​By guest contributor FalconX, age 12

The Scroll of a Thousand Prayers, an ancient scroll with mysterious powers, is coveted by many. A thousand years ago, magical and unspeakable things happened. A new age is dawning. And now, many different forces, both good and bad, are after the scroll and the power it can give whoever holds it in their hands.

Yumeko was raised by monks in the Silent Winds temple. As a half kitsune, half human, she has natural instincts to be tricky like the fox she shares DNA with. Her skills with illusion and mischief constantly exasperate the monks. She has trained her whole life to pretend that she is human. But one day, her peaceful isolated world in the mountains comes to a fiery, violent end.

Kage Tatsumi is a trained and dangerous samurai, fighting demons day and night for the unseen masters of the Shadow Clan. He always puts duty first, no matter what it costs him. When he receives orders from the very top of his Clan to retrieve the scroll, it means endangering his life for this crucial mission.

Yumeko is carrying the temple's most prized possession as she flees the burning site. A piece of the scroll. When Tatsumi and Yumeko meet by chance, a skeptical alliance is formed. Tatsumi doesn't know of Yumeko's secrets. Yumeko is unaware of Tatusumi's true nature and mission.

​In this thrilling tale of demons and deception, Julie Kagawa weaves together a brilliant and heart-pounding fantasy adventure novel. It will have you turning page after page deep into the night. I liked how it embodied a part of ancient Japan in its complicated web of legends and monsters. It gave it a slightly historical edge, so the story wasn't completely fanciful. I would recommend this to middle-grade readers who have a thirst for demon-slaying and secrets. You won't want to put this book down as you follow the pair on their journey, gaining allies and enemies. This is the first book in a series, so be prepared for the cliff-hanger and plot twist at the end.

 By Piranha T.

Sixth grade is only just over, but Virgil Salinas already regrets the rest of middle school. This is the day he believes he’s officially a Grand Failure. The quietest kid in a seemingly flawless family, he’s always felt different. His only sources of comfort are his grandmother Lola, who loves to tell him the stories from the Philippines which she heard growing up, and Gulliver, his pet guinea pig. But when Virgil and Gulliver end up in danger, and no one knows where they are, everything changes.

Valencia, a girl who’s deaf who Virgil has always admired for her courage and daring.

Kaori, a self-proclaimed psychic who believes she’s a reincarnated freedom fighter from Bangladesh.

Chet, a school bully who pulls the trick which gets Virgil in trouble in the first place.
They’re four middle school misfits, who barely even know each other. But when their paths collide in what might just be fate, their lives are changed forever.
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Hello, Universe was sometimes funny, sometimes thought-provoking, but always with themes of friendship and acceptance. With chapters narrated by Virgil, Valencia, Kaori and Chet, by the end of the book, I felt like I knew each of them in a really personal way. This is a book you read less for the plot, although it was quite engaging, and more for the interesting, relatable characters, who truly formed the heart of this story. Hello, Universe won the Newbery Medal, and I’m not surprised; it is a truly excellent book. I recommend Hello, Universe to readers ages ten and up. 

By Piranha T.

For twelve-year-old Milo Pine, winter vacation is a time to relax. His adoptive parents run Greenglass House, a smuggler’s inn, but no one ever stays there during the winter. But then guests begin appearing at the front door, and before long, Greenglass House is full of mysterious lodgers, all of whom seem to have their own reason for being there. And none of whom seem the least bit ordinary.

A perplexing map. A potential thief. Missing belongings. As the snow piles up outside and the mysteries deepen, Milo teams up with the cook’s daughter, Meddy, to uncover the secrets of the strange guests, the stories they tell, and the one thing they all seem to have in common: Greenglass House itself.

Greenglass House was a brilliant mystery with complex characters and multilayered histories. Milo and Meddy were awesome protagonists, and the puzzles they were solving kept me turning the pages until the very end. The entire cast was exceptionally quirky and enigmatic, in a way which reminded me of Nooks and Crannies, The Mysterious Benedict Society, or The Westing Game. Additionally, this mystery was unusual because it had hints of magic while still being set in this world, a combination I only remember reading in Knightly and Son, and was extremely well-done. I would highly recommend Greenglass House to lovers of brilliant plot twists and unusual characters ages ten and up.

