The Curious Cat Spy Club

Disclaimer Notice: This post contains Affiliate Links.

 
Singleton, Linda Joy.  The Curious Cat Spy Club.  2015.  Albert Whitman & Company. Chicago, Illinois.

Hardcover, $14.99, ISBN:978-0-8075-1376-7.

Three more unlikely companions have never been found.  Becca, the popular girl that everybody loves, lives on an Animal Sanctuary with her mother.  Leo, the school geek who struggles with friends and social situations is a technological whiz.  Kelsey, the quiet girl who doesn't quite fit in, she has dreams of solving mysteries like Harriet the Spy.

The three find an abandoned litter of kittens tied in a bag in a dumpster and smuggle them to safety in an old abandoned building in the sanctuary.  Bound by their love of the kittens, the three form and unlikely friendship that they name the "Curious Cat Spy Club".  The three don't acknowledge each other outside of school, but they are bound in the mutual love for the kittens and fear that they will lose the kittens if their parents should find out about them.

As Kelsey, Leo, and Becca struggle to find a way to pay for the needs of the kittens, they stumble upon the idea of returning lost pets to their owners.  As they begin collecting lost pet signs around town, they begin to notice a disturbing pattern to the pet disappearances.  Not only are an unusual number of animals being lost, they are all being returned by one of the three same people.

Sensing a mystery, Kelsey begins to look deeper into what is happening with the missing pets in town.

As she gets closer to the truth, what Kelsey discovers about the missing animals could drive a permanent wedge in her newfound friendship!

The Sleeper and the Spindle.

Gaiman, Neil.  The Sleeper and The Spindle.  2013.  Harper Collins Books, New York, NY.

Hardcover, $19.99.  ISBN: 978-0-6-239824-6.


It's a tale as old as time.  A young girl, bewitched by an evil fairy at her naming ceremony has not been seen since her 16th birthday.  The kingdom around her lies sleepless, while around her castle grows a hedge of rosy thorns.  An old woman wanders the castle, all alone, while everyone around her, including the young woman asleep in a magic spell sleeps around her.

Meanwhile, in a kingdom just over the mountains, word of the plight of the princess and her kingdom has reached the ears of the royal family.  The sleeping sickness from the castle is spreading farther out every day.  At the rate of a mile or two per day, it will not be long before the sleeping sickness spreads outside of the kingdom and into the neighboring kingdoms.

The queen of this kingdom sets out with her closest advisors - the dwarves.  They are determined to find the source of the sleeping sickness and free the princess, if possible.

You think you know what happens next... but do you?  Who is the mysterious older woman who roams the castle?  Can the Queen get through the wicked briar hedge, when none of the heroes have been able to get through?  Just how is that spell broken?  Up is down, and down is up in this wonderful re-imagining of this classic story. 

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

This post contains Affiliate Links.  I have cross-posted this review on my "Mini-Van Mom Blog"

Harry Potter is known as "The Boy Who Lived" among the Wizarding Community.  One dark night, when Harry was a year old, a dark wizard known as "He Who Must Not Be Named" showed up at the Potter's house with the express purpose of killing young Harry.  While both of Harry's parents died that night, Harry survived - and He Who Must Not Be Named disappeared.  Nobody knew where he went, but everyone hoped that he was dead and gone forever.

Harry lived a quiet life with his mother's sister and her family - the Dursleys.  While Harry's parents were great wizards, his mother's sister - Aunt Petunia - was not.  The Dursleys were determined to stamp that magic nonsense out of him so that he would never know what he - or his parents truly were. After years of deprivation and punishment, Harry certainly had no clue that he had any magical talent whatsoever.  He lived in his room in the cupboard under the stairs, and he wore his cousin Dudley's cast offs to school.

The joyful romp into the world of magic begins when Harry receives an owl from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, letting him know that classes will be beginning soon, what school supplies he will need, and where to catch the train for school.

Come and join Harry as he discovers the world of magic.  Discover the wonder of Quidditch, and the charms of a very old school peopled by odd students, eccentric professors, and ghosts.

While Harry revels in the challenge of a new school and new friends, there seems to be a dark presence lurking in the background that is slowly taking shape.

Is it true?  Could it be possible?  Is the dark wizard slowly taking shape once again?  Has he come back in order to finish the job he started on Harry?  Find out in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone!

Divergent

Imagine a world where everyone chooses a faction - a home where they belong for life - when they are 16 years old.  Each faction has a specific job in life.  A specific knowledge or trait that they value above all others.


