Archive for the ‘Conceptual: age 12 and up’ Category

Book review: Eldest (Book 2 of Paolini’s Inheritance trilogy)

Tuesday, May 23rd, 2006

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Author:Christopher Paolini
Reading Level (Conceptual):Children 12 and up
Reading Level (Vocabulary):Children 12 and up
Genre:fiction
Year of publication:2005

We found Eragon, the first book in this trilogy (as of Spring, 2006, the third is not yet published), so involving that we were not sure we would survive until we read Eldest.

And, well, Eldest is ok.

We are certainly going to read the next book in the series, just as soon as we can get our eyes on it.

But Eldest, like many of the middle volumes of many trilogies, was much more of a chore and less of a pleasure to read than Eragon was.


Perhaps this is because Eldest intersperses the interesting tale of Eragon's formal education as a Dragonrider with the travails of Eragon's cousin, Roran.

While Eragon gets to hang out with the beautiful, gentle, self-involved, enigmatic Elves, Roran faces the wrath of the evil Empire pretty much on his own. And poor Roran, unlike Eragon, lacks many of the advantages that make Eragon's struggles tolerable. For example, Eragon has a dragon who has endowed Eragon with super-human abilities. Roran would also have benefited from a mentor who could have explained why the Empire was inflicting atrocity after atrocity upon Roran and his village. Roran can rely only on his considerable mental, political, and physical talents, fueled by his passion for his love, Katrina, to empower him to save himself and his fellow villagers.

Eldest is bleak, much, much bleaker than Eragon. In fact, so bleak that my daughter and I often found ourselves hard-pressed to keep reading. On the other hand, when, at one point, Roran finally managed to score one of his several victories over his oppressors, my daughter was surprised and impressed. "Way to go, Roran," she cried. And meant it. I mean, many of the characters are very interesting, likeable even, even some of the not-so-savory ones. We certainly did want to know what happened to them and wished them well.

Many reviews of Paolini's books have mentioned how derivative they are of the Lord of the Ring books. Since I am not much of a fan of LOTR, I can't address this point by point. Eragon certainly borrows conventions and plot twists from earlier dragon-based fantasies. It's impossible to not notice Eragon's debts to Anne Mccaffrey's dragon books. Eldest steals from other conventions as well; it seems to incorporate some Star War-ish motifs, and not to its great benefit. However, I was not overly troubled by these borrowings; I think they happen often in fantasy. What I care about is how well a book immerses us in the lives of the characters and the lands in which they find themselves.

Paolini has done a good job, I think, of describing the cultures of the Elves and the towns and villages through which Roran and his allies pass. For example, when Paolini documents the way Eragon finds himself helpless to stop in his romantic pursuit of Arya, an Elf who may be nearly a century older than he is -- well, it is embarrassing, heart-breaking, and, while my daughter and I kept hoping Eragon would just stop making Arya feel that she was being stalked, we felt it rang very, very true. We pitied Eragon and sympathized with Arya for having to (repeatedly) reject him. "She's HUNDREDS of years older than you, stupid," my daughter exclaimed at one point.

And there are other very lovely touches here -- Paolini's explanation of how Eragon becomes a vegetarian, for example, and the complex rules he lays out governing the use and language of magic.

On the other hand, beware of graphic violence and a pervasive sense of dread in the face of overwhelming, evil enemies determined to crush the life out of Eragon, Roran, and everyone they know. And know that this sense of overwhelming danger is not resolved by the end of this, the middle, of the trilogy.

-- Emily Berk


If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Eldest (Book 2 of Paolini's Inheritance trilogy)

Book review: The Fountainhead

Sunday, May 21st, 2006

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Author:Ayn Rand
Reading Level (Conceptual):Children 12 and up
Reading Level (Vocabulary):Children 12 and up
Genre:Fiction
Year of publication:1946

At one point, I actually believed that Ayn Rand had overreacted and that most people respect and understand that they need intelligent, capable people around them.

Read The Fountainhead; Atlas Shrugged is identical except that it's much longer.


If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Fountainhead, The

Book review: The Amulet of Samarkand (Book One of the Bartimaeus Trilogy)

Friday, May 19th, 2006

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Author:Jonathan Stroud
Reading Level (Conceptual):Children 12 and up
Reading Level (Vocabulary):Children 12 and up
Genre:fiction
Year of publication:2003

CAUTION:

This wonderful trilogy features characters with whom the reader will fall in love, and significant violence that has predictable consequences. Please, before recommending this first volume to a sensitive young reader, either read the whole trilogy or read our reviews of book two and, especially, book 3.

Sardonic musings of a demon summoned by an academically under-challenged 12 year old apprentice wizard.

Together, they save Civilization as they know it. First in a trilogy.

Luckily, unlike Inkheart and Eragon, this book's sequels are already in print.



-- Emily Berk

If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Amulet of Samarkand, The (Book One of the Bartimaeus Trilogy)

Book review: The Pearl

Friday, May 19th, 2006

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Book review: The Secret Life of Bees

Saturday, May 13th, 2006

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Author:Sue Monk Kidd
Reading Level (Conceptual):Sophisticated readers
Reading Level (Vocabulary):Sophisticated readers
Genre:fiction
Year of publication:2003

Huckleberry Finn in the 1960s and with all girls and the Goddess. I would have liked to have felt more Joy but my friends tell me that the 14 year old narrator is still in shock from all that she's learned. Anyway, the bees and the Sisters June, May, & August make this book well worth reading.
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Book review: InkSpell

Saturday, May 13th, 2006

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Author:Cornelia Funke
Reading Level (Conceptual):Children 12 and up
Reading Level (Vocabulary):Children 12 and up
Genre:fiction
Year of publication:2005

No doubt most authors of fiction hope to evoke worlds using words alone. But what if it were possible for certain readers to actually cause people and objects to transition between fictional worlds and our world, just by reading aloud?

This is book two of what is promised to be a trilogy.

If anything, my 11 yr. old and I liked this book even more than its predecessor, InkHeart. And, as an added bonus, InkSpell provides a touching and believable portrayal of a pair of pre-adolescents who are just about certain they are in love.

In fact, we are coming to believe that anything Cornelia Funke writes might be enjoyable reading.

See also:


If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: InkSpell

Book review: The Carpet Makers

Saturday, April 15th, 2006

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Author:Andreas Eschbach
Reading Level (Conceptual):Sophisticated readers
Reading Level (Vocabulary):Children 12 and up
Genre:Science Fiction
Year of publication:2005

One of the most seriously weird science fiction books of all time. And it's a pretty interesting one too. About a society whose culture and economy are based solely on the life-consuming creation of carpets made from hair.

Slowly, very very slowly (in the very best sense of the word slowly), this set of seemingly peripherally-related short stories becomes an examination of the evils of absolute rulers.

Given some of the recent political writings of Orson Scott Card, it surprised me that he championed publication of this book in English.


If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Carpet Makers, The

Book review: The Soul of a New Machine

Saturday, April 15th, 2006

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Author:Tracy Kidder
Reading Level (Conceptual):Children 12 and up
Reading Level (Vocabulary):Children 12 and up
Genre:Non-fiction
Year of publication:1981

Kidder is a great non-fiction writer. This is a true story about how a company manipulated its most talented employees into creating a great computer, without regard to what the work environment would do to them or their families.

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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Soul of a New Machine

Book review: Missing May

Saturday, April 15th, 2006

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Author:Cynthia Rylant
Reading Level (Conceptual):Sophisticated readers
Reading Level (Vocabulary):Children 8 and up
Genre:fiction
Year of publication:1993

This short, poetic novel, which won the Newbery Medal in 1993, gently but persuasively puts forth the theory that it's worthwhile to learn from experience and from others, even others who may not seem very impressive from the get-go. It is not difficult to read, is pretty short and the text is pretty large.

I strongly recommend Missing May for advanced, thoughtful readers intolerant of sex or violence. My daughters found it too sad to read, though. The book would benefit greatly from a really good picture of a whirligig. (Here's a link to The Whirligig Tour. Lots of cools whirligigs here.)
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Book review: Jane Eyre

Saturday, April 1st, 2006

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Author:Charlotte Bronte
Reading Level (Conceptual):Sophisticated readers
Reading Level (Vocabulary):Sophisticated readers
Genre:fiction, historical
Year of publication:1847

A difficult book; much, much sadder than I had remembered from when I'd read it to myself a very long time ago. It's about temptation and the definition of bigamy.

My daughter was really shocked by the way children (Jane Eyre and her classmates) were treated in the beginning of the book. She was horrified by the sacrifices that Jane felt required to make in order to resist temptation and preserve her good name.
I'm pretty sure that, although the book is fiction, the conditions it describes are ones that affected many women at the time depicted in the novel.
See also The Cider House Rules.
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Jane Eyre