Books | Page 60 of 86

Escape From A Video Game: The Secret of Phantom Island review

Our now 11-year-old son loved the Trapped in a Video Game book series by Dustin Brady. He read all of them and was quite bummed out when that series ended. Thus, when Escape from a Video Game: The Secret of Phantom Island arrived he was very excited. That excitement didn’t last long and I was curious as to why he gave up on the book less than 10 minutes after starting it. The answer will make some readers agree with him, might re-categorize the book for others, or have those puzzle kids jumping through book hoops to do the book.

Puzzle and choose-your-adventure peeps come hither

Backward Science bridges the past and present for ages 9 and up

Backward Science is reverse engineering’s brother, the two of them live at that house down the road with all of the car parts that are just outside of where you can see them. That way they can avoid the HOA penalties. That phrase also sound like something your parent might say after you create something. “That’s some backward science there”, dad would say as he’s trying to compliment you, but really wants the end product or creation thereof to be more polished. In this instance, Backward Science is the perfect name for a book that takes a look brief look back at how we lived, made stuff or got around before things were as modern as they are today.

Stealth learning and overt fun for upper elementary and up

Claris, The Chicest Mouse in Paris Holiday Heist is an acquired taste

When I was a kid the only comic book that one of my friends was allowed to read was Richie Rich. Whenever we’d go on trips I’d bring my Spider-Man comic books and he’d bring the ones that he was allowed to read. It’s not that I didn’t like Richie Rich, it’s just that there was very little relatable in that comic book. Cut somewhat from the same cloth is the children’s illustrated book series Claris. Claris, The Chicest Mouse in Paris Holiday Heist leaves me with a conflicted feeling. It’s obviously cute, has beautiful drawings and nice characters, but is annoying and pretentious at the same time.

Like Bonfire of the Vanities, but with a mouse

Steven Universe End of an Era, fun, loving and educational

From a story about gems to a fabled opus on friendship, growing up, to its being a beacon in the LGBTQ world, imagination, creativity and so much more. When I first started watching Steven Universe it was all about the gems, earnest characters, and, to an extent the songs. After reading Steven Universe: End of an Era, I now know that it had much more in common with How I Met Your Mother than I ever knew.

Steven Universe: End of an Era is an approachable love letter to the Cartoon Network show that doubles as a ‘making-of’ from its creator.

Great for fans of the show or animation fans who want to peek behind the curtain

Elvin Link is middle-grade comfort literary humor food

If the middle school mind could be accessed as easily as a filing cabinet then you’d see files on everything that’s represented in Elvin Link, Please Report to the Principal’s Office by Drew Dernavich in there. There’d be a file on doodling, hanging out with your best friend, a conspiracy theory file (that also includes parents), a large folder on school issues like acquaintances/bullies, and many other files that get changed or moved to the front as they get older. Elvin Link captures that middle-school essence in the best and sweetest of all possible ways.

Elvin Link is the hopeful first book in a series that hits middle-school readers on the funny bone in a slightly different way.

Middle School jokes and humor for ages 9 and up

I Love My Fangs, a toothy tale on change and monsters

Is losing one’s tooth a time to panic or a rite of passage? How someone answers that might depend on how old they are and whether or not they’re a vampire. I mean, what if the very definition of what embodies you (or at least, what you think embodies you) were to change? In I Love My Fangs! the specific change that’s being referenced is one that every adult experienced 20 times. The first couple of times might have been traumatic, but after that, it was all gravy and tooth fairy expectations.

I love my fangs!, tooth betold, ages 4-8 will also dig this book

Alien Superstar #2 Lights, Camera, Danger has alien action and mild drama

Alien Superstar was one of the best middle-school books of 2019. It crackled with humor, action, and a carefree vibe that ages 9 and up want to experience. Buddy Burger is the titular alien in the book. He’s escaped his home planet because there was an uprising happening that wasn’t bringing the best of the planet to the forefront. His grandmother put him in a ship and sent him to Earth where he crashed onto the backlot of a theme park that also does television production. From here his actual alien form allowed him to be the perfect ‘costumed’ performer on a hit show. It also helped that his costume, Zane Tracy, which is his human form, is a very cute teenage boy. In Alien Superstar Lights, Camera, Danger! Buddy is back and elements from his past are here too. Are they on his side or have they been an evil squadron?

Lights, Camera, danger! meets the high bar set from the first book

The Scary Book, is effective, fabulous, silly-scary for 4 and up

The Scary Book is a delightfully, age-appropriate scary-silly book with pop-up elements. As an adult, I loved reading this. If my kids were young enough to enjoy the fact that I was reading a book to them, they’d love this. What’s surprising about The Scary Book is the creatures really do have an edge, despite all of its silliness. All but one of the animals has a mouth that’s printed on folded cardboard paper that folds out. This gives the illusion that the animal’s mouths are much bigger than they actually are, much like those folded pages in the back of Mad Magazine do.

It’s pop-up fun, with a touch of the scares or the sillies