The Battle of Bayport: Hardy Boys Adventures, Book 6 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Review & Audio Excerpt!

Dixon, F. (2016). The Battle of Bayport: Hardy Boys Adventures, Book 6. Carol Stream, IL: Oasis Audio.

Middle Grade / Mystery / Audio Book

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Blurb: Mr. Lakin made his way over to Don Sterling. "It's bad enough we have to suffer through your performances onstage. Now come on, we're going to be late for our own party. The whole world doesn't stop for you, you know."

Mr. Lakin gave the Don's boot a kick. The Don didn't move. Joe and I exchanged glances. Something was definitely not right. Joe knelt down and put his fingers on Don Sterling's neck like we'd been taught in our first aid course.

"I don't think he's acting," Joe said after a moment. "It's hard to fake not having a pulse."

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HALL WAYS REVIEW: How could I not love a Hardy Boys mystery? This was so much fun to listen to (and yes, I was "seeing" Shawn Cassidy and Parker Stevenson as the faces of Joe and Frank. Dating myself, again.) and it had been modernized to be a contemporary story. The story was well-done -- plenty of angles, plenty of suspects, plenty of motives. And surprise -- a murder!

What's great about the The Battle of Bayport is that there are so many elements for readers to enjoy while also learning a thing or two along the way.  The murder is handled just fine for intended audience, and it works because it is part of life in the world we live in.  As there was no one author (Franklin Dixon was a pseudonym for the over twenty different writers who have written Hardy Boys stories.), it allows the stories to evolve with the times. Real-life issues like debt, health problems, job loss, PTSD, and stress are all incorporated, but more as an awareness than the focus. There were several times, as a parent, I thought, "Uh-oh." Kids shooting real muskets in a reenactment? No way. But, in this story, the author was very careful to include subtle "there's a right way/wrong way" messages that made the characters' actions believable. My only complaints are that the things the boys do in the name of investigation could have some really dire consequences in the real world, and they are luckier than most in how things turn-out. Hopefully readers won't try to model those particular aspects of our main characters' personalities.

The audio book was just three and a half hours long, which was perfect for an audio book story for this age group. The narrator, Tim Gregory, did a great job of differentiating the voices of the boys and all the other characters. I especially liked the Chief of Police! Gruff! He did sometimes channel the sound of those old Smucker's commercials with Frank's voice, so that made him seem old at times. (The weirdest stuff jumps in my head at times.) Gregory also managed to convey the right level of emotion for each of the characters' states, whether it was guilty, panicked, excited, or scared.

Adults are portrayed realistically, warts and all, though the boys' parents aren't even referenced and beloved Aunt Trudy (not Gertrude any more) is a presence as a source of delicious food only and has no dialogue. (The original written stories had the boys living with their parents, and the TV version had them living with their widowed father.)

In The Battle of Bayport, readers can look forward to a great story within a familiar, contemporary world that shows the good and not-so-good of human nature. I highly recommend this audio book.

Thank you to Oasis Audio for providing me a CD at the 2017 Texas Library Association annual conference. No strings attached, but I am providing my honest opinion all the same. It's what I do. 

CLICK TO LISTEN TO AN AUDIO EXCERPT!

Under My Bed

Sterling, L. (2015). Under My Bed. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse.

Children's / Picture Book / Teachable Moments / Kindness

I gave this book 3.5 out of 5 Stars

Cover Blurb: What's "Under My Bed?" Find out in this poetic tale about kindness, responsibility, and an unexpected visitor in the night. A read-together story for the young and the young at heart.

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This is great story about a little boy who is at first afraid, but when he gets more information, he responds with kindness and problem-solving for a resolution. Exactly what kids need in this day when often knee jerk reactions are the norm -- and those don't always turn-out well.  Children will likely have questions about what exactly is under the bed, opening the opportunity for discussions and creative activities for them to give their own answers.

The illustrations, done by Sandra Samson, are colorful, adorable and fit well with the text. Kids will love the looking at the pictures and listening to the story being read; I'd recommend the read-along happen with an adult or experienced reader who will have a better feel for how to make the rhyming best work.  Otherwise, due to sporadic use of punctuation and pages heavy with text, young or newly independents are going to struggle to read the book  solo.  

Sterling uses primarily end rhyming to tell the story (and often near rhymes, not exact), but the result is not overly rhythmic or lyrical.  Additionally, the pages progressively get more and more text heavy with the next to last page being completely full of text. Again, for younger and newly independent readers, this may be a bit overwhelming.  Breaking-down the text and adding a few more of Samson's rich illustrations would easily remedy this problem, and adding punctuation  - at least with questions and quotations -- would take the book to the next level.  

As the book stands, I would recommend it primarily for pre-readers to look at the pictures and listen along as a strong reader tell the story.   Teachers and librarians might also use this book as a springboard for other activities.  

Thank you to the author for providing me two print copies (one for the school library) in exchange for my honest opinion -- the only kind I give.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Laura Sterling is an only child who has worn out countless library cards.  She can often be found with her nose in a book instead of doing grown up stuff like cleaning dust bunnies from under her bed.  Laura regularly shares her love of books as a volunteer reader for local Grade 6 class. She is aunt to an assortment of dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, ponies, and even a llama, and acts as the pet-sitter when their humans travel.

