books.

Book Review: Bunns Rabbit

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Bunns Rabbit by Alan Barillaro

Bunns Rabbit
by Alan Barillaro

5 out of 5 stars

Bunns is a rabbit born with short ears. Her parents worry that the superstitious rabbits in the warren will reject her, and they are right. The entire family is going to be evicted from their burrow, because the other rabbits think that Bunns will bring bad luck on the whole meadow. Bunns runs away on her own, hoping that with her gone, her family will be allowed to stay safely in their home. She meets the Spirit Fox who sends Monarch butterflies to lead her through the forest, where she will be tested. If she is found worthy, the Spirit Fox may grant her a wish.

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Book Review: The Wheel on the School

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The Wheel on the School by Meindert De Jong

The Wheel on the School
by Meindert De Jong, Maurice Sendak (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

Lina is the only girl at the village school. She starts asking why storks don’t come to nest in their seaside village, and all the other schoolchildren begin to wonder why as well. They notice that other villages have old wheels on their roofs, so that the storks have a place to build their nests. They start asking around to see if they can find an old wheel to put on the roof of the schoolhouse, but it’s more difficult than they imagined to get a wheel. Most wheels are being used on wagons, not sitting around to be bird nests. As the obstacles against them continue to grow, the children refuse to give up, and soon the whole village is helping them, hoping to attract the good luck that storks bring with them.

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Book Review: Can You Forgive Her?

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Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope

Can You Forgive Her? (Palliser #1)
by Anthony Trollope

5 out of 5 stars

Alice breaks off her engagement with John Grey and considers the proposal of her cousin George Vavasor instead. She vacillates between these two men as she vacillates with her own character. She considers what her life would be like with each of them, and has to decide what kind of person she wants to be. She worries that she will be stuck in a boring country life with John Grey, and longs for more political excitement as her cousin George is up for election and hopes to gain a seat in Parliament. Alice is confused and can’t sort through her true feelings and she has no one to guide her in making these decisions.

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Book Review: Death on the Nile

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Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

Death on the Nile (Hercule Poirot, #18)
by Agatha Christie

5 out of 5 stars

Hercule Poirot is on vacation in Egypt, taking a boat trip down the Nile. Linnet Doyle, a young bride on her honeymoon, asks for Poirot’s help. She has stolen her new husband from her former best friend, Jackie, and now Jackie is following them everywhere they go, pestering them with her very presence. Poirot agrees to talk with Jackie and try to persuade her to leave them alone. He warns Jackie that if she continues on her present course, she will invite evil into her heart. And yet, the next day she is there on the boat, following the newlyweds once again. As he observes their behavior, Poirot begins to worry that some drastic violence will tear apart this love triangle… ending in murder.

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Book Review: The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane

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The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane by Julia Nobel

The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane (Black Hollow Lane, #1)
by Julia Nobel

4 out of 5 stars

Emmy discovers that her dead father left behind a mysterious box of medallions with a note urging her to keep them safe. When her mother sends her to boarding school in England, Emmy thinks the medallions have some connection to the old school. Perhaps her father was a student there at some point and copied the odd symbols that are engraved on library books and wall carvings about the school. Emmy enlists the help of her new friends, Jack and Lola, and they investigate the existence of an underground society that will go to any lengths to hide their secrets. Now Emmy isn’t even sure if her father is really dead, or if the secret society is hiding something even more dastardly.

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Book Review: The Black Market

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The Black Market by Jed Alexander

The Black Market
by Jed Alexander

3 out of 5 stars

Martin’s aunt gives him a special pair of shoes made from the leather of an extinct animal. She tells him that she got them from the Black Market, a secret place where people come to trade in magical items. It constantly changes location, and is only open on Halloween. Martin and his friend, Jess, go searching for the Black Market, and Martin exchanges the shoes for a Bag of Dirty Tricks. He loves playing innocent pranks, but some of the tricks included in the bag are downright mean and dangerous. Martin and Jess get involved in more and more deceitful lies as they start to use the dirty tricks, and they are dismayed to see that their victims are genuinely suffering because of the pranks.

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Book Review: DragonKnight

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DragonKnight by Donita K. Paul

DragonKnight (DragonKeeper Chronicles, #3)
by  Donita K. Paul (Goodreads Author)

5 out of 5 stars

In this third book of the series, the story picks up three years after the previous book. Although, Kale joins the story later on, we mostly follow Kale’s friend Bardon, as he tries to make a decision about whether he wants to become a knight of Paladin. He is sent on a sabbatical to ponder his decision, but is swept up in a quest to assist an old granny to find her missing son, a knight who has been cursed with a sleeping spell.

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Book Review: Witchlings Scepter of Memories

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Scepter of Memories by Claribel A. Ortega

Scepter of Memories
by Claribel A. Ortega

3 out of 5 stars

Seven, Thorn, and Valley are devastated when an evil warlock uses memory hexes to erase the memories of the townsfolk, even erasing the memories of their own families. They hear of a prophecy from hundreds of years ago that could lead to a magical scepter which has the power to restore memories. But the prophecy leads them out into the wastelands beyond the Twelve Towns where monsters abound.

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Book Review: The Stolen Songbird

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The Stolen Songbird by Judith Eagle

The Stolen Songbird
by Judith Eagle (Goodreads Author), Jo Rioux  (illustrator)

3 out of 5 stars

Caro is forced to stay with her strict Great Aunt Mary, who does not allow pets at her house. Caro smuggles in her adorable pet rabbit, but doesn’t realize that she has also smuggled in a stolen painting hidden in her mother’s old suitcase. The news is full of a gang of thieves operating around London, and Caro begins to suspect they might be after the painting. Caro and her friends vow to keep the painting safe and try to return it to the rightful owners. Horace is obsessed with fashion design, and Albie can knit anything, even a rabbit hutch or a rope ladder. Together they hope to track down the thieves, but Great Aunt Mary won’t let them leave the house without adult supervision. Caro plans to run away and have her own adventures without Great Aunt Mary frowning over her shoulder. But Caro discovers that she will need the support of all her family and friends if she wants to outsmart the gang of thieves.

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Book Review: DragonQuest

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DragonQuest by Donita K. Paul

DragonQuest (DragonKeeper Chronicles, #2)
by Donita K. Paul (Goodreads Author)

5 out of 5 stars

Kale is now an official servant of Paladin, but she has barely completed three weeks of training at the Hall, before she is sent away to apprentice with the Wizard Fenworth who is having trouble controlling his dragon. As the DragonKeeper, Kale has a special connection with all dragons, but she finds this particular dragon to be quite a challenge.

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