Halloween Week Number 2

In my head, I imagined that I would share a Halloween-themed book every day this week, but things got away from me, and I didn’t end up doing that. But, I have a few more to share–maybe I can share them even after today passes?

The next Halloween book on my list is more creepy than scary, and it’s great for kids who don’t enjoy scary ghost stories or typical Halloween fare.

This week, I read The Nine Lives of Alexander Baddenfield by John Bemelmans Marciano.

 

Alexander Baddenfield is a really unpleasant boy. He comes from a long line of mean, horrible people, and interestingly, each one of his ancestors has died really young. So, Alexander decides that he wants to beat this family curse, and he gets inspiration to beat the curse from his family cat. Alexander decides that he wants to use his immense wealth to get nine lives from a cat transplanted on his body.

He finally finds a doctor who is willing to try this weird experiment, and after Alexander gets this done, he gets really bold and loses his lives quickly and, sometimes, gruesomely.

I really loved this book. It was a really creative story, and I liked the wacky premise. And, I loved Sophie Blackall’s illustrations.

This book is perfect for younger chapter book readers who like adventurous stories with quirky characters. And, it’s a safe to read because the deaths are weird and crazy, not bloody and violent.

Check this book out if you are looking for a tame, Halloween-esque tale!

Halloween Week: Number 1

In honor of Halloween week, and to help myself get back into writing in this space, I decided to showcase a different spooky tale every day this week.

To start things off, I have decided to write about an old favorite, Picture the Dead, by Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown.

This book is about a girl named Jennie who lived with her aunt and uncle during the Civil War. Jennie’s twin brother and cousins, Quinn and Will (a man who also happens to be her fiance), are away fighting. When Quinn comes home, injured and changed, he tells that Jennie’s brother and fiance have died in the fighting. He also tells her that her fiance, Will, wasn’t the man he seemed to be.

Jennie’s aunt decides that she wants to contact the sprit of her dead son, and she needs Jennie’s help to make that happen. But, when Jennie makes contact with Will, he seems upset. Jennie decides that he wanted her to figure out how he died, so she starts working to figure out what his spirit is trying to communicate.

Obviously, once ghosts and spirits enter the book, the whole book becomes more creepy. When I read this the first time, I genuinely got a little freaked out. I think I was reading during the night, and my imagination got the best of me.

This story is a great ghost story, and the illustrations and artifacts scattered throughout really make the book. Here’s an example of one of the creepy pictures.

Doesn’t that make you want to read the book even more? If you’re looking for a creepy historical tale to read during this Halloween week, make sure to check out this one!

Adventures and Astronomy

Today is October 1st. Can you even believe that September flew by so quickly? I’ve been trying to enjoy the last bits of summer, but now that it’s October, I feel like I can finally embrace fall. And, I can finally get down to business, hunker down, and get through my huge library piles.

I was under the deadline to get through my latest book because someone else put a hold on it. But, I’m glad that I had that added pressure because it made me make this book a priority. I’m really glad I did.

This week, I read The Copernicus Legacy: The Forbidden Stone by Tony Abbott.

This book is just the kind of book that I love. It has adventure and history lessons, all tied together. It reminded me a lot of The Da Vinci Code or National Treasure in that it had globe-trotting and historical clues.

The story starts with Wade Kaplan, a boy who is the son of an astronomer. Wade loves science and stars, and he possesses this really cool old star maps that was a gift from one of his father’s teachers. At the beginning of the story, Wade’s father learns that this beloved teacher died unexpectedly, so Wade, his step-brother, Darrell, his cousin, Lily, and her friend, Becca, and Wade’s dad travel to Berlin to go to the funeral.

Once they get to Berlin, they realize that the professor didn’t die–he was murdered. And, they realize that he was one of the guardians of some sort of secret that goes back to Copernicus.

As the kids begin to unravel the mystery of the guardians and Copernicus, they realize that they are being hunted by a group called, The Order, a group that is bound and determined to find what the guardians are hiding.

I really enjoyed all of the science and history that was sprinkled through the book. I enjoyed learning more about Copernicus, and I enjoyed imagining that there could be secret objects scattered across the globe. And, I really enjoyed that a bunch of kids used their intellect and imagination to solve problems. They weren’t hampered by their ages, and they weren’t stereotypical kids only concerned with the opposite sex and pop culture. The only thing I didn’t enjoy was that this book ended with a huge cliff-hanger, so I must wait for a second book to learn more answers.

Check this book out if you like codes, adventures, and historical facts. You won’t be disappointed!