This is the sequel to The Inheritance Games. Avery and the Hawthorne boys have completed the game billionaire Tobias Hawthorne had left but one other mystery remains. Is the man she played chess with in the park after her mother died, Toby Hawthorne? And yet another game begins, but this one could be deadly. This novel takes place immediately after The Inheritance Games. Avery is still adjusting to her new life as heiress to the Hawthorne estate. She and the boys uncover secrets from the past which brings up more questions than answers. The more they cover, the more danger she is in. Fans of Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Maureen Johnson, and other mystery writers, will enjoy this sequel. I recommend reading The Inheritance Games first.
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When this book came out, I really didn't have an interest reading it. When the movie came out, I still didn't have an interest. However, I kept noticing it on reading lists and students mentioned it to me. So I picked it up thinking I'll listen to a chapter or two and decide whether or not to continue. Boy, I was wrong! Right away, I knew I would finish the book. Wade lives in the distant future where everyone is hooked on a virtual reality called the OASIS. The owner, when he died, released a video that announced a contest to find the easter egg hidden in OASIS. Whoever found it would inherit his company and fortune. In order to get the egg, you had to find three keys: copper, jade, and crystal. They would open a gate. Millions of people are searching for the keys including rival company IOI led by Nolan Sorrento. When Wade is the first to find the Copper Key, five years after the announcement, the "Sixers" (IOI searchers) begin targeting him. He befriends the five other people who find the key after him. Will Wade find the egg before Sorrento and the Sixers do? Full of 1980 pop culture and computer/video game history, this was quite an adventure. I highly recommend this to fans of science fiction and video games. Ivy lost the student council election to a class clown. She is not looking forward to his victory assembly. So when she sees her old friends Mateo and Cal in the school parking lot, they decide to relive the time they snuck away from a field trip and explored the city on their own. They get into Cal's car and drive off. While in the city, they see another student and decide to follow him only to discover him dead and Ivy is the prime suspect. Can Ivy, Mateo, and Cal solve the case and save Ivy from being framed for murder? McManus does a great job keeping up the suspense. Each one has secrets and suspects are all around them. I recommend this novel to those who have enjoyed McManus's other books as well as Jennifer Barnes, Maureen Johnson, and E. Lockhart novels. The Zeroes (six teens with unique superpowers) return for another adventure. After their entanglement with bank robbers, gangsters, and drug dealers, the Zeroes decide to lay low and run an illegal nightclub. When a strange couple comes to the club, chaos ensues interfering with the Zeroes' powers. The Zeroes must face a new powerful villain - the Swarm. I thought this was an entertaining book with a lot of action, some drama, and even a number of laughs. The characters are young adults who are trying to fit in with these strange superpowers. They are not perfect and I think that adds a lot to the novel. Fans of superheroes, action stories, and good vs. evil, will enjoy this book and series. These books are two out of the Matt Cruse Trilogy by Kenneth Oppel (as of February, 2023, I have not read the third book, so stay tuned). They take place in a world where airships are the way to travel across the seas and mysterious creatures are in the upper layers of the atmosphere.
In Airborn, Matt Cruse is a cabin boy who has lived most of his life on airships. He plays a vital role in rescuing a dying balloonist who describes seeing beautiful creatures soaring through the air. Sometime later, Matt meets the balloonist's granddaughter, Kate, who convinces him that her grandfather's ramblings may indeed be true. Their quest to find these creatures lead them to an island - an island full of other dangers. In Skybreaker, Matt Cruse and Kate de Vries team up with gypsy Nadira to look for the lost airship, Hyperion. It has been 40 years since the airship disappeared along with a scientist and his treasures. They are being pursued by a band of pirates who have also been after the Hyperion's treasure. These fantasy adventures are full of action. Fans of the movie The Princess Bride, and the novels Treasure Island and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea will enjoy this series. Last summer, Ginny spent the summer traveling around Europe following directions left by her Aunt Peg in thirteen little blue envelopes. However, in Greece, her backpack is stolen along with the envelopes including the last one. Almost six months later, she is contacted by Oliver who informs her that he has her backpack and all of the letters. She returns to London where she, Oliver, Keith, and Ellis travel once again following the directions to collect parts of Aunt Peg's work of art. While traveling, Ginny must deal with her love for Keith even though he is dating Ellis.
I thought this was a good sequel to 13 Little Blue Envelopes. Once again, Ginny learns more about herself during this adventure. I strongly recommend reading the first book before reading this one. Leo Caraway has his post-high school plan all figured out. The president of the Young Republicans will be going to Harvard in the fall. That is until a simple misunderstanding leads to his ousting from the Young Republicans and his scholarship revoked. Then he learns that his father isn't his biological father and that his real father is the lead singer of heavy metal band Purge, King Maggot. Hoping to get his tuition from the rock star, he meets King Maggot, who invites him to join the band on tour over the summer so he can get to know his son. Will these to polar opposites find common ground? This was a book I have had on my "to read" list for some time, and I am glad that I finally read it. This was a funny adventure where both Leo and King Maggot learn more about themselves. Leo discovers his "wild" side. There are a variety of characters among them that really help the story move along and add to the humor. Ginny receives thirteen little blue envelopes from her beloved aunt who had died of cancer. The first one has $1000 and instructions to get a plane ticket to London. Each envelope has her do something out of her comfort zone but in the process, she gets to know who her aunt was and a bit more about herself.
This was a fun adventure. You had no idea what her aunt is going to have her do next. During her adventure, she meets people who knew her aunt like Richard who works at Harrods, and others like playwright Keith who didn't know her aunt, but goes along for the ride. Ginny has a lot of guts to go on an adventure like this without many supplies or money and she goes through a lot - both good and bad - on this trip, but along the way, she learns some valuable life lessons and grows throughout the story. An enjoyable read. This is a fantastic mystery/suspense series. Stevie is a mystery fan who is excited when she receives word that she has been accepted into Ellingham Academy in the mountains of Vermont. The main reason she wanted to go there was so she could solve the mystery of when the wife and daughter of the academy's founder is kidnapped in 1936.
The chapters go back and forth between current day and in the late 1930s when the crime was committed. Ellingham loved puzzles so he designed the campus with tunnels and secret rooms. Like the academy, this series is full of twists and turns - and murder. Mystery fans should read this series. Amy Fields, along with her father and stepmother, board a yacht and were going to travel the world. That is until they are hijacked by Somali pirates. She is told that she is now known only as Hostage Three. During the tense situation, she gets to know one of the terrorists, a young man named Farouz. He tells her of his past and she realizes that she is developing feelings towards this pirate. I liked the plot and Amy's point of view. Her inner conflicts with her emotions towards Farouz as well as with her parents were realistic. I was not impressed with Lake's writing style/ I found his use or non-use of punctuation made it difficult to get into reading the book. |
AuthorMr. Andrusyk is a school librarian at IC Catholic Prep in Elmhurst, Illinois. Past Book RecommendationsClick here to view a listing of Mr. Andrusyk's list of favorite authors, series, fiction, and nonfiction. Archives
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