Mundie Moms

Saturday, October 16, 2010

October's COFA Teaser

You know how much we love Cassie's teasers. Here's what she's posted today:
The vote came out basically at a tie, so we have Alec/Magnus this month, with a mini-teaser about Clary/Jace, and C/J in November.

1) “I don’t know what I want.” Alec, his head bent, was playing with an abandoned plastic fork. Though his eyes were defiantly cast down, their pale blue color was visible even through his lowered eyelids, which were pale and fine as parchment. Magnus had always found humans more beautiful than any other creatures alive on the earth, and had often wondered why. Only a few years before dissolution, Camille had said. But it was mortality that made them what they were: the flame that blazed brighter for its flickering. He wondered if the Angel had ever considered making his human servants, the Nephilim, immortal. But no, for all their strength, they fell as humans had always fallen in battle through all the ages of the world.

“You’ve got that look again,” Alec said peevishly, glancing up through his lashes. “Like you’re staring at something I can’t see. Are you thinking about Camille?”
“Not really,” Magnus said. “How much of the conversation I had with her did you overhear?”
“Most of it.” Alec prodded the tablecloth with his fork. “I was listening at the door. Enough.”
“Not at all enough, I think.” Magnus glared at the fork and it skidded out of Alec’s grasp and across the table toward him. He slammed his hand down on top of it and said, “Stop fidgeting. What was it I said to Camille that bothered you so much?”
Alec raised his blue eyes. “Who’s Will?”

2) Jace caught her hand in his. “Just say it again.”
“I’ll never leave you,” Clary said.
“No matter what happens, what I do?”

Don't forget to look out later this week for a teaser from Clockwork Prince!
You can read more here: or here: .

Highly Recommend Books from Mundie Kids

The past couple of weeks we've had the opportunity to read some fabulous pre-teen books on Mundie Kids. Here's a few books we recommend picking up:



By - Rick Riordan
Published By - Hyperion Books for Children
Released - May 2010
Source - Purchased
Age Range - 9 to 11 years old
4 Stars- I really liked this book. Go pick it up.

Synopsis (fromdisney.go.com): Since their mother's death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane.

One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives.

Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them — Set-has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe — a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family, and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.

Readers familiar with his Percy Jackson series will love his take on Egyptian mythology which is presented through the eyes of Sadie and Carter Kane, two siblings who were not raised together and who are now forced into an adventure in an attempt to find out what happened to their father and of course, to save the world.

You can read the full review here http://tinyurl.com/2fnbdqf



By Paul Crilley
Published by EgmontUSA
Released On September 28th, 2010
Source- EgmontUSA
Ages- 10 & up
5 stars- I highly recommend this book!

Twelve year old Emily and her brother William are orphans. One morning, while Emily runs to work through Victorian London, she witnesses a battle between members of the faerie Order-a secret society that protects mankind from the fey folk-gets involved, things get complicated. Emily's brother is kidnapped, and Emily discovered things she never imagined: tunnels that lead through an underground town, a faerie queen, and a battle to save London. Emily has to rescue her brother. But who can she possibly trust? (quoted from the back of the ARC).

The Invisible Order is a fantastic read that weaves faerie lore with historical Victorian London, and engages you in a fast passed, twisty plot, that is witty and suspenseful. Our heroine, Emily Snow may be young, but at 12 years old she's raised her 9 year old brother and herself for the last two years, since her parents death. Her key to survival has been her strength and wit, something she'll rely heavily on as she finds herself in the middle of a war. Both the Unseelie and the Seelie courts are about to unleash destruction on the city of London.

You can read the full review here http://tinyurl.com/2da7ves


Author: Ellen Potter and Anne Mazer

Publisher: Flash Point/Roaring Brook Press
Pages: 288
Reading Level: Ages 9 to 12 years
Source: Personal Copy & ARC
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Description from GoodReads:
Practical advice in a perfect package for young aspiring writers. After receiving letters from fans asking for writing advice, accomplished authors Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter joined together to create this guidebook for young writers. The authors mix inspirational anecdotes with practical guidance on how to find a voice, develop characters and plot, make revisions, and overcome writer’s block. Fun writing prompts will help young writers jump-start their own projects, and encouragement throughout will keep them at work.

As an educator working with English Language Learners who are not particularly excited about writing, it is a challenge to find activities that they will like. However, Ellen Potter and Anne Mazer has managed to do just that. In their non-fiction book, Spilling Ink: A Young Writer's Handbook, they use a variety of practical activities to engage budding writers in the creative process. Since before it's release, I have been signing the praises of this book. So much so that I convinced the school's PTA to purchase of a copy of it for all the teachers at the school when the book was released.

You can read the full review here http://tinyurl.com/33ft2c9



By Scott Seegert,Illustrated by John Martin

Published by EgmontUSA
Released On August 24th, 2010
Source- EgmontUSA
Ages 9 & Up
5 Stars

Slip on your acid-free gloves, make sure you have a duplicate copy of How to Grow Up and Rule the World (just in case something should happen to this one) and try to follow along as the incomparable, superior-in-all-ways Vordak the Incomprehensible teaches you a thing or two about villainy. Now you, too, can try (and fail) to attain Vordak's level of infamy.


