The Glorious Adventures of the Sunshine Queen by Geraldine McCaughrean

The Glorious Adventures of the Sunshine Queen by Geraldine McCaughrean

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


In the 1890s, 12-year-old Cissy enjoys attending school and spending time with her friend Kookie.  The highlight of their school days is receiving letters from their former teacher Miss Loucien, who left teaching to join a traveling theater group.  When there's a diphtheria outbreak in their town, Cissy and her classmate Tibbie are sent away with their current teacher to find the theater group so that they can stay with them until the outbreak has passed.  Happily for Cissy, Kookie tags along with them.



They find the theater group living in an old, abandoned paddle-boat that had washed up onto land from the Missouri River.  After some work, the group gets the boat back into the river and their journey really begins!



This is a fun story with a huge cast of likable characters.  Despite all of the crazy hardships faced by this group as they float down the river, they always work together and help each other out.  This book is a follow-up to Stop the Train, but readers don't need to have read that book to understand what's going on in this one.  Those who enjoyed this book might also enjoy another one of McCaughrean's books: The Death-Defying Pepper Roux.



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Liar, Liar: the Theory, Practice, and Destructive Properties of Deception by Gary Paulsen

Liar, Liar by Gary Paulsen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


14-year-old Kevin has a talent he’s very proud of: telling lies.  In fact, he thinks that by lying about everything, he makes his life easier; after all, he tells people what they want to hear and he often gets his way.

Then Kevin begins to push his luck when he goes from telling small lies to telling huge lies, and things start to get a little messy.  For example, to get out of doing his share of a school project, he doesn’t just tell his partner that he’s not feeling well—he tells her that he suffers from relapsing-remitting inflamobetigoitis…and she believes him!  He also lies to his older brother and sister, which leads to a fight—so they get their car taken away.  Things keep spinning out of control until Kevin is forced to tell the truth about everything he’s been lying about…but does telling the truth make his life any easier than lying did?

This is a short, funny book that readers will be sure to enjoy.  Kevin is a likable character whose rationalization for lying will (almost) have readers convinced that lying is okay.  Those who enjoyed this book might also enjoy The Adventures of Jack Lime (Leck).



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Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy

Words In The Dust by Trent Reedy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Sweet and caring Zulaikah is the second-oldest girl in her large family. They live in a small village in Afghanistan—a country that places a lot of importance on marriage prospects for their children. For Zulaikah, this reality is hard to take because she has a cleft palate, which makes her less desirable for a match in marriage. After watching her sister get married to an older wealthy man, Zulaikah wonders what her life will become other than helping to raise her younger siblings and doing chores.



Things change completely when two things happen: first, when American soldiers arrive in their village, one of them notices Zulaikah’s mouth and offers her father the chance for her to have free surgery to fix her problem; and second, when she meets a former university professor in her village who offers to teach Zulaikah how to read and write. All of a sudden, her future is looking much brighter—but will her father allow her to follow her dreams?



This is an excellent book. It’s fascinating how different a teen girl’s life in Afghanistan is from a teen girl’s life in the United States—but there are also many similarities, too. Those who enjoyed this book might also like Where the Streets Had a Name (Abdel-Fattah) and Jungle Crossing (Salter).





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The Book of the Maidservant by Rebecca Barnhouse

The Book of the Maidservant by Rebecca Barnhouse

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


I picked this book up after reading Barnhouse's newer book _The Coming of the Dragon_, which I enjoyed very much. This book, however, wasn't as enjoyable for me.

This story revolves around a young girl named Johanna who is a servant to Margery Kemp, the well-known religious woman of the Medieval era. It follows them as they make the pilgrimage to Rome from London with a small group of others. Dame Margery, as Johanna calls her, is very extreme in her demonstrations of her faith as she is prone to wailing and loud sobbing. This makes it nearly impossible for the others to tolerate her, and eventually they refuse to travel any further with her--except they keep Johanna with the group to serve them. When a mean man in the group threatens her, Johanna runs off on her own and must find her own way in the strange new country.

I just couldn't get into this story. I found that I didn't care about Johanna or the others in her group--especially Margery Kemp, who was just obnoxious. I can't put my finger on what exactly I disliked about this book, but I wasn't sad when it was over. I'm glad I read her other book first, otherwise I would never have bothered reading it after having read this one.



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Enchanted Glass by Diane Wynn Jones

Enchanted Glass by Diana Wynne Jones

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


When Andrew’s grandfather passes away, Andrew receives his large, magical estate in the will. He decides to leave his university job to care for it full-time; he realizes that there are magical things he has forgotten over time and wants to properly care for the property with all its magical beasties.



Soon after Andrew moves in, 12-year-old Aiden shows up, explaining that his grandmother, before she died, instructed him to come to the estate after her death. Andrew lets him stay, and it’s a good thing he does—Aiden has magical abilities, and he helps Andrew to remember

his own magical past. He also helps Andrew figure out the mystery surrounding the enchanted glass in the back door of the house.



This is a fun story that has both realistic and fantastical elements. Aiden does regular things like clothes shopping—and then uses his magical wallet that always seems to produce the exact amount he needs when he needs it. There are also fun characters like Groil (a giant who eats only vegetables) and Rolph (a were-dog who can turn from boy to dog at will). Readers who enjoyed this book might also like the Erec Rex series (Kingsley).





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Sir Charlie Chaplin, the Funniest Man in the World

Sir Charlie Chaplin by Sid Fleischman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Charlie Chaplin dreamed of living a better life while he was stuck in the slums of London with his mother and older brother. He did odd jobs around town to help his family get by; as a teen, one of the jobs he

had was as a slapstick comedy performer in vaudeville acts (variety shows). When his small group was touring America, a director saw his act and signed him to do movies (which were silent and only a few

minutes long at that time).



Charlie soon gained enough confidence in his comedic acting ability—and earned enough money—to leave the production company he had originally signed with in order to not only build his own studio, but direct and star in his own films. The public loved these films and couldn’t get enough of him, making him a multi-millionaire—and making his boyhood dreams come true.



This is a very interesting book about a man that, when in costume, nearly anyone today can identify—but whose personal life isn’t as universally well known. His rags-to-riches rise from poor boy to Hollywood legend is a great and inspiring story. Those who enjoyed this book might also enjoy other biographies by Sid Fleischman, such as Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini (Harry Houdini) or The Trouble Begins at 8: a Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild West (Mark Twain).





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The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott

The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


I did not enjoy this book very much. I felt as though it wasn't very well written, although it's very popular with the kids; in fact, book four, _The Necromancer_, came out recently and kids are asking for it. Because of this, I decided to listen to, at the very least, book one...and now I know that this series isn't for me.

Before I discuss the plot, I also want to mention that my dislike of the book also has to do with the reader on the audio book; I had a huge problem with him. His 'voices' for each character are a bit annoying and his mispronunciation of words is simply unacceptable; "disoriented" is NOT pronounced "dis-or-ee-en-TATE-ted" ; "allied" is NOT pronounced "a-lied"...those were the ones that stuck out to me the most. I mean, come on!

Josh and Sophie are fifteen-year-old twins who get mixed up, completely by accident, with magical beings. It all starts when Josh, who works for a man named Nick Fleming, is in the store when a man comes in and attacks Nick; he forcibly takes a book from him, but Josh manages to save the last few pages. The fight between the men involve things Josh has never seen before--magical things. Josh and Nick are able to safely escape with Sophie (who saw the fight from across the street and joined them).

It turns out that Nick and his wife--who was kidnapped during the fight--are magical beings who are hundreds of years old. The book that the evil man took from Nick (whose real name is Nicholas Flamel) is a codex that is thousands of years old and holds all sorts of magical information. He tells the twins that they are in danger now that the evil man (whose name is Dr. John Dee) knows who they are; and now that he has most of the book, he will allow dark magic to rule the world.

Nicholas and his friend Scathach (who is also hundreds of years old) learn that Josh and Sophie could very well be the twins foretold in a prophecy. They all need to work together to fight the evil Dr. John Dee and his plan for a world controlled by dark magic.

This plot sounds pretty interesting, doesn't it? I mean, this is the type of book I reach for when reading children's literature; I enjoy these types of fantastical elements in a book. However, this book is just so poorly written that I couldn't get into it. I felt like it could have been shorter had it been edited some; because the omniscient narrator oscillates between Josh and Sophie depending on whether or not they are together in a particular scene, there is a repeating of facts that weren't even necessarily to understand the plot; for example, they each say a number of times that they have always had to stick together because their parents work a lot and they move a lot. Okay--after hearing one of them say it, let's move on!

Nonetheless, kids seem to like it; maybe the writing gets better in the later books; however, this reader isn't going to find out.



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The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner

The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This book picks up pretty close to where book 1 leaves off. We find Eugenides in very poor health in his room in the palace of Eddis (sp?), suffering from the amputation of his right hand. In fact, doctors aren't sure if he'll be able to survive the trauma. After a long while, he finally improves enough to leave his private room beside the library.

It turns out that Eugenides is, indeed, an important member of the palace, as he is the Queen's Thief. However, during the few journeys outside his room to appear at dinner or meetings, he is ashamed of his missing hand.

After a long while, he asks to take leave of the queen for approximately ten days. During his absence he spies on the queen of Attolia so that he may improve the lives of not only the Eddisians, but of himself as well.

This book was, again, just okay. The friend who recommended this series said that book 3 is her favorite, so I'll have to wait to see where the series goes.



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The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I began this series due to a recommendation from a friend. I dutifully read it but, admittedly, I didn't find it super-wonderful.



This story is about a young teen named Gen who is locked in a prison cell when the reader is introduced to him; he had been arrested in a wine shop after gloating about something he stole. He is approached by someone who works for the king who is interested in using Gen to help capture a very elusive item. Having nothing better to do, Gen agrees to help the man get the item for the king.



Gen accompanies not only the man who approached him, but also two other boys around his age who are apprentices--more or less--to the man, and also a royal guard.



This book is mostly about the group's travels to get to the location of the elusive item. It reminded me of book one of _The Lord of the Rings_ trilogy--walking and walking and sleeping and eating and walking and walking. I didn't particularly love all of the traveling in the LOTR series, and I didn't particularly enjoy it here, either.



The reader grows to dislike Gen due to his snotty, smart-mouthed personality. I began to feel a bit of sympathy for him when he is in the place where the item is because it is so scary in there, but on their trek back, my sympathy would ebb and flow for him.



Once they reach their destination after the adventure, we learn that there is much more to Gen than we originally thought, setting us up for book two of the series, _The Queen of Attolia_.





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The Red Blazer Girls: The Vanishing Violin by Michael Beil

The Red Blazer Girls: The Vanishing Violin by Michael D. Beil

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is the second book in the Red Blazer Girl series. I listened to the first book and surprisingly enjoyed it (I normally don't like mysteries). I think a lot of it had to do with the reader of the book on cd being very good. So, when book two came out, I thought I'd give it a try.



There's nothing wrong with the story or anything like that; maybe my heart wasn't wholly into listening to another mystery or something...but I found my mind wandering during the story--not so much that I wasn't following the story, but enough where I felt that maybe I shouldn't listen to any more books in this series.



This story involves the same four girls as in the first one; this time they start out trying to find out who is mysteriously cleaning their school after hours, which then turns into a need to discover who stole a violin from the shop where Margaret goes...which is going on while Margaret receives a bow from an unnamed source that leads to the girls needing to solve a whole other set of clues provided by the sender (that would probably be impossible for most adults to solve, but that's beside the point!).



Maybe I got lost in the three big storylines, along with the bunch of new characters that are added to the ones from book one. It was kind of a lot to keep track of! Again, it's not impossible, but I suppose all of this added together soured me a bit on the story (and I want to know how these girls have so much energy--they go from meeting at the coffee shop before school, attending school all day, stopping at someone or other's house, practicing with their band, doing homework, etc., etc. EVERY day...it's simply exhausting to think about! Maybe I'm just jealous).



All in all, girls who enjoyed the first one will undoubtedly enjoy this one. Not only do the girls have mysteries to solve; there are also snotty classmates and boys to handle as well!



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Gideon the Cutpurse by Linda Buckley-Archer

Gideon the Cutpurse: Being the First Part of the Gideon Trilogy by Linda Buckley-Archer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


_Gideon the Cutpurse_ is the first book in this trilogy. I had wanted to read this story for a while, and I’m glad I finally got around to it! I enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading (or listening to) the second one.



The story begins normal enough—in present-day England—with a young teen named Peter. His parents are very focused on working, so his birthday gets pushed to the side. He ends up having to spend the day with his nanny (?) and accompanies her to her friend’s farm. There, he meets the Dyer family and gets to see the special area where Mr Dyer works on science experiments. During a tour, the family dog gets spooked so Peter and Kate (the oldest daughter and Peter’s age) chase it and suddenly find themselves in a totally different place.



After a while, Peter and Kate learn that they are no longer in the 21st Century; rather, it is 1763! They are at a total loss as to what to do until a kind man named Gideon helps them find “proper” clothing, somewhere to stay, and plan how to locate the man who took the machine they appeared in 1763 with before he sells it.



This is story has likable characters and is told at a good pace. It ends on a cliffhanger, and I’m very interested to see what will happen next! Suggest the Ulysses Moore series to those who enjoyed this.





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Wild Things by Clay Carmichael

Wild Things by Clay Carmichael

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


After her mother commits suicide, Zoe’s life completely changes—surprisingly, for the better. She goes to live with her Uncle Henry, a doctor-turned-artist, in his big house in a small town. With Uncle Henry, Zoe doesn’t have to take care of anyone except herself, unlike when she had to live with her mother and her male “friends.”

When not in school, Zoe spends her time trying to earn the trust of a stray cat she names Mr. C-mere, writing in her journal, and cleaning up an abandoned cabin she finds in the woods at the edge of Uncle Henry’s property. She is happy with her life with Uncle Henry and with the friendly adults she meets through him.

This is a good story about a young girl who is definitely a survivor. Some of the story is questionable (like how did she learn to read on her own, or how is she so ‘okay’ with her mother taking her own life?) but the good parts definitely outweigh the questionable parts. Another nice aspect of this story is how Carmichael incorporated the Japanese folktale The Boy Who Drew Cats. This prompted me to want to learn more about that folktale, so I read a version adapted by Margaret Hodges (and put another version on hold at the library). My next review will be about the Hodges version.

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The Red Blazer Girls: the Ring of Rocamadour by Michael D. Beil

The Red Blazer Girls: The Ring of Rocamadour by Michael D. Beil

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is a sweet story that I enjoyed--and I normally can't stand mysteries. It was well-written with very likable characters.

Sophie is a seventh-grader who is close friends with Margaret and Rebecca; they all attend St. Veronica's, a private school in New York City. While sitting in class one day, Sophie thinks she sees a figure in one of the windows of the church across the way in a place she thought was unused. She and her friends check it out and end up meeting a kind, if not odd, old lady who asks them to do her a favor.

The favor involves figuring out the series of clues that the old woman's father left for her daughter nearly 20 years earlier for her birthday, but were never solved. The girls accept the challenge and begin working together to solve each of the clues, which begin with a note and end with a ring!




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My (not-so-successful) 48-hour Reading Challenge Results

I tried to do as much reading and listening to books as possible for the challenge, but I didn't measure up very well next to others competing in this challenge. I broke down my reading time into what I read and when, but it's not very impressive. I suppose that it's okay for someone who had places to be for many of the 48 hours!

--Friday morning: 7:30-8:30--Read the [adult] book _House Rules_ by Jodi Picoult
--Friday morning during errands: 9:30-10:00--continued listening to _The Giant-Slayer_ by Iain Lawrence
--Friday afternoon during errands: 10:30-11:00; 12:00-1:00--continued listening to _The Giant-Slayer_ by Iain Lawrence
--1:15-3:15--continued listening to _The Giant-Slayer_ by Iain Lawrence
--Then, after all of my errands, I was cranky and didn't feel like doing anything but taking a nap! That's not very good for reading...so I lost a lot of time that way. After I woke up, I only read for another hour or so: 6:00-7:00--continued reading _House Rules_ by Jodi Picoult


Friday's total=6 hours


--Then, on Saturday, I had to work all day! On my long commute to work: 8:00-9:00--I finally finished _The Giant-Slayer_ by Iain Lawrence and then started right in on _Falling In_ by Frances O'Roark Dowell. (If I was already listening to an audio book and then I started another one, does that bypass the rule that I can only listen to one? I hope it does.)
--I tried to read while on the service desk, but that is much easier said than done; I kept getting interrupted or distracted by things going on in the department. I began _Redwall_ by Brian Jacques around 10:30 and only managed to read the first 10 chapters by 4:30. When I add all of the starting and stopping that took place throughout the day, I'd say that I only read maybe an hour and a half, total. Reading FAILURE!
--Breaktime at work: 12:15-1:00--I read a WWE magazine.
--On an errand and then to my parents' house: 5:15-6:30--I continued listening to _Falling In_ by Frances O'Roark Dowell.
--On the way home from my parents' house: 12:30-1:15--I continued listening to _Falling In_ by Frances O'Roark Dowell.

Saturday's total=5.25 hours

48-hour reading challenge total= 11.25 hours

Well...it's something to beat next year! Maybe I won't have errands for most of the day one day and have to work most of the day for the second day. Sigh.

Small Steps: the Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret

Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I'm currently listening to an audio book called The Giant Slayer (Lawrence) and it's about a girl whose friend is in the hospital being treated for polio in the mid-1950s. This made me interested to learn more about polio and how others who had it were treated.

In the children's department at my library, I found that children's author Peg Kehret (Terror at the Zoo, Danger at the Fair) had polio and that she wrote a book about her experience geared toward younger readers.

I really enjoyed this book; it was a quick read, as she tells her tale like a fictional story. She includes some pictures, too.

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The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The year is 1899 and 12-year-old Calpurnia (Callie) is trying to survive being the only girl among 3 older brothers and 3 younger brothers.  Her love of nature and questions about living things in general makes her curious to see Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species.  After an unsuccessful attempt to find it at the city library, she comes to find that her grandfather has his very own copy in his library!  Quite unexpectedly, they become partners of sorts—they collect various specimens to study together and keep Callie’s science notebook updated with all of their finds.

Spending time with her grandfather doing scientific things is a bright point in Callie’s life; spending time with her mother learning how to cook and sew is a dark point.  Callie doesn’t have an interest in these pursuits at all, but this is what women do in a home once they grow up and have a family.  How is Callie supposed to find happiness running a home when all she wants to do is run outside?

I really enjoyed this book.  Callie is a likable character who readers will be sure to empathize with.  The relationship she shares with her oldest brother and her grandfather warms the heart.  Suggest this to female readers looking for a good historical fiction story.

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