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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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Cahills vs Vespers Book 6: Day of Doom by David Baldacci

April 28, 2014 by Daniel Johnston Leave a Comment

Here it is. The end. One way or another.

Amy and Dan have been fighting against the evil Vespers for some time, but it wasn’t until the end of the last book that they realized the truth: Vesper One is trying to create a doomsday device to destroy the world.

For those of you who don’t know, Cahills vs Vespers is the second arc in the exciting series The 39 Clues. In the first arc Amy and Dan learn they are members of the most powerful family in human history. They embark on a quest around the world, fighting their vicious relatives to be the first to discover the secret of their families’ power.

In Cahills vs Vespers, Amy and Dan and the rest of the group face off against a rival family named the Vespers who want to rule the world for themselves (or destroy it).

Click here to learn more about The 39 Clues

Day of Doom is the last book of the series. All the secrets are revealed, all questions are answered, and the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

Summary

At the end of the previous book Atticus discovers the Vespers master plan: To recreate a doomsday device designed by Archimedes. The ingredients necessary to activate the device were given by Dan and Amy to Vespers as ransom to keep the hostages alive.

Now the Vespers have all of pieces and are about to activate it. Already there are natural disasters happening all over the place.

Dan freaked out at the end of the last book and took the serum he had been assembling. However, Amy realized what he was trying to do and switched the serum with a harmless concoction.

Amy also became very upset and ran out of the room when she learned of the Vespers true intentions. How could she have been stupid to trade the lives of the hostages for the whole world?

The Cahill team have been doing some digging and learn that Isabel was not Vesper One, as they had thought, but Vesper Two. They also have ascertained that she is heading to Washington D.C.

They also try to chase after Isabel, but fall into her trap. Luckily, they are able to escape, but Isabel gets her hands on the serum. Dan also learns that Isabel has been posing as his dad and sending him messages.

The hostages (now including Evan, Ian, Jonah, and Hamilton) are being transported to the Rocky Mountains, but manage to escape and meet up with Amy and Dan. They arrive at the doomsday device at the same time as the Vespers, in time for a colossal fight.

Here is the moment that matters. The moment that the Cahills will trimuph over the Vespers once and for all or the world will be destroyed forever. Who is Vesper One? Will he destroy the world? How many will die? Will an old enemy end up saving the world?

Review

After enjoying this book, I was surprised to learn that it has received absolutely terrible reviews on Amazon. The current star rating is only 3.2/5, by far the lowest of any book in The 39 Clues series.

Although I understand the criticism, I have to disagree. I thought this book wrapped up everything very nicely. It did do everything quite rushed, but there was no way around it because of all the events that took place in the book.

Some people complained about the characters being very different than in the other books. I didn’t notice this, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. However, I felt the characters were fine.

The action at the end is very exciting. It is not dealt with as delicately as we would all like, but what do you want when an evil maniac is about to activate a doomsday machine? I was glued to my seat reading about who would triumph.

Probably the worst thing this series does in wrapping up compared to the first one is that it gives absolutely no lead in to the next one. I was kind of looking forward to this being the last 39 clues book, and then at the back it said there is a new series.

I was like, “Really, come on.” However, I’ve been reading the series since it’s start all the way back in September of 2008, so this book came out about four and a half years later. That’s a long time to be reading a series.

As far as this series, though, I think this is a good wrap up. Is it as good as Into the Gauntlet? No, the emotional connection Margaret Peterson Haddix was able to make in that book was truly special. For everyone who has been involved in the fight against the Vespers, however, it is an exciting book that ties the series up in spectacular fashion.

Get Day of Doom by David Baldacci

Cahills vs Vespers Book 5: Trust No One by Linda Sue Park Review

April 21, 2014 by Daniel Johnston 1 Comment

In Trust No One by Linda Sue Park, we reach the fifth book of the explosive Cahills vs Vespers series. There are only six books, so.the action is coming to a head. Whereas in previous books Amy and Dan were willing to sit by and wait, things are heating up now as the Vespers are getting closer to their goal.

For those who don’t know, The 39 Clues is a multi-author series in which two orphans, Amy (14) and Dan (11) Cahill discover that they are members of the most powerful family in human history. The source of their families power is scattered throughout the world in the form of 39 special clues.

Unfortunately, Amy and Dan aren’t the only ones after the clues. Their vicious relatives are willing to do anything to get the clues first; even kill.

The first ten books of the series were about Amy and Dan fighting to try and find the clues. The second series, Cahills vs Vespers is about Amy, Dan, and the rest of the Cahills facing off against an evil rival family named the Vespers who want the clues for themselves.

Click here to learn more about The 39 Clues

Summary

At the end of the last book, Vesper 1 informed Amy and Dan that they’d need to steal the Voynich Manuscript. Unfortunately, there is another problem going on as the Cahills have realized they have a Vesper mole in their midst.

Although at first they thought it was Ian Kabra (especially after he disappeared), Amy’s boyfriend Evan discovers that Sinead Starling was actually the one who sold out to the Vespers. She attacks Amy and tries to kill her, but Amy is able to subdue her.

This is a huge shock for Amy because Sinead was an integral member of their team and had even become Amy’s best friend. Sinead admits she did it because the Vespers promised her that they would develop a cure for her brothers ailments if she helped them.

Ian also lets Amy and Dan know about what he’s been to. He traveled to Africa to research his mothers charity, which he learned is just a bogus fake. They are well aware by now of the fact that Isabel is an active Vesper (possibly even Vesper 1).

Meanwhile, Atticus and Jake are continuing to develop as characters. Atticus remembers some of the stuff his mom told him (including about the Voynich), and they keep running into people who do them favors because them remember Astrid. He also knows he’s a guardian, although he’s not exactly sure yet what that means.

They are able to track down the Voynich from Yale to a Dr. Siffright who worked with Astrid. Although Amy and Dan are able to retrieve the manuscript, they keep getting attacked. It doesn’t take long for them to realize Isabel is the one behind it.

With all of the pieces in place for whatever the Vespers are doing, things are about to get bad. Amy and Dan begin to realize what the Vespers may really be planning, and that by trying to save their relatives, they may have destroyed the whole world. Will the Vespers take Amy’s ring? Will Dan take the serum in order to stop the Vespers? Is it too late, or can Amy and Dan still save the world?

Review

This is an excellent book. Even though Park isn’t an action writer, you wouldn’t know it by reading this book. She leaves us in complete suspense the whole way through.

While Park’s earlier contribution to the series was kind of in her own style, it appears she has gotten more in touch with the series now and this book is written very well, much like the rest of the books.

We learn a ton of mysteries in this book, which only make us want to ask more. This is the best part of The 39 Clues, and this book does it masterfully. You won’t be able to wait to read book six after this!

If you haven’t read The 39 Clues yet, I’d recommend starting with the first book of the current series. If you have, Trust No One is a definite slam dunk.

Frindle by Andrew Clements Review

April 18, 2014 by Daniel Johnston 4 Comments

There are a lot of kids books that are fun, that are exciting, that you enjoy.

There are very few, however, that you still love and treasure long after your childhood. The type of books that you remember perfectly, that you return to and read and like it just as much you did all those years ago.

Frindle by Andrew Clements is one of those books. Written for third to sixth graders, it’s a story that will keep any reader entertained throughout the whole book.

Summary

At the beginning of the book we are introduced to Nick, a fifth-grader in Mrs. Granger’s class. The school year is just starting, but Nick is already experimenting with ways to sidetrack his teacher (and maybe make her forget to give the homework). Nick is known for stuff like that.

Unfortunately, the plan backfires, and Nick is forced to answer his own bogus questions about where words come from. Even though Mrs. Granger intended it as a punishment, Nick finds the subject interesting.

When Nick’s friend drops a pen and Nick accidentally calls it a frindle, he gets a crazy idea: What if everyone started calling pens frindles? Since a word is given a name by popular usage, wouldn’t that make it a frindle, not a pen?

