Book Review: Magyk, by Angie Sage

Posted on March 7, 2014 by Phillip Xiang

Looking for a new fantasy novel? Magyk by Angie Sage is the beginning to an amazing series that rivals Harry Potter. Like your other favorites, it includes magic, wizards, evil and a perfect touch of humor.

In a peaceful castle, the queen gives birth to a baby girl with violet eyes. An assassin breaks in to assassinate the two, but fails to kill the infant princess, who is spirited out of the castle. Meanwhile, the Heap family of wizards welcomes their seventh son. Pronounced dead, baby Septimus Heap is taken away in the night. Soon after, Silas Heap, the father, adopts an infant abandoned in the snow (hmm). Ten years later, an assassin returns to finish the job, forcing the princess, Silas, the ExtraExtraordinary Wizard, and some others to flee the area. They seek refuge in the forest, evading the Hunter. What will happen? As we like to say, find out!

This book is particularly interesting because it doesn’t have one specific main character. Sage follows the thoughts of multiple characters throughout the book. In fact, it even details the lives of the antagonists, including the Hunter and evil necromancer. In this way, Magyk is a very unique and creative book. We even get the novelty of exploring the life of a millipede. Sounds like your kind of book? Light humor is mixed into the storyline, so that you can laugh out loud every once in a while. The entire story is written in a lighthearted tone, so it feels very casual and fun to read.

For a veteran reader of fantasy novels, this book will be especially delightful. It’s not difficult to read, yet interesting enough to keep the reader engaged. There are several more books in the series for you to enjoy, so get started quickly. We know there are lots of wizard books out there, but Magyk is one of the most unique and fun to read.

-Phillip X., 8th grade

Book Review: Drizzle, by Kathleen Van Cleve

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Anmol K.

In the book Drizzle by Kathleen Van Cleve, eleven-year-old Polly Peaboy lives on her family’s rhubarb farm. You must be thinking that living on a rhubarb farm must be boring, but the Peaboy’s farm is far from ordinary. At the farm, the rhubarb tastes like chocolate, it rains on the farm exactly at 1:00 p.m. on Mondays, and diamonds sprout from the ground.

On one unusual Monday, it stops raining and a ripple effect of unfortunate events happened afterwards. The plants start to wither, and her older brother, Freddy, gets a deadly, peculiar illness. Realizing that she is the only person who could save the farm and Freddy, Polly must believe in herself and be brave enough to do it. Although she does not realize this, Poly is the savior of her farm and must carry out this huge task.

I thought this book was average. The story was sort of slow and dull. It got a little boring in the middle because of Polly’s personality. The plot could have been better if some inconsequential events were eliminated. Overall, I would recommend this book to anybody who is looking for a magical, whimsical book about rhubarb plants (just kidding… there’s much more to the book than only rhubarb plants).

-Anmol K., 7th grade

Book Review: Peter Nimble and his Fantastic Eyes, by Jonathan Auxier

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Linna C.

Peter Nimble and his Fantastic Eyes is probably my favorite book that is not part of any kind of series. In it, a young blind boy named Peter Nimble, after a misremembered nursery rhyme, embarks on a magical journey to save the world after meeting the Haberdasher and stealing a box full of what feels like eyes. Along his way, he ends up in the Just Deserts, meets Sir Tode, and helps save HazelPort from the clutches of the evil Lord Incarnadine and his army of apes.

All in all, I really love this book and have reread it over and over again. This book is filled with just so many things that make you want to smile and laugh. I would consider it to be of the action-adventure and fantasy genres, and is appropriate for people of all ages, though geared more towards kids in 4th-7th grade.

There are a lot of events throughout the story that will make you think about what is going on. Also, it is one of those books that has a thief as the hero in the end, and for some reason, that small factor makes it all the more enjoyable. I would highly recommend this fantastic book to anyone, and I would give it the five stars that it truly deserves.

-Linna C., 7th grade

Book vs. Movie: The Hobbit

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Kyle H.

As many of you have already, I watched the new Hobbit movie, The Desolation of Smaug, last week. I am a huge Lord of the Rings and Hobbit fan and I was so glad when I found out these movies are based on books, so I went and read them and watched the movies to compare the two.

