What Joa is Reading & Other Stuff

Book reviews...from picture books to adult books, as well as books-to-movie info, and other stuff I think is interesting. Note: Not all books reviewed or recommended are appropriate for all ages.
JULY 24, 2009
Diary of a Wimpy Kid #4 coming soon!

For all the Wimpy Kid fans....and there are a LOT....number 4 in the series by Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, is due to come out in October. We'll be getting more than one copy...and taking holds anytime.

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Categories: Funny StuffFYI

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JULY 24, 2009
Do You Know the Monkey Man?

I just finished reading Do You Know the Monkey Man? by Dori Hillestad Butler. I wanted to read it after hearing from so many Battle of the Books readers that it was a favorite, plus the author lives in Coralville, Iowa.

It was an interesting story about a Sam, a girl who is determined to track down her father, who she hadn't seen or heard from since she was three years old. Her parents divorced shortly after her twin sister, Sarah, drowned in a boating accident. But evidence starts piling up suggesting that maybe her sister is still alive....and Sam wants to find out, no matter what. She especially wants to see her father before her mother and Bob, her fiancee get married.

This story is suspenseful, and you will get caught up in Sam's search.

 

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Categories: Battle of the BooksRealistic ReadsMystery

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JULY 3, 2009
13th Child by Patricia Wrede

I just read an interesting book by the author of the Dealing with Dragons series.

The main character, Eff, is a twin to Lan, who was the seventh born son of a seventh born son (their father.) This quality means he is automatically magically gifted and he receives a great deal of attention from family and community members. Unfortunately, Eff's birth order in the family is not viewed so positively, as she is the 13th child overall, which is said to be very bad luck.

When her Eff's classmates and even extended family constantly bombard Eff and her parents with their ominous predictions of how she will "turn bad," her family decides to take advantage of a college position offered to her father "out west." This move works well for everybody, and even offers Eff the opportunity to study magic with a unique teacher who teaches her to "see" the world a whole new way.

This story is like Magyck by Angie Sage meets Little House on the Prairie. When the family moves west, there are many parallels to early pioneer life, and it is very intriguing how Wrede weaves real history and alters it to fit her story. I've never read anything quite like it.

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Categories: FantasyJoa Recommends

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