Part 1 (68-61)
Part 2 (60 - 51)
Part 3 (50 - 41)
I created a guide that I used as a baseline for my ratings, sometimes I shift things up or down. A brief explanation of what my ratings mean:
Characters
5 = Annoying Jack and/or Annie
6 = Basic J and A
7 = J and A at top of game
8 = Basic side characters
9 = Interesting side characters
10 = Really Vibing with J/A and side characters
Atmosphere
1 or 2 - basic, not particularly exciting
3 or 4 - premise is more interesting than the execution
5 or 6 - execution is better than the premise
7 or 8 - Decent execution and premise
9 or 10 - Truly captures the imagination
Writing Style
Doesn’t vary much generally 8
Plot
1 or 2 - J/A just doing stuff
3 or 4 - J/A just doing interesting stuff
5 or 6 - J/A with a plot line
7 or 8 - J/A with a good premise
9 or 10 - Conflict and Resolution are both satisfying
Intrigue
1 or 2 - premise didn’t excite (and probably wouldn’t excite many kids) me read out of duty
3 or 4 - premise has niche interest
5 or 6 - premise initially good, bad execution
7 or 8 - good premise with wide appeal
9 or 10 - kids generally love the premise and it carries through the story
Logic
1 or 2 - disregards history and general rules of a story
3 or 4 - PARADOXES / doesn’t really make sense
5 or 6 - puts J/A too much into a specific historical event / makes some sense but not totally
7 or more 8 - history adjacent / mostly makes realistic animal/ story choices
9 or 10 - choices made make sense/ involved in history without affecting events
Education
1 or 2 - based primarily in myth and legend
3 or 4 - relies heavily on stereotypes/ doesn’t present many facts about subject
5 or 6 - portrays historical people and events with heavy mythology influence (or animals in unrealistic fashion)
7 or 8 - light fantasy influence or mostly realistic animals
9 or 10 - well-represented historical people and events, facts woven into story
We're reaching a point where most of the books are genuinely enjoyable for me. All but one of these got a 4/5 on the enjoyment section. Still nothing that blew me away, but fine little reads for the correct demographic.
40. Late Lunch with Llamas
The latest quartet is another series of animal stories. However, this quartet as a whole is so much better than the previous entries. I'm also pleased because we finally have Native Americans not being painted with broad stereotypes.
Character - 6
Atmosphere - 5
Writing Style - 8
Plot - 6 - My goodness, we have something here that feels like a plot. I'm so very pleased that we don't just have Jack and Annie wandering around in the Andes, they receive a quest, follow directions, and stay on a path. There isn't anything I would call aimless.
Intrigue - 4
Logic - 9 - Story choices here make total sense, even the bits where fantasy elements come into play, they are not oversold and do not bring the story to a grinding halt.
Enjoyment - 7
Education - 8
Final Score: 6.625
Jack and Annie find themselves in the Alps at the Saint Bernard Monastery. There is a flower that they hope to find but they have arrived too early, and the Alps are still covered with snow. They decide to spend some time training one of the avalanche rescue dogs, but he proves too immature until they use a bit of magic.
Character - 7 - Jack and Annie are pretty good in this, Annie even faces consequences, I liked the monks quite a bit too.
Atmosphere - 6
Writing Style - 8
Plot - 5
Intrigue - 4
Logic - 9
Enjoyment - 7
Education - 7
Final Score: 6.625
Jack and Annie return to the Arctic and meet Vikings again! The narwhal plays a relatively small role in this book, but it works okay.
Character - 8 - Leif was actually a fun character, and his family was a nice touch too. Interesting how Vikings are portrayed differently depending on time and place.
Atmosphere - 7
Writing Style - 8
Plot - 3 - Aimlessly wandering around Greenland anyone? Also, they already learned about 24-hour sunlight in their last Arctic trip... this shouldn't have been a big reveal as part of their riddle to solve.
Intrigue - 7
Logic - 6 - I had to roll my eyes a bit that it was apparently okay to give Leif a map from the future, but it wasn't okay for him to see the magic tree house... it isn't like other historical persons haven't seen it, so I don't get it.
Enjoyment - 7
Education - 8
Final Score: 6.75
This is one of a couple books that felt like it was trying to expand the cast of recurring characters but ultimately never did. It was the conclusion of the quartet of books introducing the Merlin Missions and all four of those books were free to focus more on plot since they weren't concerned with the non-fiction aspects of the book.
Character - 8 - We get to hang out with Teddy and Kathleen in this book and are introduced to a few interesting new characters. I really though the Ice Wizard would be a character that came back at least a few times.
Atmosphere - 7
Writing Style - 8
Plot - 9 - Easily one of the best plots in the series, this felt like an actual story with conflict, resolution, SUBPLOTS, and some twists.
