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Lilyn G - Sci-Fi & Scary (91 KP) rated The Sleeper in Books

Feb 1, 2018  
The Sleeper
The Sleeper
Steve Brezenoff | 2012 | Children, Science Fiction/Fantasy
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Interesting elements for a kids book
The Sleeper is a 96-page science fiction mystery early chapter book. It comes with a few accompanying discussion questions at the back, as well as with some writing prompts and a basic glossary. These writing prompts encourage the reader to continue to interact with the story on their own terms. It plunges the reader right into a world that is theoretically just a few days away from getting destroyed by aliens. But the viewpoint the story is being told from is different than you might expect.

The illustrations in The Sleeper are black and white and surprisingly creepy. The illustrator, Tom Percival, does a solid job doing things like showing how even a smile can be rather disturbing. Nothing is graphic or outright scary at all, and yet readers can definitely experience an unease just looking at the pictures.

The Sleeper introduces the concept of a sleeper agent to young readers. I thought this was interesting and wasn't expecting it even though the title should have been a dead giveaway. In my defense, the cover for The Sleeper and the two line synopsis don't exactly tell you what to expect other than aliens!

While there are several good points to The Sleeper, I can't say I particularly liked it. It felt too brief and even though the discussion questions invite the reader to continue the story, it ends on a massive cliffhanger regarding one of the kids' fate. This may be deliberate, and for younger readers, it may actually work out well. It enables the child to feel a sense of accomplishment that they finished a book, and yet provides the impetus for them to pick up the next one. (Still made me twitch as it reeks too much of the chop-job that some authors like to do to a plot to sell more books.)

Overall, The Sleeper was an okay read. If it gets even a handful of kids interested enough to pick up another book, then it is has done its job. And, as always, it's nice to see a beginning chapter book that focuses on science fiction!
  
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b.Young (97 KP) created a post in Bookworms

May 6, 2018  
Just curious...How many of you are involved in a Book Club? And is it online or IRL?
How do you choose your books each month?

My Book Club is IRL and we meet on the 3rd Saturday of each month.
We have a calendar set up with a genre assigned to each month. At the end of our meetings, those who want to suggest a book do so and we post a 2-day poll on our FB page so everyone can vote for the next month's book.
Although we have about 30 ladies in our club, we get 10-12 that actually show up for meetings, so we do a FB Live of our meeting for the ones that aren't able to make it! We also have our group set up on Goodreads for discussion while reading the book (because you can't really warn with a spoiler alert on a FB post). It also gives the ladies who can't make it to the meetings a way to discuss with others as well!
   
Show all 8 comments.
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Sarah (7800 KP) May 9, 2018

That sounds great ? why don’t I put a separate post on here to see if anyone is interested in joining our very own Smashbomb book club? And if we don’t get much interest then I’m happy to join your groups and we could always promote them on here for anyone that’s interested?
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b.Young (97 KP) May 9, 2018

That sounds great, Sarah! I'll be looking for the post!
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Rachel King (13 KP) rated Hurry Less, Worry Less for Moms in Books

Feb 11, 2019  
HL
Hurry Less, Worry Less for Moms
Judy Christie | 2011
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is a short book with only 10 chapters and each chapter reads like a devotional. The chapters each begin with an "Encouraging Word," an "Everyday Step" and "A Mom's Thoughts," and ends with "Mom's Quiet Corner," which contains a summary of the chapter in the form of a "Busy Mom's Tip," "A Mom's Special Scripture," "Mom to Mom," and a "Prayer for the Journey." Peppered throughout each chapter are related verses and useful advice from the author and other anonymous mothers. Each chapter also encourages journaling with appropriate questions, plus the book ends with a Discussion Guide that is meant to be used in a group setting among other moms.
I enjoyed reading this book slowly, savoring the words and advice from so many other moms. With three daughters of my own, all under the age of five, I can use all of the tips on less hurry and worry I can get. I may even pass this book on to other moms who need the same kind of encouragement that I got from reading this lovely book.