Scat- Carl Hiaasen

Scat is Carl Hiaasen's third foray into children's fiction after the delightful Hoot, and the unread (at least by me) Flush. Ordinarily he writes adult crime fiction as well as a regular column for the Miami Herald. Very few writers can create a tangible sense of place the way Hiaasen describes the ins and outs, the oddballs, the beauty, and the corruption of his beloved south Florida, and Scat is no exception.

In Scat, Hiassen deftly weaves several seemingly disparate story lines into a compelling mystery that involves (among many other things) an endangered Florida Panther, a missing teacher, a certifiably insane substitute, the redemption of a juvenile delinquent, the Iraq war, crooked oil companies, and the environmental movement. Hiaasen deserves special props for his shout out to Edward Abbey's proto- Earth First! classic The Monkeywrench Gang. (Read it when you're older kiddies.)

Nick and Marta endure the daily tyranny of Bunny Starch's biology class, suffering through pop quizzes and being called on randomly. Mrs. Starch has the reputation of a witch, and it is rumored that her home contains any variety of venomous creatures, which she uses for her own nefarious ends.

Then, on a field trip to Black Vine Swamp, Mrs. Starch disappears during a forest fire. Despite this sudden departure, Nick and Marta continue to see her car around town, and are convinced that there is more to the situation than the "family emergency" that everyone uses to explain her sudden absence.

Throughout their investigations, they run afoul of the local pyromaniac (Duane, but he likes to be called "Smoke"), and a corrupt oil company. Soon their research begins to overlap with an extremely endangered Florida panther, an environmental activist, illegal oil drilling, roadside bombs in Iraq and the politics of an elite private school.

Despite these seemingly disconnected plot elements, Hiaasen does a masterful job of tying everything together. He paints a picture of grassroots environmental action, and never lets the reader forget how one person can make a difference when it comes to protecting the world around us. Highly recommended for mystery fans, lovers of the environment, or connoisseurs of original, offbeat and hilarious characters.

Carl Hiaasen

Stormbreaker- Anthony Horowitz

Today's extra special guest blog comes to us courtesy of Hot Water. He/she is reviewing the James Bond Junioresque adventures of Alex Rider in the popular series by Anthony Horowitz. Synchronize your watches and make sure you've got your pen laser securely hidden before reading on...

Sir Readsalot

Stormbreaker written by Anthony Horowitz is an exciting book. It is the beginning of a series called “Alex Rider.” Stormbreaker’s main character is a fourteen-year-old boy named Alex Rider.

In the story, Alex suddenly finds his Uncle, Ian Rider (who never liked the title Uncle), dead in a car accident. Alex doesn’t think that his Uncle dead in a “car accident” after he sees a gun hidden behind the jacket of the funeral car limo driver.

Alex’s curiosity over-takes his senses and before he knows it, Alex finds himself at the junkyard where his uncle’s car went after he died. Seeing bullets in the windshield confirms his suspicions.

Suddenly, after a series of events, Alex finds himself working for the M16, Britain’s intelligence agency. The M16 thinks the same as Alex and they send Alex on a dangerous mission to try to save the world. Read Stormbreaker to see what happens to Alex.

Twilight- Stephanie Meyer

Today's extra special guest blog comes courtesy of AS. He/she has graciously agreed to tackle the cultural juggernaut that is the "Twilight" series. To me, vampires are bloodthirsty, soulless, monsters that want nothing more than to devour us, not sensitive souls who just want to find love. But hey, who am I to stand in the way of the zeitgeist? Enjoy.

-Sir Readsalot

Lions, tigers, and vampires? The first book, Twilight, in the hot new saga by Stephanie Meyer, features Edward, a mysterious vampire slowly falling in love with Bella, a normal human with an aversion to blood. Can this secret love work out? Can a vampire be with a mortal girl?
Primarily, Bella is clueless of Edward being a blood-sucking immortal, who would live forever unless killed. Soon, she fits together the puzzle and comes to the conclusion that Edward is a vampire.
Edward finds himself being drawn toward Bella and protecting her from the dangers of other vampires and even other humans. But being a vampire has made Edward and his siblings stop the ageing process. As Bella grows older she longs to stop maturing so she can be with Edward for eternity.
Throughout this book, there is suspense and romance, danger and anger. It is nearly unpredictable and every turn of a page could be Bella’s death.

The 39 Clues: Book 1 The Maze of Bones- Rick Riordan

OK, I've had the link to the website posted since the earliest days of this blog waaaaay back in the late summer of 2008, so I guess it's finally time I tackled the multi-platform, epic in the making, Internet tie ins galore, collectible trading cards included Juggernaut that is The 39 Clues.

Volume I (Apparently each volume will be written by a different author), Th Maze of Bones, was written by Rick Riordan whose work on the "Percy and the Olympians" series (The Lightning Thief, Sea of Monsters, etc...) I admire, so I decided to crack it open in search of the answer to that all-important question, "But is the book any good?"

