Review: Kat & Mouse Vol. 1

Kat & Mouse Volume 1: Teacher Torture by Alex de Campi

Kat’s Dad has just gotten a job at a posh private school, so Kat and her family are moving to New England. Their new home seems too good to be true…which turns out to be the case when Kat’s new classmates dump her on the bottom of the social ladder because she’s smart. Kat’s willing to struggle through anyway, but soon as series of accidents threaten her dad’s job. When a blackmail notice shows up, Kat’s determined to find out who’s framing her dad. With her computer-savvy friend Mouse by her side, this duo is on the case!

Teacher Torture is the first book in the Kat and Mouse series and is a great introduction to the series. With art that is a little more realistic-looking than traditional manga, you can almost see yourself at Kat’s school. The book deals with issues today’s teens will be familiar with (such as school cliques) and also includes a mini science experiment in the back. A quick, fun, read perfect for readers age 10 and up.

Shady Glade Rating: 7/10

Visit the Shady Glade Store for more recommended reads, movies, music and more!

Review: Shabanu

I know I've been scarce lately, so I'm going to make it up to you by posting a new review. So here we go!

Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples

Shabanu is the youngest daughter of the best camel herder in the Cholistan desert. Life in the desert can be very difficult. There has been a draught for several years, and without water to support the camel herd, the family will not be able to afford the dowry needed for Shabanu’s sister’s wedding in July. Blessed with rain several months early, the family is able to survive and sell their camels for a huge profit at the year’s fair. As Phulan’s wedding draws ever closer, Shabanu knows that their family will never be whole again.

Most of this book centers around what life is like in the Cholistan, making it difficult for plot summary. However, it offers a lyrical look at what life as a desert nomad entails. The culture presented is so different from what I am used to, and yet I found myself relating to Shabanu on many levels. The last few chapters are quite plot-intensive, making the whole book worthwhile for readers who are expecting an adventure. I truly can’t recommend this book enough, even if you just read it so you can read Haveli, the sequel.

Shady Glade Rating: 8/10

Visit the Shady Glade Store for more recommended reads, movies, music and more!

Where have all the heads gone?

I was catching up on all of my book blogs the other day, and I happened to come across this interesting post on Bookburger:

An URGENT PLEA to Harper Collins: I love your list of upcoming releases from Harper Teen…but please, please, you MUST restrain the MAD CROPPER who's treating your cover models so brutally!…Revoke his Photoshop license NOW, before he crops again! Seriously, I totally agree with the smart reader quoted in a previous B-burger post who complained about the trend toward perfect and perfectly anonymous headless bods, which have been proliferating on covers across the YA world since the huge success of the Gossip Girls series…So lissenup, publishing people. Decapitation is so 2006...Let's make '07 the year we stop the crop.

I must say, I have to agree with them! Just look at these samples I happened to dig up after only 10 minutes of searching:

Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz
Cupcake by Rachel Cohn
I Was a Teenage Popsicle by Bev Katz Rosembaum
The Storyteller's Daughter: A Retelling of "The Arabian Nights" by Cameron Dokey
The Night Dance by Suzanne Weyn

How to Ruin a Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles

Wuthering High: A Bard Academy Novel by Cara Lockwood

Lady Knight by Tamora Pierce

Loving Will Shakespeare by Carolyn Meyer

So here’s all I have to say: Where are all the heads? What do you think Glade Readers? Send me YOUR examples of cropped book covers, and we’ll add them to the post. It’s time to stop the crop!

You can read the original Bookburger post here.

Review: American Born Chinese

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

An ancient Chinese hero, the Monkey King, wishes to lose his animal status and become revered as one of the Gods. An Asian American middle school student named Jin Wang struggles to become like his white classmates. All-American student Danny is plagued by the visit of his cousin Chin-Kee (a culmination of every negative Chinese stereotype possible) that he has to change schools yearly because of embarrassment.

At first, these three storylines seem to have nothing in common. However, American Born Chinese artfully develops each storyline, bringing all three to a satisfying and blended conclusion by the end of the book. Whether readers appeal to Jin’s struggles to fit in, or the almost sit-com-like situations of Danny’s life, everyone is bound to find something to relate to. I was even surprised by the blended ending, which I can assure you is not something that happens often! The art is clear and crisp, and presented in full-color, an interesting contrast to most of today’s graphic novels. A wonderful read, so don’t pass this one up just because you are wary of graphic novels!

Shady Glade Rating: 8/10

Visit the Shady Glade Store for more recommended reads, movies, music and more!

Review: Dramacon Vol. 2

Dramacon Vol. 2 by Svetlana Chmakova

I happened upon the world of Dramacon as a member of the Cybils nominating committee. If nothing else, this book was definitely worth the job! I must admit that so far I haven’t had the opportunity to read Volume one, but after this amazing book, nothing is going to stop me from getting my hands on it eventually.

Dramacon continues the story of Christy, amateur comic book writer as she enters her second year of the yearly anime convention. Much of Christy’s life has changed in the past year, including the addition of a new artist, Bethany, for her growing comic. In addition to some new faces, Christy also reunites with old flame Matt... who has brought his girlfriend. Christy isn’t sure what to do, but never fear. This is one convention that never gets boring.

This was definitely on my shortlist for the Cybils, and the rest of the nominating committee agree with me. Despite the fact that the book mostly centers on characterization as opposed to plot, it was extremely engaging and very hard to put down. Filled with great characters, humorous situations, and pun references to pop culture, this book was excellent. Pick this one up, you won’t disappointed. (but I suggest you read Volume 1 first… it makes more sense that way.)

Shady Glade Rating: 10/10!

Visit the Shady Glade Store for more recommended reads, movies, music and more!

Review: Fever, 1793

Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

Mattie Cook is bored with her life in Philadelphia during the hot summer of 1793. Working with her widowed mother and grandfather in her mother’s coffee shop, headstrong Mattie is convinced that nothing excited will every happen to her. But in August, Mattie gets the excitement she’s been dying for.

A illness, known as the yellow fever, has begun to spread in Philadelphia. Slowly the fever takes hold, until the entire city is affected. The rich flee for the countryside, leaving the town full of looters, sick patients, and corpses. This is the excitement Mattie’s been hoping for, but can she escape the fever with her family and her life? Read about the 1793 Yellow Fever Epidemic (an event that killed 10% of Philadelphia’s population in 10 months) through the eyes of girl who’s at the center of it all.

Most famous for her books Speak, Catalyst, and Prom, I believe this story is a gem in Laurie Halse Anderson’s work that often gets overlooked. This is such a shame too, since it is a truly wonderful book. Anderson spins a mesmerizing and engaging tale about the yellow fever epidemic, a historical event I didn’t even know about until I read this. Readers will be on pins and needles until the very end. After all, getting the fever is a death sentence… or is it?

Shady Glade Rating: 9/10

Visit the Shady Glade Store for more recommended reads, movies, music and more!

Review Update

Some of the reviews that I post on this blog have previously been posted on the YABC website as part of my job as an official reviewer. In the past, when I’ve included these reviews, I have simply put a link to YABC so that readers can see the whole review there.

As I’m working on updating and moving things around, I’ve decided to post the full text of the reviews on this blog. This will be the case not only for reviews posted from now on, but also for previously posted ones. I will update the links and text as I have time. Each review of the circumstance will have a link to the original posting at YABC.

As a reminder, all reviews are copyright to me, and any stealing of reviews will be reported as copyright infringement. I don’t want to sound too harsh, but I’m not here to write your book report! If you would like to include part of my review on your blog or website, that’s wonderful, but please give me credit for writing the review, and email me to ask permission. Thanks!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

As many of you book lovers know, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is coming out this July! (And if you didn’t know before, now you do.) The seventh and last installment of the Harry Potter series, is weighing in with a price tag of $35.00. Ouch!

But never fear, fellow bookworms! Amazon.com has announced that they are offering the book for $18.89, a discount of almost 50%. (Plus, if you spend an additional 7 dollars, you can get free shipping.) I’m headed off to pre-order my copy now, and if you haven’t already you can also do so by following this handy dandy banner:

Confusing English!

I've been teaching English as a second language to a girl in the class I TA for. It's been so hard to teach her grammar, because English has a nasty way of establishing a rule and then promptly giving a bunch of exceptions. So when I found this little poem in my Adventure of English textbook, I thought it quite appropriate:

We'll begin with a box and the plural is boxes.
But the plural of ox should be oxen not oxes.
Then one fowl is goose, but two are called geese.
Yet the plural of mouse should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a whole lot of mice.
But the plural of house is houses not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
The cow in a plural may be cows or kine,
But the plural of vow is vows and not vine.
And I speak of foot and you show me your feet,
But I give you a boot...would a pair be called beet?...
The masuline pronouns are he, his, and him
But imagine the feminine she, shis, and shim!
So our English, I think you'll agree
Is the trickiest language you ever did see.

Review: The 9/11 Report

The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation by Sid Jacobson

When the 9/11 commission published its 500+ report of its investigative findings, I can tell you I was not exactly first in line to buy it. So at first this book seemed like the perfect solution: a graphic novel adaptation. After all, isn’t everything easier to read when it has pictures?

The book basically summarizes the Commission’s findings about the tragedy of September 11th. Don’t expect to find an in-depth report of what happened on that horrible day. After the first chapter summarizes the plane crashes, the rest of the book attempts to explain how these attacks happened by examining “the new terrorism.”

I truly had mixed feelings about this one. For one thing, even after 5 years, it is amazing how much thinking about 9/11 hurts. I was quite engaged for the first chapter or two when it was discussing the events that actually occurred on 9/11. The most useful thing was a timeline showing the significant events of the 4 planes, so it was laid out graphically before you. After the 2nd chapter, I felt as though I was merely reading to finish. Although the ideas presented were interesting, and most definitely important (politically, if nothing else), the information was not really set up for a graphic novel. There was too much text, and the layout of the captions was very difficult to follow because it changed formats on every other page.

Overall, a great way to avoid reading the 500 page book. Unless you go for that sort of thing. It was a good book, but a horrible graphic novel. I warn you though, if you do read it, you might need a couple tissues for the first chapter.

Shady Glade Rating…. Undecided. Sorry folks!

Visit the Shady Glade Store for more recommended reads, movies, music and more!

Review: Oddly Enough

Oddly Enough by Bruch Coville

This is Bruce Coville’s first collection of short stories. Although some of these have been previously published in other anthologies, this book is worth reading just to have them all in one spot. These stories deal with the unusual and bizarre: from monsters and werewolves to unicorns, elves, brownies and so much more! My favorite story is called “The Language of Blood” which tells the story of a vampire who must save his country by ritually drinking blood. It sounds creepy, but trust me it really isn’t. I also like “Duffy’s jacket” where a monster visits Andrew, Marie and their cousin Duffy, but not for the reason you think.

This is a wonderful collection of short stories. Full of magic, believable characters, humor and suspense, this is definitely a book you don’t want to miss! I recommend it to everyone I know and my copy has been worn out with all the re-readings. With such a wide variety, you’ll find at least one you love, although I’ve found many more!

Shady Glade Rating: 10/10!

Visit the Shady Glade Store for more recommended reads, movies, music and more!

Review: BabyMouse: Beach Babe

Here's another Cybils nominee, and this one made it to the shortlist too!

Babymouse: Beach Babe by Jennifer & Matthew Holm

School is out, and our favorite graphic novel heroine, BabyMouse, is off to the beach! Whether laying in the sun, building sandcastles, or tacking the latest waves on her surfboard, BabyMouse is having a blast. And when there’s nothing else to do, she uses her excellent imagination to keep her occupied. But how is a mouse supposed to have fun when her baby brother is hanging around?

Filled with cute, black-and-white illustrations accented with pink, this graphic novel is perfect for younger readers. Not only does it keep readers interested, but it has several positive underlying messages as well. And, hey, I’m a young adult, and it kept me interested. If you’re looking for fast, cute, read (especially one to share with a younger family member) than Beach Babe is the way to go!

Shady Glade Rating: 9/10

Visit the Shady Glade Store for more recommended reads, movies, music and more!

Lack of updates: Sorry!

Sorry everyone! I mentioned earlier that I've been super busy, and I just haven't had time to update lately (which is really a shame since I have some many good books I want to share with you...) Let's just say between my biology exam and my TA job, I haven't had any time for the past two weeks. As an example, here's what kept going through my head as I walked uphill to home in the short break between classes on Wednesday:

The weary and exhausted soilder staggers back to camp for a few blissful moments of peace before once more joining the fray.

When I mentioned this to my roommate, the only thing she told me was that it sounded poetic. So much for sympathy...

Anyway, I promise to do better (if I can). I can promise a new review tomorrow, so keep your eyes out for that, at least! :-)

Jabberwocky

I've been seeing a lot of Lewis Carroll lately. I've been re-reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass as background before I start Frank Beddor's new book The Looking Glass Wars (which has gotten fab reviews, by the way).

Anyway, last night I was sitting at home working on my Fundamentals of Literary Interpretation homework when I happened to stumble across this poem. Lewis Carroll everywhere…. : - )

Jabberwocky (1871) by Lewis Carroll

‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”

He took his vorpal sword in hand;
Long time the manxome foe he sought--
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

“And has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.

‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

New Feature: Amazon partnership

I’ve opened up a new partnership with amazon.com! Now, by clicking on the title or picture of each book, you will be magically transported to the amazon.com site so you can find out more information, read other reviews, add it to your wishlist, buy the book, or whatever!

I’m also working on updating so there is a featured amazon link at the end of every review, so look for those too. And if you are thinking about purchasing anything through amazon.com, but I don’t have it listed here, there is also a handy-dandy searchbox in the sidebar for your searching entertainment.

Any purchases you make from amazon through this blog are greatly appreciated! Every contribution helps a great deal. If you’d like to help in other ways, you can also view our wishlist and our Shady Glade bookstore by using the links in the sidebar.

Email me if you have any questions, suggestions, or general comments!

Review: We Goddesses

Okay, so I'm taking a break from the Cybils reviews for today. So here's a new scoop:

We Goddesses: Athena, Aphrodite, Hera by Doris Orgel

These three goddesses were the biggest rivals in Greek mythology. Now they combine to each tell their versions and motives behind they myths that made them famous. Although none of the myths are repeated, each one offers insights into happenings in another section of the book. Read about the story of the Golden Apple, Athena’s birth, Hera’s marriage to Zeus and so many more.

Although this is a wonderful retelling of the myths, the best thing about this book is the illustrations. Done in full color paintings, they are absolutely beautiful. This book is an excellent way for readers of Greek mythology to read new versions of old tales. Even if you aren’t a mythology veteran, each story is explained fully enough that new readers will enjoy them just as much as everyone else.

Shady Glade Rating: 7/10

Visit the Shady Glade Store for more recommended reads, movies, music and more!

News: Pick the Teen Reviewer! DEADLINE

Remember, today is the last day to vote on the new YABC teen reviewer. So make sure you get those votes in!

Review: Castle Waiting

As you may know (or maybe you don't...) I was on the Cybils Graphic Novel nominating commitee this past two months. As a result, you get to be treated to reviews of my favorite books from this past experince. Lucky you! We start of with our first novel... Castle Waiting.

Castle Waiting by Linda Medley

Everyone knows that when Sleeping Beauty woke up from her 100 year sleep that she left the kingdom with her handsome prince. Well, what happened to the castle that was left behind?

Castle Waiting tells us the story we never find out: what the people who live at the castle do after their princess, and the only heir to the throne, leaves. Decades later, a small group of stragglers continues to live out their lives in the castle, a place that has become a safe home for all sorts of people. Follow the lives of the Groundskeeper (who also happens to be a stork), Lady Jain (who ran away from an abusive husband), a bearded nun, a crazy doctor obsessed with avoiding the plague, and a whole host of interesting characters.

Although this is a graphic novel, it really doesn’t seem like you are reading one. The characters, plots and storylines are just as developed as any book, and this 400-page fairytale-like story is no exception. Seasoned fairytale readers with be delighted with occasional references to fairy-lore, while newcomers are just as likely to be enchanted with this magical world. My biggest complaint about the book was that it ended! I sure hope Linda Medley is planning on writing more about the world of Castle Waiting, because I’m not ready to say good-bye to these characters yet.

Shady Glade Rating: 10/10!

Visit the Shady Glade Store for more recommended reads, movies, music and more!

Quotes: People are like windows

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.” -Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, M.D.

Updates again: Ready for the New Year!

Hey everyone!

Just a quick update to let everyone know that I haven’t died yet. I’ve been busy with both Christmas vacation, my new term that started on the 4th, and my new job as a TA for the English department. So time has been a little scarce!

Here’s the news for what you can expect in the next few days, weeks (months, years… just kidding, I’m not going to make you wait that long):

New feature- I’ve decided to start a new feature: recommended books lists. These complied lists of some of my favorite books will appear periodically, and they are a great way to get good recommendations without wading through a bunch of reviews. I’ve already started to compile some lists including the best books I read in 2006, and the best looking upcoming books of 2007. I also will be posting the majority of the Cybils nominees (including my GN committee), and letting you know who the winners are when they are decided.

Contests- January seems to be a little scare for contests, but I’m still trying to dig up some good ones. Keep checking back often.

Book website reviews- After much deliberation, I am actually considering taking these reviews off the site, or at least not doing them anymore. I just have too many other things to focus on, and not enough time to write reviews. If you want to see them stick around, email me or leave me a comment on this message. Your input is appreciated!

Voting finalists- Make sure you vote for the new YABC teen reviewer by the 17th. If this is news to you, you can read the original posting here.

Quotes- Yeah, I know I’m way behind. I have a whole list of them to put up and just no time to do it in. I’ll try to get them added periodically.

Reviews- As some of you know (or don’t know, whichever applies to you) I was on the Cybils nominating committee this past few months. This means I have a ton of books to finish reviewing. I’ll hopefully have some up soon!

Updates of lists- I realize that some of my lists of reviews are looking thin. I hope to have them updated in the next few days, and you’ll be able to tell exactly what we have on the site!

Phew! That was a long entry! As always, I love to hear from my readers through email, comments, or whatever! If you have suggestions, spot a mistakes, or just plain like what you see, tell me about it!