Category: Children’s Fiction
Perfect Game by Fred Bowen
From Goodreads
Image Courtesy of Goodreads
Isaac is a perfectionist. This extends to everything in his life, but especially his love for baseball. He dreams of pitching a perfect game 18 batters, all out and of earning a spot on the summer travel team. But Isaac hasn’t learned to handle it when things go wrong. After his latest meltdown, his coach asks him to help out with a Unified Basketball team where intellectually challenged kids and mainstream kids, all play together.
The Golden Compass (Book # 1 in His Dark Materials Trilogy) by Philip Pullman
Image Courtesy of Goodreads
From Goodreads
Here lives an orphaned ward named Lyra Belacqua, whose carefree life among the scholars at Oxford’s Jordan College is shattered by the arrival of two powerful visitors. First, her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, appears with evidence of mystery and danger in the far North, including photographs of a mysterious celestial phenomenon called Dust and the dim outline of a city suspended in the Aurora Borealis that he suspects is part of an alternate universe. He leaves Lyra in the care of Mrs. Coulter, an enigmatic scholar and explorer who offers to give Lyra the attention her uncle has long refused her. In this multilayered narrative, however,nothing is as it seems. Lyra sets out for the top of the world in search of her kidnapped playmate, Roger, bearing a rare truth-telling instrument, the compass of the title. All around her children are disappearing—victims of so-called “Gobblers”—and being used as subjects in terrible experiments that separate humans from their daemons, creatures that reflect each person’s inner being. And somehow, both Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter are involved.
Cover Gushing Worthiness: I really like the cover of the Omnibus edition. I can’t say if it fully captures the spirit of The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, but it does capture the beauty of The Golden Compass perfectly. The colour combinations are beautiful as well as the of the daemons.
Review: I first heard about The Golden Compass when I was in Grade 12. Some of my friends who were in the Gifted program at my school read the book in Grade 10 and loved it. Then when I was in Grade 12 as part of our school’s Film Society we went and saw the movie. One of the main things my friends said was the movie didn’t explore the nitty-gritty/controversial elements which made the book so great. I wanted to read the book for myself and I wasn’t disappointed.
The story of The Golden Compass takes place in a world quite similar to ours, but with a few differences. For one, each person has a daemon in the shape of an animal who is a part of their soul/acts as a companion. The world in The Golden Compass also seems a bit steampunkish, at least that’s what I thought when I read the book. The story begins with Lyra witnessing a conversation between her uncle Lord Asriel and the scholars of Oxford about a substance called “Dust.” Then a series of events occur starting with the kidnapping of children; including Lyra’s friend Roger the kitchen boy, eventually leading Lyra on an expedition to find the missing children and on the way she encounters Gyptians, Witches, armored bears, an Aeronaut and the Gobblers.
Plot wise I enjoyed the story a great deal. While I read the book I could understand how it could be seen as controversial. However the way I saw it, Pullman was suggesting that all things should be questioned, including religion. Nothing should be followed blindly is the message I took away. I grew to love Lyra’s world and all the fantastical elements in it. The Alethiometer was a unique instrument and I can’t wait to see how it’s going to play a bigger part in the next two books. Two elements I liked in this book in regards to the creatures of Lyra’s world were the witches and the armoured bears. I think the armoured bears was such a great concept and it’s one of the things the movie actually got right. The concept of daemons too is an interesting one and it made you wonder what kind of animal you’d like if you were to ever have a daemon.
I thought the pacing of the book was well suited for the plot, but in my excitement I couldn’t help but wish the story moved a bit faster. It literally had me on the edge!I have two complaints about the story and they are 1) The ending: I found the ending to be a bit anti-climactic. It left me with a feeling of “Oh…that’s it? Seriously?! No angry out bursts? Really Lyra?.” However I’m going to assume that the next book will pick up where this one left off. 2) Is in regards to the explanation of what Dust actually is. When I was reading the explanation for Dust, I realized I was never a science student for a reason. It was quite a scientific explanation and there’s nothing wrong with that, it was just difficult for me to understand it.
Character wise, I thought all of them were great. Lyra was an awesome protagonist. She was feisty, loyal, independent and likable. I can’t say that there was a whole lot of character development on Lyra’s part because we got the idea that she was already a well rounded character as the book started. I do think Lyra’s character will grow more in the next two books. Mrs. Coulter certainly came across as a black widow like character. She reminded me of the Snow Queen from the fairy tales for some reason. Her appearance or rather lack of action at the end of the book came as a surprise to me. I thought she would be more involved for some reason, but again I’m sure she’ll appear in the next two books at some point. I’m still not sure about my feelings towards Lord Asriel. I need to see more of him to form a coherent opinion of him. However I will say that he does come across as being quite cold hearted and distant.
For the remaining secondary characters; I liked all of them. I wish we got to know more about John Faa, the lord of the Gyptians and Serafina Pekkala, the witch. From all of the beings present in Pullman’s world I thought the witches were the most underdeveloped. I did enjoy some of the tidbits of information that was given to the readers though. Iorek Brynison was quite possibly one of the most fantastic characters I’ve come across in literature. There was a quiet wisdom about him and whenever he spoke Ian McKellen’s voice would pop up in my head. It was probably because it was McKellen who did the voice for Iorek in the movie. Lyra’s daemon Pantalaimon or Pan was such a sweet character. Pan’s protectiveness and inquisitiveness was a good balance for Lyra’s personality.
Overall I really enjoyed The Golden Compass. The book was a hundred times better than the movie. Even though I was disappointed in the ending and had difficulty understanding the concept of Dust, the world and the characters made up for that feeling inadequecy on my part and I cannot wait to read both The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.
