Discordia by Dena K. Salmon

Lance spends all day playing Discordia a hot new MMORPG (fancy acronym for online computer game). He has a level 18 zombie sorcerer and he's finally starting to make some good progress in the game now that TheGreatOne has invited him to join his guild. So when a snow day is declared Lance plans on spending some quality time with Discordia. However, he ends up getting more sucked into the game then he ever expected when he finds in himself actually in Discordia.

This book had a good premise and writing that was genuinely exciting and humorous. However, this book also has glaring plot holes that left me questioning what exactly was going on. Several times I turned back a page to see if I had accidentally skipped one, but alas it was the author that skipped a page not me. The ending had similar problems, in some reviews I saw it called a cliffhanger. I would would simply call it incomplete or perhaps unsatisfying. This book had a lot of potential and with a few rewrites may have achieved it, but as is this book fails to satisfy.

Recommend this to children who love video games or glaring plot holes grades 5th thru 9th.

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.

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 Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. the Hunger Games have begun....

When trying to imagine the Hunger Games think reality TV meets Roman Gladiator fights, in the future. Our protaganist Katniss is a 16 year-old coal miners daughter who poaches to help her family make ends meet. Her father died years ago and her district, is a poor one anyway, so Katniss has to apply for food aid from the government. Applying for food aid means putting your name in the lottery an extra time, but winning the lottery is hardly desirable. Every year each district (there are 12) must send two lottery winners (one male, one female) to the Capitol (a city in the Rocky Mountains where all the citizens live lives of luxury at the expense of the districts) to compete in the Hunger Games. The Hunger games are plain and simple a televised fight to the death. Twenty-four teenagers are placed in a vast wilderness arena with weapons and minimal supplies and left to fight it out over the course of a couple weeks. The winner goes on to live in luxury; the losers, well- they're already dead. And guess what? Katniss just won the lottery.

This book was an instant favorite. Katniss is a compelling female protaganist and the action and survival sequences, which dominate this book, were well written and exciting. The book can be gut-wrenchingly violent at times, but it's no worse than what you'll find on television or the news for that matter. The world is well-crafted and Collins gives just enough information to keep the story engaging, but never so much as to bog down the plot. My one (and only) complaint about this book was that while it could have been an excellent stand alone work, Collins has decided to make it into a trilogy. I hope I'm wrong, but I doubt the second book will be able to live up to the first.

Give this book to fans of Reality-TV, survial stories and action addicts grades 5+

The Sorcerer of the North by John Flanagan

Will's a full Ranger now and just arriving in his new fief! At first it seems like things might be too quiet in the backwater he's landed in, but things start heating up quick. First, there's a Skandian raid and then not long after Will is off on a secret mission to the far North, where there have been rumors of an ancient sorcerer back for revenge.

This book packs in the action cover to cover: a ghostly warrior, a sorcerer, poison, a betrayal and- of course- lots of sneaking around in the woods. I loved this book from start to finish, my only gripe with it was its ending. Very little is resolved and it feels like there's a least a chapter (maybe 3 or 4) missing. I'm sure Flanagan will resolve everything from this book in the next one, but I still feel a little cheated. Even with the problem with the ending, this one definitely passes the first book test. In fact, this is one of my favorite books of the series. Give this one to adventure/ medieval enthusiasts grades 5-9.

Brisingr

Christopher De Paolini's third book in the Inheritance Cycle is a marked improvement from his last book Eldest, but ultimately suffers from the same flaws.

First let me start by saying Eragon was wonderful, the book pulled me in and left me wanting more. Eldest on the other hand was only satisfying because I was desperate to hear more about Eragon, the plot in Eldest was forgettable at best and groan worthy at worst (the whole Luke- I am your father rip-off, c'mon really?) Brisingr, also has some groan worthy surprises (don't worry I won't tell you what they are I'll let you suffer thru them on your own terms) and like Eldest the story seems to drag on without any clear direction at time (I cite the lenghty foray into dwarven politics as a shining example- and if you're wondering no nothing surprising happens feel free to skip those 100 pages if you like), however, the story had it's strong points as well. For example Eragon's character is pretty freakin' rad. I enjoyed all the battle sequences with him punching thru shields, leaping over walls and cleaving things in half. And he's got a dragon and she's always blowing fire and eating things, that's pretty sweet too. *Mild spoiler alert, skip to end of paragraph to avoid* His new sword, also freakin' rad. It lights on fire whenever he says it's name (disappointingly it's name is fire) and it plays an integral role in the forementioned cleaving things / enemies in half.

