children’s fiction

Book Review: Storm Warning

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Storm Warning
The 39 Clues #9
by Linda Sue Park

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

Spoiler notice: The following review will contain some spoilers for the previous books in the series, starting with The Maze of Bones.

On the trail of pirates, someone else is on the trail of Amy and Dan Cahill, but then, what else is new? But now they’re learning that the threat may have been closer than they knew all along.

We’re nearing the end of the main series now, and the story is ramping up appropriately; this book dives right in with Amy and Dan confronting Nellie about her deception. Personally, I’ve figured Nellie was more involved than she claimed from the beginning, when her snake nose ring was described, but that seemed to be a red herring, since it wasn’t brought up again in 9 books. The real truth about what Nellie has been keeping from Amy and Dan isn’t exactly earth-shattering or completely unexpected, but it’s nice to start getting things out into the open. The Madrigal involvement in the clue hunt is close to what I suspected partway through the book, but there are still some surprises.

In this book, Amy is awkward and stumbles over words when she’s with her family, but later, she doesn’t seem to struggle at all talking to people she doesn’t know, even in stressful situations. This might not have been something I’d have pointed out, except that it seems likely it’s due to this book being written by an author who’s new to the series. Though overall, I’ve really enjoyed the journey, I do sometimes feel that the one-off authors could have had more of an understanding of the characters before writing their contribution. Or that there should have been an editor who read all of stories with an eye toward fixing any characterization issues. Though the final book in the main series is written by yet another new author, I’m still looking forward to seeing how all of this ends. I’ve already strongly recommend this series to my 13-year-old daughter who has just recently gotten into reading more heavily, and I think kids as young as 10 would enjoy this series as well.

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Book Review: The Emperor’s Code

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The Emperor’s Code
The 39 Clues #8
by Gordon Korman

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Children’s mystery, adventure

Spoiler notice: The following review may contain some spoilers for the previous books in the series, starting with The Maze of Bones.

Amy and Dan Cahill are reeling over news of their heritage and take it out on each other. When they get separated, Dan and Amy will have to use the clue hunt to find their way back to each other. 

I really liked the fresh turn this story took with Dan and Amy’s argument. Not that it’s the first time they’ve argued, but the siblings being separated, having different experiences, and working the clue hunt from two different angles, is all new and interesting. The ways that they’re both trying to deal with what they discovered in the previous book about their parents, grandmother, and themselves, adds some realism and seriousness to the story. While there are still some outlandish situations, the climax in particular, I found myself enjoying the ride. I really want to see how Amy and Dan handle their ancestry and what it means for their role in the clue hunt, and I hope to learn for certain who can be trusted and who can’t. The clues themselves seem less important than the hunt to find them at this point, and I look forward to continuing the series.

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Book Review: Ramona’s World

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Ramona’s World
Ramona Quimby #8
by Beverly Cleary
Read by Stockard Channing

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

Now in fourth grade and with a new baby sister at home, Ramona is growing up, but still struggles to fully understand what that means. She still reacts to perceived (or real) injustices a bit extremely, but she’s also a lot calmer than she used to be. It’s nice to watch her get a female best friend (no offense to Howie), and her having a crush is kinda cute and pretty relatable, even at that age. I don’t particularly care for the way her fourth-grade teacher treats her in regards to spelling mistakes, but I also had plenty of teachers who might not have handled imperfect students as well as they should have. Though I think some of the charm of the very young Ramona is gone as she gets older, I still enjoyed this book. I appreciated Stockard Channing’s narration throughout the series, and I recommend it for anyone who might be interested, young or old.

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Book Review: Shiloh

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Shiloh
by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

My rating: 2 / 5
Genre: Children’s classic historical fiction

Another classic about a boy and his dog. While it was nice to have the happier ending than other such classics I’ve read recently, the story didn’t impress me overall. The main character, Marty, lies to everyone he cares about to take care of the dog that isn’t actually his, and his reasoning is that protecting Shiloh makes it okay. He feels bad about the lying and taking food that his family could use in order to feed the dog, but he does it anyway and gets away with it. I am not condoning animal abuse, but that doesn’t mean I condone lying and stealing to stop it. I’m not entirely sure what message Naylor was attempting to get across in this book, maybe that there’s not always an easy answer to a difficult question, but I think it could have been done better. I also think that a dog person might appreciate or enjoy the story more than I did. I wouldn’t really recommend this book for kids, other than perhaps to discuss the ethical questions presented within.

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Book Review: Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library, the Graphic Novel

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Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library, the Graphic Novel
Mr. Lemoncello’s Library series
by Chris Grabenstein
illustrated by Douglas Holgate

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Children’s adventure, graphic novel

Game-lover Kyle Keeley is desperate to win a spot in the overnight sleepover at the new, state-of-the-art local library. The library was designed by his hero, Mr. Lemoncello, who created pretty much every board game and video game Kyle loves. When the overnighter turns into a lock-in (literally), Kyle and his fellow 12-year-olds have to figure out how to escape.

I read and reviewed the original book (see review here), so this review is less about the story and content than it is about the graphic novel format. I was so excited to see that there was going to be a graphic novel of this book, because if there was ever a book (and series) that was crying for a graphic novel to be made for it, it’s the Mr. Lemoncello’s Library books. The amazing library and all of its high-tech features are just too big for the imagination (not that I’m saying the author didn’t do well describing it all in the original novel). Plus, puzzles that the kids need to solve are often shown in the book, and they fit in much better in a graphic novel. The characters are distinctly different, which helps when you’re talking about an original 12 kids that get pared down along the way, and Mr. Lemoncello himself really came to life for me in this format.

