Elementary – Page 44 – Sneak Peek Books

Underworlds: The Battle Begins

The Greek gods of mythology are stories told about gods that never existed, or so Owen Brown thought. Then on a seemly ordinary day, his friend Dana disappears through the school floor. Determined to find out what happened to Dana and bring her back home, Owen decides to follow the clues to rescue his friend.

Jon and Sydney join Owen on his search. Along the way, they discover that Loki has taken Dana. In order to bring her home, they must descend into the Underworld, fight the legendary warriors called Myrmidon and avoid Loki’s wolf, Fenrir. Fighting Greek and other mythological creatures is no easy task for a fourth grader, but with the help of his friends, Owen hopes that freeing Dana can be done.

The first book of the Underworlds series begins with action and never slows down. Owen and his friends are interesting characters whose bravery can be admired. Although Fenrir and the Myrmidons are dangerous, they are described in a kid-friendly way that won’t scare younger readers. The Battle Begins is an action-packed story that brings mythology to life.

Sexual Content

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Violence

Dana was captured by a mythological creature and taken to the Underworld.
Owen and his friends must defeat a Myrmidon, Fenrir (the giant red wolf), and Loki, who is “a huge figure—a man of ice, frost, and smoke.”
Owen plays Orpheus’s lyre, and “the army of Myrmidons climbing the staircase crashed to the floor in a heap, bringing the top of the town down with them.”
The Myrmidon hurl their battle axes, but the group is able to escape.

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Supernatural

Owen takes Orpheus’s lyre out of a museum. The lyre has magical powers. When played with the right note, people, animals, and mythological creatures do what Owen commands.
When Owen and his friends go to the Underworld, they are taken across a river. In the river are the recently dead, “human shapes swimming under the waves, their mouths open in silent screams.” Owen is told that the recently dead “haunt the shore, hoping to rejoin the living, fearing to cross to the far side.”

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Underworlds: When Monsters Escape

Owen, John, and Sydney saved Dana from the Underworld, but that didn’t end their problems. Hades threatens to take Dana back forever unless Owen and his friends capture the cyclopes and bring them back to the Underworld.

When Owen and his friends discover that the cyclopes have taken over the power plant in Pinewood Bluffs, they know they must find a way to return the creatures to their world. However, they are not sure how to overcome the giants.

When Monsters Escape is as fun and action-packed as the first book in the series. Even though the friends are battling giant creatures, the scenes are not described with gory detail, which allows younger readers to be entertained without being frightened. However, the descriptions of the undead maybe a little frightening for some readers.

Sexual Content

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Violence

Cyclopes come to Owen’s town. One “reached back and ripped a telephone out of the ground as if it were a weed. He threw it across the road in front of the car, which swerved up onto the sidewalk . . . the driver leaped out of the car and ran back up the road.”
Owen and his friend must face three cyclopes. Owen uses Odysseus’ Nobody trick and Orpheus’s lyre on the cyclops. “. . . The hairy cyclops bellowed in pain, arching back into the wall next to me.”
Loki throws fire bolts at the group.
Draugs, which are undead creatures from Norse mythology, chase the group. Some of the draugs have axes and spears. Dana defeats them by using a powerful glove. “Dana spun like a ballerina, and blades of light swung around her like scythes. The ragged shrouds of the draugs caught fire.”
Dana uses the glove to capture the cyclopes. “Chains swirled suddenly out of the storm like snakes and wound around the cyclopes’ wrists, binding the giants tightly together.”

Drugs and Alcohol

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Supernatural

Draugs are in Owen’s town. They are described as “death walkers.” They are “dead Viking warriors who come back, like ghosts. After they die, their souls live on in their old dead form. Draugs are strong. Angry. Evil. And they can’t really die.”
Runes are used to control others. When used, the stone tingles “and not in a good way.”
Owen and his friends use a rune stone to transform into Draugs. “We all grabbed hold of the Draug thread and chanted strange runic names over and over . . . We grew larger, wider, our faces oozed facial hair—even the girls’—and our clothes turned gray and frayed. . . we didn’t feel dead. We just looked like it.”
The cyclopes make armor for Loki that will make him indestructible. “The helmet wove bands of silver over his face. The horns on his head stuck out of the helmet and writhed as if alive.” Dana takes a sliver of the armor and “Loki’s armored glove was forming around her hand. It melted over her wrist and palm and fingers like liquid silver.”

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Underworlds: Revenge of the Scorpion King

Another adventure begins when Owen, Dana, Jon, and Sydney sneak onto Loki’s sled and end up in the Babylonian Underworld. Unsure of where they are or how they can stop Loki from waging war on their world, the friends will have to rely on each other to survive.

