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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Why do they call him Bruiser?

Bruiser by Neal Shusterman


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I've been waiting for Bruiser since April of last year, and it was well worth the wait. In Bruiser, Shusterman uses multiple perspectives again, and more successfully than in Unwind. This time, we're only in the heads of the principle characters, rather than many different characters.

Brewster is an empath. He absorbs the feelings of the people that he likes. I can't imagine what it would be like to absorb the feelings of the people whose company I enjoyed. I think about the empath in an episode of Charmed, who had to shut himself off, living in an abandoned building to get away from the feelings of all the people in the city.

Because I don't want to ruin the story for my faithful readers, I'm not going to say anymore than that. Enjoy!

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The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm not sure what I expected when I started The Adoration of Jenna Fox. Probably a love story. Definitely not a near-future story about a girl involved in a tragic accident who has been re-bioengineered by her parents. But the story is one many readers can identify with. Jenna struggles to remember something that happened in her past -- I'm sure many probably envy her the ability not to remember as we all probably have things we'd rather forget.  Jenna is struggling to figure out who she is -- we all went through/are going through figuring out who we are in terms of trying out different clothing styles, hobbies, hair, etc. What does it take to be your own person?

The novel raises questions about medical and scientific ethics that could turn out to be a real problem for the world in years to come. What if scientists bioengineer plants resistant to specific bugs, which lends other bugs useless because they don't need to defend the plants. One small change like that could be disastrous to an ecosystem.

I was surprised most of all by the ending. I expected Jenna to go to the mat for what her friend wanted, but that didn't happen. At least scientists made changes to the biogel so bioengineered people live a "normal" length of time?

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If you liked this title, you might also like:

• Unwind by Neal Shusterman
• House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

Connecting With the Classics: Dracula

I stole the title of this blog post, and my post on Beowulf, from an episode of the NCTE/IRA podcast Text Messages about ways to engage students with classic stories. You can play that episode right here.



All-Action Classics: Dracula by Michael Mucci


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I thoroughly enjoy reading books from the Victorian Era in England. Dracula was one of the novels I taught during my student teaching. I love the graphic adaptation as an introduction to the story. Bram Stoker's original used correspondance to tell the story -- Jonathan Harker's journal, telegrams, newspaper clippings, letters. Mucci's adaptation takes the big events and makes them visually stunning. The colors he uses are dark and subdued, giving the graphic novel a gothic feel that mirrors the book.

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Books I Read in June

I know this is a little late... but the books I read in June were

• Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
• The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
• Amulet II: The Stonekeeper's Curse by Kazu Kibuishi
• Eleventh Grade Burns by Heather Brewer
• Trackers by Patrick Carman
• Cover Up: Mystery at the Super Bowl by John Feinstein
• Home of the Brave by Katherine Alice Applegate
• Curse of the Campfire Weenies and other Warped and Creepy Tales by David Lubar
• Suck it Up by Brian Meehl
• Uglies by Scott Westerfield (not pictured)

From the Harry Potter Series:

• Sorcerer's Stone
• Chamber of Secrets
• Prisoner of Azkaban
• Goblet of Fire

From the Twilight Saga, in honor of the movie released on June 30th:

• Twilight
• New Moon
• Eclipse

Connecting with the Classics: Beowulf

Beowulf by Chris Ryall



I wasn't aware that Neil Gaiman wrote the screenplay for the live action/animated theatrical version of Beowulf. I get the sense that things changed from the epic poem to the film (and this graphic novel based on the film) but I can't remember. Reading this graphic novel makes me want to go back and reread Beowulf and maybe find a copy of Grendel.

I think this graphic novel would be a intro to the more difficult Beowulf text. Teach with graphic novels, anyone?

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What Happens When We Die?

Mick Harte Was Here by Barbara Park


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This novel was a quick and easy (language) read. I mentioned in my one update that the narrator, Phoebe, sets the stage of the novel by telling the reader right away that her brother Mick has died, not wanting the reader to become attached to the character then end up disappointed. The novel is simple in its premise: a book about a family dealing with the loss of one its members. Readers get to know Mick through flashbacks as they follow Phoebe coming to terms with her brother's death, God (briefly) and what happens once people die.

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