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| Balliet, Blue |
Chasing Vermeer
Art, intrigue, red herrings,
and plenty of action, twists and turns make this book a real
page-turner. There are even clues incorporated in the illustrations
which are by Brett Helquist of Lemony Snicket fame.
A priceless Vermeer painting goes missing
and the art world and international police are being teased with
clues being mailed to them but are unable to crack the case.
It's up to two brainy twelve-year-olds, Petra and Calder to decipher
the clues and try and find the painting.
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| Brewer, Heather |
The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Eighth Grade Bites
Vlad Tod has been living with his guardian Nelly ever since his parents died in a tragic fire. Nelly and Vlad's best friend, Henry have been guarding Vlad's secret, he's a vampire, from his father's side. Vlad has never fed on a human before; Nelly brings him expired blood from the hospital. The idea of feeding on a human sort of sickens him; sort of like when we disassociate ourselves from the actual cow we are eating when we buy its parts in a grocery store.
Anyway, Vlad is just trying to get through eighth grade, avoid two bullies who constantly torment him and crushing on the lovely, unattainable Meredith. When his English teacher disappears and this weird substitute teacher replaces him, Vlad starts to wonder about mysteries and unanswered questions surrounding his parents' deaths and his own status as vampire. Book one of a series.
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| Bruchac, Joseph |
Skeleton Man
This is a slim book which you will probably read in one sitting
because you won't be able to stand not knowing what will happen
to Molly. She wakes up one morning to find that her parents have
vanished and she is suddenly placed in the care of a mysterious
uncle she never knew she had. She begins having dreams/ nightmares
about the skeleton man, a figure from Mohawk folklore. |
| Bruchac, Joseph |
The Return of Skeleton Man
This sequel to The Skeleton Man is equally suspenseful. |
| Buckingham, Royce |
Demonkeeper
Nat is a fifteen-year-old orphan mourning the loss of his mentor, Daliwahl, and valiantly trying to maintain control over the house filled with demons he has been left to tend. He is also lonely; so when an equally lonely junior librarian named Sandy gives him her phone number, he is intrigued. Daliwahl warned him against dating, but Nat thinks that there isn't any harm in spending one evening away from the house. In his distraction, he inadvertently leaves a window open, allowing two curious, homeless kids with mischief on their minds, access. What they don't know is that a beast awaits. A beast who has been biding his time, looking for a weakness in the binds that hold him in the basement of the house.
Funny and suspenseful, this quick book reads like a movie. No surprise when a visit to the author's website reveals that it has been optioned for a movie. Hm, now who would play Nat and the various demons are a CGI animator's dream.
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| Couloumbis, Audrey |
Say Yes
Twelve-year-old Casey is a
latch-key kid, used to coming home from school to an empty apartment
to wait for her step-mother to return home from work. When she
wakes the next morning to find that Sylvia hasn't returned, Casey
begins to worry, especially when she finds money in an envelope
and extra food in the fridge. Did she run off with her creepy
new boyfriend? Did something happen to her? She doesn't want
to tell anyone for fear of getting Sylvia in trouble, so Casey
tries to cope on her own, but the money is going to run out.
Soon Paulie, the super's creepy foster child is sniffing around.
He knows that Casey is home alone and offers to help. However
his help comes at a price Casey needs to decide whether to pay. |
| Downing, Wick |
The Trials of Kate Hope
The year is 1973 and Kate Hope is a partner in the law firm of Hope & Hope of Denver, Colorado. She is fourteen-years-old. Her grandfather had closed his law practice after the death of Kate's lawyer father and her brother when Kate was six. When Kate was ten, he reopened the practice after he turned away a poor client, who later died. Kate began helping him by doing research and writing briefs. By the time she turned fourteen, he realized that in all respects, she was a lawyer and encouraged her to sit for the Bar Exam. He discovered that the laws concerning the training of lawyers had never been repealed and the state of Colorado had no choice but to allow Kate to sit for the exam.
Grandfather has been under the weather while preparing a case for a Mexican alien accused of stealing by his ex-employer. Grandfather is home sick when Miss Willis comes for help saving her dog, Herman from being destroyed. Kate takes the case and begins investigating with Mike, her guy friend.
This is a book in which credulity is strained to breaking, but is also mildly diverting, containing a spunky heroine, cantankerous grandpa and eccentric minor characters.
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| Giff, Patricia Reilly |
Eleven
While Sam is nosing through the attic trying to find his birthday presents, he discovers an old newspaper clipping and recognizes his own face and the word, "missing." He is dyslexic and unable to read much more and knows he can't ask his grandfather. Is it possible that Mack is not his grandfather? Gentle Mack, who takes such good care of him and is teaching him about the magic of woodworking. It doesn't seem possible. And yet, Sam has been having strange dreams and weird flashbacks.
He needs to decipher the words in the article but is afraid to go to his best friend. Instead, he decides to cultivate a friendship with Caroline, the new girl who always has her nose in a book.
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| Higson, Charlie |
Silverfin
Another spy thriller for teens, this one features young James Bond. He is a fourteen-year-old orphan entering Eton at half-term and attempting to learn the rules and fit in at this exclusive prep school. A wealthy American boy by the name of George Helibore takes an instant dislike to James, which doesn't lesson when James beats him in a cross-country race. James' hopes that the summer holiday would put time and distance between them are dashed when he learns that Helibore's father owns a castle near the Scotich town James will be visiting to be with his dying uncle. A young boy went missing near Loch Silverfin and James thinks that Lord Helibore had something to do with the boy's disappearance. |
| Horowitz, Anthony |
Stormbreaker
At three o'clock in the morning, fourteen-year-old Alex Rider receives news that his uncle and only living relative was killed in a car crash. The officer delivering the news stated that he was not wearing a seat belt. This detail bothers Alex because his uncle was very methodical about wearing one. When a man claiming to be Ian Rider's boss introduces himself to Alex at the funeral, he notices other details that don't add up and begins to investigate. He tracks down the car his uncle was driving and discovers it riddled with bullets. After almost getting crushed by the auto-crusher and escaping, he is "kidnapped" by this boss, told that his uncle was a spy for the British government and recruited to finish the assignment that killed his uncle. When Alex refuses, he is basically blackmailed into doing it. |
| Horowitz, Anthony |
Point
Blank
This is the sequel to Stormbreaker. You do not have to read the first Alex Rider book to enjoy this one. Alex Rider is a believable, likable, reluctant spy. In Point
Blank, he is sent to a boarding school in France to uncover
the mysterious disappearance of the sons of prominent and powerful
men. |
| Horowitz, Anthony |
Skeleton Key
The third Alex Rider Adventure
does not disappoint. Twice before (in Stormbreaker and in Point
Blank) Alex Rider has saved the world from evil. He has barely
had time to recover from his wounds and return to school when
Blunt summons him to serve as a ball boy at Wimbledon. He solves
a minor mystery there but makes some major enemies prompting
Blunt to loan Alex to the CIA for several weeks to get him out
of England. So Alex is sent to Skeleton Key, a small island off
of Cuba posing as the son of two CIA operatives who are investigating
the sale of nuclear grade uranium to a general from the former
Soviet Union. |
| McNab, Andy and Robert Rigby |
Avenger
This book is a sequel to two earlier titles, Traitor and Payback and while initially slightly confusing, can stand alone.
The SAS is trying to identify ”The Black Star,” the mastermind behind a series of suicide bombings by disaffected teenagers around the world. Fergus & Danny Watts and their friend Elena are working on the mission headed by Fergus’ nemesis, Marcie Devereaux. Elena is posing as a potential ”angel of death” and possibly being groomed by Black Star to commit a spectacular suicide bombing. Fergus is also certain that once this mission is accomplished, the three of them will be eliminated; so he is quietly making arrangements for their safety.
This face-paced, action filled thriller is sure to be a hit with fans of the genre and of Alex Rider books.
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| Muchamore, Robert |
The Dealer (Cherub series #2)
An eighth grader from the class of 2007 recommended this series and loaned me her book. I started the series at book 2, but feel the books stand alone
Twelve-year-old James is an orphan recruited by the MI5 to train as a CHERUB, a highly specialized branch of the MI5 consisting of orphans between the ages of 10 and 17. James and three other CHERUBS are assigned a mission with two adult CHERUB instructors which involves infiltrating a powerful drug cartel. The story line is a bit implausible, but engaging. Readers who like Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider books will like this series.
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| Muchamore, Robert |
The Recruit (Cherub series #1)
I read the first two of this series out of order but the books seem to stand alone. The recruit of the title is James, from #2, eleven-years-old and about to be kicked out of school for inadvertently injuring a female classmate who has been bullying him. Coincidentally, or conveniently, his shoplifting, possibly alcoholic mother dies before finding out about James' latest misdeeds. James finds himself in foster care, where, conveniently, his room-mate, Kyle is on a recruitment mission for CHERUB and just as James finds himself facing yet another brush with the law, he is offered a place in the training program. Don't look too closely at the plotting, ignore the many typos and you will have an afternoon of fun reading. Horowitz's Alex Rider and The Young James Bond books do teenage spy stuff better, though. |
| Muchamore, Robert |
Maximum Security (Cherub series #3)
James is in trouble, again, and about to be put on a recruitment assignment as punishment when he is offered a very high risk assignment in the United States. Coincidentally, his sister, Lauren has completed her basic training and is assigned to go on the mission as well. It involves James and another Cherub, Dave posing as escape risk convicts being transferred to a Arizona Max, a state-of-the-art maximum security prison from which there is no escaping. Their mission is to help a young convict named Curtis Key escape from the prison. The FBI hopes that Curtis will then lead them to his mother, an arms dealer who has been eluding the FBI for decades.
