Classics Review: The Birchbark House

Title: The Birchbark House
Author: Louise Erdrich
Length: 239 pages
Genre: Historical fiction
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Content appropriate for: Grades 3-7

Three adjectives that describe this book: slow, memorable, interesting

A book designed to transport you into the daily life of an Ojibwa family in the mid 1800s. Not only does The Birchbark House meet this goal, but it does so quite vividly. This is not a plot-driven novel, but instead all about the characters and setting. It follows a family over the course of one year, so we experience all that it takes to survive in the Great Lakes region. The characters hunt, fish, and farm. They create clothing, spend time with friends, and celebrate with their neighbors. They build homes suited to each season, and must survive a challenging winter. They encounter changes brought by the white men, and make decisions about how to deal with these changes. This is a quiet story, but would be great for any middle grade reader who is interested in the lives of native peoples.

On a side note - As an adult reader, I kept sensing the clock ticking in the background, knowing that the story is set in 1847, and that the characters in this story would not continue the rhythms of life, as established by their ancestors, for much longer. It was a strange feeling to be the observer who knows more than the characters about their futures.

3.5 stars

Book Review: Breakthrough

Premise: The story of how heart surgery was invented by a team of very intelligent, but overlooked surgeons. 

Title: Breakthrough!
Author: Jim Murphy
Length: 144 pages
Genre: Nonfiction
Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Content appropriate for: Grades 7-12
Format: Digital ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley

Three adjectives that describe this book: interesting, lacking, thought-provoking

Breakthrough! explores the invention of heart surgery by three scientists. I loved that the text really demonstrated how science is collaborative and how failure and creative problem solving are critical to the process. Of course, it was also lovely that one of the three scientists was a woman, and one was African American. Murphy took a  wonderfully explicit approach the issues of discrimination faced by these scientists.

Compared with other books by Murphy, though, Breakthrough! lacked some depth. It is extremely narrowly focused, and could have benefited from fleshing out more of the people and setting. This story of discrimination, tenacity, risk-taking, and scientific exploration didn't quite reach it's potential for captivating narrative.

This book is probably best suited for older students, as it uses medical and anatomical terminology with little explanation.

Book Review: Dead Boy

Premise: Crow died 2 years ago. But he's still alive. Sort of. He doesn't sleep or eat anymore, and his sometimes maggots crawl out of his ears, but other than that he's a pretty normal kid. Except that Crow isn't allowed to leave his house. And his parents won't tell him how he died. And then, a new neighbor moves in next door and Crow gets a chance for true friendship. Together they discover the secret of Crow's death.

Title: Dead Boy
Author: Laurel Gale
Length: 256 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Content appropriate for: Grades 4-7
Format: Digital ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley

Three adjectives that describe this book: surprising, engaging, creative

I was expecting Dead Boy to be interesting and fun, a little gross and probably humorous. It was all of the things, but it was also entirely more. Much richer, stronger, and complex than it appears at first. There's something for everyone here.

Dead Boy is a story that reinvents itself over and over. First, it explores the tribulations of being a dead-ish kid. Not a zombie, a dead kid who's still mostly functional. Then, we turn to a friendship and family drama tale. Just as you think you know where the story's going, BAM you get an adventure novel with a crazy does of magic/fantasy/quest. It feels a little Indiana Jones! And in the end, you realize that somehow it was a coming of age story all along.

I found Dead Boy to be completely novel, highly engaging, and really well-done. It would be easy for many authors to struggle with piecing all those elements together cohesively, but somehow they flow together seamlessly with just the right balance of action, dialogue, description, and exposition. Highly recommended.

4.5 stars

Classics Review: The Book of Three

Premise: When Hen Wen, an oracle pig, goes missing, Taran sets off on a quest to find her before the evil Horned King and his men. Along the way he joined by a diverse band including bards, magicians, and dwarfs. They must escape capture, battle magical creatures, and ultimately find that pig.

