Eragon (Book)

Paolini, C. (2002). Eragon. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN: 978-0-375-82669-6

Interest Level: Ages 11 to 18
Genre: Fantasy Fiction
Subjects/Themes: Magic, Dragons, Action/Adventure, Revenge

Plot: Eragon is a simple country boy living on the outskirts of the Empire when he comes across a strange blue rock.  To his amazement, the rock is actually a dragon's egg.  The egg hatches a dragon named Saphira who has scales as blue as the egg was.  Eragon raises Saphira in secret until the Ra'zac come looking for the egg and burn down Eragon's house, killing his uncle.  Seeking revenge, Eragon decides to go after the Ra'zac but before he can leave the village he is stopped by the storyteller, Brom.  Brom convinces Eragon and Saphira that they need his help and they all start traveling together.  Brom teaches Eragon about the Dragon Riders and how to work magic.  Their travels take them far from home when Brom is killed protecting Eragon.  Eragon continues his travels, gets captured, gets rescued, and helps to rescue an elf.  His travels then take him to the Varden, a group of dwarfs, elves, and humans who resist the Empire's evil ruler.

Personal Thoughts: A very well developed world and storyline.  The reader sees Eragon grow from a simple country boy into a Rider and then into a wizard.  He starts becoming an adult with responsibilities that he is just beginning to understand.  A lot of the of the time Eragon acts before thinking or understanding the consequences of his actions.  Luckily he has friends around who help explain the bigger picture to Eragon and help him deal or learn from the consequences.  While there is a lot of magic and fantastical things going on around Eragon, he and the reader learn that the reality isn't always so wonderful.  Magic is hard work and if your not careful you can kill yourself.  Dragons and the freedom of being a Rider aren't really that free and come with lots of responsibility.  A good coming of age story with lots of action and adventure.  The next two books in the series have a lot of the same qualities and I heartily suggest reading them.  Definitely a Must Read!

Series Info: Book One of the Inheritance Cycle
Sequel: Eldest (2005)

Awards:
Book Sense Book of the Year
Beehive Awards (Utah): Young Adult Books
BILBY - Books I Love Best Yearly (Australia) : Older Reader
Buckeye Children's Book Award (Ohio): Grades 6-8
Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award (Rosie Award)
Gateway Readers Award (Missouri)
Golden Archer Awards (Wisconsin): Middle/Jr. High School
Grand Canyon Reader Award (Arizona): Teen Book
Indies' Choice Book Awards: Children's Literature
Iowa Teen Award
Nene Award (Hawaii)
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Awards: Grades 6-8
Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Choice Book Award (Illinois)
Rhode Island Teen Book Award
Sequoyah Book Awards (Oklahoma): Young Adult Books
Soaring Eagle Book Award (Wyoming)
South Carolina Book Awards: Young Adult Books
Surrey Schools' Book of the Year Award (British Columbia)
Teen Buckeye Book Award (Ohio)
Virginia Readers' Choice Award: Middle School (Grades 6-9)
Young Reader's Choice Award (Pacific Northwest): Intermediate

Other Books by the Author: Eragon's guide to Alagaesia (2009); Brisingr, or, The seven promises of Eragon Shadeslayer and Saphira Bjartskular (2008)

Author's Website: Alagaesia Website

Manga University’s How to Draw Manga (Website)

Website: http://www.howtodrawmanga.com/

Interest Level: Ages 12 & up
Subjects/Themes: Manga, Drawing Techniques/Tutorials, Anime, Videos 

About the Website:  Manga University is a free site maintained by Japanime Company Ltd., a publishing company based in Kawaguchi, Japan with offices in Sacramento, California. They offer free step by step drawing tutorials are both a mixture of illustrated lessons and video’s provided through YouTube.com. They also offer fee based tutorials and art packages that drawing enthusiasts can purchase. The website also conducts interviews with popular manga creators who offer insight into drawing techniques, the manga industry, and special tutorials. There is advertising throughout the site, mostly offering Manga University products, such as print tutorials, learning japanese guides, and cook books, as well as other sponsor's products.

Personal Thoughts: A very well made site with full animation and video that is likely to appeal to teens. A little more difficult to navigate then some other sites, I found myself resorting to main tabs or the back button in order to return to a selection of choices. They have a good amount of free materials that teens can access and learn from. The advertising does make ordering materials from the website quiet tempting though. The site is updated regularly with new materials and videos. The drawings are clean with no violence or nudity that I found.

