Mythical Girls by Alex McGilvery

Genre: Young Adult, Adult, Fantasy

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I really enjoyed this anthology. All of the stories are about girls who find a magical object. I found it interesting that two of these stories had characters that found an object that was a version of Excalibur.  One of my favorites was a world where magic had been outlawed. When the young girl finds a magical bracelet and is found out, the bracelet is to be destroyed. Fortunately, it isn’t and the girl has to use it to help save her land.

One of my favorites was “An Unexpected Weapon” by Kandi J. Wyatt. Kandi has long been one of my favorite authors. Her story resonated with me for several reasons. Her main character had previously gone through a tornado that destroys everything she loved. Her character and her behavior when a storm comes up reminded me of a former student. Mallory had gone through a tornado over the summer while visiting relatives up north. The terror haunted her. Since we get a lot of storms in Florida she lived in constant fear. She needed to sit facing a window to watch the sky. I would have to have my students pull out a book to read and then sit and talk with her until she calmed down. Kandi’s character Karli reminded me of my student Mallory. Both of them had to face their fear to overcome it.

Each of these stories empower girls. Each of them has a relic of magic. There is a wonderful look at different cultures and beliefs through this book. I really loved how these authors demonstrated both the good and bad sides of magic. I highly recommend this book to all fantasy lovers.

Catalyst by Tracy Richardson

Genre:  Young Adult, paranormal, Science Fiction

Source: I received an ARC. The opinions expressed here are my own.

 Marcie, her brother Eric and his girlfriend Renee are spending the summer with their mother. She is the head of an archeological dig  called Angel Mounds. Marcie has been having some strange feelings since she stepped foot on the site. These are enhanced when she meets Zeke and Lorraine who are their team leaders.  Their team leaders reveal to Marcie, Eric, Renee, and another young man named Leo that they have a purpose. They are special, connected to the Universal Energy Field and have a role to play in saving the earth.

 This story kept me reading. No matter what your spiritual belief system is, the underlying message was that we as humans have trashed the earth and if we don’t do something now then we can expect it to destroy itself.  The setting was in my home state of Indiana. I have been away from there for so long that I was not aware that they were fracking up there. I grew up on a farm and could only imagine how I would have felt if  they had come by our farm trying to buy up the rights to frack on our land. We had an artisian well. The thought of it being contaminated by fracking made the story more personal for me. The story line was well written and the characters were well developed. This was an interesting book by an author I have read before. I will recommend this book.

The Case of the Christmas Counterfeiters by Mike Mains

Genre: Middle Grade, Mystery

Source: Purchased

Jeffrey and his friends are in big-time trouble. Their last case finding a treasure almost got them killed. Jeffrey’s parents have grounded him for life.  Jeffrey’s parents really believe he thinks he is smarter than anyone and therefore goes looking for trouble. To tell the truth Jeffrey does believe he is smarter than most people and his friends agree. It is only a few days before Christmas and Jeffrey and his best friend Pablo are raking an elderly neighbor’s yard. When they uncover a body covered in the leaves and discover he is still alive they call the police.  But, that is never enough for this pair. They go to the hospital to see if they can find out more. Here they are witnesses to the person who they believe finished killing the man they had discovered. Once again by calling the police and speaking with them they are in trouble with their parents.

This is another case of Jeffrey and his friends getting themselves into trouble trying to do the right thing. In this book the danger is much stronger. There is stronger cases of violence so this is not recommended for elementary kids who have a higher reading level. This book touches on not only the mystery at hand but a class of cultures and cultural beliefs including religious beliefs.  All the way through I kept wondering how they were going to get out of the situation.  This is another wonderful mystery that I highly recommend.