Entwined by Heather Dixon - There are several re-tellings of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" that have already been popular and have gotten acclaim among fans of fairy tale novels. Even though this isn't a new fairy tale, it's a great new take on it! The prose is hilarious, and I found myself giggling throughout the novel. The characters were all real and well-rounded (even the many sisters!), and there were several great beaus for the girls. It's a pretty thick read, but a fun one, and clean enough for middle grade readers if they were interested.
"The Jimmy Fincher Saga" by James Dashner, including A Door in the Woods, A Gift of Ice, The Tower of Air, and War of the Black Curtain - Before James Dashner made it big with The Maze Runner he wrote this series of middle grade fantasy about a boy who saves the world. He admits on his website that they're not the best-written books (and I concur with that, the prose is a little rough in places, especially in the first one), but they sure are exciting! I read through them a lot faster than I expected to, and enjoyed it for the adventure. These would be a great fit for reluctant readers, since something exciting is always happening, which propels you through the story quickly.
Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone by Dene Low - So cute! Historical fiction with a slight magical twist. It reads like a mystery and was a lot of fun. I'm sad that there won't be any more in the series (I've heard that the publisher dropped them, which is a shame because this one was fun!), but it's well worth the quick read!
Also Read in July:
Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
Don't Stop Now by Julie Halpern
Moon Without Magic by Michael O. Tunnell
Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen
Taming the Wind by Michelle Thompson
Ah! It's been too long since I've had time to stop by here- I want to read some of these, thanks for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteWishing Dashner's A Door in the Woods was better.... the name is SO interesting!
You may still like them, Amy! Like I said, the plot was still pretty compelling. If you're looking for a munchy popcorn kind of adventure book it may be a good fit. :)
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