Tales of the Cryptids:Mysterious Creatures by Halls, Spears, and Young


Halls, Spears & Young. (2006). Tales of the cryptids: mysterious creatures that may or may not exist. Los Angeles: Darby Creek Publishing.
Summary
Pictures, facts, and first hand "accounts" of legends like Bigfoot, Nessie, Chupacabra, and other crazy cryptids fill the pages of this great book. Readers will love the hilarious conversational text, great pictures and drawings of these weird creatures, and enticing history and background of creatures like the Giant Squid and the Mongolian Death Worm.
Review
I love anything weird. I read all books about legends, monsters, ghosts, and cryptids and what tween doesn't love weird and unusual creatures that suck the eyeballs out of sheep or furry men that scratch at back doors and eat the neighborhood cats? This is a great book that introduces mythology, legends, and sheer silliness to tweens and even readers my age.
Genre
Non-Fiction
Reading Age/Interest Level
8-13 years/ Tweens
Similar Books
Cryptid Hunters- Roland Smith
The Official Cryptid Field Guide- Golden Books
Encyclopedia Horrifica- Joshua Gee
Readers Annotation
For all of those monster hunters, disbelievers, and creepy crawlers...

The Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero- Rick Riordan

Riordan, R. (2010). The lost hero. California: Disney-Hyperion.
Summary
New demi-gods at Camp Half-Blood, Jason, Piper, and Leo are just coming to understand their knew powers and abilities. Just as in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, there is a great back story and present upheaval of the Gods. Realizing that their parents are in their Roman personae rather than Greek throws them for a loop as they must rescue Hera, Queen of the Gods, or Porphyrion, who is a giant king created to destroy Zeus, will rise and kill all those who stand in his way.
The three take their adventure throughout the United States as they battle monsters and evil Gods, and grow and deal with their own inner battles of tween angst. Oh yeah, Percy Jackson is also missing and it is up to the three to find the lost hero.
Review
This is a great twist on the popular Percy Jackson books. Fans will love the fact that they stay true to the original story and characters, and readers still get brief glimpses of familiar characters Percy, Annabeth and Grover. I love the twist of Roman vs. Greek gods since this is always a confusing thing for some kids to understand and that the adventures took place in familiar places. Readers are thrown head first into new battles, new relationships, and new challenges and Riordan has done it again with giving readers a new series to fall in love with.
Genre
Fantasy Fiction
Reading Level/Interest Level
9-12 years old/Tweens
Similar Books
Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan
The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan
The Cronus Chronicles by Anne Ursu
Characters
Jason Grace: Jason, age 15, is a son of Jupiter (the Roman form of Zeus). Jason is the younger brother of Thalia Grace, who is the daughter of Zeus (the Greek form of Jupiter).  He was raised in a different camp who believe in the Roman aspect of the gods. Jason arrives at camp with no memory of his past, his family or his friends. Jason finds out that Hera has erased his memory in order to exchange the best heroes of both camps (the other hero being Percy Jackson) and make them fight together against the Giant's invasion of Olympus.
Leo Valdez- Leo is age 15, and is a son of Hephaestus. Leo is able to conjur and withstand fire, a rare ability gifted by Hephaestus that his siblings suggest may herald catastrophe. He is tormented by the death of his mother and believes his fire conjuring power caused her death. He had a nanny called Tia Callida (who was actually Hera in disguise) who would place him in danger and retell him that his future would determine the outcome of Olympus.
Piper McLean- Age 15, A daughter of Aphrodite. She has the ability to "charmspeak", or talk anything, or anyone, into doing whatever she wants except for other Charmspeakers. Her father is a famous movie star and is kidnapped by the Giants (the monsters). She is in love with Jason Grace and is upset to find all her memories of him were fake.
Readers Annotation
Sometime silence is golden, but not this time.

Runaways by Brian K. Vaughan

Vaughan, B. (2003). Runaways: pride and joy. New York: Marvel Comics.
Summary
Alex, Karolina, Gert, Chase, Molly and Nico dread having to get together once a year when their parents discuss their "yearly charitable contributions to society". This year, when the parents have their meeting, the tweens decide to sneak in and see what’s so important. Unfortunately, the secret meeting they stumble upon reveals the truth that their parents are all evil super humans and are out to destroy humanity and anyone who gets in their way.
Review
I am a huge fan of anything Marvel! I call it my guilty pleasure. When I saw this series, I knew that it was my duty as a Children's Librarian to purchase them...lol. This is a great series that is easy to follow and a great way to explain the back stories of the superheros we as adults grew up with. The illustrations are awesome and the story time is so cool! My tweens love this series and it is popular with both boys and girls.
Genre
Graphic Novel
Interest Level
9-12 years old/Tweens
Similar Graphic Novels
X-MEN series
The Good Neighbor series
Annotation
What would you do if you parents who you love and admire turned out to be evil villains who wanted to destroy all of humanity?