Wonderstruck

Students, kids, and life-long readers,

Brian Selznick is back with another novel with a similar style to his renowned tale, The Invention of Hugo Cabret.  Similar to his other title you will find a giant 600-page book with half of it being beautifully drawn scenes that tell a large part of the plot.

This novel follows two story lines - one told with words, and the other told with pictures.  There are also two different time periods and settings.  Ben Wilson has just lost his mother and starts to have questions about his father whom he knows nothing about.  This curiosity and a Wonderstruck book with a hidden message lead him to take a trip to New York City to see if he can find his father.  The picture part of the story is about a girl named Rose who also has some parental issues.  I don't want to reveal too much about the connection between the two plots lines.

The best part of this novel is how the two plot lines intertwine and the continuous mystery of when the connection will be revealed.  I found it hard to put down because I wanted to find this out.  Also, the pictures are very well done, and often I could be lost in the pictures before he brought back a couple of pages for reading.  It is a completely different style of reading that coincides with his books.  If you enjoyed Hugo Cabret, you should definitely give this a try.

AUTHOR: Brian Selznick

GENRE:  Historical Fiction, Fiction

GRADES: 5-7

Lock and Key

Kids, students, and life-long readers,

Some of you may recognize the author of this new series from Kingdom Keepers or Peter and the Starcatchers. Our two main characters, James and Moria, are being sent to Bakersville Academy, a prestigious school, by their father.  But the circumstance regarding this school leave much mystery and deception as a break in seems to cause the decision while their father is acting quite worried, but reveals nothing to the children.  James has much to live up to at Bakersville being the fourth generation first born son to attend.  We are introduced to the other main character the of the story who happens to be his roommate, A YOUNG SHERLOCK HOMES!!!  When I grabbed this book, I had not idea Sherlock Homes was part of the plot as I only grabbed it because of the author.  It was a pleasant surprise.

James, however, wants nothing to do with his new roommate as he is quickly twisted up in a series of clues to find the Bakersville Bible that has gone missing.  Moria forms a friendship with Sherlock and they seek to help James with this mystery.

I really enjoyed the writing style of this book as it is told from Moria's perspective, not James or Sherlock who the story seem to focus on.  I also enjoyed Ridley's take on a young Sherlock Homes.  We see the same confident, witty, and highly intelligent character as he uses his powers of deduction to solve riddles.

Although this book contain Sherlock Homes, I wouldn't say he is the focus the story.  The best part is the mystery behind the missing Bible, the clues that appear, their father's disappearance, and their family history connected to the academy.

AUTHOR: Ridley Person

GENRE: Mystery

GRADE: 6-8

Charmed

Kids, students, and life-long readers,

The Fairy Tale Reform School Series is back with the second book.  If you have not read the first book, here is a book talk about the first book - Flunked.

Our heroine, Gilly has returned to FTRS even though she had the opportunity to return to her family.  It doesn't take long for Alva, our antagonist to return with a bang to free her minions and seek revenge against Gilly.  Now Gilly and her friends need to find the mole that is working for Alva, and fast, as Alva attacks the school, the city, and tries to recruit students from FTRS to join the cause.

Gilly struggles throughout the book with her new role as a hero of FTRS, and her past of doing everything on her one.  The fame and notoriety go to her head as she considers joining Princess Rose's Royal-Lady-in-Waiting to learn to be a noble and princess.  But does that mean turning her back on her friends that stood by her and assisted her to defeat Alva the first time? This book leaves Gilly with many challenges and decisions that will change the fate of FTRS, and an overlying question that flows throughout the entire book is "Who can Gilly trust?".

AUTHOR: Jen Calonita

GENRE: Fantasy

GRADE: 5-7

Masterminds #2 - Criminal's Destiny

SPOILER ALERT - This is the second book of a series.  I strongly advise you to read the first book, and besides the first one is the best book of the series.  You can find the book talk here.

Our second book begins with our crew hanging out at the dormitory school in Colorado, but it doesn't take long for the Purple People Eaters to find them and the chase is on. They are on the run and learn that just telling the police will not solve their problems, but only expound them.  While one the run, our main character are faced with a dilemma - Should they break the law to try and survive, and if they do, does that stem from their DNA.  Are they becoming the criminals?  Can they escape their dreaded past?

