Skip to main content

The Island of Dr. Libris by Chris Gabenstein

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers): What if your favorite characters came to life? Billy’s spending the summer in a lakeside cabin that belongs to the mysterious Dr. Libris. But something strange is going on. Besides the security cameras everywhere, there’s Dr. Libris’s private bookcase. Whenever Billy opens the books inside, he can hear sounds coming from the island in the middle of the lake. The clash of swords. The twang of arrows. Sometimes he can even feel the ground shaking. It’s almost as if the stories he’s reading are coming to life! But that’s impossible . . . isn’t it? (Amazon)

Category: Kids (8-13 ish) Though is does have many literary references that kept me, as a student of literature, entertained. It's like Disney movies, you can see them on one level or understand the humor and other messages behind the story if you look for it.  

Why I chose this book: I have enjoyed another book by this author.

My personal opinion:

The Good: Imagine Hercules as part of Robin Hood's Merry Men and the the Musketeers as part of the Sheriff of Notingham's crew. Then imagine them all on their way to an arrow shooting contest at Pollyanna's Sunday ice cream social. Oh, and Tom Sawyer is hanging around too. It's just a typical day on the Island of Dr. Libris. Gabersteain is amazing in his ability to weave together literary stories from throughout history and make them all "come to life" together at on the same page/at the same time. I also love that he tells you all the books he references in the appendix and encourages the reader to read them too.

The Bad: It wasn't quite up to the standards I was expecting after reading Gabenstein's other book "Mr. Lemoncell's Library," but it's still worth a read. The ending in particular is a bit cheesy, or should I say peanut buttery.
I was disappointed in the part that Dr. Libris played. He plays the behind the scenes evil scientist throughout the whole book, but the first time we actually see him the action is quite lame and I feel like the author coped out of using this character to his full extent. 

Warnings (language, violence, "adult" situations, death, etc.): None, however it does talk a little bit about Billy's parents getting a divorce, which could affect some younger kids. 

Movie rating equivalent: PG

Protagonist description: Billy is a typical pre-teen who is dealing with the potential divorce of his parents and the idea of spending a summer at some log cabin with no tv or video games. He also deals with other typical stuff like being picked on by a bully and befriending the nerd. He is able to think quick on his feet and that's what saves him a few times.  

Point of view of story: First person

Book length: Very short

Story flow: Fast

Grammar and spelling issues: None.

Character connection (no spoilers): None

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Game by Terry Schott

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers) What if this life is just a simulation? What if our bodies are in another world, plugged into a virtual reality game, and our entire life is just one play in that game? What would our real life be like, if we could experience several full simulated lifespans, in our teen years, and then enter adulthood? That is the premise of this story. Category Sci-Fi Why I chose this book It was either free or discounted on Amazon, and sounded interesting My personal opinion (the review) Too many inconsistencies. For example: The real world is able to view the players in the game in "real time", but time in the game is sped up, so that a week in real life is worth a decade in the virtual world. How do real world people have enough time to experience the virtual world, in real time, while still being accelerated? Danielle enters the game 3 days behind Trew, but she only ends up being 1 year younger. If a week is a decade in the game, then 3 days should have be...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mark of Fire by Richard Phillips

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Two main stories: Carol, the daughter of Lord Rafel, wants to be a magic wielder. As she learns magic and grows in strength, she is unaware that she is being hunted by the greatest wielder in the world. The second story is about a ward of Rafel's, named Blade, who becomes an infamous assassin and works for the king. The king sends Blade to kill Rafel and Carol, but he warns them to flee instead. Blade wanders, to escape the king's justice, but finds himself in his own adventure. Category : Fiction, fantasy, possibly YA Why I chose this book : Kindle First My personal opinion : I really enjoyed the story line, the world the author created, and the depth of the characters. It was easy to lose myself in the story. I also really appreciate that the story is "clean" - no bad language, no sexual situations, etc. I feel comfortable recommending this to my teenage children. Warnings Language: none Violence: fairly frequent fighting "Adult...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Keeper by Suzanne Woods Fisher

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers) Story follows the Lapp family, an Amish family in new England, their challenges, growth, and relationships developed with the new housekeeper and beekeeper who have become part of their household, especially the relationship of Julia with Rome (the beekeeper), a traveling unattached "drifter" that resides in stony ridge part of each spring/summer. Category Christian fiction Why I chose this book It showed up on the suggestions page of my library digital borrow/lend site, and it looked like a love story. Other cultures (like Amish) interest me. I knew it would be a safe read love story. My personal opinion (the review) I really enjoyed the love story. It was also interesting to read about an Amish family. It had a lot of spiritual references in the thoughts of the characters and I liked that.  Warnings (language, violence, "adult" situations, death, etc.) No "bad" stuff, but yes death. (I was grateful for the ...
Post a Comment
Read more