M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

Three Tasty Tales 
By Hollie Parry and Cheryl Caldwell

How many times have you heard a movie described as “a great movie except for just one scene?” Does the fact that the movie has an interesting plot, amazing graphics, or great characters, justify the one harmful part? How about in the books we read? We found the answer in doggie doo. 

We heard a story once about a family home evening where the father was making milkshakes for his children. They had all the best ingredients and everyone was excited to taste the delicious treat. Wanting to use the milkshakes as a teaching moment, the father told the children that he needed just one more ingredient before he could pour the drink into glasses for the family to taste. He went to the backyard and retrieved a small doggie doo left earlier by the family pet. The father plopped the doggie doo into the blender and pushed the on-button. 

Of course, the children were instantly grossed-out by what had just happened to their family home evening treat and protested loudly to their father. The father offered glasses of milkshake to his children, but obviously, there were no takers. 

The lesson learned that night was that even if something has a lot of good parts and is overall wonderful, one small doggie doo can ruin the whole thing and make it terrible. 

We had a great, interesting story to recommend to our readers this month. The bookstore employees raved about how popular it was and the reviews stated that it was “better than Harry Potter”. When we started to read it, we were intrigued by the story. It was full of action, adventure, mystery, and humor. The main characters were teens whose lives matched up pretty close to many teens that we know. We thought we had found a perfect recommendation. 

Then, the doggie doo showed up in the form of just a few words of mild profanity scattered throughout the story. We thought we might recommend the story anyway because it was such a great find. Then we remembered the milkshake story and decided that great story or not, even a little doggie doo is still doggie doo, even when it comes in the form of words we hear every day.

Here are three tasty tales that we thought would make a delicious reader’s milkshake, minus the doggie doo.

Artemis Fowl:The Arctic Incident
By Eoin Colfer

click to buy

Artemis Fowl is a criminal mastermind at the age of 13. His father has been missing for two years, and although the man is presumed dead, Artemis believes that his father is still alive. He gets an email message claiming that his father is being held for ransom of five million dollars. On the way home from boarding school, Artemis and his bodyguard, Butler, are intercepted by Captain Holly Smart an officer in the underground magical creature squad called LEPrechaun. 

Smart suspects Artemis as the “Mud Mad” (human) who is selling batteries to the goblins. These batteries are used to power illegal weapons that are being used against the underground world. Although Artemis isn’t the human behind the evil plot, it will take all of the combined forces of Artemis, Butler, and Captain Smart to unmask the real mastermind.  Bound by a common need, the once enemies fight the forces of evil to save the fairy-world and Artemis’s father. 

While we have not yet read the first book in the Artemis series, we found this second book to be an entertaining and quick-witted read. Combined with bits of science fiction, this fantasy book is a top pick.

Arthur and the Minimoys
By Luc Besson

click to buy

Arthur’s grandfather had been mysteriously missing for four years.  Both Arthur and his grandmother still hope that one day he will return with a great explanation as to why he disappeared. Grandpa’s return was never needed so much as when a nasty enemy forecloses on their home and demands that either they pay up or lose their home within 72 hours. Arthur looks in desperation for a clue from his grandfather and ends up stumbling on the biggest mystery of all, the land of the Minimoys. 

Determined to find his grandfather and the famed missing family jewels, Arthur journeys to the Minimoys and meets his two companion travelers, Princess Selenia, and her brother, Beta. Together, they journey towards the city of Necropolis in hopes of defeating the archenemy of the Minimoys, find Arthur’s grandfather, and retrieve the family jewels. 

This book is full of adventure and keeps the reader’s attention.  Some of the plot resembles other familiar stories, but takes a path of its own towards the end. If you like fantasy and adventure, mixed in with a little real life, you should check out Arthur and the Minimoys.

A Wrinkle in Time
by Madeleine L'Engle

click to buy

Meg and her brother Charles Wallace are unusual children. They both possess amazing abilities that not only set them off apart from other children, but at times earn them unwarranted teasing and trouble from their peers. If their school life isn’t hard enough, their father has also been missing for 2 years, with no clues as to why he has disappeared. 

Meg meets three strange friends of her brother’s, who appear to be witches, but turn out to be warriors against a great evil mind that is holding her father captive. Side by side with Charles Wallace, and her friend Calvin, Meg is “wrinkled” into another world where the ultimate quest is to save her father and defeat the powerful evil being. It is only with great love that Meg even stands a chance in fulfilling her quest.

This book is a great depiction of what life may be like if the gift of Agency was taken away. A Wrinkle in Time is a book, which may appeal to both readers of fantasy and readers of science fiction.