Where do I even begin? Honestly, I loved this book along with the preceding one, Shadows on the Sea. It was very informative about life during WW2 as well as the aftermath in later chapters of the book. Wendy definitely endured a lot more than Jill. So the first book was more of like a foreshadowing to the *actual* main character. That's how I see it. The story didn't really go anywhere with Jill, apart from the last 50~ pages of the book. But even then, it did not really add up. To summarize book 1: The girl, Jill, finds a hidden submarine, hides, calls police, but nothing happens because the submarine escaped. Mostly gossip around Winter Haven. And Nana's secret turns out to be.. well.. not all that confidential. It has you expecting something EPIC but Nana's secret is a total let-down. You're better off skipping to the end pages of the book to skip all that unnecessary suspense. However, despite this, I still very much enjoyed the story and how it was inspired by the author's own personal life, because Joan Hiatt Harlow (the author) experienced WW2... and it's so cool hearing her story. To Summarize book 2: In comparison to Jill's story, Wendy's involved active warfare, imprisonment, spies, and refugees for instance. There was a lot at stake. Berlin was way more intense than peaceful and cottagey Maine. I thought Wendy's relationship with her mother was intangible to describe. It was very.. complicated? To say the least. Wendy bounces back and forth from loving her mom to hating her mom etc. Wendy keeps a lot of secrets from Adrie (mom) because her mom a) works for a spy organization & b) very short-tempered. Because of this, this convinces a 15yo girl to take drastic measures and travel all the way to Sweden with a bunch of trusted strangers. Fast forward and now you have 19yo Wendy, who's identity is a complete mess (is she Jewish, German, American or all 3? Hard to say.). My only major critique is that Wendy did not meet up with Jill again, at least directly. I was very surprised that very little was mentioned about Jill. Although numerous times Wendy says Jill is her friend, I am not entirely convinced this is the case. Finally, I'm really confused about Barret. Again, DESPITE THIS, this couple-series is still GREAT. I was more or less nitpicking. I highly encourage reader to acknowledge the author's afterword. I may check out more of Joan's books but by far I consider Shadows on the Sea & The Watcher to be the best... this is the only series-type Joan has written, which tells you a lot about how much her readers loved the books!

Very educational book. I think it's important that we read this.

2021 so far is turning out to be more or less the same. *shrug*. So much for the roaring 20's.

The lava glows like Fourth of July fireworks bursting into the summer night sky.

Gorillas can be very violent, make no mistake about it. Similar to human beings.

This is a great concept, however it still needs to be refined before it can be suitable for space voyage and exploration. :) Personally I don't think space tourists will be a huge thing. Space is largely uncharted territory and as a result the laws regarding which country owns what changes constantly.

Interesting conclusion.

So will cars be illegal in the area if someone were to bring one..

Artemis Fowl is what you wouldn't expect a 12-year old to be. Most unexpectedly, he is a criminal mastermind. After his father spent most of the family's fortune on a job that didn't turn out how he wanted, Artemis takes it upon himself to restore the money. Step 1 of his plan is to steal gold from fairies and leprechaun. That's right, fairies and leprechauns. According to his research, they can vibrate at high speeds, making them invisible to the naked eye. He has an intriguing plan to find this gold. With the help of Butler they may be unstoppable to Holly and team LEP (who are the mystical creatures). This book is written from the antagonists point of view. You may find yourself rooting for Artemis. I enjoyed how the book was written differently. Since Butler is a trained bodyguard, I enjoyed one of his fight scenes a lot. He is being attacked as part of a diversion. However, he knows he can easily take out the attackers, but instead he says that it wouldn't be a workout. Though I enjoyed it, I felt it was slow for me, since everything is described deeply. Still you should try this book.

Artemis Fowl is a 12-year-old genius/mastermind/criminal. Also the seeming villain of the story... Anyway, that’s for you to judge. Artemis is after the Fairy gold, which many people have died in the past trying to get. It is protected by the Fairy’s Book prophecy, which Artemis has to decode (there’s actually a really cool code running along the bottom of the pages that’s fun to decode! I suggest you try it!). Artemis concludes that the best way to get his hands on the Fairies and their gold is he has to bring them right to him, by capturing a Fairy and holding him ransom! In this case, the Fairy was a girl, the only girl working for the prestigious LEPrecon team. Yes, yes, humans have always thought they were leprechauns, but really they were less fantastic rescue teams. Holly Short is her name, and she is one of the toughest, funniest characters in the book, my personal favorite. She gets kidnapped and held at the Fowl Mansion until the rest of the Fairies make a spectacular plan to save her. But Artemis Fowl seems to predict their every move... who will survive, with gold or without? This book was a unique read, because the plot was untraditional and unexpected. Who was the villain? Who was the hero? The perspectives change throughout the book, which kind of confused me but was exciting as well. At some times it was hard to get through because the chapter would be boring and slow, but for the most part it was interesting and I enjoyed it. I recommend this book to ages 9+, and rate it 3/5 stars!