The Children of the King by Sonya Hartnett J Har

Cecily, 12, and  her 14-year-old brother Jeremy  board a train in London, heading north, along with other evacuees during World War II. But they are not like the other children being sent out of harm's way. Cecily and Jeremy's mother is accompanying them, and they will be staying with their father's brother in the old family mansion, Heron Hall.
Cecily, always one to feel inferior around Jeremy (he's older, smarter, more passionate) feels sorry for the children leaving the train at the village and being shepherded into the town hall to await selection by a local family. She thinks it would be a noble thing to take in one of the evacuees -- and get a playmate for herself. To her surprise, Jeremy agrees, and their mother is happy to let Cecily make the choice. That's how May Bright ends up at Heron Hall.
May is adventurous where Cecily is not, but Cecily is determined that they be friends, so she traipses after May across the lawn, through the woods and over a stream, where they discover the remains of an old castle, tucked away where no one has seen it for years. And much to their surprise, they discover two boys who are living there. But the boys aren't there every time the girls come visiting.
Cecily asks her uncle about the castle, named Snow Castle. He begins telling the story of the castle, a little bit every night before bedtime. But first, his audience must understand a little bit of England's history from centuries past, including an evil duke who kidnapped the rightful heir to the throne, and made himself king instead.
This was an enjoyable book to read. It wasn't fast-paced or one that made me want to turn page after page. It was just a nice story that unfolded slowly but kept my interest. If you like books set in another time, or enjoy stories about royal families, give this one a try. You might get a surprise at the end.

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein

This book is about Kyle Keeley and how he and his friends escape from Mr. Lemoncello's library. One day on the bus Akimi (Kyle's best friend) tells him about how the new library is having a lock-in. She also tells him you have to write an essay to get in. So Kyle writes a single sentence and hands it in at school. The next day they find out who the winners are and one of them is Kyle. To the kids it's just a normal lock-in thinking they are going there to spend the night and go home the next day.  But Mr. Lemoncello (one of the most famous toy designers ever and the one who owns the library) had a trick up his sleeve, he was going to have all of the kids stay overnight and try and solve the mystery of how to escape the library. Kyle teams up with his friends to escape the mysteries of the library.

          I'd suggest this book to kids who have a huge imagination, complex mind, and love to tinker and invent things.  Chris Grabenstien did a wonderful job in creating this book and many others. It was really fun to read this book because he used so many descriptive words, it felt like I was there. 

By Laurel, 4th grade reader

The Dark Lady J Adl

It seems that we just can’t get enough of Sherlock Holmes.  

His adventures fascinate us and yet we know very little about his early years.  What was Sherlock like as a boy?

A new series entitled “Sherlock, Lupin and Me” sets out to answer that question by imagining Sherlock’s childhood.  Narrated by his friend Irene Adler, the first book “The Dark Lady” follows Sherlock, Irene, and loyal friend Arsene Lupin as they investigate the mysterious death of a man who washes ashore on the beach.  

The three friends slyly move through the French seaside town of Saint-Malo, picking up clues from unsuspecting adults and sneaking into forbidden places.  It’s all great fun, although the story moves a little too slowly in places.

What is more interesting, however, is the idea behind the series – each of the friends is a famous character in an adult book.

Arsene, known later in life as “the Gentleman Thief” was the star of a series of detective stories published around the same time as the Sherlock Holmes tales.  Arsene’s path did not cross with Sherlock’s in the original stories, but Irene’s certainly did.  Although she only appears in one Sherlock story, Irene is “the woman”, the great intrique of his life.  Clever and resourceful, Irene is the only person to ever outwit Sherlock.  

In this first book, she doesn’t outwit Sherlock, but who knows what will happen in the next book …

The House of Hades by Rick Riordan J Rio

Rick Riordan does it again with the fourth book in his Heroes of Olympus series. The earth goddess Gaea is stirring and releasing giants and monsters back into the world through the Doors of Death. The only way she can be stopped is by sealing the Doors of Death from both sides. The end of Book Three saw Percy and Annabeth plummeting into the underworld to make their way to that side of the doors, while the rest of the demigods on this quest make their way to Greece to find the location of the mortal side of the doors.

The story is fast-paced, the descriptions vivid, and the intensity of the plot is lightened by injections of humor in just the right places. Some of that humor is provided by the characters; some of it is just Riordan's excellent writing.

If you haven't read any of the books in this series, well, why not? Start with The Son of Neptune and work your way through. Because you will be captivated and won't want to quit reading, you will finish the first four well ahead of the scheduled October 2014 release of Book 5, The Blood of Olympus.

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman J Gai

Mom's out of town and Dad didn't hear her reminder to get more milk. So how can the kids eat their breakfast cereal? Dad sets out to the corner grocery for milk while the kids wait, and wait, and wait. When he finally returns -- much later than expected -- he tells a whopper of a story that explains why he was gone so long.
The story Dad tells is certainly entertaining and very far-fetched. This book is a quick read and a quirky read. There didn't seem to be much point to the story, or maybe I missed the point, but I didn't really think it was so great. Lots of other people do, though, based on ratings on Amazon and Goodreads. Guess it just isn't my cup of tea, with or without the milk.

Kid Pickers by Mike Wolfe, with Lily Sprengelmeyer J 745.1 Wol

If you love watching American Pickers on the History Channel, then this book is for you. Star and chief picker Mike Wolfe has co-authored a book to give young people like you some tips and basic advice about the art and business of picking. He writes in a chatty style, as if he's sitting across the picnic table from you sipping a lemonade and sharing secrets of the trade. Pick this up and start picking!
You'll find it in the New Juvenile Non-fiction section, J 745.1 Wol

Treasure Hunters by James Patterson J Pat

Bick and Beck Kidd have a lot to live up to, considering that their dad is Tom Kidd, the infamous treasure hunter. The Kidd kids, Storm, Beck, Bick, and Tommy, are all distraught after a storm, because their dad is nowhere to be found. The only evidence of him being in the storm was a lone life preserver, rolling into the sea. They all know that they should be considered orphans, because they lost their mom in Cyprus after a scandal. Storm reveals that she knows how to get into “The Room,” the only place on their ship, The Lost, which they are forbidden to enter. Even if they tried to enter “The Room,” they would be unsuccessful, because it is the most secure room in the entire ship. Storm gives Bick and Beck the key, and they enter. They find a to-do list on their father’s desk, a list of lost artifacts that they should find. They decide to go after King Philip III of Spain’s long-lost galleon. Once they find the galleon and cash it in however, their Uncle Timothy arrives, claiming that he is their guardian. They battle with a lot of pirates, and they want to know what is really happening. The Kidds inject a truth serum into Uncle Timothy, and find out what really happened. Read the book to find out the surprising truth!

By Nick, fifth-grade reader

AR Level: 4.6

AR Points: 6