The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Lately my tastes have been straying away from young adult fiction, mainly YA fiction that's geared more towards adults than kids (which I think ruins it most of the time), but this movie looks pretty good, see here, so I decided to listen to the book first before I take my kids in February.

My review will be short.
It was okay.
But as a side note, I probably shouldn't have listened to it, as I was not a fan of the reader. His voices seemed too cartoonish, like they were straight off of Sesame Street, and kept reminding me this book was for kids (you know like Trix), and I think I'd have liked it better if I'd have just read it and invented my own voices in my head. I plan on reading the rest of the series eventually and see if my little theory holds true.

Kudos to Riordan for keeping the content in this one for young adults. Imagine a young adult book that is actually for young adults! Perish the thought!

As for content, just think Harry Potter/Greek mythology, but I like mythology (I am a huge Clash of the Titans fan after all), and even though it's not half as good as Harry Potter as far as predictability and character development goes, I will give it full marks for excitement. It was good fun. Any kid would like this book. And the movie looks even better. Maybe we'll even see it on the first weekend. For me that's really saying something.
3 stars.

In a dark, dark wood...Can You See What I See? On a Scary Scary Night by Walter Wick

I'm a big fan of the I Spy series, especially this one released last year by Walter Wick. Set to the tune of In a dark, dark wood.... our story begins outside a village with a grand castle in view. Each set piece and page moves us closer to solving the riddle, to the village, to a building in that village, to the stairs, a cabinet, an item in the cabinet - okay you get the picture, until the set is so small, so intricately photographed. It's amazing! The details are spectacular. The riddles are of course, excellent, and yes, some items are a challenge to find - even for smart adults, and not so smart ones like me. This is a great Halloween read for kids, and adults looking for some spooky fun this October! It's on Amazon here.

My second favorite would be the original I Spy Spooky Night. Our copy of this is barely hanging on by a thread it's been looked over so much, and I only bring it out in October! Again the pictures are fun and rich with the kind of details that fanciful dreams are made of.

I guess that's why I like these books so much. They remind me of being a kid, when things were simpler. They encourage imagination and wonder, and as an added bonus, they make us use our brains by tricking us into learning how to problem solve, how to think outside the box.

Perfect for kids and adults this time of year.

5 stars

Anyone else have a favorite Halloween read for kids? I'm always looking for new ones to add to our haunted library.

Helluva Halloween Challenge

More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz

I've been sicker than a dog all weekend, and for some reason in my mind that meant - read as many scary stories as you can! Nothing like being scared out of your wits with a runny nose and cough. I now know that just increases their effect.

More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was a great place to start. Collected from folklore and retold my Alvin Schwartz, these stories are short and to the point, thereby bypassing a common error with these types of books - I wasn't bored to tears by the length and bad writing. These are supposed to be written for a younger audience (it says on the back for ages 9 & up) but I would think twice before letting someone that young read them. Not unless you want to be up with them in the night!
I'm a grown-up for crying out loud, and I was totally creeped out by most of them, covering a wide variety of haunting subjects. A new bride locked in a trunk forever in The Bride. Being buried alive in Rings on Her Fingers. The Ghost in the Mirror was enough to give me nightmares forever. Wonderful Sausage about a secret ingredient that just happens to be human flesh. The Cat's Paw. The Dead Man's Hand. In some he even includes actions in parenthesis like (Now rush at someone in the audience and SCREAM: AAAAAAAAAAAAH!)

Illustrated by Stephen Gammell, these drawings are horrifying! It's not that hard to imagine someone screaming.

These pictures would give my eleven-year-old nightmares. They'd give my fifteen-year-old nightmares! They gave me nightmares!

So, in other words, if you like a scary short story, I highly recommend this collection. Read it on Halloween for maximum effect though, or better yet, give it to an arch enemy as a birthday gift.
Trust me, you won't regret it...wink,wink.
4 stars

Helluva Halloween Challenge

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book One: The Lightning Thief

by: Rick Riordan

Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson never really fit in at school. Trouble always seemed to follow him. His mother ends up taking him to the only safe place for him, Camp Half-Blood, where Percy finds out he is a half-blood (or hero). He is the son of a mortal woman and a Greek god. That's right, a Greek god.

