Book Bunnies

Caramel reviews Winter Turning (Book Seven of the Wings of Fire series) by Tui Sutherland

Though still quite a little bunny, Caramel has been reading bigger and longer books these days. As a dedicated fan of all things dragon, he got into the Wings of Fire series of Tui Sutherland via the graphic novel versions of the first five books (The Dragonet Prophecy, The Lost Heir, The Hidden Kingdom, The Dark Secret, and The Brightest Night). Then he began to read the original books. You can read his review of the very first book (The Dragonet Prophecy) and the sixth book (Moon Rising) before diving into this review, which is of the seventh book: Winter Turning. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions. (After all, Caramel is still a very little bunny.)

Caramel reviews Winter Turning (Book Seven of Wings of Fire) by Tui Sutherland. — Caramel reviews *Winter Turning* (Book Seven of Wings of Fire) by Tui Sutherland.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, this is book seven. What is going on in this one?

Caramel: This one is about a new dragonet named Winter. We met him before, in Moon Rising. That is the sixth book.

S: Okay, so I am guessing this book is centered around Winter then, given the title of the book.

C: Yes. But he is not turning anywhere. Or at least he is not turning bad.

S: Is someone trying to turn him bad?

C: No not quite. Well, there is Scarlet who is kind of trying. And Winter has a sister, named Icicle, who is already bad. And maybe I guess you could say she tries to turn Winter evil too.

S: I see.

C: But Winter has some classmates from Jade Academy. They call them clawmates, and Moonwatcher is one of them. Remember she was the main character from Moon Rising. Winter thinks that his kind of dragons, IceWings, are superior to the others, and thinks he does not need anybody’s help. But his friends try to help him anyway.

S: That is what friends are for, right?

C: Yes. But unfortunately they find themselves facing Queen Scarlet who is pretty bad. And dangerous. And then eventually Winter is alone and has to continue the path almost alone, he does have his brother with him. Hailstorm. And Hailstorm is good. But he has been transformed into a Skywing, named Pyrite, who is annoyingly loyal to Queen Scarlet.

S: Wait. I am confused. First how can one type of dragon be transformed into another? And you said Scarlet is evil. So if Pyrite, or Hailstorm is actually good, how is he so loyal to this evil queen?

C: One word. Darkstalker. And some of that is in the previous book.

S: Oh, so is Pyrite the one that is not what she seems in the prophecy?

C: I think so. Pyrite is definitely not the female SkyWing that she seems to be. She is actually a male IceWing named Hailstorm.

S: Oh, did we give away a lot here?

C: No, this comes up soon in this book. So not too much of a spoiler really.

Caramel is reading Winter Turning (Book Seven of Wings of Fire) by Tui Sutherland. — Caramel is reading *Winter Turning* (Book Seven of Wings of Fire) by Tui Sutherland.

S: So okay, maybe we can leave the plot aside because I’m afraid we will give away some vital information. But it seemed to me that you really enjoyed this book too. Is that true?

C: Yup. The books are all very very exciting! Icicle tries to kill Winter and then —

S: Wait, no more of the plot! I want to hear more general things. So tell me for example your three words to describe the book.

C: Exciting!

S: What else?

C: Confused.

S: You mean confusing?

C: No, I mean confused. Winter is confused. He is in love with Moon but he is not supposed to love a NightWing.

S: Okay, but you are getting awfully close to giving away more plot clues! What is your third word?

C: Funny! Qibli is really funny! He makes lots of jokes. And he is the friend of both Winter and Moonwatcher. We met him first in Moon Rising actually.

S: I see. So is he your favorite character then?

C: I think so.

S: That is cool. Are you ready to dive right into the next book then?

C: YES!

S: Okay. Let us wrap up this review then so you do just that. What do you want to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel loved reading Winter Turning (Book Seven of Wings of Fire) by Tui Sutherland and is ready to dive right into the eighth book. — Caramel loved reading *Winter Turning* (Book Seven of Wings of Fire) by Tui Sutherland and is ready to dive right into the eighth book.

Marshmallow reviews Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead

A couple years ago Marshmallow read and reviewed When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. Today she reviews another book from the same author published in 2015: Goodbye Stranger.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about family, friendship, and mystery, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Bridge is an accident survivor. She has missed all of third grade, and had to learn how to live normally again. When she returned to school, her friend Tabitha (Tab) introduced her to Emily (Em), and the three of them became best friends, the set of fourth graders who drew animals in the corner of their homework. (Bridge draws a Martian, Tab draws a funny bird, and Em draws a spotted snake.)

They are now starting seventh grade and are in middle school. They are still best friends, but some things have changed. Em turned out to be really good at sports, and her body has started to change, which has attracted some attention. Tab is now a “know-it-all” and has become very interested in social action/change and feminism.

The three girls are best friends and they all follow one rule: no fighting. But they have encountered some difficulty with this rule since they started middle school. Bridge has become very good friends with a boy named Sherm. She has joined the Tech Crew with him. But she finds herself confused about how she feels about him. But the worst problem of all is Em’s. She has made a critical mistake, regarding a boy, and the repercussions threaten to tear the trio apart.

