Pearls of Lutra by Brian Jacques

A book in the Redwall series (not necessarily to be read in a specific order, but I suggest at least reading the book Redwall first).

Plot: a group of Redwall creatures go on a treasure hunt following some clues written in the form of riddles. The treasure? Six priceless, rose-colored pearls! Unfortunately, an evil warlord named Ublaz is also searching for the pearls, and will do anything to get them, including murder an entire village of peaceful creatures, save one. This grudge-holding warrior searches for Ublaz to get her revenge.

Comments: I like this book and the entire series (there's a lot of books) very much. This would be counted as fiction, but partly fantasy, I suppose, because the main characters are all animals. Mice, hares, moles, and squirrels are some of the people at Redwall, and the pirates and thieves of the land are generally ferrets, rats, and foxes. This is a creative way to write stories, and you forget after a while that the characters aren't human. The descriptions and imagery makes me imagine humanized animals. Strange, but very interesting. The plot's strong and easy to follow, especially if you've already read books from the Redwall series.

I sometimes get annoyed at the lack of some human traits in the characters, though they aren't exactly characteristics to envy. For example, the Redwall creatures apologize for saying things I hadn't considered rude, or for interrupting. I understand that they are meant to be good, kind people, but it gets annoying when they always are completely gentle, respectful, and unreal. I have a really hard time imagining anyone THAT polite, and it makes me feel weird.

Rating: I'm rating this book a six out of ten.

Enchantress From the Stars by Sylvia Louise Engdahl

Plot: Elana, a young woman from an advanced civilization, takes a job with her father and boyfriend trying to evict colonists from an already occupied planet. The planet the colonists land on is not technologically advanced, and have no idea that there are other worlds and civilizations in space. It's Elana and her companions's duty to make the space-traveling colonists find an uninhabited planet--without revealing their own identities.

Comments: this book was interesting and creative, and I think it's good for reading at night before you go to bed. The plot is original--certainly I've never read anything like it before. The characters are easy to imagine, but in my case, not easy to relate to. Elana's father has wisdom and a sense of duty from his life experiences. Elana's boyfriend is...just not very prominent throughout the book. And while Elana is gentle and kind, she is obedient, soft, and thinks in different ways as I. Perhaps it's just me, but I didn't feel very much in the story. Though it was first-person point of view from Elana, it felt like I was watching the whole thing, which all in all is not very exciting.

I like the way the three get the natives to make the colonists move (so that their presence is not betrayed to the colonists) without letting the natives know anything they shouldn't. The tests and ways they convince them of magic is very clever, but it started getting pretty predictable. Even the natives they chose knew Elana was setting up the tests, and it all seemed kind of fake. I started losing interest, and only kept reading because I wanted to know the ending. It's true that I didn't entirely expect the ending, but the general concept was obvious, and I wasn't very entertained.

Rating: I rate this book a five and three quarters out of ten. Okay, but it lacked the something to keep me interested.

The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

Plot: a teenage girl, Hannah, is transported to 1942 Poland while celebrating Passover. The world is in chaos as World War II rages on, and she is caught in the middle of it. Ending up in a concentration camp with people she doesn't know in a time far in the past, Hannah learns the importance that remembering has for the Jewish.

Comments: I wasn't convinced I would like this book, and when I started it, I still didn't expect much. But the way this story is told and the things it shows you drew me in, and I closed the book with a new understanding of World War II. Jane Yolen skillfully tells the somber tale of Jews being rounded up and forcefully put into concentration camps. It felt like I was there, in the story, but I know I can never truly understand what they went through. The characters are easy to imagine and easy to relate to. You become attached to every one, and their pain is your pain. Simple language, easy to read.

The imagery Yolen uses to describe the happy village and the cruel concentration camp is simple, but colorful. The horror of the concentration camp is great enough that you don't need descriptive words or photos; plain facts and statements would have sufficed. I can only imagine what the camps were actually like, but I can get a glimpse of them in this story.

The plot is relatively simple, and the concept--though appalling--is easy to understand. The strength of the bonds between the young girls in this story is bittersweet, and the end is the same. I felt satisfied, yet sad, at the way things ended, and I thought it was very fitting and noble. The lesson this novel teaches us, the things it shows us, are things we need to know and need to remember. Never will we forget.

Rating: I rate this book a six and a half out of ten.