The Alchemist

Reviewed by: Henry, Age 13

A wonderful book with great life lessons.

Genre: Allegory

Setting: Asia (mostly)

Introduction:

A young shepherd is having the same dream about the pyramids and treasure over and over. While in a town, he meets a strange man who claims he is a king. He inspires the boy to follow his dream and find his treasure. Along the way he learns great lessons.

Themes: Personal goals, greatness, happiness, learning, destiny, wisdom, and other things.

Recommended Age: 11 and up.

Full Disclosure: nothing

Rating: 5 stars

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeliene L'engle

Reviewed by: Henry, age 13

A great book that has science and fantasy. I haven't read it in a long time, so I can't remember some, but I remember it was good. With cool time travel ideas, strange worlds, and interesting characters. This was my mom's favorite book as a kid, and she loved a lot of books. Read it.

Genre: Fantasy/ Science Fiction

Setting: Other worlds

Introduction:

A girl's father has not returned. He has not returned from a secret mission. They do not know if he's dead, because the government hasn't told them. He may still be alive. Meanwhile, she is living with her mother and brother. When three strange old ladies come into their lives and offer to help find their father, the girl and her brother follow them on an adventure they never would have dreamed of.

Themes: Family, kids, courage, 

Recommended Age:  9 and up

Full Disclosure: nothing I can think of

Rating: 5 stars

Other Books: A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time

"Shouldn't You Be in School?" by Lemony Snicket

Reviewed by: Henry, age 13

 The third book in the series, this one contains false accusations, mysterious organizations, faraway sisters, suspense, strangely familiar music and fires. Lemony Snicket has not even left Stain'd by the Sea and yet another strange thing has come up. There have been fires in the town and a teacher is convinced that school children are in danger. All along the way people keep being wrong. Wrong about masks,  wrong about melons, wrong about creatures, wrong about books, and wrong about Volunteer Fire Departments. With a few shocking secrets revealed. Amazing. I can't wait for the next.

Genre: Fiction

Setting: Stain'd by the Sea

Introduction:

Hangfire is still at large, working up some evil plot, no doubt. Lemony Snicket is called to investigate arson, a word which here means someone set fire to something and everybody gets scared. Unfortunately, his associate is literally the worst. She solves the case all wrong. Can Lemony Snicket and his friends solve it before Hangfire wins?

Themes: Family, cleverness, friends, trust

Recommended Age: 10 and up

Full Disclosure: Nothing

Rating: 5 stars

Other Books: "When Did You See Her Last",  "Who Could that be at This Hour?", "Why is this Night Different from All Other Nights?"

"When Did You See Her Last?" by Lemony Snicket

Reviewed by: Henry, age 13

Lemony Snicket has done it again with his witty jokes, strange mysteries, and even more odd characters, like two underage taxi drivers, two police officers who can't help bickering about everything, and a lady who is good with a knife. I loved it.

Genre: Fiction

Setting: A small not-seaside-anymore town called Stain'd-by-the-Sea

Introduction:

Another mystery has come up in Stain'd-by-the-Sea. A young scientist has gone missing. Lemony Snicket and his impossible chaperone, Theodora, are on the case. But Something else is brewing. Could this be connected to the Hangfire case?

Themes: Family, friends, cleverness solves the problem

Recommended Age: 10 and up, younger if read aloud.

Full Disclosure: Nothing I can think of

Rating: 5 stars

Other Books:  "Who Could that be at This Hour?", "Shouldn't you be in School?", "Why is this Night Different from All Other Nights?"

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Reviewed by: Henry, age 13

A cool sci-fi war with crazy battle strategy and interesting philosophy. A good read. I couldn't put it down and wanted to know what happened next.

Genre: Science-fiction

Setting: Future

Introduction:

In the first invasion by the "buggers" the human race was almost wiped out. By the second war the humans had prepared. But technology isn't enough. The government begins to recruit people as young as six. Ender is recruited to train as a soldier. But it turns out he is better than they expected.

Themes: Bravery, brain over brawn, determination, "Wars not make one great"-Yoda, friendship

Recommended Age: 13 and up

Full Disclosure: Frequent swearing by some characters. (S***, B***h, Ba*****)

Rating: 4.5 stars

Other Books:  This book branches off to two series: 
Ender in Exile, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide,  and Children of the Mind make up one.
Ender's Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon, Shadow Puppets, Shadow of the Giant, A War of Gifts, and Ender in Exile make up the second.

The Colossus Rises by Peter Lerangis

Reviewed by: Henry, age 13

The first in the Seven Wonders series, this book is for those who liked the Percy Jackson series. I only gave it 3 stars because I liked the story, but the writing itself felt juvenile.

Genre: Fiction

Setting: A mysterious island, present

Introduction:

A boy is having the worst morning ever when he gets hit by a truck. He wakes up in a hospital, where a man drugs him. He wakes up again in a crazy institute, where he learns that he has a genetic disease that will kill him without treatment. He also learns that he and the other three patients have to find magic things that will give them superpowers.

Themes: good vs evil, kid power, smart is good, ancient world

Recommended Age: 10-15

Full Disclosure: not very well written, but nothing objectionable

Rating: 3 stars

Other Books:  Lost in Babylon, Tomb of Shadows, The Curse of the King

Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls

Reviewed by: Henry, age 13

A preposterous storyline with a touching moral. This book is good if you like perfectly good plans which are thwarted  in silly ways, action, ponies, Where the Red Fern Grows, or monkeys.

Genre: Fiction

Setting: Modern Era, Cherokee country.

Introduction:

A young farm boy on Cherokee land is playing in the wooded ravine by his house when he sees something strange. A monkey! It yells at him and he gets out of there fast. When he talks to his grandpa, he learns that there is a reward for returning them to the circus they escaped from. And it will be enough buy a pony, which he has dreamed of riding for quite a while. But catching a monkey turns out to be harder than he thought...

Themes: Determination, Family love, Cleverness, Caring for less fortunate

Recommended Age: 10 and up, younger if read aloud

Full Disclosure: The monkeys get him drunk at one point, but he feels terrible afterward

Rating: 5 stars

Other Books:  I don't think this is a series, but it is written by the same author as Where the Red Fern Grows.

"Who Could That Be at This Hour?" by Lemony Snicket

Reviewed by: Henry, age 13

For all those who enjoyed Lemony Snicket's humor in A Series of Unfortunate Events, this book is amazing. Almost thirteen year old Lemony Snicket is called on a mission to return an strange object. But who is the real owner? This is a crazy mystery with lots of humor and characters that only Lemony Snicket could invent (A word which here means: make up random things and decide they are amazing), including a condescending chaperone, a librarian who is bad at eavesdropping, a reporter for a newspaper that went out of business, and a bratty boy with a slingshot that he uses to shoot birds (and people sometimes). A great read.

Genre: Fiction

Time Period: present/recent past

Introduction:

Lemony Snicket, a boy with an interesting education, is trying to solve a mystery with his hypocritical and not too smart chaperone who always seems to avoid telling her first name. He is hired to return a small statue of something that looks like the most terrifying (a word which here means: spiky and deadly and freaky) seahorse which you can see at the top right corner of the cover page. It is a very strange town which mainly runs a ink business that's running out of ink and is next to a strange forest of seaweed which somehow manages to stay erect and thriving without water. And there is something suspicious going on.

Themes: cleverness solves the problem, promise keeping, family

Recommended Age: 10 and up, younger as read-aloud

Full Disclosure: Nothing comes to mind.

Rating: 5 stars

Other Books:  "When Did You See Her Last?", "Shouldn't You Be in School?", "Why is This Night Different From All Other Nights?" are the other books in the series.