Sam knows that he and his friend Lloyd made a colossal mistake when they accepted the ride home. They have ended up in a dark mansion in the middle of nowhere with man who means to harm them. But Sam doesn't know how to get them out. They were trapped, then separated. Now they are alone. Will either of them get out alive? This gripping and hypnotic thriller will have you reading late into the night.
REVIEW:
This book was one of the few that I really loved. It was kind of violent, but I loved how realistic it was. I couldn't put it down, I stayed up late at night reading this book, I was involved in the story. Sam was the bravest 11-year-old ever. He would always find the smartest ways to get out of very rough situations. He was my favorite character in the whole book. The kidnapper was my LEAST favorite, he was very cruel to these boys, and pretty dumb all around. Lloyd was not as smart of Sam, but he knew how to make somebody laugh! I was thrilled to read this book. It was funny, it was freaky, and it made me laugh multiple times! It was a great read, Savita Kalhan did an amazing job!
YAY! Today we have the authors of The Goddess Girls Series here to talk about their books with us! About the book:
It's time for the annual Olympic Games, and the four goddessgirls are not happy--especially Artemis. Even though she's better at sports than most of the godboys, she can't compete because rules say the Games are boys-only. No fair!
Led by Artemis, Athena, Persphone and Aphrodite, the ladies of Mount Olympus hatch a plan to get Zeus to open up the games to everyone. Will they succeed--or end up watching from the sidelines again?
These classic myths from the Greek pantheon are given a modern twist that contemporary tweens can relate to, from dealing with bullies like Medusa to a first crush on an unlikely boy. Goddess Girls follows four goddesses-in-training - Athena, Persephone, Aphrodite, and Artemis - as they navigate the ins and outs of divine social life at Mount Olympus Academy, where the most priviledged gods and goddesses of the Greek pantheon hone their mythical skills.
Interview:
What has your writing experience been like, writing The Goddess Girls? Have you enjoyed it?
Writing Goddess Girls together is a blast. It’s so much fun that when the series comes to an end (and we hope that’s still a long way off), we might have a hard time going back to writing solo—at least when it comes to writing middle grade series. In fact, we’ve enjoyed writing together so much that we’ve signed on with our publisher, Aladdin, to write a brand-new Greek mythology-based series for ages 7 – 10. Heroes in Training will debut in August with Book #1: Thunderbolt of Doom.
As for Goddess Girls, after Medusa the Mean (April 2012), our very first Super Special, The Girl Games, will be out in July. The Super Special, which alternates chapters from the points of view of all four of our main goddessgirls, will be followed by Books 9, 10, and 11, which will star (in order) our “P” girls: Pandora, Pheme, and Persephone.
Which one of the Goddess Girls books has been your favorite so far?
Our favorite GG book is almost always the one we happen to be writing at the time. Seeing a story come to life from idea to finished printed (or electronic!) book is what thrills us as writers.
Do you have a favorite character?
We’re probably most fond of Athena. That’s because we both identify with her the most. Like her, we were both good students who liked to read a lot—a typical profile for most writers. Still, our favorite character changes depending on whose story we’re currently writing. We’ve grown rather fond of Artemis while working on Goddess Girls #7: Artemis the Loyal. We like that she’s so take-charge and brave, even when those traits sometimes work to her disadvantage. Truthfully, all of our goddessgirls are dear to our hearts.
What got you started writing these books?
It was Joan’s idea to do a mythology-based series set at a middle school. She’d always been a huge mythology fan. Suzanne quickly became one too in the process of writing the series. After we decided on our four BFF—Athena, Persephone, Aphrodite, and Artemis—we brainstormed other characters and teachers to populate Mount Olympus Academy.
Do you have any advice for young girls who want to be authors one day?
Certainly! This is from Suzanne’s author website. She was an elementary school librarian before she became a full-time writer, and used to teach writing with Grades 3 - 6:
• Read, read, read! Especially, read the type of stuff you want to write. Then write the type of stuff you like to read.
• Write about the things you know about and CARE about (through experience, reading, movies, research, etc.) If you aren’t passionate about your subject, how will you make your reader feel anything?
• Take risks: be honest, show your true feelings.
• If you’re blocked, try freewriting: to discover topics, to get yourself going, to help get past “stuck” points in a story or characterization.
• Let your first draft be as crummy as it needs to be--just get words onto paper. You can fix them up later. "The first draft is the writer’s clay." - Bruce Coville
• Don’t be afraid to throw large amounts of writing away. Cutting words--many times, pages of words--improves writing.
• Word choice: Use interesting verbs and specific nouns. Avoid adverbs and too many adjectives. Simple past tense is usually best.
• Learn how to give and take suggestions for improving a piece of writing. Writers need to know how their writing “comes across” to others. Readers can help by asking questions and pointing out places where they were confused, places where the action or dialogue seemed too “unbelievable,” places where things moved too slowly (or too fast), and, of course, places they especially liked.
• Write, write, write. Keep a journal. Try different kinds of writing: poetry, short stories, nonfiction, plays, picture book, essays, personal experience, etc. You get better at writing by learning the skills involved (the “rules”) and by WRITING. It’s the same kind of process as learning to play a musical instrument or a sport.
Thank you SO MUCH Suzanne and Joan! I've loved The Goddess Girls Series, and can't wait for more and more books!!
Reagan
Would you like to win a copy of Artemis the Loyal? Joan and Suzanne have graciously offered a giveaway for an autographed book, bookmark, and a simple beaded Goddess Girls necklace!! Just enter the form below!
Reading level: Ages 9 and up
Hardcover: 608 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Press; 1 edition (September 13, 2011)
Buy The Book: Amazon
NOTE: This book is in the past. NOTE OVER
Two stories, set fifty years apart; interwoven. One told through pictures and the other told through words.
The first story is of Ben, a young boy in the 1977 who just lost his mother and sets out to look for his father. The second story follows Rose, a young girl from 1927's New Jersey who sets out to look for her idol, a movie star.
Both children's search take them to New York City. Both children - deaf - are struggling to find what they are looking for in a world where hearing is normal and sometimes taken for granted. In a sense, they end up mirroring each other's search and face similar hardships. How their lives intertwine in the end, though I was able to guess, was still very bittersweet.
My Review
I liked this book because It's not too emotional, but it is at the same time and I like that. I also like it because Ben is not giving up. He travled miles on his own and he leaves his family just to see if this guy is his dad and he is my age (I think)!
I like it because Rose travels miles too, just to get her mom to notice her and spend time with her because her mom is a movie star.
My favorite characters are:
Ben: He is very cool because of what he did! (See My review above)
Rose: She is SOOOOOOOO AWESOME!!!!!!!!! (You will see in the book and My review above)
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio; Unabridged edition (September 21, 2010) Language: English ISBN-10: 1442334282 ISBN-13: 978-1442334281 Buy the Book: Amazon
Twelve-year-old Eva Nine has spent her entire life living in Sanctuary, an underground compound where she is cared for by the motherly robot, Muthr (Multi-Utility Task Help Robot). She's never met another human nor visited the surface and she longs to do both, dreaming of a world - and of the companionship and love to be found there - that she's only seen glimpses of on scraps of paper. When Sanctuary is attacked, Eva is forced to escape to the surface alone, where she soon finds that the reality of life there is more amazing and puzzling than she ever imagined. It is also far more dangerous.
Book Review
I really liked this book. It was AMAZING! I think that The Search For Wondla is in my top ten favorite books. If you like stuff like Harry Potter and the Tigers Curse Series, you will enjoy this book. The book was a little sad, so sad I almost cried. I think I would like to listen to the audio again or maybe actually read it next time. My favorite character was Eva, I liked how she was really brave, and because she is trying to find another human.
Audiobook Review
The reader Teri Hatcher, does really well on reading the story and she also does really well on the different characters. To me, she is the female, non-British Jim Dayle. Teri Hatcher is one of my favorite readers. I would give her 4 Crowns. That's how good I thought she was.
Audible Audio Edition Listening Length: 7 hours and 51 minutes Program Type: Audiobook Version: Unabridged Publisher: Harper Audio Audible.com Release Date: September 27, 2011 Ready by: Kirby Heyborne Buy the book:Audible | Hardcover
Once upon a time, Hazel and Jack were best friends. But that was before he stopped talking to her and disappeared into a forest with a mysterious woman made of ice. Now it's up to Hazel to go in after him. Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen," Breadcrumbs is a story of the struggle to hold on, and the things we leave behind.
ONE BOY. UNTOLD ENEMIES. A WHOLE WORLD TO SAVE.
IT'S GOING TO BE A LOOONG THREE DAYS.
Eleven years ago, a shattered band of ancient monster hunters captured an unimaginable evil and Phineas T. Pimiscule rescued his nephew, Sky, from the wreckage of that great battle. For eleven years, Sky Weathers has studied traps, puzzles, science, and the secret lore of the Hunters of Legend believing it all a game. For eleven years, Sky and his family have hidden from dark enemies while, unbeknownst to Sky, his uncle Phineas sacrificed everything to protect them.
For eleven years, Sky Weathers has known nothing of that day.
But on the eve of Sky's twelfth birthday and his family's long-awaited return to the town of Exile, everything changes. Phineas has disappeared, and Sky finds himself forced to confront the mysterious secrets he's denied for so long: why did his family leave Exile on that day so long ago? What, exactly, has Phineas been preparing him for? And, the biggest mystery of all, who is Sky really and why does everyone want to kill him?!
Featuring an action-packed plot that covers the gamut of every monster you've never heard of (not to mention weird powers and weapons made out of garbage), Return to Exile is brimming with boy and girl appeal and is a gem for reluctant young readers. And, with a diverse assortment of well-aged monster hunters in the cast, this series will be a hit with adults young and old as well. Recommended for ages 9+.
My Thoughts~
This. Book. Is. Epic. I know, for me, every book is, that's just the way I am. But seriously, this book is amazing. I haven't read that fast in ages. It took me about from the start of this week to yesterday afternoon, which is actually quite normal for me, but with school and homework and stuff I haven't read that fast since two years ago in sixth grade during class (Note: don't read during class). Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to talk about me, I'm trying to emphasize the amazingness of the book. I got completely sucked into this book, and I couldn't put it down for long. It has monsters and action and weapons, the works of an awesome adventure/action book. You definitely need to read this, after all the other ones I told you to read :P.
Fave Characters~
Sky Weathers: good at puzzles, has a person in the back of his mind, doesn't make friends easily. My kinda guy. He is my favorite character other than Hands, one of his friends that doesn't completely trust him until the very end, and Errand, the person I mentioned in the back of Sky's mind.
Hands: likes his privacy, dramatizing everything, and teen vampire romance novels. Love the guy. He is something else, and definitely one of the best characters in the whole book.
Errand: likes helping Sky with fights at school, takes Sky edgewalking, has been trapped and frozen in a prison for eleven years. He looks exactly like Sky, even has the same marks on his hand. Two white crescent moons in his palm that connect at the tips, surrounded by a black mark that looks like a wound that won't heal, it is also two crescent moons connected at the tips (The Hunter's Mark (white) and the cicatrix, or trix (black)).
The best monsters in this story are:
Echo: treelike, with big black wings like leather. Its branches can be like tentacles, or like branches, or like a shield around it. It does not have eyes, because the great monster hunter, Solomon Rose, gouged them out one by one.To survive a fight/encounter with one, attack the branches.
Shadow Warg: basically shadow wolf, since warg means wolf, and is pronounced with a v not a w. Weird huh? Anyway, they are the size of a Clydesdale, and made of shadow and darkness. They can move from shadow to shadow without being seen, like in the Percy Jackson books when Nico shadow travels. They are controlled by a Wargarou, the pack leader pretty much. These creatures, even the Wargarou, can appear human when they want to. To survive a fight/encounter with one, use silver, fire, or wolfsbane.
I couldn't not put the pics up, they are so awesome, even more than I imagined.
Katarina Bishop has worn a lot of labels in her short life. Friend. Niece. Daughter. Thief. But for the last two months she’s simply been known as the girl who robbed the greatest museum in the world. That’s why Kat isn’t surprised when she’s asked to steal the infamous Cleopatra Emerald so it can be returned to its rightful owners.
There are only three problems. First, the gem is owned by the most secure auction house in the world. Second, since the fall of the Egyptian empire and the suicide of Cleopatra, no one who holds the emerald keeps it for long, and in Kat’s world, history almost always repeats itself. But it’s the third problem that makes Kat’s crew the most nervous and that is simply… the emerald is cursed.
Kat might be in way over her head, but she’s not going down without a fight. After all she has her best friend—the gorgeous Hale—and the rest of her intrepid crew with her as they chase the Cleopatra around the world, realizing that the same tricks and cons her family has used for centuries are useless this time.
Which means, this time, Katarina Bishop is making up her own rules.
Heist Society and Uncommon Criminals are now the king and queen of my favorite list. The characters are so likeable, and they all have a sense of humor to just add a perfect touch to the books. This book was completely captivating and amazing! At first, though, the Bagshaws weren't there so it wasn't completely perfect, but it was close enough. I especially liked how there was a little more of a spark between Hale and Kat, and Gabrielle was trying to talk to Kat about Hale and how good they would be together. This time Kat has a little bit of a rebellious attitude. She goes against her uncle's word and heads off with Simon, Hale and Gabrielle to steal the Cleopatra Emerald, which is cursed, while the rest of their family is in Uruguay... or Paraguay, they confused me with their fighting about which one is which. Anyway, it was also fun to see the adversary as someone else, who is even harder to beat than Taccone was. Like in a game when you level up and get harder enemies.
The stuff I didn't like... probably that it was annoying to me how the bad guy was so smug about everything, especially when Kat's crew's plan didn't work. I can't think of anything else that was really bad or anything. I can never find bad stuff, it's like Andye is a mind reader, picking the books that I love and asking me to review them. :P
Okay so not much has changed since the last book in the category of fave characters. I still love the Bagshaws the best, and Kat. She is so awesome, how can anyone not like her? I have to say I like everyone, but those are just the absolute best.
My least favorites were Maggie, the bad character, she was breaking like, a million thief rules, just so she could be rich. I just didn't like her, I'm not sure why other than the reason listed before.
Overall, the book was awesome, it was real people, no magic, but it was from the thief's point of view. If you haven't read these books, you are missing out BIG TIME. You have to read them, like, right now.
Hardcover: 94 pages
Publisher: Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc (December 10, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1616331216
ISBN-13: 978-1616331214
Buy the book: Amazon Visit the site: kaistrand.com In a town of word weavers, Mary suffers through her third year of Novice Word Weaving. Mary thinks her troubles are over when she meets a gnome-elf who grants her a wish. But instead of weaving a better story, she's weaving strange yarn charms to accompany her still pathetic tales. Suggested age for readers: 9-12
This book was a really good book, I liked the way Kai wrote it. It was really cool how she made little story's throughout the book! I like the storyline, it is a short novel, but I thought it was really interesting! The Weaver is a really cute, fun book, I think that it is a boy/girl novel and the age for the book is 9-12. I liked it and I would read it again. I mean, I think you would like it, if you liked elves and magical creatures! The book was very well written and enjoyable. READ IT.
Reading level: Ages 10 and up Paperback: 320 pages Publisher: HarperCollins; Reprint edition (February 10, 2009) Buy the book:Amazon Three bears . . . one destiny
From the author of the nationally bestselling Warriors books comes a brand-new animal fantasy series. Three young bears from different species—black, polar, and grizzly—are separated from their families when they are just young cubs. They find themselves brought together on a perilous journey. Fate is about to change all these bears lives forever, setting their paws on a path toward a future they cannot yet imagine . . .
Audible Audio Edition Listening Length: 8 hours and 18 minutes Program Type: Audiobook Version: Unabridged Publisher: Harper Audio Audible.com Release Date: July 8, 2008 Buy the audio: Audible
Paperback: 296 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace (April 14, 2011)
anguage: English
Buy the book: Amazon
Visit J.A. Paul'swebsite!
When fifteen year-old Gladius Oldmont is thrust from his peaceful home into the dangerous Longwood Forest he finds himself pitted against a tyrant who has been terrorizing the lands in search of answers to an ancient secret that could unlock absolute power. From the shadows of Longwood Forest to the Hills of the Moon, Gladius must survive encounters with a near extinct scimitar cat, an ornery dragon, a horde of death bats and a tumultuous underground river which leads to a subterranean labyrinth of tunnels. Along the way, he makes new acquaintances and discovers the true meaning of friendship, including Elle – a girl who captivates his heart. Can Gladius and friends solve the riddle of the ancient secret before the evil Mulhurt does? If they can, will they be able to do anything about it?
My Review
Gladius and the Bartlett Trial is a great fantasy book. With so many imaginative and creative elements to it, it made for a very entertaining read. Although the genre is a bit of what I associate with "generic fantasy" - something that started with Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia and was carried on by many authors - it still held a uniqueness that I really enjoyed.
This book was greatly written, with wording that never left me bored. I really wanted to know this book. It was a great story that I loved!
Something I love about fantasy books: Dragons. I love it when an author includes a dragon or dragons in any story. And there was a scene including a dragon in Gladius that I loved. Very well written and timed.
All-in-all, this is a story about growing up. And it's a great book for any middle-grade readers who like the idea of sort of medieval fantasy. This is a good one that will keep you reading till the end! Excellent job Mr. Paul!
