Author: Cassandra Clare
Publishing Info: Simon Pulse, 2007
Suggested Reading Level: 13+ years
Synopsis:
Clary is a normal teenage girl until she sees Jace and his two friends, Isabelle and Alec, stake a demon at dance club she is at with her best friend Simon. The problem being that she was the only one who could see them. The very next day something attacks Clary's mom, Jocelyn, while they are on the phone. Jace shows up just as she gets off the phone and follows her to her house where she is attacked by (and manages to kill without Jace's help) a Ravener Demon. Jace takes her back to the "Institute" to be treated for her wounds, where she finds out that Jace and his friends are demon killers called Shadowhunters, and that she has to be the child of a Shadowhunter because she has "the sight" (the ability to see those of other worlds and Shadowhunters wearing runes that hide them from normal humans for a time). Shadowhunters kill demons because they are evil and completely non-human, but they also are the mediators for all of the part-human groups living on earth (including, vampires, werewolves, fairies, elves, and other fae). They were given special powers and the ability to use tatoo-like runes to enhance themselves and their weaponry by an angel who mixed his blood with theirs and gave it to the first Shadowhunters to drink in the Mortal Cup. The Mortal Cup is now lost and the Shadowhunter race dying out. It was lost during a Shadowhunter civil war caused an idealistic maniac named Valentine who wanted to rid the world of anyone not completely human.
While trying to find out what happened to Clary's mother, and why Clary doesn't remember having any connection with the Shadowhunter world, Clary, Jace, Simon, Isabelle, and Alec go on a series of adventures which nearly kill all of them at one point or another.
Showing posts with label action/adventure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label action/adventure. Show all posts
The Golden Compass
Author: Philip Pullman
Publishing Info: Yearling, 2001
Suggested Reading Level: 13+ years
Synopsis:
Lyra Belacqua, a precocious 11-year old orphan, and her daemon (an outward manifestation of her soul in animal form), spy on her uncle, Lord Asriel, and other scholars at Jordan College. They hear about happenings in the North which include a city from another world being seen through the Northern Lights and pictures revealing Dust, a golden substance falling from the sky and collecting on adults through their daemons. Though Lyra doesn't fully understand all that the scholars discuss she gathers that the topics of discussion are sensitive, secret, and thought dangerous by the Magisterium, the ruling theocracy of Lyra's world. From this meeting Lord Asriel receives funding to conduct research in the North on Dust and the world seen in the lights.
Then children in Oxford begin disappearing and it is rumored that the Gobblers are kidnapping and taking them North. When Lyra's best friend, Roger, disappears Lyra vows she will find him. But another visitor to Jordan College, the clever and beautiful Mrs. Coulter, distracts Lyra from taking immediate action. Mrs. Coulter entrances Lyra and convinces her to be her assistant for some research in the North. The Master of Jordan College is worried about Lyra's going and has a secret meeting with her before their departure. He gives her a round, golden object called an alethiometer. He tells her it is a truth reader, he doesn't know how to use it, and she should keep it secret from Mrs. Coulter at all costs. After many months in London Lyra begins to distrust Mrs. Coulter and worries they will never go North. She soon learns that Mrs. Coulter is part of the Gobblers who are working under the direction of the Magisterium. She also learns that the Magisterium has paid the armored bears of the North to keep Lord Asriel prisoner so he can't conduct his research.
Lyra runs away and meets up with Gyptians who are heading North to rescue the children taken from them. They take Lyra under their wing and give her insight into how to use the alethiometer. With practice she finds that she can ask questions to the instrument and understand its answers without the help of the many books that men in the past have needed in order to read it. Lyra also finds out from the Gyptians that Lord Asriel is actually her father and Mrs. Coulter is her mother. The Gyptians enlist the help of Lee Scoresby, an American with a hot air balloon. They also enlist Iorek Byrnison, a powerful armored bear who is the rightful king of the armored bears but was cast out by a usurper of his throne. They also recruit witches who when they see Lyra reading the alethiometer believe she is the child of a prophecy which says she will make a fateful betrayal and is “destined to bring about the end of destiny.”
Publishing Info: Yearling, 2001
Suggested Reading Level: 13+ years
Synopsis:
Lyra Belacqua, a precocious 11-year old orphan, and her daemon (an outward manifestation of her soul in animal form), spy on her uncle, Lord Asriel, and other scholars at Jordan College. They hear about happenings in the North which include a city from another world being seen through the Northern Lights and pictures revealing Dust, a golden substance falling from the sky and collecting on adults through their daemons. Though Lyra doesn't fully understand all that the scholars discuss she gathers that the topics of discussion are sensitive, secret, and thought dangerous by the Magisterium, the ruling theocracy of Lyra's world. From this meeting Lord Asriel receives funding to conduct research in the North on Dust and the world seen in the lights.
Then children in Oxford begin disappearing and it is rumored that the Gobblers are kidnapping and taking them North. When Lyra's best friend, Roger, disappears Lyra vows she will find him. But another visitor to Jordan College, the clever and beautiful Mrs. Coulter, distracts Lyra from taking immediate action. Mrs. Coulter entrances Lyra and convinces her to be her assistant for some research in the North. The Master of Jordan College is worried about Lyra's going and has a secret meeting with her before their departure. He gives her a round, golden object called an alethiometer. He tells her it is a truth reader, he doesn't know how to use it, and she should keep it secret from Mrs. Coulter at all costs. After many months in London Lyra begins to distrust Mrs. Coulter and worries they will never go North. She soon learns that Mrs. Coulter is part of the Gobblers who are working under the direction of the Magisterium. She also learns that the Magisterium has paid the armored bears of the North to keep Lord Asriel prisoner so he can't conduct his research.
Lyra runs away and meets up with Gyptians who are heading North to rescue the children taken from them. They take Lyra under their wing and give her insight into how to use the alethiometer. With practice she finds that she can ask questions to the instrument and understand its answers without the help of the many books that men in the past have needed in order to read it. Lyra also finds out from the Gyptians that Lord Asriel is actually her father and Mrs. Coulter is her mother. The Gyptians enlist the help of Lee Scoresby, an American with a hot air balloon. They also enlist Iorek Byrnison, a powerful armored bear who is the rightful king of the armored bears but was cast out by a usurper of his throne. They also recruit witches who when they see Lyra reading the alethiometer believe she is the child of a prophecy which says she will make a fateful betrayal and is “destined to bring about the end of destiny.”
Heir Apparent
10.05.2009
Author: Vivian Vande Velde
Publishing Info: Published in 2004 by Magic Carpet Books
Suggested Reading Level: Grades 6 to 9
Synopsis:
At the beginning of the book, Giannine is headed to the Rasmussen virtual reality arcade to celebrate her 14th birthday with a gift certificate her distant father gave her. On her way in, she passes protesters from Citizens to Protect Our Children who feel the arcade is corrupting children. She chooses to play a game called Heir Apparent where the goal is to stay alive long enough to be crowned King. The game is total immersion and she wakes up in the virtual reality world as Janine, the illegitimate heir to the recently vacated throne. She makes it to the castle, but while speaking with the other royal heirs (who were not chosen to succeed the throne by their deceased father), a thunderstorm wreaks havoc on the inside of the castle. When she makes it out of the throne room, a man claiming to be the CEO of Rasmussen Enterprises appears and tells her that the protester from CPOC damaged the equipment and the only way to get out is to win the game. She must do it quickly, though, or she risks a “fatal overload” on her real body. Panicked, Giannine manages to get herself killed in several different ways and goes through 4 or 5 (virtual) days before she figures out that she needs to speak to Janine’s father and get a magic ring to help her win. Her next attempt is more successful, and she makes it through 2 of the 3 necessary days before getting poisoned by someone she thought was a friend. On her final (because it is successful) attempt, she is very courageous, confident, and quick to avoid the pitfalls she has learned about on her previous attempts. She befriends one of the other heirs, keeps the royal advisor from stealing all the money in the kingdom, keeps the barbarians from the north from invading, finds a way to travel 20 leagues and steal a golden crown from a dragon, and makes it back in one piece. The dragon comes after her, but she defeats him, too, winning the respect of the royal guards. By the middle of the third day, everyone is ready to crown her King, but suddenly her head starts hurting severely and she can’t see straight. The heir that she befriended helps her get the crown and she wins the game as he holds her in his arms. When she wakes up back in the Rasmussen gaming center, she is confused because the heir is still holding her. She finds out quickly that he is really the owner of Rasmussen Enterprises and that he put his image in the game as a fun twist. The story ends happily with a hint that the two of them might hook up, and her father comes to see her to her surprise.
