Review: The Fairy's Return and other Princess Tales by Gail Carson Levine

The Fairy's Return and other Princess Tales
by Gail Carson Levine
MG, Fairy Tale
400 pages
published: 2002
2 of 5 stars / 4 of 5 stars

About

What would you do if diamonds and rubies tumbled out of your mouth every time you spoke? Well, that's what happens to Rosella after a run-in with a misguided fairy in The Fairy's Mistake. If you were turned into a toad, would you pine after your prince as much as Parsley does in For Biddle's Sake?
The road to happily-ever-after is never easy, but the masterful touch of Newbery Honor author Gail Carson Levine will keep readers laughing their way through these fresh retellings of popular fairy tales. - from Goodreads

Just to be clear, this is a book of short stories. I recall being disappointed when that realization hit me after I had grabbed this book at the school book fair.

Reaction

After the initial shock of having a volume of short stories subsided, I began to enjoy this little book. The stories where cute retellings with a sense of humor. I happily skipped my way through the first few, delighted and thinking about how pleasant these will be for Jadyn. They weren't very deep or earth-shattering, but sweet and moral and clever.

Around the half way point, I changed my mind. What had been charming and amusing, became repetitive and ridiculous. My momentum diminished and then died. I doubt I would have finished if I hadn't stuck it in a place where I could pick it up when boredom overcame my annoyance with the book. The stories became so repetitive, in fact, that now I can't separate them in my head. Help!

Yet, there is a silver lining. I gave this to Jadyn, the target audience, and she loved it. She devoured it in a matter of days. I don't think she noticed that every male character had two older (and awful) brothers. I'll even suggest this to be a great introduction type book for any princess or fairy loving little girl.

So, 2 stars from me for the sake of the early pleasure, and 4 stars for the middle grade club.

Jadyn's Review: Josefina Story Collection by Valerie Tripp

Josefina Story Collection:
     Meet Josefina
     Josefina Learns a Lesson
     Josefina's Surprise
     Happy Birthda Josefina!
     Josefina Saves the Day
     Changes for Josefina
by Valerie Tripp
illustrated by Jean-Paul Tibbles
historical fiction
387 pages
published: 2001
Source: home library
6 of 5 stars

About

• It is about a young girl, Josefina, that lived in1824.
•  Josefina learns that you can hope and dream but things never happen in the exact manner you may want.
• She also learns sometimes you might feel the world should end because of sorrow and sadness but the world will never end in such a way. (This from the first book when she loses someone she loves.)
• All her sisters and her work together to solve their mishaps.

My thoughts 

• I like the mishaps and the way they were solved.
• I sort of enjoyed the whining, complaining, and stubbornness of Josefina and her sisters.
• I like this book because of excitement, drama, and more.
• I think this book is neat because it feeles like you're in the story.
• I like to reread it because sometimes it can be like a comfort and can help me through a situation if I go to the right book, in the right chapter, that has the right situation that can help me see the solution to my problem.
• I also enjoyed the way it ended with happiness and love.

Jadyn's Review: Fairy Realm books by Emily Rodda

FAIRY REALM Books 1 - 10
by Emily Rodda
MG, Fantasy

It was amazing and MAGICAL series of awesome tasks and adventures. On the way Jessie finds out that she is a fairy princesses.

What I liked

1. Jessie is granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Belairs. Mrs. Belairs has an amazing identity an always comes to her rescue.

2. Jessie has a charm bracelet given to her by the folk of the realm and presented to her by Queen Helena.

3. It is sooooo extremely interesting and exciting. It was an extreme series and I want to read all of Emily Rodda's books that she has written and will write!

Here are the books in the series:

1.  The Charm Bracelet In it Jessie saves the realm.
2. The Flower Fairies  It is an extraordinary book about .......about...............FOR PETE'S SACK IT'S ABOUT THE FLOWER FAIRIES!
3. The Third Wish  Is an awesome book about a young mermaid and her mistake.
4. The Last Fairy Apple Tree The gnomes are scared that their greedy greed will betray them.
5. The Magic Key is about Jessie's birthday and her wonderful and frightening party and mishap.
6. The Unicorn  is about the marvelous creatures of the DREAM FOREST.
7. The Star Cloak is about Jessie's encounter with creatures on STAR MOUNTAIN.
8. The Water Sprites is about the mean and jerky, restless sprite.
9. The Peskie Spell is about a spell that needs to be found and gets found.
10. The Rainbow Wand is about a young girl in the realm and the fight.

