Vampires

"Vampires" by Martin Jenkins is part of a book series called informania. Its purpose is to teach the truth about where popular myths came from, namely vampires. It stars off by telling the most famous vampire story of "Dracula" by Bram Stoker. After the story is finished, Jenkins goes on to tell the complete history of vampires, dating back hundreds of years. He takes special care to make note of the first "vampire with fangs" and the first "vampire who turns into a bat." He concludes the book with a synopsis of almost every vampire movie made up until he wrote the book.

Jenkins did an excellent job with this book. With so many vampire shows and books out there it is interesting to take a look at the history and lore of where vampires came from. It is also interesting to see how the vampire has evolved over the years. They started out as fat peasants, turned into thin, wiry aristocrats and ended up as Robert Pattinson. Although it reads a little bit like a history book, it is filled with enough fun facts and interesting pictures to keep anyones attention. Two thumbs up.

Bermuda, Bahamas, Come on Pretty Mommas...and Let's go to the Bermuda Triangle

"The Bermuda Triangle" by Aaron Rudolph discusses the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle--lost and abandoned ships, lost and unusual flights, and unexplained phenomena that has been experienced in that area. It also talks about different theories from scientists and Navy officials that could explain the disappearances and unique weather events.

I am a big fan of these types of books. They give a lot of information about a topic that everyone finds interesting, but they make it so user friendly and interesting. You don't get logged down with a lot of scientific jargon or boring information. This would be great for writing a report on the Bermuda Triangle. The book isdivided into easy sections and the glossary at the back is very useful. I liked that it included a website for additional information, www.facthound.com--enter the code 0736827188 for "age-appropriate sites" and additional readings.

Appleseeds... ewww.

Okay, so I read the May/June 2010 issue of Appleseeds magazine. Wow, it was super gross. IMaybe it was just the theme for the issue, but I literally was feeling queasy when it was over. The cover featured Mike Rowe, the infinitely lovable host of the show Dirty Jobs. There was a brief interview with him that was fun, but then the magazine decided to talk about other dirty things. Some of them include poop, blood, gore, body parts, human farms, "raining vomit", and tapeworms just to name a few. And if it isn't enough to talk about all of these things, having high quality images just makes it all come together.

The grossness of this issues will undoubtedly attract some tweens. I guess that this is all stuff that needs to be dealt with and if exposing kids to it early preps them for a career death, dirt and disease then that is a helpful magazine... I guess.

National Geographic for Kids

National Geographic for kids is another publication that is for the younger tweens out there. It focuses on animals and teaching some of the basics about animals along with interesting little-known facts. In the July 2010 issue a story called Mind Games teaches how smart animals really are, like dolphins working together and pig tricking machines into giving them more food that they are allotted. As a magazine that is directed at kids from 8-12 it seems pretty simple and not very deep. The stories are pretty simple and don't encourage much thinking, which was surprising to me. One of the more helpful parts of the magazine is that it does a great job at stirring up interest in animals and inspiring kids to want to know more. If tweens are interested in animals at all then this is a great magazine for them. If they are interested in anything else about nature then they should stick with the regular National Geographic.

Ready, Set, Zombies! (The Sequel!)

"The Dead-Tossed Waves" by Carrie Ryan is the sequel to "The Forest of Hands and Teeth." It follows Gabry, the daughter of Mary in the first book. Mary made it to the ocean and now they both live together in a new town. Gabry has no desire to ever leave, but a fateful decision to follow her friends past the fences one night finds Gabry's world turned upside down. She must choose between leaving the safety of her walls for the people she loves or living a lonely, but safe life.

"The Dead-Tossed Waves" was even more exciting than the first book. How can a world filled with death be so appealing? I'm not sure, but it is. Gabry is a slightly less annoying main character, but I still wasn't hooked. And I don't know if girls like these, but I am sick of all the love triangles in these types of books. I really had a hard time swallowing that Gabry would have chosen the guy she chose. She barely knew him, while she had been in love with the other guy her whole life. She actually knew him. I think people that read a lot of books in this type genre might be getting sick of the love triangle angle, too. It seems really overdone. That being said, it was once again impossible to put down and I will read the next one when it comes out.

Ready for "Twilight" but with Zombies?

"The Forest of Hands and Teeth" by Carrie Ryan takes place in a post apocalyptic world where a plague kills people then brings them back to life as the Unconsecrated--mindless beings hungry for human blood and the need to spread the disease. Mary and everyone in her small, fenced in village have been taught they can never stray outside the fences because they are the only people left alive in the world, and going beyond the fence will bring only death. However, when Mary's village is breached by the Unconsecrated, Mary goes looking for what she's believed in all along--a place untouched by the death that has always surrounded her.

Okay, I really liked the "Twilight" books. I couldn't stop reading them. But I also thought they were really cheesy at times, and that the main character was almost always lame. I also felt these things with "The Forest of Hands and Teeth." Addictive and exciting, but also cheesy. I also thought Mary was a pretty lame main character. She's supposed to be this strong, brave girl, but she was wishy-washy in her relationships, at best, and downright selfish, at worst. I didn't believe that the two love interests really loved her. Why would they? What was her appeal? Carrie Ryan just didn't pull that off. But I would recommend this book to "Twilight" lovers in a heart beat, and I snatched up the second book as soon as it came out.