Book Review of "Pie"

Pie, by Sarah Weeks

4.5 stars

Description:  The little town of Ipswitch, Pennsylvania was put on the map by the world's Pie Queen – Polly Portman. Polly's pie shop is famous the world over for the luscious pies that are Polly's signature. When Polly shocks the town by suddenly dying, Ipswitch experiences deep grief (not to mention pie withdrawal). The person who misses Polly the most is her niece, Alice. Alice seems to be the only one in Ipswitch who doesn't care why Polly mysteriously “gave” her worth-millions pie crust recipe to her cat. Instead, she investigates the various enigmas surrounding the town after Polly's death, even though it means encountering the more shady characters of Ipswitch.

Concerns: None.

Summary: This short book titled appropriately as Pie is about recognizing one's talents and making friends. Pie accomplishes that goal by weaving a tale of intrigue, suspense, and humor (with plenty of delicious descriptions of pies thrown in!). The amusing happenings in this story will certainly not be forgotten soon by readers; the town's thirst for fame parallels the get-rich-quick mentality in our society, yet approaches that greed with truth. Three cups of humor, two cups of mystery, and one cup of truth: the perfect recipe for Pie.

Book Review of "The Tale of Despereaux"

The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo

-- stars (unrated; content issues)

Description: It doesn't matter if they live in castles; mice just are not meant to be heroes. Especially not undersized, absent-minded mice like tiny Despereaux. His family doesn't understand him. The King doesn't understand him. Only Princess Pea, the lovely girl who shines like purest light, understands Despereaux's mighty heart. But an evil plot of bitterness and revenge is creeping like darkness from the dungeon, threatening Pea's very life -- and the only one that understands the danger is Despereaux, the mouse that is too small stop it.

Concerns: Big warning. For a story aimed at younger readers, this tale gets very dark and nasty; the theme of overcoming evil is a worthy one, but the story's evil is emphasized over-much. The villainous rats are vile things that delight in tormenting prisoners and mice; people/mice can be (and are) heartless to their own children; one girl is constantly getting slapped (to the point where she goes nearly deaf); it can be depressing. 

Summary: The many morals of this story are fantastic. Forgiveness, consequences, and steadfast love; and yet, this story is not for everyone. The writing is beautiful and the courage of Despereaux is truly inspiring, and will stay with you long after the final pages have closed... but the raw evil that the little mouse confronts is grimly realistic. As a book for teens, it is fascinating; but for younger ones? Kids, get Mom or Dad to preview it first.

Book Review of "Hank the Cowdog and The Case of the Measled Cowboy"

Hank the Cowdog and The Case of the Measled Cowboy, by John R. Erickson

5 stars!!!

Description: Slim the ranch hand, Hank and his sidekick Drover, and Little Alfred are instructed to hold down the ranch when the boss leaves town for a few days. But when a blizzard strikes and Slim comes down with the measles, it’s up to Little Alfred and the dogs to take care of him and the ranch – a recipe for disaster. (Hank does all he can to clean up but alas, dogs can only lick up the edible messes.) After trying to start a fire and feed the invalid, things get even more complicated when the five year old boy drives Slim’s pickup in a rescue attempt and Slim falls asleep at the wheel! Will the sick cowboy, Little Alfred and the two dogs be able to make everything right again before Sally May returns?

Concerns: None.

Summary: This, in my opinion the best in the Hank the Cowdog series (and I’ve read most of his 50+ books) because it is such a thoroughly entertaining read! (Not to mention hilarious!) My favorite quote is when Loper says to Slim: “All you bachelors have to do is decide which kind of jelly you want on your peanut butter sandwich.” Classic.

Book Review of "The Champion of Merrimack County"

The Champion of Merrimack County, by Roger Drury

4 stars

Description: Whoever heard of a mouse that could ride a bicycle? Certainly not the bicycle repairman. Or the blacksmith. Or the watchmaker. Or the doctor. Or the dentist! But all of these folks are roped into helping fix the damage when an extraordinary mouse who CAN ride a bicycle takes a spectacular crash in young Janet Berryfield's bathtub! Will this unlikely collection of fix-its be able to repair the embarrassed mouse's bicycle and dislocated tail before the championship race? And what will happen when professional mice exterminators are called in by Janet's unsuspecting father?

Concerns: The Dad is the grouchy "villain" of the story, which is annoying.

Summary: An un-apologetically silly romp through the shops, medical offices, and bathtubs (!) of Merrimack county, this little tale is both amusing and intriguing -- and it must be admitted, the death-defying bicycle rides around the rim of the bathtub sound wonderfully exciting! If you've read and enjoyed anything by Dick King-Smith (Babe, Smasher, A Mouse called Wolf, etc.), you'll love this one. So fly me to Jupiter on a bumblebee, let's go!

