Tag Archives: adventure

What is an Adventure By Disney?

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Adventures by Disney are guided family vacations to some of the most exciting and interesting places in the world. Every detail is planned by an expert. Your transportation, lodging and dining are all arranged for you by a Disney Concierge so that you and your family are free to spend all your time enjoying your vacation rather than dealing with the details. Adventures by Disney vacations are primarily family vacations. There are some adult only trips but the majority of trips are set up for both adults and kids over five. Most of the scheduled activities are created with the … Continue reading →

Serpent Tide – K. L. Fogg

”Serpent Tide,” a young adult adventure novel by author K. L. Fogg, is an exciting read. Wesley Vandergriff is a rich twelve-year-old who is coddled and protected to within an inch of his life by his mother, Imogene. His father isn’t in the picture, but Imogene makes up for that lack with toys, games, lavish birthday parties, tuition at an exclusive private school – in fact, the only thing Wesley doesn’t have is a life. His mother keeps him so safe and so protected, he never gets to go anywhere or have any fun. One day he finally gets the … Continue reading →

The Goose Girl – Shannon Hale

In “The Goose Girl,” author Shannon Hale takes a fairy tale we’re all familiar with and gives it a new spin, heightening the adventure, adding in lots of romance, and making it all come alive. Princess Anidori from the land of Kildenree has a special talent – she can talk to swans. She also has a unique understanding with Falada, her horse – they can hear each other’s thoughts. The people in her land don’t like such things so she keeps her talents a secret, never imagining that someday, they’d come in handy. A marriage alliance has been proposed between … Continue reading →

Leepike Ridge – N.D. Wilson

“Leepike Ridge” is a young adult adventure novel about an eleven-year-old boy named Thomas Hammond. His father passed away a couple of years previously and he lives with his mother in a house that is chained to the top of a mountain so it won’t slide off. They love their rural house but the appliance deliverymen don’t care for it – power surges are frequent and every time they have one, their refrigerator goes out. Sure enough, the deliverymen have to lug a new fridge up that mountain with regularity. They aren’t amused. Thomas is also not amused that Jeffrey, … Continue reading →

Jud’s Journey – Fay Waldemar McCracken

During the early years of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, many of the church members were forced to flee their homes to escape mob persecution. They traveled across the country with handcarts or covered wagons and made their home in the Salt Lake Valley, in the region that would become the state of Utah. They faced perils along the way, many dying from accident, disease, or hunger. “Jud’s Journey,” while a fictional young adult novel, is an accurate depiction of what many of those early Saints had to face. Jud is the only son and the middle … Continue reading →

Running Out of Time – Margaret Peterson Haddix

“Running Out of Time” was Margaret Peterson Haddix’s first novel, and it’s completely fascinating. Jessie is a young teenager living in the 1840’s. An outbreak of diphtheria sweeps through their small town of Clifton, and there is no medicine to help with it. Jessie’s mother is the one everybody comes to when they’re sick, but even with her skills, she’s powerless to stop the disease. She takes Jessie to a secluded spot in the woods and there tells her the surprising truth about their town. To them, it’s 1840, but in the outside world, it’s 1996. She then goes on … Continue reading →

Saboteur – Dean Hughes

Dean Hughes is one of my favorite LDS authors, as I have proven by repeatedly acting like an idiot whenever I’ve had chance to meet him. “Saboteur” is his 2006 release, a story of espionage, danger, and love set during World War II. Andy Gledhill’s mother is French and he speaks the language well. When he decides to leave his hometown of Delta, Utah, and become a paratrooper, his skills catch the eye of the Office of Strategic Services, and they ask him if he’d be willing to undertake an unusual assignment. They want to drop him into France to … Continue reading →

The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue (1998)

Sixteen years after the release of the original, “The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue” made its appearance on the children’s movie market. Timmy, the sickly child from the first film, is now healthy and a little bit older. Nicodemus, the prophet leader of the rats, prophesied that someday, Timmy would save them all from NIMH again, and now it’s time for Timmy to prepare for his destiny. He’s going to Thorn Valley, where the rats of NIMH have resettled, to go to school and be taught by Mr. Ages and Justin personally. His brother Martin is jealous … Continue reading →

The Tale of Despereaux – Kate DiCamillo

I’ve been blogging for Families.com for a year now (happy blogoversary to me!) and one of my favorite parts of the job is finding great books and then telling you all about them. “The Tale of Despereaux” is such a book. Despereaux was the smallest mouse his mother had ever seen. When he was born, his eyes were open – very uncommon for a mouse – and she was sure he wouldn’t live. He did live, however, and found himself able to do things that the other mice couldn’t. He had a wonderful appreciation for music, which smelled like honey … Continue reading →

The Land Before Time (1988)

Probably the most classic of all Don Bluth films, “The Land Before Time” takes us back to the age of the dinosaurs, long before man roamed the earth. It’s a time of great upheaval, figuratively and literally, for a small dinosaur named Littlefoot. His mother, a wonderful, caring female, is killed while protecting him from a T-rex, and an earthquake rips his land apart, causing huge gashes in the ground which separate him from his grandparents. Other baby dinosaurs are separated from their caregivers as well, including Cera, the proud and egotistical Triceratops who will have nothing to do with … Continue reading →