No Talking

Title: No Talking

Author: Andrew Clements

Summary:  Dave, inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, tries going one whole school day without talking.  At lunch, a girl named Lynsey jabbering away to her friends sparks Dave into launching a fifth-grade-wide contest of who can say the fewest words in the next two days.  Dave keeps score for the girls and Lynsey keeps score for the boys.  Three-word answers were permissible when asked a question by a teacher - anything over that got counted.  The teachers discover the plot.  Most say it's disruptive, but Mr. Burton thinks it's very interesting.  He helps the kids explore their interactions with each other, having them pass notes instead of talking during one class, to make them think about what they're writing and how different it is from talking.  However, the principal makes a speech to prohibit their contest.  Though they agree with her verbally, they only use three words - the contest is still on.  Finally the principal yells at the entire fifth grade.  She steps out of line, and Dave stands up to her, breaking his silence and saying many illegal words.  It could destroy the boys' chance of winning the contest, but everyone in the fifth grade applauds him.  Later, Dave is sent to the principal's office.  He forgives her and invites her to join the contest.  

From that point forward, the contest is for the whole school.  On Thursday, they tally up the illegal words on both sides.  The boys are losing because of Dave's speech to the principal, and everyone knows it.  Just before the clock gets to twelve, when the contest would end, Lynsey intentionally says exactly the right number of words to tie the boys and the girls.  Dave and Lynsey, formerly enemies, have forged the sentiment of a team not only between each other, but also between the boys and the girls of fifth grade.  

Stars: 8

Violence: 0.  This book explored words and interactions more than the physical.  

Romance: 2 for when a girl kissed a boy on the cheek just to get him to exclaim in disgust (giving the boys more words).  

Language: 0

Appropriate for:  6 and up

Other:  This book really explored friendship and communication.  The humanizing of the principal and the friendship of Lynsey and Dave were a few of the communication aspects.  

Usually a common enemy builds friendships.  The teachers and the principal weren't really enemies, but they tried to stop the fifth graders.  Lynsey and Dave stood together, and while arranging everything so that they could continue their contest, they formed a relationship, which was a bridge between the male and female sides of the fifth grade.  

Sphinx's Princess

Title: Sphinx's Princess

Author: Esther Friesner

Summary:   Nefertiti, niece of the Queen of Egypt, is brought to the palace at Thebes.  She is coerced into marrying the crown prince, Thutmose, in three years' time.  He turns out to be a cold, boring person.  Nefertiti prefers his sister, Sitamun, and his brother, Amenhophis.  But then Thutmose becomes jealous and forbids her from seeing Amenhophis.  Then he gets her accused of a crime she hadn't done - killing his beloved cat.  It's only a crime because cats are sacred to Bast, an Egyptian goddess.  She is imprisoned, and a viper comes in to kill her at night - an obvious murder attempt.  

Stars: 7.  This was pretty good, actually.  Great description and all.  

Violence: 6 for Nefertiti kicking Thutmose in the leg and a bruise on Amenhophis (because Thutmose hit him).  

Romance: 7, there's an entire romantic tangled rivalry between Amenhophis and Thutmose.  Though Thutmose is obviously the worse choice for most of the book (the 5% in which he's being nice is a total fake, as Nefertiti finds out later), he is the crown prince.  In addition, he was the one who was supposed to marry Nefertiti.  

Language: 4, if you count swearing by Egyptian gods as swearing.  If not, then 0.  

Appropriate for:  Younger teen

Other: Friesner really captures my attention with her writing.  I barely even notice the writing style, because the story is so absorbing.  It sucks you in.  Luckily, reading is a pretty healthy addiction.  Just get everything you need to get done first before picking up this book, okay?  

The Capture

Title: The Capture

Author: Kathryn Lasky

Summary: Soren is snatched by the owls of St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls.  The Academy, also known as St. Aggie's, "moon blinks" their owls, causing them to mindlessly obey what the Academy tells them.  Gylfie, another owl, helps Soren resist being moon blinked.  Together they discover a plot to control all owls.  Two owls who secretly oppose St. Aggie's help Soren and Gylfie to escape.  Their names are Hortense and Grimble, and both are discovered and killed.  Once outside, Soren and Gylfie meet Twilight and Digger.  Both owls have been affected by St. Aggie's egg and owlet snatchings.  Together, they set off for the island where it is said the legendary Ga'Hoole owls live.  

Stars: 8.  The characters and description were amazing.   

Violence: 6, for when Hortense and Grimble are killed.  An owl who discovers Hortense giving one of the eggs she sits on to an eagle pushes Hortense off a cliff.  Her death isn't visually described.  The only thing said was that Hortense's voice grew fainter.  
Grimble, who fought an owl to help Soren and Gylfie escape St. Aggie's, was killed in that fight.  Soren and Gylfie were flying (and it was told from their perspective) so not much was described.  The "torn owl, bleeding and mortally wounded" was said to have "torn wings [and a] head at a weird angle", but that was it.  
The vampire bats who came and sucked owls' blood as a part of the St. Aggie's regime were not described in bloody detail.  (In fact, not a speck of blood was described . . .)  The procedure was quite ghastly enough.  

Romance: 0.  Finally I review a book with no romance.  

Language: 0.  There were no swear words, but there was one invented bad word (like D'Arvit in Artemis Fowl).  It was "racdrops", short for raccoon droppings.  

Appropriate for:  8 and up.  

Other: The description was amazing.  The best scene was Grimble's death.  "The night was splattered with blood" completely captured the spirit of the moment without giving too many gruesome details.  It also calls the reader's attention away from the physical cruelty of the murder and hints at the disruption of a larger cosmic order.  
A movie based on the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series came out recently.  It's apparently based on the first three books. Here's the review (written by my friend Gecko).  

Timothy of the Cay

Title: Timothy of the Cay

Author: Theodore Taylor

Summary: The stories of Timothy's childhood and Philip's life after he leaves the Cay are told in alternating chapters.  Timothy first goes to sea at age 14, becomes a captain of his own ship, and eventually serves on the ship where his life crosses with Philip's.  Philip undergoes a surgery to regain his vision.  When it works, he returns to his Cay to finally see everything that Timothy had described to him.

Stars: 6.  It was okay.  It could have been better.  Personally, I liked The Cay better than this book.

Violence: 4, Timothy was cuffed on the back of the head occasionally, and the fierce hurricane that killed Jennifer and her family was pretty violent.  However, nothing was too graphic.

Romance: 2-3.  Charlie told Timothy to settle down with a lady, but Timothy never really acted on it.

Language: 4 for d--n.

Appropriate for: 7-8, but only if you've read The Cay.

Other: The title of this book was extremely boring.  Even though it left out Philip's name, I thought that was particularly appropriate.  The Cay was told in the first person, from Philip's point of view, and his name was rarely ever mentioned.  However, there was nothing in the title that made me want to read the book, apart from The Cay being a good book.
I almost thought Timothy's story wasn't that essential, other than showing another angle of the discrimination against blacks.  I was more interested in Philip's story.  I almost wanted to just skip the Timothy chapters and read only the Philip chapters, but I resisted.