The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson

A well-written story about life in some other world.

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

Piper is a scrapper, making her living by finding scrap items left behind from a meteor storm that seems to carry items from our world, and perhaps other worlds.    She seems to have a special gift with mechanical devices.  One day on the meteor field, she rescues a girl from a caravan that had been partially destroyed by a meteor.   This girl has the mark of the Dragonfly on her, marking her as important in the southern kingdom.   However, after Piper rescues Anna, she discovers that Anna is being pursued by a dangerous man.  Piper and Anna flee town by stowing away on a train where they meet unusual allies and dangerous opponents.

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Leave it to Psmith by P.G. Wodehouse

More assumed identities at Blandings Castle.

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

Joe Keeble wants to give some of his money to his step-daughter, Phyllis.   Joe’s wife, Lady Constance, doesn’t like Phyllis and won’t let him give her the money.   Freddie, who wants some money to start a business, offers to steal Constance’s expensive necklace for his Uncle Joe — who would then “spend” twenty thousand pounds on a new necklace (but actually just give her the same stones in a new setting).  This way, Joe would get twenty thousand pounds to control without Constance knowing about it, and she would still have her necklace, and she would be appreciative of the fact that he was willing to replace her necklace.   Freddie is incompetent, so he hires Psmith to steal the necklace.   Psmith enters Blandings under the guise of a poet who was supposed to come, but who had decided not to.  Psmith’s real reason for coming is that he wants to court Eve Halliday who is working there.  In the meantime, there are two real thieves who have also finagled their way into the Castle, also with their eyes on the diamond necklace.

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Hero by Mike Lupica

An interesting story about a boy who is this generation’s hero.

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

The “Bads” are always trying to cause trouble in the world.    And in every generation, there is one “hero” who arises to fight them.   Zach is that hero.

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“The Gideon Trilogy” also known as “The Enlightenment of Peter Schock” by Linda Buckley-Archer

1. Gideon The Cutpurse also known as The Time Travelers
2. The Time Thief
3. Time Quake

An imaginative story of two young people caught in 1763.

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

Peter and Kate, through an accident at a high-tech lab, wind up in 1763.   There they make friends with Gideon, a good man with a checkered past.   He protects them from the evil characters in his past, while they seek to make their way home.

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Airman by Eoin Colfer

Original and unusual story about a young man who creates an air-machine.

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

Conor has a lot of potential, but he sees some murders committed by a very ruthless and evil individual with a lot of power.   Falsely imprisoned, he plots his escape using a very unexpected means.

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Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell

An enjoyable look at the “Living  in the Past” trend with surprising twists.

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

Gen’s mother has chosen to take their family to a camp where you live like it was the 1890s on the frontier.  Gen is not happy.   She smuggles in a cell phone, and, unwittingly, creates a crisis at the camp — and a very surprising media event.   In the meantime, Gen learns how to milk cows, harvest corn, fight a mill fire, avoid bears and even to like her enemies!

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Crescent Dawn by Clive Cussler

An exciting book with many memorable characters.

Recommended age: 16 – 18; Adult

Back in 327 A.D., a Roman ship carrying valuable artifacts to Constantinople disappears after being chased by pirates. In 1916, a mighty British warship sinks north of Scotland, supposedly destroyed by German mines. In both cases, however, there is much more than meets the eye. Now, in the modern day, the results of these events have reached a critical point, and only Dirk Pitt, director of NUMA, has even a hope of staving off disaster.

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Prisoners in the Palace by Michaela MacColl

An interesting look at life in the early 18^th century.

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

Liza has lost all of her money, but her lawyer has told her that there is an opportunity for a lady in waiting to the princess.   Once at Kensington Palace, Liza learns that life in the palace is full of intrigue and danger, as well as loyalty to the princess.  Avoiding dangerous noblemen, spying for the princess, carrying messages out of the palace, and crawling through secret tunnels, Liza perseveres in her attempt to protect the Princess.

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The Adventures of Sally by P.G. Wodehouse

One of the better Wodehouse stories.   Not as funny as some, but a better story.

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

Sally, from New York, is engaged to a man who she would not, perhaps,  be engaged to if she knew him better.   Ginger meets her sunbathing on a beach in France as he unravels a dogfight, and he falls in love with her.  The rest of the story devolves into the typical Wodehousian confusion as truth and love find their way through to the end.

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