R.L. Stine's Mostly Ghostly: Have You Met My Ghoulfriend?
Director: Peter Hewitt
Starring: Bella Thorne, Ryan Ochoa, Madison Pettis, Roshon Fegan
Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Release Date: September 2, 2014
Retail: $26.98
ASIN: B00LFHYWRO
Running Time: 91 minutes
Rating: PG
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Arriving on DVD on Tuesday September 2nd is the horror-comedy sequel - R.L. Stine's Mostly Ghostly: Have You Met My Ghoulfriend? from Universal Home Entertainment. The film is directed by Peter Hewitt (Garfield: The Movie) and stars Bella Thorne (Shake It Up!), Ryan Ochoa (Pair of Kings), Madison Pettis (Mostly Ghostly: Who Let The Ghosts Out?, The Game Plan) and Roshon Fegan (Shake It Up!). There are no special features or bonus extras.

Mostly Ghostly: Have You Met My Ghoulfriend? is the sequel to 2008's Mostly Ghostly: Who Let the Ghosts Out? and is based on the popular children book series by R.L. Stine. Due to the six year gap between movies, all of the actors have been replaced except for Madison Pettis, who returns as Tara Roland.

The plot centers once again on twelve-year-old Max Doyle (played by Ryan Ochoa) and his best-friends, Nicky (played by Roshon Fegan) and Tara Roland, who are both ghosts. His parents (played by Eric Allan Kramer and Gigi Rice) and his older brother (played by Calum Worthy) have no idea that ghosts are living in their house. While Max isn't trying to be a magician, he is trying to impress a popular girl, Cammy (played by Bella Thorne) by joining the school's soccer, which leads to him being invited to the Halloween party.

Besides from AMC's Hell On Wheels, the western genre is almost extinct on television. There use to be dozens of western novels being published monthly, but now there are only a few. Luckily for western readers, Galaxy Press is releasing all of L. Ron Hubbard's short stories from the 1930s and 1940s as audiobooks and paperbacks; giving a new generation a chance to read his works, which includes several western adventures.

Under the Diehard Brand was originally published in the March 1938 issue of Western Aces and centers on a  young trail-hand, Lee Thompson, who journeys from Texas to Montana to search for his father, Diehard Thompson.

Diehard is the sheriff of Wolf River, but time has caught up with him and he is not capable of handling the town's troublemakers anymore. He hadn't seen his son, Lee, in over fifteen years, so when Lee arrives in town, he doesn't recognize the boy.

The Berenstain Bears: Blessed are the Peacemakers
by Mike Berenstain
Based on the Charcters by Stan & Jan Berenstain
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Release Date: July 29, 2014
ISBN: 978-0310734819
Pages: 24 pages
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Since 1962, generations of  kids have enjoyed reading about Papa, Mama, Brother and Sister Bear. The characters were created by the late Stan & Jan Berenstain. The series has over 300 published titles with approximately 260 million copies in 23 languages around the world. The authors' son, Mike, is continuing the franchise by writing and illustrating new books for a new generation.

The newest installment, titled The Berenstain Bears: Blessed are the Peacemakers, was released last month from Zonderkidz (a trademark of Zondervan) under the Living Lights series. Similar to other recent Berenstain books, this one has a Christian theme.

In the Blessed are the Peacemakers, Brother and Sister Bear are excited about participating in the Bear Country School play, Romeo and Grizzliet, but they are also worried that there will be a conflict with the play's leads, Ferdy Factual and Queenie McBear, as there is a rival with Ferdy's gang and Too Talls' gang, which Queenie is a member of. Brother and Sister Bear must become peacemakers to help to stop the feud.

Adventure Planet
Director: Kompin Kemgumnird
Voice Cast: Brooke Shields, Jane Lynch, Bailee Madison, J.K. Simmons
Studio: ARC Entertainment
Release Date: August 26th, 2014
Retail: $20.99
ASIN: B00M1CFWCG
Running Time: 81 minute
Rating: PG

Review:

Arriving on DVD this week is the computer-animated family from ARC Entertainment, titled Adventure Planet. The film is directed by Kompin Kemgumnird and features the voice talents of Brooke Shields, Jane Lynch, Bailee Madison and J.K. Simmons. There are no special features or bonus features on disc.

Adventure Planet (originally released in Thailand under the title Echo Planet) centers on a Boy Scout named Sam, who happens to be the son of the president of the Capital State, but he isn't exactly your typical scout, as he is equiped with all the new electronic gadgets. Suddenly, all of his gadgets go haywire, leaving Sam a bit confused that is until he runs into a brother and sister, Norava and Jorpe, and their people living in the rainforest of Thailand, whom informs him that Mother Nature is fighting back against the world because of Global Warming.

