Clover Twig and the Magical Cottage

Clover Twig and the Magical Cottage (Clover Twig, #1)by Kaye Umansky

about 250 pages of magical gadgets, interesting characters and exciting adventures for middle grade readers and everyone who appreciates good friends

Clover Twig is sensible.  She is dependable, thoughtful and unflappable – important qualities if you are going to work for a witch.  That is what Clover, the eldest daughter of the Twig family, does in Clover Twig and the Magical Cottage.  She answers  Mrs. Eckles ad, and though she does not seem to fit all the qualifications (she doesn’t look all that strong), she is hired.  From that day on Clover lives and works at the magical cottage six days a week.  Clover is unfazed by the oddities around her.  She has a cottage to clean, food to purchase in town and meals to prepare.  She has eggs to collect, gates to grease and a yard to tend.  Wilf, the delivery boy from the town and Neville, the large, rather smelly, ugly cat become her friends and companions

Clover settles into life at the cottage easily.  She gets used to the strange things going on around her and she learns there are witches who use magic for good and witches who use magic for ill.  Mrs. Eckles is an ethical witch.  She uses her magic when necessary and she accepts her responsibility for keeping the magic content.  She cares for the cottage and makes sure it’s pleased with its place.  Her sister, Mesmeranza, is just the opposite sort of witch.  She wants everything and she wants it all for herself no matter what or who is hurt.  In fact she doesn’t care about that at all, she just wants everything.

When Mrs. Eckles plans to go to the May Fayre and leave the cottage in Clover’s care, Mezmeranza launches her plan.  It has one flaw – Mezmeranza doesn’t know about Clover.  She thinks Wilf is going to be at the cottage so she has misdirected her energies there.  Clover Twig is undisturbed by the unusual happenings surrounding the magical things she finds herself confronted with.  She isn’t scared or cowed  and Mesmeranza doesn’t expect that.  Clover is a force to be reckoned with – even if much happens by accident – which sends Mesmeranza into a fury.

You’ll smile at the outrageous shoes, allergies and antics that surround those who live at Castle Coldiron.  You’ll appreciate how those from the Magical Cottage takes things in stride and are satisfied by who they are and what they do – flaws and all.  Clover Twig is a great friend, loving sister and loyal employee, plus she knows what is right and just.  It all works out in the end but it takes a lot of effort, ingenuity and cleaning.

Mesmeranza doesn’t get her way and she is not happy!  She has a new plan and this time it is directed straight at Clover.  Read Clover Clover Twig and the Perilous PathTwig and the Perilous Path to see how the second tale unfolds.  Magic is challenging but those who are true at heart come through unscathed in the end.

The Best of Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl had so many great books! I will share a few of his that I liked so much that I have read so many times. Boy and Going Solo I have already reviewed, but the ones that I’m going to review are shorter reads and are just as great.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

5 Golden Tickets are released into 5 Wonka candy bars all around the world. After 4 tickets our found, Charlie’s parents, struggling to ‘make end’s meat’, give him a chocolate bar and as expected, no ticket. But by some miraculous stroke of luck, Charlie gets a golden ticket. The spectacular adventure that awaits him is far more than anything that he could have imagined. But meeting Mr. Wonka himself is one of the unimaginable adventures in itself. This has two movie takes on it and again, is one of Roald Dahl’s Ultimate Classics.

The Magic Finger

The Greggs are a normal family. They live in their normal house, go about their daily activities. The dad and his sons hunt. But this makes their eight year old neighbor very cross. And being cross is the thing that activates her ‘magic finger.’ Her magic finger punishes people for the things that make her cross. For example, the magic finger turned her teacher into a cat because the teacher called her stupid. And now the magic finger has done something horrendous to the Greggs, without the girl being able to control it. This is a quick read, but so not underestimate this book at all.

