Posted on

Book Review: Lunch Money

Lunch Money by Andrew Clements

My kids loved the book Frindle by Andrew Clements and so Kristie decided to try Lunch Money.  She loved it and suggested I read it as well.  I was ready for any single title book after laboring through Charlie Bone.  But having not read Frindle myself, I wasn’t sure what I was getting into.

Content

Lunch Money is geared towards your upper elementary aged students, 8-12 years old.  Greg Kenton is an 11 year old entrepreneur.  Throughout his young life, he has had more than one money-making schemes.  In fact when he opens his first savings account, he shocks his dad with a $3,200 deposit.

At the end of his 5th grade year, Greg tries selling toys to his classmates but runs into trouble with the principal.  So over the summer he develops a new idea of making miniature comic books, which he names Chunky Comics, to sell for a quarter each.  But after a few of his classmates try to steal his idea, the principal once again steps in to put a stop to Greg’s new business.

What should Greg do?  Should he walk away from a sound business idea?  Or is there a way to make his business benefit both himself, the school, and the other students?

Recommendation

I give this book 12 out of 12 buttered rolls.  It was brilliant.  Sure, Greg Kenton is a little unrealistic.  I can’t get my kids to clean out the car for any price, let alone have them come up with their own ways to earn some money.  But that makes Greg more likable.  He was intelligent, inventive, and thorough.  He did his best and refused to quit.  With each stumbling block, he found ways to improve his ideas.  Things may not have turned out as he had initially planned, but sometimes that means they turn out better.

Posted on

Book Review: The Red King Series

The Red King Series (Charlie Bone Series) by Jenny Nimmo

Way back in November, Kristie and I began reading this series together.  I wasn’t very impressed with book one, if you will remember, but she loved them and kept reading.  Determined to set aside my literary prejudices, I gave the entire series a chance.  More than once I heard Jax say…”You don’t HAVE to read all of those you know.” “You know you don’t HAVE to finish that, right?”  But the problem is, I did HAVE to finish.  When I begin a project, you can bet that I will finish it.  It may take years…it may be pointless by the time I’m done…but I will finish.  And so here we are nearly 5 months later, ready to write a review for the entire 8 book Charlie Bone series.

Content

Charlie Bone is a “gifted youth,” who finds himself at Bloor’s Academy to be educated with other “gifted youth.”  However, the majority of the students are gifted musically, artistically, or theatrically.  There are less than 20 students with magical talents.  They don’t get any training for these talents either, so I don’t understand why they need to go to a special school.  They do have a separate “homework” period together, so I guess they know who the other “gifted” kids are.

On the weekends, Charlie goes home to his family, which consists of his mom, uncle and two grandmothers.  His Grandma Bone is truly evil but they continue to live together under the guise that she has some kind of power over everyone.  I never figured out what that power was, but no one moved out.  But  Grandma Bone’s brother, Uncle Patton, is quite her opposite.  He helps Charlie to figure out his purpose as a descendant of the Red King and together they fight those forces of evil.

Recommendation

I give this series 2 out of 12 buttered rolls. I’m just not a fan. The character, backstory, and entire premise is flawed.  Each book has its own mystery to solve, with some problems carrying over from book to book.  However, each book ends suddenly without proper resolutions.  That could work, but the next book never references the conflict from the previous book.  It just seems mishmashed and jumbled.  But it deserves 2 rolls because there was nothing objectionable and Kristie loved the whole series.  I will end with her previous recommendation written after she had finished book 1 or maybe even 2.

I love Midnight for Charlie Bone because there is a lot of adventure and fun in it. It is fun to read about stuff like this when I can figure out what to do and what is going to happen in it. For example, I’m pretty sure I have figured out who Charlie’s Dad is, even though they have no idea. I really like adventure books and it reminds me of books like Harry Potter and Fablehaven. I like adventure and I really like books that have nothing to do with love. It is annoying to read a book when all they focus on is love. The only love in Charlie Bone is the love between family members. It is mysterious and cool how they are able to use there powers and able to solve the problems.

 

Posted on

Book Review: Midnight for Charlie Bone

Midnight for Charlie Bone (The Red King Series) by Jenny Nimmo

I don’t remember who suggested this series to me; but they mentioned it in a kind of “If you liked Harry Potter, you ought to read Charlie Bone.”  Our family loved Harry Potter so I thought I would try this series and give Kristie something else to read.  But here is MY warning!  Other than magical abilities and a school for “gifted children,” I found this book to be NOTHING like Harry Potter.  I almost quit after 100 pages, but Kristie finished in record time.  She spoke excitedly about the fast paced plot.  So I soldiered on and finished.

Content

Charlie Bone is a young boy who discovers he can hear voices from photographs.  At the same time, he acquires a mysterious case that is the key to finding a girl who was lost as a child and would be Charlie’s age now.  Charlie’s grandma and 3 great aunts immediately send him off to Bloor’s Academy, a school for gifted and talented children.  But Bloor’s is not Hogwarts.  It is not a home away from home, but more like a boarding school straight out of a Dickens’ novel.

Charlie enlists the help of new found friends to solve the mystery of the missing girl rumored to be at Bloor’s.  But in so doing, he finds himself at odds with the headmaster and his daunting Grandmother and aunts.  But with the help of an oddly powerful uncle, Charlie may have a chance to find the girl and uncover a greater mystery about himself.

