Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Rating: Cleaner/Cleanest

Audience: Seventh/eighth grade and up.  Younger readers could definitely enjoy this book, but the target age is more middle school.  Cinder's romance with the prince is very clean and I don't remember seeing any sexual innuendos. (Book 2, Scarlet, is a little more mature.) Like all dystopian novels, there are some alarming societal problems: plague, violent discrimination, etc. Just something to be aware of.

Audio book recommendation: Maybe. I stopped listening to the audio book after thirty seconds because I didn't like the readers voice.  However, when I was living in China and didn't have any English reading materials, I went back to listening to it on my iPod.  I got so sucked into the story that I didn't care about the narrators voice anymore and even came to like it, but I still would recommend reading instead of listening to this one.

The Plot: As you can probably tell from the cover and title, it's a fairy tale adaptation (my favorite), but it's set in the future after World War IV in the city of New Beijing.  The heroine, Cinder, is a cyborg.  Her metal hand and leg automatically make her a lesser citizen, but she holds her own by being sassy, sarcastic, and the best mechanic in the city.  The world is experiencing a horrible plague, to which the emperor himself falls ill, and the emperor's son, Prince Kai, is trying desperately to save his people while avoiding a diplomatic marriage with the manipulative Lunar Queen.  In the middle of it all is a teenage cyborg mechanic who is more important to the fate of the world than she could have ever guessed.

What makes it great?

This book is just fresh! We get a lot of dystopian America books, but dystopian China is new. The characters are great as well. Cinder is tough and spunky.  Kai is loveable. Iko, Cinder's android best friend, is adorable . . .

This is a great book for taking on vacation, reading at home or on the go--the plot is full of interesting twists but isn't so deep that you have to strain your brain to understand.  It is just a fun, exciting read and I think it will be a great series.

Mysteries in Our National Parks

 

Rating: Cleanest

Audience: As young as second grade if your kids are gutsy. If not, maybe fourth grade.  A few of the books (especially Valley of Death and Over the Edge) are pretty scary.  I still have an irrational fear of flash floods from Over the Edge ha ha. But the good news is that there is no sexual content or foul language (as far as I remember).

Plot:   Jack and Ashley Landon travel to various national parks with their veterinarian mother and wildlife photographer father. Each book features a new national park and Jack and Ashley learn about the park while solving some mystery the adults can't seem to figure out. The Landons are also a foster family and each book features a new temporary foster child whose rough past adds to the drama of the plot.

What makes them great?

These books are both entertaining and educational.  When we read them as kids, my siblings and I learned all sorts of things about the national parks, wildlife conservation, and political controversy, all while hanging on the edge of our seats ( . . . or the side of the bunk bed in this case) to see how the mystery would be solved.  I also liked how each new foster child brought in the perspectives of a different lifestyle or culture into the Landon family.  It's a pretty good idea.  These books are a great series to read aloud to kids, especially in preparation for trips to various national parks.

Where to find them?

We got them through a National Geographic subscription, which I imagine wouldn't work anymore.  However, I have seen them at libraries and in national park bookstores and I am sure they are on Amazon somewhere.

Here is a list of all the titles and where they take place:

#1 Woolf Stalker (Yellowstone National Park)
#2 Rage of Fire (Hawaii Volcanoes National Park)
#3 Cliff Hanger (Mesa Verde National Park)
#4 Deadly Waters  (Everglades National Park)
#5 The Hunted (Glacier National Park)
#6 Ghost Horses (Zion National Park)
#7 Over the Edge (Grand Canyon National Park)
#8 Valley of Death (Death Valley)
#9 Escape from Fear (Virgin Islands National Park)
#10 Out of the Deep (Acadia National Park)
#11 Running Scared (Carlsbad Caverns National Park)
# 12 Buried Alive (Denali National Park)
#13 Night of the Black Bear (Great Smoky Mountains National Park)

Savvy by Ingrid Law

  

Rating: Cleanest

Audience: Third grade is the beginning of the target audience, but I don't remember any red flags that would make this inappropriate for younger children (especially if read aloud).

