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Alison Pink (7 KP) rated Hero in Books

Jan 15, 2018

Hero

Mike Lupica | 2010

6.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

This book was actually lent to me by a former student who loved it so much he asked me to read it. Of course what teacher could turn down a request like that!?
The book was good. I can see why it appealed to a 5th grade boy without a doubt. It tells the story of Zach Harriman who turns out to be a sort of super hero. Of course he doesn't know that he is until after his dad is killed in a plane crash. After that, he finds out that his dad had the same abilities & that his plane "crash" was most likely caused by "The Bads."
The story is a bit predictable. There is a good core cast of characters, but they felt a bit lacking...they could have been more fleshed out. Of course in saying all of this, I do realize that I am not the target audience for this book. I'm sure if the 5th grader who gave it to me were to rate it, he'd give it a 5!

Kudos

Sue (5 KP) rated Carbs and Cadavers (A Supper Club Mystery, #1) in Books

Aug 13, 2018

English Professor James (now the town librarian) moves back to his hometown to take care of his widowed father and is invited to join a Supper Club. The club (later called the flab five) is for members trying to lose weight. As the newly formed group start a low-carb diet and start to form friendships, the town is rocked by the murder of a high school football alumni.

James and the rest of the flab five tried to weed through who could have killed the ex-jock. Was it one of the ladies he has spurned, a boyfriend that didn’t like Brinkley’s attention to his girl, or the sweet young waitress at the town diner?

The book is more than just about a mystery. The author pulls you in and has you falling in love with the likable yet flawed James, the wanna be cop Lucy, Bennett the postman, Lindy the teacher, Gillian the pet groomer, and Jackson (James’s dad) the lovable grump.

This book is a great start to what I know will be a favored series.

Kudos

David McK (3557 KP) rated Star Wars: Screaming Citadel in Books

Jun 30, 2019

This is a essentially a cross-over graphic novel, collecting issues 7-8 of Doctor Aphra, issues 31-32 of the 'main' Star Wars stories, and issue #1 (of 1) of The Screaming Citadel.

As such, the artwork doesn't always mesh, with the story feeling (to me) rather disjointed: here we have Luke teaming up with Dr Aphra (first introduced in the earlier run of these comics) to investigate the Screaming Citadel, where the queen of said Citadel only opens up her doors once a year to receive supplicants from all over the galaxy.

Why the team up? Because Dr Aphra has a Jedi Holocron, and Luke - at this point (pre Empire Strikes Back, remember!) is in lack of a teacher. And what does Dr Aphra get out of it? Knowledge.

What this then devolves into - for my money - is a pretty standard double and triple-cross tale, with Luke eventually learning that there are no short cuts to learning the ways of the Force, and with a set-up for a yet-to-be-followed-up-on sequel to the story.