Claire lives along a stretch of the Mississippi river where magic is still alive, where trolls sit under bridges, and blue-winged fairies weave spells. When her cousin Duke bullies her, his nose begins to grow into a rhinoceros horn, and Claire is misled into a bargain with river trolls to cure him.

The world-building and magic system are quite imaginative and fanciful.
I liked the twisty plot and the odd characters.
The writing style is good, painting a vivid picture of freakish creatures and bizarre magic.

However, the book is much too long. The plot drags on and on with long scenes and lengthy dialogue that take forever to get to the point. I got bored with it, and then something new would finally happen and it would spark my interest again, and then it would drag on and on again, and I got bored again until the next new plot point finally got going.

Russell visits the Magic Shop and gets a magic ring that turns him into a monster, and uses it to help him stand up to the bully in his school. But the Monster Ring makes Russell feel wild and feral, and not just when he's wearing it! He starts howling at the moon at odd times, he terrifies his classmates during their Halloween party, and he growls at the school principal. Can Russell keep his wildness under control before he becomes a monster for good?

This story is fast-paced and has good development. Russell goes through such a transformation, not as a monster, but as a character. He starts out as this frightened, timid little boy, and discovers that power and strength are not about having big muscles and fangs. He learns how to express himself better, and his life changes because of his courageous honesty with his family and friends. I really loved the character development and the story arc!

The story is also funny, with crazy scenarios and magical shenanigans that made me laugh!

Toby is a whale who sings in his sleep. His pod complains that he keeps them up all night, and they worry that his singing will attract human whaling ships. Toby has a vision of a spiritual realm, and sets out on a quest to find his true voice. He is threatened by the evil Dream Eater, a spirit who is sucking the life out of sea creatures. Only Toby's true voice will be powerful enough to save them from the Dream Eater and the human hunters.

I was intrigued by the idea of using music as a way of communicating spiritual and natural truths. There are some really beautiful and emotional scenes as Toby searches for meaning in his singing and discovers his true voice. There's a lovely message about being courageous and genuine, and I loved seeing Toby going on this internal journey.

This book has a strange mixture of good and mediocre story-telling. The writing is quite moving in some places, and oddly detached in others. Some of the scenes don't seem to fit with the mood of the book. Some of the plot points are wonderfully imaginative, and others are uninspired and trite. It's poignant and wistful sometimes, and clumsy and ordinary at other times.

I enjoyed reading this, but I feel like the writing didn't quite live up to its potential. There are all the ingredients for a stunningly beautiful story, but the execution is just slightly off-base. Maybe it just didn't quite speak to me, but it might really strike a chord with other readers.

The only parts I really liked were the musings about music.

In 1743, Marguerite is an indentured servant to a colonial family settling in the middle of Indian territory on the coast of Maine. Because she is French, she is scorned and ridiculed by her English employers, and is expected to work hard to tend to the children of the family. During their first winter on the small farm, Marguerite and the family struggle to survive in the harsh conditions, and face the threat of an attack from local tribes.

I was so enchanted with this book! The plot is interesting, the history is fascinating, and the characters feel wonderfully real and honest. It's no wonder that this book won a Newbery Honor Award!

Marguerite is an excellent main character. Even though she is a simple servant girl, she has her own little dreams. She is incredibly brave and intelligent, proving her worth to her employers and winning the hearts of the children she cares for. And yet, she is quite humble and sweet.

The most heart-wrenching moments are when she is mocked for her French ways by the English people she serves. They are sometimes inclusive with her and praise her for her good deeds, but at other times, they ridicule her for having different manners and ways than they do. I have experienced this cultural difference for most of my life, feeling out of place among people from another culture. Marguerite's experiences with culture shock felt real and true, and added a lot of depth to her story.

I loved the plot, which reminded me strongly on the Little House on the Prairie books, with hunting, fishing, building a log cabin, making maple syrup candy, spinning wool, and making quilts. For much of the book, they are just trying to survive each day, and then there are also bigger moments of action with threats from wildlife, storms, and the Indians. It definitely kept my interest through every page!

Trigger Warning: There is a scene where a baby is injured and dies. It's heart-breaking, and might be too emotional for young readers.

Tad is a spoiled rich kid, living in a massive mansion, with servants at his beck and call. Bob is a poor kid, living in a dirty caravan, working in a carnival, and surviving on the streets with thieves and pickpockets. When the two switch places in a magical swap, Tad must learn to survive on the streets, and Bob discovers that being rich isn't always as good as it sounds.

This story was so much more than I thought it was going to be! I thought it would be your regular "Freaky Friday" body-swap thing with the pathetic rich kid having to learn how to live without his precious wealth. But wow! I was completely surprised at the turn the plot took, and the intricacies of the story. Even the smallest details took on a major significance as the truth behind Tad's wealthy family is exposed.

I also loved Tad's character development as he sees the world in a whole new way. He is truly changed from the inside out, and I was delighted with the complexity of his personality.

