To the Edge of the World

by Michelle Torrey
****
FIC TOR

A Spaniard Mateo Macias de Avila's parents die from pestilence (bubonic plague). All he has left is a dog named Ugly. He is a good guitar player and artist. He decides to go to a lodge, where the owner reluctantly lets him play the guitar for money. Then, of all possibilities, a man asks Mateo if he want to sail for about two years with Fernando de Magellenas to sail for the Spice Islands. Mateo has many unexpected advetures on board. What I liked best was that many people talk wars and kill easily. This book is bound to change your mind. This is a very intense book. If you are very emotional, I suggest you not read this book. It is very bloody.
E.K. (5th grade), 2004

The King of Shadows

by Susan Cooper

***

FIC COO

This book is about a boy named Nat who goes back in time to when the Globe Theater just opened, but he also has to play Puck in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream! He also must get used to the ways of life because of all the technology that was once in front of him and now is gone. The best part about this book is he really realizes he is really back in time and not in a dream, after seeing a fight where dogs try to kill a blind, raging grizzly bear.

R.L. (6th grade), 2004