Literature Young Adult Fiction » Mystery http://www.literatureyoungadultfiction.com YA Readers Reviewing Books. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:18:25 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Review: The Sixty-Eight Rooms by Marianne Malone http://www.literatureyoungadultfiction.com/review-the-sixty-eight-rooms-by-marianne-malone/ http://www.literatureyoungadultfiction.com/review-the-sixty-eight-rooms-by-marianne-malone/#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2010 09:23:49 +0000 First Mate Keira http://www.literatureyoungadultfiction.com/?p=1108

by First Mate Keira

Title: The Sixty-Eight Rooms
Author: Marianne Malone
Format: Hardback
Page Count: 265
Grade Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary: Ruthie is drawn to the famous Thorne Rooms at the Chicago’s Art Institute during a class fieldtrip. On the same trip her best friend, Jack, finds a gorgeous key. When Ruthie holds the key she begins to shrink and the two kids put two-and-two together. The key provides a way into the miniature world depicted by the multiple rooms. When Ruthie figures out how to shrink Jack too, the exploring commences in earnest and the pair must figure out how to navigate the world in a new way.

Why I started this book:

I checked the book out from the library after I saw it in a bookstore and thought it looked interesting.

Likes:

  • The subplots were crafted fabulously and brought another dimension to the story. Jack’s mother worries about making a living as an artist. A security guard (previously famous photographer) mourns the loss of his best work. A shop owner reconnects to memories of her past. Historical figures find new endings.
  • How Jack and Ruthie constructed paths to get them around the museum and to different parts of the exhibit is both entertaining and clever.
  • I enjoyed the fight with the water bug/cockroach.
  • I liked that the two kids weren’t the first to explore the tiny world. That was very cool and also connected a lot of the subplots. I liked too how Jack and Ruthie saved some of the people they found in the world by remembering enough from history class to provide warnings.

Dislikes:

  • The necessary contrivance of tricking the parental units into thinking the kids were places they were not. I dislike clueless parents or parents willing to be hoodwinked. I find it hard to believe, mostly because my own parents would never in a million years ignore the signs of mischief Jack and Ruthie gave off like flashing beacons.

Buy: The Sixty-Eight Rooms

Rating: 4 Stars

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by Silence, guest reviewer

Title: Angel's and Demons
Author: Dan Brown
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 572
Grade Reading Level: Ages 15+

Summary: Robert Langdon is contacted by scientific research facility CERN to discern the meaning behind the mysterious murder of one of their scientists. Upon seeing the victim, Langdon realizes he's been branded with the ambigrammic (reads the same normally and from another view point) word Illuminati. This starts an intriguing adventure that unravels the deepest secrets of both the Catholic Church and the Illuminati.

Why I started reading this book:

Interestingly enough, despite what Hollywood would have you believe Angels & Demons came out prior to The DaVinci Code. However I read The DaVinci Code first, liked it, and was obligated to steal Angels and Demons from my sister afterward. I don't think she's read it, I should probably return it to her...

Likes:

  • Again Dan Brown has me questioning some of my base beliefs allowing me to explore a world of open minded thought and mystery. However it's a book of fiction and proclaims itself as such so don't get confused.
  • I felt very involved in the mystery, Brown has a way of making you feel almost as if you were solving the puzzles along with him despite not having his wide array of knowledge.
  • Carlo Ventresca as well as a few other people found within the church that had mindsets that I found wonderful to learn about. It took a risk and explored something that hit close to home for me.

Dislikes:

  • Carlo Ventresca, Dan Brown simply obliterated any attachment I had to him in a way that I honestly felt was painfully random and uncharacteristic.
  • There were times that I felt Brown was almost throwing information at me to show me how intelligent he was. There's at least one time in memory that he stated something interesting only to have it become irrelevant in the same paragraph.
  • The Hassassin. As I stated this book arrived before The DaVince Code, however since I read it after the whole idea of a hit man who wasn't the mastermind felt rehashed.
  • The fact that the whole idea of an Illuminati resurrection is based off of the idea that the ambigram brands have proven impossible to reproduce. It's hard to suspend belief when the book itself displays the words.

