Swimming in a Sea of Stars by Julie Wright

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Realistic YA fiction at its best!
Addison tried to end her life and now she’s heading back to high school. This is giving her anxiety about how she’ll be received at school and how she’s going to make it through the day. When she arrives at school, she sees another student dealing with family problems. This helps Addison see outside herself and realizes she is in a position to help someone else. Hopefully the rest of her day will help Addison heal and regain hope.

Likes/dislikes: I enjoyed the writing because of the emotional intelligence, wisdom and humor. The author connected the characters’ lives smoothly. The story and characters are inspiring.
Mature content: PG for mention of suicide.
Language: G for 0 swears and 0 f-words.
Violence: PG for mention of abuse.
Ethnicity: mixed.

The Orphan Keeper by Camron Wright; Adapted for Young Readers Edition

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Based on a miraculous true story!

A young boy, Chellamathu, lives with his family amongst Indian poverty. He has many siblings and it’s difficult for his family to take care of everyone. He’s kidnapped and taken to an orphanage for sale. He’s kidnapped along with a few other children and they ride for three hours before they reach the orphanage. While there, he helps the other children with fear, loneliness and sickness. He’s eventually sold to an American family and moves away. Little by little, he forgets his past and that he was kidnapped. He did tell his American family that he was kidnapped when they first received him but they didn’t speak his language. He learns to participate in school and activities but never truly feels like he belongs anywhere. He can’t understand why he feels that way. His family kept photos, records and a voice recording from when they adopted him and named him Taj. In the recording, he states that he’s been kidnapped. When he’s college age, he meets an Indian family and they hear the recording and tell him what he said. After that, Taj starts on a mission to find his Indian home and family. Through acquaintances, luck and perseverance, he finds them and has a heartwarming reunion! Great story. Even though the writing is dry, the story is touching and miraculous! 4 stars!

Dragonwatch by Brandon Mull

Posted on by lynndellwatson

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Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.
Thanks to NetGalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing for the opportunity to read and review Dragonwatch by Brandon Mull! I absolutely love the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull and Dragonwatch is a continuation of that series, so I was excited to dive right in and devour the book! The prologue is told in the grandfather’s point of view. The story is told in alternating points of view with each chapter, taking turns between Kendra and Seth, the grandkids. Seth is a shadow charmer. Kendra is fairykind. The two siblings can charm dragons as long as they are together. Because of this, they have been asked to be caretakers of a dragon sanctuary, Wyrmroost. They are charged with finding a scepter that will help keep the sanctuary safe and, on their ques,t they run into many interesting creatures: dire bears, a troll and a very old dragon whose help they need. They work together well and it seems that Seth has become a bit wiser. It sure is nice to be back in the world of Fablehaven. 5 stars for this book that brings readers back to the adventurous Fablehaven life and I am looking forward to more books in this series!