Tag Archives: Adoption

Review: The Scratch on the Ming Vase by Caroline Stellings

Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Middle Grade 8-12, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, , , ,

The Scratch on the Ming Vase
Caroline Stellings
Second Story Press
Published September 15, 2012

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Fourteen year-old Nicki Haddon arrives in Canada, ready to begin her training at the Fire Dragon Academy. But when she reports to the academy to meet kung fu master David Kahana, Nicki finds him lying in a pool of blood. He is only able to slur out a few words and begs Nicki to find a priceless vase and return it to its owner.

The search for the Chinese vase causes Nicki to question her past. She wrestles with the absence of her wealthy adopted parents as they manage their hotel chain, and her origin as an abandoned baby from a Chinese orphanage. Are her real parents still out there? Do they think of her at all?

Bravely facing danger and following sharp instincts, Nicki pursues Kahana’s attacker and the Ming vase. She gives her Chinese name so that her adopted name is not recognized. She lies in order to get a job and gain access to restricted files. She doesn’t appear to have any qualms about these actions. Along the way, she receives help from the butler, another Chinese family and the generous owners of a small deli. Together, they plan to find the vase and return it to its owner, as Master Kahana has asked.

I liked Nicki’s spunk and her independence. The characters kept my interest and proved memorable. This is a nice series for middle grade readers with a short attention span for reading, as it moves quickly and, at 164 pages, isn’t a long book.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
Nicki is the first to find her teacher after he has been stabbed. In several altercations, Nicki uses martial arts to disable her attackers. She handles a gun that a kidnapper produces, but does not fire. No gory details are given.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Save

Review: The Rising by Kelley Armstrong

Book Review and Content, Paranormal, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

The Rising
 Kelley Armstrong
HarperCollins
Published January 1, 2013

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Maya and her friends have been on the run since they discovered their roles as test subjects in an experiment to resurrect supernatural abilities. Worse than that, they’ve now become mixed up in a war between rival groups, both of whom want the supernatural teens for their own use. With nowhere to go and only one possible contact left, Maya seeks a meeting with someone who might help. Turns out his help means putting up with an awful lot of attitude and a part of Maya’s past she’s not ready to face. More than that, as Maya and her friend Corey’s abilities continue to develop, so do the frightening side effects. Experiment leaders, the St. Cloud and Nast Cabals may be able to counter the side effects with medication, but access to the treatment means surrender and a life in a gilded cage for Maya’s team. Protecting her freedom means Maya has to discover a way to negotiate with the Cabals.

Fraught with angst and romantic tension, The Rising delivers a story of desperate teens battling for independence, desperately trying to sort out who they can trust and addresses issues of adoption, abandonment and what it takes to make a family. While Armstrong nails some of the tense moments with keen dialogue, she often summarizes scenes which would have deepened the story and more fully developed its characters. Nonetheless, readers who enjoyed Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver will likely enjoy this paranormal novel as well.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Moderate language.

Sexual Content
Kissing/ “making out.” When Maya shifts from her cougar form, she is naked, but the others are respectful and protect her privacy.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
An accident is referenced in which a character was hit by a car. One character is shot, but not fatally. Maya slashes an enemy with her claws. A girl attempts to suffocate Maya. No graphic details to any of these events.

Drug Content
Maya’s parents are very permissive about alcohol and allow underage drinking, though no one consumes alcohol during the story.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Save

Review: Over a Thousand Hills I Walk With You by Hanna Jansen

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

Over a Thousand Hills I Walk with You
Hanna Jansen
Carolrhoda Books
Published April 1, 2006 (Orig. published 2003)

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Jeanne’s family and home are destroyed when the radical Hutu group, the Interahamwe, begin a nationwide massacre of the Rwandan Tutsi population. As Jeanne and others struggle to flee the Interahamwe soldiers and simply survive each day, a black hole yawns inside of her, a grief and rage that threaten to swallow her whole. But something else changes. She finds within herself an unyielding strength and will to survive.

It is a before-and-after story, told by Jeanne’s German adopted mother. Each chapter opens with a behind-the-scenes look at the events and the healing that unfolded even as the story was told, as Hanna Jansen walks over a thousand hills with her daughter.

Honestly, as I read Over a Thousand Hills I Walk with You, it wasn’t until about the third chapter that I really felt myself captured by this book. But by the middle, I couldn’t put it down. I became entranced by the parallels between mother and daughter, despite their differing backgrounds, and the struggles that Jeanne endured as a child on the run in a very dark time juxtaposed against her battle for inner healing, and the woman who never stopped fighting for her. Over a Thousand Hills I Walk with You is raw, painful… and yet ultimately a beautiful and powerful tale of healing.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Spiritual Content
None.

Sexual Content
Contains some references to rape.

Violent Content
Contains some references to the massacre of the Tutsi people in Rwanda.

Drug Content
None.

Save

Save