The Erudite value intelligence.  The Dauntless treasure valor and fearlessness.  Amity values peace.  Candor values honesty.  Abnegation are selfless.  Once you choose a faction on graduation day, you are a member of that faction for life. You will put your faction above all else, even family.  Every person shows an aptitude for a certain faction.  During the graduation tests, they find which faction best matches them.  They are free to choose any faction, but the tests help them see where they would best fit in.

But, what if?  What if you don't fit into any one faction?  What if the tests don't work for you?  What if you don't fit the mold? 

You are Divergent.... and the Divergent are considered to be dangerous and outside of the control of the faction.  The Divergent are hunted down and killed when they are found.  Their deaths are explained away as accidents or suicides.

Beatrice Prior grew up an Abegnation.  When she takes the tests, her results come back with a scary answer.  She is warned that she is Divergent, and that she must guard this secret with her life.  With no true faction affiliation showing in her nature, she will be choosing whichever faction will make her happy.

What will she choose?  Will she choose a life of selflessness?  A life of danger?  One of constant honesty?  If she chooses outside of her faction, she will never again be a part of her family, and her choice could bring shame to her family.

The choices you make define who you are...

*This review is cross-posted on my other blog, Mini-Van Mom.*   

Disclaimer Notice: This post contains affiliate links.

The Repurposed Library

Oh, the weather outside is frightful! It's too cold to go out, and there's nothing new to see on Netflix.  What to do, what to do?

The Repurposed Library offers a plethora of projects to please the potentially pickled people who need respite from the rigors of restricted movement.
(I really needed an alliteration fix!)

With snow in the forecast, and people up and down the East Coast getting ready to hunker down for a few days, this book is a must have.  It includes projects and ideas that will keep you (or your kids) busy and crafty for hours.

Do you have old books in your house that are falling apart?  Have you seen an old torn up book in the book sale that's being offered for a quarter?  Pick them up, and get ready to have some fun!

Included in this book are projects that range from very simple to complex, requiring the skill and patience of a more advanced crafter.

My favorite projects in here are the sewing kit, the tool holder (shown on the front cover of the book, middle left), and a drop dead gorgeous wreath out of old pages of a book.

If you are looking for a fun, crafty way to spend your weekend, this book is a great place to start!

*Note from Bettina - If I was book talking this to a group of people, I would have at least one project to display with the book.  Since the sewing box requires pages to be removed from a book and the wreath requires pages from the book, I would have either one or both of these projects on display along with the books.

Brick Shakespeare: the Tragedies

McCann, John with Monica Sweeney and Becky Thomas.  Brick Shakespeare, The Tragedies.  2013.  Skyhorse Publishing.  New York, NY.

Book Talk:

All hail MacBeth!  Hail to thee, Thane of Cowder.

It is the East, and Juliet is the son!

William Shakespeare wrote some of the most classic literature in the English Language.  Unfortunately, the language is a product of Shakespeare's time, and is difficult for our modern ears to understand.

Enter Brick Shakespeare!  Whimsically illustrated as a graphic novel, 4 of Shakespeare's great tragedies are brought to life graphic novel style with the assistance of Lego characters and sets.

The words are Shakespeare's - but the pictures are uniquely modern.  Every act begins with a narration that details the action and importance of the action in that scene to the overall action in the play.

Bettina's Note:
This is, hands down, my all time favorite version of Shakespeare.  I enjoyed spotting the different Lego characters throughout the tragedies.  I found Princess Leia, several Jedi, and Samwise Gamgee.  And the best part of all?  This book presents as a graphic novel.  Love, love, love this book!

Guardians of the Galaxy

Marvel Comics Presents "Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow's Avengers, Volume 1"

 Book Talk:

Have you ever wondered what super heroes would exist in the 30th century?

Wonder no more, because we have Tomorrow's Avengers to take care of what is left of humanity.

Charlie - 27 returns home to Jupiter after a lengthy space mission to find that his planet has been taken over by the evil Badoon Empire.  Desperate to escape the Badoon, Charlie - 27 teleports to the other planets in the solar system, only to discover single survivors on each planet.

These survivors form the core of the new Avengers.  Their mission is to retake planet Earth from the Badoon and free the remaining humans from slavery.

This fast paced excursion will keep you guessing until the very end!  Filled with wonderful super heroes of the future, evil bad guys who will stop at nothing to further their own agenda,  and the amazing art of the Marvel comic team.  Will the Avengers manage to free humanity from the yoke of the Badoon?

Bettina's Note:
I completely enjoyed my romp through time with the Avengers!  Nice twists of plot that kept me guessing.  I especially enjoyed the time traveling sequences.  Note that the entire book is filled with the phenomenal artwork that is a hallmark of Marvel Comics.