around.  From breaking his heels when he jumped off the church roof, to standing up to a gang when they were picking on someone, Walter frequently found himself at the wrong end of a problem.

Walter began to find his only escape from the world around him in the books he read.  Afraid to let anyone know that he loved reading, he would hide his books, skip school, and hide out in trees to read the books he loved so much.  He would write in his journals, attempting to emulate the styles of the authors he was reading.

Join Walter as he tells the tale of his long, twisted journey from "Bad Boy" to Award-Winning Young Adult Author in Bad Boy.

Author's Web Site:
http://www.walterdeanmyers.net/

Reviewer's Note:
When I first began teaching 20-odd years ago, I taught in the inner-city.  I was a solid middle class kid with the thought that I could change the world.  I learned far more from those kids in the years I taught there than I had in the 22 years of living I'd had before then. 

I no longer teach in the inner-city, but the hopelessness, the sense of entrapment, and of despair that the residents have is something I will never forget.

Walter Dean Myers is one of the authors out there who I feel comes from a place of understanding.  He has walked the walk.  He knows the subject about which he writes, and he is powerful and masterful in speaking to his reader about the situations in which his characters find themselves.

This book is a stark look at growing up in Harlem.  The choices that he had facing him at the time.  How he personally triumphed against the odds.  He is very frank about violence, and drinking.  At the time when he grew up, street drug dealers were not the norm... and the street violence that we writes about is different than the street violence that our cities see today. 

I was fortunate enough to find a cache of "new"  Walter Dean Myers' books on the shelves the last time I went into the library.  This was one of them, as was Lockdown.  So glad I found them!  I have one more of his books to review, I hope to finish it in the next couple of days.

Disclosure Notice: This post contains links to my Amazon Affiliates account.  By purchasing through this link, you support this blog.  Thank You!

The Lost Hero

The Heroes of Olympus, Book One: The Lost Hero
Riordan, Rick.  The Lost Hero, Book One of the Heroes of Olympus Series.  Disney, Hyperion Books.  New York, NY, 2010.
Annotation:
The first book in the Heroes of Olympus Series. 
Jason Grace wakes on a school bus to find he has amnesia.  Attacked by storm spirits, Jason is defended by his best friends Leo and Piper.  Rescued and given safe haven at Camp Half Blood, Jason struggles to remember who he is and why he has no memories, and yet everything seems so familiar.
Jason, Leo, and Piper are sent on a quest to rescue Hera from one of the greatest threats to face the demi-gods in eons.


Book Talk:
Jason awakes in a school bus full of kids from the Wilderness School, headed on a field trip to the Grand Canyon.  He is sitting next to his girl friend, Piper, and his best friend, Leo.  There's one tiny problem: he doesn't remember any of them.

Attacked by storm spirits on the sky walk over the Grand Canyon, Jason struggles to remember the names of things that seem so familiar to him, and yet he just can't understand why they seem familiar. 

Rescued and taken to Camp Half Blood, Jason is shocked to hear the words "You're supposed to be dead!" as his greeting from the Camp Director. 

Struggling to recall who he is, and why everything seems so familiar and yet strangely different, Jason is sent on a Quest with Leo and Piper to rescue Hera before the Solstice.  Reassured by the Oracle that he is one of the champions who will fulfill the prophecy, he takes off with his friends on a broken, flying mechanical dragon in order to query the winds and find Hera before time runs out.

Will Jason remember who he is?   Will this memory be the end of Camp Half Blood?

Author's Web Site:
http://www.rickriordan.com/home.aspx

Reviewer's Note:
Excellent Read!  I wasn't expecting this book to be as good as the original Olympian Series with Percy Jackson.  I was happily surprised.  Every Rick Riordan fan will enjoy the book.  The old characters from the Olympians make appearances, but they are not the main characters.  The characters in this book stand alone on their own merit.  Looking forward to the next book in the series!

Disclosure Notice: This post contains links to my Amazon Affiliates account.  By purchasing through this link, you support this blog.  Thank You!

Lockdown

Myers, Walter Dean.  Lockdown.  Amistad, a division of Harper Collins Publishers.  2010.


Annotation:
Reese, an inmate at the Progress Juvenielle Detention Facility is given a rare opportunity to remake his life.  He is put on a work release program at a nursing home.  As Reese struggles with life within the walls at Progress, he realizes that life is about the choices that you make.

Book Talk:
Reese has been serving time at Progress for 22 months.  He stole prescription drug pads from a doctor in his neighborhood and sold them to a drug dealer.  For the first time, he has been given the opportunity to change his life.  He has been admitted to the work-study program where he will be able to learn job skills which will help him to support himself once he is released from prison.  With a job, he won't have to return to stealing in order to support himself and his family.  He needs a plan.  He needs to make a plan for his life in order to keep him out of trouble when he returns home.

But life in the prison is tough.  Kids come and go, and all of them have an agenda.  Everyone wants to prove that they are the toughest kid on the block, and that they are not to be messed with.  Each new arrival looks for a victim as soon as they arrive.  Unfortunately, the always settle on the smallest kid, Toon.  Reese doesn't want to lose his one opportunity to get out of jail early.  He doesn't want to mess up and be sent upstate to the next level of prison - with the adults.  But can he honestly just sit back and watch as Toon gets beaten up by the newest arrivals who are out to prove themselves?

