Shiewo: A Fantasy Flight Adventure-Ciye Cho

Title: SHIEWO: A Fantasy Flight to Adventure


Author: Ciye Cho


Genre: Fantasy


Pages: 155


Short blurb: "In the faraway universe of Orberana, Captain Shiewo is about to embark on a search for
the Wishing Fish that created all life. With the help of a talking cloud, a tea-brewing bamboo, and a surly
goldfish, Shiewo will use her musically-powered flying ship to rise above the clouds. And, in search of
wishes, what she will find is the adventure of a lifetime..."


Review: This book starts off crazy, and carries that theme all the way through. I found the book to be a bit
over the top for my personal tastes but it is definitely a fantasy novel set in a fantasy universe that I can’t
even begin to comprehend. I find this novel over the top not because of the different creatures or even
the flying ship, but because of the absurdity of the mechanics of how things are said to work. If the short
blurb catches your interest or you like books that that make almost no sense what-so-ever, then this is a
novel that you should pick up. Now if you’re more like me and like to have a novel set where your fantasy
is still “playing by the rules” then this book is probably not for you.


Over All Rating: 5/10


Reviewer:Zack

Croak- Gina Damico

Title: Croak

Author: Gina Damico

Publisher:Graphia
Pages: 314
Release Date: 3/2012 


From The Back: In this first installment in a morbidly hilarious new series, we meet sixteen-year-old Lex Bartleby, who has recently gone delinquent. Fed up with her punkish, wild behaviour, her parents ship her off to Croak, in upstate New York, to live with her Uncle Mort for the summer, hoping that a few months of dirty farm work will whip her back into shape. But Uncle Mort's true occupation is much dirtier than that of shoveling manure. He's a Grim Reaper. And he's going to teacher her the family business.



My Review: Let me just get this out first. FINALLY a YA where both parents are fully functional and family life isn't completely horrible for the main character--even if they do occasionally tie her down to a chair. That aside, I'm pretty well known for having a strange fascination with Grim Reapers and death, and thus, that attracted me to this book. Man, it does not disappoint. Lex is a smart ass with a quick tongue and a hand for violence. The dialogue is fun to read and more natural than I've read in a while. Croak had me snickering into my pillow, and full out laughing. It had me crying and it had me crying I was laughing so hard--yes those count as two different things. 2012 has a bright future of books this year. Absolutely love Croak.

Reviewer: Ashe

The Scorpio Races- Maggie Stiefvater

Title: The Scorpio Races

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Publisher:Scholastic Press
Pages: 409


Release Date: October 18 2011

From the Back: At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them. 

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen

Review: The Scorpio Races is one of the most unique books that I have read all year. Maggie is known for her love of folklore with her other books, and she caught me when I read Shiver not to long ago. Now, I'm on the Maggie train for good. Reading The Scorpio Races was like diving into a cool pool of water, I loved it right from the start. I've never read a book which was based around the folklore of Water horses, though I am no stranger to the lore. Stiefvater twists it to her advantage, in her latest book. I stayed up all night reading this one, I could feel the tension all through my body whenever the wild flesh eating water horses appeared on the beach or in the storms. And--Oh the romance! Subtle, oh so subtle left me wanting for more. Overall this is probably my favourite book from 2011.

I may or may not have squealed a bit when I saw it in the book store...

Reviewer: Ashe