Entries Categorized as 'Older Readers'
Posted by Ruth
Categories: Adventure, Mysteries, Older Readers, Review, Science Fiction
Tags:Animals, Jules Verne, Long Read
Add a comment »
Our rating: 
One of the biggest rivers in the South America: the mighty Orinoco. Or is it? MM. Miguel, Filipe, and Varinas can’t agree. Which river really is the Orinoco? After much debating, they decide the only way to find out is to take a trip and see for themselves. On the way, they meet Sergeant Martial, a retired military man, and his nephew, Jean de Kermor, who is searching for his long-lost father and has reason to believe that he’s somewhere down the Orinoco. Soon, their party is joined by an explorer and a botanist, Jacques Helloch and Germain Paterne, who have been assigned to an expedition of the Orinoco and its surrounding towns. Together they travel, encountering giant herds of turtles, electric eels, and an escaped convict.
When I first saw this book, I didn’t think I’d like it as much as some of Jules Verne’s other books, but I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a little slow in the middle, but it picks up again in time for a nice finish. The characters are well developed and the storyline is very interesting.
Posted by Ruth
Categories: Adventure, Fiction, Mysteries, Older Readers, Review
Tags:Funny, Lloyd Alexander
2 Comments »
Our rating:
When Vesper Holly discovers a very old book that her father borrowed from a library in Africa before he died, she determines to return it, dragging Brinnie along with. As usual, they encounter many adventures along the way, including kidnapping, slave traders, and a mysterious blue-skinned man.
I didn’t enjoy this one as much as some of Lloyd Alexander’s other books, but it’s definitely worth reading. A very action packed mystery with a great deal of humor.
Posted by Rebekah
Categories: Adventure, Older Readers, Review, Science Fiction
Tags:Dogs, Jules Verne, Long Read
1 Comment »
Our rating:
The adventures of five men who escape from Richmond in a balloon during the war of the Secession. Northern Captain Cyrus Harding, an engineer, Gideon Spilett, a reporter, Neb, the freed slave of Cyrus Harding, Pencroft, a sailor, and a young man named Herbert. After traveling through a hurricane, they are stranded on an island with only two watches and a notebook between them. No matter the difficulty, they find some way to succeed, even to the point of making nitro-glycerin and a telegraph system for the island! But a mystery seems to follow them, as strange and unexplained help comes to them when they’re in any dire need. Anything from attacks by pirates to an insane castaway, this book is worth reading.
This is a really neat book with a very dramatic ending. Well, almost ending. (They explain what happened afterward) I recommend reading 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea first, for several reasons, one of which being it helps warm you up for the long scientific processes that are explained. I have to admit, I did a lot of quick skimming through the scientific parts. It’s hard to enjoy it if you don’t understand it. A quick reminder: Several of the facts and ideas in Jules Verne’s book are slightly outdated and replaced, but this is a fun book. Please read it, even for the sake of impressing yourself, because it’s 768 pages of adventure, science and Jules Verne.
Posted by Ruth
Categories: Adventure, Fiction, Older Readers, Review, Science Fiction
Tags:Animals, Jules Verne, Long Read, Seafaring
3 Comments »
Our rating: 
When Professor Aronnax is asked his opinion on a number of shipwrecks that have been caused by something a great deal larger than a whale, he comes to the conclusion that the mysterious creature must be a narwhale of gigantic proportions, due to the strangely shaped holes inflicted upon the wrecked vessels. Soon, he is invited aboard the Abraham Lincoln, a frigate preparing to track down and destroy the unknown creature. But, when the ship is struck itself, Professor Aronnax is thrown overboard only to discover a great secret that would change the scientific world forever.
I think I like this book best of all of Jules Verne’s that I have read. He captures the magic of the underwater world with great ease. The only warning I have is that, on occasion, the plot becomes a bit bogged down with a veritable encyclopedia of scientific names, which are usually unpronounceable and rather meaningless unless you have a great knowledge of marine classification. However, the rest of the book is very enjoyable and I recommend it highly.
content rss
