The Dreamer Review

Booktalk:  Neftali looks up to his father and is eager to please him, but everything that he does just seems to disappoint him.  Neftali's father disapproves of the little treasures that he stops to pick up wherever he goes: a pinecone, an old boot, a shell.  His father disapproves of his slender physique, even though Neftali can't do anything about it.  He is embarrassed by Neftali's stutter when his friends come to visit.  But the most common reprimand Neftali hears from his father is "Stop that incessant daydreaming!"  Neftali wants to please his father, but how can he stop contemplating the world when it is full of such wonders?

Rocks my socks: True to its title, this book has a lovely lyrical, dream-like quality about it that is simply charming.  It reflects the personality of Neftali perfectly and this mood is enhanced by lines of verse and surreal drawings appearing regularly throughout the text.  My heart went out to little Neftali and I treasured the glimpse I got into the workings of his mind.  This was made all the more interesting by the fact that the novel is loosely biographical.

Rocks in my socks: While I did enjoy the dream-like quality and I think it fit perfectly with the subject matter, it did make for a slow pace.  I also didn't like the way Neftali's age accelerated so rapidly at the end of the book.  For most of the book he's 7 or 8 and the pace and aging follows that of a normal narrative.  Then, in the third to last chapter he jumps to 11, then he's 13 in the penultimate one, then in the last chapter he's getting ready to leave for college.  I felt like they were separate stories added on for the benefit of adding more biographical detail about later incidents in his life to show how he became the poet we all know, and it interrupted the flow of the narrative for me.

Every book its reader: I'd give it to readers 3rd grade and up who enjoy poetry.  It's certainly not for anyone looking for an action-packed adventure novel, but fellow day dreamers will be able to appreciate it and find a kindred spirit in Neftali.

The Dreamer  by Pam Munoz Ryan, illus. by Peter Sis

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The Boneshaker Review

Book Talk: At the crossroads lies a ghost town, abandoned years ago under mysterious circumstances.  When Arcane was founded, they moved it up the road a bit to avoid the site and hopefully the bad luck of the old town.  But when a traveling medicine show stops by the same fate threatens to destroy Arcane. Somehow, Natalie finds herself in the center of it all and she risks everything to unravel the mystery, but when the time comes will she be able to save the town and look the devil in the eye?

Rocks My Socks: The book has wonderful atmosphere, and the main character has wonderful spunk.  The book brings together a lot of elements that I love to read about in novels: traveling shows, automatons,  and deals with the devil.  I also love all the minor characters populating the story.  Natalie is the main character, but the story is really about the town and as such we get to know a lot of its residents.  The whole book has a delicious feeling of an old folktale being told around a campfire and there are beautiful illustrations throughout.

Rocks In My Socks: There was a lot in the novel that should have either been cut or expanded on.  For example, there are two male characters that are portrayed as Natalie's best friends in the first part of the book and it seems as if they were going to be major supporting characters.  However, partway through the book they just dropped out of the narrative without explanation and are never mentioned again.  There's also a drifter character who I enjoyed, but didn't seem to really serve much of a purpose.  One of the central images, that of Natalie holding the automaton of herself, didn't make any sense to me. It seems like a lot of effort just to vaguely creep her out.  There's a lot of information in there that isn't really necessary to the reader and just seemed to clog up the narrative and confuse the main storyline.  None of this really affected my experience reading the story, however, because I assumed they were there for a purpose and would appear again later on.  It wasn't until after I finished the book and looked back on it that I realized how many loose threads and extraneous details there were.

Every Book Its Reader: I'd give it to 5th grade and up boys and girls looking for a supernatural adventure or fans of historical fantasy.  Adults looking for a light supernatural romp will enjoy this atmospheric novel as well. A quick warning, though: the book bills itself as having 'steampunk elements' on the inside flap, but I think this is a bit misleading.  The only element having anything to do with steampunk is the automatons, and the novel is powered by supernatural forces much more than steam.

