The Lorien Legaices #1: I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

I first heard of this title as a movie, but I gave the book a rating of five out of five. "John Smith" and eight other gardes escape from their planet, Lorein, and go into hiding on Earth. Their planet has been invaded by Mogadorians who intend to kill all of the inhabitants and take all of the planet's resources. Earth is the Mogadorians next target. The gardes will develop legacies, or special powers, while on Earth which will hopefully make them strong enough to defeat the enemy. Due to some special protection, the Mogadorians are only able to kill the gardes in numerical order as long as the gardes are separate from each other. John and his guardian move to Paradise, Ohio, to go into hiding and wait for John's legacies to develop. Of course, John makes friends with a diverse group of humans, but he must try to hide his secret identity and powers from them. His presence endangers the humans, but John has never had close friends before. What will he do when the Mogadorians discover his location?

The plot jumped into the action immediately as the third garde was killed in the opening pages. I enjoyed John's character as he tried to balance his need to survive with his need for friendship and love. The plot held my interest very well, and I ended up reading the book in one day. While training with his guardian, John often had flashbacks to his early life on Lorein which might confuse readers who aren't paying attention. John also had a budding romance with Sarah, so readers may be turned off if they're not willing to accept frequent hugging and kissing. Overall, I really enjoyed the book, and I'm hoping to get my hands on the sequel, The Power of Six.

Skyship Academy: The Pearl Wars by Nick James

This book is the first in a new series (2011), and I gave it a rating of five out of five. In the year 2095, Earth's environments and governments have changed after a horrific, devastating world war. Jesse Fisher lives above the planet with his friends in the Skyship Academy, other people live near big cities on the Surface, and everyone else lives in wasteland outside the cities. People living above the Earth are not allowed to come down to its surface, and the large cities are run like fortresses. The key energy source during this time period is pearls, balls of energy that fall from space, and Earth's inhabitants fight over them. Jesse nearly dies during a mission to retrieve pearls when he falls from a twelve-story building. Cassius, the boy who made Jesse fall, is unaware that Earth's future depends on these two boys. Jesse seems to be the least likely person to hold the key to survival in his hands. Literally.

The action opened quickly on page one with Jesse dangling from a rooftop. The plot and conflict seemed to be pretty clear as the different characters fought over pearls and planned secret missions. However, little hints started popping up that there was more going on than first thought. Jesse and Cassius had undiscovered powers that they weren't able to control, while the people around them had secrets and weren't always trustworthy. I was a little bothered at how the verb tenses changed in different chapters, and I'm not certain why it was done. That's the language arts teacher in me, but I'm looking forward to the sequel. It was a new, well-written science fiction novel.

Matt Cruse #1: Airborn by Kenneth Oppel

I gave this book a rating of four out of five. Matt Cruse works on a luxury airship that travels around the world. One year after rescuing a delirious man in a hot-air balloon, Matt meets the man's granddaughter, Kate, who is trying to find the strange flying creatures described in the man's journal. The airship is hijacked by pirates, and their damaged airship is forced to land on an unmapped island. Matt and Kate explore the island and discover a very unusual skeleton. It's large teeth indicate it was a dangerous animal, but can these creatures actually be alive. The plot takes off from there in a twisting adventure full of action, and more pirates!

It's an interesting conflict and plot, but I would have liked the action to move a bit quicker. The first half of the book held my interest, but I kept wanting more to happen. The plot picks up significantly once the pirates attack, and I enjoyed the surprises that followed. Kate's impulsiveness gets her into trouble but also leads to several interesting discoveries.

Tut, Tut by Jon Scieszka

This book is the sixth in The Time Warp Trio series, and I gave it a rating of three out of five. Joe's sister accidentally opens The Book, and they are transported to ancient Egypt along with Joe's friends, Sam and Fred. The boys are accused of robbing a pharaohs tomb, but they discover the high priest is trying to steal some of the treasure. The boys are rescued by the Pharaoh's son, but they must still prove their innocence to his father. They've also lost The Book and Joe's sister, so they are unable to return to the present.

This book can be finished quickly by most readers. It has an interesting plot with a basic vocabulary, so it's an easy-read. Since it's a very short book, the plot is pretty simple and easy to follow. However, the climax ends up being one of my pet peeves. I hate when the conflict is resolved by the characters waking up, or in this case, when the characters return to the present. The resolution tries to explain what happened, but it's not the same as describing the action.

Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George

This book was recommended by one of my students, and I gave it a rating of five out of five. Creel comes from a poor family, so it is decided that she will be captured by a dragon, rescued by a handsome prince, and then live richly ever after. However, she strikes a deal with the dragon and receives a pair of blue shoes instead. She heads off to the King's Seat in hopes of using her sewing and embroidery skills to find a job. Another dragon named Shardas saves her from some thugs, and she becomes the dragon's friend. He hints that there is something very special about her blue shoes, but Creel doesn't realize their full power until they're stolen by an evil princess from a rival country. The power of the shoes may lead to the downfall of the kingdom, and Creel may be the only person who can stop it.

Creel was an interesting character as she transformed from a fair maiden into the heroine of the kingdom. She used her skills, her mind, her bravery, and the goodness of her heart to help achieve greatness. The plot offered many character conflicts, a number of action scenes, and a budding romance. The climax had a very unexpected twist, and the resolution left the door open for the sequel, Dragon Flight.

Sidekicks By Jack Ferraiolo

This book has a fun plot, and I gave it a rating of five out of five. Scott is a normal middle-school boy, except for the fact that he's also a superhero named Bright Boy. He's a sidekick to the main superhero named Phantom Justice, and they spend most of their time fighting their arch enemies, Dr. Chaos and Monkeywrench. When he's not worrying about his enemies stealing top secret inventions, Scott is trying to adjust to life at school. Bright Boy's tight-fitting outfit reveals some physical changes as he goes through puberty, and it becomes very embarrassing when pictures hit the television and Internet. These events add to the difficulty of hiding his secret life, and it's not until later in the book that Scott discovers the identify of his true enemy.

The idea of the plot sounds kind of goofy, but it was entertaining. There was a lot of action and a good deal of character development. A subplot develops into a Romeo and Juliet story, and the conflict twists in an unexpected way. The author added frequent humor through the dialogue as the foes exchanged standard, superhero comments, and Scott tried develop his first real relationship. As long as readers don't take it too seriously, I think most of them will enjoy the book. The author left the door open for a sequel too.

Reckless by Cornelia Funke

I gave this book a rating of four out of five. Jacob Reckless passes back through a mirror into a world of dwarfs, witches, and Goyl, creatures made of stone. However, this time his younger brother, Will, also passes through with his girlfriend. The Goyl king's wife, a powerful witch, puts a spell on Will that is slowing turning him to jade. Will, as the jade Goyl, will make the king immortal. Jacob must find a way to stop the spell before his brother completely changes and forgets about his past. In addition, the Goyl king plans to marry the daughter of the human empress to bring peace to that part of the land. Jacob discovers that the only way he can save his brother is to face the evil witch. No one has ever challenged her, and lived.

I found the exposition of the plot a little confusing. It may have been the strange names and creatures. The plot and conflict became clearer, and the author did a nice job of developing the suspense. The slow-working spell was like a time bomb, and many obstacles were created to stop the characters from saving Will. Some of the obstacles were in the form of fights while others were more magical. Fantasy lovers should enjoy the story.