Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the quiet and thoughtful son of the Chief of the Hairy Hooligans, tries to pass the important initiation test of his Viking clan by catching and training a dragon. Can Hiccup do it without being torn limb from limb?
Join his adventures and misadventures as he finds a new way to train dragons–and becomes a hero. This action-packed, hilarious, and perfectly illustrated novel is a modern classic beloved by millions across the globe.
How to Train Your Dragon has sold over 8 million books worldwide in 38 languages. It is also an award-winning DreamWorks film series, and a TV series shown on Netflix and CBBC. The first book in Cressida’s new series, The Wizards of Once (also signed by DreamWorks), is a number one bestseller.
My Review
It’s always risky reading a book after seeing the movie first. I’ve seen the movie How to Train Your Dragon lots of times with my daughter, so I’m pretty familiar with it.
The first thing I’ll say about the book is that it is SO different than the movie. I would say it definitely inspired the movie, but there’s not much overlap in the two stories besides a few of the characters and the fact that they’re Vikings figuring out an existence in a world in which dragons exist plus needing to battle an extra huge dragon.
Honestly, though, I think I liked the book better, except for the fact that there are so few female characters. In fact, I’m not sure if there’s even a line uttered by a female Viking? I’m not sure.
One of the things I liked a lot is that in the book, Hiccup can speak to dragons, and he hears them talking back. I felt like that made his relationship with Toothless really cool and added some unexpected humor. I liked that while Hiccup is so out of sync with the other Vikings, he already has the makings of a leader, he just doesn’t have the confidence to back up his ability. In an early scene, he takes some pretty heroic action to save a classmate. Even though that pretty much gets him no recognition, since it’s in the middle of a disaster, it still shows that he’s brave and clever and takes care of the other people around him.
I like that it’s his cleverness that ends up being the key the tribe needs in their most vulnerable moment. And I loved the way the dragons, especially Toothless, and their own motivations play a role in what happens.
It took me a long time, but I am so glad I read this book. I enjoyed its shenanigans and goofiness as well as the story about a boy and his dragon and finding the courage to lead others.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.
Representation All the human characters are Vikings.
Profanity/Crude Language Content None.
Romance/Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content The Vikings believe Thor passes judgment on their actions.
Violent Content Situations of peril. Battles against dragons.
Drug Content None.
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If no one notices Marya Lupu, it is likely because of her brother, Luka. And that’s because of what everyone knows: that Luka is destined to become a sorcerer.
The Lupus might be from a small village far from the capital city of Illyria, but that doesn’t matter. Every young boy born in in the kingdom holds the potential for the rare ability to wield magic, to protect the country from the terrifying force known only as the Dread.
For all the hopes the family has for Luka, no one has any for Marya, who can never seem to do anything right. But even so, no one is prepared for the day that the sorcerers finally arrive to test Luka for magical ability, and Marya makes a terrible mistake. Nor the day after, when the Lupus receive a letter from a place called Dragomir Academy–a mysterious school for wayward young girls. Girls like Marya.
Soon she is a hundred miles from home, in a strange and unfamiliar place, surrounded by girls she’s never met. Dragomir Academy promises Marya and her classmates a chance to make something of themselves in service to one of the country’s powerful sorcerers. But as they learn how to fit into a world with no place for them, they begin to discover things about the magic the men of their country wield, as well as the Dread itself–things that threaten the precarious balance upon which Illyria is built.
My Review
I went into this book intrigued by the premise and expecting it to be good. Instead, it kind of blew me away. I was totally hooked when I met Marya and her awful family. From the beginning, I knew there was more to her than meets the eye, and I felt like I just had to keep reading to find out what it was.
Also, the tapestries! Okay, so in the book, the weavers and embroiderers have a secret language. They use symbols to mean different things– like a crescent moon placed near the artist’s signature means she doesn’t believe the story the tapestry tells. An embroidered cushion might tell a whole family’s history. I’ve never seen anything like that in a book before, and I LOVE it! I love the way that secret impacts so many parts of the story.
The way that Marya and the other girls wrestle with the way they’re treated just broke my heart. Watching them take courage and band together and be one another’s strength was so awesome. It reminded me a little bit of the spirit of GIRLS WITH SHARP STICKS, but written for a younger audience. I loved that vibe about it, though.
I think readers who enjoyed THE RAVEN HEIR or THE OTHER SIDE OF LUCK will really enjoy this one and its celebration of friendship, equality, and courage.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.
Representation I think Marya and her family have white skin. Her best friend at school has brown skin.
Profanity/Crude Language Content None.
Romance/Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content Some characters have magical ability. For the men, this is seen as an asset, and they are trained and given wealth and prestige. For the women, this is seen as evidence that they’re evil, and they’re sent to an asylum.
Violent Content A powerful force called the Dread threatens the kingdom. No one knows how it spreads, but it is deadly.
Drug Content None.
Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of THE TROUBLED GIRLS OF DRAGOMIR ACADEMY in exchange for my honest review.
What Breathes Through Its Butt: Mind-Blowing Science Questions Answered Dr. Emily Grossman Illustrated by Alice Bowsher Bloomsbury USA Children’s Published November 10, 2020
A funny and interactive book that explains the surprising science behind everyday kid questions.
Why is your elbow called your funny bone? How could you escape the grip of a crocodile’s jaw? Which animal can breathe through its butt? This book uncovers the amazing scientific explanations behind all sorts of questions that can pop into our heads. Can an egg bounce? How can a giraffe’s ridiculously long neck contain the same number of bones as a human’s? How much does the Internet weigh? With delightful interactive features that invite readers to guess answers to questions and make links between different scientific concepts, this is a great book for reluctant readers and STEAM lovers alike.
My Review
Okay, so I’m kind of embarrassed that it took me so long to review this book. I received a copy of WHAT BREATHES THROUGH ITS BUTT from the publisher, but I hadn’t asked for it. This past year I’ve really struggled to keep up with reading and posting reviews in ways that I never struggled before between the pandemic, family stuff, and my own health issues. I’m trying to get caught up, though, and so here I am, posting about this book at last.
One of the reasons it took me SO LONG to read this book is that, to be honest, I found the format of it kind of off-putting. The font is more of a handwriting style font and while it’s broken up into different sections with drawings alongside, I felt like it looked chaotic.
Now that I’ve read the book, I think the font choice might have been designed to support the book’s informal, conversational feel, which if true is a cool idea. I just… yeah. For me, it made the book harder for me to read.
Things I Really Liked
Apart from that, though, I actually enjoyed this book a lot more than I expected to. The conversational style that Dr. Grossman uses kept the pages feeling fun and light. Each section begins with a multiple choice question, like, “How much does the whole of the internet weigh?”, or “Which animal alive today has the strongest bite?” The reader sees four possible answers to pick from, and then the text begins to explore each of the possible answers.
The questions are a bit all over the place, so it’s not a book that focuses on any single topic. There are questions about space, animals, the human body, light, and more.
I’ve never seen a format like this before, but I’m a huge fan now. It made the book feel really interactive, and I found myself invested in reading the answers every time. I thought the illustrations were really fun and cute and definitely matched the tone of the book.
I haven’t read tons of juvenile nonfiction, but of what I’ve read, this book does the best job showing science in action. Each section starts with a question. Then it invites the reader to form a hypothesis. Then it looks at and compares evidence. I’ve never seen a book kind of just DO science the way this one does, and in such a friendly, fun way!
Honestly, I expected to like this book about 25% as much as I actually like it. I’m still not a huge fan of the font choice, but I love the way it makes science accessible and fun. It’s easily the kind of book you can get carried away reading. I think it’s a great pick for a school or classroom library or a budding science lover.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.
Representation Illustrations show a racially diverse group of kids.
Profanity/Crude Language Content As you already guessed from the title, this book has some mildly crude language and explores animal behaviors including pooping, burping, and passing gas and the science behind why they happen or their impact on the environment.
Romance/Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content None.
Violent Content None.
Drug Content None.
Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog. I received a free copy of WHAT BREATHES THROUGH ITS BUTT in exchange for my honest review.
I’m sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets for misfortune.
In this short book alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast.
It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing.
With all due respect, Lemony Snicket
My Review
Lemony Snicket is one of the few authors, I think, who can do something like write a letter to the reader instead of paragraphs of back cover copy and it honestly works. His writing is playful and he breaks all kinds of conventions but in such a clever way that I never mind. I actually started reading this book years ago to my daughter when we’d read aloud together before she went to bed, but I think she loved the story so much she must have started reading it on her own since I wasn’t going fast enough in those few minutes before bed. Ha! That’s writing success right there.
Anyway, so I kind of knew the rest of the story because she and I had talked about it, but I’d never read the whole book on my own. And lately, to be honest, I’ve just needed the pick-me-up that cheeky middle grade books can be.
I liked this book a lot, but it’s really weird thinking back on my experience reading it. There are a lot of dark moments: the children are placed with a guardian who pretty much treats them like free labor. He’s controlling and creepy and obviously a villain.
The relationships between the children are so great. They each have really different personalities (Sunny is my favorite), and each add something special to the story.
I’m not sure if I’ll be able to read and review the whole series, because I’m terrible about finishing a series, and this one is 13 books! As it is, I still haven’t finished the last book in Snicket’s All the Wrong Questions series. But I definitely liked THE BAD BEGINNING enough to read more of this series.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.
Representation Major characters are white. The story is set in England.
Profanity/Crude Language Content None.
Romance/Sexual Content An adult tries to trick a child into marrying him. It’s clear the intention is financial.
Spiritual Content None.
Violent Content An adult threatens to kill or harm one or all of the children. One is placed in a cage.
Drug Content Several adults drink wine and behave badly.
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I’ve been thinking about doing another of these check-in posts for a while, but it’s been difficult to find the time to put one together. It seems like most of my blog time lately has really just been maintenance, which makes me feel super guilty. Ugh. I want to do more, but it’s hard to fit everything in right now. At any rate, it’s been a while, so let’s catch up a bit, shall we?
If we were having coffee…
I might actually be drinking herbal tea. Historically I haven’t been a huge tea drinker– maybe a cup now and then in the winter or when I’m feeling ill. Lately, though, drinking herbal tea has been part of a calming ritual for me. I am hooked on Teavana’s Mandarin Mimosa or Peach Tranquility. I’m drinking Mandarin Mimosa right now.
When I’m feeling stressed or overwhelmed or I just need a few minutes to organize my thoughts, I make a cup of tea. Something about that simple act feels a bit like hitting a pause button. I get to do something for me, which every mom knows can be a challenge! So that’s been a huge help in terms of just creating some space in my head or in my day. Sometimes I’ll bring the tea in the car with me and drink it while I sit in the parking lot waiting for a curbside order.
If we were having coffee…
I’d ask you what you’ve been reading lately. For me, I feel like middle grade books have been saving my life. There’s something particularly poignant about books like GLITTER GETS EVERYWHERE and SIX FEET BELOW ZERO for me lately that feels like healing as I’m reading them. Books about wrestling with grief or about finding the humor in terrible situations. Those are really hitting hard for me right now, in a good way.
I’ve also been reading some hard books. I recently started reading THE MARROW THIEVES, which has been on my reading list awhile. I don’t know what I expected it to be about– I think I had mixed it up with another book maybe?? I was NOT prepared when I started reading it. The writing is amazing. I love the characters and the found family aspect. It’s just also really dark… like reminds me of THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy… that kind of dark– desperate and post-apocalyptic.
I’ve also been reading a couple of faith books. One is kind of a memoir (??) of sorts about a non-profit ministry that helps gang members in Los Angeles called TATTOOS ON THE HEART. It’s so, so good. I think I’ve spent a lot of time over the last several years seeing people who identify with my faith behaving in ways that are so the opposite of what I believe that I’ve felt really lost as a Christian. Reading about someone who is living faith in a way that makes me feel like YES, this is what I believe. Yes, this is a person from whom I feel like I can learn. That’s been incredibly healing for me. The author has two other books that are quickly leaping to the top of my reading list.
If we were having coffee…
We’d probably talk about health and family. The people you know who’ve been sick or have recovered. The ones who haven’t. We’ve lost neighbors. We’ve lost family. By now I feel like most families have been touched by Covid. We’re doing the best we can to find the balance between social distancing and still maintaining the relationships that are important. We’ve got family who respect, understand, and support us, and family who don’t.
My oldest decided to homeschool this year. My youngest will be at home, too. I keep hearing other parents talking about making those choices for their families and saying versions of “there are no good choices this year. We’re only able to make the best of the bad ones.” And I wholeheartedly agree.
I keep wondering if every year will be like this. No one can say. No one knows. I know I need to make decisions for THIS year, decisions that I can sleep with at night. But knowing what the next few years would look like seems like it would at least help a bit. At least we’d know if there’s a break in the clouds coming soon. For now, I have lots of questions, an not nearly enough answers.
I know that I’m exhausted, and I bet you are, too. No matter what you believe about Covid, the vaccine, masks, whatever, our lives have been altered, and it hasn’t been easy. And there’s no promise that it will suddenly become easy.
If we were having coffee…
I’d ask you if you think Covid will start to emerge in fiction. Like, I’m seeing it a little bit already– I have a couple books on my reading list that reference it in the backstory of the book. But like, will we start seeing more books where Covid is just a part of life? Are authors all holding their breaths, hoping that Covid is temporary, or clinging to writing present-day stories that don’t include Covid because then books still remain a safe escape from real life?
Will it be like cell phones, where eventually all contemporary stories include them? Where there’s like, a line in the fictional sand: stories set before 2020 have no Covid. Stories set after that include it and show social distancing and reflect what’s happening.
It’s weird, right? Even typing all that out, I feel like these are weird questions. Thinking about my own writing, I’m not even sure. How would Covid impact the story ideas I have? Right now I can’t imagine telling those stories in a Covid world.
