Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I suppose that after reading Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke, I had an idea that this book was also about dragons, but it certainly was not. Meggie is a little girl who lives with her father, Mortimer, who is a book mender who repairs and recovers books. Their house is filled with books and they both spend as much time as they can reading. One stormy night, Meggie sees a stranger standing outside their house staring up at it and runs to get her father. Her father lets the stranger in and sends Meggie back to bed, but Meggie is too curious to learn why the strange man is here. She hears enough to know that the reason for his visit is a book, and there begins a series of adventures that start with a long drive to her mother's Aunt Elinor's house. Meggie's father is taken from Elinor's house along with the book and Meggie and Elinor set off to try to get him back. Their adventures and misadventures keep you turning the pages until the end. I especially enjoyed the references to other books in this one and plan on reading the sequel, Inkspell, as soon as I can.


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The President's Daughter by Jack Higgins

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was a fairly enjoyable adventure story, with the usual elements. I did feel at the end that I did not "know" the characters as well as I would like, but overall the book delivered the type of story that kept me interested until the somewhat expected ending.


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Introvert Power: Why Your Inner Life Is Your Hidden Strength by Laurie Helgoe

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I was fascinated by the information in this book. After a lifetime of feeling "strange", "weird", and many similar adjectives, I finally saw a reflection of myself and discovered that as an introvert, it is NORMAL to withdraw and prefer solitude to parties. What a relief and how empowering to know that over half of the world feels like I do! Now I know that the time I spend alone helps me recharge and sort out my thoughts. I always knew it on some level, but now I feel validated in my introversion. If you have ever felt like an outsider who doesn't understand the draw of crowds and parties, you might find out why if you read this book.


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The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday by Alexander McCall Smith

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Isabel Dalhousie is once again doing what she does best - choosing to take on a problem that seems to be totally none of her business, but that she feels bound to find a solution to. The title says a lot about this novel - comfortable- with enough intrigue to keep it interesting. It is hard to imagine that a man could write so well about a woman, but Alexander McCall Smith once again leaves me thinking about Isabel as someone I would like to know in real life.


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Many Waters by Madeleine L'Engle

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book is a continuation of Madeleine L'Engle's Time Trilogy, but in this book the action is focused on Sandy and Dennys, the twins who have always been the "normal" ones in their family. They come home one winter's day and enter their parent's lab, not noticing the note on the door to stay out. While looking for the dutch cocoa to make themselves a hot drink, they decide to play around with the new computer in the lab and type in a message about wanting to be in a warm place that is sparsely populated. The next thing they know, Sandy and Dennys are on a desert being approached by a strangely small man. Their adventures trying to stay alive and find a way to go back home include unicorns, mammoths, seraphim, nephilim, manticores, and names they have heard before only in Bible stories - Noah and Enoch and Japheth. Have they traveled through time or taken a quantum leap? Read this story to find out.


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Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog by John Grogan

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Marley & Me is a well-written, entertaining account of the life of a dog and his family. It is evident that Marley is a member of the family, even at his worst. Marley's many escapades are offset by his loving and loyal nature. I found myself laughing out loud many times while reading this book and crying at other times. This is a must-read for anyone who loves and lives with labradors.


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Murder in Georgetown by Margaret Truman

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Joe Potamos is a journalist for the Washington Post who gets more involved than he would like with the political intrigue attached to a murder he covers for the paper. He tries to discover who committed the murder only to find another murder, journalism students who want to work with him to solve the crime in exchange for partial credit for the story, and powerful men trying to get Joe off of the story. Along the way, he meets a beautiful pianist who gets dragged into the whole mess with him. Before long Joe is without a job and apparently the target of the same people who have already committed two murders. This was a pretty good mystery story, but fairly easy to put down between chapters.


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A Song for Harlem: Scraps of Time 3 by Patricia C. McKissack

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Lilly Belle is in New York City staying with her aunt Odessa because she won a place in a young writer's workshop with her poems. It is 1928 and the change from rural Tennessee to busy New York City is hard to adjust to. This story follows Lilly Belle as she learns and grows through this experience. It gives a look at the culture of the times and the life of an African American in Harlem. It was a good example of historical fiction.


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Molly Moon, Micky Minus, & the Mind Machine by Georgia Byng

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Molly Moon is able to time travel and use hypnosis to control people. She has discovered that she was born a twin and that her brother was taken from the hospital where they were born and all evidence of his existence had been erased, except from the minds of her parents. She makes up her mind to find her twin brother and try to bring him back to their parents. This adventure involves time-travel, time-freezing, hypnosis, and much courage on Molly's part, especially when she travels to the future and finds what seems to be an evil young girl who wants to rule the world. Read this story to find out if Molly is able to find her brother and return with him to their parents or if she becomes trapped in time.


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Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
When Moose, whose real name is Michael, and his family go to live on Alcatraz, Moose thinks he will never have friends or play ball again. Then he meets Piper, Theresa, Annie, Jimmie, and Scout and discovers that all of the laundry on the island is done by the convicts. This means that Moose can truthfully say that "Al Capone does my shirts." The biggest problem is Moose's sister, Nat, who is "special" and then Moose's mother takes a job teaching piano, which means that Moose must watch his sister. Read this story to find how Moose deals with this problem and if he makes any true friends.


