#Fantastic (2009-10-13) Patrick Carman does an amazing job on the hingepin book in this series. This series is 10 books by seven different authors. The flow of the story is continuous, and nearly seamless. Patrick s adventure takes place in Russia. In this segment of the story, The Cahill children Amy and Dan have a secret benefactor who is leaving them clues and guiding them along. The problem is they have a time limit to research clues all over Russia. So the Cahills form an alliance with the unlikeliest of teams, the Holts. Fortunately they negotiate and go back and forth with...

#Courtesy of Teens Read Too (2009-10-02) Amy and Dan receive a telegram with instructions to find a place where they will discover the answer to their next location for a clue. There they uncover two disguises and two plane tickets to Russia. Hot on their trail are several family members, and while uncovering the tasks to get the clue, Amy and Dan realize that they re not going to be able to solve all the tasks under the time restriction. So they do the unthinkable - they team up with the Holts. They each cover three locations, where they find and solve each piece of the clue before p...

#With Too Much to Do, How Will Amy and Dan Cope? (2009-09-13) You have circled this mountain long enough. -- Deuteronomy 2:3While still in Cairo, a mysterious someone reaches out to help Amy and Dan find more clues. But can they trust anyone? They ve been told not to. The new directions take them to Russia where many things have to be checked out. Against a tight deadline, there s no way that they can get everything done. Should they trust the Holts to help?I liked this story very much because the plot developments provide a lot of surprises and add complexity and interest to the st...

#Historical Education (2000-08-01) ",The Encounter", written by Jane Yolen, is a historically accurate fiction. As a departure from the other writing style she shows, this book is not light-hearted, but rather a serious work written with an intention to educate. Of course, to keep the reader focussed and interested in a story that s/he may have heard hundreds of times already, some high drama is added. The book leaves one with a slight over-all feeling of sorrow, but accomplishes its purpose. Read it, even if you decide not to own it. For a bit of a pick-me-up, re-read...

#Fantastic for ",walking a mile in someone else s shoes",. (1999-10-06) First found this book when I was student teaching. Such a powerful book, both to teach history/social studies and to see that every story has two sides. I ve been in 2 classrooms since and have decided I can t live without this book.

#Great, from the point of view of a Taino child (1998-10-03) beautiful illustrations, lovely story, unique and unusual point-of-view.

#Fantastic book (2009-10-08) This is another great book in the Ology series, and is especially good if your child is particularly interested in magic and wizards. In what may (or may not) be an amusing nod to a currently famous boy wizard, the first page of Wizardology notes: Wizardology is not a subject to be pottered with. Like all the Ology books, Wizardology is crammed with foldouts & extras that add to the text: a letter from Merlin himself, a small spellbook, a fairy flag, a phoenix feather, etc. The book contains sections on wizard s work, a wizard s workshop, wizard s robes an...

#Didn t Do a Thing For Me (2009-11-28) A combination of historical fiction and fantasy/folklore make up this strange tale that takes place during the American Dust Bowl of the 1930s. A family has been suffering for four years now without rain. The eldest daughter has dust pneumonia, the youngest has never seen rain, the father cannot work the farm on his own, the mother realizes they must pull up stakes and move and now 11yo Jack, our hero, has been too young to help around the farm as he grew over the years. He thinks he is a klutz and he has started seeing things, those around hi...

#Across the sea (2007-03-08) Thrice honored by whoever awards the Newbery award, Nancy Farmer turns her attention from Africa to medieval Norway in The Sea of Trolls. Weaving legends and fact together, Farmer crafts a thrilling, magical, and hugely entertaining story set in the old Norse legends. Jack was thrilled when the Bard took him on as his apprentice, especially when the strange old man taught him to do magic -- or rather, to use the life force. (Use the Force, Jack!) But his life is suddenly thrown into disarray when an evil Nightmare drives the Bard mad, and a band of berse...

#Excellent story! (2006-08-25) Key words: Fiction, epic, fantasy, adventure, quest, youth, high-sea journey, Vikings, trolls, magic, bard, teenagerThe Sea of Trolls - Book ReviewAt only $8. 99 (US) or $12. 50 (Canadian) this 462-page epic fantasy adventure is an unbelievable bargain. The Sea of Trolls has won at least eight literary awards including A Parents Choice Gold Award and Publishers Weekly?s Best Children?s Book. Author, Nancy Farmer has also been honored with the Newbery Honor three times!The author?s unusual use of sounds, sense of touch and texture for descriptive scenes ...

#The Sea Of The Trolls (2005-04-05) This book was really good. It made me want to keep on reading it and not set it down. The author describes the characters very well, and makes them very realistic. The book takes you to that world and you get lost in the book.