Trials of the Trash ~ Review

Trials of the Trash
Janitors School of Garbage #2

By Tyler Whitesides

Landon Murphy and Jade Shu are in the middle of their parents' wedding ceremony when a couple of Thingamajunks crash and trash the event. Yikes! Now, this twosome must protect their loved ones and battle anew against the force of evil garabage.

This is the second book in the Janitors School of Garbage series. While this magical world of garbage and garbage monsters isn't my normal cup of tea, it is a delightful adventure for its target audience: middle-school readers. I mean, what self-respecting tween, who craves adventure, wouldn't want to battle the evil forces of garbage. Force intent on crashing important events.

This is a war with garbage when the evil Locksmith forces the Thingamajunks into these acts of destruction. Landon and Jade must join forces with their friends and mentors if they hope to win.

Despite revolving around a world of trash, this is a clean read. No naughty language or parental disrespect just adventurous fun in this middle-grade fantasy.

I was provided a complimentary copy of thid book with no expectations but that I provide my honest opinion, All thoughts expressed are my own. 

About the Book:

Three young garbologists must defend the world from new magical trash creations.

Landon Murphy never imagined he would spend his summer battling the animated trash monster known as the Megalajunk, and he is eager to continue studying from the wizard-like janitors at the School of Garbage. He’ll need to improve his skills with magical pushbrooms and plungers now that the Thingamajunks have gone rogue.

When two Thingamajunks show up at Landon’s mother’s wedding, Landon is desperate to save his family. Using the lock he kept after defeating the Megalajunk, Landon accidentally triggers his own temporary transformation into the trash leviathan.

Now, he and his stepsister, Jade Shu, must team up again with Sabra, Dr. Bernard Weizmann, and Daisy Gates to figure out why the Thingamajunks are popping up to ruin parties, weddings, concerts, and other celebrations. Landon suspects the Locksmith is behind the attacks, but information about the mysterious figure is scarce.

The questions continue to pile up, but one thing is certain: War is coming to the landfill, and Landon, Jade, and Sabra will need all their courage, creativity, and focus to lay a trap for the Thingamajunks—before it’s too late.

The Legend of the Last Library ~ Review

The Legend of the Last Library
By Frank Cole

For anyone who loves to hold a book in their hand and feel the paper as the pages flip past, this book is a horror story. A blight has destroyed the trees, and paper is a luxury found by the adventurous or the desperate. Paper is more valuable than the most precious gem. 

And it is into this world we step. Legend tells of a lost treasure, the last remaining library. Only the bravest will face the perils that await, and they alone will claim its riches.

Now, believe me when I say that the idea of no more new books is scary. But even more disturbing is the very idea of no more trees. The sound of a gentle breeze as the leaves rustle. The colors of early spring, summer's green, and fall's brilliance. All of it is gone. No more apples. Bare branches bowing beneath winter's icy chill. The world is stark and hot. No birds flitting from branch to branch.

But the world of Legend of the Last Library is so much worse than the book blurb reveals. Plastic is everything, and I mean everything. The world as we know it has ended, and everything we have now, nada, is gone. Buildings are abandoned and targets of scavengers or plifters (aka paper lifters). Any scrape of paper is worth way more than its weight in gold. If you find paper, you will be sitting pretty in an ugly world.

I don't want to spoil anything for readers, so I'll keep it short. Juni, along with her friends Doler and Quaze are plifters. But they are too young to be legitimate, so technically, they are breaking the law. But Juni needs the money for her grandfather's medication. When Juni discovers clues to the last library on Earth (Gasp), she and her friends set out to find it. But in the spirit of all good adventures, they are not alone in their quest. And their competition wants to squash all that knowledge, keeping it hidden away from everyone. The race for knowledge is on!

This book should appeal to readers of chapter books who like danger, suspense, and adventure in their books. This dystopian world has intense moments but nothing super scary or graphic. There is some mostly rotten produce and a less-than-thrilled skunk.

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book with no expectations but that I provide my honest opinion. All thoughts expressed are my own.

  

About the Book:

What if you lived in a world without books?

After a devastating Blight killed off all the trees, paper is worth more than just about anything. Juni's parents died when she was young, so now it's just her and Grandpa Edgar. When she's not in school, Juni and her friends Doler and Quaze turn to plifting—scavenging for any paper they can find. If Juni can find enough paper, she can pay for the health care Grandpa needs.

So when Juni discovers a book—the first one she's ever seen—hidden in a box in her grandpa's closet, she's both surprised and elated thinking of the money she could get for it. That all changes when she decides to read the book. Beyond opening her imagination, the book contains clues that point to what could be the last library on Earth.

The library's location has been hidden for more than a hundred years, but Juni and her friends are not the only ones looking for it. Ullred O'Donnell, head of R&D for Novexus, a megacorporation that replaced the government and now controls all information, is desperate to find the library as well. With an army of vicious robot dogs at his command, Ullred warns Juni to abandon her quest—or else.

Juni and her friends must find the library and share it with the world before Novexus claims it as their own. If reading one book could change Juni's life, what would access to thousands—or millions—of books do?

Graysen Foxx and the Treasure of Principal Redbeard ~ Review

Graysen Foxx and the Treasure of Principal Redbeard

Grayson Foxx #1

By J. Scott Savage

First off let me say that this book is written for Middle Grade readers but adults will enjoy references to their growing up years. This book is just too funny in places - at one point in his archeological endeavors Gray comes across an old form of writing that may be hieroglyphics, a series of squiggles and swirles that upon closer inspection was cursive writing. 

This isn't a book of bathroom humor to entertain kids but honest to goodness funny situations all set in elementary school with a flair of the dramatic as Gray and his friends search out lost treasures that may be found on the school's grounds. And the greatest treasure is that of Principal Redbeard who confiscated toys and whatnot from students years, and years, ago and at an abrupt dismissal never returned the items to the students.

Everything isn't totally fun and games as Grey has to deal with bullies, but there are lessons to be had as his kindness, care, and concern of his fellow students help them overcome together. 

I highly recommend this book as clean reading fun that also offers a few valuable insights into life at the same time. I have no qualms or concerns in doing so. Yes, some of this situations in regards to the treasure hunting are highly unlikely but they are just catalysts to the adventure portion of the story. 

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book with no expectations but that I provide my honest opinion. All thoughts expressed are my own.

About the Book:

Join Graysen Foxx on a wild, treasure-hunting adventure!

Ordinary Elementary is anything but ordinary. Below the classrooms are winding, abandoned, underground passages filled with lost treasures. Fifth-grader Graysen Foxx, aka The Gray Fox—finder of secrets, solver of mysteries, and explorer of the unknown—is hot on the trail of the legendary treasure of Principal Redbeard, which includes decades of confiscated gadgets, rare comic books, first-edition Pokémon trading cards, an original Rubik’s Cube, and a retro handheld video game.

Graysen is determined to find the treasure and share it with his fellow students. His nemesis, Raven Ransom—nicknamed “Red Raven”—plans to stop him and claim the prizes for herself, just like she did with the game-winning home run kickball everyone thought was lost on the roof of the school.

Wearing his adventurer-iconic fedora, journaling in his field notebook, and wielding his elastic stretchy hand, Graysen is ready for action. But can he avoid the second-grade spy network working for Raven? Could the third-grade twins, Maya and Jack, give him an advantage? Can he avoid the ruthless sixth graders while trying to protect the innocent first graders? And who is the mysterious Midnight Moth who is leaving cryptic notes and riddles?

It's a battle between courage and cunning, smarts and shrewdness, charity and cheating. With the treasure on the line, can Graysen trust his rival—or is it just another one of her traps? May the best treasure hunter win!