Stormbreaker - Anthony Horowitz

Genres: Adventure, Mystery
Recommended Ages: 10-15
DRP: 50

Looking for some adventure? Looking for some espionage? Looking for a quick read? Well maybe the book you have been looking for is Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz, the first book in the Alex Rider Adventure series.

Alex Rider is a fourteen year old boy living in London with his uncle Ian. His life is fairly typical until the day he comes home from school to find out that his uncle has been killed in a car accident. Not accepting the official story of his uncle’s death, Alex does a little further investigating. He goes to his uncle’s place of employment and finds out that his uncle was actually an MI6 agent (MI6 is the British equivalent to the CIA) and was murdered while investigating a case. Now the MI6 wants Alex to help out with the same case. Alex is reluctant at first but figures that working for MI6 is his best chance of avenging his uncle’s death. While he knows that his mission will be dangerous, he has no idea how many brushes with death he will end up having before the case is closed.

This was a really good book. It was packed with action – this book just did not let up. It is kind of a stretch to think that a government agency would use a fourteen year old as a spy, but Horowitz does a good job of creating a character (Alex) that is believable in this role. Alex makes a great hero and the villains in this book are quirky and memorable, much like the villains in the James Bond novels and movies. I did think that the main villain’s motive was kind of lame, but it may resonate more with kids.

I think that this book is a great read for middle school/early high school kids, particularly boys that are into spies and stuff like that. The book is a quick read, and if it is enjoyed there are five more Alex Rider Adventures to be read, with a sixth due to be released soon. Additionally, Stormbreaker has been adapted into a film starring Ewan McGregor, Alicia Silverstone and Mickey Rourke. The film is due in theaters September of 2006, giving everyone ample opportunity to read the book before they see the movie.

Scryed, Vol. 1 - Yosuke Kuroda

Genres: Manga, Science Fiction
Recommended Ages: 16+
DRP: n/a

As my three readers may have noticed, the length of time between my posts has been growing steadily – I’ve only finished 3 books in the last 5 weeks. What that told me was that I needed some lighter reading, something that I could read quickly, kind of like an easy victory to get me back in the swing of things. Well, I’ve had a student hounding me about reading the first volume of this manga called Scryed (pronounced ess-cry-ed), written by Yosuke Kuroda. I’m not totally up-to-speed with manga (I’ve read only one other title, Naruto) or anime, but apparently Scryed is a popular television show. I’m not sure which came first, the show or the book, but I digress…

So I read Scryed, Vol. 1. Despite my inexperience reading manga, I was able to follow the storyline pretty well. That is saying a lot, because this story is kind of whacked. Twenty two years prior to the book, there was some sort of seismic activity that essentially left an area of Japan entirely surrounded by huge cliffs, completely isolated from the rest of the world. The area inside these cliffs is known as the Lost Ground, and its isolation soon left it lawless. In addition to the change in geography, the seismic activity also affected some people, leaving them with the ability to alter the environment around them. These people became known as Alter Users. The Alter Users' abilities left them very powerful. As it is in the real world, some use this power for good and others for evil.

Vol. 1 of Scryed lays down this back story and also introduces us to some characters. The main character is Kazuma Torisuna, an Alter User also known as “the Treasoner.” Kazuma is one of those characters that exemplify the grey area between good and evil. He battles a couple of the evil Alter Users that have become powerful within the Lost Ground, but he also fights with “HOLY,” a police force attempting to bring law back to the Lost Ground. This seems to be the central theme of Vol. 1 – people can be good and evil, and sometimes the people we think are one are actually the other.

All in all I enjoyed reading Scryed, Vol. 1. As I said, I needed a quick read and I got one. For inexperienced manga readers, it may feel a bit weird that the book is read from “back” to “front” and from right to left, but I found I got used to it quickly. I would recommend this book to older kids that like manga as well reluctant readers that enjoy action and science fiction. Scryed is rated OT (Older Teen, 16+) and I feel this is an appropriate rating. The story and illustrations are fairly violent. There is also a character that is scantily clad – not nude, mind you, but almost there. For these reasons I would try to persuade younger readers that other books may be of more interest to them.

