Library Ninja: The Ninja Reviews

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.

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Callie, her brother Tyler, and their friend Michael live as orphaned street children after the Spore Wars killed everyone from ages twenty to sixty, including all of their parents. These young survivors are called Starters and the ruling class of elderly are referred to as Enders. When Tyler gets sick and needs expensive medicine, Callie turns to an underground program run by the company Prime Destinations. The head of Prime Destinations, The Old Man, rents out the bodies of young Starters to wealthy Enders. Soon after joining the program, Callie can feel something is wrong. Instead of blacking out for the entire rental, she wakes up a night club. Here Callie starts on an unwilling adventure to unravel the corrupt intentions of Prime Destinations, leaving everyone she cares about in serious danger.

This is another advanced reader copy of a book that I got at ALA. This book was riveting and fast-paced. I really enjoyed the world that Price created. It is dystopian, but mostly by circumstance and not by some huge human flaw. The young kids are not treated well by the elderly who are now forced to care for them, which is unexpected. This book mostly points out how wealthy people overlook the little guys in pursuit of their own pleasures. That said, many of the characters in the book are really complex. What makes this book different is that the main character struggles constantly with what is the right thing to do. She doesn’t just see everything from the beginning and set out to take down the evil corporation, which keeps it interesting. There is also a broad spectrum of people who are both Enders and Starters, so no sweeping generalization of people. I thought this book was really well done and I can’t wait for the sequel, Enders, that is already in the works.

Check out the trailer for Starters:

Other books you might enjoy

  The gunman is useless.  I know it.  He knows it.  The whole bank knows it. Even my best mate, Marvin, knows it, and he's more useless than the gunman.

So begins the story of Ed Kennedy, a self-described underachieving cab driver who reads too much and is useless in life.  Ed has little in his life to be proud of: his father died of alcoholism, his brother always outshines him and his mother nags him half to death.  The only corner of life Ed has carved out for himself is a shack he shares with The Doorman, his faithful albeit smelly dog.  He spends his time driving his taxi, playing cards and hanging with his similarly deadbeat group of friends.  But after Ed stops a bank robbery, his life starts to veer down a different path.  An ace is delivered to his door, the ace of diamonds.  On it is scrawled a handful of addresses.  With nothing to lose, Ed throws caution to the wind and pursues answers to the mysterious ace.  What he encounters is something bigger than himself.

What makes this book magically brilliant is the constant stream of amazing characters that Ed gets to interact with.  He reaches within himself to find messages of love and meaning that he can pass on to others.  He gives messages of ice cream cones and the beauty of bare feet.  An ordinary man finds within himself the extraordinary ability to be good, give good and change the world for the better.

Usually, we walk around constantly believing ourselves. "I'm okay," we say. "I'm all right." But sometimes the truth arrives on you, and you can't get it off. That's when you realize that sometimes it isn't even an answer -- it's a question. Even now, I wonder how much of my life is convinced.  Ed's ability to see himself so clearly is beautiful.

The ending stumbles and is a bit quick, but that's okay.  Even the best book that ever was is allowed to faulter a little. The point is, everybody has a book that really weaves its way into his or her heart.  This is my book and I feel like sharing it with all of you.  But I want to know, what is the one book that never left you and why? Leave a comment and let me know!

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I will mention that as this book is written by an Australian author and takes place in Australia, the language is more severe than you might be used to and references to drinking are throughout the book.  The legal drinking age in Australia is 18 and Ed is 19.  I would heartily recommend this book to older teens and young adults.

Scotland in the 17th Century may bring to mind a rather boring scene of rolling green fields full of sheep being herded by men in kilts. And while part of this might be true, the description of "boring" is hardly the case for the life of Maggie Blair. When her vicious and mean grandmother is accused of witchcraft, they accuse Maggie too. She must run for her life and escape the Isle of Bute, even though she's never left it! With no parents and English soldiers marching all over the countryside she decides to go to the only family she knows of, an uncle who's home of Ladymuir sounds like her one hope. But when she gets to his farm she finds out her Uncle Blair is a Presbyterian, defying the King who wants to name himself the head of the church of Scotland. It seems wherever Maggie goes, disaster follows. When an enemy shows up at her new life, Maggie knows there will be trouble but the betrayal she faces is unimaginable.  Through her treachery Maggie finds strength and courage, learning to make her own decisions to lead her life.

Due to my love of Scottish History (nerd alert!), it is true that I might be a little biased, but the story of Maggie Blair was as facinating to me as it was exciting. It's true that most historical fiction isn't heart-pounding, non-stop-action and this book is no exception. But the hurt and impossible situations Maggie faces makes you want to turn to the next page. I will say that the historical information can be overwhelming at times, especially if you're not one that likes very heavy historical fiction. This book does not shy away from showing the ultra-religious nature and beliefs of the Presbyterian Scots. If you are bothered by psalms and hymns (used to create believable characters), then you might not enjoy this book as much as others. Author Laird does not beat you over the head with religion, but instead takes Maggie through her own journey of faith, leaving you to make up your own mind about the superstition and religion surrounding her life.

If you love big, fat historical novels with girl heroines, then I highly recommend this book as well as these similar books: