Heart of a Samurai

Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus

There are events and characters in history that seem so extreme that they could / should be fiction. Heart of a Samurai is based on the true life events of a young japanese boy - Manjiro. I gained a greater understanding of this period of history in Japan and didn't feel like I was having a history lesson.

From the inside cover:
In 1841, fourteen-year-old Manjiro and his four friends find themselves stranded on a deserted island after a storm at sea. Beyond the island is the unknown, filled with monsters, demons, and barbarians. Or so they've been told. They know they cannot return to their homes in Japan - the country's borders are closed both to foreigners and to citizens who have strayed. No one may enter, under penalty of imprisonment and even death!
One day an American ship passes near the island and takes the castaways aboard. Manjiro's curiosity overcomes his fear of the barbarians. He joins in the work of the whaling vessel, eager to learn everything he can about this new culture. Over the next ten years, Manjiro travels the high seas, visiting places he never dreamed existed, including America. It is a time filled with new experiences and adventure, as well as friendship and treachery. Manjiro sustains himself on a dream of returning home and somehow - though he knows it is impossible for a simple fisherman - becoming a samurai.
Will he ever be able to go back to his native land? And if he does, will he be welcomed or condemned?

If you prefer non-fiction here's another option for you.
Shipwrecked! the true adventures of a Japanese boy / by Rhoda Blumberg

Unsinkable

Unsinkable by Gordon Korman -- Book 1 in the Titanic series

If you were a fan of the Everest series or Island series then you will be happy to know that Gordon Korman has gone back to that trilogy style that works so well for him.
Unsinkable was an exciting read - we all know how the story of the Titanic ends, but do we know some of the other stories that she might have had? Korman does an excellent job of entertaining and educating his readers along this fateful journey aboard the Titanic. Adventure lurks around just about every corner of the huge ship and you find yourself caught up in the lives of Paddy a stowaway, Alfie who's hiding a secret that could get him thrown off the ship, Sophie who is desperately trying to distance herself from her unbearable mother and Juliana who's father is quickly losing all their riches. These four teens find themselves bonding in friendships that never would have happened on solid land. Oh and I should mention -- the murderer of Whitechapel - aka Jack the Ripper might also be on board... 

Notes from the dog

Notes From the Dog by Gary Paulsen

Fourteen-year-old Finn is a loner who lives with his dad and his amazing dog, Dylan. He's hoping to land a summer job where he doesn't have to talk to anyone except his pal, Matthew. Then Johanna moves in next door. She's ten years older, cool funny and she treats Finn as an equal. Dylan loves her, too. But Johanna is ill, and Matthew and Finn learn to care for her emotionally and physically. When she hires Finn to create a garden, his ideas backfire comically. but Johanna and the garden help Finn discover a talent for connecting with people he never knew he possessed.

I liked this book, unfortunately I didn't feel that there was enough character development - I didn't feel like Finn and Matthew acted fourteen-year-old's I know. I felt for Johanna, but again Paulsen could have added alot more to give her and the fact that she has cancer at such a young age some real significance. In other words I probably could have loved this book - instead I just kinda like it.

Geek Fantasy Novel

Geek Fantasy Novel by E. Archer

What happens when a science geek and magic collide?
Be careful what you wish for. Really. Because wishes are bad. Very bad. They can get you trapped in fantasy worlds filled with killer bunny rabbits, evil aunts, and bothersome bacteria for example. Ot at least that's Ralph's experience. He's been asked to spend the summer with his strange British relatives at their old manor house in order to set up their wi-fi network. But, there's much more to it than that, of course. It's just that nobody told Ralph. He's a gamer, sure. But this game, is much stranger -- and funnier-- than anything to be found on his xbox.
He is a geek. This is his story.

