BookBunnies

Marshmallow reviews Thornwood by Leah Cypess

Marshmallow has reviewed several books inspired by fairy tales before. See, for example, her reviews of A Tale Dark and Grim, Tuck Everlasting, Ella Enchanted, and Half Upon A Time. She has also enjoyed the whole School for Good and Evil series, which also explores fairy tales and their characters in depth. Today she writes about Thornwood by Leah Cypess, a book inspired by the story of Sleeping Beauty.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books that retell classic fairy tales, or if you enjoy reading books about sisters, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Briony’s sister Rosalin was cursed when she was a baby. The evil fairy queen said that when she turned sixteen, she would prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die. Luckily, Rosalin’s fairy godmother changed the curse slightly, so instead of dying, she would sleep for a hundred years, along with everyone else in the castle.

For her entire life, Briony has been the less important princess. Briony is always only an accessory to Rosalin’s story, or only an annoyance. Everyone pays more attention to Rosalin. Even so, Briony really likes her sister, and Rosalin likes her back, though as an older sibling, she is often dismissive of her.

On her sixteenth birthday, Rosalin pricks her finger on the spinning wheel. And she falls asleep, along with everyone else in the castle.

Marshmallow is reading Thornwood by Leah Cypess. — Marshmallow is reading *Thornwood* by Leah Cypess.

Years later, Briony wakes up and goes to Rosalin’s room. On the way there, she discovers that there are thorn branches that move which have grown around the castle. Briony comes to Rosalin’s room in time to see the prince wake her up. Rosalin is happy to see the prince, but when she sees Briony, she seems terrified for a moment and she quickly returns to a normal expression.

When Briony meets the prince, Prince Varian, she is suspicious of him because his story is a little fishy. He says that he cut through the thorn branches with a magical sword. He claims that he no longer has the sword because the thorn branches wrested it from him. He claims to have fought through the remaining thorns with his hands. Briony finds it suspicious that he has scratches on his hands but none on his face. And it turns out that Varian is not who he says he is, and it remains to be seen whether he can get them out of the Thornwood, or whether they will be stuck there forever.

Marshmallow’s Review: The plot of Thornwood is well thought out, well-written, and full of twists and turns. I was very surprised by one of the big reveals.

I really like how the story is based off of a fairy tale that many people know, but the plot sort of changes from the original tale. It also introduces Briony, the sister whom we do not know about from the usual telling of the story of Sleeping Beauty, and things get a lot more complicated than expected.

I think that the characters are realistic. They have realistic and relatable personalities, and they all have their habits and their flaws.

This is the first book of a new series Sisters Ever After, where the author Leah Cypess reimagines several different fairy tales. Thornwood is a reimagining of Sleeping Beauty. I am curious about the next book, which is apparently about Cinderella. If I do end up reading it, I will definitely write about it.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 95%.

Marshmallow rates Thornwood by Leah Cypess 95%. — Marshmallow rates *Thornwood* by Leah Cypess 95%.

Caramel reviews How to Seize A Dragon’s Jewel (Book #10 of How to Train Your Dragon Series) by Cressida Cowell

Caramel has been reviewing the books in Cressida Cowell’s How to Train Your Dragon series one by one. The last one he reviewed was the eighth book (How to Break A Dragon’s Heart). Because Marshmallow had already reviewed the ninth book (How to Steal A Dragon’s Sword), Caramel decided to skip that and move on to book #10: How To Seize a Dragon’s Jewel. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, we are on book number 10. Tell me about it.

Caramel: This book is about the dragon gem. It has the power to destroy all dragons forever.

S: Wait, that sounds serious. So the title is talking about a dragon’s jewel. Is that what you are talking about too?

C: Yep.

S: So which dragon owns this dragon gem? And who is trying to seize it from them?

C: I think it belongs to all dragons, but it is hidden and there is a map that shows where it is. Hiccup and his friends are trying to find it before bad guys do.

S: Because of course the bad guys would want to hurt the dragons?

C: Of course. But there are others who just don’t want Hiccup to have it. Those are some dragons who do not like humans much.

S: Hmm, that is interesting. So there are factions among the dragons, because Toothless and many of the other dragons we met actually like humans, right?

C: Yes. Also the map has a red herring.

S: Oh, do you know what is a red herring?

C: A fake lead, so a clue that looks like it will lead somewhere but it won’t. It is a picture of a red herring, a real herring, a fish, that is winking.

S: That’s a cool way to teach children this phrase! A red herring that is a real red herring!

Caramel is reading How to Seize A Dragon’s Jewel (Book #10 of How to Train Your Dragon Series) by Cressida Cowell. — Caramel is reading *How to Seize A Dragon’s Jewel* (Book #10 of How to Train Your Dragon Series) by Cressida Cowell.