At camp Percy learns that all of the stories from Greek mythology are actually true and that the gods and godesses are still alive. He also finds out that the monsters from the stories (Medusa, the Minotaur, etc) are also still alive and are constantly trying to kill the half-bloods.

Someone has stolen Zeus's master lightning bolt and Zeus believes Percy took it. To find the real culprit Percy and his friends must go on a quest and discover the truth, fighting monsters all along the way.

First off, thank you Suzette for introducing me to this series. I am loving it so far. This book was a lot of fun, exciting and cleverly written. It was a very fast read and it kept me entertained the entire time. I always loved learning about Greek mythology when I was younger so I thought it was fun to read about them again and to see how the author has creatively added them to this book. I did find it to be similar to the Harry Potter novels, just like you Suzette, but I didn't mind it either. I think he did a good job of making it his own.

I can't wait for the movie.

4.5 stars

Marked

By P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

So I had a few problems with the book Marked.

The premise: In Marked, our hero heroine Zoey is a seemingly normal teenager in a dysfunctional family. She is surprised to find that she is not only a wizard vampyre, but also has an important destiny as indicated by an unusual scar tattoo on her forehead. As a result, she is whisked away to a boarding school called Hogwart’s The House of Night, where she trains to become a wizard vampyre.

I’m a little uncomfortable with its “young adult” rating: This book is full of cussing. It is also obsessed with sex. Yeah, I know that’s what’s on teens’ minds, but do you really want your kids reading so much about it? (And how weird is it that a mother-daughter team wrote this book? I have a close relationship with my mom, but we can barely even say the word “sex” around each other, let alone write a sex scene.)

The preachiness: Good girls don’t swear, sleep around or lust after hot boys. They are never ever prejudiced, they are not shallow and they always get good grades. And just in case you didn’t know all that, this book will repeat those messages over and over again until they are driven into your brain with all the subtlety of an ice pick.

Too much wish fulfillment: Zoey is super hot, all the hot boys are in love with her, she has super-duper vampire –- oops, sorry…vampyre –- powers, and she can drink all the non-diet brown pop she wants without getting fat. And yes, vampyres can get fat. All the perfection started to get on my nerves.

The writing: The teen talk and cultural references get old pretty quickly, but worse than that, our heroine and narrator Zoey is so repetitive. Can we use the word “hot” more often? Yes, I get that (fill in the name of any male character here, because they’re pretty much all hot) is hot. You don’t need to say it every stinking time he makes an appearance. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

All of this kept me so busy rolling my eyes that I could never really get into the book. I am forced to confess that it actually has a fairly interesting story, interesting enough that I skimmed the other four books in the series that have come out so far. It’s probably even safe to say that I would have loved this book when I was fourteen. Of course, my mom would have forbidden me to read it then, so I guess Marked and I were doomed from the start. 2 stars.

Harry Potter - Books 3,4 and 5 - Oh, and that little movie coming out Wednesday

I've plotted. I've prepared. I'm almost ready. Books 3,4,5 read. Finished. How were they? Wonderful. I listened to them, which was really fun by the way. Jim Dale must be a national treasure. I love his voice. It's so animated and fun, so well done it played through my head like on a movie screen. I highly recommend it, since the movies do leave out a ton of great stuff. I'd forgotten a lot of the original stories. Do I really need to discuss them? Is there one person on the planet who hasn't read these books? Really? I don't believe you. Book 3 - short and to the point. The first one I really liked in the series. Book 4 - way too long, but entertaining with a great plot twist in the end. Book 5 - Pretty good actually, but the point was a little muddled. I expected a bigger climax sort-of ending, other than just "the prophesy". Holy adverbs, but whose counting. Not me.

