Marcelo in the Real World

Marcelo in the Real World

Fransisco X. Stork

Arthur A. Levine Books, 2009

Fiction

ISBN: 0545054745

320 pages

Synopsis

Marcelo Sandoval hears music no one else can hear–part of the autism-like impairment no doctor has been able to identify–and he’s always attended a special school where his differences have been protected. But the summer after his junior year, his father demands that Marcelo work in his law firm’s mailroom in order to experience “the real world.” There Marcelo meets Jasmine, his beautiful and surprising coworker, and Wendell, the son of another partner in the firm.

Read more »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in 2009, Best Of, Classroom, English/Reading, Fiction (non-fantasy), Geography/Culture, Recommended, Religious/Mythology, Reviews, Social Commentary | No Comments »

The Hobbit – Reviewing Classics

Overall Rating: ☆ Rating:0 Fraction:0☆ Rating:0 Fraction:0☆ Rating:0 Fraction:0☆ Rating:0 Fraction:0☆ Rating:0 Fraction:00%
The Hobbit
J.R.R. Tolkein
George Allen & Unwin, 1937
Fantasy
ISBN: 0618968636
320 pages

Synopsis

Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit, is a peaceful sort of cozy hole in the Shire, a place where adventures are uncommon and rather unwanted. So when the wizard Gandalf whisks him away on a treasure hunting expedition with a troop of rowdy dwarves, he’s not entirely thrilled. Encountering ruthless trolls, beastly orcs, gigantic spiders, and hungry wolves, Bilbo discovers within himself astonishing strength and courage. And at the ultimate confrontation with the fearsome dragon Smaug, the hobbit will brave the dangers of dark and dragon fire alone and unaided.

Read more »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Award Winners, Best Of, Classics, Classroom, English/Reading, Fantasy/Science Fiction, Recommended, Religious/Mythology, Reviews, Series | No Comments »

The New Policeman

Overall Rating: ★ Rating:83 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.15 Fraction:4.15★ Rating:83 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.15 Fraction:4.15★ Rating:83 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.15 Fraction:4.15★ Rating:83 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.15 Fraction:4.15½ Rating:83 Star Piece:0.15 Fraction:4.1583%
The New Policeman
Kate Thompson
Greenwillow Books, 2007
Fantasy Fiction
ISBN: 0061174270
448 pages

Synopsis

Who knows where the time goes?

There never seems to be enough time in Kinvara, or anywhere else in Ireland for that matter. When J.J.’s mother says time’s what she really wants for her birthday, J.J. decides to find her some. He’s set himself up for an impossible task . . . until a neighbor reveals a secret. There’s a place where time stands still—at least, it’s supposed to. J.J. can make the journey there, but he’ll have to vanish from his own life to do so. Can J.J. find the leak between the two worlds? Will a shocking rumor about his family’s past come back to haunt him? And what does it all have to do with the village’s new policeman . . . ?

Read more »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in 2007, Best Of, Classroom, Fantasy/Science Fiction, Geography/Culture, History/Period, Ignite Imagination, Recommended, Religious/Mythology, Reviews | No Comments »

The Shifter

Overall Rating: ★ Rating:80 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0 Fraction:4★ Rating:80 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0 Fraction:4★ Rating:80 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0 Fraction:4★ Rating:80 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0 Fraction:4☆ Rating:80 Fraction:480%
The Shifter (The Healing Wars, Book 1)
Janice Hardy
Balzner + Bray, 2009
Fantasy
ISBN: 0061747041
384 pages

Synopsis

Nya is an orphan struggling for survival in a city crippled by war. She is also a Taker—with her touch, she can heal injuries, pulling pain from another person into her own body. But unlike her sister, Tali, and the other Takers who become Healers’ League apprentices, Nya’s skill is flawed: She can’t push that pain into pynvium, the enchanted metal used to store it. All she can do is shift it into another person, a dangerous skill that she must keep hidden from forces occupying her city. If discovered, she’d be used as a human weapon against her own people.

Read more »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in 2009, Best Of, Classroom, Fantasy/Science Fiction, Ignite Imagination, Religious/Mythology, Reviews | No Comments »

Heck-Where Bad Kids Go

Overall Rating: ★ Rating:75 Fullstar:3 Star Piece:0.75 Fraction:3.75★ Rating:75 Fullstar:3 Star Piece:0.75 Fraction:3.75★ Rating:75 Fullstar:3 Star Piece:0.75 Fraction:3.75½ Rating:75 Star Piece:0.75 Fraction:3.75☆ Rating:75 Fraction:3.7575%
Heck-Where the Bad Kids Go (Book 1, Circles of Heck)
Dale E. Basye
Random House Books For Young Readers, 2008
Fantasy
ISBN: 0375840753
304 pages

Synopsis

When Milton and Marlo Fauster die in a marshmallow bear explosion, they get sent straight to Heck, an otherworldly reform school. Milton can understand why his kleptomaniac sister is here, but Milton is—or was—a model citizen. Has a mistake been made? Not according to Bea “Elsa” Bubb, the Principal of Darkness. She doesn’t make mistakes. She personally sees to it that Heck—whether it be home-ec class with Lizzie Borden, ethics with Richard Nixon, or gym with Blackbeard the Pirate—is especially, well, heckish for the Fausters. Will Milton and Marlo find a way to escape? Or are they stuck here for all eternity, or until they turn 18, whichever comes first?

Read more »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Classroom, Religious/Mythology, Reviews, Series | No Comments »

Odd and the Frost Giants

Overall Rating: ★ Rating:79 Fullstar:3 Star Piece:0.95 Fraction:3.95★ Rating:79 Fullstar:3 Star Piece:0.95 Fraction:3.95★ Rating:79 Fullstar:3 Star Piece:0.95 Fraction:3.95½ Rating:79 Star Piece:0.95 Fraction:3.95☆ Rating:79 Fraction:3.9579%
Odd and the Frost Giants
Neil Gaiman
HarperCollins, 2009
Fantasy
ISBN: 0061671738
128 pages

Synopsis

In a village in ancient Norway lives a boy named Odd, and he’s had some very bad luck: His father perished in a Viking expedition; a tree fell on and shattered his leg; the endless freezing winter is making villagers dangerously grumpy.

Read more »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Classroom, History/Period, Recommended, Religious/Mythology, Reviews | No Comments »

Going Bovine

Overall Rating: ★ Rating:80 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0 Fraction:4★ Rating:80 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0 Fraction:4★ Rating:80 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0 Fraction:4★ Rating:80 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0 Fraction:4☆ Rating:80 Fraction:480%
Going Bovine
Libba Bray
Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2009
Fantasy Fiction
ISBN: 0385733976
496 pages

Synopsis

Coasting through life thus far, 16-year-old Cameron just wants to make it through high school. However, he soon contracts a disease that is eating away at his brain and will likely die soon. Fortunately, a mysterious punk angel named Dulcie with pink wings delivers a message that Cameron can be healed from his disease, but first he must go on a quest to find a brilliant doctor. The journey takes him through an often dark but adventurous America, pulling him out of his languorous personality into someone far more engaging with life.

Read more »

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Classroom, Ignite Imagination, Religious/Mythology, Reviews, Science/Engineering | No Comments »