Review: Bone: Quest For The Spark, Book One

Bone: Quest For The Spark, Book One by Thomas E. Sniegoski

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When I picked up Quest for the Spark at the Scholastic Warehouse Sale in May, I fully expected it to be a spin-off graphic novel series. I was surprised when it wasn't. So a mostly-new cast of characters is on a quest for the light that will drive the darkness away.

The book talk will be uploaded by tomorrow.

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Review: The Lost Hero

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I bought this book when it came out, and it was so popular, that it went through the hands of a number of students familiar with the Percy Jackson series before I got my hands back on it.

I did find it interesting that Riordan had this series planned by the end of The Last Olympian (check the acknowledgments page).

We have three new heroes: Jason (again, named after another famous Greek hero), PIper and Leo, two of whom are children of gods who didn't take a starring role in the last series. An interesting choice.

I liked the novel - The action was enough to keep the pages turning - but there was something missing in this novel. I think I liked the Percy Jackson series because of the first person narrator and because the focus was solely on one character. The third person narrator in The Lost Hero, I think, distanced readers from the characters in a way.

Between this and the Kane Chronicles, I wonder if he's trying to do too much at the same time. Don't get me wrong though. The ending? Clever. I'm interested to see where this goes in The Son of Neptune, which is due out sometime in the fall of 2011.



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Eye of the Storm

  Bone, Volume 3: Eyes of the Storm by Jeff Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I started this series because I bought most of them in support of my middle school's library. I remember wondering what it was that drew so many boys to this series that the books were almost always checked out.

After reading Eyes of the Storm, I have a pretty good idea. There's fighting, gambling, these two stupid rat creatures who make me laugh every time they appear in a frame because they argue like an old married couple.By the end of this installment, I was hooked. By now we know that Kingdok, leader of the rat creatures isn't the guy calling the shots. I thought the guy calling the shots was the guy in the hood who cornered the really annoying Bone cousin in the last book, but it turns out it's not him either. So who's trying to take over and where did they come from?

Oh, and I said this when I read The Last Dragon Chronicles by Chris d'Lacy too, but I want a dragon.

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I like Adventure Novels

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Do you like the Bourne (movie) series? James Bond? All those action/adventure movies that are in the theater right now? (I haven't seen A-Team and I haven't heard anything about it, for the record). Then I'll bet you'd like Stormbreaker.

Stormbreaker isn't the type of novel I'd teach; it's a surface novel. But the action sequences are described in such a way that the reader can clearly visualize what's happening to Alex.

I liked that Alex wasn't perfect. He didn't go off on his mission and not run into trouble (or slips of the tongue) the first time he met his mark. He's what I imagine Agent Cody Banks would be like.And bonus: there's a movie. When I get home, it's definitely going on the queue.

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