ENDYMION SPRING by Matthew Skelton

This book is about a boy who finds a strange book that only he can read...but there are people trying to take it from him.

I think this is a good book, overall. It was creative and exciting. The end got a little boring when they were talking about Endymion Spring (the person.) Other than that, bravo!


****

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

This was a book about Bod Owens, a boy being raised in a graveyard.
This book jumps around a couple years each chapter, so that took a few chapters to figure out. Second, this book was strange with commas. Another thing that bugged me was in one chapter he's just naming things like: the 33rd President of the United States or The Emperor of China. Meaningless things. They should be names, sometimes that bugs me.
At the end, I might add, the book got so much better. It was sad, and exciting, all at the same time! That is something not many writers can do.

***

Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt

This book is about Jethro Creighton who is a boy at the time of the Civil War. It's pretty self-explanitory.

At the beginning of the book I found it somewhat interesting, then when there are about two years left in the book, it's just paragraphs of what's happening. I found the end very boring. Before that I found it interesting. It was a little less that Marooned (***) but more than Hatchet (*) so I had to go with this:

**

It is the first two-starred book I have given-mostly because if I don't like the book sometimes I can't finish it-it was good up until the end, with an interesting twist in the beginning.

Tentacles by Roland Smith

This is the sequel to Cryptid Hunters (*****) and a very good sequel at that. The story begins with Marty's friend Luther coming to the island to join them on their search for the Kraken or Architeuthis. But there are unwanted guests on board (besides the ghosts) and you don't know who they could be.
This is a really good book. I didn't want to put it down. It was that good. Both books got me interested in Cryptozoology. It is just a good book.
The things I would recommend changing if I was Roland Smith. Marty and Luther frequently say "Nose picker." To each other almost as much as "Duh du jour." It gets pretty annoying.
Also, Blackwood really shouldn't have custody over Grace. She belongs to her dad. That needs explaining. The good thing is that that is not enough to lower one star so it's fine.

*****

This book could win the Jack K Fiction Award for 2009!

Marooned-The Strange but True Adventures of Alexander Selkirk, The Real Robinson Crusoe by Robert Krase

Normally I am not a fan of nonfiction, but this book was surprisingly good. It is about Alexander Selkirk being marooned on Juan Fernando Island. His story is what Robinson Crusoe is based off of. There is no dialogue so it is hard to get through it, but it's one of those books you can't put down. I was surprised by how much I liked it.
The beginning, when he's on the island is great, then all of the sudden the story revolves around someone else. Then he's depressed and I didn't like it as much, that brings it down a star or two.
Other then that, its a great book, you can picture him on the island, waiting for the Cinque Ports to return.

***

The Sorceress by Michael Scott

The third book from the series, Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, shows more of Perenelle Flamel, as she is trapped on Alcatraz with monsters, the Crow Goddess, and the power-draining Sphinx, meanwhile Nicholas, Josh, and Sophie are in England, Dee's land.

This book is in my opinion the best in the series, the charactures are wonderful and the story is amazing. Michel Scott is a genius.

*****

This book is a candidate for the Jack K Fiction 2009 Award

Jack K Award 2008

The Jack K Award is given to the best Fictional book of the year. This goes for Fiction, Historical Fiction, Realistic Fiction, anything.
And the 2008 winner is...

INKDEATH by Cornelia Funke