YA About Foster Children

Title: Kyleah’s Tree
Author: Janet Muirhead Hill
Illustrator: Publisher and/or Distributor: Raven Publishing, Inc.
Publisher Website: www.ravenpublishing.net
Pages: 192
ISBN: 978-0-9772525-9-6
Price: $12
Publishing Date: Aug 2008
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 4 hearts

This young adult story addresses the problems of being an abandoned or orphan child living with foster care givers and the child imagining many threats that either don’t exist or are misinterpreted. Kyleah believes that if she could become prettier, her abandoning father and twin brother might come for her. She also believes that if she climbs a tall oak tree in the front yard right at sun rise, she will get her wishes.

She and foster brother Benjamin decide to run away from the foster home in Kansas to Canada, where they almost freeze while trying to escape border patrol and RCMP policemen. This is an exciting story that teaches much about many critical concepts as well as entertaining the reader. We rated it four hearts.

A Spanish Author Writes GRREAT YA Fantasy

Title: Ivan of Aldenuri: The Forest of the Taurocs
Author: J.P. Foncea
Translator: Stephen Caro
Publisher and/or Distributor: Cambridge Brick House, Inc.
Publisher Website: www.cbhbooks.com
Pages: 261
ISBN: 978-1-59835-058-6
Price: $19.99
Publishing Date: 2008
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts

This is an excellent YA fantasy written by a lawyer in Spain and translated by a successful actor in England with lots of stage play translation experience.

Twelve-year-old Ivan discovers a medal in a hollow tree. Shortly afterwards, Ivan discovers he can float and fly. His new ability helps protect his community by allowing him to spot sea raiders. Ironically, they manage to kidnap him for a ransom effort later on.
An attack by sea monsters helps break him away from captivity and he flies away from the raiders’ ships to a land far away from his home. There, he becomes involved in saving new friends and communities from horrific monster Taurocs (a cross between bulls and dinosaurs). In the meantime, Ivan’s home community is being asked for a huge ransom by the sea raiders, even though they have lost Ivan.

This is a cleanly written and exciting story for young adults. We especially liked the emphasis on instinctively doing the right thing, no matter how frightened you are. We scored this five hearts.

Literacy by and for Tweeners

Title: Journey to the Homeland
Author: Hannah Stahlhut
Illustrator: Hannah England
Publisher and/or Distributor: Baker Trittin Press
Publisher Website: www.bakertrittinpress.com
Pages: 107
ISBN: 978-0-9814893-0-8
Price: $10.95
Publishing Date: 2008
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 4 hearts

This delightful YA novel won the first Tweener Time International Chapter Book Competition. Written by a teen for tweens (8-12), this wonderful chapter book follows a young man, Keegan, who wanders around in search of a home. His quest is complicated by his secret talent—the ability to speak telepathically with animals. His best friend and protector is an imposing jaguar, Adrian. His life becomes complicated and endangered by an arrogant girl, Nora, who suddenly takes the credit for animal speaking. They find themselves traveling together to a neighboring country trying to escape agents of their greedy king, but the chase doesn’t end with their crossing of the border.

The author and illustrator have won large scholarships for their efforts. This competition is an exciting addition to the book industry by providing young people an opportunity to prove their talents. We welcome this first competition’s winners and rate her book four hearts.

New YA Series for Horse and History Lovers

Title: Eclipsed by Shadow: The Legend of the Great Horse Series
Author: John Royce
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Micron Press
Publisher Website: www.micronpress.com
Pages: 288ISBN: 978-0-9724121-3-1
Price: $19.95
Publishing Date: Summer 2008
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts

This fascinating YA first book of a trilogy on the history of man’s relationships with the horse is particularly well done. Meagan, a young teenager, witnesses the arrival of a new colt she names Promise. She enjoys socializing the colt and caring for him until it’s time for him to grow up with other colts. Several years later, the now young adult horse returns to Meagan’s horse farm to begin saddle training. Unfortunately, a crooked horse trainer is out to steal Promise. Meagan stumbles on the plot and manages to leap onto Promises back and jumps a fence in order to escape. Suddenly Promise sprouts wings and carries Meagan back in time to caveman times. Meagan falls off, only to find herself in the middle of a caveman horse hunt for fresh food. After a short time there, she jumps on another horse and finds herself as a slave in Rome, and then she moves forward to ride with the Mongols. After more hard times, she moves forward in time to the times of the Crusades, where the book ends with the reader anxious to know what is next.

This series teaches not only the history of Man’s relationship with the horse, but the history and day to day cultures of different civilizations of the past. We rated this first book five hearts.

A GRREAT Book for Young Horse Lovers

Title: Twoey and the Goat
Author: Robbie Timmons
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Mitten Press
Publisher Website: www.mittenpress.com
Pages: 182
ISBN: 978-1-58726-517-4
Price: $15.95
Publishing Date: March 2008
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts

This is great story for young equine fanciers. This fictionalized novel is based on a true-life story about a young racing thoroughbred and is friend and constant companion Captain Kidd, a billy goat. The story follows their whole lives from Twoey’s birth, the training he receives from his mother and advice he receives from a racing champion. He makes the transition to yearling and adulthood, winning race after race, with his ever present friend, Capt Kidd always there to calm him down. After a racing injury, we watch his slow but courageous decline into racing obscurity, always accompanied by Capt Kidd as he is sold from owner to owner. Finally, he finds redemption in retirement.

The author has done an excellent job of switching points of view to tell the horse’s story. She has an intimate style of writing that allows her readers inside her characters’ minds. We rated this book five hearts.

Into the Volcano

Here is our first graphic novel review. This one is focused toward 2nd grade and up:

Title: Into the Volcano
Author: Don Wood
Illustrator: Don Wood
Publisher and/or Distributor: Scholastic / Blue Sky Press
Publisher Website: www.scholastic.com
Pages: 175ISBN: 978-0-439-72671-9
Price: $18.99
Publishing Date: Oct 2008
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 4 hearts

This graphic novel for ages 7 and up follows two young brothers who are sent by their father with a strange cousin to a remote Pacific volcanic island to see their aunt Lulu. One of the brothers, Sumo, is afraid of doing or experiencing anything. His brother Duffy is just the opposite.

They are flown by charter jet to the island and there, they quickly involved with going inside an active volcano, trying to escape their so-called family. Their mother, supposedly doing research in Borneo, shows up in an underground cavern. She shows them a treasure trove of magical gems which may solve all mankind’s energy problems. Finally, the family comes back together and Sumo gains a modicum of bravery.

The artwork and the characters have a definite Samoan flavor. We rated this graphic novel by a Caldecott Award Honors winner four hearts.

Graphic Novel Category

Recently, I have been offered many more graphic novels for review than in the past. It's a sign of our times where so many people have become visually oriented in their communications due to the evolving technologies. Comic specialty store employees say that by far the age group of customers shopping for comic versions are adults in their twenties, not children. Many of the major publishers have begun producing Manga (Japanese comics) books.

For these reasons, I have decided to add a graphic novel genre to HeartlandReviews.com. Many of these graphic novels are appropriate for young adults, and I will include these reviews in this blog because many reluctant readers find they identify more with graphic novels. Please let me know your thoughts on this topic.