A review by mschley
The Storm Runner by J.C. Cervantes
AudioBook Selection
Published September 2018
Zane Obispo is just living his life as a thirteen-year-old boy dealing with bullies who pick on him because one of his legs is shorter than the other, making him walk with a limp and use a cane. He thought his biggest problem was going to be adjusting to going back to school and handling bullies while working for his psychic neighbor, Ms. Cab, but he was wrong (VERY wrong). His world changes when a plane crashes into his volcano (he claims it since it’s right in his backyard) and he sees a demon from his Mayan Mythology book come to life. After that, he is hurtled into an adventure with the mysterious girl, Brooks, his uncle Hondo, and various other characters he meets along the way as he deals with demons, shapeshifters, giants and gods all with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.
This book has some great diversity within it, especially with the main character of Zane who is both Hispanic and has a disability. His struggles with fitting in and dealing with bullies is one that many kids will be able to relate to and will enjoy watching as Zane grows in confidence and self-acceptance. The fast-paced high-stakes adventure reminiscent of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series will definitely pull in even reluctant readers. The themes of friendship, family, and taking responsibility are all threaded throughout as Zane battles it out to save the world. While the stakes are high, Cervantes also dishes out a good dose of humor and wit in her characters to keep the story from being too dark or serious. The audio version is very well done and the narrator, Ozzie Rodriguez, does a great job of bringing Zane’s wit, humor, and good nature to life. Listening has the great advantage of hearing the names of the Mayan gods instead of trying to decipher how they might be said, which could be quite daunting for a reader of any age. Rodriguez changes his voice for the characters and their speech patterns to go with their characters perfectly, like making the Mayan god of death creepy and menacing. This is a book that once you start listening too, you don’t want to stop.
Website: The Children’s Book Council (CBC) website is a great resource to find out about new books and to discover reading lists and educational programming ideas. It is a nonprofit organization made up of publishers of varying sizes all located in North America. They have a wide range of information on their site including new releases and curated reading lists that focus in on topics such as STEM or initiatives like Diversity. They also work with the ALA to create many of these resources. The website can be found at: https://www.cbcbooks.org/readers/
Published September 2018
Zane Obispo is just living his life as a thirteen-year-old boy dealing with bullies who pick on him because one of his legs is shorter than the other, making him walk with a limp and use a cane. He thought his biggest problem was going to be adjusting to going back to school and handling bullies while working for his psychic neighbor, Ms. Cab, but he was wrong (VERY wrong). His world changes when a plane crashes into his volcano (he claims it since it’s right in his backyard) and he sees a demon from his Mayan Mythology book come to life. After that, he is hurtled into an adventure with the mysterious girl, Brooks, his uncle Hondo, and various other characters he meets along the way as he deals with demons, shapeshifters, giants and gods all with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.
This book has some great diversity within it, especially with the main character of Zane who is both Hispanic and has a disability. His struggles with fitting in and dealing with bullies is one that many kids will be able to relate to and will enjoy watching as Zane grows in confidence and self-acceptance. The fast-paced high-stakes adventure reminiscent of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series will definitely pull in even reluctant readers. The themes of friendship, family, and taking responsibility are all threaded throughout as Zane battles it out to save the world. While the stakes are high, Cervantes also dishes out a good dose of humor and wit in her characters to keep the story from being too dark or serious. The audio version is very well done and the narrator, Ozzie Rodriguez, does a great job of bringing Zane’s wit, humor, and good nature to life. Listening has the great advantage of hearing the names of the Mayan gods instead of trying to decipher how they might be said, which could be quite daunting for a reader of any age. Rodriguez changes his voice for the characters and their speech patterns to go with their characters perfectly, like making the Mayan god of death creepy and menacing. This is a book that once you start listening too, you don’t want to stop.
Website: The Children’s Book Council (CBC) website is a great resource to find out about new books and to discover reading lists and educational programming ideas. It is a nonprofit organization made up of publishers of varying sizes all located in North America. They have a wide range of information on their site including new releases and curated reading lists that focus in on topics such as STEM or initiatives like Diversity. They also work with the ALA to create many of these resources. The website can be found at: https://www.cbcbooks.org/readers/