Mini-Review: Ace's Basement

Ace's Basement 
Ted Staunton
High Interest/Low Reading Level

Following the demise of his first band, Ace has started a duo called "Two" with Lisa, a girl he has a huge crush on. As Ace and Lisa get serious about their music, Denny, Ace's hapless friend, tries to help out by filming their every move so that he can create the ultimate music video. As a joke, Denny puts together a Two video capturing all of the embarrassing moments--moments that Lisa in particular doesn't want shared. Somehow, the video gets posted on YouTube. Lisa and Ace find themselves starring in the latest comedic viral video. Lisa is humiliated and refuses to talk to Ace--until their fame turns out to have positive results.

Orca Book Publishers write books specifically meant for teenagers with low reading levels, or learning English as a second language and such. I take the time to read and review them because we have a good market for them in the book store I work at, and I think it's important to give a reluctant reader something he or she will actually like. You can read my other reviews of Orca books here(:

Ace's Basement is a cute, short read, all of 107 little, well-spaced pages. It's got a modern context of young musicians putting themselves on Youtube, as well as the relatability of a high-schooler crushing on his older, good-looking friend. Overall, nothing special to remark on except that there were a few aspects that I felt could be expanded upon, like his relationship with his stepdad, or what happened to his biological father. Rating:



Have a whole bunch of reviews to catch up on, hope to get at it this week! Till then(:
Love,
Esty

Mini-Review: Queen of the Toilet Bowl

Queen of the Toilet Bowl
Frieda Wishinsky
Beginner Readers

When Renata is chosen to play the lead role in the school musical, students who used to ignore her start saying hello and congratulating her in the hall. She is happy until it becomes evident that Karin, a wealthy girl who expected to get the lead role, will go to great lengths to ruin Renata's reputation.

Remember my review of Crossover by Jeff Rud? A simply-written, short book aimed for a teenage reader? Queen of the Toilet Bowl is another one of those published by Orca, whose goal is to help older readers learn English without having to read baby books. In the bookstore I work at I get asked to recommend a lot of these so I've been reading some. 

A sweet story, Queen tells tale of a South American immigrant who is targeted by the Queen Bee at her school on the account of her mother being a cleaning lady. I liked Renata, and she dealt with the bullies smoothly and maturely, so the book comes along with a good message. While not patronizing,  it's mildly cheesy.

Cover and title comments: They're not really appealing, therefore a mistake in my opinion, but they tie in well. 

Have a great week!
Esty

Mini-Review: Crossover

Crossover 
Jeff Rud
High-school story, intermediate reading level

Fifteen-year-old Kyle Evans has been a jock for years--a triple threat basketball player who can dribble, pass or shoot with considerable skill. But once he decides to try out for the school musical production at Sainsbury High, Kyle finds there is much more to life than hightops and hookshots. Conflicting priorities cause problems between Kyle and his coaches, teachers, teammates and friends. And when his buddy Lukas becomes the target of homophobic hatred, Kyle is left with some difficult choices to make. 

Hi all! Introducing today what I will from now be calling mini-reviews: quick and short reviews for quick and short books. This particular one is a story for a high school kid who doesn't read well or learning English as a second language. Simple sentence structure, 170 pages.

Crossover is basically a High School Musical story, just with more serious undertones. Kyle is a popular basketball player who scorns the theater kids and basically anyone different. In the book he reconnects with 2 old friends who rekindle his love for performing he hasn't acted on in years.

Very sweet and fun, you'll enjoy the short read with a nice message. Because of the easy level, you could give it to a younger kid too.

I'll probably be posting more of these over time- I work in an English bookstore in a non-English speaking country so we carry a lot of these books for kids while they learn. You'll be able to find them under the tag (scroll down on the right) Orcas (the publisher).

Happy reading!
Esty