Book Reviews: I Am Number Four and The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore

This is another one of those cases where I saw the movie first. I had no idea these were books, but they are really, really good.

Basically, there is a planet called Lorien and the (really awful) bad guys attacked it. To save their race, the Loriens send nine kids to earth along with their protectors. The nine are destined to return to Lorien and restart everything. But now the bad guys are on earth and hunting the kids. They must be killed in order, one to nine, which is a sort of protective charm. When we enter the story, One though Three have been killed and we follow the story of number Four as he discovers his really cool magical abilities and learns more about his past.

In the sequel, we continue to follow the intense stories of the Loriens that are still alive. Both books are really well written. They are captivating and exciting. I highly recommend them. For the most part they were clean. There is violence, but it wasn't overly graphic. Lore is a bit conceited (he names the planet and race after himself!) but it doesn't ruin the writing or the story. I you've seen the movie, READ THE BOOK! It's a million times better!

Book Review: Tankborn by Karen Sandler

This book was FANTASTIC. Ok, back story first.

It came out in September of 2011. Karen Sandler came to my publishing class in February of 2012. My very good friend won an ARC in a drawing of sorts that we did. She graciously let me read it first. I wasn't sure what to expect because it's pretty sci-fi, but it was SO good. I am very impressed with Sandler's work.

Sandler invented a planet called Loka where humans had to go when things got bad on earth (think Wall-e type situation). There was a specific class structure, but when that started to fall apart, people invented GENs, Genetically Engineered Non-humans, to basically be the lowest class. They are treated almost as badly as slaves. Our heroine, Kayla, is a GEN. We follow her story as she gets her Assignment and is sent to work for a Trueborn family. She ends up getting involved in a definitely illegal scheme, but she's at the good end, of course (she IS the heroine). Her world ends up getting flipped all over the place, and all the things she believed in get all mixed up.

I was really impressed with Sandler's story. It was so creative and well thought out. She definitely created all aspects of Loka, not just the parts that applied to this story. I felt like she sped up too much once questions started being answered, but it was still well written. The genetic stuff got too complex for me, I think she should have dumbed it down just a bit more, but I still understood the story. I highly recommend this (clean) novel.

Happy International Harry Potter Day

Prime Minister David Cameron said,
“There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that Ms. Rowling’s work has had a huge and undeniable impact on the literary world as we know it. In order to fully commemorate and immortalize her work, we have to decided to officially declare May 2nd as an official international holiday, in honor of the date that protagonist Harry Potter conquered the main antagonist of the series, Lord Voldemort. We hope that children and adults alike will be reminded of Harry Potter’s strong and courageous character on this day, as well as of the true credit that Ms. Rowling has made to society.”

Finally. A day for Harry Potter lovers like me. I am wearing my Maurader's Map t-shirt. On the front it says "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" and on the back it says "mischief managed." It was tricky deciding between my three HP shirts today. :) 

I have some chalk...maybe I'll write HP things on the sidewalks today...who knows? So many mischievous possibilities. Hopefully I'll watch at least one of the movies today and read some of the best parts of the books. My friend Ariel got to go to platform 9 3/4 - I wish I could be there TODAY. Or at Harry Potter world in Florida. Now that would be ideal.

Happy Harry Potter Day!