HOT NEW SERIES AND BOOK FAVORITES

1. THE MIDNIGHTERS BY SCOTT WESTERFELD (Genre: Science Fiction)
2. TOUCHING SPIRIT BEAR BY BEN MIKALESEN (Genre: Realistic Fiction with elements of fantasy and adventure)
3. THE HUNGER GAMES/CATCHING FIRE by Suzanne Collins (Genre: Science Fiction)
4. DRAGONSPELL and DRAGONQUEST by Donita K. Paul (fantasy)

THE MIDNIGHTERS BY SCOTT WESTERFELD (Genre: Science Fiction)

If you enjoyed THE UGLIES series, you will love Westerfeld's new 
Midnighters.  Imagine living in a place where the monsters of 
your dreams come alive at midnight every night! But if you aren't 
a midnighter, you will never be aware of them because you will be 
totally frozen in a deep sleep until the midnight hour passes.  
However if you are a midnighter, which means you were born during 
the midnight hour with special abilities,  you will be able to 
see and sometimes, flee,or battle the monsters.  What makes this 
series especially interesting to me is the setting is in Bixby, 
Oklahoma, a town that is not too far away from here.

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TOUCHING SPIRIT BEAR BY BEN MIKALESEN (Genre: Realistic Fiction with elements of fantasy and adventure)

I will confess that I had never done a thorough reading of 
TOUCHING SPIRIT BEAR until this summer.  Of course, I had skimmed 
it because I have always heard it was a great book. After really 
reading it, I now know it is a great book.
It centers around an unhappy  boy who has always been in trouble. 
Now he has gone too far and seriously injured another boy.  Two 
Native American men, who also had troubled childhoods, influence 
the court system to allow him one more chance to reform before he 
is sent to prison for a long period of time. He is sent to live 
on a deserted island to come to terms with his anger.  At first 
he tries to escape and barely survives an attack by a giant bear, 
which the Native Americans have told him about, the Spirit Bear. 
He has many experieces while living on the island and learns a 
lot about himself.  This book is somewhat like Paulsen's HATCHET, 
but has a deeper message.

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THE HUNGER GAMES/CATCHING FIRE by Suzanne Collins (Genre: Science Fiction)

Imagine watching a "Survivor" type show in which the 
contestants fight until 
the death!  That's what happens in THE HUNGER GAMES, a great new 
science 
fiction book by the author of the Gregor the Overlander series, 
Suzanne 
Collins.  In the book, with its future setting, the remaining 
civilized world 
has been divided into 12 districts, ruled over by an all-
powerful, evil 
government.  Each year on Reaping Day, a boy and girl's name are 
drawn from 
each district, and these kids must fight against each other, 
devising ways to 
eliminate their competition.  All of the citizens are required to 
watch the 
games every night on television until they are over.  The last 
person alive 
will receive lots of good food, a nice house for his/her family, 
and all 
kinds of other perks to greatly improve his/her quality of life.  
(Most 
citizens barely have enough food to keep themselves alive.)  
However, the 
government has never had a competitor like Katniss, the main 
character of the 
book, who puts her principles above her need to win.
The sequel to this great book, CATCHING FIRE, comes out the first 
of September.  Of course, I have ordered a copy for the library 
and will let you know when it arrives.

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DRAGONSPELL and DRAGONQUEST by Donita K. Paul (fantasy)

As I was reading the Battle of the Books selections for this 
year, I made a pleasant discovery.  I really like the way Donita 
Paul tells a fantasy story.  Her book, DRAGONQUEST, is on the B 
of B list, but I noticed that it was a sequel to DRAGONSPELL, so 
I read that first.  DRAGONSPELL reminds me a lot of ERAGON, but 
this book's protagonist is a young girl (Kale), and she doesn't 
really want to go on a quest.  Unlike Eragon, who of course, was 
a young man and very eager to be in the thick of a battle.  Both 
heroes are very fond of their dragon companions, and both battle 
evil lords who want to control all of the dragons, and all of the 
world.  
Kale, who has been a servant all of her life, is happy when she 
is sent from her town to receive training in a large city nearby, 
but fate has other plans for her.  She begins to feel an 
irresistible pull to some hidden dragon eggs.  After she finds 
them, she is attacked by evil forces, and then is rescued by some 
warriors who eventually accompany her on a quest to find a 
special dragon egg, which is also being sought by the evil wizard 
Risto.  This books tells the adventures of Kale and her 
companions as they attempt to carry out their quest.

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