middle grade book

Book Review: The Sailor Cipher

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Explorer Academy Vela by Trudi Trueit

Explorer Academy Vela: The Sailor Cipher (Book 1)
by Trudi Trueit (Goodreads Author)

4.5 out of 5 stars

Sailor is entering her second year at the Explorer Academy, and the Explorer students discover that they will be travelling in a new ship, the Vela. Sailor is devastated when her older sister Keel mysteriously disappears, but Sailor’s parents want her to continue with the school year aboard the Vela. She thinks that her sister might be sending her hidden messages with clues about what happened, and Sailor gets involved with a dangerous secret society. Her friends Cruz and Emmett and Lani are always there to get into trouble and out of it at Sailor’s side. But what they don’t know is that Sailor is hiding a remarkable secret of her own.

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Book Review: The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles)

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The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles, #1)
by Rick Riordan (Goodreads Author)

4 out of 5 stars

Carter and Sadie are brother and sister, but they rarely see each other, since Sadie lives with their grandparents while Carter and his dad travel the globe researching ancient artifacts. On one of their rare visits, their dad takes them to the British Museum to see the Rosetta Stone. They discover that their dad has connections with Ancient Egypt and he is working to release the Egyptian gods that he believes are trapped in the Rosetta Stone. It turns out that the ancient legends of magic are real, and the Egyptian gods are breaking free. A secret society called the House of Life is determined to incarcerate the gods again, and Carter and Sadie are caught in the middle.

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Book Review: The Chalice of the Gods

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The Chalice of the Gods by Rick Riordan

The Chalice of the Gods (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #6)
by Rick Riordan (Goodreads Author)

5 out of 5 stars

Percy needs three recommendation letters from three gods in order to get into college with Annabeth next year. So he teams up with Annabeth and Grover for a few last quests to earn those godly recommendation letters. Their first task is to find the stolen cup of Ganymede, Zeus’ cup bearer. There are a few likely suspects among the minor gods, and of course Percy will have to battle monsters and outwit immortals in order to find the cup and restore it to Ganymede. All while trying to pass his regular school classes.

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Book Review: The League of Seven

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The League of Seven by Alan Gratz

The League of Seven (The League of Seven, #1)
by Alan Gratz (Goodreads Author), Brett Helquist (Illustrator)

3.5 out of 5 stars

Archie’s parents are part of the Septemberist Society, a secret organization that has kept evil monsters locked away for centuries. When the Swarm Queen begins to awaken out of her prison, Archie’s parents are kidnapped and brainwashed to release the monster. Archie and his robot servant have to unravel the secrets of the ancient civilizations that imprisoned all the monsters in the first place. Along the way, Archie befriends two other children who are also searching for answers… and revenge.

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Book Review: Griffin’s Castle

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Griffin's Castle by Jenny Nimmo

Griffin’s Castle
by Jenny Nimmo

3 out of 5 stars

Dinah and her mother move into a dilapidated old house, where Dinah discovers a small griffin statue. She names the house the Griffin’s Castle, and hopes that they will be able to stay forever. But her mother is not exactly reliable, and the landlord can’t stand children. Dinah notices animal statues in the city, wishing that they could protect her new home. The misty spirit of a lioness statue follows Dinah home, and Dinah can see and feel the lioness even though no one else can. Soon, more of the animals statues begin to follow Dinah home, and they become so real that others can feel their presence. Dinah’s friends at school are worried about her. Are the animals really protecting the house, or are they imprisoning Dinah within the crumbling walls?

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Book Review: The Westing Game

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The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

The Westing Game
by Ellen Raskin

4 out of 5 stars

Sam Westing leaves a puzzle in his will, and any of the heirs who can solve the riddle will win the entire inheritance. The puzzle is, who murdered Sam Westing? The heirs are broken up into teams and given different clues, but only by working together can they solve the mystery.

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Book Review: Woodwalkers: Holly’s Secret

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Holly's Secret (3) by Katja Brandis

Holly’s Secret (3) (The Woodwalkers)
by Katja Brandis, Rachel Ward  (Translation), Claudia Carls (Illustrations)

4 out of 5 stars

Carag and his shape-shifting friends begin to investigate a strange burglary at the local bank. They wonder if a woodwalker could be involved, but Carag worries that Holly might be up to her old thieving tricks again. She is known for being a petty pickpocket, but she wouldn’t do something as risky as rob a bank, would she?

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Book Review: V is for Victorine

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V Is for Victorine by Anne Nesbet

V Is for Victorine
by Anne Nesbet (Goodreads Author)

4 out of 5 stars

Victorine and Darleen are on their way to Hollywood! They travel out to California with Darleen’s uncle, but get mixed up with burglars along the way. When Darleen’s uncle is mistaken for a burglar too, the girls are left on their own. Victorine is worried that her lawyers are looking for her again, wanting to put her under the care of legal guardians. But Victorine is perfectly happy pretending to be “Bella Mae” and making movies with the Darling family. Or is she?

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Book Review: Daring Darleen, Queen of the Screen

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Daring Darleen, Queen of the Screen by Anne Nesbet

Daring Darleen, Queen of the Screen
by Anne Nesbet (Goodreads Author)

5 out of 5 stars

Darleen is the star of silent films produced by her family’s film company just outside New York City. As part of a publicity stunt, they set up a fake kidnapping to bring more attention to their films, but something goes terrible wrong. Darleen gets trapped in the middle of a real kidnapping with a wealthy heiress, Victorine Berryman. Now the two girls must discover who the kidnappers are and stage a daring escape.

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Book Review: Melody Queen

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Melody Queen by Puneet Bhandal

Melody Queen (The Bollywood Academy)
by Puneet Bhandal (Goodreads Author)

5 out of 5 stars

Simi’s parents have always encouraged her to study acting as her career, since they are both actors as well. But Simi’s true passion is for composing and arranging music. However, the music industry in Bollywood is completely dominated by men composers. Not even Simi’s teachers at Bollywood Academy think it would be possible for her to break into such a difficult field. As Simi loses her dream, she sees her friends (who are male) pursuing music and writing hit songs. Simi doesn’t want to let her parents down, so she determines to just accept a career as an actress, even though her heart isn’t in it. But is that truly the right decision?

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