The Charlatan's Boy by Jonathan Rogers

The Charlatan's Boy by Jonathan Rogers was sent to me by Waterbrook Multnomah to review and I am so glad that they sent it!  This was one of the best books that I have read recently!

SUMMARY

The Charlatan's Boy is a tale of an orphan boy, named Grady, and his search to find himself. Grady is an orphan who has been brought up by a man named Floyd.  He doesn't know how or where Floyd found him.  Every time Grady asks Floyd about where he came from, Floyd gives him a different answer. Floyd is the charlatan. He is a master storyteller. He and Grady have never had a real home.  Instead, they travel around in their wagon and make a living as showmen.  For most of Grady's life, their show has been based on a local legend. There is a legend that "feechie" people live in the swamplands on the south of the island of Corenwald.  They are said to be a ruthless and uncivilized people and the city dwellers are afraid of them.  Floyd takes advantage of this fear and has created a "Feechie" act in which he pretends to be a feechie expert who has caught a real live he-feechie.  Grady plays the part of the he-feechie.  For a long time, their act has been a success, but now, the people of Corenwald have stopped believing in feechies.  Floyd and Grady have to come up with new acts.  These acts range from reading the bumps on peoples skulls to selling worthless remedies.  All of these different acts make for a very fun reading experience as Floyd and Grady get into all kinds of trouble and mischief.  No matter what they try, they still feel that they were made for the "feechie trade".  As they try to reinvent themselves, Grady tries to find out who he really is and where he belongs.

THINGS I LIKE ABOUT THIS BOOK

-This book really ties into the issues of friendship, trust, and family

-It has a lot of interesting twists and outrageous actions

-The author writes the book in a sort of southern slang style that is really fun to read

-There are many funny parts to it

THINGS I DON'T LIKE ABOUT THIS BOOK

-I like everything about this book!

I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR:

-Anyone who can read it; young, middle, old, all!!

-I think that this book would be great for those boys who don't like to read so much because I think that it would appeal to most boys because of all of the action.

A FEW THOUGHTS

-I would give this book a 5 out of 5 stars

-It is not a Christian book but there is nothing bad in it or anti-Christian

-Homeschoolers could use this to compare and contrast different regions and their traditions

*You can check out the website for this book HERE

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

SUMMARY

From the ruins of North America comes PANEM- a shining capitol surrounded by twelve districts.  Each of these twelve districts are forced to send a boy and girl to the annual Hunger Games due to their rebellion against the capitol. At the Hunger Games, the children must fight to their deaths.  The capitol does this to remind the districts that they are in control and that rebellion results in death.  They play the Hunger Games on live TV and require all citizens to watch it.  This is the way in which they keep them "in line".

Sixteen year old Katniss Everdeen is forced into the Hunger Games in this first book of the trilogy.  She must fight for her life-all for the capitol's amusement and their evil plan to control the country. She despises the capitol and isn't afraid to show it. The winner, or sole survivor (depending on how you look at it) of the Hunger Games, gets a life of luxury,money, and fame which is hard to come by in Panem.  The winners also have the responsibility to help the future Hunger Games participants (tributes, as they are called) survive the Hunger Games. They are like celebrities.  But, this isn't a job that Katniss wants.                                         

THINGS I LIKED

-It is a good story

-It has a good plot

-It has action and surprise at every twist and turn

-And it is all around fun to read

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE

-Violence

-kissing

-cussing

-drug mention

I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR

-Ages 12+

-Action/Adventure seekers

A FEW THOUGHTS

This is not a Christian book. It has intense violence, kissing, cussing, drug mention, and nudity. The violence is very brutal and lasts throughout the whole book. By the end of the book you sort of become numb to all of the violence- which is not a good thing.  Even still, I think that this book addresses a subject that is very important.  Power is something that can cause a lot of problems.  How would you react to authority that abuses its power?  I think about this subject a lot because I am a Christian and I am concerned with the end times.  What is it going to be like in those times?  I am sure that we will see violence and abuse like in this book.  How will we react to this?  This book is so thought provoking!
Suzanne Collins is an excellent author.  I could barely put this book down.  It has become one of my favorite books ever!  Besides the excellent writing skills, the story is awesome! I think you should give it a go!

BTW- they are making it into a movie! I can't wait to see it.  I doubt it will measure up to the book because the book sets such a high bar but I don't think I will be disappointed.

Check out Suzanne Collins' website HERE

LIFE ACCORDING TO ENERY-Getting To Know Enery

I thought I would do this nifty little questionairre so that you could get to know me a little bit.  I hope you enjoy.  You should fill one out and leave it in my comments section:)

A - Age:13

B - Bed size: I share a bunk bed with my brother Elijah.  I sleep on the bottom which is a queen size.

C - Chore you hate: Laundry

D - Dogs: I don't like dogs…well, I guess I do.  I do like dogs.

E - Essential start your day item: My robe

F - Favorite color: red 

G - Gold or Silver: Gold- its worth more money

H - Height: I don't know- should we measure me?

I - Instruments you play(ed): none

J - Job title: job I have right now, or job I want to have? I want to be a Lego Engineer

K - Kid(s): I want 2 identical twins-boys

L - Living arrangements: 1 story house, 4 bedroom, 2 bath

M - Mom's name: Funnybones

N - Nicknames: "N", people just call me "N".  I have 5 letters in my name. does it really need a nickname?

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Weeelllll, there was that one night in the looney bin

P - Pet Peeve: people coming in my room

Q - Quote from a movie: "you're fat and you have body odor"- School of Rock

R - Right or left handed: righty

S - Siblings: Wheat, Bobo, and anti-honest Abe

T - Time you woke up: 9am

U- Underwear: I don't want to do this one

V - Vegetable you dislike: all but popcorn

W - Ways you run late: hmmm…I wake up late

X - X-rays you've had: only my teeth

Y - Yummy food you make: Pancakes!!!! 

Z - Zoo favorite: Bengal tigers- WHO DEY!!!

Life According to Enery- COMING SOON

I recently got a request from a friend- Kristin Feavel:):)- to do a "Life According to Enery" section.  She said that adding this type of section to my blog would keep the adults interested in the blog, since they may not be interested in too many children's/teens books.  I thought it was a great idea, so I am going to do it.  Thanks for the suggestion!! If anyone else has suggestions for me, I would love to hear from you.  I will be putting up my first "Life According to Enery" post soon.  Thanks for reading:)

Eleven by Patricia Reilly Giff

SUMMARY

Eleven is written by Patricia Reilly Giff who is a two-time Newbery Honor-winning author.  This is the same author who wrote the Kids of Polk Street School books.  But we were talking about Eleven.  Eleven is a fun and suspenseful tale of an 11 year old boy named Sam MacKenzie who can barely read.  On April 11th (his birthday), Sam finds himself in his attic searching for his birthday present when he stumbles upon a box with news clippings that have a picture of him as a child. But, the pictures have the wrong name.  They say "Sam Bell".  He can't understand most of the writing since he can't read but he can make out three words- Sam, Bell, and missing....dun dun dun.  Now Sam has to find out who he is and why he is missing.  With help form the new girl in class, he sets out to find out what happened to him when he was child.  This is a book about self discovery and friendships.

THINGS I LIKE ABOUT THE BOOK

-It is exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time
-It is a mystery- and I like mysteries!
-It has a good plot
-It is an all around fun book
-He is a struggling student but learns how to overcome

THINGS I DON'T LIKE ABOUT THE BOOK

-I like everything about this book!!!

I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR

-I think this book is good for any age but I believe that you would probably need to be about 7 years old to read it on your own.
-Mystery lovers

A FEW THOUGHT ON THE BOOK

This isn't a Christian book but there is nothing written in it that would be a stumbling block for Christian readers.  So, I say go ahead and read it! I especially like that it places a strong emphasis on family, friendship, and overcoming hardships.  This book has a good message that anyone could benefit from reading.