Title: The Book of Three
Author: Lloyd Alexander
Length: 190 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Series or Stand Alone: First book of a trilogy
Content appropriate for: Grades 4-8
Format: Audiobook from the library

Three adjectives that describe this book: action-packed, fun, lacking

I read this book as part of the Classics Club challenge to read 50 classics books in 5 years. My list is comprised entirely of children's books.

I bet if I were in the target audience (maybe grades 4-6) I would love this book. There was a ton of action and the story moved quickly. As a teacher of students in this age group, I know that most of them are looking for books with a lot of action, most haven't quite figured out how to incorporate character development and world-building. So this book is perfect for them. A straight-forward quest novel, moving from one danger to another, with some comic relief built in.

With Lord of the Rings coming about 20 years before this book, it felt almost as if Lloyd Alexander was trying to bring that format to younger readers. Yes, Tolkien gave us The Hobbit for young readers, but even that has quite a bit of complexity that is more suited to upper-middle grades and YA readers. So, The Book of Three fills a nice void for the 1960s.

Cartoon version of Hen Wen the pig & Taran the pigkeeper

But I wanted more development, both character AND world. We jumped from one event to another, with an array of characters who get little more than a cursory exploration. Folks join the band of questers without much thought, or any backstory. And the questers, themselves, make decisions about where to go and changes in course without any real clarity about what is happening. I pretty much stayed confused. Where are they going? Why? What does it look like? Who are those villains?

And the ending really really irritated me. We had to experience the climax battle with the villain second-hand because the main character was unconscious through the whole thing. Boo. Such a cop out. The Book of Three may have broken some ground for middle grade quest novels, but I'm glad that later titles made the genre more compelling and complete.

Serafina is True Middle Grade Horror

Premise: Serafina has always lived secretly in the basement of a mansion, warned by her father to never go outside where the dark forest waits. But then one night a wealthy child in the mansion goes missing, and Serafina is the only witness. As more children begin to disappear, she knows that she must follow the clues to save them.

Title: Serafina and the Black Cloak
Author: Robert Beatty
Length: 304 pages
Genre: Mystery, Horror, Fantasy
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Content appropriate for: Grades 4-7
Format: Digital ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley
Publication: July 14, 2015

Three adjectives that describe this book: dark, gripping, mysterious

Serafina and the Black Cloak was much scarier than I expected! It was engaging, complex, and made me question my reading-before-sleeping habit.

I found it really interesting how Beatty wove the actual history of the Biltmore Estate with fantasy and horror elements. At times I was caught off-guard when fantasy elements crept into the story. We'd be going along with fancy mansion-life and dank basement-life, and then BAM mythical creatures in the forest!

A scene from the book trailer with the Biltmore Estate in the background

For a book to be truly scary, you must have a scary villain. So how does the villain in Serafina measure up? He is definitely scary. And creepy. And strange. His skin seems to be falling off and he comes for you steadily in the dark. I was definitely creeped out by him.

Villain in a black cloak. From the author's website.

The only reason I docked a star for Serafina and the Black Cloak is because most of the reveals were kind of evident well ahead of being revealed. Hopefully, upper-middle-grade readers will find them to be more surprising.

Fast-paced and dark, this book will appeal to any MG reader who wants to be truly spooked and enjoys a good mystery.

Author Website

Classics Review: A Long Way from Chicago

Premise: Joey and Mary Alice spend one week each summer in a small town with their grandmother, a liar, shotgun shooter, and terrible influence. Set during the 1930s, and told in 9 short stories (one for each summer), this book is wildly unforgettable.

Title: A Long Way From Chicago
Author: Richard Peck
Length: 160 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Series or Stand Alone: Book 1 of 3
Content appropriate for: Grades 5-7

Three adjectives that describe this book: hilarious, unique, entertaining

I have been avoiding this book forever. Absolutely nothing about it appealed to me. Luckily I'm doing the Classics Club challenge, so I needed to read it. I read A Long Way From Chicago as an audiobook, and it's the perfect book for that format - the novel is really a collection of 7 stories, so the audiobook feels like having your own personal storyteller. The narrator, Ron McLarty, has great comedic timing and his voices for Grandma Dowdel and her neighbors were spot-on.