If Eldest had been the first book in the series, I wouldn't have read the next book, Brisingr however, is good enough it to pass the First Book Test and I would continue reading the series based on it's merits alone. Give Brisingr to fantasy buffs, dragon aficionados and people who like saying words like "oathbound," "shadeslayer," or "aye" grades 6+

Little Brother

Marcus, a.k.a “w1n5t0n,” is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works–and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school’s intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems.

But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they’re mercilessly interrogated for days.

When the DHS finally releases them, Marcus discovers that his city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: to take down the DHS himself.

Little Brother owes a very obvious debt to George Orwell's 1984, just like in 1984 someone is always watching... or trying to anyway. Little Brother does an excellent job of providing a realistic update to 1984. It offers a plausible worst case scenario for the a possible United States of the near future in which the Department of Homeland Security is allowed to run rampant while a do nothing president plays golf rather than defend the civil liberties of his citizens.

This book made me so paranoid! At one point I even considered making the hidden camera detector which the book described (most of the cool gadgets and hacks described in the book are real) and I thought the book made some excellent points about security (does taking off our shoes at the airport really make us safer from a determined terrorist?) Do I think this will really happen to America? No, but I do think it's a good cautionary tale and any book that reminds Americans of the importance of our liberties gets an A+ from me

Give this one to older teens, especially the tech-savvy. Grades 9+

Rapunzel's Revenge

It's Rapunzel, but set in the wild west and as a graphic novel.

Rapunzel spends her young life blissfully unaware of the world beyond the walls surrounding Mother Gothel's estate, one day she decides to find out what's over the walls. Beyond is a rocky wasteland of dusty stone, smoky chimneys and sad times. Rapunzel also just happens to run into an worn down old miner who turns out to be her birth mother, (what are the chances?) who had been forced to give up Rapunzel at birth by Mother Gothel. Rapunzel, of course flips out and then Mother Gothels counter flips out and sends Rapunzel off to live in a tower made out of a tree (Mother Gothels has growth magic, which lets her wilt or grow vegetation at will). So Rapunzel lives in the tower for 4 years with nothing to do except grow her hair and play with it. Anyway, eventually she grows it long enough to turn into a giant lasso and she rescues herself. The rest of the Graphic Novel she goes around as some kind of cowgirl superhero fighting for good and trying to stop Mother Gothel's tyranny. Oh and she also meets Jack (the guy who climbed the beanstock) and he follows her around helping her out.

The Graphic Novel was an interesting idea and the art was great (although i didn't care for the way Rapunzel red braid looked like hot dog links), but it was somehow lacking. About half-way thru I started looking for excuses to stop reading "Gee, I really should vacuum right now" and "Hmm, I think I've got some dishes in the sink that I ought to wash." When washing the dishes starts sounding more appealing than reading, I know something is off with the book. However, I finished reading it and all in one sitting too. I wouldn't say this book was bad, on the contrary I enjoyed it, but I would say this book was a disappointment, great potential with only fair execution.

For wild west enthusiasts grades 5-9.

Peak

"My right ear and cheek were frozen to the terra cotta wall.
"To reach the top you must have resolve, muscles, skill, and...
"A FACE!"

Peak is the oddly named son of the world's most famous climber ("It could have been worse. My parents could have named me Glacier, or Abyss, or Crampon,") and a great climber in his own right. So great, in fact, that he starts climbing New York City skyscrapers and tagging them. When he gets busted tagging his sixth building, the judge threatens to throw the book at him (3 years jail time) to prevent copycats from endangering themselves. However, his lawyer and father come up w/ a plea bargain, Peak has to leave the country immediately to live w/ his father, Josh, (who he hasn't seen in 7 years) until all the media attention surrounding "spider-boy" (Peak) blows over.
Peak ends up in Tibet with his father on the slopes of Everest, but it turns out Peak's father has an ulterior motive, he wants to get Peak up the mountain making him the youngest climber up Everest and (hopefully) making his fathers climbing company rich.

This book was fast paced and exciting cover to cover. Life and death climbs, multiple visits from the Chinese military and yaks. Lots and lots of yaks. What more do you need? Give this one to adrenaline junkies Grades 6+

Found

An unscheduled airplane arrives at an airport terminal on board are 36 babies and no one else! Who are they? Where did they come from? No one no knows. Now skip forward 13 years to suburban Ohio, Jonah had never thought much of being adopted, but when he starts getting creepy letters that say things like "you are one of the missing," he starts wondering about his past. His adoption records have always been sealed, but maybe its time to investigate a little bit of his own. You see where this is going? Down a one way to street to freakin' awesome that's where!

