David Lemmons reviews Phillip Pullman's Golden Compass:
I really enjoyed this book! One of my favorite things that Pullman does with his fictional world is that he modeled it after our own world. He changes around some terminology (anbaric means electric in this book, for example), but there are some major similarities between the two worlds (like the prevalence of the Catholic Church). There's a nice mix of action and dialogue, and Pullman's characters really (excuse the pun on his name) pull you in. Definitely a good read for anyone who likes Harry Potter-style fantasy: our world with a fantastical twist.
First up: Dawn Dvorak's review of Hugo Cabret!
In the 1930 in Paris, a young boy named Hugo Cabret is tasked with fixing the train station's clocks. His father died in a fire, his uncle has gone missing, and to keep the station inspector from discovering this, the clocks must stay running on time. Hugo steals to survive and occasionally for other purposes, though he dislikes being called a thief. He is searching for his purpose in life, and thinks that a broken automaton his father discovered holds the secret. As he works to fix the broken automaton, he is hampered by an old toymaker named Georges Melies, but with the help of Melies's goddaughter, Isabelle, he is able to work the automaton and discover some of Melies's secrets as well.
Overall, this is a unique book because of its structure, which is half written and half pictures. However, the plot is full of too many coincidences and the character development is non-existent. The characters never really change, the reader just learns more about them. I think that this is definitely a children's book, though I've seen it shelved as a young adult book too.
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