See my reviews for them by clicking on each book image.
ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND and THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS by Lewis Carroll
GENRE: Children's Fantasy
SETTING: England
MY GRADE: B
SYNOPSIS: Follow the White Rabbit through this classic tale in the magical world of Wonderland. Take tea with the Mad Hatter and March Hare, follow a game of croquet between Alice and the Queen of Hearts, and enjoy an adventure of logic that will entertain mature minds as much as the color illustrations will entertain young ones.
I like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It's a cute, imaginative story and I understand why the book has never gone out of print and is liked by both children and adults. I didn't care too much for the sequel because it just wasn't as interesting as the first and it seems like the author was just copying his previous work. The sequel didn't have the spark that the first one did.
I like Alice's personality but she seemed a whole lot older than seven years old, more like a young teen. I loved the humor too.
WHO STOLE HALLOWEEN? by Martha Freeman
GENRE: Fiction/Children's Mystery
SETTING: Pennsylvania
MY GRADE: C
SYNOPSIS: Alex and Yasmeen are back in action, this time on the trail of a serial cat-napper. Halloween is the first cat to go missing, stolen right from her bed on the front porch in the middle of the night. One by one more cats from the neighborhood disappear. It's rumored that the Harvey House Ghost is back and seeking vengeance. Will he strike again? It's up to Alex and Yasmeen to find out before Halloween is gone forever!
MY THOUGHTS: This wasn't good at all. No part was believable, especially the mystery surrounding the stolen cats. Both main characters are ten years old yet talk like teens or adults, especially Yasmeen. If you didn't know their ages and the main characters weren't on the cover, you'd have never guessed their correct ages. And I have no idea which cat that is on the cover. The cat named Halloween belongs to an older kid named Kyle and is an all black female, and main character Alex's cat is orange. We're told three times that Kyle is "pale", like that's a bad thing.
There's a second mystery in this involving a possible ghost and a murder from the late 19th century and it was so unnecessary to put two mysteries into one short book. The kids solved both mysteries on Halloween night. The catnapper mystery is solved Halloween night and the other mystery is solved the next day. There's repeated talk of a bloody crime scene with both main characters trying to figure out who murdered the person over 100 years ago. In actuality children that age wouldn't be involved with subject matter so dark, period, and those parts of the book aren't appropriate for the kids this middle grade book is marketed towards, ages 8-12. The only part I liked is something they did to Alex's cat Luau to help them catch the serial catnapper.
THE COMPLETE BRAMBLY HEDGE by Jill Barklem
GENRE: Children's Fiction
PURCHASE: link
MY GRADE: A+
SYNOPSIS: The mice of Brambly Hedge made their first appearance in 1980 when the four seasonal stories were published. Ever since, readers have loved exploring the miniature world of the hedgerow and meeting the families that live there.
In this collection the mice have many adventures, but they always have time for fun and relaxation too. Whatever the season, and whether they are by the sea, in the hills, or simply at home by the fire, there is always someone ready to lend a helping hand.
Contains all eight stories: Spring Story, Summer Story, Autumn Story, Winter Story, The Secret Staircase, The High Hills, Sea Story, Poppy’s Babies.
I'm going to summarize all eight stories below.
SPRING STORY- This story is about a surprise birthday picnic for Wilfred Toadflax. He lives with his family in a hornbeam tree. He's hanging out with Mr. Apple, who's warden of Store Stump, where all the food for the residents of Brambly Hedge is stored. Mr. Apple knows it's Wilfred's birthday so when he visits his daughter Daisy at her mansion, Old Oak Palace, that's inside a carved out oak tree, they decide to throw him a surprise picnic. The residents help out, they feast of layered hazelnut cake, and a good time is had by all.
You can see images from that story here.
You can watch an animated special here. Some changes were made the the story, like where the picnic was held.
