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Brief synopsis (no spoilers) : In this fantasy world when children come of age (11) they take a drink of Nectar and see if they will bond with a spirit animal. This spirit animals give guidance and physical/mental strength to those they bond to. The four main characters bond to special animals, The Four Fallen. With this event the Devourer returns and a new age is begun. These youth must decide if they will join in the fight.   Category: Junior/ Young Adult Why I chose this book: Been on my list for a while, the author (who I actually had confused with another author, Brandon Doman), it's like other multi-author young adult books I've read in the past (39 clues, Infinity Ring, etc) My personal opinion (the review): I expected this to be a bit cheesy, bonding with animals and all, but it actually turned out pretty cool. I like that the author didn't make everything easy for the characters.For example, Meilin is frustrated that her spirit animal isn't more of a fight...

Summary: A history of how quidditch came to be, famous teams, rules, fouls, and history of the broom,.  Attention Span/reading level: 8-10+. - Short chapter book. Full of wit that some kids may not understand.  Good uses for book in teaching: Nothing Favorite part: (Mine and/or Child): Mine: The evolution of quidditch section. Also, the description of the Snidget.  Least favorite part?  W arnings/negative feedback?: None.(It does talk about a few ways to get fouls and things that are violent or of questionable nature. but it's totally passive).   Review: This was a funny, witty history of quidditch. I love that J.K. Rowling wrote this book especially for the charity Comic Relief. This organization's mission uses positive entertainment to raise money to help poverty around the world. Seeing that it was written for an organization like such as this, it's easy to see where the whit comes of the book comes from. It was interesting to read ab...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers) Everyone's families are tragically dead. Evelyn, Jared, Colin- anyone of any significance in the story. Evelyn enters college in a town far from home. Her parents and sister were recently killed, and she grieves for them. She gains friends and starts her new life. Category Fantasy, YA Fiction Why I chose this book Kindle First My personal opinion (the review) Frankly, this feels like a photocopy of the Twilight books. A new girl starts school a little late, falls in love with a perfect, "special" guy. He only has eyes for her. He glows, sometimes. A guy friend of Evelyn/Bella is interested in her, but can't take the hint that he's in the Friend Zone. Big, beefy "brother" of Jared/Edward is fun and likes to fight. The parallels go on. Don't get me wrong, it's a decent novel and I'll probably buy the sequel. But don't expect originality. No vampires in this one, but plenty of other magical beings. If you...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers) Brent Venturi is the former captain of the elite Phantom Squad military task force. He left the group after a particularly challenging and scarring mission, and settled into a job as head librarian in a sleepy town in Florida. Soon enough, he learned of a family secret, and gained a family enemy. He must protect his secret and his girlfriend Chloe. Category Fiction Why I chose this book Suggestion from Amazon My personal opinion (the review) The book is clean, so that's refreshing. But it's also a bit cheesy and it jumps around in the story, to connect dots. It won't win "best series of the year", but I'm going to read the next one, and it was worth the $2 I paid for it. Warnings Language: None Violence: Nothing graphic "Adult" situations: Referenced only Death: Yes Movie rating equivalent PG-13 Protagonist description Brent is a walking contradiction. He is ex military, very black ops. But he's also a b...

Concept: Kids healthy cookbook Author :  Barten Seaver Food type: Mostly dinners, but also healthy lunches and a few treats Monologue score  (1-10) (how entertaining, not the recipes): 8.5 - super bright colors, lots of pictures, interesting facts. My favorite part of the whole book was the family challenges in each chapter; There was a fruit salad challenge, a  left overs challenge, fun quizzes and challenges with seeing how many greens or proteins you can add into a meal with points for each category. Each section  corresponded  to a month of the year with recipes appropriate for that month. I loved that one section was a heritage section and talked about how family history and genealogy can be done through family recipes.  Difficulty level: Easy to medium for kids (overall easy for adults).  Approximate percentage of recipes I would be willing to try:  Probably 30%. This cookbook didn't really hit it out of the park as far as actual re...

Summary: " The game under the tree looked like a hundred others Peters and Judy had at home. But they were bored and restless and, looking for something interesting to do, thought they'd give Jumanji a try. Little did they know when they unfolded its ordinary-looking playing board that they were about to be plunged into the most exciting and bizare adventure of their lives." (Goodreads) Attention Span/reading level: 5+ Good uses for book in teaching: Imagination  Favorite part: (Mine and/or Child) : In general I just like the concept of the board game bringing things to life. However if I were forced to choose, I liked when the Lion first appears and the kids start to realize what they have gotten themselves into.  Least favorite part: None W arnings/negative feedback: Two kids are left home without supervision, the house gets torn apart by animals, one kid falls asleep under a sleeping spell but wakes up when the dice are rolled again.  Revi...

Brief synopsis (no spoilers):  At the age of 13 all citizens of Quill are put into one of three categories: Wanted,  Necessaries , and Unwanteds. Wanteds go to school and military training, Necessaries farm the land, and Unwanteds are sent to their death. As the book opens Alex has been declared an unwanted, while his twin Aaron has been selected as a Wanted. Alex's world is torn apart as he is separated from everything and everyone that he knows. However, just as he thinks his world is about to end, he is swept up into a whole new world beyond his comprehension.  Category: YA Why I chose this book: Saw on a display at a bookstore My personal opinion (the review):   Overall I really enjoyed this book. In many ways it was somewhat of a breath of fresh air in the world of dystopian teen novels.It was interesting to me that the center of the conflict revolved around the concept of creativity. Alex was cast as unwanted because once when he was 9 he drew a ...