Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Grows Up

Remember reading those old “Choose-Your-Own-Adventure” stories when you were a kid? With opening sentences like “You are a deep sea explorer searching for the famed lost city of Atlantis” or “You stand on the deck of the RMS Titanic, the brand new White Star ocean liner,” you knew immediately that there was adventure in store. And then there’s the added thrill of getting to decide what happens next: “If you choose to return to the island, go to page 12. If you decide to follow Jenny into the abyss, go to page 38.” The adventures were straightforward, the choices were good or bad—ah, how simple life was. But now that you’re an adult, choosing your own storybook adventure is more complex, sassier, sexier, gorier, and helluva lot more interesting.


Pretty Little Mistakes: A Do-Over Novel by Heather McElhatton, 2007, Harper Books (Interactive Books/ Fiction).

Ah, high school graduation, that time when “the real world” seems to contain every and any possibility. This hopeful moment is where Pretty Little Mistakes begins. A few key life choices can result in your shacking up with a handsome Italian, blown to bits by a pipe bomb when you’re working as a doctor in Africa, running away to join the circus, or pecked to deaths by ducks when you become a meth addict after flunking out of college. The choices here will lead you all over the world and into a variety of professionals ranging from sex-phone operator to scholar. You’ll get married, impregnated, and divorced (not always in that order). You’ll be a rousing success and a miserable failure. The possibilities are endless. And if you don’t like where life leads you, you can always go back and start over. After all, everyone deserves a do-over.


You Are a Miserable Excuse for a Hero! by Bob Powers, 2008, St. Martin’s Griffin Press (Interactive Books/ Humorous Fiction).

You’re a loser. You’re a thirtysomething wannabe actor, working as waiter, and the girl you went out with last night has been kidnapped. Her kidnappers call you in the morning, waking you up and demanding fifty thousand dollars for her safe return. You don’t have fifty thousand dollars. You don’t even know if you like this girl all that much. But you could be a hero…or you could get drunk and go back to sleep. There are happy endings here, where you got to grad school and raise a family and make a life for yourself surrounded by loved ones. There are also really sucky endings, with torture and murder and unwanted pregnancy. But most of all, there’s plenty of sarcasm, dark humor, and utter nonsense. It’s everything your average childhood “Choose-Your-Own-Adventure” story is not, and that’s what makes You Are a Miserable Excuse for a Hero! so addictively entertaining.


Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure by Emma Campbell Webster, 2007, Riverhead Books (Interactive Books/ Historical Fiction).

If you love Jane Austen, if you’ve read all her novels, watched the BBC Pride and Prejudice until you know it by heart, if you long to go to Lyme to see the spot where Louisa Musgrove fell, then Lost in Austen is the book for you. As Elizabeth Bennett, you have intelligence and wit and some portion of beauty, but not a lick of money. You wish to marry for love; your meddling mother wants you to marry for money. As you make choices that may lead to dashing Mr. Darcy or to drippy Mr. Collins (and every other Austen hero from steadfast Captain Wentworth to caddish Willoughby) you gain or lose points for Accomplishments, Connections, and Fortune that will attract or repel possible suitors. There’s a delightfully wicked sense of humor at play as well, with plenty of sass and tongue-in-cheek criticism. Austen fans will happily get lost over and over again.


Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse? by Max Brallier, 2011, Gallery Books (Interactive Books/ Horror).

How many times have you found yourself hollering at the idiot characters in horror movies as they insist on finding the source of that creepy noise when they should be running for their lives? Well, here’s your chance to set things right. You’re a young businessman in the city when all hell breaks loose and zombies take over Manhattan. You’re first choice: get to your apartment, catch the next taxi, or take the subway out of town. These three paths lead to such life-and-death decisions like: Ax or shotgun? Run or stand your ground? Save the girl or save your ass? Sometimes you end up just another zombie, stumbling around and moaning for brains. Sometimes you’re the big hero, guns blazing as you lead crowds of grateful schoolchildren to safety. It’s action-packed, gory as all get out, and every bit as much fun as the best zombie horror flicks on the big screen.


The Raging Tide, or The Black Doll’s Imbroglio by Edward Gorey, 1987, Beaufort Books (Interactive Books/ Picture Books/ Humorous Fiction).

Edward Gorey is well-known for his grown-up picture books and his macabre sense of humor. In The Gashlycrumb Tinies, an entire alphabet of small children meets their makers in all manner of devilishly entertaining ways. In The Doubtful Guest, an surprise visitor makes himself quite content in the midst of a household that’s too polite to tell him to go away. And in The Raging Tide, Skrump, Naeelah, Figbash, and Hooglyboo engage in nonsense, guided by your very own expertise. If you think it is clever when Hooglyboo crams Figbash into a vase, turn to page 11. If all this seems “too terrible to contemplate,” turn to page 29. You may also, on another page, choose to visit the Dogear Wryde Topiary Gardens (page 26) or tour the Villa Amnesia (page 23). Nonsense indeed, but in the grand tradition of Edward Gorey, it’s nonsense that you can’t get enough of.


Meanwhile: Pick Any Path—3,856 Story Possibilities by Jason Shiga, 2010, Amulet Books (Interactive Books/ Graphic Novels/ Children’s Science Fiction).

On the first page of this intricate, creative comic book, you’re a little cartoon boy in an ice cream shop deciding between chocolate and vanilla. If you choose chocolate, you follow a brown tube-like line that leads up and around to a tab on a different page. The vanilla line leads you straight off one page and onto another. You continue to follow these lines up, down, right, left, backwards, and forwards as you jump from page to page and wind your way through panels that feature a mad scientist, parallel universes, quantum mechanics, and a giant squid. Sometimes, you save the world. Sometimes, you destroy all life on the planet. Either way, you learn about math and science and—believe it or not—have a whale of a time doing it. Ostensibly for children, Meanwhile will captivate readers of every age with its mind-bending tricks, wily ways, and unexpected endings.

