Archives for May 2014

Everest by Gordon Korman Review

May 14, 2014 by Daniel Johnston 7 Comments

Gordon Korman has written so many good books that it’s always been hard for me to decide which one is my favorite. Sometimes I’d think it was Swindle, sometimes MacDonald Hall, and other times Everest.

Korman did three action trilogies (each book is about 150 pages, so they’re quick reads): Island, Dive, and Everest. In Island, a group of kids gets stuck on an island. In Dive, kids discover a conspiracy going on with an underground treasure. And in Everest, several kids try to peak Mount Everest. It is one of my favorite action works by Korman, and a gut-wrenching, exciting read.

Summary

The first book is called The Contest. That’s because a team of four kids are setting off to try to summit the highest peak in the world. They start out with a bunch of interesting kids, but in the end only four can remain.

Originally the plan was to take some of the more experienced climbers, along with Ethan Zaph, a sixteen year-old who is the youngest ever to peak Everest. However, Ethan joins another climbing team and they decide to take a risk and go with some younger people.

The main character of the story is thirteen year-old Dominic. Even though he’s small and his brother (not him) is renowned as a world-class climber, he is chosen to be a member of the four because of his inventiveness and hard work.

Tilt is another one of the four. Unfortunately, Tilt is very self-centered and a bully. It costs him later as he pays a very high price. Samantha is a fearless climber, and Perry’s uncle is rich and paying for the whole expedition. Cap is their expedition leader and naturally pushes the group very hard.

The second book is called The Climb. In this book we cover the challenges of getting from to base-camp, adjusting to the altitude, and all of that exciting stuff. Unfortunately, Dominic gets altitude sickness and very nearly misses the expedition.

There are also starting to be rivalries within the group, as Tilt is causing all sorts of problems. We learn that Perry doesn’t even actually want to climb, and much more.

Finally in The Summit, we get to see the teens make a push for the peak. This is by far the best book in the trilogy. It’s hard to say because so much happens, but basically there’s a small window they have where the weather is good enough to go for it…unfortunately, there’s a massive storm.

Things get crazy as Dominic and Tilt use their willpower to try to get to the top against all possible odds; including the government. Who will become the youngest person to summit Everest?

The very beginning of the series was a funeral. One of the climbers is going to die on Everest. There is only one question: Who?

Review

Like I said, Everest is great. Korman obviously put a lot of effort into writing this one, and it shines through loud and clear. The character development is not as good as in some of Korman’s other books, but combined with the intense action their adventures really hit hard.

Although Korman uses a lot of descriptive terminology about the climb, and though he explains a lot of the technical stuff, we really never get a very good picture of what climbing Everest would really be like. That’s okay though; it’s not the purpose of the book. I’d guess it would be pretty hard to get a good grasp on it without being an experienced climber yourself.

I would for sure recommend reading this book because the action and suspense is great, and the writing is just spectacular. It leads us into a new and exciting world up on the mountains the we can dream of, escape to, and feel with. Everest reaches the highest summit for boys aged nine to thirteen.

The Last Shot by John Feinstein Review

May 5, 2014 by Daniel Johnston Leave a Comment

Everyone loves mysteries. Everyone loves sports books. What about a book that combines both?

The Last Shot is the first in a series of sports thrillers written by John Feinstein. His writing is awesome and the books are entertaining and instructive about sports while also providing a lot of suspense and action.

Summary

At the beginning of the book we meet 14 year-old Stevie, a big fan of NCAA basketball. For him the pros are a waste of time; college basketball is what is really exciting.

He enters an essay contest for the Final Four and wins first prize! That means he and fourteen year old girl, Susan Carol, will be traveling out to cover the games!

The two are taken under the wings of reporters Bobby Khelleher and Tamara Mearns, who are very interesting characters. Even though Stevie is from the east and Susan Carol is from the south, they are eventually able to get along pretty well. The biggest problem is that Susan Carol likes Coach K, Duke’s legendary coach, while Stevie most certainly does not.

Although no one expects them to break any big stories or do any really serious reporting, Stevie and Susan Carol manage to stumble upon a huge scandal: Star player Chip Graber being blackmailed to throw the championship game against Duke.

The two know they need to do something…but what? Will Stevie and Susan Carol somehow manage to be resource and stop the bad guys, or will Chip be forced to throw the game?

Review

This is a great book that preludes many to come. This is only the first of six books in a variety of sports, each with just as many plot twists as another.

