This week I had a couple of quick and exciting reads. Guardians of Ga’Hoole: The Lost Tales of Ga’Hoole by Kathryn Lasky is a fantastic companion book to the popular owl series. It describes the lives of six guardians before they came to the great Ga’Hoole tree. In a sense, it is a short story collection, but the book comes together nicely with Otulissa, the tree’s historian, providing commentary at the beginning of each piece. Even if you didn’t read the series, you’ll enjoy this book.

The second book, Gecko & Sticky: Sinister Substitute, is fast-paced and it kept me on the edge of my seat. The villainous Damien Black has disguised himself as Dave’s substitute in order to find out who Dave, a.k.a the Gecko, is and to retrieve his powerband. But where is Dave’s real teacher, the scarastic and hated Mrs. Krockle? Is she really sick? Or has Damien Black kidnapped her? It’s up to Dave to find out.

I’d recommend both books, but for different audiences. If you’re the type of kid who likes a classicly-written story or a tale with animal characters, then The Lost Tales of Ga’Hoole is your cup of tea. If you’re more into the modern, fast-paced stories with quirky characters and funny illustrations, then Gecko & Sticky is right up your alley.

This week was all about snarling, drooling, howling, prowling wolves! And I’ll bet you’ll be surprised to hear that neither one was a story of werewolves, especially with the whole “Jacob Black” craze going on. Instead, these two books took a different approach. Wolven by Di Toft is about a whole new brand of superpowered wolves called, you guessed it, Wolven! Whereas Wolves of the Beyond: Lone Wolf by Kathryn Lasky is about wolves in the traditional sense of the word.

Wolven follows Nat Carver and his new “dog” Woody. Only Woody isn’t exactly the dog that Nat was expecting. He’s huge, mangy, and Nat was sure Woody sent him a telepathic message. There’s something different about that dog. Nat and Woody develop a close friendship and Nat discovers Woody’s secret: he’s a wolven–a.k.a the opposite of a werewolf. He is a wolf that transforms into a human instead of the other way around. If that isn’t troublesome enough, there is a top secret government organization who is experimenting on wolven…and they’re after Woody.

Wolves of the Beyond: Lone Wolf, a new series by the author of Guardians of Ga’Hoole,  follows Faolan, a wolf pup who is abandoned by his pack because of a slight deformity in his paw. A grizzly bear finds him and decides to raise him as her own. But the grizzly doesn’t know the ways of wolves. And come winter she’ll have to hibernate. And Faolan will be left on his own.

Both books target young adults, ages 9-13. If you like books with a little bit of magic and a whole lot of fast-paced excitement, then definitely check out Wolven. If you’re more into realistic stories about how animals live in the wild, then Wolves of the Beyond is the one for you!

This week had a nice mix of young adult magic and real teenage life. The Sixty-Eight Rooms by Marianne Malone and Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson were both exciting for different reasons.

The Sixty-Eight Rooms is a magical adventure for kids ages 8-12. The story follows best friends Ruthie and Jack as they discover the magic of the Thorne Rooms located in the Chicago Art Institute. The Thorne Rooms are small replicas of historical rooms built in the 1930′s. But when Ruthie and Jack find a magical key, they learn that there’s more to the Thorne Rooms than meets the eye.

Scarlett Fever is the sequel to Suite Scarlett. This story for teens follows 15 year old Scarlett as she lives her crazy life in Manhattan. She works for a demanding theatrical agent, her brother–an actor–gets his big break, she’s working with a new client whose brother is an utter pain in the behind, and she can’t seem to get over her sort-of-ex-boyfriend. Oh, and did I mention she lives in a hotel!

How to Train Your Dragon was this week’s big game. The game is based on the movie which was based on the book, so I’m going to give a quick list of recommended books about games for all the gamers on this blog. If you can find them in a bookstore, flip through and see if it’s something you’ll like.

• Guinness World Records 2010: Gamer’s Edition – Solid gold (not actually made of gold, that would cost too much). Let me just flip to a random awesome record here: “Most Popular Puzzle Game Series of the Century”: Bejeweled. Here’s a cooler one: “New Super Mario Bros. DS Fastest Completion”: 44 minutes, 2 seconds. Full of records and other awesome gaming stuff.
• High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games – A little old now (released in 2002) but fun gaming history with plenty of pictures. I’ll be your dad even played some of those old systems in this book.
• The Book of Games Vol. 2 – A little tougher read, but really awesome info on the gaming industry. Why Volume 2? ‘Cause it’s better than Volume 1.
• The Art of the Video Game – Nothing but awesome pics of great games. Beautiful book.

This week I read two young adult novels: Superior Saturday (book 6 in the Keys to the Kingdom series) by Garth Nix, and The Viper’s Nest (book 7 in The 39 Clues series) by Peter Lerangis.

I have to be honest. I didn’t like Superior Saturday. Which is unusual because I love science fiction and fantasy books. But this novel really confused me. I haven’t read the first five books, which are all based on the days of the week (and if you look a little deeper, the seven deadly sins):

1. Mister Monday (Sloth)
2. Grim Tuesday (Greed)
3. Drowned Wednesday (Gluttony)
4. Sir Thursday (Wrath)
5. Lady Friday (Lust)
6. Superior Saturday (Envy)
7. Lord Sunday (Pride)

So that might have been my downfall. By book 6, authors expect you to have some background knowledge of the plot and characters. So coming into the story with fresh eyes was not the best idea. The series follows 12 year old Arthur as he attempts to gather all seven Keys to the Kingdom–keys, which were left by the Architect, to a mortal heir. But Arthur is growing more and more immortal all the time. In this book, he must find the Sixth Key before his mortality runs out, and return home to stop a nuclear bomb from hitting his city. Those are some big orders to fill for anyone, let alone a 12 year old.

As a long time fan of The 39 Clues series, I really enjoyed The Viper’s Nest. I’m not going to give you too much info on it (the books are so short, I don’t want to ruin any surprises!). But I will say that Dan and Amy travel to South Africa following a clue left by their relative Irina Spasky before she gave her life for theirs. And Dane really steps up to the plate this book, using his awesome decoding abilities. That’s all I’ll say. Definitely check it out.

This week definitely had a more sci-fi feel. Both books were teen science fiction at its very best. The so-good-you-can’t-put-them-down combined with the so-short-you-can-read-them-in-no-time.

Num8ers by Rachel Ward follows Jem, a troubled teenager with a curse — when she looks into people’s eyes she can see the date they will die. When her mother died of an overdose she realized what these numbers meant. And now she finds it difficult to let anyone in. Then she meets Spider. His days are numbered, she can see it in his eyes. But there’s something about him, a connection she can’t deny. Is she setting herself up for another heartbreak, or can she use her knowledge to cheat death?

The Clone Codes by the McKissacks is a real page turner. It’s extremely short — only around 160 pages — but its jam-packed with a deep and thought-provoking plot, and an exciting adventure. The story is set in year 2170, a time when clones live amongst us. But they’re not treated like normal human beings. More like slaves. This concept revisits the 1800′s when black people were considered only three fifths human. Like the black slaves, these clones aren’t believed to be capable of human emotion. But there is an organization called the Liberty Bell Movement who is fighting against this unjust belief. Our main character, Leanna, is at the heart of this movement. Her mother is arrested for her involvement in the slave rights movement, and Leanna is on the run. She must prove to the government that clones do have human emotions and should be given the same respect and rights as everyone else. But its a challenging task for a 13 year old.

Books can really affect your mood.  And this week my mood was fantastic! Both The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima and Possessed by Kate Cann were absolutely addicting.

The Demon King is set back in an unstated time–my guess is about 1000 years ago. The story follows two characters: Han, a retired thief and gang leader with a heart of gold; and Raisa, a princess who finds no luxury in the spoils of royalty and instead uses her wealth to help the less fortunate. The characters come from two completely opposite worlds: rich and poor, healthy and hungry. But their lives intertwine in a way that will change both of them forever. You’ll be hardpressed to find a historical fantasy-fiction novel for young adults that is more action-packed and easy to follow than The Demon King. I highly recommend it.

Possessed conforms to today’s trend of paranormal teen fiction. But this book gives readers more than just the typical “i-see-dead-people” plotline. Rayne is struggling with her home life and needs to get away. She finds the perfect opportunity to escape when she lands a job as a live-in waitress at an ancient estate called Morton’s Keep. But rumors about the estate’s horrific and bloody past makes Rayne question her safety, especially not that the past is resurfacing. Possessed will definitely keep you on your toes. It’s exciting, and most importantly it’s unique. Definitely worth a read.

This week I visited two of the most imaginative worlds in young adult fiction–Luster and Middlemost! First I traveled through Luster, the land of unicorns, found inside Bruce Coville’s The Unicorn Chronicles. In book #1, Into the Land of Unicorns, Cara discovers the stunning and magical land for the very first time. But she’s on a mission. Her grandmother has sent her to seek the Queen of Unicorns and relay a message: The wanderer is weary. Cara has no time to ponder the strange message. A man is after her. Somehow she and her new mystical friends must find the Queen before her pursuer tracks her down.

Second a ventured to the planet known as Middlemost, located in the center of the constellation Orion’s Belt. Middlemost is where imaginary friends, a.k.a abstract companions, are born. They’re designed using kids’ ideas that have floated up from Earth. In Scurvy Goonda by Chris McCoy, we follow 14 year old Ted Merritt, who still has an imaginary friend. His pirate pal, Scurvy, hasn’t left his side for 7 years. And Scurvy is starting to cause problems in his social life. Talking to imaginary friends isn’t so cute at 14. All the kids at school think Ted is insane. When Ted uses drastic measures to get rid of Scurvy once and for all, he learns that his actions have caused the entire population of imaginary friends to disappear!

Both books offer an interesting plot, but only Scurvy Goonda will appeal to both boys and girls. The cover of Scurvy Goonda looks so ridiculous that chances are you’d see it on the shelf, laugh and walk right past. But believe me…pick it up! This book is so well written. The whole “imaginary friend” concept does not make this book for little kids. It’ll appeal to young adults and teens!

Into the Land of Unicorns is great for young adult girls. It’s a short book, and gives you a little taste of what’s to come in the much longer sequels.

If you’re anything like me, then the first chapter of a book can make or break your reading experience. Either it captures you right away with clear, fast-paced action and quirky characters, or it confuses you to the point where you can’t even form a clear picture in your mind. Both books that I read this week, while entirely different genres, have that second type of opening.

The Lab by Jack Heath jumps right into the action. Usually that’s a good way to keep my attention, but in this case I was confused. He refers to his character as “he” for a long time before finally giving him a name. This so called “he” is agent Six of Hearts, a 16 year old superhuman who belongs to a team of agents known as the Deck. On the surface, Six of Hearts is not a nice guy. He’s rude and dismissive to his peers. But underneath, he doesn’t have the heart to kill another. Six is hiding a deep, dark secret. He’s the product of an experiment conducted by The Lab. And now The Lab is out to get him back.

If the beginning wasn’t such a challenge, I’d give this book a better review. It’s great for teenage boys who’d rather read action scenes than build strong ties to the character.

Lyonesse: The Well Between the Worlds targets a completely different reader. It’s for young adults, both male and female, who enjoy reading fantasy and adventure stories. Like The Lab, Lyonesse starts off slow, but it picks up faster than that other book. It begins with the kids playing see-saw, which immediately makes you think that the characters are younger than they are. It follows Idris as he trains to become a monstergroom–someone who can capture and cage the monsters that live beneath the wells.

This story is not written in a modern, conversation-like style. It’s sounds more dated to show how long ago the story takes place. Because of this, as well as it’s very unique storyline, it can be challenging to visualize sometimes.

This week I read Secrets of Deltora by Emily Rodda and The 39 Clues #6: In Too Deep by Jude Watson.

As series companion books go, Secrets of Deltora is a great one. The book is basically a guide to the land that Emily Rodda has created in her Deltora Quest series. It’s nice bonus to have in case you’ve taken too long to read the series and can’t remember certain details about the story. You learn about each of the gemstone-named territories and the native dragons. And you get an inside look at all the cities and creatures that are unique to each region. Not only is the book informative, it’s also very visually appealing. It’s a large, hardcover book with a funky hologram on the cover. The pages, which are made to look old and weathered, contain lots of colorful images and illustrations. This companion book is a great addition to the Deltora Quest series.

The 39 Clues has be one of my favorite YA series since book 1. But I must say, books 6 knocks its predecessors out of the water. The strong character emotions in this book will attract more female readers. And it takes place in a great setting too–Australia, home of koalas, kangaroos and dingos! But aside from these warm and fuzzy animals, Australia is also home to some of the worlds deadliest creatures. And as you’d expect, Amy and Dan encounter perhaps the most frightening of them all. In Too Deep is sure to keep you hooked on the series.