Welcome to Book Shares1
Author: James Dasher
Title: The Maze Runner
LINK+
Rating: 4
Author: Alex di Campi and Edo Fujikschot
Title: Agent Boo: The Littlest Agent
LINK+
Rating: 4
Summary: This is another one for my 3rd grade son. It’s a chapter book that’s a combination of Manga and prose. Boo is a 4th grader of the future, in “Space City.” Defying all tradition, one of the animal “agents” (protectors of the city) chooses a 4th grader as his partner rather than the usual practice of choosing a graduating senior. Boo is thrust into training to be an agent. When the rest of the agents leave on a false alarm, Boo and her partner Pumpkin the cat are the only ones left at the base when the enemies invade. With ingenuity and luck, Boo stumbles into capturing the enemies and releasing a band of space monkeys.
I haven’t tried this one out on my son. I suspect he’ll like it, but this one does have the drawback of having a girl protagonist. We’ll finish up our current read and test this one out.
Author: David Lubar
Title: Nathan Abercrombie: My Rotten Life
LINK+
Rating: 3
Summary: This is the first of the Nathan Abercrombie (the zombie kid) series, again one I pre–read for my son. This book describes how Nathan become a zombie and fills in some of the blanks from the previous books.
I didn’t find this one as interesting as the two after it. It’s a bit of a warm up to the others. If you are trying to get a reluctant reader interested in a book series, you might be tempted to think you should start at the beginning, but in this case I’d recommend against it. I read this one, but didn’t end up reading it with my son, because it wasn’t as captivating. Honestly, there’s some background here that’s useful, but the following books cover enough of the background that you don’t need to read the first book to understand and enjoy the series. My recommendation would be to skip the first book and move on to the second and third. The fourth book in the series is due to be released in about 2 weeks, and we’re anxiously awaiting that one, and will review it when it arrives.
Author: Lin Oliver and Stephen Gilpin
Title: Attack of the Growing Eyeballs
LINK+
Rating: 4
Summary: As a warning, this is another chapter in the quest to find books that a reluctant 2nd–3rd grade reader will enjoy.
Author: Stieg Larsson
Title: The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest
LSU
Rating: 4
Summary: This installment in the series was slower and had less action than the previous two. Much of this one is centered around the justice system, which may be fascinating if you are interested in that (I was) or may bore you to tears if you are not. I learned some things about the Swedish constitution and the Swedish view of rights, which I found quite interesting. There’s some gratuitous violence in this book, but other than that I enjoyed it.
Author: Stieg Larsson
Title: The Girl who Played with Fire
LSU
Rating: 4
Summary: This one has lots of interesting plot twists, and kept me turning pages. I had the same mixed feelings as I did about the last one in this series, but overall I enjoyed it. The protagonist, Lisabeth Salander is a fascinating character with her own peculiar but consistent moral code. More of her history and current situation are revealed in this book.
Author: Stieg Larsson
Title: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
LSU
Rating: 4
Summary: I’m somewhat of an anti–conformist, so I tend to shy away from bestsellers, but this one was strongly recommended to me by a friend, so I took it on. My feelings are mixed. It was a gripping read, but most of the time I was caught between horror (not wanting to read any more) and fascination with the plot. The book is peopled with sexually sadistic, misogynistic men, and gets more graphic than I ever wanted to imagine. I found the plot (apart from those elements) to be fascinating, though, and the book introduced me to some elements of Swedish politics and law with which I was unfamiliar. Parts of the narrative plodded along, and the writing wasn’t stellar. I don’t know whether some of this was the fault of the original author or the translator, though. I did find the story fascinating, and went on to read the two sequels, but wasn’t quite as enthralled as most readers appeared to be.
Author: K.P. Bath
Title: The Secret of Castle Cant: Being an account of the remarkable adventures of Lucy Wickwright, maidservant and spy
LINK+
Rating: 5
Summary: This is the type of book librarians love because it’s both a good tale and has a sinister backstory of ethical conflict and censorship to boot.
First the plot: Lucy Wickwright is the reluctant maidservant to Pauline, the heir to the throne of the Barony of Cant, a country that tends to get lost in the folds of maps and is steadfastly medieval despite being surrounded by a world firmly lodged in the 21th century. Pauline consistently gets herself into trouble, and Lucy is caught and punished for her. When the King dies, the Barony is thrown into chaos when a revolution foments, under the premise that chewing gum is emptying the Barony’s coffers and Lucy is the true heir to the throne. Both girls find themselves being used by various factions to control the future of the tiny nation, and it’s up to Lucy to figure out what’s going on and rescue Pauline from Lucy’s own supporters. The book is full of hilarious dialog, improbably characters, and peculiar plot twists, and I found it hard to put down once I started reading.
