The Adventures of Jack Lime by Jack Leck

Adventures of Jack Lime, The by James Leck


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Have a problem that needs solving?  Jack Lime is your guy!  Readers follow along as Jack solves three different cases: the first involves a missing bike (that belongs to the brother of a gorgeous girl); the second is about a kidnapped hamster; and the third is about students that have gone mysteriously missing.  Jack doesn’t work for free, of course, but rather than work for money, he collects favors that he can use later on.

Jack’s one weakness is his narcolepsy; when situations get stressful, his body wants to fall asleep—and it often does!  He doesn’t let this stop him though; he is serious about being the private eye students go to for help (although he does, at times, wake up in the hospital!).

This is a funny book—readers are bound to like Jack immediately.  The three cases are told using entries that note the day, time, and location Jack finds the information he shares.  This book would be great for readers who enjoyed the Chet Gecko series when they were younger.

View all my reviews >>

11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass

11 Birthdays - Audio Library Edition by Wendy Mass


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Amanda and Leo have celebrated their shared birthday together since their first birthday, and
they are each other’s best friend—that is, until Amanda overhears Leo say something mean about her to his friends at their 10th birthday.  Angry and hurt, Amanda hasn’t spoken to Leo since that day.

Now it’s a year later, and Amanda and Leo are both turning 11—but they will celebrate their birthdays separately for the first time ever.  Amanda is glad when her birthday is over and can just forget about her awful day—if she has to hear about Leo’s cool party one more time, she is going to lose her mind!  When she wakes up the next morning, she’s happy that it’s finally Saturday and her and Leo’s birthdays are behind her.  But the strangest thing happens…when she wakes up, it’s not Saturday at all—it’s Friday (and her 11th birthday) again!  To make things worse, when she wakes up the next morning…and the next morning…it’s still Friday!

No one besides Amanda seems to notice that she keeps living the same day over and over again; everyone else is living Friday for the first time—that is, except for Leo, who she learns is living the same day over and over again too!  After a year of not speaking, Amanda and Leo work together to figure out why every day is their 11th birthday.

This is a very cute book that might call to mind the movie Groundhog Day.  Amanda is very likable (as is Leo, once he’s forgiven).  Readers who enjoyed this book might also enjoy Take Two (DeVillers) or The Secret Language of Girls (Dowell).

View all my reviews >>

Raider's Ransom by Emily Diamond

Raiders Ransom by Emily Diamand


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
23rd-Century England is much different from the England we know today; much of the land has been flooded, Scotland’s lands have been extended, and technology is something no one knows about anymore.  Raiders looking for more wealth and power come to Lilly’s village and kidnap the Prime Minister’s daughter Lexy as a ransom.  When the Prime Minister learns this, he blames the people of the village; he rounds up all able-bodied men to fight for him, leaving the young and old men in prison.  Lilly thinks she could get Lexy back by trading a “jewel” Lexy’s aunt has for Lexy’s freedom.  With no one else in her village able to go, Lilly and her cat sneak off after the raiders with the jewel.

While Lilly heads in the direction to where she thinks Lexy might be held, she meets a boy named Zeph.  Lilly (who’s dressed like a boy) tricks Zeph into helping her into raider territory after she learns that he is the raider boss’s son, and along the way they become friends.   Unfortunately for Lilly, Zeph isn’t as naive as she thinks, as Zeph knows about  her tricks.   He has some tough decisions to make about his loyalty to his father and to his new tricky friend.

This story is told in the alternating points of view of Lilly and Zeph, so readers get to see through both the eyes of a poor fishergirl and the son of a well-to-do raider boss.  It’s fascinating to think that humanity could regress so far after a devastating environmental attack; Lilly and Zeph’s descriptions of how they live without any technology remind me of how  people of  today think of  people living hundreds of years ago.  There is also a hint of a sequel coming.  For a similar read, try The Faerie Door by Bruce Maxwell.

View all my reviews >>

The Unfinished Angel by Sharon Creech

The Unfinished Angel by Sharon Creech


My rating: 1 of 5 stars
This story is told from the point of view of an angel who is hundreds of years old and living quite peacefully in a tower of a house in the Alps until a family moves in.  Zola and her father are Americans who move to Switzerland to get a fresh start; her father plans to open a boarding school.  The angel isn’t used to people being able to see it, so it’s startled when Zola addresses it when she enters the tower.

