reading | Page 5 of 53

Bad Mermaids Make Waves is great reading for girls 8 and up

I am not enjoying a book about mermaids….I tell myself….but I am. Bad Mermaids Make Waves is the type of madcap, creative, fun book that will utterly entrance readers who are 8 and up, even boys, if they dare. This is a book that will mainly cater towards girls due to the title and subject matter. However, I, as a grown adult male stumbled into Hidden Lagoon and can wholeheartedly recommend Bad Mermaids Make Waves for several reasons. Continue reading Bad Mermaids Make Waves is great reading for girls 8 and up

Dr. Critchlore’s School For Minions, Twice Cursed review

Dr. Critchlore’s School For Minions, Twice Cursed is the fourth and final book in this series by Sheila Grau with illustrations by Joe Suthpin. It’s three-ring-circus of a book for mid-elementary through middle school that jams monsters, plot twists, more monsters and laughs. Just when you think that nothing else could happen in the book, something does and it only adds to the greater story. Continue reading Dr. Critchlore’s School For Minions, Twice Cursed review

The Ring of Honor, a return to form for middle school fun reading

Everyone hits a moment where things don’t click and that goes for book series too. That was the case with the Secrets of the Seven book series by Sarah. L. Thomson. The first book in the series The Eureka Key was a fabulous first book in the series. It was quickly paced, relatable for kids 9 and up and felt like a kidlit cousin to the film National Treasure. At the end of the first book I was waiting for the second book. When it did the next year, The Eagle’s Quill failed to deliver. It was darker, didn’t have the punch of the first one and left us lukewarm about a third book. The Ring of Honor returns to the swagger and fun that populated the first book so well and makes this a book that kids will really enjoy reading. Continue reading The Ring of Honor, a return to form for middle school fun reading

Yellow Kayak, great art plus some poetry is all beautiful

When I saw that Yellow Kayak was a book that could be described as poetry my inner Fred Savage voice went off. “This isn’t a kissing book, is it?” questioned a young Savage in The Princess Bride. I have that same guarded line of questioning about books too, except ours warns us about poetry and unicorns. Yellow Kayak is a children’s illustrated book that does have rhyming words, but I wouldn’t call it poetry-if only to hold onto our stance of not liking poetry.

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A Friendly Town That’s Almost Always by the Ocean! Review

If Phoebe from Friends started a business relationship with Monica, where they’d write a book, the end result might be something like A Friendly Town That’s Almost Always by the Ocean!. The is quirky with a capital “Q” and geared towards middle school readers. Think of this as a book that’s perfectly suited towards fans of Lumberjanes or Adventure Time, but want something more (slightly) grounded in reality, with characters that skew evenly towards boys and girls.

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Lola Dutch is witty, artistic fun that makes up a great good-night book

At some point in their day most kids who are between six and eight years old are like Lola Dutch. She’s a hyper creative girl who likes to paint, cook and hangs out with her four friends a bear, alligator, pig and crane. Everything she does is in excess. When she goes to the library she checks out so many books that bear has to help push them in her wagon. When she paints it’s a myriad of styles that the masters have done through the ages. It’s so much even that bear has to say, “Lola Dutch, you are just too much”.

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Burning Magic, a great end to Shadow Magic that leaves you wanting more.

I have never read a Harry Potter book and I feel as though I’m in front of a support group when I say that. To further spread the butter of the heretics, I’ve only seen one Harry Potter film and that was the one that had the large snake in the climatic final showdown. We have most of the Harry Potter books in the home library, courtesy of my wife, as well as, those from Rick Riordan. I have to mention all of this before commenting on the third and final novel in the Shadow Magic series, Burning Magic from Joshua Khan. As with the aforementioned book series, Shadow Magic has a large and passionate fan base. They’ll also be rewarded with Burning Magic, a book that’s detail rich, action packed and has character development-with plenty of twists that will leave them clinging to the end of each chapter.

Continue reading Burning Magic, a great end to Shadow Magic that leaves you wanting more.

How to Tame a Human Tornado continues The Genius Series brilliance

When does a children’s fiction book transcend to a non-fiction book that anyone in middle school or older can enjoy? I don’t know, but The Genius Factor series from Paul Tobin is coming precariously close to doing all of that. How to Tame A Human Tornado is the third book is the series about seventh-grader Nate Bannister, his friend-who is definitely not his girlfriend Delphine, Bosper the talking dog and a mysterious sect of people that like tea who are out to kill him.

The first book How to Capture an Invisible Cat was a great start to the series. How to Outsmart a Billion Robot Bees was the second book and improved upon the characters and storytelling. How to Tame a Human Tornado continues this fabulous series and doesn’t disappoint in the slightest; which is quite rare for a series of books to continually keep improving upon their predecessors. Continue reading How to Tame a Human Tornado continues The Genius Series brilliance