Malamander, The Legends of Eerie-on-Sea, by Thomas Taylor
By: Avira Karthik
01/10/2025
In the summer, Eerie-on-Sea is your average summer tourist destination, with cotton candy,
beach chairs, and an enormous sign with giant flashing letters. But in the winter, the tourists
leave, darkness falls, and the town's shadiest stories wash up on the sea.​ Herbert Lemon is
the official lost-and-founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, appointed by Lady Kraken herself.
True, most hotels don’t have one, but returning lost items to their owners is an important job,
and it isn’t easy.
One seemingly normal day, a girl named Violet Parma turns up at the lost and foundery,
claiming to be a lost item and demanding that Herbie find her parents. There are a few
problems with this. No one knows what happened to her parents twelve years ago, and
Herbie only returns things to their rightful owners, not people. With a little persuasion
from Violet, Herbie is on the case!
When the pair discover that the Parmas’ disappearance might have something to do
with the legendary sea monster, the Malamander, it leads them to an epic adventure on
the sea, involving a couple of pirates, a talking bookshop cat, a shipwreck, a curse, and a dangerous crystal heart that can grant
any of your heart's desires.
Malamander is the first of five books, the second being Gargantis, the third Shadowghast, the fourth
Festergrimm, and the last being Mermedusa. This series will keep readers on the edge of their seats, with unexpected twists and turns, and you can either read it in order or separately. It is appropriate for readers ages 9+ due to its violence and strong language. If you are looking for a good mystery, this series is for you.
Author Bio: Thomas Taylor was born in 1973 and grew up in Wales. He loved to draw, and believe it or not, his first job was illustrating the cover of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. After living in France, he moved to a seaside town on the south coast of England, where he got inspiration for the Legends of Eerie-on-Sea.
Land of Stories
By: Marguerite Underdown
12/20/2024
What if fairy tales can come true? In Land of Stories, two twins, Alex and Conner, discover that their grandma’s book is a portal to the Land of Stories. The Land of Stories has many famous fairy tale characters, like Snow
White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and many more. When Alex and Conner visit, they
discover that the world isn’t living happily ever after. The Evil Queen is loose from the
Northern Kingdom. The most evil villain is running from law, reason, and taking the
most dangerous and dark path. What she wants to do is unclear, but there is a rumor
of a Wishing Spell. The Wishing Spell can only be used twice, because a mysterious
person used it many years ago. With Alex and Conner also after the Wishing Spell,
they must collect the most important and dangerous items in the kingdom. The duo
set out to gather a, “Glass that has a lonely soul up til Midnight's final toll. A saber f
rom the deepest sea meant for a groom's mortality. The bark of a basket held in fright
while running from bark with bite. A stony crown that’s made to share, found deep within a savage lair. A needle that pierced this lovely skin of a princess with beauty found within. A wavy lack of golden rope that was once freedom's only hope. Glittering jewels whose value increased after preserving the false deceased. Teardrops from amazing fairy feeling neither magical nor merry.” All the items are found in the farthest and the hardest-to-get places throughout all the kingdoms. While visiting places that seem obvious and getting chased by menacing creatures, the twins risk their lives for each other, all the while getting closer to each other. Throughout the book, they face more danger than they ever could have comprehended; learn basic pieces of advice, such as always try to do your best; and learn their family’s biggest secrets. The twins make friends along the way, like some queens who are dealing with tribulations, and giant frog men, hiding from themselves. I’d recommend this book for 8 and up, given that the series has dark turns. Overall, this is a timeless story that will make hearts happy, droop, or pump with anticipation. This book has cliffhangers, people who are not who they were, love that comes with loss, and so much more. This is a wonderful book, and it, along with the five more books in which the enemy's plan becomes clearer, will cause intense feelings, especially love. The Land of Stories is a breathtaking series that all people, young and old, will love!
Half Moon Summer by Elaine Vickers
By: Avira Karthik
12/06/2024
If you want to run 13.1 miles, you need to have a reason—a good one.
Drew thinks that his summer will be a pretty lousy one - his best friend Isaac moved away, and he
has nothing to do. Then, his dad surprises him with a fresh new pair of running shoes and gets
him into running. Then, when they see an ad for a 13.1-mile marathon, they decide to run it.
Then, Drew's dad begins showing unusual symptoms. He keeps dropping things randomly, falling,
and feeling tired a lot. When Drew's father is unexpectedly diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS), Drew decides to put his whole heart in the race to show support.
