Calling On Dragons

Calling On Dragons by Patricia Wrede (audio book)

Dealing With Dragons Book, the First

Searching for Dragons Book, the Second; Caudill Nominee; my favorite so far

Calling on Dragons Book, the Third; my daughter’s favorite of all

It took me three summer months to get to this book, but I have the best excuse – My daughter borrowed it off of my reading shelf. When I was ready to start, she was still reading. When she was finished, I had already started something else. She has been begging me to hurry up and read it ever since.

It was with tremendous joy that I watched her read her book while I read mine, in the mornings before we started our day. She would curl up on the sofa with a Cheshire Cat grin on her face. There were periodic squeals of delight peppered with gasps of surprise. Her eyes shined bright when I looked at her. She was full to bursting and dying to share.

And oh what a horrible mother I was. I told her she couldn’t share until after I read it too and then we could talk about it. I should have made an exception. But I am stubborn. Very. Much. So.

This book begins with Morwen the witch and her nine cats. The cats are my favorite part. They had been mentioned before in passing and the reader is aware of them, but now they are named. They have more than names; they have personalities and mannerisms too. You can expect to find Jasper Darlington Higgins IV under the porch taking a nap and fish is Fiddlestick’s favorite dish; he never gets enough. None of them are black, that is none of them look like a witch’s cat; although Morwen doesn’t look like a witch to begin with. Most importantly, all of the cats act just exactly the way a cat would – self-centered and aloof.

A few of the cats discover a most unusual rabbit in Morwen’s garden. The rabbit is six feet tall, seven if you include his ears. He also has an unusual name – Killer, but other than that, he is all rabbit and terrified of cats with good reason. Morwen wants to help Killer. She and some cats follow Killer to the place of his uncommon transformation. They discover clover that has been tampered with – magically. They also find suspicious markings. Morwen decides to call in the reinforcements – namely, Telemain the Magician who has much experience taking a spell or enchantment apart to see how and why it works.

No sooner has Telemain joined them [and Killer the Rabbit has become Killer the six foot Donkey, seven if you include his ears,] than the group discovers yet another Wizards’ plot to steal the magic from the Enchanted Forest. Time to involve King Mendanbar and Queen Cimorene! By the time they reach the King and Queen, it is already too late [and Killer is bright blue!]. The King’s sword has vanished! [and Killer is floating 6 inches above the ground!] These books are as funny as ever.

I asked my daughter who her favorite character was and she said Trouble the Cat because he is always getting into mischief. For example, he leaves the group to check out the surrounding forest and catches himself a miniature wizard. I pressed her for her favorite human character and she likes Queen Cimorene the best and I agree. I asked her what her favorite part was and she said it was when they go to capture the King’s sword. My favorite part is when the group comes upon Old MacDonald’s Farm. He has a horse here and a cow there. And we both found the tower with no doors to be a great part too. Think Rapunzel, but we guarantee there is no princess at the top!

We give it 4 thumbs up! Try reading the series with your 4^th-8^th grade girl. Surely now that school has started, you need a book to review.

Legend

Legend by Marie Lu

I have read approximately 32 books this summer. Yes, a lot to some and not so much to others. It is fascinating to look back at them. I have had a very loooooooong summer if I look at the books I have read. Otherwise, it felt short – much too short. I enjoyed many, many of those books. I look at a few of the titles and I wonder why I wasted my summer with them when I could have been reading more of the wonderful books I have found. But here is really the best book I read this summer! Legend.

Sometimes, one just knows. A co-worker passed this title along to me. A trusted friend and reader had stopped by the library and insisted that we all read it. I wasn’t at work that day and so I still do not know to whom I owe my gratitude. Even so, I was hesitant to jump onto this bandwagon. I hadn’t heard about it. I hadn’t read about it. We didn’t own it. Not many libraries did own it. And the request list numbered zero. Hmmmm. I tried to forget about it. I tried to put it off. I already have too many other books to read. But it nagged at my mind. I kept checking in on it, reading about it, wondering about it. And then I did it. I broke down and ordered it. Sometimes I do make good choices!

If you know me at all, you can already guess that this must be dystopian literature. And you are right. Set sometime in the not so distant future, The United States of America is no longer a country and the remnants of it are at war with one another. The causes of the current state of affairs are not entirely laid out, but there are hints. My best guess is that global warming melted the ice caps and the oceans have risen significantly. Both, all?, coasts have lost land to the sea, but apparently the East Coast has suffered more. The novel is set on the West Coast where a new government has formed called the Republic. The Republic is at war with the Colonies, or East Coast, because the Colonies are in desperate need of the land and seek to take it back by any means necessary.

