The Lightning Thief Graphic Novel

This graphic novel is 'book candy' for my students. I don't have to plug this read. All I have to do is hold it in the air, move it slowly back and forth...back and forth. My students' eyes will follow as if in a trance, mouths open, drool pooling on their desks.

The names Rick Riordan and Percy Jackson are well-known among my sixth grade students. Most of my readers fall into the category of either 'starting the series', 'in the middle of the series', 'finished with the series', or 'finished with the series, read The Lost Hero, and waiting for Fall 2011 for the next book'!!

Rick Riordan does not disappoint with this new addition to the Percy Jackson vault, The Lightning Thief Graphic Novel. This is a fun read and will please both old and new Percy Jackson fans.

Readers will notice deleted scenes from the original book. Click HERE to read one deleted scene. It's a favorite one of my daughter's...when Percy, Annabeth, and Grover visit Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium.

If you like what you see in this first graphic novel, then hang in there...Editor Christian Trimmer says that The Sea of Monsters and The Titan’s Curse are currently in the works and are tentatively set for release dates in 2012.

Happy Reading!

Mrs. T :)

P.S. Reading is like breathing chocolate air!

The Kneebone Boy

In which I was engaged by the characters, enchanted by the writing, and entertained by the experience.

Yes, that just about says it all. You mustmustmust read The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter.

From the book jacket..."Life in a small town can be pretty boring when everyone avoids you like the plague. But after their father unwittingly sends them to stay with an aunt who’s away on holiday, the Hardscrabble children take off on an adventure that begins in the seedy streets of London and ends in a peculiar sea village where legend has it a monstrous creature lives who is half boy and half animal...

In this wickedly dark, unusual, and compelling novel, Ellen Potter masterfully tells the tale of one deliciously strange family and a secret that changes everything."

That's it. Yup. You're not getting any more details from me...no describing the quirky characters of Otto, Lucia, and Max (Loved these characters! And don't even get me started on Haddie because she was extreme-to-the-max quirky!)...no review of the delightfully fresh writing of Ellen Potter (Oh, if only I could write like her!)...I'm not saying anything more except...READ IT! And if you don't read it soon, I may just have to pick it up and read it aloud to you!

Happy Reading!

Mrs. T :)

P.S. Reading is like breathing chocolate air!

P.P.S My favorite quote from the book..."People should have all their big adventures while they're still under the age of fourteen. If you don't, you start to lose your passion for big adventures. It just begins to fade away bit by bit and then you forget you ever wanted adventures in the first place...it's criminal the way that happens."

The Magnificent 12: The Call (Book One)

You gotta see this book trailer...Click HERE.

And before you read any further, just remember..."...most heroes end up dead."

"Twelve-year-old Mack MacAvoy suffers from a serious case of mediumness. Medium looks. Medium grades. Medium parents who barely notice him. With a list of phobias that could make anyone crazy, Mack never would have guessed that he is destined for a more-than-medium life.

And then one day, something incredibly strange happens to Mack. A three-thousand-year-old man named Grimluk appears in the boy's bathroom to deliver some startling news: Mack is one of the Magnificent Twelve, called the Magnifica in ancient times, whatever that means. An evil force is on its way, and it's up to Mack to track down eleven other twelve-year-olds in order to stop it. He must travel across the world to battle the wicked Pale Queen's dangerous daughter, Ereskigal--also known as Risky. But Risky sounds a little scary, and Mack doesn't want to be a hero. Will he answer the call?"

Michael Grant says he wrote this book because..."I want to make kids laugh. It's not very complicated. If I knew that some kid had read THE MAGNIFICENT 12 and laughed so hard they blew milk out of their nose? That would be the highest honor ever for me. I also want to get that sneaky late laugh, you know, where you're in class or at the doctor or at a funeral even, and you remember something from the books and you start laughing. Or even just grinning. That's what I want: I want kids grinning at inappropriate times. Inappropriate grins and the occasional milk snort, that's why I wrote THE MAGNIFICENT 12."

This is the first book in what I think will be a popular series among tweens. Action. Laughs. Adventure. Laughs. Villains. Heroes. Laughs.

Pick yourself up a copy of Michael Grant's latest. Come on. I dare you to be silent while reading this book. Get in the zone, and have some fun rolling on the floor...just be careful not to get milk on the carpet.

Happy Reading!

Mrs. T :)

P.S. Reading is like breathing chocolate air!

Scream Street: Fang of the Vampire

"Luke gazed into the zombie's milky eyes. The creature grinned at him, revealing a mouth crawling with worms and maggots. A cockroach scuttled out of a nostril and up into the zombie's left ear, dragging a trail of black snot behind it."

To say that middle school readers will like Scream Street: Fang of the Vampire may be a bit of an understatement. 'Fangs' to the Picnic Basket for this complimentary copy, I was able to roam Scream Street and meet vampires, zombies, werewolves, poltergeists, mummies, ghouls, goblins...

Luke Watson is a werewolf who has been sent packing to Scream Street, a community of various monsters. Luke's parents, however, are human and very scared of what they are encountering in this strange place.

Luke and his new friends, Resus (a wannabe vampire) and Cleo (a mummy), are on a mission to find Skipstone's Tales of Scream Street, a book that supposedly contains the way out of Scream Street. Luke would like nothing better than to take his parents back home.

Tommy Donbavand's book is an action-packed, monster-filled romp that will leave middle school readers 'screaming' for the next book...Blood of the Witch and the next book...Heart of the Mummy and the next book...Flesh of the Zombie and the next book...Skull of the Skeleton and the next book...Claw of the Werewolf and the next book...Invasion of the Normals and the next book...Attack of the Trolls and...

For more information on the author, visit his extensive website by clicking HERE. And click HERE to go to the series' website.

Happy Reading!

Mrs. T :)

P.S. Reading is like breathing chocolate air!