Book Reviews for Homeschoolers

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2011-10-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

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The Warlock

2011-06-18T19:38:00.000-07:00

The Warlock, the thrilling 5th book in Michael Scott's Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel has been a book I had been wanting to read for months. Josh and Sophie Newman are beginning to complete the Prophecy Abraham the Mage made thousands of years ago. Twins; with gold and silver auras, one to destroy the world, and one to save it. Josh has joined the evil magician John Dee, who is on the run from his own masters. Meet Mars Ultor, Isis and Osiris, Scathatch, who is stuck back in the time of Danu Talis, Prometheus, and Abraham the Mage in the exciting penultimate book in the series.
FastFacts:
Foul Language: Hardly Any
Main Character in Danger: Medium High
Violence: Medium
To buy this book for $10.99, click the cover image below:

The Hunger Games

2011-06-07T17:46:00.000-07:00

The Hunger Games, by Susanne Collins, is the first of the Hunger Games trilogy.
Katniss Everdeen lives in District 12. Every year, every District, from 1 to 12, has a day called Reaping day. That day, everyone who is between ages 12 and 19 have there names written down and thrown into two giant balls: one for boys, one for girls. Each District selects one boy and one girl to compete in the most deadly games since the gladiators--the Hunger Games. There are 24 players, put into a special arena controlled by the Gamemakers. There is only one victor--except this time, there can be two. The boy, from District 12, Peeta, has announced his love for Katniss to the audience. In this whirlwind book, full of death, poison, and injury, who can tell what will come next?
FastFacts:
Foul Language: Hardly any
Main Character in Danger: Read the review. Extremely High
Violence: Ditto. Extremely High
To buy this book for 8.99, click on the cover image below:

The Dragon Heir

2011-05-07T07:34:00.000-07:00

Seph McCauley is in charge of maintaining the security around the wizard sanctuary, Trinity, and Jack, his cousin, is in charge of fighting anyone who tries to come in. The Dragon stone is a very powerful artifact, and there is a huge war with the evil wizards of the Roses and the wizards of Trinity. The Roses want the Dragon stone, and the Trinity wizards want them out. The Roses are bringing out weapons that nobody had known even existed. It looks like they might win. Now here's the problem. Though Trinity has a powerful Dragon stone, they have no idea how to use it. They might not be able to stop the roses from taking over...
FastFacts:
Foul Language: Mild
Main Characters in Danger: High
Violence: Very High
To buy this book for $7.19, click the cover image below:

The Warrior Heir

2011-05-07T07:25:00.000-07:00

Jack has been taken on a road trip with his two friends and his aunt, Linda. Linda seems kind of strange, but he still agrees to go on the road trip. However, it seems much more than a simple road trip when they go to old burial records and are attacked by a wizard--the only reason Jack isn't dead is because of a vest his aunt made him wear. They found the burial record they were looking for--Jack's great-great grandmother, Susanna. Then, they go to dig it up--certainly very strange. But they don't find a coffin. Instead, they find priceless jewels and-a beautiful sword. After an explanation from his aunt, he finds out he is a Warrior--whose job is to fight other warriors for the giant magical guilds called the Roses. Will Jack, who has never known anything like this, be able to stand his own against a fully trained warrior? Or will something else...magical happen?
FastFacts:
Foul Language: Mild
Main Character in Danger: High
Violence: High
To buy this book for $7.19, click the cover image below:

The Last Mission: Scorpia Rising

2011-04-14T14:35:00.000-07:00

Anthony Horowitz has recently finished and published that last book in his bestseller series, Alex Rider: Scorpia Rising. Ariston Xenopolos is a Greek multi-multi-billionaire who is dying. His last wish is to have the Elgin Marbles, featured in a British museum, returned where they belong: an Ancient Greek structure called the Parthenon. He is paying Scorpia, the international criminal organization, a huge amount of money to ensure that it will be done. Razim, the commanding officer for this operation, and Julius Grief, Alex's evil clone, are willing to go to many lengths to make this happen. In this classic end to a wonderful series, readers encounter death and destruction. MI6 and the CIA. The final chapter of Alex Rider has come: this is one mission he won't be coming home from!
FastFacts:
Foul Language: Medium
Main Character in Danger: Off the charts high
Violence: High
To buy this book, click the cover image below:

Snakehead

2011-03-29T06:54:00.000-07:00

Alex Rider has been trying to dodge MI6 for the past two years. They seem to always have a way to make him be their spy. But now, MI6 hasn't contacted him. He thinks he might be done… But then, he gets a call from the ASIS, asking him to "visit" the illegal immigration companies, the snakeheads. He instantly refuses, but there is one thing they have over him: he would get to meet Ash, his godfather. John Rider's best friend. Hoping to get some straight answers, Alex signs on--only to find himself in the middle of adventure, danger, mystery, and, worst of all... Scorpia.
FastFacts:
Foul Language: Mild
Main Character in Danger: High!
Violence: High
To buy this book for $7.99, click the cover image below:

Scorpia

2011-03-29T06:51:00.000-07:00

Alex Rider has been dragged into missions and spy plots for a long time. But this is the worst. After Yassen's words, he feels he must go to the criminal organization Scorpia to find out who his father really was. So, he tries to join Scorpia, and finds the answers he's looking for--and some more questions: What is Invisible Sword? Is Julia Rothman telling the truth? As if he is not already overwhelmed, he is assigned a mission: Kill the deputy head of MI6: Mrs Jones.
FastFacts:
Foul Language: Mild
Main Character in Danger: High!
Violence: Very High
To buy this book for $7.99, click the cover image below:

The Girl Who Could Fly

2011-02-10T09:02:00.001-08:00

Piper McCloud seems like an ordinary girl at first glance, but in fact she has a special ability: She can fly. But, as soon as she tells someone, the government whisks her away to a secret facility intended for children with super powers. Her friends there are nice, but she realizes something is wrong. Someone has been drugging them--and it is vital that they escape.
FastFacts:
Foul Language: None
Main Character in Danger: Mild
Violence: Medium
"I would definitely give it 5 stars"-- Luke Cunning, reviewer.
To buy this book, click the cover image below:

This book is on sale for an excellent $1.99!

The Crowfield Curse

2011-02-09T07:02:00.001-08:00

William is an orphan, sent to live in an abbey. One day, on a walk
through the forest, he finds an injured hob, and takes him back to the
abbey to be healed by Brother Snail, one of the monks at the abbey. A
sudden arrival of a man with a bad skin disease causes people to be
more nervous. Master Bone forces William to come and help him with
something....
FastFacts
Foul Language: Mild
Main Character in Danger: Low
Violence: Mild
To buy this book, click the cover image below:
13.91

One Small Step

2011-02-03T09:49:00.000-08:00

Scott Macleod is a 13 year old kid, living in Texas in the year 1969. His dad, part of the United States Air Force, is training him for his pilots license. When his dad is injured in the plane, Scott has to take over and fly the craft down and land it. When he does this successfully, NASA notices, and Scott is persuaded to join the NASA space program, on a top-secret mission to land two chimpanzees on the lunar surface. Going through training, he discovers that after the mission, it will remain top secret. He would not be able to talk about it to his friends. He also thinks something funny is going on--a chimpanzee who was originally the best one they had, and was intended to go to the moon, starts acting crazy. Is there something else that NASA isn't telling him?

FastFacts:
Foul Language: Medium
Main Character in Danger: Medium
Violence: Mild
To buy this book, click the cover image below:

This book is $15.29, but here is the paperback version for $7.99:

The Children of the Lamp: Day of the Djinn Warriors

2011-01-21T09:54:00.000-08:00

John and Phillipa Gaunt must rescue their mother from becoming the next Blue Djinn of Babylon, which hardens the heart forever. To do this, they must reunite the body of a young girl, Faustina, with her spirit, so she can fulfill this position as she has always wanted to do. However, this can be dangerous, as to do this they must do a number of things: Find her body, find her spirit, and Iblis, the evil leader of the Ifrit, is not on their side.
FastFacts:
Foul Language: None
Main Character in Danger: Medium High
Violence: Medium
To buy this book, click the cover image below:
Price: 3 dollars and 3 cents.