The angel and Zola become wary friends; Zola often asks it questions it doesn’t know the answer to (are you a boy angel or a girl angel?;  where are your wings?; etc.).  As time passes, Zola and the angel get more used to each other.  Zola begins asking the angel to help her with things; most importantly, Zola has discovered a group of orphans living in an old shed.  The angel wonders what it can do to help; it seems uncertain of its role as an angel.  What it can do, however, is send a sort of feeling/image into the heads of the local adults that will make them want to help the children and, alternatively, it can send feelings/images into the heads of the orphan children that will make them feel better.   Will this be enough to save these children?

This is a gentle story that readers will be sure to remember.  The angel is so innocent; it doesn’t even know how to properly pronounce certain words although it’s been around so long.  Zola can be bossy, but her heart is in the right place.  Readers who enjoyed this might also enjoy Beyond the Station Lies the Sea (Richter).

View all my reviews >>

The Princess Plot by Kirsten Boie

The Princess Plot by Kirsten Boie


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Jenna is tired of her mother always being so overprotective, so when the chance comes along for her to audition for a part in a movie, she decides to go for it without telling her.  All of Jenna’s friends are auditioning; why shouldn’t she? 

The movie people tell her that the role for which they are casting is the part of a princess.  Jenna doesn’t think that she’s very princess-like, so she can’t believe it when they tell her that she got the part!  She can’t believe that they didn’t even have her read any lines, either.  When she mentions this, the movie people say she has great “presence” and that is what they are looking for.  She doesn’t think that her mother will let her be in a movie, but, to her surprise, when she texts her asking if it’s okay, her mom texts back and tells her that it is!  With that, the movie people take her on a private plane to Skandia, the (fictional) country where the movie is being filmed.  However, Jenna soon finds out that there is no movie—and that she has become a part in a crazy plot involving the princess of Skandia.  Jenna needs to get home before anything worse happens!

This is a great book!  It not only is (mostly) realistic; it is also full of suspense, adventure, and survival.  Jenna is a very likable character who the reader will root for throughout the story.  Suggest this to those who enjoyed The Princess Diaries (Cabot), but warn them that it’s not all fun and romance!

View all my reviews >>

No Castles Here by A.C.E. Bauer

No Castles Here by A.C.E. Bauer


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Augie lives in a bad neighborhood in Camden, New Jersey.  Not only does he have to worry about avoiding the drug dealers in the rundown park on the way to and from school, he also must worry about the bullies in his class.  Sixth-grade is turning out to be quite a difficult year for him.  Things get even worse when he accidentally takes a book from a bookstore downtown.  Although Augie isn’t a huge fan of reading, he finds this book of tales fascinating.

When an ice storm hits the town in December, Augie and his classmates are told that their school has been damaged by the frozen plumbing system—damaged so bad, in fact, that it will remain closed for good, and they will all be split up into different schools.  Augie can’t believe that adults would give up so easily!  With the help of his teacher, his fellow chorus members, his Big Brother, and his mom, Augie fights to save his school.

This is a good story that has the tales Augie reads from his stolen book interspersed within the regular story.  Augie’s attitude in the face of his tough life will surely bring smiles to readers.  Readers who enjoyed this might also enjoy Finding Stinko (De Guzman) and Slam Dunk! (Robinson).

View all my reviews >>

The Year the Swallows Came Early by Kathryn Fitzmaurice

The Year the Swallows Came Early by Kathryn Fitzmaurice


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Groovy’s life always seemed pretty normal—until her father gets arrested one Saturday morning as they were walking together.  When she explains what happened to her mom, her mom’s unconcerned reaction seems crazy until she tells Groovy that she was the one who called the police.

Groovy cannot comprehend why her mother would do such a thing!  What could her father have done?  After putting off an explanation for what seems like ages to Groovy, her mom explains that Groovy was left an inheritance to use for college from her great-grandmother, but that her father gambled it all away.  This was money she could have used to attend cooking school—her dream!  Can she find it in her heart to forgive him for taking her inheritance…and her mother, for being the one who turns him in?

This is a sweet story with memorable characters who are all trying to deal with huge issues the best way they know how.  Groovy is especially likeable.  Suggest this book to readers who enjoyed How to Steal a Dog (O’Connor) and The Big House (Coman).

View all my reviews >>