This Christmas themed book is a spin off of “Where’s Waldo” with six characters to find on each page layout in addition to a list of toys to locate. It includes 15 colorful Christmas puzzles of searching for the hidden objects and characters. An answer key is included in the back of the book. This is a fun search and find book that will entertain primary readers.

Callum, a teenager who deliberately failed the Iron Trial, wants no part of the magic taught at the Magisterium. However, even with the lowest scores possible, Callum is selected to attend the school against his will. Teamed up with two other teens, Tamara and Aaron, the group will develop their magical skills through completing the most challenging tasks. The masters of the school are pleased to finally, after many, many years, find a Makar in the teenage group that will have the strength to battle the Evil leader. However, what Callum learns about himself is the greatest twist of all. This book is very action packed, keeping the reader wondering. Harry Potter fans will love the parallel events!!

There seems to be a disconnect with the age of kids who play with My Little Ponies and the age of the reader of My Little Pony; the reading age is higher.  Also, this is volume 7 of 8 and I haven’t had the opportunity to read the previous installments, so judging solely on this volume, I think it’s a pretty dark story.  Does My Little Pony really need to be in graphic novel form?  Really?  This is not something I would recommend school libraries spend their money on.

Eloise is a poor little rich girl who lives on the top floor of a hotel with a nanny and a tutor.  When her tutor comes to give her a math lesson, she gives him a hard time and is very disrespectful.  Not much is accomplished by the time it’s over, but the picture at the end does leave the impression that Eloise is smarter than she lets on.  As an elementary school teacher/librarian in a difficult school, this attitude really bothers me.  Eloise is allowed to get away being rude, disrespectful and uncooperative.  Granted, her tutor seems kind of lame; he must know what she’s going to do, yet he continues in the same manner.  Where is his creativity and love of learning?  I see this as a bad example of behavior and I hope kids don’t copy it.  I can also see it being funny if read by kids who are not like Eloise.  Beautiful illustrations.  Great reinforced binding, but pricey.

In this beginning to read book, the main character is a Hispanic girl who wants to get noticed.  She is tired of being lumped together with her two sisters.  When school picture day comes, she plans to stand out by borrowing her aunt’s big pink bow for her hair.  It does make her stand out and she does get noticed.  Very simple story.  There are some highlighted Spanish words which are also basic and a Spanish glossary.  Will probably purchase the other Sophia Martinez books.

Lock and Mori, written by Heather W. Petty, is a young adult CSI read that both genders will enjoy.  James “Mori” Moriarty is a teen who has lost her mother to cancer and is basically in charge of protecting her brothers from their violent father.  Their father, who is a London cop, drinks too heavily because of the loss of his wife and takes his frustration with life out on his kids, especially Mori.  Mori has that oldest sibling stamina to handle her horrible home life while being a start student.  When she meets Sherlock Holmes, there is something about his aura that both provokes her and attracts her.  Circumstances put them together at Regent’s Park on an evening after the brutal murder of a schoolmate’s father.  Both Lock and Holmes discuss how botched the crime scene investigation seems to be going.  Intrigued, Lock challenges Mori to a game to figure out who committed the murder.  The only rule is that both people have to share their information with each other.  Lock is mysterious because of his brilliance and because he is not the narrator.  With the story coming from Mori’s point-of-view, this reader kept wondering if Petty would have Lock would upstage the protagonist by the end, because, after all, he is Sherlock Holmes.  But Mori will go all the way to the end to maintain her control and fight her own battles.  Readers on either side who want one to out-maneuver the other will not be disappointed with the finale.  The only criticism involves the short scenes of passion between the two.  One character is about to go into the scariest situation of her life yet body groping kisses must happen first.  It doesn’t ring true for these super smart kids.  Their attraction to each other would have had enough tension without them having to get into bed together, especially with all of the other mysterious plotting and violent nature of the storyline. Still, the mystical London setting keeps the hints of the original Sherlock Holmes novels around and introduces this next generation to their past success.  Recommended for high school libraries.

In this Disney book, Minnie and the twins substitute as magicians for Penguini when he has to leave to get a bowtie.  All goes well until they make the audience disappear. Penguini comes back and fixes everything.  Very beginning readers, especially girls, will enjoy this Disney book; it’s colorful and has familiar characters.  It is also has library reinforced binding which will help it withstand the rigors of young children.  I think it’s a good book, however, the cost prohibited me from giving it an R rating.

