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Showing posts with label Amateur de Livre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amateur de Livre. Show all posts
"The Prometheus Project: Trapped" Douglas E. Richards
Reviewed for Amateur de Livre
“The Prometheus Project: Trapped” by Douglas E. Richards is geared toward middle graders. Obviously, at 32, I’m a little outside that age group, but as a mom of two I think that I can ‘read like a child’ (if that makes sense).
In “Trapped” Ryan and Regan Resnick are forced by their parents to move to
Mr. Richards has a master’s degree in genetic engineering (and business). He is the father of two and wrote Trapped, as well as its sequel Captured, for his children after being unable to find an engaging sci-fi series for this age group.
I highly recommend this book for all middle school libraries. If you have a middle schooler that is into science or sci-fi, buy this book. If you have a reluctant reader who has an interest in science or adventure stories, buy this book.
Mr. Richards is currently working on an adult thriller and another kid’s thriller not set in the Prometheus Project universe. He hopes to write additional Prometheus Project books in the future as well.
Synopsis
This fast-paced science fiction adventure about an underground city built by an advanced alien civilization teaches children about science and technology while engaging their imaginations. Determined to learn why their scientist parents forced them to suddenly move to a boring town in Pennsylvania, Ryan and Regan follow them to work and discover that their parents are really working on a top secret investigation of an underground city. After cracking passwords, dodging barbed wire, and defeating laser beam alarms, they find themselves trapped in the abandoned city and under attack by a swarm of insect-like creatures. While trying to determine the nature of the creatures and how to escape them, scientific concepts such as the immune system, nanotechnology, and black holes are explained and explored.
"Hearts Never Lie" Patricia Pickett
Reviewed by Kylee Pierce for Amateur de Livre March/2008
Caesar & Mariposa
At its center "Hearts Never Lie" by Patricia Pickett is a love story. The love story is layered with street slang and talk about drugs and murder, but the love is definitely there. Mariposa Soto has crushed on Caesar Simpson for most of her life. Caesar is 4 years older than Mariposa. He is also the best friend of her older cousin, Coffee, which makes both of them off-limits to the other. Mariposa was raised primarily by her maternal grandparents since the age of 7. "Butterfly's" mother was always off looking for the man that would complete her; she had no time for raising her daughter like a mother should. Caesar pretty much raised himself and his younger brother. Caesar's mom was absent in a different way, drugs.
I really enjoyed this book. I related to Mariposa’s struggle as a single mom, trying to make her way in the world while still being a 20-something woman. I would recommend this to any reader of women’s fiction, 16+. To the author I would like to mention two things. 1) There are some pretty distracting editing issues (quote marks are off, some new paragraphs and dialogue were not tabbed). 2) I would love to read a part two to their story.
My favorite part was Butterfly finding the will to stand up to Manny (I actually cringed away from the page when… you’ll have to read “Hearts Never Lie” to find out.
Interview with the author.
from the back:
Mariposa Sota knows all too well the pain of dreams deferred. Whether dealing with the disappointment of being abandoned by her daughter's father, working tirelessly at a dead-end job only to lose it, or watching helplessly as those she loves the most fall victim to the same streets they are all trying to escape, one thing is clear to Mariposa: Whenever she puts her all into something heartbreak is sure to follow. For Caesar Simpson life had always been lived behind the eightball. The firstborn child to an absentee father and drug-addicted mother, Caesar is the only real parent his younger siblings knew. With the love of his homies and an unbridled love for 'the life' Caesar maintained despite hardship. After a five year prison term he's back in Denver and is intent on living right. When Caesar runs into Mariposa, the beautiful woman that had somehow blossomed from the silly little girl that use to follow him around neighborhood, he knew he had found the only good thing that life would ever show him. Problem is, she is his best homies little cousin which makes her off-limits. Despite his efforts, Caesar can't help loving her. For Mariposa the return of her first crush, a man she has loved all her life, makes her more vulnerable than ever. They say hearts never lie, but people do. Will heartbreak, pain and death keep them apart or will their feelings for one another rise above all else?
"Vampire Apocalypse: A World Torn Asunder" Derek Gunn
Reviewed by Kylee Pierce for Amateur de Livre March/2008
An Enthralling Vampire Novel
As you might gather from the title, “Vampire Apocalypse: A World Torn Asunder” by Derek Gunn is about humans trying to defeated a society of vampires and their thralls. Thralls are “humans who have been bitten, but not yet crossed over, and whose inhuman lusts make daylight as terrifying as night.” This book will capture the interest of any reader who enjoys occult/fantasy/vampire genres. I was hooked from the Prologue.
One of my favorite parts was the humans attempt to get supplies and survivors from the Vampire city. Their timing needs to be perfect, while the vampires are at the end of their shift and (hopefully) tired. “Group Nero, spread out across the green, used the trees for cover. The darkness was still dense enough to cover their approach, but the first tendrils of dawn were already beginning to make their presence felt on the horizon.”
My only issue with this book is the author should decide if his protagonist is named John Harris (like on the back of the book) or Peter Harris (as he’s called in the book itself). This book was a very thrilling read. I could only read it during the day though; it gave me a nightmare the first night. I will be looking for more by Derek Gunn in the future.
from the back:
"The war is over and the Vampires have won. The drying up of the world's oil resources leads to the fabled End of Days. Technology stagnates and communities grow ever more insular. With communication between cities lost and attention turned inward, the vampires rise from the shadows where they have survived for centuries and sweep across the globe. By the time word spreads it is far too late and Vampires enslave humanity and keep them in walled cities to breed. The Vampires are masters of the darkness but maintain control by day through the use of Thralls--humans who have been bitten but have not yet crossed over, and whose inhuman lusts make daylight as terrifying as night. In the midst of chaos, a small band of rebels lead a terrified existence, but their survival is threatened by the Vampire's new scanning procedures. John Harris is an ordinary man. Young and reckless, he is frustrated with the group's stagnation and pushes for one more daring mission. His recklessness has exposed the group--but it has also increased the size of their community. Now, as circumstances force them to take the offensive, and accompanied by a small group of professional Vampire assassins, John will make one last stand for humanity's survival in the Vampire Apocalypse."
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