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Diary of a Would-be Princess by Jessica Green

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Jillian James is a student in Fifth year (fifth grade) in Australia and is having trouble fitting in. She loves reading and writing, but does poorly in maths (mathematics). The story is told in the form of her daily school journal in which Jillian talks about the problems she is having. Her teacher, Mrs. Bright, reads the students' journals every week and adds comments and encouragement. It was interesting to see how Jillian changed as the school year went along. I really enjoyed this book, even though there were a few Australian terms that I didn't quite understand. It was a lovely surprise at the end of the book to find a glossary which defined these "Australianisms". I will definitely add this to my order list for my school's library.


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Gods Behaving Badly: A Novel by Marie Phillips

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I picked this book up at the public library because I had recently enjoyed reading about the Greek gods in the Percy Jackson series for kids, most recently The Battle of the Labyrinth. The story in this book was much more light-hearted than the adventure stories in the Percy Jackson books. Also, this book is definitely not one you will find in an elementary or even middle school library since it delves to some extent into the amorous activities of the various gods and goddesses as they attempt to pass the time in what has become, for them, a somewhat boring existence. In some ways, the ending reminded me of Tinkerbelle in the Peter Pan stories who needed the belief of people to revive. Overall I enjoyed this story, but it felt like it ended too soon and I was left wanting more.


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Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time by Valerie Bertinelli

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this look into the life of a celebrity with the same problem many Americans have - excess weight. It is always interesting to get a look inside the life of those we see in movies and on television. I liked the conversational tone of the book and felt that the author was basically honest about the flaws in her life. The message I got from this book was that no weight loss program will work until you are able to face the problems beneath the pounds.


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The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
The book is more in depth that the lecture itself, with more insight into Randy's life as he faces death. I really enjoyed reading this narrative in Randy's own words. I felt like he gave the world a glimpse into his life and he definitely showed his philosophy of life and death. This book was easy to read and hard to put down. The conversational tone made you feel like he was talking directly to you and that you were his friend.


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Tales from Shakespeare: Children's Classics by Charles Lamb

My review

I have never read any of Shakespeare's plays, and after reading Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire, I got this to learn more about his plays. Rafe Esquith said in his book that you really can't get a feeling for the plays from just reading the plays and that this book is a good source for the stories that the plays tell. I will try it and see how long I can stick with it.


I have read all twenty of the stories in this volume and was very interested to read the stories of Shakespeare's plays. The language was a little complex, but easy enough to understand if read carefully. I think this is an excellent introduction to Shakespeare's plays and that it would make a good addition to school libraries, even at the elementary level. Many of the stories seemed familiar since so much of Shakespeare's work has become part of our culture.


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The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This fourth installment in the Percy Jackson series was just as action-filled as the other three. Percy is attending freshman orientation at yet another private school when he is confronted by what appear to be cheerleaders, but which turn out to be much more dangerous. This begins a summer of dangerous adventures for Percy and his friends as they try to prevent the evil Titan Kronos from coming into their camp and destroying Olympus. I will need to order this one for our school library - the fourth and fifth graders will be clamoring for more of this series.


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Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book was a really quick read. Joey is a boy who in his own words is "wired wrong". He is on medication for attention deficit, but it doesn't seem to be working and Joey keeps making bad decisions when he starts to feel wound up. Finally, Joey gets in so much trouble that he has to go to a special school for six weeks. At first that seems terrible to Joey, but it turns into a good thing when they begin to find the right medicine and the best methods to help Joey get along in the world. Joey is a lovable and endearing character and I can't wait to read more about him.


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Igraine The Brave by Cornelia Funke

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a story about a girl who wants to become a knight. She is eleven years old, almost twelve, and her parents and brother are magicians with singing magic books. But Igraine is not particularly interested in magic. She wants to be a famous knight and spends all of her spare time practicing to be a knight. Then her parents make a mistake in one of their spells and the nephew of the baroness next door comes to try to capture their castle and steal away the magic books. Igraine and her brother Albert must find a way to reverse their parents' magical mistake and defend the castle at the same time. If you enjoy adventure and fantasy, this is a book for you.


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The Next Thing on My List: A Novel by Jill Smolinski

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book was a recommendation from the LM_NET listserv. It took awhile to get it since it was checked out each time I looked for it at the public library. Then, at last, it was in. The story is about June Parker, a 34 year-old woman whose life seems to be going nowhere. Then she picks up a woman who needs a ride, gets in a car accident which kills the woman she thought she was helping. She finds a list that the woman had made of twenty things she wanted to do before her 25th birthday with only two items crossed off. June knows she should give the list to the family of the victim, but something makes her hold onto it. Then, she decides to try to complete the list. This is a very entertaining and touching story about a woman's journey to find a purpose in life.


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The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Gratuity Tucci is a twelve-year-old girl who has an assignment to write a five page essay on "The True Meaning of Smekday" for a National Time Capsule contest. She isn't sure how to get started, but then her mother suddenly develops a mole on the back of her neck, which seems to be sending messages. Aliens have taken over the Earth and all humans in America are being sent to Florida. Then,on Christmas Eve, Gratuity's mother is abducted by aliens and Gratuity decides to try to find her. Gratuity's adventures in this story are funny and exciting as she learns more about the aliens after making friends with one. Read to find out what happens to Gratuity and her mother as well as the whole human race.


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