Beyonders: Seeds of Rebellion

Beyonders: Seeds of Rebellion
by Brandon Mull

In this second book of the series (following A World Without Heroes), Jason is desperate to get back to Lyrian.  Rachel is still stranded there, Maldor reigns supreme, and the Word that can undo Maldor is fake.  After finding his way back to Lyrian through the same hippo as before, Jason strives to be reunited with his friends, while trying to decide who is a friend, and who is foe.

Meanwhile, Rachel has been on the run for months in Lyrian.  She is starting to learn about her new abilities in magic, hoping to be useful to the rebellion against Maldor.  When lurkers start catching up to her, she must find a way to ditch the lurker and make her way back to Jason.

Reunited with friends and possible traitors, can Jason and Rachel find the key to a successful rebellion?  Will they find the allies they need or be eaten by the undead?

This was a great sequel to the first in the series.  Meant for an older age than Mull's Fablehaven series, this was a riveting book.  There is adventure, action, drama and more.  The writing is very engaging, fast paced and exciting.  This book definitely leaves you wanting the next!  Boys will love the action, but this will appeal to girls as well.

An Elephant in the Garden

An Elephant in the Garden
by Michael Morpurgo

When elderly Lizzie starts telling young Karl of the elephant she once had in her garden, Karl's mom has a hard time believing in it.  Why would someone have an elephant in their garden?  Lizzie goes on to tell a story from her childhood, of Dresden in the bombings of 1945.  Lizzie's mother worked at a zoo, and in order to keep the young elephant Marlene from being shot, she brings Marlene home with her.

This story of war, told from a teenage Lizzie's perspective was sweet, touching and gripping.  The story telling was excellent, and kept me interested.  While it jumps from present to past, the difference is not confusing, and gives a nice frame to Lizzie's story.  Told from a German refuge's point of view, this tale will steal your heart, just as Marlene stole the hearts of all she met on their journey!

I loved this book.  It was touching, engaging, and would help a teen or child understand a war from a new point of view.  The bombing was only seen from a distance, and there wasn't anything really objectionable in the story.  This book would be suitable for late elementary school to teens.  While girls might be more drawn to it, I can see boys enjoying it too.

The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book
by Neil Gaiman

    When Nobody Owen's parents are murdered by some mysterious men when he is a baby, he wanders down to the local graveyard.  He is adopted by the occupants of the graveyard: the ghosts, a witch, and his guardian, a man neither dead or alive.  Bod learns their skills, knowledge of their times, and how to live in a graveyard.  As he grows older, he encounters outsiders: a girl in a rain coat, some neighbors, and even tries to go to school!  Follow Bod as he fights ghouls, descends to the underworld, and tries to find out who is after him.
    This was a fun book!  Very different than a lot of other books, but very good.  The read gets to follow Bod through various stages of life, from a young boy, on up to a early teenager.   As he grows, he tries understand the foreign world outside.  His confusion helps lots of kids and teens relate to him, at the same time setting up some humorous situations.
    I really enjoyed reading this and have read it a couple times now.  The book on CD is great, too.  The narrator does a great job of portraying the flavor of the characters.  This book is fun, spooky and mysterious! Great read for boys or girls that like spooky things!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Diary of a Wimpy Kid
By Jeff Kinney

Greg Heffley has got a rough life.  He's in middle school, his older brother is a bully, he's a weakling, and his mom makes him join the school play.  And to be clean, this is not a diary, this is a JOURNAL.  Here Greg has a place to record his wacky ideas, his true feelings and his doodles.

This was a great book!  The drawings are essential to the story, and enhance it rather than distract for the story.  The narrative style is kid friendly, especially for boys.  This would be a great book for a reluctant reader, or even one that loves to read.

I enjoyed this book a lot.  It made me laugh, but I also really identified with Greg.  He seemed very realistic, practical and very much a middle school boy.  While great for boys, would also be good for girls as well.

The Tale of Despereaux

The Tale of Despereaux
by Kate DiCamillo

When Despereaux is born, he is the smallest mouse with the biggest ears anyone had ever seen.  On top of that, he never acts mouse-like.  Instead of scurrying and hiding from people, he sits in the light and even dares to talk to Princess Pea!  He is definitely not the normal mouse.  Because he is endangering other mice by his actions, he is banished to the castle dungeon where the rats live.  Trembling he journeys down into the darkness.

This was a very cute story!  I loved Despereaux's courage and hopefulness.  He is a great character that while hopeful and optimistic, also faces his sadness and trials.  I like how even the evil characters in this book had sides to them that redeemed them.  This would be a great book to read out loud to a child starting chapter books, or to have the early chapter book reader read for themselves!  

Over all, I really like the book and would recommend to anyone!

Light of the Oracle

The Light of the Oracle
By Victoria Hanley

Bryn grows up as a simple girl, daughter to a stone cutter, in a tiny village. Her mother thinks she is useless and a dreamer since she spends time wandering, following thistledown as it floats through the air.  One day, the Master Priest finds her, and tells everyone she is to become a seer, a priestess at a temple far away.  Her life is turned upside down as she journeys with another acolyte, Clea, to the temple to learn how to harness her visions.

Once at the temple, Bryn is taken in by Dawn, another priestess is training, and starts chores in the stables with Kiran, a priest in training.  Her new friends stay with her even when the popular girls taunt her, she gets months of extra chores, and becomes a rare wind-chosen seer.  But when Clea curses her, how will she save a princess, an outcast seer, Kiran, and herself?

This book is a companion to Hanley's other books The Seer and the Sword and The Healer's Keep.  I read it because I read the others and loved them, and this one did not disappoint!  The plot is interesting and has lots of turns, but not so many that the reader gets lost.  I loved the characters, and easily believed they could feel what they did in their situations.  Overall, this was one I had a hard time putting down!

The Wide-Awake Princess

The Wide-Awake Princess
by E.D. Baker

Princess Gwen has every fairy in the kingdom invited to her christening, and ended up gifted with many magical benefits, but also cursed to prick her finger on a spinning wheel.  When Princess Annie was born, her parents had only one fairy give a gift- the gift that no other magic would be able to touch her.  While Gwen grows up beautiful, talented, a loved by all, Annie is more like a normal girl than a princess.

After Gwen predictably pricks her finger on her the spinning wheel, it is up to Annie, resistant to the sleep spell on everyone else in the castle, to save the day.  Together with a castle guard, Annie must venture further from the castle than she ever had before, win contests, sleep on beds piled high with mattresses, and so much more!  Can she save her kingdom, save herself and find her own true love?

I really enjoyed this book.  I hadn't read anything from E. D. Baker yet, but really found myself enjoying this.  Totally appropriate for any age, this is one you want to read!  It mixes several fairy tale elements together, but also is very original.  This book also reminded me of Ella Enchanted by Levine, so if you liked that, this would be a great one!.