The answer? A surprising yes. You all know how I feel about most series, and this one seemed more soulless and prepackaged than most, but by the end of The Maze of Bones, I had decided to read further, something I certainly can't say for all Volume I s I encounter.

Well, it starts out with the line "Five minutes before she died, Grace Cahill changed her will." OK, I'm in. Death, last minute will alterations, world-wide ramifications, those are definitely ingredients that can be baked in to a compelling yarn.

The afore-mentioned Ms. Cahill is changing her will to offer a Westing Game style scavenger hunt to her considerable number of heirs. The main two are Amy and Dan Cahill, and they also seem to be the only ones actually named Cahill. At the reading of the will Amy, Dan an many other heirs (of all ages, genders, and nationalities) are informed that they may either accept one million dollars, or participate in a hunt for 39 clues around the world. The team that finds the final clues will become the most powerful and influential Cahill ever.

Apparently all famous figures throughout history were Cahills of one sort or another: Thomas Jefferson, Pablo Picasso, Mozart, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Napoleon, etc... To further complicate matters, the Cahills have been split into four feuding and competing factions- The Janus, Ekaterinas, Tomas, and Lucian. All of the current heirs competing for the clues are from these different divisions. The branches of Grace Cahill as well as Amy and Dan are not mentioned in the first volume.

Once Amy and Dan agree to accept the challenge (Of course they've been orphaned as small children, so they are being raised by a dowdy and overbearing aunt.) they are immediately plunged into life-threatening danger. Without revealing too much, they barely escape the reading of the will with their lives, and are soon on their way to Paris on the trail of Benjamin Franklin, who was apparently a member of the Lucian branch.

Intrigue, explosions, codes, hidden messages, catacombs, double crosses, triple crosses, and and other high adventure follows shortly thereafter. Dan and Amy have to use their wits (Amy is very bookish while Dan provides a keen number sense and a head for codes and patterns) to stay in front of their murderous competitors, both their own distant relatives, and some other shadowy figures whose presences are never fully explained in The Maze of Bones.

Overall, the tension and excitement are maintained throughout. Since this is a preconceived series, Volume I wrapped up in a relatively tidy fashion. Volume II sees Dan, Amy, and the rest of the Cahills on the way to Vienna in search of a clue concerning Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.


After finishing the book, the first thing I did was head to 39Clues.com in order to register myself. After picking a username (SirReadsalot of course), I was prompted with a series of questions in order to determine what family branch I would be. I wasn't sure why I would need to do this, but I certainly did not want to deny myself even the tiniest bit of the 39 Clues experience.

After answering a series of questions as truthfully as possible ("Remember, we can TELL if you are lying" I was warned at one point), I was the presented with the following message:

Excellent!

You’ve been identified as a member of the Ekaterina branch. We’re sure it’s a relief to understand why you’re so much smarter than everyone you know. You’re related to the most brilliant scientists and inventors in history – Albert Einstein, for instance. The other branches don’t stand a chance!

OK, so I'm an "Ekaterina," whatever that means. I wonder if that is a good thing? Moving on...

It remains to be seen whether or not the website and trading cards will either add to, or take away from the reading experience, but I'll let you all know after I take in Volume II: One False Note, by Gordon Korman.

Inkheart- Cornelia Funke

Today's extra special guest blogger is a returning hero, Melody Howder. She is tackling on of the epic fantasy cycles that seemed to spring up in the wake of Harry Potter' success. In my humble opinion, it's better then most, but let's see what she has to say...

Inkheart is about a girl named Meggie who lives with her father Mo. Mo has a special power that can read characters in and out of books when he reads out loud. If he reads something out of the book something from his world has to go into the book. When Meggie was young, Mo read the book Inkheart (the title of the book with in the book) to find himself reading is wife into book while taking out of the books two bad guys named Basta and Capricorn. After ten years pass, a good guy (sometimes bad) that also came out of the book named Dustfinger comes to warn them about all the bad things Basta, Capricorn, and the rest of their crew have done. Meggie and Mo then go on an adventure to put Dustfinger back into Inkheart and to restore everything to normal. Inkheart is a beautiful piece of magic for any age. It tells you how powerful magic, books, and words can be. Warning: this book is very thick and very detailed. If you don’t like long and detailed books, then this is not ideal. Inkheart has two sequels: Inkspell and Inkdeath. Inkheart will be major motion picture on January 23, 2009.

Cornelia Funke's Site

But Did You Read It First?- Coraline

Today I'm excited to introduce a new feature to Anbaric Lights. I know that the tagline is a book review for (and occasionally by) kids, but we're looking to spread a wings a bit here. But Did You Read It First? is going to address movie adaptations of popular children's books.

Literary adaptations are such tricky things, as we all have our own preconceived notions about the characters looks, accents, wardrobe etc... and rarely do they conform to what eventually makes it to the screen. However, if we see the the movie first, we can't help but picture the actors in our heads as we read. I'm a huge fan of personal and unique interpretations of stories, so I advocate (some would argue to the point of militancy) that reading precede viewing in every literary adaptation.

