Book Review: Lockwood and Co:The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

How do you feel about ghosts?  How about adventure and sarcastic banter?

The Screaming Staircase, by Jonathan Stroud, is set in a modern day London where ghosts stalk the night, and only children and teenagers can see them clearly. Our heroes Anthony Lockwood, Lucy Carlyle, and George Cubbins run a psychic detection agency. That is, they hunt and destroy ghosts. But unlike most other agencies, they don't have any adult supervisors. Since adults can't see or hear ghosts very well, Lockwood thinks they just get in the way.  Lucy tends to agree, given her unpleasant past.  George hates everyone equally.

We meet Lucy and Lockwood as they prepare to banish what they think is a routine ghost.  The ghost, and the case itself, prove too hot to handle, and Lucy and Lockwood barely escape.  Unfortunately, the Lockwood and Co. Psychic Detection Agnecy finds itself in some trouble with the law, and Lucy, Lockwood, and George are forced to take on a dangerous case in one of the most haunted houses in England.  The last team that tried to clear the historic mansion of ghosts died; every last one of them.

I enjoyed all the action and adventure, as well as the smart mouth comedy in the face of creepy, deadly ghosts.  Hope you will too!

Happy reading!

~ gothbrarian

Book Review: Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Unwind by Neal Shusterman is a book about the future. In this future, at the age of 13 parents can have to choice to "unwind" their kid. Unwinding is when doctors will take all the child's organs and parts away and give them to different kids around the world. The unwound kid will still be able to have some control of the parts when with an other kid, but not all control. There is three different ways that a kid can be unwound. One is that the parent thinks that the child is beyond saving so they will sign papers to have them unwind. Two is that the government thinks that you don't have enough talent to stay in one piece. And three is that you are born to be unwound, this means that you are a tithe, in which the family gives 10% of everything to God, including their kids. The book is about three kids who try to escape the process of being unwound. The main character's names are Conner, Risa, and Lev. Conner's parents thought that he would be happier unwound so they signed the papers. Risa lives in a state house, which means that she lives with the government of that city. Risa is a musician, but the government feels like she doesn't have enough talent to live so they send her to be unwound. Lev; short for Levi, is a tithe and has always been ready to be unwound. But when Conner escapes and saves Risa and Lev, they find themselves running from the whole world. Will they survive with their lives?

Unwind is a very good book. The details are amazing, and you feel like you know the characters. The book switches from different points of views to the other, so you experience all the characters thoughts. There are four books in the series and they are planning to make them into movies in 2016. I enjoyed this book mainly because of the characters. You can picture all of them in your mind and you can imagine the pain they go through. As the story goes on, you really feel like the cops are going to take you away next. All the locations the characters adventure to, are amazing and dangerous, which make you feel like you are next to Conner and Risa. I finished the first book around two weeks ago, and now I'm around halfway done with the second one. The ending of the book makes you want more and makes you want to save the people being unwound. The action scenes are awesome and the villains make you curl your feet. I do have a favorite character, and every time something happens to hurt them, I get mad. Unwind tries to aim for teen readers, but I think that anyone who picks it up, will not be able to put it down.

-Siera    

Book Review: Between Heaven and Earth

After his grandfather dies DJ sets out to fulfill his request in Between Heaven and Earth by Eric Walters.   Contained in sealed envelopes, grandfather has assigned each of his six grandsons a task to complete.  DJ is the oldest and must venture to the top of Mt Kilamanjaro in order to spread his grandfathers ashes.  Since DJ is a successful athelete he feels confident in his ability to climb to the summit and complete his task.   In fact, he expects to make it to the top in two days with another day to return.  Even before he begins his climb there is plenty of adventure on the way to his destination in Tanzania.

This is a fun story of adventure complete with maps and twists as the plans unfold on life journeys for each grandson.  Grandfather is dearly beloved by each and this is just one adventure in the seven series, each with a different author.

