Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures

This is an amazing that all begins with a vacuum cleaner, the Ulysses Super-Suction, Multi-Terrain 2000X to be exact.  When this high powered machine gets loose in the back yard, one unsuspecting squirrel will be changed forever.  That's right, one squirrel will be sucked into the rampaging vacuum and come out with super powers (but very little hair)!

Flora and Ulysses (named after the vacuum) quickly bond, and Flora must do everything in her power to save the super squirrel for arch enemies and evil cats!

But that's not all, their adventures will change Flora forever.  She'll meet new friends, make startling discoveries and maybe discover that she isn't such a hard-hearted cynic after all.

This book was great fun to read, and K. G. Campbell's illustrations and panels are wonderful!  Kate DiCamillo is also the author of Because of Winn-Dixie, and her fans won't be dissappointed.  This is a fun loving book with a heart of gold!

Tua and the Elephant

Tua's name means peanut because she was as small as a peanut when she was born.  The name still fits because she is a small girl with a big heart!

One day in the market in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Tua discovers an abused elephant help captive by her cruel masters.  Tua and the elephant have an immediate connection, and before she knows what she is doing, Tua is rescuing an elephant.  She decides to call the elephant Pohn-Pohn because it means double happiness.

But this is just the beginning of Tua's troubles.  Where do you hide an elephant?  How do you feed one?  And how can Tua keep Pohn-Pohn safe from her cruel masters who will try anything to get their property back?

Author R. P. Harris wrote Tua and the Elephant after a trip to Thailand where he visited an elephant sanctuary.  All animal lovers will enjoy this story of friendship and loyalty.

Watch the video below to meet Lek and her elephants, who inspired this book.

Freaky Fast Frankie Joe

When Frankie Joe's mom goes to jail, he is forced to leave his home at the Lone Star Trailer Park in Laredo, TX, to live with a father he doesn't know in Clearview, IL.  Frankie Joe loves his life in the Texas desert with his retired neighbors and best friends.  Besides, his mom needs him.  He knows this move is only temporary, and he can't wait to get home.

He soon discovers that his father has a wife and four other sons, and Frankie Joe's arrival unsettles everyone.  His four brothers resent him, and school is a disaster.  School was never that important to Frankie Joe's mom, so it was never that important to him.  He's paying for that now.

The only good thing is Frankie Joe's new business plan.  He starts making deliveries for people in town to earn extra money, and everyone starts to count on him.  Why does he need all that extra money?  Frankie Joe isn't going to stay in Clearview one minute longer than he has to.  Once he's gone, he can get back to his normal life, and so can everyone else.

Read Lutricia Clifton's novel about family, responsibility, and find where you belong.

Walls Within Walls

The Smithfork kids are not happy about moving to Manhattan.  Having a dad who is a the designer of one of the most popular video games sounds great, but when Bruce Smithfork suddenly became a success, the family moved from there beloved Brooklyn neighborhood to a strange apartment that is part of an old mansion.  The people there are weird, not friendly like their
Brooklyn neighbors.  Plus, their dad now spends all of his time at work instead of spending time with his family and letting them test out new video games, and their mom spends all her time shopping and decorating, so she has none left for the kids.

CJ, Brid, and Patrick are left with a cranky nanny and loneliness.  It doesn't take long, however, for them to discover that there are secrets buried in their new home, secrets that might lead to a treasure that's been lost for decades.

As soon as they start investigating, weird things begin to happen.  Are their neighbors really who they say they are?  Will searching for this treasure put the kids in the path of criminals and kidnappers?  Besides, how can three kids solve a mystery that has stumped detectives and adults for decades?

Read Maureen Sherry's book to find out.  Will you solve the mystery before the Smithforks can?

Overall I enjoyed this mystery, but the characterization was a little weak at time for me.  I was confused as to why some of the characters were in the book at all.  I did enjoy the mystery and the National Treasure style search for clues.  I recommend this book for fans of The Westing Game and Chasing Vermeer.

Whatever After: Fairest of All

In the first book of this new series by Sarah Mlynowski, Abby and her little brother Jonah discover that the mirror in the basement of their new house is no ordinary mirror.  It is actually a passageway into a fairytale kingdom!

They arrive just in time to stop Snow White from eating the evil queen's apple.  Awesome!  They are heroes!  Until they realize that now Snow White won't die, so she can meet her handsome prince and live happily ever after.  Oops.

Now Jonah and Abby have to find a way to fix Snow White's story and get home before their parents realize they are gone and freak out!  That's a lot to accomplish.  It's a good thing they have each other.

I really enjoyed this good fairy tale romp with all the original characters plus a modern twist!  Check out the Scholastic website for for Whatever After games and info!

The Humming Room

In Ellen Potter's update of The Secret Garden, Roo Fanshaw is a quiet girl who is more comfortable alone in dark quiet places where she can be close to nature, but now that her father is dead, everything will change for her.

Her life in the trailer wasn't perfect, but it was familiar.  Now, she is sent to live with an uncle she's never met on an island called Cough Rock so named because her uncle's house was once a hospital for children with tuberculosis.

This creepy former hospital is filled with the ghosts of the dead and provides a mysterious atmosphere for the story.  There are moments of intensity and oddity in this book that I really enjoyed, but I wanted a bit more characterization and plot, especially at the end.  Still it does have great atmosphere and mood, and if that's what you're looking for, you'll be satisfied with this one.