[Review] Cleo Porter and the Body Electric by Jake Burt

Cover image from the TheStoryGraph Site.

Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Release Date: 6 October, 2020

Publisher: Squarefish, an imprint of Macmillan Kids

Genre: Juvenile Fiction/Children's/Science Fiction

ISBN: 9781250802729

Edition: Paperback (also available in Hardback, Audiobook, and eBook)

Rating:★★★★★

Review Written: 7 February, 2022
Warnings: Mentions of Death, Fire/Fire Injury, Animal Death, Minor Violence, Panic/Anxiety Attacks

Summary:  

A woman is dying. Cleo Porter has her medicine... and no way to get it to her.

Like everyone else, twelve-year-old Cleo and her parents are sealed in an apartment without windows or doors. They never leave. They never get visitors. Their food is dropped off by drones. So they're safe. Safe from the disease that nearly wiped humans from the earth. Safe from everything. The trade-off?

They're alone. Thus, when they receive a package clearly meant for someone else - a package containing a substance critical for a stranger's survival - Cleo is stuck. As a surgeon-in-training, she knows the clock is ticking. But people don't leave their units.

Not ever.

Until Now.

See more by Jake Burt on his website.

[Review] Willa of the Wood by Robert Beatty

Series: Willa of the Wood #1

Release Date: 10 July, 2018

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Genre: Juvenile Fiction/Middle Grade (4-6)/Fantasy/Historical Fiction/Appalachia/Action & Adventure/Mysteries

ISBN: 9781368005845

Edition: Advanced Reader Copy Ebook, Hardback

Rating: ★★★★★

Review Written: 14 July, 2018

Summary:Escape into the story of a brave and unusual girl brimming with the ancient powers of the forest. From Robert Beatty, the author of the #1 New York Times best-selling Serafina books, comes a thrilling new series filled with the history, mystery, and magic of the Great Smoky Mountains. Kirkus Reviews described WILLA OF THE WOOD as "A moving, atmospheric journey of hope."

Move without a sound. Steal without a trace.

Willa, a young night-spirit, is her clan's best thief. She creeps into the cabins of the day-folk under cover of darkness and takes what they won't miss. It's dangerous work--the day-folk kill whatever they don't understand--but Willa will do anything to win the approval of the padaran, the charismatic leader of the Faeran people.

When Willa's curiosity leaves her hurt and stranded in the day-folk world, she calls upon the old powers of her beloved grandmother, and the unbreakable bonds of her forest allies, to escape. Only then does she begin to discover the shocking truth: that not all of her day-folk enemies are the same, and that the foundations of her own Faeran society are crumbling. What do you do when you realize that the society you were born and raised in is rife with evil? Do you raise your voice? Do you stand up against it?

As forces of unfathomable destruction encroach on her forest home, Willa must decide who she truly is, facing deadly force with warmest compassion, sinister corruption with trusted alliance, and finding a home for her longing heart.

See more by Robert Beatty at his Website.

[Review] A Whole New World by Liz Braswell

Series: Twisted Tales Series #1

Release Date: 14 March, 2017

Publisher: Disney Press

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Fairy Tales & Folklore / Adaptations

ISBN: 9781484707296

Edition: audiobook

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Review Written: 18 February, 2018

Summary: What if Aladdin never found the lamp? This first book in a new Disney YA series will explore a dark and daring version of Aladdin.

When Jafar steals the Genie's lamp, he uses his first two wishes to become sultan and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Agrabah lives in fear, waiting for his third and final wish. To stop the power-mad ruler, Aladdin and the deposed Princess Jasmine must unite the people of Agrabah in rebellion. But soon their fight for freedom threatens to tear the kingdom apart in a costly civil war.

What happens next? A Street Rat becomes a leader. A princess becomes a revolutionary. And readers will never look at the story of Aladdin in the same way again.

See more by Liz Braswell at her Website.

