Younger Readers

Low Red Moon by Ivy Devlin

 in Book Reviews / Books / Fantasy / Older Readers / Young Adult / Younger Readers by
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From Amazon.com

Summary

“The only thing Avery Hood can remember about the night her parents died is that she saw silver-deadly silver, moving inhumanly fast. As much as she wants to remember who killed them, she can’t, and there’s nothing left to do but try to piece her life back together. Then Avery meets the new boy in school-Ben, mysterious and beautiful, with whom she feels a connection like nothing she’s ever experienced. When Ben reveals he’s a werewolf, Avery still trusts him-at first. Then she sees that sometimes his eyes flash inhuman silver. And she learns that she’s not the only one who can’t remember the night her parents died.Part murder mystery, part grief narrative, and part heart-stopping, headlong romance, Low Red Moon is a must-read for teen paranormal fans. As breathless as Twilight and as spooky as Shiver, this is a book to be devoured in one sitting-by an acclaimed YA author making her paranormal debut under the pseudonym Ivy Devlin.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

So I received this book as a gift from someone so naturally I just had to read it, quickly. Getting a book from someone is the best thing ever because I love to read, so who needs jewelry. Give me a good book and I’m set.

In all honesty, I read this book in about 2-3 hours as it’s not a difficult read at all. I would classify it as younger YA as the story is much more simplistic, the writing is simple, and there are not tons of words on the page. Meaning it’s not written like Shōgun where the font is really small and so is the spacing – it is larger font and more space between the words.

One thing which I thought was really cool about this book was every time the word ‘moon’ showed up, it was written in red. I haven’t seen that before really, or not that I remember, so it was quite a nice touch and added an effect to the story.

As for the actual story itself, it was quite simple and there was some character development but it wasn’t terribly deep. This is, of course, because it was a younger YA book so the stories are not as complex as books for older readers but it still had a good story. Werewolves are always kind of interesting to read about. The ending took a turn I was not expecting and that was nice as well. I had this horrible feeling that the ending would be a little bit predictable but it definitely wasn’t.

The story, as a whole, was a good story and for a YA book it was good. As I am an older reader, I would really have liked to see a little bit more going on with the story such as some more explanations, maybe some more detailed interactions, less of the whole ‘I just met this cute boy, I’m 15 years old, and I’m hinting at sleeping with him but I’m not going to…or am I…”. It sometimes bugs me when that happens. I mean the character is not always clearly 15 or 16 or so because of things that happen so you could see them as being older, except during these moments of passion when she would think to herself how young she is and I’m here like “NO…STOP THE TRAIN!!!!!!! 15 YEAR OLDS SHOULD BE PLAYING OUTSIDE…NOT WANTING TO SLEEP WITH A BOY THEY MET 5 DAYS PREVIOUSLY!!!”

I mean, I know it isn’t such a big deal, but it feeds into the constant culture that it doesn’t matter how long you know someone, sleeping with them is okay if you feel like you truly love them. Like come on, 24 hours ago Avery didn’t even think Ben would kiss her and then he did and then suddenly she’s ready to sleep with him. I did want to smack the character over that. That’s the only kind of aspect that made it maybe a little bit more older YA. They didn’t sleep together, but they kept hinting at it. And no 15 year old should be getting these ideas into their heads.

Overall, it was a decent werewolf YA book and I would recommend it. Would I have liked more from the story? Yes. But for a younger reader this would suit them perfectly. I haven’t been reading many YA books recently so it took me a while to adjust back to that writing style with the simpler story lines, but for the book it was good.

It had a beautiful red cover and caught my attention as soon as it was given to me.

Do check this one out (purchase it here) and let me know what you think.

Until next time, happy reading!

Christmas is coming…so time to start ordering!

 in Books / Fun / Holiday / Younger Readers by

With Christmas only being about one month and 4 days away, it is time to start planning your gifts.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe in buying them now but if you want a good book, or good book gifts, it does take time to find them as well as get them delivered to your house, but never fear…I shall try to help. ^.^

Slightly Foxed, an independent book store in the UK, has a great list of books for 0-8 year old children and the books look absolutely adorable. There are also some cute toys too!

If you find something adorable there, most books can be purchased in America as well so have a look around and maybe you’ll find something cute and useful for that young passionate reader in your life.

Slightly Foxed image

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.

The Spider and the Fly by Tony DiTerlizzi (Based on poem by Mary Howitt)

 in Holiday / Younger Readers by

This is such an amazing book. It is, admittedly, a picture book. Not something that a Young Adult’s would read, but I have to say this is a very good book. The story is very cute and there are also some really good illustrations as you can see.

I was curious how the pictures were drawn or created because they are so good, so I looked in the back of the book. It said, “The illustrations that appear in this book were rendered using Lamp Black and Titanium White Holbein Acryla Gouache and Berol Prismacolo Pencil on Strathmore 5-Ply, Plate Bristol board and reproduced in silver and black duotone. The “ghosts” were created in graphite and then added as a transparent layer using Adobe Photoshop.” To sum it all up into a few simple words, a lot of it was drawn by hand, but some of it was “enhanced” with Adobe Photoshop. When I say “enhanced” I mean the edges were rounded and the pictures were softened and there was a glow added. But overall this book was hand drawn. A very impressive work of art, if you would call it that. This story was based around the poem and became its own little masterpiece.

This book is not for younger children because they might find the spider scary or the story a little frightening. I have always loved it because I like the pictures. They are really good and they are just so much fun to look at. There are little things hidden all over the place. Not a treasure hunt, but the ghosts and the butterfly are on almost every page. I would definitely check this book out because it is really cute and a great Halloween read.