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THE 39 CLUES, Book Ten: INTO THE GAUNTLET by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Throughout the hunt for the 39 Clues, Amy and Dan Cahill have uncovered history's greatest mysteries and their family's deadliest secrets. But are they ready to face the truth about the Cahills and the key to their unmatched power? After a whirlwind race that's taken them across five continents, Amy and Dan face the most difficult challenge yet --- a task no Cahill dared to imagine. When faced with a choice that could change the future of the world, can two kids succeed where 500 years worth of famous ancestors failed?
» Click here to read an excerpt from INTO THE GAUNTLET, the final book in the 39 Clues series.
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THE ATLANTIS COMPLEX: Artemis Fowl, Book 7 by Eoin Colfer
Teenage criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl is suffering from Atlantis Complex, a psychosis common among guilt-ridden fairies --- not humans --- and most likely triggered by Artemis’s dabbling with fairy magic. Unfortunately, Atlantis Complex has struck at the worst possible time. A deadly foe from Captain Holly Short’s past is intent on destroying the actual city of Atlantis. Can Artemis escape the confines of his mind --- and the grips of a giant squid --- in time to save the underwater metropolis and its fairy inhabitants? Reviewed by Usha Reynolds.
» Click here to read a review of THE ATLANTIS COMPLEX.
» Click here to read our Artemis Fowl series feature.
» Click here to play the updated Artemis Fowl trivia game.
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Michael Grant
Michael Grant is the author of 150 books, including the dystopian Gone trilogy for young adults, and the middle-grade series Animorphs, co-written with his wife, Katherine (K.A.) Applegate. In this interview, Grant explains what prompted his latest project, The Magnificent 12 --- which centers on Mack MacAvoy and the destiny he shares with 11 other 12-year-olds to save the world ---- and why he chose that specific age for his main characters. He also discusses the influence of J. R. R. Tolkien on his work, shares details about his writing process, and muses on where the Twelve’s future adventures may take them.
» Read an author talk with Michael Grant and the review.
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CANDY APPLE SUMMER VACATION TRILOGY
It’s true. Over the last three years, the Candy Apple series has taken the nation’s tween readers by storm. What could be better than another book in the series? THREE more books! Plus, the summer trilogy is devoted to all things young girls love: cute boys, lounging on the beach, road trips, cute boys, art and poetry in hopping New York City, red velvet cupcakes, super hip sunglasses, surfing, moonlight raids of restricted swimming pools… Did I mention cute boys?
But these three books aren’t only about fun in the sun (and cute boys). There’s also some heart --- and heft --- to them. Best friends Liza, Mina and Samantha are sure their respective summers without each other will be dreadful, but it doesn’t quite turn out that way…thankfully. In fact, it’s precisely because the trio is without their usual safety nets that they grow, take chances and blossom. Before the girls realize what’s happening, they’re having what turns out to be one of the most amazing summers of their lives --- and it has nothing to do with cute boys! (Well, mostly.)
» Click here to read our Candy Apple Summer Vacation Trilogy series feature.
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Nanny McPhee Returns
Spotlighted in our latest Books into Movies feature is Nanny McPhee Returns, in which Emma Thompson reprises her role as a mysterious and well…less-than-attractive “government nanny” who uses her unusual powers to come to the rescue of yet another family in need. This charming sequel to 2005’s Nanny McPhee features loads of adventure, plenty of laughs, and a little bit of magic sure to chase away the end-of-summer blues and help ease booklovers and moviegoers alike into the new season and school year.
» Click here for more details about Nanny McPhee Returns.
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 In February we shared the exciting news that Cornelia Funke, the internationally bestselling author of THE THIEF LORD and the Inkheart trilogy, would be answering questions from our readers in an online video from her home in California. The long-awaited interview is now available, and we are thrilled to be sharing it with you! Click here to see Cornelia answer questions submitted by kids from all around the world, along with a special thank you from her to Kidsreads.com readers and the intriguing trailer for RECKLESS, the first installment in her new fantasy series that will be releasing on September 14th.