There are many twists and turns, suspense, action, and excitement as they search for the truth, make their way back to Serenity, and even try to break someone out of jail.  And who could forget the agonizing question, "WHAT HAPPENED TO HECTOR?"  Many questions will be answered so make sure you don't miss book two in this thrilling series - Masterminds.

The Cloak Society

Kids, students, and life-long readers,

Amazingly, with the rise of superhero movies, you don't see too many books that take on the idea of superheroes taking on the supervillains.  The Cloak Society is set in a world where the forces of good, Rangers of Justice, is taking on the forces of evil, The Cloak Society.  Our main character Alex has telekinetic powers and is part of the upcoming Beta group for The Cloak Society.  The story begins with their first mission to break into a bank and steal a needed diamond for their super weapon.  As they ran into the Junior Rangers (young heroes), Alex does something unexpected.  He saves his enemy, a junior ranger from certain death.

From here the questions for Alex pile up.  Does he have what it takes to become a villain and defeat the Junior Rangers?  Can he harness his true power of telekinesis and become a powerful supervillain?  Can he trust his mother and father - leaders of the Cloak Society - as they continue to push and test him through his training?

I really enjoyed reading this from the villain perspective of a superhero setting.  I always wanted to keep reading to see if there was more information on what Alex is going to do and if he will leave the forces of evil to join the forces of good.

AUTHOR: Jeramey Kraatz

GENRE: Fantasy

GRADE LEVEL - 5-8

The Unlikely Adventures of Mabel Jones

Kids, students, and life-long readers,

Mabel Jones has done THE DEED.  This one deed opens the door for the pirate crew of the Feroshus Maggot (Yes, that is how it is spelled) to capture her and force her to serve as one of the crew.  And what is THE DEED?  You will have to read to find out.

But this is no ordinary crew.  The captain is a ferocious wolf bent on the quest to capture all five parts of the hidden "X" to find the forbidden treasure spoken of by his lost father.  The rest of the crew is made of talking animals from a silent orangutang to a thieving lemur to a crocodile that enjoys nothing more than amputating appendages.  Mabel Jones is in for quite an adventure as she is forced to walk the greasy pole in the fir moments of meeting the crew.

The hunt is on and crew must find the four most despicable pirates to take back the pieces and find the treasure.  This story is filled with adventure and humor.  The narrator telling the story has quite the voice jumping in and out of character.  There is also a connection to Geronimo Stilton as the author is very creative with the fonts and placement of the words and sentences.

If you are looking for a light read that you can enjoy some adventure and a good laugh, this is the book for you.

AUTHOR: Will Mabbitt

GENRE:  Adventure/Humor

GRADE LEVEL:  5th-8th

Masterminds

Kids, students, and life-long readers,

TEACHER ALERT - This is a great read aloud for class, and will keep the student guessing the entire time.  Great for predicting and characterization.

If you have read any of my blog posts, you know that Gordan Korman is one of my favorite authors.  When I first picked up this book, I knew nothing about it, but it is now part of my top ten list.

This story features five teenagers living in the town of Serenity - the happiest city in America.  All houses are the same with everything that children need from pools to basketball hoops in their driveway.  Some of our main characters love the life that Serenity offers, while others speak of leaving as soon as they can.  It won't take the reader long to see that this is not your ordinary town from the classes that are taught to the activities the children do.

The plot thickens when Eli is working on his computer and after an electrical surge is able to see the real internet.  American history that has been taught to him does not match.  The Boston Tea Party was not an actual tea party between the British and American to discuss their differences????  This is enough to lead Eli and crew to find the truth of Serenity and their lives.  There will be countless predictions and questions to keep you guessing the climactic reveal of their backstory.  And adventure and suspense will continue to build as they continue to take risk after risk to find the truth

Fastbreak - Student

Ungifted - Student

The Lost Hero - Student

The Lightning Thief - Student

The Son of Neptune - Student