Note: If you like Greenglass House, Kate Milford has written several sequels and companion books, many of which I’ve read and loved! 

By Piranha T.

Eleven-year-old Trinket’s father was a teller and a bard. He would tell stories for a living, traveling the countryside, but he would always return to Trinket and her mother, and their house by the sea. But for five years, he hasn’t returned. And Trinket is determined to find him.

With the help of Thomas the Pig Boy and a map which her father left when he disappeared, Trinket travels across the countryside, finding the seven stories she needs to become a true bard herself. She tangles with Gypsies and a seer girl, helps rescue a child stolen by selkies, aids a skilled young dancer bargain with faeries, and has many other adventures besides. But as her search turns up no trace of her father, she begins to wonder if she’ll ever find a trace of him—until she hears a story which changes everything she believed.

​The Seven Tales of Trinket was a fairytale-like tale of a girl searching for her father intertwined with Gaelic folklore. Shelley Moore Thomas creates a vivid world of magic in the stories Trinket finds, from faeries to banshees to selkies and more, very much in the flavor of the Celtic myths much of the story was drawn from. I loved the stories and adventures Trinket had, which were vivid and multilayered, all standing easily alone but intertwined into her adventure in different ways. I would recommend this to readers nine and up, especially those who love folklore or The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander, or anyone who loves a lyrical, enchanting stories of family, quests and adventure.

By Piranha T.

Long ago, the founders, aquatic beings with blue-green scales and powerful magic, raised stone from the sea and sang the City of Islands into being. But when the founders disappeared, the most powerful of their song-spells vanished with them. Now, although many of the songs are still remembered, the most ancient and complex have been lost to time.

Mara has always dreamed of mastering spell-songs and learning to become a mage. But after the death of not just her parents, but also of the mage Bindy, who took her in after they died, that dream seems unlikely. Instead, the Lady of the Tides employs her to dive in the ocean around the City of Islands to find artifacts from the time of the founders. She rarely discovers anything of interest, but her earnings are enough to keep her from the streets.

One day, Mara discovers a deposit of bones on the ocean floor which seem to be left over from the time of the founders and sing with spell-song. And when she shows them to the Lady of the Tides, it seems that they can be traced back to one person—the same mage who killed Bindy two years before.

As Mara delves deeper into secrets which someone powerful has done quite a lot to hide, she finds herself caught up in something much bigger than just the mysterious bones. And she might be the only one who knows enough to stop the mastermind behind it before it’s too late.

City of Islands was an engrossing book. Kali Wallace expertly wielded the details of the world and the spell-songs, creating a setting which felt absolutely real, and an unusual type of magic which is now one of my favorites. Mara was a heroine with her own desires and personality, and the plot surprised me at every turn, two things I always love in a story. The whole book felt completely unique, to the point that when I tried to come up with a similar book, I couldn’t! I would highly recommend City of Islands to lovers of multilayered worlds and complex plots ages ten and up.

A note from Piranha T: If you like City of Islands, check out our interview with the author here! 

By Piranha T.

The weather in Alorria is perfect. There is no such season as winter. Every day is sunny and temperate, and it rains only when the farmers request it. Everything is kept this way by storm beasts, bound to their human guardians, who together work the weather and make it perfect for all the land.

Twelve-year-old Mina has been waiting for the day when her storm beast will hatch. She cares for her egg every day, letting the unborn creature absorb her personality through the shell of the egg as all storm beasts do, so when it is born, beast and guardian will be perfectly matched in temperament.

But when Mina’s beast hatches, everyone believes there must have been a mistake. A fiery, unpredictable lightning beast is the last creature anyone would associate with quiet, timid Mina. But Mina and her lightning beast, Pixit, are sure there’s no mistake. They only have to show everyone else that it’s true.

Mina and Pixit are enrolled at Mytris Lightning School, where she learns how to become a storm guardian. But as she learns more about her country and about its history, she realizes Alorria’s flawless weather comes with a cost. And the more she discovers, the more she is determined to make her voice heard.