Analysis:
Heir Apparent was a very fun, quick read. It’s almost like a choose your own ending book, without being so annoying. The lead character is a girl who makes mistakes, but uses her intelligence and courage to do what she needs to in order to save her life and win the game. I think it would be a good model for young women. I don’t think boys would enjoy the book quite as much, but there is mystery, adventure, dragons, swords, barbarians and magic involved, so the book is not completely devoid of things boys might be interested in. Giannine has a strained relationship with her father, which a lot of kids might relate to as well. I think it would be a good book to start discussions in a classroom about courage, making decisions and the effects of wrong decisions, how relationships can effect our lives and decisions, and possibly human rights and how to protect them without hurting others. It was not difficult reading, so it could also be recommended to students who are older, but may have a lower reading level. Good book!
Publishing Info: Published in 2004 by Magic Carpet Books
Suggested Reading Level: Grades 6 to 9
Synopsis:
At the beginning of the book, Giannine is headed to the Rasmussen virtual reality arcade to celebrate her 14th birthday with a gift certificate her distant father gave her. On her way in, she passes protesters from Citizens to Protect Our Children who feel the arcade is corrupting children. She chooses to play a game called Heir Apparent where the goal is to stay alive long enough to be crowned King. The game is total immersion and she wakes up in the virtual reality world as Janine, the illegitimate heir to the recently vacated throne. She makes it to the castle, but while speaking with the other royal heirs (who were not chosen to succeed the throne by their deceased father), a thunderstorm wreaks havoc on the inside of the castle. When she makes it out of the throne room, a man claiming to be the CEO of Rasmussen Enterprises appears and tells her that the protester from CPOC damaged the equipment and the only way to get out is to win the game. She must do it quickly, though, or she risks a “fatal overload” on her real body. Panicked, Giannine manages to get herself killed in several different ways and goes through 4 or 5 (virtual) days before she figures out that she needs to speak to Janine’s father and get a magic ring to help her win. Her next attempt is more successful, and she makes it through 2 of the 3 necessary days before getting poisoned by someone she thought was a friend. On her final (because it is successful) attempt, she is very courageous, confident, and quick to avoid the pitfalls she has learned about on her previous attempts. She befriends one of the other heirs, keeps the royal advisor from stealing all the money in the kingdom, keeps the barbarians from the north from invading, finds a way to travel 20 leagues and steal a golden crown from a dragon, and makes it back in one piece. The dragon comes after her, but she defeats him, too, winning the respect of the royal guards. By the middle of the third day, everyone is ready to crown her King, but suddenly her head starts hurting severely and she can’t see straight. The heir that she befriended helps her get the crown and she wins the game as he holds her in his arms. When she wakes up back in the Rasmussen gaming center, she is confused because the heir is still holding her. She finds out quickly that he is really the owner of Rasmussen Enterprises and that he put his image in the game as a fun twist. The story ends happily with a hint that the two of them might hook up, and her father comes to see her to her surprise.
Analysis:
Heir Apparent was a very fun, quick read. It’s almost like a choose your own ending book, without being so annoying. The lead character is a girl who makes mistakes, but uses her intelligence and courage to do what she needs to in order to save her life and win the game. I think it would be a good model for young women. I don’t think boys would enjoy the book quite as much, but there is mystery, adventure, dragons, swords, barbarians and magic involved, so the book is not completely devoid of things boys might be interested in. Giannine has a strained relationship with her father, which a lot of kids might relate to as well. I think it would be a good book to start discussions in a classroom about courage, making decisions and the effects of wrong decisions, how relationships can effect our lives and decisions, and possibly human rights and how to protect them without hurting others. It was not difficult reading, so it could also be recommended to students who are older, but may have a lower reading level. Good book!