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The Prince of Mist Review

Book Talk: Max's family has picked up their lives in the capital to head for a small sea-side village to wait out the war.  Life is supposed to be safer for them in this out of the way town, but from the moment they arrive Max can sense that they're in danger.  When his father tells him the story of what happened the family that lived in their house before them, he becomes even more suspicious.  Soon his youngest sister is in the hospital and his older sister and their new-found friend are left alone, except for the haunting presence of the prince of mist.

Rocks My Socks: The novel has a strong and eloquent narrative voice that I really enjoyed. It also takes its time introducing the characters in the beginning so that by the time their lives were in danger I really cared about them, which is an important factor that I think a lot of horror misses.  The atmosphere of the novel is wonderful--suspenseful, without being over-the-top.  It reminded me of a Hitchcock film.  The novel was haunting without being too disturbing.  There were a couple scenes where I wished I had more company around me than my cat (especially considering the role of cats in the novel) but these scenes were helped out by the fact that thanks to Dr. Who I have already had a strong fear of statuary coming into the book (don't blink!)

Rocks In My Socks: The climax of the novel slipped a bit too far into the realm of romantic melodrama for my tastes.  In addition to not being my cup of tea, I felt that it was a change in tone from the rest of the novel which left it feeling a bit lop-sided.  The main character is very strongly and clearly max for most of the novel and he's the one I cared most about, but in the climax he really only played a supporting role.

Every Book its Reader: 7th and up.  I'd give it to anyone looking for a good, quick read full of suspense.

The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

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Cosmic Review

Book Talk: Liam is not your average twelve-year-old.  He's taller than most adults and he's already started to grow facial hair.  A lot of the time, this can be a real drag--like when the other kids start calling him 'wolverine' but when Liam decides to make the most of it by pretending to be an adult he finds out that what sets him apart can lead to experiences that are totally cosmic.  The only problem is that now he's stuck miles above Earth, in space, with a bunch of kids.  Suddenly pretending to be a dad isn't so much fun, and more than anything what he wants is his own father to come and save them all.  But his father doesn't even know where he is, and even if he did, how could he get to them in space?

Rocks My Socks: The narrator is delightfully snarky, I particularly enjoyed his remarks on golf: "When you say 'hazard' to normal people they think of ice on the road, or fog, or sudden invasions of Night Elves.  Golfers think you mean sand.  Or a puddle with a duck in it."  This comment comes after chips his ball into the back of the golf cart to get it onto the green.  That's my kind of golf game!  The narrative voice is definitely what kept me turning the pages.  I also enjoyed the exploration of the father/son relationship.  By pretending to be a father, he gains a unique perspective.  He even borrows his dad's parenting book to use a manual, which leads to some good comic moments.

Rocks In My Socks: The premise of the novel is completely preposterous.  No one is going to send four kids and an adult into space after a week's training with no professional to accompany them.  I don't care how sketchy the group is, if they have enough wherewithal to send people to space they'll have enough common sense not to send unescorted children up.  This novel definitely requires a heaping spoonful of suspension of disbelief, and the portion was so big it was hard to swallow.  The plotting and characterization is also pretty standard and predictable.

Every Book Its Reader: 4th grade and up.  I'd give it to fans of humor looking for a light read.  The main character plays World of Warcraft a lot and makes analogies between that and his life throughout the novel.  A knowledge of MMORPGs isn't necessary to enjoy the novel, but fans of online gaming will definitely get more of out the novel than non-gamers.

Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce
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Mockingjay review

Book Talk: Katniss has been rescued from the arena, but the hunger games aren't over yet.  The playing field as just got much bigger.  Peeta and her are still being used as pawns in a game as the Rebels and the Capitol fight for control over the districts.  Katniss is told that she's still important and needs to continue to play the role of the mockingjay to bring the districts together in their fight against the capitol, but how can Katniss perform when everywhere she goes death and destruction follow and Peeta remains in the hands of the Capitol?