With the help of a new friend, the group must figure out a way to get to the top of the Scorpion King’s tower before Loki. The Revenge of the Scorpion King gives readers a glimpse of the Babylonian Underworld and the monsters of legends. The new monsters add excitement and suspense to the story. Because the events in the story are based on mythology, younger readers won’t be so scared that the events could happen to them. The scenes are not described in detail, which allows readers to enjoy the monster battle scenes.

Sexual Content

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Violence

The children are chased by Underworld soldiers and a monster that is “a cross between a dragon and a giant crocodile.” The monster throws green flames at the children.
Loki tries to defeat the children throughout the story. In one scene, as Loki chases the children, he throws bolts at them. Dana throws her own bolts at Loki. “Bolt after bolt of silver light sprayed across the room, and Loki and Fenrir dived away.”
Thornviper, a snake-like monster, attacks the children. “Then a blast of flaming thorns from the creature’s mouth almost incinerated us.”
Furnace, an eight-foot metal monster blows flames at the children. “Furnace spat at us from his fiery jaws, coals spraying across the floor.”
Mad Dog attacks the children. “He twisted back and swiped at us with a massive paw. His claws caught a handful of shelves on the wall and tore them away. Then he opened his jaws wide, and flames shot out.”
Loki shoots a flame at Owen, which knocks him down. “Except that the bolt of silver light didn’t actually hit me. It flashed so close to my face that I thought I had died. Or gone blind. Or both.”
Birdman, a half-bird, half-man monster attacks the children. Dana hits him and his “upper beak split and flames leaped out.”
The scorpion king hits Loki with his stinger. “The armor at his shoulder burst open, and we saw white bone. Loki collapsed to his knees, clutching his shoulder. . .”
Loki takes the Babylonian monsters to earth, where they begin attacking Pinewood Bluffs. The monsters begin incinerating the town’s buildings.

Drugs and Alcohol

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Supernatural

Loki uses runes to control the monsters. He is trying to get the Tablets of Destiny, so he can control the monsters forever.
Owen uses Orpheus’s lyre to get the monsters to do as he commands. He also uses the lyre on the parents, so they will allow them to stay in Pinewood Bluffs and fight the monsters.
Dana has a piece of Loki’s armor that she uses as a weapon.
The scorpion king turns back into a human.

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Underworlds: The Ice Dragon

Loki is bringing an army of Underworldly creatures to take over Odin’s throne. As part of Loki’s battle plan, he turned Pinewood Bluffs into one of his battlefields. Before Loki can continue his journey to Asgard, he must find the Chrystal Rune. Owen, Dana, Jon, and Sydney are determined to find the Chrystal Rune before Loki can and save their world.

The Ice Dragon is an action-packed story that introduces the Norse gods. The story also explains why children have been chosen to help fight Loki. The Ice Dragon features Loki’s shape-shifting abilities and gives the reader a glimpse into his trickster personality. Although some of the events in the book are a bit far-fetched, the last installment of the Underworlds series is one of the best because of the non-stop action.

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Violence

When looking for the Chrystal Rune, rock goblins appear. “A small army of green-skinned creatures swarmed out from the rocks. They were as skinny as stick figures, with tight green skin, curling talons, and hoofed feet.” A man appears and helps the children. “While the man hacked a path through the goblins, we tore through the mines. . .”
Loki throws mistletoe at one of the gods. The god “cried out and fell to his knees. With a sigh as loud as the wind, he slid to the ground, eyes blank, body still.”
Loki attacks Asgard. The armies from different Underworlds unite to defeat him. The battle is described without detail.
Loki changes into an ice dragon and attacks the children. Owen stabs him with a sword. “The sword was deep in Loki’s chest . . . A howl came from the mound of ice chunks. The dragon was no more, and Loki appeared in its place, screaming and squirming and clutching his chest with both hands.”

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Supernatural

The Valkyries are key characters. They are described as “the three daughters of the Norse god, Odin, and they chose which heroes died in battle.”
Loki kills Baldur. Later, as Baldur travels to the underworld, he comes back to life. Owen says, “Maybe because it wasn’t Ragnarok, after all? So Baldur couldn’t die?”
Loki’s daughter keeps Dana a prisoner in the Underworld. Loki’s daughter is described as “an old skull-headed lady with stringy white hair. Her hands were the bones of a skeleton, hanging together with stringy sinews. Her arms and legs, visible under her cloak – ugh! —were covered in rags that may or may not have been rotten flesh. When she cracked open her jaws, worms slithered out.”

Spiritual Content

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Dino-Mike and The Dinosaur Doomsday

When Dino-Mike’s father goes on an expedition to Antarctica, Dino-Mike doesn’t expect much to happen. But when the Bones siblings unexpectedly arrive, they bring danger with them. The Bones siblings wake up a Doomsday Dinosaur who could easily crush Dino-Mike, Shannon, and Jurassic Jeff. The three think that the Doomsday Dinosaur is their worst nightmare, but there is more danger lurking beneath the Antarctic ice.

Dino-Mike and The Dinosaur Doomsday is an action-packed story that has Dino-Mike and his friends battling both the Bones siblings and ancient dinosaurs that come to life. Although the majority of the story is fictional, the story contains some facts about Antarctica and the dinosaurs that roamed. However, readers should not pick up the Dino-Mike series if their sole intention is to learn factual information about dinosaurs.

The series will appeal to younger readers because it is written with imagination and action. Scattered throughout the text are onomatopoeias that help create suspense. The story is easy to read and is a good series to pick up to interest beginning readers. Although Dino-Mike and the Dinosaur Doomsday is the seventh book in the series, the plot can be understood without reading the previous books.

Sexual Content

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Violence

The Bones siblings cause an avalanche that “poured down on the base, covering it completely.” Dino-Mike’s father is trapped inside.
The Bones siblings wake up a Doomsday Dinosaur that breaks through the ice. “The ground beneath their feet opens up. CRUNNNCH! A geyser of ice thrust them thirty feet into the air.” Shannon almost falls into the crack in the ice, but Dino-Mike is able to save her.
The Bones siblings wake up burrowing dinosaurs that attack a group of people. “Jeff leaped backward just as one of the burrowing dinos burst through the ice, snapping its jaws. It was a narrow miss!” Dino-Mike is able to anticipate where the dinosaurs will pop out of the ice and keep the group safe.
A giant water dinosaur “chomped down on Dino-Mike” and “leaped into the air, and then arched its long body and dove back toward the water below.” The dinosaur tries to eat Dino-Mike, but he gets stuck in the dino’s throat and is sneezed out.

Drugs and Alcohol

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Supernatural

The Bones siblings have a device that allows them to wake-up dinosaur fossils and control the dinosaurs. They also have a controller that allows them to open an “interdimensional portal.”

Spiritual Content

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The Princess in Black and the Mysterious Playdate

The fifth installment of the Princess in Black series is just as fun as the previous books. When Princess Magnolia heads into the city for a playdate, a monster follows the princess because she smells like a goat. As the two princesses play, the monster tries to eat someone’s pet kitty. Princess Magnolia jumps in to help, but when she arrives, the monster has disappeared. Will a new hero be able to help Princess Magnolia find the monster?

The Princess in Black and the Mysterious Playdate takes a humorous look at what it takes to be a hero, “Step 1: Wear a disguise. Step 2: Ride a brave, masked beast. 3. Do lots of cool ninja moves.” Readers will enjoy seeing the princess in blankets, Princess Sneezewort, figure out if she can be a hero princess. As the princesses look for the monster, the monster finds creative hiding places that make looking for him a fun part of the story. The Goat Avenger has very little action in the story and his presence is missed.

The Princess in Black and the Mysterious Playdate is an excellent book for beginning readers. Fun illustrations appear on almost every page to help readers visualize the story’s actions. The chapters are short with easy-to-understand language. The monster in the story is more humorous than scary. If you’re looking for a high-energy, enjoyable book with strong girl characters, then The Princess in Black and the Mysterious Playdate should be added to your reading list.

Sexual Content

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Violence

A hungry monster wants to eat goats but cannot find any. Instead, he tries to get a pet kitten. “EAT PETS!” the monster said. The princess tells him he cannot eat pets, so he asks “EAT YOU?” When the monster pounces, “the monster got tangled in one of her (the princess’s) blankets.” The princess in black shows up and helps take down the monster with a “playtime romp, karaoke jam, and snack-time stomp, and a unicorn ram.”

Drugs and Alcohol

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The Princess in Black Takes a Vacation

After a night of keeping goats safe from monsters, the Princess in Black is exhausted. All she wants to do is take a nap. Then a new hero, the Goat Avenger, offers to watch over the goats so the Princess in Black can take a vacation. With the Goat Avenger keeping the goats safe, Princess Magnolia goes to the seaside, hoping to get some much-needed sleep. Just when Princess Magnolia curls up in her hammock, she hears a “Roar.” Soon people are running from a giant sea monster. Will Princess Magnolia ever get the sleep she needs?

Even though the story revolves around the Princess in Black needing a nap, the storyline is fast-paced and engaging. The story goes back and forth between the Princess in Black’s experience and the Goat Avenger, which adds interest and humor. The battles are reminiscent of the classic Batman and Robin comics with onomatopoeias that make the story even more fun.

The Princess in Black Takes A Vacation is an excellent book for beginning readers. Fun illustrations appear on almost every page to help readers visualize the story’s actions. The chapters are short with easy to understand language. If you’re looking for a high-energy, enjoyable book with a strong female character, then The Princess in Black Takes A Vacation should be added to your reading list.

Sexual Content

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Violence

The Princess in Black “wages battle” against a “toothy monster” that wants to eat goats. The pictures show the action, “Sluggish swing! Double Dozy, Doozy Fling!”
A sea monster appears at a beach and wants to eat people. “People dropped ice pops in the sand . . . ‘EAT PEOPLE!’ roared the sea monster. “PEOPLE YUM!” Princess Magnolia climbs onto the sea monster and tells him “Sea Monster, you may not eat people.” After a short battle, she convinces him to eat fish instead.

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A Case of the Clones

When Dr. Bunsen overhears the kids complaining about all of their chores and homework, he decides to help. He creates a set of clones to help the kids with their work. The only trouble is, he didn’t tell the kids what he had done. When the clones start causing problems, the kids aren’t sure they can keep the clones from creating more trouble.

A seriously entertaining book with a diverse cast of characters, A Case of the Clones is a perfect book for beginning readers. The story features a crazy scientist and a group of girls and boys who are not afraid to be smart. Although the parents are only shown briefly, they are portrayed in a positive light. Gabe’s mother speaks a couple sentences of Spanish. With easy to read vocabulary, short sentences, and illustrations on almost every page, the story will build a reader’s confidence.

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My Family Adventure

Sofia Martinez is a seven-year-old girl who wants to be noticed. My Family Adventure contains three short stories about Sofia’s daily life. In the first story, she tries to gain her family’s attention through a photo swap. In story two, Sofia and her cousins want to make a surprise gift for their abuela’s, or grandma’s, birthday. In the third, a class pet goes missing and Sofia needs to figure out how to get the pet back into its box.

Sofia Martinez: My Family Adventure is written for beginning readers. Each story contains three easy-to-read chapters. Beginning readers will appreciate the many pictures that are scattered throughout the story and the large print. Readers will be able to relate to the topics in each story. Spanish words and phrases are printed in pink and appear throughout the text. Although many of the words are understandable because of their context, a glossary is included at the end of the book.

Sofia’s story shows her cultural heritage through her stories. In each of her stories, her large family is portrayed as a positive influence. Sofia often relies on her family members to solve her problems. In one story, her father lovingly tells her, “There are a lot of people here. Not everyone can pay attention to you.” The illustrations are another positive aspect of the book. The illustrations are full of color and portray Sofia and her family as warm and stylish. The character’s facial expressions will help younger readers decipher the emotions of the characters.

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The Fenway Foul-Up

Mike Walsh knows everything about baseball. His cousin Kate Hopkins knows a little about everything. When the two get tickets to the Boston Red Sox game and all-access passes to Fenway Park, they will have to put all their knowledge together to solve the mystery of Big D’s missing bat.

Big D’s lucky bat is stolen during batting practice. Without his bat, will Big D be able to hit a much-needed home run and lead his team to victory? Can Mike and Kate solve the mystery and return Big D’s bat to him?

Baseball fans and mystery fans will enjoy The Fenway Foul-Up. Readers will be engrossed in the story as Mike and Kate follow the clues and eliminate suspects. The story is easy to read, but will also capture the attention of older readers because of the storyline. To help break up the text, black and white pictures appear every two to five pages. The book ends with a satisfying conclusion and fun facts about Fenway Park. This book will be a hit for reluctant and more advanced readers.

Sexual Content

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The Pinstripe Ghost

Mike and Kate get to spend three whole days at Yankee Stadium. The excitement of being at the most famous ballpark in America gets even better when Mike and Kate hear the rumor that Babe Ruth’s ghost is haunting the new stadium.

As Mike and Kate investigate the ghost sightings, they feel a chilly blast of air and hear strange sounds. Is Babe Ruth really looking for his missing locker or is something else going on at Yankee Stadium?

Black and white pictures appear every 2 to 5 pages and will help readers visualize the action. Even though Capital Catch is the #13 book in the series, the books do not build on each other, so they can be read out of order. The book ends with fun facts about New York’s Yankee Stadium.

Mystery fans and sports fans will both enjoy solving the mystery in The Pinstripe Ghost. The Pinstripe Ghost is another fun mystery for early readers. Although the story revolves around a ghost, there are no scary parts. Readers will have fun putting together the clues in this easy-to-read, engaging story.

Sexual Content

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The San Francisco Splash

Sitting on a kayak in the San Francisco bay, Mike and Kate watch as balls soar over the wall of the ballpark and fall into the water. Both Mike and Kate hope to catch one of these splash balls. When a man falls overboard, Mike catches a big surprise—the man is an old-time baseball player. When the man is pulled from the water, his World Series ring is missing. As Mike and Kate search for clues, they learn about San Francisco and the ballpark.

The San Francisco Splash is an easy-to-read story that has a simple plot. Black and white illustrations appear every 2 to 5 pages. Most of the illustrations are a full page and they help readers visualize the characters as well as help them understand the plot. The book ends with Dugout Notes that teach fun facts about the recently built ballpark. The Ballpark Mysteries do not need to be read in sequence to be enjoyed.

The San Francisco Splash will hit a home run with young fans of mysteries and sports.

Sexual Content

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Language

Kate calls her cousin a “dope.”

Supernatural

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Stranger Things

Ed’s parents have always encouraged him and his siblings to be unique, but when Ed finds a strange coin, his life becomes wacky. Ed’s sister’s food begins to move, his brother becomes a pool toy, and a bedtime story comes to life. After all the strange occurrences, Ed’s friends want him to be a little less strange. In an effort to stop the strangeness, Ed tries to get rid of the coin, but it won’t let him give it away. Can Ed find the coin’s true home before he loses his friends?

Newly independent readers will love the silly events that happen to Ed. Looniverse: Stranger Things has easy-to-read text and fun illustrations that will teach the importance of problem-solving. Through the wacky events in Ed’s life, the reader will learn that having others consider you strange is not necessarily a bad thing. The story points out that Albert Einstein and artist Pablo Picasso were both considered strange, but “Our greatest artworks and inventions happened because someone had a strange idea or saw a strange sight. Without strangeness, the world would be terribly dull.” In the end, Ed and his friends both realize that being different is part of what makes Ed such a fun friend.

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Supernatural

When Ed finds a coin with the words “Strange, stranger” on it, odd things begin to happen. One example is when the story The Pied Piper comes to life and his sister leads rodents around the house.
When Ed tries to give the coin away, it becomes hot to the touch and the boy gives it back. Later Ed throws the coin in a bush; someone sees him drop the coin and gives it back to Ed.

Spiritual Content

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Ghost Attack

When Alex and his cousin Sarah visit their grandparents, they don’t expect to find a ghost. Alex gets terrible red hives every time a mysterious ghost is near. Even though Alex screams every time the ghost appears, the ghost persists in showing up. Alex and Sarah decide to delve into Thistle’s Fall’s history to find out who the persistent ghost is and how they can help him.

Full of humor, Ghost Attack has a suspenseful plot that will keep readers interested. The easy-to-read story has many good aspects—a loving family, a lesson about making assumptions, and lively squirrels. David Lubar weaves mystery and ghosts into a non-scary story that is fun to read. Readers will be eager to pick up the next book in the series—Monster Itch #2: Vampire Trouble.

Sexual Content

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Supernatural

Ghosts haunt Thistle’s Falls. “There were railroad brakeman ghosts, tragic romance ghosts, stranded pioneer ghosts, and pretty much every other kind of ghost you could imagine.”

Spiritual Content

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Vampire Trouble

Alex hopes to win the kickball home-run record. When a new playground monitor appears, Alex begins to sneeze—great, big sneezes that make it impossible to kick the ball. Alex realizes that he’s allergic to the new playground monitor. Alex and his cousin Sara set out to discover what type of monster the new monitor is and how they can make her go away.

Although Vampire Trouble is not as suspenseful or humorous as the first book in the series, there is still a lot to like about the story. The plot is interesting and revolves around kickball. In the end, Alex learns that sportsmanship is more important than winning. Another positive aspect of the story is how the cousins in Vampire Trouble work together to find a solution to Alex’s monster allergy problem. In order to uncover the truth about vampires, they think like scientists, and through their search, readers will learn that not everything that is on the internet is true.

Sexual Content

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Violence

A boy hits Alex with a ball. “As I walked away, the ball smacked the back of my head with a loud POING!”
The vampire, who has rats that hang around her, threatens Alex and Sara. She tells them, “They will chase you off. And then a picture burst into my mind. I could see the rats leaping towards me.”

Drugs and Alcohol

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Supernatural

A vampire is a playground monitor at Alex’s school. Rats hang around the vampire.
The vampire can communicate by talking into people’s minds. When she communicates with Alex, “The words drifted into my mind, echoing like it had been spoken in a tomb.”

Spiritual Content

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The Haunted Howl

Cleo and Evan jump into a new book and discover that danger is lurking behind every corner. Evan has been bitten by a werewolf, and they must race to find a cure. If the full moon rises before they have found the cure, Evan will be stuck in the pages of a creepy ghost story forever.

Ghosts, werewolves, and an angry mob of townsfolk must be defeated if Cleo and Evan are to survive. Full of suspense and creepy monsters, The Haunted Howl will give readers a kid-friendly fright. Independent readers will not want to put the book down until they learn if the curse of the full moon can be broken. Black and white illustrations are scattered throughout the book and help bring the story to life. Although the book is a series, readers can understand and enjoy the plot without reading the previous books.

As Cleo and Evan journey to find a cure, they encounter ghosts. One of the ghosts is Cleo’s character’s mother. The idea that ghosts are real people who have been trapped by a curse may upset some readers. In the end, the ghosts are able to “move on.”

Sexual Content

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Violence

After Evan is bitten by a werewolf, a mob chases him with the intent to kill him. Evan and his friends are able to hide from the townsfolk.
Ghosts appear and try to prevent the kids from leaving the woods. “The kids were really scared, and soon found themselves back-to-back, surrounded by the frightening spirits. . . Dozens of skeletons hung from the branches.” The ghosts do not want the kids to pass because “if a single living soul makes it out of the cemetery, we will be trapped in these woods forever.” The kids convince the ghosts to let them go.
A monster disguises itself as a boy and tries to enchant Cleo so she will enter a body of water and drown. When the enchantment doesn’t work, the monster’s “pale face turned the color of seaweed and he bared a mouthful of needle sharp fangs. A slimy claw burst from the water and grabbed Cleo’s wrist.” The struggle lasts for several pages, and the kids are able to escape.
When Cleo is fighting against a monster, a character “launched another stone at them, this one much larger than the first. Cleo twisted out of the way, and the boulder only grazed her shoulder. . . (The sea creature) let out a terrible shriek as the boulder knocked it off of the Cliffside and into the pool below.”

Armor comes to life and attacks the kids. One suit of armor “leaped forward, swinging a spiked club wildly. . . Four more suits of armor marched from their places to block them (the kids).” The suits of armor are all destroyed.

When the kids are looking for an object, a librarian attacks them and shoots books “like arrows.” The librarian “waved her arm, and the ladder slid Cleo and Evan along the rails, slamming them into a wall.” The scuffle lasts several pages, but the librarian decides to help the kids in their quest.
Evan changes into a werewolf and fights Dr. Thorne, who was also turned into a werewolf. As they fight, “they wrestled to the ground, snarling and barking at each other like vicious dogs. They twisted, thrashed and clawed. Dr. Thorne was much larger, but Evan was quicker. Both were out for blood.” Evan’s friends come to the rescue.

Drugs and Alcohol

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Supernatural

The library under the school has a magic portal that takes people into books. When a person travels into a book, they become a character in the book.
In order to make a potion to change werewolves back into people, one must use a Lycan Spoon. “The Lycan Spoon has special powers. It was crafted from the leg bone of the first werewolf.”
While the kids search for a plant, ghosts appear. One ghost says, “Every soul ever taken by a werewolf haunts these woods . . . If the head werewolf of the pack is destroyed, our souls will be released.”

Spiritual Content

When the ghosts are able to “move on,” a ghost tells someone, “There are worlds beyond this one. We (the ghosts) will each find our own path.”

Hero Dog!

There’s been a break-in on Orange Street, and 9-year-old reporter Hilde is determined to crack the case. As Hilde begins interviewing witnesses, she soon discovers a string of missing sweets. Cupcakes have disappeared. A pie has gone missing. Many believe that Mr. Macintosh’s dog, Zeus, is the culprit. With the help of her sister Izzy, can Hilde discover the thief’s true identity?

Hero Dog! is a fast-paced mystery designed for younger readers. The story begins with Hilde’s “reporter’s toolbox” that teaches new vocabulary. As she interviews her sources, Hilde shows the importance of being observant and models questioning skills. Illustrations from her reporter’s notebook repeat key details of the story as well as questions she needs to answer. The end of the book has questions and activities that will encourage readers to check for understanding. Readers will want to follow the clues and see if they can solve the mystery along with Hilde. Hilde Cracks the Case: Hero Dog! is an excellent story that has the added benefit of teaching younger readers skills they will use in their daily life.

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The Royal Island

In book seven of the Tales of Sasha, Wyatt, Kimani, and Sasha are in a race against time. They must make it to the island of royal flying horses where Sasha can meet the King and Queen. As they travel, they must figure out how to find the mysterious island. Then a powerful storm forces them to take shelter on a small island. They have lost their map and are not sure where they are. Will Sasha and her friends be able to find the island and meet the King and Queen?

Younger readers will want to read The Royal Island because the main characters are flying horses. The story’s vocabulary makes The Royal Island easy to read. However, the plot and characters are not well developed. When Sasha finally meets her biological parents, they have a short, unemotional conversation, and then her parents prepare to leave to perform their royal duties. If you are looking for a book with an engaging plot and educational value, you may want to leave The Royal Island on the shelf.

Sexual Content
• None

Drugs and Alcohol
• None

Language
• None

Supernatural
• None

Spiritual Content
• None

The Bard and the Beast

Playing with his dragon, having a toad race, and having a berry war with Clara—these are the things that are important to Prince Lucas. When Queen Tasha decides that Lucas will learn to play a musical instrument, he is reluctant to go to lessons. Even when a traveling bard comes to the castle, Lucas still isn’t convinced that music can be magical. When the two go for a walk, Lucas takes the bard to peek inside a cave, but instead of finding lizards, they find a ferocious monster.

Young readers will relate to Lucas for a variety of reasons—Lucus struggles to be on time, he angers his mother, and he doesn’t see the importance of learning to play an instrument. Suspense is added when Lucas keeps finding strange, green feathers. The bard brings additional action to the plot by telling exciting stories of how music has helped keep kingdoms safe.

Black and white illustrations appear on almost every page and help readers visualize the story. Easy-to-read vocabulary, dialogue, and simple sentence structure make The Bard and the Beast a perfect book for beginning readers. Although The Bard and the Beast is the ninth installment of a series, the previous books do not need to be read in order to enjoy the story.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

A bard tells the story of a king who went fishing. A huge snake swam along the boat, and the king “lifted his paddle and whacked the snake on the head.” When the snake went to attack, a bard used music to confuse the snake. “It shook its head wildly and then lowered itself into the water and disappeared.” Later that night, the snake came into the king’s sleeping chamber, ready to attack, but the bard again played music to save the king.
Will goes into a cave where a basilisk lives. If he looks into the basilisk’s eyes, it will kill him.

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

None

Third Grade Mermaid

Cora dreams of being like the Singing Sirens, the beautiful mermaids that are on the best swim team. But when she fails spelling, she is taken off of the team unless she can earn an A on the next spelling test. To make everything worse, if Cora can’t earn an A, her spot on the swim team will go to Vivian—a beautiful mermaid with shimmery skin. Cora wants to be on the team, but she is easily distracted. Can she learn to study her spelling words and keep her spot on the swim team?

Told in diary form with illustrations on every page, Third Grade Mermaid allows Cora’s struggles with spelling to come to life. The plot focuses on Cora’s struggle with spelling as well as Cora’s attempt to hide her new pet, a gigantic shrimp, from her parents. The plot jumps from topic to topic, which may be difficult for new readers. As Cora writes in her diary, she crosses out misspelled words and puts the correct spelling in bold print.

Cora’s personality comes to life through the illustrations and her storytelling. However, Cora has several qualities that are not worth emulating. Cora tends to complain a lot, and she is overly focused on other mermaids’ beauty. She believes that “If you’re pretty enough, you just get handed EVERYTHING, including a whole school of fish that follow every flip and flop of your fancy fins.” When Cora hides her pet, her brother has an allergic reaction to shellfish. Cora lies about having a giant shrimp in the house. Later, she gets tired of having a giant shrimp follow her around and tries to ditch him.

Even when Cora’s mother spends “half the morning” arguing with the teacher so Cora can get back on the swim team, Cora is not thankful. Instead, Cora is upset that she had to stay in at recess and talk to the teacher and coach about how to get back on the team. Throughout the entire story, Cora does not study because she either gets distracted or falls asleep. Despite this, at the end of the story she does earn an A on her test, because “I used them to tell my own story. Better than that, I LIVED them.”

Sexual Content

None

Violence

When Cora tells a shark that his jokes are not great, the shark gets angry and tries to eat her. Just when she is about to become “mermaid sushi” a giant shrimp saves her.

A group of beautiful sirens sing a song and attempt to crash the men’s ship. “But right as the boat was about to smash into the rocks,” the sailors see a giant shrimp and shoot a spear at him. “A metal spear whizzed past my ear! Then one nearly hit Vivian!” Everyone is able to swim away from the threat.

Vivian has a birthday party and puts her cake on top of an actual underwater volcano. The volcano explodes and “everyone started pushing and shoving to get out of there!” Cora’s necklace gets stuck on “the wet bar.” She is able to escape safely.

Drugs and Alcohol

There is a “wet bar” at a mermaid’s birthday party.

Language

Cora complains that her art teacher only gives the students “one piece of stinkin’ paper per class.”

Supernatural

Cora’s mother gives her a diary. “It’s enchanted. And because you willingly put pen to paper, from now on you’ll be compelled to write in it.” Later Cora discovers that her mother was just teasing and she wrote in the diary because she enjoyed it.

Spiritual Content

None

Attack of the Kraken

Buzz Richards and his team receive an urgent call from Atlantis. Mayor Julius Blacksand dreams of expanding crystal technology, but the Kraken keeps attacking. When Buzz begins searching for answers, he meets Emily Airwalker. Soon, Buzz begins to think that the mayor’s story “smells a little fishy.”

As Buzz unravels the mystery of the Kraken, Alex and Gunthar explore the city and learn about Atlantis’s rules such as, “Never swim alone in a dark alley.” The adventures of Alex and Gunthar add interest and excitement to the story.

Reluctant readers will enjoy Attack of the Kraken because the story is full of comic style black-and-white illustrations. The plot is random, silly, and fun. If you are looking for an amusing book that will make readers giggle, Attack of the Kraken is a good choice.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

A shark chases Alex and Gunthar. When the shark tries to eat them, the Atlantians put a net over the shark because “eating visitors is not allowed.”
Later, the shark captures Alex and Gunthar; while he is looking in the book for “recipes for eating people”, the two escape. An orca appears and eats the shark, and then a whale eats the orca.
A giant crab grabs two characters in his pinchers. The crab lets them go when someone gives him a “drippy, disgusting fish head.” The crab declares that he “didn’t want to eat that furry white guy anyway!”

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

Atlantis has crystal technology that “powers their cities, grows their food, and produces everything they need. It can make anything disappear, including socks, homework, and human ships that stray into the so-called Bermuda Triangle.”
“There are many kinds of crystals, with many different powers. They inspire scientific discovery, art, music, food, love, and friendship. And the most important crystal of all, the Heart Stone, keeps the oceans alive and creates harmony around the world.”

Spiritual Content

None

Chill of the Ice Dragon

A terrible Ice Giant has turned Mina’s kingdom and all the people in the castle to ice. She leaves the Far North Lands to find help. Mina arrives at the castle and asks Drake and his friends for help. Only a fire dragon can defeat the Ice Giant, but Rori and Vulcan are no longer at the castle. Will the Dragon Masters be able to find Rori and help defeat the Ice Giant?

The ninth book in the Dragon Masters series has the same black and white illustrations that help the readers visualize the characters and the action of the story. Easy vocabulary and simple sentence structure will allow beginning readers to enjoy the story. For those who have not read the previous books, Chill of the Ice Dragon may be confusing because of the many characters in the story. The end of the story is exciting and action-packed, but the beginning is choppy and doesn’t transition to different scenes smoothly.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

Dragons fight. “Neru began to glow with energy. But before the purple dragon could attack, green beams of light shot from Worm’s eyes! They’d zapped Neru, sending him jolting backward.”
A character uses a magic crystal to control a dragon.
Over several chapters, the dragon masters and their dragons fight Vasty, who has frozen the kingdom. “Green energy beams shot from Worm’s eyes, aimed at the crystal. But Frost was fast. He shot his icy breath at Worm.”
Vasty is defeated when Frost “shot his icy breath at the staff, knocking it out of Vasty’s hands. Hulda blasted magic from her fingertips. The giant staggered backward.” Eventually Vasty is shrunken and Frost creates “a swirling tunnel of ice” that sucks up the tiny giant.

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

A character uses a “gazing ball” to show Mina the other dragon masters.
Each dragon has special powers. For example, when people touch Worm, he transports them to different places. Another dragon sprays poisonous mist.

Spiritual Content

None

Wallace and Grace and the Lost Puppy

Wallace and Grace, best friends and partners in the Night Owl Detective Agency, stumble upon a lost puppy. In an effort to get the puppy home, Wallace and Grace must follow the clues to find out where the puppy lives. With the help of his new friends, the puppy learns about forest animals.

Younger readers will love reading the story of Wallace and Grace. Cute, charming pictures bring the forest alive. The story is engaging and teaches new vocabulary because Grace uses “very big words” and then explains what they mean. The story teaches problem-solving skills and has a lesson at the end: some things are more important than winning.

Sexual Content

None

Violence

None

Drugs and Alcohol

None

Language

None

Supernatural

None

Spiritual Content

None

Inspector Flytrap

A Venus flytrap makes an unlikely detective in the first book of the Inspector Flytrap series. Inspector Flytrap solves big deal mysteries, with his assistant Nina the Goat. On his first case, Inspector Flytrap is called in to figure out what the strange blob is on Da Vinci’s flower painting.

Over the course of the story, Inspector Flytrap is called upon to discover “The Big Deal Mystery of the Stinky Cookies” and “The Big Deal Mystery of the Missing Rose.” As he investigates the clues, he has to keep Nina from eating them.

Inspector Flytrap is full of illustrations that bring the animal characters to life. The silly storyline and funny antics of Inspector Flytrap and his assistant will engage readers.

Sexual Content

When Nina the Goat meets another goat, she said, “William, you are the goat I have dreamed of all my life. Let me kiss you! Kissy-kissy smooch-smooch!”

Violence

Inspector Flytrap and Nina the Goat flee from an angry mob. They escape the mob when they crash into a restaurant. “We crashed into his kitchen. Pots and pans and goats and skateboards and linguini went everywhere.”

Drugs and Alcohol