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The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

I am Zach. I am an eighth grader and live in Ketchum, ID. I enjoy playing board games, reading, mountain biking, Nordic and alpine skiing, playing with my family, snowmobiling, and being outside.

Reynie has grown up without the support of parents at an orphanage. One morning he finds out, from his tutor, about an odd advertisement in the newspaper targeting gifted children. He follows up and finds himself at an old building. There, he is put through a series of oddly weird puzzles, with each one harder than the last. Hundreds of people begin the challenge, and only five people make it through the final puzzle. These tests were designed to find people of a very specific demographic, kids who are alone, relatively smart (or think about the world differently), and who try hard. These kids were picked for a special mission to infiltrate a school and stop an evil villain trying to control people through wicked ways. Reynie and the other four people are extremely nervous at first, the task seems daunting, but once they start, there is no going back.

I absolutely love this book for how well Trenton Lee Steward transports you into this fictional world. You get to test your own skills along with the characters, and it is thoroughly entertaining. All of the interactions between characters are quite believable, and the descriptive words are quite effective at setting the scene. This story is about tapping into your orenda and changing the world. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys action-packed writing that makes you think about the world in a different way.

Find it in print, ebook, eaudiobook, and CD here.

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

Hi, I am Sarah. I am fourteen years old and an avid reader; it is one of my favorite things to do. Inspired by authors’ creations of magnificent places and surprising havens built by simple letters, I aspire to be an author and, meanwhile, nurture the love to write.

April May is a twenty-three-year-old working in design in New York City. She’s funny, sweet, charismatic, and bluntly honest. She has a regular, normal life… until she and her friend Andy, as a part-joke-part-art-appreciation video, interview a mysterious fifteen-foot-tall robot statue, whom she christens Carl.

The next morning, she is the star of a viral video. Because fifty-nine other Carls appeared overnight in sixty major cities across the globe. They are an utter enigma, and all eyes are on April, the “discoverer” of the Carls, to find out why they’re here.

April, plus a few accomplices, are curious, and begin discovering more about the mysterious, extra-terrestrial statues. Simultaneously, April enters a race to be the person who knows the most, spreads the word, builds a platform, and makes their mark on the work… and April is soon catapulted to massive, international internet fame.

Hank Green’s sciencey, other-worldly debut grapples with powerful questions about keeping sane in an intense media spotlight, retaining humanity when faced with enticing alternatives, and whether or not it’s possible for humanity to work as a cohesive whole to solve a much bigger problem when faced with it. April believes this cooperation is possible, and such is the nature of the journey she embarks on… an extra-terrestrial journey that, ultimately, is very human.

Find it in print, ebook, eaudiobook, and CD here.

The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

Hi! My name is Madeline, I am in 9th grade and live in Hailey Idaho. I love politics, philosophy, writing, and playing the violin. I could talk about these topics all day. I also love reading, my favorite books are The Lord of The Rings, anything written by Tolkien, and Fahrenheit 451.

The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, one of the greatest literary works, is an allegory of the struggles and joys of Christianity.

The story centers on Christian, who lives in the wayward city of destruction. One day, he meets a man named Evangelist who tells him that his city will soon be destroyed because of wickedness. Christian is told that he must travel to the Celestial city where the King lives where he will be safe and will be eternally happy in the Good Kings presence. He longs to follow Evangelist’s advice, but when he tells it to his family and the other towns people, they think that he is absurd and mock him. Christian decides to begin his journey anyway, even though he will be leaving everything he knows behind, even his wife and children, who still think he is foolish. To begin his journey, he must travel to the wicket gate, where he is given a scroll with the King’s words on it. Soon he reaches the cross, where his burden if guilt falls off his back, never to be seen again. Throughout his journey, Christian is met with many hardships, such as a nasty battle with one of the wicked one’s servants, his fellow pilgrim’s martyrdom in the city of Vanity Fair and happens upon many tempters who try to dissuade him out of the Way. Through it all, Christian overcomes every trial and temptation with courage and faith, eventually entering the Celestial City where he is jubilantly received, and lives in joy forever.