SUMMER STORY- It's very hot so most days the mice hang out by the stream. Poppy and Dusty Dogwood, the miller, get engaged. She sits outside in the shade of tall kingcups embroidering her wedding dress. The wedding and reception is held on a raft.
See images from that story here.
You can watch an animated episode here.
AUTUMN STORY- Primrose is helping everyone gather up nuts and berries. No one can find her. Turns out she fell asleep near the cornfield. When she wakes up she goes exploring and finds a round tree high up. She climbs up and is caught peeking in the window. Two elderly harvest mice invite her in for tea and cake. She leaves, gets lost and while standing under a mushroom, sees a five-mice search party looking for her. She goes home and has acorn coffee.
You can see some images from the story here.
You can watch an animated special here.
WINTER STORY- Everyone rushes home because they can smell snow in the air. It snows, they all dig tunnels to the Store Stump. Mr. Apple declares a Snow Ball will be held in the Ice Hall.
You can see images from the story here.
Watch an animated story here.
THE SECRET STAIRCASE- Primrose and Wilfred are at Old Oak Palace. There's to be a midwinter celebration that night complete with entertainment by all of them so Primrose and Wilfred go to the attic to find costumes to wear. Behind green curtains they find a secret door. It leads into an entryway and a very long and winding staircase with many rooms on both sides of it. Everyone has fun at the celebration and Primrose and Wilfred keep the staircase a secret and plan to go through the door again in the future.
You can see a few images from the story here.
Watch an animated episode here, and part 2 here.
THE HIGH HILLS- It's the end of autumn. Weavers Lily and Flax are making blankets for some vole in the area. Wilfred's reading a book and it says there's gold to be found in the High Hills so he wants to go with them and Mr. Apple. They all go and have a soup dinner with the voles. Lily and Flax head home while Mr. Apple and Wilfred explore the area. They get lost, have to camp out in the cold, get trapped somehow, and Wilfred makes a raft and they travel home in it. He didn't find gold but learns that he's brought back rare lichen.
You can see images from the story here.
Watch part one of an animated episode here, and part 2 here.
SEA STORY- It's summertime. Primrose, Dusty, Poppy, and Wilfred go out on Dusty's boat, Periwinkle. They dock somewhere and see a mouse family sitting outside on the sand, which just happens to be the family of a mouse, Purlane, that Dusty was looking for. They live in a dune and their families have for generations. Dusty tells them they're out of salt at Brambly Hedge so they're given some. They give the mouse family some treats that they brought along. They have dinner with them and hang out at the beach for three days.
You can see images from the story here.
Watch parts 1 and 2 of an animated episode.
POPPY'S BABIES- It's the start of summer. Poppy's babies are Rose, Buttercup, Pipkin. Mr. Apple, with help from a lot of the mice, clean up an unused, large cottage called Mayblossom, as a gift for Poppy and family so they'll have more room.
You can seem images from the story here.
Watch parts 1 and 2 of an episode.
MY THOUGHTS: This hardcover book is fully illustrated in full color. The images from the dust jacket are printed directly onto the book, which is always nice. It contains all of the author's published stories. Almost every single page has illustrations. Each story is 30 pages and some of those pages contain full-page illustrations, some pages contain mostly text and some contain minimal text. The illustrations are beautiful but drab in color and mostly earth tones. You can see a video of someone showing the book here.
The stories are sweet and innocent and are good, clean fun. There aren't any villains in them and everyone gets along. Most are about the Brambly Hedge residents coming together to help one another out when they're needed. I do wish some other animals were involved, like birds and rabbits.
Beginning in 1996 the BBC produced stop-motion animated episodes for each of the eight books.
As of 2015, Jill had been living in an assisted living facility for a year and died in November 2017 of an undisclosed long-term illness(es).
THE INVITATION by Rachel Abbott
GENRE: Fiction/Suspense
SETTING: Cornwall, England
MY GRADE: B-
SYNOPSIS: The first time Jemma and Matt were invited to Polskirrin - the palatial ocean-view home belonging to Matt's old friend Lucas Jarrett - it was for an intimate wedding that ended in tragedy. Jemma will never forget the sight of the girl's pale, doll-like body bobbing listlessly toward the rocky shore.
