The Tale of Despereaux

Review by Nathan:

The Tale of Despereaux is a about mouse named as you might guess, Despereaux.  He lives in a castle with many other mice, but he is not like other mice.  He soon falls "in love" with the human princess named Pea.  Due to this, he is sentenced by the mouse council to be thrown in the dungeon which is filled with mice eating rats.  Meanwhile, a rat is planning to lock the princess in the dungeon.  Will Despereaux live and will the princess be freed?

This was a well written story but it was not one of my favorite stories.  (It was a "fairy tale" story.)

Age range:7-12    Book Category: Children's Fiction

Escape From Aleppo

Review by Nathan:

This book, which is based on a true story, is about a girl named Nadia who lives in Aleppo, Syria.  This story takes place between 2010 and 2013 during the reign of dictator Bashar al-Assad.  He is a cruel man who cares for himself not for his people.  In March 2011 when the people of Syria peacefully protest, he has his troops open fire on them.  In July 2012 the battle for the city of Aleppo between the government troops and the rebels start.  This is part of the ongoing Syrian civil war.  During October 2012 Nadia and her family's house in bombed.  She is separated from her family, but she continues to their planned meeting place.  But by the time she gets there, they had to leave to head to Turkey.  She meets up with a older man named Ammo Mazen.  He helps her and several other kids get to the Turkish border safely.

Note to Parents:
Obviously this book takes place during a war so it depicts and mentions some violent incidents.  There is minimal if any bad language.  Use your own discretion when reading this book please.

Estimated Age Range:  11+   Book Category: Historical Fiction

Extra Credit

                                                                     Extra Credit
                                                             By Andrew Clements
Review by Grace:

          Extra Credit by Andrew Clements is about a girl in Illinois named Abby Carson and a boy named Sadeed Bayat in Afghanistan. Abby is falling behind at school and needs some extra credit to pass the sixth grade. So her teacher gave Abby a pen pal poster project. But even though Sadeed is the best at English, it is not appropriate for a boy and a girl to correspond. So Sadeed writes the letter but his sister signs them. What will they learn about each other's country? Will Abby pass her grade?

Brotherband Chronicles

Review by Nathan:

The Outcast  (Aka Brotherband):
In this book Hal and the other unwanted boys at Hallasholm form their own Brotherband (ships crew in training.)  To become an actual ship crew they must succeed in their harsh training.

The Invaders:
Hal's Brotherband, the Herons, have passed their training and even beat the other boys.  But when they are given one of the most honored duties, they fail.  They let the Andomal (a precious amber stone) be stolen.  In order to redeem themselves they must track down the thief and get the Andomal back.

The Hunters:
The Herons are chasing down Zavac to get the Andomal back.  But first they must penetrate the pirate stronghold of Ragusa.  In the end it comes down to a duel between Hal's ship and Zavac's ship.

Slaves of Sorocco:
The Herons have gotten the Andomal back and now they are being dispatched to Araluen to work as the patrol vessel for the coast there.  They are soon hot on the tail of a slave ship who has taken several Araluen's captive.  The captain Tursgud was a childhood bully.  They must get the prisoners out of a large slave holding area.  But when their plan partly backfires it makes things more complicated.  Will they succeed with the help of Ranger Gilan or not?

Scorpion Mountain
The Herons are again called to Araluen not to patrol, but to protect Cassandra and track down who is behind the attempt to assassinate her.  They find their way to Scorpion Mountain, the base of the Scorpion Cult, where Gilan duels with their leader to end the threat to Cassandra.  Who will win?

The Ghostfaces:
The Herons are caught in a monster of a storm and are swept out into uncharted sea.  Then their water supply leaks and they are left with almost no water.  Hal makes a gamble and starts looking for land in the opposite direction they came from.  They finally sight land and make friends with the local natives.  Then a raiding tribe is heading towards them.  The Herons must mount a defense against this attack.  Will they succeed in protecting themselves and the tribe they are friends with?

The Caldera
Stig's(Hal's second in command) father shows up.  Hal's father stole money from his comrades and left Skandia.  Now he wants Stig and the Herons to help him find a kidnapped prince.  It turns out that Stig's father is the captain of a palace guard in Byzantos.  He was sick when the prince was captured but the Queen of Byzanto's is holding him responsible.  Hal and his crew decide to help Stig's dad.  But when they finally track down the pirates who kidnapped the prince they end up where a volcano is erupting.  Will they make it out alive?

Return of the Temujai:

The Temujai (horse riding fierce warriors) are trying to invade Skandia again.  Erak the ruler of Skandia sends the Heron (the boats and crews name) on a mission to make sure the Temujai are not going to invade Skandia via the Ice River.  It turns out they are and the Herons make a stand to stop them while Hal goes back to Hallasholm to get help.  The Herons are outnumbered hundreds to one and the Heron ship is badly damaged.  Will any one come out of this situation alive?

Note to Parents: Stories include mild violence and language.

Bulu African Wonder Dog

Review by Nathan:

Note:  This is a true story. 

Bulu was the runt of his litter in Zambia.  He is adopted by Steve and Anna Tolan who are starting a wildlife education center.  They are told that a pet dog will not survive in Zambia due to the many dangers, but the Tolans are determined.  Bulu eventually becomes wise in the ways of Africa and becomes a guard dog.   Bulu also becomes a foster parent to the many types of animals that are cared for by Steve and Anna.  Bulu has many life and death encounters with African wildlife  including a spitting cobra, elephant, crocodile and tetse flies.  But his worst encounter was with two lions when  Bulu stood against them to protect two of his warthog "daughters."   Will Bulu survive or not?

Personal review by Grace:

       The book Bulu is fascinating. As we read the book I looked forward with anticipation to see what adventurers lay ahead for Bulu and his friends. I also enjoyed a peek at South African life.    

Following is a map of the location of this true story.  The wildlife center is beside South Luangwa National Park.  Click on the map to see it up close.

This is the link for the wildlife education center that Steve and Anna run: https://www.chipembele.org/

Ryan and Jimmy And the Well That Brought Them Together

Review By Nathan:

Notes:  This is a complete review!  Also this is a true story.

When Ryan, a Canadian boy, was in first grade he learned about the shortage of clean water in Africa. He decided to do something about it. He started raising money to help drill a well in Africa. Eventually he saved enough money to have a well drilled. He wanted it drilled by a school so it was drilled by Agweo, Uganda. Soon Ryan became pen pals with a boy named Jimmy from Agweo. Ryan eventually got to go to Africa to see his well and Jimmy. It seemed all was going well for the village after Ryan left, that was until the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) raided the village and captured many younger boys including Jimmy. Jimmy managed to escape but it was not safe for him in Uganda anymore. So the long process to get Jimmy to Canada started. After many set backs Jimmy finally made it the Canada. Jimmy eventually got used to his life living with Ryan and his family and he enjoyed it.

To see the Ryan's Well Foundation's website click here.

 To see a Wikipedia article on Ryan click here

The Storyteller's Beads

Review by Grace:

          The Storyteller's Beads is about two girls named Rachel and Sahay. This book takes place in
Ethiopia, Sudan and Israel. It is based on a true story where Rachel and Sahay go through the mountains to get to the refugee camp and get away from the fighting. Sahay's Uncle and Rachel's brother go with them. Rachel is blind so her brother is her eyes. Later when Sahay's Uncle and Rachel's brother have to leave because of soldiers needed to fight, Sahay becomes Rachel's eyes. During the journey Rachel remembers the stories that go with each bead on the necklace her gramma gave her and the girls get courage from the stories they shared.

This is a great book and the moral is don't give up and you will get there.

The Diary of Strawbridge Place

Review By Nathan:

This book is about a Quaker family in Ohio who host a station on the Underground Railroad.They go  through a lot in the time the book covers.  First, there son is shot then there's suspicion that they are harboring runaway slaves from unwanted people.  They also lose there barn in a fire in order to keep the slaves safe.  In the end, the slaves escape.  This would be a good book for around 6th graders.  The book does mention some human suffering (involving slaves and their shot son) but it is minimal.