Different chapters of the book are told in different voices. In some chapters we read the letters Sherm writes to his grandfather. He never sends them though. Sherm’s grandfather left his family and ran off with some woman that is not Sherm’s grandmother. Sherm doesn’t think that he can forgive his grandfather for leaving them, ever. Sherm also has trouble identifying his feelings toward Bridge. Sherm writes down the events of the book in these letters, from his point of view, ending each letter with the amount of time left before his grandfather’s birthday, something they used to do before he left.

The third set of chapters is written in the voice of an unknown highschooler (who knows the previous characters mentioned). This particular person is having big problems with her friends, specifically Vinny. Vinny is pretty, smart, and popular, and the unknown highschooler used to be best friends with her, until she (the anonymous highschooler) finally realized how cruel she was. Vinny likes to play a “tasting game” where she blindfolds a person and feeds them something. If she likes you, she gives you a banana or something. If she doesn’t like you, she gives you a spoon of black pepper. The unknown student brings another girl, named Gina, to meet Vinny, and Vinny feeds her pepper during the game. The unknown teenager struggles to understand whether the Vinny she knew when she was younger is still there, under the cruelty.

Marshmallow is reading Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead. — Marshmallow is reading *Goodbye Stranger* by Rebecca Stead.

Marshmallow’s Review: Goodbye Stranger is a good book. I found it interesting that the name of the anonymous highschooler is unknown until the end, and that it turns out to be someone who has been there since the beginning. I didn’t guess who it was at all. As I said before, the book is told from multiple perspectives: Bridge, Sherm, and the unknown girl. I think that this made it more interesting. And the three voices are quite different from one another. All of Sherm’s chapters are in the form of letters written to a grandfather, while Bridge’s chapters are narrated in the third person. The unknown highschooler chapters, on the other hand, keep using “you”, which leaves a totally different flavor in the end.

I think that Goodbye Stranger is probably better for middle schoolers and up. There are some things that might be confusing for younger children. For example, I think Caramel might not understand all of the plot.

One minor thing I felt was not perhaps ideal was the way the most idealistic of the three girls, Tab, was treated, both by others in the book and by the author, too, in the end. I think Tab was perhaps a bit too naive and perhaps a bit too strong with her passion for an equitable and just world, but I think those are valuable things to hope and work for, and I did not appreciate that she was too often dismissed and not taken seriously.

Overall though, I think that the author, Rebecca Stead, did a great job with this book. The characters are unique and realistic, and also very understandable. Rebecca Stead also wrote When You Reach Me, which I reviewed before. I did like that book a lot, too, but I think that Goodbye Stranger is even better.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead 100%. — Marshmallow rates *Goodbye Stranger* by Rebecca Stead 100%.

Caramel reviews Moon Rising (Book Six of the Wings of Fire series) by Tui Sutherland

Caramel reviewed the graphic novel versions of the first five books of Tui Sutherland’s Wings of Fire series: you can see these reviews here: The Dragonet Prophecy, The Lost Heir, The Hidden Kingdom, The Dark Secret, and The Brightest Night. He also reviewed the original version of the first book (The Dragonet Prophecy). Then he jumped ahead a bit and reviewed Book Eleven: The Lost Continent. At first this made some sense as the eleventh book starts a new story arc, the Lost Continent Prophecy arc. But it seemed very likely that skipping the second story arc (the Jade Mountain Prophecy arc) all together might lead to some difficulties. So he finally decided to go back and read the Jade Mountain books from the beginning. This is the review of the first book of that series: Moon Rising. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking followup questions.

Caramel reviews Moon Rising (Book Six of Wings of Fire) by Tui Sutherland. — Caramel reviews *Moon Rising* (Book Six of Wings of Fire) by Tui Sutherland.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, we are back in Pyrrhia, the continent of the dragons in the Dragonet Prophecy books, right?

Caramel: Yes.

S: Are any of the characters from the first five books in this sixth one?

C: Yes, in fact Tsunami is more or less the principal of Jade Academy. Remember that she was the main character in The Lost Heir, the second book of the series. Now she is the headmistress of the new school they founded in Pyrrhia, to protect the peace they built in the first five books. And apparently she has thirty-two brothers. That is a lot of siblings!

S: I see. And I agree that is a lot of siblings!

C: But the main characters are actually new dragonets, who we have not met before. And the real main character of this book is Moonwatcher. She is a NightWing and she does not want to go to school.

S: Wait, so the “Moon” in the title “Moon Rising”, is that this dragonet?

C: Yes. I think so. The book is definitely about her, and she has some powers that she is trying to keep hidden.

S: That sounds intriguing.

Caramel is reading Moon Rising (Book Six of Wings of Fire) by Tui Sutherland. — Caramel is reading *Moon Rising* (Book Six of Wings of Fire) by Tui Sutherland.

C: There is an attempted murder which ends up killing someone else and Moon tries to help find the killer. And she is the one who receives the new prophecy: The Jade Mountain Prophecy.

