Skulduggery Pleasant

Landry, D. (2007). Skulduggery pleasant. NY: HarperCollins.

About the Book

Skulduggery is a skeleton who can do magic. He is a detective for the magical world. His good friend Gordon is murdered over a key to open the caves under his house that is holding the ancient Scepter, that is believed to be a myth. Gordon's niece Stephanie inherits all of his belongings. She becomes Skulduggery's apprentice. They try to solve the mystery of her Uncles death and in the end save the world from destruction from Serpine.

Fantasy Evaluative Criteria

Characters – Skulduggery Pleasant is a unique character. He is a skeleton who can use magic. Stephanie is just a girl who is hoping there is more to life because she is bored with the dullness of her every day. She soon realizes with Skulduggery’s help that there is another world out their running parallel to the normal human world. Magic is possible and she quickly learns that she feels like she has found her calling. The reader can relate to Stephanie since she is a human and her feelings about life are common for adolescence. She shows strength and perseverance over the hard situations in her life. Which gives the reader hope that they too will overcome their hurdles.

Style – The author is able to weave the magic world with the human world so seamlessly. The reader is able to believe the unbelievable through the imagination of the author who is able to help the reader visualize the story. Each new experience Stephanie has with the magic world is made believable because the author does a fabulous job of filling the reader in on the setting, and the background knowledge needed to feel a part of the magic world. The reader is moving alongside Stephanie as she makes her discoveries.

Comics Squad: Recess!

Holm, J. (2014). Comics squad: Recess!. NY: Random House.

About the Book

Comics Squad is a graphic novel that has eight different comic stories with eight different authors. Some of the stories are humorous, some are confusing to me an adult who does not have daily recess. Younger struggling readers will find the stories hilarious. Some of the stories are: Baby Mouse and her quest, Betty and the Pizza Monster, the cat who steals words from books to out smart the dog, and Freeze Tag where cupcake and peanut out smart the fruits and veggies.

Fantasy Evaluative Criteria

Characters – The author creates multiple characters who are not human. The dog and cat graphic story, illustrates the animals doing human like actions, but at the same time they are fitting the battle of which animal is smarter. Which relates to the real world since some people think cats are better and some people think dogs are better. In the story about Baby Mouse and the Quest for Recess, the mouse is imagining she is a knight at the round table and is going to safe herself from recess detention. The reader can sympathize with the mouse. The underlying humor comes from the experience the mouse is having since the reader may have had similar thoughts, if they had to sit out of recess once.

Theme – The editor has created a collection of short comic stories. Each of the stories is about school recess in some way. The authors create a humorous characters and stories about what could ultimately happen at recess. It is the reader’s short time to do what they want at school, just as the characters depict in each story. The possibilities of your imaginary play at recess are endless. 

Rapunzel's Revenge

Hale, S. (2008). Rapunzel's revenge. NY: Bloomsbury.

About the Book

The story of Rapunzel's Revenge is a graphic novel. Rapunzel was given to Mother Gothel the evil land controller. Rapunzel finds out she was taken from her parents and is put in the tower in the middle of the forest in Carrion Glade. She escapes and starts her adventure of making it to Gothel's Villa to have her revenge on Mother Gothel and to save her biological mother. Along the way in her western like adventure she meets a man named Jack. She slowly learns she can trust him and they work together to save everyone from Mother Gothel.

Fantasy Evaluative Criteria

Style – The book is a graphic novel. The author uses the pictures and words to tell the story. Rapunzel’s journey to serve revenge upon the evil Mother Gothel is illustrated with a sense of humor and determination. In the writing and illustrations the author uses different techniques to let the reader know the information is a flashback by using sepia coloring in the illustrations. Rapunzel’s inside voice is presented in a yellowish rectangle boxes, as wells the narrators voice.

Plot – The story illustrates Rapunzel’s journey to set the world free from Mother Gothel control. She escapes from her prison that Mother Gothel put her in and meets up with Jack an outlaw who is trying to get enough money to buy his mother a new house. The author takes the reader through the journey across the land to get to Mother Gothel’s Villa, but at the same time the reader is also taken on the journey of Rapunzel discovering herself.

The Graveyard Book

Gaiman, N. (2008). The graveyard book. NY: HarperCollins.

About the Book

Nobody Owens came to live in the graveyard as a small child. He was adopted by the inhabitants of the graveyard because his family was murdered. Silas his guardian helps protect him from the killer Jack. Bod is in danger from the Jack who wants him dead. The ghost try to help keep him safe but in the end fate always catches up with you. He fights the man Jack and eventually must enter the world of the living leaving behind his graveyard family.

Fantasy Evaluative Criteria

Setting – The author describes the graveyard throughout the story as Bod moves around the graveyard experiencing its wonders. When Bod is sucked into the Ghouls world and is lead to Ghulheim with a few Ghouls. The descriptions of his adventure and the scenery of the Ghoul world helps the reader to see, hear and feel like they are there. The author does a great job helping the reader visualize the world from Bod's perspective when he is in the graveyard and outside of the gates in the town.

Theme – The graveyard is keeping Bod safe from the man named Jack who wants him dead. The story of Bod growing up parallels the life of any other boy or girl. The author has him experience life and emotions of a normal child, but his life journey takes place in the graveyard. The author expresses great emotions at pivotal points in Bod’s growing up. He learns life lessons about people and situations. The author also gives the reader a peek into the past with each of the different inhabitants of the graveyard. When Bod meets them the reader learns a little about the time in which they lived.

