Jack's Book Reviews

Children of the Lamp: Arkhenaten Adventure, P.B. Kerr ****(4 Stars) Fantasy. Arkhenaten Adventure is the first book in the Children of the lamp series, in which the twins John and Phillipa Gaunt discover that they are djinn (genie) and that they have the power to grant wishes. They first discover their new powers when their housemaid (their parents are rich) Mrs. Trump, suddenly wins the lottery, the day after she told the twins that she wished she could win the lottery. After that their parents decide to send them to their British uncle Nimrod's house for the summer, where they will be trained to be responsible djinn. But Nimrod had other plans. Nimrod decided that they will go on a trip to Egypt, the original home of the djinn, to try to find The 70 Djinn of Arkhenaten so that they can balance the powers of luck with the powers of chaos. The problem is that they aren't the only ones looking for them. John and Phillipa not only have to find The 70 Djinn of Ar...

Beyonders: A World Without Heroes, Brandon Mull ****(4 Stars) by JACK Fantasy.  Beyonders:  A World Without Heroes is about a 15 year old teenager named Jason who falls into a hippopotamus zoo exhibit (long story) and is transported to Lyrian, a world where the evil wizard Maldor rules over his helpless subjects.  At first, all Jason wants to do is go home, but then he realizes that he can't leave all of his new friends alone and helpless, so Jason decides to go on a quest to discover "the word", the only thing that can kill Maldor.  The problem is, "the word" is split up into six syllables and spread all over Lyrian, and Jason has to find them all before he gets killed, or even worse, captured. I really liked this book because it's written in the first person, there is alot of action and mystery.  It was a hard book to put down.  I would give it 12+ for drinking and some disturbing parts, as one of Jason's "friend...

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson ****(4 Stars) Science Fiction Novella. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is about a guy named Mr. Utterson, who's friend, Dr. Jekyll, hasn't been acting quite like himself. Recently Mr. Utterson, a lawyer, found a peculiar document in which Dr. Jekyll leaves all of his possessions to a certain Mr. Hyde, in the event that he disappears for longer then three months. The reason its so peculiar is that Dr. Jekyll is a respectable gentleman, while Mr. Hyde is a mysterious man that no one likes (except for Dr. Jekyll), and who likes no one (except for Dr. Jekyll). As the book progresses you follow Mr. Utterson as he tries to figure out why Dr. Jekyll won't see him, and who Mr. Hyde really is. This is a deep story about not giving into, or giving into, the temptations of evil. I would give The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde an age limit of 12+

Because of Winn-Dixie , Kate DiCamillo ***** (5 stars) from KATIE I love, love, love (add a few more loves mentally) LOVE this book!! I could read this book over and over again and always get something new out of it. It is a very easy read and a fast one, too. The book takes place in a Naomi, Florida, where a young girl, India Opal and her father (the preacher) live in a small, adults-only trailer park. One day while Opal is running a grocery errand she meets a large, ugly, homeless dog whom she claims as hers. She names him Winn-Dixie after the grocery store and brings him home where she skillfully gets her father to take him in. In the book she meets lots of new friends, all because of Winn-Dixie (hence the name of the book). My sister (one of many; she's 10) and I were super excited the other day because we saw "Winn-Dixie". We started squealing and pointing and telling mom that if we ever got a dog that's the kind we're going to get. :) This book is a New...

Animal Farm , George Orwell ***** (5 stars) from KATIE (age 15) This book was such an eye opener! When my mom handed it to me to read I didn't really have any idea of the content. I remember her saying something about Stalin but that's it. The beginning made me think it was simply a child's bedtime story. I loved the storyline! The animals become tired of the way their master treats them so they run him out of the farm yard, determined to start their own system of running things. I thought it was very cute! But then subtle things started to happen. These things gave me a queasy feeling, and about halfway through the book I could tell where the "animal farm" was headed.  It was crazy the way the animals become so blinded so quickly while still thinking they had freedom!  Jack and I were just talking about it and he said, "I just can't believe humans can be so stupid! Animals, yes. Humans?" It isn't a very upl...

