• The Mysterious Howling

    Overall Rating: ★ Rating:81 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.050000000000001 Fraction:4.05★ Rating:81 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.050000000000001 Fraction:4.05★ Rating:81 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.050000000000001 Fraction:4.05★ Rating:81 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.050000000000001 Fraction:4.05☆ Rating:81 Fraction:4.0581%
    The Mysterious Howling (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 1)
    Maryrose Wood
    Balzer + Bray, 2010
    Fantasy
    ISBN: 0061791059
    272 pages

    Synopsis

    Found running wild in the forest of Ashton Place, the Incorrigibles are no ordinary children: Alexander, age ten or thereabouts, keeps his siblings in line with gentle nips; Cassiopeia, perhaps four or five, has a bark that is (usually) worse than her bite; and Beowulf, age somewhere-in-the-middle, is alarmingly adept at chasing squirrels.

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    Posted in 2010, Best Of, Classroom, English/Reading, Fantasy/Science Fiction, History/Period, Ignite Imagination, Recommended, Reviews, Series | No Comments »

    Freefall

    Overall Rating: ★ Rating:77 Fullstar:3 Star Piece:0.85 Fraction:3.85★ Rating:77 Fullstar:3 Star Piece:0.85 Fraction:3.85★ Rating:77 Fullstar:3 Star Piece:0.85 Fraction:3.85½ Rating:77 Star Piece:0.85 Fraction:3.85☆ Rating:77 Fraction:3.8577%

    Freefall (Book 3, Tunnels Series)

    Brian Williams, Roderick Gordon

    The Chicken House, 2010

    Fantasy

    ISBN: 0545138779

    608 pages

    Synopsis

    DEEPER sent Will and Chester into FREEFALL—tumbling through the subterranean Pore with the evil Rebecca twins in hot pursuit, both toting phials of the lethal Dominion virus. When, where, will they ever land?! Just when the drop seems infinite, the boys hit bottom, and find themselves in a realm of near-zero gravity atop a giant spongy fungus stuffed with artifacts from some lost golden age. But they are not alone. And above ground, black-clad Styx are sprouting like poison mushrooms, dead-set on spreading their plague!

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    Posted in Classroom, Ignite Imagination, Nature/Biology, Reviews, Science/Engineering, Series | No Comments »

    Fire

    Overall Rating: ★ Rating:84 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.2 Fraction:4.2★ Rating:84 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.2 Fraction:4.2★ Rating:84 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.2 Fraction:4.2★ Rating:84 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.2 Fraction:4.2½ Rating:84 Star Piece:0.2 Fraction:4.284%

    Fire (Book 2, Graceling series)

    Kristen Cashore

    Dial, 2009

    Fantasy Fiction

    ISBN: 0803734611

    480 pages

    Synopsis

    She is the last of her kind…
    It is not a peaceful time in the Dells. In King City, the young King Nash is clinging to the throne, while rebel lords in the north and south build armies to unseat him. War is coming. And the mountains and forest are filled with spies and thieves. This is where Fire lives, a girl whose beauty is impossibly irresistible and who can control the minds of everyone around her.

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    Posted in 2009, Best Of, Fantasy/Science Fiction, Ignite Imagination, Recommended, Reviews, Series | No Comments »

    The Hobbit – Reviewing Classics

    Overall Rating: ★ Rating:91 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.55 Fraction:4.55★ Rating:91 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.55 Fraction:4.55★ Rating:91 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.55 Fraction:4.55★ Rating:91 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.55 Fraction:4.55½ Rating:91 Star Piece:0.55 Fraction:4.5591%
    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.

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

    The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma

    Overall Rating: ★ Rating:77 Fullstar:3 Star Piece:0.85 Fraction:3.85★ Rating:77 Fullstar:3 Star Piece:0.85 Fraction:3.85★ Rating:77 Fullstar:3 Star Piece:0.85 Fraction:3.85½ Rating:77 Star Piece:0.85 Fraction:3.85☆ Rating:77 Fraction:3.8577%
    The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s DilemmaTrenton Lee Stewart

    Little, Brown Young Readers, 2009

    Fantasy Fiction

    ISBN: 0316045527

    400 pages

    Synopsis

    Join the Mysterious Benedict Society as Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance embark on a daring new adventure that threatens to force them apart from their families, friends, and even each other. When an unexplained blackout engulfs Stonetown, the foursome must unravel clues relating to a nefarious new plot, while their search for answers brings them closer to danger than ever before.

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    Posted in 2009, Best Of, Classroom, English/Reading, Recommended, Reviews, Series | No Comments »

    The Eyes of a King

    Overall Rating: ★ Rating:82 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.1 Fraction:4.1★ Rating:82 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.1 Fraction:4.1★ Rating:82 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.1 Fraction:4.1★ Rating:82 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.1 Fraction:4.1☆ Rating:82 Fraction:4.182%
    The Eyes of a King (The Last Descendants, Book 1)

    Catherine Banner

    Random House, 2008

    Fantasy

    ISBN: 0375838767

    448 pages

    Synopsis

    Fifteen-year-old Leo North’s prospects in life are limited. He reluctantly attends military school because that’s what most boys do in Malonia. He grudgingly lives with his pious, fearful grandmother and looks after his young brother, Stirling. He resists his innate powers because those who demonstrate any sort of magical ability are considered enemies of the state. But when he finds a blank book in the snow, his typical indifference melts away. From the very first moment he touches the book, he senses its strange power.

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    Posted in Excellent Underknown, Reviews, Series | No Comments »

    The Crowfield Curse

    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 Crowfield Curse
    Pat Walsh
    Chicken House, 2010
    Fantasy
    ISBN: 1906427151
    320 pages

    Synopsis

    It’s 1347 and fifteen-year-old Will, an orphan boy, lives at Crowfield Abbey. Sent into the forest to gather wood, he rescues instead, a creature from a trap – a hob, who shares with Will a terrible secret. Somewhere in the forest behind the abbey where he lives, is a grave. And buried deep in the snow is an angel. But how can an angel die? What has it to do with the monks of the Abbey? When two hooded strangers arrive at Crowfield asking questions about the angel’s grave. Will is drawn into a world of dangerous Old Magic.

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    Posted in Excellent Underknown, Reviews, Series | No Comments »