Blog Posts - Kid Book Reviewer

Spirit of the Wind

1/13/2018

Reviewed by Oscar

Rating: High Five

Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Paint the Wind, and other fun energetic horse riding stories.

Synopsis (from Amazon): Unfamiliar animal tracks and strange nightly noises arouse suspicion at Shady Oaks, a seaside camp on Long Island. Campers become frightened as rumors of dangerous creatures spread. The camp begins to lose its prestige and receive closure threats. Twelve-year old Kyrah Willis is determined to solve the mystery. The camp guards won't help her, and seem to be hiding something they don't want the public to know. Why? With her fun-loving cousin Lynn, fiercely loyal dog Scampi and brave horse Comanche, the curious girl embarks on a journey to the most remote parts of the island in search for answers. In the treacherous and unforgiving wilderness, Kyrah discovers there is far more at stake than the future of Shady Oaks.

Fledgling

12/12/2017

Reviewed by Oscar

Rating: High Five

Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Eragon, The Ranger's Apprentice, and the Young Samurai series.

Synopsis (from Amazon): Can one boy stand between two kingdoms at war? Jaevid Broadfeather has grown up as a wartime refugee, hiding from the world because of his mixed racial heritage. He feels his future is hopeless, until a chance encounter with a wild dragon lands him in Blybrig Academy—a place usually forbidden to anyone but the rich and royal. But Jaevid’s case is special; no dragon has voluntarily chosen a rider in decades, so the proud riders of Blybrig must begrudgingly let him join their brotherhood despite his bloodline. Lieutenant Sile Derrick, a sternly tempered man with a mysterious past, becomes his instructor and immediately takes a peculiar interest in Jaevid’s future. While struggling through the rigorous physical demands of training, things begin to go awry. Jaevid witnesses the king’s private guards kidnapping Sile in the dead of night. When none of the elder riders are willing to help him, Jaevid begins a dangerous adventure to save his instructor. Everything Jaevid learned at the academy will now be put to the ultimate test.

The Prince of Korin

12/12/2017

Reviewed by Oscar

Rating: High Five

Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Eragon, The Ranger's Apprentice, and the Young Samurai series.

Synopsis (from Amazon): He spends his days in the royal library, poring over old manuscripts, studying archaic languages and playing chess. He's never been like Krollis, his fearless twin brother, who is an expert swordsman and hunts wild beasts in the forests.
When an army of vizzens, the fearsome old enemy of Korin, attacks from the east and Krollis disappears, Endomer is left in charge of the country. He struggles to find a way to save his people while his soldiers are dying and his citizens are forced to flee. As he fights to gain the respect of the palace court, he discovers a threat coming from within the palace walls. There is no one he can trust.
He isn't only fighting for his country - he's fighting for his life.

The Westing Game

12/12/2017

Reviewed by Oscar

Rating: High Five!

Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's library, and other fun mystery books.

Synopsis (from Amazon): A bizarre chain of events begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of Samuel W. Westing’s will. And though no one knows why the eccentric, game-loving millionaire has chosen a virtual stranger—and a possible murderer—to inherit his vast fortune, on things for sure: Sam Westing may be dead…but that won’t stop him from playing one last game!

Renegades

12/11/2017

Reviewed by Oscar

Rating: High Five!

Who I'd Recommend to: Fan's of the Legends of Zero, and the Outer Bounds series.

Synopsis (from Amazon): The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies—humans with extraordinary abilities—who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone...except the villains they once overthrew.
Nova has a reason to hate the Renegades, and she is on a mission for vengeance. As she gets closer to her target, she meets Adrian, a Renegade boy who believes in justice—and in Nova. But Nova's allegiance is to the villains who have the power to end them both.

Spindle Fire

12/10/2017

Reviewed by Oscar

Rating: High Five!

Who I'd Recommend to: Fan's of the Lunar Chronicles and other fairy tale books.