The Enormous Crocodile

The Enormous Crocodile is a VERY ENORMOUS CROCODILE! And he wants to dine on some “sweet, juicy” children. But all of his animal friends try to talk him out of committing this “dastardly deed”. The jungle animals cannot convince him not to do it, but they are not giving up. Read The Enormous Crocodile to find out what happens.

Click here to access the Official Roald Dahl Website.

To view other Roald Dahl Book Reviews, go to the “Book Review List” page (link found about book picture at top of screen) and find his books.

Tuesdays at the Castle

Tuesdays at the CastleJessica Day George

225 pages of middle grade magic and pluck

“Whenever Castle Glower became bored, it would grow a new room or two.”  From the first line you know that Castle Glower is not like any other.  But neither is the royal family who resides within it.  King Glower the seventy-ninth and Queen Celina are thoughtful rulers.  They have four wonderful children – Bran, Liliah, Rolf and Celie, and as they watched them grow they noticed their different talents.  They realized Bran, though oldest and technically heir, was not meant to be a king.  He was destined for something different.  They could see the magic in him and they sent him off to the College of Wizardry.  Rolf, though younger, was able to mediate, discuss and decide justly.  When the time came, it was decided, he would be king.  Certainly that was a long way off, but Rolf would be ready when the time came.  Princess Celie was bouncy and energetic, determined and true.  She was trying to map the castle and record all its changes in an atlas.  Celie knows many of its secrets but not all.  She loves the castle and everything about its gentle living magic.  She pays very close attention to its shifts and changes.  The castle pays close attention to her.

Two weeks ago Bran graduated and the king and queen had gone to the ceremony.  They were due back any minute and the prince and princesses were eager for their return.  While waiting Celie found a mysterious tower.  It had a table, a rope, a tin of biscuits, a book and a spyglass mounted on the windowsill.  Looking through the glass she saw something strange – her parents’ carriage with no soldiers or guard.  Celie showed Rolf and before they could wonder more, the carriage and a sergeant arrived reporting the terrible news; their family had been ambushed by bandits and murdered.  Could this be true?  Before they could be certain, Lord Feen declared Rolf, King.  He and the other Lords of the Council stepped in to assist.  They closed any investigation into the disappearance of the King and Queen and now, Wizard Bran.  They invited the neighboring royalty to the castle for a hasty coronation and worked to make certain that Rolf, Lilah and Celie are cared for in their grief.  Things were not as they should be.  Rolf, though young, knew decisions being made were not correct.  Something strange, even sinister, was happening, but what?  With the castle on their side Rolf, Lilah and Celie have a chance of clearing away the murky intrigue surrounding them.  But what will happen if the Lords succeed in ending the castle magic?  What will that mean for all of Glower?

Tuesdays at the Castle is full of great characters, interesting twists and turns ( to say nothing of the tunnels, secret passageways and spy holes) and crafty plots and plans that surprise and satisfy.  I was excited to learn that this is a first book in a series.  I can’t wait to find out how royal family of Glower changes along with its amazing castle.  I’m interested in knowing what happens to Prince Lulath of Grath, Pogue and Rufus.  When I visit the castle, I wonder what my room will be like?

The Door in the Forest

The Door in the Forestby Roderick Townley

245 pages of mysterious adventure

A small town, unique neighbors, superstitious mysteries (possibly magic?), surprise arrivals and impending war meet in A Door In the Forest.  These things mix together to bring up questions about the importance of truth – how deep does it go, how long does it last?

In the middle of the river is a lush, emerald green island. Some say it’s enchanted.  All say it is beautiful, though it seems that no one can get there.  First you have for push through thorn bushes to reach the river.  Then you have to find a way beyond the quicksand and if you do get to the water’s edge, you have to make sure you’re not bitten by the poisonous, white-headed water snakes. Summer is here so there is more time for Daniel and Wes to notice things at the store and around town:  the heron on the shore, the  “Uncertainties” continuing in the city, that refugees seem more common and Emily.