Just started Book 6. And the movie, ah, yes, but I'm starting to sweat in unusual places. Will I be done with it before the movie comes out? Will I be allowed to get away for 2.5 hours? Will I be able to sit through it without having to take someone to pee? I swear I miss half the movies I see with my kids because I give them too much to drink. This time no water for 5 hours before!


I couldn't find that new trailer anywhere. Looks like they yanked it. Idiots. Here's an old one. In the words of Ron, "Who cares!" Boy it looks like it'll be creepy. Ya-hoo!

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Clary Fray is no ordinary teenage girl. After she witnesses a murder in a New York City nightclub, everything goes awry in her life: her mother disappears after leaving her a cryptic message, she can suddenly see dead people – oh, no wait, they might be alive, but with weird markings on their arms, oh yeah, and one of them is really hot – and demons want to suck out her brains, vampires want to drink her blood, and werewolves want to just end her life. Clary’s had a bad week.

If you want to read some really good reviews of this book, check it out on goodreads. The first few on the list mirror my thoughts so exactly, that I don’t want to just repeat what they said here. Instead I’ve made a little overview list of my own, and if I ever decide to write a book, I’ll have something to refer to as a quick guide to unbridled success in the current teenage fiction market.

- Name the main character after yourself. --Check

- Use italics for emphasis on almost every page. --Check Check

- Compare everything from the taste in your mouth, to the smell in the room to old paper. (I’m not exactly sure how old paper tastes. Is anybody sure? Is there a Bertie Botts Every Flavor Bean with that flavor? If anybody would know it’d be this author, because she obviously likes Harry Potter, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Star Wars.. a lot) --Check

- Be sure to have one extremely long 'how I became a werewolf and why' scene description similar to another book that I too found way too long.. --Check

- Make everybody smell like blood and sweat at some point in the story, and yes they are a stinky lot because of it. --Check

- Make the bad guy (or at least I assumed he was bad, because by the end I wasn’t so sure) Voldermort, Darth Vader, and your dad on any given bad day rolled into one and you’ve got your villain! --Check

- Reveal a plotline in the end that made me say aloud, “Eeeww!” --Check

- Have everything have a convenient fix, whether it’s a quick, as yet unknown magical fix or good-guy-gone-bad fix, for no reason whatsoever other that to drive the plot to some end. --Check

- Make the anti-hero/love interest so much like Spike in Buffy that I wanted to watch him in his original form again. Sigh…. (Did you catch that word, original? It’s a new concept here.) --Check

- Am I being a little harsh? --Check, Check, Check. Oh well, you don’t have to read this ramble if it was your favorite book. Oh, but wait, it's too late! You've already read it if you've gotten this far! Hee-hee (insert maniacal sounding Dr. Evil laugh here). 2 stars

~~As a side note, I hear the author improves a little, and that the other two in the series are better. So, if I have nothing better to do, like say cleaning my house, I’ll probably give the series at least one more try just to give her the benefit of the doubt. Because in a battle between cleaning my house and reading, which do you think wins? Hmm...

Does My Head Look Big In This?

by Randa Abdel-Fattah

I don’t know about anybody else, but I’d want to return to my high school years about as much as I’d want to see the IRS on my caller ID. Those years are tough on all of us, a time for our rapidly growing ideas and minds to catch up with our rapidly growing body parts, a time to figure out who you are. My path through those hormonal years was rarely clear of debris and thorny sticks, and I always watched with a little bit of envy those whose path seemed clearer and more focused than mine.

Amal is one of those people. She’s a typical teenager in her Melbourne prep school. She’s on the debate team, has a close circle of girlfriends, is concerned about her clothes matching and whether she has a zit, and most importantly, if the cutest boy she’s had a crush on for ages is noticing her. But there’s one thing that’s not so typical, she’s a Palestinian-Muslim, the only one in her school and this year she’s decided to wear her head scarf (hijab) fulltime as a statement of her faith.

It’s 2002, a year after the September 11th attacks and a few months away from the Bali explosion in Indonesia. Tensions against Muslims are running high everywhere, in her school, her neighborhood, and in her city. Yet, Amal is a strong young woman who has come to the decision to stand up for what she believes in, despite the obstacles, and in the end they only seem to increase her resolve to stick with what she believes in.

What’s not to like about a story about a young teen who clearly knows what she wants? For someone who knows nothing about the Muslim religion, I found what was discussed here a light taste of something infinite. The author was clearly trying to explain to non-Muslims that Muslims are just like everybody else through Amal’s interactions with her parents, her extended family and her friends, but I might’ve liked seeing a deeper look, like why Muslim women wear the hijab in the first place. Not all Muslims are terrorists, I get it. The majority of them are peace loving people trying to do the best for their families. This was probably the main point of the book, over and over and over again.

Therein lies my problem with this story. Think peachy with an r conveniently situated. The plot was so well calculated it didn’t flow naturally for me. It didn’t seem realistic at all, from her relationship to her parents, to her experiences with prejudice, and especially her discussions with her friends. In college maybe, but 11th grade? Really? What planet is she from? Maturatron. (I wonder if they wore leg-warmers there too?) Oh, why couldn’t I have been from there as a teen!

Kudos to you, Ms. Abdel-Fattah, for creating a strong female lead for other teens to look up to, but next time ease up a bit on the moral lessons as it sometimes makes a teen, er…an adult like me rebel and give you a 2.5 stars. Sorry.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - by JK Rowling

Life at Hogwarts continues in this adventure-filled sequel. After a mind-numbingly boring summer spent with the hideous Dursley's, a warning from one weird-looking elf, and a short stint of joy at the Burrow, Harry is on his way back to Hogwarts. But as always, that's where his real trouble begins.

Truth be told this one is probably my least favorite of the seven. It was a little slow for me in the beginning, finally took root about half way, then finished with a bang by the end. I did have fun reviewing all the clever and witty details, and am looking forward to catching up on the next books. What a great escape they are. Care to test your knowledge of these soon to be classics?
Are you but a fair weather lover of all things Potter, or a seasoned traveler through these books? I'm somewhere in the middle. Either way, I enjoyed the trip back.

1. On the first page, how many times that week had Hedwig’s screeching bothered Mr. Vernon Dursley?

2. What did Harry miss most especially about Hogwarts?

3. Name Mr. Dursley’s potential drill clients.

4. Harry’s dinner for the night they were coming was?

5. What color are Dobby’s eyes?

6. Mrs. Mason was mortally afraid of what?

7. What was the color and make of the enchanted car?

8. What was the name of the Weasley’s owl?

9. The gnomes in the Weasley’s garden, what vegetable did they look like?

10. What’s the name of Ron’s favorite Quidditch team?

11. Who was Bill Weasley working for in Egypt?

12. What present did Draco Malfoy want his father to buy him in Borgin and Burkes?

13. Instead of Diagon Alley, where did Harry turn up?

14. What did Professor McGonagall suggest Harry and Ron should’ve done instead of stealing the car?

15. What award did Professor Lockhart win five times in a row?

16. What was the name of the new gifted brooms the Slytherin’s received to play Quidditch?

17. Ron’s detention was cleaning what and for whom?

For a different set of questions see here. 3 stars

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

by JK Rowling

You don’t have to be a wizard or a kid to appreciate the spell cast by Harry Potter. For me returning to this series was like returning to a familiar pillow and blanket, a favorite dessert, or my favorite well-worn shoes: instantaneous comfort. What a joy this was to read again.

Because most everyone is as familiar with these three-dimensional characters and spooky scenes as they are the ingredients in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, I’m going to test your knowledge and walk through the book in question form. Only the most diligent kids; or I mean grown-ups may apply.

