children’s fiction

Book Review: The Sword Thief

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The Sword Thief
The 39 Clues #3
by Peter Lerangis

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Children’s mystery, adventure

When their next clue leads them to Japan, siblings Amy and Dan Cahill may have no choice but to team up with their uncle Alistair Oh. They can’t really trust anyone in their family, since they all want the final reward from the 39 clues for themselves, but sometimes an alliance is necessary…right?

I felt like the different-author-for-each-book aspect posed an issue for me this time. Because we have a new mind behind this book, I wasn’t sure if the fact that it seemed like so many personalities set up in the first two books were reversed in this one was the author wanting to do his own thing or was a natural part of the flow of the story. But somehow, Alistair is suddenly not such a bad guy, as confirmed by a scene from his own point of view. Amy suddenly isn’t so awkward around Ian Kabra, even letting down her guard quite a bit. Those aren’t the only examples, and in the end, much of what seemed to be reversed in this book was…unreversed? But on the other hand, some of it is left muddy. Anyway, it all distracted me enough from the rest of the story that I can’t really say how much I liked it. I do think it fell a little short of the first two in the series, but I hold out hope that the next author will get back to the intrigue and history I enjoyed in those first two.

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Book Review: Little Town on the Prairie

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Little Town on the Prairie
Little House #7
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
read by Cherry Jones

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Children’s historical classic

Though the Ingalls family lived in town during the long winter of the previous book, this one really brought out the character of the young town. Moving there for the winter again, just in case it were to turn out as harsh as the previous, Laura and Carrie deal with a school teacher who maybe needed a little training to know how to deal with kids (good, bad, any kind, really—she wasn’t great with kids), the townspeople come up with a variety of ways to entertain themselves through the winter, and Laura catches the eye of a certain farmer boy. Though there is still some focus on the Ingalls homestead and their work there, the book takes a turn as winter comes on, and it’s quite the change of pace after that. Also, thanks to much work and sacrifice by her loved ones, Mary goes off to college partway through this book, which adds to the different dynamic. It’s a good reminder that life keeps moving on and things change, sometimes for the worse, but even when it’s for the better, it can be bittersweet.

As before, my enjoyment of the book was greatly enhanced by the audiobook narrator, Cherry Jones, who does a fantastic job. If you’ve ever considered reading this series, or have already read it and have occasion to listen to the audiobooks, I say do it!

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Book Review: Pride and Prejudice (adapted for younger readers)

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Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen, adapted by Fern Siegel

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Classic children’s, romance

It’s difficult to know whether to rate books like this based on the story or on the adaptation. I gave the original book 4 stars and liked some aspects of this book better. It does a great job of cutting through the old-fashioned language and getting to the heart of the story. In this case, “telling” instead of “showing” both shortens the length of the story and explains what might otherwise be difficult for younger readers to comprehend or follow.

However, I had some issues with feeling like the book left something out now and then. A couple of times, the text seemed to refer to something that hadn’t been explained in the first place. I could remember it, if vaguely, from my reading of the original book, but it seemed to have been missing from the adaptation. For that reason, I gave the adaptation 4 stars. Overall, I like the idea of this story, but it just seems a little too…I don’t know, maybe bloated? for me. Still, I do think this adaptation more than adequately makes the classic accessible and would recommend this book for children around 8-12, with the extra note that with younger kids, it might be helpful (and enjoyable) to read it with a parent or older sibling/friend.

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Book Review: The Not-So-Great Escape

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The Not-So-Great Escape
McGee and Me! #3
by Bill Myers & Ken C. Johnson

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Children’s Christian fiction

Most of us who grew up in a Christian home know all too well the feeling when our friends were allowed to do something that we weren’t allowed to do, whether that be going somewhere, watching something, listening to certain music, etc. Most of us didn’t set up a Ferris Beuller-like contraption to try to fool our parents, but that’s the charm of the main character in this series. Fortunately for me, I didn’t have a friend who goaded me quite like Louis does with Nick, but of course the lesson to learn here is that Nick still should have said no. It’s a good short story overall, though McGee, Nick’s animated friend, isn’t as enjoyable on the page as he is on the screen. These books may not be easy to find anymore, but if you do have the chance to read this book or procure it for an 8-10-year-old child, I recommend it.

