The Grey King by Susan Cooper

Title:   the Grey King

Author:  Susan Cooper

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books     Year: 2007, c 1975

ISBN:  978-0-689-50029-9

Genre: Fiction/Adventure/Fantasy

This book is for Ages: 9-14

Awards:  Newbery Medal; Carnegie Medal Honors; Margaret A. Edwards Award;

AR Points: 9.0

Subjects/Themes: Light vs. Dark; Immortals, Wales, Arthurian Legend

 

Plot Summary:  Will Stanton has been very ill with hepatitis.  He must rest for a month.   His mother sends him to convalesce in Wales with her cousin.  While there Will meets the very unusual Bran and his dog, Cafall. Will experiences an awakening to his true self.  He is one of the Old Ones of the Light.  He must try to stop the Dark from taking the world for itself.  Will, Bran and Cafall embark on a quest for a golden harp into a magical universe and a world where he and Bran can see things that humans cannot.  Can the boys succeed in their quest?  Can Will, the youngest of the Old Ones defeat the Grey King in a magical battle?  Who is Bran and why can he see as clearly as Will? 

Review:  This book takes you into another world.  Susan Cooper’s descriptions are extremely detailed.  She creates a universe with comets and shooting stars.  Descriptions like these and the legends Cooper uses and creates are  true enchantments in this book.

 

If you like this book you may also like: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle. 

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick

Title: The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg

Author: Rodman Philbrick

Publisher/Year: The Blue Sky Press; 2009

ISBN: 978-0-439-66818-7

Genre: Adventure; Historical Fiction

This Book is for Ages: 9 and up

Awards: A Newbery Honor Book, Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Award Nominee

AR Points: 7.0

Subjects/Themes: Orphans; Civil War; Runaways; Slavery

Plot Summary:

Set in the middle of the Civil War, the novel follows the lives and adventures of two young orphan brothers, Homer and Harold Figg. When his elder brother, Harold, is illegally conscripted into the Union Army by his unscrupulous uncle, Homer runs away from his home in Pine Swamp, Maine and heads south following the army’s trail. Homer hopes to find Harold and rescue him by proving that he is underage. Along the way Homer meets a colorful cast of characters including kidnappers, escaped slaves, and tricksters. Homer is always ready to tell a lie at the drop of a hat whenever he faces a thorny situation. Yet will Homer’s determination and talent for fibbing be enough to save his brother before it is too late?

Review:

This novel was highly enjoyable and very reminiscent in many ways of Huckleberry Finn. Readers will especially enjoy Homer’s penchant for telling tall tales whenever he finds himself in trouble. Homer is very audacious and you can’t help but cheer for him all the way through the book. His love and devotion to his older brother Harold is very touching, especially the lengths to which he is willing to go to find him and save him from the perils of war. The novel is also very historically accurate and young readers will enjoy the glossary of Civil War terms and slang located at the back of the book. This is a wonderful read for tweens looking for adventure books about the Civil War.

If you like this book you might also like: Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and McBroom Tells The Truth by Sid Fleischman

Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer

Title: Bloody Jack: Being An Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary  “Jacky” Faber, Ship’s Boy

Author: L.A. Meyer

Publisher/Year:  Graphia: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company; 2002

ISBN:   978-0-15-205085-6

Genre:   Adventure; Historical Fiction

This Book  is for Ages: 12 and up

Awards: Booklist  Editors’ Choice, A Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book, A Junior Library Guild      Selection, A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age

AR Points: 11.0

Subjects/Themes: Seafaring Life; Orphans; Pirates; Gender Roles

Plot Summary:

Set in the late 1700’s, the novel centers on Mary Faber, a young orphan reduced to begging and thieving on the streets of London after her family dies of pestilence. When Charlie, the leader of her street gang, is murdered on the streets one night, Mary cuts her hair, dons his clothes, and rechristens herself “Jack.” She sets out to find a place as a ship’s boy and succeeds when she is hired aboard the HMS Dolphin. Soon Jacky (as her shipmates call her) finds herself on the high seas surrounded by rough sailors, midshipmen, and her fellow mates, the other ship’s boys. Jacky must use all of her wits and courage to not only survive fierce battles on the high seas, but to also maintain her disguise and keep the crew from discovering her true identity as a girl.

