Orion Poe and the Lost Explorer

Orion Poe and the Lost Explorer
by Will Summerhouse

Eleven-year-old Orion lives with his stodgy grandfather in eastern Maine, where nothing exciting ever happens. But then a series of strange events draws him into the mystery of a lost explorer, and Orion is swept up in a whirlwind of adventure that takes him to the top of the world. To survive he must outwit a scheming treasure hunter, team up with a gang of flimps, and take on a tyrant with an anger management problem. Can Orion solve the mystery and get back home alive? And just what are flimps, anyway? Orion Poe is about to find out. Join him as he laughs, cries, bluffs, and shoots his way to the heart of one of the greatest mysteries in the history of exploration. Along the way he discovers that the world is far bigger—and stranger—than he ever imagined. (Description from Goodreads.com) 

This was a fun, easy to read middle grade adventure.  I liked Orion's voice.  I found him very believable as an eleven-year-old boy with a sense of adventure and a burgeoning sense of the world's wearies and dangers.  I liked that while this book had a lot of characters, they were easy to distinguish and how even with several different settings, the places and people flowed into the story as it moved with Orion. It all felt very organic and well described. 

I especially liked the steampunk feeling of the secret town Orion and the others stumble upon in their adventure.  It and its people were truly trapped in time and I loved the juxtaposition between modern day Maine and this Londonesque feeling town. I found myself not only rooting for Orion and the sailors from his ship, but also the townspeople stuck under such a scheming tyrant.  

I look forward to another Orion Poe adventure in the future!  

Full disclosure: eARC received from Netgalley 

The Expeditioners and the Treasure of Drowned Man's Canyon

The Expeditioners and the Treasure of Drowned Man's Canyon

by S. S. Taylor/Illus. by Katherine Roy

 

Computers have failed, electricity is extinct, and the race to discover new lands is underway! Brilliant explorer Alexander West has just died under mysterious circumstances, but not before smuggling half of a strange map to his intrepid children—Kit the brain, M.K. the tinkerer, and Zander the brave. Why are so many government agents trying to steal the half-map? (And where is the other half?) It’s up to Alexander’s children—the Expeditioners—to get to the bottom of these questions, and fast. (description from Amazon.com)

 

This book was a little bit of an unexpected joy for me. While I had read the description and knew that there was a treasure hunt, etc, I don't think it really sank in...what this book would be like...

 

Honestly, it was one of the best, most interesting steampunk adventures I've read yet.  I think, primarily, because it wasn't *just* steampunk.  This is dystopian steampunk.  In this world, we've gone beyond the computer age to a period where all that technology was distrusted and society withdrew back to steam power! Very, very cool conceptually. 

 

This book has a heavy focus on family relationships, gadgets, and mapmaking/reading.  Each of the West children has a different "specialty." M.K. can fix any type of machinery. Zander can almost commune with animals.  Our main character, and also the middle sibling, Kit, can read maps and solve codes, having learned from their Explorer father.  In this world, too, the Explorers, like Mr. West are on the hunt to map out and claim new lands.  They joke about the time when we were convinced that there were only seven continents!

 

This book was exciting and intriguing and once I started reading, I did not want to put it down.  Not only were there great descriptions of new creatures and awesome steampunk technologies, but the illustrator did an amazing job and every chapter there was at least one picture like this one of a typical Explorer's vest, full of cool gadgetry. There were full page illustrations and little ones sprinkled within the text.  The book cover also comes off and on the reverse side is a full character sketch of each of the kids and the friend that eventually goes hunting for the secret cavern with them. 

This book tackled a great adventure, built an awesome and intriguing world, and also threw in a couple of great moral lessons. I cannot WAIT to read the next book in the series!!

 

Full disclosure: Finished copy received from publisher for review

A World Away

A World Away
by Nancy Grossman

A summer of firsts
Sixteen-year-old Eliza Miller has never made a phone call, never tried on a pair of jeans, never sat in a darkened theater waiting for a movie to start. She’s never even talked to someone her age who isn’t Amish, like her.

A summer of good-byes
When she leaves her close-knit family to spend the summer as a nanny in suburban Chicago, a part of her can’t wait to leave behind everything she knows. She can’t imagine the secrets she will uncover, the friends she will make, the surprises and temptations of a way of life so different from her own.

A summer of impossible choice
Every minute Eliza spends with her new friend Josh feels as good as listening to music for the first time, and she wonders whether there might be a place for her in his world. But as summer wanes, she misses the people she has left behind, and the plain life she once took for granted. Eliza will have to decide for herself where she belongs. Whichever choice she makes, she knows she will lose someone she loves. (description from Amazon.com)

When I picked this book up, I wasn't sure how I was going to like it.  For some reason I associate all books about the Amish with school reading.  Why, I'm not exactly sure...since I never actually read any for school...but that's how they stack up in my head.  I was *SO* pleasantly surprised in A World Away.

I thought this was a really well done story. It totally pulled me in and I was so invested in Eliza's story that I found myself crying or laughing out loud in several different spots. This is a book that I think I will read again sometime down the road...and I'm already trying to pass it on to other readers!

This was a book that manages to teach about Amish culture without overwhelming the reader.  It has a strong main character that has to make a very tough decision, and it's handled in a very realistic way.  As Eliza experiences her Rumspringa, she ends up discovering things about herself, her place in society, her values, and her faith.  She never really loses herself, even as she experiences a whirlwind of "firsts." Even more than that, Eliza learns about family.  What it really means, who it can include, and how her particular family fits into the larger "English" and Amish societies.  

This book was able to cover so many fantastic topics in a serious way without ever verging into "preachy" territory.  SO well done.  I highly recommend checking this one out!

Full disclosure: ARC received to review for VOYA