action and adventure

The Little Secret

When Jane is invited to spend her summer vacation with her new—but admittedly odd—friend, Staffa, it feels like a dazzling daydream. Jane is lured by the promise of beautiful gowns as delicate as cobwebs, fancy parties as elegant as castle balls, and more fun than she can possibly imagine.   But there’s something menacing about the gleam in Staffa’s mother’s eyes. Something not-quite-right about the long drive over the hills of Scotland. Something strangely alluring about the mysterious, glowing box she is told she must never open. Never, ever, for any reason . . . Until, of course, it is opened on her behalf.  If Jane goes home with Staffa—if she enters the world of the box—will she be trapped forever? Or will she become every girl’s secret idea of a princess?    Kate Saunders takes readers into a wildly imaginative miniaturized world of castle balls, death-defying bee riders, and giant racing spiders. A world where wicked plots are hatched, exciting rescues staged, and where the power of friendship can be a match for even the most dastardly of villains. 

Yum Yum!: What Fun!

Creak, crack, creak, crack. There’s a mysterious noise in the house, but Katie and James and their little dog, Harry, are too busy cooking up something delicious to notice. Crash! Bash! Crash! Bash! Everyone heard that noise! What could it be? Katie and James and their little dog, Harry, are happy to share their snacks with anyone who drops by . . . but what if this boisterous surprise guest wants to snack on them instead? Yum, Yum!

Worry Warts

In this sequel to Misery Guts, the ever-cheerful Keith Shipley has reached Australia, but even halfway around the world, he frets over his parents’ happiness, hoping that making a fortune in the opal mines will save his family.

Guardian Of The Spirit (Moribito)

Balsa was a wanderer and warrior for hire. Then she rescued a boy flung into a raging river — and at that moment, her destiny changed. Now Balsa must protect the boy — the Prince Chagum — on his quest to deliver the great egg of the water spirit to its source in the sea. As they travel across the land of Yogo and discover the truth about the spirit, they find themselves hunted by two deadly enemies: the egg-eating monster Rarunga . . . and the prince’s own father.

The White Darkness

I have been in love with Titus Oates for quite a while now—which is ridiculous, since he’s been dead for ninety years. But look at it this way. In ninety years I’ll be dead, too, and the age difference won’t matter.

Sym is not your average teenage girl. She is obsessed with the Antarctic and the brave, romantic figure of Captain Oates from Scott’s doomed expedition to the South Pole. In fact, Oates is the secret confidant to whom she spills all her hopes and fears.

But Sym’s uncle Victor is even more obsessed—and when he takes her on a dream trip into the bleak Antarctic wilderness, it turns into a nightmarish struggle for survival that will challenge everything she knows and loves.

In her first contemporary young adult novel, Carnegie Medalist and three-time Whitbread Award winner Geraldine McCaughrean delivers a spellbinding journey into the frozen heart of darkness.

Featured in Volume I, Issue 2 of WOW Review.

Garden Of The Purple Dragon

In the time of the Han Dynasty in ancient China, a young orphan struggles with her new responsibility. Ping has survived her days as a slave at Huangling Palace, but new challenges await her in the desolate mountains of Tai Shan. The aged dragon Danzi is gone, and now it is up to Ping to take care of the baby dragon, Kai. She does her best, but food is scarce, and she must be constantly on the lookout for her enemies. Things seem to get better when fate leads her back to the Imperial Palace, to the Garden of the Purple Dragon. Yet even within these hallowed walls, Ping and Kai are not as safe as they believe.  This story of adventure, action, friendship, and loyalty will have readers cheering for Ping and the young dragon as they embark on their journey of faith and courage.

Tunnels

14-year-old Will Burrows has little in common with his strange, dysfunctional family. In fact, the only bond he shares with his eccentric father is a passion for archaeological excavation. So when his dad mysteriously vanishes, Will is compelled to dig up the truth behind his disappearance. He unearths the unbelievable: a subterranean society that time forgot. “The Colony” has existed unchanged for a century, but it’s no benign time capsule of a bygone era. Because the Colony is ruled by a merciless overclass, the Styx. Will must free his father–is he also about to ignite a revolution?

KIDS DIG TUNNELS!

“My eyes were my gray metal shovel and my dark unexpected tunnel was the book. I kept digging my way deeper into the plot to find out what was going to happen next.”–Alexa, age 12

“…a unique mix of fantasy and adventure that keeps you wondering what’s going to happen next….the vivid descriptions will transport you to a whole new world.”–Matt, age 14

“…I was on the edge of my seat until the last page. It was intricately mystifying. Full praise to TUNNELS–I want more!”–Garrett, age 12

Without Warning: Ellen’s Story, 1914-1918

After World War I calls her brother to the front lines, a young woman sets out to make a difference in this powerful historical novel.”I don’t know much about wars except soldiers and sailors get killed and Jack might get killed with them. But grown-up people say . . . they’re a chance for young men to go off to foreign parts and be brave and come home heroes.”England, 1914. The piercing tone of the bugle changes a sleepy British village and Ellen Wilkins forever. It is the call to enlist — a chance Ellen’s brother, Jack, won’t miss. The call also spurs Ellen to leave the safety of home and begin a journey of self-discovery, one that takes her close to the front lines to pursue her calling as a nurse. In this gritty and insightful novel, Dennis Hamley deftly portrays the everyday realities of life in wartime, along with harrowing accounts of war’s lifelong effects on the young people caught in its path.

Gate Of Days (The Book Of Time)

Sam Faulkner now knows his father is trapped in Vlad Tepes’s castle, but he can’t save him without the seven coins that will allow him to direct his travel to the right year in Time. So he sets off on a desperate journey through the ages to collect the coins — to the oracle at Delphi, Pompeii before Mt. Vesuvius — even Chicago in 1932, where he meets his seven-year-old grandfather. But things get wilder still when he finally finds his father, who is sick, dying, raving . . . and who insists they must rescue Sam’s dead mother from Time!