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This is the third book in the Grey Griffins series and they just keep getting better! Max, Ernie, Harley and Natalia are the Grey Griffins, four kids in the small town of Avalon, Minnesota who enjoy playing a card game called Round Table. In the first book, The Revenge of the Shadow King, the exciting adventures begin when the kids discover that the fantastic creatures and characters on their Round Table cards actually exist!  Max finds a magical book in his grandmother’s attic and is tricked into releasing an evil creature from it. Max becomes the new guardian of this important book, called the Codex.Read More →

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The Other Half of Me by Emily Franklin.  Jenny is a teenager with some typical teenage problems.  She is struggling to fit in with her athletic family.  She wants them to be more supportive of her interests.  She is jealous of her twin sisters’ close relationship and also feels that nobody understands her.  In her family of 6, she feels lonely. Jenny loves to paint.  The big art show is coming up and she wants to paint something good enough to get into the show. She has a crush on Tate, and now he seems to like her too.  Jenny also has some problems that are far from typical.   Her dadRead More →

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The Softwire: Virus on Orbis 1 is a fantastic sci-fi book for all ages.  Excellent for reluctant readers! Johnny Turnbull, aka JT, and his little sister Ketheria never knew their parents.  Years before they were born, their parents agreed to leave Earth to make a long trip through space to work on the far-off rings of Orbis.  After a malfunction killed all of the adults on the ship, the computer raised the embryos that the adults had brought on board.  When these children, no older than twelve, arrive on Orbis they discover that they must work off their parent’s debts by being virtual slaves for theRead More →

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Spanking Shakespeare is one of the funniest books I have ever read.  The main character, Shakespeare, is a senior in high school and writing his senior project.  It’s hilarious!!!  Clever!!! Intelligent!!!  When you start reading it you won’t be able to stop. Not appropriate for young readers, but enjoyable for older teens and adults. Posted by MichelleRead More →

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Harmless, a book that is anything but, raises some eyebrows. Do you buy it for your child? Do you put it on the shelf as a librarian? Can it be used in the classroom? As an 8th grade Language Arts teacher I saw many heart-wrenching situations that my students wound up in, many situations that I think we as educators don’t always catch or know how to deal with. I grew up in a pretty stable environment, a fact I am thankful for, but a stable environment is not always par for the course. What I love about Harmless is that it is told fromRead More →

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Sonya Sones’ What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know is an easily accessible story of a lovable nerd experiencing his first relationship and its accompanying issues. It tells the story of Robin Murphy, an awkward artist who happens to land a popular girlfriend. When she is dropped by her friends for dating ‘the’ Murphy, they must make a stand together or lose what they have fought to gain. Written in accessible verse, What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know is a poignant coming-of-age tale. Sones’ narrator Murphy is the anti-hero whose quirks and insecurities are instantly endearing and lovable. As an imperfect Prince Charming, Murphy’s journey from timid boyRead More →

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Evolution, Me, & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande attacks the controversial arguments surrounding religion in schools from a new perspective. Mena, Brande’s protagonist, starts the school year having been kicked out of her church group. When none of her former friends will speak to her, Mena finds refuge in science class with a charismatic teacher and cute new lab partner. When the class begins the unit on evolution, however, Mena finds herself in a difficult position between her old and new friends. Tackling a number of controversial subjects, this book tells a compelling story of a young girl figuring out what she believesRead More →

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   The Afterlife by Gary Soto grabs the reluctant reader in the first few pages with the story of Chuy who is stabbed, dies, and becomes the ghostly protagonist of this compelling story.  As Chuy struggles to find the significance of his life and watches his family come to terms with his violent end, he meets the lovely Crystal, also recently deceased.  I read this story with junior high students who “HATE to read” but they were quickly drawn into Chuy’s search for understanding and the question of whether his death would be avenged.  The author of this book, Gary Soto, is a favorite ofRead More →

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The Alchemyst (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel) tells the story of teen twins Sophie and Josh who discover that a San Francisco bookstore owner, Nick Flemming, is really Nicholas Flamel, a nearly 700 year old alchemist who created the elixir of life.  His enemy, Dr. John Dee, steals the Codex, an ancient book containing the secrets of magic, and a prophecy regarding the twins. As Flamel and the twins race to recover the book, they are pursued by Dee and the members of the Elder race who are the source of most of humanity’s ancient myths and legends.  Throughout this riveting book, Elders and other magical creatures line up onRead More →