"The Fire Within" by Chris D'Lacey

David, a college student, becomes the tenant of Liz and her 11 year old daughter Lucy. At first he thinks the are a little quirky with all the dragon statues about, but then strange things start happening. In trying to help a squirrel survive a hostile neighbor and an angry crow, he starts to write a story. The dragon his new landlord has given him becomes kind of a muse for the story as it seems to be coming true as he writes. There is something going on with this landlady and all her dragons. Can he figure out the secret? Can he save the poor squirrel? Will he have a happy ending to his story?

Fun book, read it pretty quick as the copy I got had large print and was well spaced. I would say 3rd grade and up. There was no spell magic, but it is a dragon story so.... There is a little romance, completely innocent. A little light suspense, but nothing a child couldn't handle. I really enjoyed it. I would recommend it to any of my children, I think they will all enjoy it.

Rating:

Momlady......5P

"Super Fly Guy" Tedd Arnold

Fly guy is Buzz's pet. One day he goes to school with Buzz and he meets the lunch lady. They become friends. But then she gets fired. The new lunch lady screams no flies in my lunchroom. She is a bad cook. So Fly Guy helps his friend get her job back.

Mom- I liked the pictures ^.^

Rating

Lila......5

Mom...5

"Larklight" by Philip Reeve

Arthur Mumby, his sister Myrtle and scientist father live a peaceful life in an enormous floating spherical house known as Larklight. But when their father is kidnapped by giant spiders, its up to Art and Myrtle to save him . Along with Jack Havock (notorious aether captain ) and his crew of pirates they set out on a journey to save the universe . This is an exciting steampunk adventure of pirates, giant spiders and family . I really enjoyed it !

Mom: This is the first of a series that is really fun, full of good morals and a fun way to look at how history could have gone with a little intervention.

Rating:

Dr.Who.......5P

Mom...........5P

"The Timekeeper's Moon" by: Joni Sensel

For the past few months the moon has been calling Ariel. Calling her to walk somewhere, but she doesn't know why. So she sets off on a quest to find out exactly what the moon wants her to do.

Along the way strange things start happening. Lost items from her last quest start showing up, and she start's having a dream falling out of the tree where she and Zeke found the telling dart, but every time, it becomes harder and harder to wake up.

It's even more important now, to find out where the moon is leading her, because she's afraid that one night she won't be able to wake up at all.

This is a really great book that I literally read in less than twenty four hours, I liked it that much. The end was a bit confusing, and time warpy, but I thought it was fun. There is also a romance between Ariel and her new friend, Nace, that I think went a little bit to far to be considered age appropriate. Other than that, it was wonderful.

Rating: L-R

It's recommended for 10 and up, but I'd say it was more suited for 14 and up.

Beckett...4

Added Rating/ "Graceling" by Kritin Cashore

It is sorta sad but I have decided that we need to add more to our rating system. It is sad, because this is a blog for children and young adult books. We are adding the following ratings.

P- Pure no language, no romance, no sexuality

L- Cussing and or using God's name in vain

R- Romance with kissing

ST- Sexual Tension but no action

HR- Heavy Romance with action

We have added these after listening to a book called Graceling by Kristin Cashore read by Full Cast Audio. We got through 5 of the 11 Cd's and had to stop. There was graphic description of sex between the 2 lead characters. I tried skipping through a few chapters when the children weren't listening, but then the bad guy ends up being a sadistic child molester. So we didn't finish this book. It really is too bad, because prior to this, we were really enjoying the story. Full Cast Audio always does a great job story telling and the concept of the story was intriguing.

This book should not be in the children's or young adult section in my opinion. It is an adult book. The characters are all adults and the subject matter ends up being pretty adult. If this were a movie, it would be rated R.

So for our family, we rate this book a 1 with HR and not appropriate for young readers.

"Goose Girl" by Shannon Hale

There is an old fairy tale called The Goose Girl that was written down by the Grimm brothers. It is a short story that isn't very interesting. Shannon Hale takes this little story and expands it, giving the characters motivation and depth. We listened to this story that was produced by Full Cast Audio on 10 cd's. It took about ten hours. We usually only listen to stories in the car, but this one was so intriguing that we actually had to bring it in. The ending is so exciting that the Dad Man who missed the first 8 discs got caught up in the last two.

It is the story of a princess who starts out weak and unassured and grows into a confident strong woman willing to do the hard things. There is some magic in this story, as the princess is able to speak to birds and her horse. She is sent to marry an unknown prince and an act of treachery overturns the princess's world. Alone and friendless she must make her own way to her proper place.

This book is intended for ages 10 and up. There is a bit of sword fighting violence and a gentle romance. The remarks from the family are:

"I liked that there were well executed plot twists, even if some of them were a little predictable?"

"Sometimes it seemed a little drawn out in the beginning and end"

"It was a really good book all together."

"It was kinda predictable, but I still wanted to see how they would pull it off."

*added note* kids just reminded me that there was a sexual reference in the story that was shocking near the end. The author tells the tale as to why the wives follow there husbands to war, to give them motivation to keep fighting so the enemy won't get them. ...only a little more graphic than that.

Rating:

Mom Lady.....5

Beckett.....5

The Doctor....4

Porsha.....5

Janet.....3

Lila.....5

"Franny K. Stein Mad Scientist: Frantastic Vovage" by Jim Benton

Franny K. Stein and her dog Igor are crazy inventors. But they aren't the best, in fact, they may be the worst mad scientists ever! But when Igor eats a dangerous device, Franny embarks on a dangerous journey to retrieve it. She travels through his body and just in time, she gets the device. She gets stuck in gum, stranded on a piece of donut and flies on a corn chip.

I liked this book. It was funny and really weird. Kids who like zany scientists and bizarre inventions would like this book.

Mom: I didn't read this one, but it looks to be a third grade reading level. Lots of pictures and gross in that fun kid kind of way.

Rating:

Porscha...4