Young Samurai, The Way of the Warrior

Hola. By Chris Bradford, Young Samurai, The Way of the Warrior. Jack Fletcher is a young English boy who, with his father, has been sailing to the unknown land of Japan. After a shipwreck and a pirate-ninja attack, all Jack has left is his father's rutter—a priceless book of extremely accurate maps and charts. When Jack is taken in by Masamoto-sama, one of the most revered samurai in Japan, he learns that Dragon Eye, one of the pirates, is after the rutter. However, Jack's worries do not stop there. While at his samurai school, he is harassed for being an outsider. But in the end, will Jack see that trading Jack Fletcher for Jack-kun may not be so bad after all? I really enjoyed this book. Jack was an interesting character, made very realistic by his occasional frustration but lovable by his courage and loyalty. My main problem was that the chapters were so short! It could have had half as many chapter breaks and been even better. I also liked the other characters. Yamato is deep, and Yori is quietly forceful. Personal favorite: Akiko! Really great read, four stars!

Tortall and Other Lands, a Collection of Tales

Hola... I have been reading as much as possible! Tortall and Other Lands, a Collection of Tales is by Tamora Pierce. These eleven short stories concern a myriad of different topics, from continuations of her previous fantasy books to modern, more realistic stories. I will tell you about my two favorites and two least-favorites. Bad first. Nawat is the story of a half-man and half-crow being, who is shunned for his humanity. Huntress is the other one. It is about a girl whose family worships old gods, and tries to fit in at school (I know, it even sounds weird). Both of these stories are strange, with boring characters and lame plots, I can't give you a full report because I didn't finish either. Half stars each. My two favorites were The Dragon's Tale and Plain Magic. The first was about what happens to Daine's dragon "Kitten", after the series, The Immortals (As seen in Wild Magic, a previous blog), ends. The latter is about a peddler who visits a village that is being attacked by a dragon, and saves an unfortunate girl. Although I will admit that all of the stories lack Pierce's usual charm, they were good and entertaining. (It was also nice to know what happened to the characters in Wild Magic. I give each three stars.

The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Field Guide

Hola, The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Field Guide, by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. After Malory, Simon, and Jared's father leaves, their family life takes a definite downturn. They move with their mother into an extremely old house that seems to be coming apart by the seams, and owned by a possibly older woman. After only the first night, strange things begin to happen, but the more informed they become, the worse their situation looks. I read this book in about fifteen minutes. I think that the authors should have combined all of the five books into one decent-sized book. Their mother, Helen, seemed awfully quick to accuse Jared of the problems. The plot was non-existent, I felt as if I read the first chapter rather than an entire book. All of this books problems seem to come from its length, we don't even learn anything about the characters in its measly 107 pages! Highly unsatisfactory! One and a half stars.

Twilight

HOLA!!!! I had to do it eventually! Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer. Bella Swan has moved herself from the sunny paradise of her home in Phoenix to Forks, Washington because of her mother's remarriage. She thinks that this will be at best a boring, sleepy little town and at worst torture. Both of her assumptions are proven wrong however, as soon as she meets Edward Cullen. With Bella's world opened up to the vampires, her life has been changed forever. But is it for the better? And does it even matter? Okay, I'll admit, I am a fan. The writing is horrible and the characters are far from realistic but it is highly entertaining. The other thing that I don't like is Jacob in general. He is whiny, violent, and adds absolutely nothing to the story. I also don't like how Edward seems to be bipolar. Despite its numerous faults, Twilight is a rather addictive series. One and a half stars.