Skip to main content

Deadly Flowers



Deadly Flowers
Sarah L. Thomson
2016, Boyds Mills Press, an Imprint of Highlights, 270 p.

Orphan Kata lives at a training school in ancient Japan—a training school for female ninjas called “Deadly Flowers.” At the school she is one of the best (and the oldest) students still there. She is taught to be stealthy and have a high pain tolerance. When she is finally asked to complete her first mission, Kata is excited. This is what she has always dreamed of. Only, she didn’t realize that it would be to kill a 10-year-old boy. When her mission goes awry (in part due to the fact that it turns out that she does not have thirst for murder), she must take the boy she couldn’t kill and his sister on a journey to escape both the ones who hired her to kill and the mistress of the training school.

However, like all good adventure stories (and this is an adventure because—well, ninjas!) there is more to the adventure than just running away from people trying to kill them. The group also has a magical pearl that controls demons. And other demons want the pearl just as much as the people running after them. This is a great fantasy/historical/adventure mashup of a book. And I love that it is a female protagonist that has to think, act, and save the day. Seriously, this is one great adventure story. Just watch out for all those pesky (and sometimes evil) demons.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) by Pamela Espeland & Elizabeth Verdick

If there's one book today's kids need to read, it is Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) . The authors provide a fun format for teaching etiquette to children. They discuss proper behavior at home, at school, at other people's homes and in public places. The information is completely up-to-date with cellphone manners and netiquette included. Fun, cartoony illustrations are on practically every page giving the book great visual appeal. This book is perfect for boys and girls in the fourth grade or older. WARNING: Bodily functions are discussed.

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin Illustrated by Leslie Evans Charlesburg; 2009; unpaged Faces of the Moon is a short nonfiction book that describes the different phases of the moon and why the moon appears like it does on certain nights. This book is short and sweet so even the youngest of moon lovers will enjoy it. The layout is simplistic and easy to follow. I don’t know much about the moon so I found it very interesting.

The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester 2008

J Fiction 328 pages I almost didn't finish this book. I got to Chapter 4, and was just about ready to quit (a kind of slow story about a girl, name of Piper McCloud, who discovers she can fly, parents freak out, she becomes a social outcast, yadda, yadda) but suddenly, right there in Chapter 4, the story takes a sharp turn and becomes really interesting . Piper finds herself in the company of others like her, but not "fliers", and under the care and authority of Dr. Hellion. I won't even tell you any more. Read this book. Forester does a great job of keeping you wondering who's the good guy and who's the bad? Piper is a likeable, strong, endearing character that girl readers will enjoy. But don't NOT give it to boys! The main male character is an extremely intelligent young man who is one of the ones you wonder about . . . good or bad? This is a good one, well worth your time.