Fablehaven Grip Of The Shadow Plague Book 3

Fablehaven Grip Of The Shadow Plague   Book 3 by Brandon Mull

In this Fablehaven, a dark plague begins to overtake the creatures of light within the preserve.  Kendra, Seth and their family must find out where the plague originated in order to stop it before Fablehaven falls to the creatures of darkness.  The family is also trying to find information about the Sphinx, once thought to be one of their greatest allies.  He may actually be the head of their greatest foe, the Society of the Evening Star.

This book has treasure hunting, dragons, demons, fairies, centaurs, satyrs......a huge variety of mythical creatures and lots of adventure.  I even shed more than one tear by the end........making this a pretty good book.

Rating 4  I read these to the kiddos.  It seems to take us a long time.  The kids really like them but I don't like them as much.  They are a fun family read and my kids like to read them on their own. My baby even likes to have these read to him.  Great gift books or books for kids that can read on their own.

Rating PG The family is in peril most of the time in this book.  The dark plague could be considered scary.  One member of the group that runs the preserve dies.  That is where I cried.........so did my four year old. 

Beastly

Beastly by Alex Flinn

I love fairytale retellings!  Beastly is a Beauty And The Beast from the viewpoint of the Beast.

Kyle is a rich fifteen year old attending a private school in NYC.  His father anchors the news and his mother left them when Kyle was little. 

Kyle is one of the biggest jerks I have ever read about.  He has an entitled outlook on life.  He cares only for appearance.  Kyle decides to play a prank on a new girl at school because he thinks she is ugly and probably not rich.  He asks her to homecoming.  Then he stands her up.  When he returns home after a night of partying and sex (at the age of fifteen) the girl/witch is waiting for him.  The witch tells Kyle that she is going to make his outside match his inside and before he knows it, he is a beast.  He is given two years to find a girl that will fall in love with him and kiss him despite his appearance.

This could have been a great book.  It is based on one of my favorite fairytales.  Instead it was teen smut.  I don't care if anyone thinks that it should be normal for a CHILD in ninth grade to have various sex partners, shack ups, their own limo, alchohol and all name brand clothing.  It isn't normal and shouldn't be portrayed that way.
The book would have been more credible had it contained characters that were at least in their twenties.  What does a child know about true love, having a woman in his bed, etc..........   Uh, nothing.
Each section of the book was prefaced with a chat room session.  It was lame.  I can see that it may have appealed to a very young teen, but it will really date the book in about no time.

And if we are lucky...............they just might make this trash heap into a movie.  I hope the screen writer does a better job than the author.

Rating 2  I will admit that even though this book should not be read by a young teen and therefore is really geared to NOBODY......I was still marginally entertained.
Rating R Teen sex.........young teen.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline

First off, fabulous illustrations!
Edward is a china rabbit that stands nearly three feet tall. He belongs to a child named Abilene Tulane. He has a wonderful wardrobe of expensive clothing. Abilene loves Edward. Edward however loves himself. His favorite time of year is winter, when the dark comes early. Edward likes to look at the window and instead of seeing outside, when it becomes dark he can see his own reflection. He thinks he is quite a sensational rabbit.
Abilene's grandmother Pellagrina sees through Edward. She knows he doesn't pay attention to anything except himself and his clothing. She knows he does not love Abilene back. One night just before Abilene is to set off on a ship with her parents, Pelligrina tells Edward and Abilene a warning fairytale.
Aboard ship Edward is accidentally thrown overboard. He sinks to the bottom of the sea. Nearly a year later he is washed to the surface and caught in a fishing net. Thus begins Edward's journey through the hands of many that will love him. As Edward is stripped of his fine clothing and comfort he comes to find that love is all he has left, and it is all that matters.
He lives with the fisherman and his old wife. He becomes a hobo and travels the country for years. Edward does brief time as a scarecrow. He is owned and loved by a sweet and dying four year old. Edward travels to a city with a small boy and becomes his puppet, helping him earn money for food. Edward is beaten and broken. He is given new life by a doll restorer and sits in a doll shop for many years. Finally the circle of life curves to meet itself and Edward is reunited with Abilene.
Edward witnesses love, loss, child abuse, death, evil hearts, heartless people, lost souls and comes to find he can feel love.
Rating 5 Heart wrenching! I cried just like I did the first time I read the Velveteen Rabbit when I was 8.
Rating G I say this is a clean read although there is an instance of child abuse (hitting). I still read this to my own children because I wanted them to understand the important message of the book.

