Christy Miller Collection

Christy Miller Collection

Robin Jones Gunn

December 28th, 2012

   Okay, obviously I haven't written a post recently. However the first book I'm reviewing after my brief sabbatical is the Christy Miller Collection. This is actually a group of three books in one copy. The first book Summer Promise, the second book A whisper and a wish, and the third book Yours forever.

First of all my general opinion about the writing is although there technically isn't anything wrong with the writing style that was employed I felt it was a little dry and boring. I also thought it was a bit more dramatic than it had to be. 

First Book Summer Promise

    Christy Miller is fourteen years old and is staying in sunny California for the summer. Her Aunt Marti loves to shop, and the surfer boys are everywhere. She develops a crush on surfer Todd. Todd and his 'god-lover' friends are befriending Christy and teaching her.

   Like I said I thought the writing was a little dry, but it was rather touching. It tends to touch on religion quite a bit. Christy's reactions to the challenges she faces are definitely interesting. And a lot of the situations she faces are challenges that a lot of high schoolers have to face. Over-all I think this book is probably a good choice for anyone who likes real-life drama.

Second Book: A Whisper and a Wish

   Christy's immediate family moved to California just in time for Christy's Sophomore year of high school. However, this time she's an hour and a half away from her Aunts house where she stayed the summer so now she has to start all over making friends and trying to fit in. 

   Over-all everything is working out well until an overzealous activity during some midnight fun leads to a stay at the police station. Christy starts to question her newfound faith in god asking questions. Does God really hear every whisper, and why does he make it so difficult to know who your friends really are.

   Again I felt the same problem in the second book. The writing was a bit trite and boring, but it shows that your actions have consequences. It also admirably shows the importance of choosing your friends carefully, and making wise decisions despite pressure from so-called friends.

Third Book: Yours Forever

   Christy is back at her Aunt Marti and Uncle Bob's house for a whole week between Christmas and New Years. The good news is Todd is there too. The bad news is her Aunt Marti and all of her friends from the summer seem to be mad at her. 

   She's becoming increasingly confused because she wants to know. Is Todd hers or isn't he? She finds herself questioning God again. Why would he let everything get so tangled.

   This book focuses more on her relationships and how difficult they can be for a teenager. You're never quite sure where you stand, and how to go about confronting a person you're interested in.

   Again I think Robin Jones Gunn, the author of the books, could use a little work on how to make a story show an image better, but it was still a good read. 

   Over-all I think the Christy Miller series is a good book to read for a teenager facing difficult decisions.

   A free copy of this book was provided by Multinomah publishing for review purposes.

Adrian: Shubhi Singh

Adrian

Authored by:

Shubhi Singh

December 1st, 2012

   Okay, first of all I should mention that this book was written by a middle-schooler so obviously there will be a lot of errors. Now on to the review-

Adrian is about a orphan, Adrian,who is adopted by the Wildes. Although Mr. Wildes does not participate in any abuse toward Adrian, he knows that it happens at the hands of his wife and son, so I don't believe he is a completely innocent party.
   I had a few problems with this book. First of all the idea revolving around a group of supernatural creatures was just kind of thrown in there. I didn't think there was really any reason for making it a group like that.
   Also he was put into an orphanage at the age of eight, but he supposedly had a girlfriend and was leader of a group of these supernaturals before the age of eight. Like I said a lot of things didn't really make sense in this book.
   Over-all I think she could be a good writer if she were a little older, and had a lot more practice, but right now I think she should postpone publishing anymore books, and wait until she's a little older.
   I received a  free copy of this book compliments of Dorrance Publishing Company.

If interested in a copy of this book follow the link below-
http://www.dorrancebookstore.com/adrian.html

The Unnamed:Jennifer L. Oliver

December 4th, 2012
   The Unnamed is a short novella, a prequel to Haedyn. The first chapter of The Unnamed is about a Demon Azazel who is bound and determined to corrupt souls. Willing to go so far as to create his own predestined evil souls. By demons having sex with humans he hopes to create souls that he can turn evil.
   The second chapter of The Unnamed is about a blind orphan, Haedyn, who never quite fit in with the other children. However when she's confronted with pure evil she must make a choice. To allow this demon to train her, to make her evil, or try to find peace with the humans.

