Twelve-year-old Torak’s life is suddenly turned upside down when a bear attack suddenly leaves Torak without his father. Now, Torak is faced with completing the oath that he promised his father he would complete: To find a mountain that nobody has ever found, to solve a riddle that nobody has ever solved, and to kill the bear that killed his father. Luckily, Torak has a guide, in the form of a wolf cub. Together, Torak and Wolf travel together, avoiding enemies, collecting pieces of the riddle, and finding a way to make it to the mountain.
Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander is an example of a textbook someone would find at Hogwarts. It gives a history of magical creatures in the Harry Potter universe, as well as notes from Harry and his friends. Along with the history, it also gives specific information about the creatures within the magical world. Along with the information, it tells the reader how dangerous the creature is. Not to mention, information about Newt Scamander himself.
The sixth and final book in the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead, Last Sacrifice, was a great finale. Queen Tatianna is murdered, and Rose is framed by an unknown source; Rose, Lissa, and friends must figure out who framed Rose and find Lissa’s hidden half-sibling to make things right. This installment was much better than Spirit Bound; it took on more of an exciting and mysterious thriller quality than its predecessors, and Rose seemed more like her old self.
Spirit Bound, the fifth novel in Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy series, was all over the place. After returning from her journey to Siberia, Rose is caught up in the hope of turning Dimitri back into a damphir. Rose recruits Lissa, Eddie, and some unlikely friends to return Dimitri to his original state while preparing to become an ocial guardian. This book was more drawn out than it needed to be; it was especially slow initially; however, things did pick up closer to the middle of the book.
Steelheart takes a realistic look into a world of superpowers. Unlike most traditional stories of superheroes who are role-models that use their powers for good, these superheroes are corrupt, evil dictators who have transformed Earth into an authoritarian wasteland. Called Epics, they were created by a comet which flew over the Earth a few years prior to the story.
The third book in The School for Good and Evil series by Soman Chainani, The Last Ever After, was surprisingly unpredictable. While Agatha and Tedros are transported back to Gavaldon, Sophie is living with the School Master. Although the girls’ story was supposed to be closed long ago, their separation causes their story to be opened once again as evil takes over and old villains return from their graves.
In his brilliant study on the stages of the Earths' history, Peter Brannen in his book, The Ends of the World, brings the five ancient worlds, lost to the five mass extinctions, to life. Including different topics, such as paleontology, geology, climate change, and ecology, Brannen connects these scientific topics through the use of stories, theories, facts, and of course, humor. The author's casual writing style and sense of humor differentiate his book from other books formatted as old-school science textbooks.
You will find it hard to put down Lovely War by Julie Berry! The book is a combination of historical fiction and myth. The Greek gods Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Ares, Hades, and Apollo appear in the 1940s, as Aphrodite is found secretly meeting with her lover Ares. Stalling for time, Aphrodite recounts what she calls “the love story of the century.” The gods interrupt each other and talk over each other to jointly tell the World War I story of two couples: Hazel and James, and Collette and Aubrey.
Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the world the truth. Over the span of her six decades as an Old Hollywood movie star and icon, she has become known for glamour, scandal, and of course, her seven marriages. But nobody really knows what happened over the course of her journey from daughter of poor immigrants to household name. Now aging and reclusive, Evelyn summons unknown journalist Monique Grant to her Upper East Side apartment to write her biography — a tell-all detailing the truth behind her facade of a life.
The story of Dune begins with Paul Atriedes, son of the Duke Leto. Leto is assigned to govern over the hostile desert world of Arrakis, the only source of melange. This “spice” is highly coveted, as consumption of it can cause, most notably, heightened mental abilities and limited foresight. However, the Duke’s acclimation of the planet was planned so that the Atriedes family might be left vulnerable. Paul must learn to navigate the new worlds of Arrakis and interplanetary politics, or his family will not survive.