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Book Review: Evil Genius

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Evil Genius
The Smartest Kid in the Universe #3
by Chris Grabenstein

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s adventure

12-year-old Jake and his scientifically enhanced, super-smart brain may have a rival when the latest batch of ingestible knowledge jelly beans are stolen. And if that isn’t bad enough, Jake has reason to believe that his artificial knowledge could wear off at any moment. Can Jake and his friends outsmart both new and old foes and recover a treasure that’s been lost for centuries?

Poor Jake is really put through it in this installment. He used to be a fun-loving kid who had no real worries. Now, not only does he have to deal with dark-side counterparts, but he’s devastated over the possibility of losing his intelligence. This book has a few more plot lines than previous ones do, so there’s kind of a lot going on for not a very long book. Because of that, I feel like Jake’s friends don’t get as much “screen time” in this book. On the other hand, at least that means I didn’t have to deal with as much of Kojo’s Kojak references. But the multiple plot lines also provide two different main villains (and several smaller ones), and there is a lot of anti-climax involved. Still, in the end, the book was fun. I’m getting to like Jake more and more with each book, and I hope there’s more to come. For the first time in this series, I cannot tell you what my daughter thought of the book, because she hasn’t read it yet. I’m very interested to hear what she thinks, but in the meantime, I’m confident recommending this book and series for kids around 8-12 years old.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children’s Books for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Publication date: May 16, 2023

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Book Review: Ramona the Pest

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Ramona the Pest
Ramona Quimby #2
by Beverly Cleary
Read by Stockard Channing

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Children’s classic

Cleary seems to have some great insight into the mind of a child; though it’s been a long time since I was Ramona’s age in this book, I can definitely remember having some of the same thoughts and feelings she has here. Her ups and downs are so realistic and make me wish her parents would see her more, while knowing that they’re normal and understanding why they’re not always fully aware of what’s going on with her. The very end of the book, the culmination of Ramona’s trouble at school and her love of making cats with her Qs, made me so happy! I liked the first book in the series, but this one definitely tops it!

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Book Review: The Prophet of Yonwood

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The Diamond of Darkhold
Book of Ember #3
by Jeanne DuPrau

My rating: 1 / 5
Genre: Children’s dystopian

Some decades before the city of Ember is built, before the Crisis that moved the first inhabitants of Ember underground, a woman in the town of Yonwood has a fiery vision. But her comatose-like mind might hold the secret to keeping Yonwood safe from that catastrophic future.

I don’t really see a lot of point to this book. It’s a prequel to the first two books in the city, but it’s barely connected. And even the elements within this book were fairly disconnected from each other. There’s the main character, Nickie, and her aunt, who are visitors to Yonwood, and their disagreement about selling the house they’re there to clean out and possibly sell. The actual Prophet storyline, which barely comes across as the main storyline. Grover and his plight to make it to camp in Arizona. The kooky man who is interested in the heavens and is the only who who successfully defies the Prophet’s lackeys. There is just too much going on, and even by the halfway point, I had no idea what the purpose of the book really was.