   Both chapters have their strong points. I thought the first chapter was more entertaining, however; the second did a better job of painting an image. The first chapter, although the idea was captivating, could've done a better job of using descriptive words to make a better image of what was going on.
 
   Over-all I thought it was an interesting start to a larger storyline and I can't wait to read more.

   This book was provided, in an e-book format, for free by the author for review purposes.

The Lie: Ken Ham

   The Lie is a christian book that says why people need to believe in everything the Bible has to say. His book talks about why Genesis is important to the Gospel. The Lie also talks about how the Bible's version of creation impacts the understanding of the bible. And of course he talks about how Evolution cannot fit with the Bible's version of creation.
   Obviously this book is explaining why evolution cannot be true. To remain impartial I won't discuss my own beliefs concerning the creation of the earth.
   For that reason my review will be relatively short. Over-all it was well-written, but extremely boring to read. I've never been a big fan of religious books so that definitely influences my review, However I would definitely recommend this if you were a die-hard christian. It brought up some interesting points (which I won't tell for fear of giving spoilers) I think most Christians would love to explore.
   The idea behind this book was meant to be informative about how Christian leaders have been misled, and belief in evolution and complete belief in the bible do not coincide. I don't necessarily agree with the authors points that were made in the book, I do think some interesting points were made. 

Authors website www.answersingenensis.org 

this book is published by Master Books, a division of New Leaf Publishing Group. http://www.newleafpublishinggroup.com/product_info.php?products_id=1017 

A Christmas Home

A Christmas Home

Greg Kincaid

November 13^th, 2012

A Christmas home is a touching story about a boy, Todd, with a learning disability who works in a animal shelter. In the month of December the shelter manager, Todd’s best friend, Hayley gets some bad news. Due to budget cuts they can no longer afford to fund the shelter.

Throughout A Christmas Home Todd, Hayley must work with shelter volunteers Laura and Doc Pelot to come up with a place for each new dog to live before the first of the year.

Hayley seems resigned to sending them to different shelters, unfortunately those shelters don’t embrace the same no-kill policy they live by. However Todd seems determined to find each furry companion a new home before the start of the year.

Over-all I found this novel extremely touching. I am personally a dog-lover and I believe each dog, or cat for that matter deserves a loving home. In  A Christmas Home is truly an amazing story that delves into what a young  man is willing  to do to ensure the safety and happiness of pets.

The main characters drew my attention to them because of their strength in character, and their amazing ability to take everything in stride, but still fighting back.

I expected the story to revolve more around the two dogs Gracie and Christmas, although they didn’t have as big of a role as I’d thought they would they captured my attention.

The only flaw I found in A Christmas home involved the sentence structure. Although there was nothing grammatically wrong  with  A Christmas Home , some of the sentences sounded a little choppy. I also felt that on a couple of occasions when  he was telling about their everyday, mundane life he broke the show, don’t tell rule. It felt like someone was talking to me explaining what was happening. Besides that it was excellently written, and it made sense.

This is an absolute must-read for animal lovers. If you care about animals, and want to read a story that highlights the plight all dogs face.  I truly love how accurate the story was when it came to telling  how the animals suffers when a lack of funding shuts down a shelter.
A free copy of this book was provided by WaterBrook Multnomah publishing for review purposes.

               

A Boy Called Duct Tape

Created by:

Christopher Cloud

November 11th, 2012

   Pablo Perez is a poor boy, teased at school because of his sneakers held together with duct tape. His mother works at a minimum wage job that has given her arthritis, and his little sister Pia, has a leg that was injured in a car accident. The same car accident that killed their dad.
Pablo's luck seems to change when he dives into a swimming hole to fetch a skipping rock for his sister, but the 'rock' he finds turns out to be a $20 gold coin worth a little more than $6,000. Swindled out of the coin by the Blood brothers, Pablo, Pia, and their cousin Kiki go to the outlaws festival and discover a $1 treasure map. Everyone believes the map is a hoax, except for the Pablo, Pia, and Kiki. With a spelunker, Monroe Huff, they discover the cave and go through harrowing trials to find the lost treasure of Jesse James.
   They discover the Blood brothers followed them to their destination when the two groups meet the surviving brother forces them at gunpoint to help him get the treasure for himself. It takes all of their wit to survive this adventure.