I loved this book start to finish whenever I wasn't reading it I was thinking about reading it and now that I'm done reading it, I'm dreaming about reading the next book in the series (Sent to be released August 2009). Some authors just flat out know how to write and Magaret Haddix is one of those authors, she could write a book about making and toast and it would turn out awesome- with this kind of subject matter of course the book is great.
Give this book to Sci-Fi lovers grades 5 thru 9.

Nation

"When much is taken, something is returned." Nation is the latest book by Terry Pratchett (best known for his adult sci-fi series Discworld). The book is set in an alternate universe South Pacific and follows 13 year old Mau as he copes with the aftereffects of a tsunami, which kills everyone else on his island. As weeks pass, refuges begin to arrive from the surrounding area, because Mau's island (though tiny) is one of the largest in the area and holds religious significance for the people of the area.

This book is part survival story and part coming of age story, it's about rebuilding a society and young love, it explores issues such as belief and the responsibilities of leadership and it also explores the possibilities of tree climbing of octopuses and irreverent parrots "AWK - show us your drawers!", that is to say this book does it all. The only part i didn't enjoy was the last chapter (no worries no spoiler here) which suddenly jumps hundreds of years in the future and acts like this whole thing had been a story told to children by an old man by the sea. That would have been okay with me if the book had begun with the storyteller, or even if he had been referenced somewhere in the middle of the story. An unfortunate end to an otherwise great story. Offer this book to fans of survival and adventure stories grades 6+

Jennifer Government

OkayI feel like I've been on a real dystopia bender lately, but hey it's my favorite genre and this blog is even called dinosaur dystopia (BTW I'm still searching for a great piece of dystopian dinosaur fiction so if you know of one lemme know), so y'all are gonna have to bear with me.

Jennifer government was awesomely dystopian, but not in the standard dystopian model. Usually dystopias are set in a post-apocalyptic world or they deal with a big brother type government. Jennifer Government does the opposite. The government has next to no power, taxes have been abolished and the police are a private organization. Large corporations hold sway over the world and more or less do as they see fit. In this story Hack Nike (Employees last names are dictated by the company they work for) signs a contract to work with the Nike corporation's guerrilla marketing department, unfortunately he doesn't read the small print and finds out he's just agreed to assassinate 10 people in order to hype the new Nike shoe line.

The book is wild ride thru a future which examines the consequences of consumerism and self-regulation. An exciting read and a great conversation starter. For grades 9+

Saga

Saga is the sequel to Epic and even though it not quite on the same level, it's still freakin' rad! Saga, like Epic, is set in a video game, but this time the setting is cyberpunk instead of fantasy. Erik's character Cinderella is back, but this time she's not the central focus of the book, instead we meet 15 year old Ghost, an anarchist airboarder who lives "off the the grid." Like Epic Saga has a strong dystopian theme, but Saga takes it in a more anarchist direction. Teens who are into anarachy signs and punk rock will relate.

Saga is much grittier than Epic, which some will like, as for me its a great book, but my heart is heart still pines for Epic ;)
For grades

Every Man for Himself

This is a collection of short stories about being a guy and mostly coming of age stories. Honestly I only picked it up because Mo Willems wrote one of the stories and I've been on a Mo Willems kick for the last few months (I even bought an elephant and piggy toy recently). The story by Mo Willems was good, it was about super heroes, but honestly it wasn't the best one in the book- I think my favorite one was about a boy had a raffle to see who his prom date would be- so funny. I didn't recognized most of the authors, but when i was reading the bios at the back I found out one of them wrote the graphic novel Blankets, which I love. Overall I really enjoyed this collection, although I worry it might not be as appealing to teens as nostalgic adults, nevertheless give this one to teen boys, I suspect they'll get something out of it and possibly even *gasp* enjoy it. Ages 14+

Exodus

2099- Earth's ice caps are melting. Can refuge be found?

For one hundred years earth's ice caps have been melting. Powerful storms that last for months scour the North Atlantic and the oceans are rising. The residents of the Island of Wing had thought they were safe. How much more could the oceans rise? Only the oldest residents still remember the tall sheer cliffs that held the island high above the ocean, now even at low tide the cliffs have disappeared beneath the waves. All of the surrounding islands have gone under and last summer the school house washed away. Now the residents of Wing have a terrible choice leave their homes or risk the wrath of the ocean.

