Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Review by Nathan:
This book tells the story of a poor boy, Charlie Bucket.  In his town is the famous Willy Wonka chocolate factory.  No one has been allowed in the factory for a long time but now 5 lucky people will be able to go in if they find a golden ticket in a Wonka chocolate bar.  Charlie is not able to go out and buy five hundred like everyone else. But after he finds a dollar on the ground, he buys a chocolate bar with a golden ticket in it.
Charlie goes into the factory with the other four children.  The other children all get into some sort of trouble and soon only Charlie is left.  Mr. Wonka was hoping only one kid would not get into trouble so when he got older he could give the factory to him.

This is a very funny book.

Age Range: 8-~13   Book Category: Fiction

A Family Apart

Review by Nathan:

This book tells the story of six children who lived in New York with their mother (their father had died.)  Their mother eventually decids that a better life awaits her children out west.  So she sends them out on an Orphan Train.  This devastated the children and some were very angry.  Ma makes Frances the oldest promise to stick with Petey (the youngest) so Frances pretends to be a boy in hopes of being picked together.  They soon travel out west with a few adventures on the way.

Once there, they are broken up and taken to several families.  Frances in able to stay with Petey and all the children but Mike (oldest boy) find a good home. 

This is the first book in Orphan Train Adventures.  

I enjoyed this book especially since I like historical fiction.

Age Range:11+    Book Category: Historical Fiction

Daughter of Venice

Review By Nathan:

This book tells the story of Donata, a daughter of a nobleman in Venice.  She is hidden from the outside world going veiled through the canals on gondolas and not being able to see the true Venice.  One day after seeing a map of Venice, she decides to try to see the real Venice.  She later sneaks out multiple times disguised as a boy.  After a turn of events, she is told she will marry. But her parents confuse her abilities for those of her identical twin sister, Laura,  and only one of them will be able to marry!  She sets out on a daring plan to let her sister marry but if Donata succeeds, she will be sent to a convent like almost every other unmarried noble girl in Venice-and she is not sure she can stand that.

When Donata sneaks out she not only sees the best of Venice but the worst of Venice.  This includes run ins with bullies and a couple mentions of the prostitution that plagued Venice.  She also develops a crush on a Jewish printer coworker.

Age Range:  11/12+   Book Category:Historical Fiction

The Tucket Adventures Series

Review By Nathan:
Francis Tucket is a teenage boy who is moving out west with his family.  On his 14th birthday, he is given a rifle and goes behind the wagon train to practice, but he gets too far behind and is kidnapped by Indians.  Thus starts the adventures of Tucket's life. 
              First in the Indian camp he meets a one armed man named Mr. Grimes who helps him escape the Indians.  Francis travels with Mr. Grimes for a while and learned a lot about how to survive in the west, but they eventually part ways.  Their paths will cross several more times.
              In the mean time, Tucket finds talkative Lottie and her brother Billy alone on the prairie.  He takes them in and starts towards Oregon in the hope of finding his family.  Along the way they end up getting involved in the American-Mexican War, get captured by bandits and find a mother-load of gold.  Eventually Mr. Grimes is killed and this effects Tucket deeply.  After a little while, he continues along his way to Oregon.  At the end of the book series, Tucket finds his family, marries Lottie and "lives happily ever after."

            I enjoy reading about the Wild West and I like the adventure in these books.

Note to Parents:
This book contains some bad language, violence (Tucket himself killed several people over the series) and Mr. Grime's death left Tucket depressed for a while until Mr. Grimes "showed up" and told him it was OK (Mr. Grimes death can also be a sad moment for the reader.)

Age Range:10 to 14  Book Category: Historical Fiction/Fiction

Another I read by Gary Paulson  Woodsong

Please feel free to leave a comment to tell what you thought of the review, the book or to suggest something for us to read and review.

The Good Master

Review by Nathan:
This book tells the story of a boy named Jancsi who is the son of a rancher in Hungary.  Jancsi has never gone further than the nearby village so he is very excited when his cousin, Kate, comes from the city.  But he is not prepared for his headstrong cousin.  This book tells about Kate's change from liking city life to loving country life and all the adventures that come along with it, from roundups to gypsies.

I enjoyed this book, especially when Kate came to like country life since I live in the country.

Age Range:  11+   Book Category: Fiction

The Night of the Full Moon

Review by Nathan:
This book tells the story of a girl in 1840 Great Lakes area named Libby.  She is friends with an Indian girl named Fawn.  One day Libby sneaks away to the Indian camp when they are having a celebration.  While she is there, soldiers come and force the Indians to leave and head west.  With the help of the tribe chief, Libby manages to get back home.

This short book is a perfect book for younger readers.  It was a quick read for me.

Age Range: 7-8 to 11   Book Category:  Historical Fiction

Kavik The Wolf Dog

Review by Nathan:

Andy lives in a remote village in Alaska and keeps a trap line.  One day when he is on the line, he runs across the plane wreck of Smiley who had been transporting the winning lead dog of the North American Dog Sled Race.  The dog named Kavik is found by Andy near the crash, still alive but barely.  He struggles to get Kavik home and even then people don't think he'll live.  Kavik makes a full physical recovery and his owner wants him back.  The owner, Mr. Hunter, takes him back down South but Kavik escapes and starts working his way up to Andy's village.  Will he survive the journey and if so will Mr. Hunter take him again?

I like Alaska and much of this book takes place in Alaska so I enjoyed it very much.

Age Range: 11+ (remember this is only a recommended age range)  Book Category:  Fiction

The Wolfling

Review By Nathan:

Robbie really wants a wolf pup to raise for his own, but there are some problems. He'd have to get the pup in the first place before someone kills it for a bounty plus his father is a farmer and a wolf could kill livestock.  He finally gets a wolf pup who he names "Wolf".  But the question is can Robbie train Wolf to stay out of trouble and will Wolf runaway someday?  And how is Inga, Robbie's good friend, tie in to this all?  Join Robbie and his 1870's town in their adventures.

I like to read about wolves and this time period in history so I very much enjoyed this book.

Note to parents:

Inga's father drowned so Inga's mother is very worried Inga will die young and causes Inga to have somewhat of the same opinion.  Also Inga and Robbie kiss.

Age Range 12+   Book Category:   Historical Fiction

The Boy Who Dared

Review By Nathan:

This book is based on a true story and takes place during the Nazi regime.  It tells the story of  a German boy named Helmuth and his Mormon family.  Helmuth is the average teenage school boy until Hitler takes over the government.  He starts to realize that Hitler's regime tells lies to get the people to follow them.  He eventually decides to do something about it.. He secretly starts to write, type and distribute leaflets that point out Hitler's flaws.  When someone turns him in to the Gastopo, he is arrested and convicted.  Even though he is still a minor, he is sentenced to death.  This book goes between him on death row and his life before he is arrested.  

Note to Parents:  This book obviously takes place in Nazi Germany and mentions some of the cruelty that took place.   As I also mentioned, Helmuth was on death row and it describes prison life.  Please read more before having your child read this book.

Age Range: 13-15+   Book Category:Historical Fiction

See this Christian Site:   https://www.pluggedin.com/book-reviews/boy-who-dared/

The Ballad of Lucy Whipple

Review by Nathan:

California Whipple and her siblings follow their mother as she fulfills her dream to move out to California during the gold rush of 1849.  California (the girl) does not like being hauled out from Massachusetts to this barren land and being named after it.  On the top of her list of complaints is that there is no "lending library" which she hopes to remedy. She eventually gets used to the way of life but still wants to go back east.  She also changes her name to Lucy with some trouble from her family.  This book tells of her adventures and challenges from runaway slaves, to her brother's death and the entire town of Lucky Diggins burning.

