The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan

Another hero, another quest.  The Titan’s Curse opens at boarding school where Grover has found a set (brother and sister) of half blood’s and in typical fashion a chase ensues.  The monster that was after the siblings was a manticore which is man with lion feature, a scorpion tail, and bat wings (picture included), horrible, I know.  After it seems like Percy, Thalia, Anabeth, and Grover have met their match the Hunters led by the god Artemis swoop in to save the day.  The ward off the manticore but not before he takes Anabeth.  Artemis vows to pursue the beast and demands the Hunters go to Camp Half Blood.  Eventually word reaches the camp that Artemis has been taken also.  Percy, Thalia, Grover and two Hunters are now charged with quest of finding Artemis, Anabeth, and figuring out what the horrible monster that could bring about the end of Olympus actually is.

Riordan keeps a quick pace and the adventures never cease.  However the best part of the series for me is the personality of the gods.  They are hilariously vain and self-serving which makes for great exchanges when the quest has to deal with them.  Another great addition to the series!

Paper Towns by John Green

Quentin Jacobson (Q to his friends) has lived next to the beautiful, energetic, and mysterious Margo Roth-Speigelman all his life.  When the were children they were best friends until junior high when they drifted apart (Margo is a cool kid and Q, tragically, is not).  So Q is very surprised when Margo shows up at midnight at his bedroom window dressed in all black with her face blacked out.   That night they embark on an 11 step night of revenge.  The next Margo ends up missing.  Her disappearing is not unusual, but the clues she left for Q to follow are.   Q takes it upon himself to follow Margo on her journey, but what he discovers along away may not be what he hoped to find.

John Green has proven himself an excellent writer.  His fiction is funny, smart, and observant.  However, if he writes one more novel about a obssessed boy and uniquely damaged girl that is a mystery to be figured out, I will scream.  Paper Towns could have been more aptly titled Looking for Alaska 3.  It could be that most people don’t care if he writes the same book over and over (I mean I love CSI but it is the same episode with differently named charactors every time and I don’t mind that).

Medusa Jones by Ross Collins

In ancient Greece, Medusa Jones, a gorgon, and her friends, a minotaur and a centaur, are mocked and sneered at by the other Acropolis Academy children whose parents are kings and gods.  After being teased by her classmates because of her head of snakes for hair and an unusual best friend, Medusa must make the right decision when her classmates end up in great danger on a class trip and anxiously look to her for help.

While this book is defenitely written for the elementry age, it is fun for everyone!  Medusa is an easy charector to love and readers will see a bit of themselves in her because after all we’ve all been “freaks” at one point or another.

Come Fygures Come Shadowes by Richard Matheson

Richard Matheson, author of I Am Legend, weaves the a story of the occult and spiritualism in the early 1900’s New York. Claire has been familiar with the spiritual side of life since she was a child, she calls it “the Fear”. Her Mother, Morna, is a working psychic medium and holds seances in her home. Morna’s dream is for Claire to follow in her footsteps, and she has Claire lead the seances, however, to no avail. Claire is unwilling to let her self be overtaken by the spirits. After several unsuccessful attempts it would seem that something has found its way through…

This is a great story that really captures the fervor of Spiritualism in the early 1900’s. Plus the book is actually creepy, it’s a far way from The Exorcist but it’ll give you chills!

Dexter & Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeffry Lindsay

After one episode I knew Dexter would be one of my favorite TV shows, after the first season it stands only behind Twin Peaks as greatest shows of all time (probably only in my mind). This series is fairly faithfully based on Jeffry Lindsay’s Darkly Dreaming Dexter. Dexter Morgan is a serial killer, but don’t let that get to you, he’s a good guy! He has a relationship, a career, and his own place…he is by no means a weirdo. Though he may have his dark side, he also has a code; Harry’s code. These are a set of rules that Dexter lives by. He never kills anyone that doesn’t deserve it. As a blood splatter analysis he is able to find people most deserving of his personal attention. The book is fascinating read and the series just brings these characters to life! Do not miss this one!

The Gunslinger Born by Stephen King & Robin Furth

The Dark Tower series is undefinable. It’s a future based-western-adventure-romance-horror-post-apocalypse-thriller-alternate reality-quest series. So I guess I lied it is somewhat definable. The story surrounds Roland, a gunslinger, as he hunts the man in black. As the series progresses his quest turns toward the dark tower. His whole life leads to the moment when he will stand before the tower.

The Graphic Novel is the story of Roland as a boy on his first adventure as a gunslinger. The story of Roland’s youth is actually told in the fourth book of the series, Wizards and Glass, but the graphic novel follows the chronological order of his life. Unlike other graphic novels that have incredible covers and quickly drawn, less detailed pages, the gunslinger born, is stunning through out. The cover is the same as the full color glossy images within the comic. The story has been faithfully recreated here and any fan would certainly enjoy this!

Specials by Scott Westerfeld

 

Tally’s teeth are filed, her nails hard as diamonds, and her mind sharp as a razor. She is Special. With the Smoke destroyed the runaways are still leaving the city but where are they going? Shay and her new team of Specials are going to find out. What they discover is much bigger than them; it could mean change for the entire world. This is the shocking finale to Westerfeld’s Uglies trilogy. All questions will be answered and they won’t be what you think!

 

Scott Westerfeld has written several books for young adults. He lives in Australia and New York City in attempts to avoid the winter. He has “ghost written” for authors in the past, he could tell you who “but then he’d have to kill you”.

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Tally knows what happens when you become pretty. She knows the city’s dark secret. She knows the truth. Then why is Tally living it up, pretty and oblivious? Tally finds herself in New Pretty Town going to parties and being well received because of her outlaw reputation. She even finds a boyfriend, Zane, and in there efforts to be more “bubbly” they figure out what there pretty minds may hold. Then Tally is visited by faces from her past and the war for the minds of the people is just beginning.

 

Scott Westerfeld has written several books for young adults. He lives in Australia and New York City in attempts to avoid the winter. He has “ghost written” for authors in the past, he could tell you who “but then he’d have to kill you”.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Tally Youngblood is going to turn sixteen and all her ugly little problems will go away. Her ugly face, gone. Her ugly body, gone. Her ugly mind, gone especially. When Tally turns sixteen she will be able to get the operation to correct every physical flaw she has. When her best friend turns sixteen and moves to New Pretty Town she figures her life is over until she becomes pretty. That is when she meets Shay who is drastically different than anyone Tally ever met. For starters she doesn’t want to become pretty which the girls will soon find out isn’t really a choice. Follow Tally on this amazing rollercoaster of a novel. This novel is great for anyone in middle school and up. This is the first in a trilogy.

 

Scott Westerfeld has written several books for young adults. He lives in Australia and New York City in attempts to avoid the winter. He has “ghost written” for authors in the past, he could tell you who “but then he’d have to kill you”.

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Gathering Blue is the story of Kira, a young girl orphaned and crippled but she has a magic, the knowledge of weaving ingrained into her fingers. After mourning the death of her mother Kira returns to her village to find she is no longer wanted by the people she thought were her friends. Kira is brought to the village council to decide her fate. The council knows of the magic she possesses but she is also crippled which law states she should be put out of the village. Kira learns that there are others like her with the knowledge of the arts. What is to become of Kira and the rested of the gifted children? This is an incredible story of friendship and overcoming great adversity despite monumental hardships. Gathering Blue is recommended for readers fifth grade and up.

Lois Lowry is a beloved children’s author and has written many novels such as The Giver, Number the Stars, Messenger and Gossamer.