Childrens Review: Bronte & Frank Go To Moscow

Childrens Book
Hardcover, 50 pgs.
Published April 4th, 2011
Source: Publisher

Bronte & Frank go to Moscow is a charming children's story that takes you on a fun-filled adventure around the city of Moscow in Russia.

The heartwarming story of a little girl and her bear is a hardcover picture book, packed with educational activities, stickers, insider recommendations and features stunning illustrations as well as a bonus CD. Ages 3+

www.bronteandfrank.com

This book was really different but packaged really cool!  It comes with a world map, a map of Moscow, some stickers and has pages in the back you can color and some activities.  It has the Russian alphabet and some words you can learn as well as a CD that comes with the book.  This is the perfect book for anyone visiting or moving to Moscow.  


I think the pictures are adorable and quirky but my kids didn't seem that interested in them.  They also couldn't seem to hold their interest through the story.  There are lots of words per page and they just didn't seem into it.  But I was really enjoying the different places that Bronte & Frank visit and learning a bit about the city.  I thought the story was cute but wasn't in love with it.


So there are definitely some mixed feelings with this book.  I think that it would be perfect for some but it's aimed at younger kids {it says 3+ but my daughter of 7 seemed to think it's a 'baby book'}.   Since my kids didn't love it and I was only okay with the story I think I'll give this one 3/5 stars.  


Disclosure: I received this book for review purposes.  All opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.

Review: Tempest by Julie Cross

Tempest by Julie Cross
Young Adult (older YA)
Hardcover, 352 pgs.
Published Jan. 17th, 2012 by St. Martins Griffin
Source: Publisher {librarything}

The year is 2009.  Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.

That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.

Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.

But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler.  Recruit… or kill him.

Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.

I'm a huge fan of time travel books and most definitely seek them out.  They've been becoming more popular in YA in the last year or so and I've been very excited about that and eager to read them all.  So I was really excited to have the opportunity to review this book.  Now I've read quite a few time travel YA books and I've read lots and lots of adult time travel books.  This one feels like it falls in between the two, which is appropriate since it's characters are college age.  However, I feel the younger readers will feel over their head and there is more 'adult' behavior {language, sexual content, etc}.  


I loved Jackson.  I love male narrators and Jackson was no exception.  He was brave, he stood up for what he believed was right, he had a strong and good conscious, and he was so sweet and lovable that I just wanted to hug him.   He had a strong voice and character and I totally felt that connection, where I felt like I really knew him.  


While we're getting the story from Jackson's point of view Holly is a very important character in the book and I loved her as well.  Her personality popped and she was definitely someone I rooted for and really hoped Jackson would be able to be with again {it's complicated, but they are separated for a bit in the beginning then back together, etc.  But the time line makes it difficult to explain.}.  I also really liked Adam.  It was nice that Jackson had a friend to help him through it all.  And while Adam almost seems a bit too convenient {science nerd to help Jackson with the time travel stuff} he really was a good friend and a fantastic character.


This book gets a bit confusing at times.  I'm kind of use to not always 'getting' everything so it wasn't a big issue, but I found myself wondering certain things and not understanding exactly why things did or didn't work.  It's too hard to explain when you haven't read the book yet, but time travel can be complicated when there are different kinds of time travel.  I'm not sure that it affected my overall love of the book though.


This book is like a movie.  Seriously, I can see it on the big screen already.  I'm usually not a fan of books being made into movies {or I just don't care} but this one is like it's made for being a movie.  Good thing it is going to be!  And it's one I'll look forward to seeing!  


Overall this was a fantastic read.  It deals with a lot other then time travel like family {he lost his twin sister a few years earlier and his relationship with his father comes into play in the book}, love {of course!} and Jackson has to make lots of decisions that could affect the future of our world.  I definitely recommend this book to more mature YA readers and adults who enjoy this type of read.


4.5/5 stars


Disclosure: I received this book for review purposes.  All opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.

Wrapping Up 2011 Readathon Final Update

Okay, so the readathon is over!  I'm pretty happy with what I got read! I could have read much more if it hadn't been the holidays, but considering it was busy many of those days (and my daughter was home from school for all of them) I did pretty good! 
This Readathon was hosted by Jessie at Remarkable Reads.

I read:
The last 100 pages of  Acquainted With the Night by Piper Maitland= 100 pgs
Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep= 350 pgs
Magic in the Blood by Devon Monk = 358 pgs
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan= 375 pgs
The last 130 pgs of Vestal Virgin by Suzanne Tyrpak= 130 pgs
Tempest by Julie Cross = 334 pgs
The Iron Hunt by Marjorie Liu = 305 pgs
Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout = 268 pgs
Started Kiss of Frost by Jennifer Estep= 150 pgs.
Started Seduced By Moonlight by Laurell K. Hamilton= 115 pgs.
Total: 2,485
That's a total of about 250 pages a day.  Which is what I average anyway.  But considering everything going on I did pretty good!  Plus, many of those are adult books which take me a lot longer to read, so really- it's not so bad!

The Readathon lasted from December 22nd through January 1st.