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.

Kingdom of Twilight by Tui Sutherland

Kingdom Twilight is the final installment in the Avatars trilogy and honestly it was a bit of a disappointment. The first book, So This Is How It Ends, immediately pulled me into the fantastic world it created kept me guessing what would happen until the very end. In the subsequent books, both the plot and the world seem to stagnate. More and more of the same is piled and on and the once exciting world Sutherland created begins to feel more and more two dimensional. The story often gets bogged down in pointless banter and one liners exchanged by the main characters and the story seems to drag on twice as long as necessary.

On the positive side this book explores the mythologies of cultures readers are likely to unfamiliar with, for example Sumeria, China, and various African and Polynesian cultures as well. The book also provided resolution and had a surprising twist at the end.

All in all Kingdom of Twilight was an okay book, but it really doesn't pass the first book test for me. And honestly, I recommend reading So This Is How It Ends, skipping the second book altogether and reading only bits and pieces of this book. Feel free to skim over the boring parts.
Recommend this book to children who have read the other two books in the Avatars series grades 5 to 8.

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

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

"It takes a graveyard to raise a child."

The Graveyard Book is the story of Nobody Owens, an orphan raised by the denizens of an ancient graveyard in England. When he was little more than a baby Nobody, or "Bod" for short, had the good fortune of wandering out the front door of his home, then down the street and into a graveyard. While conventional wisdom would hold that this would be bad luck indeed, it is important to take into account Bod's circumstances. His family had just been murdered by a man named Jack, who was just one small child away from completing his task. Young Bod had no way of knowing the graveyard would provide sanctuary, but that's just what happens. When Jack comes for Bod, Silas, a mysterious inhabitant of the graveyard who is neither alive nor dead, leads Jack quietly off into the night. Mr. and Mrs. Owens, a long-dead couple who have waited centuries for a child, adopt Bod. And soon the graveyard accepts him of one of its own, that Bod might come of age living among the unliving.
Jack, however, still searches....

Neil Gaiman's latest book is grim reinterpretation of Rudyard Kipling's the Jungle Book set in a graveyard and I loved every second of it. The story is always engaging and frequently exciting. Gaiman masterfully paints a picture of a fantastic and imaginative world, while mixing in just the right amount of action and adventure. With this book Gaiman has done a wonderful job of opening up a genre usually reserved for older audiences to children. Longtime fans of Neil Gaiman won't be disappointed, the dark subject matter and macabre pen and ink illustrations are reminiscent of other Gaiman favorites, such as Coraline and the Sandman.

Give this one to young fans of horror and the supernatural grades 5-9.

The Rising Star of Rusty Nail by Lesley Blume

Rusty Nail, Minnesota is a town "famous" for being the former American Coot (a bird that looks sort of like a duck) capital of the world. Unfortunately one day they decided to just up and leave and "Rusty Nail was left with only the fond memory of the Era of the Coot." All and all Rusty Nail is a small town with few opportunities. That's why 10-year-old Franny is determined to make the most of her big chance. Franny isn't the best at math or reading or science and she and her friend Sandy have a real penchant for mischief, but if there's one thing Franny excels at it's piano. Her father even calls her his little Mozart. So when the school principal asks Franny to play piano at an assembly for a special visitor to the town Franny practices like she's never practiced before.

The book is set in the 1950s and follows many of the predictable themes of the decade: small town America, the birth of television and most of all McCarthyism. Much of the story focuses on Franny's relationship with Madame Malenko, an aloof Russian concert pianist who moves to town as well as the town's reaction to her arrival.

I've noticed that 50's themes have been popular ever since 9/11 because of the easy comparisons that can be made between McCarthyism and the war on terror. That element is definitely present in this book, but it makes it's point in more of a "don't judge a book by it's cover" fashion. This was a solid book through and through. Give this one to fans of historical fiction, music or Russian composers with unpronounceable names grades 5 thru 8.