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Adult, Ages 12 - 14, Ages 14 - 16, Ages 16 - 18

Supervillains Aren’t All They Are Cracked Up to Be

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“The Cloak Society” series by Jeramey Kraatz

  1. The Cloak Society
  2. Villains Rising
  3. Fall of Heroes

An interesting and fun superheroes vs. supervillains book from an unusual viewpoint.

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

Alex Knight has lived all his life in the secret base of the evil supervillain group known as The Cloak Society. He has been raised to believe in what they believe – to be a supervillain. For years he has looked forward to fighting the Society’s nemeses: the Rangers of Justice. But when he finally does, he saves a Ranger’s life, and suddenly, for the first time, Alex isn’t sure what he wants to be. And that’s not all—there are things going on behind the scenes, and soon Alex will have to make a choice: whose side is he really on?

The second book continues the story begun in the first.  The third book brings a climactic battle between The Cloak Society and the Rangers — and it all depends on Alex and his friends.

TO SEE THE FULL REVIEW: 

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Ages 10 - 12, Ages 12 - 14

Don’t Mess With Kids Who Like Art

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Chasing Vermeer by Blue Ballilett

An unusual and enjoyable mystery story.

Recommended age: 10 – 12; 12 – 14

Petra has a dream in which the lady in a Vermeer portrait calls to her.    With the help of her friend Calder, they keep their eyes open, drawing clues from the coincidences that keep happening, and manage to stay hot on the trail of an international art thief.

TO SEE THE FULL REVIEW: 

  • If you are reading this in your e-mail, please be sure to click on the link at the top of the page to go to the Reading With Wisdom website.
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Adult, Ages 16 - 18

Help Comes From Unexpected Places

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Rook by Sharon Cameron

An entertaining, exciting and engaging retelling of Baroness Orczy’s The Scarlet Pimpernel, with its own dramatic twist.

Recommended age: 16 – 18; Adult.

There is nothing new under the sun. A disaster has befallen the world, and the majority of the world has turned away from technology, for the ancients’ dependence upon it is what destroyed them. After many long years of strife, the world has regained peace at last.  Now horrors are occurring in the Sunken City, which was once known as Paris. The wealthy and influential are being put to death underneath the Razor, and the poor are reduced to a bloodthirsty mob. But hope exists for the helpless in the form of a mysterious hero—the Red Rook, also known as Sophia Bellamy. Sophia has her own predicament; she must marry a fool with a fortune to save her family’s lands. Yet all is not as it seems, and that is a good thing. Soon the stakes—for both Sophia and the Red Rook—will have never been higher.

TO SEE THE FULL REVIEW: 

  • If you are reading this in your e-mail, please be sure to click on the link at the top of the page to go to the Reading With Wisdom website.
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Adult, Ages 12 - 14, Ages 14 - 16, Ages 16 - 18

The Rangers Are At Their Best When the Odds Are Against Them

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“Ranger’s Apprentice – The Early Years” Series by John Flanagan

  1. The Tournament at Gorlan

An exciting and engaging prequel to the author’s acclaimed Ranger’s Apprentice series.

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

When Crowley, one of the last true Rangers, and Halt, a mysterious Hibernian who has been given Ranger training, set out together, they have a difficult task ahead. They must foil the evil plans of Morgarath, a baron who has his eye on the throne of Araluen. But the man they were hoping to get help from seems to have gone to the dark side as well, and the Rangers are quickly becoming an extinct species. Can they gather together enough people to stop Morgarath’s evil plan before he obtains his goal?

TO SEE THE FULL REVIEW: 

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Ages 14 - 16

Orphan on the Run

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The Story of Cirrus Flux by Matthew Skelton

An interesting story of an orphan in 18th 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.

TO SEE THE FULL REVIEW: 

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Adult, Ages 14 - 16, Ages 16 - 18

Even Aunts Can’t Stop True Love

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Blandings Castle by P.G. Wodehouse

A number of short stories mostly regarding Blandings Castle or Hollywood.  As usual with Wodehouse, they are complex and very funny.

Recommended age: 14 – 16; 16 – 18; Adult

Lord Emsworth is the absent-minded lord of Emsworth Castle, and he is surrounded by domineering sisters who try to make him act his role as Lord of the Manor, and who bring their daughters or sons to Blandings to keep them from getting married to people who don’t have money.   In the Blandings Stories Lord Emsworth, with the help of the young lovers (or in one case, a twelve-year-old girl) eventually stands up to his sisters (or his gardener) and helps the young lovers get reunited.  In the Hollywood Series, young love survives despite the temptations and trials of life around the silver screen.

TO SEE THE FULL REVIEW: 

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Ages 12 - 14, Ages 14 - 16, Ages 16 - 18

A Desperate Fight to Save Time

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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.

TO SEE THE FULL REVIEW: 

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Ages 10 - 12, Ages 12 - 14, Ages 14 - 16

Cunning Kids versus Ruinous Raiders

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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.

TO SEE THE FULL REVIEW: 

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Ages 12 - 14, Ages 14 - 16

Where is the Protection when you need it in the Witness Protection Program?

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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.

TO SEE THE FULL REVIEW: 

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Ages 08 - 10, Ages 10 - 12

Act Fast to Save Our Junk Food

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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…).

TO SEE THE FULL REVIEW: 

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