Moon Over Manifest

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

This year's Newberry Medal Winner. I have mixed feelings about this award, some have been pretty spot on the perfect choice for kids and others complete duds (this is just my opinion ;-)
So this Easter holiday this is one of the books coming home with me.
Here's the summary.
Abilene Tucker feels abandoned. Her father has put her on a train, sending her off to live with an old friend for the summer while he works on a railway job. Armed only with a few possessions and her list of universals, Abilene jumps off the train at Manifest Kansas, aiming to learn about the boy her father once was.

Extreme Survival

Extreme Survival: An adventurer's guide to the World's Most Dangerous Places by Marshall Corwin

From the back cover:
Extreme survival is the essential guide for what you absolutely need to know before you visit out-of-the-way places. It's an entertaining and unusual guide to surviving and enjoying extreme conditions. It offers solid advice on fitness, protection against disease, packing, proper clothing, and finding drinking water, but it offers much more. Learn how to:
Fight off a polar bear, build a snow shelter, stop mosquitoes from biting, safely remove leeches from your body, escape an avalanche, camp on the side of a mountain and much more.

This may seem like a book you just browse through, but before long you'll be learning all kinds of stuff you never really thought of.
REad ON.

Scorpia Rising

Scorpia Rising by Anthony Horowitz
Summary: Alex Rider is a teenage orphan facing adult sized challenges. After Scorpia killed his parents, the terrorist group fixed their target on him. In struggle after struggle, Alex saves himself and others, but Scorpia continues their relentless drive for power. In this intense novel, they set thier incendiary sights on the very combustible Middle East. A young protagonist worth following.

Here's a couple of trailers for this the last installment in the Alex Rider series.

Flip

Flip by Martyn Bedford


One December night, fourteen-year-old Alex goes to bed. He wakes up to find himself in the wrong bedroom, in an unfamiliar house, in a different part of the country, and it's the middle of June. Six months have disappeared overnight. The family at the breakfast table are total strangers.
And when he looks in the mirror, another boys face stares back at him. A boy named Flip. Unless Alex finds out what's happened and how to get back into his own life, he may be trapped forever inside a body that belongs to someone else.
Questions of identity, the will to survive and what you're willing to sacrifice to be alive make this an extraordinary book impossible to put down. If you're a fan of Things Not Seen this might be a great next Read for you.


Book Trailer--

Wolves, boys and other things that might kill me

Wolves, Boys & Other Things that Might Kill Me by Kristen Chandler

Summary:

KJ Carson lives an outdoors lover's dream. The only daughter of a fishing and wildlife guide, KJ can hold her own on the water or in the mountains near her hometown outside Yellowstone National Park. But when she meets shaggy haired, intensely appealing Virgil, KJ loses all self-possession. And she's not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing that they are assigned to work together on a school newspaper article about the famous wolves of Yellowstone. As KJ spends time with Virgil, she also spends more time getting to know a part of her world that she's always taken for granted ... and she begins to see herself and her town in a whole new light.

This book explores both sides of environmental activism, how choosing sides can split communities, and how the "not in my backyard" look on issues is alive and well, and how taking a stand has lots of implications. I hope some of you are starting to look beyond your backdoor, and are curious about issues that surround us and are willing to look for books like this, which give insight into all sides.

Morpheus Road: The Light

Morpheus Road : The Light by D.J. MacHale


Summary from back cover:
Marshall Seaver is being haunted....
It begins with mysterious sounds, a fleeting face outside a window, a rogue breeze - all things that can be explained away. That is, until he comes face-to-face with a character who only exists on the pages of a sketchbook - a character Marshall himself created.
Marshall has no idea why he is being tormented, but he is quickly convinced it has to do with his best friend, Cooper, who has gone missing. Together with Cooper's beautiful but aloof sister, Sydney. Marshall searches for the truth about his friend while ultimately uncovering a nightmare that is bigger and more frightening than anything he could ever have imagined.

book 2 The Black will be coming out this month, so I thought I'd pick up a second copy and get some more of you hooked on this great spooky trilogy.
Here's the book trailer for The Light.