The Shadow Door by Bannister

The Shadow Door is book one of a series of graphic Novels called The Elsewhere Chronicles. It follows the exploits if four kids who find a portal to another world full of danger.

This graphic novel ventures into some pretty well trod territory, but the story is still interesting and engaging. The artwork is done in full color on glossy pages. At it's best it is stunning, but at times it's hard to tell what's going on as the artist loves using lots of dark colors and depicting shadowy sequences without the benefit of speech bubbles or narration. Overall good, but not overwhelming. Recommend this one to adventure fans grades 4 to 7.

Cameron and his Dinosaurs by Scott Sawa

Mad scientist Professor Pointdexter P Poppycock has created four hyper intelligent dinosaurs to do his evil bidding. Unfortunately, because of their superior intellects they tell Professor Poppycock they are unwilling to hurt people and as result they must part ways. The dinosaurs meet a young boy named Cameron with whom they become fast friends. Soon Professor Poppycock is at it again, but this time with robotic dinosaurs programmed to follow his every command. Of course, Cameron and his dinosaurs are the only ones capable of standing in his way.

This was actually a surprisingly enjoyable graphic novel. The humor is slapstick and clearly designed for younger readers, but I still caught myself chuckling for time to time. The story was well-paced and although it was predicable still pulled me in. The artwork was enjoyable, lots of pastels and soft colors, and with distinct memorable characters. And the story had dinosaurs, how awesome is that? Recommend this one to fans of dinosaurs, robots and comic hijinx grades 3 to 6.

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

The Last Olympian wraps up the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series with same fast-paced action Riordan has delivered time and time again. In this, the final book in the series, Percy Jackson's 16th birthday and the prophecy tied to it is just a week away, Kronos and his army of titans and monsters are planning an attack on Olympus and the entire fate of Western civilization hangs in the balance. No big deal right?

I thoroughly enjoyed The Last Olympian. I have a hard time picking out a favorite book in this series, because they are all so consistently great. This book is no exception. The pacing is intense, the plot is packed w/ action, but tempered an interesting story and a healthy dose of Greek Mythology. My one complaint was after the central conflict in the plot was resolved, the book dragged on for awhile trying to tie up loose ends, including a sequence regarding the fate of Percy's girlfriend Rachel that despite a half hearted attempt at being surprising ends so predictably it's almost painful. Overall a great book, though, recommend this one to fans of action, adventure and Greek mythology grades 4 to 10.

Lay Ups and Long Shots

Lay Ups and Long Shots is a collection of eight sports short stories by a variety of children's and young adult authors. The stories are generally enjoyable and usually funny.

My one gripe with this book was that it seemed like these sports stories were written for people who don't necessarily like sports. This probably isn't the best bet for the star athlete reluctant reader, but it would be great for an avid reader who loves humorous realistic fiction grades 4 to 7.

Dear Dracula by Joshua Williamson

This Graphic Novel is so funny! It is the story of Sam who writes a letter to Dracula asking him for what he most wants in the world, because Christmas is too far away. Much to Sam's surprise Dracula shows up on Halloween for a night of fun and trick or treating.

I really enjoyed the artwork as well, glossy full color drawings that are super funny too.

Give this one to reluctant readers and kids who like to laugh grades 3 thru 6.

Something Wickedly Weird by Chris Mould

It was this book's great cover illustration that first caught my eye and begged me to page through it. Inside I was greeted by more pen and ink drawings all just as grim and sepulchral, but drawn with a hint of irony, which make the drawings simultaneously ghastly and endearing in an altogether delightful way. The story is, as one would guess from the drawings, wonderfully macabre and when at it's best reminded me of The Graveyard Book; unfortunately, the book was not always at its best and frequently felt formulaic and predictable. It is the story of Stanley, a young boy who inherits a manor on a small island off the coast of England from a long lost great uncle. Upon arriving things are clearly amiss. Over the course of the story Stanley encounters werewolves, pirates and even a talking fish. The story is in fact "wickedly weird," and overall enjoyable. Don't expect this one to win the Newbery Award, but do expect it to delight children between the ages of 7 and 11 who have a taste for adventure and the bizarre.