Plot: I'm just going to quote the book jacket for the summary here because why try to rewrite what someone's already worked to perfection?

"Mibs Beaumont is about to Become a teenager. As if that prospect weren't scary enough, thirteen is when a Beaumont's savvy strikes--and with one brother who causes hurricanes and another who creates electricity, it promises to be outrageous...and positively thrilling.  But just before her big day, Poppa is in a terrible accident.  Suddenly, Mibs's dreams of X-ray vision disappear like a flash of her brother's lightning:  All she wants now is a savvy that will save Poppa.  In fact, Mibs is so sure she'll get that powerful savvy that she sneaks a ride to the hospital on a rickety bus, with her siblings and the preacher's kids in tow.  But when the bus starts heading in the wrong direction only one thing is certain: After this extraordinary adventure, not a soul on board will ever be the same.  Reading the fantastical tale of the Beaumont family will leave you as changed as if you'd just discovered your own savvy--and who's to say you won't, once you've learned how to look?" 

What makes it great?

I was hooked from the very first page by both the voice of the narrator, Mibs, and by the premise of an ordinary family with extraordinary powers which they must try to both control and accept as important parts of themselves.

This is not a superhero story.  In fact, take out the powers and the heart of the book would still be intact.   It is like a mix between the supernatural of the Charlie Bone books (a lot of the family powers are very similar to those of the Children of the Red King--read about them here: Charlie Bone--Children of the Red King) and the bittersweet, coming-of-age books of Sharon Creech (if you like this book, I highly recommend The Wanderer).

I love what the jacket says about finding your savvy. Everyone really does have a bit of "know-how" that is unique to each of us, and I love that Mibs is able to use her unusual savvy to discover the hidden savvys in others.  

(Apparently, there is a companion book called "Scumble" about Mibs' cousin, so I'll have to check it out.  Happy Reading!)

Alex Rider Series by Anthony Horowitz

Rating: Clean

Audience:  I wouldn't go any younger than sixth grade.  There is a lot of violence and just a smidgen of bad language (it is British after all), as well as the rare sexual reference (for example, one boy says to another that he wonders if the headmaster and his assistant are "sleeping together"). Though intended for a middle school audience, I think anyone twelve and up could enjoy this series.  I certainly do.

Audio book recommendation: YES!!! These books have gotten me through so many road trips and so much yard work. The narrator, Simon Prebble, does all the accents and just gives the whole performance really well.  You know it's a good audio-book when the long drive is too short.

Plot: Alex Rider is an English schoolboy living with his banker uncle and his young hip housekeeper, Jack Starbright (is that not the greatest name?).  When Alex's uncle is killed, Alex decides to investigate and discovers that his uncle was not a mere banker, but a spy!  MI6 recruits Alex to finish his uncle's current mission, and Alex become MI6's secret weapon.


What makes them great?

These books have everything you could want from a spy series--suspense, secret doors, extreme stunts--as well as that dry British humor I just can't get enough of.   Let's be real though. It's all about the special spy gadgets, and Alex gets all sorts of sweet gadgets!

The novels all follow a certain pattern and I work through the series with other books in between so I don't get sick of reading the same story arc.  However, this kind of series (Artemis Fowl, etc.) is the best way to hook a kid on reading for life.  Kids love repetition, so if your son or daughter is a reluctant reader, this might be the perfect series to catch their attention and keep it through ALL NINE BOOKS!

(And just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I discovered that Horowitz is also the creator of my all time favorite TV series, "Foyle's War".  No wonder the books are so great!)


Here is a list of the books in order:

#1 Stormbreaker
#2 Point Blank (my favorite!)
#3 Skeleton Key
#4 Eagle Strike
#5 Scorpia
#6 Ark Angel
#7 Snakehead
#8 Crocodile Tears
#9 Scorpia Rising
#10 Russian Roulette

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

Rating: Clean

Audience:  High school. While not as graphic as Breaking Dawn (there are no sex scenes), the theme of physical passion is pretty prevalent.  One of the main conflicts is that Wanderer (the alien soul) and Melanie (her host body) are in love with the same man because they share the same body and their shared memories and physical yearnings are too strong to ignore.  I didn't like that the relationships in the book were so based on physical attraction (there is a lot of "he kissed me and my whole body was on fire" kind of stuff), but by the end I was satisfied that everyone loved who they loved for the right reasons.  There is also a lot of violence, as one might expect from a world-take-over-rebel-resistance-love-triangles-up-the-wazoo kind of book, so just be aware of that before you read.

The Plot:  Tiny creatures called "Souls" have taken over the planet earth (as well as many other planets) by inserting themselves into human bodies who became their unwilling "hosts."  Wanderer, a soul who has lived in many hosts on various planets is tasked with living in the body of a rebel woman named Melanie to sift through her memories and find the hiding place of Melanie's younger brother Jamie and Jared, the man she loves. However, Melanie is stronger than most hosts and her consciousness stays in the back of Wanderer's head, fighting Wanderer and desperately trying to protect her family. But of course, she can't hold out forever, and soon Wanderer and Melanie are grudgingly working together to protect their families and find their places in the world.

What makes it great?

First of all, it's a page turner. Second, the psychology is cool--the whole idea of two minds in one body is really interesting.  Third, there are some great over-arching themes and a lot of depth.  I have to admit, from reading the jacket cover I was expecting "I'm an alien, and he's a human who is in love with my body but not with me, and life stinks" to be the main crisis.  While that is one of the problems, Wanderer is also trying to keep herself alive, gain the trust of humans while not betraying her own race,  learn to love and be loved with a whole new range of emotions, and reconcile her perception of the universe with that of her host.  I can't promise that you will love this book, and it still doesn't make my list of all time favorites, but if you are refusing to give it a try because you aren't a big fan of Twilight then clear your mind of current opinions and give it an objective read because I can honestly say that it is worth reading.

Read Across America

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday DR. SEUSS!!!!!!!! Happy Birthday to You!

Today, March 2, is Read Across America Day to celebrate the Birthday of Dr. Seuss.  It's a day dedicated to reading to children.  How awesome is that?

So, here is my list of top ten Dr. Seuss Books:

Wacky Wednesday

There's a Wocket in my Pocket

Hooper Humperdinck? Not Him!

The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins

What Was I Scared Of?

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

The Sleep Book

Horton Hatches the Egg

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

The Sneeches

And a few examples of the Seuss-Mania that just keeps popping up:

Opening Scene from "The Lorax" (My Favorite Song)

Probably the funniest Jim Carrey scene in "The Grinch"

And Just one of the many great songs in "Seussical the Musical"

So, celebrate the day with reading aloud to your favorite kid--or reading some Dr. Seuss to yourself, because heck! We are all kids at heart!

The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

Book #2 of the Heroes of Olympus series

 

Read book #1 The Lost Hero
and book #3 The Mark of Athena

Rating: Cleaner

Audience: Fourth grade and up. As always, it depends on the child.  There is a good dose of violence, and the complexity of the myths can be hard to follow.

Plot: The book opens with Percy being chased across the country by monsters, which we learn he has been doing for months after waking up with no memory (sound familiar?) and receiving training from Lupa the wolf.  With a little help from Juno (a.k.a. the Roman version of Hera), he makes it to camp Jupiter and gives his new camp-mates a lasting first impression. Classic Percy! He befriends the camp's misfits, Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque, and the three are sent on a quest to Alaska to free Thanatos, the god of death.

What makes it great?

Book two was awesome because we get to see Percy again!  I mean, it was fun hanging out with Jason for a while, but I missed Percy, and if you were already a Percy Jackson fan before you started reading this new series, I bet you miss him too.

Frank and Hazel really make this book.  They are great.  In the first Percy Jackson series, Rick Riordan  made Percy a defender of all the demigods forgotten and ignored by their godly parents. What I love about this second series is that Riordan himself is championing a new set of under-dogs: the children of the gods we all hate.  In the first book we met Piper, daughter of Aphrodite, and in this book Hazel is the daughter of Pluto (Hades) and Frank is the son of Mars (Ares).  It's still hard to like the gods themselves (though we do see some redeeming qualities), but their kids can be really wonderful.