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After returning from their successful mission to the Underworld, Charlotte and Zee have returned to life as usual. Minus the nightmares/generally strange dreams, and the fact that Charlotte is grounded forever, because it turns out, once you learn that the gods are real, lying to your parents just doesn’t work anymore. Life is just too real for that. Still, it’s not all bad. When a cute new boy moves to town, and seems to have an interest in Charlotte, it’s hard not to feel at least a little uplifted.
Unfortunately, things don’t stay smooth for long.
There’s the strange old man Charlotte, Zee, and even Mr. Mielswetzski have seen around town. And Jason gone missing. And Zee taking an interest in Maddy, Charlotte’s best friend, only to dump her
and pick up with an Ashley. And let’s not forget the total personality make-over he could have done without. And to ice Charlotte’s cake, her father has won an award, and the family is going on a cruise. A History cruise. Every day to disembark and visit local sites. Every teenager’s dream.
Or not.
Still, at least she can get out of the house.
Things go amiss on the cruise almost from the get-go. Her parents arrive late to breakfast on their second day raving about Thalia the lounge singer. It starts pouring just as she’s about to lay out by the pool. Her parents make a date to meet her for breakfast the next morning (after locking her in her room due to a misunderstanding), and miss the appointment. Upon exploration Charlotte discovers the ship to be empty, and in the Mediterranean. Just a wee bit off course from the East Coast.
Eventually, Charlotte finds the passengers and all the crew locked in the Lounge with Thalia, who happens to be a Siren, and her powers don’t work on Children. It’s up to Charlotte. Who, by some
stroke of fate, isn’t alone. Jason, whom she thought she’d seen the day before, is indeed on board. There to help her. Turns out, he knows about her escapades in the Underworld. His dad’s a god, kin to Poseidon. Poseidon doesn’t take well to people messing with his family, and it turns out Philonecron is his grandson. Which puts Charlotte on the hit list. For which an entire ship full of people are about to pay the price. So of course they do the only sensible thing. They head for
Poseidon’s yacht, with the plan of stealing his Trident to control Thalia and free the passengers and crew.
After a near miss with a couple sea monsters, Charlotte and Jason make it to the yacht. They hatch a plan.
Charlotte, never big on patience, sets off on her own. Suffice it to say her plan takes a turn for the disastrous, but fate seems to be on her side, handing her an unlikely ally, and one more shot to save the day.
Again.
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Zoe Elias has grand dreams of being a pianist. For her, there is nothing better to be. She imagines evening gowns, audiences awaiting in anticipation, beautiful recitals, much adoration. So you can understand how, when her father comes home with a Perfectone D60 Organ, instead of her lovely piano, why she’s a little upset. In fact, she’s fairly sure this might be unforgivable.
But the organ came with free lessons, which she reluctantly agrees to take. Miss Person (read: Persaaahn) is not the world’s most enthusiastic teacher. In fact, during lessons, Zoe doesn’t get into much of her instrument’s capabilities. But when Miss Person isn’t around, she likes to kick things up a little. Which is how, after a lesson one day, upon forgetting her purse, Miss Person comes to realize Zoe has talent, and decides she ought to enter the Perform-O-Rama.
And so Zoe spends the next few weeks practicing and practicing the same song: “Forever in Blue Jeans”. Not knowing the words, she’ll often make up her own. In the Kitchen, baking up a storm, her father, and schoolmate turned constant house-guest enjoy the show.
With the competition nearly upon them, Zoe’s mother not only misses her birthday, but has an emergency at work, which means she won’t be able to take her to the Perform-O-Rama after all. Disaster. Mr. Elias is not exactly known for his worldly skills. In fact nearly every time he goes out, he has to be guided home by a local mechanic. But he knows how important this is to Zoe. Armed with pre-programmed cell phone, ready for any disaster, they set off.
And he does get her there. But doesn’t make it to her first performance, which she would tell you, was not all that bad, since she was not all that good.
This was a very cute and extremely quick-reading story. Through her music, and her enthusiasm, Zoe manages to bring her family together, help a schoolmate, and inspire her dad. So maybe the Perfectone wasn’t such an unforgivable gift after all.