I loved this book, it was like waterworld, but without Kevin Cosner and not nearly as ridiculous. Fans of the post-apocalyptic fiction genre will love this book as will eco-conscious teens, because the book ask the question what happens if we don't change our ways and the polar ice caps keep melting? For grades 8 and up.

Epic

Wow what a book! Epic combines my two of my favorite genres futuristic dystopia and fantasy adventure. On New Earth everyone's lives revolve around Epic, a fantasy adventure computer game. Success in Epic, results in benefits for yourself, your family, possibly even your whole town. When Erik's mother loses a dispute against Central Authority things start looking grim for his family, they could be relocated to a new area and maybe even be split up. Erik's only hope is Epic, if he plays well enough he could save the whole family.

I started this book at 11 o'clock at night with the intention of reading one chapter and then going to sleep. I read the first chapter, it was good so I read another. The second chapter was even better, I kept going. Three hundred pages later I finally made myself put it down and go to sleep. The next morning I read a little more before. I had intended to bring it to work with me so I could finish it during much lunch break, but alas I forgot it and spent all day thinking speculating about what the last 14 pages contained. I highly recommend this book! It has it all vampires, knights, magic, swashbuckling! For grades 7 and up.

Gods Of Manhattan

Have you ever thought that maybe everyone famous to have ever lived in your city might live on a as a god and protector of your city in on an invisible ethereal spirit realm? No? Well neither had I, but that's exactly what this book assumes. It turns out to make for an interesting story, because it allows for such disparate elements as Dutch colonials, civil war soldiers and baseball players to all be brought together in one rollicking story. Of course there has to an outsider protagonist to introduce us to the world of Mannahatta (the invisible overlay on Manhattan where the gods live) and thirteen-year-old Rory fulfills that role in this book. Rory is just your average teenager with one exception, he's extremely observant. He always notices all the little details and he's always been able to see thru any magic trick. So when a magician at his little sisters birthday party performs a magic trick that must be real, Rory's whole world is thrown into disarray and that's when he starts seeing the magical world of Mannahatta.

This book's pacing can be slow at times and non-New Yorkers may have a hard time keeping up w/ all the history, but the interesting concept more than makes up for that. Recommend this book to fans of adventure books and historical fiction. For grades 6+

The Battle for Skandia

The most recent installment in the Ranger Apprentices Series (book 5 The Sorcerer of the North will be released this November) did not disappoint. I was totally hooked by this series, I read the first 3 in one week, took a little break and then came back for the fourth a month later. The Battle for Skandia resolves the story arc introduced in the third book. Early in the book Will and Halt are finally reunited in distant Skandia, but they are immediately faced w/ a new dilemma. An enemy from the East who threatens both Skandia and Araluen necessitating that Halt and Will form an unlikely alliance w/ the Skandians. As with all the Rangers apprentice books this one is full of arrow shooting, axe-swinging and sword fighting, as well as plenty of battle tactics to satisfy all the budding young strategists out there.

For grades 5-9.

Ranger's Apprentice The Burning Bridge and the Icebound Land

These are two great books, the second and third installment of the Ranger's Apprentice series. The books feature Will, a ranger's apprentice, as he learns the ranger's craft from Halt a legendary ranger during tumultuous times in his home kingdom of Araulen. In The Burning Bridge Morgarath is threatening the kingdom once more. So Will travels to Celtica with Horace and Gilan a Ranger and former apprentice of Halt. Along the way our heroes manage to encounter a healthy helping of adventure not to mention the bandits, mysterious empty villages and of course, the burning bridge.

In the Icebound Land Will is taken prisoner and held captive in distant Skandia. Meanwhile, Halt and Horace travel over land in search of Will. This book was slower paced than the first two; mostly because it features the ever popular (and highly cliché) captured and held prisoner plot line (actually two separate captured plot lines if you can believe it). Another thing that bothered me about this book was a somewhat heavy-handed anti-drug message. However, the characters are still very engaging and the book still manages to pack in the action (I particularly enjoyed the jousting).

Both books are full of adventure and should surely hold the attention of fans of the fantasy genre. If you like the middle ages, high action books or even cloak and dagger type spy books this series is a must read. For grades 5-9.