The movies were all really well done, because I know it is hard to incorporate every little detail from the books. I also read The Hobbit because I thought that a prologue to the story must be very interesting and it was! The Hobbit was, and still is, one of the best books that I have read, and I read a lot. In the book, The Hobbit, as in the other J.R.R. Tolkien books, there is a lot going on. First, the dwarves are travelling to their mountain while Gandalf is searching for the source of darkness in the world while the elves remain fortified and unwilling to help at first and the lake people believe they are saved from the dragon. Sometimes it gets confusing to keep your mind focused. For example, in the movie, when they switch to a different character and a different place, it takes time for your mind to register the fact that it is a different character and a different place. And by the time your mind registers that fact, the different character in the different place starts talking to another different character in the same different place about some different topic that takes a longer time to register in your mind. That’s the only problem with a lot of things going on, but I feel that it is sort of necessary in such a big world that having a lot going on is normal and when there is a lot going on there is more of a wide area to expect plot twists. This keeps the audience on the edge of their seats and wanting to know what happens next. Both the movie and the book kept me on the edge of my seat.

If you haven’t read or watched The Hobbit, I recommend both the book and the movies to you, but there are two different Hobbit movies at the moment and a third one on its way so make sure, if you would like to see them, that you watch The Unexpected Journey first, and then The Desolation of Smaug, so that you get the story going in the right direction and not backwards. Post a comment below if you have seen the movie or read the books, and just say to those around you how epic they are and how both the movie and the book can take your breath away.

-Kyle H., 7th grade

Book Review: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Samantha S.

This story is about four children, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, exploring an enchanted world called Narnia through a magical closet.

One day while it was raining, they were playing hide-and-seek, and Lucy found the old room with the wardrobe. Suddenly, she heard Susan coming and she climbed into the closet. She walked deeper into the closet and felt something cold at her feet. Then she discovered Narnia. The magical place was in the season of winter, and she met a fawn, Mr. Tumnus.

When she came out of the closet, she did not notice that no time had passed. A few weeks later Lucy and her brothers and sister entered the wardrobe, and they could not believe that they were looking into the world of Narnia. When Lucy showed the others Mr. Tumnus’ home, it was destroyed by the White Witch. During their exploration in the forest, they met Mr. and Mrs. Beaver. As the beavers and children were talking about the Stone Table and Aslan, a powerful lion, Edmund sneaked out to find the White Witch’s house… and you’ll have to read the book to find out what happens!

I honestly loved this entire book because as I was reading it, I felt like I was actually in the story. This book was very interesting and I think that everyone will like it. Also, if you love adventure and magic, this is the book for you.

-Samantha S., 7th grade

Frozen Movie Review and Readalikes

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Nicole G.

Disney’s newest animated feature, Frozen, is about princesses Elsa and Anna. Elsa has the beautiful and dangerous power to create snow, but after hurting Anna when they were little, she tries to hide her ability. When her power is revealed, she runs away, leaving Anna more alone than ever, yet Anna is determined to go after her, restore summer, and just get her sister back.

Frozen is an amazing movie with laugh-out-loud moments along with the ones that make your heart shatter. Although it doesn’t really follow the plot line of Hans Christian Andersen’s original fairy tale, The Snow Queen, with Elsa being good and Anna’s sister for instance, it maintains a fairy tale quality while having a modern feel.

The animation is astonishing, the snow so realistic, you almost get shivers just seeing it. The music that is equally fantastic, one of my favorite song being “For the First Time in Forever” (second only to “Let it Go”) because, besides being beautiful, it is the duet between two sisters and the theme of the entire story. The sisters were well developed with Anna somewhat awkward (in a good way) and adventurous and Elsa very cool and collected. What I liked best was how sisters were more important than a love interest, though that element is still there.

It is one of the best Disney movies I have seen and I definitely recommend it to anyone who loves those “Disney classics” that seem timeless, because that is Frozen. In honor of this movie, here is a list of books with sisters inspired by fairy tales.

The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley

After the mysterious disappearance of their parents, sisters Sabrina and Daphne Grimm (descendants of the Brothers Grimm) are sent to live with their grandmother in Ferryport Landing, where every fairy tale character (they prefer to be called Everafters) lives. When their Grandmother is kidnapped, it is up to the Sisters Grimm to take up the family business of fairy tale detectives if they ever wish to see their family again.