Rocks my Socks: Based on the buzz I'd heard online I came into this novel with pretty low expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised.  I was frustrated by the previous installment because I felt like just as it started to explore some interesting issues it was thrown off track by another games.  This time most of the novel is spent exploring who's right and who's wrong if anyone and where to draw the line.  The characters become more layered as more is revealed about them and they are pushed further by extreme circumstances.  There is still some action, especially in the end, but since they remain in the real world, real issues continue in this part.  It's also doesn't take up nearly as much time as the Games in the second book.

Rocks in my Socks: The narration of the books was a bit overly dramatic and dark at points, especially the beginning and end.  I couldn't help but read these parts using the batman voice in my head.  For all that these books are supposedly anti-war and violence Katniss seems rather obsessed with vengeance and is an eager soldier.  She forgives a lot of people, but really it's only people who are pretty easy to forgive.  I can't think of a single instance where a character that's truly hard to forgive is exonerated because they've already seen too much death and violence.  In fact violence seems to be the main way problems are solved.  The characters don't show as much growth as I would have hoped for at the end of a trilogy.  Perhaps the biggest and most annoying rock in my sock was the epilogue.  If there are legitimate loose ends that can't be tied up in the regular time line of the book, then it's okay to add an epilogue.  But if all the loose ends of the book are tied up and the point of the epilogue is just for you to say a sentimental goodbye to your characters as an author then keep it to yourself and don't publish it. It's better to leave those kinds of things to the imaginations of your fans instead of robbing them of a chance to make up their own future for the characters.

Every Book its Reader: I'd recommend it to fans of the series.  If you've enjoyed the series, then it's worth finishing it with this book.  I don't think it would make sense to those who haven't read the first two books--I had difficulty with it at times and it's only been a year since I read the first two books.

************spoiler/rant alert********************
So there are two things I wanted to discuss, one positive, one not but they are definitely spoilers so I've added them down here.  First the good: even though I was rooting for Gale at the beginning of the book, I'm glad she ended up with Peeta.  I'm sorry but not wanting someone to kiss other people is not the same as being in love with a person.  What kind of crappy romantic origin story was that?  I don't think Gale ever really wanted her, he just didn't want anyone else to have her.  He lost any points he had gained in my mind the moment we first saw him working on those cruel traps, and of course I knew where that would wind up--in a heavy-handed lesson in morality.

The bad: Okay, so my knowledge of archery basically comes from Robin Hood and most of my physics from Big Bang Theory, but I don't think that last arrow would have killed president Coin.  It would have had to go straight up and then down, which would mean that it would lose the momentum from the bow when it changed directions and rely mostly on gravity for the way down.  To kill Coin instantly before the doubtless immediate medical aid could save her she'd have to hit a vital point.  I don't think she could hit the heart at that angle so it'd have to be a head shot.  Even hitting her neck medics probably would have saved her in time.  It would have had to go pretty high to gain enough momentum for gravity to pierce a human skull, which would give snow time to get out of the way. As I said my knowledge of this is pretty shaky, but it's bugging me so if you have any further insight into the possibility of this working please leave it in the comments. Also I'm confused about why Katniss votes for another hunger games at the end and about whether this actually comes to pass.  the best reason I could come up with was that perhaps it was to fool president Coin into thinking she was on her side so she'd have the chance to kill her, but I think Coin would have been standing there whether the vote had passed or not.  If you can clarify this for me, please do because even the idea that they proposed holding another games is so abhorrent and depressing considering everything they'd just been through that it makes me a bit sad that they didn't all die and allow a new species to take over.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
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Behemoth review

Book Talk: Just as Alek is starting to feel like he belongs, Austria joins the war and he becomes a prisoner of war.  He can't stay on the Leviathan as a prisoner, so he escapes to freedom in Istanbul.  Deryn hates to see him go, and she hates how much she hates to see him go even more.  Maybe it's for the best.  Now she can focus on being a soldier and stop mooning over some stupid boy.  But fate brings them together again, and Deryn has to figure out how to stay loyal to her country despite her feelings and above all she has to make sure no one discovers her secret.  This would all be a lot easier if it weren't for the anarchist girl Alek falls in with.  In a town where so many cultures live side by side and dozens of languages are spoken, how can anyone make sense of the confusion?