Book Review: The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

The Replacement is a horror, comedy, mystery, and romance fantasy which takes place in the time of today's high school era. The main character has many dreams of a monster, or something else, in a crib. He believes that this creature was or is him. The main character and some friends go out to figure this so-called mystery and figure out the astonishing news about their dear friend.

I enjoyed The Replacement because of its levels of effect on the reader. I felt like the author wanted me to be the main character. Though the book is not meant for every age level, I do believe that parents, children, and teens should read this book. This book will bring out the unnoticed side of sensitivity in the human being.

-Bree

Book Review: "Why We Took the Car" by Wolfgang Herrndorf

One thing I remember vividly my high school years is being one of THOSE kids. The kid that, no matter how small my class size (one year there were only about 25 of us) I didn’t get invited to anything. I can remember thinking why, if there were only 25 kids in my grade, I didn’t get invited to things. Freshman Mike Klingenberg is also one of those kids, which is one reason I love him so much. The other reason is his family is twisted that at one point he ended up with the nickname Psycho. I originally checked out “Why We Took the Car” by Wolfgang Herrndorf because European authors tend to be a little odd and who doesn’t love a good car-stealing joy ride? It’s a lot cooler and more interesting than just that, though, and has managed to become one of my fave books of this year. 

Summer break is supposed to awesome, filled with all sorts of wild and fun things. Unfortunately, Mike’s mom just went back to her spa (a.k.a. rehab), his dad took off for two weeks with his hot assistant (a.k.a. mistress), and Tatiana (a.k.a. Mike’s massive crush) didn’t invite him to her birthday party. Out of nowhere the weird new Russian student, Tschick, decides he and Mike should be friends and this is where the car-stealing joy ride comes in. They have $200, a barely functioning Lada, and no idea where they’re going; all they know is that they need to do something amazing and interesting and now’s the time to do it. The rest of the book is filled with odd balls, a random romance, two car crashes, a crazy man with a shotgun, and several run-ins with the police.

Book Review: The True Meaning of Smekday

Aliens have invaded Earth and renamed it Smekland.  Wait, no, let's start at the beginning.  Gratuity (Tip for short) Tucci is writing a report on the True Meaning of Smekday, which may or may not be included in a time capsule.  So this story starts with her and when her mother was abducted by aliens.  And then, later, the Boov invade Earth.  All the humans are supposed to be sent to Florida, but Tip decides to drive herself.  There are a variety of problems with this, the biggest two being that 1.) she's eleven years old and 2.) she's supposed to be on a Boov-approved rocketpod, not driving a car across busted highways.  Also, she has her cat (named Pig) and a runaway Boov named J.Lo in tow, which makes things complicated.  Then it turns out that another alien race is planning on invading Earth.  And then it gets weird(er). 

I love this book by Adam Rex.  It is hilarious, wonderful, quirky, and smart.  And it has great illustrations and some very funny cartoon strips drawn by J.Lo the Boov.  There are rumors of a movie in the works, so read this book now before the waiting list starts!

~ Book Ninja

P.S.  If you like Adam Rex, read some more of his stuff here!  It's all a bit different, but funny!

If You Want to Be a Hero...

Then you need to check out The Hero's Guide To Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy.  Although this may be more of a "what not to do" guide. 

So it turns out that Prince Charming doesn't like to be called Charming.  None of them do.  They have names, you know.  Gustav, Duncan, Liam, and Frederick are the princes from the stories the troubadours tell - the stories named after the princesses.  They're not happy about being religated to a side note in the stories and they're not quite living happily ever after.  In fact, nothing seems to be going their way.  Which is a pity, since an evil witch has decided to cause a lot of trouble across all the kingdoms.  Even though they don't much like each other initially, the princes are going to have to band together and, well, save the kingdoms. 

