The Forest of Hands and Teeth

The Forest of Hands and Teeth 
308 pages


"In Mary's world there are simple truths.  The Sisterhood always knows best.  The Guardians will protect and serve.  The Unconsecrated will never relent.  And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.  But slowly, Mary's truths are failing her.  She's learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power.  And, when the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness.  Now she must choose between her village and her future, between the one she loves and the one who loves her.  And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth.  Could there be life outside a world surrounded by so much death?"


summary from inside cover of The Forest if Hands and Teeth (Delacorte Press, 1st edition 2009)


The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan is about a girl named Mary who lives in walled town in the middle of a forest.  They are totally isolated from anything else and they are the only humans left alive on earth, or so they are told.  The reason they are protected by Barriers is because after the Return, anyone bitten by the Unconsecrated (they are like zombies) will become Infected and become one of them.  One day though, Mary sees someone who has come from the forest.  Her entire life, she has heard stories of the ocean and she has always wanted to leave to find it.  In the end she makes it there, but the main thing I didn't like about the book was Mary and her obsession with the ocean.  By the time she made it there, everyone she loved was dead.  She said she loved them but she literally sacrificed their lives in her quest to find the ocean.  It just really bothered me how she would throw herself at two guys and make long speeches about how much she loved them, and then was the cause of their death because she couldn't let go of the ocean.  Overall it wasn't to bad, but it wasn't the best book I've read, although zombies are new.  I've never read a book about them.  Rating: 2 stars, this is because I found a lot of the things Mary did annoying, as you can tell from my rant about her ...


-mnm1309
p.s. I am reading the second book now and will post about it soon

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey
440 pages


"Children you must not come STOP Dangerous.  The Mysterious Benedict Society is back with a new mission: a mind-bending international scavenger hunt designed to test their individual talents.  As they search for all the clues and riddles Mr. Benedict has hidden for them, Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance face an unexpected challenge that will reinforce all the reasons they were brought together in the first place and require them to fight for the very namesake that united them.  Join the Mysterious Benedict Society at your own risk!"


Summary from back of The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey (MT Books, may 2009 Edition)


The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart is more about how the 4 children have changed after their previous adventure.  They have to try to save Mr. Benedict from Ledroptha Curtain but along the way you learn how each of them has changed.  They have all regained/found their families.  Their parents are always worried for their safety after their last adventure and in order to save Mr. Benedict they have to sneak away and go against their parents.  All in all it was a really good book, I liked the first one a little more but it is definitely worth continuing the series.  Rating: 5 stars


-mnm1309
p.s. I'll post about the last book soon

The Mysterious Benedict Society

The Mysterious Benedict Society

485 pages

"Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?  When this peculiar add appears in the newspaper, dozens of children enroll to take a series of mysterious, mind-bending tests.  (And you, dear reader, can test your wits right alongside them.)  But in the end just four very special children will succeed.  Their challenge: to go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and resourceful children could complete.  With their new found friendship at stake, will they be able to pass the most important test of all?  Welcome to The Mysterious Benedict Society."

Summary from the back of the Mysterious Benedict Society (MT Books, April 2008 edition)

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart is about younger children but I think that older people can enjoy it.  I like this book because there is a lot of action and you get to figure  out what is happening along with the characters in the book.  It has a lot of excitement and I would recommend it to anyone who likes an adventure/mystery books.
Rating: 5 stars

Tell us what you think, comment!

-mnm1309
p.s. I will post about the next book soon.

Elephant Run

Elephant Run is written by Roland Smith. It is 318 pgs. long.

In 1941, bombs are being dropped on London. One night fourteen year old Nick Freestone's apartment is destroyed. Nick's mother decides the situation in England has grown too unstable. After spending a night at his mother's office in the U.S. embassy, he is flown to Burma.

