The Iron Trial by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black

This is the first book in The Magisterium series and I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Scholastic

Callum Hunt has always known the magical world is evil, ever since his dad told him that magic killed his mother. Call believes that he was in surgery at the hospital when his mother died in a battle with evil magic, when really he was at the cave where the innocent were slaughtered by the evil mage. Call has a permanent limb, which no surgery is able to fix, but that is the only scar he carries. When the trials come around, Callum knows he must fail the test and he does so spectacularly. Much to his surprise and his father's astonishment, the best master, Master Rufus chooses Call as one of his three apprentices. Call along with Aaron and Tamara, who were the two top students, are taken to The Magisterium, an underground school for those with magic. As Call sees more of the school and bounds with his classmates, he begins to doubt his father's word that the school and all mages are evil. It is only when he encounters creatures made wild and evil by chaos magic and learns the truth about his past, that he begins to realize that his father was not just protecting him from magic, but protecting others from what Call truly is.

I finished the bulk of Iron Trial in one day and fell in love with the world Clare and Black created. They both have the ability to create a realistic magical world that exists inside of the modern mundane world and make it totally believable. The book has received some negative attention as being a knockoff of Harry Potter and there are some similarities, but this story is completely different from HP. This is not a clear cut story of good versus evil, but is a complex idea of what truly makes a person evil and what makes a person unique. A Maker, someone with control over chaos magic, is not necessarily evil, but can become so. Also the heroes in the story have a dark side, they are not completely good. Call's story is very complex and I won't talk about it too much, but the twist about him shows that he may not be the hero in the end. I love the complex friendship between Call and Aaron and how the two interact with Tamara.

Favorite Character: Aaron. He remains cheerful and a good friend through every trial. Even when Call is gloomy and moody, Aaron never gives up on him.

Favorite Quote: "The counterweight of chaos is the soul."

I loved this start to the series and can't wait to read the next installment. I also need to go back and finish the other two series by Clare I started and read Black's YA series. Definitely 5 cups of cocoa and one of my favorite reads so far this year!

Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos

This was my first Jack Gantos read and it is one of the assigned reads for the class I am teaching.

HarperTrophy

Joey lived with his grandmother from the time he was in Kindergarten to the summer before fourth grade. Joey's father ran off and his mother ran after him, so Joey was left with his mentally ill grandmother. When Joey's mother comes back, his grandmother goes to live with his father. Unfortunately his mother often drinks to escape her problems. Joey has ADHD and is constantly in trouble at school and finally because of his antics he is put in the special education classroom. Joey is on medication for ADHD, but his medicine does not often work. When Joey swallows his house key twice at school and also injures a fellow classmate, he is sent to a school for children who need extra care and attention. If Joey wants to get his life back on track, he will have to learn to control his hyperactivity and deal with his past.

Wow there are so many problems that Joey faces and it at times seems a bit overwhelming to read about them all. However many children deal with issues similar to Joey's and this is a great read for special education teachers and those who teach children who have behavioral difficulties. This could also work as a classroom read.

Gantos has a very entertaining style to his writing and you can't help but chuckle at some of Joey's antics and responses. Joey is a likeable character and you want him to succeed. 3.5 cups of cocoa.

COYER Summer Vacation Wrapup

Well, I set my goal at 10 books and I read 12 books and 2 novellas! Only two of them, Wanderlove and If I Should Die, were on my original list, but I am happy with what I read. I also finished Thistle and Thyme, The Snow Bride, A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, The Lost Hero, The Son of Neptune, Wonder, Tangle of Knots, Sleeping Beauty by Jenni James, The Staff of Serapis, Men of Athens, and The Iron Trial. I still have several reviews to write, but I did get 7 reviews finished. I enjoyed all the Tag You're It questions on Facebook and participate most of the weeks and I also participated in a few of the read-a-thons and averaged about a book a read-a-thon! Thanks to Berls and Michelle for hosting!

Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard

Delacorte Books

Bria Sandoval is trying to forget her past, like how her ex boyfriend stole her heart and her ability to do art. She sees an advertisement for Global Vagabonds, a travel group, and decides to go to Central America with her two best friends, but then they back out on her two. No one expects her to go on her own, so that is exactly what she does. She wants to reinvent herself and maybe find her art again, however she has booked a tour group that is for middle aged and older adults. Lucky for her, she happens to meet Starling and her brother Rowan and they decide to help her learn to travel the world the real way, by backpacking. Rowan has his own way of viewing the world, through wanderlove, the idea that you can travel to escape the past. The two try to treat her as a little sister, because Rowan, who used to be wild, is trying to reform his image and Starling is trying to keep him on the straight and narrow. When Starling gets a job offer, she leaves Rowan and Bria to finish the trip together, and the two learn that sometimes you have to embrace your past in order to enjoy your future.