Now the controversial part ... the book’s author, K.P. Bath, was convicted this July of possession of violent child pornography, and seizure of his computers revealed unsavory chats in which he made statements like, “I’m glad there are molesters out there” (to provide his preferred pornographic material).
Author: Sara Zarr
Title: Once was Lost
LINK+
Rating: 3
Summary: Samantha, a teen–aged pastor’s kid, finds herself doubting her faith when her mother is sent to rehab for a DUI, and her father seems determined to keep up a facade of normalcy for the church family. When a young girl from the church is kidnapped, Sam’s dad’s attention is consumed by the need to “minister” to the family, and Sam is left more and more alone to grapple with the uprooting of her family. Some elements of the story are not entirely plausible, but overall it was an enjoyable read.
Author: David Lubar
Title: Goop Soup
LINK+
Rating: 4
Summary: This is another book aimed at 3rd grade boys, but I actually enjoyed it. The sequel to Dead Guy Spy, in this one Nathan the zombie has joined BUM (the secret organization dedicated to such vague ideals as “protecting our freedom”) and goes on a second mission in which he saves the town from a genetically engineered fungus designed to infiltrate the water system. Again, this is full of 3rd grade humor, but also has enough to keep the attention of adults. Probably none of you will have occasion to read this, but my 3rd grade reluctant reader is eating it up, so I’m happy.
Author: David Lubar
Title: Nathan Abercrombie: Dead Guy Spy
LINK+
Rating: 4
Summary: Another pick for my son (i.e. this is a book written to appeal to about second graders). Fortunately he liked it! We’ve been on a long driving trip, and our kids (8 and 10) were sufficiently entranced for our daughter to read the entire book aloud for four hours straight.
Author: Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Title: Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians
LINK+
Rating: 4
Summary: I’m working hard to get my son, age 8 and a reluctant reader, to get interested in books. This was a bid in that direction. He enjoyed the book, but we read it all in one sitting, which means this series isn’t going to last long!
This is a graphic novel featuring Lunch Lady and a league of evil librarians from all over the city who meet at the elementary school to plan their evil deeds. Of course they are foiled by Lunch Lady, who ends up being offered the librarian job (apparently the job requirement is the ability to cook?).
Definitely 2nd/3rd grade humor, so the rating is for how much my 3rd grade son liked it, not how much I liked it.
If anyone has other suggestions for reluctant readers at about this level, I’d appreciate them. My son loves Percy Jackson and Harry Potter, but they are too difficult for him to read to himself. He likes complex plots, but the reading level is too high. He also really liked the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and read that one to himself.
Title: The Maze Runner
LINK+
Rating: 4
Author: Alex di Campi and Edo Fujikschot
Title: Agent Boo: The Littlest Agent
LINK+
Rating: 4
Summary: This is another one for my 3rd grade son. It’s a chapter book that’s a combination of Manga and prose. Boo is a 4th grader of the future, in “Space City.” Defying all tradition, one of the animal “agents” (protectors of the city) chooses a 4th grader as his partner rather than the usual practice of choosing a graduating senior. Boo is thrust into training to be an agent. When the rest of the agents leave on a false alarm, Boo and her partner Pumpkin the cat are the only ones left at the base when the enemies invade. With ingenuity and luck, Boo stumbles into capturing the enemies and releasing a band of space monkeys.
I haven’t tried this one out on my son. I suspect he’ll like it, but this one does have the drawback of having a girl protagonist. We’ll finish up our current read and test this one out.
Author: David Lubar
Title: Nathan Abercrombie: My Rotten Life
LINK+
Rating: 3
Summary: This is the first of the Nathan Abercrombie (the zombie kid) series, again one I pre–read for my son. This book describes how Nathan become a zombie and fills in some of the blanks from the previous books.
I didn’t find this one as interesting as the two after it. It’s a bit of a warm up to the others. If you are trying to get a reluctant reader interested in a book series, you might be tempted to think you should start at the beginning, but in this case I’d recommend against it. I read this one, but didn’t end up reading it with my son, because it wasn’t as captivating. Honestly, there’s some background here that’s useful, but the following books cover enough of the background that you don’t need to read the first book to understand and enjoy the series. My recommendation would be to skip the first book and move on to the second and third. The fourth book in the series is due to be released in about 2 weeks, and we’re anxiously awaiting that one, and will review it when it arrives.
Author: Lin Oliver and Stephen Gilpin
Title: Attack of the Growing Eyeballs
LINK+
Rating: 4
Summary: As a warning, this is another chapter in the quest to find books that a reluctant 2nd–3rd grade reader will enjoy.
Author: Stieg Larsson
Title: The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest
LSU
Rating: 4
Summary: This installment in the series was slower and had less action than the previous two. Much of this one is centered around the justice system, which may be fascinating if you are interested in that (I was) or may bore you to tears if you are not. I learned some things about the Swedish constitution and the Swedish view of rights, which I found quite interesting. There’s some gratuitous violence in this book, but other than that I enjoyed it.