His mother feels it is safer to send him to their family's teak plantation in the jungles of Burma. Nick gets there and he is excited to learn about the elephants that help to run the operations of the plantation. After only a matter of days of arriving at the plantation, the Japanese soldiers invade and take his father and a worker prisoner. All the other workers are forced to work as servants for the Japanese. After the hope of being released is destroyed, Nick and his friend Mya plan their escape. They want to rescue their families from the prison camps. It will be extremely hard and dangerous for them. The Japanese, the wilderness, and the long distances stand in their way. It is a really good book and I could hardly put it down.
5 stars

-kkuhar

Dead Girls Don't Write Letters

Dead Girls Don't Write Letters
144 pages

Sunny Reynolds' older sister Jazz died when her apartment building lit on fire.  Sunny's family is broken by her death.  So when months later, Sunny receives a letter from her sister, she is more than a little surprised.  The thing is, the person who shows up at their door isn't her sister and Sunny has to find out who this person is and what she wants with her family.

my own summary

Dead Girls Don't Write Letters by Gail Giles was a really surprising book.  Its a quick read, I read it one afternoon after school.  The author builds up all of the clues until you think you know who the girl is and what will happen at the end and then surprises you.  I really liked the ending and it was totally unexpected.  I would definitely recommend reading this book.
Rating: 4 stars

Tell us what you think, comment!

-mnm1309

Mariah Mundi and The Midas Box

Mariah Mundi and The Midas Box
369 pages

"Fresh out of school, Mariah faces a new chapter of his life living in the Prince Regent Hotel.  His job is to assist the the magician in the stage shows held for the guests.

Above ground, the hotel offers every form of luxury.  Below ground, withing the slimy dripping walls of the basement, the magic show equipment is kept-and lurking in an Egyptian sarcophagus is the secret that draws Mariah into the path of villainy and possible death."

Summary from Mariah Mundi and The Midas Box (faber and faber: 2008 edition)

This is the first book in the Mariah Mundi series by G.P Taylor.  It had a lot of unexpected developments.  There were a lot of things that you thought wouldn't happen.  The book is set in England, a lot of it happens at night, making the place seem dark and gloomy.  I liked the way the author wrote the book and there was a lot of action but sometimes the book dragged.  The ending was really good but a little bit confusing.  Overall it was a pretty good book 
Rating: 3 stars

Tell us what you think, comment !

-mnm1309
p.s. I decided to use summaries from the back of the book because it is faster and they are probably better than the summaries I was writing. :)

New book rating system

I decided that I should use a rating system to kind of help you decide whether or not the books I post about are worth reading.  So I came up with this:
5 stars - worth buying it
4 stars - really good
3 stars - its worth reading
2 stars - okay, but not really that great
1 star - don't read it unless you can't get anything else
0 stars - I am begging you not to read this

Hopefully I'll never have to post about  a 0 star book ...
Anyways, I hope this helps, I am trying to post about as many books as I can, but I am really busy.  I'm making it my goal to post about at least 1 book every week.  If you want to want to find a specific book, look at the book list page.  It has all the books we have posted about.  Also if you have any suggestions for books, please leave a comment :)

-mnm2107

The Book Thief

The Book Thief is a historical fiction book by Markus Zusak.  The book is set in WW2 Germany, in the town of Molching.  Liesel Meminger is sent to live with Rosa and Hans Hubermann when her mother can no longer afford to support her.  While living on Himmel street, she learns not only to read, but about the power of words.  She learns to love and to hate them.  In the end the words are what save her life.  It is narrated by Death.   One thing that I really liked about the book was the way the author described things.  These descriptions opened a new way of seeing what was happening through Liesel's eyes.  It is a really sad book but parts of it are really funny.  It is definitely one of my favorites and I would recommend it to anyone.    Rating: 5 stars


Tell us what you think, comment !


-mnm2107

The Books of Pellinor

The Books of Pellinor are a fantasy quartet written by Alison Croggon . The main character, Maerad, grew up as a slave in Gilman's Cot, but she was not always a slave . When a mysterious stranger named Cadvan appears in the barn while she is milking cows, she has no idea that he will reveal her true identity and past .   The books follow Maerad on her journey towards discovering who she is and what she is meant to do .  I liked the way Alison Croggon wrote the books and the language she used while writing .  Although these are excellent books, there was just one thing I did not like about the series .  This is just my opinion though .  In the first two books, the story was focused entirely on Maerad and how she is the one who has to save everything , and how she is the only one who can do this .  In the 3rd book, this changes to include her brother, and now he has to help Maerad achieve this .  I personally think the series would have been better if the author had stuck with how she began the story .  Overall though I did love these books and I would recommend them to anyone who loves fantasy and adventure stories .     Rating 3 stars: This is because the whole thing about the third book bothered me so much !

Tell us what you think, comment !

-mnm1309
p.s. I am in England now so I will be able to post more often, thanks to all the new readers for joining :)