Intrigue - 7
Logic - 7
Enjoyment - 7
Education - 1 - This is based entirely in a land of myth, and I don't feel like a whole lot of the Norse mythology was really woven into the story.
Final Score: 6.75
Just so we know, the original cover is superior, it gives us a bit more of what we really get in the book and is just more interesting all together.
I was not expecting much from this book and ended up being pleasantly surprised. There was even a twist that I legitimately did not see coming, I don't know if I skimmed over the clues in my reading haste or I simply was so convinced something else was going to happen.Character - 8 - Mamoon is a great character, sadly Annie drags this back down to an 8. But not only does Jack try to call Annie on her attitude, but she almost ruins their mission and has to feel bad for a while. It's a bit a character development I wish had carried over to following books.
Atmosphere - 7
Writing Style - 8
Plot - 6
Intrigue - 4
Logic - 7
Enjoyment - 7
Education - 7
Final Score: 6.75
I'm an absolute sucker for Dickens' Christmas Carol, so this book hits some great notes for me. Again, I tried to base everything except the enjoyment level from the perspective of the target audience. I will say that as an adult who is very familiar with the inspiration text and various adaptations, this probably hits different for me.
Character - 8 - Jack and Annie are doing well and Charles Dickens is interesting enough, but none of the other characters really grab me.
Atmosphere - 7
Writing Style - 8
Plot - 4 - Sooooooo.... the original story is pretty light on plot. Jack and Annie dilute that even further.
Intrigue - 6 - The Dickens aspect would probably play lower in the intrigue, but I gave it a bit of a boost for combining ghosts and Christmas.
Logic - 6
Enjoyment - 7
Education - 7
Final Score: 6.75
My personal least favorite on this list of ten. Even then, it isn't too shabby. This book is interesting for having double (triple?) time travel antics for some reason.
Character - 8 - Young Abe Lincoln is okay (if not 100% honest!) but his son is a bit of a chore.
Atmosphere - 7
Writing Style - 8
Plot - 6
Intrigue - 7
Logic - 4 - I'm not sure why we started with adult Abe, went to young Abe, and then returned to adult Abe. Seems like we could have had a bit better of a plot if we'd trimmed our time-travel shenanigans just a bit.
Enjoyment - 6
Education - 9 - Did this bring anything new to the table for me. No. But I cannot deny that the book was filled with information, and it was woven into the story in a way that enhances the story.
Final Score: 6.875
This book hit a few beats that warmed my heart. You may notice that my enjoyment is higher than those parts that make up the story. I couldn't but smile when Jack broke out a magic spell to find lost treasure after losing Annie in a snowstorm, especially heartwarming because he usually has to be convinced to try a spell. There is something about the cover of this book that gives me warm fuzzies as well. This one isn't a Christmas book - but it gives off Christmas vibes.
Character - 7 - This book introduces what I thought was going to be recurring characters who would act as foils for Jack and Annie (or possibly Teddy and Kathleen). Balor and Grinda followed Jack and Annie around and tried to capture the unicorn themselves and take him to the Dark Wizard (a natural foil for Merlin/ Morgan). I truly think this was the plan - but for some reason Mary Pope Osbourne changed her mind.
Atmosphere - 5
Writing Style - 8
Plot - 7
Intrigue - 7
Logic - 6
Enjoyment - 8 - I enjoyed this and would like to have seen more Balor and Grinda messing around in history trying to wreck Jack and Annie's plans.
Education - 7
Final Score: 6.875
Yes. A graphic novel. The first four books in the series have been adapted into graphic novels. This one plays pretty close to the original text, yet somehow manages to accomplish less. Maybe by the time I read this I had higher expectations, or maybe I just don't have the level of nostalgia for the story so much as the physical book. Overall though it had enjoyable art and I'd recommend it for new and old readers alike.
Character - 6 - Annie comes off more annoying than in the original. I still appreciate the sibling dynamic, though.
Atmosphere - 10
Writing Style - 7 -
Plot - 3 - Cut out a couple details and added some to pad the length. I think adding in hiding the baby dinosaurs is kind of silly.
Intrigue - 10
Logic - 6
Enjoyment - 8
Education - 6
Final Score: 7
This is one of my favorite read-alouds. The space unit is always so much fun and this book is a good complement, plus by this point the little kids are invested in the series. Personally, there are a couple of weird beats for me - but I'm not the target audience.
Character - 7 - Jack and Annie work off each other so well by this point. And neither of them are really wearing on the reader yet.
Atmosphere - 7
Writing Style - 8
Plot - 4 - Admittedly this is probably the weakest of the amble around a location aimlessly kind of plot, because there is only so much to do: drive a buggy, jump, and fall in a crater pretty much round out the list.
Intrigue - 8 - A truly great premise builds this story up so much more than its plot.
Logic - 7
Enjoyment - 8
Education - 7
Final Score: 7
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