A Horse Named Dragon created by Gertrude Chandler Warner

by Carol3 Comments
A Horse Named Dragon created by Gertrude Chandler Warner (Suggested grades: 3-6) I have to say this is one of my favorite Boxcar Children Mysteries that Amber (10) and I have read together. The four Alden children are spending a week at the Dare to Dream Ranch while their grandfather is away on business. The Aldens have gone riding at the ranch many times and know the place and the owner, Cookie, well. But horses start disappearing, including Jessie Alden's favorite Dragon, and the kids are determined to find out what's going on. There are plenty of clues sprinkled throughout the story, clues that kids can catch and can put together to solve the mystery before the Aldens. And the horses are definitely being stolen, it's not some innocent misunderstanding. This was actually a little more exciting than some of the Boxcar books. There were several possible suspects and a point where the children actually were in a bit of true danger. I think...
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Same Book, New Teaser

by Carol12 Comments
Some idiot hollered, "Awooooo!" from the rooftop across the street and dropped some flaming paper that spun a bright orange swirl until it burned itself out halfway down to the sidewalk. These were healthy reminders that this would be a good time to get off the street. (pg. 94, Heat Wave by Richard Castle) I'm still reading this one. I'm thinking my free time should pick back up once school starts. Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Play along. The rules are easy and I only cheated a little. Grab your current read, open to a random page, and give us two teaser sentences. Remember, no spoilers. I borrowed my copy from the library and the above is my honest opinion. I am an Amazon associate....
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Cambric Tea by Marjorie Bowen

by Carol2 Comments
"Cambric Tea" by Marjorie Bowen A young physician, Bevis Holroyd is called down from London to the bedside of a new patient on Christmas Eve. The man makes the astounding accusation that his wife is poisoning him, lacing his cambric tea with arsenic. Cambric tea as described in the story sounds disgusting by the way, a drink made up of half milk and half warm water. Anyway, the doctor is familiar with this type of case, having just solved assisted in solving a murder mystery involving the same style of poisoning. It's not quite as clear cut a case as it seems at first, however. We slowly learn that the wife and the doctor knew each other previously, had actually been in love at one time. This short tale is full of treachery, jealously, distrust, all the essentials of a good mystery boiled down into just a few pages. It had me engrossed, wondering who was telling the truth, what was actually going...
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Our Week in Photos

by Carol5 Comments
The book they're looking at is Fifty Dangerous Things (You Should Let Your Children Do) by Gever Tulley with Julie Spiegler, which seems really cool actually. We also went to see Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore in the theater, but I didn't have any photos of that....
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The Green Knight

by Carol4 Comments
"The Green Knight" Today I'm looking at a fairy tale from Denmark, and while it has several similarities with Cinderella, I think I actually prefer "The Green Knight." Like Cinderella, the princess's mother dies and a mean step-mom and step-sister enter the household. This though, it is through her pleading that the King re-marries, even though he knows it is not the best course of action, he cannot go against his daughters wishes. He loves her and wants to make her happy, which holds true throughout the story. Yay for the dad for once. Fairy tales aren't usually very father-friendly. The King moves the princess to the summer castle, where she can be happier not having to live with the step-mom and sister. the day comes when the King has to go to a gathering of royalty and his daughter asks him to take a message to the Green Knight for her, that she's waiting for him and only he can free her...
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