Princess Academy, Shannon Hale ***** (5 Stars) from KATIE (age 15) I have read this book (not even kidding) six times. Princess Academy is an amazing book that is absolutely in my top 15. It's about Miri, a young fourteen year old girl who lives with her family on Mount Eskel, high and far away from the "lowlander's land". When the King's ambassador comes to the small village and announces that the future princess will be one of their very own, every girl, ages 12 to 17, including Miri, is expected to attend a "Princess Academy" with the understanding that in one year's time they would be presented to the Prince at a ball. When danger comes to the academy, Miri is the one who must swallow her fear and find a way to save her classmates. The Princess Academy is a wonderful story about strength, courage, determination and the will to persevere when things get hard.  Princess Academy is the winner of the 2006 Newbery Honor Awar...

The Royal Diaries: Marie Antionette, Princess of Versailles (1769 Austria-France) , Kathryn Lasky **** (4 Stars from GRACIE, age 13) Historical Fiction. I love this book and have read it several times.  It's the fictional diary of Marie Antionette, a young girl who strives hard to become what a young princess should be.  The book covers her life, starting at ge 13, before and a little bit after her marriage to the Dauphin, Louis Auguste.  My sister, Katie (age 15), who has also read it several times said she loved it because she loves stories about princesses (fictional or not) and thinks the story of Marie Antioinette is both fascinating and tragic.  This is a little bit more of a girl book, with all the diary entries about hair, dresses, and such.    Ages 10+

Anne of Green Gables , Lucy Maud Montgomery *** (3 stars from Jack) *****  (5 stars from Katie) REVIEW BY KATIE I absolutely LOVED it. My sister and I were talking about it and we both said we wished it never ended. Anne is a talkative girl who, after some trouble, is adopted by Marilla and Mathew Cuthbert who live on an enchanting (a very "Anne" word to use) farm called Green Gables. In the series you follow Anne as she grows up, learns valuable lessons and meets lifelong friends. Very over the top hilarious. It's a good read aloud for any age but Ms. Montgomery does use challenging language for the young reader. If you liked Pollyanna or Heidi, then you will love this book!! Jack said he gave it three stars because there wasn't enough action. So maybe more of a book for girls. :)

Guardians of Ga'Hoole,  Kathryn Lasky ***** (5 Stars) A great series about talking birds, Guardians of Ga'Hoole got me into reading. I started reading this series when I was about nine or ten, and I was hooked until I finished reading all 15 books. Waaaaaaaaaay better then the movie. There's some violence, and there is a hell that they mention called Quagmire, and there are some evil birdies who do magic. Oh ya, they swear in the owl language. 9+

Artemis Fowl Series , Eoin Colfer *****(5 stars) Fantasy. The Artemis Fowl Series is about a modern day rich teenage genius named Artemis Fowl, who isn't really on the right side of the law. In fact, his father was the head of organized crime in Ireland before he disappeared under mysterious circumstances. In the first book you figure out that fairies, goblins, and dwarfs (and a bunch of other creatures) exist underground, keeping their existence unknown to mankind. 13+ for magic, violence and a little swearing, I would recommend this book to any teenagers who will take the time to read it. My 15 year old sister read 20 pages and decided she didn't like it.

The Kane Chronicles:  The Red Pyramid (Book 1), Rick Riordan ****(4 Stars) Fantasy. Pretty much the Egyptian version of the Percy Jackson series where the gods have adapted to the modern world and people who have the blood of the gods are constantly running from, or fighting, monsters. The main characters, Carter and Sadie, are twins who have been kept apart for most of their lives, ever since their mother died trying to free an Egyptian god. Now Carter and Sadie are together again and they have to stop the Egyptian god of evil, Set, from destroying the world. 10+ (Sadie says "bloody" alot, which I guess is a swear word in Britain?)

Cheaper by the Dozen , Frank B. Gilbreth **** (4 stars) A great book about a large, wealthy family in the 1920's, Cheaper by the Dozen is funny and entertaining. For instance, whenever someone asks Frank why he has so many children, he thinks for awhile, then answers, "Well, they come cheaper by the dozen you know," and drives off. There's some swearing (D*** and the name of Jesus Christ), but otherwise I'd recommend this book to everyone 10+

DragonSpell   (Dragon Keeper Chronicles Book 1), Donita K. Paul ****(4 Stars) 2005 Christy Honor Award Winner  (Awards given to best novels written with Christian Worldview) Fantasy.  DragonSpell is a great book about a 14 year old girl Kale, who has the unique talent of being able to find dragon eggs. Her talent leads her to Vendela, the center of magic and commerce in Amara, the country where Kale lives, but before she can get there she is sent on a quest to go save a dragon egg from the evil magician Risto, who holds it captive in his dark fortress. Throughout her quest Kale meets many friends and many enemies, and she even gets to meet Paladin, the ruler of Amara, who is actually Jesus in a different world (kind of like Aslan in Narnia). Good and evil is clearly defined, and DragonSpell is written by a Christian author with Christian elements. MOM ALERT- GOOD AND BAD DRAGONS.  A good book for almost everyone; I won't even give an age l...

Summer Ball, Mike Lupica ****(4 Stars) Sports Fiction. Summer Ball is the sequel to Travel Team. In Summer Ball, Danny's  team, the Warriors, have won the seventh grade travel championship, and now Danny is going to a summer basketball camp where everyone is bigger. All of a sudden, Danny doesn't know if he's good enough. Throughout the book you follow Danny as he learns to keep going and not give up. 12+ for language (a**, and God's name).

The Hiding Place , Corrie Ten Boom ***(3 Stars) Non-Fiction. The Hiding Place takes place in Holland during WW2, where the main character, Corrie, is the leader of an underground rebellion whose main purpose is to get the persecuted Jews to saftey, away from the Gestapo (the secret police). Eventually she gets caught, and is brought to prison, where she stays until the end of the war. 14+ because it is kind of hard to read, as it is really slow moving.

Speaker for the Dead (Ender Book 2) , Orson Scott Card ****(4 Stars) Science Fiction. Speaker for the dead is the sequel to one of my all time favorites, Ender's Game. Speaker for the Dead takes place two thousand years after Ender's Game, and people have come to realize that maybe killing the Buggers wasn't such a great idea. Now people think of Ender as a butcher, instead of a savior. What they don't know is that Ender is still alive, acting as a Speaker of the Dead, a sort of priest that tries to give a perfect summary of the person's life after they die. Ender has survived by going at light speed from planet to planet, where fifteen minutes is a year in the world outside of the spaceship. His quest: to find a place to start a new civilization of Buggers. 12+ for violence.

Blue Fingers: A Ninja's Tale , Cheryl A. Whitesel ****(4 Stars) Fantasy. Blue Fingers is about a young boy named Koji who gets captured by a clan of ninjas, and is brought to their mountain base to be trained to be a ninja- or be killed. Early in the book, Koji looks like he's leaning more toward the second option, as he keeps on trying to escape back to his home on the farm. Eventually he becomes an accomplished ninja and learns how to become "a blade of grass" (you'll find out what that means after you read the book). 9+ for some violence.

Inheritance (Inheritance Cycle Book 4), Christopher Poalini *****(5 Stars) Fantasy. The fourth book in the Inheritance series, Inheritance is just as good as the first three (which are amazing). Before even thinking about reading this book, I suggest that you read the first three books, Eragon, Eldest, and Brisingr, as this book will be very confusing otherwise. There's a very clear definition of good and evil. 12+ for violence, NICE DRAGONS, and some cussing in the dwarf language (Barzul!).

Inkheart (Inkheart Trilogy), Cornelia Funke **** (4 Stars) Fantasy. Inkheart is a great book that encourages reading and using your imagination. Inkheart is about a girl named Meggie, who's father, Mo, has the unique talent of being able to bring his favorite characters to life by reading their stories out loud. That talent turns into a curse when one night, Meggie's mother disappears, and the evil king Capricorn, and his knife wielding minion, Basta, take her place. Throughout the book, Meggie and her father try to find Meggie's mother, while also trying to escape from Capricorns clutches. 12+ for quite a bit of swearing (D word and H word) by Meggie's aunt, Elinor, and there is also some violence and drinking.

Travel Team , Mike Lupica *****(5 Stars) Sports Fiction. Travel Team is such a great book that I'm on my 5th time reading (not kidding). Its about a small twelve year old boy who doesn't make his travel team, so he starts his own, made out of other kids that didn't make the cut. Throughout the book, you follow Danny's (the main character's) team as they overcome challenges and eventually emerges as world champions(for the 7th grade). 11+ for language and references to drinking.

Catching Fire (Second book in Hunger Games series), Suzanne Collins  ****(4 Stars) Science Fiction. The second book in The Hunger Games Series , Catching Fire wasn't as great as the first Hunger Games book in my opinion, but it was still pretty good. In the book, there's another Hunger Games, but with a twist. The victors from the previous games have to compete as a result of the Quarter Quell, a special Hunger Games that happens every 25 years. Katniss only has one goal- to protect Peeta at all costs. 13+ for violence, drinkng, some kissing, and because people go crazy.