Underworlds: The Battle Begins - Tony Abbott

Publisher:  Scholastic, Inc
Pages:  112
Genre:  Elementary, Middle Grade, Myths, Fantasy, Mystery
Source:  I purchased the book for my school shelves

Owen Brown is a very conscientious kid.  He worries about things like the up-coming concert and the multiple projects he helps collect money for at school.  What he didn't think to worry about is the possibility of mythological worlds really existing.  That is until his best friend Dana Runson disappears.  After knocking her down in the hallway, the floor beneath her splits open belching smoke and fire and she is suddenly gone.  The last thing Dana tells him before she disappears through the floor is to go to her house and find a book.  He and his friends Jon and Sydney find the book and a whole lot more.  They enter a world of monsters and the Greek, Norse, Egyptian, and Babylonian Gods.  They first must save Dana from the underworld.  Whether they want to participate or not they are all now part of a Battle that has begun.

If you are loved the Percy Jackson series you will love this new series.  It is geared toward upper elementary and lower middle school.  As an adult I found it very engaging.  For the reluctant reader who really wanted to read the Percy Jackson series but found it to be too bulky  in page length, this would be the perfect series.

Never Knowing - Chevy Stevens

Publisher:  St. Martin's Press

Pages:  352

Source:  Copy received from publisher for review

Genre:  Adult Thriller

I read and thoroughly enjoyed Chevy Steven's book "Still Missing".  In my opinion this book took the suspense up a notch. 

Sara Gallagher was adopted at a very young age.  Then her adoptive parents had two biological daughters.  Suddenly Sara begins to feel like an outsider.  As she grows older her desire to learn about her biological parents becomes so strong she hires a private investigator.  By this time she has a fiance, Evan, and a six year old daughter Ally.  Sara finally discovers who her mother is.  Her mother wants nothing to do with her.  She learns the reason for this is because of who her biological father is.  Sara's mother Julia has been in hiding for years.  She is the only surviving victim of John the Campsite Killer.  Sara learns that she was a product of that attack.  The police have been after him for a long time.  Suddenly, thanks to the press, he finds out about her and begins contacting her.  This puts her, Evan and Ally all in harms way.  The police want her to help them bring him in.  The tension in this book made it better than her first one.  I really enjoy reading work by this author.  I look forward to more.  Oh.... You're wondering if she helped the police or if her father tracked her down?  Maybe you should ask her therapist as this book is told similar to "Still Missing" through her conversations with her therapist.  Go ahead, track down a copy and read it now.

Final Hour – Andrew Klavan

Publisher:  Thomas Nelson

Pages:  352

Genre:  Young Adult, Action, Adventure

Source:  I receive this book from the publisher

Product Description

"You're not alone. You're never alone."

Charlie West has held on to that belief, but now he's starting to wonder. He went to bed one night an ordinary high-school kid. When he woke up, he was wanted for murder and hunted by a ruthless band of terrorists. He's been on the run ever since. Now he's stuck in prison, abandoned by his allies, trying desperately to stay a step ahead of vicious prison gangs and brutal guards. And a flash of returning memory tells him another terrorist strike is coming soon. A million people will die unless he does something. But what? He's stuck in a concrete cage with no way out and no one who can help. Charlie has never felt so alone-and yet he knows he can't give in or give up . . . not with the final hour ticking away.

This is the last book in the Homelander Series.  Charlie West is in prison.  He is accused of a crime he didn't commit.  Every day he is in prison is another day he must survive.  It seems everyone is after him.  The different groups such as the White Supremists,  the Islamic prisoners and the guards are all after him for one reason or another.

He's lost so much of his life, and memory throughout this series.  Just when he starts putting it all back together he ends up in prison and feels abandoned.  He starts questioning his faith like any normal human would do.  He realizes that is all he really has to hold on to at the time.

One of my students, after reading the first two books said, Wow this book has everything a kid could like in a book.  It has fighting, and running from the police and the bad guys.  As an adult I could say the story was a bit unbelievable.  However, as a teacher I have learned that my students want that element of unbelief.  They need to feel like teens can come out the hero at times.

Anxious to return to his normal teenage life, Charlie realizes he must fight the forces of evil to help save the residents of New York City before he can return home to his loving family and girlfriend.