That's all I'll say for now.

Review: Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson

Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians
308 pages
published: 2007
Alcatraz and the Scrivener's Bones
336 pages
published:2008
by Brandon Sanderson
MG, Fantasy
5 of 5 stars


I love these books! They are fun page turners that are right up my sense of humor alley. (This is probably largely due to my being a writer and these books being filled with silly writer humor.)

The story is about another poor foster kid - but this one breaks things and happens to be from one of the other continents that us Hushlanders don't know about. He has to rescue his birthday sand from the evil librarians conspiracy with the help of his late grandfather. (And I don't mean dead grandfather.) Oh, and there is the 13 year old female knight with an attitude.

In the sequel, Alcatraz is trying to find his father who seems to have joined the ranks of the undead librarians. This time his help comes from his lost uncle, his sometimes ugly cousin, and the angry knight, of course. And don't forget the cyborg librarian!

These books are irreverent. Deliciously irreverent. Brandon Sanderson breaks all the literary rules. He talks directly to the reader, he lies, he throws in absurd things as well as philosophy, and makes the absurd make sense. Even more deliciously, he makes fun of himself, his novels, his genre, other popular novel, classic novels, novels in general, and librarians.

Recommended for: kids starting around 10. It would be helpful if they have done enough reading to have a grasp of how things "usually" go, otherwise they won't catch on to how Sanderson is breaking all the rules. Also for adults whose sense of humor tends toward the absurd and irreverent - adults who don't take themselves too seriously. (I've read a few bad reviews, and...wow people take themselves too seriously!)

Book Review: Trapped in Ice! An Amazing True Whaling Adventure by Martin W. Sandler

Trapped in Ice! An Amazing True Whaling Adventure
by Martin W. Sandler
Non-Fiction, Historical, MG
176 pages
published: 2006
3 of 5 stars

I'm sure no one has heard of this book. It probably had little publicity. I found it in a book order, and since I'm always interested in survival and cool nonfiction (and hope to build a collection of books that my son wants to read) I ordered it sight unseen. I'm glad I did - I really enjoyed it. As for amazing polar survival - it's not anything compared to: Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: the extraordinary true story of Shakleton and the Endurance by Jennifer Armstrong (check that one out!)

BUT it was really cool. I liked better all the information about whaling - and the attitude with which it was presented. Most of my exposure to whaling has been negative, as in, "Those unconscionable beasts who killed all the whales just so women could look unnaturally skinny!" Well, it wasn't really like that, at least not until the end. They were doing a job that improved the lives of everyone, particularly with oil for light. They thought the ocean unfathomable and inexhaustible. The book portrays them as courageous, hard working, and highly skilled. How many of us seriously risk our lives everyday we go to work? It also talked of the exploring and charting work the whalers did. It told the story of some of the women and children that accompanies the whale ships.

For nonfiction YA, it was good - educational and entertaining.

Review: Magyk (Septimus Heap) by Angie Sage

Magyk
by Angie Sage
Fantasy, MG
564 pages
published: 2002
5 of 5 stars

On a whim, Scott picked up the first two books in the Septimus Heap fantasy series by Angie Sage. What a good whim! I was quite impressed with the plot, characters, and imagination of the story. It is probably best suited to middle grade readers, but like many other recent fantasies, it has appeal to a much older audience. One thing I found fascinating was that Septimus Heap, the title character, was, to all appearances, absent from nearly the entire book. How fun!

As a "younger" book, it wasn't as epic as Eragon, and the magic isn't as defined as some fantasies. It also switches point of view frequently, which isn't a problem for me, but some small people might object. Ghosts are a strong presence, and in the second book there are a lot of big worms. (If it was a movie instead of a book I would have had issues.)

I highly recommend this for anyone looking for fun, escape, and good adventure.