Going Underground

There’s something irresistible about underground. Tunnels become mazes with adventures around every bend. Caves are home to strange, wild creatures. Archeological tombs hold the treasures of the ages. Even a basement or cellar can contain mysteries and surprises that can thrill us to the bone or set our hair on end. There’s no knowing what lurks in the deep dark underground, but finding out is sure to be an adventure.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, 2003, Harper Perennial Books, originally published 1996 (Fantasy)

Richard Mayhew lives in London. He has a job, an apartment, and a fiancé. He has a regular everyday sort of life. All that is about to change. Late to dinner, Richard stops to help a dirty young woman bleeding on the sidewalk. The waiflike girl is named Door and there’s something very odd about her, but Richard brings her home and cleans her up. When Door leaves, it seems the adventure is over. But then Richard begins to change. His friends don’t recognize him, his fiancé barely notices him, and strangers can’t even see he’s there. Knowing Door has the answers, Richard plunges into London Below, a weird and wild world inhabited by those who “fell between the cracks”—people who live in the sewers and subway tunnels, people who talk to rats, people who are magic. Soon Richard is one of Door’s companions on a dangerous quest through this strange land. If Richard wants to get back to his blissfully humdrum life, he’s got to prove his worth against all manner of assassins, monsters, and mayhem. Author Neil Gaiman is at his best here as he skillfully weaves myths and legends together with the familiar to create a magical world that is entirely new. Witty and wickedly inventive, Neverwhere is fantasy at its finest.

Tunnels, Book 1 by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams, 2008, Chicken House/ Scholastic Press (Fantasy/ Adventure/ Teen Fiction)

Londoner Will Burrows has always been a loner. His pale skin and white hair make him an outcast at school. His family life is complicated by a television-obsessed mother and a kid sister who’s taken over the management of the household. Will does have a connection with his dad—a shared love for archeological excavation. Still, father and son keep secrets from each other. When, at separate dig sites, they each uncover impressive underground structures that don’t show up on any of London’s schematics, Will and his dad know they’re onto something big. But then Mr. Burrows disappears. Will enlists the help of his only friend, Chester, and keeps digging. What the boys finally find is astonishing—an immense Victorian-style city carved into the living rock. This is “the Colony,” a secret civilization hidden beneath the earth. Will seems to have an odd connection with this subterranean society, and while Chester is locked in jail, Will is taken in by a Colonist family. He is fascinated by the cavernous Colony and its citizens, but Will never forgets Chester—or his missing father. Tunnels only sets up the adventure; final gripping chapters and a cliff-hanger ending ensure that more danger, excitement, and mystery wait in the even-deeper reaches of this extraordinary fantasy world.

Tunnels Series by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams

1. Tunnels

2. Deeper

3. Freefall

Gregor the Overlander: The Underland Chronicles, Book 1 by Suzanne Collins, 2003, Scholastic Press (Fantasy/ Children’s Fiction)

Gregor’s mother works hard to make ends meet. His father vanished three years ago, and Gregor is responsible for babysitting his little sister. It’s a pretty dreary life for an eleven-year-old kid. But then baby sister Boots disappears down a vent in the laundry room one afternoon and Gregor dives in after her. They fall into the Underland, a fantastic world deep underground that’s populated by pale-skinned humans and giant talking animals. The subterranean dwellers suspect that Gregor is the subject of a prophecy that promises an “Overlander” warrior will lead them to victory against an army of rat invaders. Gregor has no desire to embrace his destiny—until he learns about another Overlander held captive by the rats. Gregor thinks of his father and accepts the adventure that lies ahead. He’s accompanied by quite the motley crew—Underland royalty, flying bats, a creepy rat, a big old spider, and a couple of giant cockroaches who take quite a fancy to precocious little Boots. Gregor’s reluctance to stay in the Underland does not extend to readers, who will be thrilled with the amount of detail that author Suzanne Collins lavishes on the world she imagines below ours—a wealth of magical creatures living a mythology of their own in a fantastic series of adventures.

The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins

1. Gregor the Overlander

2. Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane

3. Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods

4. Gregor and the Marks of Secret

5. Gregor and the Code of Claw

The City of Ember: The First Book of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau, 2003, Random House Books (Fantasy/ Children’s Fiction)

The city of Ember is the only light in a world of darkness. But now, more than two-hundred years after apocalyptic events destroyed the rest of the world, Ember is beginning to fail. Supplies are running low and power outages that plaque the city are becoming more frequent. Still, life goes on. On Assignment Day, the city’s twelve-year-olds leave school and accept their lifelong work assignments. For curious-as-a-cat Lina Mayfleet, this means becoming a Messenger, delivering notes and gaining access to every area of Ember. For stoic handyman Doon Harrow, this means keeping the centuries-old generator patched together in the Pipeworks far below the city. But Lina and Doon soon stumble across long-buried secrets. The city’s founding fathers never meant for their people to dwell in darkness forever. The instructions for escape have been lost by corrupt city officials, and now, with resources fading fast and the citizens’ anxiety rising high, it’s up to Lina and Doon to find the pieces of the puzzle and save their city—even if it means venturing into the pitch-dark void that stretches beyond the dimming streetlights. Author Jeanne DuPrau invents mechanics, politics, and mysteries for the city of Ember and readers will breathlessly go along for the ride as Lina and Doon bring surprising new truths to light.

