New Series

I have 3 new series that I am really excited about. After I finished the Percy Jackson books, I began looking around a bit and found another 3 series I really want to read. They are similar to other ones I've read so if you liked them awesome. The first series in the Kane Chronicles. It is another series by Rick Riordan. This series has only one book out right now, "The Red Pyramid". It is about two siblings, one who lives in London and one who travels the world with their father, an Egyptology's. Their mother was killed years before. While they are in London the kids begin to learn about their mother, but strange circumstances lead to the disappearance of their father. The ancient Egyptian gods come back to life and are after the Kane siblings. It's kinda similar to the Percy Jackson books but sounds good.

The next series is also by Rick Riordan. It is called The Hero's Of Olympus. It is another five book series about the campers of Camp Half-Blood, including Percy Jackson, Annabeth, and other main characters from the Percy Jackson books. There is also a new group of demi-gods who also get part of the action. In the first book three kids are attacked by monsters and Annabeth shows up. She's looking for Percy who is apparently missing.. The first book, The Lost Hero, is out October 12.
The third series has to do with the 39 clues series. If you read that last book the end hints towards a new series with another rival family. I was excited to see my predictions were correct because in April of 2011 a new series will be out. It will be Vespers rising. The Cahills thought they were the only people who knew about the clues but a much more powerful, evil family also knew the truth and will stop at nothing. Well those are my new finds. I'll post links below to all the official sites. If you find more interesting series, of more info on these, add a comment.

thanks, Kathryn

http://www.the39clues.com/vespers

http://www.rickriordan.com/kane_preview/

http://disney.go.com/disneybooks/heroes-of-olympus/

Percy Jackson and The Olympians

As you know there is a Percy Jackson tab on this blog. I only recently was able to read the series so this is my review. The percy jackson series is about a boy named Percy. His mother is a mortal who lives in Manhattan and his father is the god Poseidon. When his math teacher suddenly tries to kill him Percy's life is turned upside down. He is brought to Camp Half-Blood, a magical camp on Long Island for demi-gods. He befriends Athena's daughter Annabeth Chase. The series is about Percy, Annabeth,their friend Grover, and Camp Half-Blood. The Titan Lord Kronos is preparing a army to attack the Gods on top Mount Olympus, led by a half-blood named Luke. A prophecy about half-blood children deciding the fate of the world brings danger to Percy and his friends. I personally think this is one of the best series ever, and would highly recommend it to everyone. I am also very excited because the sequal series, Heroes Of Olympus is out next month. Earlier in the year the first movie, Percy Jackson and the Olympians-The Lightning Theif is out. Check out a more complete summary in the tab.

kathryn

The Mysterious Benedict Society

When an odd add in a newspaper invited children to take a series of tests for an amazing opportunity, tons of children show up. A series of crazy tests breaks the large group down to four children. Reynie, Sticky, Kate and Constance were the only four children chosen for the amazing opportunities. Reynie aced the test by finding a puzzle, Sticky passed it by knowledge of the stuff on the test, Kate helped the teacher escape a mob of angry parents, and Constance just wrote poems to every question. They were all brought into a house to find out what the tests were all for. They found out that they were all alone. Reynie and Kate are orphans and Sticky ran away from his greedy parents. Constance is a very stubborn girl. They meet a man named Mr. Benedict. He wants them to be secret agents. Someone is sending messages straight into people's minds through an amazing device. Mr. Benedict suspects he knows the culprit and sends the children to live undercover at an institution on an offshore island. They arrive and quickly rise in the ranks of students. They all find out that the man running the institution is Mr. Benedict's twin, an evil genius. He sends messages into peoples mind and erases any memories from anybody who opposes him. The newly formed Mysterious Benedict Society has a important mission to a crazy place in this exciting book.

You can check out my friend Micheala's review here.http://clubookworm.blogspot.com/2010/06/mysterious-benedict-society.htmlhttp://

A Year Without Rain

Just to let everyone know I am adding movie and music reviews to this blog. My first new music album I wanted to talk about is "A Year Without Rain" by Selena Gomez. It is in stores today. The CD has 10 tracks including, "Round & Round" and "A Year Without Rain". The whole CD is very dance pop music. It features "Rock God", a song by Katy Perry. Another song, "Intuition" is a duet with Eric Bellinger. All the lyrics are empowering and the songs are fun to listen to. My favorite songs were "Ghost of You" and "Off The Chain". I really liked it so comment what you think.

You can hear ithttp://http://radio.disney.go.com/music/planet-premiere/selena-gomez-a-year-without-rain-album.html?int_cmp=cr2_RD_Music_WhatHot_SGTS-YrWoRainAlbumPP_100911_Intl

The Prophecy Of The Stones

The Prophecy of the stones is about four fourteen- year old girls. Three of them, Amber, Jade and Opal live in a magical land. The fourth is a girl in Paris who is dying in a hospital. They adventure is a dream created by the Parisian girl. Jade, Opal, and Amber have been living their lives with foster families for fourteen years. Jade as the daughter of a duke, Amber as a peasant, and Opal as a lifeless orphan. On their fourteenth birthday they are given a purse with a stone in it. The stones go with the girl's names. They seem to have a magical substance. In their land the Council of Twelve rule. They destroy freedom, hope, and education. The evil of the Council begins to fight the unknowing girls. They are the three stones of the prophecy. A prophecy written hundreds of years prior. All the girls are weary at first and are unfriendly. They all change though. They meet a man who tells them of a land called Fairytale. There you can be free and magical creatures still live. They see a young man and are magically able to free a whole city. They race to the boundaries of Fairytale, which can only be entered by believing you can. The three girls and their new friend make it. Opal is stabbed in the chest. A young man falls in love with her and she falls in love with him. The council of twelve wages war and the council of darkness runs wild. The three girls are told they must visit an enchantress who can tell them where their heart wishes to go. It is a long and hard journey. Meanwhile a man who lost his memory wanders. We is given a test and people believe he is the chosen one who came to save them. He also goes to the enchanters. She tells them the prophecy. One stone will recognize the chosen one. One stone will find their gift. The other will convince them all to die. After meeting Death , Jade, Opal, and Amber find the truth about themselves, their parents and their Gift. In the end the prophecy is fulfilled through a brilliant chain of events. True love keeps them. Hope keeps the Parisian girl alive. At the doors of death she changes because of her dream and learns that life is worth fighting for. I can't believe this was written by a fifteen year old girl, it's really good. I liked this and i would recommend it.:D

Update

I will be adding a new feature and page with reviews from my little brother Alex. He's going to write a few about some books he has read. He is a 3rd grader so they will be simpler books but I hope you like it.
-kathryn

39 Clues Book 10: Into the Gauntlet

I would also like to remind you that Book 10 of the 39 clues is out today so you can check out Borders or Barnes and Noble or other places to get it.

Summary-

Amy, Dan and Nellie arrive in London. They find a riddle but the page is caught by a monkey from the Kabra's private zoo. The kids were able to read the page and realized it was a hint towards William Shakespeare. They go to the Globe theater to see Romeo and Juliet but the show turns into a riot. All 6 teams are at the same performance. The Starling triplets rappel off the roof to the stage causing panic. The other teams also end up on the stage and begin to fight each other. After the Holts use their competitors for Human bowling Dan and Amy escape. They head to Shakespeare's home. There they find a hint to the church Shakespear was buried at. All the other teams once again arrive. They all look for a clues while Ian Kabra tries to figure out how may clues each team has. Isable is nowhere in sight.

The Kabra family is having some serious problems. Ian and Natalie do not agree with their mother's ideas on how to win. Ian finds secret evidence about the murder of Amy and Dan's parents. His mother killed them. Then he realizes what Isabel said about Irina Spasky's death, "why bother"is all she says. Shocked by this he realizes his sister feels the same way as he does. They are not going to be like their mother.

A discovery by Dan leads to the location of Cahill island off the coast of Ireland. They just arrive when the other teams begin to arrive. All the other teams except the Starlings followed Amy and Dan right to the island. After climbing a cliff, Dan, Hamilton and Eisenhower find an elevator. One person from each branch must get in. Alistar, Hamilton, Amy, Dan, Jonah and the Kabra children go. They find out that Jonah and the Kabras sneaked away from their evil mothers to be there. Amy and Dan's branch is finally reveled to the others. When they get out they find Sined Starling. Together the whole group trudges through the Gauntlet. A few accidents happen during rock slides. When they finally reach the end someone is waiting for them. What would Isabel Kabra do to win? Would she shoot her own children?

I know that a lot of people have read these books already but they are still fun. You can find a lot of ways to relate to the characters and they aren't long. You can also check out the movie Romona and Beezus in theaters now.

Update

I've updated a lot of the pages and posts with new links that you might want to chec out. As you can see I also changed the template so I'll be working on this a little more.
-kkuhar