This story is a timeless allegory that will not be soon forgotten by the reader. I recommend this book for ages 7^th grade and up.

Find it in ebook format here.

The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain

Hi! My name is Madeline, I am in 9th grade and live in Hailey Idaho. I love politics, philosophy, writing, and playing the violin. I could talk about these topics all day. I also love reading, my favorite books are The Lord of The Rings, anything written by Tolkien, and Fahrenheit 451.

The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain is a humorous historical fiction story that will keep you glued to its pages.

Nine-year-old pauper Tom Canty and Prince Edward look exactly alike.  By chance, they meet each other, and they decide to switch places for fun. But, in an unexpected turn of events, they are stuck in each other’s places. Prince Edward, who is accustomed to servants and finery, is cast out into the streets and treated like an outcast. Tom, who is used to beatings and rags, is suddenly waited on by hundreds of servants and is the second most powerful person in England.

The boys are both miserable in their switched roles and try to find some way to switch back. Edward and Tom try to tell people that they have traded places, but everyone thinks they are mad. A few days after their switch, the old King dies, and Tom becomes King. He has no idea what to do and feels overwhelmed.  Edward learns his father has died and tries to get back to the palace to reclaim his throne. Finally, on the day of the coronation, Edward manages to get back to the palace, but the royal family won’t believe him. The only way they will believe his story is if he brings the royal seal. The trouble is, he has lost it.

This is one of the best books I have read, and I recommend it for 7^th grade and up.

Find it in print, ebook, and eaudiobook here.

The Thing about Leftovers by C.C. Payne

Hi, my name is Cora. I love to read and play sports, especially soccer. I also love to read and also play with my cats, Vanilla and Bean. My favorite color is blue.

The Thing About Leftovers is a wonderful heartwarming story written by C.C Payne. There is a lot of humor and also hope in this story. The Thing About Leftovers is about an 11-year-old girl named Fizzy.  All Fizzy wants is to be perfect and to follow her passion of winning the southern living cook-off but things don’t turn out as planned. Fizzy’s dad remarries and he and his new wife eventually have a baby. Meanwhile, her Mom falls in love with a neat freak man and also eventually gets married. The baby and stepdad seem to take over her world and life. Fizzy feels like a leftover and what’s to like about leftovers?.

Confusion and anger take Fizzy over and she has no idea where to turn to. Her mom and stepdad? No, He’ll just kick her out of the house. Her birth father and Suzanne? No way, they are way too busy taking care of the new baby and are too busy to deal with Fizzy- the leftover. Counting on her new friends to help Fizzy starts to realize what is really important and that there are some things you can’t control. You can just control how you deal with it. I definitely recommend this book and hope you find it as good of a read as I did.

Find it in print here.

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Hi, I am Sarah. I am fourteen years old and an avid reader; it is one of my favorite things to do. Inspired by authors’ creations of magnificent places and surprising havens built by simple letters, I aspire to be an author and, meanwhile, nurture the love to write.

Theodore Finch is a boy who is constantly changing, shifting, unpredictable, spending his time doing anything he can to stay Awake. He is fascinated by death and constantly ponders every way he might die—and manages to find something, every time, to keep him alive. 

Violet Markey is a girl who is predictable—the girl who writes and completes her assignments, stays in the popular crowd and isn’t reckless. She lives for the future, counting down the days until she can graduate and leave town. But now, reeling from her sister’s death in a car accident, that life seems like a distant memory.
Then, 154 days before graduation, Violet and Finch find themselves at the top of the school bell tower, both with their eyes trained on the ground. It sparks an unlikely friendship that is the buoy to them both, each keeping the other afloat. Violet starts to live again, to drive and write and find herself. Finch feels more than happy, and so, so, awake. But it can only last for so long. As Violet’s life expands, Finch’s begins to deflate.

Jennifer Niven weaves a heart-wrenchingly beautiful story that captures life lived and loved, while perfectly entangling the emotions of two teens standing on the edge. 

Find it in print, ebook, and eaudiobook here.