The Race to Krakatoa by J.D. Peabody

 

Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy

Source: I won a copy from LibraryThing Early Reviewers. The opinions expressed here are my own.

To say I have found a new author that I absolutely love would be an understatement. J.D. Peabody has created a series that not only kids will love, but educators and book lovers everywhere will love. In the second book in his series we find several things have happened. First, Mrs. Crimp is back, but loveable and protective of the children. She learned some valuable things while she was Inkased.  Everett has found a strength he didn't know he possessed. Bea has learned how much of caring person she is. She feels she is inadequate, but she is not. We have most of the same characters from the first book, including the villains with a few extras thrown in. One in particular is nasty. He was an Inking but used the ink for illegal purposes. He was shunned by the other inklings. He creates his own ink, a mixture of the ink from the first book with his own additives and gets it funded by the very people who hate the Inklings. But we all know that evil has a way of backfiring. The only thing I can say I hated is the ending of the book. I love that it ended in a cliff hanger.  That was brilliant writing. What I hated is that I will have to wait at least a year probably to read a continuation of the story. I could see people forming lines like they did for the Harry Potter books to purchase the next one.  They are that good. I want to jump into the story the way Everett is able to Leapread. I want to become a part of that world. THAT is how good these books are.  The author's nod to other authors and their works, which you can find out more about on his website, have made me want to check out some of the books I was unfamiliar with. It gave me a warm feeling to have him sprinkle in books I grew up with. That is why I say this is a book for young and old alike.  You have got to check these books out.

First Review of the New Year: The Ink of Elspet by J.D. Peabody

Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy

Source: I own a copy

Kids today need more books with creativity woven through the plots. My middle grade students are always telling me they don’t have any imagination. Maybe if there were more books out there like this, they wouldn’t say that as much. Marcus is a preacher and the creator of a comic book. He has left them at home to go on a secret trip. After the train he is on crashes and he is whisked away, Everett and Bea are on a journey to try to find and save their dad. They have his pen and magical ink. They slowly learn about their father and the magic ink and “inklings” who must find and protect it. The characters are easy to like and believable. The world building is phenomenal. We travel on mysterious, magical mysteries along with the characters. The explanation of how the evil characters came to be was awesome. Everett reminded me so much of some of my students who think they have no talent and doubt everything they do, often sabotaging themselves. There are lessons to be learned that don’t hit the reader head on.  I definitely recommend this book and will make sure my grandkids get a copy.  I am looking forward to reading the second book in this series.

40 Lives in 40 Days by John MacArthur

Genre: Christian, Inspirational, Informational

Source: I purchased a copy

The author takes us on a trip through the lives of forty different Biblical people. He starts with some of the disciples and continues to other important people. I found his description of Thomas, also known as “Doubting Thomas” funny. He said that Thomas was a worrier. It was pointed out that he was so connected to Christ that he would rather die with him than be apart from him. The author compared him to “Eeyore” from the “Winnie the Pooh” book.  He speaks of Abraham’s wife Sarah as an example of what happens when we try to take matters into our own hands. It never works out right.  Rahab is an example of how God reaches down to the lowest of the low.  I was surprised by how many women he spoke about. This is a wonderful book that can be applied to all of our lives.