We learned in the second book that the fangs, which look like beast-humans, are actually recycled humans. In fact, the bad guys nearly succeeding in turning young Kalmar Wingfeather, the 11-year-old next king of Anniera, into a wolfish fang.
North! or Be Eaten by Andrew Peterson, a Review
January 14, 2020 by
I am reviewing North! or Be Eaten by Andrew Peterson, Book 2 in the Wingfeather Saga (2009).This mid-series book could suffer from middle-of-story sag.
Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner, a review
December 16, 2019 by
In Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner (2010), Book 1 of a trilogy, Goldie is a protected child. She’s so protected that she has never been in any kind of danger, never petted a dog, never seen a snake, and … never been off a leash.
Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo, a review
December 3, 2019 by
She calls herself a cynic as she copes with her mother, who dotes on a pretty porcelain lamp named Mary Ann instead of her tomboy daughter. And Flora adores comic books, especially those about an unassuming janitor who transforms into a shining light of rescue. Plainly, she’d like her own life to be more like that.
Dreamtreaders by Wayne Thomas Batson, a review
December 1, 2019 by
In Dreamtreaders, a middle-grade story by Wayne Thomas Batson, Archer Keaton, age 14, serves humanity as a Dreamtreader. In his dreams, what he imagines becomes “real.”
Failstate by John W. Otte, a review
November 22, 2019 by
Failstate: Legends by John Ottte (2013) looks like a graphic novel, but it isn’t. It’s a middle grade novel, the middle book of a three-book series, but it stands alone very well . No one who picks it up cold like I did will think this is an unfinished story, and unexplained details from the past just make it seem more realistic.
Merlin’s Shadow by Robert Treskillard, a review
November 19, 2019 by
Multiple times, it looks like all is lost. How can they survive being stranded on a peninsula, with armed enemies cornering them? How can they survive being surrounded by Vortigern’s murderous men, and then by Pictish barbarians who are only too happy to murder them?
Merlin’s Blade by Robert Treskillard, a review
November 18, 2019 by
In Merlin’s Blade (2013), the opening book in Robert Treskillard’s Arthurian saga, Merlin begins as a bashful, gawky teenager, son of a blacksmith, nearly blind. Some unknown druids come to his tiny town in post-Roman Britain, bringing with them a mysterious, demonically mesmerizing stone.
Kubo and the Two Strings, a review
November 16, 2019 by
I’d heard this anime-style 2016 feature film praised by some in the industry, so I decided to watch it. My takeaway: religious families will want to discuss various elements of the story together. An example: identifying ancestor worship as a substitute for knowing and loving the real God. Kubo’s story is a hero tale, where […]
The Rock of Ivanore by Laurisa White Reyes, a review
November 15, 2019 by
In The Rock of Ivanore by Laurisa White Reyes (2012), Marcus Frye has learned a bit of magic that sometimes works. He’s the 14-year-old orphan apprentice to the magician Master Zyll.
