35. The Realms of the Gods

The Immortals Book IV: The Realms of the Gods
By Tamora Pierce
Simon Pulse, 1996
Narrated by Tamora Pierce and Full Cast Audio

Genre
High Fantasy

Awards
None Known

Review
Daine, a young girl with wild magic (she can speak with animals and shape-shift) and Numair (a highly skilled mage) return for this conclusion to the Immortals quartet.  While attempting to help the monarchy of Tortall, Daine and Numair find themselves in a battle they cannot win against a group of Immortals, only to find themselves pulled harshly into the Divine Realms.  Here Daine meets her mother for the first time since she was killed, finding she is now a minor Goddess, the Green Woman.  Daine also discovers who her father is, Weiryn, the minor Northern God of the Hunt.  In the Divine Realms, Daine and Numair learn about the battle of the greater gods with their sister, Uusoae, the queen of Chaos.  They discover she has unlawfully aligned herself with an Immortal to gain more power from the war raging in the human realm so she can finally break out of her Chaos dimension and begin taking over all the realms.  Traveling back to the human realm requires Daine and Numair to take a treacherous journey to the Dragon Realm and convince these majestic yet stubborn beings to take them back before it's too late.  Along the way, a romance blossoms between the wild mage and master mage.  A wonderful conclusion to this quartet, The Reals of the Gods also provides plenty of background information for those readers who are just discovering the amazing worlds of Tortall and beyond.

Opinion
I loved this book, though many of the characters weren't as fleshed out as I'd like to have seen them.  I think this is mainly because this is a closing book to a series where most of these characters were already explored.  I found the majority of the audiobook cast to be wonderful, though I found the author herself narrated in a somewhat jerky, over-enunciated manor that was often distracting.

Ideas
This is a great series for anyone who knows they enjoy fantasy - there's really no way around encountering it here!  This may be a good book for a reader to try if they are unsure of how they feel about high fantasy.  The lower reading level appropriate for middle school readers makes it easy to focus on all the fantastical creatures and abilities the world holds, giving this genre a true opportunity to be experience rather than muddled through.

34. Trickster: Native American Tales, A Graphic Collection

Trickster: Native American Tales, A Graphic Collection
By Assorted
Fulcrum Books, 2010

Genre
Fables

Awards

• Aesop Prize Winner (2011)

Review

Artistic and imaginative, these Native American tales all feature various tricksters like the raven, the rabbit, and the coyote at their various antics.  A mix of artists and storytellers adds plenty of variety to the tellings.  Some of the stories seem very odd, like the rendition of how the vulture became bald, while others are less about the trickster doing the tricking on purpose and more about stumbling into messing things up for everyone, like when the coyote spilled his pebbles in the sky.  Regardless of the specific fable being read, doubtless readers will love these stories and learn about some possible reasons as to why things are the way they are.

Opinion
Most of these fables were wonderful and brand new to me.  The first story of how the stars were created was probably my favorite, but sometime near the end I felt like the book went a little down-hill.  I became bored and I was actually slightly put-off by the story of the vulture's head becoming bald.  The story didn't explicitly state how this happened, but the pictures suggested his head was stuck up a man's rear-end for a time.  I did enjoy the majority of these stories though and the hodgepodge of art styles was entertaining to examine.

Ideas
This is a great introductory book to Native American fables and could be displayed for Native American Heritage Month.  Also great for a general display that shows the fables and folklore of different cultures.

33. Nancy Drew Mystery Stories: #1 The Secret of the Old Clock

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories: #1 The Secret of the Old Clock
By Carolyn Keene
Illustrated by Russell H. Tandy
Grosset & Dunlap, 1959

Genre
Mystery

Awards
None Known

Review
After making friends with the family of a girl she rescued, Nancy grows to learn that this family, and their relatives, though poor, were planning on receiving inheritance money from a rich relative who recently died.  However his money was all left to the Tophams', still a part of the family, but already rich in their own right.  Nancy, an 18 year old girl known for her intuitiveness, starts to believe there is another will left by the rich relative and begins her hunt.  A classic mystery that readers will race to solve before Nancy does, this story will capture the attention of tween readers.  Despite the age of the book, there is little to date it except the copyright date and the outfits in the scarce illustrations.  Readers today will enjoy Nancy's adventures as much as readers in the '60s.

Opinion
I loved reading this book.  It reminded me of how I used to love mysteries when I was younger, but have gravitated away from them the older I got.  This book really is great for tweens, though the characters are shallow and one-dimensional.

