Cocoon

San and her friends are recruited to become assistant nurses and end up at the front lines working in caves, seeing the horrors of war firsthand.  San would like to wrap her friends in a cocoon to protect them from the bombs and horrors.  But their toughest job is still to come.  They are sent home.  They have to find their own way, crossing enemy lines, and with no food, they are cold, starving, and scared out of their wits.  But out of all that were sent, only a few make it back. 

This was a moving book that brought to the forefront the horrors of war through a child's eyes.  The author's telling of it brings it home especially now when our world seems to be all wars.  The book is done in graphic novel form with wonderful illustrations to keep all readers engaged.  I love these books, as we now know that women have served in all kinds of wars and right up front in the thick of the combat zones, but were never given the credit they deserved until just recently, so maybe even a bit of history snuck in as well.  This book is a wonderful addition to any library.

 

Callers a Journey Home

This is a fast-paced conclusion to the series, and I will be honest: I will miss Quin and his friends.  Quin is fixing the vine as fast as he can, but his mother is destroying the vine even faster and doesn’t even care that this is all of their resources and no one will have anything if she succeeds in her ways and keeps allowing everyone to just think things into being, calling.  At the same time, the resistance is growing, but there are still a lot who just want to use the easy way.  Who will win and who will come to the rescue?

 

This is a very action-packed book, and it is a fast one for sure.  It would make a good book for any middle grader, and I think reluctant readers as well, or any kid at heart.  The characters are awesome, and the plot moves along at a good pace, making this a really good last book and end of the series.  I am sad to see it end, but one can hope that there might be some spin-off series as well in the future.

 

Dragonborn: Rite of Ascension Book 1

Hale always knew he wouldn’t make it past the arena, but he also always hoped he could so he could find and be with his brother again.  Sharing some of his coveted medicine that is used to help ease the disease that rages in his body with another boy, they become fast friends, knowing each was about to die soon.  But as Hale lies in the arena just on the edge of dying, he becomes one with a great dragon that cures his disease and allows him to choose the other boy and his lifelong friend to his team, so they all can keep moving toward a new and better tier, seemingly always uncovering more and more lies the orphans have told their whole life; first among them is they are not actually orphans. 

This was a good book with lots of action and full of suspense.  The characters are well-rounded, and each fits their own little niche in the book.  The plot is new and fresh.  Narrator Eric Jason Martin made this book come alive in my car; it was so much fun to listen to, I had to take the long way home a few times.  I really enjoyed this book a lot and can’t wait for more from this team.

 

Carl's Doomsday Scenario

Carl and Doughnut are still in the running and doing ok for themselves so far, but this is a new level, number three, and there are new things to do.  They are now tied to their trusty (but alcoholic AI) Mordeci.  I crack up when Princess is talking to Mongo like he is a baby, her baby.  However, they still need to level up and get Mongo up as well; what they didn’t count on was Mongo's body reaction to leveling up, and how, of course, that would impact them.  But every time they go just to do easy things, they all turn into much harder fights and above-their-level, but will their luck run out on this level?  Will Carl ever get pants? And what is it with this game? Will Carl get that figured out as well?

This is such a fun series; I really like them a lot.  I am another who cannot sing the praises of voice actor Jeff Hayes enough.  I am a very slow reader and was frustrated with how slow I was going with the books, so after the first I was able to purchase the next few on sale and add the audios for a bit more.  These books are wonderful anyway you enjoy them.  At times you will be on the edge of your seat with the suspense, others laughing, and a random funny part.  I hope you enjoy this book as much as I do.

 

The Second Life of Snap

When Zuzu’s dad loses his job at the biggest company around, they didn’t give him money, food, or water; they gave him a very outdated robot with a broken charging station.  Zuzu doesn’t want a nanny robot and does everything possible to leave him behind so she and her friends could go on their adventures.  But the day Snap is with them, and when her dad gets home and asks about her day and if she went where she shouldn’t, and when Snap is asked, he lies for her, not only going against all things robot but just wow.  That changes their relationship for the rest of the time.

Zuzu had gone through so much in her twelve years that some of it does not always seem fair.  But going through the ups and downs of this takes the cake.  She and the town will miss Snap as he is sent back after he drains himself of all his power, helping to save the townspeople during a dust storm.  I love the character in this book as it is so genuine and raw. The plot and speed of the book move fast, making this a great read for anyone.  It has a lot of action and a surprise ending I hope you won’t see coming, as it makes for a more fun experience.  I really did love this book, and I will also say the audiobook narrated by Ferdelle Capistrano is very good and wonderful for those not-so-long car trips, as it clocks in at a bit over 4 hours.

 

Marvels The Novelization

Imagine a world mostly through the lens of a camera when superheroes are just coming into being, mostly starting with Namor and the Human Torch and quickly moving to the Fantastic 4 and how they came back after their mission.  They were greeted as heroes at first, then bad guys, back to heroes.  It chronicles the first 40 years of Marvel through photojournalist Phil Sheldon’s camera and is experienced by Phil, his family, and his co-workers.  But Phil always maintains the fact that the sups are here to help as much as they can.

This is a wonderful book for anyone just getting into these comics or those that just like everything Marvel.  It was well written and brought a whole new aspect into the story by seeing it all through one person's outlook.  My view might be different than others, as I have not read the comics, only seen the movies, so it was nice reading the origin stories of some of the main players. But I really enjoyed it a lot.

 

The Academy VI Rise of the Scorpions

Moving up in age class was a worry of Leo’s, as some players won’t get to come back and they are the smaller, younger ones of their age range.  Will he make it? Will he get playing time?  That might not be the only worry this season, as there is a new team in their division and they play rough and dirty.  That isn’t all; there is a bad injury to one of the players that shakes up the whole team badly.  If that all isn’t enough for Leo, should I mention there might be a pretty girl in his future?

This book is even more fast-paced than the first ones.  We are now almost like family to the team as we have watched their ups and downs. Sometimes it is hard to watch, but other a joy; I am glad the coaches understand these are still just kids and need to do other things as well.  I love the characters and, as always, the storyline from an old soccer player. I can relate with JoJo, but there really weren't any girls' teams to play on in my day.