Review:

This novel was a true joy to read. It contains seafaring adventures, battles on the high seas, and even romance. What more could readers want? Jacky Faber is a true heroine: resourceful, brave, and immensely likeable. However, I really appreciated the fact that she seemed like a genuine girl. She was scared during battle, would occasionally cry and become emotional, and enjoyed the types of things that adolescent girls enjoy. Yet readers can see that she is every inch as intelligent and capable as the boys. I also enjoyed the scenes involving “The Deception,” which is the name she gives to her ongoing attempts to keep the Dolphin’s crew from discovering the secret of her true gender. We see a young Jacky swim shirtless with the boys (for as long as she can), climb the ship’s highest masts, curse and swear with the best of them, and even pretend to relieve herself just like a boy would. She even constructs a fake cloth codpiece for herself which she sews to her underdrawers. How is that for ingenuity? Bloody Jack is a page-turner that older tweens and adults are sure to enjoy.

If you like this book you might also like: Pirates! by Celia Rees and Star-Crossed by Linda Collison

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Title:   The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Author:  Brian Selznick

Publisher: Scholastic Press    Year: 2007

ISBN:  978-0-439-81378-5

Genre: Fiction/Adventure/Historic

This book is for Ages: 9-14

Awards: National Book Award/ Honors;; ALA Notable/Best Books;  Caldecott Medal;  YALSA Top Ten;

AR Points: 4.0

Subjects/Themes:, Orphans, Paris, Train Stations, Self Reliance, Family, Robots, Trust

 

Plot Summary:  12-year-old Hugo Cabret secretly lives in a train station in Paris.  Hugo’s father was a horologist, or clock maker.  After his father died, Hugo came to the train station to live with his uncle and to be the apprentice timekeeper.  Hugo’s uncle has disappeared, but Hugo makes sure all the clocks in the train station keep running on time.  Hugo is fascinated with an automaton and is determined to fix it.   Hugo is caught stealing parts for the automaton from the toymaker in the train station.  Hugo must learn to trust the toy maker and his daughter Isabelle to unlock mysteries that will change his life forever.

 Review:  This book is beautiful.  The novel is told in words and pictures.  The two combined create a story that comes to life like few others.   The images are beautiful.  The text with its black bordered pages creates a striking contrast to other books on the market today.  The story is intelligent and exciting.  The characters are engaging.  I wanted to learn more about Hugo, Isabelle, Papa Georges and even Etienne.  Selznick has created an outstanding novel that evokes images of silent films.   The invention of Hugo Cabret is the perfect mixture of image, word,  magic and technology.

If you like this book you may also like:  Hugo (DVD),   Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick, The Thief Lord, by Cornelia Funke.

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

Title: Bud, Not Buddy

Author: Christopher Paul Curtis

Publisher/Year: Delacorte Press; 1999

ISBN:   0-385-32306-9

Genre:  Adventure; Historical Fiction

This Book is for Ages: 9 and up

Awards: Newbery Medal Winner, Coretta Scott King Honor Book, ALA Notable Book, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, Horn Book Fanfare, Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book, NY Times Book Review Best Book, Publishers Weekly Best Book

AR Points: 8.0

Subjects/Themes: Runaways, The Great Depression, African Americans

Plot Summary:

Set in Michigan during the Great Depression, the story centers around ten-year old Bud Caldwell, an African-American orphan who has been bounced around from one terrible foster home to another since the death of his mother. Bud escapes yet another terrible foster situation and sets out to find the man he believes is his father, the famed band leader Herman E. Calloway. Along the way Bud finds friendship, his first real kiss, and perhaps a place he can finally call home.

Review:

I had high expectations for this book based on its status as a Newbery Winner and it being the recipient of various prestigious awards. I’m glad to say that I was definitely not disappointed. Bud (who insists on being called Bud, not Buddy, hence the book’s title) is an endearing character who is funny, resourceful, and can think on his feet. The book is written in first-person narrative and the reader is privy to Bud’s thoughts, which are often hilarious. The novel also has a stellar supporting cast of characters in the form of Herman E. Calloway’s band mates, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression!!!!!! (After hearing them play for the first time Bud notes “I could see now why this band got to have six exclamation points behind their name!”) Bud, Not Buddy strikes just the right tone, never becoming overly dark or sentimental despite the subject matter. Readers will be captivated by the novel’s perfect blend of humor, adventure, and drama.

