The Story of Cirrus Flux by Matthew Skelton

An interesting story of an orphan in 18^th century London who is being pursued and he doesn’t even know why.

Recommended age: 14 – 16.

Summary of Plot: Cirrus lives in a home for orphans.  He is treated kindly there, but one day a girl comes running in and tells him he must run for his life.   Fleeing with her, he discovers that a strange woman is seeking him.   He escapes her and escapes the orphanage, and is forced to wander in the streets looking for help, not knowing that both friends and enemies are looking for him.

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“The Navigator Trilogy” series by Eoin McNamee

1. The Navigator
2. City of Time
3. The Frost Child

A good, involved, and very unusual story about time and time travel.

Recommended age: 12 – 14; 14 – 16; 16 – 18.   It might be a little intense for a 12 year old.

Owen lives in our world.   In a sort of dimension that is in our world, but not in it at the same time, the Resisters fight the Harsh.  The Resisters are trying to protect Time and the World.   The Harsh are trying to destroy time and, along with it, our world.   Owen joins forces with the Resisters to fight the Harsh and save the world.

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“The Grassland Trilogy” by David Ward

1. Escape the Mask
2. Beneath the Mask
3. Beyond the Mask

A story of escape and war and cunning.

Recommended age: 10 – 12; 12 – 14; 14 – 16.

Corki and Pippa are leading a small group of children who have fled slavery and oppression, and were looking for a home.   They find a home, but perhaps bring more trouble, as violent raiders pursue them seeking money and vengeance.

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“Zach’s Lie” Series by Roland Smith

1. Zach’s Lie
2. Jack’s Run

Exciting story of danger in the Witness Protection Program

Recommended age: 12 – 14; 14 – 16 for first book;  14 – 16 for second book due to sexual references.  Intended ages for both books: 12 – 14; 14 – 16.

Jack’s dad made some bad choices, and his kids are dealing with the result. Jack Osborne isn’t Jack Osborne anymore. Now he’s Zach Granger, trapped in the Witness Protection Program. At first he feels completely lost, but it finally seems as if Zach is becoming a real person. But his dad’s enemies want revenge, and they’ll stop at nothing to get at ‘Zach’ and his family.   In the second book, the drug lord is about to go on trial, and he has found the family and kidnapped Jack and his sister.

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Fat Men from Space by Daniel Manus Pinkwater

Quirky and lots of fun.

Recommended age: 8 – 10; 10 – 12

In this fun spoof of the alien invasion genre, William’s new filling reacts with another filling in his mouth to become a radio receiver.  He thinks this is a lot of fun until he starts receiving transmissions between aliens about to invade the earth.  But these aliens aren’t the mundane green, many-armed, bulgy-eyed, aliens with antennae – they’re Fat Men from Space in plaid sport jackets, knitted neckties, and horn-rimmed glasses (who bear a striking resemblance to the author/illustrator) and they are intent on consuming all the junk food on the planet (Oh horrible, horrible, most horrible…).

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“Books of Ember” series by Jeanne DuPrau

1. The City of Ember
2. The People of Sparks
3. The Prophet of Yonwood
4. The Diamond of Darkhold

Interesting stories about people who grew up underground.   Prophet is not recommended.

Recommended age: 10 – 12; 12 – 14; 14 – 16

Lina and Doon have grown up in the city of Ember where the only light is from electricity supplied by their generator.   However, the generator is dying.   But Lina and Doon wonder if there is, perhaps, a way out of the city and into someplace where they don’t need to live in fear of the generator dying and the city running out of light and food.    Then one day, Lina finds an ancient document that might lead them out.   In Sparks, they have managed to get out and they found a town.   But the town is poor, and the townspeople are afraid that they will not have enough to feed them and the people from Ember.  Some people with bad attitudes fan the anger, and soon there is a crowd ready to fight.   But Doon and Lina have other ideas.  In Prophet, a girl named Nicky finds herself in a small town where a woman who is in an almost-coma mutters in her sleep and is called a prophet.   Her friend “interprets” the muttering and passes the “rules” onto the people in the town, resulting in a sort of reign of fear.   At the end, you find out that there is a strained relationship to the city of Ember.   In Diamond, Doon finds something that was left for the people of Ember.   He and Lina set off on a trip back to Ember to find out more about this mysterious present.   But in Ember, they find unanticipated danger.

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“The Applewhites” by Stephanie S. Tolan

1. Surviving the Applewhites
2. The Applewhites at Wit’s End

An entertaining story of creativity and mishap.

Recommended age: 12 – 14; 14 – 16; 16 – 18.

Jake is a juvenile delinquent that none of the local schools will dare to take — except the Creative Academy, the homeschool created by the eccentric and creative family, the Applewhites. Jake is at first reluctant, but in the end he is drawn into their wild world.

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