Ghost Hawk - by Susan Cooper

Little Hawk is a Native, living in what will later become Massachusetts as the first wave of English settlers arrive.  This story follows him as he grows from a boy to a man, living three months on his own in the wilderness in search of his manitou (spirit).  Upon his return to his village, Little Hawk finds something that changes the course of his life, and our story.  There are too many surprises in this book for me to say much more, for fear of telling too much.  It is a bit of a mystery, and a delightful supernatural romp through the world of early Native Americans.

Half of the book focuses on a totally different character, an English settler named Tom.  Between Tom's story and that of Little Hawk, we get a good feeling for the challenges, restrictions, but also the pleasures of life during the early 1600's in the American northeast.  Susan Cooper has drifted away from her typical magical mythology writing (The Dark is Rising and The Boggart), to craft a believable, but somewhat ghostly, historical adventure novel.

This is a perfect book for future historians, fans of early American stories, believers in the supernatural, or for any young (or old) person who is willing to look at history from multiple perspectives.

Give Me Liberty - by L.M. Elliott

Colonial times were tricky: Where do you throw your loyalty, with the Patriots or the Tories?  For indentured servant  13-year-old Nathaniel, the revolutionary fever in Virginia has thrown his world upside down, and left him wondering not only what is right, but what is possible.

This story follows Nathaniel from his work on a Virginia cotton plantation to Williamsburg, where he finds a new master in kindly school-teacher Basil, whose love of language opens Nathaniel's eyes to a broad range of thinking.  As he works for a Loyalist carriage-maker and befriends a firebrand boy set on rebellion, Nathaniel feels torn. Finding himself in a situation where he must choose between the law and helping an escaped slave, Nathaniel digs deep and finds strength he never knew he had.  Soon war breaks out, and Nathaniel follows Basil to the battle lines, eyewitnesses to an explosive episode in American history.

This thrilling and brainy novel of the Revolutionary era will hold the interest of most readers, especially history buffs and liberty lovers.  There is drama, friendship, sacrifice, warfare, and some excellent flute-playing.  This is a great addition to this classic genre.

(I need to add an update:  While I enjoyed this book, a student book club of fifth-grade girls that I gave it to last spring did NOT enjoy it. Too slow, they said.  Not very exciting.  Huh. That just proves, once again, that I am not a fifth-grade girl!!)

Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities - by Mike Jung

It's kind of a weird title, but I figured that a geeky book should probably have a geeky name, so let's go with it.  It really is a geeky book, but in a thrilling and action-packed way.

This is the story of middle school student Vincent Wu and his two best friends, who together form the fourth (and smallest) Captain Stupendous fan club in their city.  In case you didn't know, Captain Stupendous is simply the coolest, most amazing super hero there is, and he happens to save their city from villains on a pretty regular basis.  As the story gets rolling, Vincent's girlfriend (or maybe she would be if he ever got the courage to actually TALK to her!) is kidnapped by a new super-villain, and Captain Stupendous is nowhere to be found.  That's just the beginning, because soon Vincent and his buddies are wrapped up in a stupendous adventure to bring Captain Stupendous back, defeat a giant indestructible robot, and rescue the girl of Vincent's dreams.  How will they do it?  With geeky style, of course.

This is a great super hero book, but it's even better as a book about friendship that deepens through shared adventure.  It has a surprising amount of "girl power," so ladies do not be scared off from this excellent book!  This book is sure to give lots of kids, including brave girls, some great ideas.

Ghost Knight - by Cornelia Funke

Eleven-year-old Jon is annoyed that his mom has a new boyfriend, "The Beard," even though his dad has been gone for ages.  When his nasty pranks on his mom's mate get too wild, he is sent away to an English boarding school on the grounds of an extremely old and creepy Gothic cathedral.  His sour mood at being sent away does not improve when he discovers that a collection of ancient ghosts want him dead, and all because of something one of his ancestors did.  What would you do if you were alone in a new school, getting chased by bloodthirsy ghosts?  Well, Jon found a girlfriend.