On top of all of that, there is a 11-clue rebus puzzle hidden throughout the first 46 pages of the book, which, knowing about in advance, forced me to pay close attention to the background while I read. In the end, I had to go back and look really hard for one I’d missed (and throw out one that turned out to not be a clue). Maybe I’m too old to send my answer and be in the running for the prize, but as a puzzle-lover, it was a lot of fun to work it out after I’d finished the book.

I don’t know if the rest of the series will follow this graphic novel, but I do know that I sincerely hope that Mr. Grabenstein will continue the main series, since the last book definitely set up more to come. As for this book, though, I think that fans of the series will enjoy this new format, but I’d imagine that the idea for it is more to encourage kids who don’t care to read regular books to pick up this illustrated version and enjoy the story. Since I had already read the original book, I can’t say for sure how the story will come across to a newcomer, but I think it would be a fun read for 8-12-year-olds!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children’s Books for providing me a copy of this book to review.

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Book Review: ‘Twas the Fight Before Christmas

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‘Twas the Fight Before Christmas
McGee and Me! #9
by Bill Myers

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

This is one of my favorite stories of  the series, as Nick realizes that even a bully deserves God’s love and that it might be up to Nick to tell him about it. Being wrapped up in the warmth of the Christmas season was just what I needed during this extra difficult holiday myself, the first without my mom. And though it was a brief moment, Nick’s sister lamenting about the lost wise man from the family’s nativity scene as a parallel to the lost Derrick, who is playing a wise man in the Christmas pageant, was really touching to me. I think the heart found in this story made me all the more annoyed by McGee’s ridiculous ego during his scenes, but I still enjoyed the main story a lot. 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: A Ranger’s Guide to Glipwood Forest

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A Ranger’s Guide to Glipwood Forest
by Andrew Peterson
Illustrated by Aedan Peterson

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

This travel guide through the dangerous and wondrous Glipwood Forest was written by one of the founding members of the Glipwood Official Rangers Guild (GORG). Not only does he share the best and safest (relatively speaking) path through the forest, he also tells of how he met each of the other original eight members of the GORG.

I really wasn’t sure what this book would be like when I first picked it up, and it turned out to be a really fun, quick read. The humor and whimsy of the original series can be found throughout this book. At times I felt like Andrew Peterson was making up as outlandish of names and descriptions of items as he could to try to stump his son, who drew sketches of Glipwood Forest flora as well as the members of the GORG for the book. I particularly loved the sketches of Owin and Chonis Ponius Groverly, the “in-world” author and illustrator of the guidebook. Fans of The Wingfeather Saga will enjoy this return to the land of Skree, with many references to locations they’ll remember from the series.

Thank you to Netgalley and WaterBrook & Multnomah for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Publication date: November 7, 2023

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Book Review: The Viper’s Nest

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The Viper’s Nest
The 39 Clues #7
by Peter Lerangis

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Children’s mystery, adventure

Spoiler notice: The following review may contain some spoilers for the previous books in the series, starting with The Maze of Bones.

With both police and a storm closing in on the island where Amy and Dan Cahill just watched one of their rivals in the hunt for 39 Clues die, they first must escape and then try to continue the hunt. Next, it’s off to South Africa to follow the trail of a famous British statesman.

This is the 7th book in the series and the 2nd written by this author. His first book was when I first noted that having a different author for each installment in the series could be annoying, and I noted some glaring differences in this book too, mostly in the way of some of the main characters talking very differently than I’m used to. Dan talks and acts like a 4-year-old sometimes, and Nellie (Amy and Dan’s au pair) suddenly talked like a teeny bopper. I don’t fully understand the reason behind having 7 different authors write the 11 books in a series, unless it’s to get their names in front of people, thus promoting their own works, but I feel like it could have been done better. They should have compared notes more/better.

Still, with all of that being said, it did not diminish my overall enjoyment of the book or series enough to keep me from moving forward. There was still intrigue and some suspense, and a HUGE secret was revealed in this book. I’ve suspected this secret for several books, now, almost to where I didn’t see how it could work out any other way, but I don’t think it will be as obvious to most kids of the age these books are meant for. Instead, it will probably come as a pretty big shock, and it leaves us all unable to trust even more things that we’ve learned throughout this series. I also am sure that things about this book that frustrated me would probably not bother those in the demographic the book was written for. I still have another theory or two related to the big reveal from this book, so I’m looking forward to seeing if I’m right.

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Book Review: Ramona Forever

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Ramona Forever
Ramona Quimby #7
by Beverly Cleary
Read by Stockard Channing

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

Ramona’s life goes through a lot of upheaval in this book, but with the help of her family, including her bossy older sister Beezus, she handles it all pretty well. Though she definitely still handles some things in a way only a child could, she suffers less from misunderstandings than she did when she was younger. I’ve enjoyed watching this little girl grow up throughout this series, yet not lose her spunk or love of messes or loud noises. She learns some hard lessons and has sweet bonding moments with Beezus. Though I think some of the charm of the very young Ramona is gone as she gets older, I still enjoyed this book. I also again appreciated Stockard Channing’s narration, and I recommend it for anyone who might be interested, young or old.

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Book Review: Take Me Out of the Ball Game

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Take Me Out of the Ball Game
McGee and Me! #8
by Bill Myers

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s Christian fiction

In an interesting take on the dangers of idol worship, both Nick and his normally wise father put all their hopes in a particularly athletic teen on their Little League team. Though the stakes are small compared to the lesson, it’s also a situation many of us have found ourselves in (probably with something other then baseball). It can be rough to be reminded that the only One you can really put your trust in is God, though on the other hand, life is certainly easier when we do remember that. Though I’m not much of a baseball person, I enjoyed this story overall. 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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