Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling

Reviewed by: Bronwen, age 8

I love this book because it inspires me to read more. My favorite characters are Hermione and Harry because they are smart and brave. I like Dumbledore because he is funny and wise and intelligent. I hope you love this book.

Genre: fiction

Setting: present-day England

Introduction:

Harry Potter is a eleven year old  boy who lives  with his horrible aunt  and uncle, but one day, his life changes ...

Themes: family, bravery, smart is good, magic

Recommended Age: 8 and up

Full Disclosure: none

Rating: 5 stars

Other Books:  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Pottery and the Deathly Hallows

Murder in Retrospect by Agatha Christie (also published as Five Little Pigs)

Reviewed by: Michal, the mom (does age matter?)

I loved Agatha Christie in my teens and read everything that my local library had by her. I have no idea if this was one that I read-- it likely was, but my memory for such things is not good enough to spoil this mystery a second time around (20+ years later)! Hercule Poirot does not disappoint. I recommend Christie's mysteries for high school and up. They are never graphic or crude and I love trying to unravel the mystery along with Poirot or Miss Marple.

Genre: Murder mystery

Setting: 1940's England

Introduction:

Private detective Hercule Poirot is contacted by a young woman to investigate a murder that happened 16 years before, when she was a child. Her father was poisoned and her mother convicted to die, but her mother, on her deathbed, claimed to be innocent. The daughter wants to know the truth. Poirot must recreate the murder so many years after the fact and find out who the real murderer is.

Themes: family history, loyalty, everyone's perspective is a bit different, but if you hear them all then a clear picture will form

Recommended Age: 14 and up

Full Disclosure:

A large part of this case involves infidelity-- not just one love affair, but a habit of infidelity by one character (the murder victim). There is never anything graphic or specific in nature, only references to love affairs. Although some of the characters dismiss this behavior as to be expected from "a man like him", the book does not portray his affairs in a favorable light-- and as it made his family suffer and eventually cost him his life, I feel like there are consequences to his actions that are on par with reality. To me it makes a difference if poor choices are shown to have consequences and not portrayed as a way to happiness.

Rating: 4 stars

The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee by Tom Angleberger

Reviewed by: Kimball, age 15

This is the third book in the Origami Yoda series. This book foreshadows the evil Common Core-type program that will be implemented in the next book as a primary antagonist. 

Genre: fiction

Setting: McQuarrie Middle School

Introduction:

Dwight Tharp has changed schools, and that means his friends won't have the guidance of Dwight's paper Yoda to help them get through the school year. And it is a time when they need Jedi wisdom the most. Mysterious things are happening. Teachers are packing up their classrooms more than seems necessary for Christmas vacation. Something about "FUN-damentals" is somehow involved, but none of the kids know what it's about. But the students aren't just worried about that-- they're worried about the mistakes they'll make without Origami Yoda and how bored they are without Dwight's weirdness.
But in a way, they still have Dwight with them. Dwight's neighbor Sara brings a new puppet to school one day, folded by Dwight: A paper Chewbacca. The Fortune Wookiee gives great advice just like Yoda-- but Harvey smells a rat. And from what they hear of Dwight, he's becoming less like Dwight every day. He's almost... normal. Can the kids at McQuarrie save their friend from becoming boring, and find out why everything's changing-- and how the Fortune Wookiee is as wise as Yoda?

Themes: stay weird because being weird is better than being normal, education should not be limited to the fundamentals

Recommended Age: 9 and up

Rating: 4 stars

Other books: The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, Darth Paper Strikes Back, The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppett, Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue, Emperor Pickletine Rides the Bus

"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?"

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

Reviewed by: Kimball, age 15

I read this book a while ago and it got me interested in origami. The Origami Yoda series is a great series and towards the end of the series it has some very poignant things to say about our education system.

Genre: Fiction

Setting: McQuarrie Middle School

Introduction:

Dwight is a loser. It's not an insult, it's just a fact. He's weird and has no friends and doesn't seem to know or care either way. But Dwight's really good at origami; it's a talent the other students don't notice until he folds an origami Yoda puppet. Being the embarrassing loser kid he is, he insists that people talk to it. But the strange thing that suddenly makes Dwight one of the most popular kids in the school is that Origami Yoda, like the real Yoda, can predict the future.

Dwight's friend Tommy has an important decision to make and he's trusted Origami Yoda with it. But he needs to know for sure if Origami Yoda can really use the Force if he's going to go through with it. And with his other friend Harvey making a good case against Origami Yoda's legitimacy, it's not easy to decide whether to trust Dwight's green paper puppet.

Themes: know who your friends are, have faith in the things you believe in, stay weird because being weird is better than being normal

Recommended Age: 8 and up

Full Disclosure: I would not encourage dating before 16, and this book does.

Rating: 4 stars

Other Books:  Darth Paper Strikes Back, The Secret of the Fortune Wookie, The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppet, Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue, Emperor Pickletine Rides the Bus.

Poirot Loses A Client, or Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie

Reviewed by Kimball, age 15

This book was a good read. There are mystery books where it turns out to be the one you least expect, and then there was this book, where you suspected everybody and didn't know what to think. It was not exactly surprising, but if you're the type who tries to work out the mystery as you read, you will have a good challenge ahead of you.

Genre: Mystery

Setting: England, 1920s

Introduction:

This book is about a woman who writes to a detective named Hercule Poirot, worried that she might be murdered. When Poirot gets the letter too late, he investigates anyway.
It is purported that the woman died naturally after battling liver failure. Previously she had tripped over the dog's ball and almost died, but the witnesses believed that was accidental and not deliberate. The woman was very wealthy and strange changes in the will lead Poirot to believe someone had motives to set up both cases deliberately, and that she changed it to keep her relatives from gaining any advantage from her death. Interviewing all possible suspects, Poirot and his narrative assistant Hastings discover the truth behind what seemed to be two unrelated accidents.

Themes: It's never too late for justice, don't be greedy, don't spoil your kids, don't be prejudiced against foreigners

Recommended Age: 13 and up

Rating: 4 stars

Other Books:  See here

The Westing Game

Reviewed by: Ian, age 10

I loved it! It was hard trying to find out who was the murderer. I couldn't stop reading it until I found out.

Genre: Fiction

Time Period: No particular time

Introduction: Uncle Sam Westing is dead. One of the heirs is the murderer. So says his will. He has set up a game to reveal who the murderer is.

Themes: Money corrupts people, family, smart is good, overcoming hard things can make your life better, teamwork

Recommended Age:10 and up ( I read it when I was younger and didn't enjoy it as much as I do now.)

Full Disclosure:Nothing to see here

Rating:4  stars

"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.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Reviewed by: Henry, age 13


Genre: Fiction

Time Period: Present Day (mostly)

Plot:
A teenage boy's grandfather, a Jewish holocaust survivor, is thought to have gone insane, claiming to see monsters and acting a little trigger happy. One day he calls the boy, Jacob, and when he arrives, he finds his Grandpa dying. Jacob thinks he sees a monster outside the window. Before he dies, the grandfather leaves strange last words, which Jacob is determined to decipher. They lead him to something he only dreamed about a little.

Themes: Your differences make you special, learn the stories of your ancestors    

Recommended Age: 12 and up

Full Disclosure:
Frequent swearing, includes romance, death, photos (no nudity or immodesty, but some of them are creepy enough to give you nightmares!) Moms: I went through with a black pencil and scribbled over the swearing, which I recommend you do before your kids read it!

Rating: 3.5 stars, 4 with the language edited

Sequels: Hollow City, Library of Souls