Heartbeat by Sharon Creech

Heartbeat is the type of book I would have never picked up on my own. I only ended up "reading" it because my mom needed help adding it to her mp3 player, so I decided to add it to mine as well.
Heartbeat is the story of a girl who loves to run barefoot and draw. The book chronicles her life as well as her relationship with her best friend (he runs to win), her grampa (he has Alzheimer's) and her mother (she's having a baby). I enjoyed this book without loving it. It reminded me a bit of Way Down Deep by Ruth White, (it has that same kind of sweetness and whimsy to it), but not really of the same caliber.

Give this book to girls who loves spending the summer outdoors in the sun. For grades 4-7.

My One Hundred Adventures by Polly Horvath

Barf alert, this book is not good! I feel sad that this book was published, I feel sad that is a potential nominee for the state book award next year and most of all I feel sad that I was willing to let this book take 120 pages of my time last night. Now granted 120 pages is a little under half of the book, so it could get better, but I doubt it. First and foremost the writing style bugged me, it was written in what I assume was supposed to be the "voice" of the character (a twelve-year-old girl), what that means is a lot of simple sentences Subject, Verb, Object, Subject, Verb, Object, over and over again. It was like reading an easy-reader that's 260 pages long. Secondly, the plot was driven forward by the main character making poor choices, I can't stand that. For example, the main character Jane gets duped into babysitting for the horrible Mrs. Gourd (she's afraid of being sued) when clearly Jane just needs to have a conversation with her mother. And then there's Nellie, the preacher whose hopelessly poor decision making makes one question how it was that she survived to adulthood in the first place. Of course, Jane ends up spending a lot of time with her. And finally, this book was all about a series of adventures, many of which should have been exciting. Instead Horvath has a way of glossy over the exciting parts and deemphasizing potentially thrilling situations (who knew a hot air balloon ride- on a stolen hot air balloon no less- could be so boring?).

This book did actually remind me a little bit of a book I really like, Way Down Deep, a story about a sweet little girl with a big heart and small town charm who you fell in love with instantly. My One Hundred Adventures is like Way Down Deep if it had been written by a dung beetle or any other similarly unliterary insect. Jane is a pretty nice girl whose heart seems to be in the right place (most of the time), who while she does possess a certain charm of her own is ultimately more of a character you want to like (but never quite can), than one you'll fall in love with. And those sentences Subject, Verb, Object, Subject, Verb, Object, Arrgh!

Give this book two children who enjoy experiences commonly held to be unenjoyable, such as stubbing your toe, coming down with food poisoning or sitting next overweight mustached men with BO on the bus grades 4 to 7

Baseball Crazy edited by Nancy E. Mercado.

Baseball Crazy is a collection of short stories from the same editor as Every Man for Himself, but this time the theme is the national pastime, baseball. The stories follow a variety of characters from baseball stars, to bench-warmers, from statisticians, to fans and does so in a variety of formats too, mostly short stories, but also a play and poetry. Once again their are some big names like Jerry Spinelli (Maniac Magee) and Joseph Bruchac (Code Talker) backing up this collection and they deliver some great stories

I enjoyed this collection just as much as Every Man for Himself. Give this one to baseball lovers grades 4-8.

The Dragon's Child by Jenny Nimmo

Dando the Dragon can't fly. And he's lost- lost in the land where dreadful Doggins lurk, and where dangerous humans have arrived. He has to find his family, but can he make the journey alone? He's not so sure.