The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

Genres: General Fiction
Recommended Ages: 15+
DRP: 49

I have a secret. As ridiculous as it may seem, I had never read The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. I somehow made it through high school, college, and even graduate school without even having someone recommend the book to me. Of course, I was aware that the book existed. I knew that it was controversial and was one of the most frequently challenged books in America, but I didn’t know why. Finally, the curiosity caught up with me, and last week I decided it was time to give the old Catcher in the Rye a try.

The story centers on Holden Caulfield, a sixteen year old kid that has just recently been expelled from prep school. Instead of returning straight home, Holden spends a couple of nights roaming around New York City. The story ends with Holden in a mental institution. The story, while interesting, is not what makes this book a classic. The character of Holden is what is classic.

Holden is an interesting kid. He is cynical. He is a bit paranoid. He is angry and scared. And despite the fact that this book is nearly sixty years old, Holden is still real. Kids of 2006 can still relate to Holden Caulfield. The dialogue in this book is realistic and does not sound dated. Holden’s approach to life, his view of the world around him, and his difficulty coping with growing up is real and still relevant. Holden’s extreme cynicism, while kind of sad at times, is not a foreign attitude amongst today’s kids, particularly in light of the current political climate in the US. It is Holden’s realness that makes this book a classic.

Now, this is not the best book I have ever read, but it may be the best sixty year old book I have ever read. It is definitely a good book. I would recommend it to any high school student, particularly one that feels alienated or outcast. I would not recommend this book to a middle school kid – not because of the book's controversial aspects (language and plot line), but because I don’t think most middle school kids will get it.

The Naming - Alison Croggon

Genres: Fantasy
Recommended Ages: 12+
DRP: n/a

Tired of gloomy, realistic teen-fiction full of suicide, dead parents and sexual assaults? Well maybe what you need is a good ol’ fantasy book that will take you away from the “reality” portrayed in so many of today’s young adult books. If that is the case then I would recommend The Naming by Alison Croggon, the first book of the Pellinor series.

Maerad is a sixteen year-old slave girl living a rather horrible life. She has no family, no friends – really the only thing she has is her lyre, and her ability playing it is the only thing that has protected her from the beatings her master frequently doles out. Life for Maerad is just a dreary routine with no end in sight. Until the evening a stranger wanders into her village. The stranger, a man named Cadvan, tells Maerad that she is a bard, a person with magical powers. Cadvan tells Maerad that she must come with him – a slave’s life is no life for a bard. Despite her fears, Maerad leaves with Cadvan. Thus begins the great adventure detailed in The Naming.

I really enjoyed this book. If you liked Eragon or The Lord of the Rings trilogy then you will enjoy this book. Croggon has done a great job of creating the land of Edil-Amarand, a land with its own history, folklore and language. If you like epic fantasies then you must read this book. I know I can’t wait to get my hands on The Riddle, the second book of Pellinor.

The Good Man - Edward Jae-Suk Lee

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Older teens

Have you ever read a book that, for some reason, just didn’t hook you, yet you couldn’t give up reading it? Well, that is what happened with me and The Good Man by Edward Jae-Suk Lee. The book is only 248 pages but it took me three weeks to read (to put this in perspective, I read all 652 pages of the latest Harry Potter book in three days). That doesn’t mean that it was a bad book, I just wasn’t able to get into it.

The main character of this book is a man named Gabriel, a Korean War veteran that has hit hard times. He is suffering from some sort of brain damage-induced amnesia and has been wondering around living the life of a drifter for some time, that is until he drifts into a place familiar to him, a valley in Montana. Some memories return to him and he realizes he is near his old home, the place he onced lived with his wife. When he finally makes it to his old house he finds that his wife has died, but there is still somebody from his past living there. Thus begins the story.

Unfortunately I do not have much to say about this book. It wasn’t a terrible book, but I didn’t really like it. Part of that may be because it took me so long to read it and I started to forget details from the story. I would recommend this book to older, patient readers interested in war stories or stories about relationships. Even though I didn’t really like the book please don’t let that stop you from reading it and forming your own opinion.