Buy: Angels & Demons

Rating: 4 Treasure Chests

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By Captain Lyaf Yarr

Title: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Author: J.K. Rowling
Format: Hardback
# of pages: 435
Grade Reading Level: 5.9; Ages 11+

Summary: School hasn't even started and there's and escapee from a high security wizarding prison out to kill Harry Potter. He has been warned not to be looking for Sirius Black by Arthur Weasley, but as Harry said to Arthur, “Why would I go looking for someone I know wants to kill me?” At school the Ministry of Magic has put a guard in place made up entirely of Dementors. The Dementors are only suppose to be in charge of the wizard prison, but Cornelius Fudge seems to think their presence will inspire confidence in the populace. Though how we do not know as Sirius Black has escaped the guards once already! Harry's life is in danger in more ways than one this year.

Why I Started the Book:

I read this book because I'm continuing to reread the Harry Potter series.

Likes:

  • I liked it when Malfoy got his “just desserts” for insulting Buckbeak the hippogriff.
  • Rowling came up with a really fun artifact-- the time turner. I especially enjoyed its use and the turn of events at the end of the story. I thought Dumbledore's omniscient handling of the predicament to save Buckbeak and Sirius Black was excellent.
  • The Marauders Map was awesome! I liked how it showed where everyone was and where they were going. Now if only it showed the difference between a person in Animagus form and the normal human form.
  • The Dementors were scary, but awesome, and I loved reading the parts where they were mentioned.
  • Remus Lupin is a fantastic character! He was helpful, knowledgeable, and patient. The best Defense Against the Dark Arts teach to date in the books!

Dislikes:

  • I greatly disliked Draco Malfoy and his father. Yes, they're characters to love to hate, but it really is unfair what they can get away with because they're Malfoys. For instance when they got Hadgrid in trouble after his first Care of Magical Creature lesson. It clearly wasn't his fault.
  • I didn't like Hermoine deceiving and depriving Harry of his new Firebolt. She could have handled her concerns better instead of going above Harry to a teacher.

Last Minute Thoughts: This book is where the series takes off and fleshes out.

Buy: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Paperback), Harry Potter Paperback Boxed Set (Books 1-7), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Audio Book), Harry Potter 1- 7 Audio Book Collection

Book Rating: I give this book 5 treasure chests for cleverness, creativity, and creepy creatures!
tc5


Originally posted 2009-12-02 03:34:31.

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by First Mate Keira

Title: The Temptation of the Night Jasmine
Author: Lauren Willig
Format: Trade Paperback
Page Count: 468
Grade Reading Level: Ages 15+

Summary: One heroine is researching for her dissertation on the Pink Carnation. The other heroine is living it. Both heroines are already set on the path of love, but the road is bumpy and not without potholes. Can they successfully navigate their way through to happily ever after?

Likes:

  • You can read this novel without picking up the others in the Pink Carnation series first. However, I am definitely most eager to check them out. This looks like a very promising book series.
  • Eloise and Charlotte Lansdowne, the heroines of both the present and past love stories, are a gem. Eloise was amusing and Charlotte sweet. I found a little of myself in both of them.
  • Robert, Duke of Dovedale and Charlotte’s love interest, is the type of hero who understands that knights in shining armor are important and tries to make himself into one. He doesn’t yet realize he’s already a prince among men and that is his largest appeal.
  • The vivid imagery and adept storytelling woven by Lauren Willig will suck you in and not let you up for air until the very last punctuation mark. You will find humor, romance, intrigue, kidnapping plots, secret clubs, nefarious doings, and more within these pages.

Dislikes:

  • Charlotte’s friend Penelope reminds me too much of a character from another novel which is coloring my view of her. I want to shake some sense into that girl. She’s the only fly in the ointment as far as I’m concerned.

Buy: The Temptation of the Night Jasmine

Rating: 5 Treasure Chests

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by Captain Lyaf Yarr

Title: Bunnicula
Authors: Deborah Howe, James Howe
Format: Paperback
Pages: 128
Grade Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary: Chester the cat and Harold the dog are curious about the new family pet. The Monroes found the bunny at a Dracula movie in a box of dirt. Chester tries to get rid of the bunny, now named Bunnicula by the Monroes, because he’s convinced the bunny is a vampire. He comes to this conclusion based on a book called The Mark of a Vampire. Bunnicula has all the signs – the black and white coloring, the pointy fangs, the ability to turn vegetables white and to escape his cage through miraculous means. It’s a matter of family safety! The bunny has to go!

Why I Started the Book:

Bunnicula was a class assignment in the month of October for a Halloween read. The book was broken into sections. We started by reading one chapter a week and then our teacher read aloud to finish the novel.

Likes:

  • The pictures in the book were cool. I wish there were more of them because the illustrator did a phenomenal job. The bunny is so cute!
  • It’s a very humorous story. There are a lot of laughs from silly to clever shenanigans. (e.g. Chester mixes up “stake” and “steak” and attempts to pummel Bunnicula with a steak.)

Dislikes:

  • (This is not a book dislike.) Don’t watch the twenty minute movie companion to this story! It’s soooo bad! It’s really just awful and the book is so much better!

Last Minute Thoughts: I enjoyed this book a lot and plan to read the sequel, Bunnicula Strikes Again! I think other classes and kids would enjoy this seasonal book a lot!

Buy: Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery (Paperback)

Book Rating: I give this book 4.5 treasure chests!
tc45

Originally posted 2009-11-09 03:50:01.

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by Captain Lyaf Yarr

Title: Black Duck
Author: Janet Taylor Lisle
Format: Paperback
# of pages: 256 pages
Grade Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Summary: One day Ruben Hart and his best friend Jeddy are walking on the beach and stumble upon something completely unexpected that changes everything. What did they see? A dead body with a bolt stuck in him! Who shot him and why? That's what David Peterson wants to find out. He wants to be a reporter very badly and this is the only story he's got from such a small town. Befriending the older Ruben Hart will be a challenge as the old rumrunner doesn't want to open up, but David is determined.

Why I Started the Book:

I started this book because it was a school assignment and the only reason I continued reading it was because I was forced to read it. If I wasn't forced to read it I would have quit the book in a heartbeat.

Likes:

  • I liked the chapter with Tom and Viola. Jeddy and Ruben skipped school to meet Tom and discuss the body. I thought it was a great chapter, until Viola got shot! Poor Viola.

Dislikes:

  • When I was reading this book I feel asleep a few times. Sweet escape! Well that is until I woke up and then I had to keep reading.
  • I don't exactly know why I didn't like this book. I guess I didn't like the subject matter and the writing style. It's very slow in the beginning. I never did get interested in the story.
  • As I mentioned earlier the best part was the chapter with Tom and Viola. But it was ruined! Some parts I thought “This is a good part” but then it would get ruined!

Last minute thoughts: At first when I read the back of this book it sounded all mysterious and something different and new to read. I don't understand how a lot of other people in my class liked this book. I didn't at all. There were two other people in my group who were also reading it and one liked it and the the other didn't.

Buy: Black Duck

Book Rating: I give this book 1.5 treasure chests. This book was horrible!

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by Captain Lyaf Yarr

Title: Hoot
Author: Carl Hiaasen
Format: Unabridged Audio Book
Narrator: Chad Lowe
# CDs + Minutes: 6 CDs (6 hours and 25 minutes)
Grade Reading Level: Ages 12+

Summary: Roy Eberheardt moves to Florida. On the first day of a new school he spies Napoleon running to an old ice cream truck. Unlikely friends, the two team up with a third, Napoleon's sister Beatrice, in order to save an endangered owl species habitat from developers. But the Mother Paula's All-American Pancake House corporation will do anything it takes to stop them. Can the trio prove the existence of the owls in time to save them?

Why I Started the Book:

I've seen the movie a while ago and wanted to know if the book was as interesting as I remembered the movie to be.

Likes:

  • I liked how Mullet Fingers aka Napoleon is very adventurous. He never seemed frightened of what was happening or what might happen. He never gave up, and did anything he could.
  • The numerous pranks the trio did against the pancake house construction site and team. My favorite was when alligators were put in the toilet. Look before you sit!
  • It was clever when Napoleon had to be taken to the hospital to treat a dog wound and the kids all pretended Napoleon was actually Roy.

Dislikes:

  • I didn’t like when the vice principle was talking to Roy about Roy's retaliation against the school bully Dana. Where was the principle's talk to Dana? It didn't seem very fair.
  • Chad Lowe, the narrator, wasn't a very good reader compared to others I've had the pleasure of listening to. Don't get me wrong, he wasn’t awful, but he wasn't very good either. I had a hard time getting involved in the story and my attention wandered a lot. The more I think about it, the more I feel I should have read the book as opposed to listening to it.

Buy: Hoot (Audio Book), Hoot (Paperback)

Book Rating: I give this book 3.5 treasure chests!
tc35


Originally posted 2009-11-06 03:42:50.

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by Captain Lyaf Yarr

Title: The Homework Machine
Author: Dan Gutman
Page Count: 146
Format: Hard cover
Grade Reading Level: 3rd-5th

Summary: Brenton, Snik, Kelsey, and Judy are in 5th grade and have only thing in common. Can you guess what it is? They all hate homework! Brenton, however, has a secret homework machine that only he knows about. Until, he decides to tell Snik, Kelsey, and Judy and give them permission to use it anytime. (As long as they keep it a secret.) But someone tells another student about the machine. When Brenton gets an email the kids aren't sure if they should still use the machine or who told the other student.

Why I Started the Book:

I read this book because I heard good things about it from my friends and my teachers. The title also made me curious and eager to read it. A homework machine? How Does it work?

Likes:

  • I liked how this book was written. It was like a person was in a room being videotaped and someone was writing what they were saying, also it changed point of view or narrators a bunch of times which I thought was fun.
  • I like the character Snik. To me he’s the, “I think I’m so cool, and everyone thinks so too!” kid.

Dislikes:

  • The things that Kelsey does: like get her navel pierced, seemed real stupid to me. I don’t get why it was included in the book. I think Dan Gutman was trying to show how Kelsey changed throughout the book or how she was trying to get attention, but I’m still not sure.

Last minute thoughts: Dan Gutman has yet to disappoint me! You should try his other books also.

Buy: The Homework Machine (Paperback)

Book Rating: I give this book 4 treasure chests! It was excellent!
tc4

Originally posted 2009-11-05 03:01:51.

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by Captain Lyaf Yarr

Title: The Absent Author (A to Z Mysteries)
Author: Ron Roy
Format: Paperback
# of pages: 96 pages
Grade Reading Level: Ages 4 and up

Summary: Dink and his two friends Josh and Ruth Rose go to get Wallis Wallace's (a mystery writer) autograph. In the process they find out that he/she's missing and that someone kidnapped him/her. In the search to find the author will they discover the person behind the pseudonym? Will they even find the author? And why did the kidnapper kidnap the writer in the first place?

Why I Started the Book:

I read this book a long while ago when my sister offered to take me to a theme park if I read 2,000 pages during the summer. To say I was motivated is an understatement. ;) In any case, to prove that I had really read the books that I claimed to read, she had me write up a mini book review on each book as I finished them. Here is one of those reviews. There are spoilers so beware.

Likes:

  • I liked when they went to the Sangrela hotel and found out that Wallis Wallace was a woman Not a man. (It was funny!)
  • I think that it was pretty amazing that an author would fake a kidnapping just to see if her readers would try to find her like in her books. How crazy is that? What would she have done if nobody came looking for her?

Dislikes:

  • I was nervous when Dink and his friends went to see the author because I knew that something bad was going to happen and I didn't know if it I was going like what happened. (Obviously when I was younger I was a worrywart and not at all sure of a good outcome, which shows how good the author was to build up the suspense I think.)

Buy: The Absent Author (A to Z Mysteries)

Book Rating: I give this book 3 treasure chests!

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