The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, Book One: The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

He holds the secret that can end the world.

The truth: Nicholas Flamel was born in Paris on September 28, 1330. Nearly 700 years later, he is acknowledged as the greatest Alchemyst of his day. It is said that he discovered the secret of eternal life.

The records show that he died in 1418.

But his tomb is empty.

The legend: Nicholas Flamel lives. But only because he has been making the elixir of life for centuries. The secret of eternal life is hidden within the book he protects—the Book of Abraham the Mage. It's the most powerful book that has ever existed. In the wrong hands, it will destroy the world. That's exactly what Dr. John Dee plans to do when he steals it. Humankind won't know what's happening until it's too late. And if the prophecy is right, Sophie and Josh Newman are the only ones with the power to save the world as we know it.

Sometimes legends are true.

And Sophie and Josh Newman are about to find themselves in the middle of the greatest legend of all time.

Stichley's Rating: 

I love history and having historical people mixed in with a magical story made this a very enjoyable story.  I actually had to go and look up characters that were mentioned in the story because I didn't know of them.  Obvious Nicholas Flamel I had heard of but the others I did not know of.  I spent time on the internet doing research trying to figure out who the characters were and learning their actual history so I could try and figure out the story before I finished it.  In the end it ended with just enough intrigue to convince me to buy the next book but not too much as to drive me wonky.

I don't recall any instances of swearing.

Erec Rex, Book One: The Dragon's Eye by Kaza Kingsley

Life is not easy for twelve-year-old Erec Rex. His single mother can barely support her six adopted kids. And they've moved into an apartment so tiny that Erec sleeps with the washing machine. Worse, there is a strange force within Erec that is making him do odd things. His urge to obey these thoughts grows -- until it becomes impossible to resist them. 

Then one morning, Erec's mother is missing. The force inside Erec commands him to find her, leading him on an adventure that will change him forever. When he arrives in Alypium, a hidden world where old knowledge of magic is kept, Erec learns that his mother and the entire kingdom are in peril. And he might be the only one who can save them.

Stitchley's Rating: 

This books falls in what I would call candy novels.  It is easy to read, short, entertaining, but nothing very deep.  It is perfect for early teens in my opinion.  While it has the classic good vs evil it doesn't really have anything in it that a true evil would have.  It is fun.  It is one of the many books that have come out of the Harry Potter craze, but I enjoyed it all the same.  It has action scenes and the words are a little to hard for little kids so probably a PG type of book for only that reason.

I do not recall any suggest situations or instances of swearing.

The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica, Book One: Here, There Be Dragons by James A.Owen

The Imaginarium Geographica

"What is it?" John asked.

The little man blinked and arched an eyebrow.

"It is the world, my boy," he said. "All the world, in ink and blood, vellum and parchment, leather and hide. It is the world, and it is yours to save or lose."

An unusual murder brings together three strangers, John, Jack, and Charles, on a rainy night in London during the first World War. An eccentric little man called Bert tells them that they are now the caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica -- an atlas of all the lands that have ever existed in myth and legend, fable and fairy tale. These lands, Bert claims, can be traveled to in his ship the Indigo Dragon, one of only seven vessels that is able to cross the Frontier between worlds into the Archipelago of Dreams.

Pursued by strange and terrifying creatures, the companions flee London aboard the Dragonship. Traveling to the very realm of the imagination itself, they must learn to overcome their fears and trust in one another if they are to defeat the dark forces that threaten the destiny of two worlds. And in the process, they will share a great adventure filled with clues that lead readers to the surprise revelation of the legendary storytellers these men will one day become.

An extraordinary journey of myth, magic, and mystery, Here, There Be Dragons introduces James A. Owen as a formidable new talent.

Stitchley's Rating: 
This was a pretty enjoyable book.  It pulls different legends from history and intertwines them together.  It was a little lacking at some points but overall pretty good.  I haven't bought the next in the series yet mostly because while it started strong I found that it just didn't have an ending that did it for me.  By the end I just was feeling a little drawn out.  I will probably get it eventually but right now I have so many other books I'd rather read that it just isn't making my list.

