Mudshark

By: Gary Paulsen

Lyle Williams is known as "Mudshark", a 12-year-old know-it-all. Due to his love of books and his experiences with his younger triplet sisters, Mudshark is extremely observant and helps the students at his middle school solve their problems. It's a good thing, too, because right now his school has an escaped gerbil, a psychic parrot, and 65 missing erasers!

Mrs. Senechal says:

This is a great, quick-read book - only 83 pages long! I really enjoyed the story, and I loved the beginning of each chapter which starts with an intercom announcement from the principal - they're very funny announcements! I hope that there will be further adventures of Mudshark!

It's a Dog's Life

(Hank the Cowdog series)

By: John R. Erickson

In this, the third adventure of the series, Hank has to leave the ranch for a few days after getting caught eating the steaks that had been thawing for dinner. Once in town, Hank visits his sister and her puppies. Hank decides he needs to teach the puppies important cowdog behaviors such as teasing cats and digging under fences. Eventually, this leads to Hank getting captured and thrown into the dog pound!

Mrs. Senechal says:

I actually laughed out loud while reading this book! The main character Hank thinks he knows a lot more than he really does which leads to some very funny conversations and situations. If you enjoy cowboy tales and funny stories, you'll really like this book (and series)!

P.S. I had the opportunity to meet this author at the Plum Creek Literacy Festival in Seward, Nebraska, in October of 2009. It was wonderful to hear him speak and even read parts of several books! Erickson does all the voices for the audio versions of his books which are very fun to listen to. In addition, I appreciate that Erickson is not shy about his Christian faith.

Island (series)

By: Gordon Korman

Six kids are sent to the island of Guam to be part of a program designed to help troubled kids turn their lives around. All there for different reasons, the six were to participate in a boating experience that would build character and help them make positive changes in their lives. Little did they know how drastically they would be changed! Through a terrible storm at sea, an explosion, wild animals, smugglers, and many other dangers, the six young people learn valuable lessons about what is really important in life.

Mrs. Senechal says:

This is an amazing series! The author creates a story with so many suspenseful events - I loved it! I actually listened to these three books on my iPod, and I had a hard time turning it off. It's really neat to learn about the six different characters and how their wide range of differences are what help them to survive. If you like exciting adventure books, I highly recommend this series!

The Mysterious Benedict Society

By: Trenton Lee Stewart

Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance for the Mysterious Benedict Society after passing a number of difficult tests and meeting Mr. Benedict. Mr. Benedict has discovered that the supposedly good Mr. Curtain is using the students at his "Institute" to plant secret messages that will allow him to control the world. Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance were chosen because of their unique and genius abilities. They enter the Institute as spies to figure out how and when Mr. Curtain plans to begin his takeover. Once inside the institute, the four children face numerous challenges. But, they realize they must succeed - or the world will be lost!

Mrs. Senechal says:

Wow! This is a deep-thinking book. The four main characters are all very smart in their own ways, and they use their different talents to help solve the many problems throughout the book. I love how suspenseful the story is - there were many times I just had to keep reading to find out what would happen next. While this is a long, more challenging book, it is definitely worth the extra effort!

P.S. I just read the second book, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey, and I enjoyed it just as much as the first! Now, I need to read the third one...

P.P.S. I loved the third book, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma. I'm only sad because the ending seemed to really wrap things up for the four friends - does that mean it was the last in the series?

Peter and the Shadow Thieves

By Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

This book is the sequel to Peter and the Starcatchers (the story of how Peter Pan came to be...). Peter must leave the island and travel to London to try and warn Molly and her family of an evil man who is after the "star stuff". The evil Lord Ombra is able to kidnap Molly's mother, but Peter arrives just in time to rescue Molly. Then Peter and Molly must try to find Molly's father in time, or all will be lost!

Mrs. Senechal says:

I highly recommend that you read Peter and the Starcatchers before you read this book. But, I really liked both stories! I always enjoy reading a book where the author tells the story behind another story - I think that takes a lot of creativity! This particular book is very suspenseful, which makes you want to keep reading! It's also neat because different chapters tell the story from the point of view of different characters.

The Ballad of Lucy Whipple

By: Karen Cushman

Lucy's mother moves their family from the east coast to California. Moving west had been a dream of Lucy's parents before her father died, and Lucy's mother chose to still pursue that dream. Their family runs a boarding house in Lucky Diggins, California, for the miners of the Gold Rush. Lucy's real name is "California", but she doesn't want to be called that because it's a place - a place that Lucy hates. She wants desperately to return home to Massachusetts.

Mrs. Senechal says:

The most interesting part of this book was the descriptions of the tough, challenging conditions these early California settlers had to face. They had to haul water, hunt their own food, plant and harvest a garden, and do all of the cleaning chores as well. At times, Lucy and her family live in tents! I liked that Lucy loved to read and even lent her books to the local miners. The author gives many historical details about what it was like to live at that time in the mining towns of California. While I liked this book, I think it would be more enjoyable for students in fifth grade or older.

Fairest

By: Gail Carson Levine

This is called a "companion novel" to Ella Enchanted. In this case, that means the fairy tale is set in the same kingdom, and you'll recognize many of the creatures and a few of the characters. Aza is the daughter of two innkeepers who adopted her after her birth mother left her at the inn. Aza is very self-conscious of her looks, and believes she is ugly. However, Aza has a beautiful singing voice. Eventually she even teaches herself how to "throw" her voice so it sounds like it is coming from other parts of the room. By chance, Aza gets to go to the king's wedding, and the queen chooses Aza to be her lady-in-waiting. But, when the queen asks Aza to deceive the entire kingdom, Aza has to decide what to do.

Mrs. Senechal says:

I read this book immediately after Ella Enchanted. Fairest is longer and a bit more difficult, but follows the same patterns of a girl who must overcome something about herself. In this book, singing is very important, and the author writes out the verses of many of the songs - I didn't like this as much, even though I love music and singing, I tended to skim these verses and get back to "the real story". There were good twists and turns in the story, and it had a happy ending!