Book Review: Wormling series by Jenkins and Fabry

I have just finished the Wormling series by Jerry B. Jenkins and Chris Fabry.  I would highly recommend this book for kids over the age of 7. The frightneing parts are seriously tempored to allow a younger audience without really letting any of the "thrill" go. It is really well written and captivating. I dislike slow moving books and this is a nicely paced plot and will hold some twists and turns appropriate for elementary aged kids. While this book could be very enjoyable for older kids they may be able to guess some of the twits and plot endings a bit too soon. Not so for kids under 12.

There are five books in this series and they read like one big book with mini books.  So, you really need to start from the first and read them all in order and one after the other.

The story follows a boy, he may be about 13 or so when this starts out, his age is never mentioned. His name is Owen Reader and he lives a rather secluded and nerdy life in a bookstore with his single parent dad. Modern day.  He is not a very happy boy and strange turns of events make him even more so. However, he is an inquisitive boy and brave despite his first appearance. The story follows him through a series of epic ordeals and otherworld travels (not so modern day) to reavel to the reader as well as to Owen himself the answers to the basic questions we all ask.Who am I, what am I here for and what matters? He also deals with the question that is becoming more common now. What is real?  Owen learns great truths and how to trust what is true when you can not see it and it seems to be far far off. The reader may find that in following Owen, he or she learns a great deal about him or herself.

This is a Christian book, and as such holds a great many rephrased passages from the Bible. It is an allegory of sorts and does a good job. I would say that it is not preachy and would also be a fine read, very interesting and not overbearing for a reader of no particular faith.

I highly recommend this book.

The series contains these 5 books:
The Book of the King
The Sword of the Wormling
The Changeling
The Minions of Time
The Author's Blood

Book Review: The Lost Cities, A Drift House Voyage

 

The Lost Cities (A Drift House Voyage) is by far one of the worst books I have read. It had very little flow and made very little sense. I was also very dissapointed in the material. It read like it should be children voyaging through various times in history to solve a puzzle. The best puzzle they solved was getting home. I guess that is good enough but it certainly was not interesting. Their time in various historical periods left you with no greater understanding of the time. It was a hodge-podge of creativity with no meaning, no purpose and no flow.I also found it quite disturbing that a very young child was lost in time and could not return to his family, the character, while mildly interesting was obviously traumatized.  I would not recommend this series to anyone. Especially not to history lovers, like myself.

Book Review: Blessed Child by Tom Dekker and Bill Bright

 Tom Dekker and Bill Bright put together an amazing novel in Blessed Child that captivates the reader from start to finish.  This book is about a child of mixed races growing up in an Ethiopian Orthodox Monastery, until he has to be taken out of the country.  Why?  This mysterious child is known to few for his working of miracles.  When in America though, problems arise. At this point the book becomes more suspenseful when his life is endangered by those pursuing him.

    Blessed Child gives wonderful details and makes it possible to fathom all the crazy things going on.  It also gives you a desire to have a relationship with God like the boy does.  If that is what he has. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to give it a try who likes some suspense. There are a few scary parts.  This book is one of the best I have ever read.
~ Phoebe (13)

This book is appropriate for mature teen and adult reading.

Book Review: The Dark Hills Divide, Land of Elyon Series

The Land of Elyon is a series of books written by Patrick Carman, the books in the series are as follows.
Book 1: The Dark Hills Divide
Book 2: Beyond the Valley of Thorns
Book 3: The Tenth City
Prequel: Into the Mist
Book 4: Stargazer

I loved this book and plan to read the rest of the series. It is the story of a 12 year old girl who lives in a walled world. Three cities all walled and connected by walled roads. Why? A misunderstanding gone much awry. Can curious Alexa find her way out of the walls to satisfy that burning curiosity of what is out there and why is it so scary? Does she even know the purpose her young life is going to play to forever change the world she is in? The book is captivating, I picked it back up every chance I got. The characters were developed enough for me to really get attached to them and to feel glad and sad for them and with them. It is a good mystery set in a sort of fantasy theme of yesteryear or other landness as you will. There are surprises unexpected in many chapters leading up to the conclusion. I especially love the way she described the woodland animals. There is enough description to form the characters and town but not too much that you can not make it up yourself. The story does not wallow in details you can imagine for yourself. It carries well and is intriguing. It was a fast read for me (an adult). I would say this book is reading level grade 4th to 8th and would be appropriate content for a super good second or third grade reader.