Nick recruits his friends to start using the word frindle instead of pen. When they go to the store, they ask for frindles. In Mrs. Granger’s class, people begin referring to pens as frindles. Unsurprisingly, Mrs. Granger doesn’t like this, and anyone who uses the term frindle in her class has to write, “I am writing this punishment with a pen,” 100 times.

The term frindle has become a fad, however, and many people look upon the punishment as merely a badge of honor. Before long the entire school has replaced pen with frindle in their own vocabulary.

The news media finds out about this, and it ends up making national news. The frindle fight is full blown. Will frindle be added to the dictionary, or will Mrs. Granger win in the end?

Review

This is an awesome book. Clements does a very good job of communicating a worldview in his books, and this one is no exception. Nick is a smart kid who has his own sense of what is right, and is more than willing to stand up for it.

Nick is a totally real person and so are his friends. We can also identify with his teacher Mrs. Granger, who in the end actually turns out to have been Nick’s ally all along!

This book also brings up an important point that words are only what we call things, not what the thing actually is. Although not very many kids will get this at a deep level, it will definitely get them thinking.

Plus, it’s a blast to read, so even reluctant readers will like it. You’re totally hooked on what Nick is going to do next and what will happen with the frindle battles.

A national fad like frindle is not going to come for every idea, but it definitely encourages kids to get creative and approach life with vigor and energy. For third to sixth graders, Frindle is a sure-hit.

Get Frindle by Andrew Clements

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Review

April 15, 2014 by Daniel Johnston 1 Comment

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a classic dystopian book and one most people read in school. Unlike the proliferation of poor dystopian books today, Fahrenheit 451 demonstrates a very clear point and is written quite well.

I read Fahrenheit 451 for English in 9th grade and rather enjoyed it. The point of the book is the importance of freedom in regard to what books we read (451 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature at which paper burns). It is therefore ironic that Fahrenheit 451 has been censored in many libraries.

Summary

At the beginning of the book we meet a man named Guy Montag who is a fireman at some point in the future. Where and when is never explained.

Although firemen as we think of them are people who set out fires, in Fahrenheit 451 firemen burn the possessions of people reading outlawed books.

Montag is pretty much as deeply entrenched in this book burning business you can get, being a fireman and everything. However, he meets a girl named Clarisse who makes him start to reconsider his life.

Not long after, Montag’s wife Mildred overdosing on sleeping pills, but wakes up fine the next morning without memory of the incident. He keeps talking to Clarisse, but one day she disappears.

Montag’s worldview has been challenged enough that while burning a house he secretly steals one of the books. The woman in the house refuses to abandon her books and instead dies with them. Montag also realizes how little he really knows about his wife and much people are distracted by the TV screens all around.

Montag begins to consider quitting his job, and Captain Beatty, the fire chief, talks with Montag. He explains how books are not good for the new pace of life. He also knows that Montag took the book but says that every fireman does it and it’ll be fine as long as he burns it.

Montag only becomes more disillusioned from his talk with Beatty and reveals to his wife that he has been collecting a stash of hidden books. At first she is astonished to tries to burn them, but they decide to read them together to see if anything worthwhile is contained in them.

Montag realizes that he’ll need help to understand the books and enlists the help of an old English teacher named Faber. He takes to him a rare copy of the Bible, and Faber gives Montag an earpiece communicator so they can chat.

Montag continues getting more into books and at work is shocked when he drives at work to burn his own house. Mildred has reported him and is now leaving him for his interest in books. Beatty forces Montag to burn his own house down, but he also burns Beatty.

Montag is hunted by mechanical dogs and helicopters for his life. Will he manage to escape, or will he be torn to shreds? Has the world completely done away with books, or are there still book lovers left, waiting will society suffers?

Review

Fahrenheit 451 is a really well written and easy to understand book. The other lesson other than the importance of books is the negative impact of the distraction that all the TV and media can have on our lives. Definitely a timely message.

This book was written at a time when a lot of books where being censored. Even today many schools censor books, and this book has even been censored more than once.

