A Gaggle of Book Reviews

This review is part of a MotherTalk blog tour, and I received this book from the publisher to review.

The Dark Dreamweaver (The Remin Chronicles) is a tween/teen fantasy novel by Nick Ruth,with illustrations by Sue Concannon. The book blends imagination, magic, dreams, and monarch butterflies – some of our favorite things!

The beginning of The Dark Dreamweaver is dense, with a lot of information and small print. Our listeners liked the story, but found that the chapters were too long to read all at once (they, um, fell asleep). However, they loved the story itself. The beginning is slow, too – there’s a lot of set-up information that the reader needs, before the “good part” can begin. This can be hard for younger readers/listeners, as many might put down the book, not knowing how good it can get from the beginning!

Remin is a land of imagination, where dreams are created. The wizard of Remin, Houdin, has been forced out of Remin by his arch-enemy, Thane. Thane is creating nightmares and bad dreams for all the people around Earth. Houdin is stuck in the body of a caterpillar on Earth, and asks David (a young boy) to help him return to Remin and fix the situation with the dreams and return him to his original form. To do this, Houdin must manipulate David’s dreams that night so he can return to Remin.

The world within Remin is fascinating – once our little readership group had gotten to that part of The Dark Dreamweaver, it was hard to stop each night! There are wizards, magical creatures, doors that talk, wands, talking animals, and bad guys – all things that excite the imagination and minds of young listeners.

Once we had gotten through the first couple chapters of The Dark Dreamweaver, we really enjoyed it. Our reading group was on the young end of the age spectrum (7 & 9 years old), but it wasn’t too scary for these kids who have listened to Harry Potter books 1-4! I would recommend it for ages 7+ as a read-aloud chapter book, or ages 9+ for read-it-themselves. This is with the understanding that kids aren’t incredibly sensitive to magical violence and suspense (ie: kids who have already enjoyed Harry Potter). Now that there aren’t any more Harry Potter books coming out, my kids are looking forward to more books in the Remin Chronicles – sequels to The Dark Dreamweaver.

I’ve been talking to friends with 10-12 year old boys, and there is both an overabundance and a dearth of good reading material for that age group. If the boy is interested in sci-fi/fantasy, there is plenty to read: Harry Potter, Diana Wynne Jones, James Patterson’s “Maximum Ride” series, and many other. However, if he isn’t interested in that, it gets more difficult to find good books.

Dundurn Press in Canada is publishing many fabulous novels, including these two with boys as the main characters. They are not historical (another big subgroup), nor are they fantasy – they are about tween/early teen boys living their lives in today’s world. I was so excited to read these books, and I’m passing them on to the tween-age boys I know.

Speechless is a novel by Valerie Sherrard. This first-person story is told by Griffin, a quiet boy who is easily overshadowed by his sister at home and other kids in his class. Griffin had to do a speech the previous year, and was pushed by his mother into doing a very embarrassing speech. When he learns that his English class is requiring a speech this year, he decides to not speak for the rest of the year.

This seemingly small decision makes huge changes for Griffin. When he is Speechless, he finds out that his choice has major repercussions. He realizes that he needs to have a reason for being silent, and comes up with a human rights cause. Griffin ends up doing more and more in the public spotlight than he would ever have done with his speech, all because he chose silence. This is a fabulous book for boys and girls who are nervous about public speaking or just kids who want to read about other kids their own age.

Ms. Zephyr’s Notebook is a novel told in the third person by kc dyer that looks like it is a notebook. Inside, there is a story told through notes to the hospital’s teacher (Ms. Zephyr, or Abby) from a teenage rugby star with leukemia, Logan; a younger boy in kidney failure named Kip; and a teenage girl named Cleo who has an eating disorder. The story starts with Logan sneaking into the hospital to find out where Cleo is, as she has gone missing. Logan and Kip go through the essays and notes in Ms. Zephyr’s notebook to find clues to where Cleo has gone and how to find her.

While we see the story unfold, we watch the characters grow up, from angry and immature to sensitive but troubled. The characters develop so well within the book that it is almost impossible to put down. We begin to learn and care about why Logan is angry, why Cleo is acting out, and learn how grown up Kip can be due to his own health problems. The hunt for Cleo brings everyone closer, and the story keeps you guessing about what wil happen next. The memos and notes inside the notebook show the best and worst of everyone, and make it fascinating reading. What I found really unusual is that the title character (Ms. Zephyr) is not in the story, she is only seen through the eyes of the 3 teens/tweens.

I know that just like some teens and tweens will dismiss the Maximum Ride series because it is sci-fi/fantasy, others will dismiss these two novels as being to touchy-feely. I think it’s good to have both types of books available for whomever wants to read them, and applaud Dundurn Press for publishing so many great books for the young adult age group!