Review STARBOUNDERS by Adam Jay Epstein & Andrew Jacobson @HarperChildrens @starbounders

Book Description

Release date: June 4, 2013 | Age Range: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 - 7

Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson, authors of The Familiars books, bring their mix of laugh-out-loud humor and thrilling adventure to the sci-fi world ofStarbounders.



Zachary Night can’t wait to start his top-secret Starbounders training at Indigo 8. But he’s barely started learning the skills he’ll need to protect the galaxy when a space mission goes wrong. Zachary and his friends are accidentally sent to the front lines of an intergalactic skirmish, and they quickly discover a plot to destroy Indigo 8. Piloting a space ship under attack, they must get back to earth before the training center—and the planet—is annihilated.



Middle-grade readers who love the funny science fiction of Star Wars and the Intergalactic Bed and Breakfast series will love Starbounders.

Source:  PUBLISHER



MY THOUGHTS



ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT



Imagine that there is a secret "outerverse" beyond our own universe, a place in space that is hidden from even the most astute astronomer.  Now imagine that preteens are trained to work in said space with aliens from other planets!  Yes, in Starbounders, teens are trained to be "kids in black"!  Zachary comes from a family of fighters that are sworn to protect the universe from evil.  As Zachary moves into his new school to continue his education after eighth grade.  There he meets up with Kaylee, another human and Ryic, an alien but still very human-like. Parts of this book really reminded me of  a Jumanji - Star Wars mixed with a bit of Star Trek and throw in some Hitchhikers Guide, the younger years, and you will understand what I am talking about.



This story should really appeal to middle grade boys, that really hard to please class that enjoy bathroom humor along with some spacey ideas. The story really becomes exciting when the group takes off on their first mission.  I can see that this series will be an exciting adventure.  This story would also be a great book to read out loud for younger kids, although I can imagine that it would turn into one of those books that the parents will also want to stay up just an extra chapter as well.  The dialogue is just wonderful and I really enjoyed all of the alien descriptions.

About the Author

Adam Jay Epstein spent his childhood in Great Neck, New York, while Andrew Jacobson grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but the two met in Los Angeles. They have been writing together for film and television ever since.



Their interest in space dates back to their early years, when Adam attended Space Academy in Huntsville, Alabama (and won the Right Stuff Award!) and Andrew went to a movie theatre (for the first time) to see a reissue of Star Wars.



Adam Jay Epstein lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Jane, and their daughters, Penny and Olive. Andrew Jacobson, his wife, Ashley, their son, Ryder, and their daughter, Willa, live close by.

Website * Blog * Twitter 

Disclosure 
I received this book from the publisher at no charge and in no way influenced
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Review NO MORE GODDESSES by KIM BACCELLIA @ixtumea

Book Description

Publication Date: June 19, 2013

Getting a date shouldn’t be this hard. Jordan Lake discovers an ancient bracelet in her grandmother's house and uncovers a family mystery that links her favorite actress, Audrey Hepburn, a romantic movie, and an aunt she never knew. Jordan hopes the bracelet will bring her love. Instead, it brings one nightmare after another, unleashing Hathor, the Egyptian love goddess, who decides it's fun to mess with the McKnight High School social scene. Jordan holds the key to vanquish Hathor, but will she figure out what it is in time to save her school, one of her best friends, and get a date to the Valentine’s Day dance?

Buy links:

Amazon *  Barnes & Noble  * Publisher website  *  Book Depository *  iBookstore

SOURCE:  AUTHOR

MY THOUGHTS

LOVED IT


Jordan and her BFF, Selena, have been trying to get their crushes to ask them to the upcoming Valentine's dance.  Jordan becomes tongue-tied, doubts herself around her guy, while Selena remains cool and collected.  Her ex-BFF, the perfect Jessica, tries to swipe the boy of her dreams out from under her, she realizes that she must make an extra effort but she isn't sure exactly what she needs to do, maybe wish upon a star or some other sort of magic.  When her father insists that they go help her grandmother clean out the attic, Jordan has hopes that she might find something vintage that will catch this guy's eye.  


