Skip to main content

Story Thieves by James Riley

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Owen sees his classmate Bethany jump into a book. He convinces her to take him into his favorite series of books to find out what will happen in the book coming out the next week. They get swept up into the story...

Category: Juvenile 

Why I chose this book: I like books that write about writing and the mechanics of what can and can't happen within the pages of a book and how it effects the "real" world (think time-turner like instances. How does changing something in a book change not only the book itself but the world outside of the book). 

My personal opinion: Too many aliens robots for my taste. The idea of a war between Science and Magic is cool. but the vehicle of Kiel, the Magistrar, and Evil Dr. Verity just didn't do it for me. Kiel was annoying. Really it was Bethany and Own that kept me hanging on. I'm glad I stuck it out through this one though, because the second in the series is so much better. 

Warnings
Language: None
Violence: Fighting with robots, magic
"Adult" situations: None
Death: No major or minor characters, but some third party characters - not gory

Movie rating equivalent: PG

Protagonist description: 
Bethany - straight laced and uptight, but with a heart in the right place
Owen - just wants an adventure, something to break the monotony of his ordinary life

Point of view of story: Switches between characters

Book length: Short

Story flow: A bit choppy switching between characters but easy enough to follow

Grammar and spelling issues: None

Character connection (no spoilers): "Nobody"

For series:
Independent or integral: Independent as first

Series review as a whole: I regret that you have to read the first to understand the second, the second is so much better.

If you only have time for one, read: Story Thieves 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happily Ever After Kiera Cass

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Short novellas and after stories from the perspective of other main characters from The Selection Series. Includes: -The Prince (with the two bonus chapters), Maxon’s novella -The Guard, Aspen’s novella -The Queen, Amberly’s novella -The Favorite, Marlee’s novella -Three scenes from Celeste’s POV -Lucy’s scene (bonus scene from The One) -The bonus epilogue -Where are they now? Category: YA Why I chose this book: Selection of novellas filling in gaps in The Selection series.  My personal opinion (the review): Of the entire series this was by far and away my favorite. I loved getting to hear parts of the stories from other perspectives. There was also additional details not found in the original story. All my questions or things I wondered about where answered through these stories.  Warnings Language: None  Violence: None "Adult" situations: As with the other novels, a few scenes with more description than I would have liked. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson

By
Summary: Every book needs you to turn the pages. But not every book needs you to tap it, shake it, jiggle it, or even blow it a kiss. Innovative and timeless, Tap the Magic Tree asks you to help one lonely tree change with the seasons. It begins with a bare brown tree. But tap that tree, turn the page, and one bright green leaf has sprouted! Tap again—one, two, three, four—and four more leaves have grown on the next page. Pat, clap, wiggle, jiggle, and see blossoms bloom, apples grow, and the leaves swirl away with the autumn breeze. (Amazon) Attention Span/reading level: Perfect for my three year old. I would say that ages 2-10 would really enjoy something like this. It really keeps kids engaged and makes them feel like part of the story. There is one word to one sentence per page. Good uses for book in teaching: Interaction, that the reader takes part in making the story, what a tree can do (leaves, blossoms, fruit) Favorite part:      Child: The fact that ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Balancing Act by Ellen Stoll Walsh

By
Summary: Two mice make a teeter totter. Soon a frog comes along and wants to join. Can the mice balance all the friends who want to play with them? Attention Span/reading level: 3-6 years old, usually 5 or less words on a page Good uses for book in teaching: Balance, science Favorite part:      Child: When the frog joins in     Mine: That the mice keep playing at the end  Least favorite part: None:   W arnings/negative feedback: None.  Review: This is a really simple but fun way to introduce the idea of balancing and weight to kids. It's fun to show them how it must be equal on each side to balance. Showing that size can affect weight is shown on the page where all the animals are on one side with the big bird on the other. This could be a fun activity to replicate with toys if doing a science lesson at home. 
Post a Comment
Read more