Ashleigh's Bookshelf

Roosevelt Banks and the Attic of Doom by Laurie Calkhoven illustrated by Debbie Palen Ten-year-old Roosevelt Banks can't wait for summer. Mom will be working, his little sister will be at day care, and it will be a SUMMER OF DAD. Unfortunately, his father already has plans -- remodeling THE ATTIC OF DOOM into Roosevelt's new bedroom. Can Roosevelt convince them this is a bad idea? Or will he be forced to move in with the ghosts that want to take over his body? I just could not put down this book! I loved watching Roosevelt trying to find solutions to his ghost problem. I found the characters very relatable and enjoyable. My only real comment is that I would have loved to have seen Roosevelt's story as it's own chapter, with the narrative stuff tacked onto the end of the previous one. I also wanted to know what happened to his story. Did his parents ever read it? Did he end up using it to apply to the program at the library? If so,...

Down with the Dance by C. T. Walsh Nerdy Austin just wants to survive middle school. Unfortunately, with his popular older brother in his grade and a new principal who has marked him as a troublemaker, surviving is easier said than done. When the Halloween dance is put in jeopardy--more than once--Austin starts to take matters into his own hands to save his school year. I enjoyed this story, finding it perfect for middle grade readers and even found myself laughing at times. However, this book is poorly edited, full of many typographical errors that make it difficult to read. Additionally, there were some scenes that were split between chapters or scene break characters, while other times scenes flowed from one to another when symbols or chapter breaks should have been used. I was also not thrilled with the constant changing of tense and voice, although it did at least make the narrator feel as if he were speaking directly to me. ...

Clio at War Peggy Gardner During WWII, Clio's mother decides she needs to visit the front lines as a war correspondent. Since that is no life for an eleven-year-old girl, Clio is deposited in rural Oklahoma with her great-aunts, the two women who raised her mother. After learning about the mysterious disappearances of several young women over the past few decades, Clio is determined to figure out the mystery. This book contained many era-appropriate cultural references that went over my head, making the story difficult to follow. As a result, it took me a while to really get into the story. I also had some trouble determining who was supposed to be the target audience for this book. While the main character is eleven and the writing style is appropriate for upper middle grade or lower young adult, there were more adult themes (inappropriate touching and hints of adult relationships) that would have me believe this was for older teens. As I continued to rea...

Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior Graphic Novel by Pirate Sourcil Runt is a Minecraft villager who would rather be a warrior than farm carrots. Blunt is a Zombie who would rather be a human. Together, they set off to reach the final level and prove that their fate does not depend on their programming. Although I have seen this series on the library shelf, I have never read the books. When I found this graphic novel, I thought for sure my children, who are big graphic novel fans, would enjoy it. Not being a fan of Minecraft or the original book series (or a member of the target audience), I was a little confused by some of the elements in the world. However, by the end of the first few pages, I was definitely invested in these characters and wanted to know more about them. I found the story engaging and liked watching Runt and Blunt grow. I look forward to reading more of these graphic novels. Overall, I would rate this story four quills and place it on my middle she...

The Frights of Fiji by Sunayna Prasad Due to the tragic death of her parents five years ago, twelve-year-old Alyssa lives with her mean uncle. But, her world is about to change because of magic. One day, she receives a note telling her so. While I liked the concept of this story, I was not impressed in its execution. I had a difficult time finishing the book. The writing was very juvenile and the editing poor. I had trouble relating to the characters and did not feel any sense of "I want to know what happens next." While some of the storyline and worldbuilding felt ripped from Harry Potter, other parts made little sense to me, despite the fact that everything felt over-explained. Overall, I would rate this story three quills and place it on my bottom shelf.

The Wonders of the Peculiar Parasol by Mark M. Even I really wanted to like this book. It reminded me a lot of the Magic Tree House series, where the children go on different adventures to storyland adventures. When describing the adventures, the author uses fantastic imagery. However, there was entirely too much exposition for my taste. The book is shown from a single character's point of view. Since this character is not the first to go on an adventure, the other characters describe their adventures. I felt that if the author was going to go into so much detail, he should have shown us the adventure itself. I also found some of the backstory very repetitive. While this was a creative story, it was not one of my favorites. Overall, I would rate this three and a half quills.

Nutmeg Street: Egyptian Secrets   Sherrill Joseph When an ancient Egyptian treasure goes mission, it's up to four young detectives to help solve the case. I love a good mystery, especially when I have NO IDEA whodunit. This story definitely fell into that category. I thought I had figured it out by the second chapter, only to have been horribly wrong. (Although, when the guilty party is initially introduced, I did get a feeling that person might be the culprit. But, I was still voting for my first choice until the very end.) This novel had a great storyline and reminded me very much of Nancy Drew. I really wanted to be engaged. However, I found the story very difficult to read. Despite the line acknowledging the children were brighter and more mature than their age, the dialogue felt very forced and there was an excessive use of dialogue tags, often poorly placed. It was very difficult to relate to the characters, both the children and the adults. Additionally, a lot of backstory...