Terrier- Tamora Pierce

First in a series, and very good. It's about an ancestor of George Cooper, a girl named Rebakah (or Beka) Cooper, who was training to become an enforcer of law (also called a Dog) in the Lower City of Corus, Tortall. To help her practice, she is assigned to two fully trained Dogs to patrol with. While with them, she discovers a mystery case of a person calling himself the "Shadow Snake," who was supposed to be just a fictional character sometimes used to scare children into following rules. This person was taking away mostly children as well as a few adults and holding them for ransom. Beka, her friends, and her Dogs, had to use their magical, mental, physical abilities to try and catch the criminal.

Terrier is REALLY good, although I love all of Tamora Pierce's books. She's my favorite author along with Piers Anthony. It's a very fast paced story, and it's a great fantasy novel.

Rating: Nine out of ten star

The Golden Compass- Philip Pullman

A young girl named Lyra is growing up in Oxford University. Her parents were long gone, but she doesn't seem to care. Most of her time is spent playing with her daemon, the servants' kids and the town kids, until one day her uncle arrives and she witnesses a strange event. Soon after, a woman comes and offers to take Lyra away with her to the North. Lyra accepts and can't wait to go. The Master of the university presents Lyra with an object that she was to keep to herself. It was extremely special and put her in a lot of danger. The travel to the North didn't turn out as planned, and Lyra had to fight to keep herself, and others, whole.

It's a really good book, my favorite character was an armored bear called Iorek Byrnison. I also liked this book because there was a lot of action, and because I like science fiction/ normal fantasy.

The movie is also excellent. It brought up some controversy over Pullman's reference to the Church, but personally I don't think it's such a big deal. I enjoyed it for the story and the special effects.

rating: eight out of ten stars

Tehanu - Ursula LeGuin

All the books in the Earthsea Cycle are pretty good. This particular book is about Ged, a wizard who has lost his powers; Tenar, previously a priestess, now a widow; and Therru, a girl they find. Ged and Tenar met in an earier book while rescuing each other from life threatening situations in the Tombs of Atuan, where Tenar had served as head priestess. Therru was abused by her former guardians, both physically and emotionally. Ged and Tenar are the only people who can bring back Therru to a somewhat normal life. To complicate matters, a prince is searching for Ged, and Ged does not want to be found.

I recommend this book, but you should read the series in order, otherwise parts of each book will be hard to understand.

rating: * * * * * * * * out of * * * * * * * * * *

Emperor Mage- Tamora Pierce

This is another Tamora Pierce book. Third one in "The Immortals" series. It's about a trip that the main character, Daine, goes on with a few Tortallan ambassadors to the country of Carthak to negotiate a peace treaty. Not everything works out well. In addtion to that, the gods are unpleased with the emporer of Carthak. The country's patron goddess uses Daine to fullfill her own wishes. Also, against Daine's will the goddess gives her an extremely powerful magic that only gods use, and only the greatest gods can distribute to other creatures.

rating: * * * * * * * * out of * * * * * * * * * *

Lady Knight- Tamora Pierce

Hey, sorry about the 2 day delay. I finished this book maybe 3 days ago. Last book in a series of four. Also about a female, Keladry of Mindelan (Kel) training to be a knight, like Alanna. They live in the same place, and also know of eachother. Four of Tamora Pierce's series are like that. Almost all the characters know eachother, or know of eachother. The difference between Kel and Alanna, is that from the start, everyone knows that Kel is a girl. In this book, Kel has already achieved knighthood, and is protecting a refugee camp from an opposing country. She has to go away for a short period of time, and the camp is attacked. When she returns, many people are dead, and still more others missing. She goes on a journey to find them. Are her people still alive? Does she rescue them?

rating: * * * * * * * * out of * * * * * * * * * *

Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys- Kate Brian

This is more of a 'just read to have fun' sort of book. It was one of the books I read in the hospital where I read 'A Long Way Gone'.It's about the soccer playing daughter, Megan Meade, of a soldier couple who always have to move around a lot since they're in the army. Just when she starts to settle in to a home, they are required to move to Korea. She doesn't want to go, so she goes to live with some family friends- the McGowans. They have seven sons, a few younger than she is , some in the same grade, and a few older. She also goes to a new school and ends up becoming the rival of another soccer player, Hailey, who happens to be the girlfriend of one of the McGowan boys that Megan has a crush on. Hailey plays center forward in soccer, just like Megan, and only one person can have the position. Who ends up being center forward? Does Megan even make it onto the team? Does she fit into this new school? And does she work it out with the boy?

This little post is for M.R. -a friend of mine. She lent the book to me for my stay in the hospital.

rating * * * * * out of * * * * * * * * * *

Alanna- Tamora Pierce

This posting is by me and a friend:
This is the first book in a series called 'Song of the Lioness' by Tamora Pierce that my friend and I have both read. It's about an eleven year old, strong, stubborn girl who lives in what seems to be medieval times. This girl, Alanna, chooses to train for knighthood to serve Tortall, the kingdom that she lives in. The only problem is that no women have been knighted in Tortall for one hundred years. The book is about her perseverance, her successes, and her failures in the process of becoming a warrior. Alanna is a great example of how females can accomplish whatever they set their mind to.

A big thank you to N. N. who introduced me to Alanna.

rating: * * * * * * * * * out of * * * * * * * * * *

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- JK Rowling

I went at midnight with a friend to get this book at my favorite independant bookstore: Talking Leaves. (Located on Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY.) Only time I ever did that. That night I started reading it. I would've finished it that midnight too, but I got tired. I finished it the next day. It's a great book. The epilogue is a bit of a let down, but everything before that is excellent. I won't say too much because, for some reason, someone might not have read it yet.
rating: * * * * * * * * out of * * * * * * * * * *

Destination Unknown- Agatha Christie

This is a different sort of book written by Agatha Christie. It doesn't really seem like a mystery, but it is a great book. A woman (Hilary Craven) who wants to commit suicide, is tracked down by a man who puts a stop to it because he wants her to take the place of a woman who looks like her that will die soon. She will pretend that she has recovered, while the real woman will die. However, before she died, she left a message to be taken to her husband. Hilary takes it to him. She travels to an unknown destination where he lives. It ends up being a secret laboratory in Morocco. Don't worry, that isn't a spoiler! Almost no one ever leaves the laboratory. If you read the book you'll find out if she does. And also what the message to the dead woman's husband is, and what it means.

rating:* * * * * * out of * * * * * * * * * *

A Long Way Gone-Ishmael Beah

I don't usually like non-fiction, i find it boring. Although, this book is very different. It's about a boy (Ishmael Beah) who lived in Sierra Leone during part of the civil war. It tells about his experiences running from the war and fighting in it. Then the book moves on to his time in a rehab center, and then to some relatives' house. At the end of the book he begins speaking in conferences about children in war. It's very interesting because i personally would find it extremely hard to even talk to other humans after going through a war like Beah did.I'd really recommend this book to get a sense of what some children have to go through. This is a hard book to read because of some of the events in it. It's especially hard to read when you're in a hospital. That's what I did. Bad idea.
rating:* * * * * * * * out of * * * * * * * * * *