Airborn

Book Cover

Airborn

Author: Kenneth Oppel

Publisher: Firewing productions, inc.

Airborn is about Matt Cruse who lies in a time where Airships control the skies. He works aboard the Aurora as a cabin boy, spending his day serving lazy passengers drinks and messing around with Baz, his best friend. 

A year before the main story takes place, Matt spots a hot airballoon floating around.An unconscious old man aboard the hot air-balloon is brought on board, and Doc Halliday says the man has phenomena and had a heart attack. When the man is conscious, Matt visits and the man babbles about beautiful creatures. Shortly later, the man dies, leaving Matt wondering what he was talking about.

The main story line involves Kate, an adventorus girl Matt's age; Miss. Simkins, Kate's controlling nanny who has a tendancy to get headaches; Bruce Lundari, a young man that 'steals' Matt's future position aboard the ship; a pirate Captain called Szpirglas, who tries not to kill unless 'nessicary'; and a Cloudcat called: She.

I loved Airborn so much and I stayed up two nights in a row, long past midnight to read this book. It's so amazing. There was a few things that bugged me. One of Matt's sisters changed names frequently, but she wasn't a big part of the book, so I was okay-ish. There was also some grammar mistakes, but I was too caught up in the great story to not read it because of those tiny buggers.

OH, and I CANNOT wait for this book to be made into a movie. It's in the works right now!!! :D

Rating (Out of five): four stars

Suggested Age: 12 and up

Warning: Minor Violence and several swears.
-Dani

ABC Reading Challenge!

Hi everyone,
So, I was looking around at Go Teen Writers, a blog I love!! When I came across this post: ABC Reading Challenge!.

I thought it looked like a lot of fun! So, now, as of June 8th 2013, I'm doing the ABC challenge. I have some of the books on the list on Teen Writers on my list, others not. Here's my list so far. (It's not complete!)

A- Airborn by: Kenneth Offel

(This book was on the list, and sounded pretty good when I looked the summary up!)

B- Bloody Jack by L.A Meyer

(I Love me a pirate story, especially one about a girl. My grandma got me this for either Christmas or my birthday... can't remember which as she gets me lots of books!)

C- City of Ember -Jeanne DuPrau

(There was something about the cover of this book that always lured me in. I remember when I was little, I saw the cover an wanted to see what happened in the story. Not to mention the title and such. :) )

D- Dark Inside by: Jeyn Roberts

(The name and the cover spooked me a bit, and I was serching for a different 'D' book, until my friend, Ginny, who was looking through the library with me earlier today, read the back blurb and convinced me to read it. Long story short, it sounded very good. Ominus, but very good. Ginny dear, If I have nightmares, I'm blaming you. ;) )

E- Ella Enchanted by: Gail Carson Levine

(I love the movie, so I figured I'd read the book. Why not?)

F- From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiter by: E.L Konigsburg

(I was lookin' through Good Reads, and it was the title that caught my attention among the rest. I clicked on it and lo and behold, was a pretty good summary of (hopefully) a good book.)

G- Graceling by: Kristen Cashore

(My friend, Amber, recommended this book a few years back. Now, I'm finally gonna read it.)

H- Holes by: Louis Sachar

(I've been wanting to read this for a while, so here goes!

I-  Inkheart by: Cornelia Funke

(I read a summary for this book, and fell in love. As a fantasy lover, it has a lot. A book within a book. Characters that come out of the book within a book... perfect.)

J- Jerk, California by: Jonathan Friesen

(The title, again is what caught my attention, plus the summary. Hopefully it's a good book...)

K- The Kinfe of Never Letting Go by: Patrick Ness

(The first few lines in this book are hilarous, as Ginny and I found out at the library. The story's about a boy who lives in a town where everyone can read minds. I'd say this will be cool.)

L- Legend of Sleepy Hollow by: Washington Irving

(I don't know what made me want to read this book... I just did.)

M- The Maze Runner by: James Dashner

(Another recommendation of Amber's.  We tend to like the same books, so I hope I'll like this one.)

N- Neverwhere by: Neil Gaimen

(The stuff of Nightmares and Dreams. Sounds pretty good to me!)

O- Owlflight by: Mercedes Lackey

P- Prodigy by: Marie Lu

(The sequel to Legend, I hope Prodigy is just as good!!)

Q- The Queen of Attolia by:  Megan Whalen Turner

(I plan on reading The Theif before this, since Queen comes after Theif...)

