Summary: The Midsummer School for Boys is cursed. Not a single student has been accepted to Knightley Academy in years… and this year is no different as a servant boy is the one called to knighthood.
Knightley Academy explores social and national prejudices. The world has overtones of racism, classism, religious intolerance, and more. The world is stable for now but is on the cusp of change and I have a feeling Henry and his friends will be that change.
Why I started this book:
I came by this book in a completely random fashion. I saw this huge fat spine on the new YA releases bookshelves at the library while searching for something for my sisters. Picked it up, read the cover, said to self – sounds like Harry Potter without magic! Checked out. Consumed.
Likes:
The quartet: Henry Grim (first commoner ever allowed training to become a knight), Frankie Winter (a finishing school dropout), Roham Mehta (an Indian boy adopted into a wealthy ducal family), and Adam Beckerman (a Jewish boy skilled with a foil.)
Lord Havelock, the military professor and head teacher for the first years. He reminds me of Snape, but far more fair and willing to own his errors. I particularly enjoy his Havelook of Doom +2.*
The Victorian England Steampunk world filled with the odd combination of progress and backwardness.
Valmont: he’s a bully but he’s not a complete ninnyhead.
Knight classes! Military History is just the beginning --- one of my favorite classes next to Fencing and Languages.
The Inter-School Competition and Henry’s discovery of a super secret hidden room that spells out T-R-O-U-B-L-E and gives the trilogy its long plot arc.
Last Minute Thoughts: If you’ve read Harry Potter and liked it, you will like this novel. The books have parallels but they are not the same story. Haberdasher will surprise you with her twists and turns. This is a perfect story for boys, but girls will like it just as much!
Summary: Parker Baer is spoiled. He has everything he's ever wanted and then some. But the only problem is that he thinks his life is dull and boring. He rethinks this observation after a girl named Tara moves in the house across from them alone. If that wasn't suspicious enough, she has hair that is almost lifelike, as if she has snakes for hair. She always wears sunglasses and claims she has a bad eye condition. Her house is full of beautiful “sculpted” statues… with fingerprints? She stares people down as if they're prey and she changes people with her eyes. All Tara wants is a friend and that friend is going to be Parker, whether he likes it or not. Once Tara (Medusa) takes Parker under her wing and changes him into her kind he becomes immortal. But he realizes that he doesn't want this! Can he escape and change what Tara has done? Will Tara get her friend? Will the people she's changed be turned back to normal?
Why I Started the Book:
I started this book because it was assigned as a school reading book.
Likes:
I enjoyed the reading this book. I was kept on the edge of my chair in suspense. I'm defiantly going to be reading the sequel and other books by Neal Shusterman!
On the back of this book it said it was a mix between the three little bears and Medusa. And I love how these different stories joined together.
This book was both predictable and unpredictable. It was predictable because I knew it was Medusa and she was going to do bad and turn everyone into statues but besides that I had no idea what else would happen. Since we were reading together as a class we weren't allowed to read ahead. It was terrible! The waiting was killing me!
Dislikes:
I wish the ending was different and that Parker's choice had been something else. I can't say what without giving the ending away.
Title: Dragon Spear Author: Jessica Day George Format: Hardback Page Count: 246 Grade Reading Level: 5th-9th Grade
Summary: Love is in the air. Creel is designing her wedding dress and planning her marriage to Prince Luka. During their engagement, Shadras and some dragons swoop in to take Luka, Creel, and her brother to the new kingdom of the dragons. All seems to be going well until a very pregnant Velika gets kidnapped by a team of dragons and humans.
Why I started this book:
Dragon Spear is the sequel to Dragon Flight and is the third book of the Dragon Adventure trilogy.
Likes:
Just when you think Jessica George Day couldn’t expand more on dragon lore she does. What I think is neat is how well this idea fits into the first two books because she hadn’t planned on doing anything after Dragon Slippers.
The Temple of the First Queen – very cool place. I would love to see it translated into a movie set.
Creel’s kind and generous heart. She does something at the end of the book that would just kill me to do and I applaud her for it.
Fainting Goats! Jessica had this on her website:
Dislikes:
It’s over. Sniff.
Last Minute Thoughts: If you liked Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, you will love this trilogy.
Title: Dragon Flight Author: Jessica Day George Format: Hardback Page Count: 255 Grade Reading Level: 5th-9th Grade
Summary: Luka is in Citatie as an ambassador for Feravel on his father’s behalf when suddenly relations between Feravel and Citatie disintegrate without warning. This is very bad because Citatie has a huge trained dragon army and they’re going to use it to take out Feravel and all who stand in their way. Luckily Creel, the heroine of the First Dragon War, is on Feravel’s side.
Why I started this book:
I started Dragon Flight because I loved Dragon Slippers. It’s the second book in the trilogy and revisits all the same characters from the first novel.
Likes:
Dragon history is expanded and flushed out more as we learn of Shardas’ brother, the silver dragon known as Krashath.
For not imagining she would ever write a sequel, Jessica Day George is very consistent when it comes to her characters.
The romance between Creel and Luka is sweet and mature. They look out for each other and work well together.
Without giving too much away - I loved the setup for the Second Dragon War and I liked its conclusion. Too bad certain humans are a royal pain in the hinny, but I have a feeling this latest development will be expanded upon in the third book.
Dislikes:
I’m more or less indifferent to Marta, Creel’s friend and business partner in the dressmaker shop. It’s hard to back up as it’s really just a feeling as opposed to anything in the text.
Last Minute Thoughts: Can’t wait to read Dragon Spear, the last in the set.
Title: A Girl Named Disaster Author: Nancy Farmer Format: Paperback Page Count: 320 pages Grade Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Summary: This is a story about an African girl whose mother was killed by a leopard, whose father had gone away, and who soon will be married to a cruel man who already has three wives. She is only 11 years old, but she posses an intelligence, curiosity, and intuition far beyond her years. She is protected by her grandmother who encourages her to escape from Mozambique to Zimbabwe, a journey alone on a river in a stolen boat that should take her only 2 days. She instead gets turned around and it takes her many months to reach her destination. Along the way she has to overcome incredible dangers and learn to survive alone.
Why I Started this book:
As you know I am a big fan of Newberry Honor books. I would like to recommend another Newberry Honor book for your Young Adult Fiction list. It is called A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer. It was published in 1996 by Puffin Books.
Likes:
All along her journey she learns and communicates with the mystical spirits who guide and encourage her. I felt like these were symbols of her own courage, confidence, and intuition.
As she journeys, she finds her value, home, and freedom.
This book attributes her survival and triumph to spirit forces. I felt that her suvival was the result of her own intuition and the love of her grandmother, who, even though she wasn't with her, had given her a sense of who she was as a person, who her mother was, and why she was valued and should value herself.
Her own intelligence, imagination, and curiousity were sources of courage and strength, always with her, always taking her to the next step she should take.
Last Minute Thoughts: I give A Girl Named Disaster your highest ranking.
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