Fairest

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

This book is by the same author as Ella Enchanted. It is a distant retelling of Snow White.
Aza and her family run an inn, the Featherbed. She was abandoned there as a newborn and the innkeepers raised her as their own. She doesn't look like the rest of her family. She is larger with dark hair. I think we are supposed to think of her as unattractive because she surely does.

Aza is asked by one of the guests of the Featherbed to accompany her to the wedding of the king. While there Aza meets the Prince Ijori and his dog. She also is asked by the new queen Ivi, to be her lady in waiting. Soon after the wedding, the king is injured and lies in a coma.

When Aza still lived with her parents, she taught herself to illuse. She can throw her voice and mimic any other sound. One day the Ivi overhears Aza illusing. This kingdom loves to sing. They use singing the same way that we would use prayer, or the way other kingdoms would have a ball. Ivi comes from another kingdom and is not gifted with a lovely voice, the way that most of the others around her are. Ivi asks Aza to illuse for her whenever she must sing in public.

Ivi is ruining the kingdom while the king is in his sickbed. Aza and Ijori are falling in love.

Aza tries to find a way to become beautiful. She finds a spell but it doesn't work. She looks in Ivi's mirror and sees what she would look like if she were beautiful.

Soon the secret is out. Ivi and Aza are found illusing. Ivi blames Aza. Just as the guards are to put Aza in jail, she drinks the potion that Ivi has. She becomes stunningly beautiful. She is imprisoned. She breaks free and finds one of Ivi's men ready to take her into the forest to save her. Aza realizes that the man is really sent to kill her. Aza is able to save his life when confronted by ogres. He takes her to some gnome caverns and leaves her. He returns to Ivi to tell her that Aza is dead.

Aza lives with the gnomes and finds out that she may have gnome blood in her. While in the caverns she learns to appreciate herself more. Ivi finds out Aza is alive and makes herself into a gnome. She tricks Aza into eating poisoned food. Aza is trapped between life and death and is transported and then trapped in Ivi's mirror. She also returns to her former unattractive self. Eventually she is able to break free and destroy the being in the mirror that has trapped her there.

The king recovers. He still loves Ivi despite what she has done to the kingdom and to Aza. He decides after three years he will turn the kingdom over to Ijori. The king and Ivi go into exile. Ijori and Aza marry and have children. Happy, happy, happy.

This was a fun book to read. Levine made up a lot of songs since these were singing people. Sometimes I felt like the story didn't flow very well, but overall I liked that Aza was able to come to see how valuable she was despite how she looked. She is able to have a full life and because she becomes the queen she is then thought of as stately instead of ugly. I found this to ring true as I thought about people I know that think themselves unattractive. I rarely think about what people look like. I pay more attention to the way they act and the way they treat others. If they are good people I always tend to think of them as attractive.

Rating 3.5 I really liked this and may read it again.........I just couldn't go any higher. I don't sing so the songs really threw me off and sometimes I felt like Aza's voice was confusing.
Rating G

