The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

Book 2 of the Percy Jackson and The Olympians Series
~279 pages~Rating 10 out of 10
Percy Jackson has almost made it through the whole year without being attacked by monsters. Almost. On the last day of school an innocent game of dodge ball turns into a fight between Percy and some Mean Cannibal Giants. Annabeth comes to the rescue, but the real reason she came is the magical boundary line around Camp Half Blood have been Poisoned by an a Mysterious Enemy. The only antidote to save Camp Half Blood is the Golden Fleece. Percy and his friends set out on yet another amazing quest to save the day!

Dragonology Chronicles: The Dragon's Eye by Dugald A. Steer

219 pg. rating 10 out of 10
This book is the first of a series I believe and is very good
If you are interested in dragons you might want to consider this book
It also contains info on dragons.Okay here is my summary of the beginning:
The dragons eye,said only to show the true dragon masters reflection.
But danger is lurking at Sir Ernest Drakes boarding school where young pupils learn
the basics of dragonology.A evil man and a scheming woman are teamed up to find the dragons eye.Sir Ernest Drake along with 2 of his students set out to stop them...
So think about reading this book by Dugald A. Steer!!And if you want more facts you can find some more informative reading such as:The Complete Book of Dragons,The Dragonology Handbook,and Tracking and Taming Dragons.

Forest Born by Shannon Hale

389 pg. rating 9.9 out of 10.
It is a book that has the characters from 3 other Shanon Hale books:
The Goose Girl,Enna Burning,and River Secrets +a few new characters
but it is a really good book.A young forest girl named Rin goes with her brother to
the city for a change,but War may be approaching and things are getting dangerous.
When the king and some soldiers go to investigate a mysterious village fire,they are attacked from an unknown source.The queen and 2 friends go to track the attackers Rin follows...Okay that is my little summary of the beginning but it is definitely not the end of this epic adventure!!

When You Reach Me

by Rebecca Stead
197 pages
reading level: 4-6 grade ish
2010 Newbery Award winner

I first noticed this book in the bookstore last year, but I didn't think it looked remotely interesting, so I ignored it. Then while I was supposed to be studying in the library a couple of weeks ago I just happened to walk past the Newbery display and was surprised to see this there. I picked it up just to read the back, but the back had nothing but reviews. So in a very non-committal way I cracked open the cover just to read the front page. It hooked me! I sat down on the ground and read for two hours. It is amazing. It is 92% contemporary realistic fiction, and 8% (the main part of the plot) blow-your-mind-away, mysterious, almost weird, modern fantasy/science fiction.  That is all I can say at present, as this book is too good to divulge any aspect the plot. You just have to read it for yourself.

Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

Reading level: 6th grade
Hardcover 383 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2003

This book is amazing! So well written, the characters just come to life as you read. It's based on an old Grimms fairytale, but I had never even heard of it till I read this book.

Ok, the real reason I'm writing about this book - funny story. I'm doing student teaching in 6th grade right now and my mentor teacher wanted to get the kids more excited about AR (reading program), so we both did a couple of book talks (basically introducing a book in an appealing way) in front of the class. I told them about this book and read a short passage, but I was worried none of the boys would want to read it. I thought about adding a blurb about it not being just a girl book, but decided not to, just to see what would happen. Turns out my boys were clambering for this book! I didn't have a single girl ask me for it, but several boys were searching the book shelf saying, "who took Goose Girl?" It made me sooooo happy.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Reading level: 4th grade - adult
Paperback 375 pg.

Meet Percy Jackson. Your average twelve year old demigod gets accused of stealing Zeus's master lightening bolt and sets off on a quest to find the real thief and clear his name.

Now you may have seen the movie, or previews for the movie, and thought "lame", and there I would have to agree, but the books are actually quite fabulous. My husband and I read the entire series together and loved it. It's especially fun if you have some general background with Greek mythology. I've heard it compared to Harry Potter because it has that secret magical world hidden in our world theme, but it's actually a fresh original idea. It brings Greek mythology to life and points out that being a hero isn't always all it's cracked up to be.

The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander

Reading Level: ages7-10
Paper back: 190 pages

Alexander has a gift with bringing his characters to life. His characters have very unique personalities and Alexander's writing allows you to get to know them. The Book of Three is the first book of the Prydain Chronicles (including the Black Cauldron) and I had to hold myself back from continuing right on to the next book.
The book starts out with Taran, the assistant-pig keeper, who, through events beyond what he could have expected, sets out on an adventure that requires more of him than he thinks he is able to give. Alexander prefaced the book by asking "Aren't there times when we all feel like assistant pig keepers?" Embarking on this journey with Taran, I could relate many times to Taran's feelings of inadequacy, but I, like Taran, often am surprised by what I am able to achieve even if I can still see my flaws.

I'd give this book four stars.

Some of my Re-Reads

Frankly, I re-read almost everything. If I can get through it the first time, I usually want to revisit a second, third, fourth, and on and on. I could post about so many, but I'll just start with one author.

One of my favorite fantasy authors is Robin McKinley. I recommended her to my mom and she doesn't like her writing at all. It's pretty wordy and has some strange sentence structure, but I love it. I was wandering through the library recently wishing that I owned almost all of her books and that she had written more of them.

In order of recommendation, or perhaps the order I was introduced ...

Beauty.

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages

It doesn't seem like it could possibly be over 300 pages. It must have really large margins. This is a fun retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

Spindle's End.

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 384 pages

A version of Sleeping Beauty. It gets a little strange near the end. Most of her books do, but I love all the rest of it.

The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Mass Market Paperback: 227 pages
• Newberry Medal
  

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 248 pages
• Newberry Honor
  

These two are about the same land, but are set generations apart. I love The Blue Sword more. In fact I don't think I'd use the word love in relation to The Hero and the Crown, but it's fairly interesting and a fun read.

The Outlaws of Sherwood

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 368 pages

I haven't read this one very much, but it seems like I liked it pretty well.

Chalice

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 272 pages

I liked this one a lot, but I think it is pretty weird and I wish it was longer.

Rose Daughter

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 304 pages

I don't think I liked this one until I'd read it a couple of times so I don't know that I can recommend it strongly. It is another telling of Beauty and the Beast and Beauty is much better!

She also has a couple collections of short stories that are fun but not marvelous. DON'T read Deerskin- seems like it is a bit offensive. I didn't care for Dragonhaven- it wasn't bad- just didn't really like it. Her adult book Sunshine is an intriguing vampire tale, but has two pages that I wish I'd never read as they were too graphic for me.

A Visit With Lloyd Alexander

Below is a link to a wonderful video of Lloyd Alexander, author of The Chronicles of Prydain, talking about his life and his writing.

Click here to go to part one. There are three parts to the series (about 20 minutes all together) and well worth watching.

In his will, Alexander left many of his books/manuscripts/ and possesions to Brigham Young University. A new exhibit just opened in the Harold B. Lee Library displaying his things, including the harp shown in the video.

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 544 pages
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers; First Edition, First Printing edition (June 25, 2003)

A while ago I started reading Eragon thinking it would be downright scary.It was more exciting than scary,it was a teeny bit at the end but I rate it 4.9 stars. If you like the Lord of the rings trilogy this is a must read series!