My Most Favorite Books: The Tale of Despereaux

by Kate DiCamillo

Despereaux is the youngest, and his family believes that he will die at birth because he is so small, has such large ears, and was born with his eyes open. Obviously there is something wrong with him. His French mother, with a flare for the dramatic, names him Despereaux for the despair in her heart. Despereaux lives and is anything but a normal mouse. For one thing, he doesn't like scurrying to and fro. He also would rather read a book than eat it. And, he falls in love with a human princess, a crime that gets him sent to the dungeons where no mouse has ever returned from alive.

First a side note. I don't really like books where animals are the main character. For whatever reason, it is a complete turn off to me. I also don't like books that talk to the author ("you dear reader..."). I am a strict rule-abider and my 6th or 7th grade English teacher said you should never ever use the word "you" in a paper. Apparently it really sunk in because it really turns me off from books.

With that being said, I loved The Tale of Despereaux. I read it because it won the Newbery award, and after I got over the initial talking to the reader, I couldn't get enough of it. It's one of those books that my husband knows as well as I do because I had to stop and tell him everything, reading him my favorite passages.

Despereaux has such an amazing spirit about him. Even though everyone is constantly putting him down, he continues to do what he thinks is right - listening to music, reading stories, and rescuing princesses. I love that he promises to serve and honor the princess. He just made me smile.

I also love the symbolism of the darkness and the light. How even the evil rats can feel the goodness that comes from the light. I'll end with one of my favorite quotes:

"Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark." (p81 of the hardcover edition)

5 out of 5 stars. Highly recommended.

Erec Rex: The Dragon's Eye

by Kaza Kingsley

Erec's family is kind of...diverse. He lives with his foster mother and five siblings that all have some sort of special need. Erec himself has a glass eye, and occasionally, Erec will get "feelings" that force him to do something. So far, the feelings have always ended up doing something positive, but Erec has to follow through with whatever he is "told" to do and fears the day he is forced to do something horrible. When he wakes up one morning to a babysitter in the house, Erec gets a feeling that he needs to find his mother. So, after sneaking out of the house, Erec eventually finds himself transported to another world, where he is entered into a contest to help find their next kings/queens (there will be three total).

I really enjoyed Erec Rex. It kind of sounded like a wannabe Harry Potter, but I thought Erec stood its own. There are some similarities, but I think they are more related to fantasy than to Harry Potter (orphan who discovers another hidden world, etc) Erec is an interesting character with a lot of backstory that I am looking forward to finding out. He is strong and able to figure a lot of things out on his own, but he is also flawed. There are several scenes where he nearly loses his life because of major mistakes that he makes.

I didn't find the surrounding cast quite as strong. His mother is still very much a mystery. I am hoping that in the next book we will learn more about her and her secrets, though I suspect it won't happen for a few more books. I believe there are to be 8 books total in the series. His friend Bethany was also kind of a question for me. Hopefully we learn more about her as the series progresses as well.

I also really enjoyed all the references to Greek/Roman/Celtic mythology. I caught quite a few as I was reading and later I read an interview by the author where she told of several more. I love books that successfully refer to myths, fables, etc without it taking from the story.

** small SPOILER**

The author also said that Erec is kind of a Hercules (or Herakles as the Greek's spelled it) character, and the next books will be about Erec grappling the 12 tasks required to become a king. Kind of cool sounding.

**End SPOILER**

I look forward to the sequel Erec Rex: The Monsters of Otherness.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Peter Pan

by J.M. Barrie

Read by Jim Dale

Everyone knows the story of Peter, so I don't think I need to do a summary. How's that for lazy?

I love this story. It's quite different from the Disney movie; in fact, I think it's not necessarily appropriate for all children. Most children won't recognize some of the things that bother me (like the fairy orgy reference), but they will likely recognize the swearing (Tink uses a few inappropriate words) and violence. Michael compare's his father to a pirate that he killed and was sad to see how much smaller his father was. Lots of death and no remorse. However,we don't actually see the violence (just the bragging after), and I really do find it a fun story. I'll probably wait to share it with slightly older kids though.

I have read Peter Pan before. If I re-read a book, it's often in audio format (I don't have the attention span to listen to new books...)

I was surprised as I listened how often Hermione Granger (of Harry Potter) kept popping in my head. I like Hermione and all, but it just didn't make sense. Finally it occurred to me that it was Hermione's voice that I was thinking of, and I realized that Jim Dale (who also does that audio books for all 7 Harry Potter's) used the same voice for Wendy and Hermione. After that realization, I enjoyed listening to the story and tried to not worry when I realized how much Hook sounded like Snape and Mr. Smee sounded like Wormtail. It was kind of funny.

With that little aside. This reading was really well done. Jim Dale is delightful to listen to; he does an excellent job of having distinct voices for all the characters.

4 out of 5 for the story
and 5 out of 5 for the audio

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

by Jeff Kinney

In Diary of a Wimpy Kid, we meet Greg Heffley who is using the book as a journal (not diary like the dumb cover says) because his mom wants him to. Not because he wants to share his feelings or anything. Greg records his thoughts on the first year of middle school (grade isn't identified, but I would assume 6th grade) and the ups and downs it provides.