Like the publishing industry, the fantastic success of the Harry Potter films lead to an inordinate amount of adaptation rights purchased and rushed into production. Visions of enormous paydays and franchise potential lead to disappointing versions of Eragon, Series of Unfortunate Events, The Golden Compass, City of Ember, Bridge to Terebithia, City of Ember, Inkheart (perhaps soon to be tackled by our own Melody Houser soon, assuming her Inkheart book review ever gets finished) and many others soon followed.

I personally lost my taste for the movies after a so-so and defanged film version of The Golden Compass. However, I did have high hopes for Coraline, and thus it is the subject of this inaugural post.

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Neil Gaiman, and when I heard that he was adapting his delightfully creepy fairytale Coraline with stop motion animation genius Henry Selick of Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach fame my appetite was considerably whetted.

First and foremost, the story: Coraline Jones moves with her family to the Pink Paradise Apartment complex (a converted Victorian mansion) presumably so her garden catalog author/editor parents can get some work done. Coraline has left her friends behind, and is clearly unhappy in her new environment. While wondering in the hills behind her new home she encounters Wybegone, who goes by Wybie, someone who seems very wanting in regard to the friends she's left behind.

The Pink Paradise is also inhabited by Mr. Bobinsky, a washed-up Russian acrobat who is training a mouse circus, and Ms. Forcible and Ms. Spink, two decidedly over the hill former stage actresses who spend their days with their with wads of taffy and innumerable schnauzers. As Coraline mopes about (everyone calls her Caroline) her parents are too consumed with their work to pay her any mind. They won't even let her play outside in the rain for fear of tracking mud into the house. Gardening author/editors indeed. Her father, in a fit of absent-minded, ill-advised and work-obsessed parenting skills gives Coraline a notebook and tells her to count all of the doors and windows in the house.

It is during one such accounting task that she finds a mysterious and tiny door hidden behind the wallpaper of their living room. Her mother, just to shut Coraline up, produces the key and opens it. The open the door only to find it bricked over. However, later that night Coraline returns to the door and finds a mysterious tunnel waiting for her. Upon traversing it she encounters a world very similar to her own.

Her parents are there but different. One, they have buttons for eyes, and two everything is better. The food is delicious, her parents are loving and attentive, her father has grown the garden to resemble her face, and the neighbors are considerably sprier and more entertaining than they were back in Coraline's world. No one calls her "Caroline," but did I mention that everyone has "BUTTONS FOR EYES!!!?"

At first everything is wonderful, but when the buttons, needle and thread are pulled out for Coraline herself, she realizes that things were better at her (real) home. What follows is her struggle to return home and defeat the evil and frankly terrifying machinations of her "other Mother."

Now, the look. Selnick has truly outdone himself with this one. The look of the whole film is gorgeous, but the other world is especially breathtaking. Bobinsky's mouse circus, the stage show performed by Forcible and Spink, the Garden, the horribly elongated and arachnid true form of the other mother, all rendered in gorgeous stop-motion animation and 3-D (be prepared to pay a little extra for the privilege).

Does it do the book justice? Most definitely. Fans of the book and neophytes alike will delight in Selnick's achievement in Coraline. To my devoted audience of readers (all almost several of you) I put forth the following request: let's look at forthcoming or recently released children's literature adaptations. Who wants to be the first guest blogger for But Did You Read It First?? Inkheart is still in theaters, and City of Ember just came out on DVD. Let me know what you are thinking, and there might be a trip to the movies on my dime in it for you...

Esperanza Rising- Pam Muñoz Ryan

Today's guest blog comes to us courtesy of a first time extra special guest blogger, Miss Frisby. She's been a dedicated commenter for a while (always very much appreciated Miss Frisby) and now get ready for her anbariclights debut. On a related note, if you leave the origin of her nom de plume in the comments section, you can see me for a special prize. (Sorry Miss Frisby, you're excluded from this offer.)

Sir Readsalot

Esperanza Rising, by Pam Muñoz Ryan, is a really great book. Esperanza Ortega lived a life full of ups, never downs, and servants. First, she doesn’t care about any thing or anyone around her. Then, she changes into a different person.
One day, in the springtime just before her 13th birthday, her Papi never comes home. Earlier in the day, her Mama had warned him about bandits. When he finally comes home lying in a cart pulled by workers, he is dead. Then later in the spring, Esparanza is asleep and she just makes it out alive when a fire rages through her house. The house burns down, and Esperanza’s Abuela, or grandma, hurts her foot. Her mean uncles come for the property and her family moves to America. There, Esperanza must do something she’s never done before, work on a farm picking vegetables.

What else will happen to her? Read the book to find out. This book is for people who like Mexican history and adventure. Esperanza changes by the end of the book.