Charlie Ashanti, a.k.a. Lionboy, has the ability to speak with all kinds of cats, due to an incident when he was a baby. Not very many people know about it, but this ability becomes invaluable, when he finds that his parents, both scientists, have disappeared from their home in Britain, and Charlie suspects foul play. Through a network of cats, Charlie is able to track the scientists, who have been kidnapped by a nebulous organization called The Corporacy. His journey to rescue them is a page-turning adventure across Europe. Sequels include The Chase and The Truth.

Reviewed by: sc

Date read: 3/27/2009

ISBN-10: 0142402265

ISBN-13: 9780142402269

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Rachel loves her life at Tumanini in British East Africa where her father is a missionary doctor and her mother is a teacher. Unfortunately, influenza spreads across the globe in the early twentieth century, and her parents get sick and die. Instead of being sent to an English orphanage, Rachel's life takes a dramatic change when she is 'kidnapped' by Mr. and Mrs. Pritchard. They need her to pose as their own daughter Valerie, who fell to the same illness, and travel to England. Rachel's charade is aimed at ensuring that Grandfather Pritchard will not write the greedy Pritchard family out of his will. When Rachel and Grandfather find an unexpected companionship, Rachel faces a few dilemmas. Will she be able to reveal the truth and risk breaking Grandfather's heart? Will she escape being sent to an orphanage? Will she ever be able to return to her beloved Africa to rebuild her father's hospital?

Similar books: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Reviewed by: sc

Date read: 4/28/2009

ISBN-10: 0060581743

ISBN-13: 9780060581749

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Laura Ingalls and her family are on the Kansas prairie in the 1800's. They meet their Indian neighbors, and face a fast rising creek and a even a prairie fire.

Reviewed by: St. Charles Reader

Date read: 10/23/2009

ISBN-10: 0060264454

ISBN-13: 9780060264451

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Once, there was a little old lady who wasn't afraid of anything. Late one night when she is walking home, something strange starts to happen: a pair of shoes starts following her. Soon it is joined by a series of other objects. She picks up her pace, but they continue to trail her through the dark woods. This little old lady isn't afraid of anything...but should she be?

Reviewed by: emc

Date read: 7/30/2010

ISBN-10: 0690045867

ISBN-13: 9780690045864

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This little book about the adventures of a young prince from his own planet as he ventures out into the wider universe is beloved for its deeper story of what is truly important in life. This graphic novel adaptation makes concrete many of the stories inside it, adding richness to the situations contained within. While surprisingly faithful to the text (of the English translation in nongraphic format I examined), the addition of pictures in a frame-by-frame telling of the tale brings an immediacy to the series of dilemmas the little prince and the pilot he meets face, allowing the reader to more fully explore them. In the same way adapting a book to film adds an interpretation that the reader makes on one's own when reading, this transfer to another artistic medium, the graphic novel, adds something that those who love the tale may value. Of course, those who love the tale are unlikely to abandon the textual telling for this one, but the graphic novel, while faithful to the story in the original, is also a work of art in its own right that lovers of the story may also embrace.

Reviewed by: emc

Date read: 11/30/2011

ISBN-13: 9780547338026

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