Silent, and left behind at the Crowley’s store, it is Daniel who runs out to the manse to tell her of her granddaughter’s arrival. Bridey Byrdsong might be a witch, or she might just be an eccentric old woman, Daniel doesn’t know for sure, but he likes her all right.  Daniel doesn’t have many friends.  It’s not that people don’t like him.  They just don’t trust him. Daniel can’t tell a lie.  It makes him physically ill to even think about it.  Sometimes he desperately wishes he could, or at least not tell the whole truth, but he can’t.  He’s left out a lot because he can’t be trusted to keep a secret.  Bridey is one person that doesn’t seem to mind. She likes Daniel well enough too.

Almost as soon as Emily arrives Captain Sloper and the soldiers arrive.  They are going to test their new tank in the fields.  They move into the homes and begin to take over while they wait for reinforcements to join them.  Things start missing from homes.  The best food is eaten. The most comfortable beds are taken and every place is searched.  Captain Sloper goes everywhere with Daniel because he is sure to hear the whole truth with him there.

While Daniel can’t lie he suspects that Captain Sloper is not what he claims. The coincidence of the soldiers’ arrival with Emily is too strong.  What do the soldiers really want?  Are they fighting a noble cause?  What about the map, the pearl necklace, the secret symbols and signs…  Some secrets are meant to share, while others are meant to keep.  Read A Door in the Forest to discover how truth and secrets mix together.  What would you tell?

The Enchantress

by Michael ScottThe Enchantress (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, #6)

509 pages of action, mythology and history combined into a very satisfying series.

Read them all.

The two that become one – the twins of legend – the gold and the silver- one to save the world and one to destroy it.  The entire six-book series happens in the space of ten days.  The Enchantress wraps this series and story up beautifully bringing all the time, mythology and magic of each age together to create a new world of energy and hope.

Josh and Sophie Newman, the gold and silver, are on one island, Danu Talis.  They have the four elemental swords and are seeking to understand the powers arranged around and before them.  Will one age fall so another can rise?  Is all of time known and foretold since the mysterious beginning?  Is the path of one’s destiny defined, or are there choices?

At the same time Nicholas and Perenelle Flammel are on Alcatraz with the monsters of old trying to defend the right of the humans to take their place in the flow to time.  The aftermath of these two epic battles create the magic of our time.  Some Immortals have reached the end of their times, others remain and still more will learn of the elemental magics that unite us all in the ebb and flow of time and life.

Michael Scott does a masterful job combining and entwining mythologies, gods and magically strong characters throughout history.  It is interesting how order emerges only from chaos and the dawning of hope only begins after a clash of power.  Where are we in this process of time today?

I am Number Four

I am Number Four

by Pittacus Lore

10 years ago the Mogadorians invaded the planet Loriens because they were running out of resources for food and water. All of the Loriens fought gallantly but the Mogadorians took them down without a fight. If the Loriens didn’t do something their race would become extinct. They managed to get 9 garde and nine cepan off of the planet and onto a rocketship that would fly to the land that was closest, Earth. Before leaving each of the gardes was assigned a number so if the Mogadorians were to try to kill the last of the Loriens in fear they would get theirlegacies and restore the planet that is rightfully theirs they would have to be killed in the order of their number. With only their cepans to guide them, the young and powerless gardes have to spread out and go into hiding. Even though they look like all the other humans in the world, they can tell who they are so they will never be safe.

 

Number four has just got 3rd scar. He is next in line. He will be killed next. Number Four must relocate and go into hiding immediately. He knows that he must develop his legacies fast in order to protect himself, his cepan and most importantly his race. To find out if he can do this before the Mogadorians track him and find him read I Am Number Four.

 

The ages that are recommended for this book are for 6th graders and any age above because of the tiny bit of romance. I loved reading this book because there was action that never ended. I also enjoyed reading the sequel; The Power Of Six were I learned more about the Loriens and some other events that tie perfectly into the story. These were great adventures that have you getting to know and like the characters, feel the suspense and have you wanting more. I am looking forward to reading the third book. READ IT!

