The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I saw the very popular movie version of this novel before reading the book.  Although the library places The Hunger Games in the Young Adult collection, I definitely recommend it for adults as well as teens.  The story takes place in the future and includes science fiction elements, but its appeal is by no means [...]

Stravaganza : City of Masks by Mary Hoffman

I haven’t even finished this book but I am already so excited about it and the fact that there are 3 more books after this one in the Stravaganza Series. The reason I am so excited is because this book has a “Harry Potter feel” to it, meaning it is something one can read once [...]

Black Pearls: A Faerie Strand by Louise Hawes

     Black Pearls is a collection of familiar fairy tales, but each is very different from the one we learned as children. The author may choose a different narrator, such as letting one of the seven dwarfs tell his tale about Snow White, or she may cast a villain in a more favorable light than we expect or [...]

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and Maus by Art Spiegelman

I have just finished reading two books set during World War II.  The first is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.  Actually, I listened to the downloadable audio version of this book, narrated by Allan Corduner.  Told from the perspective of Death personified, this is the story of a young German girl, Liesel, growing up [...]

Sorcery and Cecelia-or-The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer

Another fantasy series set in England? Ho hum, you may say–been there, done that. But don’t be too quick to classify this series as another Harry Potter read-alike. The story line is significantly different from HP and the method used to create these books (this title and two sequels thus far) is truly fascinating. First, [...]

Interworld by Neil Gaimon and Michael Reaves

Joey Harker is a kid who gets lost in his own home. Seriously. He once made a wrong turn or two and wound up in closet. While walking through town on a school assignment, Joey stumbles into an alternate reality. It’s a world eerily the same yet different from his own, and that’s just the [...]

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows by J.K. Rowling

The grand finale, the ending to end all endings, the seventh book of the Harry Potter series is finally here for its loyal fans.  Weighing in at a whopping 759 pages, this last installment is sure to give its voracious readers plenty of answers, not to mention a showering of details of Rowlings’ wizarding world [...]

Am I Blue: Coming Out from the Silence edited by Marion Dane Bauer

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Rock Star, Superstar by Blake Nelson and Guitar Girl by Sarra Manning