Her grandmother's memory has been a little spotty lately and as they dig through dusty boxes, Jordan happens upon a unique box that contains a bracelet exactly like the one Audrey Hepburn wore in Tessa's Treasures.  All except the one that Audrey wore was a replica of this one and this bracelet has magic powers to summon the goddess of sex, Hathor, from ancient Egypt.  Of course, Jordan manages to summon the goddess and wishes for romance.  Nothing goes according to plan and the malevolent Hathor, creates havoc for the girls.  


This is such a fun read and very suitable for even the youngest teens and more mature pre-teens.  Jordan shows that a girl can be true to herself while still having adventure and learns that the most important things in life are friends and family.   This is a fresh take on the paranormal adventures so common in YA stories and I am so glad that it is something I can recommend to even pre-teens.  There is just enough tension and mystery to keep you reading through while also providing a lesson on growing up. If you like the Magic in Manhattan series by  Sarah Mlynowski or the Dead Is series by  Marlene Perez, you will enjoy this one as well!  

About the Author

When writing No More Goddesses, Kim Baccellia watched almost all of Audrey Hepburn movies and learned to love this famous icon after watching and reading all she could on Audrey. She has also always had a secret desire to travel to Egypt and visit the pyramids. The closest she’s come to fulfilling this dream are her younger sister Autumn and Egyptian-national brother-in-law Eihab, who were kind enough to share some things with her, including a Hathor sistrum and some incense. Kim's other works include Crossed Out, a YA paranormal, published by Lachesis Publishing, and a YA multicultural fantasy, Earrings of Ixtumea, which will be re-released in March 2012 by Muse It Up publishing. A member of SCBWI, Kim is currently writing the sequel to Crossed Out. She's also putting the finishing touches on a YA multicultural dystopian novel. She lives in Southern California with her husband and son.

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Giveaway - Spotlight THE AGE OF ICE by J.M. SIDOROVA @ScribnerBooks

Book Description

Release date: July 23, 2013

The Empress Anna Ioannovna has issued her latest eccentric order: construct a palace out of ice blocks. Inside its walls her slaves build a wedding chamber, a canopy bed on a dais, heavy drapes cascading to the floor—all made of ice. Sealed inside are a disgraced nobleman and a deformed female jester. On the empress’s command—for her entertainment—these two are to be married, the relationship consummated inside this frozen prison. In the morning, guards enter to find them half-dead. Nine months later, two boys are born.

Surrounded by servants and animals, Prince Alexander Velitzyn and his twin brother, Andrei, have an idyllic childhood on the family’s large country estate. But as they approach manhood, stark differences coalesce. Andrei is daring and ambitious; Alexander is tentative and adrift. One frigid winter night on the road between St. Petersburg and Moscow, as he flees his army post, Alexander comes to a horrifying revelation: his body is immune to cold.

J. M. Sidorova’s boldly original and genrebending novel takes readers from the grisly fields of the Napoleonic Wars to the blazing heat of Afghanistan, from the outer reaches of Siberia to the cacophonous streets of nineteenth-century Paris. The adventures of its protagonist, Prince Alexander Velitzyn—on a lifelong quest for the truth behind his strange physiology—will span three continents and two centuries and bring him into contact with an incredible range of real historical figures, from Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, to the licentious Russian empress Elizaveta and Arctic explorer Joseph Billings.

The Age of Ice is one of the most enchanting and inventive debut novels of the year.

About the Author
J.M. Sidorova was born in Moscow when it was the capital of the USSR, to the family of an official of the Ministry of Foreign Trade. She attended Moscow State University and the graduate school of the Russian Academy of Sciences. She moved to Seattle, Washington, in 1990 and works as a research professor at the University of Washington, where she studies cellular biology of aging and carcinogenesis.

Author's Blog 

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