Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

   

This is such a clever series. Since I have been on such a young adult kick, I thought this would be a great addition. I have only read the first book but I love the characters, plot, conflict and seriously mature solutions. I got my mom to read the first book and she read all three books in the series within a couple weeks. She could not stop raving about the good values that are praised in this book and acted on by the main characters. There is also a website! Mom was very adamant that I visit the website and take the series to school for my students to read. Boy was she right!!!! PLEASE give this series a try!!!!!

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

This book is a great play on the original Alice and Wonderland series but so much better!! Alyss Heart tried to share her story with a professor and he broke her heart. Alyss became Alice and a girl who dreamed up an imaginary world with a talking white rabbit and a mad hatter. The story begins with Alyss' birthday party and when her Aunt Redd crashes the party. Alyss escapes with the help of her mother's body guard Hatter Madigan. They jump into the Pool of Tears and appear in what we know as London. Alyss gets adopted and becomes Alice and is forced to adapt to her new home/world. At the same time, Wonderlanders are dealing with Redd's reign and Hatter Madigan is searching for Alyss.

This is a fantastic twist on a beloved story. The original book tended to bore me but this version was very interesting. I was intrigued by all the ways that the author incorporated the original story. He took pieces and turned them around into his version of what really happened. Give it a try. Then the rest of the series may join your reading list.

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

This series is great for kids who love mysteries but need something easier to read. This series also helps readers get used to chapter books. I ended up buying every single book in this series. There was even a fan club thing that I bought the books through. I would get a newsletter and five new books once a month. Yes, I was a reading nerd as a child. Not that this blog is proving that anything has changed. =)

The Boxcar children are four orphans that are siblings. They end up living in a boxcar to be able to live together. They are too scared to live with their grandfather because they don't know him. The children end up solving a new mystery every single book. This book is thicker than most of the others because it has to set up the background of the children and how they function as a unit and individuals.

All I know is that if you've never read these books, do it!!! You will NOT regret it! If you do, I don't know if we can be friends. ;-)

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

This is one of the books that is considered to be controversial. Some parents even want it banned from their children's classrooms. All because it says the word 'ass' in one of the first few chapters. Honestly, I didn't notice it. I would agree that the word should not be there. However, the rest of the book is fantastic.

James is being raised by two aunts who are horrible to him. He has to do chores that most boys his age should never have to do. He is given a gift of some magic. However, he trips and the magic goes into the roots of the peach tree. When one of the peaches grows almost as big as the tree, his aunts start to make money to show the giant peach. James ends up running away with the peach when it starts to roll down the hill. He discovers that there are talking animals living inside the peach. The book is about the journey they make on the peach around the world.