Ratings Explanation

Language: Hell is mentioned as a place and used as an expletive a few of times. The “A” word was used twice and the “S” word was used once. Other words used were crap (a couple of times), slut (once), and damned (once).

Violence: A dagger goes into Nikki’s shoulder. Cole and Jack fight. They are involved in a chase and Jack crashes his car and is injured.

Sexual Content: There are several kisses throughout the story between Jack and Nikki. Cole kisses Nikki. Nikki’s friend Jules asks her if, “tonights…the night?” Nikki does worry that Jack will expect more from her because he has “been with” other girls. Nikki and Jack have spent time together in each other’s rooms.

Adult Themes: Assumptions are made that Nikki did drugs and was in rehab. Nikki’s mother was killed by a drunk driver. Some of the characters drink, and one of them is an alcoholic. It is assumed that a couple of the characters smoke. Will was injured while serving in the war. Everneath is part of the underworld related to Hell.

Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Nikki Beckett has just returned from the underworld, having spent the last six months in a place called Everneath. No one knows where she went while she was away, and she doesn’t offer an explanation. Nikki has been given only six months to spend with her family, friends, and her boyfriend Jack before she has to return to Everneath forever. Jack was the only person she could even remember during her time there. Her heart aches for Jack, and now that she is back, she longs to spend as much time with him as possible. However, Cole, the one responsible for taking her to Everneath, has other plans. He is certain she is the one who can help him take over the throne and has followed her back home. Using all of his power he tries to convince her to come back with him to Everneath and become his queen.

I was drawn to Everneath because the story line is based on the myth of Hades and Persephone, along with Orpheus and Eurydice, which I find fascinating. The story is told with flashbacks to the time before Nikki was taken to Everneath, which explains how she got there in the first place. The deeper I got into the book, the more my heart began to ache for her and for Jack. Mistakes and sad misunderstandings caused so much heartache and loss for Nikki’s family and friends. In the end, the willingness to sacrifice and to love someone so deeply and fully made me cry. My favorite part of the story is when Nikki dreams each night…so sweet! This story is the first of a trilogy, and I look forward to the next book. There are several subject matters such as drinking and its consequences that would be worth discussing with your teenager. I would recommend this book for ages fourteen and up.

Ratings Explanation

Violence:  There are many instance of fighting with muskets, knives or fists.  Many people die and there is some description of the various ways.  There are many chase scenes.  Brusenna is frequently treated roughly.  She is shot, hit, bound and gagged.  There is a type of war between soldiers and the witches and many people die.  Brusenna almost drowns.

Sexual Content:  A boy taunts a girl and then grabs her breast.  Senna strips naked and applies a potion to her body.  When a girl changes from a seal to a human, she is naked.  A boy jumps on top of her to cover her up.  Someone asks, “oh, you’re ashamed of being naked?”  There are some kisses throughout.

Adult Themes:  There is some severe prejudice against the witches.  They are treated unfairly and ostracized for who they are, even though they do not harm anyone.  Brusenna experiences this in her village as people will not sell to her and she is forced to pay exorbitant prices for everything.  Her mother leaves her to seek out the other witches and Bresenna feels abandoned.

Synopsis

Once upon a time the witch song controlled the world and it’s elements, keeping everything in balance.  Then things started to change and the witches began to disappear.  When Brusenna’s mother, one of the last remaining witches, is also taken captive by an evil traitor witch, Brusenna realizes that she is the last hope for a dying world.  Unfortunately, she is also very young and inexperienced in the ways of the witch.  Her journey is frightening and dangerous but she is not alone.  Her quest brings many loyal and true friends to her cause.  But will that be enough to stop the evil before it grows to strong?  Will Brusenna’s song be enough to save them?

This book was filled with adventure and action.  I enjoyed the interesting take on witches and the beautiful world that was created in my mind.  Brusenna’s own personal journey is heart warming.  She has spent most of her life being treated poorly by everyone around her.  Her self esteem is low.  She feels weak and uneducated.  But through trials and experiences her confidence grows and she begins to realize the extraordinary power that lies within her.  There were many things to like about this book.  This book is labeled for 11 years old and up and while I’m not sure I’d let my 11 year old read it, I’ll be passing this one on to my 14 year old.  She will love this book.

Ratings Explanation

Language: There is frequent use of “damn”. God, hell and ass are used a couple of times.

Violence: This is a murder mystery and ten people are murdered using a variety of methods (shot with a pistol, poisoning, hanging, bludgeoning, drowning). The deaths are not graphically described. Each of the victims had previously been responsible (but never punished) for causing the death of one or more persons. These deaths are mentioned, but again, are not graphically described.

Sexual Content: General McArthur’s wife had a lover. McArthur was jealous of this affair and had the lover sent to the front of a battle so that he would be killed. Emily Brent’s maid became pregnant and was ostracized. The maid then commited suicide.

Adult Themes: The whole premise of this book revolves around murder. Each of the main characters dies. The characters experience stress and mental anguish as their peers are murdered one by one. They have intense suspicions which ultimately become aimed at each other. Some of the characters feel guilty over the deaths they have previously caused. There is smoking and drinking mentioned. One brief racial criticism aimed at Jews.

Synopsis

Nine strangers are lured onto an island (off the coast of England) by an unknown madman, Mr. U. N. Owen. Mr. Owen is seemingly not present on the first evening, but a gramophone recording by Mr. Owen is played, which accuses all present of a previously committed murder. No one knows what to make of this recording and the uneasy feelings grow as one by one the characters begin to die. At first, the deaths are assumed to be suicide or accidents, but a more sinister motive becomes evident. The deaths curiously follow the words of a childish poem. After a search of the island, it is discovered that they are alone. Therefore, the murderer must be amongst the group. Unable to leave the island, suspicion towards each other begins. After a storm, the police arrive on the island to find dead bodies and an unsolved mystery. Only after a fishing trawler finds a confession in a bottle, is the mystery solved. The killer was a fanatic for justice and felt that each person deserved to die for the offenses they committed, but that the law could not touch.

This novel is hailed as one of the greatest mystery masterpieces ever written. It is listed as even being the author’s favorite. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I re-read the novel a second time after knowing “who done it”, just so that I could catch the clues Christie employed. If you love a good mystery, I’d recommend this one. (This book was also published as Ten Little Indians years ago.)

Ratings Explanation

Language:  A handful of common swear words and a few casual uses of the name of Deity.

Violence:  Mary and a fellow townsman are buried in a landslide.  Mary was rescued while the townsman was not so lucky and smothered to death in the mud next to her.

Sexual Content:  A young Mary innocently explains that a particular fossil is shaped similarly to her brothers male parts.  Mary and a female companion avoid looking at a man relieving himself in the sea.  They briefly discuss the male anatomy and ask whether or not the other had actually seen it.   The town of Lyme spread rumors about Mary as she helps two different gentlemen look for specimens, unchaperoned on the nearby beaches.

Adult Content:  Poverty and illness take the lives of many of the Anning babies as well as their father.  Mary and her brother Joseph are left to help pay their father’s debts and provide for themselves and their mother.  Women are not considered equals, which makes life more difficult for those without a man in their life.  The social class system prevents the lower class from obtaining the privileges of the upper class in the areas of jobs, recognition, marriageability, etc.

Synopsis

After the passing of Elizabeth Philpot’s parents,  she and her two sisters are sent to live in a cottage in Lyme.  As they learn to adjust to their new lifestyle, they each find a hobby to pass their days away.  Elizabeth discovers that the surrounding beaches are covered with the remains of fossilized creatures.  She is mesmerized by these animals buried in the earth and long forgotten, finding solace in hunting the beaches for them. As the sisters become more familiar with their new surroundings, Elizabeth meets a young girl named Mary Anning, the daughter of a local cabinet maker.  Mary helps her family earn money by hunting for “curries” or fossils to sell to visitors passing through. She has a knack for finding fossils of all kinds, including  some large “monsters” the world has never seen before, like the ichthyosaur and plesiosaur.  In spite of their age difference, Mary and Elizabeth form a unique friendship which will eventually influence the great scientific minds of their time and open the doors for women to contribute to the advancement of geological sciences.

I love the time period of the 1800′s in England and am admittedly a huge Jane Austen fan.  So, when I saw this book and read the synopsis I had to give it a try.  Although not written in the romantic Austen style with a happy ending, this story gave a unique perspective of an upper class spinster and a lower class working girl influencing the world of geological research.  In fact, the characters were based on their real life counter parts.  Much of the story is woven together with the author’s own interpretation of  actual historical events.   I found this to be an informative and relaxing read.  I had no idea that these women even existed or had such an influence on our understanding of ancient life.  And the Austen fan will be happy to know that Jane visited Lyme in 1804 where she saw Mary Anning’s father to get a quote on fixing a broken chest lid.  According to a letter she wrote her sister, he charged far too much and she took her business elsewhere.

Ratings Explanation

Language: Hell is used once. “Gook” is used 5 or 6 times in reference to a Cambodian boy. “Good God” appears once.

Violence: A car accident in which a boy’s arm is ripped off and he sustains extensive injuries. A father tortures his son’s dog to teach the boy to be hard. This description is very short, only a couple of sentences. A fist fight. Another fight in which one of the characters is shot and another is cut with a broken glass bottle.

Adult Themes: Chay is harassed because of his race and experiences prejudice. His family is equally prejudiced against their non-Cambodian neighbors and they disown Chay when he falls in love with an American girl. Some atrocities of the Khmer Rouge are mentioned. In Cambodia, Chay’s sister is shot in front of him and his brother is taken from their family. The immigration of Cambodians is discouraged in the press. Chay learns that he was conceived when his mother was raped. Difficult relationships between fathers and sons. A family experiences a death and grieves.

Synopsis

If you build your house far enough away from Trouble, then Trouble will never find you. That’s what Henry Smith’s father always told him, but as it turns out, Trouble can find you anywhere, even in aristocratic Blythbury-by-the-Sea. Trouble first knocks at the Smith’s door when Henry’s elder brother, Franklin, is struck by a truck driven by Chay Chouan, a Cambodian immigrant who attends the same exclusive preparatory school as Franklin. Chay faces criminal charges relating to the accident, but when a plea deal is reached, the town seethes with hatred toward Chay and the Cambodian population.

Fleeing from grief, Henry and his best friend start out toward Main to climb Mount Katahdin, a peak Henry and Franklin had planned to climb together. Along the way they encounter Chay, accept his help, and learn about the Trouble that has followed Chay throughout his life. In fact, Chay came from a place where Trouble lived. Together they learn that although you can’t avoid it, some lessons can only be learned through lots of Trouble.

This is an incredible book. If we awarded stars, I would give this one 5.  I loved Schmidt’s writing and kept wanting to copy down quotes, which was difficult since I listened to this one on audio. He has a style that is very engaging with a voice that is at times humorous and sweet, but also heart wrenching. I really felt like he captured an incredibly wide range of emotions. The story is also quite clever with several connections between separate characters and events, helping to create a feeling of continuity with the different story lines going on in the book.

I did manage to write down a couple of quotes. Give these some thought.

“You know what it is to lose someone, but you don’t know what it is to be lost.”

“Sometimes it is more satisfying to suffer than to take advice.”

“No matter what happens, there is always the business of the world to attend to.”

“The world is Trouble…and Grace. That is all there is.”

While Trouble deals with some important and weighty topics, it is still appropriate for most youth ages 13 and up, which is another thing I loved about it. Thank you Mr. Schmidt.

Discussion topics: Honesty, Tolerance, Prejudice, Compassion, Empathy, Forgiveness, Father/Son relationships, Death

Ratings Explanation

Violence: Torrigiani punches Michelangelo in the nose, breaking it. Mob violence. Some brief descriptions of war. A cart carrying a large marble slab runs out of control and kills a man.