I am the Messenger - Markus Zusak

Genre: Mystery
Grades 7 & up

I am going to start this review with a rave – I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak is without a doubt the best book I have read this year. The story centers on Ed Kennedy, a 19 year old cab driver in Sydney, Australia. He is living a life that is really going nowhere. He lives in a small shack with his dog The Doorman. He plays cards with his loser friends and that is about it. One morning Ed happens to be at a bank while it is getting robbed. Somehow Ed foils the bank robbery and is lauded as a hero in the local press. After his fifteen minutes of fame are up he receives something strange in the mail. It is the Ace of Diamonds, and written on it are three addresses. Thus begins Ed’s life as a messenger. For each address listed on the card he needs to figure out what he is supposed to do for the person that lives there. He gets several cards that get progressively more difficult to decipher. By the end of the book all of these tasks come together in one grand epiphany for Ed.

I would recommend this book for to any high school student looking for a good book – as I said before this is the best book I have read all year and I am looking forward to reading more books from Zusak.

A Wreath for Emmett Till - Marilyn Nelson

Genres: Biography, Poetry
Grades 7 & up

A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson is a short book that contains a poem about Emmett Till, a fourteen year old African American boy that was brutally murdered in Mississippi in 1955. His murder caused an uproar amongst people of all colors in the United States. The style of poem Nelson wrote is called a crown of sonnets – it is fifteen sonnets, the last line of each being the first line of the next and the final sonnet is the combination of the first lines of the other poems. It was an interesting way to write a poem. The poem is great, but my favorite part of this book is the illustrations by Phillipe Lardy. They help illustrate what Nelson is writing while leaving the reader enough space to visualize.

All in all this was a nice book. The power of this book is that it will hopefully prompt a new generation to investigate the Emmett Till story. If you are interested in learning more about Emmett Till you should check out this site.

Black Juice - Margo Lanagan

Genres: Short Story, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Realistic Fiction
Grades 7 & up

Twisted. Weird. Random. Just a few words that describe the short stories found in Black Juice by Margo Lanagan. I couldn’t really find a common theme amongst the ten stories contained in the book, by one thing they did have in common is that they were all interesting and well written. One favorite of mine was ‘Singing my Sister Down,’ the story of a girl being executed for murder and her family that has come to witness the execution. What is interesting about that story is the way the execution is carried out – the girl is forced to stand in the middle of a tar pit while she slowly sinks to her death. Another great story is ‘Red Nose Day’ the story of two assassins sent to a clown convention to kill as many clowns as possible.

Not all of the stories involve death or murder. There are stories about elephant trainers and accordion-playing cult leaders. There are stories about lost brides and angels. At about 20 pages each, the stories will be quick reads for many. I would recommend this book to good readers, particularly those that enjoy science fiction, fantasy or horror. I say “good” readers because these stories are not easy to read – often I would get about halfway through a story before I really understood what was going on. That said, readers patient enough to give this collection of stories a chance will be handsomely rewarded with some great reading.

Looking for Alaska - John Green

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Grades 8 & up

Every once in a while I will come across a book that I have no idea how to talk about. Looking for Alaska by John Green is one of those books. This is a great story with great characters but it is just one of those books that I will have trouble reviewing. Please keep that in mind as you continue reading.

Miles ‘Pudge’ Halter is kind of a nobody. He has no friends. He really has no hobbies, unless you count memorizing the last words of famous people. He has nothing going for him at his Florida school. So it wasn’t too hard for him to leave his parents house and move to Alabama to begin his junior year at Culver Creek Preparatory School, where Miles hopes to get a new start and add a little spice to his life. He certainly accomplishes that goal.

Miles quickly becomes friends with his new roommate, a five foot tall genius who is known as ‘Colonel.’ He also meets and immediately falls in love with a classmate named Alaska Young. The three of them have great times, get in a bunch of trouble and learn a lot about each other as the school year progresses.

This wouldn’t be a young adult novel if it stayed happy though, would it? About halfway through the book tragedy strikes. The second half of the book details how the characters deal with this tragedy. Having recently gone through a tragedy at my school, I definitely think that this is a book that could help a kid through the grieving process. Ultimately, what Miles and his friends realize is that friendship and love come in many forms and that they can’t let tragedy stop them.

