The Magickers and The Magickers #2: The Curse of Arkady, by Emily Drake (DAW, 2001/2002)

Eleven-year-old Jason Adrian’s world is thrown into disarray when a chance injury renders him incapable of attending soccer camp like he’d planned. Looks like it’s Grandmother McIntyre’s home for him, this summer! Anything’s better than spending time with the family … Continue reading

Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1: The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan (Hyperion, 2005)

Perseus “Percy” Jackson is about to discover his destiny. The good thing is that he may very well be the son of a god, one of the many offspring produced by the various deities and supernatural creatures of the immortal … Continue reading

Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Biography, by Lemony Snicket (HarperCollins, 2002)

After reading the Unauthorized Biography of Lemony Snicket, the author responsible for giving us the infamously depressing, tongue-in-cheek Series of Unfortunate Events, I find myself rather more confused than when I began, filled with questions I not only didn’t have … Continue reading

Lady Cottingham’s Fairy Album, by Brian Froud (Harry N. Abrams, 2002)

From the master of faeries himself, Brian Froud, comes a follow-up to one of his best-loved works, Lady Cottington’s Pressed Fairy Book. In this volume, Froud reveals more findings from the eccentric, renowned Victorian Cottington family. This time, he focuses … Continue reading

Just Ella, by Margaret Peterson Haddix (Aladdin Paperbacks, 2001)

Sometimes “and they lived happily ever after” isn’t the end of the story. That’s the premise of Margaret Peterson Haddix’s charming Just Ella, which revisits the classic ragstoriches fairy tale to show what happens after Cinderella meets her Prince Charming. … Continue reading

Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace, by MaryJanice Davidson and Anthony Alongi (Berkley Jam Books, 2005)

When Jennifer’s parents gave her the usual “birds and bees” speech, they managed to leave out the part where the otherwise normal teenager would someday start growing scales, claws, fangs, and a tail, and be able to perform superhuman feats … Continue reading