Entries Categorized as 'Older Readers'
Posted by Ruth
Categories: Adventure, Fantasy, Fiction, Older Readers, Review
Tags:Animals, Cats, Donkeys, Lloyd Alexander, Pigs
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Lidi is a skilled magician with fast-moving hands and long copper curls. She travels with her guardian/canvas master Jericho giving performances throughout the country. Lidi’s greatest hope is to find Ferramondo, one of the greatest magicians, to learn the one trick that no one else knows. The rope trick. On her journey, she is joined by a young girl named Daniella, who becomes the Added Attraction; and Julian, a mysterious young man who seems to have more to his story than he tells at first. Through it all, Lidi is constantly on the lookout for clues to Ferramondo’s whereabouts.
I’m afraid I didn’t do this book justice in my summary. It’s really very interesting, with sub-plots and all. I enjoy reading it very much. The ending takes an unusual twist that you probably won’t be expecting, but is still satisfactory.
Posted by Rebekah
Categories: Fiction, Mysteries, Older Readers, Review
Tags:Mark Twain, Quick Read, Roy Blount Jr.
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John Gray, a farmer, and his wife Sarah, live more-or-less happily with their grown daughter Mary in the little town of Deer Lick, Missouri. Mary and Hugh Gregory, the son of a neighbor farmer, are in love and are about to be engaged when John Gray finds out that his rich brother left all his money to Mary. “What’s wrong with that?” you ask. Well, John’s brother hates Hugh. Wanting to secure wealth for himself, John Gray tells his daughter she can’t marry Hugh. Then, while John Gray is walking one day, he finds a well-dressed stranger lying in the snow, but no footprints are to be seen. The stranger calls himself Mr. George Wayne, but Mrs. Gray soon finds out that he’s really Count Hubert dee Fountingblow. Spurned on by greed, Mr. Gray tries to make a match between the count and Mary, but Mary doesn’t love him. In the midst of this, David Gray is murdered and Hugh is accused and imprisoned. Who really killed David Gray? Will Hugh be proved innocent or guilty?
I’ll give you three guesses and the first two don’t count. Shall we say, predictable? It does have some humorous parts. Mark Twain made some jabs at Jules Verne’s stories and his source of ideas. It’s not bad, just not edge-of-your-chair material. In fact, you can even put it down in the middle of it and walk away, but there’s not much danger of that. It’s not very long.
Posted by Jordan
Categories: Adventure, Fiction, Older Readers, Review
Tags:Good Read Aloud, Long Read, Robert Louis Stevenson
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After the events in Kidnapped, David Balfour thinks his life will be easy. Far from it. Now he must go through all sorts of adventures and delays to testify at a trial that is important for the future of Scotland. And if that wasn’t bad enough, now he’s in love with a noble woman named Catriona who, through some mistakes, is left in a strange city with only David as guardian.
Stevenson is a master storyteller. His characters jump off the page, and his action is always exciting. I believe a lot of people could get a lot of nobility out of this book from David and Catriona (and a lot of advice about how not to run your courtship!). David Balfour was also published under the title of Catriona. Oh, and if you haven’t read Kidnapped and have to read David Balfour, don’t worry. Stevenson gives a rather lengthy summary of the previous book.
Posted by Jordan
Categories: Adventure, Fantasy, Fiction, Incredibook!, Mysteries, Older Readers, Review
Tags:Animals, Donita K. Paul, DragonKeeper, Dragons, Funny, Long Read, Scary, Seafaring
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After three years of training, Bardon is on his way to his sabbatical to prepare for knighthood. His plans are interrupted, however, by N’Rae and Granny Kye, who want his help rescuing several knights who will die if the spell they are under is not broken in time. This is more easily said than done, but Bardon agrees, and joined by Holt Haddok, Bromptotterpindosset, Jue Seeno, and others, they set off to break the spell.
The third book in the DragonKeeper series is a bit different. The whole book follows Bardon, and Kale doesn’t show her face until the final quarter of the book. I found myself missing the cute minor dragons, but Bardon’s swashbuckling made up for their absence. Bardon’s dragon, Greer, is very fun. Donita K. Paul has another winner!
Posted by Rebekah
Categories: Adventure, Fiction, Older Readers, Review
Tags:Animals, Jim Kjelgaard, Out of Print
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Pepe has tended his family’s twenty-four goats ever since a tigre killed his father. Now, after four years, the Tigre has struck again. The oldest man in the village, Uncle Ruiz, predicts more bad luck, and soon Pepe must decide who and what to believe. Sam Jackson, a visiting “Norteamarican” becomes friends with Pepe as they attempt the very dangerous task of killing the Tigre. But, unfortunately, Uncle Ruiz begins spreading the rumor that Sam is an evil spirit, and must leave. Can Sam and Pepe bag the Tigre before it’s too late?
This book makes quite an interesting read. The superstitions Uncle Ruiz has are very eye opening. Pepe has a friend goat, Brother Goat, who is always on the look out to knock someone over, but is really very gentle. I like how Pepe’s highest dreams are owning thirty-six or forty-eight goats, and, after the Tigre’s reappearance, a gun like the “Norteamaricanos” use.
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