Now, exactly one year later, Jemma and her husband have reluctantly returned at Lucas's request to honor an anniversary they would do anything to forget.
But what Lucas has in store for his guests is nothing like a candlelight vigil. Someone close remembers more from that night than they'll admit to, and Lucas has devised a little game for them all to make them tell the truth.
At least Jemma knows that she and Matt weren't involved in what happened to that young woman... or were they? Before you play a game with death, make sure you can pay the price...
MY THOUGHTS: This is a rerelease of a book that was first released this April under the title The Murder Game. The synopsis makes this sound so much more interesting and suspenseful than it actually was. I though Lucas was going to dole out punishment to everyone until the culprit was revealed but that didn't happen. It was interesting enough and held my interest the whole way through... until the end. I couldn't wait to find out who was responsible for several things that were going on but the ending was a convoluted disappointment. Too much went on in such a small time frame. The stuff involving Matt and Isobel at the end was beyond ridiculous. I didn't like the twist at the very end either. I've read a couple reviews where people said they saw the ending coming but I didn't predict any of it except I'd guessed the traumatic event that happened in Alex's past.
I don't know anything about British law enforcement but the two officers in here, Stephanie and Gus, didn't seem professional with the way they handled things. They kind of spoke to the guests like they were their friends rather than suspects. I couldn't have cared less about their love story and have no idea why the author thought we needed that considering all that was going on already.
I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
EVERY NINE SECONDS by Joseph Brockton (Queer as Folk Tie-In #1 of 3)
GENRE: Contemporary Gay Fiction
SETTING: Pennsylvania, USA
MY GRADE: A
SYNOPSIS: Flashback to 1989 with your favorite characters from Queer as Folk in this new line of books based on the record-breaking Showtime series hailed as "wonderful" (Newsweek) and "groundbreaking" (People)!
Before they were grown men working and playing in Pittsburgh, Brian Kinney and Michael Novotny were high-school friends dealing with bullies, secret crushes, and their emerging sexuality. Step back in time with two of Queer as Folk's hottest characters in the first book in this provocative new series.
On the eve of Brian Kinney's eighteenth birthday, he and his best friend, Michael Novotny, celebrate a bond that could link them forever if their future paths don't separate them for good. In a few short weeks Brian, the seductive soccer star, will leave for college, where he'll be free to explore the adult pursuits in which he's only dabbled in high school. Michael is destined for a more sedate life in community college while living at home with his eccentric mom. But before their lives diverge, a hot new club will open, they'll go to the prom "stag" together, and family strife will turn their world upside down. Brian and Michael still have some unforgettable times to share before graduation ushers in the next stages of their lives.
MY THOUGHTS: This was a very fun read. It's the first of three in the series. It starts eight minutes before Brian's 18th birthday and he's spending the night at Michael's, as he does many nights. The story takes place eleven years before the Showtime series starts. The time span is about three weeks, ending the night of or the day after their high school graduation. Brian's off to college on a soccer scholarship in a few days and Michael doesn't know if they'll remain friends since they won't see each other much.
The author captured all the main characters (Michael, Debbie, Brian and both of his parents) personalities and got the dialogue down pat, so true to what they'd have said on the show. The story played out like TV episodes and I loved visualizing Michael and Brian as they spoke. We see, even as teens, Michael's longing for Brian. I didn't like at all that a four-year-old Justin and his mother had a brief part in this. The age for Justin has him two years older than he would have been at the time anyway, as there's a twelve year difference between him and Brian, not fourteen.
This has a few explicit sex scenes, all but one with Michael, with the last one being between Brian and his soccer coach, Gary, who's in his late twenties, who he's been "active" with for some time, and I like that he was in this.
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