Spinneret by Timothy Zahn

Imaginative science fiction with political intrigue, aliens, and ancient civilizations.

Recommended age: 16 – 18; Adult

Earth has finally developed space flight and heads off to the nearer stars to find planets to colonize.   Unfortunately, they have all been claimed by several local alien races.   Those races agree to give one planet to earth.   That planet appears to be a planet that no one wants because it is completely void of all metal.    However, things are not as they seem, and to everyone’s surprise, they find traces of ancient alien technology that everyone wants.

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Samurai Rising by Pamela Turner

 An interesting, action-filled biography of Japan’s most famous Samurai warrior.

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

This is a biography, not a story.   But it is the action-packed true story of a young warrior who wants revenge on the warrior-clan that killed his father.    Afraid of nothing, he beats unbelievable odds, even leading a horse-back charge down a cliff. 

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Maddigan’s Fantasia by Margaret Mahy

An interesting book about a post-apocalyptic world with time travel and some magic.

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

Garland is a part of the traveling circus troupe, Maddigan’s Fantasia.   One day, after an attack in which her father dies, Garland meets two boys—one carrying a baby—who are from the future.  The boys are carrying a Talisman that was given to them by their scientist parents.   However, the boys’ evil Uncle Nennog, who can exert some effects in the present, has sent two creatures to pursue them.   It takes all of Garland’s, the boys, and the circus’ ingenuity and steadfastness to defeat Nennog’s time-traveling evil plans.

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Eyes of the Emperor

Author: Salisbury, Graham

Recommended: Yes.  A historical fiction story focusing on the Japanese in World War II from an unusual angle.

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

Summary of Plot: In a story based on real circumstances, Eddy joins the US Army in the days before World War II.  He wants to make a break with his Japanese past.   However, once Pearl Harbor hits, the Japanese are viewed with suspicion.    Unexpectedly, Eddy and his friends are given a difficult assignment far from the battle lines.

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Standing Small by Nevin Martell

Fun account of the history of Lego Mini figures.

6 – 8; 8 – 10; 10 – 12; 12 – 14; 14 – 16; 16 – 18; Adult

Interesting facts about many of Lego’s mini-figures.

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“The Safe Lands” series by Jill Williamson

Book Titles: 

1. Captives
2. Outcasts
3. Rebels

An engrossing post-apocalyptic series for young people.

Recommended age: 16 – 18; Adult.   This should not be read by anyone who doesn’t understand the “facts of life” and who is not mature enough to see through the lies of this world regarding sexual immorality and drug use. 

The year is 2088.  The world’s population has been decimated due to a pandemic that, among other things, infected the water supplies.   It appears, at this point, that only one place in the world has safe water, and the Safe Lands were set up there.  However, at some point, certain people left the Safe Lands due to the political repression and the widespread immorality in the Safe Lands.   These people set up small villages outside the Safe Lands compound and lived there for many years. 

However, the virus has spread and mutated into an AIDS-like virus that has infected everyone in the Safe Lands due to their immorality.  This disease makes it almost impossible for the people in the Safe Lands to reproduce.   So, finally, they raid Glenrock, one of the small surrounding villages, to capture young men and women who will then serve as breeding stock for the Safe Lands.  This attack works and soon virtually all the Glenrock villagers are either in the Safe Lands or dead.  However, there are some young people from Glenrock who don’t like this turn of events, and they won’t let the Safe Landers defeat them without a fight. The story continues in the second and third books.

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Havana Storm (A Dirk Pitt Adventure) by Clive and Dirk Cussler

Fast-moving Clive Cussler action.

Recommended age: 16 – 18; Adult

Back in the 1500s, the Aztecs sent their treasure off on a secret voyage in an attempt to protect it from the Spanish.  They also left an inscribed wheel with the record of the trip, and broke it into two pieces and hid those as well.  Five hundred years later, Dirk Pitt’s two children, Dirk and Summer, are seeking those two pieces of stone, pursued by ruthless enemies who are racing them to get the treasure.  In the meantime, Dirk Pitt is locked in a life-and-death battle to stop illicit underwater miners from poisoning the entire Gulf Stream.

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“Supers of Noble’s Green” series by Matthew Cody

Book Titles: 

1. Powerless
2. Super
3. Villainous

Imaginative and interesting stories about children super-heroes.

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

Daniel has moved into the town of Noble’s Green where he meets some children with some amazing powers.   However, there is a mystery—all of the children lose their power when they turn thirteen.   Daniel discovers that there is a dangerous secret to this mystery, and it takes all of the super children, together with Daniel’s help, to defeat the villain who is the real reason that the children lose their powers.  In the second book, he learns that there is more to this mystery than he thought.   The battle isn’t quite over, and the super children are still in danger. In the third book, another group of super-powered kids starts launching a crime spree around town, but Daniel suspects that this is only part of a bigger plan.

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 “Rapunzel’s Revenge” series by Shannon Hale

Book Titles:

1. Rapunzel’s Revenge
2. Calamity Jack

Graphic Novel

A fun and unusual take on the Rapunzel story.

10 – 12; 12 – 14; 14 – 16; 16 – 18; Adult

Evil Mother Gothel stole Rapunzel when she was little and used magic to dominate the land.   When Rapunzel challenged her, she imprisoned Rapunzel in a tower.   But Rapunzel escapes and uses her long hair to fight her way across the land to rescue her real mother, defeat Gothel and free the land from Gothel’s domination.   In the following book, Rapunzel and her friend Jack set off to Jack’s hometown where giants are oppressing the city.   Aided by a newspaper publisher friend, they work to foil the plans of the giants and rescue Jack’s mother.

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The Neptune Project by Polly Holyoke

An interesting book set in an entirely new world—the ocean.

14 – 16; 16 – 18; Adult

Nere lives in a post-apocalyptic world which is ruled by the cruel Western Collective. The world’s temperature is rising, and all hope for mankind seems lost. But some scientists have come up with a desperate plan for the continuation of the human race: the Neptune project. They’ve genetically changed the makeup of the kids in the Neptune Project giving them all sorts of abilities to help them survive underwater. Nere, unknowingly and unwillingly, is a part of it. Once she is fully transformed, the above world is lost to her. However, the depths of the ocean are not a safe place to be, and Nere has a long journey before she reaches safety.

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