Devil's Arithmetic

Devil's Arithmetic is a beatifully sad Holocaust novel byJane Yolen. The main characters are Hannah/Chaya, Rivka, Guitl, Shmeul, and Esther. There are many other characters who play minor roles. In fact there is a concentration camp full of them. Hannah lives in 2009 U.S. She is a Jew who is tired of remembering Holocaust with her family every year. But one year, she is transported into the body of a girl named Chaya who lives during the time of Holocast. Guitl is her aunt and Shmeul is her uncle. Uncle Shmeul has a wedding shortly after Hannah's arrival, but the celebration is cut short when Nazis iinvade and "relocate" all the Jewas present to a concentration camp. There Hannah meets Rivka and Rivka, Hannah, and Esther become great friends. Life is very hard, but the girls get through together. Until one day, the girls are chosen to die... Hannah is very strong.

Hannah is a great model of courage. She took on life in Holocaust without complaining. She was able to hold her feelings to herself and save many lives at the concentration camp. When three other girls around Hannah are chosen to die, Hannah takes the spot of one of them and tells the girl she replaced to run while the guard was not looking. It takes a brave hero to act the way Chaya did. I loved this read and caution anyone interested in reading it not to take the story lightly because it is a heavy tale.

Eulalia Blog

Eulalia, by Brian Jacques, is a 389 page story of breathtaking battles. The main protagonists are Gorath, Orwkwil, Skipper, Log a Log Luglug, and Maudie. The main antagonist is Vizka Longtooth. Gorath is a badger who was chosen by the spirits to be Lord of Salmandstrom, the mountain of badgers. He is captured by vermin who killed his grandparents in the process of capturing Gorath, infuriating him. He manages to escape to Redwall, an abbey of peace. Maudie is a hare sent by Salmandstrom to find Gorath. Orkwil is a battle hero who helps Maudie and Gorath in battle. Log a Log Luglug is the leader of a clan of shrews who also help in battles. Skipper is a leader of a battling clan as well, but his clan consists of otters. Vizka Longtooth and his clan of vermin were responsible for killing Gorath’s grandparents. Gorath and his friends must defeat the vermin if they wish to protect the lives of the people in Redwall’s gates- and their own lives. Log a Log Luglug is courageous.
Log a Log is a very brave shrew. When his father was killed, he took over as leader and cared for his clan’s needs. He did not back down when faced with enemies, but went after them seeking to revenge his father’s death. If a danger was encountered like mice attacking, Log a Log was first to help. This book was so irresistably fascinating that I could hardly put it down.

Boy Blog

Boy of the Painted Cave by Justin Denzel has 158 pages full of suspense. Some of the main characters are Tao, Ram, Graybeard, and the evil Volt. Tao is a boy who dreams of drawing but can’t because his clan allows only Chosen Ones to paint. Tao could never become Chosen One because he has a crippled foot and lack of proven parents, but together with his good friend Graybeard and loyal wolf Ram, Tao is able to achieve the unlikely and fulfill his dream as an image maker.
Tao’s rise to fame was not easy though as he and his clan leader Volt always had a deep argument brewing. Volt was frequently mad at Tao and punished him severely. One example of a conflict is when Tao disagrees with Volt’s opinion on hunting with wolf dogs. Another is the ever existing battle of who can or can’t paint, and Tao rebelliously drawing against Volt’s will. After leaving his clan for a rest from Volt, Tao disobeys the leader yet again by visiting the forbidden Slough and satisfying his hunger on the beasts that lived there.

House of the Scorpion Blog

House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer is a 380 page novel of

action and cliffhangers. The main characters are Matt, Maria, Tam Lin, Celia, El Patron, and the antagonist, Tom. Matt is the name of a clone who lives as property of El Patron. His mother, Celia, works as a cook for El Patron and all his close friends and relatives. Maria is a girl who took a liking to Matt, and Matt a liking to her. And Tam Lin is the bodyguard assigned to Matt by El Patron. Tom is an evil-hearted prankster who makes life tough for Matt and Maria. Unfortunately, Tom is not the only one who does not fully love Matt. Matt must battle these hardships and unravel his life’s mystery. Matt discovers that El Patron intends to use him as a source of transplant (to give the old man a new kidney, heart, etc.). With the help of his close friends, Matt is able to run off in search of a better life. Though not right away, Matt finds some new friends and a happy ending.
Matt was always bickering with Tom since the time they first met when Tom made fun of Matt, Matt threw a rotten orange at Tom, and Tom shot Matt with painful peas from a peashooter. Matt was angered when Tom did horrible things to Maria and was always in a sour argument with Tom. Once, Tom put Maria’s beloved dog in the toilet and Matt was grumpy and yelled at Tom because he was sure Tom had done it but couldn’t prove it. Another time, Tom took Matt’s dear teddy bear and ripped off the ears and an eye. Matt was so furious that he was at loss of words and could only glare fiercely. Not to mention all the name calling that went on. Those two were always fighting!

Wringer Blog

Wringer is a 240 page novel by Jerry Spinelli about a boy of ten years old named Palmer who wishes to keep a secret pet pigeon in a town that kills 5,000 pigeons annually by gun, and hires ten year olds to wring the survivors’ neck. His friends would laugh and reject him if they knew and his dad takes part in the pigeon massacre, so has to share his secret only with his neighbor, and with her help, tell the town he doesn’t want to wring necks. This is a heartwarming story with a touching ending.

Taggerung Blog
Taggerung, a novel by Brian Jacques, is a 403 page fantasy of wonderful suspense and action. In it, a vicious clan of stoats, weasels, foxes, and ferrets, with their leader Sawney Rath at command, search the lands for a prophesized Taggerung (or chosen one) to bring glory to their tribe. Shortly thereafter, an otter babe is born at the Redwall Abbey and, Sawney Rath immediately kidnaps it to train it into a deadly hunter in the years that follow. The otter never felt at home and never enjoyed killing though, so he runs away and with some help from a mouse named Nimbalo, he is able to find his way back to the abbey home he never remembered and discover his true name (Deyna). Deyna is skilled in many ways.
Deyna is quite a talented chap. He was sent to hunt down a fox that had deserted twelve hours earlier and caught him easily. A single toss of his knife sliced a prisoner’s bonds. Deyna made good time swimming upstream when he ran away and makes better time going downstream. Even when faced with a group of poisonous snakes, Deyna was able to survive with lightning quick tail lashes that paralyzed the snakes. Anyone in need of suspense and action like this needs to pick up a copy of this book and find out what kind of battles I didn’t include in this blog!