Books

Quantum Interstellar Sports League

This is the perfect middle grade adventure book, written by one of the Masters of Middle Grade, J. Scott Savage. This book is clever, funny, creative and has all the fun lines I expect from a book from Savage. And the illustrations bring the story and characters to life. They’re so well done.

Wyatt is the son of the GOAT football player on earth, and he’s selected to save earth from alien wrath. And what a ride it was. The characters are quirky and original and I enjoyed the team’s journey. And there’s a character that loves Kpop, so I was sold!

I’m hoping for more books! –Mindy (Min Reads)

Graysen Foxx

This was a great, elementary age, adventure story. It was like reading about what Indiana Jones was like in elementary school. Lots of humor, ridiculous situations, exaggerated experiences, and kids will eat it up!

He was throwing out similes and metaphors like book challengers in a library! It would be a dream read aloud for teachers, and kids would be on the edge of their seats laughing and with anticipation.

I love his references to other books, especially his own, Cove! And of course I loved the scene in the library. He focuses on loyalty, friendship, helping others, ingenuity, and thinking of others above yourself. –Sharon the Librarian

The Lost Wonderland Diaries

When I saw that Scott was doing a spin on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, I was a bit . . . wary. I loooove Lewis Carroll’s books. I have the Jabberwocky memorized! I have been to Oxford and seen the tree the Cheshire Cat used to sit in, according to Dr. Dodgson, and seen the windows of the rooms where the Liddell family lived! And so when I was offered an advance copy, I . . . had to know.

WHEW.

It’s very clear that Scott not only loves the books, but he GETS them. He gets Lewis Carroll/Charles Dodgson. His love of wordplay, which is so often missing from sequels and interpretations! The math! The names! The puns! What a delight! This is both an action-adventure and a wonderful exploration of Wonderland, and written with such sensitivity, too, toward the new main characters and the original characters! I handed it immediately to my 11yo daughter when I was done, she loves Alice, and I know she’ll love this too! –Jessica Day George. Author

Mysteries of Cove

Fires of Invention is a story with deep messages, but J. Scott Savage made the lessons applicable to young teens AND still made Trenton a relatable character. I loved how small issues in Trenton’s life reminded me he’s just a normal kid with girl problems. J. Scott Savage impressed on me that Trenton thinks differently from most kids, but the lesson I took away is that all kids think a little differently and we should celebrate those differences.

I never ever ever saw the twist coming! Usually I can make a good guess, but this came out of NOWHERE (but still totally made sense). Just when I thought I knew Trenton’s world and how it functioned, the author lifted a veil to remind me there’s a bigger world outside Cove that I’m dying to explore in the sequel. -Amber (Goodreads Reviewer)

Case File 13

Nick, Carter and Angelo, otherwise known by their fellow sixth-graders as the “Three Monsterteers,” are obsessed with the supernatural and all things Halloween. Nick is crushed when he learns that he will miss trick-or-treating with his buddies because he has to travel to New Orleans for his great-aunt’s funeral. But when it turns out that she was a voodoo queen, the trip to Louisiana quite literally changes Nick’s life. Back home in California, Carter and Angelo notice there’s something different about their friend, and all the signs lead them to one conclusion: Nick’s been turned into a zombie. It’s pretty cool to have a zombie as a best friend, but when Nick starts losing body parts and develops a hankering for brains, the three boys set out on a desperate mission to change Nick back before it’s too late. With clever commentary from a mysterious narrator at the start of each chapter, a trio of funny and enormously likable boy protagonists and plenty of creepy encounters to up the ante, Savage hits all the right notes. -Kirkus Starred Review

FarWorld

Marcus is bullied because he’s different—orphaned, branded, crippled. But he’s also indomitable, quick-witted, and has a strange talent that can only be described as magic. When the Dark Circle finds him in his Arizona boarding, their kidnapping attempt is foiled by a girl Marcus has only seen in his dreams. Kyja pulls him into Far World, a place where everything and everyone has magic … except her.

Talking animals, singing flowers, shape-shifting wizards, ancient prophecies, zombie foes, and world-hopping. The author is setting us up for a quartet of stories, with Marcus and Kyja needing to appeal to the four Elemental races for help in saving Far World. Eager for more, I’ll be adding the books to my home shelf. –C.J. Milbrandt, Author