Here is the official review of this book by the publishers:
"This enthralling new series is set in a fantasy world in which animals can talk and enchanted stones can predict the future. In Book I, The Dark Hills Divide, the heroine, 12-year-old Alexa, has spent her life living behind the four-story walls that surround her village and the three others that make up Bridewell Common. Even the roads between the towns are walled in to keep its citizens safe from the unknown. But Alexa's curiosity for what lies in the hills and forests on the other side sends her on a daring adventure into a secret world in which nothing is as it seems to be.
Children love this lush story, because it's filled with mystery, unforgettable characters, intriguing plot twists, and moral issues that are relevant to their own lives.
The exciting new Land of Elyon series was crafted by the father of two young daughters who conceived it both for their entertainment and to impart important moral lessons he and his wife wanted to convey."

You can learn more about the series here on Scholastic and play some games and learn more on it's very own site, here. You can even read the first chapter on this site.

Book Review: The Edge Chronicles, Stormchaser, by Paul Stewart

A while back I read The Edge Chronicles first book, Beyond the Deepwoods. It was a good read, not a real super captivating one, but a good read. So, when I saw book two on the library shelf I thought I would go back and visit Twig and see what he was up to. I liked the first book, but Harry was all the rage at the time and I was reading all about Hogwarts and such and so, I just did not follow up on Twig...... until now. And I am glad that I did. I just may follow up with him a bit more later on too.

In Stormchaser, by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell, Twig is found in the big and dirty city of Undertown. The conflict between the creatures is growing and greed is trumping goodness at every turn. The floating Univeristy city of Sanctaphrax is overlorded by a greedy and evil academic would be. At every turn in this book there is the fight, whether physical or mental, between good and evil. Namely greed (selfish gain) and generosity (selfless goodness).  Where greed seeks to sacrifice others to gain that which is coveted for oneself, generosity, here, seeks to sacrifice self for what is good for all, to bring justice, truth and balance to society.
Twig is caught up with many strange creatures and as the last book left him reunited with his father, a Sky Pirate, he learns who his father really is in this book. Twig grows up and figures out what is truly important in this book. He finds that generosity and courage beat greed every time, even when the personal sacrifice is great. The generous one still wins for all. Stormchaser ends with Twig starting another truly great adventure...................... and if I told you about it you wouldn't go read it now would you?

While there are many fantastical creatures there is no real wizardry here, in case that is objectionable to parents. The magic in the book is reasonable and is in the form of an enchanted forest. There is a level of violence in  the book which consists of two events. The first is a mutiny on board the Stormchaser. The second is a demented individual in the mud marsh, who surreptitiously offers to guide travelers with intent to harm. It is not super descriptive but a sensitive child would be upset by the latter. This book is appropriate for kids in grades 4th through 8th. If a third grader is a super reader then it would not have any objectionable material for that age, other than the mud marsh guide, in my opinion.

While I am not in a big hurry to get the rest of the books, I think I will read them eventually.

The series consists of:
Beyond the Deepwoods
Stormchaser
Midnight over Sanctaphrax
The Curse of the Gloamglozer
The Last of the Sky Pirates
Vox
Freeglader
The Winter Knights
Clash  of the Sky Galleions
The Imortals

Book Review: The Stowaway, by RA & Geno Salvatore

I have read several books in the last few weeks. I finished a great series and wanted something new. So, I picked up one of four different series.

I will review for you The Stowaway (first book in the series Stone of Tymora) written by RA and Geno Salvatore.  This is a great book and a very quick read as it is so captivating. I will be reading the rest of the series to dig up more of the story, which is very elusively left out to add to the mystique of the series and the intrigue of reading more.

Young Maimon is an orphan. Found and raised by mysterious people who are secretive about his origins. He wants to know more, but will learning these things really satisfy or will they just create more questions?  Just after his 12th birthday his guardian gives him a gift.  This item is bound to his soul in a magical way and this story begins to to open the mystery that Maimon seeks to solve. Who is he and why is he here? What is this gift and what is it's connection to him?

This book is full of action and mystery and plenty of magic and fantasy creatures, both good and bad (although the bad certainly do play a larger roll as of now against Maimon and his mystery). I have a feeling the whole series will be a must read if you get caught up in the story, it certainly ended with a lot left to know. Of course I think at the end of this book there was a lot left for Maimon to learn and we are following him. Like reading the first chapter in a great novel.... must get to the next one.

For kids who have trouble following a mixed plot line, this may not be the best read. The book is not typical or straightforward. It starts in the middle and Maimon tells what he knows of his story, which is not much, while flashing back to his current situation. This could be confusing for a kid who is not really good at reading mixed plot lines.

For this reason and for the depth of evil presented I would not recommend this for kids younger than 11 or 12. This is a good book for fantasy lovers. Geared toward 5th to 8th graders.