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Anthony Horowitz’s book, Ark Angel, is the sixth in an ongoing series of Alex Rider Adventures. Set in a slightly futuristic The book opens with Alex lying in a hospital bed, recovering from a bullet wound to the chest. One night while taking a stroll down the hallway, he sees four armed men enter the hospital and kill the guard on duty. He overhears the men talking about their plans to kidnap a boy who happens to be sleeping in the room next to his. Alex races up the stairs and quickly changes the door numbers to confuse the bad guys. Then he runs down the hall, trying to get as far away from the doors as possible. When the men arrive on his floor, they look into the mismarked room and find the bed empty. Alex makes a move, drawing them away from the door before they realize their mistake. After a series of very exciting moments, Alex is captured and carried away and another adventure begins! This book is awesome! Since I was an avid reader of both the Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys mysteries, I loved this modern spin on an old idea, the teenage spy novel. Alex is only fourteen years old, not even old enough to drive. Yet, he is quite capable of handling many and various villains using his wit, training, and some unique gadgets supplied to him by MI6. This book does contain some violent scenes, but they are not gory and certainly not gratuitous. Ark Angel would be a great read for middle grade or early high school readers and since there is an entire series of them—yippee—life is good! Happy reading. |
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Duchessina: A Novel of Catherine de’ Medici Many young people (and adults) think history is only about names, places and dates and therefore boring and not worth reading about. Carolyn Meyer has brought the people and stories of history alive in her Young Royals series including titles Mary, Bloody Mary; Beware Princess Elizabeth and Doomed Queen Anne. Duchessina is the fifth book in this series and brings to life a young Catherine de’ Medici in a real and captivating way, following her as a young child through her early adulthood to become the wife of Henri, Duke of Orlèans, second son of François, King of France. Catherine de’ Medici’s childhood was full of hatred, adversity, and years of being moved from one place to another. Sole heiress to the entire Medici family fortune, there were those who loved her and those who wished her dead. Friends and family nicknamed her “La Duchessina,” the Italian phrase for Little Duchess, and that title followed her all her life. When the Medici family lost favor with the people of
The first person narrative gives this historical text a conversational tone. Historical fact is artistically blended with fiction, making this a readable novel. A Medici family tree is included. “Admirers of strong, independent women regard Catherine de’ Medici as a fascinating study of intelligence, strength of purpose and dedication to her children. Although her name produces involuntary shudders among those familiar with her later years.” Carolyn Meyer’s historical notes at the back of the book add additional insights into the life of this remarkable woman. |
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Cover-Up: Mystery at the Super Bowl When Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson run into trouble on their Kid Sports Show on ESPN it seems as though everything’s changing for the worse. Stevie has been fired as one of the weekly broadcast’s announcers and Susan Carol wants to quit in support but can’t until after she reports from the Super Bowl in
In this third novel from sports journalist John Feinstein, a willing suspension of disbelief gets the reader past the high percentage of coincidences and lucky breaks and the fact that these journalists are fourteen. They meet a satisfying number of real-life celebrities and media stars, they’re mentored by husband-and-wife journalists, and throughout the novel Feinstein has plenty of room to air his views on sports and reporting. In fact, John Feinstein’s background as a sports journalist for the Washington Post, as well as a contributor to Sports Illustrated and the National Sports Daily, give him an authenticity that readers will enjoy. Fast-paced, ebullient, and smart, these two ebullient sleuths star in their third sports mystery, this time figuring out who’s behind a cover-up of steroid use by the offensive linemen on one of the Super Bowl teams. Will their investigation stop the Super Bowl? Will these two escape unharmed from thugs who have a lot of money and prestige to lose? Will their parents forgive them for not checking in often enough by cell phone? Feinstein’s sports novels are engrossing and fun, perfect for readers who don’t know how to match their sports interests. |
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Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac What choices would you make without memory to guide you? Gabrielle Zevin, author of the intriguing and poignant “Elsewhere,” posits this and other tantalizing questions in “Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac.” At one week old, Naomi Porter was found in a typewriter case in an Eastern Orthodox Church in Now a high school junior in Who was her boyfriend? Who did she sit with at lunch? Who was her father’s girlfriend? Navigating a new world with an old map, Naomi pieces together her former life as she makes choices in a world with few landmarks. The daughter of Dad’s soon-to-be-bride sums up the four years of loss with casual disregard: “Well, those years suck anyway.” Did they or not? Naomi needs to know her past and present selves in relation to her ex-boyfriend (“in love with a haircut), new boyfriend (“not having pasts was something we had in common”), best friend and family. It’s a rich ride. |
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Princess Bride How I wish I had purchased this book when I first checked it out from the library in 1973. As a book collector, I would have liked to know that 35 years later this book would be reissued with not one, but two introductions by the author, William Goldman, each as entertaining as the book. The Princess Bride just keeps getting better and better. In a book in which the line between reality and fantasy blurs purposefully, deliciously, Goldman understands the reader’s fascination with that line. Or maybe he doesn’t. Maybe he wrote the book he wanted to read, the story he wanted to tell. We’ll never know, because the author can’t resist playing with our minds, even in the front and back matter of the book. The first line is often quoted, “This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it.” That might be the reluctant reader’s credo. Home recovering from pneumonia, the author tells us his father read him this book. “For the first time in my life, I became actively interested in a book. Me the sports fanatic, me the game freak, me the only ten-year-old in Illinois with a hate on for the alphabet wanted to know what happened next.” The Princess Bride is that kind of book: you have to know what happens next. For Westley and Princess Buttercup, the course of true love not only doesn’t run smooth, it runs all over the place. A romance novel for reluctant readers, you ask? Emphatically yes. Even though the romance is the reason for the plot, it’s the wildly careening, consistently funny, and I-didn’t-see-it-coming swashbuckling action that make this an unforgettable novel. Kidnapping, giants, evil masterminds, pirates, sword fights, Fireswamps who could resist? This book will interest reluctant readers, but it will appeal to all readers. It’s a better book than a movie because the author’s voice is so funny. In fact The Princess Bride might just be the perfect book. For fantasy readers, as well as readers who love humor, place this book confidently in their hands. Thirty-five years later, they’ll still be thanking you for it. |
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Black Duck When David tries to interview Ruben Hart, he just wants a good story so he can publish it in the local newspaper. He’s heard Ruben was there in the spring of 1929, when the coastguard fired on the rum-runner boat, The Black Duck, and killed three men. But it’ll only happen if he can get that old goat Ruben to talk. Slowly Ruben opens up, and the tale unfolds. Back when he was a kid, Ruben and his friend Jeddy were walking along the
During prohibition, any foul play in their small town was probably connected to rum-runners. When big city mobsters show up, turns out they’re looking for Ruben, and something that belonged to the dead guy. When Ruben looks in the tobacco pouch, all he finds is half of a fifty-dollar bill. Why would a
In the meantime, Ruben has some other decisions to make. Should he get involved in the illegal rum-running business, and break federal law, just because everyone else does including maybe his father, including maybe Jeddy’s father, the local police chief? When Ruben discovers his charismatic friend Billy Brady is the Captain of the Black Duck, one of the three unarmed men the Coast Guard kills, it becomes even more difficult for him to sort out right from wrong. Eventually David learns the truth, and he also makes friends with the elderly Ruben. But ultimately, the frame of David’s journalistic research falls away and it’s Lisle’s gripping tale of handsome rum smugglers, gangsters and an unjust shooting that keep readers engaged from beginning to end. |
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Hitch This one’s for the boys! Jeanette Ingold’s main character, Moss Trawnley, loses his job at a
With few options left, Moss decides to head west in search of his father. When he finally locates him in
Moss decides to join the CCC, Civilian Conservation Corps, for a six month hitch. Once the application is filled out, he boards a train for
Ingold’s book is set during the Great Depression, an era not often covered in teen fiction. When studying the early twentieth century, teachers can use this book to show what life was like for a teenager. Other teachers can safely add it on their reading lists since there is no questionable content. Boys who love to read, but are tired of books about sports and gangs and emotional angst, will love this book. So will boys who are reluctant to read, since it is both interesting and well written. As for the girls? Maybe—suggest it and find out. |
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Powers In 1968, I picked up an oddly-shaped book by Ursula K. Le Guin called A Wizard of Earthsea. I craved good fantasy literature, but in Le Guin’s writing I found lyricism and power. As Sparrowhawk sought his name and his reason for being, I was entranced by the story but I was aware of the writing in a way few books had claimed my attention at that point. Nearly forty years later, and a number of books in between, Le Guin began the Annals of the
In Powers, Gavir sees events before they happen. He’s a child, still in the schoolroom, and he describes a complex system of slavery from the viewpoint of a child born into slavery. He is content, feels cherished, and accepts the limits to his freedom. He does not understand his gift, but Gavir is grateful that he is being educated by a tutor with the master’s children, wondering why the books they study are so old. Days are idyllic for Gavir, summers are spent in the country, and the only dark cloud is another slave child who is prone to violent tempers and dislikes Gavir. When his master’s city is attacked by another city, life alters dramatically for Gavir. He becomes aware of a wider world, differing opinions, and ultimately the truth of his slavery. It is a coming of age story that follows Gavir out into the world where he struggles to live freely and to find his true family. Powers can be read as a fantasy, an adventure story, but it compels the reader to question the reader’s own life. What is freedom? What is knowledge? When are we finally aware? An escaped slave, a scholar, says to Gavir: “What’s freedom itself but the power of the mind to learn where it needs and think what it likes? Ah, even if your body’s chained, if you have the thoughts of the philosophers and the words of the poet in your head, you can be free of your chains, and walk among the great!” Reading Le Guin is like walking among the great her books seep into our beings, becoming a part of our souls. |
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