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Half Magic. Edward Eager. 1954/2016. HMH. 224 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: It began one day in summer about thirty years ago, and it happened to four children.

Premise/plot: Edward Eager loved, loved, loved reading E. Nesbit, and was inspired to write magical tales of his own. This is the first book he wrote, I believe. It stars Jane, Mark, Katharine, and Martha. One day Jane accidentally discovers a 'nickel' with magical properties. It grants half-wishes. So if you want a whole wish, you have to word it cleverly or else you'll be mightily disappointed! Of course, the children learn this the hard way! And it's not the only thing they learn either.

My thoughts: I love, love, love, love this one. It is so fun and charming and just like Nesbit--in a good way! It had me from hello.

"The library was two miles away, and walking there with a lot of heavy, already-read books was dull, but coming home was splendid--walking slowly, stopping from time to time on different strange steps, dipping into the different books." (4)

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Seventh Wish. Kate Messner. 2016. Bloomsbury. 228 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: I've only seen the ice flowers once.

Premise/plot: Some books are near-impossible to summarize concisely...and do the book justice. This is such a book. I want to just say READ IT. But I won't. That really won't help you make up your mind now, or refresh my memory later. Charlie, the heroine, learns a little about wishes and a lot about life in this middle grade fantasy. Why is it fantasy and not realistic fiction? A talking fish that grants Charlie wishes.

My thoughts: I LOVED this one so much. Why? Perhaps in large part because of the narrator, Charlie. I truly connected with her--despite our differences--and wanted to spend time with her. I just adored her as a character. And because I adored her, I didn't mind a bit reading about Irish dancing (she made it sound super fun!) and ice-fishing (not convinced this is super fun but still not enough of a deterrent to keep me from loving it). I really felt this one was well-layered and peopled with flesh-and-blood characters.

This one was wonderfully balanced between light and dark. On the one hand, we've got Charlie and her friends and their "problems." (A friend whose father is pressuring him to play sports when that is the absolute last thing he wants to do, for example. Charlie's own "troubles" about wanting to earn money so she can buy a dancing dress for competitions.) On the other hand, we've got grown-up problems as well. Charlie's sister experiments with drugs--with heroin--at college and life becomes MESSY very quickly.

The Seventh Wish doesn't read like your typical PROBLEM NOVEL. It doesn't feel weighed down with manipulative messages, themes, and morals. Part of me wishes that this one didn't have the fantasy elements--the fish that grants wishes. The other part realizes that maybe the fantasy elements give this one a just right balance so that it isn't heavy and serious and dramatic and IMPORTANT.

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Alcatraz Versus the Shattered Lens. Brandon Sanderson. 2010. Scholastic. 294 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: So there I was, holding a pink teddy bear in my hand.

Premise/plot: The fourth book in the Alcatraz fantasy series for children. Is Alcatraz brave or stupid in this one? He insists that bravery and stupidity are essentially the same. The free kingdom of Mokia is in danger of falling. Their capital city seems doomed to fall within days...if not hours. The royal family has been evacuated, so we're told, and unless a famous person whose life is so very, very, very valuable is there to be saved, no knights or soldiers will be endangered or sacrificed recklessly. Alcatraz's scheme? To go to Mokia so that the KNIGHTS will go to Mokia. Once he arrives, he learns, well, that would be SPOILERS. But he learns that he isn't the only person with Smedry blood to be stupid or brave. Bastille is along for this adventure....Kaz as well.

The new character introduced in this one is Aydee, and, her talent is being BAD AT MATH.

My thoughts: This one is definitely the best of the series perhaps. Or rereading all four books within two weeks has made me care so very much about these characters?! Either way, I recommend the series.

This book left so many unanswered questions. I had almost come to terms with having no true answers...when I learned that the fifth book will be released this year. So after years, I can finally know what happens next!

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia. Brandon Sanderson. 2009. Scholastic. 299 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: So there I was, hanging upside down underneath a gigantic glass bird, speeding along at a hundred miles an hour above the ocean, in no danger whatsoever.

Premise/plot: This is the third book in the Alcatraz fantasy series. IN this one, Alcatraz and company arrive at last in the Free Kingdoms, in Nalhalla. Alcatraz wrestles with fame and ego in this one. Though raised in the Hushlands in a Librarian-controlled nation, he's FAMOUS in Nalhalla already, even starring in his own book series. (The book series being written by the Prince himself). Open up one of his books, and his theme music plays. You don't really get more famous than Alcatraz Smedry, of course, it's not really, truly HIM that is famous, more an idea of him. Also in this one, Bastille is put on trial. Will she be stripped of knighthood? How long will her punishment last? I should also not forget to mention that the LIBRARIANS want to come to peaceful terms and end the war at last. But Alcatraz and his friends suspect the WORST. But so many people want peace that they seem willing to give the Librarians the benefit of the doubt....

My thoughts: This one is an action-packed read full of fun and humor. I love this series. And I think I enjoyed this third book even more than the first two books. Folsom was a great new character to introduce--loved his talent, by the way. And it was nice to meet a librarian who wasn't evil for a change!!!