From selecting the most dastardly name, to choosing the ideal henchmen, to engaging in witty repartee with disgustingly chipper superheroes, experienced supervillain Vordak the Incomprehensible guides readers step-by-step toward the ultimate goal of world domination (from his parents' basement in Trenton, New Jersey).
With chapter titles like "Bringing Out the Evil" and "Building a Top-Notch Evil Organization," numerous bold illustrations, and detailed quizzes to assess your level of dastardliness, this book provides everything necessary to rise above the masses, and then rub your ascent in their faces.

In return for this wealth of knowledge, Vordak requests nothing more than an honored place in the evil regime of he who achieves control of the world. And, of course, the opportunity to assume command, should things not work out(quoted from Goodreads).

You can read our 10 reasons to read Vordak here http://tinyurl.com/25p4xdo


By Ellen Potter

Published by Feiwel and Friends
Released on September 14th, 2010
Source- the publisher
Ages- 9 years and up
5 Stars- Highly Recommend This Book

Life in a small town can be pretty boring when everyone avoids you like the plague. But after their father unwittingly sends them to stay with an aunt who's away on holiday, the Hardscrablle children take off on an adventure that begins in the seedy streets of London and ends in a peculiar seaside village where legend has it' a monstrous creature lives who is half boy and half animal.... (quoted from the back of the ARC).

This is truly one of those books where I am left scratching my head and in awe of Ellen's ability to tell a wonderful story. Not only does the cover match the story and the characters perfectly, but it's a well written, well told story and one I will read again. The Kneebone Boy is a clever, fascinating, witty book, and one I highly recommend.

You can read the full review here http://tinyurl.com/38vw62v


By Matt Myklusch

Published by Aladdin/Simon and Schuster Kids
Released on August 3rd, 2010
Source- Simon and Schuster
Ages- 8-12
5 Stars- Brilliant Story

Jack Blank doesn't know who he is or where he comes from. He doesn't even know his real last name. All Jack knows is his bleak, dreary life at St. Barnaby's Home for the Hopeless, Abandoned, Forgotten and Lost. Everything changes one morning when Jack receives two visitors The first is a deadly robot, straight out of one of Jack's favorite comic books, that tries his best to blow him up. The second is an emissary from a secret country called the Imagine Nation, where all the fantastic and unbelievable things in our world orginate-including Jack. Jack soon discovers that he has an amazing ability-one that could make him the savior of the Imagine Nation and the world beyond, or the biggest threat they've ever faced (taken from the back of the ARC).

Jack Blank is such a brilliantly written book, with an amazing setting, wonderful characters and a lot of powerful messages written within it's pages. It's a place where all the super heros & real life heros I grew up with and even never before heard of heros, live. It makes the extraordinary seem ordinary.

You can read the full review here http://tinyurl.com/2cyl4wp


By Maryrose Wood

Published by Harper Collins Childrens
Released March 1st, 2010
Source- The Publisher
5 stars- I really enjoyed this book


Of especially naughty children, it is sometimes said: "They must have been raised by wolves."

The Incorrigible children actually were.


Found running wild in the forest of Ashton Place, the Incorrigibles are no ordinary children. Luckily, Miss Penelope Lumley is no ordinary governess. But mysteries abound at Ashton Place: Who are these wild creatures, and how did they come to live in the forests of the estate? Why does Old Timothy, the coachman, lurk around every corner? Will Penelope be able to teach the Incorrigibles table manners in time for the holiday ball? And what on earth is a schottische? (quoted from Ms Wood's site)

The Incorrigible's is a delightful, fun, brilliant read. With it's early 19th century historical setting, a narration that is both modern and fitting for the time period, and wonderful illustrations, made for a book I thoroughly enjoyed.

You can read the full review here http://tinyurl.com/2ax7oor


Author: Benjamin Flinders

Publisher: Flinders Press
Released: 2010
Source: Author
Ages: 8-10
Rating: 5 Stars

A cursed treasure chest transports Ethan and Dallin from their modern lives onto a ship in the New World. Not just any ship, a merchant vessel transformed into a renegade pirate ship that same morning.

Mistaken as thieves, the brothers must use their wits and humor to navigate the dark secrets of the brig, survive walking the plank, learn how to talk, fight and hurl insults like a pirate (along with the rest of the clueless crew), and solve the mystery that turned Captain Black Bart into a wannabe pirate.

But even if they can save the pirates from themselves, can they unravel the curse that brought them here, and then figure out how to get back home?

The first in a series of comical adventures scattered across history. From the New World to the Great Wall of China, the Traveling Trunk Adventures are sure to capture the imagination, free the spirit of adventure, and tickle the funny bone of every reader, young and old alike.

This is a book that you must hold in your hands. I love the cover. It is raised and shiny and just begs to be read. Occasional full page black and white illustrations make this a book perfect for beginning middle grade readers.

You can read the full review here: http://tinyurl.com/2dpdjan

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