Masked edited by Lou Anders

by Carol5 Comments
Masked edited by Lou Anders I loved this collection of superhero fiction. Some of the stories are flat out superhero versus evil villain, yes you know who's going to win, but how does it all happen. Others are not so black and white, the moral line between hero and villain is not always that clear cut. Still other pieces are about people with super powers who are really still dealing with the same issues we all face. In the intro Anders says: The anthology you have before you is just that - an attempt to explore the superhero genre in prose form; not as a pastiche or a parody, or a bunch of writer slujmming it and having a lark at the genre's expense,. but an honest exploration, with the integrity and level of storytelling that contemporary readers of comic books and graphic novesl, as well as fans of films like Iron Man and The Dark Knight, appreciate and demand. You know, "real"...
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Game Night – Castle Panic

by Carol2 Comments
Castle Panic Designer: Justin De Witt Manufacturer: Fireside Games Artist: Justin De Witt Year: 2009 Players: 1 - 6 Time: 60 minutes Ages: 10 and up The forest is filled with all sorts of Monsters. They watched and waited as you built your Castle and trained your soldiers, but now they’ve gathered their army and are marching out of the woods. Can you work with your friends to defend your Castle against the horde, or will the Monsters tear down your Walls and destroy the precious Castle Towers? You will all win or lose together, but in the end only one player will be declared the Master Slayer! We played this last weekend and it's a fun, light cooperative game. All the players work together to save the castle. However, at the end, there can be only one master slayer, so for me at least, there's some conflicting emotions while playing. Yes, I want to help save the castle,...
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The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

by Carol7 Comments
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan I finally got around to reading this, months after Amber (10) was raving about it. It's no wonder she loves this series. It's full of adventure and mythology, trustworthy friends and angry monsters. Percy Jackson is having a tough time. He's being kicked out of boarding school, but that's the least of his problems. Percy's discovered he's a demi-god, son of Poseidon, but, not only that, he's accused of stealing Zeus' lightning bolt, which explains why all the monsters are after him. In a way, it's nice to know there are Greek gods out there, because you have somebody to blame when things go wrong. For instance, when you're walking away from a bus that's just been attacked by monster hags and blown up by lightning, and it's raining on top of everything else, most people might think that's just really bad luck; when you're a half-blood, you understand that some divine force really is trying to...
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Donner the Western Dragon by Suzanne Davis Marion

by Carol5 Comments
Donner the Western Dragon: A Hero's Tale by Suzanne Davis Marion, illustrated by Marj Hales Amber (10) loves dragons, so when I saw this book I couldn't pass it up. The story is a cute book to read aloud with younger elementary children. Donner and his family live in a cold northern forest along with several other dragon families. Unlike the other young dragons, Donner does not like to play rough games, wrestling and snorting fire. He would much rather spend time with his best friend Una, a unicorn. They enjoyed the vivid colors of the flowers, and sometimes they would watch the dragonflies skating on the water for hours, admiring their pretty iridescent colors and their graceful flight. (pg. 7) All the other dragons, even Donner's father, make fun of him, but one day when disaster strikes he is the only one the dragons and unicorns can turn to. His unique personality and talents help him become a hero. The story is a...
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The Gammage Cup by Carol Kendall

by Carol4 Comments
The Gammage Cup by Carol Kendall (Suggested reading level: Grades 4-6) This is one of the few books I have clear memories of from when I first read it. My copy has the cover on the right, but the newer versions just don't have the same feel to me. I loved reading this out loud with Amber (10), seeing her get excited over the characters I fondly remember. The Minnipins are a small people, sedate, somber and conforming. Today Minnipins of all ages were scurrying about the market place, green cloaks flying in the breeze. Round, rosy housewives, their brown-weave dresses tucked up, were scrubbing their doorstones or polishing the silver doorknobs on their watercress-green doors, while children were watering the flowers that grew around the family trees. (pg. 19) They live securely in an isolated mountain valley and never question the authority of the Periods, the leading families. There are a few rebels, though, referred to as "Them" - Curley Green a painter, Walter...
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Game Night – Kingsburg: To Forge a Realm

by Carol2 Comments
Kingsburg: To Forge a Realm Designers: Andrea Chiarvesio, Luca Iennaco Manufacturer: Fantasy Flight Games Year: 2009 Players: 2 - 5 Time: 90 minutes Ages: 10 and up A few weeks ago I wrote about Kingsburg, a fun game where you build buildings, influence the king's advisors and defeat monsters. This is a great expansion. It adds variety and new strategies. Lately I've been feeling a little burned out on expansions, but this one really does help the game. It doesn't feel so much like an expansion for expansion's sake, as some do. Actually, the expansion is more a collection of 5 "modules" that can be used separately or in conjunction to change the base game, add a little something different. The first module is new province sheets. They have the original buildings, but add on two new rows. The second module is single strips of building that can be used over lines in the original province sheets or the new ones. When...
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