I enjoyed reading this book especially since I like books set in the West during this period. In this book, Lucy was not the most respectful to her mother or always truthful.  Also, be sensitive to the language and lifestyle of the miners portrayed in this book.  

Age Range 12-18  Book Category: Historic Fiction

Another I read by Karen Kushman

The Midwifes Apprentice

A Gathering of Days

Review By Nathan:

             This book tells the story of a girl named Catherine in 19th century New England

 over several years.  This book, written in diary format, tells of Catherine and her family's hardships growing up without her mother in the country from the hard winters and strict school teachers to her best friend's death.  Eventually her father remarries and she faces the trouble that comes with a step mother.  At the end of the book Catherine goes to live with far away friends to help with their baby-leaving the reader to make up the rest of the story.

             This book gives you a peak into the life of people in the early 1800's which I enjoyed.

Age Range: 11-18  Book Category: Historical Fiction

Woodsong

Review By Nathan:

Woodsong tells the story of famous writer Gary Paulsen and his adventures with dogs and dog sledding.  It starts when he first gets a dog team to run a trap line. It tells of the lessons he has learned from dogs and what he has seen while sledding.  The book ends with the famous dogsled race, the Iditarod in Alaska which he finishes (a lot of racers do not.)

Note:

Sometimes when Paulsen is out sledding alone he starts to hallucinate due to severe conditions.

Age Range 13+ (Note this is only a recommended range-use your own judgment)

Book Category: True Story

The Bear-Originally Published as The Grizzly King

Review By Nathan:

This book by James Oliver Curwood is set in the Rocky Mountains of Canada.  It tells the story of Thor, a giant grizzly bear who makes these mountains his home.  It also tells us about two men named Bruce (the pro. hunter) and Jim (the naturalist) who invade Thor's kingdom and after seeing him they decide to hunt the magnificent Thor.  At this time Muskwa, a black bear cub who has just lost his mother is found by Thor and is taken under his "wing". 

               The hunters soon set dogs on Thor's trail and Muskwa is separated from the giant beast and captured by the hunters.  Thor escapes and they continue to hunt him while taming Muskwa.  At one point Jim is out for a walk and breaks his rifle.  Not long after this Thor finds him but leaves him be even though he could have easily killed his "enemy".  This changes Jim's outlook and the hunters move on leaving Muskwa.

Age Range:11+    Book Category: Historical Fiction

See also: This book by the same author Kazan

Kazan-Father of Baree

Review By Nathan:

This book is about a three quarters dog and quarter wolf named Kazan.  He joins a wolf pack and finds a mate who he knows as Gray Wolf  But  soon they run across some humans and Kazan joins with them.  His loyal mate stays at a distance.  Eventually Gray wolf has pups but they are soon killed and she is blinded by an attacking animal.  Several times Kazan has to make the hard decision of who to stay with- humans or his mate.  This book covers his happy times and his sad times as he walks the path of life.

I very much enjoyed this book especially since I like wolves.

Age Range: 12+   Book Category: Historical Fiction

The School Story

Review by Nathan:

            This book by Andrew Clements is a must read for middle schoolers.  It tells the story of two middle school girls named Natalie and Zoe.  Natalie's dad died in an accident when she was younger and she misses him.  One day she decides to write a story loosely based on her own life to honor her father.  She shows the story to Zoe (her friend) who insist it is good enough to be published.  But Natalie's mom works as an editor and she tells Natalie that unless you have a good agent it is almost impossible to get your book published.

            The first thought is to tell her mom about the story and ask her mom to get the book published but this could cause accusations of favoritism.  So Zoe comes up with the daring idea to act as Natalie's agent.  But to go through with this plan they need to enlist the help of an adult. They get Ms. Clayton their English teacher to help them.  Soon the plan is under way but will it succeed?

Age Range 11+.  Book Category:  Fiction

Other books By Andrew Clement that are a must read:

Andrew Clements wrote a lot of books that take place is schools here are some of our other favorites.