R- The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet by: Stephanie Morril

S- The Statistical Probablity of Love at First Sight by: Jennifer E. Smith

(What girl wouldn't want to read a book that has the word 'Love' in the title?)

T-  The Thief by: Megan Whalen Turner

U- Uglies by Scott Westfeild

V- Valiant by: Holly Black

W- Wings by: Aprilynne Pike

X-

Y- Ysabel by: Guy Gavriel Kay

Z- Zel by: Donna Jo Napoli

So, As you can see, I need an X book. If you have any ideas, please let me know!! 

-Dani

See You at Harry's

See You at Harry's

Author: Jo Knowles

Publisher: Candlewick Press (?)

Word of the wise: Make sure you have tissues nearby when you read this book. I cried for like an hour.

     Fern is the third child in a family of four. Her dad's alway's trying to get more people to come to his diner. Her mom's always off meditating, her older sister Sara is taking a year off before going to college, and can be found kissing the busboy at their dad's diner; her older brother Holden has a secret there's no way he's telling his parents, and then of course there's Charlie. The center of the universe. 

       Frusturated, Fern spends a lot of time with her best friend, Ran. Whenever he says  his motto, 'all will be well', she beleves it. When a terrible event flips Fern's world upside down, will all be well?

    I loved this book soooooo much. I can't really say much without giving anything away, but Jo Knowles spent a small portion of the book building up your relationship with the family, and when the 'event' happens, it feels as if your world gets rocked too. It changed my point of view on life.

Rating (out of five): ****

Suggested age: 11+

Warning: TEAR JERKER!

--D

A Tale Dark and Grimm by: Adam Gidwitz

A Tale Dark and Grimm

Author: Adam Gidwitz

Publisher: The Penguin Group

                A spoof on The Grimm Brothers’ stories, Prince Hansel and Princess Gretel, run away from home after a terrible incident happens in their family. They try to find a family that won’t cut off your head, or try to bake you. When Hansel and Gretel finally find  a respectable home, will something bad happen?

                Adam Gidwitz is an amazing author. In the story, when things start to get intense, he’ll ‘pop’ in to defuse tension. I loved that part, although some of the people in my book club weren’t as enthusiastic about it.

Rating (out of five): *****

Suggested Age: 11+
--D

Catwings

Catwings
By: Ursula K. Le Guin
Published By: Orchard Books

The Catwings are, well, cats with wings. Jane, the catwings's mother, doesn't know why or how. I really liked this book. It's short but not too short. It's 48 pages and has four chapters, but I still liked it. I hope you'll like James, Thelma, Roger and Harriet as much as I do. There are three other books in the series: Catwings Return, Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings, and Jane on her Own. I read this in less than an hour, but if you're looking for a short story, not really a full-length novel, Catwings is great.
Rating (out of five): *****
Suggested Age: 7 and up
Happy Reading,
~B

Warriors: The New Prophecy: Midnight & Moonrise

Midnight and Moonrise
Author: Erin Hunter
Publisher: HarperCollins

Midnight is the first book in the next series of Warriors, The New Prophecy. It is about a cat called Brambleclaw, who receives a message from StarClan. He goes on a quest with five other cats to see what midnight tells them. You'll never guess what midnight is!

Moonrise is the second book in the New Prophecy. Erin Hunter has surprised us again with yet another "Clan", apart from BloodClan. This is the Tribe of Rushing Water, and they believe that Stormfur is the chosen one that will kill Sharptooth, a mountain lion. But is Stormfur really the one?

Rating (1-5): *****  
Suggested Age: 8+
~B~

Sean Griswold's Head

                 Sean Griswold's Head
                Author: Lindsey Leavitt
                 Publisher: Bloomsbury



      After finding out that her father has multiple sclerosis, Payton Gritas is set up by her parents to meet with the school's Guidance Councilor. The councilor suggests having a Focus Object, which is supposed to be inanimate, but Payton chooses the back of Sean Griswold's head. (Which she stares at through-out most of Biology.) After prompting from her best friend, Jac, She plucks up the courage to talk to Sean. Was choosing the back of a head for a focus object the best choice? This answer gets harder to answer as Payton finds herself falling for Sean Griswold.

     I LOVED this book! I read it in four hours. It keeps you guessing until the very end about what will happen between Payton and her family, Jac and Payton, AND Payton and Sean. A page turner and definite re-read!

     Rating: (Out of five) *****

Suggested age: 12+

Caution: Swears

-D