Reviews!

The Alchemyst

by Michael Scott

Young Adult Fantasy

Available now in paperback

Review by Jonah Heller

The Alchemyst starts off with Nicholas Flamel, disguised as Nick Fleming (not a very good disguise is it?), a bookstore owner. He guards the Book of Abraham the Mage, the book that can bring back evil Elders that eat people. So one day, Josh Newman gets a job at that shop, and his twin sister, Sophie Newman, gets a job at the Coffee Cup, a little store across the street. A few months later, an evil immortal named Dr. John Dee comes to Flamel's bookstore, and attacks with golems, creatures controlled by the person who created them. Dee gets the Book of Abraham the Mage and runs off. The twins are Awakened, so that they can now use their powers, and help fight. The book is good, and has a few sequels. In my opinion it is well written, but every few chapters it changes from different peoples' points of view, and not everybody likes that. I recommend this book to anyone who likes science fiction or fantasy. The sequels are equally well written, and I recommend those too.

Twilight

by Stephenie Meyer

Young Adult Fantasy

Available now in paperback

Review by Isabel Tran

Twilight is about a girl named Bella Swan who falls in love with a vampire. Edward Cullen (the vampire) can't keep himself away from her so Bella gets into a lot of trouble. I liked this book because once I read it I wanted to read more. I think that a lot of people would like to read this.

The Indigo King

by James A. Owen

Young Adult Fantasy

Available now in hardcover

Review by Lex

John, Jack, and their friend Hugo, one September night, vanish through a mysterious doorway into a strange land. England has become a dark and dreary place known as Albion, ruled by the evil Mordred. The three Oxford scholars must travel through different times and places to discover Mordred's true name and stop him taking over the world. The Indigo King was just a fabulous adventure book. The author does a great job mixing historical and mythological characters and events. The plot can be confusing at times with lots of name changes and time traveling. Overall I would give The Indigo King a 9/10. The first two books in this series (Here There Be Dragons and The Search for the Red Dragon) have also been just as great.

an email

Hey y'all, sorry I haven't been doing many reviews! I'm taking summer classes (and at the moment I'm also in...Kentucky) but when that's done I'll be on the ball again. Until then, check out this email I just got!

Hello Jake-the-Girl,

I'm writing to let you know about a couple writing contests going on right now from Narrative Magazine, a free, online literary journal. I know a lot of avid readers are also writers, and I've included some contest information and links if you think it would be a good subject for one of your posts.

Here's Narrative's website: http://narrativemagazine.com/

There's a story contest going on right now for fiction and non-fiction with a first prize of $3,250, deadline July 31, 2009. Here's a link to the info: http://narrativemagazine.com/spring-story-contest

And the first-ever poetry contest with a first prize of $1,500, deadline July 18, 2009. Here's a link to the info: http://narrativemagazine.com/poetry-contest

Thanks!

A review by Alyssa

Secret Bonus Task #2: Write me a book review!

The review should include the following:

• title
• author
• genre
• 3 or more sentences describing what the book is about
• 3 or more sentences telling me what you thought of the book

If you liked the book, I'll post your review on the blog. If you didn't, you can still write one--that kind of information is very useful for booksellers, so we can know what different kinds of people thought about the book. You'll still complete the task even if you didn't like the book.

You can bring your review to the store, or you can email it to p1ratewench@hotmail.com. You have until Friday, July 3rd. GO!

(And if you need some tips on writing a review, check out the one below or email me.)

Shiver

by Maggie Stiefvater

Young Adult Fantasy

Due August 2009

Review by Alyssa Kirk

This is a satisfying love story for paranormal groupies, especially Team Jacob fans looking for the werewolf to woo the girl.

The book opens with Grace, our likeable protagonist, being attacked by a pack of wolves but she’s gallantly rescued by a yellow-eyed pack member. Years roll by and her fascination with wolves only increases. As she watches the woods, her yellow-eyed wolf stares back, but any attempts to approach him send him disappearing into the forest.

For a brief few months each year, Sam is human, however he doesn’t have enough nerve to approach Grace whether he’s human or wolf until a near death experience brings him to her doorstep. Love blooms and despite the difficulties, Sam and Grace will do anything to stay together.

As if fighting to keep Sam human isn’t problematic enough, wolves are attacking, students are disappearing and Sam and Grace must stop a rampaging werewolf before he strikes again.

Some might be put off by the point of view. Each chapter switches from first person Grace to first person Sam. But if you stick with it, the transitions become less jarring and awkward. The story blends heart-wrenching and romantic, and if my brother’s hadn’t been in the room, at times I would have shed a few tears. The pace slows occasionally but by that time I cared enough for the characters and their struggles to continue reading.

Definitely more romance than action, which is usually not my preference, Shiver still managed to keep my interest. Stiefvater keeps the love story more sweet romance than hot and sexy which makes it an option for younger readers or those who just don’t care for the more explicit stuff, and she puts a new and interesting twist on the werewolf lore. I vote for Shiver as a solid paranormal romance read and the ending doesn’t disappoint.

Sarah Dessen video!

Welp, here it is! My first video blog. It's really more of a poorly edited series of clips from Sarah's reading on Sunday, but there you go. Enjoy!

Good books for a multicultural classroom

Today, in one of my classes, we had a Children's Book Fair. Each student had to bring in one example of a racist/controversial book and one example of a book that treats cultural differences in a better way. I made a little list of my favorite "good" books:

The Upside Down Boy by Juan Felipe Herrera
Bee-Bim Bop by Linda Sue Park
A Shelter in Our Car by Monica Gunning
Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say
The Rough-Face Girl by Rafe Martin
Now Hiring: White House Dog by Gina Bazer
Goodbye, 382 Shin Dang Dong by Frances Park
Zlata's Diary by Zlata Filipovic
The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi

Sarah Dessen

Wow, what a great event today! It was a little risky booking an event at dinnertime on Father's Day, but we had an amazing group of readers who asked really great questions. Here are some photos from the event--please email me (Jake) at p1rateWench@hotmail.com if you would like a copy of any of them. : ) There will also be a video with parts of the reading and Q&A session as soon as I get it all edited. Thank you for coming!

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Natalie and Sarah
Nora and Sarah
A total groupie named Jake and Sarah
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Official Rules and Secret Bonus Task!

The Summer Reading Challenge has begun!

Here is a summary of the rules:

1. Come in and get your Reading Record at A Great Good Place for Books.

2. Read. Keep track of the NUMBER OF HOURS that you have read each day. Not the number of books, the number of hours. For each full hour, write down the title of a book you read in that hour and have your mom/dad/camp counselor sign the Reading Record for that hour.

3. When you've finished all 10 hours, you get to move to the next level. Come into the store and get your prize and a new Reading Record.

4. Keep checking this blog for Secret Bonus Tasks! There will be a new one each week, and you'll get a prize for finishing it.

5. The Summer Reading Challenge ends on August 14th. Make sure you've turned in all your finished Reading Records by then!


This week's Secret Bonus Task is:

Draw a picture of your favorite character. The character can be from a children's book, a chapter book, a graphic novel, or any other kind of book. Hand it in by June 26th to get your secret prize.