While this is not a love story (it's more of a fast-paced action suspense knights and ghosts and sneaking around doing things you're not supposed to story), Will's relationship with the mysterious and brave Ella not only makes his classmates jealous, but helps him to find the solution to his problem.  Before long, there are ghost battles, searches for long-lost hearts (literally), demon dogs, a guy who shaves his beard and turns out to be someone other than who we thought he was, and some really boring teachers.  It's a magical, mystical gallop through an old English cathedral with a cast of characters you won't soon forget.

Note:  Like all of Ms. Funke's (pronounced FOON-ka) books, this was written in German and translated.  A book about an English boy, written in German, and published in America.  Hey, it works.

Grounded - by Kate Klise

Daralynn's life is hard.  Her father and siblings have just died in a terrible accident, and her mother refuses to shed a single tear.  Her aunt has fallen in love with a strange man who has shown up with promises to bring their sleepy midwestern town into the future, and her uncle seems to have a secret of his own.  To top things off, Daralynn's grandmother seems to be losing her wits, and is becoming obsessed with a collection of family dolls, which she treats like real babies.  In order to make sense of the world, Daralynn must find the courage to point out the truth to those who want to avoid it at all costs.

The coolest part of this book:  Living Funerals.  A brilliant idea, and an unforgettable part of the story.

This book reminded me a lot of Pie, by Sarah Weeks, but it didn't make me as hungry.  It's a sweet and smart story, and is much more interesting and happy than my first paragraph may suggest.  Of course, Kate Klise is a masterful writer, and one of my favorites.  I prefer her collaborations with her sister (43 Old Cemetery Road, Trial by Jury, etc.), but her solo works are still great.  If you want to find joy in the midst of sorrow, and find hope in a story of a mixed-up family, this is your book.

The Game of Sunken Places - by M. T. Anderson

This is a creepy book.  Two teens accept an invitation to a distant uncle's mansion deep in the Vermont woods, and when they get there realize that they're being pulled into a game like they have never played before.  Their first clue that something odd is afoot is when the uncle takes their clothes away (and burns them) and gives them starched shirts and knickerbockers to wear, as if it were hundreds of years earlier.  When the boys find a mysterious game board in their room and start to play, the wheels of something grand and terrible are set in motion.

This story follows friends Brian and Gregory as they battle forces of ancient darkness in a game neither of them really understand, but which has consequences as great as death itself.  Mystical creatures appear in the woods, mysterious messages need to be deciphered, and both boys must call upon every bit of their courage to make it to the thrilling end of the game, where they realize they were fighting something else entirely.

This is a great adventure, a thrilling collection of twists and turns that will chill you and delight you simultaneously. It has a slow start, but creeps along until you are totally sucked in and going mad with questions that don't seem to get answered quickly enough.  If you like creepy adventure stories and games, this is your book!

The Girl Who Could Fly - by Victoria Forester

Piper McCloud is extraordinary. No, really. She can fly.  This is just some random girl on a little farm, growing up with her quiet parents, and she can fly.  Before you know it, she's causing all kinds of trouble and is spirited away to a secret school for children with special gifts like hers, and everything is wonderful for her. 

Well, not so wonderful, perhaps.  Wonderful is not when people try to suck your brain and your memory out of your head. Wonderful is not when an invisible dude keeps sneaking up on you.  Wonderful is not when someone you thought was your closest friend betrays you to your biggest enemy.  Nor when you're being slowly poisoned.  Perhaps if you want to know what's really going on in this super-secret school for children with amazing powers, you'd better read the book yourself, which I would highly recommend.  The fact is, despite its boring title, this is a wonderful story, heartwarming, shocking, adventurous and thought-provoking.  Piper will win your heart just as easily as she can soar through the clouds.

Go Big or Go Home - by Will Hobbs

A meteorite rips through your roof and burns a hole through your bed.  Luckily you were on the roof at the time, and didn't have your head disintegrated by this rocky visitor from Mars.  What do you do next?  Why not have some wild mountain bike adventures with your cousin, explore some huge caves in the wilderness, wrestle with your evil neighbor's killer dog, visit the cute girl at the local coffee shop, and watch toilets get launched hundreds of yards on a giant trebuchet?  (A trebuchet is a type of catapult, dude.)

