Like The Hunger Games? Try These Series, Too!

There's no getting around it--The Hunger Games continues to be one of the most popular book series. With the Catching Fire movie coming out this fall, the series' popularity isn't lessening any time soon. If you liked the books and want to try some others like it, you might be interested in these series. (You can also CLICK HERE to see an earlier blog post about similar titles.)

Divergent/Insurgent/Allegiant, by Veronica Roth

 

In this dystopian series, five factions control the country. Triss leaves her family faction to join Dauntless, where she meets Four. Everyone has secrets, and things are not as they seem--even Triss's choice to join Dauntless. The Divergent movie comes out in 2014, and Allegiant, the next in the series, will be released in October 2013.

Graceling/Fire/Bitterblue, Kristin Cashore

Katsa is a Graceling--a person with extraordinary abilities who is often an outcast. Follow her story as her uncle tries to use her killing skills to attain even more power in the kingdom. Bitterblue is the direct sequel to Graceling while Fire is a companion novel that tells the story of Fire, an unusual girl from a different kingdom but with a tie to the events and characters in Graceling and Bitterblue.

Gone/Hunger/Lies/Fear/Plague/Light, Michael Grant

Everyone in Perdido Beach disappears, or "poofs" when they hit their 15th birthdays. That leaves adolescents and children to carry on/survive and try to figure out what has happened to them. Adding to the mystery are an energy field that surrounds the entire town and the supernatural powers that some of the children develop. Power struggles and mysteries abound!

Life As We Knew It/The Dead and the Gone/This World We Live In, 
Susan Beth Pfeffer

When the moon is pushed closer to the Earth after a meteor strikes it, the people on Earth are unprepared for the tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, shorter growing seasons, and changes in atmospheric conditions. The first two books follow different families in different settings, but the third book finds them together in a struggle to survive and attempt to resume normal lives.

Want to know more about additional similar titles? You can check out Buzz Feed's entire list when you CLICK HERE.

BlogLovin' Switch

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Now that Google Reader is on the verge of disappearing (it will no longer be available after July 1), I have made the switch to BlogLovin'. If you'd like to follow this blog and see its updates, you can click on the caption above or on the icon in the right-hand column. I hope you join us!

Movie Release Dates

Some of your favorite YA titles are headed to the big screen. . . and SOON!

Check out the book before seeing the movie. You know the old saying--"The book was better than the movie!"And since many of these titles are books in a series, you can continue to follow the stories of your favorite characters long after the movie ends!

Like the Percy Jackson series? Try These Similar Books!

With the release of the Percy Jackson movie coming on August 7, the book series is once again a hot topic. This movie focuses on The Sea of Monsters, the second book in the series. Check out the trailer below:


So. . . you're a fan and have read all of the Percy Jackson books--and The Lost Hero series, and The Kane Chronicles series--and you're looking for something else to read. How about these similar books?

Ghost Leopard by Lars Guignard:  This first-in-a-series story is much like The Kane Chronicles but takes place in India and relies on Indian mythology as the backdrop.

Emerald Atlas by John Stephens:  This story features 3 siblings, and while it lacks the mythological content of Percy Jackson, it's still close to Riordan's story.

Magyk by Angie Sage:  The seventh son of a seventh son disappears the night he is born. . . and a strange baby girl is found in the snow that same night. A great read for Percy Jackson AND Harry Potter fans.

Savvy by Ingrid Law:  This has been dubbed "the country bumpkin version of Percy Jackson." The Beaumont kids all get a magical power when they turn 13 years old.

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull:  A brother and sister discover their grandparents are caretakers for a preserve of magical/mythical creatures of good and evil.

Read these already? Want more suggestions? Click HERE to see more recommendations. Happy reading!

Summer Reading Lists

You've maybe heard of it--the "summer slide" students may experience in their time away from school.

The good news is that kids who read during the summer months have improved reading test scores and often perform better in school. So, what are you going to read this summer?

This Middle School Summer Reading List breaks down books in Grades 5 - 9 and provides a quick summary of some popular titles like these:

School Library Journal offers this list for those of you who prefer to read something funny, like these:

Finally, Barnes & Noble offers a great summer reading program with book lists geared at preK - 6th graders. Join their program and take advantage of prizes, too! Take a look at a few of their recommended titles:

Still looking for more to read? Check out the Grimes Public Library and Dallas Center Roy R. Estle Public Library for suggestions related to their summer reading programs (and their summer activities for kids!), or you can CLICK HERE for additional online lists. Happy reading! I'm eager to talk with you in August about what you read!

Harry Potter's New Look

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Scholastic is re-releasing the seven books with new cover art by Kazu Kibushi, the illustrator behind the Amulet series. Take a look--the first two have already been released:

Kibushi at first turned down the offer to illustrate the new covers. He told Scholastic, "When I was asked to submit samples, I initially hesitated because I didn't want to see them reinterpreted! However, I felt that if I were to handle the project, I could bring something to it that many other designers and illustrators probably couldn't, and that was that I was also a writer of my own series of middle grade fiction." He also said that he wanted the new covers to look as though they could stand the test of time. 

If you want to read more about the new cover art, click out Scholastic's On Our Minds blog.

So what do you think? Are you a fan of the new cover art? Be on the lookout for more cover reveals as the year progresses!

10 Haunting Holocaust Books for Kids

Are you interested in reading Holocaust lit? One title--Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys--is an Iowa Teen Award nominee for the 2013-14 school year.

But if you're looking for more titles, PragmaticMom.com has created a list of reads you may be interested in: 10 Haunting Holocaust Books for Kids.

Some titles certainly look familiar, such as The Book Thief or Number the Stars. But have you read the new Prisoner B-3087? Or how about the graphic novel Maus? If the Holocaust is a topic you'd like to read more about, these historical fiction--and nonfiction titles--are a great place to start!