Sexual Content: Comments about “bad women” and “whores”. Artist’s creation of sculpture equated with the creation of life using words like “thrust”, “penetration”, “climax” and “insemination”. Vague references to characters being with women and prostitutes. Michelangelo longs for another man’s mistress. He eventually has a sexual relationship with her, more sexual language, “penetrating”, “thrusting”, etc. A character points out that there are 7,000 public women in Rome. He refers to “hunting” among them and choosing one for “the act”. Brief discussion of sculpting David’s erogenous zone. Pretty girls referred to as “mattressable”. Michelangelo invites a prostitute to go home with him. Some sexuality in art discussed. Michelangelo is accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a much younger man.

Adult Themes: Michelangelo secretly dissects many bodies. There are rather graphic descriptions of organs and the inner workings of the body. Intrigue within the Catholic church. It is mentioned frequently that Popes fathered children. Horrors of The Spanish Inquisition.

Synopsis

The Agony and the Ecstasy begins with 13-year-old Michelangelo in Florence, Italy and follows his long and fascinating life until his death at age 90 in Rome. Readers may be surprised to learn of the many and varied roles Michelangelo played during his lifetime. Most will be familiar with his sculptures and paintings, but he was also an engineer, architect, road builder, defense engineer, wood carver and worker of bronze. His true love was always the sculpting of marble, but he was, in some cases, forced to explore his talents in other areas.

Irving Stone recreates the wonders and struggles of Renaissance Italy, focusing on Michelangelo’s life and weaving in other icons from the time, including DiVinci, Raphael, and the de’Medici family. A very detailed historical account, as well as an in-depth study of the great artist, The Agony and the Ecstasy explores the personalities and factors that molded Michelangelo Buonarroti’s development and his triumph as an artist whose works of art have become immortal.

First let me say that I really enjoyed this book and my time reading it was definitely well spent. One of my main impressions of Michelangelo was his commitment to giving his best effort to each piece of art he created. Throughout his life, he strove to be true to himself and to God, from whom he recognized his talent came. He was unwilling to compromise quality for speed or compensation and viewed this as a matter of integrity. From the book, “He had never compromised with quality; his integrity as a man and an artist was the rock on which his life was built. If he split that rock by indifference, by giving less than the exhausting best of himself, if he were content merely to get by, what was left of him?” A lesson that many of us could learn from.

The historical setting is also fascinating. At times it feels less like a story and more like a history lesson, but for the most part the narrative carries the reader right along, wondering how Michelangelo will solve his next challenge, negotiate with the next Pope, or get enough money to pay for marble – and food.  Before reading this book, I thought of  the Renaissance masters living in a world where they were free to spend all their time creating without worrying about the mundane minutia of life; that was not the case for Michelangelo. In fact, it is a little surprising that he finished any of his creations, considering all of the other things he had to worry about.  For example, one of the Popes wanted sculptures carved from marble originating from a certain quarry, but there was no road to this particular quarry. The Pope then ordered Michelangelo to build a road. Michelangelo was an artist, not a road builder, but he engineered a road, assembled a crew, supervised each phase, changed plans to build a more efficient road and eventually extracted a few marble slabs for the Pope, only to see them sit on the beach unable to get them transported.  With only a few exceptions, Michelangelo suffered in some way to produce each work. This knowledge has changed how I look at his art.

An excellent book well worth reading! It is a work of literature that has enriched my life. Appropriate for high school students and older.

Ratings Explanation

Language:  A comment is made about giving someone the finger.  There are a couple of references to someone swearing but no actual swearing occurs.  For example, someone “let out streams of curse words.”