If you like this book you might also like: The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis and Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

Title:   The Thief Lord

Author:  Cornelia Funke

Publisher: Scholastic Year: 2003 c 2000

ISBN:  0-439-42089-X

Genre: Fiction/Adventure

This book is for Ages: 9-14

Awards: ALA Notable Book; SLJ Best Book of the Year; Zurich Children’s Book Award; Swiss Youth Literature Award.

AR Points: 13.0        

 Subjects/Themes: Runaways, Orphans, Venice, Self Reliance, Family, Growing Up

Plot Summary:  12-year-old Prosper is an orphan.  He must take care of his younger brother 5-year-old Boniface (Bo).  In order to stay together, the brothers ran away from their Aunt Hartlieb who wants to adopt Bo.  The pair traveled to Venice where they are cared for by the Thief Lord, a young boy who steals and brings them the loot to pay for food and clothes.  The Thief Lord and his gang are hired by the Conte to steal a wooden wing.  What if the gang is caught?  Can they trust the Conte?  Will Aunt Hartlieb’s detective find the brothers?  Why is the wing so important?

Review: The Thief Lord is a wonderful book.  Funke writes a story full of detailed descriptions and imagination.  The children embark on an adventure that changes their lives forever.  This book is about the hardships of growing up in a world with and without parents; the desire of the young to be grown-up and the old to regain their youth.  Superbly written with interesting and loveable characters, The Thief Lord is a work of art.

If you like this book you may also like:  Inkheart and Dragon Rider By Cornelia Funke; The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Title: The Graveyard Book

Author: Neil Gaiman

Publisher/Year: Harper Collins Publishers; 2008

ISBN:   978-0-06-053092-1

Genre:  Adventure; Fantasy

This Book is for Ages: 10 and up

Awards: Newbery Medal Winner, Hugo Award for Best Novel, Locus Award for Best YA Novel, Carnegie Medal

AR Points: 10.0

Subjects/Themes: Family; Survival; Coming of Age; Death

Plot Summary:

The novel opens just as the protagonist’s family is murdered by a mysterious intruder named Jack. Barely a toddler, the young boy miraculously escapes and wanders into a graveyard located near his home. The inhabitants of the graveyard all band together and decide to protect the child from the murderer and raise him as one of their own. He is soon adopted by a loving ghost couple, Mr. and Mrs. Owens, and named ‘Nobody Owens’ (‘Bod’ for short) because they decide that the young boy “looks like nobody but himself.” Bod also gains the protection of a special guardian named Silas, a silent and brooding ghost who towers over all of the graveyard’s inhabitants and vows to keep Bod safe from harm. Throughout the novel Bod wanders through his new home, interacts with the ghostly characters, finds friendship with a little girl who visits the graveyard, and escapes detection from his would-be assassin. Yet as Bod grows older he becomes restless and yearns to establish contact with the outside world. When Bod leaves the safety of the graveyard and enrolls in school, Silas and the other ghosts are unable to protect him from the very real dangers of the world, including the man who will stop at nothing to kill him.

Review:

The tagline for this novel is that “it takes a graveyard to raise a child” and nothing could be closer to the truth. The most wonderful parts in the book are not so much in the constant threat of whether Jack and his team of assassins will find Bod and kill him (although the reader is kept in breathless suspense on this point) but rather in the relationships that Bod establishes with his ghostly family and friends in the graveyard. Despite being orphaned at an early age, Bod is taken in by the friendly denizens of the graveyard and finds shelter among them. In addition, Bod forms a very close bond with his guardian Silas. Their relationship unfolds gradually and you can see Silas’ love and humanity grow in his relentless drive to protect Bod from harm. The novel even hints that Silas was not such a good person in life as he is in death. Perhaps this is his way of making amends for bad deeds done during his lifetime? The novel is permeated with other wonderful characters: Liza Hempstock, the wisecracking illiterate witch-girl whom Bod befriends, and Miss Lupescu and Mr. Pennyworth, Bod’s resourceful teachers who instruct him on survival skills. The Graveyard Book is filled with wonderful adventures and characters and I highly recommend it.

If you like this book you might also like: Coraline by Neil Gaiman and The Junglebook by Rudyard Kipling.

