The Magic Warble - Victoria Simcox

Wow. I should look in my drafts folder more often. I've had this review written for a WHOLE year! Good news for me, I actually have something to post haha

Summary

From Goodreads:

Twelve-year-old Kristina Kingsly feels like the most unpopular girl in her school. The kids all tease her, and she never seems to fit in. But when Kristina receives an unusual Christmas gift, she suddenly finds herself magically transported to the land of Bernovem, home of dwarfs, gnomes, fairies, talking animals and the evil Queen Sentiz. In Bernovem, Kristina not only fits in, she's honored as "the chosen one," the only one who can release the land from Queen Sentiz's control. But it's not as simple as it seems. To save Bernovem, she must place the gift she was given, the famous "Magic Warble," in its final resting place. She must travel through the deep forest, climb a treacherous mountain, and risk capture by the queen's "zelbocks" before she reaches her destination. Guided by her new fairy friends, Clover and Looper and by Prince Werrien, a teenage boy, and an assortment of other characters, Kristina sets off on a perilous journey that not only tests her strength but her heart

First Line: "Kristina awoke when the jangling of her alarm sounded right in her ear."

Thoughts

First off, I would like to thank Vailia's Page Turner for running the giveaway that gave me a chance to read this story (And you should go check out her blog, she's always hosting great giveaways!), and secondly I would like to thank Victoria Simcox for being kind enough to allow me to host a giveaway of her book!

This was such a charming read!  It is definitely more for the middle grade reader than for the more teen oriented YA, so don't go into the book expecting instalove and love triangles (thank the lord for that!)


Here's what I loved:

- If you cross The Chronicles of Narnia with The Lord of the Rings, you get The Magic Warble
- Kristina's family is so very much what family is like when you're twelve (in most households anyway). Her parents clearly love her, but they are also clearly out of the loop when it comes to Kristina's relationships to other people and how she feels.
- I love Raymond!  Rats aren't generally thought of as pets, but I would love to have a rat like Raymond as a pet!  It also suits Kristina that she doesn't have a "usual" pet like a cat or dog.
- Talking animals, 'nuff said
- Kristina is a really great character.  She's strong and determined, but she's not superhuman.  She feels terrified and isn't afraid to admit it, but she keeps going despite her fears.  It makes her so likeable, because she's everything you'd want to be when you are twelve, but she's not a perfect character (which probably would have made me hate her a little bit if I read this when I was twelve)
- Werrien becomes Kristina's first best friend, and it was really sweet seeing them grow to be friends.  It wasn't instafriend (my version of instalove for younger readers).  They didn't know each other, there were plenty of misunderstanding, but when push came to shove they had each other's backs and they really grew to appreciate and love each other.
- Also Werrien is awesome with the bow and arrow and there's a lot of great action scenes.  Not too long which might bore some of your girl readers (some of them...some of us are all about knowing when to use a battle axe or a broad sword), but definitely plenty to engage those of us who love our action scenes!
- The concept of fairy blossom felt new and unique to me.
- Miss Henlsey reminded me so much of Miss Honey from Roald Dahl's Matilda.  I instantly fell in love with her! (And I'm really curious what her connection to the Magic Warble is!  I mean, I can guess, but I wonder if we'll get any of her story in the sequel?)



Most of what I didn't love as much has little to do with the actual story, and more to do with me as a reader.  It's been a long time since I've read a middle grade book that I didn't read when I was a kid.  I actually can't think of any at the moment!  So it took me a while to get into the story.  I think anyone who regularly reads middle grade stories, and particularly the age group it is aimed at will fall in love with the story immediately.  If I look at it analytically, you get the perfect amount of time set in our world, getting background on our characters, and then you jump to the magical world and the fast paced adventure starts right away!  I honestly have no idea why I didn't jump into the story right away.  I also had a hard time with the good vs. evil - and again I think it's because I primarily read stories aimed at older audiences (if we're going to be honest, I probably read more NA than YA since that's a category now).  The Magic Warble is full of villains - and the villains are perfectly villainy.  Again it reminds me of The Chronicles of Narnia - you've got your true evil, and your only sort of evil (there are so many twists and turns in The Magic Warble!  I don't want to give anything away, but I was constantly being surprised).  I've gotten used to explanations on the truly evil, but it is characteristic of middle grade stories for evil to simply be evil.  Overall, I only wish there had been more character development for the secondary characters, but I think part of that is being set up for the sequel.  The second half of the book flew by for me!  I got really into the story, and when I found out there is a sequel out, I was super excited!  It might have taken me a while to relax and get into the story, but when it happened, boy did it happen.  I'm definitely going to get my hands on the sequel when I get chance!


Would I recommend it?

Absolutely.  Buy this for your younger readers - or really just readers that aren't hooked into the romance aspect of books yet (which generally means younger readers).  The cast is a great mix of all genders and species, there's loads of adventure, fairies and gruesome creatures, and some really nice world building. 

Day 06 - Favorite Book of Your Favorite Series

I've mentioned before the the Redwall series was a huge part of my life growing up.  With twenty-two books in the series, it's no surprise that after about book 10, they all start blurring together.  I have vague remembrances of enjoying one more than another, but in general the stories were always pretty solid, if not memorable.  There is one exception in this series, and ever since my first time reading it (and upon many, many rereads of this series) it has always stood out as my absolute favourite book of the lot. 

Martin the Warrior is the sixth book in the Redwall Series, and it is the first time we go back to the history of the world Brian Jacques has set up.  In the previous books, you hear constant mentions of Martin the Warrior as a true hero to almost mythic proportions.  In the previous books it's been years (from what I recall it's basically at least a century), and it doesn't matter how far down the generations the books have taken us, Martin the Warrior remains a strong part of their history.  So when I discovered that we'd finally get to hear about this Martin fellow I was pleasantly surprised as it was a new twist to how the series had been progressing (aka, chronologically). 

This book has everything that I've come to realize that I expect in a fantasy novel to be worthy of my favourites shelf.  It's got heartbreak and tragedy, but humour and love, platonic and romantic relationships, epic worldbuilding (and food porn!), complex relationships...it's amazing. I'm not expecting anyone who hasn't read this story to read it, but in the interest of not spoiling it anyway, BEWARE SPOILERS.

Martin's main love interest is killed and my guess is that it was probably the first time I'd had a main character/love interest die (although Charlotte's Web may have happened before this, so who knows. But definitely the love interest dying bit.)  It was one of the only times in the series that a main character dies, and I was absolutely heart broken when I finished this book.  I always find that the books I found as a child that were more than just a happy story are the ones I was really drawn to.  (Hmm. Maybe this is why I am so morbid?)

END SPOILERS

And now I think I'm going to start rereading these books...I'm getting nostalgic haha

Seeing Red - Kathryn Erskine

I received a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Summary

Goodreads:  National Book Award winner Kathryn Erskine delivers a powerful story of family, friendship, and race relations in the South.

Life will never be the same for Red Porter. He's a kid growing up around black car grease, white fence paint, and the backward attitudes of the folks who live in his hometown, Rocky Gap, Virginia.

Red's daddy, his idol, has just died, leaving Red and Mama with some hard decisions and a whole lot of doubt. Should they sell the Porter family business, a gas station, repair shop, and convenience store rolled into one, where the slogan -- "Porter's: We Fix it Right!" -- has been shouting the family's pride for as long as anyone can remember?

With Daddy gone, everything's different. Through his friendship with Thomas, Beau, and Miss Georgia, Red starts to see there's a lot more than car motors and rusty fenders that need fixing in his world.

When Red discovers the injustices that have been happening in Rocky Gap since before he was born, he's faced with unsettling questions about his family's legacy.



Thoughts

So I basically spent this entire book on the verge of tears.   I had NO idea what I was getting to with this book.  It's set during the 70's and it deals with the aftermath of the civil rights movement and the rampant sexism that was still in place.  This book is powerful.  It isn't that I was on the verge of tears because I was constantly devastated (although don't get me wrong, there are DEFINITELY heart breaking moments) - they were more tears of shock and frustration at what Red was dealing with.  And despite what we think about it now, this is barely even history.  It is a very, very close past.

I don't think I'm alone in seeing overt racism and sexism in the US as something in the distant past.  (I mean the kind where you get lynched or that domestic abuse was not really a police matter - OVERT overt) I'm not saying it doesn't still exist - unfortunately, I think that is part of being human.  A minority of people are always going to feel that way about us.  But a lot of giant steps were taken to solve many of these issues before I was born.  But when you say the seventies...that was not that long ago.  That was in my parent's time. That doesn't sound as long ago as it feels.

This book deals with so many issues - racism, sexism, loss of a parent, growing pains, domestic abuse, where blame stops, sins of your ancestors - I mean the list goes on.  Despite all of this, it's not a difficult book to get through.  I know that sounds hard to believe considering what that list is, but the writing is well-written, but simple, and the characters are so relateable I could NOT put it down, and stayed up til 3 am to finish it!

Every thing in this book is so layered - in a lot of ways it reminds me of To Kill a Mockingbird (I know I have said this about another book only a couple weeks ago - I promise not everything reminds me of TKaM!)  Sometimes the reader has things figured out way before the character in the same way that in TKaM, Scout might say something and not fully understand what it meant, whereas the reader knew exactly what was happening.  It's not like a mystery where it's unfortunate that you know things before the narrator does.  It really sets up different levels of understanding depending on the reader's experience, which is why I think it would be a great book for classrooms or from a parent as an introduction to issues.  This book is also a great example as to why the Bechdel test isn't a measurement of how well a book displays women in literature, it's simply an observation of their roles.  Seeing Red doesn't pass the test as the book is narrated in first person and our narrator is a boy, but it strongly advocates male/female equality (it's not preachy though, don't worry).  I'm not sure I've read a book that so strongly shows why we need it, and what it means when we don't have it, and it was very well done!

My only complaint is Thomas.  Yes, what Red did was awful.  But Thomas decided to stop being friends with him long beforehand, and Red stood up for him, even if he made some grievous errors directly beforehand.  He might have taken a second to recover, but he did what was right.  I don't see why Red is the only one to blame here, or that his sins are unforgiveable.  Most of my problem is not so much Thomas's reaction to what Red did (because I definitely get that), but more that he stopped being friends before that whole situation without a good reason.  Part of that is a me thing...I have loyalty issues.  You better have a damn good reason to stop being best friends with someone *spoilers* and that person being white is not a good reason.  Perhaps Thomas meant it as self preservation, but Red had done nothing at that point to deserve judgement because of his race.  That's racism as well. *spoilers*.  But other than an issue that is more of a personal complaint than an actual criticism of the book, this book is really amazing, and I really recommend it.  If you are looking for a book to expand your child's (I say child lightly, I don't think this is a book for someone who isn't ready for it) awareness of issues, or to have a book that might open up a dialogue between the two of you, this should definitely be at the top of your list!

Sure Signs of Crazy - Karen Harrington

 Summary

Love can be a trouble word for some people. Crazy is also a trouble word.
 
I should know.
  You've never met anyone exactly like twelve-year-old Sarah Nelson. While most of her friends obsess over Harry Potter, she spends her time writing letters to Atticus Finch. She collects trouble words in her diary. Her best friend is a plant. And she's never known her mother, who left when Sarah was two.
Since then, Sarah and her dad have moved from one small Texas town to another, and not one has felt like home.

Everything changes when Sarah launches an investigation into her family's Big Secret. She makes unexpected new friends and has her first real crush, and instead of a "typical boring Sarah Nelson summer," this one might just turn out to be extraordinary.


Favourite Lines:

Lisa is wrong about kissing and love.  It might make you pretty at first, but it makes you look stupid, too.

It's funny how you don't know you are a bunch of pieces until someone hugs you together.


Thoughts

This book makes you feel so many things at the same time!  Sarah often wonders in the book if feeling two things in the same moment makes you crazy, and if that were the case this book would have definitely put me well into the category of madness.

It's definitely a character centric book.  Not a lot actually happens action wise.  A lot of what "happens" in the book are things that took place in Sarah's past, and observations of how the past has impacted the adults who surround her currently.  It's just amazing to see how all the characters grow - but you aren't seeing them grow, you are seeing Sarah seeing them grow without her always recognizing the growth.  Wow.  Isn't that just a mind ...word I can't find a substitute for?

Karen Harrington did an absolute fantastic job of writing a 12 year-old narrator.  There's a fine balance in showing the naivete of a preteen, but at the same time capturing the way children often know more than you'd think.  Or how they only understand a part of a more mature subject.  In a lot of ways Sarah reminds me of Scout from To Kill A Mockingbird.  I'd say this is likely on purpose, as Sarah confides in Atticus Finch through letters.  She's a little older than Scout was I think, but she still captures that sort of heartbreaking quality as she says things that show horrible events...but she says them in such a funny manner and with such a blunt focus that you're torn between laughter and feeling sort of horrified!  It's difficult to describe, but if you've read To Kill a Mockingbird, you should understand what I mean.  Sarah's voice is so incredibly sincere and it's just...well.  I've already said that it's perfect for a 12 year-old who is going through some incredibly heart breaking situations.  I don't have a better way to say it, other than that Sarah is probably the most sincere narrator I've come across in modern literature.  

The only criticism I have is that Charlotte, Sarah's babysitter, acts less like someone in her 20's and more like someone who is sixteen.  I mean, I'm in my 20's and she sounded like a kid I would have student taught.  I had a hard time remembering that she was getting her PhD!  But that is such a small quibble in the grand scheme of things.  This book is just a really special book.  It's a book that kids can read, and a book their parents will love too.  It would be a wonderful book to pair with To Kill a Mockingbird...and everyone should read this.  It's not just for people like me who read younger literature, it's the kind of book EVERYONE should read.

Overall

Read this.  This is easily in my top 10 books for the year.  Maybe even top 5? In any case.  I repeat:  read this!

Death of a King - Andrew H. Vanderwal

I received a copy of this book from the publishers in exchange for an honest review.

Summary

From the publisher:   

One of history's most turbulent times comes dramatically to life in this big, broad adventure novel. Twelve-year-old Alex, determined to get to the bottom of his parents' disappearance, sets out on a quest to find them. An ambitious time-travel novel set in Scotland at the time of William Wallace, Death of a King explores the turbulence of the bloody late thirteenth century after King Alexander dies on his way to Kinghorn without leaving an heir to the throne. The country is thrown into chaos, and Alex must overcome many obstacles along his path. Full of humor, intrigue, bloodshed, battles, and suspense, Death of a King is a rollicking read told by a major voice in historical fiction.

Born in the Netherlands, Andrew H. Vanderwal was raised in Canada. A partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Andrew H. Vanderwal lives in Toronto with his wife and two sons. His first novel for young adults, The Battle for Duncragglin, was a great critical success.


First Line:  The torch cast a flickering light over the coarse stone walls as the squire hastily led a man and a woman up a spiral staircase.


Thoughts

First, let me say that this was an extremely well researched book.  Whether or not I always followed what was going on, it was clear that the events that took place really happened, (or that the details were changed enough so that if you knew the history that took place you would have seen clearly how the time travelers changed history.  As I'm not familiar with this setting and time period, I honestly can't say which it was).

I think my biggest issue with this book was that I simply don't know much about this period of time.  It felt like the events were described in a way that was sort a wink to the reader, but I never got the joke as I had no prior knowledge.  It's not as if we didn't get plenty of background on what was happening - I just felt like these were probably famous battles, and I think my enjoyment was hindered by my ignorance on the subject.

I also kept feeling like I was missing something.  I finally looked up the author when I finished this book and discovered there was a prequel.  To me a prequel is something that doesn't impact the series - you'll likely need to read the series to understand the prequel, and it might flesh out some information about the series.  But it doesn't work the other way around - you don't have to read a prequel to understand a series.  (Or at least that's my understanding of how it works).  I haven't read the prequel, so I don't know if this is the case or not, but the whole story felt like I'd jumped into the middle of a series and it was very disorientinh.  If you do read this novel, I'd highly recommend checking out the prequel first as it likely explains the whole premise of this book. 

I also felt like there were gaps between events in the book - for example, when did Alan become a good friend?  It sounded like he was kind of a scary guy who wasn't well known in the beginning, but again maybe he has some sort of role in the prequel that suddenly explains why they are buddy buddy.  And when did the modern kids suddenly decide to time travel to find Alex?  One of them was being bullied, and we jump back to the past to follow Alex for a bit, and when we returned to the modern day kids...they were in a cave activating the time travel device?  When did that plan come to place?  It's possible I missed a chapter, I suppose?  Because of this I also had a really hard time keeping track of who was who in the modern characters, and I didn't get a great feel for their individual personalities.

My BIGGEST pet peeve was the Scottish accent.  This is simply a personal thing.  I hate reading accents!  You know what I hated most about Wuthering Heights?  Joseph!  He was bloody well unreadable!  Reading accents really trip me up in a book and I have a hard time not getting distracted, so this may have also affected my inability to get really absorbed in the book.


Overall

All in all I felt like it was a very well researched book, and there's plenty of action, which I'm sure the targeted audience will love.  Despite that, I felt really disconnected from the characters and actions that were taking place. I feel like the gaps in my knowledge and the missing information in the book played a big role in that.


Would I recommend it?

I could take it or leave it.  If it was a book you were interested in, I'd say go for it because it's got tons of great history and action, but it isn't a book I'd go out of my way to recommend.

Aquamarine & Indigo - Alice Hoffman

Rated: 5 stars

Synopsis:

Hailey and Claire are best friends and next-door neighbors. Throughout a long hot summer they spend their days at the Capri Beach Club, dreading the end of the season when Claire will move with her grandparents to Florida. The two girls are often the only ones using the Beach Club, which is in disrepair and will close at the end of the summer. After a violent storm that whips waves from the beach into the pool, they discover a mysterious presence at the bottom of the pool - a mermaid who has become separated from her kin and is in search of love on land. As they work together to help the mermaid survive and find her heart's desire, Hailey and Claire learn to accept their pending separation and appreciate the magic of each moment they spend together with Aquamarine.

