The Chosen Prince by Diane Stanley

There are starting to be more fantasy novels set in the Greek and Roman time period, and this is one of them.  Alexos is prince of Arctos, and at his birth an augury reveals that he is the one Athene has chosen to end a centuries' long curse on his country.  His father does everything in his power to make Alexos strong and ready for the challenge. When Alexos is 12 years old an unexpected event throws into doubt his ability to fulfill the prophecy. Alexos flounders for a while, but with the help of kind mentors, gradually starts to find his way back and submit himself to Athene's will.  Meanwhile on a distant island two children grow up in an idyllic setting with a kind and wise father.  Athene is preparing them, as well, for something they cannot foresee or understand.  In the end the prince and the children must conquer the greatest challenge of all to fulfill Athene's inscrutable plan.

I really liked this book.  I think I enjoyed it more than anything I have read in a long time.  It is written in kind of an odd style, but actually, it reminds me of when I was translating Latin texts in college.  It has a "Latin-ate" feel to the language.  What I liked about most, however, was the moral strength and innate goodness of the main characters.  In so many children's fantasies, battles are won through violence or force. This book is all about compassion, courage and forgiveness.  It got really mixed reviews on Goodreads, but it gets a star from me. (357 p.)

Curiousity House: The Shrunken Head by Lauren Oliver

Philipa, Sam, Thomas and Max, are all performers at Mr. Dumphrey's "Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities and Wonders." Each of the tweens has a special freakish ability which they use as they begin to investigate the theft of the Museum's star attraction, a ghastly shrunken head.  The deeper they investigate the theft, the more people die, until suspects are dropping like flies.  Is it a curse, as the brash news reporter has asserted across the tabloid headlines, or are there more sinister motives than the kids ever imagined?

This is a fast paced, gumshoe-type mystery, with lots of action and thrills.  There were a few little plot holes in this story, but the fun interaction between the four kids more than makes up for it.  The depression era, freak show setting is also a lot of fun, suggesting a time when Ripley's Believe it or Not kind of museums were all the rage. This is the first in the series and there are a lot of unanswered questions at the end. I look forward to the next which will be coming out in May. (362 p)

Rush Revere and the First Patriots by Rush Limbaugh

Rush Revere is a middle school substitute history teacher/time traveler.  With the help of his time traveling horse, Liberty, he takes his students back into the past to witness important events in American history and to meet historical figures.  In this book (#2 in the series, I didn't read #1 and I don't think it is very important to read them in order) Rush Revere takes the kids to key events that preceded the Revolutionary War.  They meet John Hancock, Ben Franklin, Samuel Adams, and Paul Revere. They witness the Boston Tea Party, the First Continental Congress and other events. During each visit a famous historical figure teaches one of the children a valuable life lesson.

This is not great literature.  It is mostly a history lesson, sugar coated with some humor and fantasy elements, and loaded with super-patriotic flag-waving propaganda.  The reason I read the book is because I look at Publisher's Weekly fairly regularly to see which are the top 20 selling children's books of the week.  It has been astounding to me that during the past year these Rush Revere books (I think there are currently 4 titles) have been on the list over and over again.  Lots of people are buying these and giving them to kids.  Is it the schools, or is it parents in an effort to "make learning fun?"

I am not sure what to think of this book. On the one hand the story was mildly entertaining and I did get a refresher course on some historical facts. On the other hand, they are so unabashedly bias, didactic and right-winged. There is no balance, and there is no exploration into the real complexity behind the characters or events portrayed.  It is all, "Hooray for America" and "Aren't the Founding Fathers wonderful." I guess they are as good as a grade school text books, which also give only superficial, slanted portrayals of history.  They are probably slightly more entertaining than text books. So, if your kid is struggling with American history, go ahead, give them a try. (256 p)

Pip Bartlett's Guide to Magical Creatures by Jackson Pearce and Maggie Stiefvater

Pip Bartlett loves learning about magical creatures, so she is not too disappointed when her mother arranges for her to spend the summer with her aunt, who is a magical creatures vet.  Pip has a secret; she can talk with animals, so she soon becomes a valuable asset at the veterinarian clinic.  Her skills become invaluable when her town is overrun by Fuzzles, little creatures that burst into flame when they are nervous.  Pip, her aunt, and her new friend, Thomas, are in a race against time to keep the cute little Fuzzles from either burning down the town or being exterminated.

