Tag: Reading

The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull

I did’t know what I expected for this book, but I was taken for a totally unexpected.  The first series I read from Brandon Mull was Fablehaven. I loved it.  I loved the world within a world, the magical creatures, the adventures, the characters.  The whole family gave up evening TV time so I could read the series aloud to them.  So I watched for other books written by Mull.  The Beyonders was well worth the read.  The last book in the Five Kingdoms series was released in March, so I will probably read that series here in the near future.  What I am trying to get at is…I thought I knew what I was getting into.  SURPRISE!!!

Content

This book was full of magic and mayhem.  Instead of a world within a world, or an alternate dimension, all of the magic happens in the sleepy little town of Colson, California.  When a new candy shop comes to town, four children find that candy can be more than just a sweet treat.  It is magical in every way.  Moon Rocks make them light as air.  Shock Bits fill their bodies with electricity.  Gum enhances your perception and performance, jawbreakers make you unbreakable.  Magic in every bite.

But two competing confectioners behind these sweet treats have ulterior motives for peddling their magical wares.  In search of a treasure that will make a magician all powerful, they enlist the help of children to do their dirty work.  Why children?  Because they are the only ones susceptible to the magical powers of these treats.  How does all of this mayhem go unnoticed by the rest of the town?  Just give out free samples of a highly addictive, mind numbing fudge.  Can anyone stop these magicians?  Is there hope for the children caught in the middle?

Recommendation

I give this read 8 out of 12 dozen rolls.  Charlee (age 9) couldn’t get through the first two chapters (but she has a hard time finishing any book so take that with a grain of salt).  I didn’t think it was a slow start at all.  It was fun and adventurous.  But man, these 10 year old little kids were put in quite the pickle.

The adventurous story deserved a higher recommendation.  However, I didn’t like that the adults were exploiting children and their natural instinct to trust.  Every bad decision made by the four children was because they trusted an adult or searched out an adult to help them.  That negative relationship warranted only 8 of 12 rolls.  I would have loved this book as a child.  As a mom…  Let’s just say, I hope my kids…”Don’t Take Candy From Strangers!”

Book Review:

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (Book Three in the Song of the Lioness Series) by Tamora Pierce

I actually finished this one weeks ago.  However, my full time construction job on top of motherhood leaves me very little computer time.  But here is my review of the third book in this saga. (And I mean that in the sense that the series is becoming a little long winded with only a few dramatic events.)

Content

Now that she has won her knighthood and defeated the sorcerer who threatened the peace of the kingdom, Sir Alanna of Trebond seeks adventure in the deserts of Tortall.  She defeats a band of robbers but breaks her sword irreparably.  In a strange twist of fate she is adopted by the desert Bazhir tribe, the Bloody Hawk, and becomes their Shaman.  And this is where the majority of the book takes place.

As Shaman, Alanna improves her own magic skills and trains apprentices, two girls and a boy.  Alanna spends much of her knighthood defending the rights of women in a male dominated culture, as opposed to seeking out adventure.  There is not a distinct antagonist in this book.  Instead, this books seems to be a sort of coming of age story for Alanna.  She continues her search for love and acceptance, while turning down a marriage proposal, and mastering her Gift.

Recommendation

I give Book Three 3 out of 12 buttered rolls.  This could be the “Empire Strikes Back” installment of this series but really, I was left totally underwhelmed.  There is so much drama.  I’m talking femi-nazi, “Girls can do anything boys can do,” “A family will kill my career,” “Anyone who supports a patriarchal society is enslaving women,” type feminism.  It got old, and without a specific antagonist or quest to focus on, it got old fast.  Don’t get me wrong, I do like the idea of a female heroine.  I encourage my daughters to be anything they want to be.  But between the what-am-I-going-to-do-with-my-life drama and the men-hate-strong-women femi-nazi propaganda, I am left hoping there is a “Return of the Jedi” finish to this series.  Here’s hoping for the best.

 

Three Against Hitler by Rudi Wobbe and Jerry Borrowman

I don’t usually read non-fiction books but this one makes three in a row.  I always liked historical fiction books, because I could learn the history while being entertained.  In fiction the satire used as social commentary is often much more enjoyable than reality.  But Jax suggested Josh read Three Against Hitler, so I thought I would try it after he was done.  The hardest part about reading this book was knowing that it really happened just the way it said.

Style

Three Against Hitler follows your basic autobiography or even a memoirs format.  With the help of Jerry Borrowman, Rudi Wobbe tells the story of his life.  The title felt a little deceiving to me though.  If you are a history buff you may know the name Helmuth Huebener.  Although Helmuth plays a vital role in the events of the book, it is not his story.  I wanted the book to follow all three of the boys more closely (in fact there was a fourth boy who is mentioned throughout and I wonder why it was not Four Against Hitler).  A third party documentary would have been able to do that better.  But this is Rudi’s story and he tells of things from his own first hand knowledge.

Content

Brief history lesson.  Helmuth Huebener, Rudi Wobbe, and Karl-Heinz Schuibbe were three LDS teenagers at the start of WWII.  They witnessed the atrocities committed by the Nazi’s on a very personal level, as friends and church members were attacked for various reasons.  But unlike many who accepted the propaganda or suffered in silence, these three spoke out against the regime.

Helmuth and Rudi listened to BBC News Reports and distributed flyers contradicting Nazi propaganda.  Helmuth’s contempt for Hitler was blatant as he wrote flyers entitled, “Hitler the Murderer” and “Only Hitler is the Guilty One.”  Helmuth and Rudi recruited others to help spread their anti-Nazi flyers.  Unfortunately, they were ultimately caught and that was just the beginning.  Four young men, three under the age of 17, were charged with “Preparation to High Treason and Aiding and Abetting the Enemy.”  All four were found guilty to one degree or another, and sentenced as adults.

---

“In the movies the story always ends at a dramatic moment like this.  But time goes on for the living.  So it did for me.”
–Rudi Woobe

---

The rest of the book follows Rudi’s imprisonment, liberation by the allies, and life after the war.  Rudi showed great faith and gratitude amid his trials.  He lived a life dedicated to truth and personal freedom.  I cried as he recounted reentering one of the prisons 40 years later.  It is because of people like Rudi that evil is kept at bay.

Recommendation

I give this book 10 out of 12 buttered rolls.  My only real criticism is that I wanted more detail, more history, more facts about each of the individuals involved.  However, it is a wonderful account of young men who are willing to think and act for themselves.  These are the type of young men I want my boys to look up to.

The Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss

I am trying to improve my free time.  What better way to improve my free time than to read more?  It is a little difficult to read with multiple children crawling over me and vying for my attention.  That’s okay, this super woman can do it all.  And so I will be giving brief book reviews as I complete each book.  (Don’t expect them too often, but as long as I am encouraging my kids to read more this summer, I will too.)

This week I finished The Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss and I would highly recommend it.  Suggested for 8-12 year old readers, it was insightful for adults as well.

Introduction by the author

“This book is about my life, or rather part of my life, the part that took place in Holland during the Second World War.   In this book I have gone back to those years when I was a child, and Jewish, and therefore undesirable, when I had to hide from the Germans.

I have not tried to write a historical book, although it may have some historical value.  What I did try to write was a simple , human book, in which my sister an I suffered and complained, and sometime found fault with the Gentile family that took us in for a few years, in which the members of that family were not heroes but people, with strengths and weaknesses.           -Johanna Reiss”

STYLE

I had a hard time with the book’s literary style.  It is neither a “diary” nor a story with proper dialogue.  It isn’t even written in a “my memory” format.  Instead, the author writes in first person, and mixes thoughts and dialogue in a confused and vague manner.  However, once I familiarized myself with this slightly confusing style, I became enthralled with the message.

Content

The book roughly covers a four year period beginning in 1940 when Germany invaded Holland.  The narrator, Annie de Leeuw, is 8 years old when the German occupation puts her Jewish family in danger.  After two years, they separate and go into hiding.  Annie (now age 10) and her older sister, Sini (20), head to a farming community together and spend the next two years hiding upstairs.

The book is fairly uneventful, although tension mounts when the Nazi’s move their headquarters downstairs.  Even so, the author draws the reader into the world she experienced and had hoped to forget.  I found myself wondering how I would do in a similar circumstance.  Would I be brave and defiant?  Or weak and fearful?

The author genuinely moved me.  I ached for these young girls who never got to go outside to play, never got to make friends, and who had so little exercise that their muscles atrophied.  I felt their hopelessness as each season passed with no sign of deliverance.  And when the Allies finally arrived and liberated their village, the author does a marvelous job of helping me feel the girl’s trepidation to leave the house after such a long confinement.

As I read I found myself constantly stopping and asking Jax: “What would this be like?  If you could only have one book while in hiding, what would it be?  Can you imagine two months in bed just to stay warm and undetected?  How would it feel to just leave the house after such a long isolation?  How would it be to find out your neighbors had hidden Jews for two years?  What would it be like…”

Recommendation

I give The Upstairs Room 10 out of 12 buttered rolls.  It is a thought provoking book and the content is presented in an appropriate manner for children.  However, I suggest you read it before offering it to your child so you are able to discuss it together.  And be aware it is not in an easy to read, “novel” format.