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The third and final installment of Gordon Korman’s Masterminds series packs a punch to conclude an epic trilogy. Masterminds: Payback begins right where Masterminds: Criminal Destiny left off. Amber, Malik, Tori, and Eli have been split up escaping from the “Purple People Eaters” chasing them. They’ve been on the run ever since they discovered that their entire lives were fake. They were raised as experiments in a town called Serenity. Living in a fake city where nothing goes wrong, the four pre-teens were actually clones of the most notorious and terrible criminals in the world, living science experiments for something called Project Osiris. “Basically, theRead More →

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If you are into fantasy or fairy tale books I would recommend reading Wendy Toliver’s new novel Once Upon A Time: Regina Rising. Although based on the television series Once Upon A Time, this story can and does stand on its own. This book takes place in the Enchanted Forest and centers around sixteen-year-old Regina Mills. She seems like a normal teenager – she is into horses, art, and boys – except she lives in a castle, her father is a prince, and her mother has magic powers and is critical of her every move. One of the things Regina has never had in herRead More →

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Readers who enjoy science and mystery are in for double the pleasure in Jack and the Geniuses at the Bottom of the World by Bill Nye and Gregory Mone.  Although the book–the first in what promises to be quite a series– is clearly a work of fiction, it has qualities of nonfiction, like back matter, notes about real science, and answers to essential questions about Antarctica, which literally is the bottom of the world. The novel features twelve-year-old Ava who builds talking toasters, motorized skateboards, and robots from spare parts; her fifteen-year-old brother Matt, an observer who thinks things through, circumvents obstacles, and forms theories from his collectedRead More →

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Book One in The Wingsnatchers saga, Carmer and Grit by Sarah Jean Horwitz, will likely appeal to readers who enjoy fantasy adventure stories and steampunk settings.  Blending just the right proportions of science, action, and magic, Horwitz creates an engaging tale with lessons about self-discovery, the value of perseverance, the environmental impact of mankind’s industry and inventions, and the importance of achieving a balance for harmonious coexistence. The key characters in this tale are thirteen-year-old Felix Cassius Tiberius Carmer III, who is Antoine the Amazifier’s apprentice; and Grettifrida Lonewing, a fire faerie who cuts quite an intimidating figure for one only five inches tall andRead More →

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April 15 will mark the 105th anniversary of the historic event of the Titanic’s sinking, an event which is memorialized in Dan Gutman’s latest installment of The Flashback Four: The Titanic Mission.  Gutman preserves the Titanic’s history, as well as that of 1912, in a retelling that features four twelve-year-olds: Luke, a large white boy with a touch of Attention Deficit Disorder and a compassionate heart; Julia, a prep school blonde with a penchant for money, clothes, and risk-taking; David, a tall African American boy who never learned to swim but loves to laugh; and Isabel, a studious girl from the Dominican Republic who prefers toRead More →

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Set in 1724, The Unexpected Life of Oliver Cromwell Pitts by Avi tells the story of the Cromwell family living in Melcombe Regis, a small community on the southern coast of England.  Because his mother died during childbirth, Oliver forms a strong bond with his sister, Charity, who comforts and cares for him.  Their father, overwhelmed by grief at the loss of his wife and generally intractable, repeatedly lets his children down so that Oliver and Charity are often disappointed by their father’s poor parenting and wish for an instruction book on how to deal with inept parents.  Besides his drinking, gambling, and bad moods,Read More →

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As Jing turns eleven, she realizes that the age is “like an age of breakthroughs – tea-drying for the first time, my first offering to the guardian, visiting a new city, getting a new hanfu…new adventure, new experiences” (30). What seems like an exciting new period of her life quickly turns into her greatest fear, though. Jing’s widowed Aunt Mei has led the family since the death of Jing’s mother, and because of low resources, she convinces Jing’s father that it is time for Jing to get married. Jing is spirited enough to fight back against the plan to sell her to a big cityRead More →

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For readers who appreciate topics like Arthurian Legend, museum artifacts, bravery, or World War II history, The Metropolitans by Carol Goodman will not disappoint.  Goodman blends these subjects in a time-bending mystery that features four thirteen-year-olds who themselves have endured persecution for their cultural heritage: Madge McGrory, an Irish Catholic; Walt Rosenberg, a Jewish boy; Kiku Akiyama, a Japanese American; and Sose Tehsakónhes, a Mohawk Indian, also known as Joe.  The four form the Brotherhood of the Lost, since they have all experienced the trauma of loss but have found one another, bonding in friendship and courage.  But with those positive traits come their opponents:Read More →

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Maximum racing is dangerous; one out of ten cars doesn’t make it to the finish line.  But race car driver Cassica Hayle is fast, flighty, and full of fierce life.  Possessing an addictive, restle ss energy and delighted by chaos and speed, Cassica craves life in the fast lane and wants to escape Coppermouth,  a barely surviving, backwater town where the stars at night are actually “restless orbital weapons moving steadily, left over from the Omniwar”(30) when death machines  “destroyed whole cities with lances of fire from space” (31). Now, in Coppermouth ,  people die from dust lung, a respiratory affliction resulting from dust blowingRead More →