Sunday, November 27, 2016

Kim, by Rudyard Kipling


Kimball O’Hara is the orphaned son of an Irish soldier whose mother died in poverty.  As a street urchin in British India, Kim survives by begging and running small errands for shopkeepers.  Through a local horse trader, Kim inadvertently becomes involved with ferrying information for the British secret service.  When Kim enters into the service of a holy lama on a path to enlightenment, his travels take him across the length and breadth of India.

“Kim” might be somewhat difficult to read at first, what with the period language and the historical setting, but it’s definitely worth your time.  This is the type of adventure that every boy dreams of having, and I can’t think of any place more diverse and challenging than India.  Even as an orphan in a country with a billion other people, Kim never seems to lose his nerve.  “Kim” is a classic adventure novel that’s well-deserving of a spot on your reading list.

Sunday, November 13, 2016

The Adventures of Captain Underpants, by Dav Pilkey


Look there, in the sky!  It’s a fat, bald man wearing nothing but underwear and a cape!  Tra la laaaaaa!  It must be Captain Underpants!  There’s no other superhero quite like him, and honestly that’s not a bad thing.  Two troublesome boys, George Beard and Harold Hutchins, mistakenly hypnotized their school principal so now when they snap their fingers, Mr. Krupp suddenly finds himself transformed into the hero of their homemade comic books!

If this sounds like a crazy plot then believe me, we’re only getting started.  Each book in the series seems to raise the bar for outrageousness and third-grade humor.  Combined with the hilarious cartoons and the action-packed fight scenes (in Flip-o-Rama!), each installment in the Captain Underpants saga will have boys flying through the pages with laughter.  These books are the perfect choice for a reluctant reader ages six to sixty!