My brother-in-law recommended Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson. The setting is a world where ash falls from the sky, the supposedly immortal Lord Ruler reigns, and the Skaa people are slaves. The book follows Kelsier who escaped from the Lord Ruler's prison after discovering his powers as a Mistborn. As he recruits allomancers to join him in a huge undertaking, he comes across 16-year-old Vin, a Skaa who has lived a life of betrayal and pain. The story begins to follow Vin's character as well, then telling the story of what happens in the empire.
I LOVED this book. It is the best book I have read in quite awhile. It was just unlike any other fantasy/science fiction book I have read. The powers possessed by characters are just completely intriguing and unique, the plot is strong, and the main characters are very likable--with both strengths and weaknesses. The book just captivated me, and I wanted to keep reading it all the time. And better yet, it's a trilogy--that made me want to keep reading just by the goodness of the book (not by leaving me hanging). If you like fantasy books, I'd highly recommend this one.
Rating: * * * (3/3 = Loved it)
Saturday, March 6, 2010
When You Reach Me
I decided to read When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead because it won the Newbery Medal for 2010. It's about 12-year-old Miranda, living in New York in 1979. We learn all about Miranda's life--her life as a latchkey child with her single mom, the crazy "Laughing Man" who lives on the corner, and her lunch-time, no-pay job at the sandwich shop down the road. Life is pretty good for Miranda until her best friend Sal suddenly stops talking to her, and then she starts finding mysterious notes that imply that a tragic death of a friend will happen.
This was a really good book. I loved the perspective it was written from--really from the mind and heart of this 12-year-old. The character said the most typical yet thoughftul things in her narrative throughout the book. I really became connected to her and her experiences as I read. It was also a kind of clever book in the way things came together. It was a really enjoyable, quick read.
Rating: * * * (3/3 = Loved it)
This was a really good book. I loved the perspective it was written from--really from the mind and heart of this 12-year-old. The character said the most typical yet thoughftul things in her narrative throughout the book. I really became connected to her and her experiences as I read. It was also a kind of clever book in the way things came together. It was a really enjoyable, quick read.
Rating: * * * (3/3 = Loved it)
Extra Credit
Extra Credit is one of Andrew Clements's newest school stories, and since I've read a lot of them before, I wanted to read this one too. It's the story of a 6th grader named Abby who is given an extra credit project to help her pass 6th grade. She is given a pen pal in Afghanistan and has to correspond, writing at least 3 letters to display in the classroom. The book follows Abby as well as Sadeed in Afghanistan in their unique pen pal assignment.
This was a cute book. I think it'd be a great book for kids to learn a little more about another culture as well as to see evidence of intolerance in both America and Afghanistan. The story was fun, and as always with Andrew Clements's books, it just told a story of what might really happen with kids in school nowadays.
Rating: * * (2/3 = Liked it)
This was a cute book. I think it'd be a great book for kids to learn a little more about another culture as well as to see evidence of intolerance in both America and Afghanistan. The story was fun, and as always with Andrew Clements's books, it just told a story of what might really happen with kids in school nowadays.
Rating: * * (2/3 = Liked it)
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