Eldest

Eldest by Christopher Paolini, 2005 Knopf Books

     Upon surviving Galbatorix's attack on Farthen Dur in the dwarven city of Tronjheim Eragon must recover from the injuries inflicted by the Shade Durza. Saphira and Arya destroyed the great rose sapphire to save Eragon's life and allow him to kill the Shade. King Hrothgar adopts Eragon into his house and the young man becomes a prince in the Dwarven kingdom. When the Varden's leader is murdered in the tunnels below Farthen Dur Lady Nasuada is elected to replace her father.
     Amid the turmoil and reorganization Arya suggests Eragon and Saphira return to the elven capital Ellesmere when she returns home. The pair join Arya and her party as they travel to Du Weldenvarden. In the Elves' city Arya introduces Eragon to Oromis, an ancient Elf Dragon Rider.
     Oromis and his dragon Glaedr are crippled and so must hide from the King lest Galbatorix and his enslaved dragon, Shruikan, murder them. The pair teach Eragon and Saphira the classics: logic, strategy, magic theory, and scholarship.
     During his time of scholarship Eragon's cousin Roran marries the butcher's daughter Katrina. When the Ra'zac return along with Galbatorix's soldiers and attack the village Roran and the men are armed by the Metalsmith Horst. At first the men are successful, but on the second attack Katrina's father betrays them all to the king's forces. The attack spurs Roran and the men from the village to join against the king and his forces.
     In the south of Alagaesia the Varden is no longer welcome in Tronjheim and travel to Surda. The neighboring country is at first welcoming - and becomes more so when Nasuada learns to make a special and expensive lace by magic. The lace becomes a way for the Varden to fund their activities.
     Eragon continues his education and his crush on Arya. Saphira attempts to catch Glaedr's eye; as the last female dragon it is her duty to continue the race, but Eragon is disconcerted by the attention his dragon pays the older dragon. Failure helps Eragon and Saphira bond even more. With their training comes the Blood-Oath Ceremony, in which Eragon becomes faster, stronger, and his abilities are enhanced even further than his dragon-bond instigates.
     When Eragon discovers that King Galbatorix plans to attack the Varden the different strains of the story begin to meet. Roran searches for Katrina and believes his best hope is to seek the Varden's assistance. With royal forces chasing them, Roran and the village survivors make it to the Southern border to join the rebel forces. A massive battle is building along Alagaesia's southern border and the clash promises to be epic.
     In the same vein as Eragon's great fantasy Eldest builds on Paolini's foundation to bring the major forces of Alagaesia back together. While the nation hasn't quite come to civil war conflict abounds and new forces are introduced. Eldest is a good read for young adult readers who need a bit more substance on their plate.

The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, 2008 HarperCollins

     A toddler wanders from the home of his murdered family up the hill to a nearby cemetery. With the killer, Jack, following his footsteps the boy is protected by the ghosts of the graveyard. He is adopted by a couple who never had children themselves and becomes Nobody Owens. The boy is given the Freedom of the Graveyard and a mysterious figure neither alive nor dead, Silas, becomes his guide to the world outside the cemetery.
     Bod grows quickly in the eyes of the dead. He learns to talk and is educated by the ghosts. The cemetery no longer accepts new tenants, but a portion of the property is a nature preserve where families and couples come for picnics. Bod meets and befriends a little girl named Scarlett. He tells the girl about the ghosts who inhabit the graveyard, and though she cannot see them, Scarlett is fascinated. The two sneak into the oldest tomb on the property where they encounter the Sleer - a terrifying presence which is the impetus for Scarlett's parents refusing to allow her visits to the cemetery.
     The boy continues to have adventures: he meets and befriends the ghost of a young woman prosecuted as a witch; he goes to school outside the graveyard, confronts the school's bullies, and triumphs; he dances the Macabray with Death herself; Bod lives a unique life with his dead, unchanging family. With Silas as the voice of wisdom and Mrs. Lepescu a grueling taskmistress Bod is given tools to survive both the world of the living and the world of the dead. He will need those skills as Jack has not ceased searching for the toddling boy who escaped.
     Shaped by ghosts, goblins, friends and a haphazard kind of family, Nobody Owens must discover what makes life worth living. He cannot remain in the graveyard, but must move beyond the memories to truly live. Gaiman tells the tale of a child growing into a young man with a flourishing imagination, in a voice readers of all ages can enjoy.

