Middle Grade Book Review: The Owner's Manual for Driving Your Adolescent Brain

Book Title: The Owner's Manual for Driving Your Adolescent Brain

Author: JoAnn Deak, Ph.D. and Terrence Deak, Ph.D.

Publish Date: November 25, 2013

Genre: Middle Grade Nonfiction

Plot (from Goodreads):  

Think you know everything about your brain? Think again! In this exciting follow-up to Your Fantastic Elastic Brain, you’ll get the goods on glia and the news about neurons, presented in a fun and engaging format. Hang on to your hemispheres, and prepare to have your mind boggled as you learn about the workings of the brain in its first decade.

Why I Read this Book: I received a copy of this book from the Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.  This in no way influenced my review.

 

Review

Full of information about your brain, this book is great for anyone who is eager to learn.  The authors use analogies that would be easily understood by middle grade children.  The information is accurate and interesting.  The illustrations are fun and informative!  Even as a college student who has taken classes in similar subjects, I learned a few new things.  I am so impressed by the quality of this book.

 

Final Statements

Recommended Reading Age: 10-15, some discussion of hormones related to puberty and how your brain grows during puberty

Overall Rating: 5/5

Thursday Tags: Reading Habits

I found this tag over at Book Junkies. This tag was created by BethJune327 on Youtube. As usual, I tag everyone!  Add links in the comments below.



Question #1: Do you have a certain place at home for reading?
I love reading on the couch or in my bed.  I also read outside sometimes or in the car.  I basically read anywhere.

    

Question #2: Bookmark or a random piece of paper?

If I have a bookmark handy, I will use one.  Otherwise, I just grab whatever I can find to use as a bookmark.

 

Question #3: Can you stop reading anytime you want or do you have to stop at a certain page, chapter, part, ect.?

I usually stop reading at the end of a chapter just because it is easier to remember what is going on the next time that I pick up a book.

Question #4: Do you eat or drink while reading?

I will drink water sometimes when I am reading, but usually I am too afraid I will spill something on my nice pretty book to eat or drink while reading.

Question #5: Can you read while listening to music/watching TV?

I love reading while music is playing.  I can rarely read in a quiet environment.

    
Question #6: One book at a time, or several at once?

I always read several books at one time unless I am SUPER interested in a book.

    
Question #7: Reading at home or everywhere?

I read everywhere.

Question #8: Reading out loud or silently in your head?

Silently in my head.  I cannot comprehend well when I or anyone else reads out loud.


Question #9: Do you read ahead or skip pages?

I can never skip anything.  I would not want to miss anything in a book, unless it is a text book of course :)

    
Question #10: Breaking the spine or keeping it new?

Keeping it new.  I love my books to be in pristine shape.


Question #11: Do you write in books?
 
I only write in text books and that still feels wrong to me.

Sunathon Readathon Announcement and Updates (July 21-27)

Yay!  Another readathon!  I have been really in the mood to read lately so I think I will join in on this readathon. Here is the official post about this readathon.

This is a low-pressure readathon with daily book giveaways.  All you have to do to enter the giveaways is to follow Emma Loise on Twitter (@EmmaIsWriting) and retweet a picture of the book that she posts.  The readathon goes from July 21 to July 27 (Monday- Sunday).

Here is my TBR for this week:

1. Finish reading Kingmaker, Kingbreaker by Karen Miller.  This is a compilation of The Innocent Mage and The Awakened Mage. I began reading this during vacation this week.  I am on page 230 of 875 currently.
2.  Finish reading Threatened by Eliot Schrefer.  I also started this book last week.  I am currently on page 79 of 267.

This would mean I would read a total of 845 pages, an average of 120 pages a day.  If I finish these two books, I will begin some books that I have received for review from authors.  Updates on my reading progress will be located at the bottom of this post. 

Monday

• I read pages 230 to 235 of Kingmaker, Kingbreaker for a total of 5 pages.
• I read pages 79 to 97 of Threatened for a total of 18 pages.

Pages read: 23

Tuesday

• I read pages 235 to 246 of Kingmaker, Kingbreaker for a total of 11 pages.
• I read pages 97 to 132 of Threatened for a total of 35 pages.  I had to return this book to the library; I will not be completing this book this week.
• I started and finished I Know My Daddy Loves Me by Scott A. Williams.  I received this middle grade book from the author for review and will be publishing my review on my blog on its release date (October 1, 2014).  I gave this book a 4/5 stars.  This book was a total of 115 pages.

Pages read: 161
Books started and completed: 1

Wednesday

• I started and finished The Lost Boy, a graphic novel by Greg Ruth.  I gave this book a 3/5 stars.  A review will be coming soon on my blog.  This gave me a total of 190 pages read.
• I started and finished a Middle Grade Nonfiction novel that I received for review from Edelweiss.  It is The Owner Manual for Driving Your Adolescent Brain  by JoAnn and Terrence Deak.  I gave this book a 5/5 stars.  I really enjoyed it.  There will be a review coming on my blog soon.  This gave me a total of 59 pages.

Pages read: 249
Books started and completed: 2

Thursday

• I continued reading Kingmaker, Kingbreaker.  Today, sadly, I only read from page 246 to page 248, for a total of... 2 pages!  I had a terrible headache today, so I was unable to read as much as planned. Oh well, that just means I get to allot twice as much time to reading tomorrow, right?

Pages read: 2

Friday

• I started Death Note, Volume 5 and read from page 1 to page 77 for a total of 77 pages.  I plan to finish this book before I go to bed tonight.

Pages read: 77

Saturday

• Finished Death Note, Volume 5 for a total of 122 pages.  This volume was not quite as good as the rest of the series thus far, so I gave it a 4/5 star rating.
• Read a 36 page sample of Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld.  Other than a few cuss words, the sample, which was the first 3 chapters of the book, was action packed and an excellent read.  I am looking forward to reading the full book that comes out later this year.
• I started Castle Waiting, a graphic novel written and illustrated by Linda Medley.  I read the first 154 pages (out of 456).  It is a decent read so far.  I hope to finish this book on the last day of the readathon.
• I continued Sleeping Beauty and the Beast by Melissa Lemon.  I started this book before the readathon.  It is a book that I received from the author for review.  It is a great book so far.  I read from page 133 to page 181 for a total of 48 pages.  I hope to finish the final 106 pages on the final day of the readathon.

Pages read: 360
Books finished today: 1

Sunday

• Continued and DNF Castle Waiting.  I read a total of 178 pages of this book before I DNF it.  I DNF it because it began to mock Jesus Christ.  Other than that, it was 3/5 stars up to that point.
• I started 12 Titanic Lessons for Christians: Lessons to Motivate, Challenge, & Impower by Charles C. Hagan, Jr.  I read the first 45 pages.  It is really great so far!

Pages read: 223
Overall Progress

Pages read: 1095
Books started and completed:

Books continued (started before readathon, have not completed):

Books started (started during the readathon, have not completed) :

 

Books started during the readathon and DNF: