Older Readers

Outlaw by Stephen Davies

 in Adventure / Book Reviews / Books / Fiction / Older Readers / Young Adult by

Summary

“A high-tension, high-tech thriller with an African setting.

Jake and his sister, Kas, whose father is the British ambassador to Burkina Faso, are abducted, bundled into a van, and driven into the unknown. In smartphone contact with his father, Jake learns that the kidnapper with the spider web tattoo is the remorseless outlaw Yakuuba Sor, who is connected to an international terrorist organization. But is he the real Yakuuba Sor? And is Sor really a dangerous criminal? In this fast-paced tale laced with trickery and murder, Jake and Kas discover that with the corrupt local government and British Intelligence arrayed against them, survival in the African desert may be the least of their problems. Includes an afterword.”

-From Amazon, Book Description

Review

This book was exciting and really kept you entertained. It was definitely a page turner and a couldn’t put it down book. This book was by Stephen Davies who also wrote Hacking Timbuktu which was also a really great book.

The cover of this book was very similar to Hacking Timbuktu which was why I thought it may be a series, but unfortunately this was a completely different story. There were some similar story lines in a sense because there were the gadgets and there was some parkour in this book but that was the only similarity.

This book was set in modern-day as there were cell phones and some unmanned flying machine. I thought that this book portrayed life in Africa, where they was going back to visit his parents, was quite accurate and it showed what the life was like there. You also got to see both sides of life. The life of a diplomat and the life of eating gold leaf and then the life of an outlaw, hence the title.

The book is a definite read and I recommend you reading the other one of his books too.

Hope that you enjoy.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

 in Adventure / Book Reviews / Books / Interesting / Older Readers / Series / Young Adult by

Summary

“Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight–she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.

When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become Po’s friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace–or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, debut author Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerizing world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance that will consume you, hold you captive, and leave you wanting more.”

– Amazon.com

Graceling

Image via Wikipedia

Review

Before I even start about this book I would like to thank Omar my YA librarian for finding and giving me this book. Thank you so much because without you I don’t think I would have ever found this amazing book! 🙂

This was absolutely amazing. This is going to be on my top 5 favorite books of this year (unless I come across something more amazing which I highly doubt). The story had everything possible. It had romance, action, it was set in historical times, it was exciting, it was captivating, and it was overall amazing.

The story was about this girl named Katsa. She is Graced with killing but she did not want to have to use her grace. She does not like killing. The book follows her journey from when she meet Po, says no to her Uncle, and then follows her journey of finding a Princess and helping save people who need to be saved, and hurting those who need to be hurt.

I thought that the description in this books were very good. The author, Kristin Cashore, really painted a mental image of the scenery and what these places looked like. I enjoyed reading this book at night because I was kind of in that la-la land and I would go to bed with pretty scenery in my head (yes, I know, I am strange.) I just loved this book’s imagery. It was one of the highlights of the book.

There were not too many characters so you did not get confused as to what was going on. You always knew who was present and you always knew where they were which was helpful as there was a lot of traveling.

There are two more books like this called Fire and Butterblue. Fire happens 30 years before Graceling (even though Graceling was the first book published) and Butterblue takes place 8 years after Graceling.

I am going to be checking out these other two books and I hope that they will be as good as the first one.

If you would like to visit Kristin Cashore’s blog, please click here.

Her blog is great and have a look around.

This book was rated in my library PG-13 because there is some violence in it and there is some blood mentioned but I believe anyone 12/13 and older can read this book.

So happy reading.

Dead Man’s Cove by Lauren St. John

 in Fiction / Older Readers / Young Adult / Younger Readers by

A Laura Marlin Mystery

Summary

“Orphaned Laura is sent to live with her uncle inCornwall, convinced that a life of adventure is hers at last. But everywhere she turns she’s confronted with mysteries. Is Tariq, the shopkeeper’s silent son, a friend or an enemy? Why does her uncle seem intent on erasing his own past? And why is everyone so afraid of Dead Man’s Cove?”

-From Back of the Book

Review

This is an excellent book for all ages. This is YA but I would say that the older end of the Children section of the library (like 11+) could read this book. It had great role modeling and excellent values which a teen/child should not know. A person may not be inspired by the cover because it is kind of childish, but remember never, ever, EVER, judge a book by its cover. I would say that anyone would be interested in this book. The characters were intriguing and easy to relate to and the setting and the story line was interesting as well.

I read another one of her books The White Giraffe (not a great review as I was new to this blog) and completely loved it. She has two series. Legend of the Animal Healer which has The White Giraffe, Dolphin Song (which I also read but never reviewed unfortunately), The Last Leopard, and The Elephant’s Tale. Then she is now starting a new series called Laura Marlin Mysteries. So far she has Dead Man’s Cove and Kidnap in the Caribbean which came out last July.

