Vordak the Incomprehensible: How to Grow Up and Rule the World

From selecting the most dastardly name, to choosing the ideal henchmen, to engaging in witty repartee with disgustingly chipper superheroes, experienced supervillain Vordak the Incomprehensible guides readers step-by-step toward the ultimate goal of world domination (from his parents' basement in Trenton, New Jersey).
With chapter titles like "Bringing Out the Evil" and "Building a Top-Notch Evil Organization," numerous bold illustrations, and detailed quizzes to assess your level of dastardliness, this book provides everything necessary to rise above the masses, and then rub your ascent in their faces.


I read a lot of goofy 'boy' books and actually usually enjoy them, but this one for me was so over the top that I couldn't get through it all. Not to say, the boys won't like it. It just was too much for me. It was funny for the first couple of chapters, but then never stopped being the same thing over and over. I would suggest it to 3rd grade boys and up and I do think they will like it, but I'll have to wait and hear from them to know for sure!


The Mostly True Story of Jack by Kelly Barnhill

When Jack is sent to Hazelwood, Iowa, to live with his strange aunt and uncle, he expects a summer of boredom. Little does he know that the people of Hazelwood have been waiting for him for quite a long time.

When he arrives, three astonishing things happen: First, he makes friends -- not imaginary friends but actual friends. Second, he is beaten up by the town bully; the bullies at home always ignored him. Third, the richest man in town begins to plot Jack's imminent, and hopefully painful, demise. It's up to Jack to figure out why suddenly everyone cares so much about him. Back home he was practically, well, invisible.

Well, this was definitely a different kind of story- unexpected. I was not sure of where the story was leading and I was trying to figure it out, but, for me, there just wasn't enough to believe it all or buy into the whole story. When I finished, I felt like there were pieces missing. Although this one and in fact, Wildwood, both have been on so many lists for great new books, I just wouldn't put them on the top of any of my lists for great new reads.

Wildwood: The Wildwood Chronicles, Book 1 by Colin Meloy

When her baby brother is kidnapped by crows, Prue McKeel begins an adventure that will take her and her friend Curtis way beyond her hometown and deep into the Impassable Wilderness. There they uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval, a world full of warring creatures, peace-loving mystics and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. What begins as a rescue mission becomes something much bigger as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness. A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.

This remined me a lot of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. These kids are in this other world, there's a nasty witch, animals talk, the kids are predestined to be there, etc... It was an ok book for me. The plot and characters seemed all too familiar. Nothing I would try to convince you to read. It was a bit too slow for me. I had the urge to skip ahead many times. It appears it's going to be a series or trilogy and I don't think I will be reading the next installment.

Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

850 pages later and I am done! And now I must say good-bye to Eragon, Saphira and Arya! 

This is the final book in the series. It was a good read and I enjoyed it. One day when I have time and I wanted to be whisked away to another world, I will sit down and read all four books again one after the other.

This is one of my favorite series because I liked the characters, the adventure, the battles and the good overcoming the evil. All my favorite elements in a story. A story where you are taken to a new world and you can see it all in your imagination. As always, it is a bit sad to say good-bye to characters that you like.

The Aviary by Kathleen O'Dell

Twelve-year-old Clara Dooley has spent her whole life in the Glendoveer mansion, where her mother is a servant to the kind and elderly matron of the house. Clara has never known another home. In fact, she's confined to the grand estate due to a mysterious heart condition. But it's a comfortable life, and if it weren't for the creepy squawking birds in the aviary out back, a completely peaceful one too.

But once old Mrs. Glendoveer passes away, Clara comes to learn many dark secrets about the family. The Glendoveers suffered a horrific tragedy: their children were kidnapped, then drowned. And their father George Glendoveer, a famous magician and illusionist, stood accused until his death. As Clara digs deeper and deeper into the terrifying events, the five birds in the aviary seem to be trying to tell her something. And Clara comes to wonder: what is their true identity? Clara sets out to solve a decades-old murder mystery—and in doing so, unlocks a secret in her own life, too.


Wow! This was a great book! It was full of mystery and suspense and I kept trying to piece together what happened. It is very well written and the characters fully developed. It is a  historical fiction, fantasy and mystery novel all interwoven into one! 

New Series that I Love!

The Story Behind is a great series that we just got in and I love them. I wish books like this would have been around when I was younger because I would have devoured them! They are full of historical information regarding one topic- like rubber, salt, diamonds, toilets, etc.

They are full of great information for those kids that love all the factoids and they have great illustrations and photos as well. Chock-full of information for the curious!

Newbery Medal 2012

Melding the entirely true and the wildly fictional, Dead End in Norvelt is a novel about an incredible two months for a kid named Jack Gantos, whose plans for vacation excitement are shot down when he is "grounded for life" by his feuding parents, and whose nose spews bad blood at every little shock he gets. But plenty of excitement (and shocks) are coming Jack's way once his mom loans him out to help a fiesty old neighbor with a most unusual chore—typewriting obituaries filled with stories about the people who founded his utopian town. As one obituary leads to another, Jack is launced on a strange adventure involving molten wax, Eleanor Roosevelt, twisted promises, a homemade airplane, Girl Scout cookies, a man on a trike, a dancing plague, voices from the past, Hells Angels . . . and possibly murder. 

Honor Books

Sasha Zaichik has known the laws of the Soviet Young Pioneers since the age of six:

The Young Pioneer is devoted to Comrade Stalin, the Communist Party, and Communism.

A Young Pioneer is a reliable comrade and always acts according to conscience.

A Young Pioneer has a right to criticize shortcomings.

But now that it is finally time to join the Young Pioneers, the day Sasha has awaited for so long, everything seems to go awry. He breaks a classmate's glasses with a snowball. He accidentally damages a bust of Stalin in the school hallway.  And worst of all, his father, the best Communist he knows, was arrested just last night.

 

For all the ten years of her life, HÀ has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by . . . and the beauty of her very own papaya tree.
But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. HÀ and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, HÀ discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape . . . and the strength of her very own family.