​Spark is an exciting, fast-paced fantasy with an intriguing world full of mysterious creatures and deep secrets. Mina is a sympathetic heroine learning her place in the world, and attempting to change a way of life which has been in place for generations. I would highly recommend this well-developed, unique fantasy to readers ages ten and up.

By Contributing Reviewer Abby E, age 11

Renegades, by Marissa Meyer is a wonderful fantasy with romance, secret identities, crazy powers, revenge and justice. A girl, a boy, thrilling adventures, what more could you want? Although on different sides in this battle, the work together and become friends. In this spellbinding tale you enter Nova and Adrian's world of prodigies. With heroes and villains you won't want to put the book down. and when you're done reading it you'll be clawing for the next book.

​Note from Super Kitty and Piranha T: We love this book (and series) too! 

By Piranha T. 

Ever since her father died and she was left in the care of her stepmother’s tyranny, Liesl has been locked in the attic of a house which was once her home, no longer allowed to leave. Lonely and heartbroken from her father’s death, Liesl draws pictures to pass the time. And one day, a ghost called Po sees them and appears in the shadows of her bedroom. He tells her tales of another, even darker world, the only world he can still clearly remember. They become fast friends, and before long, Liesl begins to plan how to escape her attic and return her father’s ashes to the place where they belong.

Meanwhile, Will, the apprentice of a powerful, unpredictable alchemist, is sent to bring the most powerful magic in the world to the Lady Premiere. But his task doesn’t go quite according to plan. The Lady Premiere obtains something decidedly less remarkable, and the magic falls into the unknowing hands of Liesl and Po.

Liesl and Po is a book which is simultaneously deep and young, the poignant story of a girl searching for friendship and a relief from her father’s death, a story in some ways simple and in others not simple at all. I would recommend this book for readers ages nine and up, but although I read this for the first time several years ago, it’s one of my enduring favorites because of the simple yet rich beauty of the story, the characters, and the prose.
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Lauren Oliver has an enticing writing style which pulled me in and characters who I truly love. There is a nice balance of magic and adventure, and mystery as well. (And the cover is one of my favorites—it depicts the book beautifully!) I would highly recommend Liesl and Po to readers ages nine and up.

By Super Kitty

Tired of fairytales featuring heroines who spend most of their time waiting to be rescued? Girls to the Rescue is a collection of ten short stories starring smart, capable girls who use their wits and talents to overcome obstacles and save the day. Some of the stories are inspired by folktales and legends, while others are original, but all share a theme of promoting strong role models for girls of all ages.

I was about seven when I first discovered this book and its sequels, and have enjoyed them ever since—there are many girl-power remakes of classic stories, and the Girls to the Rescue series is definitely a top pick. The characters are smart, brave, and believable, refusing to let anything from stereotypes to their own fears get in the way of their success, and friendship, diversity, and self-confidence replace many traditional stories’ themes of romance and needing to be rescued. They’re also perfect books for reading aloud. Overall, Girls to the Rescue is an excellent choice for readers (girls and boys!) ages seven and up looking for strong characters and clever stories from around the world.

By Piranha T.

The first time fifteen-year-old Maya Hammond sees the man who didn’t smile, she’s on a train on the way to visit her grandparents in Maine, and he’s carefully watching another woman—a woman who looks afraid. Maya has always had intuition no one else does, and when she sees the woman, she knows she must help her. When she walks past, the woman slips a mysterious book into Maya’s bag—and the next time she looks, both the man and the woman have disappeared.

Maya soon discovers that the book is known as the Book of Everything. It can give advice, spirt people through time and space, but most important of all, it tells the truth. The Book of Cinnial, sent long ago to battle the Book of Everything, spreads lies and discord wherever it can. So far, the Book of Everything usually triumphs—but if it falls into the hands of the opposing group, the world would fall apart.

Maya meets Andy, a boy from the 1970s, when the Book of Everything sends her back in time. Then she and Andy are thrown into another world, known as Ilyria, where two dukes are battling for rule, an ancient and magical forest is in danger, and nefarious forces are attempting to make a stand. There, Maya will uncover secrets and gain new powers—but will it be enough to save not one, but two Books of Everything?

