Warren the 13th and the Thirteen-year Curse by Tania del Rio

Source

Warren the 13th and the Thirteen-year Curse by Tania del Rio

Published: March 24th, 2020 by Quirk Books

Genre: Juvenile Fiction, fantasy

Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages, Own

Rating: 5 stars

Summary: 

At the conclusion of the second book in the Warren the 13th series, The Warren Hotel had transformed into a giant ship, and set sail for the open seas! When Warren 3 opens, Warren is adjusting to the demands of running a floating hotel and is planning his 13th birthday party when disaster strikes--the hotel is shipwrecked on a strange island. To make things worse, his octopus-like friend Sketchy is kidnapped by a traveling circus! Warren and his friends must solve a series of riddles to find the next location of the circus and rescue their friend before it's too late. Along the way, they meet a new cast of characters, including some elderly pirates, a sea witch, a talking clam, and a giant sea monster. As Warren pursues Sketchy's kidnappers, he will learn the truth of his friend's mysterious origins--as well as one final secret of the Warren Hotel.

My Thoughts:

I thoroughly enjoyed the third book in this fantastic series. Warren the 13th has a good heart. He loves his friends and his family. He tries his best. And he gives everyone and I mean everyone the benefit of the doubt! What a great example. I've really enjoyed his growth and the growth of everyone in his hotel.

This book they're out for a pirate adventure! We love pirates and enjoyed all the treasure hunts and pirate-related themes throughout the story. This one has some fun puzzles to try and solve along with Warren and his crew.

The story ends on a bittersweet note and it made G tear up. But it all ends good and he can't wait/hopes for another chapter in Warren the 13th's life and his traveling hotel!

The illustrations are as amazing as ever! Lots of fun drawings to help bring the story alive.

My Son's Thoughts: (lightly edited)

Okay, to start I think this book was really good. I think all the parts of this book were interesting cause usually at the beginning of books it's not as interesting. Every single chapter of this book was just as interesting as the last.

Now down to the specifics. I enjoyed the part where they start saving sketchy and I also enjoy the end part where even when Rustyboots and his granddaughter are kinda evil, Warren still thinks they're worth saving.

If there is anything that I don't like as much, it would be at the end... because it made me sad but that is meant to happen. So honestly I think it's amazing that [the author] did that. Overall, I enjoyed this book and I hope [the author] makes a fourth book.

P.S. I would really a fourth book and maybe a fifth!

*We received this book from the publisher Quirk Books in exchange for an honest review. They sent the book with a beautiful poster of one of the illustrations in the book and some fun Warren the 13th tattoos.

Nick and Tesla's Robot Army Rampage: A Mystery With Hoverbots, Bristle Bots, and Other Robots You Can Build Yourself by Bob Pflugfelder

Another great addition to the Nick and Tesla series! This time their new friend's dad's store is broken into and a very valuable comic book is stolen. It's up to Nick and Tesla to find out who or what is stealing things in this town.

They build lots of mini robots along the way to help them spy and conduct their investigations! And they still show you how to build all the neat stuff that Nick and Tesla make.

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Find Momo: Hide and Seek With an Adventurous Border Collie by Andrew Knapp

I had never heard of Andrew Knapp or his beautiful dog Momo until I was asked to review the book. Knapp took Momo into the woods to play fetch one day and Momo didn't bring the stick back. Instead he was playing hide-n-seek. From then on Knapp thought he'd do a new twist on "where's Waldo." Knapp takes beautiful pictures and Momo hides. It's a beautiful book with a fun twist of finding out where Momo's hiding.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.




This is also apart of my Nonfiction Reading Challenge.

Princesses Behaving Badly: Real Stories from History Without the Fairy-tale Endings by Linda Rodriguez McRobbie

Publisher's Summary from Quirk Books:

You think you know her story. You’ve read the Brothers Grimm, you’ve watched the Disney cartoons, you cheered as these virtuous women lived happily ever after. But the lives of real princesses couldn’t be more different. Sure, many were graceful and benevolent leaders—but just as many were ruthless in their quest for power, and all of them had skeletons rattling in their royal closets. Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe was a Nazi spy. Empress Elizabeth of the Austro-Hungarian empire slept wearing a mask of raw veal. Princess Olga of Kiev murdered thousands of men, and Princess Rani Lakshmibai waged war on the battlefield, charging into combat with her toddler son strapped to her back. Princesses Behaving Badly offers minibiographies of all these princesses and dozens more. It’s a fascinating read for history buffs, feminists, and anyone seeking a different kind of bedtime story.

This was a fun book! These women were all so different. McRobbie made them all come to life and I loved it. She writes with a "folksie" style meaning there were a lot of awesomes and other colloquial writing. It made the stories more down-to-earth. I think these would be awesome bedtime stories to read to older children. One could use these stories to talk about history in context, especially how women have been used and abused throughout history.

So in that sense, it was also sad. Like the title suggests, most of these princesses did not get their fairy-tale endings. But some turned their lives around and learned how to run their companies, countries, etc!

There was only one instance where I thought McRobbie's language was a bit too judgy with one princess. But for the most part, McRobbie humanized these princesses and brought us their stories. They were all complex human beings just like the rest of us.

*I received this from Quirk Books in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This also counts in my Non-fiction reading challenge :) My goal is to read over 16 non-fiction books this year and this is number 3!

Suburban Legends and 100 Ghosts

Suburban Legends: True Tales of Murder, Mayhem, and Minivans by Sam Stall

I truly do enjoy stories. Stories about people and our perspectives and how we see things are so valuable. I wish this is how Stall would have presented these 'legends.' But as the subtitle says, he describes them as true stories. Are they really? They are fun and interesting and scary but I wouldn't describe them as true.

He gives no references or bibliography, no way for anyone to fact check these stories. I would have appreciated him allowing us to make up our own minds.

But as stories they were quite interesting.

100 Ghosts: A Gallery of Harmless Haunts by Doogie Horner

This is an adorable book of ghosts. I've looked over them many times with Gabe. His favorite is the Harry Potter ghost.

Each image is a new take on the classic. All are fun and imaginative :)



Both books were sent to me by the publisher in exchange for honest reviews.

Nick and Tesla's High-voltage Danger Lab by Bob Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith

Quirk Books

I have only great things to say about this book! I read it aloud with my son Gabe. He followed along for most of it and was so excited by the experiments at the end of some of the chapters. We can follow along and build what Nick and Tesla built to solve mysteries and save themselves.

Science and is beautiful and cool. I'm so glad there is a great new series out helping to get kids excited about science and learning.

Nick and Tesla are twins. They've been sent by their parents to live with their very strange Uncle Newt. Mom and Dad are studying soy beans in Uzbekistan and feel they would be safer in California for the summer. Uncle Newt has his own souped up lab in the basement where they can perform their own dangerous experiments. They even meet a couple of kids from the neighborhood to help them solve the mystery of the old Landrigan Mansion.

I also loved the interplay of Nick and Tesla. Tesla is the one always ready for action, the one who scares less easily. While Nick is the cautious one. Tesla is a strong and awesome female character!

I'm just can't gush enough about this book and look forward to the next installment!

*I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.