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Rating:
Having just recovered his father from a years-long enchantment, Charlie is on his own again—his parents have gone off for a second honeymoon. But there’s plenty to look forward to. Once they’re back, the family will be moving into its old home. Which, as Charlie and Uncle Paton find out while visiting, has been recently vandalized. By something not quite human, if the glimpse Charlie gets of two figures scurrying away is right.
At school, things aren’t going so well either. The appearance of a boy called Dagbert Endless has everyone ill at ease. Cook, because she knew his father. Charlie, because Dagbert has attached himself to him and is insulting all his friends. Charlie’s friends because…they’re being insulted. But the boy’s plot fails. He can’t actually break up Charlie and his gang, since they know it’s what he’s up to, and they aren’t falling for it.
Charlie’s aunt has also remarried, and is now step-mother to a sweet girl, and rather questionable boy, who happens to be under Manfred Bloor’s control.
But the real key to the story is the beast. Asa, after helping Charlie save his father, hasn’t been seen since. But mournful howls can be heard filling the air every night. The townspeople get themselves into a panic and go out on a hunt, after which Charlie knows he just has to find Asa. And thanks to Mr. Ominous, he has a plan.
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Rating: 
For the first time in my reading of this series, I had a hard time getting through the book. I’m not really sure whether it was me, or the story. More than the others it felt a bit out of left field, even though it wasn’t.
Following up the previous tale, The Most High Academe has died, Quint is training to be a Knight Academic, sponsored by the Professor of Light, and Maris is in Undertown, in the “care” of her uncle.
Plots abound throughout the school, as the weather turns more and more wintry and hopeless. Every mission to the Deepwoods in search of Stormphrax fails; some before they’ve even left the city. Sky Scholars grow paranoid and start seeking out and destroying any hint of Earth scholarship. Meanwhile, it’s exactly that they need. And only by accident does anyone realize it.
While a battle broils in the city, Quint and his friends, and Maris, take to the skies with their last hope. An ancient idea that has to save the day.
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Rating:
In the second installment of their series, Pete, Inna, Vicky, Aaron and Gary are finally getting their hands dirty with some real pirating work. Being lookout in the midst of a storm isn’t a whole lot of fun, but they consider it the most important job on the ship. Rotten Teeth might not…but the Captain repays him for his doubts by sticking him up in the crow’s nest til morning, which makes it all worth it.
Early the next morning, Pete wakes up and spies a surprising sight through his spyglass–a Ghost Ship! Rotten Tooth just sets to laughing at them again when they tell him about it, so they go to Clegg instead, because Clegg knows everything. He tells them Ghost Ships are very important and its their job to find out what it wants.
With special permission from the captain to sleep on deck, the kids set about to do just that, trying to save the day yet again. Even when it seems no one believes them, these kids stick to their guns and do what they know is right. Which is lucky for their crew mates, since as of yet, this little crew hasn’t been wrong!
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As the series starts off, pirate-hopefuls Pete, Inna, Vicky, Aaron and Gary all left their respective ships behind to come crew the Sea Rat, whose Captain—Stinky Beard—wanted to start a Pirate School. Rotten Tooth, the best pirate on the ship, was given the job of being their teacher. He didn’t much appreciate the job, so his students had yet to learn anything much more than how to clean and stay out of his way. But they were determined to find a way to make him see that they were ready to be real pirates.
After a number of backfired plans, the group strikes gold: the crew is set to take off on a Treasure Hunt on Snake Island. The kids seek out Clegg, the pirate who knows all, to ask him about the curse of the snake of Snake Island. They also copy themselves the treasure map. Then, with permission from the captain to camp on the beach for the night, they’re set to try and save the day. The plan? Get that treasure first! And prove they’re ready to be pirates.
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A year after character’s from one of Meggie’s favorite books, Inkheart, made chaos of their lives, Meggie and Mo are happy at home with Aunt Elinor, and Meggie’s Mother, Resa, finally returned from her captivity in the book. But Resa’s mind often turns to that other world which she knew for so long. And Meggie’s fascination knows no bounds. Dutifully she’s written down all the stories her mother has told her; Mo has bound them into books for her. But his concern is growing heavy. He wants her to give the Inkworld a rest. At least for awhile. And she’s about to store the books away, too. Until the boy her father read out of his story the previous year turns up at the door with stories of Dustfinger returning home to Inkheart, Basta planning his death, and the deaths of Meggie’s family, someone called Orpheus having the last copy of the book. Ultimately, he wants to be read into the story after Dustfinger, to warn him. He wasn’t supposed to be left behind.
