Student Saturday: Queen of Shadowthorn - Tony Abbot

Publisher: Scholastic
Pages:  128
Genre:  Middle Grade, Fantasy
Student Reviewer:  Austin

The Secrets of Droon:  Queen of Shadowthorn was written by Tony Abbott.  This book is number 31 in a series of books about the adventures of Eric Hinkle and his friends Julie and Neal.  Most of the story is in the imaginary world of Droon.  The children get from the the real world to Droon by going through a closet in Eric's basement.  There is where the adventures always begin.  The main characters are Eric, Julie, Neal, Keeah, Galen, and Salamandra.

In the beginning of this story, Eric loses his special powers of being able to read other languages and use silver sparks as magic.  This time the three friends work together to save Jaffa city from evil hand of Ko.  They encounter Salamandra who has returned from the future to help the four friends on this journey.  Meanwhile, Keeah, Neal, and Julie become trapped in a basement-like area and Eric and Galen have to find the silver thorn to rescue them.  The thorn had been lost by Salamandra on a previous trip to Droon.  To find it Eric and Galen travel to the upper (real) world.  It turns out to be hidden behind a book in the library.

When they finally return to Droon, they discovered that their friends had already escaped and were fighting Ko's beasts.  Eric and Galen helped them fight the beasts.  Eventually the beasts retreated leaving the group to celebrate the close call.  Eric then returned Salamandra her long lost silver thorn.  She explained to the friends that the silver thorn magically transforms into a land boat.  The friends take a ride in the land boat and end up in a fight with the evil Gethwing and his minions.  IN the end Gethwing and his minions are sent back in time and Eric still is waiting for his powers to return.

As a reader of mystery and fiction, I found this book to be even more amazing than previous book in the series, Escape from Jabar-Loo.  I can't wait to read the Special edition #5 that comes next in the series.  I would recommend this book to anyone for preteens and fiction lovers because the story was packed full of action and suspense.

Florence – Ciye Cho

Publisher:  Studio Amazepop

Pages:  336

Source:  review copy from author

Genre:  YA Frantasy Romance

  

Blurb:

"Seventeen-year-old Florence Waverley is out of her depth. Literally. Kidnapped and brought down to Niemela--the hidden world of mermaids and mermen--Florence is the ultimate gift for Prince Kiren: a human familiar tied to his side. But nothing is what it seems amid the beauty and danger of the dark ocean.

Every Niemelan has a role to play, from the mermaids who weave towers out of kelp to the warriors who fight sea monsters. But in trying to survive, Florence will end up in the middle of a war between the mer and the Darkness. A conflict that will push her between two brothers: Kiren, the charmer inexplicably drawn to both her and the monsters; and Rolan, the loner who has been pushing her away since the day they met. But in order to take a stand--and find out where she belongs--Florence will have to risk it all: her life, her heart... and her very soul."



My Thoughts:

This was one fabulous book.  From the minute I started it I couldn’t put it down.  The world that Cho has created is one I would love to be in.  I could envision all of it.  It was beautifully describe.  Cho obviously knows a lot, or has done a lot of research on the ocean.  The merfolks were very believable as characters.  I felt like I could swim to the bottom of the ocean to find Niemela and spend time with the people there.  Kieran was so charming and disarming in his looks and attitude that you couldn’t help liking him from the very first.  However, you get the feeling that you haven’t learned everything about him.  Rolan seemed like a strong force to deal with.  When Florence is first brought to Niemela she can feel contempt from Rolan.  She isn’t sure why.  As Florence is taken in by the princes’ sister Yolee, Florence finds a true friend.  She had not had a true friend since her father’s death. It was her ability to hang back and observe those around her when she lived on land that helped her while she was in Niemela.   I felt the tension she felt.  It seemed like every time she took a step forward in getting the Niemela to at least be nice and friendly to her that something happened to push them away.  She felt like she didn’t belong anywhere.  That is why I loved this book.  I figured she was  either going to go back to the surface and be changed and make those around her see her or she was going to find a way to stay in Niemela and be excepted.

The end was not as tightly tied up as I’d like.  I hope there is a sequel.  I NEED to know what happens next.  I look forward to reading more by this author.  I was given an electronic version for review.  I look forward to purchasing a physical copy to put on my shelves for my students.  This is definitely a book I will recommend to them.

Student Saturday: Martin Luther King - Amy Pastan

Publisher:  DK Publisher
Pages:  128
Genre:  Biography
Student Reviewer:  Sophonie

The book I'm reading is Martin Luther King.  It is mostly about how Martin Luther King lived and what happened throughout his life.  This book talks about when King was young and he was an amazing reader and was the best baseball player in his neighborhood.  When Kind grew up he wanted to be a preacher just like his father, but instead he became the leader of African American rights.  When he grew up he went to Morehouse college.  He worked on Intercollegiate Council.  That means he works with a group to achieve racial justice.  He used to hate whites but his anger went away when he saw how well he worked with them.  This book goes on to when Rosa Park went ot jail and when King gave his speech.

I would probably recommend this book so the people who believe in peace also to people who has big dreams in life.  This book reminds me of when I was watching a video about a man that thinks he is useless but later on he became the richest man alive.  My opinion of this book is that this book is filled with loveand war at the same time.