Frankly, Frannie: The Awesome Life of a 7-Year-Old

Frannie sees the world differently than you do. But that's understandable since she's only about 7 years old. (That's my best guess anyway.)

Frannie wants to speak and act like an adult and does her level best to accomplish this humungous task.

Unfortunately, it almost always gets her into trouble. Unintentional trouble, but trouble just the same.

Eragon ... And the Non-Fire-Breathing Dragon

A non-fire-breathing dragon? Well, technically, no. She (Saphira, the dragon) was seen to breathe a little fire just before the end of the book, but we only learn about it long after the fact.

To be fair, she's a young dragon, and in this universe, you have to age a bit before you can breathe fire. Maybe that's true in other fantasy universes too, but you just don't hear about it.

Eragon has been maligned for being too much like Tolkien and like Star Wars.

So what if it is? What if you read this before any Lord of the Rings or watching any Star Wars? You'd think it was a pretty good book, especially after you learn it was written by a teenager.

A Clockwork Orange: A Non-Kid Review

I mentioned earlier that I might from time to time review something here other than kids' series books. This is the first of those times.

A Clockwork Orange is not something for the young ones. At best, it's for teens and above.

This is a title I'd heard of a number of times but never actually read. It's one of those titles that sticks with you because it's so unusual. What is a "clockwork orange" anyway? The text never comes right out and tells you, so I'll give you a general idea.

A clockwork orange doesn't exist. It would be a strange, weird, unusual kind of thing if it did. The main character of the book, Alex, is the clockwork orange.