Book Review -- Refugee

Refugee by Alan Gratz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Alan Gratz is becoming one of the hot authors of my 6th grade class due to his book Prisoner B-3087 which we did as a read aloud. This book, Refugee, is also a good one, although I didn't give it 5 stars because of two things. One, I got impatient with alternating the chapters between the three characters. I'll admit that I cheated at one point and read about five of Josef's chapters back to back. Two, I thought Gratz was going to tie the three characters together a bit more tightly than he did. They do connect at the end, but I had another scenario in my mind. Still, I thought this was a great book, I love his writing, and anyone who's read Prisoner B-3087 or Projekt 1065 will enjoy this one. Parents and Teachers -- historical fiction drama with some killing/death, ages 10+

Book Review -- A Wrinkle in Time

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this back in the day when I was a kid, probably in fifth or sixth grade. Since I didn't remember anything about it, I decided to read it again. It was a bit difficult to get into, but after a few chapters, I was cruising. This is a well-imagined fantasy book with a science fiction twist. Modern kids may struggle a bit since there are times that the writing feels a bit dated (I can vouch for that as several of my sixth graders have tried and abandoned this book), but for those who stick with it, they'll be rewarded with a wonderful fantasy adventure. I gave it four out of five stars because it was slow to start and also because I thought it ended very abruptly. Parents & teachers -- fantasy and adventure peril, children in intense situations with no parental assistance, no foul language, no inappropriate physical situations, ages 10+