Author Archives: SSBRC Former Member

The Dragon, The Phoenix and the Beautiful Pearl: A Chinese Dragon Spirit Myth

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DragonStory adapted from the Chinese folktale: The Bright Pearl

Even though they see each other every morning, Dragon and Phoenix are not friends. This changes when one day an island arises out of the Celestial River. Together the two explore the island and find an unusual rock. They decide to clean the rock and soon discover it’s amazing, one-of-a-kind beauty. The rock is really a pearl that shines brighter than the moon and sun. It has magical powers to help plants grow and to never die.  Goddess Xi Wang Mu sees the pearl from afar and decides she must have it. She steals it from Dragon and Phoenix. In the scuffle to get the pearl back, it falls from the heavens to the earth. When it hits the earth it becomes a shimmering green lake. Phoenix and Dragon change into mountains (one on each side of the lake) to guard it. The two friends are there to this day.

Full color illustrations with text boxes on each page. The story is sometimes choppy leaving the reader wondering what happened in between. The small size of the book (6in x 8in) may get lost on library shelves. An introduction page gives history and meaning to the images and story.

Monkey Me and the New Neighbor

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Monkey Me neighborClaudia and Clyde are twin brother and sister who look out for each other. Claudia takes extra care of Clyde because Clyde has a problem.  When he gets excited he turns into a monkey! Yes, a monkey.  Young readers of this book will enjoy the absurdness of this morphing.

This is book three in the series. Here we find that the twins have a new neighbor. Nightmare of nightmares, it is their school Principal!  Clyde and Principal Murphy soon find something in common that helps them to begin a friendship. They also catch burglars who, unbeknownst to Principal Murphy, have stolen her valuable baseball cards and worse, her beloved cat.

 

The Complete Adventures of Johnny Mutton

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A fun graphic novel that early elementary will enjoy.
Johnny Mutton is a sheep who was raised as a boy because Momma had “weak eyes and a warm heart” so she didn’t even notice. Johnny has a spunky, positive, can-do attitude. Lessons on kindness and making friends are subtly slipped into the story lines. The Complete Adventures of Johnny Mutton is three books with five short stories in each. Young readers will enjoy how each book is wrapped up with a section titled “where are they now”.  Also included in the book are two extras, a Q & A with the author (James Proimos) and a section titled “I Believe” with some cute and silly statements written by Johnny ( I believe….. bees sting out of love …. mittens run away from home…if you bow after you say something people will applaud…). Body humor, colorful kid-like drawings and silliness will appeal to both boys and girls.  And perhaps the messages on kindness, friendship and just being a good person (or sheep) will sink in as well.

Isabella for Real

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Isabella Antonelli is living a lie. She didn’t intend to deceive all of her classmates and friends at her new private school.  But it happened and she didn’t work very hard to correct their false assumptions. Plus, she starred in a video series for her cousin for a class project that wasn’t supposed to be posted to the Internet. Her luck was such that not only did the video get posted, but it went viral. Which, of course, meant all of her friends and classmates found out that Isabella is not a contessa’s daughter but a regular girl who ends up being a pretty funny reality tv character.  

The story starts with Isabella hiding away from news cameras. When she finally leaves her room, it is to try to come up with a way to convince her friends that she really is a contessa’s daughter. She is also dodging her family to avoid having to admit to her ongoing charade and lies.  Ultimately, she fails at her deceit.  She must face her friends and her family as the real Isabella.

The book is mostly text, but is enhances with cartoon sections to that mostly show Isabella’s active imagination. This is a quick read which will have readers chuckling from time to time.

Deadly Flowers

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Deadly Flowers is a historical fiction adventure. Sako has trained since she was three years old to be a ninja.  She receives her first mission and she will no longer be in training when finished. If successful, she will be a useful tool for hire.  If she fails, she will be nothing, have no home, and have no one to rely on for help. Her first mission is to make a kill in the sleeping hour. For this first mission, Sako is assigned a compatriot, a mysterious puzzle of a girl who recently arrived at the ninja school and clearly has never trained in her life. The mission goes sideways, and Sako must devise a plan to save her life and is fruitful for Madame else suffer the consequences of a failed mission. Sako takes the only course open to her, she kidnaps the intended young victim and compatriot. Together, this trio embark on an adventure that requires intellect and skill to outwit a warlord’s samurai as well as unexpected bakemono.

