This is a story of an orphan boy and girl, a king and queen and their children: two princes and a princess.
The two orphans find a pouch that has the royal crest on it. They struggle to know what to do with the pouch. The royals are discontent with their positions and are also struggling to know what to do. Their stories come together eventually, and they have an impact on each other.
I personally thought the story plodded along. It was okay, just not great. I found myself wondering when something was going to happen, and it never really did. Remember, though, that's my opinion. You should try it for yourself. You might like it!
Mrs. Beckwith's rating: 2.5 of 5
Amazon reviews
Friday, December 25, 2009
Airball: my life in briefs by L. D. Harkrader
What a fun book. I'd recommend it for any middle schooler who likes humorous stories. Kirby Nickel is a 7th grader who loves basketball. After all, he's from Stuckey, the basketball capital of Kansas and producer of the NBA star Brett McGrew. One problem...Kirby's not very athletic.
When Kirby is urged to try out for the 7th grade basketball team, he does everything he can to not make the team, but he does. The only good part about being on the team is that he'll get a chance to meet Brett McGrew whom Kirby suspects is his birth father. One problem. The 7th grade Stuckey basketball team hasn't had a winning record since McGrew played for them. They'll have to play basketball before a national audience. As a result, Coach "Iron Man" Mike Armstrong tries desperate measures to get them to improve...enter the stealth uniforms. The boys practice in their underwear! You'll have to read the book to find out more.
Genre: realistic fiction, sports
Topics: basketball, practice, figuring out who your birth father is, cousins, stealth uniforms, coaches, coaching techniques
Mrs. Beckwith's rating: 5 of 5
Amazon reviews
When Kirby is urged to try out for the 7th grade basketball team, he does everything he can to not make the team, but he does. The only good part about being on the team is that he'll get a chance to meet Brett McGrew whom Kirby suspects is his birth father. One problem. The 7th grade Stuckey basketball team hasn't had a winning record since McGrew played for them. They'll have to play basketball before a national audience. As a result, Coach "Iron Man" Mike Armstrong tries desperate measures to get them to improve...enter the stealth uniforms. The boys practice in their underwear! You'll have to read the book to find out more.
Genre: realistic fiction, sports
Topics: basketball, practice, figuring out who your birth father is, cousins, stealth uniforms, coaches, coaching techniques
Mrs. Beckwith's rating: 5 of 5
Amazon reviews
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Dragon Spear by Jessica Day George
This is the conclusion of the Dragon series by Jessica Day George. The humans are afraid of the dragons because of what happened in Dragon Flight, so the dragons are banned from the human land. They have made their home on the Far Isles. Creel and Prince Luka are engaged and planning their wedding when Velika gets kidnapped by a formerly unknown group of dragons from a far away land.
What awaits them when Creel, Luka, and their dragon and human friends is very unexpected. Once again, they are in the middle of a battle between dragons and humans, but this time, the humans are the captives and the dragons are the captors. You'll have to read it to find out what happens! You won't be disappointed.
Genre: fantasy
Topics: human enslavement, royal lines/succession, volcanoes, prisoners, deception, mistaken history
Mrs. Beckwith's rating: 5 of 5
Amazon reviews
What awaits them when Creel, Luka, and their dragon and human friends is very unexpected. Once again, they are in the middle of a battle between dragons and humans, but this time, the humans are the captives and the dragons are the captors. You'll have to read it to find out what happens! You won't be disappointed.
Genre: fantasy
Topics: human enslavement, royal lines/succession, volcanoes, prisoners, deception, mistaken history
Mrs. Beckwith's rating: 5 of 5
Amazon reviews
Dragon Flight by Jessica Day George
In this second book of the Dragon series by Jessica Day George, Creel is once again thrown into the middle of another dragon plot. This time, there is a new type of dragon on the scene. Citatie, a neighboring country, has decided to declare war on Feravel, and they are using an army of these new dragons.
To help Luka and his father, Creel goes undercover in Citatie to figure out why these dragons are acting as they are. She soon discovers a diabolical plot and enlists the help of Shardas, Velika, and her other dragon friends from the Dragon War. Get ready for more battles and rescues!