The believability quotient is diminishing and the level of violence and cruelty is escalating in this series which is geared more towards seventh/ eighth grade and older.
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| Pearson, Ridley |
Steel Trapp: The Challenge
Fourteen-year-old Stephen "Steel" Trapp is heading to Washington D.C. on Amtrak to compete in the finals of a national science fair. On the way, he notices that a woman left her briefcase behind when she left the train. He hops off the train with it and attempts to return it to her. He's puzzled when she insists that it is not hers and to please return it where he found it. She was instructed to leave it on that train for a courier to retrieve.
Steel has stumbled into the middle of what appears to be a kidnapping. To complicate matters, his own father is missing. The book is non-stop action and suspense. The character of Steel is believable and likable. Fans of Alex Rider and young James Bond are sure to gobble this one up.
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| Schmidt, Gary |
First Boy
Fourteen-year-old Cooper Jewett has a lot on his plate since his grandfather died what with trying to keep up with the New Hampshire dairy farm his grandfather left, and school work and cross country practice. He never knew his parents; there isn't even a picture of them in his house. His neighbors are helping him with the farm chores but then mysterious black sedans with heavily tinted windows begin showing up around town and at the farm. Suddenly Senator Wickham is interested in having Cooper join him on the campaign trail as he seeks the democratic nomination for presidency. Cooper wants no part of it and suddenly the senator begins playing hardball. One of Cooper's barns is burned down, he is beaten up, his neighbor is beaten up. Although some of the plot points stretch credulity, the book is suspenseful and the character of Cooper is endearing and likeable. |
| Shan, Darren |
Cirque du Freak
Book 1 of a series imported
from the U.K. The narrator and his best friend obtain two tickets
to visit a freak show (which is technically operating illegally
and to which the boys should not be admitted in the first place).
They get more than they bargained for in this totally believable
horror story! |
| Shan, Darren |
Cirque du Freak: The
Vampire's Assistant
Book 2 is no less exciting
than book 1! It has a few gory scenes toward the end of the book,
but it is not excessive. In addition to being a horror story,
it is a story of hard choices, duty and friendship. |
| Shan, Darren |
Cirque du Freak: Tunnels
of Blood
The eagerly awaited third volume
in the Saga of Darren Shan does not disappoint. I forced myself
not to read it in one sitting. Darren and Mr. Crepsley have to
leave the Cirque du Freak and go to the city on a mysterious
mission. Darren is allowed to bring his new friend, the snake-boy,
Evra. He and Evra are content to explore the city while Mr. Crepsley
goes out nightly until the discovery of some gruesomely murdered
bodies causes Darren to suspect Mr. Crepsley of murder. The violence
and gore in this book is notched up and not for the squemish. |
| Shan, Darren |
Cirque du Freak: Vampire
Mountain
Well, the preview of this book
which was published in book 3 was the most exciting part of book
4. Mr. Crepsley and Darren need to travel to Vampire Mountain.
Six years have elapsed since the events of book three. The entire
vampire world meets every twelve years at vampire mountain and
Mr. Crepsley has decided to go and present Darren. Mr. Tiny arrives
while they are making preparations and demands that they bring
along two little people to pass a message to the council of generals.
The trip to vampire mountain is treacherous and soon Darren and
Mr. Crepsley realize that vampineze are also en route to vampire
mountain, presumably to take over the vampire world. For fans
of horror and this series. |
| Shan, Darren |
Cirque du Freak: Trials
of Death
This series was originally published in the U.K. and there are
nine books published there so far so the Saga of Darren Shan
is a long one. In Trials of Death, Darren must face five
trials and pass them in order to become a full-fledged vampire.
He is too young to be one and Mr. Crepsley is in trouble for
blooding someone so young, so no one expects him to survive the
trials. He can obtain advice and training before a trial but
if he is helped by anyone during the trials or if he refuses
a trial, he will be executed. It's a quick read, somewhat predictable
but enjoyable. Hang on for book six, The Vampire Prince.
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| Shusterman, Neal |
Darkness Creeping - Twenty Twisted Tales
The title delivers what it promises, creepy, twisted tales realistic enough and commonplace enough to make one doubt, say the ice cream man, for example. They are often humorous as well. Don't read them just before turning out the lights. |
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