The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

The Only Thing Missing is The White Rabbit!, March 14, 2010

By	"Reading It All - Robyn" (Orange County, CA USA)

The Iron King (Harlequin Teen) by Julie Kagawa is a fantastical mashup of Alice in Wonderland meets the Fairy Kingdom of Shakespeare's Midsummer Nights Dream...it has the energy and a cast of characters that you would expect from a ride at Disneyland!

Things have been "off" in Meghan Chase's life since the disappearance of her father and now, 24 hours away from her 16th Birthday her brother has been kidnapped and she finds that her only true friend in the world isn't Robbie Goodfellow but the fairie Puck! Why hadn't she believed her little brothers pleas and warnings about the monsters in his closet? What really happened to her father? This is an edge of the seat, thrill-a-minute tumble through the rabbit hole - or in Meghan's case the hole in the closet of her little brother Ethan's room...and Kagawa manages to keep up the pace while giving each character ample time to reveal themselves. It is peppered with enough action to keep the attention of a teen boy and teen girls will love the touch of romance and it is beautifully pulled together by the skillful wordcraft of Julie Kagawa. The Iron King (Harlequin Teen) is book one of the Iron Fey from Harlequin Teen - can't wait for more...The Iron Daughter in August 2010!!!!

Meet Vish Puri - India's Most Private Investigator

The Case of the Missing Servant

By Tarquin Hall

There is no escaping the inevitable comparisons with Precious Ramotswe and her #1 Ladies Detective Agency...Hall gives you the provincal tradition and ways of the Indian culture in much the same way that McCall brings you African culture.

Vish Puri is the gentleman PI with his crew of undercover partners - FaceCream, TubeLight and Flush...and the interfering Mummy. Puri works within a changing Indian Culture  - the changing face of the caste system sets limits on the questions and avenues that can be persued.  

This India is a modern day country where girls are leaving the safety of their villages for the lure of the big city and prosperity - and many are in the words of Puri...

"...just one of the dozens of personages who go missing across India every year."

The Glossary of Indian terms at the end of the book is extremely helpful.  I really love the feel this book gave me for the Indian people and the respect for it's ancient culture.

Product Description from Amazon
Meet Vish Puri, India's most private investigator. Portly, persistent, and unmistakably Punjabi, he cuts a determined swath through modern India's swindlers, cheats, and murderers.

In hot and dusty Delhi, where call centers and malls are changing the ancient fabric of Indian life, Puri's main work comes from screening prospective marriage partners, a job once the preserve of aunties and family priests.

But when an honest public litigator is accused of murdering his maidservant, it takes all of Puri's resources to investigate. How will he trace the fate of the girl, known only as Mary, in a population of more than one billion? Who is taking potshots at him and his prize chili plants? And why is his widowed "Mummy-ji" attempting to play sleuth when everyone knows mummies are not detectives?

With his team of undercover operatives -- Tubelight, Flush, and Facecream -- Puri ingeniously combines modern techniques with principles of detection established in India more than two thousand years ago -- long before "that Johnny-come-lately" Sherlock Holmes donned his deerstalker.

The search for Mary takes him to the desert oasis of Jaipur and the remote mines of Jharkhand. From Puri's well-heeled Gymkhana Club to the slums where the servant classes live, his adventures reveal modern India in all its seething complexity. 

American History via Graphic Novel...

The Road to

Revolution!

(The Cartoon Chronicles of America)

(Paperback)

by Stan Mack (Illustrator) and Susan Champlin (Author)

American History via Graphic Novel...whatever it takes to get kids to learn!

I am a firm believer that if we don't know where we came from - we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of our forefathers. This book looks at a time in history that formed, shaped and defined who we are as Americans.

This book is recommended for 10-15 year olds - I can remember how hard it was at that age to sit through some history classes. In history class it can be hard to follow - but this romp through history with young Nick & Penny will appeal to their peers today!

Being kids sometimes adults don't think about you as a threat so Penny & Nick are privy to conversations by the British soldiers in the stables where Nick works and in the Tavern that Penny's father owns.

There are several lessons in this book above and beyond the historical - the rebels actually listen to these two kids and their information is deemed trustworthy (even though Nick's past is anything but...)

The illustrations are excellent and give you an insight to daily life and the plight of the colonists.

The Graphic Novel is a popular medium among kids and teens today - so what better vehicle for this gripping and thrilling ride through America's shining moment.