“Greetings from Somewhere” series by Harper Paris

Easy Chapter Book (for 8 – 10 year olds).

• The Mystery of the Gold Coin
• The Mystery of the Mosaic
• The Mystery of the Stolen Painting
• The Mystery in the Forbidden City

Short, easy-to-read, interesting detective stories for young children.

Recommended age: 8 – 10

In Mystery of the Mosaic, Twins Ella and Ethan Briar are in Venice where they solve a mystery involving a stolen gondola.

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“The Land of Elyon” series

by Patrick Carman

1. The Dark Hills Divide
2. Beyond the Valley of Thorns
3. The Tenth City
4. Stargazer

Fun, easy to read fantasy/mystery stories.

Recommended age: 10 – 12; 12 – 14.

Fearing monsters in the land, Warvold built walls around and between the  four cities of the land of Elyon.   But, doing this caused hardship to the animals of the land, and there were dangers he did not anticipate.   In the first book, Alexa, who has always wanted to know what existed outside the walls, ventures out when the opportunity presents itself one day.   There she learns of a great danger to the people of the land of Elyon.  In the second book, Alexa is summoned by a letter from Warvold, written before he died, calling her to come and defeat a new threat — giant ogres oppressing a far-away town.   The third book carries on where the second leaves off.   The fourth book follows Alexa on a new adventure as she helps to rescue the people of the five pillars from an evil waiting for them in the Lonely Sea.

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“Shadow Children” series by Margaret Peterson Haddix

1. Among the Hidden
2. Among the Imposters
3. Among the Betrayed
4. Among the Barons
5. Among the Brave
6. Among the Enemy
7. Among the Free

Stories about children and adults courageously fighting against oppression.

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

A totalitarian government only allows people to have two children.   Luke is a hidden child — a third child who must live inside all the time and hide from everyone else.  One day, he sees a girl in the window of a neighboring house and realizes that she must be a third child too.  Through her, he learns of other third children and joins in the struggle against the government and the evil Population Police.  The stories chronicle the struggles of Luke and other hidden children as they seek to bring freedom to their world.

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“The Riot Brothers” series by Mary Amato

1. Snarf Attack, Underfoodle, and the Secret of Life; The Riot Brothers Tell All
2. Drooling and Dangerous: The Riot Brothers Return!
3. Stinky and Successful: The Riot Brothers Never Stop
4. Take the Mummy and Run: The Riot Brothers are on a Roll

Very funny adventures of two elementary-aged boys.

Recommended age: 8 – 10; 10 – 12

In Snarf Attack, we are introduced to Orville and Wilbur Riot — two boys with too much energy but a lot of ideas.   They lead us through a series of escapades, teaching us how to amuse ourselves at the table, how to be annoying, how to play games when you are bored, how to catch crooks and dethrone a king.   In the second book, they throw plastic bugs at each other and do everything in reverse.  In the third book, the Riot Brothers continue their plan of a new mission every day — rescuing a damsel in distress, being mad scientists, and pulling an April Fool’s joke on their mother.   In the fourth book, they look for a lost mummy.

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“Monster” series by Lewis Trondheim

Graphic Novel

1. Monster Christmas
2. Monster Mess
3. Monster Dinosaur
4. Monster Turkey

Whimsical children’s graphic novels about a not-very-scary monster.

Recommended age: 6 – 8; 8 – 10; 10 – 12

Petey and Jean draw a monster who comes to life.   Petey and Jean have several adventures with their monster Kriss.   In Monster Christmas¸ the family and their monster go on a vacation at Christmas time and save Santa Claus. In Monster Mess¸ we read how Kriss was created.  In Monster Dinosaur¸ a dinosaur from a drawing comes to life and is destroying the city.

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“Lost Planet” series by Rachel Searles

1. The Lost Planet
2. The Stolen Moon

An interesting science fiction adventure series.

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

Chase Garrety has amnesia. Remembering nothing from before the moment when he woke up, his only clues to the past are a blaster wound on the back of his head, a microchip embedded beneath his skin, and the phrase ‘Guide the star’. Wanting to know more about himself, he decides to leave Trucon, the planet he’s living on. However, when Trucon is destroyed minutes after his departure, he and a companion are framed for the destruction, and Chase has to go on the run. While in a refugee camp, Chase briefly meets a girl who claims to be his sister, presenting Chase with a possible key to the past. Leaping at this opportunity, Chase tries to find the girl again, not realizing the danger that lies ahead. In The Stolen Moon, Chase’s fate gets tied up with that of hundreds of innocents, as a group of hijackers seize the spaceship that Chase and his friends call home.

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Henry Reed, Inc. by Keith Robertson

A funny story about being a boy in the country in the 1950s.

Recommended age: 12 – 14; 14 – 16

Henry is living in Italy, but he comes home to the US for the summer with an assignment from his teacher to learn about free enterprise.   Meanwhile, if Henry is anything like his mother, his Uncle is expecting an interesting summer.   His expectations might be best expressed in his parting words to Henry at the end of the summer:  “When Vesuvius erupts, take a picture for me. . . . With both you and your mother in Naples, it’s bound to [erupt].”   Wherever Henry (or his mother) went, things happened.

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