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by Tui T. Sutherland

5 Stars

Wings of Fire: The Lost Continent tells the story of Blue, a 6-year-old dragonet and his sister Luna. Like other silk wings, Luna has her metamorphic day. During the day, Blue and Luna have fun as they go to Luna’s favourite restaurants and areas until her metamorphosis begins, except she’s a SilkWing. SilkWings are taken away by the wasp queen to be used for fire, and thus, she is taken by hive soldiers, and her brother is chased after possessed HiveWings in case he may be a SilkWing too. He and his friend, Io, escape while Swordtail tries to fight the HiveWings, but he is defeated and taken to Misbehaver’s Way. Io and blue are forced to split up, leading to Blue meeting Cricket, a HiveWing who isn’t possessed like the other HiveWings. The two then work together to find the prison swordtail is being held in. Once they find Swordtail, they end up making a deal with a group of LeafWings. LeafWing Sundew then tags along with Cricket and Blue, and the three successfully save Luna, steal the Book of Clearsight, and escape the Hive Queen promising to come back and save the rest of the dragons under her rule. This book is phenomenal. It constantly uses great descriptive words, and it never fails to keep a reader engaged. I would rate this a 10/10.  

Siji

View in Library Catalogue: Print

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by Ashley Herring Blake

5 Stars

A coming of age and magical book, Ashley Herring Blake has managed to capture the feelings of a young girl and the trauma she must live with. Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea is beautifully written, expressing the exact thoughts of a pre-teen. 

Hazel Bly and her family had what you could call, a perfect life. Her 2 moms, Mum and Mama, were the perfect example of a fairytale couple. Peach, her little sister, is a ball of energy who loves the water, and so does Hazel – so did Hazel.

After a terrible accident where Mum dies, Hazel has been left with a scar across her cheek and a deathly fear of water. Mama decides it is best to pack up and move… eight times. Hazel finds herself struggling with anxiety and PTSD, feeling like the world has a vendetta against her.

But while she stays in Rose Harbour, Mama re-connects with an old friend, and Hazel makes new ones. She learns of the tale of Rosemary Lee and starts to see the magic in everyday life.

The book covers the abundant troubles that young children face, such as identity crises’, feeling alone, not understanding the world, etc. It is a great book for children who need a reminder that what they are feeling is okay, and sometimes you are going to need a bit of help. It plays a positive note on queer relationships and identities, explaining that it is okay, not unholy. It explains the effects of losing a loved one, and how it is okay to move on.

A world where mermaids such as Rosemary Lee are real, doesn’t feel insincere because of the characters, who are written as though they are genuine. It pulls you into its own oceans, letting you feel as the characters do.

Sarah B.

View in Library Catalogue: Print

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Jarrett J. Krosoczka

3.5 Stars

Image result for L'Académie Jedi: Le directeur contre-attaque

Both as a French as an English book, I believe that this series overall has been very successful, until the original writer, Jeffrey Brown, left the trilogy as it was. So Jarrett J. Krosoczka, the author of Lunch Lady, took over and extended the trilogy with a brand new main character, Victor Starspeeder. The Principal Strikes Back describes Victor’s final year at the Jedi Academy, and it is one he will never forget.  

As anyone would presume, Jarrett’s extension to the series wouldn’t be as successful as the original trilogy that Brown began, but this book does do the series justice. I would personally recommend the English version of this book to younger people as the vocabulary would be lacking, whereas the French variant would be directed towards seventh to tenth-grade students. 

The story does get a bit stale at the midpoint, but I do think that it is very deserving as the sixth book in the series and the final year for Victor Starspeeder. The characters are mostly unique, but I would’ve liked to have seen more character development for Elara Ayres and Artémis Oophanoe. They didn’t have too much of an impact in this book in comparison to A New Class, the fourth book in the series. 

All in all, Le directeur contre-attaque is a little disappointing, but also what we expect when we think about how any series, whether it’s a movie, a show, or in this case, a book, will most likely get boring and stale as we approach the double-digits. 

Alec T.

View in Library Catalogue: Graphic Novel