Author's Web Site:
http://www.walterdeanmyers.net/

Reviewer's Note: 
Walter Dean Myers has taken a place in my heart as one of my favorite authors of YA literature.  He was the first ever winner of the Printz Award - which is the best book written for young adults every publishing year.  I began my teaching career 20+ years ago in an inner city neighborhood.  Although I have since moved on, my heart has forever been touched by those kids who were exposed to the rough side of life entirely too young.  I find his books to be an honest look at the issues kids can face.  He tackles these issues with love, candor, and understanding.

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Hunger

Kessler, Jackie Morse.  Hunger (Riders of the Apocalypse).  Graphia, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.  2010.


Annotation:
Lisabeth Lewis has had a rough year.  She is battling Anorexia.  She is battling depression.  She has been named Famine, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.   As she travels the world, she brings hunger wherever she goes. 

Book Talk:
Lisabeth Lewis has an ultra-cool black horse that loves pralines.  She has a set of scales.  And, she has a brand new job.  She's been appointed one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse- Famine. 

Her job is to travel throughout the world and bring hunger and thirst.  Wherever she goes, Pestilence, War, and Death are not far behind.

There's a problem, though.  Lisa is Anorexic.  She constantly struggles with her own inner hunger.  Now, she must travel to parts of the world where hunger is a painful part of everyday life.  As she sees the devastating effects of hunger wherever she goes, Lisa begins to battle her own inner demons- and the desire to be thin - against the needs of the people around her who are suffering. 

Can she find a way to use the powers of Famine for good?

Author's Web Site:
http://www.jackiemorsekessler.com/

Reviewer's Note:
With the graphic themes of Famine, of Anorexia, Bulimia, and a suicide attempt, I would not recommend this book for young teens.  The publisher recommends this book for grades 7 - 10.  I think I'd push that age limit up a bit, to grades 9-12. As a Mom who knows several teens struggling with an eating disorder, I did find this book very insightful.  It was an excellent read, fast paced, and thought provoking.

Disclosure Notice: This post contains links to my Amazon Affiliates account.  By purchasing through this link, you support this blog.  Thank You!

Reckless

Annotation:

Searching for his lost father, Jacob Restless finds more questions than answers in his father's study.  The mirror on the wall provides the gate to a mirror world.  As Jacob explores the world, he searches for the answers about his father. 

Book Talk:

Jacob Restless has been searching for answers.  His father has disappeared, and no one knows where he has gone.  As he is searching his father's study for answers, Jacob finds a mirror on the wall.  Unique in design, Jacob wonders why his father had left the mirror on the wall.  Jacob finds a clue, "The mirror will open only for he who cannot see himself". 

Once Jacob understands the clue, he finds himself in a strange world that is accessed only by the mirror.  There are strange, mythical creatures here.  Creatures that exist only in fairy tales in our world.  Jacob begins a search through the mirror world, looking for his father.

But when Jacob's younger brother Ben enters the mirror world, things get downright dangerous.  Unaware of the dangers of the mirror world, Ben makes a deadly mistake.  He is attacked by a Goyl.  Ben manages to fight off the Goyl, marred only by some scratches.  The scratches contain a deadly poison.  Slowly but surely, they will change Jacob's flesh to stone.  He will lose his humanity and become a Goyl - the enemy of all humans in the shadow world.

The Goyl are anxiously awaiting Ben's arrival, for it is said that he will become the Jade Goyl who will give invincibility to the King he serves.  King Hentzau, the Dark Fairy, and his men are searching for this magic weapon which will allow them to rule the mirror world once and for all.

It is a desparate race against time.....

Author's Web Site:

http://www.corneliafunkefans.com/en

Tales From Outer Suburbia

Annotation:

A short story collection of tales set in the outer suburbs of Australia.

Book Talk:

Living in the suburbs is just so ordinary, or is it? 

Come and visit the Outer Suburbs.  You will discover a magical inner courtyard located within the attic of your house.  Find an unexplained deep sea diver walking down the middle of the street.  Discover a Dugong in your front yard, and find instructions on how to make your own pet! 

Just how far is Outer Suburbia?  It is closer than you think!

(Open the book to the table of contents.  The page is laid out as a mailing envelope.  The stamps on the side are pictures from each of the stories, with the title of the story written on the stamp.) 

Note - I like to read snatches of the books during book talks.  Michael Sullivan, author of "Boys and Books" recommends reading just a small selection of a story to the children.  This allows them to get engrossed in the book and want to hear more.  It also allows the children to hear the reading level of the book and decide if they want to read it for themselves.  If I were book talking this book, I would read the story entitled "Night of the Turtle Rescue".  It's short- 1 page.  The picture is intriguing, and the story itself is one that will leave the listeners wondering "what's next?".  However, you would need to pick a story that appeals to you...

Author's Web Site: http://www.shauntan.net/

Reviewer's Note:
This book puts me in the mind of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick.  The pictures in this book are the rich kind of pictures you would expect of a graphic novel or a children's picture book.  The pictures are as integral to the stories as the words.  Several stories are only told through the pictures- but they are not wordless pictures, the words make up the illustrations and tell the story.  This is definitely an intriguing, off the wall collection of short stories.

Disclosure Notice: This post contains links to my Amazon Affiliates account.  By purchasing through this link, you support this blog.  Thank You!