Laura has a wandering spirit, a vivid imagination, and a love of storytelling.  She works for a non-profit NGO as an outreach support worker and event organizer. A champion of community building, Laura is also the 2009 YWCA Women of Distinction award winner in the Advocacy category.  CONNECT WITH LAURA STERLING: 

 FACEBOOK     WEBSITE

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR: Sandra Samson believes in living a creative life whether as a hairstylist behind a chair, or doodling, painting, scrapbooking, sewing, and more. She enjoys inventing, experimenting, taking risks, making mistakes, and having fun.  Most of her inspirations revolve around her two children -- who she thinks are her best works of art yet -- and her supportive husband, who never allows her to think that any job is too big for her to dare or tackle. 

Both the author and illustrator live in Edmonton, Alberta, in western Canada. 

  

The Boy and the Bottle

Matthews, K.V. and Vallone, J. (2014). The Boy and the Bottle. Self-published.

Children / Picture Book / Recycle / Responsibility

I gave the this book 4 out of 5 stars 

(3 for editing, 5 for story)

After Jimmy finishes a bottle of milk, he decides to fill it with water to take on his walk to Grandma's house. Along the way and at Grandma's, too, Jimmy discovers that the bottle can be used and re-used in all kinds of interesting ways instead of just thrown in the trash.  Authors Kendra Vallone Matthews and Jim Vallone give kids some great motivation to find ways to re-purpose everyday items in their own lives. 

I love the premise of a boy using his imagination and thinking creatively about re-using a common item instead of just throwing it away. The bottle appears to be glass, which would be odd where I come from -- and the mom in me was cringing at the idea of a little boy carrying around a glass bottle -- but I imagine most kids reading the book wouldn't think about those things.  The gentle protagonist Jimmy, who is eight, is an excellent model for readers to emulate. Beyond the lesson in recycling, Jimmy displays actions that are caring, thoughtful, and responsible -- and it's all adorably drawn by illustrator Tanya Laporte.   

Laporte's illustrations are wonderfully bright and cheerful, and characters all have pleasant expressions. The only oddity was that balloons were floating in the air when they had been inflated by mouth, and my guess is most kids would notice. Perhaps that could just add to the plethora of talking points and teachable moments for parents to discuss with young readers. 

Where the book could improve is in the writing. Commas are used inconsistently (sometimes Oxford, sometimes not), there was a run-on sentence with a misplaced modifier that caused some confusion, and a word missing from another sentence. Hopefully these errors will be cleaned-up in future prints, which would make the book worthy of a solid five stars.

Despite the errors, the delightful illustrations, unique premise, and subtle lessons make this book worth a look. I would recommend it for second or third graders to read independently.  Or, as a read aloud in the classroom, there are loads of possible applications.

Thank you to the author who provided me a print copy in exchange for my honest opinion -- the only kind I give. 

About the Author: Kendra is a new book author who co-wrote The Boy and the Bottle with her dad, Jim Vallone.  She is a communications and marketing graduate of USC. She is a professional golfer, she founded a nationally acclaimed sweets company, and works marketing in the medical field. She is passionate about writing and looks forward to seeing more of her ideas come to life through books. She currently lives in San Diego with her husband and young son.  

CONNECT WITH KENDRA VALLONE MATTHEWS:

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The Max Books: Volumes 1 - 3

Book 1 - FREE eBook

Book 2

Book 3

Gould, S. (2014). The Max Books, Volumes 1-3.  Orbis Media.

Middle Grade / Adventure

I gave these books 4 out of 5 stars

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The Max Books are three fun and funny middle grade books that take readers on adventures around Australia and Italy with main character Max. Max is the kind of kid that seems to draw drama wherever he goes. In Max's Revenge, Max gets caught in every misstep he makes, thanks to the ever watchful eye of his evil Aunt Avril. As Max plots his revenge and even his amends, nothing seems to work out in his favor, resulting in some hilarious situations.  In Outback Hero, Max's family has gone on holiday in outback Australia where even Max's humorous paranoia can't seem to help him escape danger -- whether from himself, from beasts, or from nature.  And in The Venetian Job, yet another family holiday allows Max's overactive imagination to put him in a series of action packed situations that just might make for his best back-to-school story ever. 

Author Sally Gould has written books that will have great appeal to the middle grade reader, especially the reluctant reader.  Each book can stand alone, so the reading sequence is unimportant. There is plenty of humor and action, and the main character is a little ornery, which is always appealing. The writing is informal with lots of white space and short, easy-to-read chapters.  Gould uses a simple vocabulary, but American readers will have some unfamiliar words and phrases and will encounter some variant spellings and Australian slang, which could both cause confusion and pique interest.  For example, Max is told to "water the pot plants," says he "barracked" for a soccer team, and he frequently utters "Far out!" which has a completely different meaning than the American hippy usage.  Personally, I enjoyed the author's Australian influence throughout the books and the differences could be a great talking point. 

There are a few typos and punctuation errors, and the grammarian in me cringed with the numerous times "Charlie and me" was written when it should have been "Charlie and I." However, when reading along and "hearing" the voice of young Max, the incorrect usage seemed natural and was consistent across all three books.  Readers never learn Max's exact age, just that he is 2 1/2 years younger than brother Charlie -- a little frustrating and a real curiosity given Max's interest in girls in book one and his fears in book two. 

The books are recommended for ages 9 - 12 and are clean. Book one does make several references to alcohol (even naming Jack Daniel's Whiskey), and books two and three have some intense scenes that could frighten younger readers.

Thank  you to the author for sharing her books with me in exchange for my honest review -- the only kind I give. I hope we can look forward to more adventures with Max.

Learn more about Sally Gould and her books:
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ON GOODREADS, 
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