Meanwhile, Mia, a girl born in the same hospital in Half Moon Bay, California on the same day as
Drew, is facing problems too. When Mia's dad surprises her with plans to build a house in
Sacramento, Mia is very passionate about the work. When the financial budgets and costs
add up, a person offers to buy the house that they are building, and the potential decision to stop
the work pops up. Mia realizes that the person who is responsible for the offer to buy the house
is running in the marathon. She tries emailing him, but he ignores it. After a lot of missed
phone calls and ignored emails, Mia realizes that the only way to stop her family's housing
problems is to run the marathon. After meeting on the beach one night, Drew and Mia decide to
team up and run the race together.
I would recommend this book for 10 years and above. This book would uplift any reader and comprises themes of friendship, family, and hope for the future. Vickers' tale of two 7th graders trying to solve their challenges is a moving, wonderful story, designed to captivate the reader.
Dealing with Dragons (Book 1 of The Enchanted Forest Chronicles)
By: Maya Lovria
11/15/2024
Cimorene is a princess who refuses to be proper. While her sisters are perfect princesses, Cimorene is easily bored with topics such as embroidery, dancing, and etiquette. She secretly took lessons in fencing (until her father found out), magic (until her father found out), cooking (until, you guessed it, her father found out), and more. But, when her parents try to make her marry a prince who she has absolutely nothing in common with, aside from the fact that neither wants to marry the other, she is fed up. She runs away and becomes a dragon’s princess. Dragons usually get their princesses by kidnapping them, so naturally this comes as rather a surprise to others. Cimorene is perfectly happy living with Kazul the dragon, but she quickly gets tired of all the princes and knights trying to be heroic and ‘rescue’ her. When she goes to put up a sign to keep them away, she meets her first wizard. Wizards, unlike dragons, are not born with their magic. Using their staffs, they soak up the magic from others. Naturally, dragons don’t like them much. Wizards are starting to pop up where they’re not allowed, stirring up trouble. They are going too far, and when Cimorene learns of a particularly troubling plot of theirs, it is up to her to stop them.
Dealing with Dragons is a very fun book. It is the first of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles series. Throughout the series, there are lots of funny spins on fairy tales. I would definitely recommend this book, especially to those who enjoy a fantasy read. One interesting fact about the series is that Dealing With Dragons and the next two books in the series are technically prequels. The author wrote the fourth book in the series, Talking to Dragons, as a stand alone novel. She later wrote a prequel, which is Dealing with Dragons, and then planned to write one more, to fill in the middle. However, while writing, she found that there was too much middle to have one book, and instead wrote two.
About the Author: Patricia C. Wrede
Patricia C. Wrede grew up surrounded by books. Her first novel, Shadow Magic, was published in
1982. In 1985 she quit her full time job (which was in finance) and turned to writing. She has made
her living as a fiction writer ever since. In addition to the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, she has
written and co-written numerous other books, including the Frontier Magic series.
​
Sources:
The books, Dealing with Dragons, Searching for Dragons, Calling on Dragons, and Talking to
Dragons, and their introductions.
https://pcwrede.com/pcw-wp/about-patricia/
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/w/patricia-c-wrede/
The Bookwanderers
By: Marguerite Underdown
11/15/2024
The Bookwanderers, written by Anna James, is a great book series that contains six books. This series is for people who like mystery, bookworms finding adventure, favorite books with a twist, and an intriguing story altogether.
I recommend this book for ages 8 and up. The main character is Matilda Pages, more commonly
known as Tilly. A few other characters are Oskar, Milo Bolt, and Alessia. The story starts in
Tilly’s family bookshop, Pages & Co. in London. Pages & Co. is the only home Tilly has ever
known. The bookshop is run by her grandparents, Elsie and Archie. When Tilly’s favorite
characters start coming out of books, she starts to get curious about her mother, who
mysteriously disappeared after her birth, and about her father, a man Tilly never knew. Her
grandparents won't tell her what’s happening, though they keep meeting mysterious people.
Anne of Green Gables (with an e), and Alice of Wonderland convince Tilly that magic is real.
The story kicks off after that, with Tilly grabbing her friend Oskar and traveling into stories.
The proper term for traveling into stories is bookwandering, hence the title. Bookwandering,
Tilly and Oskar travel into the books Treasure Island, Alice in Wonderland, Sherlock Holmes,
Anne of Green Gables, and A Little Princess. Along the way, Tilly finds clues to where her
mother is and what happened to her. But soon, in book two, the perfect ending to book one
backfires, and Tilly, accompanied by Oskar, must defeat all that stands in their way. In book
three, the bookwandering world is falling apart, and yet again, Tilly and Oskar must save the day. They travel into layers of Story to try to fix the damage, looking for the Archivists. In book four, Tilly and her friend Milo Bolt, who drives a magical train through Story, need to save Tilly’s grandpa and Milo’s uncle from a magical sleeping spell. The duo meet the evil Alchemist and their newest friend, his daughter Alessia. The story continues, and in book five, Milo and Alessia visit the Botanist, getting help from friends old and new, and travel into Robin Hood, The Jabberwocky, and The Secret Garden to save people from their enchanted sleep. Book six is coming out in April. This book series is wonderful, with adventure and peril at every turn! For bookworms, the Bookwanderers will feel like life as book characters, and if not, it will give off a sense of excitement. Overall, this book series is a favorite, with many stories combining into a beautiful series.
Keeper of the Lost Cities
By: Avira Karthik
10/18/2024
Are you looking for a world in a completely different land, filled with fantasy and adventure? Then you should read Keeper of the Lost Cities! This book series is an awesome adventure for anyone looking for a magical series to get
lost in. It is in the fantasy genre and is recommended for ages 9-16, as there is some violence.
​
I also decided to write this review because, on November 12, 2024, the hardcover version of a
new Keeper of the Lost Cities book is coming out! This book is told from a completely different
point of view than books 1-9. The other books were told from the main character, Sophie's, point
of view, but this book is told from the point of view of one of the most important characters in
the series: Keefe Sencen. This book tells the story of where Keefe was in book nine. While
everyone else was working together on an ancient mystery, Keefe was in ‘human land,'
experiencing funny incidents and discovering major secrets.
​
For those who have never read this series, I recommend you read the other books and then read
the tenth, as the series is a story of mystery, survival, joy, and happiness. Reading each book
before the next is essential, as each has a great plot twist (seriously Shannon Messenger?)
and magnificent secrets. The uncovered stories and the secrets unlocked in this series will thrill
readers for ages to come. In this series, Sophie Foster discovers that she is an elf and belongs in a mythical world far beyond her imagination that, on the surface, is perfect in every way. But, Sophie discovers pretty soon that the perfectness is the wrapping. There are enormous secrets hidden in this world, along with problems that people pretend don’t exist. Can Sophie discover who she truly is and stop the problems before it is too late? This series is one of my favorites, and I hope you will try it too!
Wings of Fire
By: Avira Karthik and Marguerite Underdown
10/04/2024
Many have wandered a library looking for a book to read and have yet to be satisfied. Wings of Fire, a magical book series written by Tui. T. Sutherland, can fix all of that! Wings of Fire is a world of magic, adventure, and friendship in a land of dragons, and this book series can whirl all readers away to Pyrrhia and Pantala. The Wings of Fire series is in the Griffins' Nest, Auburn Hills Public Library, Rochester Hills Public Library, and many other libraries. This series is in the fantasy genre, for people who love magic and faraway lands.
​
There are 15 books, with three subseries: The Dragonet Prophecy, The Jade Mountain Prophecy, and the Lost Continent Prophecy. Additionally, there are also two legends, called Darkstalker and Dragonslayer. We recommend this book for ages eight and up, and we do not recommend this book for under eight-year-olds, because there is violence.
​
The first five books of Wings of Fire narrate a story about 5 dragonets that are unwillingly put into a prophecy and and forced into a life of literally living under a mountain. As the dragonets, Clay, Tsunami, Glory, Starflight, and Sunny, deal with stopping a long war and choosing a Sandwing Queen, they make friendships, memories, and adventures that last a lifetime.
​
In books six through ten, Moon, Quibli, Winter, Kinkajou, Turtle, and Peril have to stop a dark evil, facing more than ever before, dealing with crucial decisions and experiences. They go to Jade Mountain Academy, which is the Dragonets of Destiny school for all tribes.
​
In books 11-15, whole new types of dragonets come into play, and Blue, Swordtail, Luna, Cricket, and Sundew help unite all tribes before the dragon world is stopped forever: a matter of life, death, lies, love, and friends.
​​
After the 15 books, the legends pop into view to give some backstory, as well as Winglets Quartet, and A Dragon's Guide to Pyrrhia and Pantala, from the point of view of fan-favorite characters. There are also graphic novels for books one through seven with wonderful pictures! This series has thrilling adventures, heart-stopping plot twists, and dragons that you can root for till the end of time. In conclusion, Wings of Fire is a series that has to be on every “To Read” list, one of our personal favorite series, and a thrilling read with fantasy, adventure, love, friendship, magic, and a wonderful story!