The Aviary by Kathleen O’Dell Juvenile Fiction Mystery * * * * Stars (Great!) Eleven year old Clara lives with her mother in the old Glendoveer mansion, where mom and another caretaker (Ruby) look after old Mrs. Glendoveer. Clara has never been to school, nor is she allowed to leave the house or have any friends because of her poor health. She has a weak heart, her mother tells her, so it isn’t good for … Read more
Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox Artemis Fowl #6 by Eoin Colfer Adventure Fantasy Science Fiction Review #1 * * * * Stars (Great!) Artemis has to go back in time and get a lemur he killed so he can save his mom from a fairy disease. But he has trouble with himself and someone who keeps giving him trouble. I liked it because of how he has to think of different things and it is … Read more
Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex Artemis Fowl #7 by Eoin Colfer Adventure Fantasy Review #1 * * * * Stars (Great!) Artemis gets a disease called the Atlantis Complex. One of Foaly’s probes gets overridden by Turnball, Artemis gets a 2nd personality and they have to save Atlantis from being crushed by the probe. I liked it because it kept surprising me and was very interesting.
Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony Artemis Fowl #5 by Eoin Colfer Adventure Fantasy Science Fiction Review #1 * * * * Stars (Great!) Artemis Fowl gets involved in demons and has to defeat a girl who stole a demon. Then the demon turns out to be a warlock and has to save his island in time from being destroyed. I liked it because it was very interesting and I liked everything else in the series. … Read more
Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception Artemis Fowl #4 by Eoin Colfer Adventure Fantasy Review #1 * * * * Stars (Great!) Artemis Fowl returns after getting a memory wipe and forgetting everything. Now he must help LEP defeat one of their most dangerous nemeses yet, Opal Kabal, the only person who could be smarter than Artemis Fowl I liked it because it has lots of adventure and thinking. Review # 2 * * * * … Read more
A Place to Call Home by Alexis Deacon illustrated by Viviane Schwarz Picture book * * * * * Stars (Amazing!) A group of (what appears to be) hamsters outgrows their hidey hole home in the junkyard and the seven of them decide that they must find new digs. They are afraid to venture out into the world without some kind of protection (very, very small portable holes that they can take with them on … Read more
Only the Mountains Do Not Move: A Maasai Story of Culture and Conservation by Jan Reynolds Nonfiction * * * * Stars (Great!) The Maasai are a group of semi-nomadic people who live in Kenya and Tanzania. In the past they traveled thousands of miles with their herds, following rain and growing seasons and seeking out new pastures for their animals. They do not believe in land ownership. Their way of life has had to … Read more
The Princess and the Pig by Jonathan Emmett Illustrated by Poly Bernatene Picture book * * * * Stars (Great!) This is one of those books where two infants are switched at birth (or close enough) and raised by unsuspecting families until they come of age and all is revealed! Because of all of the stories they’ve read (where that sort of thing happens all the time) it’s not surprising to the King and Queen … Read more
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin Fantasy * * * Stars (Pretty good) Minli lives in a small, poor, rural village in the shadow of Fruitless Mountain (called so because it is barren of life). Her parents – Ma and Ba – work hard cultivating crops, but barely manage to get by. Ma is bitter and resentful about their misfortune and poor circumstances, and when Minli uses one of her copper coins … Read more
Saving Audie: A Pit Bull Puppy Gets a Second Chance by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent photos by William Munoz Nonfiction * * * * Stars (Great!) Michael Vick, NFL quarterback, was running an illegal dog-fighting ring and raising “fighting dogs” at his appropriately named “Bad Newz Kennels.” When information about his crimes came to light, the dogs were seized, as evidence, and spent many months in isolation in an animal shelter. In the past, fighting dogs … Read more