Similar Websites: Manga Tutorial's Website [My Review]   

Manga Tutorials (Website)

Website: MangaTutorials.com

Interest Level: Ages 10 & up
Subjects/Themes: Manga, Drawing Techniques/Tutorials, Anime,  

About the Website:  The website is run and owned by Rio who is a self-taught artist. Rio is also the creator of a majority of the drawing tutorials found in the website though there are others who also contribute. The website has over 80 drawing instructions about everything from basic manga drawing to publishing tips. It is completely free and requires no membership to access the site. There is some basic advertising included in the site. The website also has a forum for anyone interested in sharing their own drawings. The drawings included in the site are subject to evaluation and are free of overly suggestice poses, nudity, or violent images. Weapons are included in some of the pictures, but mainly as props.

Personal Thoughts:  A good site for teens interested in learning to draw manga or anime characters. The website itself is easy to navigate and the tutorials do well explaining different techniques. The nice part is the absence of nudity and violence that can sometimes creep up on the unaware in manga. As the site restricts that type of material from being posted, a parent can feel safe knowing that their child is learning drawing techniques and not being exposed to unwanted materials. The advertising is very low key, no more than you would be exposed to while checking your email. Definitely check out the "Oekaki" tab where there are a lot more postings from fans as well as contest entries.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (DVD)

Heyman, D. (Producer), Newell, M. (Director), & Kloves, S. (Writer). Harry Potter and the goblet of fire [DVD]. Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video.

Interest Level: Ages 13 to 18
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 157 minutes
Subjects/Themes: Wizards, School, Magic, Competitions, Friendship, Good vs Evil, Fantasy 

Plot: Based on the fourth book of the popular Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling.  The story picks up right before the start of the new school year.  Harry is having nightmares about Voldomort and his minions.  Harry attends the World Quidditch Cup with his friends where they set up a campsite with the other spectators.  Death Eaters, Voldomort's followers, attack the camp and destroy everything.  At school, the students are surprised by the announcement of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, which is a competition between three wizarding schools.  Harry's name is chosen by the magical goblet even though a Hogwarts champion was already chosen and Harry is too young to compete.  Harry and the other champions have to face a number of challenges that will test their minds, magic and physical abilities.  These challenges prove to be almost deadly and in the past champions have died.  Eventually Harry and Cedric, the other Hogwarts champion, make it to the final and choose to win the competition together.  This proves deadly as the finish line was a magical booby trap with Voldomort's followers waiting for them and they kill Cedric.  They use Harry's blood as well as other items to create a body for Voldomort.  Harry barely manages to escape with Cedric's body and returns to school to warn everyone that Voldomort has returned.     

Personal Thoughts: The movie is well made and stays close to the main storyline found in the book.  The graphics and special effects are almost flawless and serve to make the Harry's magical world a very believable one.  This volume of the Harry Potter series has a darker tone too it and this is also reflected in the look and feel of the graphics.  Characters are being killed and Voldomort is growing in power.  Harry's relationships with his friends are also getting stress as a result of all the different things going on.  We really start to see the characters grow up in this movie as they deal with more grown up issues in grown up ways.  Unlike the early parts of the Harry Potter series, which to me are beign enough for younger tweens, this is the part in the series where things start to become more violent, dark, and depressing to some degree and you may want to wait to show the rest of the series to til the viewer is a little older.  The previous DVDs inthe series were rated PG.  This is the first in the series that was rated PG-13 so parents should be aware of that and take proper consideration.

Movie Note: Part 4 of the Harry Potter Series
Prequel: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2007)
Sequel: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

Awards/Recognition:

Academy Award for Best Art Direction [Nomination] (2005)

Teen Choice Awards - Choice Movie Drama Winner (2006)

BAFTA Award for Best Production Design Winner (2005)
Kids' Choice Awards - Blimp Award Winner for Favorite Movie (2006)

Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (DVD)

Lafferttty, K., Sacks, A. (Producer), & Hoen, P. (Director). (2006). Camp rock 2: The final jam [DVD]. United States: Walt Disney Home Entertainment.

