I was recently asked to review the novel “The Kingdom of Oceana” by Mitchell Charles. Instantly, the orange sunset, the teal ocean, and tiki with glowing eyes on the cover caught my attention (I know, I know, don’t judge a book by its cover) and I agreed.
Five hundred years ago, on the Island now
known as Hawaii, two royal brothers discover an ancient tiki mask and send a
curse out upon their lands. As
16-year-old Prince Ailani tries to right this wrong he encounters evil sorcerers,
cursed sea creatures and sibling rivalry.
With the help of his spirit animal, and a beautiful princess, Ailani
works to restore the peace.
This story has a bit of everything:
adventure, fantasy, romance, and mystery.
I tend not to select stories for myself that fall into the fantasy
genre. Made up creatures, spirit
animals, and sorcery don’t really appeal to me.
I’m more of a realistic fiction gal.
However, this story had my attention.
What I really thought was unique was the use of the Hawaiian
language. Throughout the story more than
30 Hawaiian words are introduced. I
liked the history and culture this brought to the novel.
The action and adventure kept up through the entire story. From the first few pages to the end, something exciting was happening. From surfing adventures to fight scenes, curses, ocean spirit animals, ancient mystery and romance this story has it all.
Because of the use of Hawaiian language and some other vocabulary I would say this story would be ideal for high level grade 4 students through to about grade 8. However, students older than than looking for a faster read would enjoy it too. I’ve a few students in mind that will love
this book and once school begins again, I will be sure to pass it their
way. However, I would love to be able to
offer a copy of the story to you too! Use the Rafflecopter below to enter to win your choice of paperback or Kindle version. The contest is open for one week. I'll announce the winner here on the blog.
EDIT: The giveaway is closed. Congratulations to Tracey Cameron!
EDIT: The giveaway is closed. Congratulations to Tracey Cameron!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclaimer:
I received a free copy of “The Kingdom of Oceana” in exchange for this
review. However, the thoughts in this
post are 100% honest and my own.
Currently trying to pick my back to school read aloud. Moving from grade 4 to grade 5.
ReplyDeleteI recommend Fish in a Tree!
DeleteThe BFG and the Witches top my list .... and The Tale of Desperaux .... and the Lemonade War. I'm about to start reading Fortunately the Milk - can't recommend yet, but it comes well recommended to me. Great job on the blog :)
ReplyDeleteFortunately the Milk is a great story!
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