Archive for the ‘Conceptual: age 12 and up’ Category
Thursday, July 6th, 2006
| |
| Tell friends about this blog entry |
|
| Author: | Louis Sachar |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 12 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2006 |
Small Steps is kind of a sequel to Holes, but it's from the perspective of Armpit (Theodore) instead of Stanley.
I liked Small Steps; I read it in less than a week, although it gets a little smushy in some parts -- lots of kissing and stuff.
In the beginning, it's just a little bit boring, but it picks up at the end.
So if you read it…
Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fizzy, age 11
|
Parent's note: Along with the romance mentioned, the plot also involves battery and an attempted beating to death....
-- Emily |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Small Steps |
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Dickensian, Fiction, Reading level: age 12 and up | Comments Closed
Monday, July 3rd, 2006
| |
| Tell friends about this blog entry |
|
| Author: | Nancy Farmer |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1996 |
1997 Newbery Honor book. First person account of how a gifted Mozambiquen girl orphan survives and forges families -- with baboons, scientists, and her own kin -- for herself during a harrowing trip through the South African wilderness. Nhamo, the girl, must use all that she knows -- which foods to eat, what happens when the seasons change; how to consult/appease her spirit guardians -- to survive on her own on her long trek.
A lovely, interesting, intense survival story. |
The first few chapters are stomach-churners, as the girl's aunt and other relatives consign her to the control of an evil witch-doctor. Similar to, but more graphic, than the treatment of Cinderella.
Subsequent chapters are fascinating and, while Nhamo does face danger at many junctures, it is thrilling to observe her making mostly good decisions and learning from her few, scary mistakes. |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Girl Named Disaster, A |
Posted in Animals, Conceptual: age 12 and up, Culture, Fairy tales, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, History, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Friday, June 30th, 2006
| |
| Tell friends about this blog entry |
|
| Author: | Jonathan Stroud |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 12 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2004 |
Sardonic musings of a demon summoned by a very young, but now, successful, wizard.
Bartimaeus Book Two: The Golem's Eye is a very good book, but before you read it you should read Bartimaeus, Book One: The Amulet of Samarkand, because things in Book Two will make much more sense that way.
This book switches perspective between three very different characters:
- Kitty the feisty commoner,
- Bartimaeus the sardonic djinni, and
- Nathaniel (John Mandrake) the annoying magician.
My favorite character is Bartimaeus, because he gives you footnotes to explain stuff better, tell us his very personal thoughts, and talks very funnily.
-- Fizzy, age 11
|
Parent's note about the Bartimaeus trilogy:
As you can tell, my 11 year old really loves these books (she's finished the first two so far). But they are a bit of a departure for her -- there's real murder and mayhem in them, which, until recently, she would not have tolerated.
She loves them because the narrator of the book is a djinn who stands back from the action and makes kind of sarcastic comments about the other characters and the plot.
In these books, the gifted boy protagonist has been put in a position where he's been co-opted by an Evil Government because of his great intellectual abilities. The djinn has to obey the boy's commands, and a lot of the humor/sarcasm comes in when the djinn explains to the reader how morally compromised the boy is becoming. (And, to his credit, the djinn doesn't hesitate to tell the boy either, not that the boy listens most of the time.)
There a complex relationship between this book and slavery too. The djinn is a slave, and even though he respects the good qualities of his boy master, he also hates having to obey his commands. Most of the time, the djinn makes this clear. But he's sometimes more supportive of his master than I think an average slave might actually be.
-- Emily |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Golem's Eye, The (The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book 2) |
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Dealing with bullies, Death is a central theme, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: age 12 and up, Science Fiction | Comments Closed
Saturday, June 17th, 2006
| |
| Tell friends about this blog entry |
|
| Author: | Lynne Rae Perkins |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2005 |
Newbury-award winning novel. Each chapters unfolds from within the consciousness of a different young person in a group of young teens. It certainly is -- interesting.
One thing that's weird, though. Is that when you are always INSIDE the brains of the characters, it's hard to always keep track of what's actually happening to whom and/or whose brain you are inhabiting, even if it says so right at the beginning of the chapter. Not to mention that, once the novel is over, you still have no idea what the characters look like. |
This is not one of those books that's big on plot, either. So, I guess that means that it's not such a big deal when you realize that you have no idea what's actually going on.
Which isn't to say that we didn't like this book. It certainly is quite creatively written. What it's not is pull-you-in-and-never-let-up exciting.
-- Emily |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Criss Cross |
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Female protagonist, Fiction, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Tuesday, June 6th, 2006
| |
| Tell friends about this blog entry |
|
| Author: | E.L. Konigsburg |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction, historical |
| Year of publication: | 1973 |
Eleanor of Aquitaine and some of her friends hang out in heaven and discuss Eleanor's life and loves.
|
Fascinating discussions about the Crusades, British and French history, religion, architecture, and the role of women in Medieval royalty ensue.
Illustrations, by the author, in the form of "miniatures" are lovely and fascinating.
|
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver |
Posted in Biography, Conceptual: age 12 and up, Culture, Death is a central theme, Female protagonist, Gifted, History, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Tuesday, June 6th, 2006
| |
| Tell friends about this blog entry |
|
| Author: | John D. Fitzgerald |
| Illustrator: | Mercer Mayer |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | biographical |
| Year of publication: | 1967 |
First person story of one of three Catholic brothers growing up in turn of the century Mormon Utah.
Warning: Each book in this series veers broadly from (usually) a very cheerful first few chapters, in which the happy life of the narrator's family is depicted to subsequent harrowing chapters in which death, danger, and/or permanent dismemberment often occurs. The books usually resolve relatively pleasantly, but my daughter had difficulty sleeping after reading some chapters. (Although she always insists on getting the next book in the series.) |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Me and My Little Brain |
Posted in Biography, Conceptual: age 12 and up, Culture, Dealing with bullies, Death is a central theme, Fiction, Gifted, History, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Tuesday, June 6th, 2006
| |
| Tell friends about this blog entry |
|
| Author: | Esther Forbes |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1943 |
I read Johnny Tremain with my class. It is a good book about a boy named Johnny Tremain. He is living in the time of the revolutionary war. In the book Johnny learns many things. This book has a sad ending. I like it because it is interesting plus it has a lot of true historical facts.
Fizzy, age 9
|
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Johnny Tremain |
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Death is a central theme, Fiction, History, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