Redwall Series (Books 8 to 14)

Click HERE to read review for Redwall series books 1-7.

Review by Nathan:

Outcast of Redwall:

This book tells the story of Sunflash Mace and his enemy Swartt Sixclaw.  It also involves several members of Redwall Abbey.  The abbey leaders make a tough decision; to tell a young troublesome, murderous ferret he is not welcome at the Abbey.  In the end Sunflash and Swartt Sixclaw meet.

The Pearls of Lutra:

Emperor Ublaz is set on getting the six pearls of Lutra to finish his crown.  He sends many a ship to find them from his island home.  His soldiers kidnap the Abbey Abbot and are soon being pursued by Martin II and several others. A demand of the pearls of Lutra is made for the abbot release and several Abbey creatures set on a search to find them.   Meanwhile on the Emperors islands rebellion is breaking out.  Will the abbot and other Redwall creatures and their friends be safe or not?

The Long Patrol:

This book follows the story of young Tammo who wants to join the long patrol.  In the mean time the Redwall Abbey's South Wall is starting to sink and a vermin army is headed straight for Redwall.  The Long Patrol must stop this army before it gets to Redwall.  

Marlfox: 

The Marlfoxes are experts at camouflage.  They are ruled by Queen Silth who must be surrounded by beauty.  This causes them to try to force Redwall Abbey to give them things then they try to invade it.  When they steal something that is valuable to the Redwallers, they are pursued all the way into the great lake.

The Legend of Luke:
Martin in solemn, he wants to find out more about his father who he knows almost nothing about. He sets out with several friends to find out what happened to his father. The second part of the book tells the story of Luke, Martin's father, and his enemy Verdauga Greeneyes.

Lord Brocktree:
Ungatt Trunn, the wildcat, has his sights set on Salamandastron and only an old badger Lord Stonepaw and his elderly hares are still at Salamandastron.  Lord Brocktree is being drawn to Salamandastron along with his companion Dotti.  In the end a large battle takes place at Salamandastron and a few creatures will not survive.

The Taggerung:
A young otter is kidnapped by a band of vermin because he is the Taggerung to be (the strongest warrior in the land.)  He grows up named Tagg not knowing his true family.  He soon despises the way of vermin so he leaves the tribe.  He joins up with a mouse named Nimbalo to stop the vermin who are pursuing them.  They eventually make it to Redwall but Tagg is hit in the chest with an arrow. Will he survive or not?

Note to Parents:
Especially in the last two books there is an amount of predicting the future.  This plays an important part of the last book.  It did not bother me knowing that this is only a fictional story but you will want to use your own discretion.


Below is a list of the books in chronological order copied from https://www.librarything.com/series/Redwall%3A+Chronological+Order

Titles Order

Lord Brocktree by Brian Jacques 1

Martin the Warrior by Brian Jacques 2

Mossflower by Brian Jacques 3

The Legend of Luke by Brian Jacques 4

Outcast of Redwall by Brian Jacques 5

Mariel of Redwall by Brian Jacques 6

The Bellmaker by Brian Jacques 7

Salamandastron by Brian Jacques 8

Redwall by Brian Jacques 9

Mattimeo by Brian Jacques 10

The Pearls of Lutra by Brian Jacques 11

The Long Patrol by Brian Jacques 12

Marlfox by Brian Jacques 13

Taggerung by Brian Jacques 14

Triss by Brian Jacques 15

Loamhedge by Brian Jacques 16

Rakkety Tam by Brian Jacques 17

High Rhulain by Brian Jacques 18

Eulalia! by Brian Jacques 19

Doomwyte by Brian Jacques 20

The Sable Quean by Brian Jacques 21

The Rogue Crew by Brian Jacques 22


There are 8 more books in this series. I hope to be able to do a reveiw on those books also.


Please leave a comment to say what you thought about these books. Thanks.