Herobear and the Kid – The Inheritance by Mike Kunkel

A Graphic Novel

An interesting story about a boy and his friend, who is a hero-polar bear

Recommended age: 8 – 10; 10 – 12

Tyler’s grandfather has just died and left him a toy bear and a broken watch—nothing that excites him very much.    But then he finds out that the toy bear turns into Herobear, and the watch tells Herobear where to go to fight evil.   Along the way, Tyler finds out something very surprising about himself and about his grandfather.

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Sticky Burr by John Lechner

Graphic Novel 

Being unfriendly isn’t the only way to build a friendship.

Recommended age: 8 – 10; 10 – 12

Summary of Plot: Sticky Burr doesn’t really fit in to his village in Burrwood Forest because he doesn’t have a prickly-enough personality.   But he rescues the village from a dangerous foe and wins the hearts of most of his fellow burrs.

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Down the Mysterly River

 by Bill Willingham

A story about a boy and three talking animals wandering through a strange land pursued by an unknown ruthless enemy.

Recommended age: 10 – 12; 12 – 14

Max wakes up in a wood not knowing where he is.   As he walks along he finds a talking badger.   Thinking he is in a dream, they travel together until the evening when Max builds a campfire.  Suddenly a wild cat runs through their clearing pursued by a man and two dogs.   The man and his two dogs then turn on Max with clear evil intent.  Fighting for their lives, Max, the badger and the cat set off on a trek toward a promised sanctuary dogged by their enemies the entire way.

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“Spy Mice” series by Heather Vogel Frederick

1. The Black Paw
2. For Your Paws Only
3. Goldwhiskers

Fun stories of Glory and the Spy Mice agency and Glory’s human friend Ozymandius.

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

In Black Paw, Glory, a young mouse, is in trouble because she has messed up and lost the Kiss of Death to Dupont, the evil leader of the rats.   At the same time, Oz is having trouble with school bullies.   But when Glory and Oz team up, things start to happen.   In Paws, Oz and DB go to New York to compete in a contest, and Glory and Bunson go to New York to foil the plans of a gathering of the most evil rats in the world.  In Goldwhiskers, a large rat in London uses orphan mouslings, including one named “Twist” to steal jewels and other valuables.   Oz, D.B. and Glory are in London for a trip, and get involved when Oz and D.B. are implicated in one especially notorious theft by the rat and his helpers.

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The Doom Machine

by Mark Teague

A humorous story about aliens.

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

When Isadora Shumway and her mother arrive in the small town of Vern Hollow, they are surprised to find it almost completely deserted. They don’t have long to ponder the situation, however, as their car suddenly breaks down. They manage to get it to a repair shop, which is staffed by a teenage boy. His name is Jack Creedle, and as the Shumways talk to him they find out what happened to the rest of the town’s population. Apparently, the previous night Vern Hollow had been invaded by aliens. They’re led by the villainous Captain Xaafuun, who has been ordered to bring back a certain item to her home planet. The only problem is, she has no idea what the item is. As the aliens proceed to ransack the town, Jack and Isadora may be the only ones who can stop them.

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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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