The Books of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

1. The City of Ember

2. The People of Sparks

3. The Prophet of Yonwood

4. The Diamond of Darkhold

The Great Stink by Clare Clark, 2005, Harcourt Books (Historical Fiction/ Mystery)

William May is a veteran of the terrors of the Crimean War. It is the 1850s, but modern readers will have no difficulty recognizing the signs of post-traumatic stress disorder—poor William is fragile, damaged, and unable to relate to his former life. He finds some measure of solace underground as a surveyor for a massive engineering project to revamp London’s outdated, unstable, and very stinky sewer system. Also patrolling the sewers is Long Arm Tom, a “tosher” who searches for valuables and catches rats for dogfight bait. Then William witnesses a brutal murder in the tunnels and, due to his slipping hold on reality, is fingered as the culprit and locked away. While William languishes in prison, it’s up to Long Arm Tom to prowl the dark underground in search of the truth. Though the ending may come a trifle too neatly for some readers, most will be swept away by author Clare Clark’s attention to historical detail. Victorian London is richly evoked in all its triumphs and tragedies, from the engineering feats that created London’s sewers to the horrors of the Crimean War to the harsh differences between the lives of the city’s social classes. The Great Stink is a fine mystery and an even finer portrait of a unique historical time and place.

The Water Room: A Bryant and May Mystery by Christopher Fowler, 2005, Bantam Books (Mystery)

The Peculiar Crimes Unit is a controversial branch of the London Police Department that takes on cases that are just a bit too “off” for the regular police to cope with. Arthur Bryant and John May, the grumpy old men of criminal investigation, have been with the PCU since its inception. May is down-to-earth; Bryant is a cantankerous loner whose acquaintances tend to be mystics, psychics, and Wiccans. Still, they get things done. But with budgets stretched thin, the PCU is looking like less of a necessity. And Bryant and May aren’t helping matters by investigating cases brought to them by friends—May pokes around in the affairs of a disgraced academic and Bryant looks into the death of a little old lady. But the old lady was found drowned in her bone-dry basement. And May’s down-on-his-luck scholar is being paid big money to explore London’s ancient underground river system. With dogged determination, curmudgeonly charm, and good old-fashioned detecting, the duo finds a compelling mystery with a solution that lies deep underground. The Water Room is author Christopher Fowler’s second PCU novel and he is in fine form. There’s plenty of mystery, intrigue, and dark humor, but the real heart of the story is the spirited relationship between the indomitable Bryant and May.

Bryant and May Mysteries by Christopher Fowler

1. Full Dark House

2. The Water Room

3. Seventy-Seven Clocks

4. Ten Second Staircase

5. White Corridor

6. The Victoria Vanishes

7. Bryant and May on the Loose

The Seventh Sinner: A Jacqueline Kirby Mystery, Book 1 by Elizabeth Peters, 2005, Avon Books, originally published 1972 (Mystery)

Pretty young Jean Suttman is thrilled to death to be studying archeology in Rome. It’s a city seeped in ancient history and artifacts. She’s found a group of friends who are fellow scholars and artists. And she’s just met visiting librarian Jacqueline Kirby, who, despite her middle-aged no-nonsense appearance, is an unconquerable spitfire with powers of observation that are only matched by her sharp tongue. So when Jean stumbles across the dead body of a universally disliked fellow scholar during a tour of the ancient underground Temple of Mithra, no one is better equipped to solve the mystery than Jacqueline Kirby. There are, however, plenty of suspects—because Jean keeps meeting with unfortunate accidents, and only her seven dearest friends had the means and opportunity to cause so much trouble. Besides creating a nifty little mystery, author Elizabeth Peters crafts a delightful cast of sinister, sweet, and highly suspicious characters. But it is Jacqueline Kirby, librarian extraordinaire, who takes the cake—and this is merely her first appearance in a very delightful series of mysteries.

Jacqueline Kirby Mysteries by Elizabeth Peters

1. The Seventh Sinner

2. The Murder of Richard III

3. Die for Love

4. Naked Once More 

Pitch Black: Don’t Be Skerd by Youme Landowne and Anthony Horton, 2008, Cinco Puntos Press (Graphic Novel/ Nonfiction/ Biography) 

Pitch Black is a graphic novel collaboration between artist Youme Landowne and Anthony Horton, a homeless young man living in the subway tunnels of New York City. The two struck up a conversation one day while Landowne was waiting for a train, and after an exchange of art and stories, the unlikely duo decided to document Horton’s unique biography. Given up for adoption as a baby and then passed from foster home to foster home, Horton’s childhood was grim and violent. A harsh life on the city streets followed, every day a battle for survival. Then one day Horton flees from pursuing cops into a subway tunnel. Underground, Horton finally finds a place of refuge. Though a life in the dark and damp, surrounded by rats and garbage, may not sound ideal, Horton finally has the mentors and friends that he lacked growing up. He shares his story with Landowne—and with the reader—with an unflinching eye. The stark, black-and-white artwork shows life on the streets in all its gritty reality. But despite it all, readers will come away with a sense of hope and inspiration and a new respect for those who—whether by choice or by necessity—live their lives differently.

Book-a-Saurus Rex

Brontosaurus. Triceratops. Tyrannosaurus Rex. We all had a dinosaur obsession in childhood, way back when words like bilkanasaurus and thecodontosaurus simply rolled off our tongues. We’re expected to outgrow the dino phase, but no one ever really stops being completely fascinated by the extinct giants, as the myriad of museum exhibits, dinosaur encyclopedias, and nature channel TV specials well attest to. And when it comes to books about prehistoric reptiles, the sky’s the limit. Far and away beyond mere encyclopedic entries, the dinosaur books included here are true to their subject: wild, wonderful, and larger than life.

The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 2008, Penguin Classics, originally published 1912 (Fiction Classics/ Fantasy/ Adventure)

Daily Gazette reporter Ed Malone is in love with a girl. But the girl isn’t very keen on lowly newsboys; she wants the romance and heart-pounding bravery of an adventurous explorer like Richard Francis Burton or Henry Morton Stanley. Lucky for Malone, there’s an explorer right in town—although cantankerous Professor Challenger’s reputation has taken a hefty blow due to his claims of prehistoric creatures alive and well in the Amazonian basin. But even a discredited adventurer is good enough for Malone and before he knows it, he’s on his way back to South America with Challenger, skeptical scientist Professor Summerlee, and experienced explorer Lord John Roxton. The motley crew is instantly plunged into a whole mess of action and excitement—meeting with secretive Amazonian tribesmen, fighting with primitive ape-people, and (of course!) fleeing from roaring dinosaurs. It’s true that there’s more than a touch of early 19th century racism and classism, but if you can grit your teeth and bear it through the political incorrect bits, you’ll be rewarded with a fantastic, witty, true-blue tale of derring-do.

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, 1990, Random House (Science Fiction/ Thriller)

 

You know and love the 1993 Steven Spielberg blockbuster movie Jurassic Park, but that thrill-ride is based first and foremost on author Michael Crichton’s bestselling book of the same name. After decades of research, genetic engineering firm InGen, headed by dapper little old gentleman John Hammond, has successfully cloned the ancient DNA of fifteen species of dinosaur. To show off this astounding breakthrough, Hammond creates Jurassic Park, a dinosaur-themed amusement park and nature conserve on a remote island off the coast of Costa Rica. He invites some very exclusive guests to give the park their stamp of approval before the grand opening—awestruck paleontologists Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler, sarcastic chaos theorist Ian Malcolm, and his own precocious grandchildren Tim and Lex. It comes as no surprise that all the high-tech science and high-end security cannot stop nature from taking its course, and soon the guests are running for their lives from escaped tyrannosauruses and hungry velociraptors. This sounds a lot like the movie, but the expertly-crafted novel is perfectly paced with fresh plot twists, complex character relationships, fascinating scientific theory, and even more action-packed scenes of nail-biting suspense and heart-pounding adventure.

Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston, 2005, Forge Books (Science Fiction/ Thriller)

Mild-mannered do-gooder Tom Broadbent is riding his horse home across the New Mexican desert when he stumbles upon a man dying from gunshot wounds. The man thrusts a tattered notebook into Tom’s hands and, with his final breath, begs Tom to “bring this to my daughter.” Of course, it’s not just any old everyday notebook. It contains a coded map leading to an unprecedented scientific discovery: The perfectly preserved remains of a tyrannosaurus rex. This is a secret worth killing for, and soon Tom and his pretty wife Sally are in danger from a jailbird assassin, a ruthless British paleontologist, and a deadly squad of undercover army operatives. This colorful cast of characters also includes an ex-CIA agent turned monk-in-training and a talented lab assistant languishing in the forgotten depths of the American Museum of Natural History. Over-the-top? You bet, and it’s a ton of fun. Author Douglas Preston has a fine grip on what makes a good thriller—good guys, bad guys, cliffhanger chapter endings, a pinch of astounding scientific theory, and intrigue and suspense up the wazoo.

Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards: A Tale of Edward Drinker Cope, Othniel Charles Marsh, and the Gilded Age of Paleontology by Jim Ottaviani and Big Time Attic, 2005, G.T. Labs (Nonfiction/ 19th Century History/ Graphic Novel) 

Once upon a time in the late 1800s, there were two fossil hunters named Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh. Cope and Marsh are the granddaddies of modern paleontology. They were scholars and scientists at the top of their field. They discovered the creatures we know today as stegosaurus, allosaurus, diplodocus, and triceratops. Cope and Marsh also absolutely, completely, and bitterly hated each other. In the late 19th century, dino discoveries were making headlines and capturing the public’s imagination, but even the entire American West was not big enough to contain the egos and ambitions of these two men. Cope and March stole from each other’s dig sites and mocked each other’s research. Their public squabbles grew so intense that the period of their study is now simply called the “Bone Wars.” And in Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards, graphic novelist Jim Ottaviani and the artists of the Big Time Attic collective gleefully bring Cope and Marsh’s feud to vivid life. Famous characters like P.T. Barnum, Buffalo Bill, and artist Charles R. Knight pepper the narrative, but Cope and Marsh’s story steals the show and makes for a fast, funny, and truly delightful read.

Lulu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Viorst, illustrated by Lane Smith, 2010, Atheneum Books for Young Readers (Children’s Fiction) 

Little Lulu always gets her way. If her parents dare to say “No,” Lulu simply changes their minds by employing her trademark ear-shattering shriek. For her birthday this year, Lulu demands a pet brontosaurus. Her parents refuse, Lulu screeches until light bulbs shatter, and then the precocious tot heads into the forest—suitcase containing pickle sandwiches in hand—to find a dinosaur all by herself. After lions, tigers, and bears (oh my), the brontosaurus of Lulu’s dreams rears his giant head. But there’s a problem—the dinosaur thinks that Lulu is going to become his pet. As Lulu and the brontosaurus meet their match in each other, the reader will find more than enough charm in author Judith Viorst’s tongue-in-cheek cautionary tale. Artist Lane Smith lends a hand with adorably droll illustrations, and the result is a lively, lovely tale for children of all ages.

Dinotopia: A Land Apart From Time by James Gurney, 1992, Turner Publishing (Science Fiction/ Fantasy/ Picture Books/ Illustrated Novels)

In 1862, Professor Arthur Denison and his son Will are shipwrecked on a tropical island. Almost immediately, they encounter strange signs of life—enormous footprints, mysterious noises, and bizarre animals. To Denison and Will’s immense surprise, the inhabitants of this island are dinosaurs who live in unity and harmony with humans. Dinotopia—the name is the island—is a peaceful, innovative, cooperative society. Denison and Will are expected to contribute their skills as well and journey across the island to register at Waterfall City. Along the way, they befriend Dinotopia’s human and dinosaur citizens and observe first-hand the extraordinary workings of this unique—but still mysterious and even dangerous—world. Author James Gurney presents this sophisticated picture book as Arthur Denison’s journal. As such, it is filled with scientific observations and beautiful, realistic illustrations of the people, creatures, and places of Dinotopia—including the dinosaurs, who are portrayed in all their glory as they work, play, and learn side-by-side with humans. Dinotopia: A Land Apart From Time is whimsical, fantastic, and worthy of being read again and again by dinosaur enthusiasts of all ages.

Dinotopia by James Gurney

1. A Land Apart From Time

2. First Flight (Prequel)

3. The World Beneath

4. Journey to Chandara

Anonymous Rex by Eric Garcia, 2000, Villard Books (Mystery/ Fantasy/ Humor)

Dinosaurs are not extinct. Really, they’re not. They’ve simply learned to evolve and coexist. They live among us in secret, wearing latex human disguises, carefully governed by watchful Councils, and recognizing each other by their distinct dino-scents. The hero of Anonymous Rex is Vincent Rubio, a Los Angeles private detective and a velociraptor. Rubio is a dino in disgrace. He disobeyed the Council’s strict rules while investigating the suspicious death of his partner. He’s broke, addicted to basil, and has a single chance at redemption when he is assigned a case of arson at a dinosaur-owned nightclub. Rubio’s sleuthing uncovers police evidence gathered by a brontosaur sergeant, plots hatched by scheming dinosaur widows and mistresses, and a triceratops geneticist’s evil plot. Author Eric Garcia gleefully works his premise, spilling the dirt on the dinosaurs’ secrets to survival and blowing the cover on many supposedly-human luminaries. Complete with interspecies fighting, lying, spying, and loving, Anonymous Rex is a riotous, ridiculous romp.

Vincent Rubio Mysteries by Eric Garcia

1. Anonymous Rex

2. Casual Rex

3. Hot and Sweaty Rex

Harry Potter's BFFs

Oh, Harry Potter, the famous orphan who’s also a wizard, a regular kid who becomes part of a fantastic world of magic and mayhem. Through seven suspenseful books and seven wonder-filled years at Hogwarts School, Harry transforms from an overwhelmed, awestruck little boy into a powerful and thoughtful young man. He has to make some extraordinary choices concerning his life, his friends’ lives, and the fate of the world, but he’s guided by an unforgettable cast of characters: schoolmates Ron and Hermione; wise and occasionally wacky Professor Dumbledore; magical friends Hagrid, Hedwig, and Sirius; magical foes Snape, Malfoy, and even Lord Voldemort, who’s a truly worthwhile villain if there ever was one. And then there’s all the pure magical fun of playing Quidditch, shopping in Diagon Alley, or taking a Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. We could go on and on with unfulfilled prophecies, invisibility cloaks, clueless Muggles, scars that sense evil, and every little interwoven, imaginative detail that makes the world of Harry Potter so unique and so loved. Author J.K. Rowling is a world-renowned celebrity and the Harry Potter series has changed the history of children’s literature and the publishing industry. That’s a tough act to follow. But there are authors out there who’ve been able to build on the momentum of Harry Potter without merely copying the poor-kid-in-a-fantasy-world plot. These books owe a debt to Harry, but they’ve all struck out in new and original directions. The world doesn’t just need more Harry Potters, after all—just more wildly creative books about young heroes on fantastic and challenging adventures. And now more than ever, children’s authors are ready to deliver.


The Lightning Thief: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book One by Rick Riordan, 2005, Miramax Books/ Hyperion Books for Children (Children’s Fiction/ Fantasy/ Adventure)

If anyone is a contender for Harry Potter’s new BFF, it’s Perseus “Percy” Jackson. Like Harry, Percy is a black-haired, green-eyed boy (but no specs, though he is dyslexic and has ADHD) who just doesn’t fit into the world of run-of-the-mill human beings. Strange things keep happening to him. The adults in his life are not telling him the whole truth. And then Percy vaporizes his pre-algebra teacher, discovers his best friend is a satyr, and gets chased by a Minotaur. Percy, you see, is part of a magical, mythical world that might just top Harry Potter’s witchy ancestors. Percy was born into the Greek Pantheon of ancient gods and goddesses, who despite rumors to the contrary, are very real and camped out on Mount Olympus, currently located six-hundred floors above the Empire State Building. Percy’s father is none other than Poseidon, god of the sea, but Percy’s in for much more than a family reunion when he arrives at Camp Half-Blood, a safe haven for the education of young demigods. Poseidon and his brothers Hades and Zeus are at each other’s throats over the theft of Zeus’ mighty lightning bolt, Percy’s mother has disappeared, and Percy (like Harry) just might be the subject of a prophecy that predicts the end of civilization as we know it. Percy is sent on a quest to the Underworld with only his wits, a pen that magically turns into a sword, and his new friends Grover the satyr and Annabeth, daughter of the goddess of wisdom Athena. Percy is thrust into his new magical life pretty quickly and with a lot of danger lurking around the corners, but he’s a hard-nosed, wise-ass New York kid who is thrilled to finally belong—if he can get past the likes of snake-headed Medusa, three-headed Cerberus the hellhound, the riddling Oracle of Delphi, and Kronos the ancient evil Titan lord who, overthrown eons ago by the Olympian gods, is ready to make a mean comeback. Award-winning mystery writer Rick Riordan is not above having fun with his premise, which means the reader (familiar with Greek gods and monsters or not) is in for action-packed laughs that creatively blends the urban American landscape with classical Greek mythology. And Percy, despite the debt he owns to Harry Potter, is a likeable, original young hero with his own set of friends, fears, skills, stories, twists and turns that continue through five fast-paced, action-packed, adventure-filled books (with, hopefully, the promise of another Olympian series to come).


Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan
1. The Lightning Thief
2. The Sea of Monsters
3. The Titan’s Curse
4. The Battle of the Labyrinth
5. The Last Olympian


Artemis Fowl, Book One by Eoin Colfer, 2001, Miramax Books (Children’s Fiction/ Fantasy/ Adventure)

Artemis Fowl may have more in common with Harry Potter’s cunning nemesis Draco Malfoy than with the heroic boy wizard himself, but there’s still nothing more fun than a twelve-year-old criminal mastermind out to steal gold from leprechauns. And that’s exactly what young Artemis is up to. He’s under a lot of pressure—he’s a boy-genius descended from the family of an Irish mob that’s fallen on hard times, and it’s Artemis’ duty to restore the Fowls (especially his missing father and his ill mother) to their former glory. That, of course, is where the leprechaun gold comes in. With the remnants of his family’s wealth and his own highly superior brain power, Artemis has resources galore to kidnap a fairy and demand a costly ransom. Having recently poured his considerable means and talents into obtaining the Book, a magical tome that holds all the secrets of the fairy world, Artemis (assisted by his manly bodyguard Butler) is convinced that his plan is foolproof. But he didn’t count on his mark, elf Holly Short, to be an equally clever captain in the Lower Element Police Reconnaissance (LEPrecon) Unit, and to inspire a legion of smart-talking fairies, trolls, dwarves, and other otherworldly creatures to come rallying to her rescue. Now Artemis’ family mansion is under siege by the fairy armed forces and the crafty kid will need to employ all his wily ways to get his evil plot back on track. The story switches back and forth from Artemis’ camp to the highly inventive gritty underground of the fairies’ urban world, and throws in a wholloping dose of humor, high-tech thrills, snide comments from wise-cracking characters, and action-packed magic to seal the deal. Along the way, readers will realize that neither Artemis nor the fairies are as good or as bad as their first impressions would lead you to believe, and that there’s a great deal more mystery, suspense, and surprise boiling just under the surface. Author Eoin Colfer has described his series as “Die Hard with fairies,” and he more than delivers on that highly appealing premise that continues in five more books to date.


Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
1. Artemis Fowl
2. The Arctic Incident
3. The Eternity Code
4. The Opal Deception
5. The Lost Colony
6. The Time Paradox


The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, Book One by Michael Scott, 2007, Delacorte Books (Children’s Fiction/ Fantasy/ Adventure)

In Harry Potter’s world, fifteen-year-old twins Josh and Sophie Newman would be Muggles, a couple of normal kids spending the summer with their aunt in San Francisco and working odd jobs to save money for a car of their own, completely oblivious to any magical occurrences. Until, that is, a creepy little man leading an army of tough guys made out of mud bursts into the bookstore where Josh works, kidnaps the owner’s wife, and makes off with one very particular rare book. Then Josh and Sophie are swept into a world of ancient history, myth, and legend because, to their surprise and awe, the bookstore owner is none other than Nicholas Flamel, amateur magician, expert alchemyst (meaning he can turns coal into silver, metal into gold, and brew a potion that results in eternal youth), and six-hundred-plus-years-old. The creepy little guy is evil Dr. John Dee and the wife is the good and lovely Perenelle Flamel, and both are just as long-lived and uniquely skilled as Nick Flamel. The stolen book, however, is more powerful than the three of them combined. It’s the ancient Codex and it contains all the magical and scientific secrets of the ages. In the wrong hands (like those of Dr. Dee) it’s a dangerous tool in the extreme. Josh and Sophie are more than mere witnesses to this sudden magical display in the middle of the city; the twins just might be the key to a legend that predicts the outcome of a coming battle between eons-old forces of good and evil. Time is running out and Sophie and Josh need some magical training ASAP. If more immortal potion isn’t brewed soon, Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel will die and the good guys (who include gods, goddesses, vampires, were-people, and ghosts) will lose a couple of very valuable, very important allies. Throwing everyday kids into magical happenings is a common plot device by now, but by bringing old legends to life (including many much older than the fact-based fourteenth century story of Nicholas Flamel) and letting the reader view them through the eyes of a couple of kids who are very attached to their cell phones, iPods, and Internet access, author Michael Scott succeeds in breathing new life into a familiar tale. The pace is fast, the story is action-packed, the fantasy is inventive, and it all ends on a cliffhanger. This is a series that’s still very much in the works; the third book was just released this year and the fourth installment is due in May of 2010.


The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott
1. The Alchemyst
2. The Magician
3. The Sorceress
4. The Necromancer


Inkheart: The Inkheart Trilogy, Book One by Cornelia Funke, 2003, The Chicken House Books (Children’s Fiction/ Fantasy/ Adventure)

Twelve-year-old Meggie lives a near-perfect life with her bookbinder father, Mo. Meggie’s mother disappeared years ago, but Meggie and Mo have coped by indulging in a mutual love of books. This calm and comfortable lifestyle is suddenly threatened one dark and stormy night. A stranger, calling himself Dustfinger, shows up to consult with Mo and, to put it frankly, scares the beejeezus out of Meggie. There’s more disturbing news when she realizes her father has been keeping a pretty big secret: Mo has the power to read books to life. When Meggie’s mild-mannered father reads out loud, the characters come leaping off the pages and into real life. An ill-fated reading nine years ago from a book called Inkheart created a villain named Capricorn, who wants his copy back from Mo and will stop at nothing to keep from being read back into fiction. It’s an imaginative, complex blend of fantasy that’s worthy of the dramatic clash between Muggles and magic in Harry Potter, especially with multilayered characters like tragic Dustfinger, creepy-cruel Capricorn, and intrepid Meggie, our young heroine who has a few tricks of her own tricks up her sleeves. This is a book about books in the best sense, with a mysteriously cozy atmosphere, lots of literary references, and fantasy galore. Getting lost (literally!) in a book has never been so magical.


The Inkheart Trilogy by Cornelia Funke
1. Inkheart
2. Inkspell
3. Inkdeath


The Field Guide: The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book One by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, 2003, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing (Children’s Fiction/ Fantasy/ Adventure)

The Spiderwick Chronicles might have a bit more in common with The Chronicles of Narnia or Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events, but there’s more than enough fantasy to satisfy Harry Potter’s fans. The adventure begins when the Grace children—thirteen-year-old Mallory and nine-year-old twins Simon and Jared—move into a dilapidated Victorian mansion with their recently divorced mother. It’s a tough time for the Grace family, and they’re not exactly thrilled with their new home. Mallory practices her fencing and Simon takes care of his pets, leaving Jared to mope around the crumbling house and uncover its secrets. With the help of his siblings one dark evening while their mother is at the store, Jared uncovers the source of some mysterious rustlings behind the walls, finds a dumbwaiter that lifts him up to a door-less library full of books about faeries, and follows clues to find one special book in particular, Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastic World Around You. Jared’s investigations get him in quite a bit of trouble as well—the noises in the wall were caused by a little sprite called a brownie, and the Grace kids have disturbed him. The brownie becomes a vengeful boggart who wreaks havoc on the family and their home, and Jared is blamed for it. But with the help of the Field Guide, Jared hopes he can appease the mysterious little creature and put matters to rest. Well, that’s what he thinks, anyway, but we know that with four more books in this delightful series, it’s certainly not going to be that easy. Authors Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black spin their fable as if it were a true story, with warnings to the reader and “real” documentary evidence. The illustrations (by DiTerlizzi) are half the fun of The Spiderwick Chronicles. Delicately inked in black and white with the occasional glossy full-page color painting, these Gothic-style drawings add atmosphere and character to the fast-paced, snappy story. The five slim hardcover volumes are designed to look like antique books as well, adding to the series’ mysterious flavor. With packaging this original and a story with more a pinch of menace to flavor its charm, The Spiderwick Chronicles (and the three books in the Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles trilogy) proves to be old-fashioned fantasy of the very best kind.


The Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
1. The Field Guide
2. The Seeing Stone
3. Lucinda’s Secret
4. The Ironwood Tree
5. The Wrath of the Mulgarath


Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
1. The Nixie’s Song
2. A Giant Problem
3. The Wyrm King


The Akhenaten Adventure: Children of the Lamp, Book One by P.B. Kerr, 2004, Orchard Books (Children’s Fiction/ Fantasy/ Adventure)

Twelve-year-old twins John and Philippa having loving, caring, well-to-do parents—rather the opposite of our old friend Harry Potter, right? Quite right. Until, that is, the twins get their wisdom teeth pulled. That seemingly simple rite of passage results in extreme growth spurts, a sudden attraction to heat and smoke, and the eventual discovery that John and Philippa are more than mere humans. Witch and wizard? No, sir, not this time. John and Philippa are descended from a long line of wish-granting magical guardians of all the luck in the world. Don’t call them genies in a bottle—call them the djinn. John and Philippa are quite pleased with their new magical powers, but they need a bit more training before they’re ready to start dwelling in lamps and making wishes come true. The twins head to Egypt for a summer with their Uncle Nimrod, who has extensive experience being a djinn—and, it turns out, a few enemies as well. An evil tribe led by distinctly nasty djinn named Iblis is after Nimrod for the location of the tomb of Akhenaton, a pharaoh who had seventy lost djinn under his control way back when in ancient Egypt. Whoever finds them now has the power to tip the world’s balance between good luck and bad. John and Philippa are more than up for the challenge, and so begins their adventuresome career as djinn which continues in four other books to date. Author P.B. Kerr puts an inventive new spin on the familiar children-with-magical-powers plot, but he could be a bit more sensitive and less colonial in his treatment of Egyptians (one of Nimrod’s servants, Karim, is nicknamed “Creemy,” and another character is named Baksheesh, which is not really a name at all but the Egyptian word for giving money as a tip or as charity). Still, The Children of the Lamp series is the kind of charming, clever, Indian Jones-style archeological adventure that appeals to the kid in all of us.


