Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Katsa has a grace as is evident in her eyes. Each of her eyes has a different color. Katsa has been graced with superior fighting skills and her Uncle Randa uses Kasta as his enforcer in the kindgom of Middluns (one of the seven kingdoms.) Working as King Randa's enforcer bothers Katsa to her very core, so she and her team of four friends have formed an underground network called The Council that fights for the underdog throughout the Seven Kingdoms. On a secret mission for the Council, Katsa and her team rescue an elderly Lienid who has been kidnapped and is being held prisoner in King Murgon of Sunder's dungeon. It is during this rescue, Katsa battles a graced Lienid whose skills are close to her own. This encounter spins Katsa's life in a different direction. Read Graceling to follow Katsa's amazing journey.

Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke

The final book of the Inkheart trilogy, finds Meggie and her family still in Ink World. Mo is being hunted by the Adderhead, who wants Mo to rebind the book that has given him immortality. The Adderhead is furious over the trick that Mo and Meggie played in Inkspell and is wreaking havoc in Ink World. Fenoglio has lost his control over the story. Mo, as the Bluejay, and the Black Prince try to fend off attacks by the Piper and others sent by Adderhead to capture Mo, Meggie and Resa. Meanwhile, Elinor is stuck in our world wondering what is happening to her loved ones. This is an exciting end to Funke's extraordinary fantasy.

Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson

Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports is James Patterson's third book in the Maximum Ride Series. Max and her flock are genentically-altered humans that have wings. Yes, they can fly and each of these extraordingay kids as other powers. They are on the run from their enemies, evil scientists who want to control the world. Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, Angel and her talking dog, Total set out to save the world from the over-zealous scientists. Max struggles with trust issues. This third installment is action-packed. Check out the whole series: Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment, School's Out Forever and The Final Warning.

Avalon High by Meg Cabot

"You are so lucky."
Ellie's best friend Nancy tells her. Ellie Harrison gets a chance to start over at her new high school while her parents (college professors) are on sabbatical near Washington, D.C. Ellie has spent most of her summer in seclusion floating on a raft in the pool, but that will change when she starts Avalon High.
At Avalon High, she finds herself attracted to Will whose girlfriend, Jennifer seems to be attracted to Will's best friend, Lance. Complicated? That's just the beginning. Ellie soon discovers that she is wrapped up in an old legend. Will she have the courage to step-up when she is needed?

Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor

Alyss of Wonderland has just regained the thrown from her evil Aunt Redd. Redd and the Cat escaped through the Heart Crystal but are now trapped within the crystal. Hatter Madigan is on a retreat. Homburg Molly, Alyss's bodyguard, is off sulking after a reprimand. Alyss is even managing to find some time to spend with Dodge as she settles into the demands of running her queendom. And then it begins, brutal attacks on Alyss's soldiers by Glass Eyes and phantom sightings have the Wonderlanders wondering, "Is she back?" Seeing Redd is book two of The Looking Glass Wars.

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

The Golden Compass is Book 1 in the His Dark Materials trilogy. This holiday season it will be released as a major motion picture. Now's your chance to read Lyra's story before you see the movie!

Lyra Belacqua runs freely at Jordan College in Oxford, England with her daemon, Pantalaimon. (A daemon is connected to a person much like a soul. As Lyra's story progresses the reader learns that children's daemons may change their animal shape but when one matures his or her daemon settles on one animal shape.) When Lyra's powerful uncle, Lord Asriel, visits the college, Lyra learns of the dust. Dust that is feared by some and others find intriguing. Lyra is pulled into a world of Gobblers who steal children, of witch clans, and armored bears. Her journey takes her to the cold far North and to her destiny.

If you enjoy, The Golden Compass, you will want to follow it up with its sequels The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.

Poison by Chris Wooding

Poison lives in the village of Gull in the heart of the Black Marsh with her father, step-mother and baby sister, Azalea. When the Scarecrow steals Azalea on Soulswatch Eve and leaves a changeling in her place, Poison consults Fleet, a wise old man in the village, about leaving the village and traveling to the Realm of the Phaeries to bring her sister back. Fleet gives her infromation and finds her a ride out of Gull with Bram, the wraith-cather. And so their journey begins, once upon a time.

Poison is not your average fairy tale. It is a much darker. If you like the Harry Potter series or books by Cornelia Funke, you might want to give Chris Wooding's books a try.

