Dear Dumb Diary: Year 2 by Jim Benton GUEST REVIEW

DEAR DUMB DIARY, YEAR TWO (School. Hasn't this gone on long enough?) by Jim Benton

Guest reviewer: Faith, 4th grader

This book is about a girl named Jamie Kelly and how she goes through life as a young middle school kid. The subject on this book is that she tries hard to win the "definition contest" that her class is having. She thinks of words that she can use and turns them in.

For example: words like — Marplot, prat, zeppelin, and swindle. Her best friend, Isabella, asks Jamie for help using words so Jamie helps her. When the Definition Contest day comes, Jamie is all psyched but when so far as she gets all the definitions right, she flunks and gets all but only 1 wrong.

Find out what happens next in: Dear Dumb Diary, Year 2: School, hasn't this gone on long enough? by Jim Benton. Hope you enjoy!

The Emerald Atlas By John Stephens (AUDIO EDITION)

Magical books, ancient prophecies, the fate of the world hanging in the balance ... it all sounds rather typical middle grade fantasy fare, and it is. But THE EMERALD ATLAS (Knopf Books, 2011) is told in a new and interesting way that makes it original.

The author, John Stephens, is a former TV writer (Gossip Girls, The OC) and he brings his snark to the voices of his three young characters. Kate (the eldest and responsible one), Michael (bookworm and fantastical one) and Emma (the feisty, no nonsense one) have been shuffled from orphanage to orphanage for the past ten years, always believing their parents alive and would someday come to collect them. 

After being taken in by the mysterious Dr. Pym who lives in a big empty house in the strangely child-free town of Cambridge Falls, the children discover a magical book that, when a photograph is placed on one of its blank pages, transports the holder to where/when the picture was taken. This is a cool twist on the typical time travel concept, and one that allows the children's backstory to be revealed in a less than chronological way, as all events affect one another. 

But it seems that Dr. Pym knows more about them then he is telling. And what happened to the children of Cambridge Falls? Can Kate, Michael and Emma somehow save them? 

The audio book is narrated by Jim Dale (known to most audio book listeners as the voice of the Harry Potter series) and he does his characteristic best in bringing the words to life (although every once in a while I think he sounds a bit like Christopher Walken which makes me laugh.)

The story is enjoyable and filled with twists and turns, fabulously evil characters, gruesome monsters, and heroic warriors, but there are moments when the time jumps and physics weigh down the highly complex plot line. As the first of the series, I'm curious to see where Stephens will take this. Not one of my top faves but a fun, interesting read. For 8 and up.

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

I have had this book on my DYING TO READ list since it came out but for some strange reason, I never got to it. This turned out to be positive in two ways: one, now there is less time for me to wait until the second book. Two, it will now be a connection to a wonderful trip to London for me.

Spending a few days in London on spring break, I naturally wanted to visit bookstores. I'd heard that Maureen Johnson (13 LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPES, SUITE SCARLETT) had signed some books at Waterstones at Picadilly Circus the week before. I was pleased to find one still there and grabbed it.

I didn't get a chance to really start on it until the plane trip home, but that truly was the perfect time, as the story walked through all the places I'd just visited. But this (or the 7-hour flight) wasn't the real reason I couldn't stop turning pages. Holy cow. Great concept, great story and even greater writing. Johnson's dialog sparkles with her typical wit (if you don't follow her on Twitter @maureenjohnson, you're missing out).

Sprinkled with history, mystery and (finally about halfway through) mysticism, THE NAME OF THE STAR (2011, Putnam) takes Rory Deveaux out of her small town Louisiana home and plonks her down in a London boarding school located near Jack the Ripper's old stomping grounds. With a "crazy" aunt back home who makes a living from seeing angels, Rory is used to the odd -- but things turn macabre when murders that mimic the famous Ripper begin to occur. And now Rory has come face-to-face with the killer.

The police are stumped, and surveillance footage of the murders only creates more questions. Rory is their only witness as Rippermania takes a frenzied hold over London. Each subsequent murder follows the path of the original killer, until Rory realizes there is something even more terrifying about the man she saw outside the school the night of the second killing. What's more, she has the ability to stop him.

Equally gothic and modern, funny and horrible, TNOTS recreates the furor the Ripper had over London in 1888, with the instantaneous information of today's world. How could Jack get away with his crimes in a world filled with closed circuit TV cameras capturing the public's every move?

If you're not a fan of cliffhanger endings, prepare yourself. THE MADNESS UNDERNEATH (Shades of London, book 2) won't be out until January 2, 2013. Arrggggggggggg.........

UK jacket states recommended for 13+. The Ripper topic is obviously a violent one, so depending on temperament for these things, that age might skew a bit older.