Ranger's Apprentice

Published Information

Author:	John Flanagan
Genre:	Fantasy

Ratings

Violence:	PG-13 (Fantasy violence)
Sexual Content:	PG
Language:	PG
Reading Age:	Junior High
Buy Recommend:	Hardbound(My wife and children also love the books)
Overall Rating:	8 out of 10 (I recommend this to everyone I know that have children)

Plot Summary

The Ranger's Apprentice follows a young man, Will, who is apprenticed by one of the king's Rangers, an elite corp of trackers and archers who are trained to go throughout the kingdom and take care of problems for the king. It is said: "One riot, one ranger." Will's friends were also apprenticed into different disciplines and as the series progresses, different friends are brought it to work with him on missions or errands.

Most of Will's adventures involve his mentor, Halt who trained him as a ranger, and Horace, Will's best friend who was trained as a knight. They travel around the country investigating rumors and rescuing people.

Book Summaries

1. The Ruins of Gorlan (June 2005, 256pp) - Story of Will, a young boy who becomes the Ranger Halt's apprentice. Will and many of his friends have worked toward the day where they can be accepted into a school that they want. When the day comes, all of Will's friends are accepted into their chosen school of apprenticeship, but Will isn't accepted into any of them. But Halt, the King's ranger in the area, recognize some talents that the Rangers value, and take him into training.
2. The Burning Bridge (June 2006, 272pp) - Will, Horace, and another Ranger, Gilan, are sent into a neighboring country to follow up on some news that they have received. When they arrive, they find that Lord Morgarath about to invade. As they investigate, the find a huge bridge that is being built that will allow Morgarath and his armies to invade without any challenge. It is up to the trio to warn the king of the danger, as well as slow down the invasion enough to save the kingdom.
3. The Icebound Land (June 2007, 260pp) - After being captured at the end of book 2, Will and Evanlyn are heading to Skandia as slaves. Halt and Horace vow they will rescue Will and Evanlyn and are expelled from their groups because of this devotion. As Halt and Horace travel towards Skandia, they are attacked by various knights who are trying to build their reputations. But because of Horace's skill, they begin attracting the notice of various knights and rulers in the area.
4. The Battle for Skandia(March 2008, 272pp) - Will and Evanlyn have now escaped their Skandian captors, but on their return to Araluen, they find that the Temujai are invading Skandia, with Araluen being the next on the list. It is up to Will, Evanlyn and other friends to now help the Skandians repulse the invaders to protect them, as well as Araluen.
5. The Sorcerer in the North (Nov 2008, 304pp) - Several years have passed since the previous book. Will is now a ranger of his own fief. Things seems easy until one of the lords in the area die by a mysterious illness. One of Will's friends, Alyss, join him as he investigates what is happening. As he investigates, things get much more interesting. Sorcery is suspected and traitors are everywhere. On top of everything, Alyss is captured. Will will have to make a choice between he mission and his friend.
6. The Siege of Macindaw (Aug 2009, 320pp) - This book takes over right after the events of the previous book. A rogue knight, Keren, has taken over Macindaw, and Alyss is being held captive. As he investigates, he finds that Keren is working with one of the border kingdoms in an attempt to overthrow Araluen. Fortunetaly, Horace joins Will to help. Will the two be able to overthrown Keren, restore the royal family and save Araluen from invaders?
7. Erak's Ransom (Jan 2010, 400pp) - This book jumps back in time (chronologically between books 4 and 5) to the period just before Will is made a ranger and tells the story of how he earned his Silver Oakleaf to enter the Ranger corps. The Rangers learn that the Skandian leader, the man Will worked with to form a truce between Skandia and Araluen, has been captured. As they go to rescue him, they are caught in a trap and taken into the desert. Will and his friends have proven themselves against the forests, the cold, and the cultures that live there. But can they do it in the desert.
8. The Kings of Clonmel (May 2010, 314pp) - Now, back in chronological order, Will, Halt and Horace are called on to track down a religious sect that promises to protect villages from marauders. Little do the people know, the marauders are under the bankroll of the sect. They work together and rob the villages of their gold and other riches. Unfortunately, Halt knows about this sect and knows this will be a dangerous group to overcome. Not only do they rob the people, they do it in a way that makes the village people want to keep the sect in power. They are slowly taking control of more of Araluen...
9. Halt's Peril (Oct 2010, 384pp) - The book continues with Will, Halt and Horace chasing after the leaders of the outlaw group, the Outsiders, from the previous book. Soon, the leader becomes aware that they are being followed and send out his assassins to take care of Will, Halt and Horace. In the encounter, it appears that the assassins have been beaten. However, their weapons were poisoned and Halt very quickly falls to its effects. Should Will save his mentor and friend and find a healer, or continue after the Outsiders?
10. The Emperor of Nihon-Ja (April 2011, 352pp) - As the book begins, Horace is about to leave from the country of Nihon-Ja on a mission to understand and learn the warfare techniques in that country. As he prepares, a revolt is staged against the emperor and Horace finds himself making enemies as he protects the emperor. As the emperor goes into hiding, Horace follows. Will, Halt and others learn that Horace has gone missing, so they go to find him. As they do so, they end up working together to find a way to save the emperor.