Loved this one! The places she describes sound so beautiful and exotic and it really makes you want to go to Central America and to travel carefree. I would never do this, but Hubbard makes it tempting. I loved the clean romance between the two characters and how their relationship is not really physical, but very intimate. I loved watching the two grow together and mend the broken parts of each other.

Favorite Character: Bria. She both changes and stays the same. I love how she looks at the world with an artist eye. She learns how to get past her past and become strong again.

Favorite Quote: "Because it's the most selfish thing I could ever do-to allow myself to fall for someone worthwhile."

I still think about this book and it has been over a month since I finished. I want to climb on top of the step pyramids like Bria and explore the world with abandon. This was the perfect summer read and one of my favorites this year. 5 cups of cocoa!

Beat the Heat Readathon Wrapup

I had so much fun reading and doing the mini-challenges. I will post my results for each week and then a final tally.

Week 1
Books read: Novella-The Staff of Seraphis-finished, The Son of Neptune, Men of Athens
Pages read: 348 pages

Week 2
Books read: The Son of Neptune-finished, Men of Athens-finished, Iron Trial
Pages read: 445 pages

Week 3
Books read: Iron Trial-finished, Midnight Frost
Pages read: 341 pages

Total
Books finished: 3
Pages read: 1134

Wow I did much better than I thought I would! I loved the Iron Trial and hope to have that review up soon. Thanks again to Jessi and Reanna for hosting!

R.I.P IX Signup

I am signing up again this year for RIP hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings and you can sign up at this link. This challenge runs from September 1 to October 31. The beautiful button for this challenge was designed by Abigail Larson and you can view her site and other artwork at this link.
This will be my second time participating in Readers Imbibing Peril and I think I will try again for Peril the First.


This means I will read at least 4 books that fit the moody, gothic, mysterious atmosphere of the read-a-thon. They can be mysteries, supernatural, suspense, thriller, or dark fantasy. My choices so far, which may change are as follows:
1. Midnight Frost by Jennifer Estep
2. The Girl with the Windup Heart by Kady Cross
3. The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
4. The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
On some of these I will know better once I start them if they are the right fit, but they all have a bit of the element needed to be a RIP book.

If I can find a short story collection I would also like to do Peril of the Short Story again. I loved reading the Edgar Allan Poe short stories last year. I may also do Peril of the Screen, but I will decide that a bit later.

Thank you again to Carl for hosting and to Abigail for the amazing artwork!

Men of Athens by Olivia Coolidge

This was my third and final Newbery book for the second mini-challenge part of the Newbery Reading Challenge. This was also a historical fiction pick for me.

When I first looked at Men of Athens, I thought it was going to be a nonfiction book about Ancient Greece, but as I read, I realized in some cases she used real people and in others there were made up characters. She also created dialogue for the actual real-life characters based on what we know of them. She did great research, but this belongs more in the realm of historical fiction. As far as content goes, some of the sections were fascinating and quickly read and a few were a bit slower. I also think this would not be a book given to children under 12 in today's society. It is not about children and it talks a little about orgies and the young marriages of Ancient Greek society, although not in any graphic way. More than content though the writing style is a bit more mature and dry at times.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, especially the Pericles/Aspasia section and the trial of Socrates section. Those sections make you feel like you are in the Greek discussion perhaps as they were during that time period. I don't think it is one I would recommend to kids or teens, but maybe older teens and adults interested in Ancient Greece. This is definitely not a quick read. 3.5 cups of cocoa.

Since I read this, Wrinkle in Time, and Thistle and Thyme, I have thought a lot about how books hold up over time. Wrinkle in Time is enjoyed by teens today as much as it was in the 1960s. A new movie is being made and the book itself is timeless. The other two are no longer in print and it is not really hard to see why. Thistle and Thyme would appeal to those who enjoy old style fairy tales and folktales, like me, but Men of Athens is not really going to appeal to very many people. I liked parts of it, but even for me, a history person, it was just not that interesting. The Newbery award has always been a bit controversial, since quite a few of the award books just don't appeal to children. I think it is slowly getting a little more kid friendly and I like that they chose based on literary merit, but we do need to think about how this will appeal to a child. We want children to read and love it, not feel like reading is torture. Thankfully there are Lois Lowry books and Kate Dicamillo books to recommend and add to that A Wrinkle in Time.