Allan Woodrow

Have you ever wondered what would happen if Frankenstein and Young Frankenstein met Dracula, decided to introduce themselves to the Wolfman, while perhaps becoming blood brothers with the cast of Princess Bride? Ah, I see...well, neither did I, but that's a curious yet accurate summation of what you'll be getting between the pages of this Middle Grade Paranormal adventure, along with a great big helping of just how important FAMILY truly is...and fish. Lots and lots of fish.

Our unsuspecting show more leading man and potential hero, Humboldt Wattle (better known as Bolt), is quite the character indeed. Despite his less than exceptional start in life, he keeps hope alive, and his stuffed penguin at his side. He dreams of one day finding his true family, and even when things seem at their darkest, a seed of that precious hope remains. He keeps his heart pure, gives him strength to fight, and eventually leads him to...his ultimate purpose. Our second leading lad, Baron Chordata is a remarkable fella as well, but in much darker, cringe worthy ways with his darker goals, sinister threats, and easily tapped anger issues. I mean, he's been alone for a bit, so you can sort of understand how he might have turned from the lighter side of things, but yeah...not to this particular level. Let's just say that if anyone offers to be BFFs and you're distracted by some personal version of nirvana...take a break from the distraction to LISTEN to what's actually being said/agreed to! Our third leading guy is actually NOT a guy, but a GIRL...better known as Annika! Her history is just as twisted and sorted/assorted as the fellas mentioned before her...and yet she excels where she wishes to excel, conquers what needs conquering, and never let's anyone tell her what she can't do JUST because she's a girl. Grant it, she gets into trouble as easily as out of it, but that's all a part of learning, right? Right! But remember, there are SO MANY MORE characters that you'll want to PAY ATTENTION to along the way because you NEVER KNOW where connections are going to come from.

So, while you thought you were simply getting an exciting new paranormal adventure fit for middle grade readers and beyond, NOW you know better! You're getting that plus a whole other barrel of fish that'll have you REALLY thinking the next time you consider the penguins at your local zoo habitat and just what they have been up to lately...


**ARC provided for review; opinions are my own show less

The Pet War follows Otto, a determined fifth grader who desperately wants a dog. His mom says they can’t afford one, so Otto makes a deal: if he can raise enough money on his own, he can get the dog of his dreams. Meanwhile, his overachieving sister, Lexi, decides she wants a pet too—a cat—and challenges Otto to see who can earn the money first. What begins as a simple competition quickly grows into a hilarious battle filled with lawn mowing, bake sales, babysitting disasters, and show more sibling rivalry. Through ups and downs, Otto learns about responsibility, money, and what it really takes to care for a pet. show less

This review is also available on my blog, Read Till Dawn.

I saw this on Edelweiss, and I knew I had to get my hands on it because I am a huge sucker for MG books about kids interacting in and around school (books like Rob Buyea's Because of Mr. Terupt, Dan Gutman's The Homework Machine, etc.), and I always jump at the opportunity to read them. With Class Dismissed I especially loved the idea of a class without a teacher, and I couldn't wait to see how the kids dealt with all the show more responsibilities that came with keeping a classroom running.

I'll start with the negatives, just to get them out of the way: this is one of those books where I really wish all of the kids were just a little bit older. Because the kids are ten years old, and they act like they're fifteen. And I love reading books about fifteen-year-olds, so it wasn't a massive issue, but I just had to suspend belief a few times while reading about the boy and girl who were "in love" with each other, and the girl so obsessed with the future that she thought her fifth-grade track record could ruin her chances for getting into Harvard, and the super-shallow girl with the father made of money and the fixation on reading fashion magazines. Because ten-year-olds don't fall in love with each other (heck, I'm sixteen and I've never been on a date), nothing you do in fifth grade affects your ability to get into a top-tier school (unless you, like, killed someone in cold blood or something), and I find it very hard to swallow that a girl with super-rich parents and a penthouse suite would go to public school alongside someone like, say, Kyle - the boy living in a cramped apartment with his single mother and pack of younger siblings - and there never once be mention of any reason her parents aren't sending her to some posh private school.

Believability issues aside, though, I really loved Class Dismissed. It's got a great variety of characters, and Woodrow does a great job balancing the POVs so it never begins to feel overwhelming. Each of the narrating kids has their own distinct voice that makes them easy to pick out of the crowd, and I enjoyed reading about each of their personal problems, as well as the overarching issue of trying to keep their big class secret. My favorite main character was Kyle, because he was such a fascinating mixed bag: he wanted desperately to be the mature, helpful, successful boy who did well in school and helped his single mom take care of the kids, but he just kept getting distracted and messing things up. Watching his internal struggle as he tries to decide what sort of person he really is was very compelling. The play at the end was also fabulous, and I loved reading all of the really goofy stuff the kids kept adding and subtracting from the script. When I was reading Class Dismissed, I kept grabbing people and reading particularly hilarious quotes out loud. Luckily, they didn't get annoyed - my siblings thought they were just as funny as I did!

Class Dismissed reminds me a lot of Gordon Korman's books (fans of No More Dead Dogs, take note!), or of the Terupt books (but maybe for a slightly younger audience). It was a great read, and I highly recommend it to any kid looking for a book about school, friendship, responsibility, and history.

Actually, scratch that last part. I don't think any elementary-school-aged kids should read this until they know exactly how large a part George Washington's wooden teeth really had in the Revolutionary War (spoiler: even less than you think).

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Scholastic in exchange for an honest review. show less

I enjoyed this story told from multiple points of view as a group of 5th graders get stranded in a crazy mansion full of secrets when their field trip is snowed in.