The Giant Smugglers

The Giant Smugglers

 by Matt Solomon and Chris Pauls

Charlie Lawson is in Middle school. Like many boys his age, he enjoys video games, many Total Turbo, a car racing game.

Something in his town is going on. Something, literally, gigantic. By chance, he stumbles upon a warehouse that is housing a giant, 20ft teenager. The boy, Charlie, is curious at first. He quickly begins forming a friendship with the teenager, as they watch movies and hang out together as friends do. After watching a movie starring Bruce Lee, Charlie names the giant Bruce.

A biotech company is after giants like Bruce for the growth hormone in their bodies. This company is doing reserch on a growth hormone to genetically engineering human beings to be taller.

This story about friendship takes readers a journey with Charlie and Bruce as they fight against a (giant) school bully, travel on a train, trek through Louisiana, and hid from not only the biotech company, but also an agent from the government know as the 'stick,' who also is interested in the giant...

Review

I enjoyed this story. Although I feel that this story blurred the age gap between middle school fiction and YA, I still loved the story and characters
To me, it was refreshing to read a story about friendship and adventure and doing what's right. Charlie was adventures and a bit spunky. Bruce was kind and genital, which was something that enjoyed thoroughly. ( I feel like we need more kind-hearted characters in YA.)

Despite the story being science fiction with a smidge of fantasy, I felt that authors wrote this story in a reasonably realistic way with a serious tone to it in addition to the fantastical elements.

This was an easy story to get into. If you like a story about friendship, doing what's right, and size change, then you'd enjoy this book.

The Girl with the Red Balloon

The Girl With The Red Balloon by Katherine Locke

This book is YA historical fiction with unique fantastical and scientific elements.

Ellie is a girl who traveled alongside her German class to Germany to learn about the history, language, and culture of the country. Only, Ellie is Jewish. Her grandfather is the only remaining link to his deceased family who perished during WW2 in a concentration camp. Ellie, who is suddenly in the middle of a tour at the Berlin Wall, gets zapped back in time all the while holding onto a red balloon!

Instead of the 21st century, she finds herself in the late 1980's during the Cold War.

Confined within the wall, she soon meets several other teenagers who take her into a safe house.  These teenagers are not just surviving life in the wall and avoiding the police. They are a part of a rescue plan! A highly unusual way of sneaking people over the wall. A plan that involves balloons, magic, blood, math, and time travel. (And some paper doves!) Ellie just wants to return to her own time. The balloons are being tampered with, and in a way that will surprise you.

Review

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, although I don't often read historical fiction.  What drew me in were the elements of magic and science along with the beautiful idea of saving people. I thought that the fantasy aspect was wholly original.

I really appreciated, that, despite the story bringing up topics like The Holocaust, the story introduces the reader to a 'different' Germany. Often, we aren't reminded of the fact that," people from Germany ARE good."

The villain, in my opinion, was amazing. In all of the books that I have read, I have yet to read about a villen who you can sympathize with. This was very refreshing, as the character's motivation was not in-line with your typical antagonist.

The only thing that I would of liked to have was more character development on our hero, Ellie. As the reader, we were introduced to her personality and backstory, but not anything else. I would of liked to read about an interest or hobby that Ellie has, even though it may not be important to the story. I feel that adding some detail to her character would give Ellie dept and would add a more humanistic aspect to her.

This, I felt, was the only flaw. The writing was very well done and believable. The characters are very likable and are humanized. I felt that the fantastical elements really was what made this book. The concept of magical balloons, paper doves, and utilizing mathematical equations for the magic to save people, was completely original. The last page or two were a bit emotional for me. The ending was bittersweet.

If not for the subject matter in this book, I highly recommend this book for the fansty, and a fantastic antagonist. A great story with fantastic, beautiful themes.