This was a cute and lighthearted little book that would be appropriate for a fairly young child who was a advanced reader.  Nothing terribly scary happens, and there are some funny scenes and mild underwear and flatulence jokes.  This is a good choice for readers who have been enjoying books like "The Rescue Princesses" or the "Animal Magic" series and are ready to move up to a slightly longer offering. (184 p.)

Crenshaw by Kathryn Applegate

Here is yet another book that has received good reviews this year.  Jackson lives with his mother, father, and younger sister in a small apartment.  His mother works two jobs, but his father struggles with health problems which make it difficult for him to hold a job.  Jackson starts to worry when his parents gather up all their belongings for a yard sale.  He is afraid they will once again be homeless like they were for nearly a year when he was younger.  As he worries about what might be coming, his imaginary friend, a giant cat named Crenshaw, starts visiting him like he did when he was little.  Jackson knows he is too old to have an imaginary friend, but maybe Crenshaw is just what Jackson needs to get through the hard times.

The theme of imaginary friends has been a popular one in the past couple of years. The Adventures of Beekle, which won the Caldecott last year was about an imaginary friend. I must admit that seeing an imaginary friend, like the one portrayed in this book, sounds a lot like serious mental illness to me.  That said, it was a cute book, and the characters of Jackson and all his family were very well developed and sympathetic.  The book portrays an authentic child's view of what it is like to be homeless and  hungry, but by setting the homelessness in the past, Applegate keeps it from being too scary and overwhelming for a young reader. This one might be a real Newbery contender.  (245 p.)

The Nerdy Dozen by Jeff Miller

Neil is the typical super gamer; nerdy, wimpy, and socially unskilled, but awesome at any game.  He is battling for the top score on the flight simulator computer game Chameleon when he is kidnapped by the US Air Force.  It turns out that the Chameleon game is based on a real top secret airplane and the Air Force has recruited 12 kids who are the best at the game to go on a secret mission flying the real thing. The twelve include all the stereotypes of nerdy kids.  There is the one who does medieval reenactments and speaks in old English.  There is another who wheres a superhero costume under his clothes, etc.  The twelve team up to keep top secret military technology out of the hands of an evil computer game creator. 

Of course, for those of us who are old enough to remember, this is strongly reminiscent of the 1984 movie, The Last Starfighter.  The difference is that the stakes are a lot lower in this story.  There is no "the fate of millions lies in your hands" idea going on here.  This is fun adventure fluff--a wish fulfillment story for kids who spend all of there time inside playing computer games.  It is the author's first book, and the writing style has some room for improvement.  Several times during the story I lost track of what was happening because the action sequencing isn't really clear.  Also, the author introduced too many characters, so none really had a fully developed personality.  Still, it was a fun story and I can think of several specific boys who come into my library that would really enjoy it. (292 p)

Ms Rapscott's Girls by Elise Primavera

This was just the kind of frothy fun I needed this week.  Ms Rapscott runs a school for daughters of very busy parents.  The four students arrive at the school in flying boxes, but one box shows up empty. One of the students got lost in rout because her parents were so busy they forgot to stick down the sticky tab once she was inside of the box. Ms Rapscott takes the remaining girls on a number of magical journeys in search of the lost student, and in the process, the girls learn about making their own way in the world. There is a lot of tongue in cheek humor here, but also a healthy dose folksy wisdom.  This would be a fun one to read aloud to a family of young girls, ages, 5-8 or so.  Some of the chapters suggest activities a family could do together to go along with the story, like learning to bake a birthday cake, or write a thank you note. I look forward to further adventures.(262 p.)