Mississippi (Mibs for short) Beaumont awaits her thirteenth birthday with great anticipation and anxiety. At thirteen, members of her family get their 'savvy.' No one knows what their savvy will be. Her brother Rocket causes electricity to explode whenever he passes. Fish can cause huge thunderstorms whenever he is near a body of water. Her mother does everything perfectly. Two days before her birthday, her father is in a car accident and falls into a coma. On the morning of her birthday, Mibs is sure that her savvy is to wake things up, so she just has to get to her father as soon as possible. She stows away on a pink, bible-delivery bus and finds her own Wizard of Oz adventure. This book won a Newbery honor award in 2009.

Similar authors: Kate DiCamillo

Awards nominated: Rebecca Caudill Award 2011

Awards won: Newbery Honor book 2009

Reviewed by: vverscaj

Date read: 8/20/2009

ISBN-10: 0803733062

ISBN-13: 9780803733060

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Commenter: Ann, grade 8

Commenter: Anya, grade 5

After Jack becomes apprenticed to a Druid bard, who has taken refuge in his village, he, and his little sister, Lucy, are captured by Viking Berserkers, and taken to the home of King Ivar the Boneless, and his half-troll queen. In order to save Lucy, Jack must undertake a dangerous quest to Jotunheim, home of the trolls. Sequel: Land of the Silver Apple.

Reviewed by: sc

Date read: 3/27/2009

ISBN-10: 0689867468

ISBN-13: 9780689867460

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This tale of a non-funny jester, a talking Buffalope, and a Golmiran Captain very small in stature is spiced with humor from start to finish. The trio encounter brigands,lupers, an evil King, and it all revolves around Kerin, a lovely princess who will become Queen in one year. However, her Uncle has no intention of giving up the throne and devises plot after plot to ensure Kerin will not take her rightful place as Queen. Sebastion's adventures continue in Sebastian Darke: Prince of Pirates.

Reviewed by: adf

Date read: 6/5/2009

ISBN-10: 0385734670

ISBN-13: 9780385734677

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Horace Carpetine does not believe in ghosts. He is a photographer's apprentice in New York City in 1872, and he has been raised to believe in reason and science. The photographer that he is apprenticed to is shady, though, and a scam artist. He decides to pretend to be a spirit photographer to make more money. To do this, he finds a wealthy family whose daughter has just died, and sends Horace to photograph old pictures of the girl in order to superimpose them onto pictures of her mother, making the family believe that the young girl's spirit is there with them. While there, Horace discovers to his disbelief that he can actually capture spirits inside a photograph. Horace can't control his new-found powers though, and accidently lets loose a restless ghost bent on revenge. This book has great historical details, and is a spooky and exciting read!

Similar authors: Mary Downing Hahn; R.L. Stine; Betty Ren Wright; Robert D. San Souci

Similar books: The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall by Mary Downing Hahn; The Ghosts of Mercy Manor by Betty Ren Wright; Count Karlstein by Phillip Pullman; City of the Dead by Tony Abbott

Reviewed by: lauraf

Date read: 5/16/2012

ISBN-10: 0060000171

ISBN-13: 9780060000172

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Olive has just moved into an old house in an old neighborhood with her parents, who are college math professors. Although Olive doesn't have a mathematical bone in her body, she does have an inquiring nature. The old house is full of rooms that have been left as they were when previous owners used them, and antique paintings, which were all painted by the former owner, Aldous McMartin. In her investigations, Olive meets a cat, Horatio, who warns her that 'they' are watching and want Olive and her parents to leave. Not wanting to believe the cat, Olive continues her search and finds a pair of spectacles which allow her to enter the paintings. In one, she meets a boy, Morton, who claims he was kidnapped and placed in the painting, where he was trapped. Pretty soon, Olive finds out that Horatio's warning was true, but Olive doesn't give up that easily and she continues to look for answers to the mystery. This is a suspenseful story that keeps the reader guessing until the end.

Similar authors: Neil Gaiman

Awards nominated: 2013 Bluestem Nominee

Reviewed by: vfv

Date read: 6/30/2012

ISBN-13: 9780142418727

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