The Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan

The Ruins of Gorlan is the first book in The Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan. If you like The Lord of the Rings, you might like this one also. This is the story about Will, who was not accepted into any apprenticeship program. After not knowing what to do, Halt the ranger steps up to offer Will an apprenticeship as a ranger. Will accepts not knowing what to expect. Of course this whole story is not just about Will learning to become a ranger. The kingdom is having to prepare for war as the evil warlord Morgarath begins having the kingdoms lords assasinated. This is a great adventure story with many twists and turns. I felt like this was a great opening to a series.
Happy Reading!
Mrs. B.

London Calling

London Calling by Edward Bloor is a story about Martin Conway, a seventh grader at All Souls middle school. A bad experience at the end of the school year leaves Martin not wanting to return the next year. Strange things happen to Martin that summer starting with the unusual calls from his grandmother asking him if he would help Jimmy. Martin has no idea who Jimmy is. After Martin's grandmother passes away he inherits her old radio. The first night Martin plugs in the radio and goes to sleep, he wakes up to meet Jimmy an eight year old English boy. Martin discovers the radio will transport him through time to 1940 London in the middle of the World War II bombings. Martin has one question to answer: What did you do to help? This is one of those books that I start reading and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I felt unsure for several reasons, but somewhere after the halfway point I started to really like the book and by the end it was hard not to cry because I was deeply touched. It is without a doubt worth the time to read this book.
Happy Reading!
Mrs. B.

Vampirates

I can't believe it has almost been a month since my last post! I have read several books since then. Vampirates the title just gets you, doesn't it? Vampirates is written by Justin Somper an oh my goodness it's exciting! I read the first book of the series and am eager to read the second. This is the story of twins Grace and Connor Tempest. After losing their father, they have nothing left but a boat. Unfortunately, the boat belongs to the bank! The two options they have are the town orphanage or the banker and his wife. They choose neither, instead they take their father's boat and make an escape. They encounter a bad storm and the boat sinks. Grace and Conner lose track of each other and are each picked up by different pirate ships. Connor is rescued by Cheng Lee of the Diablo, while Grace is rescued by Lorcan Furey of the Vampirates. Both Grace and Connor learn about the ways of the ship the land on. Will Grace and Connor ever find each other?
It is a wonderful story and I enjoyed it very much. This is a must have series.
Happy Reading!
Mrs. B.