Hi, I’m Laurel Markert. I’m in 9th grade, and I really like reading. I like Harry Potter, Redwall, and mysteries. The list is for people who enjoy books a bit like what I read and want to try new ones.
Touching Spirit Bear- Ben Mikaelsen
Cole is juvenile criminal. He gets caught after robbing a hardware store, so he beats Peter Driscol, the boy who told on him. Cole seriously injures Peter, and he’s sent to jail to wait for his trial. Later, Cole can choose between jail or Circle Justice, a different way of rehabilitating. He takes Circle Justice and ends up going to a remote Alaskan island to live for a year.
I really liked Touching Spirit Bear, because it shows how much people can change. It is about how Cole heals and how he has to find the last part of the healing to be okay. It also gives you a good idea of what Alaska might be like. The sequel to this is: Ghost of Spirit Bear.
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien
As you probably know, this is the first part of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Frodo Baggins is a hobbit, or small person, living in a nice home in the Shire. Bilbo, Frodo’s adoptive father, vanishes into thin air on Bilbo’s 111th birthday. The wizard Gandalf, comforts Frodo and says that Bilbo left to live with the elves. Bilbo left Frodo a ring, Gandalf says. The ring is an object of great power for the Dark Lord Sauron, and it must be destroyed. The only way to do that is to throw it into Mount Doom, a volcano in Mordor, Sauron’s realm. Frodo agrees to do this, and with his friends Sam, Merry, and Pippin, he sets out of the shire.
I’m still not finished with these books. They are good reads, but they take a while. Lord of the Rings reminds me of the Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alaxander. Both series start with a prequel (The Hobbit and The Book of Three) then continue with a younger hero, related to the one in the prequel. They have to destroy the Dark Lords’ (Sauron and Arawn’s) most precious artifacts (The One Ring and The Black Cauldron). They both have a character that wants the artifact for himself (Gollum/Smeagol and Ellidyr) and they end with the Dark Lords’ destruction. Both dark cities (Mordor and Annuvin) crumble as the characters race to get out. Then they end with the magical people (Gandalf and the Elves, Gwydion and the House of Don) leaving for perfect, immortal places (The Undying Lands and The Summer Country). There are a lot of similarities, but both are very different. I recommend you read both.
I liked the book because it has a lot of action. I haven’t read any others that deal with necromancy either. It is very original and exciting. There are two other books in the series, Lirael and Abhorsen.
This is a review for Sabriel by Jessica Neiweem, the Teen Librarian.
Sabriel
Garth Nix
Sabriel was born dead. Dragged back into the world of the living by her father, the Abhorsen, the now-teenage Sabriel has learned how to navigate between the realms of life and death. The Abhorsen puts the dead to rest, but what happens when he vanishes and Sabriel must take his place? With friends Touchstone, who may or may not be a prince, and Mogget, who may or may not be a cat, Sabriel sets out to find her father and save him.
There are going to be two more Sabriel books coming out within the next year or two. They will be a sequel to Sabriel /Abhorsen and a story about Chlorr set 500 years previously.
Hot Lunch by Alex Bradley
Hot Lunch isn’t a fantasy book. It’s about two girls, Molly Ollinger and Cassie Birchmeyer. They get into a food fight in the lunch line at school resulting in cooking duties. They sabotage each other by doing things like puyting band-aids in the cottage cheese and dripping meatball juice on each others’ toes. Finally, the cook, Mrs. Zetz, retires. Molly and Cassie have to run the kitchen until more than 50% of the school votes that their food is better than Mrs. Zetz’s food.
I liked this book because it was funny. Molly never runs out of comments for Cassie and Cassie never runs out of pranks to pull on Molly. There are recipes in the book too, such as tomato soup and mac ‘n’ cheese bake. There are very original songs. The best is “The Three Pile Song” which is about hot lunch.
Montmorency Series by Eleanor Updale (Montmorency- Thief , Liar, Gentleman?; Montmorency On The Rocks; Montmorency And The Assassins, Montmorency’s Revenge)
The series is set about 1875 in (mainly) London. Montmorency- Thief, Liar, Gentleman? is the first book. It starts when a thief is running away. He falls through a glass roof. A young doctor, named Robert Farcett, is willing to fix him up while the thief is serving his time. The only condition is that Farcett can show the thief off at scientific exhibition. This is how the thief forges a new life for himself.
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl is a ruthless, pitiless, genius. He decides to take on the task of restoring his family to “billionaire ranking” after his father disappears in Russia and his mother lapses into depression. He decides that the easiest way to do this is to kidnap a fairy and demand ransom. Along with his trusty butler, Butler, and Butler’s sister, Juliet Butler, Artemis kidnaps Holly Short, a magical member of the Lower Elements Police Reconnaissance Unit (LEPrecon). The fairies send their top police squads to rescue Holly, including a centaur genius. Read as the masterminds battle it out.
I enjoyed Artemis Fowl because there is constant action. At least one person is doing something at any given moment, whether it’s breaking down a concrete floor or wielding an antique mace. It is also the only book about fairies that I’ve read where the fairies are armed with laser guns and mechanical wings rather than faith, hope, and pixie dust.
Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick
Steven is in eigth grade when he makes oatmeal for his little brother Jeffy. Jeffy falls of his stool and ends up have to get his nose cauterized to stop the bleeding. As it turns out, Jeffy has Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Steven has to deal with family, Jeffy, homework, Jazz Band, girls, and Dangerous Pie.
This is a great read. It’s sad and funny, but still seems realistic. You have to read it to discover what Dangerous Pie is. I like the other Jordan Sonnenblick books, so maybe you will too. Read the part about Samantha and the special sticks.
Notes From the Midnight Driver and Zen and the Art of Faking it.
After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick
This is the sequel to Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie. This time, it’s from Jeffy’s point of view. Now, he’s a teen in remission. His best friend is another cancer survivor, Thaddeus ‘Tad’ Ibsen. Jeffy is horrified when he learns that to past eighth grade he has to pass the New Jersey statewide math test. The first problem is, Jeffy’s cancer treatment left him with some brain damage that makes it have for him to focus. The second problem is, Jeffy was so horrified he stuffed the letter about the test down the garbage disposal. The third problem: Steven flipped out, dropped out, and went to Africa. To solve one of the problems Tad and Jeffy make a deal; if Tad tutors Jeffy in math, Jeffy will help Tad to walk. Read to learn how they solve the other problems.
This is just as good as the first book. There’s a big twist in the story that you don’t expect at all. There’s a small part about Samantha again, watch for it.
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