Thomson’s skill with descriptive language propels the plot and paints a vivid picture that changes with characters, events and mystical beings.  

This story that is part action, part adventure, part fantasy, and all intrigue will satisfy readers and leave them wanting more.  A must purchase to round a library collection and bring a female protagonist to ninja readers.

Drag Teen

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In this realistic fictional novel, JT, a teen who is not able to afford college, wants to get out of his dead-end town in Florida. His boyfriend Seth suggests driving to New York to participate in the Miss Drag Teen Pageant. The two guys and their friend Heather encounter various characters along the drive that help JT discover his drag persona and, in doing so, himself.

JT and Seth are very relatable characters in the book. Some of the drag queens portrayed in the novel are interesting people that one would like to meet in person. The writing flowed and the text was easy to read. This book will definitely hit the mark with LGBTQ readers and those who enjoy reading coming-of-age books. This a fun and poignant read.

— Faith E.

The Way Back From Broken

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In this realistic fiction novel, teenager Rakmen’s little sister died. His anger led him to nearly flunk out of high school. His parents are on the verge of divorce. The only place Rakmen feels kind of feels supported is in a grief support group meeting. He meets one of his teachers and her daughter at one of the group sessions. This leads to Rakmen’s parents sending him on a trip to the Canadian wilderness with his teacher and her daughter. In these surroundings, he is able to canoe, camp and find himself.

The author’s writing is such that the reader is able to feel the emotions of the characters which made the novel exceptionally captivating. Although it is a sad book, the journey of Rakmen’s self-discovery made the book a very moving novel. I give this book a 3.5 – 4 (out of 5) boxes of Kleenex rating. For those who enjoy reading realistic touching fiction, this is a good one!

— Natalie S.

Cowpoke Clyde Rides the Range

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Cowpoke Clyde sees an ad for a bike and decides that he should order one. He doesn’t know how to ride a bike and his first time on it turns into an out of control adventure. When Clyde finally ends that ride, he walks away from his bike never wanting to ride it again. Clyde soon decides that cowboys cannot give up, so he gets back on his bike again.

The illustrations are colorful and the expressions on the characters add to the story. The text is written in rhyme and with a cowboy twang.

Mischief at Midnight

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This is a story of mystery and friendship, old and new. Loyalties are tested when Edie Wilson returns to the boarding school, Knight’s Haddon, and has to bunk with new girl, Janet. Edie’s best friend, Anastasia Stolonov, is moved to a different room. Anastasia is jealous of Janet’s burgeoning friendship with Edie and the time Edie spends with Janet. Meanwhile, tension erupts at Knight’s Haddon and in the local town due to the sale of a piece of property that is adjacent to the school grounds. Locals are leading a political activism campaign to save the trees from being bulldozed. As Janet secretly becomes involved in the campaign, Edie and Anastasia spy on her to try and figure out why she is behaving so mysteriously.  Anastasia has a secret of her own and hopes to keep her family’s role in the sale of the land under wraps for fear of being treated badly  by the other students at Knight’s Hadden. Schoolgirl antics, jealousy, and mysterious behavior fill the pages as the girls’ lives intersect.

This book is a companion to The Girl with the Glass Bird.  It can stand alone, but reading the books in order would help frame the setting and provide background information on characters and relationships.  Additional purchase, especially if the library already contains the first book.

Thornghost

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This fantasy transports Niklas Summerhill to Nightmare territory where animals walk and talk and are where there is battle waged between good and evil. Niklas is accompanied by a talking lynx who fulfils the role of companion and protector.  This is a dark story between good and evil. It does not stand alone easily.  It should be read as a sequel to The Twistrose Key to provide the backstory of Niklas’ mother’s adventures with the petlings and wildlings of nightmare territory.  

Purchase if you have strong fantasy readers who are looking for a new animal adventure or if you have a strong readership for The Twistrose Key.