1. On what day of the week does our story begin?

2. How many presents did Dudley get for his eleventh birthday?

3. What country is the boa constrictor at the zoo from?

4. What day of the week was Harry’s eleventh birthday?

5. What did Hagrid cook for Harry when he first met him?

6. Name one course book first year students at Hogwarts will require.

7. What is Harry’s wand made from?

8. While waiting to board the train, what does George offer to send his mom from Hogwarts?

9. What kind of lumpily packaged sandwich does Ron unhappily unwrap on the train?

10. What is the first portrait password to get into Gryffindor tower?

11. What bone did Neville break while attempting to fly?

12. Who is the captain of the Gryffindor’s Quidditch team?

13. What game does Harry compare Quidditch to?

14. On what holiday does the troll appear?

15. What is the name of the three-headed dog guarding the trap-door?

16. What gifts did Harry receive for Christmas?

17. What does Dumbledore see when he looks in the Mirror of Erised?

18. How old was Nicholas Flamel?

19. What kind of dragon does Hagrid have? What’s its name?

20. How did Filch once punish wayward students?

21. Name the centaurs Harry meets in the forest.

22. What instrument do they use to put the three-headed dog asleep?

23. What position did Ron play on the chess board?

24. What flavor of bean did Dumbledore eat while visiting Harry in the hospital?

25. How many times have you read this book?

***

A delightful read that's worth revisiting often, even if I am a muggle. 4 Stars

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

by Gary D. Schmidt

This book was a very pleasant surprise for me. I checked it out at the library based on the author (who wrote The Wednesday Wars—fabulous book), also based on the fact that it was a Newbery Honor as well as a Printz Honor book. I certainly didn’t expect to like it as much as I did! It’s a beautiful coming-of-age story about 13 year-old Turner Ernest Buckminster III who moves to Phippsburg, Maine in 1912 where his father has been appointed the town minister. There is an island nearby where a small community of black people live, including Lizzie Bright Griffin who is close to Turner’s age. Turner doesn’t get along with anyone else in town, but he does form a closeness and friendship with Lizzie. The problem comes when the people of Phippsburg decide they need the land on Malaga Island for tourism to help their economy, and they want to force the black people to leave. The story is based on true events.

There are some great characters in the book, especially the old women in town. Turner is forced, as punishment, to play the organ for an old lady who is sure she will die anytime, so she keeps a paper and pen nearby so whoever is with her will record her last words as she is certain they will be prolific. Turner is careful not to play any songs that will encourage her to die. There are other well developed characters that I grew to love, hate, or feel sorry for.

This was a story that stuck with me and the more I think about it, the more I like it. I love books like that. There are some prime teaching moments for families about prejudice, courage, family, adversity. This is a beautiful story. I give it an A.

The Book Thief

By Markus Zusak
I rarely give a book my highest rating. A place on my 5 star shelf. But the likes of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights may now have a new companion in The Book Thief. This ingenious, groundbreaking young adult fiction almost fits in a class of books unto itself. A book that breaks you apart with each page until you somehow end up whole on the last one. A book that brought tears to my eyes more than once, but never felt sorry for itself. A book that took forever to read.

Our surprisingly ungloomy narrator is somber, tired and in need of a vacation. His story begins in Germany, 1939, during World War II, where Death's been very, very busy. He starts immediately with a description of what to expect, as Death assumes that like himself, no one cares much for surprises.
- A girl
- Some words
- An accordionist
- Some fanatical Germans
- A Jewish fist fighter
- And quite a lot of thievery

Death never minces words. He gets right to the point. He needs distractions to help him cope with his job. One is color in its multitude of shades, like I've never heard described before. They are his vacation "in increments".
"Yes, it was white. It felt as though the whole globe was dressed in snow. Like it has pulled it on, the way you pull on a sweater. Next to the train line, footprints were sunken to their shins. Trees wore blankets of ice. As you might expect, someone had died."

Another distraction is a young 11 year old girl named Liesel. He shares her story with us with very interesting commentary intermingled in between to remind us he's still there, in the background. Sometimes warning us of impending doom, sometimes making simple observations.

"Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day. That was the business of hiding a Jew."