The writing is really vivid and pulled me into the story right away. I liked how quickly the action moved, and how the writing kept me in suspense, eager to read more.

One thing confused me... the story is set in 1980s London, but the characters talk about "dollars", "cents", and "bucks". However, at other times they use distinctly British words like "Mummy" and "fish and chips". Why would British characters refer to money as dollars? Was there ever a time when Britain used a dollar-based currency? That can't be right! And using the word "bucks" to refer to money is completely American. I don't know of any other country that says "bucks".
I can only conclude that the publishers changed the text when it was published in the United States, assuming that American children are too stupid to know what pounds and shillings are, but smart enough to know what fish and chips are. [Insert eye roll here.] I hate that kind of thing! Just give me the normal text of the book, and stop trying to adapt it to a different culture with different slang. How are people ever going to learn about other cultures and other currencies if publishers change the text all the time?

Jake and Peewee have a run-down country car garage that used to be a livery stable before the Model-T came roaring down the dirt roads of their little town. Jake loves to tinker with the newest automobiles, dreaming of building his own racecar someday, and Peewee is no slouch when it comes to repairing a brake line or patching up a punctured tire. When Irene, the new librarian, comes motoring along in beautiful clothes and an astonishing hat, Jake and Peewee's lives will never be the same.

I fell in love with this book by the second chapter. I loved the plot, the classic 1910s setting, the kooky characters, the mysterious new librarian, and the hilarious antics of the farmers and rough-and-tumble country folk.

Peewee is adorable and smart. I love seeing how Peewee starts out with this backwoods ignorance and gradually receives a more sophisticated education from the friendship of the new librarian. Peewee is a perfect narrator for this story, telling the tale with bold panache and a sensitive heart.

The best part about this book is the solid sibling relationship between Peewee and Jake. They are both such strong characters, and I loved their camaraderie and firm family bond. They always stick up for each other, sharing each adversity and blessing alike.

All the supporting characters are quirky and hilarious! I loved how vividly they are painted, and how they bring a rowdy energy to the story. And the librarian is delightfully proper without being prim, providing a wonderful contrast to the country bumpkins.

I can't even describe how fantastic the plot is! I never knew what was going to happen next, and nothing turned out the way I thought it would. It's a wild ride with car crashes, races, theft, fraud, and grave-robbing, and a dozen madcap adventures on the back roads. The dialogue is insanely hilarious! I was laughing my head off during the librarian's interview for the library job.

I can't wait to read more books from this author!

Enter the Explorer Academy as a recruit and crack the codes to find clues that will lead you through the mysterious halls of the Academy. Starting with easy codes and moving into more and more complex puzzles and encryptions, this book teaches the readers how to create and decode various types of ciphers, including semaphore and Morse code.

I loved the way the puzzles and codes are presented as part of an adventure, leading the reader through doorways to various parts of the Academy. Each code that you break gives you a clue to another place in the Academy that you need to go to find the next clue, and there are detours and hazards along the way.

Be sure to read this book with a notepad and pencil handy, because you'll need to write down the answers to your codebreaking. There are places to write the answers IN the book, but I hate to mark up such a gorgeous book!

There are codes and puzzles with hieroglyphics, NATO alphabet, pig pen ciphers, flag code, scrambled letters, Caesar cipher, map codes with coordinates that detail the secret letters to spell out a message, and even a code based on constellations of stars.

This is the perfect companion to the Explorer Academy series. After having read the Explorer Academy novels, I was hankering for more puzzles and secret codes like the ones found in the stories, and this activity book definitely satisfied my curiosity about codes and cryptography.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publishers in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

Dinah has goals: sing and play guitar with her two best friends and win her school's Battle of the Bands, join the Junior Police Academy and learn to solve crimes, and basically save the world. When things start to mysteriously crack and break whenever Dinah is around, her friends think she must be telekinetic, but Dinah doesn't feel like she has superpowers. As she struggles to understand what is happening, Dinah turns to her parents, a florist and a cop, to make sense of her heritage and decide her future.

I LOVED this graphic novel!!! Everything about this book is amazing! The artwork, the characters, the plot, the dialogue, the action; it all comes together so perfectly to grab the reader's attention and tell an engaging story.

Dinah is a brilliant character, and I loved her depth and development. She has such strong relationships with her friends and her parents, and those relationships are tested to the limit through the story, but she never wavers. I love her loyalty and tenacity, plus she's just a cool person, who is kind and compassionate. She is not afraid to speak up for herself, but she also has a bit of a quick temper. However, she always feels sorry for losing her temper and apologizes later. This aspect of her personality made her feel real to me.

The artwork is absolutely gorgeous! I was floored by all the stunning colors, and I loved how the panels flow smoothly to clearly show the action. The expressions on the faces of the characters really display the emotional tension, and adds a whole other level to the story.

The plot has some of your typical superhero elements, but with added twists and variations that make the story fresh. The dialogue has a lot of energy, and keeps the story pushing forward.

