Wait till Helen Comes

by Mary Downing Hahn

This author, as I have told you before, specializes in kid friendly ghost stories. She is also one of my favorite authors.

This book is about a girl named Molly and her mother recently got remarried. Her new younger stepsister is a spiteful, mean little brat. When Molly and her family go out to a church that their parent's bought for the summer weird thing start going on. Heather keeps threatening Molly and Molly's brother Michel by saying "wait till Helen comes". When bad things start happening Molly is sure Helen is responsible. But who is Helen? Why is she friends with heather? And what are her initals doing on a tombstone in the backyard?

This is another great book! I really like the last 2 chapters. I like this book and I hope you do to.

The Old Willis Place

by Mary Downing Hahn

Mary Downing Hahn writes ghost stories that are okay for kids. They're still scary but with no bad words or stuff like that. I like her writing. It is flowing and descriptive.

This book is about two kids Diana and Georgie. Diana and Georgie haven't had friends in a long time,o when the new caretaker for the old Willis place has a daughter named Lissa, who is Diana's age, Diana wants to become friends. When she and Diana become friends something terrible happens. The ghost of Mrs.Lillian, the late owner of the Willis place is set loose, Diana and Georgie have to run because Mrs.Lillian is loose, and she has a deadly secret.

This is one of my favorite ghost stories. It has just the right amount of mystery in all the right places. It has a huge twist at the end. I love Mary Downing Hahn's writing. This book is probably good for ages 9-12 it is a super cool book.

-KidLitNut

All the Lovely Bad Ones

by Mary Downing Hahn

This author is known for writing ghost stories for children who are a little bit older. I like this author's style of writing. It flows well and is very descriptive.

This book is about two kids named Corey and Travis, who get kicked out of summer camp because of the pranks they do. So when they get sent to their grandmother's inn and learn it used to be supposedly haunted, they decided to do a little haunting of their own. They dress in white and flit around the grounds, they scream, and they make everyone think that the inn is haunted.

But when people start seeing things, and Corey and Travis's room is destroyed, they know that they didn't do it. Then when they see the ghosts they find out they are just kids who have been murdered. To help the ghosts on to the next life, they have to defeat the murderer's ghost. Will they succeed, or will the murderer claim two more victims from beyond the grave?

I really liked this book. It is by one of my favorite authors Mary Downing Hahn. This book is good for a quick read.

Beast Quest 1 - Ferno the Fire Dragon

by Adam Blade

Hey people! I'm kidLitNut's younger brother, BillyBobBoxer (shown here with my buddy, Tiger).



This is my first post. I hope you like it. This book is about a boy named Tom. Weird things are going on. First the horses were attacked. Then the river dried up. Then the crops got mysteriously burned. Everyone is scared, but not Tom. He goes on a quest to find out who or what is doing the destruction and stop them. On the way he meets a girl named Elenna and she decides to help him. Will they find who is doing this? Will they save the village? Will they make it out alive?

I thought this was a good book. The writer is very good at descriptive writing. I would recommend this book to ages 7- 9. On a scale from 1 to 10, I give it an 8. I love this entire series, but this is the one that got me started.

-BillyBobBoxer

Magyk

by Angie Sage

This book starts with the murder of a young queen right after she gave birth to a little girl. At about that time, the Heap family's youngest child (A Newborn named Septimus) is pronounced dead, so the new Extra-Ordinary Wizard (as the last one was killed protecting the queen) takes the new queen and gives her to the Heap family and tells them to pretend she's their own child. They name the child Jenna.

Many years later the Extra-Ordinary Wizard comes the Heap's house and takes Jenna away, saying she is the Queen and needs to be protected. The entire family must bond together to protect Jenna but will it be enough? Who is trying to kill them? Will they all make it out alive? And what actually happened to Septimus Heap (after all, his name is on the cover)? Find out in this totally great great GREAT read.

I loved this book. The author has a great style of writing that makes you feel like you're actually there. The story is great and I love the series. There is danger at every turn and I couldn't put it down!!! I recomend this book to ages 8 and up. and on a scale from 1-10 it scores 9.9 (my highest score yet).

Here's a link.

-KidLitNut

The Seeing Stone

by Kevin Crossley-Holland

This book is about a boy named Arthur who lives on a manor and desperately wants to become a knight. One day his dad's friend Merlin gives him a black seeing stone. The stone shows him visions of his namesake, King Arthur. He sees dragons, and the battles and sword fighting of King Arthur. He is told not to tell anyone about the stone. While fighting with his siblings and doing other daily chores, he wonders why Merlin gave the stone to him. Why does he sees the battles? What is going on?

I liked this book but it was hard to follow. Also, there are so many people, but I can't remember who they all are. Arthur is a very interesting character but at some places it just dragged a little bit, and I wondered what he was going to do to pick up the story.

It was an okay book. On a scale from 1 to 5, I would give it a 3.

-kidLitNut

A Wrinkle in Time

by Madeleine L'Engle

Sorry I haven't been on in awhile. Back to the books. A Wrinkle in time is a about a girl named Meg. Meg is very unpopular and she faces a lot of difficulty. Her father is missing and rumors are flying. Everyone says her brother is an idiot, and she hates school. That all changes when she meets three very strange old ladies called Mrs. Which, Mrs. Whatsit and Mrs. Who.