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Throughout the hunt for the 39 Clues, Amy and Dan Cahill have uncovered history's greatest mysteries and their family's deadliest secrets. But are they ready to face the truth about the Cahills and the key to their unmatched power? Find out when INTO THE GAUNTLET, the explosive finale to The 39 Clues series, releases on August 31st. This month’s roundup of Cool New Books also includes THE ATLANTIS COMPLEX by Eoin Colfer, which continues the story of the world’s greatest teenage criminal mastermind, Artemis Fowl; SCUMBLE, the enchanting companion to Ingrid Law’s debut novel, which takes place nine years after Mibs’s Savvy journey and focuses on her cousin Ledge, who has just turned 13; THE MAGNIFICENT 12: THE CALL, the first book in Michael Grant’s fantasy series about a 12-year-old boy who, armed with only his phobias and quick wit, sets out to gather a team to defeat the Pale Queen and save the world; and LOST BOY, Jane Yolen and Steve Adams’s picture book biography of J. M. Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan. » Click Here
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August’s roundup of New in Paperback titles includes STAGE FRIGHT, book four in Meg Cabot’s tween series that finds Allie Finkle’s theatrical hopes crushed when she doesn't get cast as the princess in the school play; ZOOBREAK, the long-awaited sequel to Gordon Korman’s SWINDLE, in which Griffin Bing and his team rescue animals from a floating zoo that have been mistreated and try to break them back into a better zoo; THE HANGING HILL by Chris Grabenstein, which marks the return of the intrepid Zack and his stepmother, Judy, who narrowly escaped a malevolent spirit in THE CROSSROADS; and Louise Borden’s THE JOURNEY THAT SAVED CURIOUS GEORGE, a biography that chronicles the lives of Margaret and H. A. Rey --- creators of everyone's favorite mischievous monkey --- during their time spent in war-torn Europe, circa 1940. » Click Here |
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THE MAGNIFICENT 12: THE CALL by Michael Grant
On a rather abnormal day at school, 12-year-old David MacAvoy learns he is one of the Magnificent Twelve and that an evil force is on its way. Mack needs to track down the other 11 in order to defeat it. There is just one little problem: Mack is scared --- of everything. Reviewed by Benjamin Boche.
SCUMBLE by Ingrid Law
Nine years after Mibs's Savvy journey, her cousin Ledge has just turned 13. But Ledger Kale's savvy is a total dud --- all he does is make little things fall apart. So his parents decide it's safe to head to Wyoming, where it's soon revealed that Ledge's savvy is much more powerful than anyone thought. Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman.
THE BIG TIME: A Football Genius Novel, by Tim Green
Things couldn't be going better for Troy White. The Atlanta Falcons' football genius is at the top of his game, agents and lawyers are knocking on his door with big-money offers for the upcoming season, and his own football team has just won the Georgia State Championship. But then another lawyer comes knocking --- and he says, "I think I'm your father." In that instant, Troy's life is changed. Reviewed by Joy Held.
SABOTAGED: The Missing, Book 3 by Margaret Peterson Haddix
After helping Chip and Alex survive 15th-century London, Jonah and Katherine are summoned to help another missing child, Andrea, face her fate. Andrea is really Virginia Dare, from the Lost Colony of Roanoke. Jonah and Katherine are confident in their ability to help Andrea fix history, but when their journey goes dangerously awry, they realize that they may be in over their head. Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman.
GHOST HUNTER: Chronicles of Ancient Darkness #6 by Michelle Paver
Winter is coming. Souls' Night draws near. Eostra, the Eagle Owl Mage, holds the clans in the grip of terror. GHOST HUNTER, the final book in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series, draws the reader for the last time into the shadowy world of the deep past and brings Torak to the end of his incredible journey. Reviewed by Sally M. Tibbetts.
ADVENTURES OF A CAT-WHISKERED GIRL by Daniel Pinkwater
Big Audrey waves goodbye to her friends Iggy and Neddie, Seamus and Crazy Wig, in Los Angeles and hitches a ride with bongo-playing-while-driving Marlon Brando across the country to Poughkeepsie, New York, city of mystery. She finds she has questions needing answers --- and a bit of inter-plane-of-existence traveling to do. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
KEEPER written by Kathi Appelt and illustrated by August Hall
Kathi Appelt's follow-up to her Newbery Honor Book, THE UNDERNEATH, is a thoughtful, lyrical, hopeful ode to love of all kinds: the loves we recognize but can't name, the loves we rely on but don't appreciate, the loves between lovers, between parents and children, between people and animals. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.
LING & TING: NOT EXACTLY THE SAME! by Grace Lin
Ling and Ting are twin sisters who share many traits and activities, such as their black hair, enjoyment of making dumplings, and pleasure in each other's company. They may be "identical," but they are definitely not exactly alike…as early readers will discover in this charming collection of short stories. Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon.
SLUGGERS #6: HOME OF THE BRAVE by Loren Long and Phil Bildner
In the final book of the magical turn-of-the-20th-century baseball series, the Payne family and the barnstormers depart New Orleans and head east. Before they leave “the Big Easy,” the Chancellor’s goons carry out a brutal attack. As bullets fly, the attackers steal the magic baseball, and not everyone survives. Reviewed by Donna Volkenannt.
