Adam Blade

Jake's Review: This book is sic (note for fellow old folks -- that is the equivalent of cool, awesome, groovy, etc.) I love these books because there are cool monsters, beasts and bad dudes. I love the character of Silver because he is a wolf and wolves are cool. There was lots of exciting parts and it was never dull like some of the books mom brings me home to review (mom's note: that would be anything Titanic I try to get him to read). I can't wait to read the rest of the series, show more especially the missing two that mom swears she is going to get for me on Thursday when she goes downtown. This is another book that even my best friend Brian would read and he hates to read.

Jake's Rating: 10/10

Mom's Review: Any book that has my kid read non stop is good with me. He opened it up before bed and never put it down. He didn't even beg me to play with his Ipod like he normally does every night now. We had missed the two previous books in the series and he said it was still easy to figure out what was going on. I got the general gist of things even-though I haven't read any of them in a while. I can see why the middle school boy would enjoy. There is tons of action, scary looking beasts, they get to save adults and be on their own, what middle school boy wouldn't dig that. That being said I was mildly entertained by the book as well and didn't want to smack my head on the wall like I do when reading some middle school fiction. Good moral lesson about bravery too but shhh don't tell kids that, than they won't read it.

Mom's Rating: 8/10

We received this from Scholastic in exchange for an honest review & damn you Scholastic now I gotta spend some of my Indigo money on Jake LOL! show less

Not a book I had ever heard of, but my grandchildren had recently acquired it and asked me to read it to them. It opens with quite a disturbing prologue, but the basic story is of a boy who feels like a misfit. He's teased at his school until an act of extreme courage turns him into something of a hero... and he is invited to a boarding school with the rather uninspiring name of 'Hero Academy'.

He befriends some students and has a stressful and exciting first day, culminating in a dangerous show more battle where, inevitably, the dark forces are defeated... for a while. Or until the next book.

Not a bad story, and it's intended for reluctant readers of about 7-10 (mainly boys). As such it's a good idea, although the plot is rather well-worn and the conclusion predictable.

Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2022/08/team-hero-battle-for-shadow-sword-b... show less

Jake's Review: I really like these books because they are easy and fast to read. They are never boring and always have tons of action and no boring girly stuff (Mom's note: that means dialogue in his sexist brain). I Like the powers that Luna uses even though she uses them to do bad stuff. The description of Luna was kinda creepy and I had to leave the book face down so I couldn't see the cover when I go to bed. My favorite characters were the little wolf puppies, although I think its kinda show more weird that they wanted to play with Tom after he killed their mom. I didn't like how Silver was mean when he was being controlled by Luna. I think my buddy Trevor would like to read this book because it is short and exciting and scary. He really likes the scary stuff, but doesn't like to read a lot. While I was reading it I thought how tough it must have been for Tom to fight Luna when he was so sleepy.

Jake's Rating: 10/10

Mom's Review: A good fast paced adventure story for the reluctant reader. There is plenty of action and gory stuff that will keep the boys hooked in this installment of the series. There is a nice message of friendship and about true bravery done in non shmaltzy way that I was impressed with. I like that his friend Elenna is a strong, brave female character who helps Tom along the way. It's nice to see a strong fun female character in books that are definitely geared more to boys - maybe will get through to boys that girls can kick butt too. My only issue in this one is that the character mentioned in the first chapter is never heard from again. Why introduce her, have her go through something scary and than she's never heard from again -- I'm guessing filler or author is just cranking out these to make more cash and doesn't really care about plot holes. Ah well Jake eats these ups and anything that keeps him reading is good with me.

Mom's Rating: 6/10 show less

Rated a five-star adventure by Max, my soon to be third grade grandson, this is a story written in the spirit of the tale of King Arthur. The protagonist is a commoner and has been tagged to save his villiage and world from a terrible beast with magical powers. As he fulfills his destiny his troubled and sad past begins to make sense. This book is a great tale of good versus evil, honor, and promise of futures for little boys like our protagonist.