Amulet Books | Page 3 of 5

The Collectors, a more personal side of scares, spooks for middle school

There is a lot of room in the spooky tent of middle school reading. Each corner or section will have its own specific bent with some going for the gore, others playing it for laughs, a couple emoting their way to the unknown, and some combining all of the elements. Fright Watch is a series of books by Lorien Lawrence that takes its time in weaving the scares together. The Collectors is the second book in the series and tells a ghostly tale that’s woven on top of some very human elements. It’s a case where the story of how the best friends, who most certainly don’t have a crush on one another, Quinn and Mike deal with the happenings on their street.

Middle school life, with a current of ghosts…

Athena: Goddess of Wisdom and War, nuggets of Greek graphic novel, goodness

And here I thought Athena was the only Greek Goddess. As previously mentioned I don’t know much about the Greek gods. Young readers or those who simply enjoy an entertaining graphic novel will like Tales of Great Goddesses: Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and War. It’s from Imogen and Isabel Greenberg and details the Goddess of Wisdom as she helps Athens, learns to fear spiders, conceives the Trojan Horse, and more adventures.

The Who sang about her for good reason

Mission Multiverse, a great first entry into a mglit series for 9 and up

“This better not end in a cliffhanger”, I told my wife as I was finishing Mission Multiverse. It’s not that I don’t like cliffhanger endings, it’s just that sometimes when they end that way I feel cheated. Mission Multiverse is a great book. It sounds like I’m setting it up for some form of a backhanded compliment, but I’m not. It’s a very satisfying middle-grade book that exceeded my expectations. The reason that the words are coming out wonky is that it initially didn’t seem like it would be an entertaining book.

Mission Multiverse is a great first book in a science-fiction series that delivers for most mglit readers.

A great first entry into a series we hope continues its ascension

A Shot In The Arm!, the antibody of the graphic novel blaaahs

Discovery is a great thing and I love it when I find an author that was previously unknown to me. Just to be clear, in this instance I mean an author that’s written and published books and not an author that I discovered down at my local coffee shop. Don Brown is in the third book in his Big Ideas That Changed The World series on Amulet Books. I had seen the first and second books from the series in our elementary school library, and meant to read them, but got distracted by shiny objects or cat videos. A Shot In The Arm! is a non-fiction graphic novel that’s as great as any of the ones that we’ve raved about from :01 First Second books or Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales.

Big Ideas That Changed The World, A Shot In The Arm is an entertaining and fun history of vaccinations that curious kids will want to read.

The non-fiction graphic novel doledrums have met their match

DJ Funkyfoot Butler For Hire!, madcap chapter book for ages 8 and up

Oh DJ Funkyfoot, get out of my dreams and get into my car. DJ Funkyfoot Butler For Hire! Is a book that our nine-year-old really needed at this time. This is a book that’s a member of The Flytrap Files, which is in itself, a character and series of books created by Tom Angleberger. Inspector Flytrap was the series that started it all, which spun off Didi Dodo Future Spy and now DJ Funkyfoot. I take the first sentence that started all of this back and now invite all three of them to get into my car. Butler For Hire! is madcap silliness that some kids will flock to read and others, like the reluctant reader kind, will love to read.

From The Flytrap Files comes DJ Funkyfoot: Butler For Hire!, a zany chapter book for ages 8 and up that will tame even those reluctant readers.

wacky fun that kids want to read and you’ll enjoy too

Donner Dinner Party, Bigger & Badder Edition, the size the book deserves

Sometimes when I read I curse my middle-aged eyesight. I do that especially when I read any of the books in Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales book series. As a graphic novel by any measurable barometer that series is outstanding for those upper-elementary school readers and up. It’s one of those series where the ‘and up’ qualifier is especially apt. If I were just reading them I would enjoy them as much from an entertainment perspective, as much as the educator in me likes them for the non-fiction stories they tell. Donner Dinner Party, A Pioneer Tale, Bigger & Badder Edition is a great example of taking something great and improving upon it.

Bigger is better in this case

Everything You Need to Know When You Are 10 is apt, effective and fun

What better place to ask kids about Everything You Need to Know When You Are 10 then to a fourth-grade-class? I looked over the book and enjoyed its approach towards dealing with this age. It balances a wide variety of topics and interests, some of which are quite silly, while others let themselves be known that it’s a serious subject. The book deftly weaves between them all in a manner that’s entertaining and educational. But is the book as on point with that elusive 10-year-old audience as I think it is?

Turning 10? This is a book you need to see

Slamdown Town: Ragtag Team, pile drives the fun for ages 10 and up

Slamdown Town: Ragtag Team is the second book in the series by Maxwell Nicoll and Matthew Smith. The first book, Slamdown Town was a slice of Tom Hank’s Big, The Main Event on Netflix, as well as a fantasy that most kids have. What if something you did magically gave you powers? In the case of Ollie, a young teenage boy, it’s a piece of gum that transforms him into a massive, hulk of a man who can wrestle like Kurt Angle. Whenever he chews it he’s Big Chew, an adult who throws elbows in the ring and when he doesn’t he’s just Hollis’ little brother, in addition to being a best friend to Tamiko.

Wacky, goofy fun about wrestling, magic gum and making friends