Marty McGuire

Marty McGuire
by Kate Messner
illustrated by Brian Floca

Marty McGuire does not want to be a princess!    The frog loving, adventurous third grader would much rather play in the woods and pretend to study chimpanzees like Jane Goodall, but her teacher surprises everyone when she chooses Marty to play the part of the princess in their class performance of The Frog Prince.    Under the pressure of her teacher and parents, Marty reluctantly agrees to be the princess, but manages to find a way to add her own spark to the class performance!

This is a fun, humorous story that many readers will enjoy!   There are a lot of very funny parts that had me laughing.   Marty is a very likeable character and I think a lot of readers will relate to her and the different problems she deals with in this story.   

Author's website:  http://www.katemessner.com/

Listen to the first chapter of Marty McGuire!  http://www.katemessner.com/downloads/MartyMcGuireCh1.mp3

Zita the Space Girl

Zita the Space Girl 

by Ben Hatke 

When Zita and her best friend Joseph discover a mysterious hole in the ground, they have no idea of the wild adventure that lays ahead for them! Inside the hole is a device with a button, and with the press of that button Zita and Joseph find themselves being swept away to a planet of strange creatures and robots. When Joseph is taken by a group of evil aliens, Zita must find a way to rescue him so they can both escape the planet before it is destroyed by a meteor. Will Zita be able to rescue her friend and get off the planet before it is too late?

This is a good choice for readers who like graphic novels and science fiction. It is full of wild adventures, unusual creatures, and great pictures. The shocking ending will leave many readers anxious for more Zita stories!

Author's Website:   http://zitaspacegirl.com/

Book trailer:  
 

Max Quick: The Pocket and the Pendant

Max Quick: The Pocket and the Pendant
by Mark Jeffrey

At 1:59 pm the world suddenly stood still.   That is, it stood still for everyone except Max Quick and Casey Cole.   Although they have never met before, Max and Casey are thrown together in a dangerous journey to uncover the answers to the sudden time freeze.   In a quest that involves ancient books, magic, and mysterious people, Max and Casey uncover more clues to the time freeze as well as haunting details of Max's unknown past.   Will they be able to unlock the answers to the time freeze in time to save the world from being taken over by evil villains?  

 I had a hard time putting this book down!  It is full of action, adventure and unexpected twists.   I think readers who enjoyed Red Pyramid and other similar stories will love this book!  I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series. 

Book trailer:

The Great Wall of Lucy Wu

The Great Wall of Lucy Wu
by Wendy Wan-Long Shang

Lucy Wu's hopes for a perfect sixth-grade year have just been destroyed!   With her big sister going away to college, Lucy was finally going to have her own bedroom.    Now, with the upcoming visit of her mother's aunt from China, Lucy is going to have to spend months sharing her bedroom with a relative she has never even met!   Things only get worse for Lucy when her parents tell her she may have to give up basketball so she can attend Chinese school on Saturdays.    To add to Lucy's frustrations, school has become a nightmare as popular Sloane Connors begins bullying her in a series of mean pranks.  After dealing with unusual relatives, Saturday school, and cruel bullies at school, will things ever get better for Lucy?

I loved this book!  It's a great realistic fiction story with situations that many readers will be able to relate to. 

Author's Website:  http://wendyshang.com/Home.html