Emelia's Review of The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

The Golden Compass took forever for me to finish, but I had to read it all; it is so convincing, original and addicting to read.

GadgetJax Reviews: The Lightning Catcher series by Anne Cameron

It's almost the end of the Summer, and I spent a good chunk of it reading. Of course, if I'm going to invest my time in lots of reading, I should make sure that the book I select is good, right?
Well, we're reviewing The Lightning Catcher. Don't let the title of the book fool you; The Lightning Catcher has no affiliation with the Percy Jackson franchise. Sadly, I can't really say that The Lightning Catcher holds up to the epic title it has, but that's what we're reviewing it for, right?

The story begins with our main character, Angus McFangus, an average boy (not actually average) that lives in a little town with his uncle, all while his parents are gone on business trips(not actually business trips).
One day, a man named Felix Gudgeon visits Angus, telling him that he must come with him to a place called Perilous, where the 'Lightning Catchers' conduct their training academy. Angus eventually learns that his parents are Lightning Catchers as well, and that they've been captured by Scabious Dankhart.
Yes, that's his name. I don't know if he's into those kinds of memes, but we'll just roll with it for now.
So, Angus goes to Perilous and he trains to become a Lightning Catcher. Along the way, he makes friends with 2 other students there; Dougal Dewsnap and Indigo Midnight. Dougal is your stereotypical sidekick character that is a mix between 'The Brains' and 'The Brawn', while Indigo is the most boring character imaginable. The only 2 redeeming things about her character design are that A) She's the most shy character you'll ever meet in any story ever and B) Her uncle is actually Scabious Dankhart, which is kind of confusing at first.
...and this leads me to the biggest issue in The Lightning Catcher and all of the other titles in the franchise: They are so darn OBVIOUS! Every character is as boring as a plank of wood. For example, the primary leader of Perilous is a lady named 'Principal Dark-Angel', who (surprise surprise) eventually turns out to be in cahoots with Dankmeme- sorry, I meant Dankhart.
I would go out and say that the best character in the entire franchise is Felix Gudgeon, and that's only because he's a naturally upset guy that slowly starts trusting Angus after time. Everyone else is 'The dumb guy', 'The smart guy', 'The athletic guy', 'the bossy guy', or whatever is commonly used nowadays.
Characters aside, the rest of the book is just as barren. The whole theme of the story is supposed to be about the Lightning Catchers and how awesome they are, but trust me when I say that 60% of the chapters in this story involve the characters just trying to EXPLAIN everything. This book is too big for its own good, and it shows because of how many times that they have to explain how their crazy Fiction world actually works. Muderous Fog? Let's spend 7 pages just explaining it! Backstory about a character that will never appear again? Takes up an entire chapter!
Because of all this stuff that it tries to pack in, it leaves very little room for action portions. All 3 of the books follow a similar pattern where Angus, Dougal, and Indigo find out something about the histry of Perilous, and they have to find out before Dankjoke does. The first 85% is them doing whatever the book needs them to do in order to buy time, and the last 15% is their encounter with Danklegs. To be fair, though, the third book mixes this up by adding a lot more depth to everything, but the story still ends on a cliffhanger...
...and that's what gets me so mad at this franchise. Every book in the series ends on a cliffhanger, and you might think that it would be cool for something like that to happen, but no. The last 10 pages of every book could be summed up as 'Hey man, thanks for helping us out. We haven't found your parents yet, but we're still looking. Go back to your hometown and we'll call you back here when we write the next sequel'.

So, that's how I spent my Summer Reading segment. Did I like The Lightning Catcher and all the sequels? No, I didn't, but I do think that the author needs to iron out the next installment. The atmosphere of the books are really unique and invigorating, but the story itself is always barren and boring, so the writer doesn't get to make use of all the little quirks and oddities that come with such a vast field of creativity. I'm dearly hoping the 4th book fixes all these problems and then some, but as it stands, there are much better books to read than The Lightning Catcher.

Quote of the Month: Lily

"She is a strong independent Godzilla. She doesn't need a man to get pregnant!" Lily W.

GadgetJax Reviews: The Incredibles by Disney Pixer

The theme for Summer Reading this year involves Super Heroes! To tie in with it, I decided to do something obviously related to Super Heroes, but what?

"Okay, how about one of the original Super Hero comic books, like that classic '60's Spiderman & Batman?"

*Reads*

"It's a story, but not much for a review. How about one of the Marvel movies of recent times?"

*Watches*

"Oh, dear. OH, DEAR. That was NOT a movie I would consider suitable for a review at ALL. Okay, I need something good, but it has to be kid friendly! C'mon brain! Give me an idea!"

*Sorry, Jax! We wasted all of your best ideas coming up with this running gag!*

"Drat! Well, it's 11:45. I better head down to the Library now. I'm helping out at their showing of the Incredib-"

*Pauses*

"Perfect!"

The Incredibles is a Pixar Movie. Personally, I would call it their best movie, but considering just how emotional things like Up and Toy Story can get, I'm not sure if I can call The Incredibles the best of them all without being chased at with torches and pitchforks - so I'm gonna review it instead!

The world of The Incredibles is your typical city in a typical hero story: Town constantly attacked by the villain of the week, the supers (yes, that's what they call them) come and save the day, rinse and repeat. Everything seems like your typical hero movie for the first few minutes until the plot twist...

Due to many of the supers helping out many others in need when they don't want it (things like stopping a suicide, which is actually quite frightening for a PG movie), they are forced by law to never commit any more acts of heroism with their powers ever again. This plot twist is great because it creates a very complex scenario about the individual sense of right that everyone has: Is it right to avoid doing the right thing because the law prohibits it? Another thing that makes this twist so great is that you don't need to understand it to enjoy the movie. If you're a little kid and you can't follow with it, it's not a problem! You'll be quite entertained by the jokes and fight scenes anyway!

As for the main character, the protagonist of the story is Bob Parker(aka Mr. Incredible). Once the law forbids supers from being supers anymore, he marries fellow super 'Elastagirl' and starts a family. Ironically enough, all of his children are born with super powers as well, which leads to a few really touching moments later on due to that law I mentioned earlier. 'Dash' wants to compete in sports, but isn't allowed to because of how his incredible speed would give him an unfair advantage over every other competitor. 'Violet' wants to be a normal child like all of her schoolmates, but can't due to the supernatural abilities of herself and her family.

The animation behind the movie is still amazing as ever. It's been 10 years since it came out in theaters, but the detail is still amazing. Characters look very vibrant and filled with personality, and since many of them share personality traits with the more typical kind of person, it's easier to relate to each problem that they individually encounter in the movie.

The comedy is spot in this movie, but kind of like Big Hero 6, the entire movie sort-of falls behind because of it. Believe me, the jokes in this movie are great, but there are just one too many fat jokes. They aren't that bad at first since they all revolve around Mr. Incredible, but they get very boring after the 40 minute mark because they get so repetitive. The idea behind a joke is the 'I get it!' moment, so when every joke with Mr. Incredible is built the same way, there's no 'I get it!' moment anymore, which kills the comedy in the later portions for him. Other characters are still continuously funny like Frozone's 'Super Suit' scene, but considering that Mr. Incredible is the main character, you would expect more from him.

Just like previous reviews, there's only so much you can compliment a movie for without spoiling it, so how about we end this review on a positive note? The Incredibles is great, and anyone that likes Superhero movies or Disney movies will love it - and it's getting a sequel directed by Brad Bird! Huzzah!!

Cardboard Review by Zack

Cardboard by Doug TenNapel

This graphic novel is filled with subtle meaning and innocence. Yet behind all of this is a story about two families. One where a father struggles to provide for his child and one where the child is a spoiled brat. Will they survive the mistakes they made or will they be crushed and smothered by their own creations?

By Zack

Tell us what you think about the book at our Teen Book Club meeting on Wednesday July 1st at the Highland Branch! 

Photo credit: Cardboard Fibers on Flickr by Andrew A. Shenouda

Jurassic World Review by Zack

This smash hit took a bite out of the world's wallet opening weekend by raking in more than half a billion dollars. This movie roars to life with an all star cast of both Humans and dinosaurs maybe even a few hybrids. So if you liked the old ones this one will take a bite out of you heart.

Quote of the Month: Jack

Jack: Can I dress up as Sarah Palin?
Lily: You can be anything you want to be!
Jack: I want to be a Can Opener!

Come to the next Teen Advisory Board meeting this week (Wednesday June 17th from 2-3pm)!