The Hunter Awakens: A review by Connor

                                            Author Bio

J. R. Roper is a junior high social studies teacher and writer living in West Michigan with his lovely wife and kids.  His debut novel, The Hunter Awakens, a fantasy story for middle grade readers, released in July 2014 and won Best Children's Novel of 2014 at the Predators and Editors Readers' Poll.  His work has appeared in ChildGood Magazine, Families First Monthly, and in anthologies by Horrified Press, Thirteen O'Clock Press, and Crushing Hearts & Black Butterfly Publishing.  His abnormally high caffeine levels have been rumored to change vampires back to human form and there is a story floating around about him living in the belly of a dragon.

                               The Review

*I have transcribed this review from a 7th grader's handwriting.  Any mistakes in names of characters or places is unintentional!*

My name is Connor and I am in the 7th grade.  I will be reveiwing The Hunter Awakens by J. R. Roper today.  

The Hunter Awakens was written in 2014 by J.R. Roper.  This book was part of a series called: The Morus Chronicles.  The Morus Chronicles were also written by J. R. Roper.  

The main character in this book is 13 year old Ethen Mours.  He has a sister named Destry.  He also has a dog named Ripley.  Another character is Mel.  She is a spy.  She is 13, which is the same age as Ethen.  Then and his sister Destry had to stay at their grandparent's farm for one week.  On the way Eathen finds a piece of bark that was engraved by their deceased father.  Ethen is always looking for things his dad owned, to remember him by.  When they get to the farm, Ethen finds a mysterious room.  His grandparents won't let him and his sister in.  Ethen starts having weird dreams about his dad.  Mel is faced with a choice:  either kill Ethen or believe in her master to set her free.  The grandfather of Ethen and Destry always tells stories about wizards and wizard hunters.  Everything in the stories turns out to be true.  Ethen then learns about a legend about how Ethen comes from a long line of ancient treasure hunters.  Ethen has to search his family farm or one of his family members gets murdered.  During all of this, he is being watched by the most powerful sorceress. 

I think overall it was a pretty good book.  It has a lot of action.  There is also a lot of mystery in where he has to search for objects.  If you are looking for a book of excitement then this is for you.  "Good book this was!"- Yoda

                                           Reviewer's Book Art

UtopYA 2015.......My reading nirvana!

I am a reading specialist.  I'll be honest, I think I'm the luckiest person in the world because I get paid to read with kids.  I love reading with them, helping them discover the love of reading, and helping those kids who have trouble reading discover the new world of books.  As a reading specialist, I'm the only one at my building.  So it can be a little lonely.  Then I kept hearing about this UtopYA 2015 convention from a few friends.

I thought, eh, I'll check it out.  UN.....BE...LIEVABLE!!!!!!  I walked in to a room full of authors and readers and thought, "I have found my people!".  Everywhere I looked there were books.  Everywhere I turned there were excited people ready and willing to talk about their books.  Even more amazing???  They were so kind and willing to take me by the hand and introduce me to other authors.  No cut-throat competition here!  I was embraced and encouraged to wander around, taking in the sights and sounds.  I have discovered new authors to read.  Sitting on my desk in the read pile is Honey Queen by Christina Mercer.  I won it in a drawing and can't WAIT to start reading it.  I visited my favorite local author, C.J. Redwine and picked up an autographed copy of Deliverance, the last in her trilagy.  I met Myrna McEntire, another local author.  When she heard I was building a new reading program, she was kind enough to donate her book, hourglass.  My students will squeal with joy when they see that Myrna autographed the book!  I met Stacey O'Neale, writer of the Shadow Prince.  We bonded over a shared last name. :)

I could go on and on because the experience was so amazing.  It was so amazing that I was inspired to start this blog.  I am always looking for books for students.  Why not share what I find?  So here we have Reading Matters 2 Kids.  Not only am I going to read the stories and give my opinion; but I am also going to share kid's opinions!   When I started working with my students, I often heard "I hate to read!".  I would tell them they just hadn't found the right book yet.  Yes, my students had reading difficulties to overcome; but they also had to be motivated to read.  I hope that my book reviews do exactly that:  motivate them to be readers.  If I can do that, I have done my job well.  A motivated reader will overcome reading difficulties.

So thank you to all of the authors that I met at UtopYA 2015.  You have inspired me to read more, share what I have read, and continue to try to inspire my students as well.  Go on over to www.utopiacon.com for more information about next year's event.  Their motto is #fightforyourwrite.   Hope to see you there!

Reading matters,
Dena