In the Republic, all children, at the age of ten, are required to submit themselves to the government for testing. It is called the Trials and it consists of a written test, a physical test and an interview. The children’s overall scores determine their future. If they score high, they are educated and groomed for the military. If they merely pass, they can finish their basic schooling and then enter the workforce. If they fail, they are sent to distant labor camps.

June comes from a wealthy, educated, military family. She is a prodigy – the only child to score a perfect 1500 on the Trials. At fifteen, she is on the cusp of college-graduation and is ready to join the military as an agency officer. June is graduated early when a high-ranking, Republic Captain is killed by a notorious and most-wanted criminal. The Captain is June’s brother, Metias.

The criminal is fifteen-year-old Day. Day is June’s opposite. He comes from an impoverished, working class family. He failed the Trials and should have been sent to a labor camp – except there are no labor camps. Failures are terminated. Day should have been dead. Even his mother believes him to be dead. Instead, he terrorizes the military that tried to kill him and he steals from the rich to support this career. More importantly, he does all that he can to protect his family from hunger and plague.

June’s military superiors give her the job of finding, trapping and bringing in the illusive Day. June is a skilled tracker, but she also has vengeance in mind. She should be unstoppable. Unfortunately, she gets hurt while undercover. Fortunately, a knight in shining armor rescues her. And is it any surprise that the knight is Day himself.

The romance is a trifle contrived, but the suspense more than makes up for it. I was nearly always on the edge of my seat and really couldn’t see how it would all work out – at least for now. I am itching for the sequel, Prodigy, should arrive in January of 2013. And there are plenty of questions left unanswered as well as hints to secrets to be uncovered. Recommended to junior and senior high. They’ve already started asking. YEA!!

Midnight is a Place

Midnight is a Place by Joan Aiken

Book 1: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Bonnie, Sylvia and Simon the Goose Boy)

Book 2: Black Hearts in Battersea (Simon and Dido)

Book 3: Nightbirds on Nantucket (Dido and Dutiful Penitence)

Book 4: The Whispering Mountain (Owen and Aramis)

Book 5: The Cuckoo Tree (Dido, Tobit and Cris with a pinch of Simon and Owen)

Book 6?????: Midnight Is a Place (Lucas and Anne-Marie)

I would be upset that this book was even less connected to the previous Aiken novels except that it was so very good. I have one reference book of reading series that does not show Midnight Is a Place as a part of the Wolves Chronicles. I also have one web site we refer to often that lists reading series order that shows it as 6^th. I took my chance and I feel I won regardless of which reference source is correct.

The book begins in Midnight Court, a mansion owned by Sir Randolph. The mansion did not always belong to Sir Randolph who acquired it through less than honorable means. The original owner was a Sir Quincy who also built a textile factory on the river and hired the locals to work there. The town of Blastburn grew up around Midnight Court to support the local workers and their families.

Sir Quincy had always intended for his son, Dennis, to inherit the property and business, but Dennis was more interested music and gambling. Disheartened, Sir Quincy began to neglect the workers of his mill and the mill itself. When Dennis lost his birthright to a young Randolph, Sir Quincy died of heartbreak and Dennis was forced to leave the country.

Sir Randolph did nothing to improve working conditions at the Mill and seemed to have no interest in the business itself except to make money which he quickly gambled away. He hired a business partner, a Mr. Bell, who eventually moved to India with his wife to oversee the trade end of the business. Ultimately, the Bells died of malaria in India and their son Lucas is sent back to the Midnight Court and to Sir Randolph acting as benefactor.

Lucas Bell is twelve and old enough to begin to learn the family business although he also holds no interest for it. He is a lonely boy who prefers to write letters to an imaginary friend. Sir Randolph has supplied him a tutor, a Mr. Oakapple, and although Lucas is keen to learn, he is desperately isolated in a mansion full of old men and servants.

And then Anne-Marie arrives. She is a small French girl who looks younger than her age. She is a new orphan and is grieving wildly and uncontrollably for her papa and her cat – in French. Fortunately, Lucas has been learning French and now he has opportunity to use it. Anne-Marie wants no one but her papa. Lucas certainly doesn’t want to play with a little girl, but circumstances throw them together.

One night, a fire burns down the mansion, their home. It also takes Sir Randolph, their benefactor and injures Mr. Oakapple, the only other adult who can speak on their behalf. The two children must find food and shelter. They must find medical care for their tutor as well as pay for it. It is time to find jobs. Will they sell homemade cigars? Will they tosh in the sewer? Will they face the jaws of the press in the mill? Yes, yes, and yes. But they will survive and the story isn’t over. Ghosts will come out of the stonework!