Told through simple writing and illustrations, this story is quite funny. I even found myself actually laughing out loud a couple of times. The jokes are clever and the illustrations are fabulous.

I didn't particularly like Greg. He's kind of a jerk, but he seemed like a real character and I couldn't help wanting to know what would happen next. I even think there is some potential for some growing up and becoming less of a jerk in the other two books in the series.

This book would be fabulous for 5-7th grade boys (and possibly girls) who are reluctant readers.

4 out of 5 stars

The Last Apprentice: Attack of the Fiend

by Joseph DeLaney

(I read the version published in England, but other than a few terms, I don't think the story is any different)

Attack of the Fiend begins shortly after Night of the Soul Stealer ends. The Spook has decided to take Tom and Alice to Pendle in an effort to rid the area of the covens of witches that reside there. As the Spook explains it "Often the witches bicker and argue but when they do agree and meet together with a common purpose, their strength is greatly increased...You see that's right at the heart of the threat we face - that the witch clans may unite" (p 17). The trio teams up with the Spook's friend, a priest called Father Stocks, in an effort to rid the area once and for all of the witch families that live there. Their plans are thrown off when Tom's family becomes involved and it becomes a race against time to prevent the witch clans from uniting and summoning the Fiend (aka the devil) himself.

I enjoyed this story quite a bit better than the last one in this series. It felt like the story was progressing, and while Tom was still making some of the same dumb mistakes (ie leaving without telling the Spook what he was up to), he used a lot more thought and has grown a lot as a character. It was interesting reading his concerns about how he has changed since becoming the Spook's apprentice and whether those changes have all been for the best.

We also meet Tom's brother James in this story, and it was sure nice to have a nice brother around for a change. Jack may have been trying to look out for his family or whatever, but he sure treats Tom poorly, though that comes back to bite him in this tale as well.

I don't really feel like I can talk a lot more about the story without giving spoilers, so I will leave it at that. But, I really enjoyed this one, and I look forward to reading the fifth one, Wrath of the Bloodeye, soon!

4 out of 5 stars

The Dragon Heir

by Cinda Williams Chima

Warning: There are a few spoilers to The Wizard Heir in the summary of the book (ie the first paragraph). Sorry!

Starting off a few weeks after the events of Second Sister, things are not good in the Weir community. No one knows what happened to the covenant and it looks like a wizard war may be brewing. Meanwhile, Jason Haley is stuck in Trinity with nothing to do. He's not a powerful enough wizard to lead (like Seph), and he doesn't have the strength of a warrior (like Jack and Ellen), so he's feeling left out and is just itching to do something for the cause. He ends up sneaking off to Raven's Ghyll where he finds a hoard of treasure, which he is able to steal and bring back to the sanctuary in hopes that something will help make the difference for the "good" guys. One of the things that Jason steals is the dragonheart, a powerful yet mysterious stone that might just be what the "good" guys were looking for. As the battle comes to a head, will Jason, Seph, Jack and crew learn how to control the dragonheart? Do a ragtag bunch of teenagers actually have a chance between hundreds of powerful wizards?

Not my best summary ever. Sorry. I had a really hard time coming up with a description of this book...

I've come to the conclusion that I don't like books that focus on too many characters. Books don't necessarily need to be in first person, but they can't jump from perspective to perspective. It drives me crazy! I think that was my biggest problem with this book. First we follow Jason, then Maddie, then Jason, then throw in some Jack, Jessamine Longbranch, Bryce Roper, Warren Barber, Leesha, etc and it was too much for me. I had a hard time remembering what was happening to who when we last left them, and I just didn't enjoy it as much as the first two which focused primarily on one character.

There were other problems with this book as well. It felt like the entire book was a building to the climax, but then the climax wasn't that exciting. We built, and built, and built, and then it all kind of resolved itself. I will admit that the way the wizards were taken care of surprised me, and I actually really liked it, but it was over in just more than a page. It just didn't live up to the epic battle scene I felt we had been groomed for.

Also, where the heck were Linda and Hastings? What were they thinking? I don't understand how the two of them, who are supposed to be so bright, etc had NO idea of what was happening in Trinity and left it all up to a bunch of teenagers. It didn't fit their characters at all, especially Linda's - she seemed to always be involved with everything the first two books.

There were aspects of this book that I liked as well. I loved learning a bit more about Maddie, and Nick's backstory was really interesting. It would be fun to have a prequel written from his perspective because there is so much more to him than initially meets the eye. And the ending with the Dragonheart was interesting and not what I had been expecting - I like when that happens.

On the whole, it was an ok story. It seemed to drag quite a bit (due to all the building), but it does more or less wrap up the story that began with The Warrior Heir which I appreciated.

3 out of 5 stars

September Book List

Middle Reader
Sounder, by William H. Armstrong

Young Adult
Saving Zoe, by Alyson Noel
Gilda Joyce, Psychic Investigator, by Jennifer Allison
Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City, by Kirsten Miller *
Fly by Night, by Frances Hardinge
Deeper, by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams
The Spook's Battle, by Joseph DeLaney (published as The Last Apprentice: Attack of the Fiend in the US) *

Adult
The Pelican Brief, by John Grisham

* = a favorite

I was out of town most of this month, so not too much reading done. I do feel special reading Deeper though because it's not yet available in the States :)