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Book Reviews
Yah, so i just snagged most of these from what I already did on ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sbyteens. I'm just too lazy to completely redo them other than to add a little more personal take of the book.
The Beast of Noor by Janet Lee Carey
Fifteen-year-old Miles Farrell and his younger sister Hanna are haunted by a curse brought on by a relative centuries before. Now a great beast known as the Shriker hunts the woods of their island home, killing townsfolk for nearly 300 years. When Miles sees an opportunity to free his family, he takes it, earning a rare gift. But will this gift help him defeat the Shriker or will the Shriker's curse find a new victim? And what part will young Hanna play in the coming days?
This book is a little slow to start and a touch predictable, but I really liked Hanna by the end of the book even though she came across as such a weak person early on.
Teen
Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley
One night a woman dies in childbirth, and her grief-stricken husband sends the child away to be fostered. For years the child is left there, growing up not as the knight's daughter she is, but as the child of a blacksmith. But when her father remarries, Bella is told to return home to her father, new stepmother and stepsisters. As, yes. See where this is going. But in this retelling, it is Cinderella who must save the Prince.
Juvenile
Storm Thief by Chris Wooding
On the island city of Orokos nature has taken a back seat to the terror of Probability Storms known as the Storm Thief. You may wake up to find you're now right-handed instead of left-handed, you've lost the ability to breath unassisted, even the city itself is rearranged from time to time. This is the unsteady and dangerous place Rail and Moa make a living stealing and scavanging. When they steal a strange artifact from before the Fade they're suddenly on the run from the Secret Police, and caught between the other ghetto-folk and the forces of the Protectorate.
Sometimes I like Woodings, books sometimes I don't. This one I liked better than Poison, but I think I may still like the Haunting of Alaizabel Cray better.
Teen
The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, returns for a third adventure, this time with both Annabeth and Thalia in tow. Or maybe he's in Thalia's tow. While attempting to save two half-breed children from a manticore Annabeth is lost and the Goddess Artemis has gone missing. Now Percy and Thalia must learn how to work together while travelling cross-country to bring their friend home. Not to mention saving a Goddess while they're at it. Don't forget the giant robot, a pack of unstoppable skeletons, and an... underwater cow?
Out of the whole series, this so far as been the best. Not only does the mythology feel better researched, but the characters finally feel right as if Riordan has gotten more familiar with writing them. While The rest of the books are appriopriate for as young as 4th grade, there is noticiable sexual inuendo tossed around by the adults, so best to be cautious when recommending this to impressionable kids.
Teen
Walking on Glass by Alma Fullerton
Using journal entries told in free-form poems, you following in the footsteps of a young man dealing with his mother's attempted suicide. As he watches her languish away in a coma the world around him becomes as tarnished as his mother's life. Friends succumb to the lure of gang life, and his own father spirals deeper into denial and depression. He must struggle to find answers to his mother's choices, without falling with her. The end of the book to left open to your interpretation, to find your own answers. What do you think happens after his last entry?
Yeah, this has been done before and better by authors like Trueman or Block, but it was a quick and fairly easy read and the poetry was pretty accessable for readers who may not be as comfortable with the format.
Teen
sbyteens. I'm just too lazy to completely redo them other than to add a little more personal take of the book.The Beast of Noor by Janet Lee Carey
Fifteen-year-old Miles Farrell and his younger sister Hanna are haunted by a curse brought on by a relative centuries before. Now a great beast known as the Shriker hunts the woods of their island home, killing townsfolk for nearly 300 years. When Miles sees an opportunity to free his family, he takes it, earning a rare gift. But will this gift help him defeat the Shriker or will the Shriker's curse find a new victim? And what part will young Hanna play in the coming days?
This book is a little slow to start and a touch predictable, but I really liked Hanna by the end of the book even though she came across as such a weak person early on.
Teen
Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley
One night a woman dies in childbirth, and her grief-stricken husband sends the child away to be fostered. For years the child is left there, growing up not as the knight's daughter she is, but as the child of a blacksmith. But when her father remarries, Bella is told to return home to her father, new stepmother and stepsisters. As, yes. See where this is going. But in this retelling, it is Cinderella who must save the Prince.
Juvenile
Storm Thief by Chris Wooding
On the island city of Orokos nature has taken a back seat to the terror of Probability Storms known as the Storm Thief. You may wake up to find you're now right-handed instead of left-handed, you've lost the ability to breath unassisted, even the city itself is rearranged from time to time. This is the unsteady and dangerous place Rail and Moa make a living stealing and scavanging. When they steal a strange artifact from before the Fade they're suddenly on the run from the Secret Police, and caught between the other ghetto-folk and the forces of the Protectorate.
Sometimes I like Woodings, books sometimes I don't. This one I liked better than Poison, but I think I may still like the Haunting of Alaizabel Cray better.
Teen
The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, returns for a third adventure, this time with both Annabeth and Thalia in tow. Or maybe he's in Thalia's tow. While attempting to save two half-breed children from a manticore Annabeth is lost and the Goddess Artemis has gone missing. Now Percy and Thalia must learn how to work together while travelling cross-country to bring their friend home. Not to mention saving a Goddess while they're at it. Don't forget the giant robot, a pack of unstoppable skeletons, and an... underwater cow?
Out of the whole series, this so far as been the best. Not only does the mythology feel better researched, but the characters finally feel right as if Riordan has gotten more familiar with writing them. While The rest of the books are appriopriate for as young as 4th grade, there is noticiable sexual inuendo tossed around by the adults, so best to be cautious when recommending this to impressionable kids.
Teen
Walking on Glass by Alma Fullerton
Using journal entries told in free-form poems, you following in the footsteps of a young man dealing with his mother's attempted suicide. As he watches her languish away in a coma the world around him becomes as tarnished as his mother's life. Friends succumb to the lure of gang life, and his own father spirals deeper into denial and depression. He must struggle to find answers to his mother's choices, without falling with her. The end of the book to left open to your interpretation, to find your own answers. What do you think happens after his last entry?
Yeah, this has been done before and better by authors like Trueman or Block, but it was a quick and fairly easy read and the poetry was pretty accessable for readers who may not be as comfortable with the format.
Teen