My Rating: 5/5
Would I recommend it? Absolutely
“The Infinity Ring: The Trap Door” by Lisa McMann
Dak, Sera, and Riq return to the United States in the year 1850 when the nation is divided over the issue of slavery. The Underground Railroad provides a light of hope, helping runaway slaves escape to freedom. But the SQ has taken control of the Underground Railroad from within. Now Dak and Sera are left wondering who to trust…
It’s been a few months since the last time I had a book from The Infinity Ring series to plow through and share my thoughts about, so if you need a refresher as to what has been going on in the two books previous you can refer to my comments about book one and book two respectively if you need.
The release of The Infinity Ring: The Trap Door, the third book in the series took me a little by surprise to be honest. I knew it was probably coming out soon, but didn’t know how soon until it randomly showed up on Amazon as a recommended read that had just been released. A pleasant surprise to say the least as I quite enjoy these books even though the target audience is for kids less than half my actual age…
After meeting Christopher Columbus and then taking on a horde of vikings, Dak, Sera, and Riq get to come home to the United States in the year 1850 and see what they can do about the fact that the SQ has taken over the Underground Railroad. I’ll honestly say that I was quite impressed that whomever is planning out the historical events that are being used as plot devices for these books decided to go with the Underground Railroad theme. It’s something we all learn about in school, but then we don’t get a lot of exposure to later in life. I’m guessing that given the target audience is children ages 8-12 that this historical event was chosen on purpose because its one that you learn about when you are that age. Excellent foresight by the editors and authors in my opinion.
While the first two books were mainly about Dak and Sera, this book is almost exclusively about Riq. His ancestors were involved with the Underground Railroad and so the things the three kids are doing are going to have a direct impact on him specifically, possibly even erase his existence. When Riq figures all of this out he has a very serious and impressive moment of growth about who he is, what he stands for, and what he’s willing to give up for the ultimate safety of mankind. I liked that as a reader I finally had the chance to be inside of Riq’s head for a little bit instead of hearing once more about how Dak’s impetuousness dropped the group into a heap of uncalled for trouble.
There is also some pretty important foreshadowing about where things might be going several books down the line in a small scene with Sera that I’m not going to reveal because it will be fun for you to find it on your own. Oh, and Dak finally calms down and seems to understand he can’t just do whatever he wants. Finally.
Next up in the series is The Infinity Ring: Curse of the Ancients, due to be released on June 4, 2013. So, it will be a little while before I get to revisit these books, but if previous evidence can be trusted, it will be worth the wait.
Grade: B
Length: 192 pages
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Now You See Them, Now You Don’t by Gordon Korman
(Cover picture courtesy of ACK children and young adults.)
One man holds the key to freeing Aiden and Meg Falconer’s parents from prison: a mysterious figure named Frank Lindenauer. Aiden and Meg must cross the country to try to catch them…even as the FBI tries to catch them first.
In California, Aiden and Meg fall in with a crowd that already has its share of trouble. They want to believe they’ve found friends who will help them out. But if they’re not careful, these “friends” will sell them out instead.
More impossible escapes, more danger and more excitement. One would not think Gordon Korman’s On the Run series would be all that different, but unlike a lot of action/thriller series, it’s not just the numbers on the spines that distinguish one book from another. Each book moves the plot forward while providing all the action and humour you can expect from Gordon Korman.
What distinguishes Now You See Them, Now You Don’t from the first two books is that we discover more about the mysterious Frank Lindenauer and we see the darker side of the inner city. Meg and Aiden finally make mistakes and it’s only luck that saves them at times, not their own ingenuity. This would be annoying except for the fact it shows they have flaws; they’re not the perfect fugitives. They are still clever enough to hold readers’ attention, but their flaws give them a lot more depth than they had before.
The premise of On the Run certainly isn’t unique (going on the run to prove someone’s innocence), but for the target age group it certainly will be. Even if you’ve read something like this before, Gordon Korman’s humour and action-packed writing will win you over. They’re quite short books, only around 100 pages, but I still re-read them once a year.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Queste by Angie Sage
(Cover picture courtesy of Queste Wiki.)
There’s trouble at the Castle, and it’s all because Merrin Meredith has returned with Darke plans for Septimus. More trouble awaits Septimus and Jenna in the form of Tertius Fume, the ghost of the very first Chief Hermetic Scribe, who is determined to send Septimus on a deadly Queste. But Septimus and Jenna have other plans—they are headed for the mysterious House of Foryx, a place where all Time meets and the place where they fervently hope they will be able to find Nicko and Snorri, who were trapped back in time in Physik. But how will Septimus escape the Queste?
Queste, like all the books in the Septimus Heap series, is filled with nonstop action, humor, and fantastical adventure as Septimus continues his journey of Magykal self-discovery.
As you may remember, I wasn’t overly fond of Magyk, the first book in the Septimus Heap series. Still, I kept on with the series because it showed potential and now that I’ve read the fourth book, I’m certainly glad I did. With each book, Angie Sage’s writing got better, the characters became three dimensional and the world-building improved greatly.
Queste follows Septimus and Jenna as they try to bring Nicko and Snorri back to the present. The only problem is that Septimus has drawn the Questing Stone and must go on a Queste. Questing had been abolished because too many Apprentices died while on their Questes, but a loophole exploited by a villainous ghost revives them. In Queste, Angie Sage created a lot more suspense than she did in her previous three books. It suits the maturing writing style throughout the series, which allows fans to grow up along with the books.
Angie Sage rotates between different points of view, which can be confusing in the wrong hands, but she handled it well. Queste is a bit more dark than the other three books, although it still has some of that humour Angie Sage is known for. I would highly recommend this book for kids ages 8-12 who love fantasy.
And yes, I would even recommend it to adults and teens who love a bit of light reading once in a while.
I give this book 4/5 stars.