“Viking Quest” series by Lois Walfrid Johnson

1. Raiders from the Sea
2. Mystery of the Silver Coins
3. The Invisible Friend
4. Heart of Courage
5. The Raider’s Promise

Fast-moving stories of Viking raiders and courageous captives.

Recommended age: 8 – 10; 10 – 12

In Raiders, a young Irish girl, Bree, is captured by Vikings.  Devin, her brother, comes to rescue her and falls into the Vikings’ trap.   However, Devin’s and Bree’s trials follow very different paths.

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 “The Templeton Twins” series by Ellis Weiner

1. The Templeton Twins Have an Idea
2. The Templeton Twins Make a Scene

Fun books full of snide comments by the narrator.

Recommended age: 10 – 12; 12 – 14  

The twins’ father is an inventor.   However, a former student bearing a grudge tries to horn in on the father’s latest invention, resulting in all sorts of mayhem and complicated schemes and lots of opportunities for the narrator to add his two cents. The second book is much the same.

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“Island” series by Gordon Korman

Book Titles:

1. Shipwreck
2. Survival
3. Escape

Fast-moving stories of unlikely companions shipwrecked on an island.

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

Luke and five others are on a “get-your-life-in-order” cruise.   All of them have areas of struggle in their lives.   However, in the first book, things don’t go as planned.  There is a terrible storm; one adult dies, and the other abandons them.  The ship sinks, and they need to rely on each other for survival.   In the second and third books, the cast-aways learn to survive on a desert island, avoiding and out-smarting smugglers while looking for an opportunity to be rescued. 

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 “Hank the Cowdog” series by John R. Erickson

Book Titles: 

1. The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog
2. The Further Adventures of Hank the Cowdog
3. It’s a Dog’s Life
4. Murder in the Middle Pasture
5. Faded Love
6. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
7. The Curse of the Incredible Priceless Corncob
8. The Case of the One-Eyed Killer Stud Horse
9. The Case of the Halloween Ghost
10. Every Dog Has His Day
11. Lost in the Dark Unchanted Forest
12. The Case of the Fiddle-Playing Fox
13. The Wounded Buzzard on Christmas Eve
14. Hank the Cowdog and Monkey Business
15. The Case of the Missing Cat
16. Lost in the Blinded Blizzard
17. The Case of the Car-Barkaholic Dog
18. The Case of the Hooking Bull
19. The Case of the Midnight Rustler
20. The Phantom in the Mirror
21. The Case of the Vampire Cat
22. The Case of the Double Bumblebee Sting
23. Moonlight Madness
24. The Case of the Black-Hooded Hangmans
25. The Case of the Swirling Killer Tornado
26. The Case of the Kidnapped Collie
27. The Case of the Night-Stalking Bone Monster
28. The Mopwater Files
29. The Case of the Vampire Vacuum Sweeper
30. The Case of the Haystack Kitties
31. The Case of the Vanishing Fishhook
32. The Garbage Monster from Outer Space
33. The Case of the Measled Cowboy
34. Slim’s Good-bye
35. The Case of the Saddle House Robbery
36. The Case of the Raging Rottweiler
37. The Case of the Deadly Ha-Ha Game
38. The Fling
39. The Secret Laundry Monster Files
40. The Case of the Missing Bird Dog
41.  The Case of the Shipwrecked Tree
42. The Case of the Burrowing Robot
43. The Case of the Twisted Kitty
44. The Dungeon of Doom
45. The Case of the Falling Sky
46. The Case of the Tricky Trap
47. The Case of the Tender Cheeping Chickies
48. The Case of the Monkey Burglar
49. The Case of the Booby-Trapped Pickup
50. The Case of the Most Ancient Bone
51. The Case of the Blazing Sky
52. The Quest for the Great White Quail
53. Drover’s Secret Life  
54. The Case of the Dinosaur Birds
55. The Case of the Secret Weapon
56. The Case of the Coyote Invasion
57. The Disappearance of Drover
58. The Case of the Mysterious Voice
59. The Case of the Perfect Dog
60. The Big Question
61. The Case of the Prowling Bear
62. The Ghost of Rabbits Past
63. The Return of the Charlie Monsters
64. The Case of the Three Rings
65. The Almost Last Roundup
66. The Christmas Turkey Disaster
67. Wagons West

As a whole, the series is a lot of clean, wholesome fun.   However, there are a few books which I do not recommend due to, in my opinion, spiritual aspects such as ghosts or other spiritual weirdness.  

