Book Review: The Book of Nonsense by David Michael Slater

As a connoisseur of all things literary and daughter of a rare book salesman, Daphna already knows that words can be very powerful. But she doesn’t realize just how powerful until her father uncovers a book full of nonsense words on a scouting trip to Turkey and tries to sell it to the creepy old man who runs the new Antiquarian bookstore in town. When her father begins behaving strangely after this encounter, she and her estranged twin brother Dexter must work together to learn the truth about the ancient book and prevent disaster.

The Book of Nonsense pulsates with action, intrigue and magic, but also offers quieter scenes that give insight into the twins’ characters and motivations. Here’s a passage from the first chapter that I really enjoyed:

Daphna took in a series of long, deep breaths, savoring the familiar nose-tingling scent of old books. It was a complicated smell: worn leather and threadbare cloth; crinkled pages stained by countless fingers and the innumerable foods and drinks they smeared. It was the smell of flights of fancy and of people’s very lives. It was the smell of time, Daphna thought, and it was a smell she’d know all her life. It made her feel alive.

But of course it wasn’t the smells that made Daphna love books. No it was the words themselves. It was mind-blowing to think that you could learn absolutely anything in the world if you just had the right words in the right order. (page 8, ARC, text may vary slightly from final published version).

Both the titular book’s back story and novel’s plotline are clever, if a bit predictable (I saw several of the twists coming way before the characters did). Unfortunately, the villains didn’t come off as very menacing (though this may be more bothersome for adult readers than the younger tween/teen target group). They suffered from that particular brand of "bumbling bad guy syndrome" so often found in books with precocious protagonists.

The Book of Nonsense is available in hardcover now, and it is a promising start to the Sacred Books series. 3 sequels are planned: The Book of Knowledge (Oct 2009), The Book of the Map (Oct 2010), and The Book of All Things (Oct 2011). Though I feel no urgent need to continue the series, I can imagine young fantasy fans really getting excited about it.

Book Review: The Emerald Tablet by PJ Hoover

Benjamin Holt is not a normal preteen and his summer will be anything but normal. He’s a telegen with powers mere humans don’t have and he has to go to summer school to hone his special abilities on the sunken continent of Lemuria, a sort of sister continent to Atlantis. And while there, a talking Emerald Tablet tells him only he can save the world as we know it.

Eleanor did a guest review of this book for me back in July (read it here) and she loved it. Now that I’ve read it I can see why. Although the dialogue (especially in the beginning chapters) is decidedly juvenile, the clever ideas are not. In addition to all the skills the characters have (telepathy, telekinesis, telegnosis, and regeneration, among others), PJ introduces some cool items like Geodines (a globe that can show you the entire history of the earth) and the Universal travel agent teleporter (wish I had one!). The school lecture scenes are fun, especially the one where a professor reveals a few historical figures as secret agents from Lemuria.

I may not have gotten to know the characters as much as I would have liked to, but the plot zips along so nicely, I hardly noticed. And besides, I’ll get to hang out with them some more in at least two more books in the series.

The Emerald Tablet comes out on October 21st.

Guest Review: Eleanor reviews PJ Hoover's The Emerald Tablet

PJ Hoover sent me her forthcoming middle grade book “The Emerald Tablet” for review and since I was spending the week with a child in the target group, I gave it to her to read first. Her name is Eleanor, she is 10 years old and she is a huge fan of the fantasy genre, so this was perfect for her. After reading the first chapter, she turned to me and said, “This is FREAKING awesome!” Now if that isn’t a ringing endorsement, I don’t know what is! I will review this myself (next week hopefully), but first, here is her review.

The book is about a boy named Benjamin. He sees his mom disappear in thin air, but it’s not a big shock to him since his life is pretty abnormal to begin with. He, his whole family and his friend Andy are all able to lift objects using their minds and have conversations without speaking out loud. Benjamin touches a mirror which tells him that he must attend 8 weeks of summer school which he teleports to. At the school he meets Andy and 4 other new friends. One day they find an emerald tablet that tells them that the walls protecting them from Atlantis are weakening and it is up to them to find a solution. This is where the book really gets exciting.

My favorite part of the book is when Helios comes and fights with Mr. Burton. It is very suspenseful. I also liked how the characters all got along and worked together toward a common goal. And I ended up being very surprised by which characters were revealed as villains at the end. I would highly recommend this to anyone who likes a great fantasy read.