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THE ADVENTURES OF STANLEY DELACOURT by Ilana Waters 2012 Middle Grade Fantasy Grades 3-6 Review copy purchased. ABOUT THE BOOK Ten-year-old Stanley Delacourt loves his quiet life in the peaceful village of Meadowwood. At least, he does until his best friend is killed. Then the town library—where Stanley lives and works—is burned to the ground. The individuals responsible for both tragedies are a nasty group of soldiers. They work for the kingdom’s new leader, Christopher Siren. With the grown-ups too fearful to take action, Stanley vows to confront Siren. He plans to get answers and demand justice. Little does he know that his journey will involve sword-wielding knights, kidnapper fairies, and dark magic. Stanley has only two allies back home: a witch named Meredith, and a young apothecary called Sophie. Can they help him discover the reason behind Siren’s crimes and end this terrible reign? Or is Stanley set to become the next victim in the tyrant’s evil plot?...

STORYBOUND by Marissa Burt Harper, 2012 ISBN: 978-0-06-202052-9 MG Fantasy Grades 4-6 Reviewed from purchased copy. ABOUT THE BOOK In the land of Story, children go to school to learn to be characters: a perfect Hero, a trusty Sidekick, even the most dastardly Villain. They take classes on Outdoor Experiential Questing and Backstory, while adults search for full-time character work in stories written just for them. In our world, twelve-year-old Una Fairchild has always felt invisible. But all that changes when she stumbles upon a mysterious book buried deep in the basement of her school library, opens the cover, and suddenly finds herself transported to the magical land of Story. But Story is not a perfect fairy tale. Una’s new friend Peter warns her about the grave danger she could face if anyone discovers her true identity. The devious Tale Keeper watches her every move. And there are whispers of a deadly secret that seems to revolve around Una herself.... With ...

THREE TIMES LUCKY by Sheila Turnage Dial Books for Young Readers, 2012 ISBN: 978-0-8037-3670-2 Middle Grade Historical Fiction Grades 3-6 Reviewed from purchased copy. A hilarious Southern debut with the kind of characters you meet once in a lifetime Rising sixth grader Miss Moses LoBeau lives in the small town of Tupelo Landing, NC, where everyone's business is fair game and no secret is sacred. She washed ashore in a hurricane eleven years ago, and she's been making waves ever since. Although Mo hopes someday to find her "upstream mother," she's found a home with the Colonel--a café owner with a forgotten past of his own--and Miss Lana, the fabulous café hostess. She will protect those she loves with every bit of her strong will and tough attitude. So when a lawman comes to town asking about a murder, Mo and her best friend, Dale Earnhardt Johnson III, set out to uncover the truth in hopes of saving the only family Mo has ever known. Full ...

HEIRS OF PROPHECY by Michael A. Rothman M & S Publishing, 2012 ISBN: 978-0-98516-97-0-1 Grades 4 and up Reviewed from copy provided by TLC Blog Tours. All opinions expressed are solely my own. The Riverton family had been enjoying a simple summer vacation when, through a fluke of nature, they found themselves in a strange new land.  The Riverton brothers quickly realize that in this world, they have gained unusual powers. Powers that their parents fear will attract the attention of Azazel himself - the merciless wizard who brutally controls this world.  The two brothers soon learn that an ancient prophecy has finally been initiated by their arrival in Trimoria. As the heirs of this prophecy, they are destined to lead the armies of men, dwarves, elves, and even a misfit ogre against the prophesied demon horde. Only one thing stands in their way. The evil wizard who has learned of their presence, and has sent assassins to wipe them from existence. Rev...

THE AGE OF MIRACLES: A NOVEL by Karen Thompson Walker Random House, 2012 ISBN: 978-0812992977 Grades 4-7 Reviewed from copy provided by publisher through NetGalley. Book Synopsis comes from Goodreads. “It still amazes me how little we really knew. . . . Maybe everything that happened to me and my family had nothing at all to do with the slowing. It’s possible, I guess. But I doubt it. I doubt it very much.” Luminous, haunting, unforgettable, The Age of Miracles is a stunning fiction debut by a superb new writer, a story about coming of age during extraordinary times, about people going on with their lives in an era of profound uncertainty. On a seemingly ordinary Saturday in a California suburb, Julia and her family awake to discover, along with the rest of the world, that the rotation of the earth has suddenly begun to slow. The days and nights grow longer and longer, gravity is affected, the environment is thrown into disarray. Yet as she struggles to navigate an ...

THE HERO'S GUIDE TO SAVING YOUR KINGDOM by Christopher Healy Walden Pond Press, 2012 ISBN: 978-0-06-211743-4 Grades 4-8 Reviewed from personal copy. Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You've never heard of them, have you? These are the princes who saved Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel, respectively, and yet, thanks to those lousy bards who wrote the tales, you likely know them only as Prince Charming. But all of this is about to change. Rejected by their princesses and cast out of their castles, Liam, Frederic, Duncan, and Gustav stumble upon an evil plot that could endanger each of their kingdoms. Now it's up to them to triumph over their various shortcomings, take on trolls, bandits, dragons, witches, and other assorted terrors, and become the heroes no one ever thought they could be. Debut author Christopher Healy takes us on a journey with four imperfect princes and their four improbable princesses, all ...

We've Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children's March written by Cynthia Levinson Peachtree, 2012 ISBN: 978-1-56145-627-7 176 p. Grades 3 and up Reviewed from purchased copy. BLURB : We ve Got a Job tells the little-known story of the 4,000 black elementary-, middle-, and high school students who voluntarily went to jail in Birmingham, Alalama, between May 2 and May 11, 1963. Fulfilling Mahatma Gandhi s and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. s precept to fill the jails, they succeeded where adults had failed in desegregating one of the most racially violent cities in America. Focusing on four of the original participants who have participated in extensive interviews, We ve Got a Job recounts the astonishing events before, during, and after the Children's March. Levinson has done an incredible job with this book.  Not only does she give an account of the events leading up to and including the Children's March but she merges comments from some of the participa...

SCARLET written by A.C. Gaughen Walker Children's, 2012 ISBN13: 9780802723468 292 p. Grades 9 and up Reviewed from personal copy. BLURB : Many readers know the tale of Robin Hood, but they will be swept away by this new version full of action, secrets, and romance. Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in. It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and makes this fight worth dying for. One of the things I find interesting about the book world is the fact that there are books for every sort of...

Cinder written by Marissa Meyer Feiwel & Friends, 2012 ISBN: 9780312641894 390 p. $17.99 Grades 7 and up Reviewed from purchased ebook. BLURB : Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future. I don't read a lot of young adult books, I guess I just prefer middle grade and younger.  However, when I heard about this book, I ...

 I've decided to participate in this year's 2012 Debut Author Challenge hosted by The Story Siren .  I'm excited to get to read at least 12 middle grade or young adult books by author's new to these genres.  Here is a list of some of the books I'm interested in reading for this challenge.  This is of course just a preliminary list, it will undoubtedly change as the year progresses. I will undoubtedly discover other great debut books to read. Book descriptions and covers are from Goodreads.com .   Storybound by Marissa Burt In the land of Story, children go to school to learn to be characters: a perfect Hero, a trusty Sidekick, even the most dastardly Villain. They take classes on Outdoor Experiential Questing and Backstory, while adults search for full-time character work in stories written just for them. In our world, twelve-year-old Una Fairchild has always felt invisible. But all that changes when she stumbles upon a mysterious book buried de...