S: So you read all ten of the books in this series now. Did you enjoy this tenth book as much as the others?

C: Yes, but I think I liked the ones before the eighth one more, because with the eighth book things start getting a bit too serious. A bit too scary.

S: What do you mean?

C: There is a character named Excellinor. She is a witch and Alvin the Treacherous’s mom, and she is really scary.

S: Hmm, and she shows up in the eighth book, is that so?

C: Yes. And see, here is a part where I think it gets extra creepy:

The Librarian turned, and poked his way back to Prison Darkheart, slaloming crazily through the corpses, with all the eagerness of one who has waited long to settle an old score.
Everything we do, you see, has its consequences and repercussions, every kind act and every bad, every friend we make, and every enemy.
Everything is connected.

C: And the Librarian is not even as scary as Excellinor.

S: Okay, I can see why you would get a bit sad that this series, which was mostly fun and light-hearted, became a bit scarier than you had expected.

C: Yes! I really am a bit bummed by it.

S: That seems to happen a lot though, as the characters mature, for example, in the Harry Potter books, too, things start getting more and more serious and scarier and scarier.

C: I know. And that is kind of why I’m avoiding reading those books.

S: Well, I still think they are really good books and you should read them some time soon…

C: We will see. Maybe I can be convinced.

S: Maybe. I’ll see what I can do to convince you. Well, let’s get back to this tenth book of the How to Train Your Dragon series. What three words would you use to describe it?

C: It is a bit scary, so I would use that word. Then, it is also still funny, so that is my second word. And sad.

S: Oh, I did not know that. But I know you don’t like too many sad stories.

C: I hate them. The only sad story I liked was Charlotte’s Web.

S: But you liked this book too, no?

C: Well, I guess this counts too.

S: So do you still want to read the eleventh and the twelfth books? Or are you too scared now?

C: Maybe. I think I do want to read them. But I hope they won’t be so sad and they won’t be too much scarier.

S: I guess we will see, right?

C: Yep.

S: So let us wrap up this review. What do you want to tell our readers Caramel?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel both liked and disliked reading How to Seize A Dragon’s Jewel (Book #10 of How to Train Your Dragon Series) by Cressida Cowell. He is eager to see how the stories will wrap up in the last books of the series. — Caramel both liked and disliked reading *How to Seize A Dragon’s Jewel* (Book #10 of How to Train Your Dragon Series) by Cressida Cowell. He is eager to see how the stories will wrap up in the last books of the series.

Marshmallow reviews Front Desk by Kelly Yang

Today Marshmallow reviews Front Desk, the 2018 book by Kelly Yang.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like reading books to learn about different people’s lives, or if you simply want to read about an immigrant girl and her life (in school and elsewhere), then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Mia Tang and her family immigrated to America with dreams of a large house with a dog and lots of hamburgers.

“My parents told me that America would be this amazing place where we could live in a house with a dog, do whatever we want, and eat hamburgers till we were red in the face. So far, the only part of that we’ve achieved is the hamburger part, but I’m still holding out hope. And the hamburgers here are pretty good.”

When Mia’s parents, who had been searching for a job, find out that the Calivista Motel needs a manager, and that the job comes with free boarding, they take the job. Unfortunately, they soon learn that the owner, Mr. Yao, is a very unpleasant man. He doesn’t want them to use the pool, as it might “encourage” the customers to swim, which he claims is bad for the environment. (The real reason is that keeping the pool clean costs money.) If anything breaks, Mr. Yao has Mia’s parents pay for it. He also has a son named Jason, who tries to emulate his father’s behavior and is rude to Mia.

One of the good things about the Calivista Motel is that Mia gets to help with the managing. She works at the front desk and presses the button to let people in to the motel. When she gets this assignment, Mr. Yao tells her to make sure not to “let bad people in”. As the book progresses, we learn that Mr. Yao meant “black people” when he said bad people. However Mia and her family are a lot more open minded. Over time, Mia starts to become friends with the weeklies, people who stay in the motel long term, in a way that is almost like renting. And Mia’s parents eventually start to let immigrants stay in the Calivista Motel for free. The immigrants tell their stories to Mia and her parents. One of them is now in debt to loan sharks. Another one’s previous boss took their IDs and passports. Some of them are looking for jobs. Many of them are facing a lot of challenges in their lives.

Marshmallow is reading Front Desk by Kelly Yang. — Marshmallow is reading *Front Desk* by Kelly Yang.

Mia starts school, and makes friends with a girl named Lupe. Unfortunately, Mr. Yao’s son Jason is also in Mia’s class. Mia pretends that she has a house with a pool and her family has a golden retriever.

At some point, Mia finds out about a contest to win a motel. Her family is not getting a fair amount of money, so the possibility of owning her own motel seems incredible to Mia. However, the contest is an essay contest, and Mia has been having trouble with the tenses. Will she be able to win the motel?

