Exodus

2099- Earth's ice caps are melting. Can refuge be found?

For one hundred years earth's ice caps have been melting. Powerful storms that last for months scour the North Atlantic and the oceans are rising. The residents of the Island of Wing had thought they were safe. How much more could the oceans rise? Only the oldest residents still remember the tall sheer cliffs that held the island high above the ocean, now even at low tide the cliffs have disappeared beneath the waves. All of the surrounding islands have gone under and last summer the school house washed away. Now the residents of Wing have a terrible choice leave their homes or risk the wrath of the ocean.

I loved this book, it was like waterworld, but without Kevin Cosner and not nearly as ridiculous. Fans of the post-apocalyptic fiction genre will love this book as will eco-conscious teens, because the book ask the question what happens if we don't change our ways and the polar ice caps keep melting? For grades 8 and up.

Epic

Wow what a book! Epic combines my two of my favorite genres futuristic dystopia and fantasy adventure. On New Earth everyone's lives revolve around Epic, a fantasy adventure computer game. Success in Epic, results in benefits for yourself, your family, possibly even your whole town. When Erik's mother loses a dispute against Central Authority things start looking grim for his family, they could be relocated to a new area and maybe even be split up. Erik's only hope is Epic, if he plays well enough he could save the whole family.

I started this book at 11 o'clock at night with the intention of reading one chapter and then going to sleep. I read the first chapter, it was good so I read another. The second chapter was even better, I kept going. Three hundred pages later I finally made myself put it down and go to sleep. The next morning I read a little more before. I had intended to bring it to work with me so I could finish it during much lunch break, but alas I forgot it and spent all day thinking speculating about what the last 14 pages contained. I highly recommend this book! It has it all vampires, knights, magic, swashbuckling! For grades 7 and up.

The Walls of Cartegena

I liked this book more than I thought I would. It's historical fiction, which I like, but it's also about slaves, lepers and the excesses of the Inquisition in the Spanish colony of Cartagena in Columbia. This book had sad times written all over it. But despite that, I liked the characters and the main character, Calepino, had a certain naivety and optimism that lightened up all the dark subject matter and made the whole thing palatable. For grades 4 to 7.

Step Fourth Mallory

Mallory was looking forward to 4th grade, in fact, she thought it was going to be the best year ever. But now that 4th grade has started it shaping up to be the worst year ever. Mallory keeps breaking the rules, even though she doesn't mean to and everything she does to try to get on her teacher's good side seems to backfire..

Step Fourth Mallory was an alright, I suspect I would have liked it more if I were a girl in 4th grade. Mallory spends a lot time worrying about boys and fashion in a typically gushy 4th grade girl fashion. However, the book is tenderhearted and Mallory's character is ultimately endearing. Recommended for girls who enjoy realistic fiction in 3rd, 4th or 5th grade.

Julian Rodriguez Episode One Trash Crisis on Earth

Julian Rodriguez is on a mission for the Mothership: to collect data on the "mini-brains" of planet Earth. To accomplish this he's gone undercover as a 12 year old child. However things have not gone as planned. For example even though he has repeatedly told his maternal unit that he requires "significant quantities of salts, fats and sugars," his mother provided him instead with "some woodlike sticks of something called carrot; a flavorless transparent liquid called water, which tastes like nothing at all; something called a veggie-dog, which is too disgusting for me even to put into words." A crisis is reached when Julian is asked to take out the trash while he is in the midst of performing invaluable research on the "fascinating earthly form of programming known as cartoons."

This book was hillarious, even the authour's bio made me laugh. "Like Julian Rodriguez he does his best to avoid taking out the garbage. 'I like trashy books and trashy people,' he explains. 'I just don't like trash." I can relate. The story is told in a mixture of prose and pen and ink drawings reminiscent of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. This is a great choice for reluctant readers and any child who enjoys a good laugh. Recommended for 4th, 5th and 6th.

The Genre Challenge

This challenge will run from November 1 2008 – November 1 2009 and is hosted by Bookworms and tea lovers.

The goal:
To read one book in the following genres: crime fiction, detective fiction, mystery fiction, horror fiction, thriller fiction, romance fiction, science fiction, action/adventure fiction, fantasy fiction, realistic fiction, historical fiction, and western fiction. Specific definitions of these genres can be found in this post.

There are three options if you want to join:
A: Read 10 books, drop the genre you read the most and one of your own choosing
B: Read 11 books, drop the genre you read the most
C: Read 12 books

The rules
You may not read more than 1 book per genre
All books must be read within the challenge period
No crossovers within the challenge, each genre should have a separate book
Crossovers with other challenges are allowed
Audio books are allowed, graphic novels are not
You may make a list of books, but that’s not mandatory and you can change your picks at any time before or during the challenge

I choose option C, should be fun