The Keepers of the School (Series of 5)

The Landry News

Extra Credit

Frindle

Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot

Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot

Review by Grace:

This book tells about researchers' mission to save the Kakapo parrots in Papa New Guinea. Researchers wake in the middle of the night to cheek on the parrots. There are very few of these flightless birds and so the ones that are still living are precious. The researchers put food near the parrot's nest and help the baby Kakapos live to the next day. This book was fun to read and the pictures were great.  

Brumby

Brumby 

Review by Grace:

      The brumbies of Australia once were wild and of mixed decent. They were captured for work then set free to roam once more. Horses from Europe were set free as well. This book shares with how brumbies fight to survive. Wild fire, drought, and starvation do not help them survive not to mention the men who want rid of them. But people with a heart for horses help heal their wounds and help them trust men, then the horses are adopted and cared for by loving hands. This book  is all about horses and I liked it since I like horses.

Seven Little Australians

Review by Nathan:

         This book is about a family of nine in Australia.  There is the father who is an army general and has little understanding of children and his new, young wife Esther.  The older six children's mother died and Esther is only mother to the youngest child nicknamed General.  The other children's nicknames are Meg 16, Pip 14, Judy 13, Nell 10, Bunty 6 and Baby 4.

         They are always getting in trouble.  Eventually Judy gets sent away to boarding school to hopefully stop the trouble.  After a little while there, she sneaks away and comes home.  Their father decides to send the entire family away to Esther's parents.  While there, the family enjoys themselves out in the country. But then disaster strikes when General toddles under a falling tree and Judy rushes to save him but as a result her back is broken and she soon dies.  This saddens the family and the books ends there.

         

This book is said to be the Cheaper by the Dozen of Australia but I don't think it as humorous.

Age Range: 12-18   Book Category:  Realistic Fiction

The Quest for the Tree Kangaroo

Review By Nathan:

This book is about scientist Lisa Dabeck and her group who study the tree kangaroos in Papua New Guinea.  Tree kangaroos are in the Kangaroo family but spend much of their time in the trees. This book documents  their day to day challenges, discoveries and joys.  This book really inspires people to get out and study God's Creation.

Lisa with a tree Kangaroo

Age range:  8+      Book Category:  Scientific Non-Fiction

Link for Wikipedia article on the species that Lisa studied.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matschie%27s_tree-kangaroo

Boy without Names

Review By Nathan:

             This book is about a boy named Gopal and his family of five, his parents and his younger brother and sister.  They live in a village in India.  But one year they are not able to get enough money from the onion crop they grew.  They are soon in debt and decide to go to the city of Mumbai where they have a family member who has done OK.  But on the way to the family member's house, they are separated from Gopal's father.  

              A little while after they make it to the relatives house (his father has still not shown up) Gopal is too trusting in a stranger boy and ends up kidnapped and forced to work in a bead frame "factory".  (really just a rundown house)  There are also several other boys that are forced to work.  They are not allowed to share their names let alone talk.  Gopal eventually brings the boys together by getting most of them to share their names and by telling stories.                                                                     But this is not enough for them to escape and Gopal takes a risk to hopefully help the police find them.  But their "boss" gets word of an impending police raid and hides them when the police come.  Will Gopal and the other boys be freed or will they be broken up and sent to factories all over the city?

         I liked this book, especially in the way that Gopal was persistent.  This book also gives a look into the sad truth of child slavery.  I think this is a book people should read.  

Age Range: 12+      Book Category: Realistic Fiction

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Homeless Bird

                                                                Homeless Bird
Review by Grace:
     
               Homeless Bird is about a girl named Koly in India.  Koly is married to a boy named Hari and his mother is very rude to Koly who does most of the work. Koly is very good at embroidery so she makes quilts.  Not long after they are married Hari dies. When Hari's mother leaves Koly in the city of Vrindavan she goes to a widow's home and helps Raji learn to read. Then Koly gets a job as an embroiderer of saris. Raji and Koly get married and Raji added a room with two windows for her embroidery. I really enjoyed the details given in this story and I would read it again.

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.

Listening for Lions

Review By Nathan:

Listening for Lions is a book about Rachel Sheridan who lives with her missionary parents in what is now Kenya.  Then the flu comes to British East Africa.  Her parents run a hospital so they are exposed and soon die.  She is adopted by her neighbors, the Pritchards, whose daughter, Valerie, just died from the flu.  She is forced to assume their daughter's identity for them to possibly receive an inheritance from Mr. Pritchard's father.  She is soon made to travel to England away from her beloved Africa.  Eventually she confesses to her "Grandfather" who she really is.  He is not mad at her, in fact, he decides to adopt her and pay for her education.  But soon,  grandfather dies.  Rachel then goes off to medical school and becomes a doctor.  She is eventually able to return to Africa to rebuild her parents' mission station and hospital.   

Bellow is a map of British East Africa and the surrounding area in the horn of Africa.

Criuse of the Dazzler

Review By Nathan:

This book by Jack London is about a boy named Joe does not like his uppity city life so he runs away from home.  He ends up finding work on a ship named the Dazzler.  He realizes too late that he is in the company of bay pirates who raid coastal property and commit other crimes.  He soon knows too much for them to let him go his own way.  He befriends a boy his age nicknamed "Frisco Kid".  They both want to leave this life of crime and start making plans.  It takes courage, morals and loyalty to make this plan work. Can they escape the pirates?

Call of The Wild

Review By Nathan:

This is a complete review!

At the start of this book Buck lives with a well to do family in California.  That is until he is dognapped to be a sled dog in the Yukon gold rush.  He soon figures out what the law of club and fang is.  He survives by learning the ways of the wild.  During this time buck starts to dream as himself beside a "hairy man" like a wild ancestor of Bucks would have seen. A feud between him and the head sled dog Spitz develops and so does a fight to they death between them two.   Buck comes out the victor but is eventually transferred to another dog team then another dog team.  This last team is comprises of three lazy people from the American Southland (now called the contiguous United States) who know almost nothing about the Northern wild and sled dogs.  Buck narrowly escapes being drowned through their carelessness.  Buck becomes the loyal partner to John Thornton and they live happily together.  But the local indians attack the camp while Buck is away and kill everyone there.  Buck sets out on a revenge killing spree and kills several indians.  After this with his last connection to mankind dead. Buck becomes a wolf-something that he has desired and dreamed of.  I would not recommend younger children read this book-especially because of the killing at the end and also a few choice words.

For more information visit  https://www.pluggedin.com/book-reviews/call-of-the-wild/

The new movie Call of the Wild just came out. I went to see it with my gramma. It varied in several places from the book including how John Thornton dies-he is killed by the man who's sled went threw the ice (in the book this man dies.) All in all it was a fun and good movie.

Hana's Suitcase

Review by Nathan:

Hana Brady lived a happy life with her parents and brother Gorge in Czechoslovakia. That was until the Nazis took over. Being Jews, both of Hana's parents were soon taken away. Hana and her brother went to live with family but were soon taken too by the Nazi's. Hana did not survive the concentration camps but her brother George did. In 2000 a women named Fumiko Ishioka in Japan requested Holocaust artifacts for her small museum.  She received Hana Brady's suitcase and a few other items.  This triggered a year long search in which Fumiko found out Hana's fate and found Hana's brother George.  George provided Fumiko with information about Hana's childhood and he eventually came to Japan to see the museum.  This book covers both Hana's story and Fumiko's story in the search for more information on Hana.

The Chessire Cheese Cat

Skilley and Pip (most likely) on the front cover 

Review by Nathan:
The Cheshire Cheese Cat by Carmen Agra Deedy & Randall Wright is based in London during Victorian England.  Skilley is a London street cat who loves cheese-not mice (he won't even eat mice.)  But he ends up as the mouse catcher at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, a public house famous for it's cheese and for the writer that hangs out there: Charles Dickens.  Skilley and a mouse named Pip form a friendship.  Skilley agrees to catch mice but then release them unharmed if the mice give him cheese.  It seems like all will go well until a savage mouse eating cat named Pinch shows up.

