The Bard's Books

The following (or previous, depending on how you look at it) 25 posts are book reviews with trailers and links to other books that I completed for my Young Adult Literature course this fall. The books were chosen from ALA lists and were read over the course of the semester. I really really enjoy reading YA lit. It is probably my favorite genre. One of the things I discovered while working on this assignment was the sheer volume of really great YA literature that is being published now. A few years ago, I was pretty up to date on all the most recent YA offerings, but this assignment had me reading many books that I have never heard of. I was able to sneak a few oldies but goodies in as well, since some of the lists included older books like The Hobbit and Ella Enchanted, but most of the assignment was one of discovery for me. While reflecting on this assignment and my coursework for my MLS during my daily walk today, I was thinking about what drew me to pursue this degree. I think i...

Summary:  The second book of the Jacky Faber series is a historical fiction novel set in the early 1800s. After being discovered as a girl, Jacky is removed from her Navy ship and sent to the Peabody School for Girls in Boston, where she is expected to learn how to behave like a lady. Jacky has a hard time adjusting to the school and the strict headmistress, Miss Primm. After being arrested for dancing on the street, Jacky is expelled from the school and is kept on as a servant. Jacky believes that the Reverend Mather has murdered a servant girl. Mather believes that Jacky is the reincarnation of that girl, come to haunt him. He kidnaps her and ties her to the dead girls bed, but Jacky is rescued. A fire engulfs the church and school and Jacky rescues Miss Primm despite her protestations. She then escapes to a ship bound for London. Strengths:  Jacky's confident and cocky narrative voice make her story a memorable one. Meyer does a good job of accurately portraying the ...

Summary:  How They Croaked  describes the demise of nineteen famous historical figures in great detail. Quirky, shiver inducing drawings accompany this hilarious piece of scientific history. Readers who are interested in a well researched book about the human body, the history of medicine or just plain gore will enjoy reading this. The book includes lists of resources, notes on relevant facts between the chapters.  Strenths:  The style of this book is casual and irreverent. The conversational nature of the book lends itself well to keeping the subject matter from becoming overwhelmingly disgusting, for the most part. Cartoon illustrations add humor to the macabre. This book is very well researched with sources cited. The book also includes a further reading section for readers who want to find out more about the interesting and sometimes insane deaths of historical figures.   Bragg, G., & Malley, K. (2011). How they croaked: The awful ends of ...

Summary:  Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit, and hobbits are not the adventuring kind. But Gandalf has other plans in mind. Along with thirteen dwarves, Bilbo goes on a quest to take back the Lonely Mountain and its treasures from the dragon, Smaug. Bilbo finds a magical ring, escapes imprisonment at the hands of the wood elves, finds a weakness in Smaug's armor that leads to his defeat and, with the help of the men of Lake-town and the Wood Elves, manages to win the Battle of Five Armies. He takes a small portion of the mountain's treasure and returns home a wealthy hobbit. Strengths:  The Hobbit is narrated as a serial, with each section describing a new place or creature. The growth of Bilbo throughout the novel is the strong central theme, as he changes from a timid homebody to a confident adventurer and "thief". As this growth occurs, Bilbo also grapples with greed and the cost of war. Bilbo is the first voice of reason when the men, dwarves and elves fight among ...

Summary:  Ender is a Third in a world where families are only allowed to have two children. His sadistic older brother and a school bully make his young life miserable. Then his monitor is removed and he is taken up to Battle School. Ender is pushed by his teachers and Bonzo, the battle school bully, to his absolute max. Ender is successful in the battle room and is quickly promoted to Command School. Realizing that his accelerated promotion means that the commanders believe he may be the next great military mind, Ender feels the pressure as he realizes that winning the Bugger War and the fate of Earth both lie in his hands. Strengths:  Orson Scott Card creates a immersive future world with disturbing clarity. The government programs set up to identify gifted children and the world of Battle School are well described. The slightly more controlled, Lord of the Flies type world is believable. The story is told in third person with almost all of the narrative focused on En...

Summary:  The Lost Hero is the first book in Rick Riordan's second book series based on mythology. Jason, Piper and Leo are on a field trip when Jason wakes up without any memory of who he is or what he is doing. The trio discover they are demigods when they are attacked. Coach Hedge, their escort, takes them to Camp Halfblood where they learn they must go on a mission to save Hera. Once they complete their quest, Jason begins to gain his memory back and realizes that he is a hero from Camp Jupiter and is actually a Roman demigod. He has been switched with Percy by Hera in a ploy to try to get the two camps to band together to defeat Gaea. Strengths:  Like the Percy Jackson series, The Lost Hero combines the modern world with Greek and Roman mythology in this fantasy novel. Unlike his previous novels, The Lost Hero is told in 3rd person with alternating point of view chapters told by the three main characters, Piper, Jason and Leo. Riordan's casual storytelling style ma...

Summary:  After his grandfather's murder, Jacob Portman follows clues that his grandfather left behind to travel to Wales in an attempt to find out about the man's past. There he finds Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, an orphanage where children with special powers live together in a time loop, which keeps them safe. Jacob learns about the monsters who killed his grandfather called hallows. The hallows are killing people in the area and Jacob discovers that he is also "peculiar" and is the only one who can stop the killings. The time loop at the orphanage fails and the children must leave their home for their safety when Miss Peregrine is trapped in bird form. Strengths:  Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children has a Victorian steampunk feel to it that is emphasized by the use of creepy, black and white vintage photographs throughout the book. The characters are all very well developed. The plot twists are unexpected and dark and keep th...