Maya and the Book of Everything was an excellent fantasy. Laurie Graves wrote a well-rounded plot which kept surprising me with twists I never would have anticipated. Maya was a clever and interesting heroine who I absolutely loved. The themes on books and reading were also fun, reminding me (although slightly younger than this book) of Finding Serendipity. I would highly recommend Maya and the Book of Everything to lovers of fantasy and complex plots ages twelve and up.

A note from Piranha T: Click here to check out our interview with Laurie Graves! 

By Piranha T.

Fourteen-year-old Genna has never before broken one of the most fundamental laws of her people: never to leave her house at night, and never to go into the forest after dusk. The forest, which borders her small village, is inhabited by nightlings, mysterious creatures with legendary powers. The two realms are kept at peace only by an ancient treaty, giving humans reign over day, and nightlings rule by night.

But then Genna and her brother Dan break the pact and journey into the forest at night, thinking that only there lies the hope of saving their mother from the brink of death. Instead, they uncover something more dire than they could have imagined. A nightling slave tells them of a dangerous agreement the village’s leader has made with the nightling leader, Letrin—a scheme which, if fulfilled, could cost much more than Genna’s mother’s life.

When Genna is brought before Letrin herself, she strikes a deal with him whose terms even she doesn’t fully understand. She must set off with her brother along dark Moonroads to bring back what Letrin has requested, and uncover the truth about the nightlings, truths which will overturn the parts of her world she has always taken for granted.

The Ruby Key was an interesting, well-written fantasy with a lush and well-developed world of danger, mystery, and power. It took me a little longer than normal to get into this book, mostly because of the layers of the world I was trying to understand, but once I did, I was hooked. Genna is an excellent, relatable character with strong motivations and a likable personality. And the world is like a character in and of itself, with multilayered history and magical creatures of dangerous power, the kind of world fans of Blackbringer will love.

This book is on the older end of the middle-grade age range, so I would recommend it to readers ages eleven and up; parts of it might honestly be scary for younger readers. However, for fantasy fans of that age who like strong plots and complex worlds, I would highly recommend The Ruby Key.

By Piranha T.

Magpie Windwitch, granddaughter of the West Wind, is a fierce faerie hunter in a world where the past is all but forgotten. Of all her kindred, she’s the only one defending the legacy of the faeries who ended the Demon Wars twenty-five thousand years ago—including Magpie’s hero, Bellatrix, the champion of the king of the Djinn. For humans have begun to unleash the demons from their bottle prisons, and Magpie is intent on hunting them down.

But when the ancient Blackbringer is released into the world, Magpie knows that she’s onto much more than a normal demon—and that if she can’t catch it, the consequences will be much more dire. She tracks it into the enchanted forest of Dreamdark, a place of dangerous magic and immense power. But as she uncovers more secrets and learns the true nature of the creature she’s hunting, she begins to wonder if there is any hope of keeping the world from unraveling completely—and catching the Blackbringer in time.

Blackbringer is an amazing book. Laini Taylor spins a complex tale which surprised me at every turn, with an intricate, magnificent plot which never seems to slow down. Magpie is a brilliant character who I absolutely love, and her quest is full of nonstop action and long-covered secrets. Not only that, but the world feels completely real and engrossing, in a way which few worlds are. This is a book for fans of the complexity of Seraphina, The Ruby Key, and Shadow and Bone.

Although there wasn’t much violence and no romance, I recommend this book for ages ten and up; there were some things which could be frightening to younger readers, and the plot was complex at a level you usually only get in young adult, to a point which might actually be hard to follow! But older readers may enjoy this book even more than younger ones, simply because of the brilliant multilayered plot. For kids 11+ who love fantasy, brilliant plots, and well-developed worlds, I would highly recommend Blackbringer.

By Piranha T.

Collun likes gardening much more than fighting, and is quite content to stay in his village for his whole life. But it seems the world has other ideas for him. When his sister, Nessa, disappears, he has no choice than to set off, away from the life he’s always led.

