Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard and Thrones & Bones: Frostborn by Lou Anders

Two great fantasies on the Golden Sower nominees list!  Red Queen is a fantastic, exciting read about a society where the color of your blood determines your lot in life.  Silver bloods rule in a god-like fashion because of their special powers.  But, now, there is Mare.  Mare is a red blood, but she has powers too.  Will she live long enough to save her kind?

Thrones and Bones: Frostborn is also about another world.  This one has two equally enthralling main characters each with their own strengths.  Karn doesn't want to be part of his families farming world, he wants to be left alone to play his favorite board game, Thrones and Bones.  Thianna wants to be a
full part of her world but because she is only 1/2 frost giant she is not always accepted.  The two meet and become thrust into a battle of wits and brawn to help both their families.

Both of these fantasies are exciting and easy to read because you are so anxious to see how they work themselves out.  The nice thing about both of them is that you will want  to read the 2nd one of each series, and, luckily for you, I have them both in the Irving library collection!!

No Summit Out of Sight: The True Story of the Youngest Person to Climb the Seven Summits by Jordan Romero

Because 7th grade has been reading "Everest" and "Peak," I thought I would give this book a go.  I recently watched a documentary on the Sherpa community on the Discovery Channel so I was excited to start reading.  This book was less about climbing and more about setting a goal and sticking with it till you made it.  It still had interesting information about the different mountains and things I never thought of before (like what DO you do with "human waste" when you are on a mountain) but it was more of how Jordan was inspired to do what he did and what kept him going.  This was a pretty inspiring read.  I hope it inspires YOU to go out and do something you have a passion for and stick with it!!

Jackaby by William Ritter

This is another Golden Sower nominee for next school year.  It is a good one, also.  It is very "Sherlock Holmes-y."  The story takes place in 1892 in New Fiddleham, New England.  Abigail Rook has just arrived from Europe. She is running away from boring life as a "proper lady" in England.  She is looking for adventure and she finds it when she meets R.F. Jackaby.  Jackaby is an investigator.  Unlike the police, Jackaby can see the supernatural to help him solve crimes.  A killer is on the loose in this story and Jackaby KNOWs it has a supernatural twist.  This is a great mystery.

Beneath by Roland Smith

This is a GOLDEN SOWER nominee for next year and it is fantastic!  Pat's brother has gone missing.  Pat misses him, but hasn't been worried about him because that is just how Cooper (Coop) is. That is, until, Coop begins sending Pat recordings about what he is finding UNDER the streets of New York City.  I love reading about "counter cultures." A "counter culture" is one that exists outside what is considered "normal." Obviously, living UNDER the streets of a major city is not the norm.  This book was intriguing and exciting and I just couldn't put it down.

Siren by Kiara Cass

Fans of her Selection series will love this book!  I love all siren stories!  This one was fabulous and kept me on the edge of my seat wondering how things would work out.  Kahlen is bound to the sea for 100 years.  She has to serve the ocean by leading others to their watery deaths.  But now, Kahlen has met someone and their love for each other puts them both in danger.  In all the other siren stories I have read, the sirens are "born." In this story they are "made" and I find that a very interesting twist to an old tale.

Trollhunters by Guillermo Del Toro and Daniel Kraus

This was a FANTASTIC addition to the horror genre!  The first words of the novel are: "You are food."  That is what humans were to trolls...food. Most had moved on to a diet of animals but there is a whole world of trolls ready to go back to the old ways of eating humans and Jim Sturges, Jr. must help stop them...and he is not happy about it.  You all know I love horror and I am excited about this story.  The artwork in the book was amazing and I found it interesting that the few pictures that were included came several pages after the scene that they showed.  I appreciated them letting me get a picture in my head before the artwork created it for me.  I also heard that this will be a DreamWorks animated series on Netflix.