Review: Bone #5 Rock Jaw

Bone #5 Rock Jaw is one of the shortest books in the series. It follows Smiley and Fone Bone as they go on a separate adventure through the mountains to bring home a baby rat creature. The story is well-paced and introduces new characters and personalities, "Roque Ja" being one of the best.

I like the compassion that Smiley shows to the baby rat creature, whom he has affectionately named "Bartleby." The rat creatures are largely the enemy and have killed friendly animals in the forest. Instead of prejudicing the baby rat creature as a monster like the rest, Smiley takes him as he is, a cuddly baby. Naive, perhaps, but that compassion continues to be the paradox through the running line of this story. Other animals orphaned by rat creatures are less able to welcome in Bartleby, though eventually they begin to judge him on his own merits.

There are many humorous, laugh out loud moments in Rock Jaw. I especially liked the interactions with the two patrolling rat creatures. These two are so silly, that they off-set the darker, more disturbing parts of the story. It is commented on a couple of times that they have eaten Roderick the raccoon's parents, though this is never shown.


First Point to Ponder:

A medallion falls out of Fone Bone's bag pack and scares the cloud of "evil" locusts away. Fone Bone explains that the talisman is part of the local belief system related to dreaming, which Gran'ma Ben and Thorn participate in.

"You mean it's a religion?" Smiley asks.
"It's a religion for Gran'ma Ben and Thorn!"

The animals explain that dreaming is a human thing, and that they believe in something called "hum-hum"--the "hum of the earth." This is how they are able to learn to walk, talk or find food for themselves. The animals then talk about feeling the "hum-hum" near the ancient temple.

The hum-hum makes the whole group of bones and orphan animals hallucinate and see something that is not really there. They realize the power of the locusts, which has caused the dreaming. It is the locusts that have put Kingdok (king of the rat creatures) under its spell. A religious "man of dreams" who controls the locusts is Kingdok's advisor, and he is forcing Kingdok to follow him out of fear caused by the dreaming.


Second Point to Ponder:


Roque Ja argues that happiness is "just an emotion that can be induced" but the only thing of "substance" that matters is "power."

Possum argues: "What about good and evil?"

Roque Ja: "Bah! There is no good and evil. What is evil to you depends on what side you are on. What is good to you is evil to the rat creatures, and vice versa."

Beaver: "It's not true!"

Roque Ja: "Isn't it, my little orphan? Do you think the sun cares if your momma and poppa were eaten by rat creatures? It doesn't. The sun will set tonight and rise again tomorrow whether you and I are here or not. Anything these miserable wretches do is utterly insignificant. There is no good or evil... only nature. And in nature, the only thing that matters is power!"

Fone and Smiley look shocked.

Raccoon: "You're wrong, Mr. Rock Jaw! There's other stuff that matters! Like friendship and trust!"

Roque Ja: "Friendship and trust are merely earthbound sentiments that only lead to trouble. Trust no one. That's my motto."


Roque Ja puts forward a convincing (and contemporary) argument about the absence of good and evil and its replacement with the power-slave struggle. Raccoon's quip about friendship and trust throws Roque Ja's argument to the wind. The cat's weak response "trust no one" tells the mature reader which is the right argument to follow.

What a great moment of depth.

Review: Bone #4 The Dragonslayer

Bone # 4: The Dragonslayer adds maturity to the Bone series like The Goblet of Fire adds maturity to the Harry Potter series. Dragonslayer is better than its predecessors, the pace is faster, but there is an exponential increase in violence.

Of course, the amount of violence is appropriate to a certain age level. For that reason after having read this book, I would not recommend the series to a child under 9 (Grade 4).

Plot Summary:

Phoncible P. Bone, Fone Bone's conniving cousin, has convinced the town that he is their only hope against the red dragon. Meanwhile, Thorn, Grandma Ben, and Fone Bone escape the farm and head to the town for safety. They are intercepted by none other than Kingdok, the king of the rat creatures. Thorn cuts off Kingdok's arm (the scene is rather graphic). All are saved, and mostly unhurt, though Fone Bone is bleeding from his head. Grandma Ben tells Thorn that she is the "awakened one" and prophecies a terrible path ahead of her. Grandma Ben disappears. Thorn and Fone Bone return to the town and smuggle in a baby rat creature that they have found. Thorn is afflicted by dreams, through which the dark enemy is trying to reach her. The "dragonslayer", Phoncible, is forced to go catch his dragon. The whole town leaves to witness the slaying, and they actually catch a dragon, but Thorn releases it. Down below, they suddenly see that their town is being attacked.

Mature Aspects:

-Thorn cuts off Kingdok's arm
-Fone's bloody cut
-Fone inspects Kingdok's arm, which lies unattached and bleeding
-The enemy meetings--hooded figure, locusts, rat creatures--could be compared to an orc scene in the Lord of the Rings

I liked:

-The run of the plot
-The bravery of the characters (Thorn, Fone Bone, Grandma Ben)
-The suspense and the buildup to the next book

Review: The 6th Grade Nickname Game by Gordon Korman

"The 6th Grade Nickname Game" was checked out by a student in one of my "struggling reader" classes and that piqued my interest. The book starts at a running pace and carries you through with the momentum of plot build-up, character development, and suspense. 

Two friends, like brothers, have a knack for giving their fellow students (and teachers) nicknames. 

(spoiler alert): 

I thought that the moral of the story would be that nicknaming is unjust stereotyping, but Korman cleverly twists the theme into a more positive light. I have never seen an author more compassionately regard his main characters. Jeff and Wiley are a lot of trouble, but are portrayed as playful, well-intentioned, and still in the process of growing up.

The only strong moral consequence to their nicknaming is that it backfires on them in a funny, endearing way. One boy, who dislikes his own nickname "Snoopy," argues that you can make any name stick if you say it often enough. He then dares the nicknaming duo to prove their ability by making an unfitting nickname for someone. Snoopy chooses a boy who is so uninteresting that Jeff and Wiley feel stuck, but finally they agree on the "Iceman."

As the story progresses, both boys are forced to test their friendship for the first time when they both fall in love with a girl named Cassandra. In the end, Cassandra doesn't choose either of them for the Sadie Hawkin's Dance, but chooses... the Iceman--who has gone from being an uninteresting, unpopular boy to the "coolest" boy in the school, thanks to his new nickname.

Snoopy wins his bet, but decides in the end to keep his name. I was surprised at this, but on the positive side it is meant to show that Snoopy begins to accept himself as he is--and I felt a little strange about that choice. He could have gotten a new name that still meant something similar, but more positive, like "Sleuth." 

This book does a great job portraying how quickly you can change the perception of someone by stereotyping and prejudicing, but what a great way to show this through humour. 

Great story, quick read, funny, life lessons, and great plot development. I thoroughly enjoyed this story.

Great for: boys and girls 10-12

Best Books for Girls 9-12

My original post prepared for this blog "Best Books for Girls 9-12" has been published by Mercatornet and can be accessed here.

Review: The Spyglass

This children's book attracted me first because of its beautiful illustrations, but the story itself is very moving.

There are two neighbouring kingdoms, one rich and one poor. One day an old man goes to visit the poor kingdom and stays at the king's castle, which is in shambles. In exchange for the visit, the old man gives the king a spyglass. With it he can look out on his ruined fields and weeds and see "what could be"--prosperity and beauty.

The king wonders what use such a thing would be to him, but quickly he discovers once you envision a change, you can make it happen.

As he passes the spyglass from villager to villager, amazing things happen to the kingdom.

The moral of the story is that the poor kingdom was not lacking in anything that the rich kingdom had, except for faith.

Beautiful images, a touching story, my 7-8 year old students loved it!