Dinosaurs Before Dark by Jenny Laird
My rating: 4 of 5 stars Thank you for the review copy from NetGalley and Random House Books for Young Readers. What? Magic Tree House as a graphic novel? Yes, please! This is a really quick read as a graphic novel adaptation for the 7- to 9-year-old crowd. The illustrations are bright, the text is sparse, and they kept my favorite line, “Then everything was still. Absolutely still.” The Magic Tree House books in my library don’t circulate as much as they used to, despite new copies. I hope that this graphic version, and any that follow, will serve as a “gateway book” to the Jack and Annie books. View all my reviews
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Darkwhispers by Vashti Hardy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars Thank you for the digital review copy from NetGalley and Norton Young Readers. All opinions are my own. 2nd in the Brightstorm series, Darkwhipsers follows Arthur and Maudie as they adventure out looking for Ermitage Wrigglesworth, who disappeared into the Wide while searching for the mythical fourth continent. Maudie is the inventor and engineer, but Arthur is observant and good at reading people. Arthur thinks that Ermitage left clues behind. He thinks that he saw a bear-like creature with gills, and he suspects that people on an island in Stella Oceana are covering up the truth about Ermitage. He’s right about all of it. Now Arthur is an accidental stowaway on the Culpepper ship, stolen by Eudora Vane, and things are about to get stranger and more dangerous. I would suggest reading Brightstorm first if possible. This adventure can stand on its own, but there are references to Thought Wolves and South Polaris from the first book without a lot of recap, and that might bother some readers. Plus, the first book is worth the read. Fans of A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat and Girl with the Dragon Heart by Stephanie Burgis will enjoy this imaginative world. View all my reviews |