Heroes of Olympus #1: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

This book is the first in a spin-off from the Percy Jackson series, and I gave it a rating of five out of five. Jason wakes up on a bus and cannot remember anything about his past. He is taken to Camp Half-Bloods along with his friends, Piper and Leo. It turns out they're all children of gods and goddesses, and they must go on a quest to save the world. There is a great force planning to destroy all of the gods and demigods, so the mysterious force can take over the world. Piper is destined to betray her friends, and the gods and demigods must work together to stop the force. Of course, there are prophecies and obstacles along the way that only make matters worse.

The style of this book is just like the Percy Jackson series. Actually, Percy is a missing character in this book, but Annabeth and Thalia are part of the plot. Leo adds a humorous angle to the story with his mischievous personality, but he's also able to create all kinds of machines. A big part of this plot, in case you're slow to notice the hints, involves the similarities and differences between Roman and Greek mythologies. This situation creates a conflict that I'm sure will be a main focus of the sequel.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

I gave this book a rating of four out of five. Conor's parents are divorced, and his father has moved to America. However, the biggest problem he's dealing with is his mother's battle with cancer. She has some good days, but most of them seem to find her tired and in pain. Then, the dreams start. Or are they dreams? The yew tree in the backyard starts to speak to Conor, and it tells him three stories that will teach him lessons about people, and himself. In the end, Conor must tell the tree a story, and it must be the truth. Conor's story will force him to face his most terrible fear and truth.

This story is not an uplifting, inspirational story. It's sad. Conor feels lost and alone with his dad away, his mom frequently in the hospital, and living with his strict grandmother. He's pushed away any friends he might have at school, and bullies enjoy tormenting him. All the while, Conor must try to accept the truth about his mother. I found the yew tree's stories interesting, because they didn't turn out the way Conor expected. The stories involved rewarding and punishing positive and negative characters, but it wasn't always easy to tell one from the other.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

This book won the Newbery Award, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. A one-year-old boy's family is murdered, and he finds refuge from the murderer in a cemetery. The ghosts of people buried there decide to protect him and raise him within the fences of the graveyard. Since no one knows his real name, he grows up being called Nobody Owens, or Bod for short. Bod is taught his lessons by various ghosts, and he learns some ghostly powers that come in handy. He makes some unapproved trips into the human world, and they all end up as problems. It's predictable that the murderer will return to kill Bod during the climax.

The idea of ghosts raising a child as their own was quite interesting. Bod was very happy living with them, but he became curious of the outside world. The adventures were entertaining, but the main conflict with the murderer seemed to be forgotten for too long. His return came later in the plot, and I would have liked to have seen it developed more. Overall, I enjoyed the book very much.

Lexile level from lexile.com is 820.

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

This book is a graphic novel, and I gave it a rating of three out of five.There are actually three plots in the book, but they all come together in the end. The first plot involves a monkey king who wants to be treated as a god. He's rejected because he's a monkey, and he does all he can to transform himself into something greater. The second plot describes a young boy of Chinese decent who strives to be accepted by his peers. He discovers that he likes a girl and is embarrassed to share his feelings because of his heritage. The third plot centers around an Ameican boy who has moved to a new school each year. Each spring, his Chinese cousin comes to visit his schools and behaves obnoxiously. As a result, the American boy must move after the teasing he takes from his classmates. Again, all of the plots unite in the end to form an interesting conclusion.

I'm not a huge graphic novel fan, so I'm reluctant to give them good scores. This books offers a valuable lesson to people to accept yourselves. Be proud of your heritage.

Lexile level from lexile.com is 530.

Alfed Kropp: The Seal of Solomon by Rick Yancey

This book is the second in a series, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. Alfred is called on again when the Seal of Solomon is stolen. The seal can be used to release all kinds of demons that have been imprisoned for three thousand years. Alfred is kidnapped by a rogue agent but escapes and ends up going to Egypt to help stop the demons. Unfortunately, the rescue team is too late, and the demons are unleashed on the world. The rogue agent planned to rule the demons, but he lost the seal that controls them. The demons now rule themselves, and there's no weapon on Earth that can stop them.

I put the first book in the series with the adventure books, but this book fits more into the fantasy genre. Alfred is a likable character and reluctant hero. He's amazed at how he can mess up but still have good things happen. Action scenes are mixed in throughout the plot, so they can help hold the interest of readers.

Time Riders: Day of the Predator by Alex Scarrow

This book was recommended by our school librarian, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. Liam, Maddy, Sal, and an artificial intelligence named Bob are in charge of keeping the correct version of history intact. They are able to travel into the past or the future to fix any events in history. In this book, Liam is sent into the future to save the life of a boy named Chan, a key person in the creation of time travel. However, in the process of saving Chan, there is a huge explosion that sends about a dozen people back in time to 65,000,000 B.C. The group needs to figure out a way to send a message to Maddy and Sal to let them know where/when they have been sent in history without leaving any evidence that might change the course of history. To make matters worse, the group must survive attacks by intelligent reptiles that work and communicate with each other and have the ability to learn. Some members of the group don't make it.

The beginning of the book was a little confusing as the setting jumped to several times in history. However, it quickly settled down to two settings and was easier to follow. This book requires some thought to follow the plot and keep things in order. The present-day characters are trying to figure out ways to find Liam and Beck, a female version of Bob, and other characters show as history seems to be altered. I guess this book is actually the second one in the series; the first book is called Time Riders.



The Always War by Margaret Peterson Haddix

This book is a dystopian novel, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. Tessa worships Gideon and is especially proud of him on the day he's to receive a medal for bravery in the war. However, Gideon refuses to accept the medal. Tessa decides to help him search for the truth about his heroic mission, and it involves flying a black-market plane across enemy lines. What they find only confuses them more, and with the help of a stowaway, Dek, the trio returns to the military headquarters for some answers. The truth is unbelievable and unimaginable.

The plot reminds me a bit of an old movie War Games, but it goes beyond that. I thought the trio were a little slow to catch on to the truth, but I guess it makes sense if you're whole view of the world is based on lies. I thought the ending was a little anti-climactic, but the novel was still very enjoyable.