Synopsis (from Amazon): Half sisters Isabelle and Aurora are polar opposites: Isabelle is the king's headstrong illegitimate daughter, whose sight was tithed by faeries; Aurora, beautiful and sheltered, was tithed her sense of touch and her voice on the same day. Despite their differences, the sisters have always been extremely close. And then everything changes with a single drop of Aurora's blood--and a sleep so deep it cannot be broken. As the faerie queen and her army of Vultures prepare to march, Isabelle must race to find a prince who can awaken her sister with the kiss of true love and seal their two kingdoms in an alliance against the queen. Isabelle crosses land and sea; unearthly, thorny vines rise up the palace walls: and whispers of revolt travel in the ashes on the wind. The kingdom falls to ruin under layers of snow. Meanwhile, Aurora wakes up in a strange and enchanted world, where a mysterious hunter may be the secret to her escape . . . or the reason for her to stay.

The Handbook

12/3/2017

Reviewed by Oscar

Rating: High Five

Who I'd Recommend to: Everyone who loves a very unique, funny, creative, and original story.

Synopsis (from Amazon): There's nothing Jake likes more than some good trash-picking, so when his elderly neighbors move out and leave an especially promising-looking pile of household refuse on the curb, he goes right for it. He only has the chance to grab one box before his mom catches him and orders him in for dinner, though.
When mysterious goings-on begin to occur in the neighborhood, the trio investigates the hidden box from Jack's garage. In it, they find the Secret Parent's Handbook and with it all the means to subvert the irrational rules and petty tyranny of their home lives. No more clean rooms! No more vegetables! No more brushed hair or washed hands! It's all videogames and junk food all the time!
But the authorities -- and the resistance -- have taken notice of the strange goings-on in Jack and his friends' neighborhood. And they are closing in . . .

The Midnight Dunes

11/20/2017

Reviewed by Oscar

Rating: High Five

Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Eragon, The Ranger's Apprentice, and the Young Samurai series.

Synopsis (from Amazon): Some say they never should have left. Others, that they should never go back.
For Talmir Caru, the world has left him little choice. With his people balanced on the knife-edge of a war beyond reckoning, the Captain of Hearth must brave the deserts of his ancestors to find the power left buried there - a power that could provide the Emberfolk their only hope should their wayward champions fail.
They say the Faey can hurt as easily as heal.
Iyana Ve'Ran, living legacy of the Faey Mother, is beginning to tap newly-discovered powers of her own. While her lost sister seeks to put an end to the War of Sages, Iyana just wants to put the world she loves back together again. But some things must be broken before they can mend.
They say only death waits beneath the sands.
Despite deep misgivings about returning to the Embers' ancestral home, Karin Reyna, First Runner of Last Lake, has sworn to keep his companions alive throughout their journey. In so doing, he will rediscover what made his a name for stories before their time.

Forged In Fire

10/29/2017

Reviewed by Oscar

Rating: High Five

Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Eragon, The Ranger's Apprentice, and the Young Samurai series.

Synopsis (from Amazon): Secrets abound on the island nation of Godewyne. The fact that defenses are weak at the King’s seat, Castle Godewyne, is not a secret to power hungry noble Aderlard Maculinus; nor to court Jester Josh who seems to be closely guarding a few secrets of his own. Speaking of secrets, what is the hidden agenda of the royal assassin and what is Wickenshire’s blacksmith, Ranulf, hiding about his past? How will Ranulf’s secrets affect his orphaned grandson/apprentice Rollie?

Will these and other secrets be revealed or pushed into the shadows with the arrival of a mysterious stranger who wants to commission Rollie to forge an odd Druid token out of a mysterious metal? And once the secret of the token is revealed will anything ever be the same?

The Unwanteds

10/8/2017

Reviewed by Oscar

Rating: High Five

Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of Eragon, Harry Potter and other fun magical books.

Synopsis (from Amazon): When Alex finds out he is Unwanted, he expects to die. That is the way of the people of Quill. Each year, all the thirteen-year-olds are labeled as Wanted, Necessary, or Unwanted. Wanteds get more schooling and train to join the Quillitary. Necessaries keep the farms running. Unwanteds are set for elimination.
It’s hard for Alex to leave behind his twin, Aaron, a Wanted, but he makes peace with his fate—until he discovers that instead of a “death farm,” what awaits him is a magical place called Artimé. There, Alex and his fellow Unwanteds are encouraged to cultivate their creative abilities and use them magically. Everything Alex has ever known changes before his eyes, and it’s a wondrous transformation.
But it’s a rare, unique occurrence for twins to be divided between Wanted and Unwanted, and as Alex and Aaron’s bond stretches across their separation, a threat arises for the survival of Artimé that will pit brother against brother in an ultimate magical battle.