A TALE OF TWO CASTLES

A Tale of Two Castles
by Gail Carson Levine
Published by Harper
Copyright © 2011
Review by Anthony Kendrick
 
 Move over Sherlock Holmes and Professor Watson; here comes Meenore and Elodie. “A Tale of Two Castles” beautifully marries two genres, fantasy and mystery, into a riveting tale of prejudice, theft, deception, and attempted murder.

Elodie is leaving her island home of Lahnt in Lepai for it’s mainland capital city of Two Castles. She is twelve years old and her parents are sending her away to find an apprenticeship with a weaver. However, Elodie has other plans; she wants to join a theatrical troupe and become an actress.

During her sea voyage she learns that it is no longer free to become an apprentice. It will cost her much more than what she has. Her task seems bound to fail, and yet she does not have the money to turn around and go home. Fortunately for her she is taken in by the dragon Meenore to be his assistant. Meenore is a jack-of-all-trades. He will lend you his fire, his wings, or his powers of induction and deduction as long as you are willing to pay his price.

Elodie will now assist him in his business, and one of her first tasks is to proclaim Meenore’s inimitable ability to find what is lost and to reveal that which is not known. This job will eventually lead to a mission into the Ogre’s castle where Elodie must uncover a plot to murder his lordship. Elodie will find that evil does not always wear fangs, claws, or blood red eyes. Yes, just as her mother told her she must “beware the white sepulcher.”

“A Tale of Two Castles” is unlike any fantasy that I’ve read. It is not overloaded with magic and action. There are no magic spells and there are no fights to the death. There is simply a dragon, an ogre, a king, a princess, a smart and determined young girl, and a cast of townsfolk and servants. However, no one is what they seem and little happens with striking observableness. Meenore and Elodie must use their intellect to make logical deductions, inductions, and inferences to get to the bottom of this case.

Levine writes a tale that shows that you cannot judge goodness or evil by mere appearance and outward kindness. In addition, you never know where, or in what form, you are going to find a friend. And lastly, if you are an ogre never get trapped in a room full of cats.

This book is a wonderful gateway for youths not only into the world of fantasy, but also into the world of logic and intellect. Youths need to read about characters who are mentally superior, not just physically superior, and Meenore and Elodie fit that bill well.

I AM (NOT) THE WALRUS

I Am (Not) the Walrus
Ed Briant
Published by Flux
Copyright © 2012
Review by Anthony Kendrick

Everyone knows that it’s the good looking jocks that get the girls. There is only one sure fire way around that if you aren’t terribly athletic, and that is to play in a band. But sometimes playing in a band brings more drama than it’s worth. Nahhh, girls are worth it!

Toby is in a two man Beatles cover band with his friend Zack. Zack plays lead and Toby plays Bass, and they are about to play their first gig. But ever since his girlfriend Katrina broke up with him he can’t quite pull off the happy Beatles vibe. No matter what he does or where he goes Katrina is stuck in his head. He sees her face everywhere. And as if girl problems weren’t enough, he’s having trouble with his bass.

While he his fixing his Fender P(recision)-Bass he finds a note inside it that says:

“PLEASE. If you find this note inside the bass, then the instrument has been stolen. Please, please, return it to me as soon as you can. This instrument is everything to me, and without it my entire existence will be meaningless.”

Toby isn’t quite sure what to do about this note, but being the noble soul that he is he calls the enclosed number and asks for the writer, and he is going to wish that he hadn’t. On the upside though, he finds a girl that makes him forget about Katrina. She is short, cute, and impossible. She hates him and she drives him crazy. So he has that going for him.

I love Rock & Roll! (Thank you Joan Jett.) This novel has an enjoyable and simple Rock & Roll feel to it. It’s got a nice little mystery in it: Where did Toby’s brother get the P-Bass, who is this girl who wrote the note, who is the odd man who keeps following him, and where did this bass come from originally. There is a little action, a little suspense, and a little romance. Overall it is an interesting and enjoyable story.

My biggest criticism is with the publisher. There were too many instances of missing words and one instance of character confusion that should have been picked up in proofreading. It didn’t ruin the story it just made it seem unpolished. Another small note is that the occasional daily horoscope posting didn’t add anything to the story for me. It seemed like a waste of space. These are minor problems though, and they don’t harm the story overall. Musicians and romantics should enjoy this quick read.

THE MISSING BOOK 3 - SABOTAGED

By Margaret Peterson Haddix
Published by Simon & Schuster
Copyright © 2010
Review by Anthony Kendrick
 
Another Dare-ing adventure through time with JB, Katherine, and Jonah. Our time traveling trio will try to solve the history mystery of the Roanoke Colony.

Jonah and Katherine are set to take Andrea back in time to merge with her tracer and do what needs to be done to repair the timeline. Their destination is coastal North Carolina around the end of the 16th century where, and when, the Roanoke colony suddenly disappeared. There seems to be a change in the travel plans though when an unknown stranger causes a problem with the elucidator and they don’t get dropped where they should on the timeline. Not only that, but they lose the elucidator and they have no contact with JB. Does he even know where they are? Jonah, Katherine, and Andrea are going to have to figure out how to fix time on their own if they are to have any hope of escape.

