Rangers Apprentice and The Icebound Land

Some six months previous, the, 'Young Ranger Will,' as he was known among the people of Redmont Fief, had been captured by Skandian Raiders during the battle with Morgarath and his Wargals. After that, he was towed to Skandia and assigned to life as a yard slave. Even the toughest of warriors rarely survive. So, right now, things don't look to good for Will.

In the meantime, back at Castle Araluen is Halt, who is a mentor to Will. He is determined to rescue Will, no matter what. When he asks King Duncan to let him go, the king refuses and says he needs Halt for other tasks. Disappointed and somewhat angry, Halt storms off to a local tavern and intentionally gets caught talking treason. Then, with a great amount of sadness, King Duncan banishes one of his most beloved friends and trusted advisers from The Kingdom of Araluen.

Halt begins his journey north, to the frozen lands of Skandia. He is met by the warrior apprentice Horace who goes with Halt to help rescue Will. When they finally reach Skandia, they have a serious problem. The Temujai, who are raiders from the south, have decided to attack the Skandians. The two rangers and the warrior are trapped. They assemble a group of archers from the skandian slaves and drive away the Temujai.

As a thank you gift, Erak, the leader of the Skandians, signs a treaty with Araluen and gives the Araluens a ride back home on his boat, Wolfwind. Then, to top it all off, he asks that Halt be pardoned. The King agrees and Halt is no longer banished. The Skandians and Araluens have a big party to celebrate. Halt is reinstated to the Ranger Corps, Horace becomes a full knight and an Ensign in the Royal Guard, and Will is offered a place in the royal scouts. Surprisingly, Will declines and decides to continue his training as a Ranger.

Many people were surprised at this turn of events but all they could say was, "He's a Ranger. And people like us can never understand Rangers. There's always a part of them they keep to themselves."


However, this book does have a few redeeming qualities. It teaches how strong the bond can be between a mentor/teacher and a student. Mr. Flanagan talks also about devotion and courage. In addition to that (I'm NOT being preachy) he is saying to stand up for what is right, even if it is difficult. An example of this is when Will protected Cassandra from the Skandians.

I absolutely HATED this book. It was WAY WAY WAY to predictable. You knew what was going to happen a chapter before it did. The only reason that I would recommend this to someone is because the series is good and in order to understand it you (unfortunately) have to read this one too. I would give this book a C or a C-.

Matched

Matched by Allie Condie was about a post apocalyptic, dystopian society. This society matched citizens up with a partner who was supposedly perfect for them. When I say partner, I mean husband/wife. Once they were matched up, they had no say as to who they got. There are Provinces, which are like cities, and then there are the Outer Provinces.

Cassia was one of the lucky girls. At least, that's what she thought. Cassia got matched with her best friend, Xander. Once someone got matched up with somebody else, they got a microchip, which told them all about their new match. When Cassia put her microchip into her port (Their computers) instead of a picture of Xander, a picture of another boy flashes across the screen.

That other face was another one that Cassia knew. His name was Ky. When Cassia and Xander were at the arcade, a city official came to talk to Cassia. It turns out that Ky was adopted by his aunt and uncle at an early age. He used to live in the Outer Provinces with his real mom and dad. But then his mom and dad were both killed.

  Cassia took up hiking on the little hills they had. Ky also started hiking and they got put as hiking buddies. Eventually, Cassia and Ky fell in love and Ky taught Cassia to write. The society found out about their forbidden love and tried to put a stop to it. It didn't end up working, so the society took Ky and put him back in the Outer Provinces to fight a war.

        This book was ok, but I've read better. The romance thing for me is, well, boring. Every author has been writing about forbidden love and it's getting boring. Sometimes I found myself falling asleep as I read. I give this book an C

Tombstone Tea by Joanne Dahme

Think of all of the different genres. There are tons. Many would say that their favorite is romance, or adventure. But what is the most intriguing and inviting? Horror and mystery, those are the types of books that usually pull readers in. My book review is about a book called Tombstone Tea. This book is definitely a mystery, And usually I really like mysteries. But not this time.

Tombstone Tea is about a girl named Jessie. Jessie has just moved to Philadelphia, and shes a new student at Laurel Hill Charter High School. As a teenager typically would, she has a hard time fitting in and meeting new friends. A group of girls offer her to be in their group. Sounds like a great opportunity, right? Wrong, of course these girls want Jessie to do something strange and totally stupid in return. They tell her that she can be friends with them if she spends a night in a local graveyard, and collects rubbings off of certain graves.

Now, you might be thinking why in the world would someone do this? Simple, Jessie didn't want to do this but she was desperate to make friends. That night, the group of girls dropped Jessie off at the cemetery gates and left. All Jessie had was a bag full of crayons, paper, a flashlight, and a map. And of course the list of names she needed for tombstone rubbing. While looking around in the dark, she of course hears rustling. When out of the blue, a guy appears. He tells her that his name is Paul and he is a graveyard keeper. As a graveyard keeper would, he asks what the heck she's doing in a graveyard at night. Having no other option, she explains the group of girls and how she was desperate for some friends. But Paul is not what Jessie expected. Immediately after telling him, he promises to help and starts pulling her through the graveyard towards the graves.

They soon arrive to their first grave. The grave of Adam Forepaugh. When suddenly a man appears. The man seems to be made out of white light. He looks strangely ghost like. The man starts talking about his life as if he were Adam himself. Jessie asks Paul whats going on, and he says that this man is a actor for a show called tombstone tea. Paul says its a show where actors pretend to be a dead person and tell about their life. The only thing is that this actor looks to real. And who would even buy a ticket to this show?

After a night of scary sightings, and weird experiences Jessie runs out of the graveyard all the way to her house. All Jessie told her parents was that she was having a sleepover with a new friend and got homesick, so she came home. Her parents believed it, and she thought that it was all over. Except for the fact that she left her bag in the graveyard. She goes to the graveyard to pick up her stuff. A nice lady at the front desk hands it to her and she walks out. Everything in her bag is how it was. Except for the fact that she found a rubbing with Paul's name on it.

This book seemed very interesting at first. But as I kept reading on, I found it to be very boring and slow. It was a very difficult book to read. I am someone who adores mysteries but this mystery was just plain awful. I would've probably liked it if the author had made it more interesting and less slow. I would not suggest reading this book. Unless, of course you are someone who is good at sticking through the tough parts. It was not a book that made me want to read it all of the time. The idea of this story is actually really good, and it's a shame how boring it is to read. So, you can try reading this book but i wouldn't suggest it.

Num8ers by Rachel Ward

First things first, this book is British. No biggie, right? Harry Potter is British. HUGE biggie. The characters in this book are abandoned, lower-class and uneducated. Because of all these things, they speak with a lot of slang (that you may not understand because its different from American slang) and A LOT of cussing. I tried to rationalize that they dropped "F" so often because it isn't as bad of a cuss word there, but even so...its pretty intense cussing. I don't really mind language as long as there is a reason for it. And, I guess the author was trying to show how uneducated and angry these characters were, but I still thought much of it was unnecessary. Similarly, there is a sex scene that is necessary for the story, but the characters are 15 and 17 years old. Sorry, but I am not ok with that, even if it is important for the story. So, saying all that, PROCEED WITH CAUTION if you read this book.

The story follows Jem, a 15 year old orphan whose mother died of a drug overdose when she was little. Since then, Jem has floated from foster home to foster home with everyone trying to "fix" her. However, she is not interested in being fixed because she refuses to get close to anyone. Considering her past it's completely understandable that she would be guarded, but there is much more to her story than that. When Jem looks into a person's eyes, she sees 8 numbers. These numbers are the day the person dies. Jem hates looking at children the most and seeing when they die.

So Jem lives her life in a very guarded way, until Spider, a boy she goes to school with, can't get the hint to leave her alone like everyone else does. Plus, she feels really bad for the guy, because he only has a few months left. Spider doesn't give up and eventually he and Jem form a strange sort of friendship. They end up both suspended from school and decide to go into London for the day. While they are in a very public place, Jem starts noticing that everyone around them has the same numbers in their eyes...today. She freaks out and tells Spider they have to leave right now! They take off running and when they are less than a mile away, a bomb goes off in the public area they just left.

Police begin to investigate and witnesses, as well as cameras, show Jem and Spider fleeing the scene of the crime. Jem and Spider are now wanted for "questioning".

I liked the book but, as mentioned earlier, I felt parts of it were unnecessary. Furthermore, the story wasn't really about the numbers but more about Jem and her complete inability to love. But, I don't feel like her inability to love was developed well enough. I don't know, if you're interested, you might like it. It was just really "Meh" for me. There is a sequel out, but I probably won't read it.
Grade: C
Rating: R

Massive

I had very mixed feelings about Massive written by Julia Bell. Even though this book was fiction, it was very realistic. However, I would say this is one of the worst books I have picked up. Although it is centered around Eating Disorders, it didn't fit my forte. The book mainly has to do with how a divorce, a move, an eating disorder, and a secret turn one teen's world upside down.

Set in England, 14 year old Carmen has always been overweight. Nevertheless, she is constantly on a diet. Her mother has always been the same except she is thin....really thin. Her mother is obsessed with losing weight and she expects the same from her daughter. At the start, Carmen and her mother live with Carmen's step-father, Brian. But when her mother makes an unexpected move to Birmingham bringing Carmen with her, Carmen is torn from her school, friends, and the only dad she's ever known. Now she is thrown into a life filled with family members she's never spoken too and other teenagers involved in the wrong things. As her life spirals out of control Carmen begins to take charge of the only thing she can--what she eats. She soon follows in her mother's footsteps; sometimes not eating at all and other times throwing up what she does eat. I mean if she were thin, really thin, could it all be different?

First, since reading this book I have discovered how real child abuse is. It isn't just in the physical form but in the verbal form too. And although Carmen's mother, Maria is equipped with a very diseased mind I felt like Carmen was put through what most people don't endure in a whole lifetime. For brief moments there is a sense of love in their small apartment but then that moment ends and reality comes crashing in. Most of the time Carmen has to put on a brave face and make it through with no help at all. She tries to reach out to someone and get help but she never can. Instead, she has to suffer in silence.

Next, in reading this I have discovered how true this story is. It really does relate to problems that regular teens face each and every day. Thrown in with the fun British language is an abusive mother-daughter relationship, teen sex, backstabbing "friends", and drugs/smoking. I could really connect to Carmen in certain parts, but like I mentioned earlier I had mixed feelings. At some points in the story I felt as if the author had mixed more adult themes in there than she had meant to. I felt as if she wasn't sure what she wanted to write about in some parts. But, then again I have a completely different mind compared to the author.

In closing, this book wasn't the best and it wasn't the worst. It was more of a story that you could read if you were looking for a cold, hard dose of reality. Massive is very dark and could scare a few people. I would not recommend this unless you, yourself are going through an issue similar to Carmen's. And even then, I would warn readers to not be afraid to put the book down. C