Book Review: Mossflower

Tsarmina has finally done it. She rules over Mossflower woods now, and the woodlanders are going to fall into line or face the her wrath and the full might of her warriors. But the woodlanders have warriors of their own, and they won’t submit easily. They send Martin the Warrior, Gonff the Thief, and Kinny the mole to the mysterious realm of Salamandastron in search of the strong Boar the Fighter. With his help, they can defeat the evil Tsarmina and take back the homes and freedom that are rightfully theirs. Things don’t work out quite as planned, but the brave woodlanders never give up.

This is a wonderful tale of courageous and cunning animals who aren’t afraid to stand up to their oppressors. The characters are imaginative and still, to a great extent, believable. Jacques does an excellent job of weaving an interesting and thrilling tale. A great introduction to the characters and setting of the Redwall series.

5 Stars

Get your copy here. 

Book Review: A Single Shard

 

Tree-ear lives under a bridge on the edge of a village with a man named Crane-man. He’s a 13-year-old orphan who begins to develop a fascination with pottery making which just happens to be the craft that his village is known for. He enjoys watching a local master potter work and is thrilled when he’s allowed to help. To prove himself, Tree-ear volunteers to deliver samples of the master’s work to the King. He encounters a devastating obstacle on the way that seriously jeopardizes his mission, but he is determined to continue. He arrives at the court with a single shard, but it is enough.
This is a wonderful story about relationships and the power of determination. It will have you laughing and crying. A wonderful read that truly deserves the Newbery medal.
5 Stars

Get your copy here.

Book Review: 100 Cupboards

Twelve-year-old Henry York wakes up in the middle of the night to discover that the plaster is falling off the walls in his room to reveal a hidden cupboard, so what does he do? He stays up all night scraping more plaster off to reveal more cupboards. These aren’t just ordinary cupboards, though. Most of them are locked, but the ones he can open lead to strange places that they couldn’t possibly lead to. The mystery deepens when two letters come to him through the doors. But that’s not all that makes it through. Evil finds a way out as well.

Henry discovers secrets that his family has been keeping for years and finds out that he’s not who he thinks he is. Only by working together can he and his family and friends survive.

Wilson does a great job of describing the typical family life. The adventure starts off a little slowly, but we have a rich account of Henry’s experiences as he gets settled in to his new life in Kansas. Suspense begins to build once the cupboard doors are opened and Henry gets a glimpse of what’s waiting inside.

4 Stars

Get your copy here. 

Book Review: Blade of the Sea: A Children’s Survival Unofficial Minecraft Book

Trish is a simple villager from a small Minecraft village. She enjoys crafting, but longs to go on an adventure. When some villains break into the village’s sealed mine, Trish follows them to find out why. She discovers that they are looking for a map to a device that they believe will allow them to take over the world. Trish is determined to stop them.  When no one else in the village is willing to go with her, she sets out alone. She makes friends along the way, solves puzzles, fights zombies and spiders, and gains new courage.

This is a light, fun, easy read for anyone who loves adventure and Minecraft. Nethermind weaves an exciting adventure full of danger, friendship, and self-discovery.

5 Stars

Get your copy here.

Book Review – Serafina and the Black Cloak

I loved this book. Even with all of Serafina’s idiosyncrasies, the way Robert Beatty described her made her actions seem perfectly normal, for her.

Serafina is a rather strange girl who lives in the basement of the Biltmore Mansion with her father who works as a mechanic in the mansion. She is supposed to stay hidden, for reasons that aren’t revealed until later in the book, but her curiosity leads her to pushing those rules. She is seen one night by the wrong person, and everything goes crazy from then on.

Beatty paints a wonderful and believable picture of a special young girl. Her courage is enough to get her through and help her defeat the bad guy without veering too far from what a normal girl her age would feel. She is both vulnerable and brave.

5 Stars

Get a copy of the book here.

Book Trailer for Stealing the Amber Key: Book One of the Xandi

The book trailer for my new book is finished. Yay! I’m so excited. I hope you will check it out. Feel free to share it as well.

Book Summary:

For many generations, dangerous secrets have lain hidden in a cavern laboratory deep below the surface of a small island in the Pacific Ocean. Over the years, many people have tried to find and claim the incredible powers within; none, so far, have succeeded. The story of the lost laboratory faded into legend…until now. A dark enemy has arrived on the island seeking that very power. It’s up to Molly, her brother Jake, and their new friends to hold back the evil that threatens to rise.

With the help of the professor’s ancient journal, the group begins their quest. If they are to find the amber key and reach the laboratory first, they must solve numerous puzzles, overcome countless obstacles, and survive perilous traps set by both the professor and their new enemy.

