• The Death-Defying Pepper Roux

    Overall Rating: ★ Rating:73 Fullstar:3 Star Piece:0.65 Fraction:3.65★ Rating:73 Fullstar:3 Star Piece:0.65 Fraction:3.65★ Rating:73 Fullstar:3 Star Piece:0.65 Fraction:3.65½ Rating:73 Star Piece:0.65 Fraction:3.65☆ Rating:73 Fraction:3.6573%
    The Death-Defying Pepper Roux
    Geraldine McCaughrean
    HarperCollins, 2010
    Fiction
    ISBN: 0061836656
    336 pages

    Synopsis

    Pepper’s fourteenth birthday is a momentous one. It’s the day he’s supposed to die. Everyone seems resigned to it—even Pepper, although he would much prefer to live. But can you sidestep Fate? Jump sideways into a different life? Naive and trusting, Pepper sets a course through dangerous waters, inviting disaster and mayhem at every turn, one eye on the sky for fear of angels, one on the magnificent possibilities of being alive.

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    The Hunchback Assignments

    Overall Rating: ★ Rating:67 Fullstar:3 Star Piece:0.35 Fraction:3.35★ Rating:67 Fullstar:3 Star Piece:0.35 Fraction:3.35★ Rating:67 Fullstar:3 Star Piece:0.35 Fraction:3.35½ Rating:67 Star Piece:0.35 Fraction:3.35☆ Rating:67 Fraction:3.3567%
    The Hunchback Assignments
    Arthur Slade
    Wendy Lamb Books, 2009
    Historical Fantasy
    ISBN: 038573784X
    288 pages

    Synopsis

    The mysterious Mr. Socrates rescues Modo, a child in a traveling freak show. Modo is a hunchback with an amazing ability to transform his appearance, and Mr. Socrates raises him in isolation as an agent for the Permanent Association, a spy agency behind Brittania’s efforts to rule the empire. At 14, Modo is left on the streets of London to fend for himself. When he encounters Octavia Milkweed, another Association agent, the two uncover a plot by the Clockword Guild behind the murders of important men. Furthermore, a mad scientist is turning orphan children into automatons to further the goals of the Guild. Modo and Octavia journey deep into the tunnels under London and discover a terrifying plot against the British government. It’s up to them to save their country.

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    The Invention of Hugo Cabaret

    Overall Rating: ★ Rating:88 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.4 Fraction:4.4★ Rating:88 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.4 Fraction:4.4★ Rating:88 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.4 Fraction:4.4★ Rating:88 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0.4 Fraction:4.4½ Rating:88 Star Piece:0.4 Fraction:4.488%
    The Invention of Hugo Cabaret
    Brian Selznick
    Scholastic Press, 2007
    Historical Fiction
    ISBN:0439813786
    544 pages
    National Book Award Winner

    Synopsis

    Both of his parents have died, so Hugo Cabaret lives with his uncle inside of the clock room at the train station in London. He’s inherited his father’s ability to tinker with toys and anything that has working gears, parts, and pieces. Before the fire, his father happened upon a mechanical man that was calibrated to draw or write something as part of a magic act.

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    Posted in 2007, Art, Award Winners, Best Of, Classroom, English/Reading, Graphic Novels, Historical Fiction, History/Period, Ignite Imagination, Recommended, Reviews, Science/Engineering | 1 Comment »