Where the Red Fern Grows

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, 1961 Doubleday Press

 
     Billy Colman is a 10 year-old living with his family in the Ozark Mountains of Oklahoma. All Billy wants are two 'coon hounds; the family can't afford the dogs so he works odd jobs for two years and finally arranges with Grandpa to buy the dogs through a catalogue.
     When the puppies arrive Billy is the proud owner of a female hound he names Little Ann and a male hound who he names Old Dan. As puppies the duo scare away a mountain lion they run into in the mountains and the trio forms a strange and unique bond.
     As they grow and Billy trains them Little Ann and Old Dan gain a reputation in the area - Ann is small but brilliant and Dan is doggedly determined. They're challenged by the neighboring Pritchard boys to find a mysterious 'ghost coon'. The Pritchards' dogs fight with Billy's hounds and in the process Rubin, one of the boys, tries to kill Little Ann and Old Dan and is injured when he accidentally falls on Billy's axe .
     The Pritchard boy's injury haunts Billy and to cheer him up his family enters the dogs in a competition. Little Ann immediately wins the beauty contest and they are entered into the Championship where the dogs tree three 'coons, but as they begin the chase for the winning racoon a blizzard sets in. Billy, his father, and his grandfather finally find the dogs half-frozen with a 'coon up a tree.
     Billy and his family are ecstatic when Little Ann and Old Dan win the championship with its $300 jackpot. They return home and continue hunting in the mountains. When Old Dan stands between Billy and a mountain lion the Colman family must deal with the reality of a hunting dog's life. Little Ann likewise is affected and Billy is reminded of a native legend of the Red Fern planted by angels.
     Where the Red Fern Grows is told by an adult Billy reflecting on his childhood. Readers will follow in Billy's joys and sorrows as he fights for what he wants, achieves his dream, and deals with the reality of owning a working dog. Rawls's novel is ideal for later elementary readers, though readers of all ages can enjoy his plainspoken, down-home language.

The Iron Trial

Magisterium: The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare, 2014 Scholastic Press

     In the ice beside his mother's dead body are the words "Kill the child". Callum Hunt's father ignores his dead wife's last words to raise Call in a small North Carolina town. Alistair Hunt spends Call's childhood teaching him to hate and fear magic and mages.
     When the time comes for Call to be tested for entry into the Magisterium, a sort of academy where talented children are taught to control and use their magic. Call does his best to fail the test but Master Rufus (the most prestigious Master at the Iron Trial) sees beyond Call's desire to fail and avoid the terrible fate he believes is waiting. Master Rufus accepts Call as one of his apprentices.
     Call joins Aaron and Tamaka as Rufus's apprentices. At the Magisterium the trio share an apartment and attend lessons together. Call discovers a place for himself and friends, a new experience for the kid with a limp which prevents easy movement. The friends learn about the mage wars and Makaris who can control Chaos magic. The Enemy poses the greatest threat to the Magisterium, as a Makar only another Makar can stop him and when Aaron shows himself one of the Makaris the Magisterium has been waiting for, Call and Tamaka are proud for their friend. But on the heels of their pride comes worry for Aaron's well-being. When he goes missing after taking their pet chaos wolf-pup for his daily constitutional, Tamaka and Call know something more dangerous than mere minions has come along.
     Callum faces the Enemy's closest advisor and companion who suggest the impossible. With more to consider than simply his lessons Call returns to the academy for his final portion of the Iron Trial and his first year.
     Call Hunt grows over his first year as he discovers a joy in the work his father has always despised. Call feels guilt at enjoying this place which his father has always warned against. But at the Magisterium Call finds new friends and a place to belong. Aimed at Middle and younger teen readers Iron Year is a fantasy similar to the Percy Jackson and Harry Potter series.

Hexed

Hexed by Michelle Krys, 2014 Delacorte Press

     Indigo Blackwood is the stereotypical high school cheerleader: cheer captain best friend Bianca, football captain boyfriend Devon, and part of a social circle capable of destroying anyone. The only thing keeping her from High School Royalty is her weird mom.
     Mrs. Blackwood believes she is a witch with real powers, she runs an occult shop in downtown Los Angeles; Indie has been raised to believe in her mother's conspiracy theories, despite what conventional wisdom and her general education say. And she is freakishly possessive of the ratty old family Bible.
     When several mysterious strangers appear in her life and the family Bible is stolen Indie's mother becomes neurotic. Indie meets super-sexy Bishop who explains her mother's crazy belief in witches, sorcerers, and other paranormal creatures aren't so crazy. While Mrs. Blackwood is not a witch, her mother was, and Indie very well could be one. But the big shocker is that the missing Bible is a list of all witches throughout the world and how they can be killed by a sorcerer.
     Indie must make the choice between living up to her popular lifestyle and following through on her promise to recover the book for her mother. Indie is plunged into the ancient war between witches and sorcerers with a minimal grasp of magic and little hope of success. Bishop tries to help Indie on her journey and to discover her destiny.
     Between dealing with betrayal from those closest to her and the search for the missing book Indie discovers something in herself which wants to protect what she has adopted as her own. Hexed is filled with teenaged angst laced with magic and hope. Older teens and young adult will enjoy Indie's journey from popular cheerleader to kick-butt crime-fighter.