Hardy Boys Series

The Hardy Boys is a detective series written by several authors, (all by the pen
name of Franklin W. Dixon). In the original series, there were 58 books, but now there are other small series too. The 2 Hardy Boys, Frank and Joe are sons of Fenton Hardy, a famous detective. They are very good sleuths themselves, and sometimes run into mysteries, (or are asked for help from one of their dad's clients).

Unlike Sherlock Holmes  and 

, Frank and Joe use much less deduction, and the books are much more adventure-filled. For instance, many times, the book starts with the boys following a suspicious character and becoming mixed up in some complicated mystery. Many times, they get captured, and then escape. Also, another difference from the other books is that the Hardy Boys have to follow many leads, and end up with many dead ends, whereas in Sherlock Holmes and Poirot, they solve their mysteries on their first try and are sure about most things they do.

Some of my favorite books are: The House on the Cliff, The Mark on the Door, The Ghost at Skeleton Rock, The mystery at Devil's Paw, The mystery of the Chinese Junk, The Viking Symbol Mystery, and The Jungle Pyramid.

I really like the Hardy Boys because it has more adventure and more suspense. They also do a lot more traveling than Sherlock Holmes, or Poirot would. It is also sometimes funny, especially when they talk about Chet Morton, (a close friend of the Hardys'). Finally, it is very interesting how many of their cases get tied up with some of their dad's cases. I really enjoy this series and suggest you give it a try.  (You can start with any of the books, as they aren't really connected to each other).

My rating: 8+

Milkweed

Milkweed, written by Jerry Spinelli, is a very good book about the Holocaust. This book is not based on a real story, but is entirely fictional.  In this book, the protagonist, a little boy doesn't know who he is. He doesn't know his name, what his parents were like, whether he's a Jew, a gypsy, or even neither! He lives on the streets of Warsaw with some other kids, and steals food for himself, and for the children of the orphanage. Unlike the older teens, (mostly Jews) who help him and live with him, The boy wants to be a Nazi someday.

This book is different from others about this topic. One thing is that in other books I've read, it is either a story of hiding, or of the struggles Jews within the concentration camps face. Also, in this book the boy doesn't know, or understand much of what is happening.

It was a great the book, but the way the book ended while he was still in Poland (he goes to US at the very end) could have been better. It was also kind of annoying for me while reading, when he, (being a kid) did some stupid things that could have gotten himself killed. Still it was an amazing story full of friendship, and the many struggles in life.


My rating: 8 out of 10