Here is the author’s introduction to the book:

Front Desk by Kelly Yang (posted by Scholastic on YouTube).

Marshmallow’s Review: I think that Front Desk is a great book. It is realistic and moving. I think that the author, Kelly Yang, did a great job of writing a book that evokes so many feelings in the reader. I have learned that the author actually based this book off of her own experiences. Maybe that is one of the reasons everything is so convincing and touching.

I also enjoyed it when, later in the book, Mia takes matters into her own hands and writes letters to people in order to change her friends’ lives for the better. She writes as the manager of the Calivista Motel, but also, once, as a lawyer (though she is of course not a lawyer). Still her writing plays an important role, throughout the book. Even though Mia enjoys English a lot at school, her mother thinks that she should stick to math: she tells her, “You know what you are in English? You’re a bicycle, and the other kids are cars.” It is good to see that her writing turns out to be so valuable in the end!

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates Front Desk by Kelly Yang 100%. — Marshmallow rates *Front Desk* by Kelly Yang 100%.

Caramel reviews Lions at Lunchtime (Magic Tree House #11) by Mary Pope Osborne

Caramel has reviewed quite a few Magic Tree House books for the book bunnies blog before. Today he wanted to talk about one that he had not mentioned here before: Lions at Lunchtime. As usual Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

This is the eleventh book in the series. For Caramel’s earlier reviews of books in the series, see Night of the Ninjas (Magic Tree House #5), Afternoon on the Amazon (Magic Tree House #6), Sunset of the Sabertooth (Magic Tree House #7), Midnight on the Moon (Magic Tree House #8), Dolphins at Daybreak (Magic Tree House #9), and Ghost Town at Sundown (Magic Tree House #10). For his reviews of books in the accompanying Fact Tracker series, see Knights and Castles (Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #2) and Sea Monsters (Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #17).

Caramel reviews Lions at Lunchtime (Magic Tree House #11) by Mary Pope Osborne. — Caramel reviews *Lions at Lunchtime* (Magic Tree House #11) by Mary Pope Osborne.

Sprinkles: Caramel, you are reviewing another Magic Tree House book!

Caramel: Yep. I like them!

S: So tell us about this one.

C: As you can tell from the title, it is about Jack and Annie having an adventure with lions around lunch time. They never actually see the lions until the very end, but it is a pretty cool story. They are trying to solve some riddles again, and this book is about the third riddle.

S: Do they solve it?

C: Yup. Of course! How else would they move on to the next book?

S: I guess you are right. So where do they go this time?

C: Africa. And the time is not very clear, maybe it is the present.

S: So the riddles are so that they become librarians, right?

C: Yes, I think they want to join Morgan Le Fay’s library and be Master Librarians.

S: That sounds intriguing. Would you like to be a Master Librarian and travel around with these books and the magic tree house?

C: Possibly. As long as I could get back home whenever I wanted to.

S: I know, right? They go to all these different places and travel to different times, but thankfully they always get back home safe and on time.

C: Always in time for the next meal!

Caramel is reading Lions at Lunchtime (Magic Tree House #11) by Mary Pope Osborne. — Caramel is reading *Lions at Lunchtime* (Magic Tree House #11) by Mary Pope Osborne.

S: What else would you like to tell us about this book?

C: In the beginning of the book Annie is talking about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and peanut butter and honey sandwiches. I never had a peanut butter and honey sandwich before but it definitely sounds good. Maybe we can try it some time?

S: That sounds good to me. I don’t really like peanut butter with sweet things, but I know you do.

C: You do like peanut butter with bananas and that is kind of sweet!

S: You are right, I guess I just don’t like it with chocolate or jelly. But with honey, it sounds like it would work well together. Alright, maybe you can have a peanut butter and honey sandwich tomorrow.

C: Okay. I really want to try it.

S: Sure. So other than food ideas, did you learn anything else from this book?

C: Yes, the riddle was cool. It goes:

I'm the color of gold,
and as sweet as can be!
But beware the danger
That's all around me. 
What am I?

S: That is a good riddle Caramel, but we should not give away more. Tell me instead your three words to describe the book.

C: Funny, adventurous, and facts! There are a bunch of facts about animals. About gazelles, wildebeest, lions, and so on.

S: And we all know by now how much you like facts about animals! So this was a good read, then.

C: Yes. As usual. I always like the Magic Tree House books.

S: So maybe you will review a few more in the coming weeks. What do you want to tell our readers in the meantime?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel enjoyed reading Lions at Lunchtime (Magic Tree House #11) by Mary Pope Osborne, and is looking forward to reading more about the adventures of Jack and Annie. — Caramel enjoyed reading *Lions at Lunchtime* (Magic Tree House #11) by Mary Pope Osborne, and is looking forward to reading more about the adventures of Jack and Annie.