Children's Review: The Galaxy Pirates: Hunt for the Pyxis

{on Goodreads}

Emma Garton's days have always been dependable: a mom that never does anything unexpected or exciting, a best friend with an overactive imagination, and weekends out on the pacific ocean learning to sail from her dad. All of that changes on the day that her parents are kidnapped by strange men  demanding a mysterious object called a Pyxis. Emma and her friend Herbie are there to witness the unbelievable scene but manage to hide from the kidnappers. Afterwards, they follow the kidnappers' trail down to the water, where they commandeer Emma's family yacht and begin a chase that will lead them to places they could never have imagined existed. There's something Emma's parents have been keeping from her, and it might just be the biggest secret of all time. It turns out that there exists an entire galaxy of creatures and people separate from Earth, and that they're all looking for a princess-turned-pirate named Halifax Brightstroke, a woman who escaped death and defied her queen. If that isn't enough to take in...this woman is Emma's mom, and now everyone is after Emma too. This is where the book first hooked me: the world building in the story is incredible and full of imagination. It reminded me a bit of Treasure Planet in that it places the adventurous character-types (pirates, evil queens, etc.) that we're familiar with in completely unfamiliar territory. This adventure is fast-paced and wildly inventive and definitely one that I'll recommend to future students. There are two things that I wished for when reading the story: first, that it was illustrated. I cannot say enough good things about Ferraris's ability to world build and I think that illustrations would have really complemented that ability throughout the story. Second, there was very little character development outside of Emma and her parents. Now, there was a whole lot of information to convey to the reader in order to introduce them to this new galaxy, and Ferraris managed to do so without making it feel like an info dump, but I feel like all of that effort was spent on the setting and, as a result, the character's backgrounds were set aside. There were certain characters that I was desperate to know more about: the queen, Captain Lovesey of the Argh, and Emma's new friend Santher. I felt a bit detached from the characters while reading because I knew nothing about them, so I'm hoping that's something that will be improved upon in the next installment. And speaking of next installments, I actually yelled "Nooo!" after reading the last sentence, because holy cliffhanger! I cannot wait to see what happens next. There are so many threads left to be tied from the ending of this first book and I am eager to not only find some resolution from the climatic action at the end, but also to read more, because it's clear that Emma's adventures have just begun. This is one trilogy that I would love to see as a bookclub pick for middle-grade readers, and one that I'll be looking to buy for my classroom library. I'd recommend for any and all fans of the fantasy genre.

This book will be released on August 4, 2015.

Bottom Line Rating: 4/5

Recommended for 8-12 (Grades 3-7)

Title: The Galaxy Pirates: Hunt for the Pyxis
Author: Zoe Ferraris
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Price: Pre-order the hardcover for only $12.74 on Amazon!
ISBN: 0385392168
Format: E-book
Source: Advanced Reader Copy provided by Net Galley

Top Shelf Text was provided with advanced reader copies of these texts for review from the publisher.

All opinions are my own.

Beatrice and The Book

In my junior year of college, a professor asked us to raise our hands if we considered ourselves to be readers. (My hand shot up faster than Hermione's in potions class-- no surprise there.) But then she asked us if we also considered ourselves to be writers. My hand wavered and then slowly made its way back down to my lap. I used to, I thought to myself. When I was younger I would spend whole afternoons crafting stories; I entered poetry contests and wanted desperately to be a writer when I grew up. The professor looked around and shook her head as the hands continued to fall. "If you're a reader, you're a writer," she said with conviction. And I believed her, enough to chase that dream into being through senior year and my honors thesis. I fought hard for the chance to write my own manuscript. At the end of two semesters of championing my idea, I found two professors willing to bet on me. I had the forms signed and in hand: three credits of my last semester, dedicated strictly to writing (and finishing) a book. 

And then spring semester began, and I thought, Wait, I have to actually write a book?!? For the next few weeks, as I struggled to find my footing (and even more, to sit and write distraction-free), I pretty much stayed in that panicked mindset.

But then things changed. My characters became their own people. I spent months debating their names and defining characteristics, but ultimately, they came alive all on their own. At a certain point, all I had to do was wait for the words to come. No thinking, no worrying, just acting as the vessel for this world I had created to construct itself on the page. It felt like this place had already existed, and I had just happened upon it with the simple purpose of describing what I saw there. 

I came to believe in my ability to write a good story. That doesn't mean that I don't expect criticism, or that I don't fear my readers not liking it, but it does mean that I'm proud of my work. I could have cried at that moment when I finally held it, printed and bound, with the knowledge that I actually wrote this. 

The book is titled Beatrice and The Book, and it's a fantasy children's novel for readers age 8-12. I wrote it with an educational purpose in mind-- for it to serve as a resource for conversations about empathy and individual differences. It's inspired by the fairytales that permeated my childhood bookshelf. It's full of classic fairytale elements, but my characters were crafted with a more modern audience in mind, meaning I've abandoned that classic assumption that female characters should be damsels in distress. In this, Beatrice is just as (if not more) powerful than she (or anyone else) could have predicted.