As I mentioned before, I thought this was a great book, but my review really didn’t do it justice. I recommend this book to boys and girls age 15 and up. There is fairly explicit depiction of drinking, smoking and oral sex in this book. It is because of this that I recommend students let their parents know they are reading this book. On the flip side, if parents see their child reading this book they should attempt to talk with their kids about it. Regardless, this book should be read and I think most people will enjoy it.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - Ann Brashares

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Grades 6 & up

It had been a while since I had read some chick lit, so last week I decided I would read The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares. I had wanted to read this book for a couple of years so I snatched it up when I saw it on the shelf of my library. I wasn’t disappointed.

The book circles around four fifteen-year-old girls and their experiences during their first summer separated from each other since birth. Lena is off to Greece to visit her grandparents, where she meets a super-hunky Greek boy that she wants nothing to do with. Bridget is at soccer camp in Mexico where she meets a super-hunky soccer coach that wants nothing to do with her. Carmen is off to South Carolina to visit her dad, who, unbeknownst to Carmen is going to get married in a few weeks to someone Carmen’s dad has never mentioned. Poor Tibby has to spend her summer at home, working at the local drug store where she is befriended by an annoying twelve-year-old girl. Despite being spread out across the globe, what keeps the girls connected during this summer is a pair of “magical” pants that the girls send to each other. The pants have the magic power to make each girl look stunning while wearing them (they also have deeper, psychological powers that you will find out about when you read the book.)

Wow – I just said super-hunky twice during one book review (make that three times now). Well, I guess that is what you get when you have a twentysomething guy review a book written for teenage girls. All-in-all I liked the book. The dialogue was believable. I found myself thinking about conversations I had heard working in schools – the conversations in this book are not far from reality. This book is not likely to interest boys, but it could give them insight into how girls think (kind of like Judy Blume’s Are you there God? It’s me, Margaret did for a younger version of me). This is, however, a must read for any teen girl. Issues like divorce, death, depression and sex are all dealt with tactfully and realistically. Additionally, if readers like this book there are two other books in the series (The Second Summer of the Sisterhood and Girls in Pants) to keep them busy.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - C.S. Lewis

Genre: Fantasy
Grades 4-8

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is the third book I have read from the classic series The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. In my opinion it was the most exciting, adventure-filled and interesting of the three I have read (the other two are The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian).

This book starts out with Lucy and Edmund spending their summer at their aunt and uncle’s house (Peter and Susan are off doing their own things). So far it has not been a pleasant experience, particularly because their cousin Eustace is a dweeb. He is the type of kid who knows a little about a lot of things because he has read a lot, but really does not know anything about the real world and life because he has never experienced anything. In addition he is kind of a jerk without realizing he is, and his parents think he is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Needless to say, Lucy and Edmund kind of stuck to themselves and tried to avoid Eustace whenever possible.

One day Lucy and Edmund were in Lucy’s room looking at a painting of a sailing ship. Lucy and Edmund were commenting on how it looked like a ship they would have seen while in Narnia (Narnia is the land that they had visited in earlier books in this series). Eustace, who had never been to Narnia and certainly did not believe in it, overheard the conversation and began to antagonize his cousins. Suddenly, much to Eustace’s horror, all three of the children were transported into the painting. As they splashed in the sea, ropes from the ship were sent down and all three children were eventually pulled aboard. Once aboard, Lucy and Edmund realized that they were indeed back in Narnia and aboard the ship were their old friends Caspian and Reepicheep.

Caspian had assembled a crew and set sail upon the Dawn Treader to search for the seven lords who had been sent away by Miraz years before (this story is detailed in Prince Caspian). The Voyage of the Dawn Treader details this journey. As I mentioned before, this is a very adventure-filled book. It is hard to discuss any of the adventures without giving away the story, but let’s just say that by the end the crew of the Dawn Treader have sailed all the way to the end of the world and have accounted for all seven of the lords while dealing with Eustace’s miserable disposition, pirates, slave traders, dragons, invisible creatures and an often ferocious sea.