Doctor Who: Engines of War
by George Mann
Publisher: Broadway Books
Pub. Date: September 9, 2014
ISBN: 978-0553447668
Pages: 320
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

The UK science-fiction franchise, Doctor Who, will turn 51 this November, but don't let the age fool you, as the franchise is more popular than ever, thanks to the 2005 reboot, which started its 8th season this past Saturday with the introduction of Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor. Similar to other science fiction franchises, Doctor Who has found itself in the printed world of novelizations with the first book being printed in 1964.

On September 9th, Broadway Books will release Doctor Who: Engines of War by George Mann to bookstores in the United States. The novelization centers on the War Doctor that was introduced at the end of 7th season (series) episode, titled "The Name of the Doctor," and took center stage in the 50th Anniversary Special The Day of the Doctor. The War Doctor was the forgotten regeneration that took place between the Eighth and Ninth Doctor during the Great Time War.

Engines of War centers on a young woman named Cinder on the planet Moldox in the Tantalus Spiral, who for the last fifteen years has been fighting the Daleks who murdered her entire family. Over the years, she has teamed up with other survivors to fight against the invasion, but most of them have fallen to the Daleks. All hope seemed to be lost that is until a blue box appears out of nowhere, bringing Cinder a hint of hope.

The War Doctor arrives to try to figure out why a swarm of Daleks are in this area of space. Could it have something to do with the Tantalus Eye?

The Healing Quilt
Return of the Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club
by Wanda E. Brunstetter
Publisher: Barbour Publishing Inc
Pub. Date: August 5, 2014
ISBN: 978-1616260873
Pages: 320
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

I think I have said more than once on this blog that I like reading Amish fiction. My two top favorite writers of the genre are Beverly Lewis and Wanda E. Brunstetter, in which I either buy each new book by the authors or I sign up to review the books. Arriving earlier this month on paperback is Wanda E. Brunstetter's latest novel, The Healing Quilt, which is the second book in the Return of the Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club; well actually it is the third book if you count 2012's The Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club. I have to admit that I have never read the other books in the series, though I do own The Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club on paperback and I have  The Healing Quilt on my Kindle; I just never got around to reviewing them yet.

That being said, I still jumped at the opportunity to review The Healing Quilt, which follows the same main characters from the previous books, Lamar and Emma Yonder Miller, an Amish couple who purchased a winter home in the Pinecraft community of Sarasota, Florida. After settling into their new home, the couple decide to start another 6-week quilting class.

A wide variety of characters sign up for the quilting class. Erika is an angry teenager who was injured during a diving accident and is now wheelchair-bound; she doesn't want to take a quilting class, but her father signs her up anyway. Noreen joined the class, as she was just looking for something new to do; her husband passed away awhile back and her son and daughter-in-law lives in Texas. Jennifer is soon to be a mother for the very first time and she would love to learn how to make a quilt for the baby, but she doesn't have the money because her husband lost his job. Out of nowhere, an unknown stranger pays for the quilting class. B.J. is a widow artist with terminal-cancer taking one final vacation; he signs up for the class so he can make a wall hanging to leave behind for his granddaughter. Mike's charter boat business takes an unwanted hiatus when his boat's engine need to be repaired; leaving him spare time to take his wife's spot in the class after she had to leave to take care of her injured sister. Kim left her life in North Carolina behind to live in Florida with her boyfriend, but after they broke up, she finds herself looking to make new friends, which is the reason why she joined the quilting class.

If you want schedule next week's post, click here to find the next prompt question. To submit a question, fill out this form.

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  This week's question is submitted by Elizabeth!

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Eerie Elementary #1: The School is Alive!
by Jack Chabert
Illustrations by: Sam Ricks
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Pub. Date: June 24, 2014
ISBN: 978-0545623926
Pages: 96
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

I don't keep up with all the middle grade books being published, so if it wasn't for NetGalley, I would have never known about the new Eerie Elementary series by Jack Chabert, which is part of the Branches line of books from Scholastic Inc.

In book one, titled The School is Alive!, Sam Graves is elected Hall Monitor for his third grade class, which is a position he never wanted, as he was elected by the school principal. His first morning as Hall Monitor turns out to be a morning he would never forget when he learns that the school is actually alive!

After nearly being killed by quicksand in the playground's sandbox, Sam encounters the school's janitor, Mr. Nekobi, who enlists Sam in helping him protect the students against the school. It seems Eerie Elementary feeds off of students and it had been up to Mr. Nekobi to stop the school, but now the responsibility has been handed to Sam.