Library Ninja: Lone Star Books
The Ninja Reviews... Take Me to the River by Will Hobbs
Fourteen-year-old Dylan finally gets to do something he's always dreamed of: take a canoe trip down the Rio Grande with his uncle and cousin Rio. But when he arrives in their tiny West Texas hometown, he finds his uncle has left for Alaska. Disappointed but determined, Rio and Dylan set off alone on the dangerous journey. Along the way Dylan sees first hand the difficulties of living along the border. With the threat of a hurricane upon them and news of a notorious Mexican kidnapper in the area, the cousins start to realize just how in over their heads they are! When they meet up with a suspicious man and boy, both cousins must use their quick wit and paddling ability to maneuver their way out of trecherous waters.
As a huge fan of survival books and Will Hobbs (Far North was a favorite of mine growing up), I was super excited to see this book on the Lone Star List. Bonus - it takes place in Texas! A fold out map helps guide the reader down the Rio Grande, and both Dylan and Rio are interesting, smart boys, making their story easy to read. The book can be a little heavy with information on canoeing terms and the situation along the Mexico-United States border. However, don't let that stop you from reading the book!
I would recommend this to fans of adventure and survival books. It's not a very big book, so if huge chapter books are not your thing then I would recommend picking this up and seeing if you like it! Also, check out this excellent interview with author Will Hobbs.
If You Like This Book Then Try
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The Ninja Reviews, Lone Star Books
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The Ninja Reviews.... A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
"The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do."
Ever since Conor's mother started her treatments again, he's dreamed a horrible nightmare with a monster too terrible to even speak of. So when a monster appears in reality one night, Conor expects the one from his nightmare. Instead, he is approached by something different. This monster, taking the form of a yew tree, is something old, mysterious, and wild. The monster claims "I am the spine that the mountains hang upon! I am the tears that the rivers cry! I am the lungs that breathe the wind!"
The monster doesn't often come walking, but he claims that Conor called him for a purpose. The monster will call three times to tell Conor three stories. Then Conor will tell the monster a story. But not any story. It has to be the truth. Conor's ultimate truth. That which has plagued his dreams for many sleepless nights. It is this that terrifies Conor, not the monster.
As the story goes on we learn the tumultuous life Conor leads - his mother with cancer, his long-gone father, his crazy grandmother, his inability to feel. Conor is full of anger and pain, but is an incredibly endearing character. The reader sympathizes with him all through the book. We hope and struggle with him, and long to topple his mountainous problems. Author Ness helps the reader realize the fear of pain through the eyes of a boy that shoulders problems that are as big as a monster.
But this brings me to my one and only problem....the audiobook is astoundingly narrated by Jacob Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy in the Potter movies) but the drawings in the physical book are haunting and gritty, fitting in perfectly with the book. I listened to this book and felt totally transported into the book through Isaacs voice. But you'll have to make up your own mind how you will read this book. Cause you are going to read it. No, seriously, you are. It's just that good.
This book was inspired by the ideas of author Siobhan Dowd, an amazing author in her own right who passed away in 2007 after her own battle with cancer. A Monster Calls is on the 2012 Lone Star list. If you liked this book then try:
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The Ninja Reviews, Lone Star Books
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The Ninja Reviews... Death Cloud by Andrew Lane
In the year 1868 and young Sherlock Holmes is in boarding school. While on break, his brother Mycroft informs Sherlock that he will not be coming home but will instead be staying in Farnham with his quirky aunt and uncle. Feeling put out by being dumped on relatives he doesn't know, Sherlock uses his time to explore the neighborhood and learn from his American tutor, Amyus Crowe. When he runs into street urchin Matty and the two become friendly, Matty reveals that he has seen a mysterious death. Though perplexed, Sherlock does not dwell too long upon Matty's tale until he runs across another body bearing markings exactly as Matty had described.
Looking for answers, Sherlock visits a specialist on tropical diseases and confides in Amyus Crowe. The operation he stumbles upon is stranger and more frightening then he thought. Sherlock is captured by the pale and crippled Baron Maupertuis (mow-pah-twee) at a county fair and again with spirited Virginia Crowe, daughter of Amyus. Together, Virginia and Sherlock uncover the Baron's true plot, and plunge forward with Amyus and Matty to halt the Baron's dangerous plan.
This book shows Sherlock Holmes' first mystery and brings together the famous confidence of Arthur Conan Doyle's Holmes and typical teenage uncertainty and doubt. Sherlock learns to find his footing, though we still see traces of his lack of self-confidence through his reliance on Mycroft and Matty. Sherlock's crush on Virginia is not well explored, but fun to read. Occationally the plot seemed unbelievable, but in the end that was half of the fun of reading this book.
I would highly recommend this to fans of the mystery genre, especially boys who love a dose of adventure with mysteries. This book is also on the 2012 Lone Star list!
If you like this book then try
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The Ninja Reviews, Lone Star Books
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Lone Star Books 2012 - Update
I wanted to update our lovely readers on the status of our Lone Star books for 2012. We now have any books we didn't have on order! Yay! I also created this list so you can see all the Lone Star books together in our catalog. It does include electronic materials and audiobooks too, if we have them. Or if you want a specific book, click on the book cover below and place a request!
This post is meant to update Ninja Erin's original Lone Star blog post.
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Topics:
Lone Star Books, Book List
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Lone Star Book List for 2012 Announced
The latest Lone Star book list has just been announced. I am totally jazzed to see some of my favorites on the list as well as many I've been dying to read.
For those of you out of the loop, the Lone Star list is chosen annually by public and school librarians across the state of Texas. The list encourages middle school students (grades 6th, 7th, and 8th) to explore a variety of genres.
Did your favorites make the list? Which ones are you most excited about? Let us know!
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Topics:
Lone Star Books, Book List
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Teen Review by Samantha H...Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Let me start by saying this book was phenomenal. Neal Shusterman is brilliant and I admire this book which is a mixture of action, suspense, romance, thriller. The second civil war was fought over reproductive rights. The resolution to it all is thirteen through the ages of eighteen their parents can choose to UNWIND you your organs and other body parts will be transplanted to different donors.
Connor and his parents are distant now and no longer get along (lets put it this way, he is no longer needed around). Risa is very talented. She is a ward of the state. They need their budget cut back. Lev is a tithe. He has waited for this moment his whole life and it is coming.
These three together are on the run to survive and live until eighteen. The question is will they make it. I stayed up all night wondering what was going to happen next. I was so pleased when I got to read it. You won't be able to wait, just to flip the page. I chose this book because for kids who like futuristic books, this is one of them.
Other books you might enjoy
Teen Review by Amber C...The Season by Sarah MacLean
I have always looked for books that are well-written; one that can convey the feelings and emotions of several of the characters in the books.I love having a cast of characters that I can almost connect with. I completely love the Regency Victorian atmosphere of the book. I have always loved the 1800s.
Alex is a great protagonist and heroine to the book. She is fun, stubborn, hard-headed, independent,intelligent, and strong-willed yet willing to admit she is wrong. She rebels against her mother's wishes by doing what she thinks is best for her. She also has two amazing friends Eliza and Vivian who help her through everything; they make an absolute trio.
"Seventeen year old Lady Alexandra is strong-willed and sharp-tongued — in a house full of older brothers and their friends, she had to learn to hold her own. Not the best makings for an aristocratic lady in Regency London. Yet her mother still dreams of marrying Alex off to someone safe, respectable, and wealthy. But between ball gown fittings, dances, and dinner parties, Alex, along with her two best friends, Ella and Vivi, manages to get herself into what may be her biggest scrape yet.
When the Earl of Blackmoor is mysteriously killed, Alex decides to help his son, the brooding and devilishly handsome Gavin, uncover the truth. But will Alex’s heart be stolen in the process? In an adventure brimming with espionage, murder, and other clandestine affairs, who could possibly have time to worry about finding a husband? Romance abounds as this year’s season begins!"
All the characters were well developed, each with characteristics of their own. Characters are strong, for example: Gavin, he was a compliment to Alex but could still hold his own strong right. Eliza and Vivian were great co-stars to Alex and just really improved the story plot and burden wise compared to what Alex would do if they were not there.
At times the book was predictable but there were some turns and twists here and there that kept me interested. The plot was light and fun and it all ran smoothly; it wasn't too overwhelming in some parts and lacking in other parts. The book overall is well-written, well-developed, swoon-worthy, and fantastic.
Other books you might enjoy
Lone Star List 2011-2012 Update
A while back the Ninja announced the 2011-2012 Lone Star list. Since then, Teen Services has been able to purchase at least one copy of all the Lone Star books so that the Arlington Public Library can better serve you.
Here are all the books in the 2011-2012 Lone Star list!
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Topics:
Lone Star Books, Book List
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Teen Review by Jenna D...The Maze Runner by James Dashner
If You didn't think you were ready for Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, you will be after one read of this enrapturing novel. Similar to Hunger Games, The Maze Runner by James Dashner both makes pushes you away AND keeps you at the edge of your seat.
After sixteen year old Thomas wakes up in a place called the Glade, he soon finds himself trying to escape the horrors he never knew had existed. Along with other young adult male teammates, Thomas puts his survival will to the test in a wall-changing maze.
I started reading this one page per day when I saw that I was coming close to the end. I found myself DREAMING as if I were a character in Dashner's twisted world. This book is a MUST READ of a MUST GET ADDICTED TO SERIES if your in for adventure, death, survival, and plot twists. It's a wild ride, but are you up for it?
Other books you might enjoy:
The Ninja Reviews...Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell
Genevieve Welsh has a summer planned chock full of soccer and friends until her mother ruins it with the announcement that they are spending the summer in Wyoming at Frontier Camp. For two months, Gen’s family will live like pioneers—planting crops, milking cows and dressing circa 1890. For two months, there will be NO television, video games, texting or Facebook (Oh, the Humanity!). Angry about having her plans changed and upset for having to go without her creature comforts; Gen sneaks her cell phone into her family’s log cabin so she can communicate with her friends back home. Gen begins to regale her friends with stories of life on “Little Hell on the Prairie”—having to share a bed with her brother, being taunted by Nora-know-it-all, and hanging out with Cutie-Pie Caleb from the settlement next door. OK so maybe it is not ALL bad. In fact, Gen actually begins to reconnect with her family and discover that there are definite advantages to a simpler life. However, everything may come crashing down when Gen’s friends post her texts to a blog and suddenly EVERYONE knows all about what she did over her summer vacation.
Ok, Ok. I admit it. Little House on the Prairie is my dirty little secret. I LOVED this show growing up and never missed an episode. I can still see Half-Pint, Mary and Carrie frolicking down the hill with Jack. And I especially loved hating Nellie. So, I was very excited when I saw this book listed on the 2011 Lone Star Reading List and I snagged it as soon as possible. I was not disappointed. Seeing the pioneer way of life through the eyes of modern teens was especially humorous and enlightening. I actually laughed aloud while reading this book. So if you are looking for a lighthearted and fun read, check out Little Blog on the Prairie. This is Cathleen Davitt Bell’s second YA novel.
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