If you want to check out Patricia Reilly Giff and the other cool stuff that she has written, go HERE

ON MY BOOKSHELF-UP NEXT FOR REVIEW

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

SUMMARY:


I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore is about a fifteen year old alien boy living in Ohio who comes from the planet Lorien.  He is being hunted by another alien race, the Mogadorians.  The Mogadorians first attacked Lorien about ten years before the beginning of the book.  They attacked Lorien in order to steal its resources because they had destroyed their own planet and used up all of its own resources.  When they attacked Lorien, nineteen people escaped the planet and went to earth.  Nine of these people were children who were part of the "Garde".  These children would develop powers which they call legacies.  The other people were their handlers, which are called Cepan, along with one pilot.  When the Gardes reached earth they all seperated in order to activate a protective charm.  This charm would insure that the Garde could only be killed in the order of their numbers.  If they come together on earth at any time it would deactivate the charm and they could all be killed at any time.  The main character in the book is Garde number four.  At the beginning of the story, the first three Garde have been killed already by the Mogadorians.  Now, Number Four is on the run.  His Cepan, named Henri, takes him to the middle of nowhere in Paradise, Ohio to hide.  He has to go to school and lead a normal life without sticking out.  He takes on the name John Smith but finds it hard to blend in.  His legacies begin to develop and the Mogadorians are getting closer.  As if that isn't enough, he has to deal with the school bully picking on him.  Eventually the Mogadorians find him but John now has a team of new friends to fight with him.  Included in this team is another Garde who has found John and comes to help even though it deactivated the protective charm.  This Garde is a girl named Number Six.  The book ends with the conclusion of the battle between John and his friends and the Mogadorians.  This is the first book in the series.  The next book is going to be The Power of Six and there is a sneak peek  about it at the end of this book.  You may know that they have made this book into a movie.


THINGS I LIKE ABOUT THE BOOK:


-It was well written
-It had a good plot
-It was exciting and suspenseful
-The character of Number Four was well developed
-I could relate to some of the problems that Number Four faced


THINGS THAT I DIDN'T LIKE ABOUT THE BOOK:

-There was kissing
-There was some cussing
-There was a scene of a party in which the bad kids were drinking and doing drugs
-There was a section in the back that had the Lorien horoscopes


I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR:


-ages 12 and up
-those who like science fiction or alien books


A FEW THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK:


This is not a Christian book.  There are instances of profanity and talk about kissing.  Overall, though, I really liked this book.  It was very engaging.  For those Christian parents, I would recommend talking to your child about cussing, kissing, and drugs.  If you were really worried about it, you could go through the book first and mark out the cuss words. There really aren't that many throughout the book and most of them are all at the beginning of the book.  I would definitely tear out the horoscope section in the back.  It really has nothing to do with the story anyway.  In general, I think that this is a great book and I am looking forward to the next books in the series.  I would give it a 8 out of 10.

You can check out the website for the book here.


ON MY BOOKSHELF- UP NEXT FOR REVIEW:


Eleven by Patricia Reilly Giff

Welcome to my Blog!

My name is Enery.  I am 13 years old and I love to read.  I am starting this blog in order to share my love of reading with all of you.  I will be writing some reviews of the books that I am reading.  I plan to summarize the books and give them a rating.  I will tell you what age group I think the books are appropriate for, from a Christian standpoint.  For all of you homeschooling families out there, I will tell you if a book can tie into your school subjects.  I will help out you parents who don't have the time to read the books that your kids want to read. I will give you some info on the books so that you know what your kids are reading and whether or not they are appropriate.  Most of all I will try to give you ideas of the great books out there that you might also enjoy reading.  I would love it if you would suggest books for me to read or request reviews for certain books.  Please leave comments for me!


Thanks for taking the time to read my blog! 


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Come back and visit soon.  I plan to have my first review posted by Monday, April 4th.