"There was once a strange, small man. He decided three important details about his life:
1. He would part his hair from the opposite side to everyone else.
2. He would make himself a small, strange mustache.
3. He would one day rule the world. ...Yes, the Fuhrer decided that he would rule the world with words."

"He was more a black suit than a man. His face was a mustache."

The Book Thief. A rich, complicated novel about the terrible effects of war on ordinary, decent people. People I knew very well by the last page. It was victorious and tragic at the same time. Few authors can pull that off. Zusak does. Very well indeed. It struck a chord with me, and so to that I must add, the Bronte's need to make some room. 5 stars.

I am the Messenger

I am the messenger is by Markus Zusak. After reading "The book thief", which I loved, I decided to try out one of his other stories and I have to say I was not disappointed.
What would you be willing to go through in order to help others? This is the basis of the book. An average person, living a sub par life is thrown into heroics when he starts receiving playing cards in his mailbox. Doing good does not always reward in the way you would think, sometimes is even creates a punishment for the do-gooder. This was a quick read and made me stop and think about the things that hold me back from changing my own life and those around me. This is classified as a young adult novel, but it definitely deals with adult issues.
Favorite quote from the book
"She smelled like sex, I only hoped I smelled like love."
I love the idea that love has a smell and it permeates those that we love.

Brisingr

By Christopher Paolini

Wow, at almost 800 pages, it took me so loooong to finish this book. Christopher takes his saga VERY seriously. Did I mention seriously? Let me say it again just in case, VERY seriously. A little too serious for my own particular taste, but I'm of the type that found the pronunciation guide on the back pages unhelpful in that, I don't plan on actually speaking the Elvish language outside of the book. And the Acknowledgments...we'll, let's just say the kid has self-esteem to spare. He likes this story, as well he should.

With that being said, Brisingr was...okay. As is typical with any series of books, the first one is generally best with each successive book becoming less original and more of a stretch. For me, I felt this the case here. There are alot of similarities with past works, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, etc., but he is hardly the first author to borrow ideas and expand them. He's done a pretty good job of creating his own unique world with, at times, yawn-filled, intricate detail.

Brisingr picks up only a few days after Eldest has ended with the rescue of Eragon's cousin Roran's intended Katrina from the clutches of the birds-gone-bad, the Ra'zac. In a nutshell, a blooding fight ensues and continues throughout to the end of the book. There's ALOT of men fighting in this one, a hidden pregnancy (woo), more fighting, some one-on-one time with the beautiful elf Arya (ah, but you'll have to read to see what happens, sigh...), some yoda-like moments, a head or two lobbed off, more fighting, and finally, a cleverly named sword.

In truth, I was mildly entertained just enough to finish it. While the series has become a tad over-masculine for my taste, I will probably read the fourth book when it comes out, if it comes out within a decade that is. I'm hoping he can spare us some ibuprofen and keep it to under 500 pages. If wishes were fishes...
Also, I'm curious if any other women liked it. 3 Stars

Rapunzel's Revenge

By Shannon and Dean Hale
Illustrated by Nathan Hale

"Now with a name like the Devil's Armpit, you'd think it'd be a right jolly place. -We didn't sleep much at night."

My first foray into the land of graphic novels was very entertaining. What's not to like about a red-headed chick with a scorpion tale hair braid and a stinging attitude to match it! Throw in a handsome, mysterious sidekick, an evil stepmother, plants and animals with serious growth issues, and you have a modernized version of the classic fairy tale.

Without giving too much away, many questions I had as a child are answered here. Why was Rapunzel trapped in a tower? Why did her hair grow so freakishly long? Who is that boy that saves her? We all know how the original ended, but in this crisply combed up version, the only one that does the saving is Rapunzel.

Can't you tell that from the cover art? Does she look like the rescuer or the rescuee? She looks hot! The whole book is beautifully drawn by Nathan Hale. The story itself is a bit long, but I'm not all that used to graphic novels. Shannon Hale is very good at witty, smart dialogue and this book is in league with her others. And anyone who can incorporate a JACKALOPE into the story line deserves some sort of special award in my book. - 3 Stars