Entries Categorized as 'Review'
Posted by Rebekah
Categories: Advanced Readers, Fiction, Review
Tags:Mark Twain, Out of Print
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This book is a collection of “letters” written by a fictitious man named Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass, to the Keokuk Saturday Post. They tell of this peaceable stranger’s experiences in the outside world, including a train ride and seeing a play.
There is some bad language, as there is in most of Mark Twain’s books. I can’t say that I found the letter all that funny. I would put them at fair-to-moderately humorous. Humorous should not be confused with funny. In my mind, humorous refers to a smile and light guffaw or snort, while funny would be a grin and chuckle or giggle. That being said, I will add that, as I have mentioned in most of my Mark Twain reviews, his wry good humor is all over it.
Posted by Jordan
Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Incredibook!, Review
Tags:Animals, Birds, Funny, Good Read Aloud, Henry Reed, Indians, Keith Robertson, Out of Print
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Henry Reed is coming back to Grover’s Corner, but in a whole new way. Instead of flying directly to Grover’s Corner, he’s going to San Francisco, where his friend Midge’s family is. They all plan to drive back, across the continent back to New Jersey. But with Henry and Midge having a way of starting innocent accidents, and souvenirs for their travel museum piling up, Mr. Glass might not survive to drive them home!
Personally, this is my favorite Henry Reed book. Everywhere the car stops, Henry and Midge cause an accident or get pulled into something. From Midge starting a gold rush, to Henry saving a hotel swimming pool, Henry Reed’s Journey is a definite winner. Too bad it’s out of print.
Posted by Rebekah
Categories: Fiction, Older Readers, Review
Tags:Animals, Dogs, Mark Twain, Quick Read
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Here, Aileen Mavourneen tells the story of her life. She led a pleasant existence until one day when she was sleeping in the nursery, she woke up to find the baby’s crib in flames. She dragged the baby out of the crib and into the hall, where the master found her and kicked her, thinking she was hurting the baby. Upset by the reprimand, Aileen went upstairs and hid in the garret until the owners realized what she was really doing and apologized. The very sad part of the story was when the master performed an experiment on Aileen’s puppy, which blinded it and eventually caused its death.
I know it sounds rather gloomy, and the end is gloomy, but there are funny parts in it, too. Particularly Aileen’s mother’s habit of using long words. The whole story is told in Mark Twain’s cynically humorous style.
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 Jordan
Categories: Advanced Readers, Adventure, Fantasy, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Bears, Binding of the Blade, Dragons, L. B. Graham, Long Read, Scary
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Whoa! Hold it! I have to warn you, before you read this review, that I have to give away the ending of the previous book, Bringer of Storms. If you haven’t read it yet, you probably want to go on to the next review.
With Valzaan gone, Benjiah must fulfill his role as Allfather’s prophet. But he’s uncertain and everybody seems to be dependent upon him. Meanwhile, Aljeron is in the northern reaches of Kirthanin on a hunch, trying to find Sulmindar, the missing father of dragons. In his place as commander, Caan takes over military movements as the army flees before Malek and his hoard. And with the Bringer of Storms still producing rain, flooding is setting in quickly, leaving them less and less place to run.
Excitement, adventure, and, uh, abrupt ending. Worth reading, but you might want to skip it until the series ends. Much too abrupt of an ending, though. Finally, we get to meet dragons for a lengthy amount of time. Wonderful!