All of the characters in the book are so real I almost feel like they could come to real life. They all have their own endearing quirks, habits, and thoughts that keeps you laughing and wanting to read more.

Although I didn’t know much about basketball (and even less about college) when I first read this, Feinstein does a great job of making it exciting and explaining it in a way anyone can understand.

Boys with inclinations to sports will definitely love this book. It’s told third person limited from the perspective of Stevie, so girls probably won’t be able to identify as well.

The book also tells us a lot about journalism, and does this also in a very interesting way that makes us want to read. Even if it’s not your world, you’ll be wanting to learn more and more about it!

In addition, The Last Shot speaks to a common fantasy kids have; being a reporter at a national sporting event. There aren’t a lot of kids that don’t dream about that.

I’d recommend The Last Shot for boys around fifth to seventh grade. It’s not complex writing at all, but will keep you on your edge of your seat the whole time. The Last Shot is a definite slam dunk.

Click here to get The Last Shot by John Feinstein

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Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee Review

May 1, 2014 by Daniel Johnston 8 Comments

After the school year of seventh grade ended, there was only one school thing left for me to do: Summer reading. You’d think this would be easy for me, of course. After all, I’m a great reader!

The books on the list didn’t excite me, however. They all looked like some kind of weird romance or fantasy that I wanted no part of. One of the books, however, was Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee, a good book that I’m glad to have read.

Although the main character in this book is a girl, I was able to identify with her a lot because she is smart like me, and she faces a number of debilitating social and family challenges.

Summary

Millicent Min is an eleven year-old girl who is enrolling in her first college class over the summer. She’s already about to be a senior in high school, and has won numerous awards for her intelligence.

Social skills don’t go so great for Millicent, however. She is able to befriend the teacher in her college class, but all the other students hate her. So do the people at her high school. After all; she sets the curve! Everyone her age is jealous of her for going to high school. Millicent has no friends.

She does have a cool grandmother, though. Maddie is in her fifties but still asks like she’s a young woman. She’s a remnant from the hippy movement, and Millicent loves spending time with her. It was Maddie who convinced Millicent’s parents to let her enroll in a college class.

Unfortunately, Maddie is planning to move away. Millicent doesn’t get along with her parents quite as well, and they are worried that she’s going too much into her mind and not getting enough interaction.

With that in mind, Millicent’s parents decide to sign her up for the volleyball team. She isn’t too thrilled at this as she’s not very athletic. Before too long, however, she realizes that it’s nice that nobody there knows how smart she is!

She soon befriends a girl named Emily who is also bad at volleyball. Millicent has never had a friend before, but she does her best to fake it with Emily, and does a pretty good job. Emily is a totally normal girl, and it makes Millicent feel really good to hang out with her. Of course, Millicent has to pretend that she’s just of average intelligence.

Joining the volleyball team isn’t the only thing Millicent’s parents have her do. They also have her tutor a boy named Stanford. Stanford is smart, but he pretends he isn’t for the sake of his friends. Their tutoring sessions are pretty painful.

Things get pretty sticky, however, when Emily and Stanford begin to flirt. Will Stanford reveal Millicent’s secret? Will Millicent become friendless once again, or will she be able to save her relationship with Emily?

Review

Millicent Min, Girl Genius is a great book. Millicent tells the story herself, and we get to know her very well. All of the other characters in the story are kind of weird, but they fit in with the crazy kind of world Millicent lives in.

Reading this book gives an interesting picture into what it is like to be a really smart kid, and I think a lot of people can relate. Although not many are gifted to quite the degree of Millicent, she is very interesting to a lot of smart people.

I found the social interactions interesting because it deals with some real problems. While some people may think any smart kid pretty much has it made, there are definitely trade-offs. This is one of the only books I have read that deals with complex middle school interactions and approaches them from a more basic level for people still trying to get into that world.

The whole message of this book is that being smart is awesome, but having good friends is just as great. I think a lot of people feel like Millicent in terms of treasuring the social events of a preteen. It may make kids appreciate the friends they themselves have more.

I’d definitely recommend this book. The main character is a girl, so a lot of boys may not enjoy reading it as much. However, there are also books written from the perspective of Stanford and Emily. I haven’t read them, but I would guess they’re also very good.

Millicent Min, Girl Genius is a great book for middle-school aged kids. You don’t have to be a genius to realize that Lisa Yee did an awesome job with this book!

Click here to buy Millicent Min, Girl Genius

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