Interest Level: Ages 10 to 18
Rating: G
Running Time: 94 minutes
Subjects/Themes: Friendship, Musical, Summer Camp, Singing, Rock Stars

Plot: The Camp Rockers return to summer camp for another year of sharpening their musical skills.  They learn that Star Camp, run by a rival owner, has opened on the other side of the lake. Some of the campers and camp conselours are lured away by the money and by the luxery of the other camp.  The returning campers volunteer to act as substitute consulors in order to prevent the camp from closing.  The two camps challenge one another to a televised rock performance competition where voters will decide the winner.  It is expected that the losing camp will close forever as a result of the bad publicity.  When Camp Rock loses the competition, they find out instead that campers would rather go to Camp Rock since they know how to have the most fun.

Personal Thoughts: A sequel to Camp Rock, this movie follows much of the same format as the first.  There are a lot of singing and dance scenes.  Mitchie (Demi Lovato) and Shane (Joe Jonas) are struggling to balance learning more about one another and helping out at the camp.  Nate (Nick Jonas) and Dana, the daughter of Camp Star's owner, end up falling in love.  Mitchie ends up trying to run the camp more like a workplace and starts taking the fun out of all the activities.  In the end her friends help her out and the harmony of the camp is restored.  This movie teaches teens to remember to have fun and not stress out so much.  Also the romances in the movie stress the importance of learning about one another's likes and dislikes and searching beyond the surface.  A Must See movie for tweens and teens who enjoyed the first movie.    

Prequel: Camp Rock (2008);

Similar Movies: High School Musical (2006) [My Review]; High School Musical 2 (2007); and High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008);

The House in the Night (Book)

Swanson, S. M. (2008). The house in the night. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co. ISBN: 0-618-86244-7

Interest Level: Ages 5 and under
Genre: Picture Book
Subjects/Themes: Light, Dark, Keys, House, Bedtime

Plot: A young child is given the key to the house.  The child goes inside and finds a book to read before bedtime.  The child reads the book and then is put safely to sleep.  The whole story stresses light glowing in the dark and the calm right before bedtime.

Personal Thoughts: The illustrations are of the highest quality, not surprising since this is a Caldecott Award winner, and expand on short and simple sentences found in the book.  The illustrations are themselves a contrast of dark textured scratch board and bright golden splashes of color that draw the reader's eye.  The mood of the book is calm, perfect for a bedtime story.  A Must Read this new book is sure to become a classic over the years.

Awards/Recognition:
Caldecott Award Winner (2009)
Minnesota Book Award for Children (2009)
ALA Notable Children's Books - Young Readers Category (2009)
Booklist Editors' Choice - Books for Youth - Young Readers Category (2008)

Other Books by the Author:
To be Like the Sun (2008); The First Thing My Mama Told Me (2002); Letter to the Lake (1998);

Avatar: The Last Airbender (Cartoon)

DiMartino, M., Konietzko,B., & Ehasz, A. (Producers). (2005-2008). Avatar: The last airbender [Animated television series]. Hollywood, CA: Nickelodeon Studios.

Interest Level: Ages 6 to 14
Genre: Cartoon, Action/Adventure
Subjects/Themes: Friendship, Good vs Evil, Wars, Magic, Four Nature Elements, Travel

Plot: Aang is the last of the airbenders as well as the Avatar, a mystical being whose power is use to keep order and peace in the world.  In Aang's world, there are certain people who are able to "bend" or control one of four elements.  The Avatar, the only person who can bend more then one element, must eventually master all four bending techniques.  Aang was found by Sokka and Katara who live in the South pole water tribe.  Katara is a water bender and Sokka is a warrior in training together with Aang they travel the world as he master's his bending skills.  Eventually they will need to confront the firelord, who wants to take over the world and destroy the Avatar forever.

Personal Thoughts: A great cartoon for this age group with lots of action, martial arts, and fantasy elements from the bending and Avatar.  The animation is really good quality with characteristics from both American and Asian cartooning.  There are really good themes throughout the series dealing with friendship, good and evil, perserverance, and responsibility.  The many characters makes it easy for a viewer to find one to relate to.  I have watched every episode and feel that the quality of the cartoon was maintained throughout.  The closing of the series took care of most of the loose ends but did leave some open.  It is expected that a spin-off series will be aired by Nickolodeon in 2011.

Note: This series was also made into a graphic novel format and into a live action movie.

Awards:
Pulcinella Awards (2005);
Annie Award (33rd, 34th, & 35th);
Genesis Award (2007);
Peabody Awards (2008)