S: Ooh, of course this is a new story arc, and there’s got to be a new prophecy. Can you tell us what it is?

C: Sure. Here you go:

Beware the darkness of dragons,
Beware the stalker of dreams,
Beware the talons of power and fire,
Beware one who is not what she seems.

Something is coming to shake the earth,
Something is coming to scorch the ground.
Jade Mountain will fall beneath thunder and ice
Unless the lost city of night can be found.

S: Oooh, that is kind of creepy!

C: Yes, I’m not sure about what any of this means.

S: I am really curious to see how the author will make these things happen. Do you think Moonwatcher is the one who is not what she seems?

C: I don’t think so. I think it is probably someone else, because I think the person who is not what she seems is probably not a good person. And I think Moon is a good person.

S: Hmm, that is an interesting conjecture Caramel. So tell me, was this book as exciting as you hoped it to be?

C: Yes. I can’t wait to read the next one.

S: Okay, then let us wrap up this review so you can dive right into Book Seven. But before that, tell me three words you’d use to describe this book.

C: It is exciting, and thought-full.

S: What do you mean by “thoughtful”? How can a book like this be thoughtful?

C: Well, it is full of all kinds of thoughts of all kinds of dragonets, and Moon can hear all of them! So thought-full, you see?

S: I see. I’m not sure I’d call that thoughtful, but okay. What is your third word then?

C: It’s funny too.

S: Okay, that is cool. Alright, maybe it is time to say your usual closing words then.

C: Yay! Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel loved reading Moon Rising (Book Six of Wings of Fire) by Tui Sutherland, and is excited to move into the next book. — Caramel loved reading *Moon Rising* (Book Six of Wings of Fire) by Tui Sutherland, and is excited to move into the next book.

Marshmallow reviews Paint the Wind by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Today Marshmallow reviews Paint the Wind, a 2007 novel by Pam Muñoz Ryan.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books about horses and family, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with spoilers): Maya has been living in Southern California with her paternal grandmother Agnes Menetti since her parents’ death. Maya doesn’t remember too much about her parents, especially her mother Ellie. But she does know that her grandmother hated her mother and that she blamed her for the death of Maya’s dad. Agnes has destroyed everything about Ellie, cutting her out of pictures and throwing away her belongings. The only thing in the house remaining which belonged to Ellie are her toy horses, and only because Maya has kept them a secret.

Maya’s grandmother Agnes likes to control everything: people, things, lives. For example she has never had a housekeeper for very long because she’s always been dissatisfied; she believes everything in the house must be kept a certain way and it is hard for people to live up to her expectations. Of course it’s not always the housekeepers’ fault. Maya seems to have a habit of sabotaging the housekeepers’ jobs. For example one time Maya put a blue sweater in the white laundry to get one of the housekeepers fired.

Maya also has a habit of lying. When the new housekeeper discovers her playing with the toy horses, she lies about how her parents died and why she’s hiding the horses. But the housekeeper tells the grandmother anyways. So Maya sabotages her job, too. After that housekeeper is fired and a new one is hired, Agnes starts acting differently and showing signs of memory loss. Eventually, one morning, she collapses into her breakfast, and soon we learn that she has passed away from a stroke.

Afterwards, Maya is sent off to live with her mother’s family. Her mother‘s family lives in the open fields in Wyoming and rides horses. Maya has never met these people before except for when she was a baby and so she’s very nervous. Living with her new family will lead to some changes. She will have to adapt to survive.

A second thread of the book develops around a wild horse named Artemisia. Several chapters, including the first one, have the reader follow Artemisia and the other mustangs as they go through their lives in the wilderness of Wyoming.

As you can expect, the two storylines eventually do merge together and we see Maya and Artemisia forge a strong bond. But not all is fun and games. There is serious trouble ahead.

Marshmallow is reading Paint the Wind by Pam Muñoz Ryan. — Marshmallow is reading *Paint the Wind* by Pam Muñoz Ryan.

Marshmallow’s Review: I think that Paint the Wind is a neat book. The plot line is very intriguing and the whole book is overall very informative. I learned a lot of new things about horses which I didn’t know before. I can see how this would be a great book for bunnies who love horses. I am not especially interested in horses, not more than any other four-legged creature, but I too found the book compelling.

I also found the characters interesting and unique. Though Maya starts out as a lying and inconsiderate person, the book does show us how she transforms into a person who cares about people and living creatures other than herself.

I found the repeated theme about ghost horses interesting: Maya remembers a story about them told by her mom Ellie, and this comes up a few times throughout the book. However I was a little confused about the ending. I wanted to know more about the ghost horses.

The author Pam Muñoz Ryan also wrote Esperanza Rising, which I recently reviewed. The two books have a similar writing style, and they both involve a young girl being forced to leave the life she was used to, though the plots and the characters are very different. I do have to admit that I found Esperanza Rising a lot more touching.

Marshmallow’s rating: 90%.

Marshmallow rates Paint the Wind by Pam Muñoz Ryan 90%. — Marshmallow rates *Paint the Wind* by Pam Muñoz Ryan 90%.