But as he travels, he learns more is amiss in Eirren than simply his sister’s disappearance. Legendary monsters are returning all over the land, and a great lord has disappeared. However, Collun is not alone. Along the way, he is joined by a mysterious wizard, a fierce young archer, and an ambitious bard. But will he be able to surmount the final danger and save his sister?
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Hero’s Song is a fantasy quest for lovers of mythology. Edith Pattou draws from Irish myths and legends to create a medieval landscape of monsters, danger, and magic. This is a book for lovers of Over Sea, Under Stone, and The Chronicles of Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander. I would recommend Hero’s Song to readers ages eleven and up.

By Super Kitty

Ten years ago, three young children were taken from their home, escaping an ancient being of darkness who wished to destroy them. Separated from their parents, the siblings are sent from one orphanage to the next: fourteen-year-old Kate, who promised her mother to take care of her younger brother and sister just before they were taken away; Michael, a twelve-year-old bookworm with a deep fondness for dwarves; and Emma, the fiery, fearless, and often irritable youngest, willing to fight just about anyone and who thinks dwarves are completely ridiculous. Remembering their mother’s promise that one day their family will be reunited again, they have refused to be adopted, getting transferred to increasingly horrible orphanages as year after year goes by.

Just when they think things can’t get any worse, they are moved once more—this time to an ancient, crumbling house in a half-forgotten town that no one seems to know anything about. While searching for the truth about the strange village, the siblings stumble across a hidden book, and are pulled into a conflict that has raged for eons. The book holds a power that some fear and some desire, and to unlock its secrets and set right the wrongs that have been done in its name, Kate, Michael, and Emma begin a journey that will take them through time itself. Along the way, they will meet monsters and sorcerers, allies and enemies—and, perhaps, find out the truth of who they really are.

Kate, Michael, and Emma are great main characters—they might have extraordinary destinies and be the key to ridding the world of evil, but they’re also believable children who argue and make mistakes, much like the protagonists of Trenton Lee Stewart’s The Mysterious Benedict Society. In fact, the entire cast is well done, especially the (very intriguing) villains, who we can’t wait to see more of in the rest of the trilogy. There are lots of books which include time travel, but the way John Stephens uses it doesn’t feel cliché—the various twists and side effects of altering the past are both creative a​nd amusing. Clever, fast-paced, and fun, I would highly recommend The Emerald Atlas to readers ages nine and up.

By Piranha T.

There is nowhere in the world seventh grader Coco Hidden loves more than El Corazón, the bean-to-bar chocolate shop she and her mom run in her small Colorado hometown of Heartbeat Springs. Even when her best friend, Leo, stops talking to her, she can find reassurance in her favorite food: chocolate. Nothing in her world seems concrete, but she’s sure she’ll never lose El Corazón.

But then her mom tells her they’ll have to close the chocolate shop. Coco is certain that if she she’ll be able to save it if she can find a ceiba tree which has been haunting her dreams. But she’s never even left Colorado—how is she supposed to get to the Amazon rainforest?

Before long, Coco finds herself on an astonishing trip to the Ecuadorian Amazon with Leo and Gali Gallo, her elderly inventor-neighbor who has secrets of his own. But this small, unexpected bit of hope is deeply threatened. The jungle is being destroyed by loggers and oil-drillers who don’t consider the trees they’re cutting down or the ecosystems they’re destroying. Will Coco be able to find the ceiba tree and rescue El Corazón before it’s destroyed forever?

Tree of Dreams was an amazing book, simultaneously funny and deep. It confronts the damage being done to rainforests in a deeply relatable and unusual way—instead of feeling as though this was the reason Laura Resau wrote this book, it simply read like something which was drawn from it, in a very powerful way.
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However, you don’t have to be looking for that to love this book! Coco is a funny, relatable heroine with complicated relationships and a deep love of chocolate. The settings—particularly the rainforest—felt completely real to me. All in all, I would highly recommend Tree of Dreams to a wide range of readers ages nine and up: to people who love rainforest conservation, readers who love stories about kids and their adventures, and, of course, anyone who loves chocolate!