The Lost Prince

happypug12 - The Lost Prince started off really great. It caught my attention, I felt some sympathy for Dean, our main character, and I wanted to see what would happen next, truly I did. But the performance of the story as a whole . . . it slacked off. It didn't meet my expectations. First off, this book is in no manner realistic. I LOVE fantasy, I won't deny that. But this book didn't have much essence. It was rather cheesy, actually. Next, Dean has a love interest in this book. That's fine. If the love is written off well. But it wasn't. I didn't feel like Dean really loved Waverly . . . more like he saw her as a beautiful young lady with sparkly eyes. In my opinion, the book was better off without the romance. And NONE of ANY of the battle scenes in this book were picturesque. The author, Matt, seemed to be just telling what happened in the battle. Dean never tires from the fight, never gets actually injured while fighting a man TWICE his size. SO UNREALISTIC. The battle was bland. That's all there is to it. No cliffhangers at the end of chapters doesn't really encourage me to read more. This is a good book for 9 year olds who don't mind the lack of realism, but anyone older would most likely not find the book satisfying.

February 1, 2015

Gr 5-8-Thirteen-year-old orphan Dean Seaborne has been a spy for One-Eyed Jack the Pirate King ever since he can remember; it's a life he hates but can't escape. After a misadventure involving a ship from the mysterious hidden island of Zenhala, where gold grows on trees, Dean learns that the crew thinks he might be the long-lost island Prince. This allows Dean to infiltrate the island on behalf of One-Eyed Jack, but as he encounters dangers and meets new friends, he resents his mission more and more-and he starts to wonder if he might truly be the prince. There is plenty of derring-do and swashbuckling in this fast-paced adventure, mostly provided by Dean, who not only wins fights with men twice his size but invents his own skateboard and sailboard, tames sea dragons, and speaks and behaves with quite a bit of polish for a boy who was raised by uneducated pirates. VERDICT Despite some credulity-straining plot elements and weak character development, this is a salty tale that most middle grade readers will enjoy.-Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library

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