The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

(originally posted May 29 on BookTrail@edublogs.org)

The Oracle spoke: "Five shall go west to the goddess in chains, One shall be lost in the land without rain, The bane of Olympus shows the trail, Campers and Hunter combined prevail, The Titan's curse must one withstand, And one shall perish by a parent's hand."
Percy Jackson's best friend, Annabeth, is missing after a recent quest. The goddess, Artemis has dissappeared. Zoe Nightshade and Bianca Di Angelo, hunters, join Grover and Thalia on a quest to fulfill the Oracle's prophecy. Percy has been ordered to stay behind. But, it wouldn't be a story about Percy if he followed orders, now would it?
Rick Riordan's third in the series about the Olympians, is a great read. Which one of the three books is your favorite?

The Crane by Jeff Stone

(originally posted on April 17, 2007 on BookTrail@edublogs.org)

The Crane by Jeff Stone is the lastest book in his The Five Ancestor Series. The series introduces five brothers, Fu, Seh, Malao, Hok and Long, who were raised by the Grandmaster at the Cangzhen monastery. Each brother was taught an animal style of Kung-fu by the Grandmaster and finds the need to use it throughout their adventures. When the Cangzhen monastery is attacked by the emperor's soldiers led by a traitorous older brother, the younger brothers must flee. Each brother scatters in a different direction and each book tells the tale of their adventures as they search for one another with hopes to reunite.
The Crane is Hok's story and Jeff Stone's lastest installment.
I suggest you start with the first book, The Tiger. Then if you want to find out the rest of the story, like I did, read The Monkey, The Snake and The Crane.

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

(Originally posted on March 20, 2007 on BookTrail@edublogs.org)

Imagine having a voice so wonderful, so incredible that when you read aloud from a book some of the characters would appear in this world. Meggie's father, Mo, a bookbinder, has this gift. But this gift also comes with a curse for when one character from the Inkheart's world appears in our world, someone from our world disappears into Inkheart's world. Two characters, Dustfinger and Capricorn, have been released from Inkheart into Meggie's world and Meggie's mother has disappeared. Capricorn and his gang are searching for Mo. They have an evil plan for our world and Mo's gift is needed to set the plan in motion.
Follow up this great read with the sequel, Inkspell. Meggie reads herself in Inkworld and a new adventure begins.

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

(originally posted March 18, 2007 on BookTrail@edublogs.org)

I just finished reading the Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor. I actually had a chance to meet the author at the Comic Convention in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago. He gave me a 60 second synopsis of the book, enough to make me curious and purchase the book. He plans to write a triology and he is working with others on a comic book series that is already out entitled Hatter M based on Alyss's bodyguard. I'm intrigued with the concept of having cross-over characters in the novel and comic book. Those of you who are familiar with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass should read Looking Glass Wars just to see how Beddor uses familiar characters and the setting of Wonderland to take us on a whole different journey. And now for Looking Glass Wars...
At Queen Genevieve's command, Hatter Madigan, the Queen's faithful and loyal bodyguard, snatches up seven-year-old Princess Alyss and flees through the Pool of Tears to keep her out of the clutches of her vicious Aunt Redd. After emerging from the portal, Alyss finds herself separated from her bodyguard and alone in Victorian London. In London, she meets the author Lewis Carroll to whom she entrusts the terrible story of the Wonderland coup. Alyss hopes that someone will read the tale, come to her rescue, and return her to Wonderland. Lewis Carroll publishes her story as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and he gets everything wrong including the spelling of Alyss's name. Meanwhile, Wonderland has come under the cruel rule of the Queen of Hearts, Alyss's Aunt Redd. Will those loyal to Alyss be able to find her in time to return her to the throne? Will Wonderland ever return to its former glory? Check out a copy of The Looking Glass Wars to find out.
What have you read lately?

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

(originally posted on March 9, 2007 on BookTrail@edublogs.org)

Well, the gods of Mt. Olympus have been at it again. They've been interfering with the lives of mere mortals. Poor twelve-year-old Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of yet another boarding school for causing trouble during a class field trip. But he had to defend himself against his pre-algebra-teacher-turned-monster. After all, she was trying to kill him! When the Minotaur chases Percy to a summer camp for half-bloods, Percy begins to understand the life he has been dealt.

Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt

(originally posted on February 20, 2007 on BookTrail@edublogs.org)

I just finished reading Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt. If you like romance, you should enjoy this book. Keturah Reeve, a peasant girl, wanders away from her loving village out into the forest following the legendary hart and soon she is lost. After three days of wandering deeper into the forest, Keturah weak with fatigue and hunger realizes she is dying. When Lord Death comes to claim her, Keturah uses her storytelling skills to gain another day. She strikes a bargain with Lord Death that if she can find true love, he will have to let her go. Lord Death returns her to the edge of the forest close to her grandmother's cottage after Keturah promises to return the next night to finish her story and to be claimed by Lord Death. Will Keturah find her true love in just a day?
What have you read lately?