As the Prophet’s main interpreter begins to get more and more ridiculous with her rules, I quickly began to realize that this is just another attempt on the author’s part to teach readers something she feels is important. But unlike a more universally accepted truth in the 2nd book (“War is bad”), this one is a lot more controversial. The book turns into basically an indictment on religion, seeming to imply that religions are largely fabricated by their followers. It actually reminds me most of the Pharisees who, by Jesus’ time, had imposed so many of their own rules, they had lost the core message. On top of all of that, the author attempts a tug at the heartstrings that is likely far more successful for dog lovers. I’m more of a dog tolerater (I know that’s not a word). I can acknowledge that what happens is ridiculous (stupid, really), but definitely didn’t get as emotionally invested as others might. In the end, I really wish DuPrau had kept this series more in line with the first book. The second wasn’t bad, but the first and fourth were my favorite, and I really just wish for more like them. If you are considering reading this series, I recommend it, but feel free to skip this third book.

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Book Review: The Long Winter

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The Long Winter
Little House #6
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
read by Cherry Jones

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Children’s historical classic

I expected this book to be slow and boring, but it was anything but. In fact, I think this might be tied for my favorite book in the series. Through blizzard after blizzard, the story is interesting and even exciting at times. I really liked the perspective of the Wilder brothers being thrown in from time to time and was fascinated to read about some of the things the Wilder family had to improvise in order to have just enough food and heat. I was glad to have warm weather when I started listening to this book, though it did get cold again, which added to the frigid feeling the book gives.

As before, my enjoyment of the book was greatly enhanced by the audiobook narrator, Cherry Jones, who does a fantastic job, and being able to hear Pa’s fiddle, thanks to Paul Woodiel. If you’ve ever considered reading this series, or have already read it and have occasion to listen to the audiobooks, I say do it!

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Book Review: Runaway Ralph

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Runaway Ralph
Ralph S. Mouse #2
by Beverly Cleary
Read by B.D. Wong

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Children’s classic, fantasy

I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as the first, I think because Ralph starts with the motorcycle and spends the first little bit of the book just trying to keep it from his family. Then he begins to yearn for freedom, so he doesn’t have to share his motorcycle. I mean…I get it, kinda, but mostly I just feel like he’s being selfish and spoiled. Granted, he has dozens of siblings and cousins and would easily spend all night giving them rides and not have time to ride it himself, and it’s clear that his mom and uncle, who forced this on him, don’t get him at all. But I still didn’t care for his attitude.

It was interesting to watch poor Garf, a kid who isn’t happy with his circumstances either and acts out in different ways, from Ralph’s perspective. I liked how the camp leader lady is portrayed—that she clearly cared about Garf and trying to help him come out of his shell and not hate being at camp so much. It’s a nice change from kids’ books where adults are so often terrible people at worst or apathetic at best. Overall, not as charming as the first, but not bad.

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Book Review: Where the Red Fern Grows

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Where the Red Fern Grows
by Wilson Rawls

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s classic

I remember liking this book more when I read it as a child/pre-teen than I did this time. I seem to recall being emotionally invested and thinking it was poignant (I probably didn’t use that word in my mind as a kid though). As an adult, I feel emotionally manipulated. Let’s start with the overall story first, though, and leave the ending for later.

I read this at the same time as my 12-year-old daughter, who was reading it for school. We agreed that the book starts off pretty slow—Billy pining for a couple of hounds and then working toward getting them. I’m all for the lesson about going after what you want instead of expecting it to be given to you, but it could have been a little more interesting. The story gets going once he gets into the coon hunting, and it certainly taught me about a way of life I would never have otherwise known about. Running alongside Billy, Old Dan, and Little Ann as they tree those coons, with the dangers that come along with that, is exciting and immersive.

I was prepared for a tragic ending but did not remember it being so gruesome. On top of that, the way Billy reacts to the loss hit me a little close to home, after the recent loss of my mom and the way my daughter has handled it. I was truly concerned for her to keep reading it (she was behind me at this point), but she apparently handled it better than I did. I also think she liked the book overall more than I did, reminding me of my own different opinion as a kid. Me, though, I felt like there was no reason for the extremity of the tragedy and aftermath other than trying to make people cry. If you’re wondering whether your child should read it or not, I’d recommend reading it first to make sure you think it’s not a bit too much for them.

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