Meta-Rise picks up right where Bot Wars, book one, left off.  Trout St. Kroix has found his long lost father and brother and has joined their team.  Trout’s dad is now the leader of the revolution; he’s half human and half robot and can see both sides of the issue.   This story is science fiction and futuristic in that robots do most of the heavy work humans used to do.  They even have human emotions.  But there is a division of alliances: one side is for making them unfeeling, as they were to begin with, and the other side to give them rights, as humans do.  What started as a disagreement and now evolved into an all out war, and as with any war, there are splinter groups trying to become leaders.  Mr. St. Kroix, the leader, has to watch his back as others try to jockey into position to take over.  Now it’s a question of who you can trust on your side.  The outline for this war story could take place anytime, anywhere.  Kade has chosen the future and as such uses technology that is believable.  Again, as with the first book, action is fast-paced and the characters are interesting, however, too much robot slang for my taste.  I wouldn’t mind some new, creative vocabulary introduced instead.

“Butterflies,

frogs, sharks, and

humans all begin life as

an egg. So does almost every

other animal. The eggs of some

creatures–including most mammals

–are nurtured inside their mother’s

body, where they develop into babies

that are born alive. But many more animals

lay their eggs — either one at a time, by

the dozens, or by the millions. Eggs come

in  a  fantastic  range of  sizes,  shapes,

and colors. Animals that lay eggs bury

them, carry them, guard them, or

simply leave them alone. And

each egg contains everything

needed to create a new

living creature.”

So begins Steve Jenkins & Robin Page’s latest book – EGG. This book might just be what every young reader wants to know about eggs, but was not sure to ask. Jenkins and Page share 54 different creatures which emerge from eggs from the millions of possibilities: fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and mammals. Too bad an index was not included or this would be an even better reference book for young readers.

Some of the eggs are shown life size(with magnification to show detail), while others are not. The egg is shown with an adult creature, too.  The size of an egg does not determine the size of the adult creature. Unusual locations for where eggs are laid are shared, as well as, how many eggs , who eats eggs, egg protection, egg packaging, carrying eggs, incubation, getting out of an egg, and inside an egg.

After the usual Jenkins’ picture/text format, at the back of the book are 54 thumbnail size pictures of the adult animal with its length, habitat, and diet. These are in alphabetical order.

Ursula Vernon, the creator of the Dragonbreath series, has another winner with Castle Hangnail! This book is twice the length of the Dragonbreath books for twice the fun.

Castle Hangnail is a proper ‘evil’ castle, full of dark dread because it is in need of a new master or mistress. If a new master does not come forward soon the Board of Magic will decommission the castle. Bedecked in a silver vulture necklace, 12 yr. old Molly knocks on the castle door to fill the position. Majordomo, the castle’s guardian, answers the door questioning whether 12 yr. old Molly is or should be the new mistress. He has his misgivings about her qualifications, but Molly does have an official invitation in her possession. There are five tasks the Board of Magic insist the new master must complete. Molly starts by looking for a book of spells in the castle’s library so she can prove she is a wicked witch. Soon, Molly discovers a spell for turning a cow into a dragon. She substitutes a word here and a hair there and is able to turn a local farmer’s donkey into a dragon.  The old cranky farmer makes up his mind to retire from farming and move to the big city to live with his daughters. This fulfills two of the tasks Molly needs to complete.

When the Castle Hangnail’s plumbing falls apart, through no fault of her own, Molly , as master of the castle, must get it repaired. The plumber’s bill is enormous. Molly enlists the help of the moles living under the castle’s grounds. The moles search for hidden treasure (36 old coins and 9 glass bottles, etc.) in exchange for some of Molly’s magic. Meanwhile, a real estate developer tries to buy the castle from Molly. No way. Two days later, the real estate developer breaks into the barn. Molly catches him trying to light matches and set the hay on fire. Molly’s shadow spell causes him to run away in fear.

Now three of the four tasks are completed. Suddenly, Evil Sorceress Eudaimonia shows up to claim the castle for herself. It was her invitation Molly gave to Majordomo, after all. Molly and her castle’s five minions ban together to fight off Eudaimonia. Molly uses her dark shadow to terrify Eudaimonia and take over the castle once and for all. The Board of Magic installs Molly as the master of Castle Hangnail.

Now all Molly has to worry about is whether or not her parents will let her stay there. After all, Molly is only 12 yr. old, but Molly’s friend and minions have a plan for that.

Fast paced, always wondering what will happen around the next corner, and minions that include: a pair of Minotaurs (Angus & Cook), a talking sewing stuffed doll (Pins) with a pet goldfish, and a talking walking suit of armor (Sir Edward), helped out by the castle’s bats and moles make for an exciting read!