Book Review of "Peter Pan in Scarlet"

Peter Pan in Scarlet, by Geraldine McCaughrean

4.5 stars

Description: Wendy, John, and the Lost Boys of Neverland have grown up... but darkness is leaking out of their dreams. As they sleep, Neverland is calling them, and that call is a cry for help. Convinced that Peter needs them, the group sets out to do the impossible: turn back into children, find fairy dust in smoggy London, and travel back to Neverland. But when they do arrive, Neverland is no longer an isle of joyous summer. Somehow, their precious island has transformed into a dark, evil, and dangerous place, and the League of Pan must set off on a quest to restore their world before it is too late.

Concerns: The violence isn't nearly as bad as the original, but is still flippantly treated. Also, fairies admire the biggest liars and the children are told a group of women are witches -- which is eventually discovered to be a lie. Tootles turns into a little girl, which is played solely for humor but may still give readers a pause.

Summary: The story hinges around Neverland's link between imagination and reality, so if you liked the original, this is a great sequel -- but if you find play-pretend hard to follow, this book will drive you crazy. Give it a try! The characters (including a marvelously voracious new fairy) are great, and the plot is gripping: there are pirates, treasure maps, wild animals, bands of vengeful ragamuffins, fairy-wars, and a fantastic journey to uncover the poison that is killing Neverland. It's a great yarn -- ravelling good fun!

Book Review of "Babe: The Gallant Pig"

Babe: The Gallant Pig, by Dick King-Smith

5 stars!!!

Description: Babe is a pig. And pigs, as all border collies know, are stupid. Not as stupid as sheep, of course, but still thick-headed. So when lonely Babe starts following his adoptive collie "mother" around the farm, he's got a lot to learn. Fly enjoys the company, but even though she knows that Babe can't be expected to get everything right, his strange ideas worry her. For example, she knows that sheep must be bullied and frightened into submission. Babe can't get that through his head. What's a rough-and-tumble collie to do with a pig that says please and thank you -- to the SHEEP???

Concerns: The dogs calls sheep names; also, the female collie is calmly referred to with a term that would be inappropriate if used elsewhere.

Summary: This is a fantastic book. The characters are wonderful, the story unique, and the peaceful bustle of farm life offers boundless amusement (I can't help laughing at the poor harassed ducks!). There's a smattering of thrills (sheep rustlers, stray dogs), and the moral of the story is broader than just minding your manners: as Babe demonstrates, heroes come in all shapes and sizes! A short but snappy and satisfying read; one of King-Smith's best.

Book Review of "Remarkable"

Remarkable, by Lizzie K. Foley

4.5 stars

Description: Visit the town of Remarkable, where you are sure to stay right next door to adventure! You can tour the Museum of Remarkablility and may also have time to meet the rest of Remarkable’s incredibly talented citizens – which actually would include everyone. Everyone, that is, except Jane. Plain Jane Doe (aged 10), is the only one in Remarkable without a single talent. When you first get acquainted you may find her life a bit boring, but don’t pack up and leave town yet, because this is where things start to get exciting: dangerous-minded twins enroll in Jane’s school following the appearance of a mysterious pirate on her doorstep; someone plants a bomb that turns everyone blue; there is a kidnapping conducted by a devious gang of pirates; and even the lake monster gets in on the action! In the midst of all the swirling confusion, you will be right there beside Jane when she discovers the secret that will rock her world. But when the key to fame involves risking the happiness of a friend, will Jane be willing to release her dream of a famous life?

Concerns: There is some brief but uncomfortably intense fortune telling (my reason for not rating this 5 stars).

Summary: This book can only be described as remarkable! I love the sense of humor the author brings to every page, while cleverly enticing the reader to become a part of the story by getting them caught up in the lives of the intriguing characters. After all, who wouldn’t love a story where there are jelly wars, a pirate with two peg legs who can ride a bike, a monster saves the day, and a local dentist who is furious because everyone in Remarkable has perfect teeth?

Link to website for the Mysterious Benedict Society

Nope, not a review.

It's a link to the website for Trenton Lee Stewart's Mysterious Benedict Society series, and my first thought was, why don't other books have a site like this?

It's pretty neat -- admittedly I've not tested out the games, but the character quiz hooked me. It's rather an easy quiz to rig, if you're aiming to be "most like" one of the kids, but it's still fun.

Now, a word of caution: it's not accurate.

It is NOT accurate.

I tried to be completely honest when I answered the questions, and it IS NOT ACCURATE! (smolder...) Which character was I? Answer partially copied below:

Nope. SO not me.

But it was fun. Check it out! http://mysteriousbenedictsociety.com/

**For the record: last time I checked it, it was fine -- but it's not my site, so I'm not responsible for the content. I checked it out, I liked it, I'm passing it along because it was fun.

Book Review of Hank the Cowdog: Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Hank the Cowdog: Let Sleeping Dogs Lie, by John R. Erickson

5 stars!

Description: Hank the Cowdog is Head of Ranch Security. The chickens are his responsibility. Whatever has been killing the chickens is, therefore, his problem. But life is so DIFFICULT when you have responsibilities. What if you can't figure out who the chief suspect is? When you have so much to deal with -- the neighbor's collie, a devious mailman, the vicious horses in the pasture -- even the toughest law enforcement officers get worn down. And what happens if the chief suspect is... you?

Concerns: This one is pretty reasonable (name-calling), but other books in the 50+ series have some tasteless moments. Dogs are like that every now and then.

Summary: Life from the eyes of a redneck dog! If you've ever wondered anything about what the world looks like when you've got four legs, a tail and perpetual fleas, here's your answer. It's a riot. Hank is the perfect boneheaded dog, and his ranch is everything you could hope for as a setting for a Texas Rangers mystery... canine style.


**Note: There's well over 50 book in the series. It's unlikely they'll all get reviewed, so this is a favorite.

Book Review of Baby Island

Baby Island, by Carol Ryrie Brink

5 stars!

Description: Capable twelve-year-old Mary Wallace and her not-so-capable, ten-year-old sister Jean are traveling alone to Australia when the ship capsizes! In the chaos that ensues, Mary and Jean are put on the wrong lifeboat – the one with the four screaming babies! The two sisters are set adrift with babies Elisha (the “pink” twin), Elijah (the “blue” twin), Ann Elizabeth (the spoiled but lovable one-year-old) and Jonah … whom Mary has a hard time keeping Jean from throwing overboard in hopes it will calm the storm like in the biblical Jonah story. When they reach Baby Island, they have all sorts of misadventures just trying to survive alone on a deserted island.

Concerns: None.

Summary: Practical Mary simply wants to live through this baby-abundant adventure while nutty Jean naturally wants to survive, but also have fun! Baby Island certainly has the means; tracking the mysterious Friday, searching for pirate’s treasure, conversing with a talking parrot, and attempting to keep the identical twins from getting mixed up all contribute to a wild, crazy and witty adventure all the way through!

Book Review of The Strictest School in the World

The Strictest School in the World: Being the Tale of a Clever Girl, a Rubber Boy, and a Collection of Flying Machines, Mostly Broken (The Mad Misadventures of Emmmaline and Rubberbones), by Howard Whitehouse

5 stars!

Description: Fourteen-year old Emmaline Cayley is fascinated with the science of aviation, so naturally she decides to build her own airplane! However, she runs into one problem: she is afraid to fly. To solve this problem, Emmaline enlists the help of Robert Burns (aka Rubberbones) to pilot her plane. But all of Emmaline’s plans come to a screeching halt when she is sent away to a boarding school. This isn’t just any old boarding school – it’s the strictest one in the world. Emmaline must drop her plans for flying machines, instead putting her brain to work finding out what is concealed in the tower that makes all the students tremble in terror. Escape is ever in her mind, but in all the years of the school’s existence, no one has ever gotten out alive.

Concerns: Brief fortune telling.

Summary: I loved this book! It’s hilarious, it’s adventurous, and it is just all-around fun! The lengthy title does not even begin to describe the adventures that await you; the ferocious field hockey games are my personal favorite, the description of Aunt Lucy’s infamous cooking made me shudder in disgust, and Rubberbones’s death-defying feats are a thrill to even the most reckless explorer!

P.S. Proceed at your own risk. There are dangers in every chapter.

Book Review of The Exiles at Home

The Exiles at Home, by Hilary McKay

4 1/2 stars

Description: If you thought this foursome spelled trouble before, consider the situation when the four Conroy girls suddenly find themselves in dire need of ten pounds a month for a good (but somewhat devious) cause. It's as crazy a story as you'll ever run across; robbing post offices, selling sandwiches made in a dog kennel, searching for buried treasure... oh, and yes, it's a secret. Meaning that throughout the riotous year that this book recounts, Ruth, Naomi, Rachel, and Pheobe dare not explain just exactly why they took such drastic measures to come up with this all-important money.

Concerns: Well, as with the first book, the whole plot is to follow the escapades and misadventures of a quartet of the most rascally little girls you'll ever come across. Think lots of naughtiness. No swearing, though; and if it's any consolation (eh), they at least have a good motive in this go-round.

Summary: Could I step in for a minute here, and say that this is funny? This is funny. McKay's trick of wording is exquisitely mischevious. It's so perfect. Personally, I love the sled. The horribleness of their Easter candy is enough to make me queasy myself. And Pheobe's tragic hopeful line, "Give me five pounds?" at the end of the book makes me laugh in spite of myself. A guilty pleasure!