Pinch and Skilley have never gotten along.  An uneasy peace settles over the public house with Pinch not being able to catch any mice.  But then Maldwyn, a wounded tower raven, is made known to
Skilley. Trying to hide the raven from Pinch becomes harder. Maldwyn must get back to the Queen of England before war starts with France. But little do the animals at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese know that the message that was sent to the raven master was mixed up and this put the inn's owner in danger. At the end Pinch and Maldwyn end up in a fight just as the Queen arrives.

To learn more about the book visit https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10545071-the-cheshire-cheese-cat
To learn more about Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ye_Olde_Cheshire_Cheese

Please leave your thoughts on this and other reviews(what we can do better, what books should we read next and have you read any of the books we have reviewed. etc. Thank you.)

Redwall Series (First 7 books)

Review By Nathan: 

Note the books in this series are not in chronological order.

Book One:  Redwall  In this book a young abbey mouse named Matthias yearns for adventure but is held back as a novice monk-until Cluny the Scourge (an evil rat) shows up. Matthias with his wise old friend, Methuselah, must find Martin the Warrior's sword to defend the abbey and bring peace to Mossflower. But first he must get the sword from a venomous snake.

Book Two:   Mossflower  This book goes back to Martin the Warriors time. A tyrant wildcat named Verduaga rules Mossflower.  But Martin the Warrior is going to say something about that.  Joined by other people who are sick of the tyrant's rule, Martin starts a war.   The Mossflower animals cleverly take over the tyrant's castle and bring peace to Mossflower.  

Book Three:  Mattimeo  Matthias's son and several other young ones are captured by a fox slave trader so Matthias and several others set out after them.  This book tells both group's story and how they finally met at the evil rat empire caves.  A big battle soon ensues.  At the same time the abbey is under siege by ill-intentioned birds.  

Book Four:  Mariel of Redwall In this book a ship that a young mousemaid is on is captured by sea rats.  Gabool the Wild a searat king tries to drown Mariel the mousemaid but fails.  Mariel washes up on a shore and finds her way to Redwall abbey.  She and several others find their way back to Gabool's island and put an end to his reign of terror.

Book Five: Salamandastron The mighty mountain Salamandastron in under siege by Ferahgo the weasel assassin. Meanwhile two stoats steal Martin's sword and two young abbey members set out after them. Mara the badger, Lord of Salamandastron's daughter is trying to help the abbey allies, Guossom shrews, get back an important object to their leader. Will good or evil succeed especialy after Salamandastron's food and water supply is poisoned?

Book Six: Martin the Warrior The same Martin who later saved Mossflower is a slave in Marshank (the fortress of the cruel stoat Badrang the Tyrant.) Martin soon escapes and works his way toward Noonvale (a friendly settlement) to raise an army. At the same time several more slaves escape and start a resistance group to Badrang. At the end both, Martin's group and the resistance group meet and take the fortress. But Martin is upset after the death of a close friend. What will he do?

Book Seven: The Bellmaker Joseph the Bellmaker is Mariel's dad. Mariel and Dandin (a friend) set off in search of adventure. They stumble across the Foxwolf Urgan Nagru's kingdom and get into a fight with some of his troops and are rescued at the last moment by a very sharp military hare named Fallowthorn. They are eventually captured by Nagru's forces. But manage to escape their cell and join the battle against Nagru that is just starting. Who will win?

Note to Parents: In this book series the characters will often receive dreams or other communication telling them what to do from Martin the warrior. I personally did not have a problem with this knowing what I believe as a Christian but you want to consider this. To learn more visit https://www.pluggedin.com/book-reviews/redwall (this first one is a Christian site.)
also to learn more visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redwall which includes a chronological order of the books list.