Meggie agrees to try–but only if she goes with him. And so she rewrites Orpheus’ words, adds in a few to take her too, writes a letter to her family, and off they go.
But for all that Inkheart is one of her favorite stories, and the Inkworld is somewhere she’s always wanted to see, her arrival leaves her wishing immediately that she hadn’t gone through with it. Which means her only hope is to find Fenoglio, the book’s author, to see if he can write her back home.
Only the longer Meggie finds herself in this strange yet familiar world, the more it begins to feel like her own. And though she misses her family and her old life, and there are parts of the Inkworld she could do without, she also doesn’t want to leave it. That’s the way with words in this story–all-powerful, life-changing, game-playing. Can they together save this world they love so much, or will it be their doom in the end?
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Rating:
Desperaux Tilling was a disappointment to his mother from the day he was born–the only of his litter of mice babies to survive. But with his big ears, and his wide-open eyes, the family immediately decides there’s something wrong with him. Indeed, Despereaux does seem to be lacking all requisite mouse desires.
His brother tries to teach him to scurry, but he would rather enjoy the stained glass windows. His sister tries to teach him to nibble books, but he would rather read. While his family hears nothing but the sounds of falling food, Despereaux is drawn to a sweeter sound, one only he seems to hear. And so it is he finds himself in the Princess Pea’s bedroom, listening to her father the King sing to her.
This is the last straw for the mouse community. They call together the council and together decide he must be sent to the Dungeon. No mice ever come back from the rat-infested dungeon. This is surely the way to rid themselves of this danger.
But this is the story of an unlikely hero, and Despereaux does come back from the dungeon. Just in time to be too late to warn anyone of the dangers to the princess. When her father the King won’t listen to Despereaux’s advice on what’s happened to the missing girl, he realizes it will be up to him to save her. And so he sets off, one little mouse, about to do the impossible.
This was a really quick read and a really cute book. I’ll probably be buying it for my permanent collection. Definitely worth a read.
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March 1st, 2007
5:08 pm
Book Review, Series
adventure, ancient egypt, fantasy, historical, juvenile fiction, scifi, space and time, time travel, ya fiction
Rating:
The second installment of the Golden Hour series, this is a much heftier story than its predecessor. Beginning with a short summarization for those might have missed the first trip to Owatannauk, Maine, there’s little slowing down once the adventure begins.
Xanthe, home without her twin for once, is busily beating herself up for having done so poorly in the contest that won Xavier the trip he’s currently off on. When her mother suggests studying to take her mind off it, Xanthe heads to the porch to do some math. Not long after she discovers something struggling in their pond. A something who happens to be he dearest friend, Rowan Popplewell.
Coming to visit with exciting news, Rowan miscalculated a bit and landed his alleviator (time machine) in the middle of the pond. The news: Aunts Agatha and Gertrude want their assistance with a special project. Collecting the goods sold in their curio shop. More specifically, obtaining rare manuscripts from Ancient Egypt.
No sooner has Rowan shared the news and headed back in the alleviator, Xanthe’s Nana calls wanting her to come visit.
Arriving to find a very different Nina than she met the previous summer, Xanthe is excited. Not only to go to Egypt, but to go without her brother. In fact, she’s a little too wrapped up in having something he won’t.
When Xavier later shows up in Alexandria to join the rest of them, Xanthe feels personally slighted. Her anger, and the unlikely chance of stepping out of an alleviator right in front of Cleopatra, lead her down a treacherous road, with dire consequences. Uncertain if they pull it off, the four children band together to return to the past, repair history, and restore the natural order of the universe.
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Rating:
Now living at Awful End with his Mad Uncle Max and Even Madder Aunt Maud, Eddie’s life continues right on with the crazy. Awoken early one morning by his uncle to come down and see the driver-less hearse in the driveway, Eddie has no idea what to think. And before he can decide, an even bigger catastrophe happens.
While recovering from that, Eddie and not-Mr. Collins are nearly hit by a crashing hot air balloon, which does in fact hit his Mad aunt Maud, who labels it quite an exciting experience.
From there things just get crazier, as Eddie is arrested, set free, gets lost on the moors, falls in with some convicts and wonders how anything will get set right again.
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