tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62231483023673448052024-03-04T22:30:49.357-08:00Check It Out!Everything you need to know about the books your kids want to read.Sanstrom Sevenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05310399207827404246noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6223148302367344805.post-17493664672798412042010-07-12T09:32:00.000-07:002010-07-12T10:02:43.605-07:00The 13th Reality<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre;"></span></span><br />
<div style="font: 18px Lucida Grande; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; letter-spacing: 0px;">Author: James Dashner</span></div><div style="font: 18px Lucida Grande; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; letter-spacing: 0px;">Publisher: Aladdin 2008</span></div><div style="font: 18px Lucida Grande; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; letter-spacing: 0px;">Secular, Science Fiction</span></div><div style="font: 18px Lucida Grande; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; letter-spacing: 0px;">Target audience: Boys and Girls</span></div><div style="font: 18px Lucida Grande; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; letter-spacing: 0px;">Reviewer: Lark</span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; letter-spacing: 0px;">Overview</span></div><div style="font: 18px Lucida Grande; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Ok. Now that we have all of that boring stuff done </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">we can get down to business. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The 13th Reality is a science fiction novel based in present time. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Atticus Higginbottom, a.k.a. "Tick" is a regular 13 </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">year old boy who lives in Washington State. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">One day he receives a mysterious letter and the a</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">dventure starts. The letter informs Tick </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">that dangerous, perhaps even deadly, events </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">have been set into motion. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">If Tick has the courage to accept the challenge </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">he will receive twelve clues that will </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">reveal on a certain day, at a certain time, </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">at a certain place, something </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">extraordinary will happen. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Frightening things will come his way. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">New friendships will be formed. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">New Realities will be discovered. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">And Tick's life will never be the same again.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; letter-spacing: 0px;">Violence Level: Medium-Low</span></div><div style="font: 18px Lucida Grande; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Tick is bullied at school and reacts passively just </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">enduring the abuse. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">He is visited on two occasions by scary machines to test his </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">determination to continue. On the first occasion </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">he was hospitalized by the stings of the </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">machine. On the second occasion he </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">escaped without harm. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">There is a semi intense battle at the end </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">of the book. A secondary character is attacked </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">and (correctly)assumed </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">to be killed by "fangen", mutant beasts.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; letter-spacing: 0px;">Spiritual Content:</span></div><div style="font: 18px Lucida Grande; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">There is no mention of God. There is a level of post modern </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">view on self power and control of destiny. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I will address this more in my conclusion.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; letter-spacing: 0px;">Sorcery/Magic:</span></div><div style="font: 18px Lucida Grande; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">(The book doesn't call this "magic" but science and a part of </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">quantum physics.) </span></span></div><div style="font: 18px Lucida Grande; margin: 0px; min-height: 21px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div><div style="font: 18px Lucida Grande; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Tick little sisters throws one of the letters </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">into the fire, which is a signal that he no longer </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">wants to participate in the clues and </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">challenge. He changes that action by the </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">force of his desire. He uses something called </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">"Chi Karda" which is, and I quote from the book, </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">"The mysterious force that controls quantum physics. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">It is the scientific embodiment of conviction and choice, </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">which in reality rules the universe. It is responsible </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">for creating the different Realities". </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Tick has a special, and unknown, ability to channel </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">the Chi Karda in a strong way and to use it's power </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">to change the past and visit the other </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Realities (parallel universes).</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; letter-spacing: 0px;">Drugs and Alcohol:</span></div><div style="font: 18px Lucida Grande; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Reference to being as clumsy as a </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">"one-legged drunk".</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; letter-spacing: 0px;">Sexual Content:</span></div><div style="font: 18px Lucida Grande; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; letter-spacing: 0px;">None</span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; letter-spacing: 0px;">Crude or profane language:</span></div><div style="font: 18px Lucida Grande; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">There is some mild name calling mostly by the </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">bad lady, Mistress Jane. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Things like "blubbering fool", </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">"moronic stack of soiled snow". She has child </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">servants that she has named </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">"Nitwit" and "Nincompoop".</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; letter-spacing: 0px;">Positive Elements:</span></div><div style="font: 18px Lucida Grande; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Tick's family relationships were very positive. Both parents are active </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">in his life. The dad is not a wimpy spineless </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">male character. He is kind and active in Tick's life. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">His father is always there for him. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">There is friendly teasing between Tick and </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">his sisters with genuine affection shown. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Tick faces fear and chooses bravery and heroic acts.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; letter-spacing: 0px;">Negative Elements:</span></div><div style="font: 18px Lucida Grande; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">He lies at first about the letters. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Bulling at school, with him being locked </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">into a locker and given a swirly type </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">treatment. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Semi gruesome fight scene during the battle </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">with the "fangen".</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; letter-spacing: 0px;">In my opinion.....</span></div><div style="font: 18px Lucida Grande; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Surprising myself, I really enjoyed this book. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">It was well paced and filled with likable and real characters. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The bad guy.... er, girl, was not too intense. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I appreciated the bond Tick had with his father. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Once he told his father all about the letters and </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">the challenges his dad encouraged him to do the right </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">and brave thing, but was there to keep him safe. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">It was refreshing to read a book with </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">healthy parental figures and a lack of sibling disharmony. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I was slightly bothered with the </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">"you can change destiny" message that ran </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">throughout the last half of the book. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The explanation given was that quantum physics </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">is the science that studies the physical world of the extremely </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">small. Most scholars are baffled by its properties </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">and at a loss to explain them. Theories abound. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Only a few know the truth: that a completely different </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">power rules this realm, which in turn rules the universe" Chi'karda." </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">This is the first book in the series and I look </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">forward to reviewing the sequel. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I think this book is a good fit for kids 11-14 </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">unless they are extremely sensitive to the intensity </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">of the battle at the end of the book. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I will share my views of what controls the universe with my boys.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: red;">My Verdict?</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> Yes, I would let them read this book.</span></span></div>Larkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14322836221930865447noreply@blogger.com1