Archive for the ‘Book Reviews’ Category

Written by K.L. Denman

Published by Orca Book Publishers

Reviewed by Jenny Irene Crakes

What might life be like if you could no longer trust your own vision of reality? Me, Myself and Ike by K.L. Denman follows one young man’s spiraling journey into schizophrenia.

Seventeen-year-old Kit Latimer feels invisible, acutely alone, and distanced from his family, friends, and girlfriend. He is strangely fascinated with the story of Otzi, a mummy whose five-thousand-year-old corpse was discovered by hikers in a European glacier. Propelled by a desperate wish to be somebody, as well as the urging of his mysterious friend Ike, he slowly becomes convinced that it is his destiny to become the next Ice Man, a frozen time capsule for the good of humankind. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by L. M. Falcone

Published by Kids Can Press

Reviewed by Megan Boothby

“Something bad’s gonna happen. I can feel it in my bones – and my bones never lie.”

So begins the story of eleven-year-old twins Charlie and Lacey Darcy. When their reclusive and eccentric Uncle Johnathon passes away, the twins and their mother naturally assume their inheritance will be money. But they are in for a surprise, finding they inherit not only his bizarre manor, but also the ghosts of two boys, an evil spirit bent on revenge, and a deadly curse. The Midnight Curse states that Charlie, the next Darcy male, must sleep in water after midnight every night or he will shrivel up and die. So the twins set out to remove the curse before it’s too late. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Beryl Young

Published by Ronsdale Press

Reviewed byVivien Kong

We are all having someone in our life that is irreplaceable. What would you do when that person is gone? Put your heart to sleep or get out into the world? Maybe you’ll find faith or maybe you’ll find the person you loved and lost. You never know.

Follow the Elephant is the tale of a Canadian boy’s adventure in India. His father’s sudden death has numbed his soul and led him to escape into the world of computer games. To bring back his enthusiasm, his grandmother persuades him to travel to India with her, and assigns him the mission of finding her long lost pen pal, Shanti. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Lynne Kositsky

Published by Dundurn

Reviewed by Sarah McComb

With no family or friends to speak of, young Noah Vaile finds himself alone, on the streets of Bristol, England. When he literally bumps into William Thatcher, a sailor, he is offered the opportunity to leave his old life behind. Despite Thatcher’s crude and violent manner, Noah decides to take him up on his offer, lured by the prospect of treasure. He his past behind him – with the exception of some of his thieving ways – he even takes on a new name: Robin Starveling.

But things soon take an abrupt turn for the worse. As if the mistreatment at the hands of Thatcher isn’t enough, the ship sails into a terrifying storm and winds up shipwrecked on the Isle of Devils. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Alex Scarrow

Published by Penguin

Reviewed by Sarah Dowling

Three radically different teenagers from different parts of the world – and totally different times – are facing death when they suddenly find themselves in New York City, 2001. Instead of continuing down their normal timeline, Liam O’Connor (from 1912), Maddy Carter (from 2010) and Sal Vikram (from 2026) are brought to a field office where they are recruited by a secret agency and given a mission; stopping other time travellers from changing the past. The super-secret TimeRiders exist to save the past, present, and future. Read the rest of this entry »