BOOK REVIEWS (two parts) – Max in the House of Spies: A Tale of World War II (and) Max in the Land of Lies: A Tale of World War II (Operation Kinderspion)

both by Adam Gidwitz (Author), Euan Morton (Narrator), Listening Library (Publisher) Audiobooks  In Adam Gidwitz‘s MAX AND THE HOUSE OF SPIES, Max Bretzfeld is a Jewish boy living in Germany with his parents during the rise of Hitler’s Third Reich. It is very dangerous for Jews, and as a last resort while the atrocities escalate higher, they send their son…

BOOK REVIEW – City of the Dead: City Spies, Book 4

by James Ponti (Author), Lisa Flanagan (Narrator), Simon & Schuster Audio (Publisher) James Ponti delivers another great City Spies mystery, set in Cairo this time. The team gets a 6th member, but is he good… or evil? Only time (and the next book) will tell. (The reader is pulled either way as the story progresses.) Meanwhile, the youngest team member,…

BOOK REVIEW – Framed! – Framed series #1

by James Ponti (Author), Brian Holden (Narrator), Tantor Audio (Publisher) An Audiobook      I loved Framed. It’s perfect reading for middle schoolers or older. It has adventure, danger, good thinking, friendship, and a few wild mysteries. Author James Ponti writes one of my other favorite series and he knows how to tell stories that kids love.  Can a 12-year-old…

BOOK REVIEW – Unplugged

by  Gordon Korman (Author), A.J Beckles (Narrator), Maxwell Glick (Narrator), Vikas Adam (Narrator), Reba Buhr (Narrator), Sarah Mollo-Christensen (Narrator), Barrett Leddy (Narrator), HarperAudio (Publisher) An Audiobook Review —“A middle-grade novel about a group of kids forced to “unplug” at a wellness camp – where they instead find intrigue, adventure, and a whole lot of chaos.”— This book and its author are a part of the reason I love reading middle-grade…

BOOK REVIEW – Golden Gate, Book 2 of City Spies

by James Ponti (Author), Lisa Flanagan (Narrator), Simon & Schuster Audio (Publisher) An Audiobook Review “This mission is hot! It’s a go!”    GOLDEN GATE is the second of the City Spies books I’ve read, and I love them!  Smart kids (I mean VERY smart kids), super-special skills (but natural, no hocus-pocus), wild adventure, world travel, secrets, villains, danger,   complex…

BOOK REVIEW – Sherlock Holmes Retold for Children: 16 Books

by  Alex Woolf (Author), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Author), Thomas Judd (Narrator), Arcturus Digital (Publisher) An AUDIOBOOK Review I loved all the stories in this “retold for kids” version of Sherlock Holmes. They are very like the original ones that I read years ago, so the retelling of them is done well. I suppose some objectional words or objects, and maybe Holmes’…