Recommendation


I give this book a 5 out of 12 buttered rolls.  I’m just not a fan.  The backstory is so flawed, I can’t figure out what Charlie doesn’t know or understand and what is common knowledge.  The character development was non-existent.  Characters who were passed over as merely names, later accomplish important tasks and then treated like an integral part of the storyline.  In the last few chapters,  the characters discuss maintaining the balance between good and evil, but the entire book focused on the evil characters, good guys were merely footnotes.

There was nothing in the story that I would caution readers to avoid (or discuss with their children), but I found the whole thing kinda lame.  Kristie’s excitement has me reading book 2 though.  I guess with this kind of beginning, things can only get better from here.   However, I thought it only fair to give the recommendation of my 11 year old daughter, Kristie.

I love Midnight for Charlie Bone because there is a lot of adventure and fun in it. It is fun to read about stuff like this when I can figure out what to do and what is going to happen in it. For example, I’m pretty sure I have figured out who Charlie’s Dad is, even though they have no idea. I really like adventure books and it reminds me of books like Harry Potter and Fablehaven.  I like adventure and I really like books that have nothing to do with love. It is annoying to read a book when all they focus on is love. The only love in Charlie Bone is the love between family members. It is mysterious and cool how they are able to use there powers and able to solve the problems.

There you go.  I need a proper backstory or proper updates of history, non of this mere, “Oh yeah…by the way” stuff.  One-dimensional characters make one-dimensional books.  However, young readers are more forgiving of those fatal flaws.

Posted on

Book Review: Arcade Catastrophe

Arcade Catastrophe (The Candy Shop War) by Brandon mull

I know there are many books out there where children find themselves needing to save the world.  If you read my review of the first Candy Shop War, you will remember that I wasn’t thrilled with the way the children became involved.  I was prepared for untrustworthy adults preying on children.  Apparently, so were the children.

Content

Nate and his friends are now free to enjoy the magical sweet treats that had once put them in so much danger.  Their happy ending has come with new friendships and great respect in the magical world.  But danger lurks a few miles away.  Something fishy is going on at a new arcade owned by Mrs. White’s brother.  Children are playing games trying to earn tickets for 16 coveted prizes, stamps that have magical enhancements.  You can fly like a jet, be as strong as a tank, run as fast as a racecar, or dive and swim like a submarine.  But the games don’t end when the prize is won.

Mr. White has some more competitions in place for the winners of the stamps.  Each competition brings him closer to gaining the most dangerous and powerful talisman in the world.  When Nate and his friends learn of the disappearance of the friends, and magical policemen, they decide to play the game in hopes of stopping Mr. White.  Can they defeat this magician at his own game?  Will they be able to save their friends in time?

Recommendation

I give this read 12 out of 12 dozen rolls.  Like the first book, it was fun, adventurous and full of magical mayhem.  Unlike the first book, the children had learned their lessons on who to trust.  Their integrity helped others trust them as well.  They were able to use their experience to help the other kids caught in the magicians spell.  It was a great book where the kids were heroes.  I loved it!

Posted on

Book Review: The Candy Shop War

The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull

I did’t know what I expected for this book, but I was taken for a totally unexpected.  The first series I read from Brandon Mull was Fablehaven. I loved it.  I loved the world within a world, the magical creatures, the adventures, the characters.  The whole family gave up evening TV time so I could read the series aloud to them.  So I watched for other books written by Mull.  The Beyonders was well worth the read.  The last book in the Five Kingdoms series was released in March, so I will probably read that series here in the near future.  What I am trying to get at is…I thought I knew what I was getting into.  SURPRISE!!!

Content

This book was full of magic and mayhem.  Instead of a world within a world, or an alternate dimension, all of the magic happens in the sleepy little town of Colson, California.  When a new candy shop comes to town, four children find that candy can be more than just a sweet treat.  It is magical in every way.  Moon Rocks make them light as air.  Shock Bits fill their bodies with electricity.  Gum enhances your perception and performance, jawbreakers make you unbreakable.  Magic in every bite.

But two competing confectioners behind these sweet treats have ulterior motives for peddling their magical wares.  In search of a treasure that will make a magician all powerful, they enlist the help of children to do their dirty work.  Why children?  Because they are the only ones susceptible to the magical powers of these treats.  How does all of this mayhem go unnoticed by the rest of the town?  Just give out free samples of a highly addictive, mind numbing fudge.  Can anyone stop these magicians?  Is there hope for the children caught in the middle?

Recommendation

I give this read 8 out of 12 dozen rolls.  Charlee (age 9) couldn’t get through the first two chapters (but she has a hard time finishing any book so take that with a grain of salt).  I didn’t think it was a slow start at all.  It was fun and adventurous.  But man, these 10 year old little kids were put in quite the pickle.

The adventurous story deserved a higher recommendation.  However, I didn’t like that the adults were exploiting children and their natural instinct to trust.  Every bad decision made by the four children was because they trusted an adult or searched out an adult to help them.  That negative relationship warranted only 8 of 12 rolls.  I would have loved this book as a child.  As a mom…  Let’s just say, I hope my kids…”Don’t Take Candy From Strangers!”