If we were having coffee…
I’d want to end on a positive note. I’d want to talk about things I’m looking forward to. Okay, so this first one is kind of a cheat… but the final book in one of my FAVORITE series comes out in the US in October. The series is called The Storm Keeper’s Island (that link is to my review of the first book in the series) and the final book is called THE STORM KEEPER’S BATTLE. I have been looking forward to this book since I read the last page of the second book in the series, THE LOST TIDE WARRIORS.
Earlier this year I noticed THE STORM KEEPER’S BATTLE had already come out in the UK. Y’all, I don’t do a ton of preorders, and I had never ordered a UK release before at all. But. I absolutely ordered this one, and so I’ve technically already read it. I haven’t posted my review, and I will probably reread the book before I do. That’s how much I love the series. So. Yeah. I’m looking forward to seeing other bloggers talking about it, and maybe hopefully my bookish friends will read it and want to talk about it, too.
So that’s my update.
Thanks for sticking around or stopping by. Sorry I haven’t been as present lately with lists and recommendations and responding to comments the way that I want to. My littlest will start doing some preschool time with my mom a couple mornings per week soon, so I’m hoping that opens up a little more time for me to post and share and write more.
If we were having coffee, what would you want to tell me?
Leave me a comment with something you’d tell me if we were having coffee today. It can be related to the topics I’ve mentioned or something totally different.
Kate McAllister is desperate for a change. Something to hit refresh and erase the pain of her mother leaving town without her. So when a group of popular girls folds Kate into their clique, it feels like the answer to all her problems—even if it means ditching Haddie, her childhood bestie.
But when Kate’s new friends decide that Haddie is their next target, Kate becomes a passive participant in a cruel incident that could have killed Haddie…had Kate not stepped in, at the last minute, and saved her. The next day, a cell phone video of the rescue goes viral, and Kate is hailed a hero. But Kate knows the truth—she was part of the problem—and it’s only a matter of time until the full version of the video is released and everyone knows it too.
With so much at stake, Kate must decide who she wants to be: a liar, a follower, or someone greater.
In this timely, call-to-action contemporary middle grade novel from Claire Swinarski, author of WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, a twelve-year-old girl must face herself, and the truth, after her participation in a bullying incident goes viral.
My Review
When I saw that Claire Swinarski had a new book out, I was super excited to read it. I loved her debut novel, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, so I had high expectations for THE KATE IN BETWEEN.
Just like in her previous book, Swinarski gives us a main character with a rich emotional landscape. Kate’s juggling a lot of things: rejection and anger at her mom for leaving her; warring love and embarrassment about living with her dad, a police officer in their small town; and a whole ton of friend guilt over leaving her friendship with her best friend for the cool girls’ group.
So that’s a lot. I loved the relationships between the characters, too.
Haddie is this optimistic, quirky individual, yet she has deep feelings, too. Her friendship with Kate isn’t perfect, but it’s so genuine. Kate’s frustration with Haddie for being oblivious to how other people saw her felt real and understandable. But so did her love for Haddie and her longing for the relationship they had.
Kate and her dad have this really sweet relationship, too. He’s not perfect either– one of the things he does that hurts Kate is to say harsh things about Kate’s mom. It’s easy to see that those comments come from a pretty deep place of frustration with her mom, since she is an impulsive, not very responsible parent, even though she loves Kate a lot. When Kate first moves in with him, it’s like he’s not sure how to reach her or what to do to make her comfortable. Watching him settle into being a full-time dad was really cool. I loved him so much.
I thought Kate’s relationships with Taylor (her new bestie, and the cool girl at school) and with Kate’s mom were also complex and realistic. Kate knows Taylor’s mean, but she sees more in her than that. She sees the hurt and the longing to have real friends. And Kate loves her mom even if she feels pushed aside by her mom’s infatuation with a make-up company and her dreams of making it big as a sales consultant.
So there’s a lot in terms of the relationships making up the story, too. I feel like the risk there is that having so much going on could dilute Kate’s journey, but I didn’t feel like that happened here. Kate’s struggle echoes through each of those relationships. Over and over she’s faced with the question about who she wants to be: the girl who speaks softly and never gets upset? The girl who pushes back and fights when she wants something? Something in between?
THE KATE IN BETWEEN was a quick read for me. I finished it a few days ago and I still find myself thinking about it. I think readers who enjoy books by Kate Messner or Gillian McDunn will love THE KATE IN BETWEEN.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 8 to 12
Representation The major characters were white.
Profanity/Crude Language Content None.
Romance/Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content Kate and her dad go to church regularly.
Violent Content There’s a lot of discussion about bullying in this book. Taylor and her crew were tossing Haddie’s hat around, trying to keep it away from her before Haddie fell in the pond. They say mean things about her. When everyone learns Kate’s full role in the events that day, some people say ugly things about her, too.
Drug Content None.
Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog. I received a free copy of THE KATE IN BETWEEN in exchange for my honest review.
