Time Travel, Gods, Fairies, and Benjamin Franklin: Three Book Reviews

Time Stoppers: Quest for the Golden Arrow by Carrie Jones - Read April 25-27th 

Rating: 📚📚📚

This is a sequel to the book Time Stoppers by Carrie Jones.

I was interested in this book when I had first seen the cover and also the title. I love time travel books and thought that this would be an interesting Middle Grade read. This series so far is about a girl named Annie who is a Time Stopper. She is one of the last humans in existence that is able to control time. She is now living in a new home in the town of Aurora. There are many mystical and magical creatures that she lives with such as Eva a dwarf, Bloom an elf, and Jamie who may be a troll. They are all living with their guardian Miss Cornelia. She is another one of the Time Stoppers. In this novel, Miss Cornelia goes missing and Annie and her friends go on a mission to find her.

It took me a while to get into this novel once I started it through the idea of how the magic worked was something that kept me wanting to read.

I was given a copy of this book for an honest review. 

Tim Baker and the Ancient Curse (Gormless Gods and Hapless Heroes)- Read April 27th   

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

After breaking his mother's ancient Greek vase, Hercules comes out and starts to cause troubles in Tim's life. Tim is a middle school age boy who tries to help out around the house as his mother has to work two jobs. When he breaks the vase he does not realize that the man that comes out is a Greek demigod. He believes that the man is a genie. Throughout the story, Tim and Hercules become close as they try to teach Hercules how to act in our world and to also get back to his family.

This was a cute story with great little illustrations. It made me keep smiling with the references to Greek Mythology and just Hercules' personality. Each of the characters: Tim, Hercules, and Tim's Mom, are likable characters that are also relatable.  I love Greek Mythology and I believe that this would be a great introduction to it for younger readers. There are enough funny and touching scenes that will keep them interested though I wanted to know if they would get Hercules home also. This is the first book in a series and I would recommend picking this up for your little ones.
 A good addition to a good month of reading for me.

I was given a free copy of this book for an honest review.  

Benjamin Franklin: You've Got Mail by Adam Mansbach and Alan Zwiebel- Read April 27-28th

Rating: 📚📚📚📚

I  liked this book from the beginning until the end. Again this is another sequel to a book. The first book is called Benjamin Franklin: Huge Pain in my.... At the beginning of this book, our main character lets the reader know what happened in the last book. I will say that I have never read the first book but was told that this would be fine to just read this book. One of the aspects of this book that I really did like was the relationship between Ike and Ben. They both cared for each other and had to get used to working together so they could save their country. It was interesting to see the dynamic between them as Ike learned about the past and how he should act around people.

The story is about a thirteen-year-old boy named Ike who has been writing letters back and forth with Benjamin Franklin. He causes problems for Ben when he sends a present-day map back to the 1770s and peanut butter. After the map gets stuck onto the Declaration of Independence and gets sent to the British, Ben becomes a disgrace to the country and starts to have a lot of problems. Ike makes it his mission in this book to mail himself back to the 1770s so he can help Ben. Over the course of the story, Ben and Ike have to work together to try and fix the past so the future will not be wrecked. 

The humor was childish at times but then again this is meant for middle-grade students. I cannot be too hard on the book because really this did not take away from the story too much. I am interested in seeing what happens in the next book which I believe may happen because there is a hint of it at the end of the book. I'm glad that I got the opportunity to read this book about time travel and about the Revolutionary War. It was a fascinating look at this time period from the view of a young teenager who really just wants to help his friend. I would recommend reading this story, especially for readers that like Middle-Grade stories. 

I received a review copy of this book for an honest review.