Rocks my Socks:  The setting is as wonderfully realized as in the previous novel, and here we get even more details as we explore the cultural melting pot of Istanbul.  The love triangle that forms with Alek, Deryn, and the rebel girl is deliciously awkward.  A device called the Tesla cannon makes its appearance, and even though it's used by the Germans any reference to Tesla earns brownie points in my book.  There is also a new beastie introduced in the book that's a talking primate--what's not to love?  The illustrations are once again excellent and well-placed throughout the novel.

Rocks in my Socks: There isn't that much of Darwin's granddaughter in this book, and I like her.  My main objection however was that I've read another book in this series without being rewarded by the big reveal scene that I've been waiting for.  Granted, it wouldn't really have made sense to have it this early on in the series, but gosh darnit I still have to wait for a new book to come out before I can read it and that is definitely a rock in my sock, however unjustified the criticism may be!

Every Book its Reader: I'd recommend it to fans of steampunk, fantasy, and alternate history.  There is some violence and death, but very little for a war novel.  I'd give it to 6th grade and up or younger if they're strong, mature readers.  I wouldn't recommend reading this without Leviathan first and I'd further recommend that waiting until the last book in the series comes out before picking it up.

Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld, illustrated by Keith Thompson
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Moribito Review

The last three books I've read consist of the first book in the series, followed by the second book in a series, and then the third book in a series.  They all belong to different series, however.  It's funny how that worked out.  To start us off we have the first book in the Moribito Series

Book Talk: Balsa is a fighter and a body guard, but even she isn't prepared for the mess she finds herself in after rescuing the second prince from drowning one day.  Balsa has no love of royalty, but before she knows it she's risking her life and fighting foes natural and supernatural to protect the boy.  She soon realizes that much more is at stake than just one boy's life, but how can she defeat a  foe that she can't see and knows nothing about?

Rocks my Socks: A great, fast-paced fantasy adventure novel.  The author is Japanese (it's translated into English), which really makes it stand out among all the western fantasy stories in the market.  The novel is fantasy and not historical fiction, but just as English and American fantasy novels often take place in worlds based on Europe in the Middle Ages, the world of this book is rooted in Japanese culture in the same period.  I also love the exploration of gender in this book.  The strongest magician and the strongest warrior are both female while the male lead is a healer.  The land of the novel is populated by a foreign cultural group who took over the land of the natives and the themes explored involving the interplay between the two are also fascinating.  There is a romantic subplot, but it's minor and well-handled and doesn't detract from the action sequences.  There are great two-page illustrations at the beginning of each part.

Rocks in my Socks: There were a fair amount of moments, especially in the beginning, where I felt that basic aspects of the world were a bit awkwardly explained and shoe horned in without really matching the flow of the novel.  This usually involved aspects that weren't unique to the fantasy world but were drawn from history so that most Japanese readers wouldn't need the explanations.  This lead me to think that they might have been added in by the translator to help western audiences follow the plot.  It was particularly frustrating to me because I've studied Japanese history a bit and I've taken two years of the language at university, so it felt a bit obvious to me.  I can see why these explanations were needed though, especially for a young adult audience, but I do think they could have been handled better so it didn't disturb the flow of the novel as much.

Every Book its Reader: I'd recommend this to fans of fantasy adventure novels in general and especially to those with an interest in Japanese culture.  The book isn't terribly violent for an adventure novel; I'd say that it would be best appreciated by 6th grade and up but it could be read by strong readers of a younger age.  Adults who are looking for a Japanese fantasy novel or a good quick read would enjoy it as well.

Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit by Nahoko Uehashi, translated by Cathy Hirano
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