Violence:  A woman has a dream that a dragon is terrorizing the city.  The dragon grabs a van with screaming occupants and then drops it back to the earth.  It grabs and then drops a woman to the ground.  People are hiding and trying to escape.  In the dream, the woman is clawed down her back by the dragon and wakes up to find the claw marks on her back.  Tori and Jesse fight.  A fireball singes Tori’s hair.  In training, people get hurt.  Tori breaks through a window.  Guards are shot with tranquilizer guns.  Tori is captured by bad men and chained up.  Guards are tackled.  There is a fight with a dragon, with fire and chasing.  The dragon is killed.  Tori is shot at.

Sexual Content:  There are a couple of kisses.

Synopsis

Tori did not sign up to save the world.  She just wanted to attend a dragon camp for the summer.  As the Senator’s daughter, she might be spoiled but she is also smart and uncommonly gifted at many things, like archery and shooting.  Now she is being told that she has powers passed down from ancient knights who used to fight against dragons.  Oh, and by the way, dragons are real.  Very real.  And very dangerous.  That’s why Tori is being asked to train and hone those powers to save the world from the hands of an evil man who holds the eggs of the dragons.  If she and the few others like her don’t stop him, many innocent lives will be lost.

This was an exciting, fun read from beginning to end.  My daughter actually got to this book before me.  She handed it back to me the next day and said, “this was a really good book, mom.  We should buy this book.  When is the next one coming out?”  I completely agree.  This is a book I’ll want to read again.  The story and the characters were great.  I could visualize this book as if it were a movie.  I loved the humor too.  It was right up my alley.  Here is one of my favorite quotes from the book.  ”That will teach you, she told herself sternly, not to fall for guys just because they’re gorgeous and have superpowers.  It never ends well.”  This book is labeled YA.

Rating Explanation

Language:  There is frequent profanity and mild swearing (hell, damn) often amplified by the use of “bloody”.  Bloody is also used on it’s own.

Violence:  There is a brawl at a pub and men are fighting.  Kiki is chased when someone catches her stealing.  Kiki is attacked in an alley and treated roughly.  There is more stealing and chasing.  Fey attack Rieker and Tiki several times, hurting them.  Rieker remembers his family drowning in a violent storm.  There is a fight with the Fey.  Tiki hits a faery in the face making her bleed.  Rieker is clawed and bleeding.  A faerie is stabbed with an iron knife and killed.

Sexual Content:  A girl is kissed roughly by a faerie in an alley.  There is a kiss.

Adult Themes:  Kids work the streets stealing from people.  They are orphans or kids who have been discarded by their parents.  They steal to survive.  There are a few instances of drinking, including minors.  There is reference to the health issues of the time and the inability to treat those conditions.

Synopsis

For Tiki, life is about stealing enough each day to be able to feed her “family”, a group of kids banded together by circumstance.  Orphaned and discarded, these kids work the streets each day in a desperate struggle to survive and avoid getting caught.  When the opportunity to steal a gorgeous, mesmerizing ring literally falls in front of her, Kiki seizes the moment, thus setting off a chain of events that she could never have imagined.  The ring holds the promise of peace between the human and fey worlds.  In the wrong hands, it could bring destruction.  And everyone, it seems, wants that ring and will do anything to get it.

This was a fast moving story that drew me in from the first moments and made me want to keep reading.  Tiki’s desire to take care of and protect her “family” of orphans is touching and admirable.  I love the setting in England and I love the ring at the center of this story.  If I could erase the language from this book, I would be shouting my book love here.  This is a well written, engaging story.

Ratings Explanation

Language:  There are a couple of instances of name calling.

Violence:  Elijah is chased by something unknown.  Elijah’s whole family is killed.  Elijah is hit across the face by the chancellor and then hit across his hands with a stick that has thorns on it.  He bleeds.  Someone is trying to whip Samuel.  Samuel mentions that he has been hit before.  Someone almost falls over a ledge but is rescued.  Something is trying to get Elijah.  Samuel is kidnapped and Elijah’s room is thrashed.  A guard is hit and is knocked unconscious.  Hannah is kidnapped and the ropes that bind her hands tear into her skin.  A Maliphist sends lightning and knocks kids off their horse.  One kid is knocked unconscious.  The earth rumbles and breaks apart causing the Maliphists to fall in.  Elijah breaks into a prison, is caught and hit across face.  There is a chase.  The Maliphists and Magi have an encounter using elements to fight each other.  Elijah’s uncle was tortured in prison.

