TAB Reviews

LA writes:
-- "The Blue Djinn of Babylon" by P.B. Kerr. This is definitely a worthy sequel to the “Akhenaten Adventure”, explaining the many adventures of two young djinn, John and Philippa. This time, Philippa is kidnapped, and John and his Uncle Nimrod must attempt to find her. But this is not easy – she turns out to be in the palace of the Blue Djinn of Babylon, a famously indifferent djinn who sees Good and Evil as dangerously close to the same thing – and wants Philippa to be her successor! Once again, each of the twins travel across the globe, searching and solving puzzles. This series really makes you think – which I love.
-- "Gregor and the Marks of Secret" by Suzanne Collins. I liked this series a lot at first – particularly the character of Boots, who I find absolutely adorable – but as the series has gotten darker so has my attitude toward it. This particular book is undoubtedly meant to be a World War Two parallel, what with the mice in the gas chambers and the Bone (the rat that Gregor saved in a previous book) sweet-talking them into doing these horrible things. Having read this book at a time when I was in fact studying World War Two in school, this sounded cheesy and clichéd to me immediately. Maybe Suzanne Collins found this “deep” material, but I thought it was sick, disgusting, and just plain dumb. I think that Collins should go back to what she is best at – writing fresh, *original* pieces.
-- "The Wall and the Wing" by Laura Ruby. This book chronicles the story of a girl named, rather obviously, Gurl. She lives in a world where most people – called “Wings” are able to fly, most a few inches above the ground. Gurl can’t – she eventually learns that she is a Wall – she can become invisible. Later, she becomes friends with a boy called Bug, due to his odd facial expression. Gurl finds a kitten – rare for this world – on one of her excursions. But later, the head of the orphanage captures it so that Gurl will steal for her, invisible. Gurl and Bug concoct several plans to change this, and learn several awful truths along the way. Untrustworthy monkeys, an evil, conniving father, a long lost family, a pen with magical properties, and a professor with hair of grass all make an appearance. "The Wall and the Wing" is definitely one of the most original stories I have read in an extremely long time, not to mention full of wonderful writing. This is a fantastic book that anyone could read and enjoy.
-- "Fly by Night" by Frances Hardinge. "Fly by Night" is a terrific book that tells about the venturer of Mosca Mye, a poor girl who changes her life by becoming a servant to the conman Eponymous Clent. In Mosca’s world, people are utterly fearful of an unknown guild of people called the “Birdcatchers” and try to calm themselves by praying to one of their many gods that corresponds with their names. Mosca’s means “the housefly” – therefore she prays to Goodman Palpitattle, a recurring icon in the book. However, Moscda is a suspicious person – throughout the book she spies, watches, and examines countless people and situations. This book is extremely unpredictable, so it keeps the reader curious throughout its entirety. I absolutely loved this book.
-- "Pure Dead Batty" by Debi Gliori. I loved the first two books in the “Pure Dead” series, but by the time “Pure Dead Brilliant” came around, this series had started going downhill. This book chronicles Titus, Pandora, and Damp going on a desperate search for their nanny, Flora MacLachlan. In the previous book, she had gone missing – I was too bored to remember why. Thre are still the usual beasts in this book – and Nestor is enjoyable, as usual, -- but there just isn’t enough material to keep me interested. I hope that someday Debi Gliori writes a better addition to the series – something that *explains* the connections we’ve been seeing in the past three!
-- "Charlie Bone and the Hidden King" by Jenny Nimmo. An absolutely thrilling conclusion to the widespread “Children of the Red King” series, this book’s only fault is the loose ends that weren’t tied up. (However, this does not matter so much to me, because a recent search on Amazon.com shows me a new book about Charlie’s world coming out in a few months!) This being so, the story tells about what happens this time when Charlie Bone returns to Bloor’s Academy for another term. It is discovered that a suspicious tree is really the red kind, disguised, and Charlie need to find a way to release him, because the notorious “Yewbean Aunts” are plotting something … and Charlie needs to know what. Characters are, as always, memorable, and Charlie, as always, succeeds. I absolutely cannot wait for the next book – even if it’s clichéd, even if it’s borderline plagiarism (which I doubt) … this series is wonderful.
-- "Caddy Ever After" by Hilary McKay. I *LOVED* this book sooooo much – this series is completely amazing – unlike anything I have ever read and fantastically BRITISH. In "Caddy Ever After", the story is told from the point of view of each of the four main characters, where their part fits in. In previous books, everything was told from the third person. I think I enjoy Rose’s part the best, because of the original way she thinks and acts – but I also love reading about Saffy – I don’t sympathize with her as much any more, but I still love it – and of course Indigo and Caddy. In this tale, Caddy is getting married, Saffy is cheering up sick best friend Sarah, Indigo is in love, and Rose is just … Rose. Obviously Eve and Bill are there to make everything more complicated, and then there are the matters of Tom and Michael – I can’t explain everyting here – READ THE BOOK!
-- "The Pinhoe Egg" by Diana Wynne Jones. A new installment in Diana Wynne Jones’ excellent “Chrestomanci” series, the Pinhole Egg describes the happenings of Marianne Pinhoe and Cat Chant (a recurring character). Marianne’s grandmother has gone insane, and her family’s spells – all illegal! -- are flying around absolutely everywhere. Marianne gives Cat a large, golden egg and that’s when things start to happen … I love this book, because obviously it’s part of a great series, but also because of the amazing detail involved in it. Diana Wynne Jones allows me to really *see* everything that is going on in the book. When it is over you really feel that you *know* the characters. And of course, it is sad to leave them.

TS writes:
-- "Curse of the Bane" by Joseph Delaney. The second book in the Las Apprentice series. Tom Ward continues his apprenticeship with Gregory the Spook. This time he travels to Priestown where there are, you guessed it, a lot of priests. In Priestown they confront the Bane. Another tale of magic & evil demons, Joseph Delaney give readers a truly spooky book. However, I personally wouldn’t subject this to the faint hearted readers, it is truly frightening.

CK writes:
-- "Rash" by Pete Hautman. Even though this book takes place in the Future (which is cool), Pete Hautman makes the book seem very boring. I didn’t even want to finish the book because it was that boring. 2 thumbs down.
-- "Chasing the Jaguar" by Michele Dominguez Greene. This is an extremely exciting book that keeps you on the edge of your seat. It’s a great mystery book. I also like how the author includes Spanish words which really helped me practice my Spanish and learn new words.

CM writes:
-- "The Wall and the Wing" by Laura Ruby. I thought the plot moved along, and I could relate to the characters.

JV writes:
-- "My Almost Epic Summer" by Adele Griffin. Really funny! Irene has big dreams for starting her own hair salon, but she is always messing up at her mother’s hair salon. When she goes to babysit 2 kids for the summer she meets an extremely pretty girl and a dude from her elementary school. This is a really exciting book that you won’t be able to put down.
-- "The Wright 3" by Blue Balliet. A really good mystery book. Really suspenseful. I advice to read "Chasing Vermeer", the first in the series first.
-- "The Fall of the Amazing Zalindas" by Tracy Mack. This was a very suspenseful mystery book. It was very exciting and a lot easier to understand than the regular Sherlock Holmes books.
-- "You Know You Love Me" by Cecily von Ziegesar. I have read the other ones in the Gossip Girl series and I think that this one was the best. It was kind of suspenseful and really funny.