This is my first Will Hobbs book, though I own a few and have tried to get students to read them over the years.  It is so hard to convince a student to read a book you haven't read yourself!  I was impressed by the amount of action in the book, and there was a lot of good dialogue that sounded the way teens would really talk.  You get a feeling for what the characters are thinking, but don't really get to know any of them that well.  It was good writing, but is not destined to become a classic.  I'll have to read more of this guy's books, but I can tell he's no Gary Paulsen.  More of a Dan Gutman, if you know what I mean.  That's not a bad thing, but it's not the highest compliment either.

The Golden Compass - by Phillip Pullman

I just realized that I've never written a review of one of my all-time favorite children's books, The Golden Compass!  This is the first in a darkly named trilogy called His Dark Materials, the meaning of which won't be entirely clear until you've finished the third book.  This is a series which has attracted controversy for the anti-religion overtones some read into it, and for its author's rebellion against the overly religious Chronicles of Narnia series.  Mister K, however, is able to read past those things, and enjoy books for their literary splendor.

This is the amazing story of Lyra, a young girl whose parents have left her in the care of the scholars at Oxford University in a slightly re-imagined historical England.  This curious and courageous heroine is kept constant company by her daemon, a small critter named Pan.  As she sets off on a course of action that includes saving her uncle's life, escaping the dreaded Gobblers, joining the mysterious Gyptians, and raiding a secret facility in the far Arctic north, Lyra encounters an incredible cast of characters.  There is a Texas balloon pilot, a frustrated but brave polar bear, a nasty lady with ties to Lyra's past, and many more curious and fascinating people and creatures.

This is a rollicking, imaginative adventure, one of the best I've ever read!  Mr. Pullman is simply brilliant.  If you're up for a challenge and want to experience an unforgettable read, this is one of my top recommendations.

Special Notes:  Skip the movie, know that the sequels get progressively stranger, and check out the audio recording of this book, which will help with your pronunciation of places and names, and which features a FULL CAST, something very unusual and wonderful indeed!

Ghosthunters and the Incredibly Revolting Ghost - by Cornelia Funke

What's the difference between an ASG (averagely spooky ghost) and an IRG (incredibly revolting ghost)?  That's one of the first things young Tom learns when he becomes a ghosthunter.  He didn't PLAN on hunting ghosts, but when he finds an ASG living in his family's cellar, he doesn't have much choice.

This is a pretty funny book, the first in a series by the amazing German author of such books as Inkheart, The Thief Lord, and Dragon Rider.  Tom gets help from his annoying older sister and his grandma's friend, and joins a mission to rid a house of a pretty freaky ghost.  Read this if you like ghost stories, funny books, icky freaky scary things, and young characters who have to be brave and solve some big problems without getting attacked by Incredibly Revolting Ghosts.

The Graveyard Book - by Neil Gaiman

If you've read Coraline or any of Gaiman's other books, you know this author writes spooky, weird stories.  This book, which happened to with the NEWBERY Award (impressive, to a point), is... a spooky, weird story.  It is, however, a very interesting, well-written, and worth-reading weird spooky story! 

Imagine a toddler who somehow escapes his house while his parents are being murdered, and who toddles his way to a graveyard, where the ghosts agree to raise him as their own child.  That's how the story begins, and that toddler, who the ghosts name Nobody Owens, grows up not only learning everything the ghosts, ghouls, witches, and other supernatural beings can teach him, but wanting to seek revenge for the murder of his family members.  It's an exciting, interesting story, but it's not for the faint of heart. 

The story is based on the classic book The Jungle Book, written by British author Rudyard Kipling in the late 1800's.  While that story (turned into a Disney movie, which is nowhere near as interesting as the book) focuses on a boy who is raised by jungle animals, this book, as I said, involves ghosts raising an orphan in a cemetery.  That part isn't as spooky as you'd expect, and it's a lot more interesting than any other ghost story you're likely to read.  The Graveyard Book is set in modern-day England, which adds an interesting twist for American readers.