This hilarious romp through fairy tales is a fun read.  The princes are flawed, but I couldn't help but like them anyway.  They do some growing up on their wacky adventures, but there's no high-handed moral lectures.  And the princesses are well-written characters in their own right - one is down-right bratty, but the rest are seeking adventure and trying to help those around them.  Also, the villians are fantastic, like the best kind of cartoon villians.  I love the Bandit King.  He's deliciously bad, but not in the ways you expect.  If you like this book, don't forget its sequel:  The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle.  Rumor has it that a third book is on its way as well!

~ Book Ninja

P.S.  Did I mention the fun pictures?  There's fun pictures!

Warriors: The Forgotten Warrior

Warriors: The Forgotten Warrior

This book is written by Erin Hunter, who also happens to be one of my favorite authors.  She is the author of the amazing Warriors series that is very popular here in North America and it is almost entirely rare to not ever see someone reading it or for it to not be in a library. This is the the type of book that someone who is interested in fiction and fantasy would want to read - even someone like me was able to read it, even though I don't read that often.

This book is confusing, but that's because its the sixth book in the series, so if you're interested in fantasy fiction I would recommend to start from the beginning of the series which is "Warriors: The Sun Trail."  This author also has two other series of books; one is called "Seekers" and the other series, which is as popular and well known as "Seekers" and "Warriors," is called "Surviors."

So to sum up the book without spoiling it (or telling you the main story which would spoil it for you), the book picks up where the previous book left off.  The Star Clan has divided and turned into different groups and when the Dark Forest Sprites start to gain strength, there is no Star Clan anymore so the Thunder Cats (which is one of the many clans in the series) has to step in and try to stop the sprites in the Dark Forest before it's too late.

- BOOK WORM

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Lost in the middle of the Canadian wilderness, a lone teenage boy, Brian, discovers what type of person he really is. In route to his father who lives in a small Canadian town, the pilot of Brian's plane has a sudden heart attack, forcing Brian to crash land. Barely alive, Brian must nurse himself back to life and survive by himself with his only possession, his hatchet. But things start to look up for him; he builds a shelter, learns what to eat and most of all, he learns how to survive. But as we all know, life never seems to let everything be fine for very long. A couple of weeks later, everything Brian created is destroyed, leaving him to rebuild once again.Through his struggles we learn more about Brian and what it will take for him to come back to civilization, alive.

---

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen has been a teen favorite for many years. It is a great read for those looking for adventure, survival and the strength of human will. Paulsen creates the scenes as you are surviving along with Brian; facing the same struggles he does. Other books following the story of Brian in Hatchet include The River, Brian's Winter, Brian's Hunt and Brian's Return.

~ Jerome the Fighting Caterpillar

Superhuman Immortals in Space!

Garth Nix's newest book, A Confusion of Princes, is a exhilerating space opera.  The main character, Khemri, is a Prince.  Which is pretty awesome as far as Khemri's concerned, except there's thousands of Princes in the intergalactic empire.  And he just discovered that they're all out to kill each other.  Khemri is going to have to work hard and stay ever-vigilant if he wants to survive.  He's got a lot of learning to do in a very short amount of time.  To make matters more complicated, he's also sent on a secret mission, so now even more people want to kill him, but for different reasons.  On top of all that, he's finding out that there's a lot of secrets and lies in the Empire - and a lot of them have to do with the Princes and their Priests and the Imperial Mind and Khemri himself. 

I want to tell you more because this book is so good, but everything else would be spoilers.  So read it - it's fantastic!

~ Book Ninja

Robin Hood Gets Angsty

Okay, I admit it.  Technically, the main character of Scarlet by A. C. Gaughen is Will Scarlet, who is actually a girl in this telling.  But Robin Hood is also a pretty big part of her story and he's a little more angsty than the Robin Hood we usually see.  And there's Little John and Much the Miller's Son and the evil Sheriff of Nottingham and Sir Guy of Gisbourne, who everyone loves to hate. 