Little do they know that their greatest and most dangerous challenge will come after they find what they seek. It’s then that they must make a terrible decision: turn their backs on the world and let evil win, or risk losing everything they know and love, everything they are, by using the powers in the cavern themselves.

Vote! Help Choose the Right Book Blurb for Stealing the Amber Key: Book One in the Xandi Series

Calling all parents/grandparents of kids aged 9-14. I need your children’s/grandchildren’s expert opinions. I have two quite different book blurbs for my first book in the Xandi series, Stealing the Amber Key, and I need to decide which one to put on my website (www.aecooksbooks.com) and on the back of the book.

You can also vote if you’re an avid reader who doesn’t quite fit into the age group.

Here are your options:

Option 1:

It all started so innocently. They were trying to do the right thing: help their detective uncle solve a mystery, defeat the bad guy, save the world. You know, typical hero stuff. Then they heard the legend of an ancient, secret laboratory hidden in a deep cavern somewhere in the island. It was said that awesome inventions and incredible power were locked inside, power that could help someone take over the world. But that was just silly. Wasn’t it? Someone on the island didn’t think so.

Molly, Jake and their friends couldn’t resist. After all, they couldn’t let the enemy win. The hunt was on. Now, to find the key that would unlock this legend. The problem was how do you look for a key that nobody knows exists to unlock a secret lab that everyone thinks isn’t real? To make matters worse, there was someone else on the island watching them, someone else who believed in the legend. But these people wanted it to stay sealed away forever. And with the strange abilities and powers they seemed to possess, they would not be easy to get past.

Solving the old professor’s riddles, dodging some traps, and escaping other traps they couldn’t dodge was no trouble for the adventurous group. It would just be so much easier if those pesky, powerful, shadowy characters weren’t trying to kill them.

And here’s option 2:

For many generations, dangerous secrets have lain hidden in a cavern laboratory deep below the surface of a small island in the Pacific Ocean. Despite many efforts to find and claim the incredible powers within, none, so far, have succeeded, and the story of the lost laboratory faded into legend…until now.

A dark enemy has arrived on the island seeking the extraordinary power that waits to be found in the professor’s scientific creations – a great, unfathomable, almost magical power. It’s up to Jake, his sister Molly and their new friends to hold back the evil that threatens to rise.

With the help of the professor’s ancient journal, the group begins their quest. If they are to find the laboratory first, they must solve numerous puzzles, overcome countless obstacles, and survive perilous traps set by both the professor and their new enemy. Little do they know that their greatest and most dangerous challenge will come after they find what they seek. It’s then that they must make a terrible decision: turn their backs on the world and let evil win, or risk losing everything they know and love, everything they are, by using the powers in the cavern themselves.

Thanks for your help.

The Elephant Shark

This shark with the funny nose is called an Elephant Shark or an Australian Ghost Shark. Found off the coast of Southern Australia and New Zealand, it uses its snout and trunk-shaped appendage to forage on the muddy ocean floor for food. The end of its snout is covered in pores that can sense movement and weak electrical fields which help it find tasty mollusks and shellfish to eat.

It has a serrated spine that some people think is poisonous, but there haven’t been any reports of serious injury from contact with it even though it’s popular on commercial fishing circuits.

Growing up to a maximum of forty nine inches long, the Elephant Shark has a fifteen year life span.

It might be cool to see if you can catch one the next time you go fishing in Australian.

Diamonds, a Neptunian’s Best Friend

Diamond rivers, diamond icebergs, diamond rain: some scientists believe that all of these can be found on the planet Neptune (and Uranus). Scientists have done experiments recreating the pressure and temperature that can be found on Neptune and discovered that when diamonds are liquefied and then re-solidified, they act much like water. The solid diamonds will float in the liquid diamond like an iceberg in water. Of course it wasn’t easy to melt the diamonds. It took pressure that is 40 million times greater than what is felt at sea-level on Earth. Coincidentally, that’s the level of pressure that diamonds would encounter on Neptune.

As for the diamond rain, apparently, with enough heat and pressure, tiny diamonds can form in the methane in the atmosphere of Neptune. Based on research done at UC Berkeley, if pressurized liquid methane is heated to over 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit, diamond dust can form and rain down on the planet.

Isn’t that cool? So, when’s the next rocket to Neptune? I want to book my ticket.

The Sheep Pig

This is the Mangalitsa or the “sheep-pig.” It originated in Austria and Hungry. Technically a pig, its full, curly coat can cause some to mistake it for a sheep. This thick covering comes in three different colors: blond, brunette, and red. Unfortunately, it is now considered an endangered species. This is partly due to the fact that, according to people with experience in this area, it tastes really, really yummy.