Sexual Content:  A young child is running around naked.

Adult Themes:  Elijah’s family is killed and his Uncle is missing, leaving him alone.  Samuel’s family doesn’t care about him.  Maliphists prey on young boys with problems.

Synopsis

After witnessing his family’s murders, thirteen-year-old Elijah Hawk is left alone, confused and scared.  His instincts saved him, but he couldn’t save his family.  Now he senses someone or something is still after him, someone other than the detective hauling him away to some far-off boarding school.  Through a kind and patient professor, Elijah learns of a new world of people and powers unlike any he has ever known.  The Magi take Elijah in and begin to teach him of their ways.  But, another group of people, the Malaphists, demand that Elijah be theirs and they will stop at nothing to get to him.  When two of Elijah’s friends are taken in place of him, he knows he must do something.  He cannot continue to let people suffer because of him.  But what can one thirteen-year-old kid do?

The Magi was a pleasure to read from beginning to end.  A couple of times I completely forgot I was reviewing because I was so caught up in the book.  There were so many great things to love about this book.  I appreciated the “clean” nature of this book.  There was no swearing or sexual situations that would make me hesitant to pass this book on to my kids.  It was filled with growing relationships of friendship, action and suspense.  Here is my favorite quote from the book.  ”The soul is the fingerprint of the Creator.  Once a soul connects to another soul, they unite and become one.  So if your soul is able to access the soul of an element, you can control that element the same way you would control your own body.”  Cool.  This is a family friendly book for all ages.  My thanks to Kevin Turner for offering this book to me for review.  I’ll be looking forward to the next installment!

Ratings Explanation

Language: References to “Nuts” and “Balls” from the junior high school narrator, Todd Whitman.

Violence: After an explosion in the mine shaft, the recovered miner’s bodies were laid out on the dance floor.  The junior high school P.E. teacher paddles Todd on the first day of  school.

Sexual Content: Todd Whitman has a crush on Jenny Gillette.

Adult Themes:  An allusion to Todd’s grandmother and grandfather nearly ending their marriage, many years prior; forgiveness prevailed.  Todd’s mother is the caregiver for her mother who is suffering from dementia. Todd returns home to be at his mother’s bedside as she lay dying.

Author’s Summary

One night, eleven-year-old Todd Whitman receives a terrifying but hilarious midnight visitor: his cockatoo-plumed, dementia-stricken, John Travolta-smitten Grandma Carter. In constant nocturnal search of the mysterious “Dancer,” Grandma clutches her absurdly precious Saturday Night Fever album cover and giggles her way through the dance steps of her youth.

When forty-something Todd returns home to help his dying mother, he reflects on that pivotal summer of 1981: the unique relationship he developed with his grandmother, the chaos of finding his place in a large Mormon family, the near misses of impressing the one-and-only Jenny Gillette, and the utter social catastrophe of junior high.

Ultimately, despite the ups and downs of life, Todd finds peace and strength through the selfless and dedicated lives of his grandmother and mother.

I love this book!  Clark perfectly captures the torture and hilarity of navigating adolescence and the perpetual change of family ties. Simply beautiful.   I read passages aloud to my husband, Rob.  I read other passages aloud to my children and finally, the bathroom inspection passage, I read aloud to anyone within an audible range, even though I was barely capable of reading, due to uncontrollable laughter.  I enjoyed Clark’s writing style and ability to weave Todd’s experience navigating junior high school with the deeper, beautiful story of his relationship with his mother and grandmother.  I look forward to reading the sequel.

This is my holiday gift of choice for my dear friends and family!

If you want to read an interview with the author, here is the link.

http://www.motleyvision.org/2011/interview-david-clark-author-the-death-of-a-disco-dancer/#more-6225