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

Slacker

Kids, students, and life-long readers,

One of my favorite authors, Gordon Korman, is back with a realistic fiction novel entitled, Slacker. Cameron is a 7th grade boy that has one love in his life - video games.  This slacker's life revolves around nothing but any type of electronic game from Clash of Clans to Rule the World.  But all this is about to change when his love of video games causes a fire in their house and broken down door.  His parents have had enough and it is time for Cameron to break out and interact more with real kids. Cameron has to join an extra-curricular club.

No problem for our main character and his two friends who create a fake school club to keep Mom and Dad happy.  And that is where the dominos start to fall.  The author introduces more and more characters who are tied to this fake club, and before Cameron knows what is happening, this fake club has a guidance counselor and a growing member list.  With no way to stop it PAG - Positive Action Group - starts to make a difference in the dying community but enemies start to arise that want to halt PAG's success and reveal Cameron for the slacker he is.

The chapters in this book will switch between many different characters, giving you many different viewpoints and opinions during the plot.  Just because this is a Realistic Fiction doesn't mean there aren't many questions that need answering and even some surprises at the end.

AUTHOR: Gordon Korman

GENRE: Realistic Fiction, Humor

GRADE LEVEL: 5-7