Instances of Swearing:

• Hell: 5

Tales of the Otori, Book One: Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn

In his black-walled fortress at Inuyama, the warlord Iida Sadamu surveys his famous nightingale floor. Constructed with exquisite skill, it sings at the tread of each human foot. No assassin can cross it unheard.

The youth Takeo has been brought up in a remote mountain village among the Hidden, a reclusive and spiritual people who have taught him only the ways of peace. But unbeknownst to him, his father was a celebrated assassin and a member of the Tribe, an ancient network of families with extraordinary, preternatural skills. When Takeo's village is pillaged, he is rescued and adopted by the mysterious Lord Otori Shigeru. Under the tutelage of Shigeru, he learns that he too possesses the skills of the Tribe. And, with this knowledge, he embarks on a journey that will lead him across the famed nightingale floor—and to his own unimaginable destiny...

An international bestseller, Across the Nightingale Floor is the first book in the Tales of the Otori series by Lian Hearn.

Stitchley's Rating:
I really enjoyed this book.  I thought there was just enough ambiguity in how the skills of Takeo and others of the Tribe were described that it was believable as existing in this world and not being a story from some supernatural universe. The story, while a little predictable in the end, made enough turns along the way that it was enjoyable and a few points along the way I wasn't even sure that it was going to have the ending that I was certain had to be coming.  Even when it came I was very upset with the way the book ended and immediately started reading the next in the series.

Experiment 429's Rating: THUMBS UP

Instances of Swearing:

• Shit: 1
• Bastard: 1

There is little swearing but there are a couple scenes in the book that are suggestive.

The Giver, by Lois Lowry

Lois Lowry’s The Giver is the quintessential dystopian novel, followed by its remarkable companions, Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son.

Jonas's world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear of pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the community. When Jonas turns 12 he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.

Stitchley's Rating:

I really debated on how to review this book.  There is something about this book that every-time I read it I feel sucked in.  There is nothing overtly sinister in this book that gives it a PG-13 rating, but I thing in order to understand the real story being told in this book a child would not understand it.  I don't personally feel that the book is itself something that should be avoided unlike some people do, but instead think it is a book that instead points out problems that could arise in our society if we aren't careful in a manner that all of us can understand.

While there is no swearing that I can remember there are a few areas in the book that a little suggestive.

The BFG, by Roald Dahl

Captured by a giant!

The BFG is no ordinary bone-crunching giant. He is far too nice and jumbly. It's lucky for Sophie that he is. Had she been carried off in the middle of the night by the Bloodbottler, or any of the other giants—rather than the BFG—she would have soon become breakfast. When Sophie hears that the giants are flush-bunking off to England to swollomp a few nice little chiddlers, she decides she must stop them once and for all. And the BFG is going to help her!

Stitchley's Rating:

The only reason I give this a PG is because there is some talking of eating if children by the other giants.  It is a fun book that most children should have absolutely no problem with.  I read it and had it read to me as a kid.  I still listen to it on Audible since I find it to extremely enjoyable to listen to as an Adult even.  If you have any problem with an occasional stinker joke then you might not get all the humor of the BFG, but if you haven't lost that sense of humor yet you'll get it.

Don't recall any language.

Aubrey-Maturin epic, Book One: Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brien

This, the first in the splendid series of Jack Aubrey novels, establishes the friendship between Captain Aubrey, R.N., and Stephen Maturin, ship's surgeon and intelligence agent, against a thrilling backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. Details of a life aboard a man-of-war are faultlessly rendered: the conversational idiom of the officers in the ward room and the men on the lower deck, the food, the floggings, the mysteries of the wind and the rigging, and the roar of broadsides as the great ships close in battle.

Stitchley's Rating:

While the movie may have gotten a PG-13 rating I found this book to be boring... much as I found the movie to be.  There were several points in the book where I really thought that there might actually be some real potential in the story only to have it die away in monotony.  I've read plenty of stories about the sea, and this could have been good, but it needed the boring stuff edited out in my opinion.

Instances of Swearing: 

• Hell: 4
• Ass: 2
• Bitch: 9
• Shit: 1
• Genital Related: 1
• Damn: 12