Book Review of Owls in the Family

Owls in the Family, by Farley Mowat

4 1/2 stars

Description: So. Supposing you lived in a town on the Canadian prairie. Then supposing you had a chance to take home a couple of orphaned great horned owls. Then, supposing said owls grew to full size, liked to nibble on people's ears, teased your dog, fought with skunks (yup! during dinner!), followed you to school, climbed trees... and couldn't fly. What a summer that would be! It's unpredictable. It's funny. And it's all true!

Concerns: None.

Summary: Maybe my personality has biased my outlook, but who wouldn't want pets like these? It's so much more interesting when the owl bites the mailman - or when it's an owl that follows you to school (and in the window!) - or when it's an owl that thinks he can walk on water! *Oh, and throw thirty-plus pet prairie dogs into the mix. I love it!* This is a fantastic true story of the life of a lucky kid and his everyday adventures after a couple of owls join his family.

Book Review of The Exiles

The Exiles, by Hilary McKay

4 stars


Description: So. These four sisters aren't exactly sweet little angels to begin with. Furthermore, their fiery knack for getting into trouble is tripled when they find out a surprise inheritance is apparently NOT theirs to buy a horse with (who wants a remodeled kitchen anyway?). On top of that, they are sent off on a forced vacation -- with the capable and therefore fearsome Big Grandma -- to keep them out of the way during the house renovations. And here, in this mischievous little book, we have the chronicle of that unbounded and outrageous summer.

Concerns: Well, it's a book about exceptionally -- and I mean exceptionally -- naughty kids. Little Women this is not. If you can get past that, otherwise worth noting is a swear word repeated a few times, and a gross story someone tells of finding a corpse.

Summary: The characters aren't role models. Forget it. Half the time, they aren't even well meaning. But somehow through all the wild escapades, by the end of the summer they've come to learn that maybe Big Grandma is somebody they care for after all. In between, we get a hilarious up-close look at the open warfare!

Book Review of The Westing Game

The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin

4 stars

Description: What happens when you combine an enigmatic last will, queer characters, multiple bombs, and a handful of clues into a mystery where the winner takes all? It's worth reading to find out! Stocked with clever twists and turns in the plot, we follow as a houseful of quirky characters embark -- however unwillingly -- on a high-stakes mission to discover what really happened to the man who made the Westing fortune.

Concerns: Some speculation about the state of an imagined corpse are gross, particularly so combined with a kid in a Halloween costume of a witch.

Summary: The Westing Game is a fun and irreverent introduction into the literary world of mystery. Trying to keep ahead of the characters in their convoluted guessing game is both satisfying and infuriating -- my guess is you won't catch on to the final surprise! A slightly warped sense of humor or plain curiosity will keep you reading, even if only to find out what a purple wave is...

Book Review of The Pushcart War

The Pushcar War, by Jean Merrill

5 stars!

Description: Think an idyllic New York City in a slower-paced world where pushcarts gently roam the streets with their wares. Now, picture an monstrous eighteen wheeler truck with a grumpy driver who takes drastic action when a pushcart doesn't get out of the way fast enough. The crash - the screech - the pea tacks? It's WAR! The stage is set for an epic battle between the overwhelming crush of progress and the simple life of yesteryear. It's a great caper of strategy, attacks and counterattacks, and as the entire city (plus a random movie star and the US President) takes sides, it ends up a battle of wills, wits, and street warfare!

Concerns: None.

Summary: The Pushcart War is a great book to root for the little guy. It's clever, it's quirky, and it's a marvelous good war story with no casualties to turn a fun story grim. Hilarious little sidetracks throughout make it more interesting (watch for letters to the editor!) and the tone is overall sly wink-wink fun.

Book Review of The Mysterious Benedict Society

The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart

5 stars!

Description: In a word, fantastic. When the unlikely meeting of four of the most unlikely but likable children occurs, we set out on a mission to save Stonetown -- and incidentally, the world -- from the brilliantly devious Mr. Curtain. Danger stalks this tale of a clever and engaging clash of wits between multiple villians and the gifted foursome, and the sprinkling of riddles make the read both a puzzle and an adventure as you try to stay ahead of the game. Might be long for some younger readers, but you can't help but be drawn in to enjoy the ride.

Concerns: None.

Summary: The Mysterious Benedict Society is an all-time favorite. Even if just to meet the Great Kate Weatherall (my personal favorite of the kids), or to discover what on earth narcolepsy is, or if you like action mixed in with your brainteasers, it's a great read and one of the best middle grade books I've seen in a long while.

Note: Book is the first in a series.