Haddix has found a way to mix science fiction and social studies education together in a neat package with “The Missing” series. Many kids aren’t that interested in history itself, but what happens if you time travel and get dropped into the middle of history? Now that is interesting! I commend Haddix because she researches her history well and feeds the story pertinent information about it as needed to move story along. Nowhere does she add a history lesson for the sake of a history lesson. Kids would sniff this out in a heartbeat. Social Studies education is sorely lacking in American primary education today, and I applaud anyone who can include it in the creation of entertainment.

From a pure enjoyment stand point, children 8 years old and up will enjoy this series. They will love the time travel plot where it takes a couple of kids to save time. They will also enjoy its main characters. Haddix does a good job of writing the sibling interaction between Jonah and Katherine so children with brothers or sisters will really feel it. The author also helps the tone of her plot by not making the book too humorous. Part of the fun of time travel sci-fi is the childlike belief that it is just within reach of the realm of possibility, even though we know it isn’t. Too many laughs would probably keep pushing the story out of that realm.

For me personally, I loved the first book but I couldn’t latch on to the second and third wholeheartedly. This third book at 360 pages just moves too slowly for me with all the questions of what the characters should and shouldn’t do and explanations of time and tracer movement. What keeps me going in this series is the history. I was interested in knowing how the author explained the Roanoke Colony’s disappearance, and I was quite pleased with that. I understand, however, how all the explanations help young readers to wrap their mind around the story and take it seriously. I would definitely recommend using this book in conjunction with language arts to bring more attention to history in our classrooms. Stories like this just might grab a child’s attention and make them want to learn on their own.

THE PUZZLING WORLD OF WINSTON BREEN

By Eric Berlin

Published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Copyright © 2007

Review by Anthony Kendrick

Move over Encyclopedia Brown there is a new detective on the block, Winston Breen puzzle genius. Winston Breen is a 12 year old puzzle aficionado. He breathes, eats, and sleeps puzzles. He sees puzzles in the oddest places like on a piece of wrapping paper, or on a pizza. Oddly enough the biggest puzzle he has ever come across is one that he did not know was there. 

Winston buys a last minute birthday gift for his 10 year old sister at his favorite store, Penrose’s Curio Shop. Used to his puzzling ways Katie assumes that there is a puzzle hidden in her gift. Even though Winston didn’t provide a puzzle this year Katie still finds one. This puzzle created by a local inventor decades ago, is going to send them on a wild goose chase with an odd group comprised of two treasure hunting enthusiasts, the town librarian, and an ex-policeman. Can a puzzle that is very intricate and very old be solved by this group? With Winston and Katie’s help it can.

I really enjoyed this story. It was fun and mysterious from the very beginning. It demonstrated that the best way to solve a problem is through teamwork. In addition it is chock full of puzzles for you to solve. I like crosswords, word searches, and I’ll do the occasional number puzzle so it gave me the opportunity to test my smarts. Some of the puzzles were easy and others were hard. I’ll be honest and admit I couldn’t solve some of them and others I didn’t even try. However I tried enough of them that it really did get me into the puzzling spirit of the book. 

While I recommend this book for pleasure reading, the connection between puzzles and school is obvious. Puzzles help teach logic, reasoning, and observation; they fit in well in math and language arts classes. Here is a little puzzle of my own, see if you can find the Encyclopedia Brown connection as you read this book. While the writing style and story lengths are different, both Brown and Breen rely on knowledge and deduction. I think Eric Berlin has written a timeless character, maybe not quite on par with E.B., but a nice homage to him.

NICK AND TESLA'S HIGH-VOLTAGE DANGER LAB

By “Science Bob” Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith
Published by Quirk Books
Copyright © 2013
Review by Anthony Kendrick

Encyclopedia Brown meets Bill Nye the Science Guy in this tweener Mystery with lots of great projects to keep you busy long after you finish the book.

Nick and Tesla have been sent to live with their Uncle Newt for the summer while their parents are in Uzbekistan studying soybean irrigation. Uncle Newt is quite the eccentric inventor and struggles mightily as the parent/guardian sort, but on the up side he doesn’t keep tabs on their whereabouts and he says “My laboratory is your laboratory. Go nuts!” So Nick and Tesla just might do that as they try to figure out what is going on at the strange old house at the end of the drive where there is always a remodeler's van but no work is ever done, two Rottweilers viciously protecting the property, and a strange pale looking girl at an upstairs window.

Nick and Tesla’s HVDL mixes science and fiction in just the right amounts to produce a fun little mystery that 4th-7th graders should really enjoy. And the directions for creating electromagnets, bottle rockets, burglar alarms and the like (with parental supervision) are bound to keep kids busy long after they finish the book. This would make a great summer reading book. (With the growing emphasis on STEM training in our public schools this is a great book to keep kids interest in science and technology.)