This is a great book. While The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a great read even if you had not read other books in the series, there are references that the reader may not understand if they had not read any of the preceding books. That brings me to an interesting point. There are two schools of thought when it comes to what order these books should be read in. The first is that the books should be read in the order they were published (this is the route I have chosen). Using this method The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is the third book in the series. The second is that the books should be read in chronological order. This mode has been reinforced by HarperCollins who have ordered the reprint of the series in this manner. Using this method The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is the fifth book in the series. Good arguments are made for both orders, but I won’t spend anymore time discussing those here. If you are interested, check out the wikipedia article discussing the ordering of the series. I have chosen to read them in the order they were originally published and I have been extremely satisfied so far. If you are looking for a good fantasy book I do not think you can go wrong with The Voyage of the Dawn Treader or any of the books from The Chronicles of Narnia.

Last Shot: a Final Four Mystery - John Feinstein

Genre: Mystery
Grades 5 & up

John Feinstein is an experienced sports reporter who has written for The Washington Post and Sports Illustrated. His experience really shows in Last Shot: a Final Four mystery. As the title implies, this book is a mystery story set at the 2005 NCAA men’s basketball Final Four.

The set up for this story is not much of a stretch for Feinstein. Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson are eighth graders that won a student sports writing competition. The prize for winning the competition was an all expenses paid trip to cover the NCAA Final Four in New Orleans. Stevie couldn't be more different than Susan Carol. He’s a short UConn fan from Philly who absolutely hates Duke; she’s a tall Duke fan from North Carolina, the daughter of a preacher. While they don’t get along at first they are soon put in a position where they are forced to rely on each other and work as a team.

Of the four teams at the Final Four, Minnesota State has got to have the best story. They are the Big 10 champs, their star player, Chip Graber, is the coach’s son and the possible number one pick in the upcoming NBA draft and they have momentum going into the Final Four. To most people it seems that Chip has got it made. Stevie and Susan Carol soon realize this is not true when they accidentally overhear a backroom conversation between Chip and an unknown character. Someone is blackmailing Chip – he must lose the final game against Duke or else his dad will lose his job and his team will be stripped of all of their wins. Thus begins Stevie and Susan Carol’s quest to figure out who is blackmailing Chip, why and how the blackmailer is doing it, and what two eighth graders can do to stop it. Little do they know that in trying to answer these questions they will put their lives at risk.

This is a very well written book. Feinstein does a great job of showing what the Final Four is like behind the scenes – the press, the crowds, and how money affects the game. If this book has a downside it would be that in his attempt to make the book an authentic account of the Final Four, Feinstein may confuse non-sports fans. He uses lots of names that would be familiar to the sports fan but not to the average person. This also may have an affect on the staying power of this book. The names he uses will ring a bell with today’s sports fan but possibly not tomorrow’s.

This book is appropriate for younger teens. The sports angle will certainly hook some kids, particularly boys, but at its heart this is a mystery book. I would definitely recommend it to someone looking for a dramatic mystery wrapped in a sports shell.

The Ruby in the Smoke - Phillip Pullman

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction
Grades 7 & up

I’m not sure how many mystery books I have read, but it is not many. That is why I was kind of excited when I began reading The Ruby in the Smoke by Phillip Pullman, the first book in the Sally Lockhart trilogy. This book was a great introduction to the mystery genre and definitely left me wanting to read the rest of the trilogy and other mystery books.

Sally Lockhart is a sixteen year old girl living in London during the 1870’s. Her father, Matthew Lockhart, was a successful shipping agent. I say was because Sally’s father died a couple of months before the start of the book when his ship sank while sailing the seas around south China. Because her mother died when Sally was just a baby, Sally must live with Mrs. Rees, her spiteful “aunt.”

Sally was still coming to grips with her father’s death but at least accepted that it was an accident until she received a cryptic note her father had penned before his death. The note mentions someone named “Marchbanks” and warns her of the “Seven Blessings.” Sally goes to her dad’s office to ask one of his co-workers about the message, and the man has a heart attack when he hears the words “Seven Blessings.” This is all Sally needs to know that something much more sinister led to her father’s death. With the help of some new found friends, Sally is able to piece together the puzzle, battle her new found enemies and figure out what really happened to her dad.

I thought this was a great book. The plot is exciting, not at all predictable and the story is well written. Phillip Pullman does a great job of helping you visualize what London was like during the 1870’s (it seems like a pretty dirty place!!). I would definitely recommend this book to older teens looking for a tension filled mystery.