The people of Oak Grove fear water because their town once endured a terrible flood, so they do everything to keep water out of the town. Martha Glimmer and her friends, Trevor and Eli McGill, feel different from others in the town. Martha's sadness is largely due to her mother's recent death. Her father has withdrawn into his own sorrow and allowed a neighbor, Hildy Swoon, to provide meals and tend their house, but Martha resents her presence bitterly. Trevor and Eli, nicknamed Trout and Eel by those who make fun of the webbing between their fingers, have had odd habits ever since they were brought to town by their adoptive parents. The boys like to add salt to their drinking water, prefer fish to any other food, and free the frogs from the science lab at school. Martha, Trout and Eel decide to leave home to find what each most desires, but their running is cut short by a storm that brings all characters in the story face to face with their own true nature.

Thoughts:

I was really, really surprised when I started reading this book - it hadn't occurred to me that Alice Hoffman had ever written children's books or young adult novels. I just saw who the author was and added the book to my wishlist, as I usually enjoy Alice Hoffman novels. So imagine my surprise when I cracked open the book! It wasn't what I wanted to read, and as its a children's book, I don't have a whole lot to say. I would say its innovative as far as a children's book goes and that my 8 year old cousin would probably love it.

Overall

Cute little kid short stories - definitely for a younger audience

Recommended

Children, probably aged 7-10. Younger if the child has the stamina for a simple chapter book.

The End - Lemony Snickett

Synopsis

You are presumably looking at the back of this book, or the end of the end. The end of the end is the best place to begin the end, because if you read the end from the beginning of the beginning of the end to the end of the end of the end, you will arrive at the end of the end of your rope.

This book is the last in A Series of Unfortunate Events, and even if you braved the previous twelve volumes, you probably can't stand such unpleasantries as a fearsome storm, a suspicious beverage, a herd of wild sheep, an enormous bird cage, and a truly haunting secret about the Baudelaire parents.

It has been my solemn occupation to complete the history of the Baudelaire orphans, and at last I am finished. You likely have some other occupation, so if I were you I would drop this book at once, so the end does not finish you.

With all due respect,

Lemony Snicket


Thoughts

Overall this series as a whole really made me tired. It took effort to go through the repetition and the story line began chasing itself in circles. However, the purposes of this book (and series) - expanding children's vocabulary, teaching ethics/morals, and introducing "the great unknown" (death) was very effective. The relationships and plots of this series are very complex and if you miss one detail you are lost, so I feel the series can only apply to a narrow age group - too simple to entertain older kids and too complicated for younger ones to understand, although its possible I underestimate children.

Despite my overall distaste for the series, I found this a very satisfactory ending to the series - this book was in the top three written for the series I would say due to mature ideas, great symbolism, and the ending of the book. Unlike most children's books, this series ends without answering all the questions - leaving the reader to decide the fate of the Baudelaire's, although *SPOILERS*the hints lean towards their probable death. *SPOILERS* This series really matured throughout its thirteen books.

Overall

I personally did not enjoy this novel or series. I read it because I started reading it and I HAVE to know how things end. I found the prose extremely irritating and the repetition of the plot only slightly less so. However, the mysteries that develop in each novel keep you hooked.

Recommended for

Children from the ages 8-13.

The Magician's Elephant - Kate DiCamillo

Synopsis


What if? Why not? Could it be?

When a fortuneteller's tent appears in the market square of the city of Baltese, orphan Peter Augustus Duchene knows the questions that he needs to ask: Does his sister still live? And if so, how can he find her? The fortuneteller's mysterious answer (an elephant! An elephant will lead him there!) sets off a chain of events so remarkable, so impossible, that you will hardly dare to believe it’s true. With atmospheric illustrations by fine artist Yoko Tanaka, here is a dreamlike and captivating tale that could only be narrated by Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo. In this timeless fable, she evokes the largest of themes — hope and belonging, desire and compassion — with the lightness of a magician’s touch.


Thoughts

Despite the simple prose, the concepts and entire story line of the book were much deeper and more complicated than in a mere children's book. I found it moving and introspective - aspects you don't usually see in a children's book.


Overall

A very good read (despite the fact that I am almost ten years older than the targeted age group).   A deep read for a children's book.

Recommended

Older children. It's also a good book for parents to read to their children - simple enough for children to enjoy, but complex enough that it doesn't become mind numbingly boring for parents.