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.

Book Review: Guardians of Ga'Hoole 1-15

I have now read this series cover to cover and find it to be a great set....... long..... 15 books to be exact. I am not sure most kids are tenacious enough to read them all, but if they are they will have a good read. It ends well. Throughout the series good and bad are clearly distinguished with common characteristics to our world today. Lording it over another is bad, thinking one type of owl is better than another is bad, senseless violence, cruelty, etc......  valor is good, defending the helpless is good, doing right is good, loyalty, working together, equality, conviction, etc.
Being such a long series and written in two or three sections there are a few gaps in the story line and such. However, the details left out are not key to the story line and do not detract. There is ample opportunity for the reader to use his or her own imagination without loosing anything in the plot or story.
In the books there are different kingdoms of owls who are threatened by various groups of owls who would like to take over for the sake of power, they use "purity of species", brainwashing and owl-napping along with violence and under described cruelty to reach their ends. The Guardians pledge to preserve the freedom to think freely, live safely and equitably. They consistently defeat the enemies each time. A bit predicable, but none the less captivating for the new ways they solve the problems in battle. The battle scenes are all a bit short, and lack graphic description, compared to the lengthy build up to the battle scenes, which is the actual story. They hold enough description to keep the attention but not enough to give bad dreams or vivid images.
 
The only objection I have to this book is in the few books where the main owls are youngsters and use some bad language. None of it is "real" bad language but certainly correlates to certain phrases in our culture which are actually bad language, at least to some.

The relationship to the movie is minimal. They crammed the first 7-8 books into one movie missing huge chunks of detail and things that were really pertinent. All in all it adds up for a pretty different story than the books tell.  I liked the movie and the owls are totally endearing. The image of Soren was just like I thought he was and made him all the more endearing to me.

I would say this series would be content appropriate for boys and girls in grades 3rd through 8th. The reading level is about average late elementary.

List of books in the series:

• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 1: The Capture (2003)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 2: The Journey (2003)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 3: The Rescue (2004)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 4: The Siege (2004)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 5: The Shattering (2004)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 6: The Burning (2004)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 7: The Hatchling (2005)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 8: The Outcast (2005)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 9: The First Collier [from Legends of Ga'Hoole] (2006)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 10: The Coming of Hoole [from Legends of Ga'Hoole] (2006)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 11: To Be a King [from Legends of Ga'Hoole] (2006)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 12: The Golden Tree (2007)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 13: The River of Wind (2007)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 14: Exile (2007)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book 15: The War of the Ember (2008)
• Guardians of Ga'Hoole: A Guide Book to the Great Tree (2007)
• Guardians of Ga’Hoole: Lost Tales of Ga’Hoole (2010)

Amazon

Book Review: Tsion's Life

Tsion's Life by Stacy Bellward is a great book. I just got it and I love everything about it. The photography is awesome and each page has an Amharic word on it to teach the reader, it is the theme of the page. So, some pages are on family, friends, food, her township, etc.  This book tells about religion, language, family life, food, cultural things, school and work in the words of a child as well as pieces that are informative, and still quite interesting. This is an engaging and well put together book that will keep the attention of any age reader. A great way to learn about Ethiopia.
Amharic Kids
Amazon

Book review: E is for Ethiopia

E is for Ethiopia is a great book. Using the alphabet as organization for an overview of interesting facts about Ethiopia the books it combines explanations and fabulous photographs of Ethiopia to share some of the wonder of the country with it's reader. I love this book because it is not a text book and is very interesting to my boys . They can see the culture of their birth in beautiful photos and words which helps them to connect to it. I also like that it is written by Ethiopians. They have the passion to pass along and I feel they do this well with this simple yet beautiful kids book.
Check it out on Amazon.

Book Review: Yafi's Family

Yafi's Family is a great book. These are the things I love about this book:
1. the child is a boy
2. he is adopted as an older child
3. he is orphaned by death
4. he is Ethiopian
5. his parents retained his birth name
6. He has siblings in his adoptive home

I like these things because my boys can relate to each of these things very very well. It is a story about another boy, yet a story about themselves as well. The story is unique in that there are very few books about Ethiopian adoption, few books about older child adoption and even fewer about children who were orphaned by death rather than relinquished or abandoned. I would highly recommend this book for your home library. I think we will read this one over and over. As a note, I would suggest talking about feelings after you read this book and giving lots of affirmation. It triggered some sad feelings of loss the first time we read it for one of my sons. He likes this book, because it helps him feel like he is not alone in his loss. That is valuable.

Gregor the Overlander for teens

My teenage daughter just finished the Gregor the Overlander series. She loves them so much she is thinking there is no book that can rival them and they are stuck in her mind.......... that is a good book. Go check them out at your local library.