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

Sisters Scarlet and Rosie were attacked by werewolves at their grandmother’s house when they were young. Now they are the ones who hunt the werewolves down. Scarlet won’t stop until every werewolf is dead, but Rosie doesn’t want to fight anymore. How do you explain that to the sister who saved your life? It follows a possibility of what could have happened after the little red riding hood tale.

The Wide-Awake Princess by E.D. Baker

Did you know Sleeping Beauty has a little sister? Her name is Annie and she is immune to magic. It’s the only reason she didn’t fall asleep with the rest of the castle. To save the kingdom, Annie adventures out to find her sister’s true love to break the spell, maybe finding her own along the way. A sweet retelling of Sleeping Beauty as well as a few other fairy tales mixed in.

-Nicole G., 10th grade

Book Review: The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien

Posted on December 5, 2013 by Rabani S.

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” And from this hole came my new favorite fictional character, Bilbo Baggins, the central protagonist in The Hobbit. With the release of the new Lord of the Rings movie, I decided to start reading the famous book. I had high expectations after I found it as number 3 on a list of books to read before dying, and I wasn’t disappointed in the least.

The Hobbit takes place in Middle Earth, a fictional world that contains wizards, elves, dwarves, goblins, and hobbits. Hobbits are small people who love peace and quiet, food, farming, and parties. They live in a land they call The Shire and most of them dislike adventure.

This prelude to the Lord of the Rings trilogy centers around a peaceful hobbit named Bilbo Baggins who has adventurous ancestors and lives in a lovely underground home called Bag End. The book begins as a wizard named Gandalf visits Bilbo and invites him to join an adventure he is arranging. Bilbo refuses immediately. The following morning, Gandalf visits Bilbo again, this time with thirteen dwarves. The dwarves believe that Bilbo can help them in their journey to the Lonely Mountain to gain back their ancestral treasure from a vicious dragon named Smaug. Bilbo is extremely reluctant to leave his cozy home and join them, but Gandalf manages to convince him to accompany them. The Hobbit follows their adventures as they head to the Lonely Mountain and confront the great dragon Smaug.

I found The Hobbit to be an extremely interesting book. J.R.R. Tolkien uses a conversational, light-hearted tone and uses humor to hook the reader. The book doesn’t have much detail, and the ending is very abrupt. The author does not spend much time describing anything, which is really different from most fictional books I’ve read. However, I enjoyed The Hobbit immensely and I’m definitely going to see the second part of the film adaptation, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, when it’s released in movie theaters next week!

-Rabani S., 9th grade

Book Review: House of Hades, by Rick Riordan

Posted on November 25, 2013 by Nicole G.

The last book in the Heroes of Olympus series ended with a real cliffhanger. Actually, Percy and Annabeth were falling off a cliff into the depths of Tartarus. Rick Riordan’s dedication sums it up perfectly:

To my wonderful readers: Sorry about that last cliff-hanger. Well, no, not really. HAHAHAHA. But seriously, I love you guys.

I was so excited that I finished it the day it was released. I wouldn’t go so far to say the wait was completely worth it, because I still wished it was available as soon as I finished Mark of Athena, but such is life if you don’t wait for an author to finish a series before you start reading.

The chapters interchange between adventures on the Argo II and the terrors of Tartarus Percy and Annabeth must endure. The characters have a deeper relationship with each other and begin to act more like a team. The prophecy is almost complete, though I anticipate some twist at the end like in the first series. All of the seven half-bloods have their perspective in this book (Percy and Annabeth have the most chapters), and major changes are happening to them.

First of all, Hazel embraces The Mist, the magical force that make things appear to be what there’re not. Frank makes Mars proud, growing and discovering his own importance. Leo has his tool belt stolen, catches his clothes on fire, and might just find a love interest. Jason is questioning his Roman heritage, after seeing Camp Half-Blood and feeling more at home there than he ever did at Camp Jupiter. Piper confronts some old enemies and charmspeaks machinery. Nico, though not one of the seven or has any chapters from his perspective, is probably one of the characters we get to understand the most after he faces a god.

As for the couple in Tartarus, their time there is very bleak. If they thought they knew the hard life of a half-blood, it can always get worse. Drinking lava water to survive is the least of their worries. Can monsters even be killed in Tartarus? There are some funny moments there; Percy and Annabeth make such a cute couple. And, after several books of suspense, Percy’s sword can actually work as a pen. Very helpful tool when you are stuck in a place where monsters reform and even the gods never visit!

What I loved was the incorporation of old characters from the first series, as well as a major role of someone in the demi-god files. Some old monsters are back swearing revenge on Percy (Somehow they are never happy being vaporized for some reason) as well as new immortal enemies. Meanwhile, campers from Camp Jupiter arrive at Camp Half-Blood. Will a battle arise? Who, if anyone, will sacrifice their lives?

House of Hades is building up for the big finale. The ending in this book doesn’t have a cliff hanger aspect, but still, why does it have to be so long for the next one? Begin countdown for Blood of Olympus.

-Nicole G., 10th grade

Book Review: Starlight, by Erin Hunter

Posted on November 19, 2013 by rwong2002

Out of all the ten books I have read of the Warriors series, this one was my most favorite. Starlight, by Erin Hunter, is a story about wild cats that move into a new home. They have to learn how to survive in surroundings that are much different from their past home, as the forest is now being destroyed by Twolegs (humans).

The four clans of warrior cats– Thunderclan, Windclan, Shadowclan, and Riverclan– try to settle in their new home by seeking food, shelter, and boundaries to set up defenses to protect their own territories. When the Windclan leader dies and there is no place for the clans to speak with Starclan, the clans’ warrior ancestors, the cats think that all hope is lost. But one certain character will not give up in order to unite the clans together. Will Brambleclaw succeed or will chaos take over?

Throughout the whole Warriors series, I have grown to love the main characters’ personalities. All of the cats are very skilled warriors who are caring, courageous, honorable, and selfless. In addition, they fight like leaders to protect each of their clans. There are many scenes in the book when the warrior cats fight and this is what made Starlight so fast-paced. The suspense made me want to keep reading to the next chapter and I couldn’t put the book down! In my opinion, I would rate this book an eight out of ten and would recommend it to kids ages ten to sixteen who enjoy fantasy and action.

-Riley W., 6th grade

The Fantasy Genre: Helpful or Not?

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Sarah B.

Cover art by Kazu Kibuishi for the 15th anniversary edition of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

In an article published last month in The Telegraph, author Joanna Trollope declares the fantasy genre to be less “helpful” than the classics. I disagree with her assertion but I understand why she finds the fantasy genre to be less helpful than classic novels. A quote by another author, Neil Gaiman, summarizes what I learned from the article:

“Well-meaning adults can easily destroy a child’s love of reading: stop them reading what they enjoy, or give them worthy-but-dull books that you like, the 21st-century equivalents of Victorian “improving” literature. You’ll wind up with a generation convinced that reading is uncool and worse, unpleasant.”

This quote reveals the possible consequences of dragging children away from the fantasy genre. I believe that Trollope means well by wanting children to challenge themselves with classic novels, but forcing children away from the fantasy genre will only hurt them. Readers of all ages, especially children need the fantasy genre to show them that there is so much more to our world than it appears. However, regardless of what children choose to read, is important to encourage them to continue to read.

Yet, I believe that the fantasy genre can facilitate much more imagination and intelligence than classic novels are able to. I believe that the fantasy genre is, in fact, more helpful than the classics. While I love both classic novels and fantasy novels, I find that fantasy novels are much more helpful to me than classics are. To me, they are more relatable and frankly much more interesting.

A fantasy title that has helped me grow and learn is the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. These novels have left such a profound impression upon me and they have become a part of me. They offered me an entire universe to explore and escape to. They have shown me love, hope, and even death. They have done more for me than any other novel of any other genres have.

The fantasy genre is quite commonly dismissed like the way we see in this article, but those who read the genre know that it is so much more than escapism. It allows the reader to see the world in a different way. A quote that exemplifies this is:

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten” – G.K. Chesterton

This quote is important because it emphasizes the very essence of fairy tales and the fantasy genre as a whole. They inspire and give hope to the reader. They make them believe in not only magic or monsters but in themselves. The fantasy genre provides a whole new world for readers of all ages. Through fantastical lands and creatures, they are exposed to new points of view and experiences that they are not able to gain from any other genre. The fantasy genre is essential for readers because it shows them that there is more to life than their own life.

-Sarah B., 12th grade

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