The situations in this book are over-the-top, in a similar style to adult Southern Fiction. It's full of fun caricatures like a shotgun-toting Grandma and an arrogant local sheriff. This book made me laugh out loud and holler, "Get it Grandma!" I also thought it painted a good picture of life in the 1930s.

This week I started it as a read aloud and my students are absolutely loving it. I'm trying to stick to that storyteller feel, and the classroom is full of laughter.

Sidenote: Parents, guardians, and teachers may want to know that this book contains several references to alcohol and one scene with drunk old men in their underwear.

Big Top Burning: A Solid Nonfiction Historical Mystery

Premise: This is "the true story of an arsonist, a missing girl, and the greatest show on Earth." The story centers around the 1944 Ringling Brothers fire in Hartford, CT that killed over 100 people. Readers experience the fire itself, the events immediately afterward, and investigations into the cause of the fire.

Title: Big Top Burning
Author: Laura A. Woollett
Length: 176 pages
Genre: Nonfiction
Content appropriate for: Grades 6-9
Format: Digital ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley

Three adjectives that describe this book: captivating, tragic, memorable

Big Top Burning is not for the faint-of-heart. This nonfiction book reads as part crime-scene investigation, part tragic documentary. Laura Woollett doesn't beat around the bush here. Over the course of this book people, including children, are burned to death, trampled, and suffocated. They die trying to escape. They die saving others. Their burned bodies are identified in makeshift morgues.

This material could have been ruined by either too light a touch - let's just ignore the dead kids over here - or by being too graphic. Big Top Burning threads the middle ground perfectly, never pretending that this event wasn't horrible, but also never indulging in gore for the sake of gore. The primary-source photos were especially intriguing and really added to the tale's impact.

I had never heard of the Hartford circus fire of 1944, and I found the circumstances that led to this tragedy completely appalling. I learned so much about how this event led to better regulations for safety and emergency management, and I just can't believe how much negligence was prevalent at the time. They actually covered the canvas in gasoline and wax to waterproof it. The tent was covered in gasoline! No wonder it burned so well!

Laura Woollett's narrative nonfiction follows several different people who were at the circus that day, similar to Jim Murphy's account of the Great Chicago Fire. This approach really humanized the tragedy, but it also made the narrative confusing at times since it was hard to keep track of so many different people.

Unfortunately, the last section, which chronicles the arson investigation and identification of one missing victim, felt rushed. Although interesting, there weren't as many details here to give this part of the story the same emotional impact as the first part of the book, so it fell a bit flat.

Overall, I recommend this book for those who are interested in fascinating historical events. It's great for readers who have already read and enjoyed books like The Great Chicago Fire and Chasing Lincoln's Killer, but because of some confusing elements, I don't recommend it as a reader's first foray into narrative nonfiction.

3.5 stars

TBR Pile Challenge Update

We are only 4 months into 2015, and I already have 6 out of 12 books completed for the TBR Pile Challenge, hosted by Adam at Roof Beam Reader.

The TBR Pile Challenge List 

1. Dragonwings by Laurence Yep (2001)

2. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien (1971)

3. The Menagerie by Tui T. Sutherland ~ Completed 4.19.2015 ~ Review Below
4. Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence ~ Completed 4.9.2015 ~ My Review
5. Flawed Dogs by Berkeley Breathed ~ Completed 2.20.2015 ~ My Review
6. We Are Not Eaten by Yaks by C. Alexander London ~ Completed 4.20.2015 ~ Review Below
7. Watership Down by Richard Adams (1972)
8. The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper (1973)
9. Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve ~ Completed 4.5.2015 ~ My Review
10. HIVE by Mark Walden ~ Completed 1.4.2015 ~ My Review
11. Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (1964)
12. Airborn by Kenneth Oppel (2004)

Alternates

1. The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander (1964)
2. The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley (1984)

Like last year, I am using half of my TBR Pile List to make progress on the 50-book Classics Club Challenge.

Not to toot my own horn, but I'm pretty proud to be half way through the list 2 months early. Go me! My favorite book of these 6 has been Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve. It is a really cool dystopia about cities that migrate on giant mechanisms and eat one another.


Just this past week I finished two books on the list, so I thought that I'd combine the reviews here:

Title: The Menagerie
Author: Tui T. Sutherland
Genre: Fantasy (book 1 of 3)
Length: 288 pages
Audience: Grades 4-7

Seventh grader Logan Wilde gets involved in tracking down a group of missing griffin cubs. The cubs have escaped from a secret facility that houses and protects mythical creatures. Along the way we encounter arrogant unicorns, temperamental pheonixes, and an adorable mammoth. This book was a fun, but light read. There are ample doses of humor, adventure, mystery, and unicorns. The Menagerie is totally accessible for the target audience, so lots of middle grade students love it. However, for me, it didn't feel very original and just blended into the crowd of other similar MG fantasies (Fablehaven, Spiderwick, etc).
Rating: 3 stars


Title: We Are Not Eaten by Yaks
Author: C. Alexander London
Genre: Fantasy (book 1 of 4)
Length: 384 pages
Audience: Grades 4-6

Two TV-obsessed kids end up on a quest to find the lost Library of Alexandria, the same quest on which their mother disappeared 3 years ago. London gives this story an intentionally over-the-top tone with ridiculous obstacles (being thrown from a plane and surviving via a raft/poncho), outrageous villains (evil witches who love television), and strange allies (Buddhist oracles). It's super fun and works well for students who love both silliness and adventure. However, the humor felt kind of forced to me. Some of the characters were really annoying - the protagonists with their constant complaining and desire to watch TV, and the main villain with his excessive arrogance.
Rating: 3 stars


Both of these books remind me that I am not the target audience. Some books appeal to middle grade readers and adults equally well, others seem to appeal more to one or the other. I really think both of these books would be loved by lots of readers in grades 4-7. They didn't work for me, but since I'm not the target audience... take that for what it's worth.

Book Review: Black Dove White Raven

Premise:  Em and Teo are the children of two female American stunt pilots, and they're sort of brother and sister now that Teo's mother has died in a plane crash. When they move to Ethiopia expecting a peaceful life free of racial discrimination, they find themselves in the midst of a war with Italy.

Title: Black Dove White Raven
Author: Elizabeth Wein
Length: 368 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Content Appropriate For: Grades 7-12
Format: Digital ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley

Three adjectives that describe this book: interesting, slow, disappointing

I loved Elizabeth Wein's previous books, Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire, but this one lacked the emotional heft and believability of those novels.

I really enjoyed the setting of this book. I learned so much about a time and place that I had never really thought about before, Ethiopia in the 1930s. The League of Nations politics were fascinating! And the Ethiopian landscape and people were lovingly and accurately depicted since Wein has traveled there several times.

However, this book didn't hold my interest like Wein's previous works and I truly considered abandoning it. I probably would have if I hadn't read and loved Code Name Verity, which taught me to be patient with Elizabeth Wein because all is not as it seems.

The problems come down to three areas:

1. Pacing - The first half (or maybe 3/4) was dreadfully slow. Almost no plot happened for huge sections of text.

2. Characters - I didn't connect well to the main characters. Em was awfully self-centered. She complained and bragged and generally annoyed me. On the other hand, Teo's quiet self-consciousness irritated me. And I kept wondering how he felt being in a white family and how he managed to skip right past grieving for his mother and accept Rhoda as "Momma." speaking of which, why wasn't this book about Rhoda and Delia? They were fascinating!

* Format - Like Wein's other books, this one is told through letters and journal entries. She also added in school essays and some character-written fiction. Unlike her previous novels, this format didn't work very well. My initial problem was that the character voices sounded too much alike. As I read on I became frustrated with how the writing was way too advanced to be believably written by young kids with little education.

Overall, I'm glad I finished this book because the historical setting was fascinating and completely new to me, but it did not live up to my expectations based on Wein's previous works.

Reissued Review: The Flying Classroom

Erich Kastner's The Flying Classroom, was originally published in German in 1933. Last year I read (and enjoyed) his classic, Emil and the Detectives. So I was curious to see if The Flying Classroom would have the same charm.

Premise: Six German boarding school boys get into mischief around Christmas-time.

Title: The Flying Classroom
Author: Erich Kastner (translated by Anthea Bell)
Length: 176 pages
Genre: Realistic fiction
Series or Stand Alone: Stand alone
Content appropriate for: Grades 6-8
Format: Digital copy provided by Pushkin Children's Books

Three adjectives that describe this book: confusing, lacking, simple

Although The Flying Classroom had some memorable scenes, overall it was really disappointing. While this book will certainly appeal to an adult audience looking to relive older-styled stories, I doubt it will find much of an audience in the US in 2015.

But there are lots of problems with this book starting with the premise itself. Did you notice that premise at the top of the post? Very little happens in this book, and there is no over-arching problem. The story simply follows 6 boarding school boys over the course of a week or so. Young readers today want things to happen in their books.

Another major problem - even though not much happens, the story still manages to be confusing. I had to reread the first 40 pages THREE times because I couldn't keep the 6 main characters straight. They are called at various times by their full names, nicknames, last names, etc... such that the 6 boys feel more like 15. It was very hard to keep track.

And there are two more things - the characters all smoke (even fellow students), and one of the boys is on scholarship and his peers are constantly "amazed" by how smart he is even though he's poor. I found it very offensive.

The one redeeming quality is that the illustrator, Walter Trier, is marvelous. He keeps the book light and helps clarify some of the confusing scenes.

Classics Review: The Watsons Go to Birmingham

Premise: Kenny's older brother, Byron, is getting into trouble. Whether it's picking on Kenny, or starting fires, his parents don't know what to do with him. So the Watsons decide a trip south from Flint, Michigan to Birmingham, Alabama is in order, so that Byron can spend the summer with his grandmother.

Title: The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963

Author: Christopher Paul Curtis

Length: 210 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Content appropriate for: Grades 4-6

Format: Audiobook narrated by LeVar Burton

Three adjectives that describe this book: amusing, engaging, memorable

I read this book as part of the Classics Club challenge to read 50 classics books in 5 years. My list is comprised entirely of children's books.

I first read The Watsons Go to Birmingham in 2001, just a year after its publication. At the time, I wasn't paying much attention to middle grade literature. *Hanging my head in shame*  Now, after inundating myself in middle grade and YA lit for the last 3 years, I see this book in a whole new way.

Let me first say that I listened to the audio version of The Watsons, narrated by the amazing LeVar Burton. I will always think of him first as Geordi (Star Trek) and next as the Reading Rainbow host. I wondered if this familiarity with Mr. Burton would interfere with my ability to believe in the character voices. But, LeVar Burton rocked this narration. His character voices are distinct, but they are also infused with the personality of each character. From lighthearted Dad, to cool-daddio Byron, and self-conscious Kenny, Mr. Burton gave us a real sense of who these people are.

Although the cover and premise may make you think, "Oh no! Not another serious book about Civil Rights," The Watsons Go to Birmingham is super fun. Curtis works in lots of funny moments. To get a good sense of the feel of the story, check out this book trailer, produced by the Lexington, KY library system:

I think what makes The Watsons so special is that it's NOT a book about the Civil Rights movement or about being black in America. 

