The Shadow Throne

The last in the Ascendance Trilogy by Jennifer Nielsen was not as good as the first two, in my opinion.  It was not as engaging as the others. Though still exciting, I did not find myself as invested as the others.  It was a satisfying conclusion, nonetheless.

The False Prince

This is one of my new favorite authors!  What an amazing first book in the Ascendance Trilogy by Jennifer Nielsen.  I had to read this as a read-aloud.  There is so much action and suspense...the kids are loving it.  When three orphan boys are purchased from their orphanages, they never suspected they would be involved in a plot to overthrow a kingdom.  But, they must succeed, or die.

The Runaway King

This second installment in the Ascendance Trilogy written by Jennifer Nielsen (FIC NIE) was not a disappointment after the excitement of the first.  It is an action-packed adventure full of close escapes, pirates, and heroes.  The cliff-hanger at the end will have you scrambling for the last book in the series, The Shadow Throne.

Among the Hidden

This first book in a series called "The Shadow Children" written by Mary Peterson Haddix is a terrific read!  It is a story set in a futuristic, dystopian world where the government controls everything... even how many children a family is allowed to have.  If you break the rules and have more than two children, the third has to stay hidden.  Luke is such a child.  He has stayed hidden in his house for all of his 12 years!  But that is about to change.  This is his story, full of action and suspense.  It also has a great message about civic action.   If you don't like something going on, do you wait for others to act and bring about a  change, or are you an active participant investing in it?  Who did you relate to more... Jen or Luke?  Explain with details from text.

Flora and Ulysses

Flora and Ulysses is this year's Newbery Award winner.  I love this author. Some of my favorite works were written by her.  I was still hesitant to read this, though.  A squirrel gets sucked up by a vacuum cleaner and gets superpowers.   It did not appeal to me.  Even though I knew DiCamillo would weave her beautiful themes and language into it, I was not excited about it.  When it won, though, I had to read it.  I have to say it was an interesting, funny read with some memorable characters in it.