Read this if you want to see why it won the Newbery, if you're interested in spooky, well-told tales, or if you have simply always wanted to be adopted by ghosts yourself, and to live in a centuries-old crypt in a lonely graveyard.

Getting Air - by Dan Gutman

Can this be the perfect book for fourth grade boys? (They're a picky crowd, if you haven't noticed.) Really, it's a great book for anyone who loves a good adventure, and WOW is it an adventure.

Three teenage boys and one sister are traveling by plane from the east coast to California for a skateboarding competition, and are psyched. Their plane is full of old ladies heading to a knitting convention, and the boys strike up a friendship with one kind knitter as the plane takes off. Before long, though, terrorists take over the plane and threaten to blow it up. The kids and grannies work together to solve this problem, and as if this isn't enough of an adventure, they soon discover that the plane is about to crash deep in the Canadian wilderness. The only survivors are the kids, their friend the knitter, and a friendly flight attendant. Can they survive in the wild until their rescuers find them? It's not likely, except for one lucky fact - the youngest kid, Julia, is not only a brilliant Girl Scout, but has been reading Gary Paulsen's book Hatchet, in which the main character found himself in a very similar situation. What happens to our heroes? Do they ever skate again? If you're lucky enough to get your hands on this captivating book, you won't be willing to set it down until you've found out.

This is a MUST-READ for any middle age boy, anyone who likes to skate (board, that is), readers who love nature and the wilderness, and of course, anyone who has enjoyed the fabulous story Hatchet. It seems that Mr. Gutman had been reading Mr. Paulsen's book when he wrote this story, and we readers are lucky that he did, as this is the best Gutman yet.

Gregor the Overlander - by Suzanne Collins

This incredible book begins with 11-year-old Gregor feeling sour about having to babysit his two-year old sister, Boots, instead of going to summer camp. If only his dad hadn't disappeared two years earlier, leaving his mom to care for their family by herself. The plot takes a major turn as Gregor and his little sister accidentally fall through a loose grate in their laundry room, falling nearly forever into the great unknown, much like Alice on her way to Wonderland. Far from Wonderland, though, Gregor soon discovers not only are he and Boots in a place called the Underworld, filled with all sorts of creatures like the giant cockroaches that capture them, but that there may actually be a reason he is there. Among the giant bats, spiders, rats, and cockroaches is a community of humans, who reveal a strange prophecy that will change Gregor's life forever.

This is the first book in the Underland Chronicles series, and is a captivating read. The characters set off on a quest much like other fantasty stories (such as Lord of the Rings, Rowan of Rin, A Wrinkle in Time, Dragon Rider, Eragon), but this journey depends on the cooperation and trust of an odd collection of creatures who would normally never trust one another. There are traitors, heroes, battles, but no magic. The real scene-stealer in this book is young Boots, who not only turns out to be an important hero in her own right, but whose silly baby talk is just as hilarious as Sunny's in A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Read this book if you love adventure, hero tales, fantasy, quests, of if you've ever wondered what may happen if you fell into a sewer and kept going. It's not an easy book (similar in difficulty to Dragon Rider), but is much easier than Eragon.

George's Marvelous Medicine

An old hag with pale brown teeth and brilliant unblinking eyes? These are the nice words that Roald Dahl uses to describe young George's grandmother, and you would cringe to hear the rest of his descriptions! When George's mother is gone shopping and George is left to take care of his wicked and nasty grandmother, this polite boy eventually decides he can't take any more of her terrible meanness. What happens next is so wild you'd never believe me if I wrote it, so you'll just have to read the book to find out for yourself.

In classic Roald Dahl fashion, this story shows how smart children can outsmart cruel adults when they need to, and in amazingly creative ways. This book is ideal for readers who love courageous and inventive children, funny writing, and incredibly clear description. Young writers can look to Mr. Dahl's use of words to help add sparkle to their own writing. Caution: Whatever you read in this book, don't try it at home!