I recommend this novel to those unusual kids, 4^th-8^th grade, who have a mind for “classic gothic thrillers”. This is British fantasy. This is Victorian England. This is more sophisticated than Lemony Snicket but has the same elements – orphaned children, reversal of fortune, evil benefactors, and untrustworthy adults. Yeah, that’s it. This is Dickens for kids!

Ruby Lu Empress of Everything

Ruby Lu, Brave and True and
Ruby Lu, Empress of Everything by Lenore Look

This Monarch nominee (the second in the series) from 2010 has been compared to Amber Brown, Junie B. Jones, Judy Moody and even Ramona. I have read my share of all of them save Amber Brown and I cannot say that I agree.

Here are reasons why you might try it out anyway. It is a beginning chapter book for kids, primarily girls, who have advanced beyond Henry and Mudge and Cat in the Hat, but are not quite ready for Ramona or Judy. It is most equal to Junie B., First Grader books. The main character is a Chinese-American, second grader – Ruby Lu. In the first book, she becomes a sister to a baby brother Oscar. By the second book, Ruby’s family has offered to share their home with cousins emigrating from China. Ruby’s cousin, Flying Duck, is also in second grade, but she is deaf and only speaks Cantonese. Ruby loves magic and reflective tape and dislikes Chinese school and swimming lessons.

There is much new and unique here. A library or school can never have too many books at this particular reading level either. Although it is about a second-grader, it is definitely third grade reading level. The second book in the series is nearly twice the length of the first otherwise I would suggest the series to younger kids.

Unfortunately, I am not a fan. The behavior of the main character seems younger than her purported almost eight years. Granted there are varying degrees of social, emotional and physical maturity within grades, but I believe Ruby Lu would be more believable younger. In the first book, she watches as her grandmother learns how to drive, decides she has learned how to drive as well, makes herself her own driver’s license and then drives her brother and herself down the block to Chinese school. Not a fan.

I have a hard time pinning down what either book’s main focus was. Baby brother Oscar was present, but not vital. Flying Duck seemed integral, but not fully present. Both books seemed to present a bunch of not necessarily related occurrences that happened during a poorly defined period of time. For instance, Ruby goes on quite a deal about the Plum Tree Club, but they don’t really meet nor do they do anything in the book. I don’t really know who belongs except every child that lives on 20^th Avenue South. In the end it isn’t really essential to the story except she has her magic shows beneath it for the kids of 20^th Avenue South and it makes her feel amazing – it’s the very best thing about 20^th Avenue South next to everything else.

The fact that Ruby’s cousin, Flying Duck, joins her in second grade could carry an entire book. But there isn’t much action that really occurs at school. Yes, we are told that Ruby stops doing her school work in order to do Flying Duck’s school work and therefore both girls end up in summer school. But that’s just it. We are told what happens as a sort of punch line. It is not the action of the story. Ruby is Duck’s “smile buddy” but the reader doesn’t know what the entails throughout the course of the day, just that it makes her important.

Yes, parts of the books are comedic. Ruby wants to pass her eye test BECAUSE she thinks she will get eyeglasses. I am just not entirely sure that the intended readers will find it funny. In fact, I am still not even sure how Ruby ended up needing glasses anyway. She memorized the eye chart. So either she got the answers right and wouldn’t need glasses or she got them wrong and might need to be reexamined. It’s not explained well.

In the end, I simply didn’t enjoy these two books because they seemed more like the stream of consciousness thoughts of a kindergartener or first grader. They needed an author to put them into a focused and coherent whole. I only recommend for when the child has exhausted the other options.

Insurgent

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Insurgent was my number one most anticipated sequel since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I discovered Divergent, its prequel, through scholarly reviews and immediately requested it. I have been marketing it ever since as the must read if you enjoyed the Hunger Games trilogy. I let Insurgent rest on my bureau as long as I was able. I wanted to savor every minute of it.

Here is my review of the first in the series, Divergent. I read through Insurgent just about as quickly and, while I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as the first, I am satisfied because it ended on a resoundingly high note.  The future holds promise.

First, it was very hard to pick up where I left off and I am unsure as to whether that is the fault of the author or myself. I don’t normally have such trouble when I am reading a favorite series. Perhaps it has been too long in between volumes. Perhaps I should have reread Divergent first. That is advice to take. I had trouble remembering who was who and what happened to whom. Even the name of the romantic interest eluded me at first. Understandably because he has two names, one of which was used much more frequently than the other and has more meaning.