Author: Stieg Larsson
Title: The Girl who Played with Fire
LSU
Rating: 4
Summary: This one has lots of interesting plot twists, and kept me turning pages. I had the same mixed feelings as I did about the last one in this series, but overall I enjoyed it. The protagonist, Lisabeth Salander is a fascinating character with her own peculiar but consistent moral code. More of her history and current situation are revealed in this book.
Author: Stieg Larsson
Title: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
LSU
Rating: 4
Summary: I’m somewhat of an anti–conformist, so I tend to shy away from bestsellers, but this one was strongly recommended to me by a friend, so I took it on. My feelings are mixed. It was a gripping read, but most of the time I was caught between horror (not wanting to read any more) and fascination with the plot. The book is peopled with sexually sadistic, misogynistic men, and gets more graphic than I ever wanted to imagine. I found the plot (apart from those elements) to be fascinating, though, and the book introduced me to some elements of Swedish politics and law with which I was unfamiliar. Parts of the narrative plodded along, and the writing wasn’t stellar. I don’t know whether some of this was the fault of the original author or the translator, though. I did find the story fascinating, and went on to read the two sequels, but wasn’t quite as enthralled as most readers appeared to be.
Author: K.P. Bath
Title: The Secret of Castle Cant: Being an account of the remarkable adventures of Lucy Wickwright, maidservant and spy
LINK+
Rating: 5
Summary: This is the type of book librarians love because it’s both a good tale and has a sinister backstory of ethical conflict and censorship to boot.
First the plot: Lucy Wickwright is the reluctant maidservant to Pauline, the heir to the throne of the Barony of Cant, a country that tends to get lost in the folds of maps and is steadfastly medieval despite being surrounded by a world firmly lodged in the 21th century. Pauline consistently gets herself into trouble, and Lucy is caught and punished for her. When the King dies, the Barony is thrown into chaos when a revolution foments, under the premise that chewing gum is emptying the Barony’s coffers and Lucy is the true heir to the throne. Both girls find themselves being used by various factions to control the future of the tiny nation, and it’s up to Lucy to figure out what’s going on and rescue Pauline from Lucy’s own supporters. The book is full of hilarious dialog, improbably characters, and peculiar plot twists, and I found it hard to put down once I started reading.
Now the controversial part ... the book’s author, K.P. Bath, was convicted this July of possession of violent child pornography, and seizure of his computers revealed unsavory chats in which he made statements like, “I’m glad there are molesters out there” (to provide his preferred pornographic material).
Author: Sara Zarr
Title: Once was Lost
LINK+
Rating: 3
Summary: Samantha, a teen–aged pastor’s kid, finds herself doubting her faith when her mother is sent to rehab for a DUI, and her father seems determined to keep up a facade of normalcy for the church family. When a young girl from the church is kidnapped, Sam’s dad’s attention is consumed by the need to “minister” to the family, and Sam is left more and more alone to grapple with the uprooting of her family. Some elements of the story are not entirely plausible, but overall it was an enjoyable read.
Author: David Lubar
Title: Goop Soup
LINK+
Rating: 4
Summary: This is another book aimed at 3rd grade boys, but I actually enjoyed it. The sequel to Dead Guy Spy, in this one Nathan the zombie has joined BUM (the secret organization dedicated to such vague ideals as “protecting our freedom”) and goes on a second mission in which he saves the town from a genetically engineered fungus designed to infiltrate the water system. Again, this is full of 3rd grade humor, but also has enough to keep the attention of adults. Probably none of you will have occasion to read this, but my 3rd grade reluctant reader is eating it up, so I’m happy.
Author: David Lubar
Title: Nathan Abercrombie: Dead Guy Spy
LINK+
Rating: 4
Summary: Another pick for my son (i.e. this is a book written to appeal to about second graders). Fortunately he liked it! We’ve been on a long driving trip, and our kids (8 and 10) were sufficiently entranced for our daughter to read the entire book aloud for four hours straight.
Author: Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Title: Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians
LINK+
Rating: 4
Summary: I’m working hard to get my son, age 8 and a reluctant reader, to get interested in books. This was a bid in that direction. He enjoyed the book, but we read it all in one sitting, which means this series isn’t going to last long!
This is a graphic novel featuring Lunch Lady and a league of evil librarians from all over the city who meet at the elementary school to plan their evil deeds. Of course they are foiled by Lunch Lady, who ends up being offered the librarian job (apparently the job requirement is the ability to cook?).
Definitely 2nd/3rd grade humor, so the rating is for how much my 3rd grade son liked it, not how much I liked it.
If anyone has other suggestions for reluctant readers at about this level, I’d appreciate them. My son loves Percy Jackson and Harry Potter, but they are too difficult for him to read to himself. He likes complex plots, but the reading level is too high. He also really liked the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and read that one to himself.