The Children of the Lamp by P.B. Kerr
1. The Akhenaten Adventure
2. The Blue Djinn of Babylon
3. The Cobra King of Kathmandu
4. The Day of the Djinn Warriors
5. The Eye of the Forest


Gregor the Overlander: The Underland Chronicles, Book One by Suzanne Collins, 2003, Scholastic Press (Children’s Fiction/ Fantasy/ Adventure)

Besides the fact that they both grow up lacking many of the creature comforts the rest of us take for granted—birthday presents, Christmas presents, new clothes, family vacations—Harry Potter and Gregor, the hero The Underland Chronicles, couldn’t be more different. Of course, they both go on some pretty incredible adventures, but while Harry longs for family and friends and a world where he belongs, eleven-year-old Gregor already has those things. True, his father has been missing for three years and his mother struggles to make ends meet, but Gregor has a caring family. When baby sister Boots disappears down a vent in the laundry room one summer afternoon, Gregor wants only to dive in after her and haul her back to reality, even if it is somewhat lacking in family stability. Instead, Gregor and little Boots fall into the Underland, a fantastical world deep underground that’s populated by pale-skinned, violet-eyed humans and giant talking animals—bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders. Gregor’s sudden arrival throws the Underland into uproar. The underground dwellers suspect that Gregor is the subject of a prophecy (ok, so he’s got one more thing in common with Harry) that promises an “Overlander” warrior will lead the subterranean kingdom to victory in battle against an enemy army of rat invaders. Gregor has absolutely no desire to embrace his supposed destiny—until he learns of a human from the world above who has been held captive by the rats for years. Gregor immediately thinks of his lost father and accepts the adventure that lies ahead. He’s accompanied by quite the motley crew—a couple of kids who are Underland royalty, their flying bat companions, a terrifying rat who may or may not be an ally, a big old spider, and a couple of giant cockroaches who take quite a fancy to precocious little Boots. Gregor is still wary of his destiny as warrior, but he’s got a determined sense of right and wrong that rivals that of any other boy hero out there. His journey is fraught with danger and excitement which is, of course, the best kind of journey to read about. Gregor’s reluctance to stay in the Underland does not extend to readers, who will be thrilled with the amount of detail that author Suzanne Collins lavishes on the world she imagines below ours—a wealth of magical creatures living a mythology of their own in a delightful series of adventures.


The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins
1. Gregor the Overlander
2. Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane
3. Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods
4. Gregor and the Marks of Secret
5. Gregor and the Code of Claw


The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, 2007, Little, Brown & Co. (Children’s Fiction/ Mystery/ Adventure)

“Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?” This unusual newspaper ad catches the eye of an especially observant and inventive orphan named Reynie Muldoon. It also catches the eyes of ready-for-adventure Kate Wetherall, brainy and sensitive George “Sticky” Washington, and very contrary little Constance Contraire. The children pass a series of tests for the mind and spirit and are recruited by the philanthropic Mr. Benedict. Their mission: Infiltrate the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, a school run by the brilliant but dastardly Ledroptha Curtain. Mysterious messages are issuing forth from the school to brainwash the unsuspecting population, and Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance need to combine their unique talents and skills to save the day. The reader gets to follow clues and solve puzzles right along with the kids for a reading experience that is interactive, exciting, and thoughtful. Reynie and his pals are Muggles sure enough, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione are definitely given a run for their money by the creative problem-solving that The Mysterious Benedict Society gang whips up, not to mention working towards the same goal of saving the world by defeating a really dastardly bad guy. Reminiscent of Roald Dahl and Lemony Snicket’s stories of clever kids as well, The Mysterious Benedict Society is as rich in real-life issues as it is in character details, suspense, and surprises. The adventures and personalities of the kids are so delightful that we can only hope members of The Mysterious Benedict Society will meet again and again—and sure enough, a third book was released just a few short weeks ago.


The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
1. The Mysterious Benedict Society
2. The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey
3. The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma


Airborn by Kenneth Oppel, 2004, HarperCollins (Young Adult Fiction/ Fantasy/ Adventure)

Matt Cruse was born in the air. His mother gave birth to him aboard a flying airship and now, fourteen years later and three years after the death of his father, Matt’s a cabin boy on the luxurious passenger ship Aurora. He lives to fly; he’s devoted to his ship and his captain and is eager to make his way up the chain of command and pilot the Aurora himself someday. But first, Matt’s in for a very big adventure. One night while he’s on watch in the crow’s nest, Matt spots a hot air balloonist in trouble over the Pacificus Ocean. The Aurora takes the injured man on board where he dies, but not before Matt hears him whispering about mysterious winged creatures of the air. A year later, the balloonist’s granddaughter, a willful and high-spirited girl named Kate de Vries, is flying on Matt’s ship, eager to follow the trail of her grandfather’s research. Matt and Kate strike up a friendship, but before they can theorize about what Kate’s grandfather saw, the Aurora is set upon by pirates, pushed off course into a storm, and wrecked on a tropical isle. Matt’s desperately uneasy on the ground and worried sick about the fate of the ship, but Kate brings him an interesting distraction: This is the same island where her grandfather spotted his strange but beautiful bird-like animals, and Kate is confident she can find them too. But the pirates are still hot on the Aurora’s trail, ready and ruthless to put the lives of passengers, crew, and winged beasts in danger. Author Kenneth Oppel reinvents the past here, setting his story in a wonderful alternate early twentieth century where airships (like that infamous real zeppelin, the ill-fated Hindenburg) proved to be gloriously successful and came to rule the skies. Oppel draws on the stories of the Titanic and the Hindenburg and on classic adventure stories, but he’s created a truly unique fantasy world that’s chock-full of original details and characters and told in prose that’s precise and clear and filled to the brim with swashbuckling acts of derring-do. Harry Potter fans will find Matt Cruse infinitely likeable and will be captivated by the adventures of an extraordinary boy trying to find his element in a fantastic world.


Matt Cruse by Kenneth Oppel
1. Airborn
2. Skybreaker
3. Starclimber


Note: It’s due in part, no doubt, to Harry Potter’s phenomenal multimedia success, but children’s book authors really know what they’re doing these days. They know their audience of kids (and adults—don’t forget that so many grown-ups were immersed in the world of Harry Potter that publishers printed editions with adult covers!) is a technologically savvy group with their fingers in every kind of media imaginable. That means that authors, publishers, and fans work hard to create a strong online presence for their books. Check out the linked websites and you’ll see what I mean.