So many books about this era put The Struggle front-and-center. And that's great. But it has led my rural, white students to think of black history only as either slavery or Civil Rights, without all of the other elements or seeing black people as simply people.

This book spends the first 150 pages or so establishing that this is just a normal family. They are regular people. We don't really discuss or experience racism until the last section of the book. This works because it eases us into the terror felt by regular Birmingham families around the church bombings. We care about these characters as people, and feel truly horrified that such violence could be visited upon them.

The Watsons Go to Birmingham is truly deserving of all its recognitions.

Side Note: I haven't seen the Hallmark movie version of this book (2013), but when I was searching for a video to include in this post, I was irritated at how they added in so many Civil Rights elements that weren't in the book - protests and sit-ins and so on. That really undermines my point, that a great book about the Civil Rights era doesn't actually have to be about the Civil Rights Movement.

Smek for President - Top-Notch Alien Humor

Premise: After saving Earth from an alien invasion, Tip (a human) and J. Lo (a Boov) visit the new Boov homeworld. J. Lo is wanted for his role in the Gorg attack, so they quickly find themselves on the run and embroiled in the first-ever Boov presidential campaign.

Title: Smek for President
Author: Adam Rex
Length: 272 pages
Genre: Science fiction
Content appropriate for: Grades 5-8
Format: Digital ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley
Release Date: February 10, 2015

Three adjectives that describe this book: hilarious, creative, engaging

As a HUGE fan of The True Meaning of Smekday, I was both thrilled and nervous about this book 2. Luckily it was very nearly as great, possibly more hilarious, and way fun. J. Lo and Tip experience Boovish government buildings, local Boov homes, the garbage collection system, Boov prison, and even a Museum of Noises. They are even pursued by a strangely familiar assassin:

Since Tip and J. Lo spend most of the book on New Boovworld, I really enjoyed seeing what a Boov society looks like, and the scenes where Captain Smek is trying to be President are hilarious. Really the whole thing is hilarious. Like book 1, this one included comic strips and illustrations that really add to the story.

A taste:

My one big complaint about The True Meaning of Smekday has been that the story is 400+ pages with no chapter breaks, so it just seems to go on and on. This time, Adam Rex decided to use chapter divisions (hooray!). Overall, a great sequel to a wonderful book.

Side Note: I'm hesitantly looking forward to the movie, even though the name they picked (Home) totally stinks. Jim Parsons as J. Lo (named just O in the movie) is inspired and I love the trailer. Fingers crossed.

Book Review: H.I.V.E

Premise: Otto Malpense may be only 13 years old, but he's already a criminal mastermind. That's why he was handpicked, without his knowledge or permission, to attend HIVE, a premiere school for villains. But Otto doesn't want to be at HIVE. Can he and his new friends be the first villainous students to ever escape?

Title: H.I.V.E. - Higher Institute of Villainous Education
Author: Mark Walden
Length: 320 pages
Genre: Science Fiction (advanced tech)
Series or Stand Alone: Book 1 of 8 (so far)
Content appropriate for: Grades 4-7
Format: Paperback from the used bookstore

Three adjectives that describe this book: predictable, action-packed, lacking

This book has been really hard for me to review and rate. At breakfast this morning, I asked Ashley to help me think through my feelings about H.I.V.E. I just couldn't get a handle on why I felt so meh about it.

She asked if the world-building was any good. After all, in a book about a top secret school for training villains, the good world-building is essential. The answer is, yes, the school is thoroughly imagined, wonderfully written, and very interesting.

She asked me if the plot involved a conflict that kept me interested. What's a good book without a plot? The answer is, yes, but... The idea of devising and implementing a complex escape plan is compelling, but the way Walden put the pieces together was way too predictable for my liking.

She asked if the characters were interesting and if the author made me care what happens to them? If you don't care about the characters, then why bother? The answer is kind of, but not really.

See - Otto and his friends want to escape H.I.V.E, but WHY? Walden never explains his reasoning or shows him wrestling with the options. From the moment he arrives, Otto wants to leave. No explanations.