AS SIMPLE AS IT SEEMS by Sarah Weeks
Eleven-year-old Verbena Colter wishes she could be someone else. It all starts when her best friend decides to be friends with the popular girl instead of her. But the pain grows unbearable when Verbena uncovers a family secret that turns her world upside down and cuts her to the core of her heart. Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman.
THE REINVENTION OF MOXIE ROOSEVELT by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
Moxie Roosevelt Kipper has endured 13 years of being an ordinary girl with an unordinary name. Now that she has entered boarding school, the time is ripe to reinvent herself. She’ll become unusual, outlandish, unexpected, sassy --- someone worthy of a name like “Moxie.” But at boarding school, Moxie isn't the only one who isn't what she claims to be. Reviewed by Jana Siciliano.
ELVIS & OLIVE: SUPER DETECTIVES by Stephanie Watson
When Natalie (nicknamed Olive) decides to run for student council secretary, she is required to perform a social service, such as collecting cans for the hungry. But her best friend Annie (nicknamed Elvis) comes up with an even better idea --- to start up their very own detective agency and help solve mysteries in their neighborhood. Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman.
MACKENZIE BLUE: FRIENDS FOREVER? by Tina Wells
Twelve-year-old Mackenzie Blue is back for another fabulous adventure. This time, Zee (as her friends and family call her) heads to camp with her classmates. She’s nervous to be away from her parents for an entire week, but that turns out to be easy compared to what she has to endure at camp, including feuding friends, budding romance, and the spooky legend of the Mountain Man. Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman.
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GHOSTOPOLIS written and illustrated by Doug TenNapel
When young Garth Hale accidentally crosses over into the spirit world, a pair of ghost trackers immediately sets out to rescue him. But Garth is in serious danger, as the evil leader of the ghostly realm sets out to destroy him. Reviewed by John Hogan.
THE UNSINKABLE WALKER BEAN written and illustrated by Aaron Renier
Walker Bean is more interested in listening to his grandfather's tales of adventure than living them. But when his grandfather's life is in danger, Walker finds himself on a pirate ship, chased by sea monsters and racing to return a cursed skull to its rightful owners. Reviewed by Brigid Alverson.
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GREAT BOOKS FOR BOYS
Kidsreads.com Founder Carol Fitzgerald frequently has been told by mothers how difficult it is to get their sons to read. Some are busy participating in sports and other extracurricular activities, watching television, playing video games and surfing the Internet, while others simply don't like to read, no matter how much free time they may have.
This inspired her to enlist her son Cory, an avid reader, to compile a list of books that he thinks are great reads for boys. Included are series titles and stand-alone fiction that cover a variety of genres: fantasies, mysteries, thrillers, action/adventure novels and historical fiction. While many of these selections also will appeal to girls, they especially will capture the attention of boys, who often are much more reluctant readers.
UPDATED! We have added to our list to reflect those books that have been released since our last update in October 2009. Among our most recent additions are KINGDOM KEEPERS III: DISNEY IN SHADOW by Ridley Pearson, LORD SUNDAY by Garth Nix, POWERLESS by Matthew Cody, THE UNUSUAL MIND OF VINCENT SHADOW by Tim Kehoe and A WHOLE NOTHER STORY by Dr. Cuthbert Soup.
» Click here to see our complete list, along with the latest additions at the top of the page. |
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 Start Your Own Book Club!
Thinking about starting a Book Club? Trying to find new ideas for your Club? Wondering what the heck a Book Club is?! Never fear, Kidsreads has all the answers to your Book Club questions, and some guides to help you lead a good discussion with your friends. Book Clubs are easy to start and lot of fun, so if you love books, this is for you! |
CLASSICS AND NEW FAVES READING LISTS
Listmania! We've freshened up our Reading Lists, adding new titles to our Contemporary Favorites and Classics age categories. Be sure to check them out when you need a great book to read. |
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WILDWOOD STABLES #3: RACING AGAINST TIME by Suzanne Weyn
WILDWOOD STABLES #4: LEARNING TO FLY by Suzanne Weyn
POSSESSIONS, Book One: UNCLEAN GETAWAY written and illustrated by Ray Fawkes
FINDING NEMO: REEF RESCUE written by Marie Croall and illustrated by Erica Leigh Currey
ZOEY ZETA AND THE SISTERS OF POWER, Book 1: FAMILY SECRETS written by Robert Simon and illustrated by Tomomi Sarafov
