The Brainstorm Plus: Mull's Beyonders series

Bookish Stuff

I just finished reading Brandon Mull's Beyonders series today. The 3rd and final book was just released this past week and several students were begging me to get it asap. I wasn't arguing. I too was eager to see how Jason and Rachel's quests in Lyrian turned out.

For those of you who aren't acquainted with the series, let me try to give the simplest summary I can. Jason and Rachel are teens from Earth who are separately sucked into the distant world of Lyrian where they are called Beyonders. It turns out, they were called there to help in attempts to defeat the evil sorcerer/emperor bent on taking over the entire world. Many have tried to defeat this Maldor, but no one has succeeded for several hundred years. He is seemingly indestructable because he has destroyed just about anyone else who can use magic, and he has this nasty habit of capturing enemies and torturing them, not encouraging many to stand up against him. The series follows Rachel and Jason's adventures in Lyrian, deciding whether to join the fight against Maldor or escape to the safety of Earth, and eventually efforts at fighting off evil and winning back the land so that justice and goodness can reign. Of course they meet a whole cast of characters along the way, some good, some evil, and some you really aren't sure about until the end. That's one of the beautiful things about the series, there's a whole host of characters with very complex personalities and Mull manages to keep things pretty unpredictable (unlike many other fantasy/adventure stories). The other part I really like is the focus on doing what is right vs easy or comfortable, perseverance, friendship, and faith/hope even when things look rather bleak. Also, Mull has his good characters respect life. They do not kill needlessly or throw away their lives needlessly, and when a companion does die, they grieve but at the same time do not wallow in depression or let hate consume them. That said, this book does take place in the midst of a war between good and evil, so there are numerous battles and people/creatures dying. There are also some torture scenes described in the first two books, so I wouldn't recommend these for the squeamish or very young. At the same time, there isn't unnecessary or excessive gore, or any swearing or sexual content for that matter, so this series provides cleaner options than many young adult fantasy/adventure series out there.

I heartily recommend this series to fans of Percy Jackson and fantasy or adventure in general. It has enough depth that it is sure to entertain even those well beyond middle school years. I think the different ages will appreciate it for some different reasons, but both will like the battle of good vs evil and exploring the strange world of Lyrian and all its unique characters. For more info on each book in the series, click on the title below to see my GoodReads.com review.

A World without Heroes (Beyonders, #1) by Brandon Mull
Seeds of Rebellion (Beyonders, #2) by Brandon Mull
Chasing the Prophecy (Beyonders, #3) by Brandon Mull


Teaching Resources, Tools, Etc.

NPR recently had an article relating the findings of a study of the impact "nasty" comments have on reader perceptions of articles. The same principle probably applies to verbal or written comments from teachers and fellow students and is a good reminder about the power of words.

Just came across this resource from Free Technology for Teachrs for History teachers today, Teaching with Technology and Primary Sources.

Social Studies and Geography teachers, have you checked out the resources National Geographic has on its Teacher's Section? They just recently added some new map activities that would be good for primary grades, but they also have stuff for all grades, all the way up to an entire section for AP Human Geography.

Came across this chart today on Teachbytes "Doing Projects vs Project-Based Learning."