Rise

Rise (Eve #3)

by Anna Carey

3 stars

310 pages

Published April 2, 2013 by HarperCollins

Sooo ... I liked this book. Mostly. There were some things that I would have changed or included, but on the whole it was a decent ending to the Eve trilogy.
One thing that bugged me was the abruptness of how the book ended. I got down to the last 20 pages or so, and said to myself, "How is Carey going to end this book in 20 pages? Maybe there is another book?" There was just too much going on to be able to satisfactorily finish the series in just 20 pages. I was right. The blunt ending left me turning the page, and say "Where's the rest of it???"
I hated the fact that we never find out what happened to the girls who were locked away pregnant. Or to the children of those girls. What happened to Charles? The women in Califia? The boys in the dugout? Or any of the other characters we met throughout the series??
An epilogue would have greatly enhanced the book. It would have left the reader with a better taste in her mouth. The one I have now is slightly bitter.

3 Below

3 Below (Floors #2)

by Patrick Carman

4 stars

240 pages

Published Sept. 1, 2012 by Scholastic Press

I read this book as a bedtime read-aloud to my 8-year-old son. He loved it, and couldn't wait for bedtime so I could read it to him. Since I got to read, and he stayed quiet for longer than 5 minutes, this was a win-win for all parties.

3 Below is Juvenile Fiction at its best - there are kids performing things that no responsible parents ever in a million years would let their kids do. No parental supervision at all, which I think is a kids' ultimate dream. Very Roald Dahl.

There are monkeys and burping and zip lines - things that would appeal to any kid. But beyond those silly things, the writing is spot-on for its audience. It's funny, and it doesn't use incredibly large words, so kids can understand what's going on; but it doesn't use dumb words either, so vocabulary is strengthened and stretched. A good balance between entertainment and education. But mostly entertainment.

And if it gets my kid excited about reading, I'll take it!

Floors

Floors (Floors #1)

by Patrick Carman

3 stars

261 pages

Published Sept. 1, 2011 by Scholastic Press

I read this book with my 8-year-old son as a bedtime story over the course of a few weeks. He absolutely loved this book!

He loved how the main character - Leo - went on a sort of scavenger hunt and discovered secret floors in the hotel where he lives.

My son also liked the minor robot character - Blop. He thought he was hilarious.

As an adult reading this, I can see flaws in the story and writing - mostly the blatant mirroring to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - but this does not translate into a bad book for children. Children have the ability to just enjoy a book and not analyze like adults do.

More than the book itself, I enjoyed the chance I had to read with my son. I will be checking out Number 2 in the series, because he's asked for it already. Yay!