Ideas
A great addition to any young girl's collection.  While both genders could certainly enjoy this book, boys will likely enjoy books with male protagonists, like the Hardy Boys series, or a mixed group, like The Boxcar Children.  This Nancy Drew book would be a great addition to a display trying to recreate interest in old favorites or for any mystery display.

32. Deadtime Stories: Grave Secrets

Deadtime Stories: Grave Secrets
By Annette and Gina Cascone
Starscape/Tor, 2011

Genre
Horror

Awards
None Known

Review
   A haunting story that follows a Amanda Peterson after she found a doll buried in her pet cemetery in her backyard.  The doll was haunted, she and her friends decided, though Amanda had yet to find out exactly how haunted! After run-ins with her scary neighbor, Barnsey, and mysterious messages left for her by the ghost child, Anna, Amanda and her friends decided to do whatever it takes to confront Barnsey and help Anna's ghost get some peace.  These authors do a wonderful job of writing a story that compels the reader to continue, with cliffhanger chapter endings and questions left unanswered until the end.  The story is creepy, but appropriate for tweens who like feeling scared.

Opinion
I think this book is good for children who enjoy horror.  It is not choppy like I find Goosebumps to be, but holds the readers attention and incorporates a bit of detective work into the horror of the story.

Ideas
Great for a Halloween display or a general horror book display.  A good book to read ahead of time and to abridge and tell while camping if people want to hear a scary story.

31. Technically, It's Not My Fault

Technically, It's Not My Fault
By John Grandits
Clarion Books, 2004

Genre
Humor, Poetry

Awards

• ALA Notable Book for Children (2005)
• ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers (2005)
• Book Sense Top Ten Poetry List (2005)
• CCBC Choice (2005)
• NCTE Notable Children’s Book in the Language Arts (2005)
• Young Hoosier (IN) Book Award Nominee (2006-2007)

Review
This is a fun book of concrete poetry, poetry written to form a picture or to otherwise convey some meaning of the poem.  All the poems follow Robert through events like skateboarding and playing baseball, tormenting his sister by flushing the toilet while she is in the shower, or thinking about the perfect roller coaster or the life of a fart.  These poems are told well with their words and the pictures  they make in red and black ink with crazy font types really add to the entertainment they provide!  Middle grade children and even early high school students will love this book because of its quirky nature.

Opinion
With a funny story on the cover to start everything off, Grandits has written a truly entertaining book of poetry that even those who "hate" poems will find themselves enjoying.

Ideas
A great book for reluctant poetry readers.  A good challenge would be for readers to create their own concrete poem.

30. Amulet: The Stonekeeper

Amulet: The Stonekeeper
By Kazu Kibuishi
Scholastic, 2008

Awards

• YALSA Best Books for Young Adults (2009)
• Rhode Island Children's Book Award (2010)
• Library Journal's Graphic Novels for Reluctant Readers (2010)
• Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Reader's Choice Award: Junior Division (2011)
• Oregon Library Association Reader's Choice Award: Junior Division (2011)
• #4 on Goodreads "Best Graphic Novels for Children" (2013)

Genre
Adventure, Low Fantasy,  Steampunk

Review
After their father dies in a car crash, Emily, Navin, and their mother move from the city to a family home "in the middle of nowhere" that their mother inherited from her grandfather, Silas Charnon.  After moving in, the family discovered Silas's workshop where he built what he called puzzles, but were really game machines of some kind.  Here Emily finds an amulet that was hidden in his workbench.  During the night, the family hears noises coming from the basement and go to investigate.  Their mother is abducted by some kind of monster and taken through an opening in the wall into a strange land; and the children soon chase after her, trying to save her.  The amulet springs to life and attacks the monster.  The children aren't able to save their mother at that time, but the amulet speaks to them, instructing them to find their great-grandfather's home in this land, called Alledia.  After finding Silas, he tells Emily he intended the amulet to be hers and that she take over his role of controlling the amulet and gaining power to rule in Alledia.  The children then set out with robots made by Silas to find their mother and cure her from the poisonous monster.  The colorful drawings and cute, quirky robot characters are entertaining and make the reader hope for the children to succeed on their mission.

Opinion

A book that engages the readers from the beginning, this is a great book for tweens.  The story makes the reader want to continue the series, because it leaves many questions unanswered at the end of the first book, but they seem answerable in books to come.

Ideas

There is a small steampunk theme in this book with the machinery built by the children's great-grandfather and the robots, but I am unsure if that theme extends through the series.  This may be a good book for a steampunk display or just to engage reluctant readers in an easy to follow adventure.