Character development is present. I can tell you about each character's background and their skill set. But what's missing is their motivations. And it turns out that without motivations, it's impossible to care about what happens to the characters.

Awesome Read: The Inquisitor's Mark

Premise: After the all-out Eighth Day war in Mexico, Jax, Riley, and Evangeline have gone into hiding. There are still rogue Transitioners and evil Kin lords who want to use Riley, a descendant of King Arthur, and Evangeline, a powerful wizard with bloodlines to Merlin, to get control over the Eighth Day. So when Finn Ambrose, a mysterious stranger, contacts Jax claiming to be his uncle, Jax's defenses go up—especially when Finn tells Jax that he’s holding Jax's best friend, Billy, hostage. (from the author)

Title: The Inquisitor's Mark
Author: Dianne K. Salerni
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Series or Stand Alone: Book 2 in the Eighth Day series
Content appropriate for: Grades 5-10
Format: ARC provided by HarperCollins and the author
Publication Date: January 27, 2015

Three adjectives that describe this book: intense, intriguing, exciting

Even better than Book 1! The Inquisitor's Mark is an intense, action-packed fantasy set in a world where Arthurian descendants can enter a secret spell-created day between Wednesday and Thursday.

This one picks up right where The Eighth Day left off, and our characters need to find and protect one of Merlin's descendants, otherwise she will be murdered to destroy the people living in the 8th day.

The Inquisitor's Mark kept me glued to the page throughout. A new set of characters are developed as an enemy clan, and they are creepy and fun to read. I loved the addition of Dorian's perspective for helping us understand just how evil the Dulacs are and how hard it is to make the right decisions.

Salerni also used this book to develop her world even further. We meet magical creatures and explore fascinating time-and-space travel tunnels.

Second books often have a hard time living up to their counterparts, but I found this Book 2 to be even stronger than Book 1, even though Book 1 was a 5 star book for me. Salerni doesn't ease into the story like she did in The Eighth Day, she jumps straight in. The dialogue is more authentic, and the world was crafted more clearly.

Also, I love that this series is steering clear of annoying love triangles. Some twinges of romance exist in the background; as in, he has a crush on her... they're holding hands. As a result, this book focuses on plot and world development, with actual character development, rather than drowning in irritating romance.

If you're looking for a fun, addictive read these books are highly recommended!

Book Review: Inked by Eric Smith

Premise: Caenum is just days away from his Inking, the day when he'll get a magical tattoo that determines his future career. But when he angers a Scribe, a magical tattoo artist, Caenum sets in a motion events that send the brutal government after him and everyone he cares about.

Title: Inked
Author: Eric Smith
Length: 217 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Series or Stand Alone: Unclear, but probably a stand alone
Content appropriate for: Grades 5-8
Format: Digital ARC thank to Bloomsbury via NetGalley
Release Date: January 20, 2015

Three adjectives that describe this book: dark, interesting, disappointing

I was really eager to start Inked. The cover is beautiful and the concept of magical tattoos that move around and determine your future is really cool. Other elements are pretty typical for novels like this, though:
* A career-determining special occasion
* Anxiety about said occasion (what if I don't like what I get?)
* All is not what it seems
* The government is actually evil

So Inked could have gone either way - boring and predictable, or really really cool.

Eric Smith did a moderate job of world and character building. Not enough to give me the full scope of the place and our characters (it's only 217 pages, after all), but enough that I could make sense of what was happening. The plot had a few surprising elements in the first third that really kept my attention.

Inked is full of moral quandaries. I like that in a book. It tackles issues like, "Is it okay to sacrifice a few for the good of many?" and "Is it okay to hurt an innocent person, in order to protect myself?"

