Review: Talisman of El by Alecia Stone

Title: Talisman of El 
Author: Alecia Stone 
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Release date: May 20, 2012
Publisher: Centrinian Publishing
Format: eBook
Pages: 364
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Links: Goodreads | Amazon (Hardcover) | Bookdepository
Read from May 18 - 23, 2012
My rating: 

Summary: When 14-year-old Char­lie Blake wakes up sweat­ing and gasp­ing for air in the mid­dle of the night, he knows it is hap­pen­ing again. This time he wit­nesses a bru­tal mur­der. He's afraid to tell any­one. No one would believe him ... because it was a dream. Just like the one he had four years ago - the day before his dad died. Char­lie doesn't know why this is hap­pen­ing. He would give any­thing to have an ordi­nary life. The prob­lem: he doesn't belong in the world he knows as home. He belongs with the others.

What if your whole life was a lie? One Planet. Two Worlds. Population: Human ... 7 billion. Others ... unknown. 

Talisman of El is a debut book from Alecia Stone. It's a fantasy fiction for the children to young adult age groups, but really, anyone can read it. This is one of the most gripping novels I've read this year and I very much enjoyed it.

Charlie Blake, aged 14, is an orphan. When he gets adopted by Jacob, who's being real nice to him, he thinks maybe he's finally found the place he belongs. Charlie's always been hearing weird noises that seem to come out of nowhere and having weird visions and nightmares, but what he doesn't know is that it's not because he's a freak, but because he's different. There are things he doesn't know about his past and the world, and he doesn't realize that until one day he runs into a man he's been having nightmares about, who has the Talisman of El. The man, Derkein, is in search of open gateways to Arcadia, the world beneath the surface of Earth. Derkein takes Charlie, Alex and Richmond with him on an exciting and unpredictable adventure to find and enter Arcadia. There they meet the Arcadians, and Charlie gets to learn about his past and who he really is, and then comes the time when he realizes that the future of mankind lies in his hands.

It seems like that's all much I can say in this review without including spoilers. Talisman of El had me hooked since page one. It's a mysterious and adventurous and kept me wanting to know more. This action-packed fantasy is very well written. I love how one thing just leads to another and another and how the story seems to endlessly progress, always surprises and twists and turns. The characters are very well portrayed and I love the connection between them. I was quite surprise to see mythology in this book as well, but it only adds to the awesomeness of the book.

Although there were times when I felt like this book was longer than it really needed to be, it wasn't a big deal and didn't really bother me. I recommend this book to those of you who love fantasy and adventure, as this book is full of them!

Talisman of El is the first book in a planned trilogy. The second book, currently untitled, is expected to come out in 2013. 

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This review is also posted on Goodreads.

A digital copy of this book was provided by the publisher and NetGalley for review.


Guest Post: The Language of Arcadia by Alecia Stone.

Review: The Tiptoe Guide to Tracking Fairies by Ammi-Joan Paquette

 

Title: The Tiptoe Guide to Tracking Fairies
Author: Ammi-Joan Paquette
Illustrator: Christa Unzner
Release Date: May 12, 2009
Publisher: Tanglewood Press
Pages: 32
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookdepository
Read on March 19, 2012
My rating: 

Summary: Children learn to spot the tell-tale signs of fairies in residence in this delightful mix of photos and illustrations. Then children can take their tracking skills outside to discover the magic in their own backyard and celebrate nature. Full color.

A very cute book!

The Tiptoe Guide to Tracking Fairies isn't a story book. It doesn't have main characters or any stories at all. It's just, as the title suggests, a "guide" to tracking fairies. So you shouldn't expect to read a story about a little girl trying to catch fairies or whatever.

However, this book is still very fun to look at! There are pictures on every page, and there's also some text. The text only acts like a guide which talks about places where fairies are found. What I really like is that there are usually two to four pictures of the same place. In that case, the first picture is always a real photo taken with a camera which shows children's fingers pointing to something like a rock or a pile or grass, and then the next pictures will be the that of the same place zoomed-in, in different angles, with colorful little fairies edited in.

I especially like the drawn fairies! The colorful illustrations are very well done and blend in perfectly with the real photographs. Details are extraordinary.

I guess this book tries to tell us that fairies or magical things are everywhere around us, we just have to "really look". ;) I really like it!


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This review is also posted on Goodreads.

I received an e-copy from NetGalley and Tanglewood for review.

Review: Wolf Camp by Katie McKy

Title: Wolf Camp
Author: Katie McKy
Illustrator: Bonnie Leick
Release Date: April 15, 2009
Publisher: Tanglewood Press
Pages: 32
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookdepository
Read on March 18, 2012
My rating:

Summary: Maddie's mother agrees to send her daughter to a new camp - Wolf Camp. But when Maddie returns, she seems, well, changed. She snaps at flies, howls at fire trucks, and chases squirrels - on all fours. She quits eating candy and starts eating meat - only meat. And the dog is now afraid of her when she lifts her lip and shows her teeth. What child hasn't fantasized about being an animal? And what parent hasn't exclaimed over the transformation in their child when picking him or her up from camp? This book intertwines these two themes in a hilarious story of a very different kind of camping experience.

WOLF CAMP is a children picture book about a girl named Maddie. One day Maddie shows her mother a flyer for Wolf Camp. It says: "Put your child in the wilds." And then Maddie is gone for two weeks. The first day she writes home a letter saying that it's weird at the camp. On the second day she writes again to tell her parents that she likes it there. After that her parents don't receive any letters again, so they assume she's having fun at the camp!

When Maddie gets back from the camp, her behaviors have changed noticeably, such as when her dog, the collie, sniffs her, she sniffs back! She also growls and runs after a squirrel and howls. She's not herself anymore!

At first I read this book on my Kindle, and thought it was totally weird. On the Kindle, the pictures are black and white and very small. But when I opened the file on my computer to read, it's different! Two pages on each side are connected and the story suddenly makes more sense and becomes easier to follow. With full-color everything is better too! I didn't like the illustrations when I saw them on the Kindle but now I do. They're quite nice. I especially like the coloring. It looks like watercolor on some pages, but I'm not sure. The colors really makes the pictures stand out and seem real.

A cute book!


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This review is also posted on Goodreads.

I received an e-copy from NetGalley and Tanglewood for review.

Review: Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

Title: Wonderstruck
Author: Brian Selznick
Genre: Children, Picture Books
Release Date: September 13, 2011
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 640
Format: Hardcover
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookdepository
Read from February 10 and 15, 2012
My rating: 

Summary: Ben and Rose secretly wish their lives were different. Ben longs for the father he has never known. Rose dreams of a mysterious actress whose life she chronicles in a scrapbook. When Ben discovers a puzzling clue in his mother's room and Rose reads an enticing headline in the newspaper, both children set out alone on desperate quests to find what they are missing. Set fifty years apart, these two independent stories--Ben's told in words, Rose's in pictures--weave back and forth with mesmerizing symmetry. How they unfold and ultimately intertwine will surprise you, challenge you, and leave you breathless with wonder.

Whew! Selznick did it again!

I didn't know what to expect when I started it, for which I'm glad. For that reason, the book continued to be mysterious and interesting for me all the way until the big secret is revealed and the story unfolds. Thrilling, it really was! 

Wonderstruck is two stories in one. They're set fifty years apart. One about a girl, one about a boy. Unlike The Invention of Hugo Cabret, whose illustrations and text support each other and tell one single story about Hugo, Wonderstruck's illustrations tell the story of Rose's, while the words the story of Ben's, separately at first, until they come together wonderfully at one point in the book. 

These two stories are by all means exceptional. I really like them. More details and things in the past are revealed as the stories go on. And again, like with Hugo, those things can take your breath away. I can't help but notice that Selznick really has a thing for creating sad, parent-less, looking-for-something children as main characters. Not that we can really complain about it, can we? He really knows how to deal with them and make the stories work! 