29. Lincoln's Grave Robbers

Lincoln's Grave Robbers
By Steve Sheinkin
Scholastic Press, 2013
Narrated by Will Patton

Genre
Non-fiction

Review
An exciting telling of how President Lincoln's body was almost stolen by grave robbers in a plot to force the government to release a notorious and talented engraver and counterfeiter.  Sheinkin touches on a brief history of the creation of the Secret Service, which was created to investigate and stop counterfeiting, in addition to covering a small part of the trouble with the election results in November 1876 between Samuel J. Tilden and Rutherford B. Hayes, but he mainly focuses on the trouble counterfeit money was causing in the country.  Once the most talented engraver, Ben Boyd, was captured, counterfeit money was much harder to find to the joy of honest citizens and the Secret Service, but to the frustration of those who made their living off illegally distributing it like members of Boyd's counterfeiting ring who were having trouble surviving after his arrest.  They planned to rob the Springfield tomb that held Lincoln's body and ransom the body back to the government in exchange for Boyd's release and $200,000.  The story is told almost like a mystery or detective story, focusing around the Secret Service agent investigating the ring and the informer that had been placed in the ring.  An exciting narration given by Will Patton makes this little known part of history come to life in the listener's imagination as Sheinkin recounts the events of the planning and execution of the plot.  With bonus features like a glossary of terms and a short story about the history of body snatching in the medical profession, this book is full of interesting historical facts sure to grab the attention of tween readers.

Opinion
I loved listening to this book.  The narrator reminded me of the voice you might hear at the beginning of old private detective shows, where the camera pans into an office that says Private Investigator with a gumshoe behind the desk in a trench coat.  I had never heard of this event and felt like the book was very informative and well put into context of the times with information about the secret service and the big election happening at the same time.

Ideas
I think this is a great book for a display or study on little known facts, American history, or Presidential history.

28. Witches! The Absolutely True Story of Disaster in Salem

Witches! The Absolutely True Story of Disaster in Salem
By Rosalyn Scmanzer
National Geographic Children's Books, 2011
Narrated by Jessica Almasy

Genre
Non-fiction

Awards

• Society of Illustrators Gold medal for Best Illustrated Children's Book (2011)
• A Junior Library Guild Selection (Fall 2011)
• NY Public Library's 25 Best Nonfiction Titles (2011)
• #8 on Fuse list of 100 Magnificent Children's Books (2011)
• Kid Lit Frenzy top 5 Middle Grade Picks (2011)
• School Library Journal Starred Review and Best Book of the Year (2011)
• Included in Communication Arts Magazine's Annual Illustration Issue (May/June 2012)
• Robert F. Sibert Honor Award as one of the year's 5 most distinguished informational books for children (2012)
• NCSS/CBS Notable Social Studies Trade Book (2012)
• ALA Notable Children's Book

Review

A well-written history of the famous Salem Witch Trials that started in 1692 after two young girls, the daughter and niece of the town preacher, began suffering from odd symptoms (writhing and twisting in impossible directions, speaking strangely with nonsensical terms, and choking) and were diagnosed as being bewitched!  The girls were urged by their caretakers to finger the people whose spirits were harming them.  The girls fingered their family's longtime slave and two other village women, a beggar woman and an elderly ill woman who hadn't been to church in years.  Soon after this event, some of the girls' friends began experiencing similar symptoms and brought on the mass hysteria that lead to numerous people being accused and jailed for witchcraft, 20 people being killed, and ruined hundreds of lives.  Many people accused their own family members to avoid being accused themselves.  The courthouses were the stage where those claiming to be afflicted by the witches performed mimics of the accused person's gestures, pricked themselves with pins, bit themselves, and made shocking accusations about their own neighbors being in league with the devil.  Scmanzer covers this topic well, going into the poorly run trials where many were condemned based solely on spectral evidence and corrupt officials stole the assets of the accused for themselves before the person was even tried, rather than following the law and turning their assets over to the crown after they were condemned.

Opinion

A good synopsis of terrible historical events, this book gives an idea of the daily fright townsfolk must have experience during this time where anyone could be accused as a witch and would likely end up in prison, owing money for their "room and board" and their "rented" shackles, if they weren't condemned to die.  Scmanzer did a good job of writing to her target audience, upper elementary school, and even explained in her note at the end of the book that she paraphrased many of the quotes she used as they were more lengthy and written in more difficult, archaic English.  The narrator, Almasy, did a decent job of keeping the listener engaged in the audiobook, though I found her voice to get shrill and annoying at times.  Unfortunately, I did not have a physical copy and could not view the award winning illustrations, but the few that I've seen online are quite unique black & white art accented with red that seem to perfectly illustrate many of the occurrences.

