The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene

Nancy Drew is a classic series of a young girl who randomly comes upon mysteries. She has a knack for finding clues, trouble, and the answers to mysteries. Her father is a lawyer who can help her sort out her thoughts. This is a great series that will get kids, especially girls, reading. There is a series like it for boys, The Hardy Boys. The original hardback series, shown in the picture, is yellow on the cover and 56 books long.

This book is the first in a series. Nancy Drew finds out that someone's will is missing. The poorer relatives claim they were in the will while the wealthier relatives dispute it. She finds out that a missing clock holds a clue to where the missing will is located.

Hopefully, this book will get anyone to continue reading the series. They are easy reads and for adults could take less than 1 day to finish.

The Revenge of the Shadow King by Derek Benz and J. S. Lewis

This is the first book in a series called the Grey Griffins series. The Grey Griffins is a group of four eleven-year-olds who are very close friends. The leader, and main character, is Max Sumner who comes from a family that owns towns. Max's parents just got divorced and he doesn't feel like he has anyone to take care of him.

Max, Harley, Natalia and Ernie play a card game called Round Table. It gets really freaky when Max finds a magical book in the attic. It get even more crazy when the creatures in the Round Table game start appearing in Avalon, Minnesota. The Grey Griffins discover a secret world and those that fight against the creatures.

Totally surprising how good this book, and the series, is once you give it a chance.

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. ;-)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

This book really made me nervous. I didn't know how a journal with comics drawn in would be something that could keep me interested. This is the first of a four-book series, the most recent hit the bookshelves October 12.

How wrong I was! This book was so clever and funny. The main character is Greg Heffley is in middle school and number 57 (approx) on the popularity list. His best friend is closer to number 200. This is not helpful to his efforts to move up. Also, Greg has crazy dynamics at home that make life interesting.

I didn't think this book would be as clever as it was. I can see how students relate to the character and the story lines. Greg shares stories that everyone can relate to and in a way that everyone thinks  about them, bluntly. I read through this first book in less than an hour. So easy to read, to relate to, and funny. At least try the first book!

May Bird and the Ever After by Jodi Lynn Anderson

This book is one of a three part series. I only bought the first book to see if the series was good enough to finish. It's not fair when a story is cut short by the end of a book. :) Now, I have to go buy the books to finish the story. And after reading this book, it is going to be worth it.


May Ellen Bird is not a typical girl. She has a hard time making friends and therefore does not get along well with others. She is an individual in the way she acts, thinks and dresses. Her best friend is her hairless cat, Somber Kitty. She lives in a town that is abandoned besides her and her mom living in a mansion. Her bedroom is covered in pictures she drew at a younger age. They are of crazy, fictional creations of her imagination.


May is threatened with boarding school in New York City. She explores the ruins of the town and finds a letter that she has never seen before. It turns out, the letter is addressed to her. After seeing the lady hidden in the tree (drawn on the envelope), May starts seeing ghosts in her house. She runs away and discovers a lake in the forest by her house. Funny thing is, the town is in a serious drought that has existed for awhile. When May finds the lake, there is a strangeness about it. Once she falls in, May discovers that she is in the after life. The book starts her journey avoiding the Bogeyman and making her back home.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

I will recommend that you read this series without thinking about the movies. The books are so much better. Granted, I own all the movies. haha. It's not hypocritical, just obsession. The books are great because of all the detail the author includes. The story, world, and characters are developed so well that it is realistic. 


The movies leave so much of the story line out. Not cool.


Okay, this is the story about Harry Potter who grew up wit his aunt and uncle and cousin; they were horrible. On his eleventh birthday, Harry finds out from a giant that he is magical because his parents were. Harry gets to go to a magical school called Hogwarts and learn how to play quidditch. 


If you don't know the story line, then you've been living under a rock. So, go buy all 7 books and get sucked in to the magical world of Harry Potter.

The Dark Hills Divide by Patrick Carman

This series is like nothing out there. The world created by the author is like an island in the sky. Most of the population who live there, don't know about the other parts of the land. 


Warvold has traveled the world and learned of its good and bad qualities. He built rounded walls around the 4 main cities and connected them with walled streets. He is trying to protect the citizens of these town from what they do not know. 


The main character, Alexa, is charged with saving the world she knows and the parts she doesn't even know exist. Warvold has secretly entrusted her with the mission as his final wishes. He pre-planned everything without anyone knowing except for Alexa and the dwarf and animals that he wants to help her. Alexa's journey is one that only a 12-year-old child can make. She begins to learn about the world she lives in and the secrets it holds. 

The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley

This is the first book in a seven book series, The Sisters Grimm. This is a fantastic twist on all the fairy tales we loved as children. The paperback cover is pictured.


The main characters are Sabrina and Daphne, who find out from their grandmother that they are the great-great-etc-grandchildren of the famous Grimm Brothers. They live in a town that was magically sealed by the Grimm Brothers to keep all the fairy-tale creatures from invading the United States. Sabrina and Daphne must help their mystery-loving grandmother solve crimes that are happening in their town. 


As well as crimes in their town, Sabrina is trying to find out what really happened to her parents that caused her and her little sister to become orphans. She has a constant secret mission going to find them.


The world created by Michael Buckley is fabulous. The stories stem from what we believe about fairy-tale characters but with a new twist. Some of them are not as good as we think.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

This book was one I randomly picked up at a Marshalls. I thought I would give it a try. It ended up being a very interesting book.


The main character, Artemis Fowl, is an Irish 12-year-old who is filthy rich. His family is known for their wealth and criminal history. Artemis wants to regain his family's wealth back into the billions. He wants to do so by stealing from the fairy kingdom. Fairies, however, are not like. Tinkerbell. The term fairy describes sprites, leprechauns, dwarves, elves, etc. The main narrator for the fairies is a fairy who is still trying to prove herself and regain the trust of all fairies.


This book is very well written and draws the reader in. The world of fairies is nothing that has ever been presented before, as far as I know. The series has recently published its sixth book.

Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman

This book is written by an author that is great at pulling readers into the worlds that he creates. This is the first book in a series that is very creative in getting non-readers to read. 


This is THE book that I got middle school students, mostly boys but girls too, to start reading. The book is written from the perspective of 12-year-old Ryan. It is not a book however; it is his journal. Ryan lives in a town called Skeleton Creek and his best friend is Sarah Fincher. She is very inquisitive and convinces Ryan to try and find out the mystery behind their town and its name. There are ghosts and secrets that Ryan and Sarah find out about rather quickly.


Ryan's journal stops in places and gives you a password to a website: www.sarahfincher.com. Sarah tells half of the story through her postings on her website. This is what pulled my students into the book. They read a journal and then watch a video online. 


The sequel, Ghost in the Machine, is coming out October 1, 2009. I cannot wait!!!

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

As you know, this is the first book in a very popular series. I avoided this series because it was a huge trend. I didn't trust everyone. However, I was told that once I started I would not be able to set the books down. So, I bought all four books at once. My friend was right and it was a really good thing I bought all four books at once. 

Bella moves from her mom's house to her dad's in Forks, a very small town in Washington. She thinks one guy, Edward, at school is really handsome but he won't talk to her. Then, he saves her life in the school parking lot. Soon, Bella learns of the world of vampires and werewolves is not like the movies portray. She even has to figure out how balance her relationship with both. 

It is very hard to talk about this book without spoiling it. Please, just read the first one and let yourself get sucked into the world of Forks and Bella. 

The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan

I told you I like Rick Riordan. This is an interesting series with so many benefits for a young reader. 


The first benefit is how easy it is to read. The authors change every book to keep it interesting. However, you can't tell the difference and they all keep your interest. 
The next benefit is the cards that come inside the cover. They help readers stay involved with the book outside of just reading it. There is also a website that the cards can be entered into. The website prevents anyone under 18 from joining unless they have parental permission. There are extra clues and missions for the readers to do.
One more benefit is that students who hate reading start reading this book. They are totally interested in the book. I had middle school students who refused to read until I had them try this series.


This is the story of the Cahill family. After Amy & Dan's grandmother dies, they have no family left that care for them. Their aunt who they live with hires sitters to watch them. At their grandmother's funeral, a select few family members are offered the choice between one million dollars or a chance to solve 39 clues around the world for a greater reward. This is the first book in their journey.

City of the Dead by Tony Abbott

So, I literally finished this book last night. I was told by a student that this was a boring book. However, this is a student who stops reading if a realistic but entertaining story hasn't captured him in the first few pages. 


This is the first book in a series called The Haunting of Derek Stone. Derek is the main character who tells this story in first person. The book is very easy to read because it is told from a 12-year-old boy's point of view.


I was a little bored at first and was wondering where the ghosts came in. The second chapter gets very scary because Derek describes a train accident that he was in with his father and brother. Both are not found and presumed to be dead. Derek starts to research what really happened when his brother comes home but acts like a totally different person.


I was disappointed with the lack of ghosts in this story. However, they really start to appear in the last few chapters of the book. The kicker is that they are not really ghosts. They are souls inhabiting bodies. Trust me, Derek explains it to you. I don't want to ruin the story. I thought it was very clever of the author to leave the story hanging at the end of the book. It makes you want to go get the next book in the series to find out what happens.


Good thing I bought the second book when I bought the first, huh?

Magyk by Angie Sage

This is the first book in the Septimus Heap series. I am huge fan of the Harry Potter BOOK series. I love disappearing into the magical world and pretending it's real. This series felt more realistic than Harry Potter. It takes you into the world of Old World Europe but in a location the author has created. The magic, I mean magyk, has new spellings of familiar words. The magyk seems very likely to exist and it feels like it is based out of old wives tales.


The story is about the seventh son of the seventh son being almost a myth but if he is born, he will be very magykal. At the beginning of this book, he is born to the Heap family but said to have died during childbirth. The same night, the queen is murdered and her daughter is said to have died as an infant as well.


The story follows the Heap family as they take in an abandoned baby girl the night their son dies. The fight for ExtraOrdinary Wizard is brought into the public eye.


This book may seem far-fetched but it is so entertaining. As of right now, there are five books in this series: Magyk, Flyte, Physik, Queste, and Syren. Once you read this first book, you will want to stay in the magykal world and finish the series.

The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan

This is the first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. This series has become very popular with students in the late elementary and middle school grades. I read this book after I had purchased the first four books in the series. I know it sounds crazy, but it was so worth it.


This is about a young boy who has many elements in his life that all of the readers can identify with. Percy is diagnosed dyslexic and ADHD. He has been kicked out of the last 6 schools he has attended. His mom is married to a horrible man who acts like a stepfather everyone wants to hate. 


Percy realizes that there is something more to his disabilities. The final straw is when a strange monster chases him and his mom when they are on vacation. This monster tries to kill them both. Percy must figure out who the monsters are, why the monsters are trying to kill him, who is father really is and how to stop the gods from destroying civilization.


I really enjoyed this book for the easy read and topic of Greek mythology. I have enjoyed every book I have read by Rick Riordan. I highly recommend this whole series.