Comments

These are some of the best books I have read in a while. It is meant for a younger audience, so if you are looking for a heavy read, this is not it. From the books, most of them have less than 400 pages, so they are quick and straight forward, but very entertaining. The language could be a little better, but the language that is a big strong is few and far between. If you are looking for books to interest your pre-teen through teen, these might be it.

The Book Thief

Published Information

Author:	Markus Zusak
Published:	March 2006
Genre:	Historical Fiction
Pages:	560

Ratings

Violence:	PG-13 (Some scenes of war)
Sexual Content:	PG
Language:	PG-13 (Lots of German swear words)
Reading Age:	High School
Buy Recommend:	Hardbound (One of the best books I have read in a while)
Overall Rating:	10 out of 10 (Well written, feel good ending after terrible tragedy)

Plot Summary

The book is about a girl, Liesel, who lives in Nazi Germany during the time of World War II. She is left by her mother to live with an older couple who raise and take care of her. Her new "father", Hans, plays the accordion and is a painter for the town in which they live. Her "mother", Rosa, swears, harasses people (mostly her husband), does laundry for many of the folks in town and takes care of the house. She has a friend (who is a boy) named Rudy. However, the book is told from the point of view of the Grim Reaper. He talks about how he meets Liesel several times over the course of the war, and how this girl changes him.

As Liesel gets to know her new "parents", they take in a Jewish man. Obviously, this is very dangerous in Nazi Germany, but Hans had made a promise to help this man years earlier. But the best they can do is keep him in the basement. Liesel becomes good friends with this man and spends much of her time talking to him and helping him live the world through her eyes. At one point, he becomes very sick and she brings him gifts of the outside world to try and help him know that she has been thinking about them.

As the war begins to wind down, things become very dangerous for the family, especially with them hiding a Jewish man. We begin to see how fear can truly beat down on the people in the town, especially Hans family. More than anything, through some of the sub-plots in the book, we see the true power of words, both spoken and written and how they can change the course of the world.

Comments

This is one of the best books I have ever read. Recently, I have wondered if I have ever read a book that I would consider a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. It wouldn't necessarily be a book that was action packed, or a book that was incredibly funny. Rather, it would be a book that would lift me up and make me a better person for having read it. It would make me thing about life and what it is to be human. I would be one that I would think about for days after having read it. And even though it might not be an exciting book, it would be one I would have a difficult time putting down. This is one of those books. It does have its moments of excitement. It is very funny. But it also brought me to tears, and made me feel alive. I feel like a better person for having read this book.

The Wednesday Wars

Published Information

Author:	Gary D. Schmidt
Published:	May 2007
Genre:	Historical Novel
Pages:	272

Ratings

Violence:	G
Sexual Content:	PG
Language:	G
Reading Age:	Junior high (Elementary would even be ok, but much of history in book might be missed)
Buy Recommend:	Hardbound (Great feel good book, many in my family have read and will read again)
Overall Rating:	9 out of 10 (One of the best books I have read in a long time)

Plot Summary

Main Chars: Holling, Mrs Baker, Heather (sister), Meryl Lee

The book is set in the late sixties, during the Vietnam war, in New York. Holling Hoodhood is a seventh grader who is convinced that teachers are out to get him, in particular, Mrs. Baker. He assumes they arrange schedules and make assignments specifically to torture their students. Especially, him. However, as any teacher will tell you, this is not the case.

On Wednesdays, most of his class is off early in the afternoon to attend either Jewish or Catholic services for youth. Holling, being Presbyterian, goes to neither of these, so has to stay in class. He is the only one. So Mrs. Baker decides to make use of his time. First, she assigns him busy work like cleaning the erasers for the school. But after a few weeks of this, she decides this is a waste of time and so comes up with another scheme to make Holling miserable. They are going to read Shakespeare together.

Turns out, Holling loves to read. His favorite book is Treasure Island, but can't imagine Shakespeare can be that good. However, as the book moves on, Holling realizes that Shakespeare's plays are very applicable in our life and he begins loving this reading. Holling and Mrs. Baker begin to truly enjoy this time together, and as the year progresses, Holling realizes there is much more to Mrs. Baker, and for that matter, many other people in his life that he either took for granted or dismissed, than meets the eye. She helps him grow up in a much more real sense than his father and mother do.

Comments

I loved this book! Once again, I find that often times, my favorites are books that make me stop and think about my own life. What are my priorities? What are my shortcomings? What can I laugh at in my laugh? This book made me stop and think about each of these, along with many other questions. There are times in the book that I had to put the book down because I was laughing so much. I remember when my wife read the book and she kept laughing. I didn't understand it then, but I do now. As an adult, it is so funny to me to think back on when I was a youth, looking at parents, teachers, other adults, and couldn't understand their motives. As an adult, it is hilarious to see life through the eyes of a seventh grader, when I understand more, now, what the adults are thinking.

There are also times I had to momentarily stop reading because of other emotions it made me feel: sadness, joy, or anger. I love how Superman's father (bear with me a sec…) talks about the great promise we humans show both for good and bad. While there aren't super villains in this book, you still see the good and bad in people. We see people who are insensitive to race, or are diva types, as well as the power of forgiveness and love. Once again… great book.