Gregor the Overlander

Collins, S. (2004). Gregor the Overlander. NY: Scholastic.

About the Book

Gregor and his sister Boots travel into the Underworld through a portal in their apartment's laundry room. They come to realize their missing father is being held by the rats. Gregor is thought to be the warrior in the prophecy to save the underworld. Gregor, Boots and several underworlders, some cockroaches, and bats set out to find his father and save the underworld from the rats.

Fantasy Evaluative Criteria

Setting - The author uses a lot of literary language to describe the underland and its inhabitants. The descriptions of the cockroaches, rats and bats are helpful for the reader to understand the size difference between the underland and overland. Each new situation in the story the author takes the time to describe the surroundings so the reader can visualize the story.

Plot –The plot is original and creative to draw the reader into the new world. Gregor enters the underworld as a boy who is taking care of his family in his father’s absences. While in the underland he grows and becomes surer of his abilities and decision making skills. He does not believe he can do what the “The Prophecy of Gray” says he is destine to do. His ability to trust others strengthens as the quest progresses. The author make the unbelievable experience believable.

Crenshaw

Applegate, K. (2015). Crenshaw. New York: Feiwel & Friends.

About the Book

Jackson is in the fourth grade. He is a very literal, factual thinker. His imaginary friend Crenshaw a huge black and white cat returns after being gone for many years. Jackson's family is struggling with making ends meet and the possibility of becoming homeless again. Crenshaw helps Jackson during this stressful time realize his true feelings.

Fantasy Evaluative Criteria

Theme - Jackson's imaginary friend Crenshaw returns to help him work through his frustrations and fear of his family becoming homeless again. Jack must learn how to me honest with his feelings about his families situation and how that will affect him. The book lets the reader know that it is okay not to have all the answers but being honest with your family and self will help you deal with hard situations.

Setting - The story bounces around from retelling of situations of living in the family minivan, living in the apartment, and his neighborhood. The author is able to use words to help paint a picture for the reader. One of my favorite parts is when Jackson enters the bathroom to see Crenshaw taking a bath in the middle of the night. When Jackson enters the bathroom he sees a “white stomach rise from the bubbles like a snowy island”, and the description of the bubble beard on the cat is quite humorous.

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!

Schlitz, L. A. (2007). Good masters, sweet ladies. Boston, MA: CandlewickPress.

About the Book

Good Masters, Sweet Ladies is a wonderfully written depiction of what it was like to be an adolescent during the Middle Ages. The book is written to be read aloud as monologues. The social classes of the time are artfully illustrated through the characters. My favorite was the Barbary who has built up frustrations towards her standing in society. She without thinking her actions through picks up dung and throws it at Isobel the Lord's daughter. The book presents both girls point of view of the situation. The interactions of the two girls still can be witnessed today, but instead of mud being thrown it could be ugly text messages may be sent.

Historical Fiction Evaluative Review

Laura Schlitz has created a delightfully entertaining glimpse into the life of a Medieval Village. She has written about 23 different children from the Village, each of their stories is a monologue that children of today can read and act out for an audience. Each of the stories gives actual facts and examples of what life would be like to be that child in the Middle Ages. The social classes of the Village are highlighted throughout the monologues. Hugo is the Lord’s nephew who spends his day hunting game. Will is the Plowboy who helps tend the three-field system with his father. Thomas the doctor’s son who is apprenticing to take over as the doctor one day. Mogg is a villain which is a peasant who is not free, but a slave to the lord of the land. Otho the miller’s son who has a higher status then the peasants and villeins but is not nobility. Jew’s during Medieval times were outcasts and hated the reader learns as Jacob Ben Salomon tells his story. His story is told alongside Petronella the merchant’s daughter in a two dialogue play. The plays in the book provide wonderful insight into the workings of the village and illustrates the relationships of the people within. Readers will learn firsthand about a time period that is different from current times through the playful story telling of each characters monologues.

The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963

Curtis, C. P. (1995). The Watsons go to Birmingham, 1963. NY: Delacorte.

About the Book

The Watsons family lives in Flint, Michigan in 1963. They are an African American family with roots from the deep south in Birmingham, Alabama.  The eldest son Byron is becoming a juvenile delinquent no matter what his parents try as discipline. Kenny is the middle child who has struggles with his physical appearance. Joey is the youngest and is a girl who is very emotional, with great sympathy for her brothers. The parents decide to drive Byron to Birmingham with the family to leave him with Grandma Sands to straighten him out. While in Birmingham the Watsons experiences the violence that happened during the civil rights movement. 

Historical Fiction Evaluative Review

Kenneth is the middle child in the Watsons family. He has an older brother named Byron who is a juvenile delinquent and a younger sister named Joey. They are a “Negro” family who lives in Flint, Michigan in 1963. Kenny is telling the story about his family’s relationships and struggles. Byron is struggling to make good choices and does not listen to his parents many warnings to straighten up. The family struggles with raising respectable children is familiar to families of today.  Momma and Dad decide to drive the family down to Birmingham where Momma’s family lives. Grandma Sands is going to straighten Byron out. The family drives to Birmingham in their family car the Brown Bomber, enjoying classic music on their brand new record player that Dad had installed in the car for the long trip. Once they get to Birmingham Kenny struggles to make good choices and Byron appears to be a model citizen. Readers will be able to experience the horrors of the violence during the civil rights movement; when the family fears the worst when Joey is caught in a Church bombing. The Watsons children struggled to understand the racial hatred they observed while down south, which allows the reader a glimpse into the past. In the end Byron helps Kenny deal with his emotions following their experience in Birmingham.