The best thing about this book is Dinah's close relationship with her mother, and how she discovers her own identity through knowing her mother better. That family bond is something that can never be broken, and it adds such a special aspect to the story. I really enjoyed the scenes with Dinah and her mother.

I literally can't find anything to criticize in this book. It's everything I wanted from a superhero graphic novel, and I am known for being picky about my superhero stories. I can be hard to please sometimes, but this book really delivered!

Can't wait to see more books about the Black Canary!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

This story begins at the end of Cinderella's fairy tale, when Ella is engaged to marry Prince Charming. With the wedding only two months away, Ella is forced to learn restrictive palace protocol, sit through endless embroidery lessons, and learn the boring history of the royal family. Her meetings with the Prince are awkward and silent, and her only friends are the poor serving child, Mary, and the philosophy tutor, Jed. Ella begins to wonder if she really loves the Prince at all, and if she can tolerate the confinement of the palace for the rest of her life.

I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! (I really hate the cover art, and made the mistake of judging the book by its cover.) I read it all in one sitting, because I could not put it down.

Ella is fiery and energetic. She longs to do courageous deeds and have close relationships with people, but the royal protocol is so restrictive that no one can have a meaningful conversation, much less actually connect with anyone or do anything of real consequence. I loved the way she beat her wings against those cage bars and finally escaped to build her own life.

This book goes into some deep themes as Ella discovers what she truly wants out of life. She ponders what love really is and how it should feel when it is true. She contemplates what gives life meaning and what kind of legacy she wants to leave. Jed is a thinker with big ideas, but doesn't have the gumption to take action until Ella inspires him with her intense energy. They both have really excellent character development.

My favorite parts of the book where when Ella sassed back to people in authority over her. Oooh, it was so good! I could perfectly imagine her with her hand on her hip, wagging her head at some fancy madame, and insisting that she was not going to wear a corset. Haha!

There were only a few things that annoyed me. First, idioms and sayings that are decidedly modern which don't belong in an obviously old-timey world where people wear corsets. It bothers me when the world is inconsistent.

Secondly, there are a weirdly high amount of mentions of body functions, poop, and urine, and animal manure. I mean, at one place it was important to the plot, but most of the time, I didn't need to know all that.

There is also a mention of a man who raped several women. He threatens Ella and she finds out later that he was sentenced and executed for rape. It's barely mentioned in the story and there are no details, but still... not something for young readers to be reading about. It also seemed unnecessary to the story. Why include it when it wasn't really important to the story, and adds a bad tone to the book?

I really enjoyed this book, but those few things annoyed me; not enough to ruin the story for me, but enough for me to take my rating down a star. It would have been a 4 star book without those things.

Supergirl, Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Bumblebee, and Zatanna are all required to join a school club to show their school spirit. They can barely find time to attend classes between superhero crime-fighting, so how will they find time to join club activities? They find out that it's harder than it seems to stay in a club without getting kicked out by their frustrated classmates. If they want to find a club where they can fit in and learn something new, they will have to change their thinking, especially when they are used to feeling capable and super at everything.

I enjoyed this graphic novel so much! The character development is wonderful, and I liked how the various plot lines wove around and finally resolved together. The super girls join clubs where they are either TOO good at the activity, risking revealing their powers, or they join a club where they are really terrible at the activity, and they feel stupid and incompetent.

The best part about this story is the adorable friendships between all the super girls! They are all so different, with different powers, abilities, personalities, and interests, but they love and support each other through everything, and not just in their crime-fighting missions. They really come together to inspire and encourage one another, and I loved the caring dynamic they shared.

The story focuses slightly more on Supergirl, as she struggles with feeling inadequate for the expectations that are put on her. They all have a lot of pressure on them, both in their crime-fighting and in regular school, and it was wonderful to see how they learn to deal with that pressure and ask for help when they need it.

I loved the cartoony art! It's really colorful and bright, with great action and easy to read dialogue. I loved the characters' style; their costumes, hair, and facial expressions really brought them to life. The art made it so easy to get lost in the story!

I found it difficult at first to keep track of all the super girls and remember who was who. There are seven of them, and that's a lot of main characters to be introduced all at once in the beginning. I wish I could have started reading from the beginning of this series, although I think each book in the series is supposed to work as a stand-alone.

Of course, I was already familiar with Batgirl, Wonder Woman, and Supergirl, but I didn't know a lot about Green Lantern or Bumblebee, and I had barely heard of Zatanna before. I wish that there was a little more introductory information about these characters for those of us who like superheros but don't know everything in the DC universe yet. I'm still learning and discovering all these great characters!

I found it almost impossible to follow who all the villains are. I recognized Harley Quinn, Catwoman, Lena Luthor, Livewire, and Ivy, but I had no clue who the other two were, and it was never really explained in the story what their powers are, or who they are, or where they come from, or what they want. That's a lot of villains to be running around together and no explanation about why they are working together or anything. Maybe that is explained in other books in the series, but a recap would have been nice.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.