children’s books

Book Review: Nate Rocks The Boat by Karen Pokras Toz

July 16, 2012 1 Comment

Title: Nate Rocks The Boat
Author: Karen Pokras Toz
Genre: Humor, Adventure, MG, Children’s Books
Publisher: Grand Daisy Press
Publication Date: April 20th 2012
Goodreads | Author Website | Amazon (Paperback) | Amazon (Kindle)
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Tours.

The Adventure Continues…With fourth grade finally winding down, 10-year-old Nathan Rockledge is looking forward to a fun and relaxing summer at home with his friends. That is, until his mom decides he has to go to overnight camp with his annoying older sister. When his best friend, Tommy, decides to tag along, Nathan thinks maybe his summer won’t actually be so bad. After all, he does get to be away from his mom’s awful cooking for an entire six weeks. Amongst Color War competitions, a flaky counselor, and a bully named “No-Neck,” Nathan turns to his trusty sketchpad, transforming himself into Nate Rocks: 10-year-old extraordinaire. His speedboat ready for action, Nate saves the day time and again from the perils of floods, snakes, ghosts, and even the most wanted criminals. Join Nathan, Tommy, Abby, and a whole new cast of characters as Nate Rocks once again proves nothing can hold him back.

Nate Rocks The Boat is another book in the MG Series “Nate Rocks”. I reviewed the other book in the series, Nate Rocks The World yesterday and very much enjoyed reading and reviewing it. In this new adventure, Nate is back for some fun, hilarious situations in a new setting – namely, summer camp.

Nate is your regular, average ten-year-old except than whenever he starts daydreaming, or gets stuck in some peculiar situations, he begins draw comic books in which he doubles as Nate Rocks, a brave and intelligent superhero. Nate’s ideal summer holiday meant hanging out with his best friend Tommy and doing absolutely nothing, chilling out and relaxing all summer long. Unfortunately, his Mom has other plans. She’s convinced Nate should go with his sister Abby to overnight camp. Although that’s the last thing Nate wants, when his buddy Tommy shows up as well, he realizes overnight camp may not be as terrible as he first envisioned. Plus, at least summer camp means he won’t have to eat his Mom’s terrible food for six weeks.

Summer camp has never been this exciting before. Imaginative and creative Nate ends up from one hilarious, sometimes even dangerous situation into another. Canoeing, scavenger hunts and kickball turns from ordinary sports into true adventures as Nate Rocks saves the camp from a flood, he saves another kid from being bitten by a rattler, and a lot more! Even camp bullies aren’t safe from Nate Rocks. Like the title of the book suggests, the water often proves to be the source of the danger Nate has to overcome, and every time he does, he does so in typical Nate Rocks fashion.

This is a must-read book for all kids, especially boys, of around age ten. The Nate Rocks series shows how young reagers can use the imagination of their brain while still knowing it’s imagination – not real. The adventures happening to Nate are close to home for a lot of kids, and they’ll easily recognize themselves in the characters. I very much enjoyed reading this book, and am keeping my fingers crossed author Karen Pokras Toz decides to write more books in the Nate Rocks series.

Book Review: Nate Rocks The World by Karen Pokras Toz and Giveaway

Title: Nate Rocks The World
Author: Karen Pokras Toz
Genre: MG, Humor, Adventure, Children’s Books
Publisher: Self-Published, Createspace
Publication Date: 2011
Goodreads | Author Website | Amazon (Kindle) | Amazon (Paperback)
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Tours.

Nate Rocks can do it all: part super-hero, part all-star athlete, part rock-star… part fourth-grader?
Ten-year-old Nathan Rockledge cannot catch a break. After all, life as a fourth-grader can be hazardous what with science projects to deal with and recess football games to avoid. Everyone, including his best friend Tommy, seems to have bad luck when hanging around Nathan. Throw in an older sister who is a royal pain, a dad who is stuck in the past, and a mom who keeps trying to poison him with her awful cooking, and poor Nathan’s life as a fourth grader appears to be completely doomed.
Armed only with his sketchpad, his imagination, and his wits, Nathan Rockledge navigates the perils of the fourth grade in style, to emerge heroic, as Nate Rocks, proving that even a ten-year-old can accomplish great things.

Nate Rocks The World is one of two stand-alone MG novels written by author Karen Pokras Toz. The other novel, Nate Rocks The Boat, features the same main character, but each can be read seperately, although connected.

When I first began reading Nate Rocks The World, I didn’t know what to expect. This is the first ever self-published MG novel I’ve ever read. It certainly didn’t dissapoint – instead it was a new and rewaring experience. What I loved the most about this book, is Nate’s creativity. He can’t stay focused. Give him a pencil, a marker, or whatever you want, and he starts drawing comics in which he acts as the hero and solves mysteries. Unfortunately for Nate, real life isn’t a comic book. While he would like nothing more than to go see the latest captain Asteroid movie with his best friends, he’s forced to stay at home to work on a project for school with a girl he can stand, who tells her Mom everything, and whose Mom tells all of that to Nate’s Mom, because they happen to best friends. Nate is often teased by his older sister Abby, he daydreams in school and gets caught doing so, and although his parents mean well, they always tend to embarass him. Basically, he’s suffering from the same things every fourth grader suffers from, with this exception – if it all gets too much, he starts drawing comics and escapes to his fantasy world.

I really enjoyed Nate’s adventures, and his enormous amount of humor and creativity. I can only imagine how much ten-year-olds will enjoy this as well. The book is written more for boys than for girls, but I think a girl would be able to relate to Nate as well. He’s a nice kid, and the events happening to him are easily relatable. For instance, when it’s Halloween, his Mom doesn’t see why she should purchase a halloween outfit for him. Instead she sets off to make one herself. The consequences are disastrous, because as it turns out, Mom can’t even make a proper cape! When Nate’s sister Abby manages to embarrass him even more on Halloween, Nate and his buddies decide it’s payback time. And Abby’s birthday sounds like the best place and location to get even.

The humor in this book is amazing, the characters are believable and relatable for parents and childrens alike, and the events are close to home, but Nate’s way to deal with them is original, fun and very enjoyable. A must-read for all MG book fans. I’m looking forward to getting started on the next book in this series. Nate Rocks The World deserves a spot in your book closet right now.