Recommended age: 8 – 10; 10 – 12; 12 – 14

Hank and his sidekick, Drover, are cowdogs on a Texas ranch.  Hank views himself as Head of Ranch Security.   He has a rather high view of himself, but he is not as smart, good looking, strong, dangerous, brave, truthful and faithful as he thinks he is.  He blunders from one mishap to another, always getting in trouble, excusing himself, blaming others, using words that are too big for his vocabulary, and generally making an hilarious mess of the situation.   Following are brief summaries of the books that I have read.  In #1, ­Original Adventures, Hank feels unappreciated and leaves the ranch, taking up with a gang of rough Coyotes.   In # 2, Further Adventures, Hank fights a Doberman Pinscher and meets a owl witch.  In #3, Dog’s Life, Hank goes to visit his sister in town and gets her so upset that she tricks him into eating soap.  In #4, Murder, Hank outwits a gang of hoodlum dogs who are trying to take over the ranch.  In #5, Faded Love, Hank, all perfumed up by a dead skunk, goes to court Beulah.  In #6, Sleeping Dogs, Hank goes after a chicken killer on the ranch.  In #7, Corncob, Hank and Drover think that they are rich.  In #8, One-Eyed Killer Stud Horse, Hank rescues two girls from a horse bent on murder.  In #9, Halloween Ghost, Hank and Drover meet a ghost.  In #10, Every Dog Has His Day, Loper, Hank’s owner, is considering replacing Hank with a purebred Border Collie who is very good at herding cattle.  In #11, Unchanted Forest, Hank, with the help of Madame Moonshine, the witch, rescues little Alfred from a bobcat.  In #12, Fiddle-Playing Fox, Hank gets led astray by a fiddle-playing fox.  In #13, Wounded Buzzard, Hank helps rescue an old crotchety buzzard who crashed through the windshield of Slim’s truck.

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The Legends Won’t Leave Me Alone

“Darkmouth” series by Shane Hegarty

Book Titles: 

1. The Legends Begin
2. Worlds Explode
3. Chaos Descends
4. Hero Rising

 A fun fight-the-monsters series.

Recommended age: 10 – 12; 12 – 14

Finn comes from a long line of Legend fighters.   Legends (monsters) come out of portals into our world and attack the inhabitants, and no one can figure out why they are still coming.  However, Finn doesn’t seem to be able to fight them successfully and would rather not fight them at all.   Even worse, there is a prophecy about him with some rather disturbing information.  Then everything seems to go wrong at once: his friend seems to be a spy, it appears that there is a traitor, and Legends are coming out all over town.   Will Finn rise to the challenge, or will he run?  In Worlds Explode, Finn, his friend, and a companion go into the Infested Side to rescue his father.   He learns strange things, finds unexpected friends, and risks his life to save both worlds.  In Chaos Descends, something new is brewing.   The Legends in the Infested Side have a new and nefarious plan, and Darkmouth is facing its greatest threat ever.  In Hero Rising, it is not just a hero who is rising; there is also the greatest threat ever faced by either world, and Finn has to stop it alone.

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“Spaceheadz” series by Jon Scieszka

Book Titles:

1. Spaceheadz #1
2. Spaceheadz #2
3. Spaceheadz #3
4. Spaceheadz #4

Fun, quirky books about aliens.

Recommended age:  10 – 12; 12 – 14

Fifth-grader Michael K meets some strange new kids and their hamster in his new school.  Turns out they (including the hamster) are aliens.  They need to recruit 3.4 million and one kids to become Spaceheadz to save planet earth.   And watch out for Agent Umber of AAA (Anti-Alien Agency)!

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“Robots Rule” series by C. J. Richards

Book Titles:

1. The Junkyard Bot
2. Lots of Bots

Lots of fun and action

Recommended age: 8 – 10; 10 – 12; 12 – 14

George lives in a city filled with Robots.  One day he manages to create Artificial Intelligence in Jackbot, his helper robot.   Suddenly, Jackbot disappears, and George is attacked by a robotic garbage truck.    Helped by Anne, the daughter of the owner of the robot company, Tinkertown, he fights to save himself, Anne and the town from relentlessly rampaging robots.

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The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick

A fun historically based story of a boy in his search for his brother braving thieves, murderers, slave catchers, spies and rebels.

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

Homer’s older brother Harold is illegally sold off to join the Union Army.   Homer goes to rescue him.   On the way he outsmarts murderers, is outwitted by thieves, joins a traveling show, flies through the air, and rides through the battle lines at Gettysburg — not to mention, saving the day at a critical stage of a very important battle.  

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