You can also buy the box set of the Children of the Lamp

The Children of the Lamp: The Cobra King of Kathmandu

2011-01-14T11:17:00.000-08:00

John and Phillipa Gaunt are worried. Their wisdom teeth are almost stolen, their uncle Nimrod has left without telling his faithful butler where he is, and an urgent plea for help from a djinn friend saying he has been forced to run away, and warning them to be careful. So, they know they have to do something. Seeking help from a djinn friend, living on the streets of New York, they find her and an angel, in disguise. The angel says he can give them two exact copies of themselves, so as not to alert their mother to the fact that they are gone. After sending the copies home, rescuing their djinn friend, Buck, they travel to London to track Nimrod and the Cobra Kings, or the Assai Naag. Even if they can find Nimrod, can they save him from being tortured by the ancient cult. The eight cobras.
FastFacts:
Foul Language: Mild
Main Character in danger: High-Very High
Violence: Medium
To buy this book, click the cover image below:
Price: $6.29 on Barnes and Noble

The Children of the Lamp: The Blue Djinn of Babylon

2011-01-14T08:33:00.000-08:00

Phillipa Gaunt is a natural at a game called Djinnverso, which is a dice game. When she enters the tournament, however, she is accused of cheating. When she tries to protest, she finds she is completely taken over and can't control her mouth. She admits of cheating, even though she didn't. After this, the Blue Djinn of Babylon, the djinn who hands out punishments for the djinn, kidnaps Phillipa. It is up to John, her twin, Nimrod, her uncle, and Groanin, Nimrod's butler, to rescue her from becoming the next Blue Djinn. Otherwise, her heart will slowly become hard to better fit the job of punishing djinn for their evil doings. However, rescuing someone from the most powerful djinn on the planet is not going to be easy.
FastFacts:
Foul Language: Mild
Main Character in Danger: Medium High
Violence: Mild
To buy this book, click the cover image below:
This book is on sale for $1.99.

The Children of the Lamp: The Akhenaten Adventure

2011-01-04T09:04:00.000-08:00

John and Phillipa Gaunt are part of the Madrid, a secret tribe of Djinn fighting for more good luck in the world. They travel to London to meet their uncle, an accomplished Djinn who will train them. However, they must do this while going to the vast desert of Egypt, for the ghost and tomb of Akhenaten have been discovered.
However, the Ifriti, another tribe of Djinn, are fighting for bad luck in the world. In this page-turning adventure, meet the leader of the Ifriti in disguise, enchanted scorpions, a pink Ferrari, and general terror and adventure.
FastFacts:
Foul Language: Mild-Medium
Main Character in Danger: Medium-High
Violence: Medium
To buy this book, click the cover image below:

Artemis Fowl

2010-12-30T06:42:00.000-08:00

Artemis Fowl, (Eoin Colfer) is trying to capture one of the secret fairy race. He has obtained a fairy book, a special book about the history of fairies, from an old drunk fairy. Then, he must capture one--and he does so, right as the fairy is refiling her magic. He takes her to an underground room in Fowl Manor, and soon finds himself under siege.
Will Artemis be able to keep his fairy elf prisoner? Or, maybe not?

FastFacts:
Foul Language: Mild
Main Character in Danger: High
Violence: Medium
To buy this book, click the cover image below:

The Silver Child

2010-12-28T06:09:00.000-08:00

The Silver Child, by Cliff McNish, was a funny book. Six children are changing in ways nobody likes...The twins, Emily and Freda, are now acting like insects when they walk: on all fours, but very fast. Thomas can comfort, and heal. Miles' skin turns gold. Walter grows into a giant. Helen is now a mind-reader. They are all drawn to Coldharbour, a mysterious dirty place where they, and only they, are starting to hear a horrific roar. They know they must do something, because it is evidently not a good sound to be hearing.
But what can 6 freak children do against the magic evil that is coming?
FastFacts:
Foul Language: None-Mild
Main Characters in Danger: Medium
Violence: Medium
To buy this book, click the cover image below:

Dragon and Liberator

2010-12-16T14:03:00.000-08:00

For the sixth and final time, Timothy Zahn has written a bestseller: Dragon and Liberator. Jack Morgan has everything he needs to stop Neverlin. Well, almost. He has a dragon, a ship, and an ally. However, he needs one last thing...and a thing you can't buy: time. From disguising himself as one of the crew members and breaking a deadly weapon to confronting Neverlin himself, Jack and his ally, Alison, are on the right track. They just have to act quick enough to do it...
FastFacts:
Foul Language: Mild
Main Character in danger: Medium High
Violence: High
To buy this book, click the cover image below:

Dragon and Judge

2010-12-15T19:53:00.000-08:00

Jack and his dragon friend, a poet-warrior of the K'da, are captured by the Golvins, strange aliens who want him to be a judge for him. However, this was not the reason he came to the planet...and the Golvins have no intention of letting him go so easily. Finally, Jack finds something to do...use his new Judge-Paladin powers to investigate his parents' death. And, he finds a few things...including the facts that his parents death, the K'da massacre, his entire life, and a few other critical things are connected.
FastFacts:
Foul Language: Mild
Main Character in Danger: Medium High
Violence: High
To buy this book, click the cover image below:

Dragon and Herdsman

2010-12-15T19:42:00.000-08:00

Jack and Draycos are stuck on Rho Scorvi, with the enemy trying to kill them. Colonel Frost and Neverlin have made it clear, at least to Jack and Draycos, that they want the K'da and the Shontine extinct. So, an ideal place to set fire to a forest would be the place where the untrained K'da are running wild. Well, maybe for Frost and Neverlin, but Jack and Draycos are stuck there...with there ship missing and no way off the planet. Jack needs to do two things, neither of which are easy: stop Frost and Neverlin from killing all of the K'da in the universe, and stay alive.
FastFacts:
Foul Language: Mild
Main Character in danger: Medium High
Violence: High
To buy this book, click the cover image below:

Dragon and Slave

2010-12-08T07:43:00.000-08:00

Timothy Zahn has written yet another award deserving book.
Jack and Draycos, still seeking information about the space ships that attacked Draycos' people, enslave them selfs to try to hack the computer.
Unfortunately for them, the slave master has a little more of a brain then Jack first thought...yet again, he will need the help of a poet-warrior of the K'da!
FastFacts:
Foul Language: Mild
Main Character in Danger: Very High
Violence: High
To buy this book, click the cover image below:

Dragon and Solder

2010-12-08T07:32:00.000-08:00

Jack is back, and this time he is a solder. He has promised to help Draycos find his people and warn them about the Valahuga, a fearsome tribe of warriors that attacked them in space as they tried to escape their doomed planet. Seeking information about the spaceships the Valahuga used, he sells himself to mercenaries to get into their computers. Having the help of a loyal K'da dragon is essential...and he's going to need it a lot.
FastFacts:
Foul Language: Mild
Main Character in danger: High
Violence: High
Sadly, this book is not available for direct purchase. Please click here to go to Barnes and Noble and navigate yourself. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Dragon and Theif

2010-12-07T13:38:00.000-08:00

Dragon and Thief, by Timothy Zahn: Jack Morgan meets K'da warrior Draycos, and saves his life by becoming his host, allowing him to wrap around his body and become two dimensional. However, Jack Morgan's uncle is a renowned professional thief, and some criminals want him to help them on a mission. Problem is, Uncle Virgil is dead. Rather than getting killed, Jack takes on the challenge himself. Jack tries to do what they want, but it won't be easy...especially since the whole thing is wrapped in conspiracy and deceit.
This book has been nominated for Book of the Month!
FastFacts:
Foul Language: Mild
Main Character in Danger: High
Violence: Medium High
Sorry, this book is not yet available for direct sale. Click here to go to Barnes and Noble and buy it manually. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

The Graveyard Book

2010-11-27T09:40:00.000-08:00

The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman, author of Coraline, (Newbery Award 2009), is about Nobody Owens. Nobody "Bod" Owens grew up in a graveyard, his only known parents being dead. He has the freedom of the graveyard, and he is alive, but he has the power to make people terrified, and has the power to fade into nothingness. Nobody is being hunted by the man who killed his mother and his father and his sister--The man Jack, who was assigned to kill Bod's family, wants to finish the job. And he is not alone. Bod wants to escape the graveyard, to be a normal person...but a normal person is not hunted by the man Jack.
Read on in this extraordinarily scary, funny, creepy book.
FastFacts:
Foul Language: Mild
Main Character in danger: Medium High
Violence: Medium High
To buy this book, click the cover image below:

First Light

2010-11-22T18:31:00.000-08:00

First Light, by Rebecca Stead, is a great book. Peter, his mom, his dad, and a friend Jonas are traveling to the arctic for his dad to do some research. Peter helps set up the big tent, has a dog sled of his own, and helps log the information in the ice.
Thea works at the nursery for the Chikchu dogs. She wants her world to go back up to the real world--the world they got chased away from generations ago. However, the town is against her--it will be hard to convince them that it is once again safe to return from Gracehope, the town that lives underneath the ice.
One morning, Peter goes out early to go for a walk. He hears a noise.
Thea and her cousin Mattias go up the tunnels to the surface. Mattias gets frozen in the ice. She makes a noise.
FastFacts:
Foul Language: None
Main Character in danger: Medium
Violence: None
"These are two great stories, woven together with perfection."--Reviewer
To buy this book, click the cover image below: