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Child of the Owl – Laurence Yep

Laurence Yep is another one of my favorite young adult authors. In “Child of the Owl,” he takes us to a world he knew well – Chinatown in the 1960’s. Our character is Casey, the twelve-year-old daughter of a compulsive gambler named Barney. He’s taken her all over the country, following one hot tip after another, most of the time having to live in run-down hotels and washing dishes in restaurants for their dinner. He keeps telling her that someday, he’ll hit it big and they’ll have a penthouse full of comics and games and clothes, and she pretends to … Continue reading →

April and the Dragon Lady – Lensey Namioka

It’s Literacy Month! But it’s always Literacy Month at the Pinkston house – we’re all obsessed with books, even my two-year-old. One of my favorite library finds this last week was young adult novel “April and the Dragon Lady,” by author Lensey Namioka. April is the teenaged daughter of Chinese American parents. She lives with her father, her brother, and her aging grandmother, her own mother having passed away some years before. Because April is the daughter, traditionally the care of the house and of her grandmother falls to her, and she doesn’t think to question it. Her brother, Harry, … Continue reading →

A Sudden Silence – Eve Bunting

Jesse, a college student home for the summer and his sixteen-year-old brother Bry went to a wild party. They got a ride there with a friend, but there was enough alcohol at the party that soon their friend was incapacitated and they decided they’d be safer walking home. It wasn’t that far, after all. It was pitch black dark at 11:30 at night, and suddenly Jesse noticed headlights up behind them, pointing right at them. He yelled at Bry to jump, and then he himself jumped off the shoulder of the road onto the property that stretched alongside. Bry never … Continue reading →

The Amazing Panda Adventure (1995)

Ryan Tyler’s parents are divorced. He lives with his mom and hasn’t seen his dad in two years, since his dad moved to China to help build and run a panda reserve. When his dad sends a ticket for Ryan to come visit, Ryan’s not really sure he wants to go. His dad has been so involved in his work, he’s missed a lot of important occasions in Ryan’s life and Ryan feels like his dad cares more about the pandas than about his own kid. Finally deciding to go only after his mother says he can come right home … Continue reading →

Balto II: Wolf Quest (2000)

Rather than leaving you in suspense as to my feelings about this movie, I’ll just tell you upfront that I didn’t care for it. It’s supposedly the sequel to “Balto.” However, “Balto” was supposedly based on a true story, and “Balto II” is a sequel to the fictional parts of the story. You see, the real Balto was not part wolf, and the entire plot surrounding “Balto II” focuses on Balto coming to grips with his wolfy heritage. Balto and Jenna are now parents. All the puppies but one look like Jenna, and the other one, Aleu, looks like Balto, … Continue reading →