Angelfall

I good friend of mine presented me with Angelfall on my 36th Birthday.  Knowing what kinds of books I love, she took a leap of faith, having not read it herself. I'm so glad she did!

Angelfall is the first novel by writer Susan Ee and fits right into the YA books I seem to love so much.  Even though I had promised myself to stay away from all of the post-apocalyptic books out there (with December 21, 2012 coming and going without a bang), I immediately felt compelled to read the book after reviewing the book description. 

For those who've read The Hunger Games, you'll want to give Angelfall a read.  Angelfall's protagonist Penryn is reminiscent of Katniss.  Penryn is a caring, loving, protective daughter and sister whose mother has failed to live up to her motherly role, leaving her to protect her sister as their mother should.  She's strong willed and determined to help her family find a safe haven in a world that has been shattered by war.  In this case, their splintered world isn't decades after a man-made battle, it's only weeks after Angels have fallen from the skies, to completely obliterate the Earth as we know it. 

Without giving too much away, the book starts off with Penryn trying to escape her apartment with her mother and wheelchair bound sister.  They've been living as long as possible in an area that has become overwhelmed with street gangs, and during their attempted escape, Penryn's sister is taken by Angels.  She makes a deal with Raffe, an Angel whose wings were cut off, in hopes of finding her sister in exchange of finding someone to help Raffe reattach his wings.  On their journey to a location protected and inhabited by powerful Angels, they come across many obstacles, both humans and Angels, and they all discover there is much more to the post-apocalyptic world Earth has become. 

Shortly after reading Angelfall, I started following Susan Ee on Facebook. She was pleased to announce Angelfall becoming a movie in the near future. I can't wait to see Susan Ee's book brought to life on the big screen.  With all the action sequences and Angel wings flapping and flying, I expect it may even have a 3D release. Readers should also expect to see a sequel to the book in late 2013. I really hate having to wait this long, but I will be one of the first ones to purchase the book, and to see the movie. 

Beautiful Creatures

While anxiously awaiting the beginning of The Hobbit: An Unxpected Journey to start, 3D glasses on, popcorn in hand, with my son and husband seated to my left, I was saw the Beautiful Creatures movie trailer.  Instantly I knew this must have been based on a book, and was probably another YA (young adult) series.  Sure enough, I went home and found it on my Kindle.  As always, I started with the free preview download and sped through it, making my purchase for the book in no time.

For those YA readers out there, especially those who enjoy propular series like the Twilight Saga and The Hunger Games Trilogy (both of which I thoroughly enjoyed), you will most likely enjoy the first installment in the Beautiful Creatures series.  Think Bella and Edward.  However, this time we have Lena, a beautiful, mystical Caster (witch) and Ethan, a mere mortal who has fallen in love with the one girl he is told he can never have.  Like Bella and Edward, they refuse all laws of their respective supernatural worlds, and are determined to be together. 

Other interesting characters are mixed into the little southern town of Gatlin, where nothing is as it seems.  There's Macon, Lena's reclusive uncle the entire town seems to be scared by, and Amma, Ethan's surrogate mother with a deep family history rooted in mysticism.  The local Librarian is more than meets the eyes, and Ethan's dad is hopelessly stuck living in a room that embodies the smells and memories of Ethan's mother, who passed away within the past year.  There are good witches, bad witches, and something else in between.  Cheerleaders (think Mean Girls), jocks, the Ladies' Auxillary, and more can be found in Gatlin, all creating bumps on the way to Lena and Ethan's ultimate purpose: to halt Lena's destiny to cross over to the dark side, so to speak.

Personally, I love YA books because they are normally quick reads and are free from the adult romance that leads to affairs and, well, you know...  The series seems to have potential and I look forward to seeing it on the big screen.  Adults may not enjoy this book like the Twi-Hard Moms do, but I can see teens and early twenty-year-olds enjoying it.  If you're looking for something to read over a weekend or during a holiday break, Beautiful Creatures might be the one for you.

Dude

Dude, talk about awesome! Christopher Aslan's newest book, Dude, illustrated by Emily Mullock is another home-run hit. Dude is a pretty simple book with an even simpler concept, but the way it is carried out really makes Dude a book parents and kids are going to enjoy.

On each page, the Dude character is illustrated in a different situation, using the word "dude" to express his different feelings. We see everything from exhaustion and surprise, to awe and amazement. There are more than 25 different scenarios for Dude, and even more opportunities for you and your child to have fun saying "dude" in a rainbow of different ways.

My six year old son loves putting himself into the book, pretending to be Dude and then trying all the different voices Dude would use in each situation. My husband stands firm in his jealously in not having thought of this concept himself. Then, when I told my best friend about the book, she laughed and was amused and entertained by the idea. Simply put, this simple book brings so much to everyone!

This is the third book I've seen by Christopher Aslan and I already can't wait to see what he comes up with next. I think we are looking at another legendary children's author, to sit high with the likes of Dr. Seuss, Eric Carle and Sandra Boynton (just to name a few of our household favorites).

If you are interested in purchasing Dude by Christopher Aslan, visit Dude on Amazon.com to purchase your copy today!

Sharks and Other Sea Monsters

Whether you are interested in learning about sharks and sea monsters or you simply enjoy a good pop-up book, Robert Sabuda & Matthew Reinhart's Sharks and Other Sea Monsters is a must-have! Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart are both well known for their children's books and masterminded pop-ups. These authors aren't just great children's writers, they are paper engineers! The imagination and creativity put into Sharks and Other Sea Monsters is no match to the pop-ups we saw when we were kids! These pop-ups are high-tech creations for the new millennia!
Sharks and Other Sea Monsters begins by illustrating and identifying the origin of early sea "monsters" reported since the first sailors set to the sea. Each page is dedicated to individual sea life and includes astoundingly intricate and colorful pop-ups. At the center of the book is an exciting and very realistic pop-up relication of a modern day shark. Some of the smaller pop-ups on the Shark page include a 250 million year old shark and even a life-sized megalodon tooth, a type of shark that is long extinct and was more than 50 feet long, weighing over 50 tons.
The book continues on with reptiles, long-necked sea lizards and even marine mammals and birds. It uses simple explanations with scientific words and pronunciations so that readers of any age can easily understand the history of large and ancient sea life. From fossils of prehistoric life to the ancestors of a common-day crocodile, this book has it all. Plus, there isn't just one pop-up per page. There are large, medium and small pop-ups on each page. It's a pop-up lover's dreams!
Sharks and Other Sea Monsters stands up to the sub-title of Encyclopedia Prehistorica, making it a must have addition for any collection of reference books. The pop-ups are so complex, it could be examined over and over again and still be a complete amazement as to how the pop-ups all come together. From age five to ninety five, everyone will enjoy this remarkable creation for generations to come.

The Fairy Chronicles - Dragonfly and the Web of Dreams

J.H. Sweet brings back the Fairy Team in another magical story telling of The Fairy Chronicles. In book two of the series, Dragonfly and the Web of Dreams, the reader revisits this magical world of fairies, gremlins, brownies, mystical spiders and even a cameo from the Sandman! But there is much more than magic happening in Dragonfly and the Web of Dreams.

One of the best points to make about The Fairy Chronicles is the way J.H. Sweet weaves lessons of environmental responsibility into the stories, without it seeming out of place. Jennifer Sommerset, also known as Dragonfly in her fairy form, is avid on the notion of recycling and reusing. From making sure her family has the proper recycling bins, to encouraging her neighbors to do their part, Jennifer goes above and beyond the environmentally conscious duties of all fairies. Jennifer is also known for her pamphlets, created wholly on her part, for ideas on how to reuse things like coffee cans and butter tubs. These are everyday examples of how easy it is to make the world a better place to live in, and young impressionable readers will be educated and inspired by these environmentally friendly messages.

Dragonfly and the Web of Dreams also delivers the important message of team work, as the Fairy Team and other characters introduced in the first book of the series work together to benefit all of mankind. Sometimes team work also means working with someone you don't know very well or have a misconception about, and Dragonfly and the Web of Dreams demonstrates to young readers how you really can't judge a book by its cover. The Dream Spider is a very large, furry creature that has a deep booming voice and is very intimidating by appearance. However, in the end, we see how even someone who seems to be dark or scary can actually do something helpful or produce something as mystically beautiful as the Web of Dreams.

J.H. Sweet has perfectly captured the right balance of magic and mystery with real life lessons of team work, environmental responsibility and open-mindedness. These are perfect lessons for the targeted audience, and Dragonfly and the Web of Dreams makes a great family reading session! The magical fairy world of The Fairy Chronicles takes everyone, from the young and the young at heart, into a place that is exciting to visit, over and over again.

The Fairy Chronicles - Marigold and the Feather of Hope, the Journey Begins

It is time to introduce you to the Fairy Team: Marigold, Dragonfly, Thistle and Firefly. Perhaps it is possible that they are the ones that magically fixed the lamp you thought was once broken, or perhaps that dragonfly you saw buzzing around yesterday was actually a fairy in disguise. In this magical fairy-filled world, anything from a young girl's imagination materializes in the magic of The Fairy Chronicles' first book of the series, Marigold and the Feather of Hope, the Journey Begins.

Young Beth Parish is starting her summer off in the most boring way possible - two weeks with her oddly strange aunt. As a nine year old, there is nothing else worse in the world than having to spend a half month with someone that is far from ordinary. However, no sooner than a can of root beer later, Beth learns that not only is her aunt a fairy, but she is too - a Marigold fairy, to be precise! It is at this instant that the young (and old) reader is pulled into the magical fairy world of writer and creator J.H. Sweet.

There are more than just fairies in this magical world. Garden gnomes, brownies and even nasty gremlins could be lurking around any house and garden on the block. Never fear, the fairies rescue the day when they defeat the nasty little gremlins wreaking havoc upon Mr. Forrester, just in time for the brownies to recover the Feather of Hope. This magical team effort is rounded out by the help of Beth's dachshund - the one creature gremlins are afraid of!

The Fairy Chronicles are more than just a magical ride through a mythical world, but also teach valuable life lessons while entertaining the senses. Learning to appreciate nature and the colors of the natural world is a great lesson to be learned in the midst of "Climate Change" and other scary, bewildering thoughts of the future. "Leave only footprints" is an idealistic thought for how all creatures (fairies and non-fairies) should treat the Earth. Also, while awaiting the rescue of the Feather of Hope, we see that Mr. Forrester believes that there are "two important things to consider" in our search for the meaning of life. "How we treat other people, and what we teach to children," are actual lessons demonstrated in Marigold and the Feather of Hope, the Journey Begins.

Another beneficial lesson weaved into this magical book includes knowing the importance of community as we see the how the fairies work together to solve problems with each other to benefit each other. The reader learns alongside Marigold on becoming an educated fairy and how fairies value honesty and virtue. Between the magic and the lessons, this book is a wonderful choice for young, impressionable readers with wild and ambitious imaginations.

In addition to being a very easy read, geared towards children ages seven and up, with colorful and imaginative illustrations by Tara Larsen Chang, it makes an excellent bedtime book to be read a chapter or two at a time. Magically fun adventures are on the horizon for Marigold, her aunt, the Fairy Team and others from the Fairy Circle. You and your child will both enjoy the adventures yet to come to the lovable fairies in J.H. Sweet's magical fairy world!