Mundie Moms

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Book Review- Quest For Merlin's Map (The Jumper Chronicles)

By W.C. Peever
Published by Savant Books & Publications LLC
Released on December 25th, 2010
Ages 10 & Up
Source- Author & Publisher
4 Stars- A Great Book To Read

Charlie is an awkward twelve-year old living a normal life till he is abducted and thrust into a world of ever-looming danger, a world of Magic, of Angry Gods, and Creatures that are should only exist inside of fairytales.

Charlie and his three friends must unravel the mysteries of their new found abilities, save the father Charlie has never known, and uncover a secret that will change their lives forever(quoted from Goodreads).

Quest for Merlin's Map was such a fun, magical read. I didn't except to be so swept up in the fantasy, adventure and lore than made up the story. It's a book that has very minor similarities to other books out there, but enough that it will draw fans of magic, and fantasy in.

Twelve year old Charlie Burrows has a gift that he inherited from the father he never knew, World Jumping. In finding his talent, Charlie is suddenly whisked away from his mother and home, and brought to a magic school in England where kids with special powers attend. Luckily Charlie has his best friend Bailey with them, as the two are about to learn about their father's past, a whole another magical world they never existed and about the powers that they have, and never knew existed until now.

Charlie is a brilliant witty character, and his best friend Bailey is one a character I also really like. She's this bigger than life character, who deep down has a fear for losing Charlie, as she too grew up without a father. Through Charlie and Bailey's dangerous adventures, they learn more about their fathers, their quest and the war that's taken place both in the new world that once laid just beyond their imaginations.

Along with Charlie and Bailey is a cast of great characters who's powers range from a World Jumper to, Shape Shifters, Guardians, Elementalists, Influencearians, Telecons and Seers. Lord Grayson and Joelle (the shape shifting were cat who lives in the library), are two more characters I really enjoyed getting to know. They added a rich history to the story and in getting to know little bits and pieces of their ancient characters. I got to know more of Charlie's destiny, while learning along side Charlie about the history of the new world he's now apart of.

I really liked the way W.C. Peever molded together a fun adventure full of paranormal characters, lore, magic, and a well known historical character like Merlin and gave it his own spin. The Quest for Merlin's Map is a unique and richly detailed story that both middle grade and young adult readers will enjoy. I can't wait to read the next book in this series.

Thoughtful Thursday- New Year's Resolutions

The New Year either brings a sense of wanting to hurry and see the last year behind us as we hope this next year will have a lot more glad tidings in store OR it brings a sense of excitement & a lot of gratitude of what the last year gave us, and we wonder what it's in store for the new year as it's full of fresh ideas, a clean slate and endless possibilities.

Of course, this time of year is also a time for self refection and goal setting. I don't know about you, I enjoy goal setting, but I feel it can also be a huge burden, which is why I break my goals down to monthly to do lists (okay, I've got a problem and I completely admit it). For me, I don't feel so overwhelmed if I see my small list of things to do each month, vs a huge list for a full year.

This last year on Mundie Moms was a fantastic year! We enjoyed being apart of blog tours, having so many wonderful authors on our site via author chats and interviews, we hosted a lot of fun giveaways, met so many of you at the wonderful author's who came into town. We want to make next year and even more memorable year, and hopefully we'll have our site upgraded like I had planned to do (but have yet to finish it) which is one goal that went left unfinished.

Here's a few of my goals for Mundie Moms in 2011:
* More Debut Author Chats & Interviews
* Continue and simply our Book of The Month Club
* Complete the MM's blog upgrades
* More Giveaways
* Comment on more blogs
* Get together with more bloggers
* Read more diverse books
* Simplify

We want to know from YOU what we can do to make next year even better. Please feel free to leave us a comment and let us know your thoughts (please feel free to be respectfully blunt, not rude, when leaving comments). What are some things you're looking forward to in 2011? Or leave us a comment and tell us what one of our New Year Resolutions will be.

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