Any book lover will love of course love reading about the value of books and how important they are to society. I also think this is a good one to read for people who don’t already have such an appreciation of books to help them develop it. Not for reluctant readers, but definitely good for those whose reading interest level is indifferent or above.

The best age range for this book is probably 8th to 10th grade. This book means to communicate a clear message. I only wish all dystopian novels were like this.

Get Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

The 39 Clues: Shatterproof by Roland Smith

April 14, 2014 by Daniel Johnston 2 Comments

I was a little worried when I first saw that Roland Smith was to be the author of Shatterproof, book 4 in The 39 Clues: Cahills vs Vespers series.

For those of you who don’t know, The 39 Clues is a multi-author series in which two kids, Amy (14) and Dan (11), learn they are members of the most powerful family in human history. The source of their families power is scattered throughout the world in the form of 39 special clues. If they fall into the wrong hands, the price could be the world itself.

After fighting against their vicious relatives for the clues in the first series, in Cahills vs Vespers Amy and Dan face off against the Vespers, a rival family that wants to steal the clues, and also Amy’s mysterious ring she got from her grandmother. The Vespers have kidnapped many Cahills, and are holding them to force Amy and Dan to do their bidding.

Click here to learn more about The 39 Clues

I was worried when I got Shatterproof because I tried to read Peak by Roland Smith, but I just couldn’t. Smith didn’t seem like too good of an author. I’m glad this book was a pleasant surprise.

Summary

Amy and Dan have now fully teamed up with Atticus and Jake and are traveling to Germany. Vesper 1 tells them they need to steal a jewel, and sends fake police officers to put a fake diamond into Amy’s bag. Vesper 1 tells them they need to switch this with the one at the Pergamon museum.

Meanwhile a team of Erasmus, Jonah, and Hamilton are tracking the movements of Luna Amato, Vesper 5. In the last book the Cahills learned that McIntryre was murdered, and Erasmus believes Amato might have answers. Although they are able to kill Amato, the Cahills suffer yet another tragic death.

Things are also still getting harder for Amy and Dan because Interpol is on them, especially one Milos Vanek. They are able to sneak into the museum and switch the diamonds, but not without being spotted. They are able to get away, but Amy loses the valuable ring she has been told to protect. Luckily, Vanek is able to give it to her in exchange for information about Amato, who also works for Interpol.

Of course, Vesper 1 isn’t about to let Amy and Dan off that easy. He wants them to find the “apology for my great transgression,” and doesn’t give them a whole lot of time to do it. Despite the stress, the book continues developing the idea of a romance between Jake and Amy, and Amy even ends up kissing him. This is despite the fact that Evan is already Amy’s boyfriend.

Amy, Dan, Atticus, and Jake are hot on the heels of finding the Apology, but two old friends named Casper and Cheyenne seem to be getting in their way. Meanwhile, the hostages are planning an escape plan. But things aren’t looking too good for young Phoenix Wizard. Will another hostage die?

Review

Although I wasn’t expecting this book to be super good, it actually was. It was very well written in the same style that we have gotten accustomed to throughout the series of The 39 Clues. It continues to develop the new characters of Atticus and Jake, and keeps the story exciting; not an easy thing to do towards the end of the second arc of a series.

I don’t really think all this romance stuff has a place in The 39 Clues, but a lot of people apparently like it judging by the incessant talk about it on message boards.

I do think there is getting to be a little too much action in the books with some many deaths close together. It used to really mean something when a character died earlier in the series, but now it’s almost routine.

I’m really impressed with the Cahills vs Vespers series and this is a great book to keep it moving. It definitely pushes you forward and keeps you guessing on the most fundamental questions of all: What do the Vespers want? Will Amy and Dan be able to stop them? Who is Vesper 1?

I’d recommend this book for sure. If you haven’t already read the earlier books in the Cahills vs Vespers saga, however, I’d recommend starting with the first book. Otherwise, dive right in! This book is a winner.

Get Cahills vs Vespers Book 4: Shatterproof by Roland Smith