Book Reviews by Kids - December 2006

Princess Academy

by Shannon Hale

Miri lives in the small mountain village of Mount Eskel, where life centers around quarrying a stone called linder. However, because of her small stature, Miri's father has forbidden her to work in the quarry with all of the other villagers. Miri's life takes a surprsing turn when the king's priests divine that the prince's future bride will come from Mount Eskel. All of the teenage girls from the village must now attend a special academy to teach them the necessary skills should one of them become the princess. As Miri learns more about her homeland and rises to the top of her class, she finds a voice and a niche in the community.

The Princess Academy is an engaging read full of believable characters and stirring descriptions. Hale describes Mount Eskel in such detail that it feels as if it is a real place. The best aspect of this book is the characters. From spunky Miri to snobby Katar to the imperious Tutor Olana, each character is full of life and seemes to jump off the page. The story tends to get a little slow, especially during the chapters at the school where their is relatively little action. However, the characters and beautiful setting make up for it, creating a great book.

Reviewed by Pirate Princess - age 16

Lord of the Flies

by William Golding

When a plane carrying young boys from England crashes on an uninhabited island, all of them must work together to survive. Two of the boys, Ralph and Piggy, find a conch shell, which they use to call all the boys. They elect Ralph to be their leader. He does his best to organize them and to get them to build shelters and build a signal fire as an attempt to be rescued. However, very soon there begin to be dissentions and disagreements among them.

Although Lord of the Flies starts off fairly slow, and it takes a while to get into the book, overall this was a pretty good book. One of the major strengths of this book is how well it shows the conflict between civilization and savagery between the boys. Some of the boys basically abandon all thoughts of rescue and just try to have a fun time, resulting in them turning into bloodthirsty savages, where on the other hand, Ralph and Piggy are always trying to be rescued and remain the most civilized. Another good thing about this book is how well it describes everything. However, in some parts of the book, particularly the beginning, the author uses a little too much description, and it begins to get dull and boring. Although there are some negative things about this book, overall, the good outweighs the bad, forming a fantastic book.

Reviewed by Dude Man - Age 14

Bronze Bow

by Elizabeth George Speare

Imagine yourself living in a time where Rome takes over the country you live in. Would you be on the Romans side, or would you fight for your freedom, or would you just ignore the Romans and get on with life? Well, in the book The Bronze Bow a boy named Daniel joins a group which is trying to build an army to destroy the Romans. But at the worst moment possible his grandmother gets sick! Daniel has to go down from his hiding spot and take care of his grandmother and sister. Taking care of his grandmother is the easy part, but his sister is a whole different story. His sister, after the Romans killed their mother and father, has been scared to go outside of their house since she was five and so Daniel had to do all of the outside chores. A few days later his grandmother dies and he has to take care of his sister. One day a man named Jesus comes to their village and preaches of things that no one has ever thought about before. What would you do in that situation? Read the book, The Bronze Bow, to find out what Daniel does.

Reviewed by Peach - Age 11

The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids: Frankenstein doesn't Plant Petunias

by Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton Jones

In this book there was this class who had one more field trip until summer vacation and that field trip was to the Shelley museum. It had lots of science experiments, but there was one problem. One of the old building had a really tall guy and his name was Frank, which was the scientist's assistant. Frank watered the plants in the greenhouse. All the kids in the class thought he was Frankenstein because he had scars on his face and on his wrists. So, Mrs. Jeeper's class tries to find out if Frank is Frankenstein.

Reviewed by Sports Guy - Age 9