I learned some valuable lessons in the time it took to write this book: about self-discipline, about self-confidence, and about what it takes to actually write a book. I'm not sure whether I'll pursue publication, or whether I'll write another one, but I sure came away with a renewed sense of admiration for those who make writing their life. It's demanding, a little lonely, and a whole lot of hours spent hoping that someone might like what you've created. It was absolutely worth the effort though, because I think, through this process, that I became both a better writer and a better reader.

Children's Review: Archie Greene and the Magician's Secret

{on Goodreads}

Archie Greene is just an ordinary boy who lives with his grandmother, until his twelfth birthday, when a mysterious package is delivered to him. Inside the package is a book, and like most things in Archie's life, this book is old. Archie (who does not care for most things that are old) is intrigued by the book, and soon finds himself in an entirely different world and with a very big destiny to fulfill. When the book arrives on Archie's doorstep, his grandmother is forced to reveal the secrets that she had been keeping for his entire life: that he belongs to a well-established family of Flame Keepers, a group of trusted individuals whose job is to protect ancient magical books from forces of dark magic. That is where this book first shines: Everest's world-building is really unique and has relatively good execution, though I felt that the book could have been fleshed out in at least one hundred more pages, to allow the elements of this magical world to unfold more naturally. Archie soon moves in with his eccentric aunt, uncle, and two cousins, who introduce him to this strange new world. His extended family make up my favorite characters in this story: an aunt who paints the entire house shades of purple and bakes cakes with sardines as her secret ingredient, an uncle who always greets others with "What-ho!", and two cousins that are intelligent, fearless, and unfailingly loyal to Archie throughout the trials of the book. As Archie settles into his new role of apprentice, things start to happen at the Museum of Magical Miscellany, the place where all of the magical texts are kept safely tucked away. As secrets unfold, Archie comes to find that he plays a much large role in the future of the museum-- and of magic. Though I did enjoy the story (and managed to finish it in one sitting), I found myself a bit unimpressed by the level of writing. This book is intended for an 8-12 year-old audience and readers of that age can handle very complex plots and pick up a lot more subtle hints than you might guess. Everest failed in his execution here because he didn't seem to trust his readers to catch on to the big secrets and clues within the plot: it felt as though things were being dumbed-down or blatantly said when they were already obvious to the reader. This disappointed me because many of these obvious observations came from Archie himself, and I felt that his character profile was considerably weakened because of it. In addition to that, there was a lot of straight info-dumping at the beginning of the book. Here was a incredibly intriguing imaginary world, and it was all being explained too quickly for the reader to appreciate. The plot could have been made a bit more complex and secondary characters outside of Archie's family more fleshed out within the span of (at least) one hundred more pages, then this could have become one of my favorite fantasy series for this age group. On the author blurb, Everest mentions that he found writing a children's book to be difficult and that this one "almost killed" him, and I think that struggle is evident in the way that the book fell a little flat. However, despite all of that I will continue to follow the series (no word yet on the next one), as I am always keeping an eye out for books with male protagonists for my classroom library. I feel that I could recommend this to my students as a rather easy read with the hope that the premise will come through more naturally in the next installment. 

Bottom Line Rating: 3/5

Recommended for readers age 8-12 (Grade 3-7)

Title: Archie Greene and the Magician's Secret'

Author: D. D. Everest

Publisher: Harper Collins 2014

Price: $11.39 from Amazon

ISBN: 0062312111

Format: Hardcover

Source: Public Library

Currently Coveting {June}

Summer reading season is finally here!

I love seeing how much more people invest in their bookshelves during the summer months. I wish that I could say that this is going to be the summer for me to laze around and finish all of the books on my list, but I doubt that will be my reality. My schedule is positively packed this summer, which is leaving me more determined than ever to keep reading as part of my everyday routine. I've been piling up the books for my own summer reading list, and though most of them come from my own shelves, I found a few new ones that I wanted to share with you this month! I have a sneaking suspicion that all of these will be making their way onto my library list. 

Deadweather and Sunrise (The Chronicles of Egg #1) by Geoff Rodkey // Why not start off with a book from my favorite niche of children's lit? I love fantastical middle-grade novels, and this one promises to be full of adventure, magic, mystery, and fearless friendships. 

The Master Magician by Charlie N. Holberg // Obsession alert! Remember when I read the first in this series and absolutely couldn't get over it? I loved the second one just as much, and I pre-ordered this third installment last year. I am beyond excited that it's coming out tomorrow (!!!!), just in time for my weekend trip to see my bestie-- I have a feeling it will make the perfect travel read!

Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman // A brand-new middle grade book (publication is set for tomorrow), and the plot reminds me of my favorite series. I love when a puzzle is involved-- I think twisted plots and crazy-smart characters make for great discussions with middle grade readers!

Pirate Hunters: Treasure, Obsession, and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship by Robert Kurson //  For non-fiction and adventure-lovers alike! This is the story of two men willing to risk everything in their search for the lost ship of the pirate Joseph Bannister. I love treasure-hunting movies so this was an obvious pick for me. I can hardly wait until its publication on the 16th!

Check back next week for part one of my summer reading list, and share your picks for June below!

Happy Reading!

-Madeleine-