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The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson

My name is Essence. I am in 7th grade. I love to read, one of my favorite genres is historical fiction. Some of the things I like to do are skiing, swimming, and rock climbing.

The Hand on the Wall is the third book in the mystery series. It is about a girl named Stevie. If you have read the previous books, Truly Devious and The Vanishing Staircase, you know what has happened.

Stevie now has all the information she needs. When some of Stevie’s fellow classmates go missing and wind up dead Stevie attempts to figure out if they were really in an accident or if someone linked with the Ellingham case is behind this. You might think you know who the person is but I can tell you this: I was way off! Stevie will take you on a wild ride of adventure and mystery. When you find out the people that are behind this your socks will fly off. Some of the things Stevie does are incredibly terrifying, but she finds out who is behind this mystery.

I really recommend this book. It will keep you on your toes and keep your brain working. There are three books in the series and each one is better and more thrilling than the previous. The book makes you want to read more. Truly Devious is one of the best series I have ever read. I would definitely recommend it.

Find it in ebook here.

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

My name is Essence. I am in 7th grade. I love to read, one of my favorite genres is historical fiction. Some of the things I like to do are skiing, swimming, and rock climbing.

 Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson is a Mystery book. Truly Devious is about a ton of mysteries that spring up in the mountains of Vermont at a school called Ellingham Academy. The school was founded by a very wealthy man named Albert Ellingham. The school opened in 1936. Ellingham was a boarding school and only allowed the best students to enter. It was free to go there. Ellinigham was a very fine school. The best of the best. Albert Ellingham had a lot of money and used some of it to make the school very luxurious.

Ellingham also had a lot of security, so when Iris (Albert Ellingam’s wife) and Alice (Albert Elligham’s daughter) go missing along with Albert’s favorite and smartest student everyone is worried.

Many years later Stevie is accepted to go to Ellingham and is obsessed with trying to solve the case. Stevie knows everything there is to know about the case. She is a girl who likes to know everything. When she notices that something smells fishy with the people in her house she tries to investigate. Truly Devious ends on a bit of a cliffhanger so if you are going to read it I suggest knowing if you have access to the next book The Vanishing Staircase.

Find it in print, ebook, and eaudiobook here.

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

Hi, I’m McCallen. I like skiing and basketball.

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander is an awesome book and I would definitely recommend it. The reason why it is so awesome to read is its great rhyming. I love how it feels like a music song, and the words just beg me to keep reading. I also love how Kwame Alexander, the author of the book, brings sports into reading to make reading more fun and enjoyable. Bringing sports into books is very important because that could get someone into sports and it could also bring someone that loves sports into loving reading.

For a quick summary, this book is about two twins, Josh and Jordan Bell. Josh and Jordan are amazing basketball players who like to play ball and make a lot of bets. Making bets raises the stakes of the game, especially when you have beautiful dreds that might have to be cut off. The twins have learned much about basketball from their father, a former European league superstar. Their love of basketball is connected to their love for their dad. Unfortunately, the boys must deal with a terrible tragedy that could possible ruin their career. Will they be able to overcome extreme loss?

Overall I think this is an awesome book and teaches everyone to love basketball. After reading The Crossover, you will also want to read the sequel, Rebound. The Crossover is also now available as a graphic novel.

Find it in print, ebook and eaudiobook here.

Circe by Madeline Miller

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.

Circe is born to the sea-nymph Perse and Titan Helios, one of the many minor offspring of the brilliant Titan king. Every day she kneels at his feet, and her life is filled with the endless and monotonous paradise of immortality. Though having lived many generations, she is still a child.

Then she meets a young fisherman, and her cut from the world of mortals is breached. Driven out of love for this new mortal, she experiments with pharmakeia, witchcraft: once, to turn him into a god, and twice, to turn his lover into a monster.

Exiled for experimenting with this new magic, Circe transforms herself on her island of Aiaia. She has spent a hundred generations dim and dreamy, toiling at her father’s feet, and she will have no more of it. She masters the art of witchcraft and becomes one of the only female figures in Greek Mythology to have power, and to have obtained it herself, without punishment, mistreatment, or death.

Her enchantments catch the eye of the mortals and divinity alike, and she adventures among the mortals Daedalus and Odysseus, defies the gods Athena and Hermes, faces monsters like the Minotaur and Scylla, and manages to impact a greater part of Greek Mythology: Circe, the legends’ first witch.

Madeline Miller explores the witch Circe, from the time before and after her life mingles with the hero of The Odyssey. The language is originally and lavishly descriptive, and if you read hard enough, it gleans messages like hidden dewdrops under a forest canopy: cleverly woven feminism mesmerizingly ingraining itself in your head, a tale that so perfectly and completely captures the timeless burden of immortality; the story of Circe, the witch of Aiaia.

I would recommend this book to lovers of Greek Mythology looking for a modern take on timeless tales, and a certain sophistication only received from adult fiction.

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

Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes

My name is Essence. I am in 7th grade. I love to read, one of my favorite genres is historical fiction. Some of the things I like to do are skiing, swimming, and rock climbing.

Ghost Boys is about a black boy named Jerome. Jerome was bullied in school and pushed around. One day there is a new kid that comes to school and Jerome becomes friends with him and helps him stand up to the bullies. Jerome is very protective of his little sister Kim and walks her to the doors of her school and walks with her home. Jerome (12 yrs old) gets shot by a police officer. The police officer says he shot Jerome because he felt intimidated. Jerome’s family wants to sue the police officer that shot Jerome because he shot him for no reason.

Jerome doesn’t go anywhere he becomes a ghost in his hometown.  He watches as his family and friends realize what has happened and how they cope with it. Jerome doesn’t like seeing everyone in such pain. The story is mainly told through Jerome’s perspective as a ghost. It is all about racism towards black people. It also tells the historic story of Emmett Till. There are other ghosts that Jerome sees. He is not the only one. There are more black boys in the world that have been killed unfairly.

There are more Ghost Boys.

Find it in print and eaudiobook here.

Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

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.

Patroclus is the awkward son of a king, disgraced and disowned and cut from his royal line. For his weight in gold, he is given to another kingdom that will see him to manhood. In the kingdom of Phthia, he meets Prince Achilles: a golden boy, son of a goddess, The Best of the Greeks, and, in summary, everything the exiled Patroclus is not. And yet an unlikely friendship spawns between the boys, regardless of their differences, and they grow to be close companions. Together, they train in the practices of war and medicine, much to the dissatisfaction of Achilles’s mother, Thetis, a sea-nymph with a particular hatred of mortals.

Then news comes that the Helen of Sparta, renowned for her beauty, has been kidnapped, stolen by Paris of Troy. Achilles, driven by the promise of glorious fame, joins the army of Greeks to rescue her and (more importantly) protect their honor. Patroclus, tethered by the love for his friend, follows.

And thus the Trojan war commences: one of the most important and pivotal events ever told in Greek Mythology, and Achilles – the boy Patroclus loves most – the hero.

Madeline Miller breathes new life into dusty Greek myths and classics, reinventing stories that have withstood thousands of generations. This adaption of The Iliad is told with a subtle modern twist, through the mind of a friend with his eyes on his hero. Miller’s breathtakingly beautiful language perfectly captures how small insults have large consequences, kind acts can lead to disgrace, and through the stress and glory of battle, love and loss leaves the most lasting impact.

This book is shelved in adult fiction and contains mature content.

Find it in print, ebook, and eaudiobook here.