Second, any kind of summary of the first novel was non-existent. It would have behooved me to reread my own review to remember what each of the factions was, what each of them stood for and against, and why they were even there in the first place. Both of these problems could have been solved with a few more detailed flashbacks.

Third, the first book was more interesting and exciting because it built the premise. There was more detailed description. We truly got to know the characters and could understand their choices. This novel merely advanced the action. The characters seemed static. In some cases, I felt that their actions were working against their established character.

Finally, romantic tension can be integral to these novels. Once you win the love of your life, there must be some conflict to keep the tension. The conflict created here between the main characters seemed forced or false. I had a hard time believing in it. It was my least favorite part of the novel whereas the dynamics of the relationship were so strong in the first. I would rather have seen the conflict come from elsewhere and have the main characters working together without the strange tension.

So my favorite part of this novel was the end – when the characters finally started acting like themselves. The way they should have all along. Plus the surprise twist of course. When the characters finally started behaving the way I thought they should based upon everything I knew about them, then I was ready to cheer.

[Now, I actually know someone who claims she likes this volume better than the first. ;) I think it is because she had it read to her out loud while on vacation. That person probably used different voices and accents which might have improved it a bit. :P lol.]

But seriously. Being divergent, Triss displayed an aptitude for Dauntless, Erudite and Abnegation. She left Abnegation and joined Dauntless. When we last left Triss, her world had been turned upside down. The Erudite had forced the Dauntless, through use of simulation, to attack the Abnegation killing many unknowingly. Fortunately, Triss’ divergence prevented her from succumbing to the simulation. Unfortunately, she had to watch and attempt to stop the massacre.

When Insurgence begins the Dauntless have been divided into Loyal Dauntless against the Erudite and the Traitor Dauntless who have joined the Erudite. What is left of the Abnegation, along with the Loyal Dauntless, including Triss, seek refuge with the Amity. But the peaceful Amity might not be able to prevent conflict if they harbor the refugees.

Triss and her boyfriend, Tobias/Four, set off to find an alternative. One possibility might be the Factionless. Their numbers are greater than anyone had believed before and they have a leader that might be willing to work with Tobias. The set back is that Triss thinks another leader might be of more help, but it is Tobias’ father, Marcus. Let the conflict begin!

The plots, politics and intrigue are what kept me reading until I finally got hooked. Despite my slight disappointment in this installment, I will eagerly await number three. Number two’s wrap-up had me chomping at the bit!

I recommend this series to junior and senior high youth who enjoyed Hunger Games and other such dystopian novels!

Keena Ford and the Second-Grade Mix-Up

Keena Ford and the Second-Grade Mix-Up by Melissa Thomson

Here is a 2011 Monarch Nominee that startles me. It surprises me how much the main character reminds me of myself when I was a young elementary school girl. Keena Ford doesn’t just share some of my good qualities, but more importantly she also shares some of my negative attributes. The author shows how easy it is to get caught up in a mistake and then how embarrassing it can be to try to right a wrong. And she shows the reader exceptionally well. I am sure I was not the only child who had such troubles and I guarantee kids are still dealing with these issues today.

Keena has many things in common with kids at present. Summer is over and it is time to head back to school. She is experiencing the excitement and trepidation of advancing to a new grade with a new teacher and hoping for shared classes with best friends.

My one point of contention: I find it highly unusual that Keena’s school has decided to take the second-grade class and split it in two – boys in one class and girls in the other. The book reads as though this is new and unique to the second-grade class. I simply don’t see that actually happening in a regular public school. I am extremely curious as to a reason why faculty would choose to do that. It is all rather irrelevant except that it places Keena’s best friend, a boy named Eric, in the other classroom and Keena’s nemesis, a girl called Linny, in Keena’s classroom. I don’t think that required an elaborate set-up to make it happen. I see it as the only flaw to the novel.

Here is where it excels. Keena is well aware that she has made a habit of getting into trouble. She knows that she tends to say things out loud that are better left unsaid. She realizes that she spends too much time worrying about other people’s business. Many kids continue to get into trouble because they are unable to understand that what they have done is wrong and therefore continue to make the same mistakes. Keena genuinely understands where she is breaking the rules and making the mistakes, she just hasn’t figured out a way to direct her energies in a different direction. Luckily her mother has introduced her to the art of journaling. Keena knows she has a talent for writing. Hopefully in future volumes, Keena will learn how to make use of the two.