I love Robin Hood tales.  They were some of my favorites as a child and I spent a lot of time running around the woods behind our house pretending to be an outlaw with a heart of gold.  So when I picked up this book, I was a bit skeptical that this retelling would hold up to my love of the classic tales.  But oh, it does.  I like Scarlet so much!  She's conflicted but tough, smart but still a bit naive, deadly but caring.  Also, she's an excellent pickpocket and she throws knives.  How badass is that?  And there's plenty of action as Robin and his crew struggle to do the right thing in a world gone wrong. 

My little kid self, who was constantly on the lookout for heroines, would have loved this story even more than I do now.  As it is, I think I know what my Halloween costume is for this year. 

~ Book Ninja

Do dystopias cheer you up?

I have been thinking a lot lately about why I like dystopian fiction.  Dystopias are so much more than the opposite of utopias.  I mean they have to be, right?!  Who would choose to read about "an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives," as Merriam-Webster describes it, when we could read about unicorns and rainbows and endless supplies of chocolate?  Though I don't think there is any one reason that people like these stories, I have to agree with author Meagan Spooner that dystopias "...highlight the flaws in our society and extrapolate them into the future, imagining what our world could become if we don’t repair the cracks now while we still can".  One of the most disturbing "cracks" at present is the rise of incurable, drug-resistant diseases, although historically speaking, I guess ebola and MRSA are no worse than the bubonic plague and polio. Alexandra Bracken's new book, The Darkest Minds, imagines a world where an unknown virus starts wiping out children all over the United States (I'm kind of happy it wasn't some third world country for once!). 

More, Please!

I know someone who refuses to read a series until it's finished because he can't stand waiting for the next book to be written.  I have the opposite problem in that I read a good book and then hope and hope and hope for a sequel to be written.  Currently, I'm on tenterhooks hoping for another book from both Sarwat Chadda and Sage Blackwood.

Sarwat Chadda wrote The Savage Fortress, which features Indian mythology, archeology, and action adventure.  It may be a retelling of the Ramayana legend, but it reads like a combination of young Indiana Jones, a comic book, and an action movie - only with demons and homicidal godesses.  So good.  The sequel is coming out later this year and I have high hopes. 

Sage Blackwood's newest book is Jinx, about a young orphan boy taken in by a wizard of dubious character who lives in the middle of a dangerous enchanted forest.  And you may think to yourself, "This sounds like every fairytale or fantasy book ever," but it really isn't.  Jinx has some unusual talents, there are cursed children, witches who ride butterchurns, and a richly detailed world with a whole background story of politics, magic, betrayal, and wars.  And I need there to be more books in this world! 

So there you have it - two books that currently have me repeatedly checking the catolog to see if their sequels have magically appeared yet. 

~ Book Ninja

P.S.  Yes, they're technically Children's books, but don't judge me or the books by that, ok?  Just read them, they're so worth it.  Remember, Harry Potter is technically a Children's book too!

The Time-Traveling Fashionista

Middle school is the perfect time for a departure from the usual. Louise loves fashion especially vintage clothing. While her friend looks for all the latest fashions in Macy's, she searches in the used clothing and vintages shops. Other kids makes comments about her old clothing but Louise does not care because she loves her out-of-date and old fashioned clothing. She is familiar with all the top designers and is always looking for that special piece. She is especially pleased but apprehensive when she recieves a personal invitation to a vintage sale.  The Time-Traveling Fashionista begins her adventure. Is it possible for Louise to change the course of history?

This is Bianca Turetsky's first novel which has great illustrations by Sandra Suy. The followup is titled The Time-Traveling Fashionista at the Palace of Marie Antoinette.

The Silver Bowl

To keep silver looking shiny and beautiful you must polish it vigorously and in this story something magical happens when this is done.  The Silver Bowl by Diane Stanley has adventure, magic, treachery, and a bit of romance. 