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Scourge. Jennifer A. Nielsen. 2016. Scholastic. 368 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Few things were worth the risk to my life, but the juicy vinefruit was one of them. Even more so today because I was long past hungry. If I didn't eat something soon, my life was in danger anyway.

Premise/plot: Ani and Weevil are best, best friends who will face much DANGER together in Jennifer Nielsen's newest fantasy book, The Scourge. It has been hundreds of years since the plague--the scourge--has devastated their country. The scourge has left its mark on their history. And the fear of it has never completely gone away. Now, it seems, almost out of nowhere, the scourge is back. Those who test positive for the scourge are sent to an isolated island--a former prison--to live out the rest of their lives. Ani and Weevil end up there. (It's complicated to try to summarize). And they will spend most of their time a) trying to survive b) distinguishing between lies and truth c) trying to change the way things are.

My thoughts: If you love Shannon Hale's fantasy novels, you MUST read The Scourge. I greatly enjoyed this one. And I think it has a similar feel to some of Hale's novels. This one is, however, different from Nielsen's other series. It is perhaps slightly less action-packed than her previous books. And it is written from a female perspective.

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Borrowers. Mary Norton. Illustrated by Beth and Joe Krush. 1952/2006. HMH. 192 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: It was Mrs. May who first told me about them.

Premise/plot: Ever wondered why there's never a safety pin when you need one? Readers meet a family of Borrowers who live under the kitchen floor in an older house. Pod is the 'borrower' of the family. He knows the routines of the 'human beans' and can go out and about without being seen, most of the time. He doesn't mind being seen by the matriarch of the family at night. (She thinks she's hallucinating because she's had a couple too many drinks.) His wife, Homily, is quite satisfied to stay safely in her house behind dozens of locked gates and such. (She gives him plenty of instruction on what to borrow, however.) The couple's daughter is Arrietty, and, she is the book's heroine by my reckoning. She meets a boy that has come to stay--recuperate--for a couple of months. They become very, very good friends. She reads to him. He brings her and her parents STUFF for their home. (He 'borrows' freely from the house, most notably from a doll house that everyone seems to have forgotten about.)

Readers learn about the dangers of being a Borrower and 'the good old days' when the house was FULL of families. Arrietty fears that her family is the last living in the house.

My thoughts: This one is super fun. It is also quite suspenseful at the end!!!! I definitely recommend this one!

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Mango & Bambang: The Not a Pig. Polly Faber. Illustrated by Clara Vulliamy. 2016. Candlewick. 144 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Mango Allsorts was good at all sorts of things. That was not the same as being good, but she was that, too. Most of the time.

Premise/plot: Readers meet Mango and her new pet tapir, Bambang. In their first adventure together, "Mango and the Muddle," Mango discovers the not-a-pig tapir causing a lot of traffic problems. She recognizes him for what he is--a tapir and NOT A PIG. And she 'saves' the day, if you will, by removing him from the scene and taking him home with her. Since her father is both there and not-there, the two become quite close. There are four adventures in all. The other three being: "Bambang's Pool," "Bambang Puts On a Hat," and "The Song of the Tapir."

My thoughts: Loved this one. I did. It had a good chance of winning me at hello what with the purple stripes and the purple end pages. The illustrations by Clara Vulliamy were just adorable and perfectly complemented Polly Faber's text. I would definitely recommend this one.

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Time Cat. Lloyd Alexander. 1963. 206 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: Gareth was a black cat with orange eyes.

Premise/plot: Jason is having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. But that begins to change when in the midst of complaining out loud to his cat, Gareth, Gareth surprises him by talking back. The cat reveals that he can visit nine different lives--any time, any country--and he can and will be happy to take Jason with him.

The times visited by Jason and Gareth: Egypt 2700 B.C., Rome and Britain 55 B.C., Ireland 411 A.D., Japan 998 A.D., Italy 1468, Peru 1555, The Isle of Man 1588, Germany 1600, America 1775.

If you're a cat lover who also enjoys time travel, this is a GREAT read.

My thoughts: I really, really, really found this to be a GREAT read. I found it entertaining and just FUN.

Here are some of my favorite quotes.

When I was a child, I always had cats. They seemed very fond of me. Then, after I became Pharaoh, they didn't seem to care for me half as much.
Jason thought for a while. "I don't know," he said at last. "Did you wear that headdress and that beard before you got to be king? That might have frightened them. And another thing," he added, "did you shout as much? Cats don't like being shouted at."
Neter-Khet brightened a little. "That might be it."
"Even so," Jason said, "when you weren't shouting, you'd think they'd have come around again."
"Oh, they did," said Neter-Khet. "But they'd never play or purr when I ordered."
"Did you expect them to?" Jason said. "No cat in the world will do that!"
"But I'm Pharaoh," Neter-Khet said. "I'm supposed to give orders."
"That doesn't mean anything to a cat," said Jason. "Didn't anybody ever tell you?"
"Nobody tells me," Neter-Khet said. "I tell them. Besides, they were my cats, weren't they?"
"In a way they were," Jason said, "and in a way they weren't. A cat can belong to you, but you can't own him. There's a difference." (19-20)

The only thing a cat worries about is what's happening right now. As we tell the kittens, you can only wash one paw at a time. (125)

Cats are good at being cats, and that's enough. (127)

© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews