The Book Search

 Need to take a little adventure this summer?  Here are two titles that might be right up your alley!   The first one is called Champion's Quest: The Die of Destiny by Frank L. Cole.  It starts with Lucas, a 12 year old in foster care.  He is convinced that he would be better off away from the foster home where he has been living, so he hatches a plan to run away by train.  Except that one of the other foster kids, Miles, is meant to give his story credence, and Miles doesn't really want Lucas to go.  They end up in what seems like a store but is actually the offices of a magical adventure group.  Two girls join them-one is Jasmine, a girl who seems to be perpetually in trouble, and Vanessa, the daughter of the foster parents where Lucas and Miles are living.  The game sounds like some of the role playing games that people play on line like Dungeons and Dragons-there are magical beasts that can either help or hurt you, your welfare depends on...

I got some terrific new books this week from Netgalley-compelling, adventurous books! The first one is called "The Okay Witch" by Emma Steinkellner.  It's a graphic novel (not my favorite) about a girl named Moth, who is 13 and struggling with all the usual middle school issues-friends, clothes, her mom, teachers.  But on Halloween, Moth discovers that she's actually a witch and her mom is a witch too.  Her mom chose to give up being a witch because her coven had been chased into hiding hundreds of years ago.  Her mom wanted to live life in the real world and not in the utopia that her own mother had created.  Moth is stunned at this revelation and has to decide if she wants to live a magical life or if she wants to live in the magic free zone her mom has created.  Complicating matters are a cute new boy in town and the evil doers that chased Moth's family into hiding in the first place.  It's a really fun, adventurous story and I liked it a lot, eve...