If there's one thing I enjoy more than the writing, it's the illustrations. Guys, THEY ARE GORGEOUS. No kidding. He's successfully won the "my favorite illustrator" place in my heart with Hugo, and now he's reminding me that he's still got it. BRAVO! Every line enriches the feeling the pictures give. I can't quite put my fingers on it. The sadness in Rose's eyes show. The emptiness she feels. The anger in her father's face. The hope in Ben's eyes. The fierceness in the wolves. Wonderful. Delightful. Magnificent. AMAZING. 

However, despite all the positive comments, I have to be honest with you and say that I didn't love it as much as The Invention of Hugo Cabret. I mean, I like that the stories switch back and forth and always left me breathless, eager for more. The illustrations are breathtaking, as always, with painstaking details. But I don't really feel the characters most of the time, and they don't stay with me. And I also feel like there are some unnecessary elements in the story that could have been left out without causing any damage. I don't love it, I just really like it. Therefore 4 stars. Or maybe 4.5. Or 4.75. But not 5, sorry.

Maybe next time. It might even end up on my favorite shelf. But not now.

Wonderstruck is on my wishlist. :-)


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This review is also posted on Goodreads.

Review: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Title: The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Author: Brian Selznick
Genre: Children Mystery
Release Date: January 30th, 2007
This edition: March 1st, 2007
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 533
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookdepository

Read on December 25th, 2011
My rating: + 

Summary: Orphan Hugo Cabret lives in a wall. His secret home is etched out in the crevices of a busy Paris train station. Part-time clock keeper, part-time thief, he leads a life of quiet routine until he gets involved with an eccentric, bookish young girl and an angry old man who runs a toy booth in the station. The Invention of Hugo Cabret unfolds its cryptic, magical story in a format that blends elements of picture book, novel, graphic novel, and film. Caldecott Honor-winning author-illustrator Brian Selznick has fashioned an intricate puzzle story that binds the reader like a mesmerist's spell.

I can't believe I only got to read this awesomeness almost 5 years after its publication. Yes, it is AWESOME. One of the best for me this year!

This mind-blowing book is about a boy named Hugo Cabret. Parentless, he lived with his uncle inside a train station in France for some time, helping him with his job by fixing the clocks in the station. One day his uncle disappeared, but Hugo keeps doing his job anyway. 

In his room, Hugo has a project going on. Hugo's father, while still alive, worked in a museum, and found a broken automaton there, apparently unwanted. He began fixing it, and Hugo was also excited. But unfortunately, one day the fire broke out in the museum and almost everything was destroyed. Hugo lost his father. Somehow the automaton survived the fire. Hugo took it home and began fixing it following his father's drawings and notes in one of his many notebooks given to Hugo. 

Our little Hugo is also a thief. He steals food because he's starving. He steals toys from the toy shop because he needs parts for the automaton. One day he's caught, and that's how he met Papa George, the owner of the shop, and Isabelle, his goddaughter, whom Hugo befriends. Together with some help from Isabelle, Hugo digs deep into the past of Papa George, as revealed by the automaton, and help the man get his life back. 

What do I love about this book? Hmmm.. let's see. The story. Any stories with parent-less protagonists are usually good for me. I cried a little bit when Hugo thinks about his dad (don't I always?). I love how everything is perfectly tied together. When something is mentioned, it isn't just mentioned just for the sake of being mentioned, it actually has a meaning and it also plays a part in revealing the past! For example, Papa George doesn't like the sound of heels clicking, and doesn't allow Isabelle to go see any movies, because he used to make films in the past and the life he once had is haunting him. I also love how strong the characters come out to be. The book is very cleverly written indeed!

However, the illustration is even better than the writing. It's amazing how one picture can say so much, and how much it can make you feel its power just by you looking at it. The artwork is gorgeously drawn. You can see every line and minor detail that together make perfection. So very beautiful. Breathtaking. At first I wasn't sure, but after I've finished it, I felt like I had to own a copy. I know I'll have to look at those illustrations again and again. 

In short: big fat five stars. You can't get enough. Must-read. It's just so incredibly awesome. 

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This review is also posted on Goodreads.