Ideas

Great book for a middle-grade non-fiction reader and would be useful if writing a report.  The descriptions of the trials also gives a good look at the way religion was viewed in this time period and location, as well as how the legal system worked.

27. Legend

Legend
By Marie Lu
Penguin Books, 2011
Narrated by Mariel Stern and Steven Kaplan

Genre
Dystopian Sci-fi

Awards
None Known

Review

June Iparis aced her exam, a test of physical and mental capability all 10 year-olds must take to determine their educational and career potential and usefulness to the Republic.  She quickly worked her way through her accelerated high school and college courses.  When her brother is killed by the notorious vigilante known as Day after he robbed a health clinic for some plague suppressants, June is graduated early to take his place in the army and makes it her personal goal to capture Day.  She goes on an undercover assignment: living on the streets, trying to make acquaintances who may know something about Day and his whereabouts.  She makes friends with an unknown boy and his companion, a younger girl named Tess, and spends time with them in the slums, waiting for a leg injury to heal.  She and the boy start to fall for each other, sharing a kiss one night while Tess slept.  As the boy goes to sleep, June notices him grab at his neck, as if for a necklace that is no longer there.  Horrified, she remembers the pendent found at the scene of her brother's murder and realizes that this boy is Day.  June reports to her superiors that she found Day and that no one was to get hurt during his capture.  However, the next day, Day's mother is killed while the government captures Day and his two brothers.  June, loyal to the Republic until Day began telling her things that contradicted what she was taught, starts questioning her long-held blind trust in the Republic and finds enough shocking truths to make her orchestrate Day's escape on the day of his execution.  Readers will be immersed in this detailed story where questioning authority can be deadly, but necessary.

Opinion
The setting is made so real; the back and forth of the chapters between Day's perspective and June's perspective makes the audience understand where both characters are coming from.  The technology isn't excessive, but the author seems to warn that in a world where most things are done online, the government can trace it all.  A wonderful suggestion for middle grade readers, boys and girls alike.  Definetely memorable, this book drives the reader to want to read the next book in the series immediately (though this book does a great job of a solid enough ending to stand on its own).

Ideas
A clear example of dystopian fiction, this book may be used to show the extremes of what could happen under a dictatorship (the Republic's "President" always runs for office, but has "won" 8 elections in a row, with his son planning to succeed him).  It briefly touches on the potential dangers of the internet, but mainly focuses on the theme of a society that doesn't question authority.

26. Dying to Cross

Dying to Cross
By Jorge Ramos
HarperCollins Publishers, 2006
Narrated by Jonathan Davis

Genre
Non-fiction

Awards
None Known

Review
Written by Jorge Ramos, a celebrated and popular Mexican journalist, this book tells the tragic story of over 70 immigrants from Mexico and various Central American countries who attempted to cross the Mexican-American border illegally on May 13, 2003.  These desperate people traveled a variety of ways and paid a few thousand dollars each to get from their homes to safe houses in Harlingen, TX, from which they were told they would be delivered to Huston, TX.  Based on the accounts of various immigrants, it seems the travelers were told different things by their coyotes (the people paid to bring them across the border) about what their accommodations and traveling methods would be, but in reality, they all ended up in a truck trailer for the last leg of their journey from Harlingen to Huston.  Although this truck had a refrigeration unit, the driver never turned it on, causing 17 people to die in the truck and 2 more later in the hospital.  Ramos' story tells about some of the lives of the immigrants before the tragedy and covers part of the trials after many coyotes, including the suspected ring-leader, were arrested.

Opinion
This was an extremely repetitive book and the author covered almost the entire story in the first chapter.  He reiterates facts like the temperature or that a young boy died in the truck and harps on "if only" ideas.  He briefly touches on the idea that both the countries Mexico and America are partially responsible for this tragedy due to poor immigration policy despite stating at the beginning of his book that he was simply trying to give the accounts of some of the surviving immigrants and some of those who died, not trying to make a political statement or legal overview.  This is a poorly written book, though the story it tells is heartbreaking and deserves to be told in a better way.

Ideas
I am not familiar with techniques used in journalism, but I feel like this may be an example of a journalist outreaching the bounds of what he is used to.   This could be used in a journalism or literature class to show how not to write an account of events.  It could also be used to discuss with tweens the problems that illegal immigration create for those attempting to travel in such a fashion, because although it is a poorly written book, it is a book that, in terms of reading level, would be appropriate for tweens to read.