Books You Can Trust For Kids
May 11th
Books you can trust for readers 8 and up…Great for Summer Reading!
LOST ISLAND SMUGGLERS - Book #1 in the Sam Cooper Adventure Series
CAPTAIN JACK’S TREASURE – Book #2 in the Sam Cooper Adventure Series
WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT
BARNEY AND THE RUNAWAY
NEWSPAPER CAPER
TERROR AT WOLF LAKE
“Max Elliot Anderson brings a lifetime of dramatic film and video production to the pages of his action adventures and mysteries.” Jerry B. Jenkins, Author
“Sam Cooper Adventures are like good, family movies . . . as an ordinary kid finds himself in exciting and extra-ordinary adventures!” Bill Myers – Author
60 pages of reviews – http://maxbookreviews.blogspot.com
My Youtube Videos http://www.youtube.com/user/Maxbooks100
These exciting books are compared by readers and reviewers to Tom Sawyer, The Hardy Boys, Huck Finn, Nancy Drew, Tom Swift, Lemony Snicket, and others. They can be ordered from any bookstore, are available at Amazon and Banres and Noble & others online, and are available as ebooks.
Books for Boys – Children’s Adventure & Mystery Author Max Elliot Anderson
ARTICLE – Reading Sparks Young Readers’ Imaginations .
May 6th
This article shows how the imagination is like a muscle. Use it or lose it. Included is a report from an important study concerning children and reading. For example, did you know that 75% of children realize they should read more? See how many think texting is reading.
Books for Boys – Children’s Adventure & Mystery Author Max Elliot Anderson
New Video for RIVER RAMPAGE
May 4th
River Rampage will release in June. This is book #3 in the Sam Cooper Adventure Series.
Sam Cooper and his friends have the chance of a lifetime to go rafting down the mighty Colorado River. The rains have been heavy this season, turning the raging river even more treacherous. The boys’ become separated from the main group, their rubber raft is going flat, and now they’re on their own. They have their hands full with a crusty prospector, his gold mine, a gang of outlaw bikers, and a desperate river escape on their makeshift wooden raft.
Think that’s the worst that could happen?
Well, it isn’t!
Here’s the video.
Use this link to forward the video to your friends, family, and others.
Book # 2 Captain Jack’s Treasure
Books for Boys – Children’s Adventure & Mystery Author Max Elliot Anderson
Short mentions
Apr 28th
- Say Nice Things About Detroit by Scott Lasser: This made for pleasant reading over the rainy weekend. David Halpert returns to Detroit, having left after high school twenty five years ago. After he hears about the double shooting of his high school girlfriend Natalie and her half-brother Dirk, he contacts her sister and becomes involved with her. The various strands of the story come together nicely in the end. This is also one of the only books I’ve read that doesn’t make Detroit sound like a wasteland!
- Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson: Wilson adeptly marries the old and the new in this novel, combining computer hacking with The Thousand and One Days. Sound weird? I thought so too, but it works. A young hacker with the alias of Alif in a nameless Middle Eastern country tries to stay out of trouble. When the increasingly oppressive state security finally breaches his computer, he’s forced underground where he discovers that the world of The Thousand and One Days is real and the book itself might reveal a new era of knowledge.
- People who Eat Darkness by Richard Lloyd Parry: This is a really dark fucked up non fiction book about what at the beginning is simply the disappearance and murder of a young English woman working in a Japanese hostess bar. The author, struck by the story, investigates and helps uncovers a string of murders all done by one deranged man. It’s a crazy story that I can’ t begin to explain but one that Parry tells with exceptional reporting skills. Comparisons to In Cold Blood are not out of order here! It’s another paperback original in the FSG Originals line.
- The Orphan Master by Jean Zimmerman: This is not the novel set in North Korea. This story is set in the 17th century Dutch colony of New Amsterdam (aka Manhattan). Orphans are going missing and Blandine van Couvering, herself an orphan, begins to worry. Suspects seem myriad and an English spy named Edward Drummond becomes involved. What sets this story apart from the average mystery are the unique details about early colonies. Zimmerman brings the time period alive with details.
The sound of 26 books closing
Apr 25th
It’s more than six years since I began blogging about the books I’ve read. In 2006 I set myself the modest challenge of reading 26 books – around one every two weeks. A few friends were enthusiastic about the idea and, at the beginning of 2007, 26 Books became a site of its own, with several bloggers.
Since then hundreds of books have been reviewed on this site. And now it’s time to stop. The domain 26books.com expires at the beginning of May and I’ve decided that I won’t renew it. In about 10 days time the site will disappear.
I’ve enjoyed writing these reviews and I would love to carry on. One of the best things about it is being able to go back and see what I wrote about something that I read years ago. I’ll miss that. These days I don’t have time to write reviews that I value and I don’t see any point in writing these posts if I can’t do it properly.
