Review: Sweethearts of Rhythm by Marilyn Nelson

by Carol4 Comments
(Suggested reading level: Grade 4 and up) Sweetheart of Rhythm by Marilyn Nelson had such potential, but I just can't bring myself to say I loved it. The subject matter is fantastic - the first integrated all women band in America. The Sweethearts of Rhythm played jazz and swing nationwide during the 1940s and were some of the best female musicians of the day. Not only does the book tell the story of the women, it explores the historical backdrop, from Jim Crow laws and segregation to the effects of the war. The writing style is perfect. The story is told through series of poems, each with the title of a song from that era. The rhythmic nature of the poetry fits with the topic and they simply beg to be read aloud. The illustrations, done by Jerry Pinkney, evoke the era and enhance the story dramatically. The images of the harsh lives people led, contrasted with the jeweled toned music really made me...
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Review: The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

by Carol12 Comments
(Suggested reading level: Grades 4-8) I actually borrowed The Red Pyramid from my daughter, and I definitely enjoyed it. The story centers around a pair of siblings, Carter and Sadie, whose world is thrown upside down the night they watch their father blow up the Rosetta Stone and be captured by an ancient Egyptian god. Cater and Sadie learn the secret of their family history, discover they can perform magic and have to save the world from Set. It's a great combination. Fascinating Egyptian gods, siblings who learn to work together, magic, fight scenes. The book has everything to appeal to its middle school audience, even if it felt a little long. Sadie and Carter take turns narrating the chapters, which mean we get to see the events and characters from both points of view, and they are quite different from each other. Carter had been raised by his Egyptologist father, traveling around the world after their mother's death, while Sadie had been...
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Review: Sea Queens by Jane Yolen

by Carol2 Comments
(Suggested reading level: Grades 4-6) Loved this book! I read it with Amber (11) and it's really great. It's about strong women, okay granted they're killers and thieves, but still you have to admire them. Women who succeeded in a man's world, which you have to admit sailing in general and piracy particularly is. Still, whether the pirates came from the lower classes or the upper, whether they did their pirating on the rivers or the high seas, and under whatever flag they flew, this much is true: they were all thieves and  they often committed horrible deeds. They pillaged and murdered and sank many ships. Even the women. Especially the women. (pg. 3) Yolen introduces us to thirteen of theses infamous women, starting with Artemisia, an Admrial-Queen in Persian in 500 BC. Some of these women I was familiar with, like Grania O'Malley, Anne Bonney and Mary Read, but most I had never heard of. They were tough women, and Yolen does not paint...
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Review: Leaping Beauty by Gregory Maguire

by Carol6 Comments
(Suggested reading level: Grades 4-6) This was a cute collection of fractured fairy tales, each with animal stars. Amber (11) and I read it together over several evenings and both enjoyed it.  There are eight tales, each recognisable but transformed. In addition to Leaping Beauty, there is Cinder-Elephant whose pie pan shoes were perfect. We met So What, a chimpanzee who moves in with seven circus-performing giraffes. I think one of my favorites was "The Three Little Penguins and the Big Bad Wolf." The youngest penguin has an artistic streak that made the story truly funny. And there's Little Red Robin Hood, who likes to pretend he's a superhero. The little robin was called Little Red Robin Hood, because he was a red robin. Also, when he grew up, he wanted to rob the rich birds of the forest and give their worms to the poor birds of the forest. (pg. 107) I think Amber was about the perfect age for this one....
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The Dragon’s Eye by Dugald A. Steer

by Carol4 Comments
The Dragon's Eye by Dugald A. Steer, illustrated by Douglas Carrel (Suggested reading level: Grades 4-6) Amber (11) and I read this together over several evenings. Before I talk about the book itself, I need to give you a little background. Amber loves the Ology books, especially Dragonology, which is what the novel is based on, and she loves dragons. She has the Dragonology book, the field guide, two Dragonology games, a stuffed Frost Dragons. She is the target audience for this book. Twelve-year-old Daniel Cook and his sister Beatrice are sent by their absentee parents to spend the summer with Dr. Ernest Drake. Dr. Drake, it turns out, is a member of the Secret and Ancient Society of Dragonologists, along with the Cooks parents, and the premier dragonologist in England. The siblings are to spend their time with him learning about dragons. The summer starts out well, but soon the arrival of the evil dragonologist Ignatius Crook interrupts the plans and Dr....
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The Time Pirate by Ted Bell

by Carol7 Comments
The Time Pirate by Ted Bell (Suggested reading level: Grades 5-8) I read this aloud with Amber (10), and she and I have entirely different opinions of it, and, David, who listened in on most of it, pretty much agrees with her, which makes me think that I just wasn't the right audience. It's 1940, Nick McIver, a 12 year-old boy must defend his home, a small British island, against the looming Nazi invasion. But the Nazis are not his only enemies; using a time-travel device invented by da Vinci, he also battles 18th-century pirates who've kidnapped his sister. To further confuse things, the pirates, who are equipped with a time-travel device of their own, threaten to change the outcome of the American Revolution. Nick feels compelled to help General Washington and his troops, even though doing so makes him a traitor, because he knows that the support of the United States will become crucial...
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