Until that time… Keena is eager to show her teacher how smart and grown-up she is. Keena’s older brother taught her over summer break how to write dates in numerical format like a big kid. Keena’s teacher is asking for everyone’s birthday and Keena writes down 9/2 which happens to be the next school day, September 2, and not Keena’s actual birthday, February 9. So when the teacher gets excited to celebrate a birthday so quickly in the school year, Keena is ready to correct her. That is until her teacher mentions chocolate cake and a crown. Yeah, chocolate cake is way too tempting.

To make matters worse, Keena loves her new classroom and her teacher. They get to make their own rules and use a journal. The teacher will even let Keena use her own personal, special, different journal. Yes, I said worse, because Keena gushes about her class to her best friend Eric. Eric feels it necessary to one up Keena to disguise the fact that he doesn’t like his new classroom as much as Keena. Not just one up… three up. Eric elaborates quite a bit. (Oh no! I just realized that I can identify with Eric too. I was quite the little elaborator myself. Shhhh.) Keena happens to be curious about Eric’s amazing classroom and decides she needs to check it out for herself. Well, at least there is one thing that I’m not – a sneaky spy!

Recommended for girls K-3^rd.

Fallen Angels

Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers

I have always had a healthy interest in war stories. My grandfathers both served in World War II. One served from a tank and was close enough to see Hitler or so I was told. The other flew fighter planes. My father served as a mechanic in Vietnam. My husband served as a military police officer in Operation Desert Storm. In Operation Iraqi Freedom, he returned as a commanding officer of infantrymen.

I married into a family of soldiers as well. One grandfather-in-law served on the ship that delivered the bomb known as “Little Boy” to Hiroshima. The other grandfather-in-law served on the German side. The Nazis forced him to serve in the Luftwaffe. Stories abound – now. They didn’t before. Soldiers do not share the horrors of war with their civilian families. It has taken decades for the stories to come out and generally between the soldiers while the rest of us listen from the edges.

I still remember when I was in high school and the movie Platoon came out. I thought I was desperate to see it. It was probably media hype and a handsome cast. My father generally took me to the movies when I visited him on Thursday evenings. He rarely said no. But this time he did. He didn’t want to watch a Vietnam War movie with his daughter. I don’t remember when I finally was able to see it, with whom, or how. But see it I did and every other one including Full Metal Jacket and Born on the Fourth of July.

And I didn’t stop there, as movies became more realistic, I tried to catch them all. (Still haven’t been successful watching the old black and whites.) I thought it was important for me to be exposed to the good, the bad and the ugly. I want be painfully aware of what men and women have sacrificed for our country.

I have read many, MANY, fictionalized war stories for children. Circumstances dictate that the stories will be about children and their experiences during war rather than about soldiers, young or old. So this novel that I present today is special. Fallen Angels is a young adult novel and therefore follows the experiences of a new high school graduate who joins the army and serves in Vietnam.

The novel came to my attention because it won the Coretta Scott King Award for literature in 1988. It is written by an African American and the main character, as well as a few secondary characters, is also African American. But I thought the author did an amazing job of catching the spirit of the times without making me feel like an outsider to the culture. There is racial prejudice, but even the Italians are on the receiving end.

The main character, Richie Perry, cannot afford college so he joins the Army and is shipped to Vietnam after a quick round of basic training. During Basic, a sport’s injury is discovered. Richie has a bad knee from playing basketball. A medical profile is created that almost certainly guarantees a desk job at headquarters. Unfortunately, the profile, much like airline baggage, gets lost during the trip overseas. Richie is given the opportunity to wait for his profile to catch up with him, but pride and loyalty require that he sticks with the rest of the newbies.

What I like most about this book, is that it is less about battles, battle grounds, strategic lines and strategy and more about Richie’s inner battle. He struggles daily with staying focused enough to stay alive especially as the horrors he sees daily repeat themselves in the nightmares he has at night. He discovers early on that fear leads to death. Once fearful, he risks a greater chance at making mistakes. Mistakes that include missing critical clues or firing on friendlies.

I recommend this book to any young man who has a heart to serve in the armed forces. All types are represented here from the hardcore army man to the gentleman who has something to prove to his father. And everything in between. I also recommend it the families of Vietnam Vets. I’ve learned so much and it explained much more than some men can express.

The book made the American Library Association’s Most Frequently Banned list because of explicit language, violence and sexual references. This is war people. I didn’t find any of it to be excessive or offensive considering the subject. It was not sensationalist in my opinion. It was realistic.