children’s books

Book Review: The Case of the Cursed Dodo

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The Case of the Cursed Dodo
The Case of the Cursed Dodo by Jake G. Panda

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This hilarious “jungle noir” mystery features endangered animals, a panda detective, villainous snakes and shrews, and one very enigmatic green bird.
Jake G. Panda is a hotel detective who gets involved in a mystery that will lead him on an adventure across the Sahara, through Morocco, and to fabled lost cities in Asia. Following the signs of the green bird, Jake has to fight off not only poaching humans, but also back-stabbing animals willing to make a few dollars on other animals’ misery.

The humor is wonderful with lots of puns and classic lines from film noir! It reads like a funny version of the Maltese Falcon or Casablanca. It’s hilarious and delightful to read! Continue reading →

Book Review: Star Passage

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Starpassage: Book One, the Relic
Starpassage: Book One, the Relic by Clark Rich Burbidge

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

2.5 stars: It was okay. I enjoyed this story about siblings Tim and Martie who find an ancient Star relic that transports them through time. The teens are on a mission to find spiritual help for their father, who is suffering from PTSD after being wounded in the army, and for their mother, who is dealing with depression. With their family falling apart, they wander through history seeking answers, but mysterious Shadow men are trying to steal the Star from them, and Tim and Martie will need help if they are going to return safely to their own time.

I liked all the history in this book! Some of the plot points and settings are drawn from true history, and some of it is, of course, imagined. I was disappointed that one of the first places the characters travel to is Valley Forge where they meet General George Washington. Extremely trite.
But the rest of the historical settings, such as a WWI medical ship and a wagon train traveling the Badlands of the American West, are more diverse and interesting. Continue reading →

Avatar Last Airbender Book Tag

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Clockwork Reader Original Tag: https://youtu.be/YpEvXo91K-I
Questions:
Water
1. Katara and Sokka: Best sibling relationship
2. Yue: Favorite star crossed lovers
3. Blood Bending: A book with a disturbing/unsettling concept Continue reading →

Comic Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender 1

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Avatar: The Last Airbender 1
Avatar: The Last Airbender 1 by Michael Dante DiMartino

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I love and adore everything to do with Avatar, but this little book was really just a cut and paste of screenshots from the TV show, and that doesn’t exactly work well for a book.

If there had been new art that was created for a book format, it would have looked better and flowed better for a written story. A lot of the time the action wasn’t clear, because the panels weren’t created to make that action clear on paper.

Other Avatar comics that I’ve seen (like The Search or The Rift) were actually created to be comics, and those are wonderful and work perfectly and the artwork is fantastic! So I was disappointed to see that this is so poorly organized.

As far as the story goes, of course I adore Aang and Katara and Sokka! The plot is perfection, the characters are marvelous, and the world building is phenomenal! I just wish this little comic did them justice.

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Book Review: Murder Is Bad Manners

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Murder Is Bad Manners
Murder Is Bad Manners by Robin Stevens

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When Hazel Wong stumbles across the corpse of a murdered teacher, no one believes her except her faithful friend, Daisy Wells, and it’s up to the two girls to investigate the murder in between classes and still get their homework done. This 1930s British boarding school is the perfect setting for a murder mystery!

I love stories about boarding schools, and the little everyday goings-on of this school make for a hilarious story!
The plot has a lot of red herrings, so I never saw the solution until the very end. I puzzling and puzzling through the whole thing, and completely surprised at the end. Continue reading →

Book Review: Thursdays with the Crown

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Thursdays with the Crown
Thursdays with the Crown by Jessica Day George

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In this third book of the series, Celie and her siblings and friends are whisked away to the mysterious land where the Castle came from. Evil wizards, poisoned lakes, and griffins abound, and Celie has to figure out what the truth is about the Castle’s history to find a way to get back home, save the griffins, and heal the Castle.

I didn’t like this book quite as much as the others, since there was a lot of confusion about who was lying and who was telling half-truths about the past. It made for a confusing plot, and I couldn’t tell who was Arkish and who was Hathelocke, who had control of the Castle first or who first trained griffins.
Also instead of sneaking through secret passageways in the Castle for some whimsical fun, the characters are mostly trekking through forest, starving, and hiding inside a massive crypt/tomb. This book is a little darker than the others. Continue reading →

Book Review: Wednesdays in the Tower

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Wednesdays in the Tower
Wednesdays in the Tower by Jessica Day George

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another wonderful book in this series! I loved the first book so much, and wondered what direction the author would take next, and I was astounded with the magical scope of the story! Castle Glower holds so many secrets and magical enigmas, and I can’t wait to read the rest of the books.

In this book, Celie finds a mysterious orange egg that the Castle will let only her see. She hatches the egg, and cares for the newborn creature without letting anyone in the castle know about it. But her brother Bran, the Royal Wizard, finds Celie with her quickly-growing and mischievous pet, and the two have to find a way to protect the magical baby, and somehow protect the Castle from threats as well. Continue reading →

Book Review: The Box of Delights

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The Box of Delights
The Box of Delights by John Masefield

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When Kay comes home for the holidays, he meets a strange man who warns him, “The Wolves are running,” and entrusts him with a magical Box to keep safe. The evil Abner Brown is after the box with his gang of kidnappers and cutthroats, and when people begin disappearing in Kay’s town, Kay must use the Box to travel into the Past to save his friends.

I had high expectations for this book, and while I did enjoy it, I was a little disappointed. The plot has many gaping holes in it, the characters act in ways that don’t really make sense, and I never did figure out WHY exactly the villains wanted to steal the Box of Delights.

The one thing that lived up to my expectations was the Box of Delights itself. I loved the fairies, mouselings, and Herne the Hunter, and magical ladies of light, the Greeks, and pirates and Roman soldiers. All the butterflies, birds, and bees that helped Kay escape from the wolves were just beautiful written and wonderfully charming. All that magic was exactly what I wanted from this book! Continue reading →