Maximum Ride: School’s Out Forever
10.01.2009
Author: James Patterson
Publishing Info: Published in 2007 by Vision
Suggested reading level: Ages 9 - 12
Synopsis:
School’s Out Forever is Maximum Ride’s second adventure as the leader of a group of young “mutant bird freaks,” as they call themselves. She and her Flock--Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Angel, and Gasman--have escaped their prison, picked up a talking dog they call Trouble, and found their way to Washington D.C. where they hope to find their parents. Just before reaching the capitol city, though, they run into Erasers (human-wolf hybrids designed to find and capture escapees) who have been retrofitted with wings to help them take out Max’s flock. Fang is mortally wounded and they have to take him to a hospital, where it quickly becomes apparent that he is not a normal human. The FBI get involved, and the lead agent Anne Walker, offers to let them stay at her strangely perfect house in Virginia. Once they’ve been there a few weeks, Anne enrolls them in all in school, and for some reason, they go along with it. They all enjoy (and sometimes hate) seeing what it feels like to be normal kids and do things normal kids their age do. The Erasers, including a back-from-the-dead (with no explanation as to how) Ari, who wants nothing more than to see Max dead, find them and do a dismal job of trying to capture them. Anne betrays the kids eventually and they leave for Florida on a whim of Angels. After a few mishaps and a detour to Disney World, Max gets captured and replaced by a genetic copy of herself. While the real Max is in a sense deprivation tank for two days, the flock and the new Max break into a building owned by a company called Itex, because they think Itex is the brains behind the plot to destroy the world for which Max was created to stop. The real Max escapes just in time to help the flock escape the trap that the new Max lead the group into, even though they knew she wasn’t the real Max. At the end of the book, they are flying
Analysis:
Maximum Ride: School’s Out Forever was a page-turner with edge-of-your-seat action around every corner. The characters are fun and witty and you get to see their personalities come out, so you feel like you know them. I thought it was a well-written book, with a lot of good dialog. That being said, I think it has an underdeveloped plot with a fair share of holes in it. Also, the action (including more than a little violence), the dialog, and the setting are very masculine-oriented, but the main character is a 14-year-old girl, who is trying to be a mom to five other kids, so it is hard to decide where this book fits in. I would probably recommend it for boys but either could enjoy it if they like action. This book is the second in a series of five books and has little in the way of a conclusion, so it would be hard to teach this book by itself. However, this series could be used to introduce the ideas of morality (as individuals, businesses, and as a nation), judging others, and trust.
Publishing Info: Published in 2007 by Vision
Suggested reading level: Ages 9 - 12
Synopsis:
School’s Out Forever is Maximum Ride’s second adventure as the leader of a group of young “mutant bird freaks,” as they call themselves. She and her Flock--Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Angel, and Gasman--have escaped their prison, picked up a talking dog they call Trouble, and found their way to Washington D.C. where they hope to find their parents. Just before reaching the capitol city, though, they run into Erasers (human-wolf hybrids designed to find and capture escapees) who have been retrofitted with wings to help them take out Max’s flock. Fang is mortally wounded and they have to take him to a hospital, where it quickly becomes apparent that he is not a normal human. The FBI get involved, and the lead agent Anne Walker, offers to let them stay at her strangely perfect house in Virginia. Once they’ve been there a few weeks, Anne enrolls them in all in school, and for some reason, they go along with it. They all enjoy (and sometimes hate) seeing what it feels like to be normal kids and do things normal kids their age do. The Erasers, including a back-from-the-dead (with no explanation as to how) Ari, who wants nothing more than to see Max dead, find them and do a dismal job of trying to capture them. Anne betrays the kids eventually and they leave for Florida on a whim of Angels. After a few mishaps and a detour to Disney World, Max gets captured and replaced by a genetic copy of herself. While the real Max is in a sense deprivation tank for two days, the flock and the new Max break into a building owned by a company called Itex, because they think Itex is the brains behind the plot to destroy the world for which Max was created to stop. The real Max escapes just in time to help the flock escape the trap that the new Max lead the group into, even though they knew she wasn’t the real Max. At the end of the book, they are flying
Analysis:
Maximum Ride: School’s Out Forever was a page-turner with edge-of-your-seat action around every corner. The characters are fun and witty and you get to see their personalities come out, so you feel like you know them. I thought it was a well-written book, with a lot of good dialog. That being said, I think it has an underdeveloped plot with a fair share of holes in it. Also, the action (including more than a little violence), the dialog, and the setting are very masculine-oriented, but the main character is a 14-year-old girl, who is trying to be a mom to five other kids, so it is hard to decide where this book fits in. I would probably recommend it for boys but either could enjoy it if they like action. This book is the second in a series of five books and has little in the way of a conclusion, so it would be hard to teach this book by itself. However, this series could be used to introduce the ideas of morality (as individuals, businesses, and as a nation), judging others, and trust.
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