   First of all I would like to start by saying this was a book written for middle school kids. The simplistic writing style makes it easier for younger ages to understand the story. Despite the limitations imposed by the reading level of middle school children The Boy Called Duct Tape was eloquently written, and captured my attention until all hours of the night.

   The children had me rooting for their success and the Blood brothers were adequately portrayed as the greedy treasure hunters they were.

   As I said the writing was easy to understand, and the story was well thought out. Christopher Cloud created a brilliant masterpiece filled with adventure, treasure, and greed.

   

   A free copy of this book was provided by the author for this review.

November 10th, 2012

Return of the High Protector

Created by Bob Craton

   Synopsis provided by amazon

Destiny brings a thirteen year old boy and girl together in a wilderness when she escapes from kidnappers and he flees enemy soldiers. Her name is Caelia and she comes from a community hidden in a cavern. He has spent all his life hiding and only learned his true identity two days earlier. They journey together searching for her family and the secret buried chest he seeks.
Elsewhere, a remarkable young woman named Graice travels with her mentor Sybille and a man named Holder. Sybille has foreseen that Graice is needed for a task vital to the world in Abbelôn, the beautiful peaceful city captured years earlier by brutal men called the Zafiri – and Sybille’s visions are never wrong. Continuing her efforts begun in Part I of the story, Graice does her best to help Holder, who lost his memory around the same time Abbelôn fell. She and Sybille already know he was once someone important. With the help of the man known as the Wise One of Lucidus and others, they continue the seemingly hopeless journey toward Abbelôn. When they reach the Pàçian Mountains, they enter the caverns of Annâles-Scientia – Caelia’s home. The people there recognize Holder, calling him by his real name Breyon, and rejoice at his return. Graice discovers that the amulet she wore as a newborn (the only survivor of a shipwreck) is more important than she ever could have expected. Thanks to Graice, Breyon recovers his complete memory and now knows the tragedy of his past.
Across the land, anxiety increases. An army raised by the Zafiri threatens Anglio, a small city on the edge of the civilized world. The pompous monarchs of the Great Cities promise aid but are really only concerned about their own vanity. Fortunately, arms makers in those Cities have invented powerful weapons named for an old word meaning destruction – cannons. Without the approval of their own rulers, a small group of men rush to deliver these weapons before Anglio is attacked.
In Zigor, home of the Zafiri, enemies not only have weapons of their own but also breed monstrous beasts and yet preparations for the war move slowly. Deceit, mistrust, and jealousy are standard character traits among the Zafiri; and the the Overlords who rule spend more time blaming, backstabbing, and conniving against each other than anything else.
When Graice and Holder reach the Pàçian Mountains, they enter the caverns of Annâles-Scientia – Caelia’s home. The people there recognize Holder, calling him by his real name Breyon, and rejoice at his return. Graice discovers that the amulet she wore as a newborn (the only survivor of a shipwreck) is more important than she ever could have expected. Thanks to Graice, Breyon recovers his complete memory and now knows the tragedy of his past.
Having been raised in secret, the boy actually knows little about his own background, but Caelia still recognizes who he really is. When they dig up and find a book about the history of his family, it confirms her guess. “You must come home with me,” she insists and he agrees, but they suddenly realize that Annâles-Scientia isn’t home for either of them – Abbelôn is. They can’t go there yet, but a wild ride on the mighty horse Glori takes them to the caverns. When the two burst through the entrance, the people there – Pàçians – rejoice to see Caelia and gasp in astonishment at him. In the middle of all the people – his people, not just Caelia’s – he declares his identity. The only four people who can free Abbelôn and save the world are now united.

The thrilling sequel to Journey to light, kept me entertained to all hours of the night. I honestly thought it was better than the first one. I had been rather vague with my review of the first book because I needed to read more of the story to get a better picture. The second book captured my attention with an amazing storyline, and an impressively written plot. 

 This series has a beautifully rendered plot, that really holds a readers attention, although the plot was extremely complicated I still enjoyed it. Great plot, excellent dialogue, and the story obviously had a lot of thought put into it.

  The second book left me dying to read the third book: And the Young Shall Lead You Home. I would suggest that anyone looking for a good read should read this series.

   A free copy of this book was provided from the author for this blog.