Yesterday I decided to look up "forgettable fantasy story" in the dictionary, much to my chagrin The Dragon's Child was not listed, but it should have been. I read this story only a few days ago, but already it has begun to fade from my memory. The book is like a connect-the-dots where the dots are clichés and the lines are mediocre prose. Probably my favorite part about the book was the gimmicky dragon-shaped cover (the dotted lines in the picture denote the edge of the cover).

Give this book to children who love things that are dragon-shaped grades 2 to 4

Kenny and the Dragon

Kenny Rabbit loves books, especially fairy tales, so when his father comes in hollering about a dragon up the hill Kenny has to go investigate. After arming and armoring himself as best he can with a variety of cookware and household cleaning utensils he goes to meet the dragon. The dragon proves to be shockingly urbane and introduces himself as Grahame, like the cracker, but with an 'e' on the end. Kenny finds that he has a surprising amount in common with this gentle dragon and the two soon become fast friends. The trouble starts when the townspeople discover a dragon is living nearby and call in the king's men to slay "the vicious beast."

Kenny and the Dragon is a charming story about unexpected friendship. It features Tony DiTerlizzi beautiful drawings and witty prose. Give this one to Fantasy Buffs grades 2-5.

Bad Kitty Gets a Bath

Bad Kitty Gets a Bath is Nick Bruel's chapter book sequel to his picture book Bad Kitty, which is one of the funniest picture picture books ever; the sequel, however, fails to meet expectations. The illustrations are still hillarious and reluctant readers will love the way the pictures they break up all the text (It's 120 pages long, but reads like it's 30). But the prose lacks the punch and off the wall humor of the original, if this had been the first book I would have never Bad Kitty and that would have been a shame.

Give this book to cat lovers and children who like to comedy and mayhem combined, for grades 1 to 4.

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little

Moxy Maxwell and Stuart Little had practically been best friends all summer, the two of them had been inseparable. When Moxy Maxwell was in the car on her way to swim practice, Stuart was there, when she was on the porch drinking lemonade, Stuart was there and last Monday at swim practice Stuart Little fell in the pool with her, that's how close the two of them are. No, the reason that Moxy hasn't read Stuart Little all summer long has nothing to do with a lack of time spent together, the problem simply was that Moxy's in-betweens kept getting interupted. You see the perfect time to read a book is when one thing ends and the next thing hasn't begun yet, an in-between. However Moxy's in-between keep getting interrupted by more pressing matters, for example lemonade spills. Unfortunately tomorrow is the first day of fourth grade and if Moxy doesn't read Stuart Little this afternoon, her mom won't let her participate in the water ballet she's been practicing all summer.

This book was a HILLARIOUS examination of summer procrastination. A must read for any child who has ever put off doing anything. For grades 3-5

The Maze of Bones

What would happen if you discovered that your family was one of the most powerful in human history? What if you were told that the source of the family's power was hidden around the world, in the form of 39 clues. What if you were given the choice - take a million dollars and walk away... or get the first clue? If you're Dan and Amy Cahill, you take the clue - and begin a very dangerous race.

Wow money, mystery and danger, awesome isn't? The answer is yes, although with admittedly a few reservations. I really liked the adventure and all the traveling in the book. I'm trying not to spoil anything, but the "maze of bones" is a real place and it's awesome. I've been there and it made me want to go again so bad.

One thing that did bug me about the books were the really obscure clues that the kids instantly knew how to solve. Maybe it's just because I'm bad at that time of thing, but "Seek out Richard S" would never make me think of Richard Sanders of Poor Richard's Almanac.
This book will be a hit the adventure junkies out there though. Great book for grades 4 to 7, maybe even 8.

The Walls of Cartegena

I liked this book more than I thought I would. It's historical fiction, which I like, but it's also about slaves, lepers and the excesses of the Inquisition in the Spanish colony of Cartagena in Columbia. This book had sad times written all over it. But despite that, I liked the characters and the main character, Calepino, had a certain naivety and optimism that lightened up all the dark subject matter and made the whole thing palatable. For grades 4 to 7.