Genre: fantasy
Topics: dragons, controlling/imprisoning others, breeding, mind control, family betrayal, friendship
Mrs. Beckwith's rating: 5 of 5
Amazon reviews
To help Luka and his father, Creel goes undercover in Citatie to figure out why these dragons are acting as they are. She soon discovers a diabolical plot and enlists the help of Shardas, Velika, and her other dragon friends from the Dragon War. Get ready for more battles and rescues!
Genre: fantasy
Topics: dragons, controlling/imprisoning others, breeding, mind control, family betrayal, friendship
Mrs. Beckwith's rating: 5 of 5
Amazon reviews
The Year of the Bomb by Ronald Kidd
This book does a great job describing some of the fears that people from the United States dealt with in the 1950s. It's amazing how much fear can be instilled in people from propaganda; yes, even the United States falls prey to this. The 1950s weren't the glowing times we like to remember from Happy Days or other TV shows. There were rough times, too.
A group of boys live in the town where Invasion of the Body Snatchers was filmed. They make friends with some people on the set and get to see the inner workings of some of the film making process. They even get to be extras for one scene.
While on the set, they meet an undercover FBI agent who is conducting an investigation on several people to determine if they were Communist sympathizers. Some of the people being investigated were part of the film crew. Others were people who lived nearby, including Richard Feynman who had worked on the atomic bomb project in Los Alamos.
Genre: historical fiction
Audience: gr 6 or 7 likely
Topics: atomic war, fear, nuclear bomb drills, movie sets, suspicion, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (movie), pod people, Communism, Communist scare, Red Scare, Russian spies, 1950s, McCarthyism, FBI, ask questions, learn the truth, Los Alamos, Richard Feynman, Don Siegel
Mrs. Beckwith's Rating: 4 of 5
Amazon reviews (none yet at the time of this posting)
A group of boys live in the town where Invasion of the Body Snatchers was filmed. They make friends with some people on the set and get to see the inner workings of some of the film making process. They even get to be extras for one scene.
While on the set, they meet an undercover FBI agent who is conducting an investigation on several people to determine if they were Communist sympathizers. Some of the people being investigated were part of the film crew. Others were people who lived nearby, including Richard Feynman who had worked on the atomic bomb project in Los Alamos.
Genre: historical fiction
Audience: gr 6 or 7 likely
Topics: atomic war, fear, nuclear bomb drills, movie sets, suspicion, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (movie), pod people, Communism, Communist scare, Red Scare, Russian spies, 1950s, McCarthyism, FBI, ask questions, learn the truth, Los Alamos, Richard Feynman, Don Siegel
Mrs. Beckwith's Rating: 4 of 5
Amazon reviews (none yet at the time of this posting)
Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George
This is a retelling of the Norwegian folk tale, East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon. The main character is a girl who has no name because her mother chose not to name her. Her family is very poor, and to save them, she chooses to leave with an enchanted white bear to live in his ice castle for one year in exchange for gifts for her family.
The story includes an enchanted deer, trolls, and other creatures. The bear is under the control of the nasty troll queen. (Trolls are very bad creatures.)
The girl and the bear live together for many months in an ice palace far from the girl's home. As time passes, the girl discovers many things about her captor, the palace, and the servants. It leads her to many dangerous discoveries and adventures, including what happened years before to her favorite, eldest brother, who had returned from far away adventures quieter and more distant than before.
Genre: fairy tale / fantasy
Topics: trolls, enchanted animals, Norwegian folk tales, favoritism, family conflict, power of a name, carvings, deciphering, faun
Mrs. Beckwith's Rating: 4 of 5
Amazon reviews
The story includes an enchanted deer, trolls, and other creatures. The bear is under the control of the nasty troll queen. (Trolls are very bad creatures.)
The girl and the bear live together for many months in an ice palace far from the girl's home. As time passes, the girl discovers many things about her captor, the palace, and the servants. It leads her to many dangerous discoveries and adventures, including what happened years before to her favorite, eldest brother, who had returned from far away adventures quieter and more distant than before.
Genre: fairy tale / fantasy
Topics: trolls, enchanted animals, Norwegian folk tales, favoritism, family conflict, power of a name, carvings, deciphering, faun
Mrs. Beckwith's Rating: 4 of 5
Amazon reviews
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