Book Reviews by Kids - October 2006

The Schwa Was Here

by Neal Shusterman

Calvin Schwa is invisible. Okay, not totally. He's more what you would call, "observationally challenged", according to Anthony "Antsy" Bonano, the hilarious narrator of The Schwa was Here. In this book, Neal Shusterman tells the heartwarming tale of the Schwa, a boy who is almost impossible to notice, Antsy, his best friend, and Lexie, a blind girl that sees a lot more than most sighted people. Full of tongue-in-cheek humor, appealing characters, and touching insights, The Schwa is not a book to overlook.   

Reviewed by Pirate Princess - age 16

The Wee Free Men

by Terry Pratchett

Until after she encountered an evil creature known as Jenny Green-Eyes, Tiffany hadn’t known about the Nac Mac Feebles. These 6 inch tall blue, kilt wearing men weren’t seen or even heard of by most people. But after her little brother is kidnapped, she must make friends with this war-like clan, and with, them fight horrible monsters to bring back her brother. Trying to stop them are a host of evil creatures that have been created from children’s stories and nightmares. Tiffany may even have to face her brother’s kidnapper: the monstrous Queen of the Fairies. With a combination of witchcraft, fairy tale monsters, and a host of even more amazing creatures that you’ve probably never heard of before, this book shows you not to judge things at first sight by showing that some things that appear good are bad, some things that appear bad are good, and other things that appear bad are downright wicked. This fantastic fantasy is also quite humorous, adding to the excitement and fun levels of this great book. 

Reviewed by Dude Man - Age 14

Dragon Rider

by Cornelia Funke

Imagine that you're a dragon and that where you're living humans are trying to take over. What do you do? The only thing to do is to try and find the Rim of Heaven. (The Rim of Heaven is said to be in the Himalayas, it is also said not to exist.) All of the other dragons that are living with you don't believe that the Rim of Heaven exists so they don't even want to think about trying to find it. So you set off with only a brownie to comfort you (not the food brownie, the kind of brownie that looks like a cat). You have no idea how to get to the Rim of Heaven so you go to a rat who makes you a map that shows that the Rim of Heaven is in the Himalayas. But the Himalayas being so big it would be almost impossible to find the Rim of Heaven. Then, to make your problems worse, a dragon that is much bigger and stronger than you starts following you hoping you will show him where more dragons your size are hiding. What would you do? Find out by reading Dragon Rider.

Reviewed by Peach - Age 11

Morning Girl

by Michael Dorris

This book is about a girl whose nickname is Morning Girl, because she got up in the morning really early in the morning. Her brother is nicknamed Star Boy because he's like a star. Star Boy likes to be really noisy and Morning Girl would have a few moments of peace and quiet, but then Star Boy would come up to Morning Girl and be really noisy and loud and break the moment of quiet.

I liked it when Star Boy was with his friend, Red Feathers, and they were really far away from their homes. You should read this book if you like exploring.

Reviewed by Sports Guy - Age 9