Best Children's Fantasy & Supernatural Mystery Books
When the goddess Artemis goes missing, she is believed to have been kidnapped. The droll pitch is teen-perfect, as when Apollo heats up the scene by arriving in his fire-red Maserati, wearing jeans, a sleeveless T-shirt, and loafers. All in all, a winner of Olympic proportions and a surefire read-aloud.– Alison Follos, North Country School, Lake Placid, NY Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Their adventures range widely across the U.S., taking them to locales that include Washington, D.C., and the deserts of the Southwest and pitting them against the usual assortment of colorful adversaries. The Percy Jackson & the Olympians series is built around a terrific idea—that the half-mortal offspring of Greek gods live among us, playing out struggles of mythic scale—and Riordan takes it from strength to strength with this exciting installment, adding even more depth to the characters and story arc while retaining its predecessors' nonstop laughs and action.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"While the second book in the series, *The Sea of Monsters*, helped to change my mind on this, it was still a bit underwhelming. The whole narrative felt like basically an endless series of cliff-hangers with little to no character development and not enough plot. Now, this isn't to say that I didn't enjoy the first two volumes, but just that they didn't quite (other than some interesting stuff such as likable characters and references to myths) *do* it for me, so to speak. This third book, however, really did make me a major *Percy Jackson* fan, and was absolutely a great read. In a rescue mission to save two fellow demi-gods, Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and their new friend Thalia, encounter trouble. Though they save the twin half-bloods, Annabeth goes missing, and to make matters worse, so does a powerful goddess ally, Artemis. Not only did Riordan expand on the mythology of the series, and the connections to Classical Greek myths, but the structure was different. Well, the answer is that they are a) kinda personality-driven, and this interferes with some proactiveness, as they have their own stuff to attend to and their personalities dictate this, and b) related, they are *busy*. For that matter, there is a delicate power balance that too much action on the part of *anyone* will upset."
"We also find out with why Nico is so grumpy and not very talkative with Annabeth anymore like he used to as a preteen. Leo even visited Calypso and we learned what that line in the prophecy about a promise was really Leo promising Calypso to free her from her prison so that one day they could open up a car repair garage/food place. Leo's ADHD hasn't been too bad, Piper can charmspeak things to being actual living things while also learning how to fight, and being in Tartarus both changed Percy and Annabeth while growing them more together."
"Everyone is on survival mode — Percy and Annabeth must survive Tartarus and reach the Doors of Death, as the rest of the team — Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel, Leo, Nico, and Coach Hedge — travels on the Argo II to reach the House of Hades. The changing points of view allows the reader to keep up with the simultaneous events — sometimes jumping from one place to another at the most inopportune times, other times giving us just enough breathing room to relax for a millisecond. We follow Percy and Annabeth’s impossible and grueling journey through the most horrible of settings — in a surprising turn of events, there is more than just a horde of evil enemies down there… (a silver light as the end of this dark, dark tunnel?)."
Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. "VOYA", starred review "?cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes." "Publisher's Weekly", starred review Marie Lu works as an art director for a Los Angeles video game company - the book is built around the world she created for a popular Facebook game, also called Legend.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"In Day's (the male lead) part of the narrative, he comes off as the typical well rounded storybook hero with extraordinary athletic ability that falls in love with the girl way too quickly."
"I'm going to start off with kind words by saying that this was a easy, simple book to read. On that note, I would like to say that although the story line was intriguing-there was a point in the middle of the book where I just COULD NOT put it down-the characters were too perfect, flawless. I mean come on 15-year-olds who have superhuman observation, tracking, hunting and survival skills of assassins is unrealistic. Perhaps, if Day and June had the potential of being the best of the best, but were just as they should be-just teenagers for the moment, learning their craft."
"June Iparis' brother Metias dies, apparently killed by a young criminal named Day. June is a prodigy who scores a perfect 1500 in a trial that all young people have to take in order to be chosen for education and privilege."
"Skimming through my library and ran across this series."
"Cliff hangers are great, leaving mysterious little sub plots is interesting, not giving total explanations can be intriguing but most authors screw it up. Most authors, especially dystopian authors, leave too many little holes and if you step back for a second and look at all of the unknowns, even good books look like Swiss cheese sometimes."
"It was a quick read and didn't require a lot of thought."
Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of. Gatlin. has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. Ethan Wate is struggling to hide his apathy for his high school "in" crowd in small town Gatlin, South Carolina, until he meets the determinedly "out" Lena Duchannes, the girl of his dreams (literally--she has been in his nightmares for months). Beautiful Creatures is a delicious southern Gothic that charms you from the first page, drawing you into a dark world of magic and mystery until you emerge gasping and blinking, wondering what happened to the last few hours (and how many more you're willing to give up). To tell too much of the plot would spoil the thrill of discovery, and believe me, you will want to uncover the secrets of this richly imagined dark fantasy on your own. -- Daphne Durham Amazon Exclusive Interview with Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Authors of Beautiful Creatures. Margie: I think we were friends for so long before we were writing partners that there was an unusual amount of trust from the start. Margie: We save our big fights for the important things, like the lack of ice in my house or how cold our office is. And why none of my YouTube videos are as popular as the one of Kami's three-fingered typing…okay, that one is understandable, given the page count for "Beautiful Creatures." Kami: "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, "A Good Man is Hard to Find & Other Stories" by Flannery O'Connor, "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury and "The Witching Hour" by Anne Rice. Susan Cooper and Diana Wynne Jones made me love fantasy, and my favorite poets are Emily Dickinson (at Amherst College, I even lived on her street) and Stevie Smith. Kami: Looking back, we wrote it sort of like the serialized fiction of Charles Dickens, turning in pages to our teen readers every week. Kami: When we were getting texts in the middle of the night from teens demanding more pages, we knew we had to finish. Kami: I have a huge stack, but here are ones at the top: "Mama Dip's Kitchen," a cookbook by Mildred Council, "The Demon's Lexicon" by Sarah Rees Brennan, "Shadowed Summer" by Saundra Mitchell, "Rampant" by Diana Peterfreund, and an Advanced Reader Copy of "Sisters Red" by Jackson Pearce. Margie: I have Robin McKinley's "Beauty," Maggie Stiefvater's "Ballad," Kristen Cashore's "Fire," Libba Bray's "Going Bovine," and "Everything Is Fine" by AnnDee Ellis. Grade 7 Up—Ethan Wate, a high school sophomore, plans to escape his small Southern town as soon as he can. Life has been difficult since his mother died; his father, a writer, has withdrawn into his study. In the Gothic tradition of Anne Rice, the authors evoke a dark, supernatural world in a seemingly simple town obsessed with Civil War reenactments and deeply loyal to its Confederate past. The intensity of Ethan and Lena's need to be together is palpable, the detailed descriptions create a vivid, authentic world, and the allure of this story is the power of love. Give this to fans of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight (Little, Brown, 2005) or HBO's "True Blood" series and they will devour all 600-plus pages of this teen Gothic romance.— Amy J. Chow, The Brearley School, New York City Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book has all the hallmarks of teen literature (the lighthearted romance and ease of reading chief among them) with the advantage of characters that are believable and react normally to their circumstances. Most of the tension in the book is artificial, as it is clear almost from the start that the authority figures around both Ethan and Lena know the entirety of the Plot (or relevant parts of it) and withhold it for whatever reason, ultimately boiling the entire climax down to a case of the actors not having enough information. Truth is that everything I mentioned is pretty much staple for this sort of story, and I imagine that stepping away from some of these tropes would add a level of complexity that could go beyond the scope of a teen/young adult fantasy novel."
"I felt like the first fifty pages were really heavy handed in describing the setting and the town and lacked anything in the way of real character development, but once I slogged through the start, I was pleasantly surprised at how seamlessly I fell into the action. I was sort of burned out on paranormal worlds and the characters within them, but I was pleasantly surprised at the complexity of the Caster world and really enjoyed all of the intricate details woven throughout the story."
"The store was so accurate about living in the south and how small towns act yet it wasn't overwhelming in the story."
"I feel like the overall plot is your standard teen paranormal romance between a mortal and a magical being, with all the obstacles they must overcome to be together. The depth of the life of Casters (the people with magic powers) is very interesting, and I'm sure there's more to learn in the next book. The only reason I didn't rate it higher was because I'm not the target audience and I feel like if I was 16 or so, I might have done less eye rolling at the stereotypical "teens who are deeply in love forever" moments."
Best Children's Detectives Books
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the second book in C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia , a series that has become part of the canon of classic literature, drawing readers of all ages into a magical land with unforgettable characters for over fifty years. Four adventurers step through a wardrobe door and into the land of Narnia, a land enslaved by the power of the White Witch. This is a stand-alone read, but if you would like to explore more of the Narnian realm, pick up The Horse and His Boy , the third book in The Chronicles of Narnia . Beginning with Chapter One when Lucy looks into the wardrobe and discovers Narnia and the faun, readers will find that this timeless story can still work the magic that C.S. Narnia fans will want to listen to this story over and over again, and new fans will be created as they listen for the first time.-Ginny Harrell, William McGarrah Elementary School, Morrow, GA.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"As you read through you'll notice familiar things, almost like Deja-vu."
"This is a great go-to series any time you are wanting to get immersed in a fantastical world."
"This book should be required reading for all children with vivid imaginations."
"We love this book and it is the perfect intro for my 3 and 5 year old boys who now can't wait to read more C.S."
"I was able to pick up on the semi-religious theme as an adult but it'seems subtle and contains hidden lessons for any reader."
"A story full of mystery and adventure, written for children, but so delightful that adults love it too!"
"Forget any preconceived ideas you have sit back and enjoy."
"A great book for anybody between the age of 9-13."
Best Children's Books on City Life
This Newbery Medal winner that has a fantastic puzzle at its heart has been called “smart and mesmerizing,” ( The New York Times ), “superb” ( The Wall Street Journal ), and “incandescent” ( The Washington Post ). Amazon Best of the Month, July 2009: Shortly after sixth-grader Miranda and her best friend Sal part ways, for some inexplicable reason her once familiar world turns upside down. Rebecca Stead's poignant novel, When You Reach Me , captures the interior monologue and observations of kids who are starting to recognize and negotiate the complexities of friendship and family, class and identity. Set in New York City in 1979, the story takes its cue from beloved Manhattan tales for middle graders like E.L. Konigsburg's From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler , Louise Fitzhugh's Harriet the Spy , and Norma Klein's Mom the Wolfman and Me . Like those earlier novels, When You Reach Me will stir the imaginations of young readers curious about day-to-day life in a big city. Here’s what Rebecca had to say about growing up in New York City, meeting Madeleine L’Engle, and how writing a novel is a lot like solving a puzzle. What I love about L’Engle’s book now is how it deals with so much fragile inner-human stuff at the same time that it takes on life’s big questions. It started out as a small detail in Miranda’s story, a sort of talisman, and one I thought I would eventually jettison, because you can’t just toss A Wrinkle in Time in there casually. So I went back to A Wrinkle in Time and read it again and again, trying to see it as different characters in my own story might (sounds crazy, but it’s possible!). Amazon.com: I love the way you incorporate hints of science fiction into the ordinary events of Miranda’s life. When I started writing my first novel, First Light , a lot of the raw material was also fragmented, and I had to sort of develop them into traditional chapters, which was what worked best for that story. But When You Reach Me is a little like a puzzle, and I loved the challenge of smoothing these small pieces until the whole thing fit together just right. Amazon.com: At the very beginning of the novel, we learn that Miranda’s mom is going to be a contestant on the 1970’s TV game show The $20,000 Pyramid . Rebecca Stead: They have a pretty nice system, which starts with their neighbor, Louisa, who scribbles down each day’s Pyramid clues at her nursing job because she’s the only one with access to a television at lunchtime. Amazon.com: Why do Miranda and her friends Annemarie and Colin like working in Jimmy’s sandwich shop during lunch hour? Rebecca Stead: I’m now raising two kids of my own in New York City, and I think a lot about the differences between today’s "preteen experience" and the one I had. Grade 5-8–Sixth-grader Miranda lives in 1978 New York City with her mother, and her life compass is Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time . Miranda spends considerable time observing a raving vagrant who her mother calls the laughing man and trying to find the connection between the notes and her everyday life. Discerning readers will realize the ties between Miranda's mystery and L'Engle's plot, but will enjoy hints of fantasy and descriptions of middle school dynamics.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I do remember the $20,00 Pyramid Game Show, and the author does a deft job of weaving this sub-plot through the book, while handling important topics of friendship, judging on first impressions, kindness towards strangers and coming of age."
"This book is not a book I chose, I had to read it for my graduate class but I believe in fate and I believe this book was on the list for a reason."
"This book has all of the elements I typically enjoy: great interaction between the characters, a splash of sci-fi and a concept to keep you thinking long after you read the last page!"
"I liked when you reach me because it talked about a wrinkle in time and time travel."
"I also love realism: kids (or adults) in common situations, learning how to act, taking steps that shape them into the people they become. The realism comes from the basic story premise: 11-year-old Miranda lives in New York during the 1970s. Her mother is obsessed with becoming a contestant on a tv show, The $20,000 Pyramid, and spends meal times studying and practicing. Miranda witnesses some seemingly weird actions on the sidewalk: she keeps encountering one particular homeless person who acts strangely."
"Because so many of them are a coming of age story, focusing on a young or boy learning to deal with whatever hardships life has dealt them, some of the details begin to merge together creating a giant Newbery read instead of the individual books. Too many times in stories where plot lines overlap and characters connect in unexpected ways, the coincidences become too much and too unrealistic for the necessary suspension of disbelief, and it lessens the enjoyment of the story, because I can't believe any of that would actually happen. One of the complaints I had with this book the first time I read it was the desire to know more about some of the periphery characters. Knowing too much about this book the first time you read it ruins some of its magic. Those are what make it such a magnificent first time read, but allows you to enjoy the story more each time you read it. I re-read this book just the other day, about two months after my first read through, and I found myself noticing much that I missed the first time through, and enjoying it just that much more."
"I teach 6th grade ELA, and I enjoy finding new books for my classroom library. My fellow ELA teachers downloaded it and within a day we were discussing our thoughts on the ending."
Best Teen & Young Adult Canadian Geography & Cultures Fiction eBooks
It’s the worst winter in years. Danny knows better. Grade 9 Up—In this supernatural thriller set in a remote Canadian town in the dead of winter, four friends encounter a cannibalistic creature that is hunting and killing teens. The foursome, after a failed attempt to involve law enforcement, decide to take on the behemoth with stolen dynamite and guns "borrowed" from their fathers. The unrelenting pace, short chapters, and the idea of teenagers taking on a monster with a large amount of weaponry will certainly appeal to fans of horror novels.— Caroline Tesauro, Radford Public Library, VA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. McNamee’s follow-up to Acceleration (2003) is another page-turning thriller, this time with an eerie supernatural edge that will appeal to fans of psychological horror.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"His unique use of characters allows him to tell a monster tale from Danny's interesting perspective with support characters, like brothers Pike and Howie, to help him along."
"Two boys get bit by a demon and their bodies start changing. She says things like lets race, if you win you can cop a feel. Way too many sentences start with "Me and mom are ..." "Me and Howie had ..." Her and Pike check their guns." Setting: current day small town in Ontario, Canada."
"Take speeding snowmobiles, a mysterious monster, a pyromaniac, a girl who could out-box Ali and big old sticky bombs and you have a sure-fire hit with almost every reluctant and non-reluctant reader out there!"
"This book was a quick read because it was so good, I didn't want to put it down."
"My son who does not like to read much loves this book."
"Extremely well done monster horror novel."
"A solid fast-paced YA horror novel with realistic dialogue and strong characterization."
"One of my favorite book by one of my favorite authors."
Best Teen & Young Adult Historical Romance eBooks
Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of. Gatlin. has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. Ethan Wate is struggling to hide his apathy for his high school "in" crowd in small town Gatlin, South Carolina, until he meets the determinedly "out" Lena Duchannes, the girl of his dreams (literally--she has been in his nightmares for months). Beautiful Creatures is a delicious southern Gothic that charms you from the first page, drawing you into a dark world of magic and mystery until you emerge gasping and blinking, wondering what happened to the last few hours (and how many more you're willing to give up). To tell too much of the plot would spoil the thrill of discovery, and believe me, you will want to uncover the secrets of this richly imagined dark fantasy on your own. -- Daphne Durham Amazon Exclusive Interview with Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Authors of Beautiful Creatures. Margie: I think we were friends for so long before we were writing partners that there was an unusual amount of trust from the start. Margie: We save our big fights for the important things, like the lack of ice in my house or how cold our office is. And why none of my YouTube videos are as popular as the one of Kami's three-fingered typing…okay, that one is understandable, given the page count for "Beautiful Creatures." Kami: "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, "A Good Man is Hard to Find & Other Stories" by Flannery O'Connor, "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury and "The Witching Hour" by Anne Rice. Susan Cooper and Diana Wynne Jones made me love fantasy, and my favorite poets are Emily Dickinson (at Amherst College, I even lived on her street) and Stevie Smith. Kami: Looking back, we wrote it sort of like the serialized fiction of Charles Dickens, turning in pages to our teen readers every week. Kami: When we were getting texts in the middle of the night from teens demanding more pages, we knew we had to finish. Kami: I have a huge stack, but here are ones at the top: "Mama Dip's Kitchen," a cookbook by Mildred Council, "The Demon's Lexicon" by Sarah Rees Brennan, "Shadowed Summer" by Saundra Mitchell, "Rampant" by Diana Peterfreund, and an Advanced Reader Copy of "Sisters Red" by Jackson Pearce. Margie: I have Robin McKinley's "Beauty," Maggie Stiefvater's "Ballad," Kristen Cashore's "Fire," Libba Bray's "Going Bovine," and "Everything Is Fine" by AnnDee Ellis. Grade 7 Up—Ethan Wate, a high school sophomore, plans to escape his small Southern town as soon as he can. Life has been difficult since his mother died; his father, a writer, has withdrawn into his study. In the Gothic tradition of Anne Rice, the authors evoke a dark, supernatural world in a seemingly simple town obsessed with Civil War reenactments and deeply loyal to its Confederate past. The intensity of Ethan and Lena's need to be together is palpable, the detailed descriptions create a vivid, authentic world, and the allure of this story is the power of love. Give this to fans of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight (Little, Brown, 2005) or HBO's "True Blood" series and they will devour all 600-plus pages of this teen Gothic romance.— Amy J. Chow, The Brearley School, New York City Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book has all the hallmarks of teen literature (the lighthearted romance and ease of reading chief among them) with the advantage of characters that are believable and react normally to their circumstances. Most of the tension in the book is artificial, as it is clear almost from the start that the authority figures around both Ethan and Lena know the entirety of the Plot (or relevant parts of it) and withhold it for whatever reason, ultimately boiling the entire climax down to a case of the actors not having enough information. Truth is that everything I mentioned is pretty much staple for this sort of story, and I imagine that stepping away from some of these tropes would add a level of complexity that could go beyond the scope of a teen/young adult fantasy novel."
"I felt like the first fifty pages were really heavy handed in describing the setting and the town and lacked anything in the way of real character development, but once I slogged through the start, I was pleasantly surprised at how seamlessly I fell into the action. I was sort of burned out on paranormal worlds and the characters within them, but I was pleasantly surprised at the complexity of the Caster world and really enjoyed all of the intricate details woven throughout the story."
"The store was so accurate about living in the south and how small towns act yet it wasn't overwhelming in the story."
"I feel like the overall plot is your standard teen paranormal romance between a mortal and a magical being, with all the obstacles they must overcome to be together. The depth of the life of Casters (the people with magic powers) is very interesting, and I'm sure there's more to learn in the next book. The only reason I didn't rate it higher was because I'm not the target audience and I feel like if I was 16 or so, I might have done less eye rolling at the stereotypical "teens who are deeply in love forever" moments."
Best Children's Spy Books
And just in time, she is brought out of exile and into the heart of the snakes’ den that is the Copper Isles royal court. Still, Aly must keep her wager with the trickster god and protect her charges: Sarai, the beautiful, dramatic, and rash potential queen, and Dove, the more cautious and often overlooked younger sister. Cracking open one of her marvelous novels always feels like coming home.”. — SARAH J. MAAS , #1 New York Times bestselling author. “Tamora Pierce didn’t just blaze a trail. Grade 7-10–In this sequel to the well-received Trickster's Choice (Random, 2003), Pierce deftly weaves an unforgettable story about Alianne (Aly) of Pirate's Swoop. Aly has become a maid to Lady Dovasary, daughter of the late duke, and, more importantly, she is now the spymaster of the raka rebellion that is determined to put Dovasary's sister on the throne in place of the four-year-old luarin king. Aly, who is the daughter of Alanna the Lioness of Tortall (from the "Lioness Quartet" series), is delightful in her deviousness. Pierce concludes the story of Alanna the Lioness' daughter, Aly, spymaster par excellence, in a fantasy thriller that continues the rich and complex tale begun in Trickster's Choice [BKL D 1 03].
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Through some magical intervention Aly is enslaved and sent to the Tortall version of a Caribbean Island where she has to serve the needs of a God, save some young women, and try not to lose her minds at the Crows."
"The writing was well paced, and though k had not read the other titles stationed in the same universe, I was able to stay informed just the same without feeling like I was being fed context."
"Her family contains members of the ruling caste, but the two oldest daughters are also direct descendants of the previous Raka royal family."
"Ali ramps up the siege against the regents and finds allies in the strangest places."
"I've read many of The Tamora Pierce books and can say from the bottom of my heart that Trickster's Queen has gone far above my expectations in this brilliant series.The writing and the pinstroke ideas are absolutely fabulous!I stopped my whole week just because I couldn't put the book down.It rivaled Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness series down to the scenery.The writing spills with specific details keeping the reader informed and not guessing.The whole time you think what's going to happen then the writer comes back and surprises you with a twist.In Trickster's Queen you follow Aly(Alianne)of Pirate's Swoop,Daughter of Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau,Alanna is also the king's champion and the first Lady Knight or Tortal,through the final days of the Raka Rebellion,making it all possible with a little nudge from a Trickster God.The secretive,witty, and just plain brilliant mind of Aly keeps you wanting to see what she does next,Though the writer keeps you anticipating by long pauses.She ends up with a few 3-deminsional friends like Nawat(A crow who took on the form of a human)and Dove(A young girl who's brains can make a grown person's feel inferior).I just couldn't think of a different rating then 5 stars.This book and it's Duo series is a must read(Book 1:Trickster's Choice)."
"A lot of the paperbacks I get from Amazon end up being just a little bent or worn at the corners."
"One of my favorite series, and one of my favorite authors."
"When I got to the first Trickster book, however, this was not the case. I found Aly very unrelateable as a character, and she never seems to be phased about anything that happens to her. I found the other female characters of Pierce's books more relatable than Aly."