Step Fourth Mallory

Mallory was looking forward to 4th grade, in fact, she thought it was going to be the best year ever. But now that 4th grade has started it shaping up to be the worst year ever. Mallory keeps breaking the rules, even though she doesn't mean to and everything she does to try to get on her teacher's good side seems to backfire..

Step Fourth Mallory was an alright, I suspect I would have liked it more if I were a girl in 4th grade. Mallory spends a lot time worrying about boys and fashion in a typically gushy 4th grade girl fashion. However, the book is tenderhearted and Mallory's character is ultimately endearing. Recommended for girls who enjoy realistic fiction in 3rd, 4th or 5th grade.

Julian Rodriguez Episode One Trash Crisis on Earth

Julian Rodriguez is on a mission for the Mothership: to collect data on the "mini-brains" of planet Earth. To accomplish this he's gone undercover as a 12 year old child. However things have not gone as planned. For example even though he has repeatedly told his maternal unit that he requires "significant quantities of salts, fats and sugars," his mother provided him instead with "some woodlike sticks of something called carrot; a flavorless transparent liquid called water, which tastes like nothing at all; something called a veggie-dog, which is too disgusting for me even to put into words." A crisis is reached when Julian is asked to take out the trash while he is in the midst of performing invaluable research on the "fascinating earthly form of programming known as cartoons."

This book was hillarious, even the authour's bio made me laugh. "Like Julian Rodriguez he does his best to avoid taking out the garbage. 'I like trashy books and trashy people,' he explains. 'I just don't like trash." I can relate. The story is told in a mixture of prose and pen and ink drawings reminiscent of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. This is a great choice for reluctant readers and any child who enjoys a good laugh. Recommended for 4th, 5th and 6th.

Knights of the Lunch Table

If Knights of the Lunch Table were a cured meat, it would be a Honey Baked Ham lovingly made by Spanish bears wearing golden pantaloons. Why? Because it's hilarious that's why! The Knights of the Lunch Table is a graphic novel retelling of the King Arthur story, set in an American elementary school, Camelot Elementary to be precise. Our hero, Artie King, has just moved to town and he will have to start school midyear. His older sister Morgan (La Faye) his of course wicked and works to make his day as hard as possible by making him miss the bus. Fortunately the school science teacher Mr Merlyn (Merlin) bikes by and tells him about a short cut. On his way to school he meets Percy (Perceval) and they become fast friends. Of course school isn't easy either, the principal takes an immediate disliking to him and assigns him the locker no one is able to open (the sword in the stone), but luckily he's able to open it. The list of Camelot references just keeps going on and on and so do the laughs. The meat of the story focuses on Artie and his friend's conflict with the school bullies who are known as "the Horde" and culminates in a truly epic dodgeball battle royale!

This book couples solid artwork with a hilarious story and the result is well worth your time if you like King Arthur, dodgeball or laughing. Great for grades 4, 5, and 6.

Martin Bridge Out of Orbit! and Goof-Off Goalie

Martin Bridge Out of Orbit! and Goof-Off Goalie are two solid pieces of realistic fiction for younger readers.

Martin Bridge Out of Orbit! is a part of the Martin Bridge series. The series is kinda like a Junie B. Jones for boys, an easy to read chapter book with a male character boys can identify with. The book contained two plot lines one about organizing a parade and the other about a visit from a comic book artist. Each of the stories ends with Martin learning valuable lesson of some sort. The message was always relevant without being overly preachy or heavy-handed, I liked it. For grades 1-4.

Goof-Off Goalie is a sports story for young readers. The main character Goose wants to play goalie more than anything else, but the coach says he needs to pay attention to the game if he's going to play goalie. "Focus Goose," his coach tells him over again. Over the course of the story Goose learns the value of hard work and persistence. Like Martin Bridge there was a moral, but not a heavy handed one, so I was okay w/ it. Recommend this one to young sports enthusiasts.
For grades 1-4.