The Call (The Magnificent 12 Book 1)

The Call (The Magnificent 12 Book 1), by Michael Grant (2010), is one of the best books I've ever read! It falls into the top five most favorite books of my life! It combines the outrageous, the impossible, the amazing, and the hilarical into one thing. It's a fantasy book gone mad!

A very ordinary kid named Mack gets himself in hot water with his school's head bully, Stefan. When Stefan accidentally punches his fist through thick glass (instead of Mack's head, as planned), Mac ends up saving him from bleeding to death. Stefan decides to take Mack under his wing....and then Grimlock, a weird guy, old and stinky who sort of looks like like a ghost, appears and things start going nuts. This old guy has plans for Mack, plans that involve defeating an ancient evil that was imprisoned for three thousand years...the Pale Queen!!! aka the Dreaded Foe!!!

So Mack, with his bodyguard, Stefan, are whisked off on an airplane to Australia...but things go wrong (in an ancient evil returning sort of way), and the boys are almost killed. Will the spell Mack learned from Grimlock save them, or will one of Mac's phobias come true, and he'll get eaten by sharks? Find out in THE MAGNIFICENT 12 THE CALL!

Grimlock's story about his fight with the Pale Queen is told in separate chapters, and it was sometimes a bit confusing. But that was the only thing wrong with the book.

I recommend this for all kids my age! A very good choice if you are in a local bookstore and have the money to buy it!

There's also a cool website, with games and information about the characters and places and objects--here it is.

Lego Star Wars Visual Dictionary

The Lego Star Wars Visual Dictionary (DK 2009) is a giant compendium of lego Star Wars models (duh--kind of obvious from the title). In this book you can find your favorite characters, ships, droids, and tons of other stuff you never knew had become lego! (and probably never needed to know). All the podracers from Episode 1 became legos, there are more bounty hunters than I knew existed...and so much more. There's lots of Star Wars information, and, of course, lego information alongside each model pictured.

My brother and I have spent hours browsing through this books-it's one of our favorites! And each book comes with a minifigure--we got and Episode 4 Luke!

It's a Secret! by John Burningham

It's a Secret! (2009), written and illustrated by John Burningham, is an excellent picture book. It's about a cat whose name is Malcolm. Usually he slept during the day, and every night he went out. One day, Marie Elaine, Malcolm's owner, wanted a drink of water in the night. So she went down stairs and found that her cat was dressed in handsome clothes! He was going to a party, and he invited Marie Elaine to come. She became small enough to fit through the cat flap, and off they went. Then Norman, a little boy in the neighborhood, saw them, and came along to the party too!

But, to get the party, they had to make it past the mean old dogs...and they did! And that's all I'm going to tell you, because I don't want to spoil the story!

It's silly and magical and fun! Nothing is explained...which room for a lot of imagination!

I like the story better than the illustrations--the illustrations look too much like a kid's drawings for me.

THE mostly TRUE ADVENTURES of HOMER P. FIGG

THE mostly TRUE ADVENTURES of HOMER P. FIGG, by Rodman Philbrick (The Blue Sky Press, 2009)

Told in the first person, from Homer's point of view (but not a diary).

Homer and Harold Figg--two orphans, living with their mean old uncle, Squinton Leach, who hates everything, thinks people are better when they're gloomy, and keeps the boys in the barn, likes animals. While Homer and Harold are feeding the pigs, Homer decides to take a piece of the stale crust for himself. When Leach sees this, he goes into a fury. Harold stands up for his little brother, and tells Leach that he feeds the hogs better then them.

So Harold gets sold to the Union Army illegally, and is sent off to fight in the Civil War. Homer runs away to find his brother, and on that adventure he faces slave hunters, guardian fail, even more guardian fail, a medicine show full of treachery and deceit, and the War itself!

This is a great book if you want a bit of action combined with history. If Homer was in my school, I'd automatically want him to be my friend--he's someone who gets things done the right way, but sometimes he has no idea where the train will turn...

This was one of my summer reading books, and I'm making a power point about. Great read! I suggest that everyone read it, because it might well become a classic (and in fact it was a Newbery Honor book).

My brand new wii!

On Monday I got a brand new Nintendo wii for my birthday, and ever since we've got it, the amount of time spent playing on the computer and watching tv has plummeted! I like a lot better because it is a lot more active, and everyone in the family likes. So it's a good thing to have.

I also got books, and an egg drop kit--I've read them all (reviews coming some). Even though I was playing the wii...Time these days. It seems to have loose ends...

(I haven't had a chance to build the egg protector yet. Perhaps tomorrow).

Ragtag, by Karl Wolf-Morgenlander

Ragtag, by Karl Wolf-Morgenlander (2010, Clarion, 226 pages)

Ragtag is a swallow who lives in Boston. He's one of the members of a group of birds called the Feathered Alliance. I won't tell you much about the Alliance, because I don't want to spoil the book. But I'll tell you a little--the Alliance is a group of non-predatory birds, led at first by the great owl Hoogol (even though he's a carnivore, he doesn't eat other birds).

The Talon Empire (raptors) is attacking Boston! The other clans of birds are trying desperately to defend themselves. Ragtag goes from an outsider to the leader of the Feathered Alliance, and using his quick wit, stubborn personality, and a few tricks (in the form of eagles!), helps his friends win the war.

I loved this book because of Ragtag's personality (he reminds of my little brother--he's very stubborn, and even annoying). It's a great book for anyone eight and up. High quality action.

I can't quite visualize what the human residents of Boston made of the whole thing--some were good, some were bad, and they all posed problems to the birds. But more to the Talon Empire....

A Nest for Celeste, by Henry Cole

A Nest for Celeste, by Henry Cole (2010, HarperCollins) is about a mouse looking for a home.

Celeste is a mouse; to be precise, a basket-maker mouse. She lives in a hole in the side of the dinning room wall. Her only company is the big black cat (who wants to eat her!) and two rat bullies--not much company there! Then one day when she is out foraging, she is chased up the stairs by the cat, into a room, and under the bed....there she finds a boot in which to make a home, and she makes it comfortable with a sock and some leaves.


That morning a man named Joseph finds her there, and makes her his pet. As Celeste finds out, Joseph is a very good friend. Joseph paints birds, but instead of doing it the way his master does (he takes dead birds and pins them up), Joseph likes to paint from real life.

In her adventures with Joseph, Celeste meets a bird called Cornelius, an osprey named Lafayette, and she goes through floods, death-defying chases, and another nasty encounter with the rats. Her basket making skills come in useful....

And in the end, Celeste has a home (a lovely one!). And that is what she wanted.

This is one of my all time favorite books. It is really moving. I cared a lot about Celeste. The illustations were great too. If you have ever read The Invention of Hugo Cabret, it is sort of like that, because it is both pictures taking up whole pages, and also a lot of writing.

Guess who Joesph's teacher is! (he's the most famous bird painter in America....he has a society named after him...and his name starts with "a").