But this is a great book with great values and issues which some children may encounter. But they are not obvious in the book because Lauren St. John seems to hide the underlying messages in things which happen. You have to understand what is happening to find these message.

This book is not violent in any aspect and is great for all ages.

So go and check this one out. It is a defiant read.

Who is Lauren St. John?

Lauren St. John was born in Gatooma, Rhodesia, now Kadoma, Zimbabwe. She and her family moved when she was 11 to Rainbow’s End farm in Gadzema. She later wrote a memoir Rainbow’s End. She then moved to England and worked there for a few years.

If you want to read more about her click here.

Fracture by Megan Miranda

 in Book Reviews / Books / Hot Off The Press / Older Readers / Otherworldly / Young Adult by

* Note: This book is an Advance Reading Copy and it will not be out until January 2012.

Summary

“A lot can happen in eleven minutes. Decker can run two miles easily in eleven minutes. I once wrote an English essay in ten. No lie. And God knows Carson Levine can talk a girl out of her clothes in half that time.

Elven minutes might as well be an eternity under water. It only takes three minutes without air for loss of consciousness. Permanent brain damage begins at four minutes. And then, when the oxygen runs out, full cardiac arrest occurs. Death is possible at five minutes. Probably at seven. Definite at then.

Decker pulled me out at eleven.”

-From the back of the book.

Review

Quite a good book. I still have not figured out how the title fits in with the story but you never judge a book by its cover. I thought that the synopsis on the back of the book was quite intriguing. I read it and was instantly intrigued and I wanted to know what happened.

There is not a lot of say about this book just because it was not one of those stories where there were action. The characters were described pretty well and I could visualize them. But it is hard to describe this book. The story was fiction and it was more magical than anything. It was based on earth, but there was a magical quality to it. But I have to say, when this book comes out in January, it is a must read.

The exact date that it comes out (according to the book cover) is January 3rd, 2012 – but this may change.

Obviously,  this cover is not the final one…not too interesting. Hopefully when it is published they will have some great cover art that might link the title to story. This one doesn’t give a clue!

So, when the book comes out get it and give it a read. Hope that you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Fever by Robin Cook

 in Book Reviews / Books / Older Readers / Young Adult by

This post contains affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure here.

Fever by Robin Cook cover via Amazon

Summary

“Charles Martel is a brilliant cancer researcher who discovers that his own daughter is the victim of leukemia. The cause: a chemical plant conspiracy that not only promises to kill her, but will destroy him as a doctor and a man if he tries to fight it…”

-From Amazon.com

Review

Yes, the summary is short, but that really sums the entire book up. This book was a really good book. I would have to say that its content was for more mature readers. There was nothing inappropriate, but it was long, and there were some things which younger people may not understand or pick up.

I chose this as one of my summer reading books for my school. Some people at the school recommended the book and so I decided to try it out. I loved it. The book did start off a little slow but once you got into it, it was much better.

The story was about this researcher, Charles Martel, who was a cancer researcher. His daughter was diagnosed with leukemia and Charles just kind of lost it. He had lost his wife a few years earlier so he was married to Cathyrn, the stepmother. Cathryn was a very supportive character in the book. She would always back him up and she would always be there for Rachel, Charles’ daughter. There were two other big-ish characters in the story. There was Chuck and Jean Paul. They were Charles’ sons. Chuck was about as annoying as you could get, but Jean Paul was more understanding when it came to things. He stood on the sidelines and watched. Yes, he would annoy his sister from time to time, but otherwise he was a gentle soul.

Towards the end of the book Charles started to lose his mind. His mind itself was perfectly fine, but with all the stress he just started to have some weird thoughts – thoughts that were irrational.

The characters in this book were not extremely well described but they did not have to be. You got all of their personalities. You did not really need to know what they looked like. Also there was so much going on, it would have been a bit too confusing. I liked how the characters were not described, because with all that was going on, I got to use my imagination.

The personalities of each character were…

Michelle – loving, caring, has lots of responsibility as she took over the female role after her mother died, cares about everyone else before herself

Charles – a smart researcher, easily angered, sharp tongue, wily, wants Chuck to follow in his foot steps

Cathryn – arbitrator, loving, caring

Chuck – annoying, easily annoyed, quite strong, doesn’t want to follow his fathers footsteps

Jean Paul – loving, brother-like (has the moments when he picks on his sister, but cares too), quiet

I would recommend for you to go and check this book out of the library. It is for older readers like 15 and up, but otherwise this was a really good book.