[Review] Book to Movie Comparison: A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L'Engle

Series: A Time Quintet

Release Date: 1 January, 1962/9 March, 2018

Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux/Disney Movie Studios

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Science Fiction & Fantasy/Time Travel

ISBN: 9780312367541 (book only)

Edition: Audiobook/Movie

Rating: ★★★★☆ (book)/★★☆☆☆ (movie)

Review Written: 24 March, 2018

Summary: It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger.

"Wild nights are my glory," the unearthly stranger told them. "I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me sit down for a moment, and then I'll be on my way. Speaking of ways, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract."

A tesseract (in case the reader doesn't know) is a wrinkle in time. To tell more would rob the reader of the enjoyment of Miss L'Engle's unusual book. A Wrinkle in Time, winner of the Newbery Medal in 1963, is the story of the adventures in space and time of Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin O'Keefe (athlete, student, and one of the most popular boys in high school). They are in search of Meg's father, a scientist who disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government on the tesseract problem.

A Wrinkle in Time is the winner of the 1963 Newbery Medal.

[Review] The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

Series: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #1

Release Date: 15 October, 2015

Publisher: Disney Press

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Fairy Tales & Folklore / Magic / Mythology

ISBN: 9781423160915

Edition: audiobook

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review Written: 18 February, 2018

Summary: Magnus Chase has always been a troubled kid. Since his mother's mysterious death, he's lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, keeping one step ahead of the police and the truant officers.

One day, he's tracked down by an uncle he barely knows-a man his mother claimed was dangerous. Uncle Randolph tells him an impossible secret: Magnus is the son of a Norse god.

The Viking myths are true. The gods of Asgard are preparing for war. Trolls, giants and worse monsters are stirring for doomsday. To prevent Ragnarok, Magnus must search the Nine Worlds for a weapon that has been lost for thousands of years.

When an attack by fire giants forces him to choose between his own safety and the lives of hundreds of innocents, Magnus makes a fatal decision.

Sometimes, the only way to start a new life is to die . . .

See more by Rick Riordan at his Website.

[Review] Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly

Series: N/A

Release Date: 14 March, 2017

Publisher: HarperCollins, Greenwillow Books (imprint)

Genre: Juvenile Fiction / Friendship / Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance / Special Needs

ISBN: 9780062414151

Edition: audiobook

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Review Written: 24 February, 2018

Warnings: Contains Spoilers

Summary: Winner of the Newbery Medal

“A charming, intriguingly plotted novel.”—Washington Post

Newbery Medalist Erin Entrada Kelly’s Hello, Universe is a funny and poignant neighborhood story about unexpected friendships.

Told from four intertwining points of view—two boys and two girls—the novel celebrates bravery, being different, and finding your inner bayani (hero). “Readers will be instantly engrossed in this relatable neighborhood adventure and its eclectic cast of misfits.”—Booklist

In one day, four lives weave together in unexpected ways. Virgil Salinas is shy and kindhearted and feels out of place in his crazy-about-sports family. Valencia Somerset, who is deaf, is smart, brave, and secretly lonely, and she loves everything about nature. Kaori Tanaka is a self-proclaimed psychic, whose little sister, Gen, is always following her around. And Chet Bullens wishes the weird kids would just stop being so different so he can concentrate on basketball.

They aren’t friends, at least not until Chet pulls a prank that traps Virgil and his pet guinea pig at the bottom of a well. This disaster leads Kaori, Gen, and Valencia on an epic quest to find missing Virgil. Through luck, smarts, bravery, and a little help from the universe, a rescue is performed, a bully is put in his place, and friendship blooms.

The acclaimed and award-winning author of Blackbird Fly and The Land of Forgotten Girls writes with an authentic, humorous, and irresistible tween voice that will appeal to fans of Thanhha Lai and Rita Williams-Garcia.

“Readers across the board will flock to this book that has something for nearly everyone—humor, bullying, self-acceptance, cross-generational relationships, and a smartly fateful ending.”—School Library Journal

See more about this book and Ms. Entrada at the HarperCollins’s Website.