Skip to main content

Daughter of the Deep

Image
By
By Rick Riordan
Los Angeles: Disney-Hyperion, 2021. Fiction.

Ana Dakkar is a freshman at the prestigious Harding-Pencroft Academy, whose graduates go on to become the best marine biologists, naval commanders, and ocean explorers in the world. The school and its coursework are rigorous, especially the freshman end-of-year trials that involve a weekend field trip and a lot of secrecy. As soon as Ana and her classmates depart for this trial, the receive the horrifying news that Harding-Pencroft Academy has been destroyed by a rival school -- the dubious Land Institute. Now, Ana and her freshman classmates are the only survivors and the new guardians of a secret legacy. Ana and her friends soon learn that the events depicted in Jules Verne's 19th-century novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea were all true, and Ana herself is descended from the legendary Captain Nemo.
 
This standalone science-fiction novel from Rick Riordan has immediate appeal to readers who have enjoyed other Riordan books. Though some readers may be disappointed to learn that there is no planned series, as the book ends with an opening for more adventures. Plenty of exposition ensures that young readers do not need to be familiar with Jules Verne's source material before beginning this book, but will likely be eager to seek them out after. The diverse cast of characters is authentic and well-depicted, and local readers will appreciate that a major character is a native of Provo, Utah.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Painting for Peace in Ferguson

By
Painting for Peace in Ferguson By Carol Swartout Klein Treehouse Publishing Group, 2015. Nonfiction. When the city of Ferguson was overrun with so much hate and despair that homes and businesses had to be boarded up to protect property, citizens of the community decided to bring a message of hope by painting the boarded windows. Klein’s rhyming text supports the photographs of the hundreds of artists and volunteers and their artwork as they bring the messages of peace, hope, love, and that by being united they can make a difference. A great book to show children how a community rallied to make a positive change and that even a small gesture can make a huge difference. A great discussion opener on how we should treat each other.
Post a Comment
Read more

Dragon Run

By
Dragon Run by Patrick Matthews Scholastic, 2013.  336 pgs.  Fantasy      Al Pilgrommor is excited for Testing Day, when he will receive his rank, a tattooed number on the back of his neck, and a path forward to his future occupation and life.  He feels confident because his parents were fours on a scale of seven, but he is worried for his friend Wisp who doesn't have much of a chance of scoring above a two at best. But when Al is scored a zero, he not only has no prospects, he may lose his life as the dreaded Cullers are unleashed to kill him and his family to purify the land's bloodlines.  Al's world is ruled by dragons--the lords and supposed creators of humankind--so he thinks that even if he survives, he will have to make his living as a beggar or thief. But when Al sticks up for his Earther friend in front of Magister Ludi, he is drawn into the struggle of a secret organization hoping to destroy the Cullers, and perhaps the dragons them...
1 comment
Read more

Review: We're All Gonna Die-Nosaur!

By
We’re All Gonna Die-nosaur! By Kon Tan  New York: Disney Hyperion, 2025. Intermediate. 157 pages.  Pterry (the “p” is silent) pterodactyl is a worry wart. Pterry is worried about flying (he doesn’t how to fly yet), dinosaurs going extinct (he had a scary dream), and how to protect his family (he has a little brother who hasn’t fully hatched from an egg yet). Even though there is a lot of feels for Pterry, this is actually quite a funny book. Pterry tries to learn how to fly with kites as his “training wheels” and his brother who is inside an egg is quite the adventurer.  This is a funny, heart-felt comic-like intermediate fiction book that will be great for many readers. If kids love dinosaurs, this book is for them. If kids like funny graphic novels, this book is for them. If kids want to read something about facing fears and doing things even though they don’t always want to, this book is for them. Plus, even though Pterry does a lot of things on his own, he still has s...
Post a Comment
Read more