Unfortunately, this promising, solid 4-star book, took a steep dive downhill in the final 10%

I've been wrestling with how to explain my issues, without any spoilers. Here's my best shot:
In the final 10%, an interesting moral dilemma arises when Caenum realizes that the good guys might be just as evil as the bad guys. This set-up is a grand opportunity for Eric Smith to grow our character. But, unfortunately, Smith seems to struggle with this tricky situation. The dilemma resolves itself through a series of convenient blackouts and an even more convenient murder (which, apparently, no one feels guilty about). Moments later - we flashforward to an epilogue where everything is peachy keen for the main characters, but the Big Evil Government problem is completely and totally unresolved.

Before reading the Epilogue, I thought maybe Eric Smith was setting up for a sequel where he would take the time to handle all the implications of evil good guys stopped via murder. But, the epilogue has our main characters walling themselves in and, almost, abandoning their goal of stopping the government. Is that the end? Apparently, so.

Classics Review: Maniac Magee

Premise: Jeffrey Lionel Magee, called Maniac, is on his own in a town that's divided. Along the way, Maniacs gain epic status as a master knot-untangler, baseball hitter, and football catcher. He also discovers caring families of all shapes and colors.

Title: Maniac Magee
Author: Jerry Spinelli
Length: 184 pages
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Content appropriate for: Grades 4-7
Format: Audiobook narrated by S. Epatha Merkerson

Three adjectives that describe this book: complex, fun, memorable

I read this book as part of the Classics Club challenge to read 50 classics books in 5 years. My list is comprised entirely of children's books.

Even though Maniac Magee is a school classic, required reading in 4th and 5th grades, I had not read it until now. I chose to read Maniac Magee as an audiobook, and S. Epatha Merkerson's narration was exceptional.

Much of the novel was written as a tall tale. For instance, at one point he faces a pitcher who has struck out every single batter. Yet Maniac hits the first pitch, and continues to hit every single one afterward - even when the pitcher hurls a frog instead of a baseball.

This narrative style makes the story fun, but it also raises the complexity of the text. When my 5th grade students discuss Maniac Magee, it's clear that they see these events as actual, rather than exaggerated. I wish Spinelli had made the tall tale aspect more explicit.

As the story progresses, some great things emerge. Maniac spends time with wonderful families, and some that are struggling. I love that Jerry Spinelli explored both ends of this spectrum.

Some other things I loved:
* Explicit discussion of racial issues
* Both positive and negative figures that are both black and white
* A fascinating father-figure who is homeless
* Learning is highly valued both in and out of school

Overall, I can see why Maniac Magee is loved by teachers everywhere. Many students love it too, but others find it lacking in action.

4.5 stars

Book Review: Ella Enchanted

Premise: As a newborn, Ella received a fairy's gift - to always be obedient. Ever since, she has to follow every command, from "sit down" to "run along." The obedience curse becomes even more troublesome when Ella's dad tries to find her a suitor. Now, Ella is desperate to find the fairy and reverse the curse. This quest leads to encounters with trolls, battles with ogres, and surprising discoveries.

Title: Ella Enchanted
Author: Gail Carson Levine
Length: 232 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Series or Stand Alone: Stand alone
Content Appropriate For: Grades 5-8
Format: Paperback from classroom library

Three adjectives that describe this book: fun, amusing, creative

Ella Enchanted is a re-imagined Cinderella. All the elements are there - a prince, a ball, a pumpkin coach, glass slippers, and mean step-sisters. But this version has an entirely different Cinderella. She's feisty and funny and a joy to spend time with. And the fantasy creatures are fascinating - especially the mind controlling ogres!

Ella Enchanted is a Newberry Honor book and was made into a fun movie starring Anne Hathaway:

The added premise of the obedience curse made for a brilliantly woven web of complexity. And I was totally caught off-guard by the level of intelligent-humor in the story. Ella is super-witty, making this book straight-up fun. Of course, by its nature, this story has a central romance and I'm not much for romance. Luckily, both protagonists were intelligent and no one moped around mooning.

Highly recommended for people who like feisty, witty, female-protagonists and creative creatures in a familiar-ish world.