The Curse of the Chocolate Phoenix/ Crisis Zero

What better way to travel through time than to use time traveling CHOCOLATE? Time-slip Tuesday is an regular feature over at Charlotte's Library, and I don't know that I've ever seen any description of time travel by that means, even with all of the wonderful books Charlotte has read! This is a sequel to The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop. 




Saunders, Kate. The Curse of the Chocolate Phoenix
December 1st 2015 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers 

Oz and Lily, along with their friend Caydon, have recuperated from their adventures and are having fun playing with the rat Spike and the sybaritic cat, Demerara, when agents from the Secret Ministry of the Unexplained come to arrest the cat! It turns out that Demarara found some magical chocolate and went back in time, talked to the first Queen Elizabeth, and altered history. That's always the trouble with time travel, and it turns out that there is a statue of a phoenix that the evil Isadore Spoffard made that has fallen into the wrong hands. The wrong hands turn out to belong to D33, and the children, especially baby Daisy, carry the D33 genes. The two most prominent people in the organization, Nona and Undecima, are out to get them. The SMU assigns Silver, a vampire who has been around for a couple of hundred years but who looks 11, to be their guard, and a romp across time and London begins. There's plenty of action, things set on fire, and some fun romps into various times in history. In the end, everything turns out okay, and the twins clueless parents don't even know what has happened. 
Strengths: Very fun! The tie in with British history was interesting, and the plot behind the phoenix and wanting to control Oz, Lily and Daisy was convoluted enough that fantasy fans will love it. Silver was the best vampire character I've met!
Weaknesses: I did enjoy this, truly. It was British (with plenty of tea and digestives) without being too quirky or disturbing. I just have such bad fantasy amnesia, and I got so caught up with the delightful details (talking flowers on the wallpaper!) that I forget the fine points of the plot. My weakness, not the book's!
What I really think: Definitely purchasing to go along with the first title. 


Rylander, Chris.  Crisis Zero (The Codename Conspiracy #3)
February 2nd 2016 by Walden Pond Press

ADORE this series. However, I checked out a digital copy from the Ohio E Book project, read it while recovering from foot surgery, and didn't get around to writing the review for a week. No concrete memory other than I enjoyed it, although the second one was slightly better because they went to Mount Rushmore. Definitely purchasing to complete a fantastic series. 

From Goodreads.com
"From Chris Rylander, author of The Fourth Stall, comes the third and final book in the Codename Conspiracy series—a hilarious and clever mash-up of middle grade school story and thrilling spy adventure.

There is a computer program so unspeakably powerful that its mere existence is unknown to all but the most senior government agents. This computer program is capable of controlling every aspect of communication, transportation, and defense on the planet. This computer program must never fall into the wrong hands or civilization as we know it will be utterly destroyed.

This computer program is in North Dakota.

Carson Fender—a.k.a. the retired Prank Master, a.k.a. Agent Zero, a.k.a. the all-in-one World’s Greatest Hero and World’s Greatest Screwup—must protect this program, codenamed Exodus. He is paired once again with his best friend, Danielle, aka Agent Atlas. Together, they must expose an enemy agent working from inside their school—an enemy agent with the mandate to stop at nothing to help secure Exodus. Can Zero and Atlas foil this enemy before it is too late? Carson’s final mission will test his loyalty, smarts, and courage as never before."