In her seven years of life Molly has had no guidance; she is crude and harsh with no evidence of manners.  Everything she knows she has learned from the streets.  Only now that she is old enough does her father notice her and quickly sends her to the castle to labor for the King.  Her mother is unstable and kept behind locked doors.  Molly sees her before her father takes her away and it is then that her mother realizes that Molly has visions.  Like many mothers she gives her daughter advice but also a special silver chain to aid her in times of need. 

At the castle Molly befriends donkey boy who teaches her about expected behavior in the castle.  She must never look any of the royalty directly in the eye but instead look down.  He explains that servants are as "common as lice and just as interesting".  Changes are coming for Molly when she improves her position and is put in charge of polishing the king's precious ceremonial bowl. 

TIMELINE

Michael Crichton is a very creative author as he writes about science and medicine in great detail. You may be familiar with Jurassic Park, probably his most famous book and the movie by the same name.  His book Timeline includes time travel and adventure during the middle ages which he writes about vividly.  He gives a new spin on time travel or at least different from what I imagined and his portrayal of the Middle Ages is more violent than I had ever envisioned.  But it is a great story that grabs you from the beginning and keeps you engaged.  This whole adventure starts out in northern Arizona. 

Unlike Crichton's Jurassic Park DO NOT bother with the movie - it is not even close!

Middle School Mayhem

I read so many books that sometimes it's really hard to think about what to write about for this blog; other times, the universe just seems to pull out a topic and advertise it in neon lights. With arrows. And a fog horn. I was talking with a middle school teacher the other day and she was saying how there are so few good books for middle school students. My library is also currently working on a program called Middle School Mayhem. So obviously my post needs to be some of my TOP middle school reads. Without further ado, my fave middle school reads:

Speed Reading

You know what I hate? Lengthy tomes that actually take the full three weeks to read. I'll admit to having the general attention span of a sugar-high chipmunk & I want books that are either 1) so interesting & awesome that I finish it in a week or 2) so short it would be impossible to NOT finish it in a week. Stickman Odyssey, an Epic Doodle: Book One, Chopsticks," & Tina's Mouth: An Existential Comic Diary all took an hour each to read. No joke. Three books in three hours. Why are they such quick reads? Cause thanks to the brilliance of creative authors these books mix multimedia, drawings, comics, poetry, and photography to tell a story rather than just words

Best name ever? Possibly

Despite the fact that I talk The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: The Pox Party up all the time, I hadn't even thought about writing a review until I noticed Octavian Nothing winning an informal poll of teen services librarians for coolest male name. M.T. Anderson has created a book that is next to impossible to forget, even though sometimes you kinda wish you could.

Octavian has written his autobiography which takes place mostly in the Boston Area, before and during the Revolutionary War. He was raised with his mother (an African princess) in a big estate owned by a "scientific" group called the Novangalian College of Lucidity. Both were educated in literature, science, languages, you name it. At some point though Octavian realizes the other Africans in the household aren't treated as well as he is and it's probably not right that the College weighs his poop. (Seriously, they do that.) To the College's displeasure, he soon discovers the horrible truth behind the poop weighing and some gruesome(though historically accurate) horrors occur. Octavian then sets out to escape with the help of a sympathetic scholar and the start of the Revolutionary War may just help him find a new life.

The second volume, The Kingdom on the Waves, continues his story.

--The Stacked Librarian

Confessions of a librarian

It is often (and generally, correctly) assumed that librarians love to read, or that people who become librarians are people who love to read.  Now, given the title, some of you are probably expecting me to say that I confess, I honestly hate to read.  Thankfully, this is not true.  In fact, my idea of a perfect day is one that involves hiking, reading, and good coffee (not necessarily in that order).

However, this has not always been the case.  There was a time in my life (sorry, but "when I was your age") when I really did not like to read that much, at least not the kind of books that actually require much reading.  I would spend hours looking at books about World War II, or aircraft, or submarines, or castles, but chapter books, not so much.

This all changed when my parents gave me a copy of Robinson Crusoe for Christmas one year.