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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great series startup for preteens and young adults..., September 2, 2005
This review is from: Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace (Jennifer Scales, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
I love MaryJanice Davidson and devour all of her books. I looked forward to giving Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace a whirl. I loved The Adventures of the Teen Furies and looked forward to reading another one of her Young Adult efforts. This time Davidson teams up with her husband, Anthony Alongi, and creates a spanking new YA fantasy series. Even though Jennifer Scales is a sweet, fun introduction to a series, I was not as riveted with this effort as I was with Teen Furies. Jennifer Scales's growing pains are tougher than the rest of the fourteen-year-olds out there. After all, she doesn't just have to deal with puberty, boys, friends and other teen conundrums, she also has to deal with the fact that she is a weredragon who shifts to her dragon form during the crescent moon. Her parents had kept the secret until she began to feel changes within her. She developed her dragon form and other abilities at a younger age than most weredragons. Also, she looks different from other dragons. Could the fact that her mother is human be the reason for this? As her father and grandfather teach her how to hunt for prey and fly using her dragon wings, she tries to adjust with her unconventional life, but things get tougher when she learns that there are enemies who want to destroy the dragons...
I like how realistic Jennifer's reaction to being a weredragon is. She has a difficult time adjusting to her new lifestyle and is refreshing to see that she does not accept things from one chapter to the next. Her relationships with her high school friends suffer as a result and her school days could well be over. I liked the scenes centered on her interactions with her grandfather and other teen weredragons. This is an overall nicely done work that has a less abrupt ending than other Davidson efforts. I don't know if this has to do with her collaboration with her husband, but the pace of the story is far better this time around. However, I found myself struggling to finish this book. Perhaps the reason to this is due to the fact that this book is specifically written for very young readers. As an avid Davidson fan, I wanted to give the book a whirl despite knowing that it is written for very young adults. I'll be fair and review it within its genre and say that the novel is wonderful and a great reading investment for young readers. I'll give Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace to my sixteen-year-old niece and hope she will continue to read the future offerings of this series.
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27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Didn't have to read it to love it!, September 7, 2005
This review is from: Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace (Jennifer Scales, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
I bought this book for my daughter, who is in middle school. She chose to read it for one of our frequent "sit under a shade tree and read" sessions. I can't remember what book I picked, because I didn't get to read it. Roughly every two minutes, my daughter would interrupt our normally quiet time with, "Oh, you gotta hear this..." before long, I put aside my book and just listened. She enjoyed the book so much that she couldn't keep it to herself, she simply had to share it.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
fabulous new young adult team, September 20, 2005
This review is from: Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace (Jennifer Scales, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
This is a wonderful book! The story line is entertaining and well thought out. The characters are interesting and well developed but most of all it's a fun read. Mary Janice Davidson is primarily known for her paranormal romance books (none of which you'd let your teenager read...well you shouldn't let your teenager read. I guess I can't speak for everyone.)This book has all of her strengths (humor and realistic dialogue)with none of her weaknesses (little or no description and an abrupt ending). Perhaps this is the influence of Anthony Alongi. The story reads nothing like anything Ms Davidson would have written on her own and the reader definitely benefits from Mr. Alongi's contributions to the book.
They have captured what it is like to be a teenager dealing with parents during a difficult time of your life. The teens act like teens and the parents act like parents. You can see and understand everyone's point of view. Often when writing for teens the parents are made out to be ogre's or so incredibly detached from their kids lives that you can't imagine having parents like that or being a parent like that. These are real people dealing with extraordinary circumstances.
It's witty, creative, well thought out fantasy. I can't wait until the next in the series comes out. YES! It's the 1st of what I hope is a long long series. The world deserves more fantasy written for intelligent teens that treats them like intelligent teens.
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