My posts have been moved to shanerichmond.net – at least until I decide what to do with that site. I’m thinking of closing that too but at least for the moment I plan to carry on summarising my reading there.
Thanks to our small band of readers for visiting over the years. And thanks to all of those who have contributed to the site: James Higgs, Ian Douglas, Zoe Whitley, Ann Tozer, Ceri Radford, Cathy Tozer, Kerry Moore, Sara Ashton, Sara Williams and finally Anjali Ramachandran, who has joined just in time for the website to close.
For the next few days you will find lots of good books here. Take a look while you can.
No related posts.
VIDEO – Reading Sparks Kids’ Imagination
Apr 23rd
This new video will help to excite an interest in reading for the kids in your family or circle of influence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOAa_eu30Xc&feature
Books for Boys – Children’s Adventure & Mystery Author Max Elliot Anderson
Library Visit
Apr 20th
Recently I participated in an event, at a library near Chicago, with 30 other authors.
A woman came to my table who works as a reading specialist in their public school system. After she saw the way that the interior of my books were laid out, making them easier to read, she purchased several because she already knew that they would help her students. We talked for a long time.
If you have children or grandchildren in your family or circle of friends – especially boys – who aren’t excited about reading, I’d encourage you to do what this reading specialist did. Get some of my action-adventure & mystery books, try them out, and see what happens. Many have told me that these books were the key to unlocking a love of reading in their kids. And kids say that reading them is like being in an exciting movie.
Comfort Publishing
When the Lights Go Out ISBN: 9781936695478
Terror at Wolf Lake ISBN: 9781936695966
North Woods Poachers ISBN: 9781936695058
Barney and the Runaway ISBN: 9780984559848
Legend of the White Wolf ISBN: 9781936695690
Newspaper Caper ISBN: 9781936695263
Port Yonder Press
Lost Island Smugglers ISBN: 9781935600022
Captain Jack’s Treasure ISBN: 9781935600145
River Rampage June 2012
Books for Boys – Children’s Adventure & Mystery Author Max Elliot Anderson
Code of Silence
Apr 16th
Please check out this new book from my good friend, Tim Shoemaker for readers 11 and up.
Is there ever a time to lie? What if the truth is dangerous? Three friends witness a violent robbery, and fearing for their lives, make a pact to hide what they know. Trapped in a code of silence, they must face the consequences of choosing right or wrong–when both options have a price.
Additional Information
Code of Silence is a contemporary suspense targeted for 8-12-year-olds–specifically boys. Girls have been loving it as well.
Code of Silence takes two popular maxims, “honesty is the best policy” and “silence is golden” … and puts them in the ring together to fight it out.
Code of Silence is the first in a three-book series published by Zonderkidz.
330 pages
A story that will hold a boy’s attention. And works as a great book for a parent to read aloud to reluctant readers.
Not a fantasy, a story about a star athlete, or of a kid with amazing or supernatural abilities, Code of Silence is the story of three regular kids that get in way over their heads. It will relate well with with the average boy.
Reviews
None in officially yet, although there were some great comments from the editor and pub board.
Comments from Readers
“Whoa, what an AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME ending! I absolutely LOVED your book!”
Kristy Sorensen, 8th grade teacher
“I loved your book! It was amazing. It was one of the best books (of its kind) I have read this year. Thank you for this amazing book. I will recommend it to all my friends. I can’t wait to read the next two!
Josiah B., age 13
“Connor LOVED the book . . . he finished it in 2 days. He gave it to his best friend, Nick, who loved it and did a report on it for his Language Arts Class. Connor and Nick can hardly wait for second book in the series!”
Paige K., mom of Connor, age 11
“The kids keep asking me ‘Are we going to read more from the book today?’ and ‘When are we going to read more Code of Silence?’ They are so geeked on this novel thus far, you coming in would send them over the edge!”
Wendy Fanella, 5th grade teacher
Books for Boys – Children’s Adventure & Mystery Author Max Elliot Anderson
For really HOT summer reading
Apr 14th
For really HOT summer reading – Guys…read a book http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgzkiTCeTEU&feature
Books for Boys – Children’s Adventure & Mystery Author Max Elliot Anderson
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
Apr 12th
What were to happen to daily life if the rotation of the earth began to slow? What effect would this have on the days and nights? Could birds continue flying? Karen Thompson Walker explores all of these and more in her beautifully written debut The Age of Miracles.
The center of this novel however isn’t the scientific questions. Walker explores the effects of the “slowing” as they call it on Julia, a twelve year old only child living in California. Ordinary life is hard enough on her as the shy quiet girl in her grade. Her best friend Hanna moves away to Nevada once the slowing begins, leaving her alone amongst the pre-teen turmoil. Her mother grows increasingly scared and stockpiles supplies while her father remains remote. Julia learns early on in her observation that not everyone reacts the same way.
In less skilled hands, the concept could have overwhelmed the novel, but Walker’s focus on Julia keeps the book centered. The entire novel crackles with how real this could be.