The three ladies say her father is being held, and they can wrinkle to another dimension to save him. (Wrinkling is hard to explain but I will try. If there is an ant on a long piece of string and needs to get to the other side it has to walk all that way. But if you put the two ends of the string together the ant only has to take like one step. Then you straighten the piece of string and presto! the ant is at its destination! It's harder to explain it then it actually sounds!) So she sets off with her younger brother Charles and Calvin, a popular basketball player at her school.

They find out her father is being held by IT. In the attempt to rescue her dad IT takes over her younger brother Charles mind. Meg barely escapes with her life. Will she go back and rescue Charles? Will they ever defeat It? Will she and her friends ever escape back to earth? Find out in this amazing, cool book.

I would recommend this book but only to people above 9 years old, because in some places it is a little hard to follow. I love this book and so does my mom. With lots of suspense, it makes for a very exciting read.

Here's an Amazon link.

The next book I'll be reviewing is The Seeing Stone by Kevin Crossley-Holland.

Warriors: Into the Wild

by Erin Hunter

This book is about a house cat named Rusty becoming a warrior cat. He runs away from home with hopes of freedom. When he's out in the forest, he finds Bluestar, the leader of the Thunderclan. She takes him in to become a warrior, but first he must train, and prove to the clan that he is ready. When Rusty is brought into the clan, he is given the name Firepaw. There are several clans in the forest, and they all believe in Starclan, which is a mysterious, heavenly clan that lives in the stars.

Once every moon all the cats, under a peaceful alliance, meet at the "Fourtrees" to spread news, and to discuss any issues that affect the clans. When the sinister Shadowclan leader Brokenstar announces that his clan doesn't have enough food, giving them the right to hunt in other clan's territories, the trouble starts. As if to prove their point, Shadowclan forces Windclan out of their territory.

Meanwhile Ravenpaw, Firepaw's friend, tells him that the new deputy of the Thunderclan (Tigerclaw), murdered the former deputy to rise to power. This is a clear violation of the warrior code, which is a group of laws set by Starclan.

Will Firepaw help save his clan from Shadowclan's evil intentions, and bring Windclan back to their lands? What will happen to Ravenpaw now that he knows Tigerclaw's secret? Find out in this captivating tale by Erin Hunter.

I consider this book a Must Read. I'd recommend it for any kids over 9 or 10. Here's the amazon link.

Until next time,

-kidlitnut

39 Clues, Book 1 - The Maze of Bones

by Rick Riordan

The maze of bones is an awesome book with drama, action and suspense, not to mention poison finger nails and a dart gun loaded with poison. It starts out with two orphans, Amy and Dan Cahill, whose parents were killed in a fire. Then their grandmother, Grace dies, but when they go to the funeral, their calm peaceful life ends right there. Then they must make a choice; get $1,000,000 or have a chance to go on a clue hunt for the greatest source of power known to man.

What choice will they make? If they get the $1,000,000, their Aunt Beatrice will somehow find a way to steal it for herself. If they pick the hunt, they will have fierce competition like Ian and Natalie Kabra; deadly, rich and very secretive or Alistair Oh; smart and rich. They pick the hunt, but they have no clue how deadly it is. They are given two things, a clue "the fine print to guess, Seek out Rickard S_____", and a warning: "beware of the madrigals". Will they find the next clue? Will they survive the hunt? What are these Madrigals? Will they evade their evil aunt? Find out in this amazing tale by Rick Riordan, who is also the author of the Percy Jackson series.

Here's an Amazon link.

Eye of the Forest (Children of the Lamp)

by P.B. Kerr

This is the fifth book in the series. So many important things happen in this book, that I don't know where to start! There's a betrayal, but who is it? John and Philippa once again embark on an adventure to save the earth from certain destruction!

They venture to the Amazon to find the Eye of the Forest, which holds great power. They are sent by Faustina, the Djinn leader. On the way there, they meet many strange creatures, like jaguars, 20 foot long poisonous centipedes, and a poison dart frog. During their adventure, they were horrified to find that their father had been kidnapped by the evil Virgil Macreeby.

Will they reach the Eye in time, or will they be killed on the way? Read this exciting tale to find out. I'd say it's good for kids aged 9-13.

By the way, P.B. Kerr and a really cool web site. Check it out! As usual, here's the AMAZON link.

Among the Hidden - KINDLE VERSION

by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Don't know what a Kindle version is? Let me tell you. A kindle is something you can get from Amazon, that let's you download books, and read them on a screen. My dad bought one last week. It's really fast and easy, it stores a lot of books. You can download books without going to your computer and start reading them right away.

Here's a picture of the Kindle:

The first book I read on this was Among the Hidden, which is the first book in the Shadow Children series. It's about a young boy named Luke who is in hiding because he is a third child. In his country, you can't have three children due to the lack of food. They have population police who enforce the laws about how many kids you can have. One day as he's staring out the window, he sees a girl's face looking out the window of the Baron's house. He is surprised because he knows that they already have two sons. He suspects that she may be a third child as well.

One day, he sneaks into the Baron's house, to meet the girl, and he does. Over time, they become good friends. Her name is Jennifer, but she likes to be called Jen. She has a plan for all third children to be free. Will it work, or will it have devastating consequences? Find out in this amazing tale by Margaret Peterson Haddix.

Some parts of this book are pretty sad. I'd recommend it for kids 9 and up.