The Prince of the Pond

The Prince of the Pond by Donna Jo Napoli, illustrated by Judith Byron Schachner

This is a retelling of The Frog Prince. Napoli has many other enchanting fairytale retellings, so I thought this was worth a try.
De Fawg Pin (The Frog Prince..........has a severe speech disorder since he isn't used to talking with such a huge froggy tongue) is found by a girl frog, just after he has been turned into a frog by the hag.
The story is told by the girl frog (eventually named Jade). She is a rather smart frog and takes Pin under her wing (frog leg) since he seems not to know anything about being a frog. She teaches him to hop, swim and eat! Pin also learns that frogs usually don't help each other. They are a happy species but not helpful. Things begin to change when Jade realizes that she really likes Pin. They make a ton of tadpoles, which Pin convinces Jade they need to care for........highly unusual for a frog to do..........once you are fertilized, you're on your own. They raise up 50 of their tadpoles in a well. One decides to stay with them..........Jimmy, named after Pin's father. Jade never figures out Pin is a prince and she thinks he is lying about having a family and remembering his father........and eating beef.
Eventually the hag returns and captures Jimmy. Now that Jade and Pin love their tadpoles, they can't let the hag eat him. They save Jimmy and return to their mating hole..........the well. Upon arrival they see a princess. She picks Jimmy up and is about to kiss him. Jade thinks the princess is going to eat her baby and emplores Pin to save their son. Pin jumps in the way and smooch!! He gets the kiss. The Fawg Pin disappears never to be seen again and in his place, a naked prince. The poor frog family and frog wife are left behind. Sad ending.
This is a great family read. It's cute and short (I read most of it while taking a bath after beddy bye). It also has great illustrations. Good lesson on family.
Rating 3.5 This is a good book, just not Napoli's best...........and honestly, I like happy endings.
Rating 5 Clean enough to read out loud to your little ones.

Possession

Possession by A.S. Byatt

This is a novel I originally picked up because it is was on my banned book list.......also the cover is amazingly gorgeous. It took me about 50 pages to even care what was happening, then I would deviate between engrossment and blind with boredom.
The book is a totally fictional account of two Victorian era poets being studied by two modern day scholars through letters written by the poets. Many parts of the book are amazing! It is amazing that Byatt was able to conjure up these two poets from imagination, plus their writings......some of which are terribly interesting.........some are hideously boring (I am possibly too daft to know any better). Byatt is also carrying off multiple story lines in multiple eras. I ended up enjoying the present day scholars more than the poets........R.H. Ash and Christabel Lamotte.
There are also completely fictitious fairy tales written by the Ash or LaMotte. These were superb. This book has been called a fabulous work of literature by others..........so I feel slightly stupid not enjoying it. As of yet I cannot complete the book. I will keep trying until the library comes calling. I have already started and finished 3 other books since the time I started reading this one.

Enchantment

Enchantment by Orson Scott Card



Card, better know for his sci-fi (Ender's Saga) has pulled off a lovely fairtale retelling. Enchantment is the story of Sleeping Beauty combined with Russian history and myths plus a lot of magic. Ivan and his parents leave Russia in the early 80's to seek a life in the U.S. On their way out they stop in the Ukraine to wait for passports and visas. They stay with relatives near the Carpathian Mountains. Ivan enjoys running which is strange for a boy of his age and background. As he is running through the forest he comes upon a clearing full of leaves, a sleeping woman, and something guarding the sleeping woman. In fear, Ivan turns and leaves. Years later he is still comsumed with thoughts of what he saw at the age of 10.
In 1992 Ivan returns to the homeland engaged to an American and ready to do work for his college dissertation on Russian fairytales. Just before his return to the U.S., Ivan visits his Ukrainian uncle. He decideds while he is there, he will put a rest to what he thought he saw years ago. Ivan finds the clearing, the princess and the bear that guards her. He is able to overcome the bear and kiss the girl.
Most of this story takes place after Sleeping Beauty (Katerina) wakes up. The now betrothed couple return to 9th century Russia where Katerina's village is in danger from the witch that enchanted her. Card is able to balance the viewpoint of multiple characters in various countries and times with incredible depth.
I so enjoyed the retelling........or rather what happened 'ever after'. I liked the historical aspect and the fact that Katerina and Ivan return to modern day American and we see how the differing cultures and times come together. The magic and fantasy are just enough that even if you aren't normally a Card lover you will still enjoy the novel. Coming from Slavic ancestry, this made me want to read the real Russian fairytales, which are supposed to be much more gruesome and tragic than our modern day ones.
Rating 5 Romance, magic, history and witches yum!
Rating PG 13 Some swearing, some violence, sexual language.