Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat

Title: Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat

Author: Lynne Jonell

Location: J Jonell

Reading Level: juvenile

Guys don't let the title and cover fool you. This book has a boy character, Joe, who plays a big role also. It's the class rat that brings Emmy and Joe together to try and figure out just what is going on at the strange shop Emmy sees her nanny go into and why Emmy's nanny, Miss Barmy, has someone bring a chinchilla to step in the dough for the cookies she makes for Emmy's parents. How does a rat bring people together? Well this rat talks! Emmy thought she was the only one who could hear him until the day she hears Joe talking back to the rat.

Bottom Line: This was an enjoyable and relatively fast read. Good characters, with a nanny who seems sinister, but isn't too scary. You wouldn't want her in your house, but probably wouldn't run from her if you saw her in the street either. Everything comes together in the end. However, for those really paying attention, there is a hint about a possible second Emmy book in the future and I can't wait to read it!

Samuel Blink and the Forbidden Forest

Title: Samuel Blink and the Forbidden Forest

Author: Matt Haig

Location: J Haig

Reading Level: juvenile

Twelve year old Samuel and his sister Martha, who no longer speaks, are sent to live with an aunt they don't even remember, in a foreign country. It's all because of a freak accident involving his parents. Seems his uncle also had a bit of an accident. He went into the Forbidden Forest and never returned! Aunt Edna has been waiting for years for his return, but so far all that has come out of the forest is an elkhound, Ibsen. Of course the aunt forbids them to go in or even near the forest, but you know what happens when someone tells you to absolutely not do something. That's right, one of them runs into the forest! Find out why it is called the Forbidden Forest, who lives there, who ran in, and if anything can ever be normal again.

Bottom Line: A read for fantasy fans. I liked it. Trolls, witches,and other such creatures are key characters. The bad guy bites the dust and good prevails.

Frozen Fire

Title: Frozen Fire
Author: Tim Bowler
Location: YA Bowler
Reading Level: Young Adult

Late on New Year’s Eve 15-year old, Dusty receives a call from a strange boy. He claims he is dying, but he seems to know things about her brother, who disappeared two years ago. Desperate to hear news of her brother and his fate, Dusty goes out to look for the mysterious boy. However, other people are searching for the boy as well and their motives have more to do with revenge than intrigue.
Frozen Fire is a powerful psychological thriller. Just as Dusty feels cold and isolated from her life since the disappearance of her brother, so too does the reader when immersed in this wintery English landscape with possible enemies around every snow covered bend. Considering Bowler dumps the reader in Dusty’s life in the middle of a crisis, instead of at the beginning, he is very effective at immediately convincing the reader to care about this girl. The mystery surrounding the boy that eventually envelopes Dusty’s small town drives the plot forward. Dusty is unsure of whether to treat him as dangerous, like the rest of her town, or trust him as the only one who might be able to lead her to her brother.

The Bottom Line: I enjoyed this book but I would not recommend it to everyone. One major plot line in the book is tied up neatly, but the other is left open which may frustrate many readers. Teens who love a good supernatural mystery, should like this book but, due to the ending, it lacks broad teen appeal.

Busted

Title: Busted
Author: Phil Bildner
Location: YA Bildner
Reading Level: Young Adult



Busted started out with a lot of promise. It consists of four intertwining short stories about high school students getting into trouble for various things. Drinking, sex and bullying are just a few of the things these teens get busted for. The writing was frank and did not sugarcoat the lives of today's teens, but Bildner relies on stereotypical characters (the cheerleader, the jock, etc.) all too often. What bothered me most is the way Bildner's characters spoke. It was very obvious that he was trying too hard to sound like a teen and it comes off as forced and artificial. Several of the characters' conversations made me cringe - no one ever talks like this!

Bottom Line: Busted is a great escape and the material is refreshingly honest and relevant. The dialogue and oversimplification of characters make it hard to fully identify and emphathize with the story. This made what would be a very fun novel a mediocre one.

The Skin I'm In

Title: The Skin I'm In
Author: Sharon Flake
Location: YA Flake
Reading Level: Young Adult

The Skin I'm In is the story of Maleeka Madison, a thirteen-year-old girl feeling alone in the world. She has a very dark complexion, which makes her the target of much ridicule, even from the other African-American students with lighter skin. Everyday, they make comments about her and after a while it really starts to wear her down. When a teacher with a rare skin condition and a confident attitude joins the school, Maleeka sees her own struggles reflected and tries to learn to accept herself.

Bottom Line: Even if you don't like to read much, this book will appeal to anyone who has ever been subjected to bullying in school for any reason. Almost anybody will be able to identify with Maleeka and her struggles.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

Title: The Tales of Beedle the Bard
Author: J.K. Rowling
Location: J Rowling
Reading Level: Juvenile

The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a collection of five tales from the world of Harry Potter, that are comparable to the muggle fairy tales by the Grimm brothers. The book begins with an introduction from J.K. Rowling explaining the origins of the stories and each one concludes with commentary from Professor Dumbledore.

I will not make this review even longer by discussing each individual tale, they all have a good moral and the commentary by Dumbledore is in most cases extremely funny (at one point I laughed out loud). My favorite tale was Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump, I always love it when a smart woman saves the day and makes the guys look foolish!
The only warning I will give is that a few of the tales have some darker elements. In particular, The Warlock’s Hairy Heart is one that some parents may want to skip if reading to young children.

The Bottom Line: This is a great supplement to the Harry Potter canon. The tales are funny, uplifting and sometimes a little sad. In my opinion, Dumbledore’s commentary is one of the biggest reasons to buy this book. Read it, and enjoy getting another little glimpse of Dumbledore and the world of Harry Potter.

Go Ask Malice: A Slayer's Diary

Title: Go Ask Malice: A Slayer's Diary
Author: Robert Joseph Levy
Location: YA Buffy Malice
Reading Level: Young Adult

Needing a vampire fix after finishing the Twilight series, I turned to the vampire staple that is the Buffy universe. "Go Ask Malice" tracks the life and upbringing of Faith, a vampire slayer who's past the reader finds is both surreal and realistic with friends who have visions, visits to the therapist's office, and juvenile pranks. The story is told through journal entries Faith must write for her therapist and social worker. Faith is an abused and neglected child who grows up in foster care, on the street, and doesn't ever seem to get a break....until she is called to be a slayer.


Bottom Line: This is a quick read, and also one that you want to be over quickly. It is blunt, to-the-point, and a little disturbing. There is no softening the blow with sub-plots, it is what it is.