I've read all of Scottoline's Mary DiNunzio/Bennie Rosato books. This wasn't my favorite. I think there may have been too many plots threads to handle completely. The main plot driving the book is Bennie's twin sister Alice's plot to kill Bennie and keep all her money. This part of the plot stretches a bit thin. I'm not certain it is completely believable.
But, the book is a good diversion. Totally recommended beach reading. I'm sending it on my my sister-in-law while she has chemo treatments.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Life As We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer
I began this because one of my interns will be working with it this spring. It was a great read--a book that captured an afternoon and kept me from other work I should be doing. It's an apocalypse book (distopia--end of days). The basic plot line is that an asteroid hits the moon and changes earth's climate. Miranda, our protagonist, is a junior in high school with an older (college aged) and younger brother. Her parents are divorced. She is having a fairly typical adolescence until the asteroid hits.
What follows is a story of a mother's love and courage. Also a story of an adolescent (and her brothers) having to meet, accept, and overcome disaster. It is well crafted, believable, and explores a quite believable series of disastrous events. I some ways it reminded me of Laura Ingles Wilder's The Long Winter.
At first I was a little uneasy that this was going to be a "Rapture" book. It's not. However it does have a fundamentalist preacher/church as one of the secondary characters. Teachers will need to be prepared to deal with some religious questions. I wonder if it will become a challenged book.
Lexile 770. Recommended 6-12 grades. Multiple awards:
What follows is a story of a mother's love and courage. Also a story of an adolescent (and her brothers) having to meet, accept, and overcome disaster. It is well crafted, believable, and explores a quite believable series of disastrous events. I some ways it reminded me of Laura Ingles Wilder's The Long Winter.
At first I was a little uneasy that this was going to be a "Rapture" book. It's not. However it does have a fundamentalist preacher/church as one of the secondary characters. Teachers will need to be prepared to deal with some religious questions. I wonder if it will become a challenged book.
Lexile 770. Recommended 6-12 grades. Multiple awards:
- Black-Eyed Susan Book Awards (Maryland): High School
- Booklist Editors' Choice - Books for Youth - Older Readers Category: 2006
- Garden State Teen Book Awards (New Jersey): Fiction (Grades 6-8)
- Nutmeg Children's Book Award (Connecticut): Teen category
- Texas Tayshas Reading Lists: 2007
- Truman Readers Award (Missouri)
- YALSA Best Books for Young Adults: 2007
Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
I've seen these at the book store for a while but haven't picked one up. Since my son has matured I find I'm not reading as much fantasy. This was a perfect blend of possible and fantastic. The premise is that there are preserves throughout the world in which all the fantastic and magical creatures are kept for their own safety and for the safety of the human residents of the earth. Kendra and Seth end up in Fablehaven because their parents have to attend a funeral/cruise (their maternal grandmother's final bequest to her children--by the way a great idea!).
The grandparents are the guardians of Fablehaven. Their parents do not know of the nature of this preserve. The story is well crafted and an excellent balance of kid adventure and adult mentoring of kids. I strongly recommend the book. Lexile is 700. Recommended for older kids (I agree).
The grandparents are the guardians of Fablehaven. Their parents do not know of the nature of this preserve. The story is well crafted and an excellent balance of kid adventure and adult mentoring of kids. I strongly recommend the book. Lexile is 700. Recommended for older kids (I agree).
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