trigger warning (view spoiler)[ loss of a parent, cancer, grief, being kidnapped, cruelty towards animals, drowning (hide spoiler)]
Imagine the kind oftrigger warning (view spoiler)[ loss of a parent, cancer, grief, being kidnapped, cruelty towards animals, drowning (hide spoiler)]
Imagine the kind of thing you'd expect from Rick Riordan or the Rick Riordan presents books but it's a graphic novel with a cute water dragon. Had the "kid can hack everything" trope which made me nostalgic for anime I grew up with where an mp3 player was enough to hack a governmental website. Would be interested in reading more, especially if the library should have it, but could also be read on it's own since the main adventure is done at the end of the book....more
trigger warning (view spoiler)[ trauma, memory loss, mutilation, loss of sight, mention of loss of a parent (hide spoiler)]trigger warning (view spoiler)[ trauma, memory loss, mutilation, loss of sight, mention of loss of a parent (hide spoiler)]...more
When Sid is being haunted by the ghost of a ptrigger warning (view spoiler)[ mention of loss of a parent, grief, memory loss, bullying (hide spoiler)]
When Sid is being haunted by the ghost of a pirate, there seems to be only one way to get her life back: Find the treasure.
Sid lives with her father, who owns and operates the miniature village, and enjoys playing with her best friend Zen on the graveyard. Somehow them playing matches what is needed to set one of the captive ghosts free, and the giant pirate captain demands that Sid helps him find the treasure. He has a map, but his memory has gotten rusty after 300 years of being dead.
I had trouble with Sid not trusting her best friend for so long, and how she went steps to telling the truth, but that may just my adult brain nitpicking where a reader in the target audience will be totally fine with it. I also saw the ending coming but, uhm, yeah. Again, not target audience, and where I have read hundreds of books the children this is intended for probably won't.
I like that while the task they set out to do, there is potential for more. The reader can decide whether they want more - and I for sure would be interested to learn more about how this world works.
Would recommend for young readers who like tales of friendship, and treasure hunts. The arc was provided by the publisher....more
When her mom days, Tasha has to live wittrigger warning (view spoiler)[ loss of a parent, mention of Covid, child neglect, grief, gore (hide spoiler)]
When her mom days, Tasha has to live with her estranged father - or so she thought. He just dumps her with his mom, her grandma, who admittedly is a nice person, and leaves again. It quickly turns out that something spooky is going on at the trailer park.
The concept of Cabin 23 is this: If you are at camp and stumble into the woods, you may happen upon this cabin. In it, there is a witch, and she'll tell you a story to chill the bones. This framework is pretty short, so I will not go into it further.
Tasha's story had great pacing, and in not much space made me care so much about the characters - or at least some of them - that I was upset when the reveal came who the evil person was, even if I had seen it coming for a while.
Very atmospheric, and great for younger and older readers craving a good summer-horror story. The arc was provided by the publisher....more
Alia thinks herself to be a very unlucky person, and maybe it's becausetrigger warning (view spoiler)[ gore, bullying, being possessed (hide spoiler)]
Alia thinks herself to be a very unlucky person, and maybe it's because she was born on a friday the 13th. However, she had not expected what would happen when her estranged sister turns up again...
Again: A person in summer camp stumbles upon Cabin 23, meets a witch, who apparently feeds on the fear people experience. So she tells children ghost stories.
This one is set in Malaysia, and features Malaysian mythology, which is always fun to read about. Weird things are happening, and Alia is trying to ignore them and get by. But when her sister returns and starts to live with them again, all points to her being the source for all this. She has no friends to talk with about this, she has no evidence that would make her academic-parents believe her. So what is she supposed to do?
Never heard about penanggalan before, and the story got proper creepy fast. Due to the atmosphere, I think older readers will enjoy this one as much as the target audience. If the quality of this series keeps up, I would like to read more.
When her father dies, our protagonist overhears a conversatrigger warning (view spoiler)[ mention of bullying, loss of a parent, grief (hide spoiler)]
When her father dies, our protagonist overhears a conversation she was not meant to know about, which gets her the idea that the swamp witch could bring him back. She gathers her brother and friends to set out on an adventure.
Short and sweet adventure. Very straightforward, set in the Everglades. Or an environment similiar enough that I can't tell them apart. Creatures like mermaids get their swampy twist, grief is explored. How it is different for every person, and even if you think someone is not impacted by it, if you look deeper you may find that they totally are.
Is especially liked that we have two sets of siblings who spend all their time together so they really feel like one big family. Slight found family vibes while still having blood relations on board.
And one of them has a pet dragon-gator? perfect....more
Since I did not explain the title in review one: Mage pupils atrigger warning (view spoiler)[ mention of loss of parent, grief, trauma (hide spoiler)]
Since I did not explain the title in review one: Mage pupils are taught in small groups, led by an adult experienced wizard who leads this atelier. If the atelier is set in a secluded spot like the one our protagonist now lives in, there will be another adult mage that looks out for illegal happenings. Basically grumpy older brother/ uncle type character who is annoyed by the younglings because they're always so noisy and make a mess. Well unless illegal stuff happens, I assume that would be a problem.
When a non-mage accidentally finds out how wizards do magic and tries itrigger warning (view spoiler)[ loss of a parent, trauma, grief (hide spoiler)]
When a non-mage accidentally finds out how wizards do magic and tries it for herself, she petrifies her mother. Literally. Non-mages are not supposed to be in the know, so she has to decide between becoming a magic user and finding out if there is a way to reverse the spell, or losing all her memories and all hope of getting her mom back.
Had this on my radar since around the time it came out in Germany, mostly because of the amazing illustration style which did not disappoint. Found book one and two in the library and am glad I finally started this, the story is great and the pictures are very pleasing to look at.
Middlegrade is probably not the proper term for manga, and I could probably look up which other terms could be used, but I also could go read. If this were a western novel or comic I'd say it falls into middelgrade territory from the age of the protagonist and the likely target audience.
Beautifully illustrated retelling of a Tyrolean folktale. In the afterword the author said he read the original tale, but when he re-read it he found Beautifully illustrated retelling of a Tyrolean folktale. In the afterword the author said he read the original tale, but when he re-read it he found his brain had changed his memory of what he has read, and I am assuming what we have here is the version his brain came up with.
To help out when harvest suffers, a fantastical elixir is invented that makes vegetables bigger.
Very predictable plot if you're around in middlegrade To help out when harvest suffers, a fantastical elixir is invented that makes vegetables bigger.
Very predictable plot if you're around in middlegrade fantasy/ sci fi circles: Little sibling steals the thing and is fully hit by side effects. I can overlook that.
What bothered me was the pacing. The conclusion happened behind closed doors and we're simply presented with an ending. "Oh yes we did it". Yeah, no, that is not how you resolve a plot.
A group of friends dies at school in a chemistry lab accident, and all of them came back as ghosts. It's not as fun as being alive of course, but they band together to go on adventures and figure out they work pretty good together to steal stuff.
I have nothing bad to say about this book, it does what it promises. I decided to quit because it is one of those middlegrade books that are best enjoyed when you're in the target audience age range and are kind of boring when you're older and already read a ton of books like this. Which, again, is totally fine. Just not for me.
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