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

Title:   From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Author:  Elizabeth L. Konigsburg

Publisher:  Atheneum Books for Young Readers     Year: 2002  c1967

ISBN:  978-0-689-20586-6

Genre: Fiction/Adventure

This book is for Ages: 10 and up

Awards: SLJ Best Book; Newbery Medal (2); NCTE Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts; ALA Notable/Best Books

AR Points:  5.0

Subjects/Themes: Runaways, Self Reliance, Michelangelo, Brother and Sisters, New York, Museum

 Plot Summary:  12-year-old Claudia suffers the heartache of being an older sibling, who has more responsibilities than adventure.  She is tired and bored.  She decides to runaway to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.  Claudia enlists the aid and finances of her brother Jamie.  Together they live in the museum and become investigators into the mystery behind who carved the beautiful angel.  Could it really have been Michelangelo?  Claudia and Jamie will do anything to find out.

Review:  This wonderful adventure appeals to anyone who has ever wanted to run away from home.  What could be more comfortable than living in a museum?  Konigsburg’s characters enjoy the delights of the museum, while dealing with the disappointments of running away and caring for themselves.  Claudia and Jamie’s sibling relationship is the perfect mix of sarcasm, annoyance, love and care.

If you like this book you may also like:  The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

Title:   The Thief

Author:  Megan Whalen Turner

Publisher: Greenwillow (Harper Collins)      Year:  2006, c1996

ISBN:  97-0-06-082497-2

Genre: Fiction/Adventure

This book is for Ages: 10 and up

Awards:  ALA Notable/Best Books; Newbery Honor; BCCB Blue Ribbon Book State Award; Recommended Reading-YALSA Popular Paperbacks;

AR Points:     11.0

Series: Queen’s Thief

Subjects/Themes: Outlaws, Runaways, Self Reliance

Plot Summary:  Gen is a thief.  He brags that he can steal anything, even the King’s ring.  Gen’s bragging gets him caught and imprisoned.  The Magus, or king’s advisor, promises Gen his freedom if he will travel to a distant kingdom and steal a magical treasure of great power.  Gen travels with the Magus, his two young apprentices and their guard.  Can they survive the trip?  What if Gen can’t find the treasure?  None of the other seekers have ever returned. How can he take the treasure and not anger the ancient gods? Gen is an excellent Thief, but can he capture the treasure and save his skin?

Review:  Gen is a lovable and ingenious character.  While he gets himself into serious hot water, he uses his special talents, skills and his quick thinking to outmaneuver the other characters in the book.   Gen is proves himself worth of the title Thief.  Meghan Whalen creates a world of clashing kingdoms, and ancient gods.  Inspired by her trip to Greece this story is pure adventure and imagination.

 If you like this book you may also like:  The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia, and A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner.

Alabama Moon

Title:   Alabama Moon

Author:  Watt Key

Publisher:  Farrar, Straus and Giroux           Year:  2006

ISBN:  978-0374301842

Genre: Fiction/Adventure

This book is for Ages: 10 and above

Awards: A Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner, E.B. White Read Aloud Award for Older Readers, SIBA Book Award for a Children’s Book, A Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year, A VOYA Top Shelf Fiction Pick for Middle School Readers, A Book Sense Children’s Pick, Kentucky Bluegrass State Award Master List, Finalist for the 2009 German Youth Literature Award, California Young Reader Medal winner

AR Points: 11.0          

Subjects/Themes: Survival, Ophans, Boys’ Home, Friendship

Review:

How does a boy who was raised in the woods solely living off of the land get the best of a bully of a local constable?  It’s not luck — this boy has nothing but bad luck.  But he does have the survival skills to make it on his own with nothing more than a handmade knife.  The thing about Moon is he is good to his core.  He was raised without any formal schooling, but his father taught him everything else.  Everyone who reads this book will root for Moon to thwart the mean and vicious policeman who wants to put him in a home after his father dies.  Moon is not meant to be kept in a cage.  This is a boy who can find home simply by the smell of the earth and the shape of the trees.  The problem is that Moon is lonely after his father dies, and even though he knows more than most men will in a lifetime he needs his friends.  How can he find his friends without being put in jail or worse?

When you read this book to find out, you will come to love Moon.  You will miss him when the book is done, and not just because he is the survivalist we all hoped to be as a child.  He is also a thoughtful kid who is just trying to make sense of things in his upside down world.  It is a boy’s book through and through, but I know a lot of girls who would love it.  I highly recommend it.

If you like this book, you may also like: Holes by Louis Sachar, Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, and Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver.