Monday, May 2, 2011

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: We Are Not Eaten By Yaks (An Accidental Adventure)


[weekend sidebar] I did it. Half marathon. Am I hurting still? Well let's just say that stairs are not my friend. I flew to Utah to run the race with my sister. It snowed the first three miles. No more springtime races in the mountain states. The weather is too unpredictable. Will I do it again? In September. In Colorado.

I found my pick for MMGM while browsing B&N the other day and it was in the new release section. Why I grabbed it? Three words: adventure, tiger, Tibetan monk with a gun (that might be more than three words, don't judge me). My inner tough girl craves these things.

We Are Not Eaten by Yaks: An Accidental Adventure by C. Alexander London
Published in February 2011

Other books in this series:
We Dine With Cannibals (releasing sometime this year)

The Hook: The children of famous explorers, Oliver and Celia Navel want nothing to do with it. They'd rather watch TV and they watch a lot of it. When a clue to the whereabouts of their lost mother surfaces, their father drags them on wild Tibetan adventure.

Why I enjoyed this book: Adventure and wit. The children find themselves, very quickly, on a rip roaring adventure that would dizzy Indian Jones. This is the first book in the series and London sets it up well. It has a bit of everything and introduces bigger vocabulary similar to Lemony Snickets. After I finished, I threw it on my 8-yr-old's TBR pile. Oh and my kids couldn't get enough of the cover. Sucked them right in. They wanted to know what was happening based on the cover (and the fabulous illustrations inside). This is a great book for younger middle graders and, while it is a boy book, the twins will appeal to both boys and girls. Great adventure, fast read.

I did have one ticky complaint (as an aspiring MG writer) I could not get over. But I thought it would be a great MG topic for discussion. It'll post tomorrow.


8 comments:

  1. Great cover! I'm going to have to look for this one. I love adventure stories and so do my kids.

    I can't believe you ran three miles in the snow! That's crazy! I'd say your inner tough girl has made it to the outside, too :)

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  2. Sounds like an intriguing read! And I surely will peek back in here tomorrow for the MG discussion.

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  3. Great review! I think my son will love this one. Thanks! :-)

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  4. First off---way to go on the marathon!!

    Second---great recommend, will be sure to check it out, thanks!

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  5. Haven't read this one yet, although I agree it's a fun cover.

    Congrats on the half marathon in the snow! You're amazing.

    Thanks, as always, for the link.

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  6. Oh! I have to come back tomorrow for your ticky complaint...wanna make sure I avoid it in my work...it's not use of the word "wanna" is it? :)

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  7. Awesome that you did the marathon. I want to hear your complaint too. It looks like a fun read from the cover. I'll be adding a link to your blog.

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  8. Thanks for the review. I think my eight-year-old will like this one, and I might too! Also, your "a lot" link cracked me up.

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