Captain Hook is dead, killed by the malicious crocodile. His daughter, Jocelyn, is faced with the heavy burden of avenging her father. But first she must endure the hardships of Miss Eliza Crumb-Biddlecomb's Finishing School For Young Ladies, pirate battles, annoying flying boys, pirate-eating cannibals, and her own fear. I really liked this book, as Jocelyn is a well-written character, and, unlike SOME books I've read, she's not perfect. She has flaws, which makes her easy to relate to, and easy to sympathize with. The story-telling style of this book was...nice. The narrator didn't seem to like narrating the story. You could write a whole series chronicling Jocelyn's mishaps. I can't wait to see what trouble-I mean, adventures-Jocelyn gets herself into next. I suggest to anyone who likes a good 'ol pirate story with a twist.

Captain Hook is dead, killed by the malicious crocodile. His daughter, Jocelyn, is faced with the heavy burden of avenging her father. But first she must endure the hardships of Miss Eliza Crumb-Biddlecomb's Finishing School For Young Ladies, pirate battles, annoying flying boys, pirate-eating cannibals, and her own fear. I really liked this book, as Jocelyn is a well-written character, and, unlike SOME books I've read, she's not perfect. She has flaws, which makes her easy to relate to, and easy to sympathize with. The story-telling style of this book was...nice. The narrator didn't seem to like narrating the story. You could write a whole series chronicling Jocelyn's mishaps. I can't wait to see what trouble-I mean, adventures-Jocelyn gets herself into next. I suggest to anyone who likes a good 'ol pirate story with a twist.

Hi Editor, My sister (msnow3) won "The Land of Stories" free book giveaway and that was 3 months ago. She never received the book. Did it get lost in the mail? Our mom signed the form allowing my sister to enter that giveaway twice. Do you know where the book is now? My sister checks the mail every day and is eager to receive the book and is always dissapointed.

Typically, Marvel comics are mild and enjoyable; where the heroes always win, and even though the battle seems impossible and the odds are against our faithful heroes, deep inside we know they will always win. We expect it. Not in this twisted version. In short, this UNBELIEVABLY gory and gristly comic is set 50 years into the future; a future where all the heroes are gone and villains rule and wreck chaos. Wolverine is scarred and his hair is grey. He has a wife and kids. But he has sworn, after being DEEPLY emotionally-scarred, to never pop his claws, EVER. This comic was SO brutal and bloody that I had trouble eating after reading this. Maybe it was seeing superheroes I know and love graphically being torn to shreds by dinosaurs. Maybe it was seeing Wolverine destroy the X-Men violently. I can't imagine anyone enjoying this and I recommend this to NO ONE.

The tides are turned in Loot. You will end up rooting for the thieves and not the cops. This book shows that everyone has a different side, whether they're a criminal, a misfit, an orphan, or a fired cop. Loot really does have a lot of potential, but when I was reading it, I felt like I was eating a half-baked pizza. The first 40 chapters of the book were ant-climactic and slow, and the last 40 chapters were pulse-pounding mayhem, making the book inconsistent. Mrs. Watson gave the book a feel that she was either half-asleep some days while writing Loot, or hyper on coffee on other days. But I have to say, the villains were designed wonderfully, and you never know who to trust. Allies turn out to be enemies. And the last 40 chapters of the book were page-turners, and my heart WAS beating louder than the actual character's hearts in the book. This book was a thriller and had a good concept. I suggest to people who haven't read to much mystery, and whose expectations aren't super high; but there are a few good parts in this book, so don't be hindered by me if you are curious, you may end up liking Loot. I never did learn how to steal a fortune, though.

The tides are turned in Loot. You will end up rooting for the thieves and not the cops. This book shows that everyone has a different side, whether they're a criminal, a misfit, an orphan, or a fired cop. Loot really does have a lot of potential, but when I was reading it, I felt like I was eating a half-baked pizza. The first 40 chapters of the book were ant-climactic and slow, and the last 40 chapters were pulse-pounding mayhem, making the book inconsistent. Mrs. Watson gave the book a feel that she was either half-asleep some days while writing Loot, or hyper on coffee on other days. But I have to say, the villains were designed wonderfully, and you never know who to trust. Allies turn out to be enemies. And the last 40 chapters of the book were page-turners, and my heart WAS beating louder than the actual character's hearts in the book. This book was a thriller and had a good concept. I suggest to people who haven't read to much mystery, and whose expectations aren't super high; but there are a few good parts in this book, so don't be hindered by me if you are curious, you may end up liking Loot. I never did learn how to steal a fortune, though.

There is a lot to love about Loot. Jewel heists? Master plans? Kid criminals? Yes, please! I love stories about kid spies or criminals (both would be even better!) and this book had potential. Sadly, I can't call it a favorite. I don't love it, but I don't hate it either. The main characters were Jules, March, Darius and Izzy. They were all pretty awesome and even though the likelihood of kids having their abilities is practically non-existent, I enjoyed the humor and energy between them. The teamwork is incredible. For example, even though Darius is the stereotypical "tough guy," he is very protective of Izzy, who is practically a younger sister to him. I think my main issue I have with this book is that the whole story is highly improbable, particularly the ending. This book is meant to be entertaining. I get it. But these kids are easily breaking into heavily-guarded places with merely a few hours of planning. How likely does that sound? Not very probable. The ending was also highly unrealistic. This ruined the reading experience for me. That being said, there were many aspects of Loot that I enjoyed a lot. Besides stellar action scenes, this book could also be very funny. I don't laugh out loud very often but this book cracked me up sometimes. Here's an example taken from the ARC in which Jules and March are visiting Hamish, one of their father's business associates. "Jasmine, can you cover the register?" "You told me to concentrate on e-commerce orders today," she said. "Change messes up my aura." "The universe has many paths, and yours leads to the cash register," Hamish said. "Peace out," she answered with a shrug, and left. See? Funny. Before beginning Loot, I wasn't sure how the whole "being a criminal" thing would be handled. This is a MG novel after all! In real life, criminality is absolutely horrible. Gang wars, drugs, guns, etc. It wasn't all covered, but Jude Watson didn't do a bad job of representing the backstabbing and treachery of the criminal world without going into gruesome details It was an entertaining and funny read that I can recommend to MG fans of Gordan Korman.

In the sequel to Lea Dives in, Lea journeys to the Amazon. She is prepared to see Jaguars and Toucans, Monkeys and Caimans, and to take epic photos of them. What she doesn't expect is falling face first into piranha-infested water, eating a grub and almost ENJOYING it, getting chased down by a grumpy rooster, and adopting a baby sloth whose mother was probably eaten by a harpy eagle. Life just isn't easy in the rainforest. I actually found myself enjoying this book and instead of having to force myself to read it, like with Lea Dives In, it was actually interesting to read this one, because there's a lot of character development, and it's always cool to learn about new places. Like, did you know that it's a myth that piranhas eat humans? What actually happened was in 1913 president Theodore Roosevelt decided to tour the Amazon, so the local people, to impress him, caught piranhas, isolated them, and starved them. When Roosevelt arrived, the locals threw a live cow in the water, and the piranhas DEVOURED it. Roosevelt wrote about what he saw and VOILA a myth was born. Overall, a good book and a nice read for when you're bored and want to feel like you're touring the Amazon rainforest WITH Lea instead of just reading about it. I suggest for elementary ages, but hey, if you're older and want to give it a go, get reading!