~Jenny Long “READ IT!” Review

The Council of Mirrors

The Council of Mirrorsthe ninth and final book in The Sisters Grimm Series

by Michael Buckley

Four years ago I began reading the Sisters Grimm. The series had begun awhile earlier so I read from book one to two to three and on with the dreaded words “to be continued” at the end. I found myself looking at the last words first just to see what the ending would bring.  At first that was fine, I had books to read through.  Later I would wait a year before continuing the tale … now the waiting is over.  Readers may consume this series ravenously or in savory morsels; whatever suits them best.

This year I have a group of students reading the series – “Mrs. Eaves, I couldn’t believe it when I got to the end ‘to be continued.’ How could they!”  “I know,” I nod. ” It is an exciting story.  You really want to know what happens to the character.”  “Yyyyeeesss,” they sigh.   I went to the bookstore yesterday in search of the newly published, The Council of Mirrors. I knew it was supposed to be “the end” but I must confess I looked at the final words just to be sure. There I read, “THE END” and so I began. The twists and turns of exciting challenges and adventure continue in this volume. The pain of arrogance and pride remain, and so does the joy of devotion and friendship. Trust, self-confidence, commitment and determination are what it takes to win an epic battle.  It is always that way.

The end is very satisfying along with the years of after story. The Grimms and Everafters will be with us for a long time – in their orginal tales and in the rewritings. They have a lot to show us about ourselves and what it means to live well in our world.

Read it and let us know what you think.  You can find out lots about the books and about the author at the Sisters Grimm website here.  Enjoy!

The City of Lies

City of Lies (The Keepers, #2)by Lian Turner

278 pages of adventure fantasy

I’m going to work to see if the Imitation of Nothingness works – it would be very handy!

After I finished the Museum of Thieves I had so many questions that I was uncertain of how I felt about the book.  I wasn’t sure of the main message – was it freedom, was it being wary of the cruelty that comes from lust for power, was it listening to the voice within and acting on what you know in your heart to be right?  Why was the museum alive with wildness?  Is wildness good?

Some of those questions still remain now that I have completed the second in the Keeper Trilogy, The City of Lies, but I am not bothered by the wondering.  I am looking forward to the Path of Beasts to see if I will find the answers. (I hope so.)  The city of Jewel is still troubled but is recovering from the floods and the warped greed of the Fugleman and the Blessed Guardians.  Goldie is trying to decide if she is needed more by her parents or the museum.  She has been asked to become the 5th keeper and she would dearly like to take her place with Sinew, Herro Dan, Olga Ciavolga and Toadspit – Morg and Broo too.  The challenge is that her parents have not recovered from their sentence in the House of Repentence when she first ran away.  They are ill and frightened.  They depend on her and she feels the guilt and shame of having brought on their frailties.

While trying to make her decision, Goldie visits Toadspit, Bonnie his brave sister follows and is kidnapped.  Goldie and Toadspit follow to rescue her and Toadspit is caught.  Now it is up to Goldie to rescue them both in the wild city of Spoke during the Festival of Lies when everything is backward and upside down and only the opposite is true.

The magic that surrounds the lives of those who live in these books add a touch of mystery that makes you wonder – true or not.  No- it might be – well, maybe a little.  What will happen to Mouse?  How does he tell fortunes?  What doesn’t he talk?  What about Pounce?  What about the cat?  Why are animals, long thought to be extinct returning?  How is that part of the overall plan?  The new villains are not so new, but still just sinister as ever. At the end there may be a glimmer of hope on the horizon.  We’ll have to wait until October to see.  Leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Another fun twist for me was learning that semaphore, margrave and margravine, bombardon and skerrick are real words.  The first means communicating messages with a flag system.  The second and third words on my list are the male and female titles given in medieval times to the families of the king’s protectors. The fourth is an instrument like a tuba.  And the last means a very small piece of shred.  I’m glad I looked to see if they were real or not – they were!

Museum of Thieves

Museum of ThievesMuseum of Thieves (The Keepers, #1)

by Lian Tanner

312 pages of survival in dystopian Jewel

Museum of Thieves takes places in the renamed city of Jewel, a fearful, depraved society where young children are kept on short leashes for their safety. The city is run by a Grand Protector who knows more about the past and the present than the rest of her people. She is working to bring balance back to the city, but know she must move slowly to maintain calm.  The corrupt Fugleman (willing to gain power and control at all cost) and the Blessed Guardians will have none of that.  The Blessed Guardians, supposedly kind and gentle souls, are anything but. They enforce the cruel laws stating that chain children to the authorities at all times. Care is a jail for children. The citizens have been brainwashed into thinking that all children must never be exposed to the dangers of the world and so they allow this lesser of two evils to define their lives.

Goldie Roth is twelve. It is her Separation Day.  Her guardchain is about to be severed.  Her life is upon her and she will be free to walk through the city alone for the first time.  Just before her ceremonial release, the Fugleman halts the proceedings with news of the unthinkable – the murder of children, an attack from outside.  He claims no one is safe and that the children cannot be freed. Goldie is faced with a choice: remain tied to her childhood, or cut the chain herself and run. Fuelled by desperation, she cuts and runs.

Goldie flees through the dark and daunting streets.  At first she regrets her decision; she sees nowhere to go and winds up at the mysterious Museum of Dunt.  This museum houses the records of her city.  Why was the name changed?  What happened to bring on so much fear?  What does it mean to have past and present collide?  Once in the museum, Goldie discovers it is alive. The rooms are ever-changing and maintained by an odd group. Goldie joins them and to learn the ways of the Museum.  There is trouble brewing beneath the surface, as there always is when power is abused and dishonesty prevails. This trouble could destroy the entire city.  Goldie, with the other keepers must find a way to save it…if it’s not too late.

The Museum of Thieves is the first book in the Keepers Trilogy. It is cleverly crafted and well written. When I finished I had so many questions I can’t wait to get the second, The City of Lies.  I need to find out how Goldie’s story continues with the Keepers and if Jewel is able to become morally secure and trustingly productive city…that may not happen yet because the evil still lurks.  It seems it has only temporarily been washed away.  The Keeper Trilogy is definitely one to read – you won’t be able to put it down once you begin.

 

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies AgainChitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again

by Frank Cottrell Boyce

212 pages of car adventuring fun

In 1967 one of my favorite Christmas presents was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Flemming.  I loved the Potts.  I loved the whistling sweets.  I thought Joe the Monster and his gang were terribly wonderful crooks.  And of course, I loved Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with “her first two CHITTY sneezes and the two soft BANGS, the bangs ran on and into each other so as to make a delicious purring rumble.”   I thought her amazing dashboard with knobs that glow and flash urgently as the need arose had just the perfect balance of efficiency and irreverence.  Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – a magical car with a mind of it’s own.  I loved everything about that book – right down to the secret recipe at the end!

Next came the movie.  What a major disappointment!  The car wasn’t even the right color.  To me, it was silly, dull and boring.  Frank Cottrell Boyce had a totally different experience.  He saw the movie first and loved it.  Then he read the book.  He writes that this was the first time he knew that “films and books  – even when they’re telling the same story – each had a different kind of enchantment.”

Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again does indeed have its own kind of enchantment.  It takes the best pieces from the original, mixes them together with new ideas and creates a wholly unique story that has the Tooting family traveling the world, escaping the clutches of greedy crooks (Man Mountain Fink’s son from the original gang) and learning all about their amazingly wonderful Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.   Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is part of the family now and is teaching the Tootings to pay attention to each other, listen carefully and have trust in the power of family.

What a terrifically satisfying sequel!