From the author of The Lightning Thief

Fans of The Lightning Thief will probably appreciate author Rick Riordan's newest book, The Red Pyramid.  The formula is similar, but this time the main characters are dealing with gods, magicians, and monsters from Egyptian mythology.  The chapters are told in the alternating voices of siblings Carter and Sadie.  After their father blows up the Rosetta Stone, he's entombed by the gods he released, and the kids are determined to get him back.  After meeting a bunch of bizarre characters and discovering some unusual abilities,  Carter learns that his body (and mind!) are hosting Horus, god of war, while Sadie is hosting Isis, goddess of wisdom.  This is a relatively long book, but there's a lot to like - non-stop adventure, very clever (and funny) dialogue, and a hook for the next book in the series.  The book is confusing at first, but readers who stick with it will be glad they did.

I don't think I could be this brave

Helmuth Hubener was a real German teen during the rise  of Hitler and the Nazi party.  In The Boy Who Dared, author Susan Campbell Bartoletti creates a fictionalized account of what was going through Hubener's mind as sat in a jail cell, awaiting his fate after being arrested for treason.  Told in a series of flashbacks, the reader learns how Hubener was initially swept up in the excitement of the patriotic parades and flashy uniforms, but then came to dislike the mistreatment of Jews, the banning of books, and the abuse of power.  When he dares to print and distribute flyers to encourage resistance, he's caught and sentenced to death.  Expertly researched, this would be an amazing companion book to Bartoletti's award-winning nonfiction book, Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow. 

Quite the rebel

After I read a summary of Scarlett by Cathy Cassidy, I thought, "This is a Caudill nominee?"  But now I see why.  At the ripe old age of 12, Scarlett is already trouble.  With her parents divorced, she's living in London with her mom and has just gotten kicked out of school...again.  Her mom can no longer handle Scarlett's rebelliousness and sends her to Ireland to live with father and his new wife and step-daughter.  Scarlett is full of anger at the family that seems so loving, the teeny-tiny school she's sent to, and the lack of attention from her mom.  But after she meets Kian, a mysterious boy with a horse named Midnight, she starts to soften and accept the love her step-family is offering.  Although Scarlett's character sometimes seemed older than the age of 12, I enjoyed watching that character develop, and the descriptions of both Kian and the Irish countryside added a lyrical touch of magic.

Suddenly, awesomely, stinkingly rich

As you might guess from the title, The Billionaire's Curse by Richard Newsome is a classic example of good news/bad news. When teenager Gerald goes with his parents to London for the funeral of his great-aunt Geraldine, he (and everyone else) is stunned to learn that he inherited a billion pounds!  BUT (you knew this was coming) while his goofball parents take off on a vacation, Gerald is left behind to solve a mystery: Geraldine left him a note saying she knows she was murdered, and it's up to Gerald to find the killer...before the killer finds him.  Most of the story zooms around a stolen diamond, a snooty gentlemen's club, suspects galore, and a pair of twins who befriend Gerald and offer to help figure out what's going on.  There were a bit too many coincidences for my taste, and I thought the end of story was mighty Indiana Jones-ish, but it was still a fun read.

Caught in the middle

In Kenny & the Dragon by Tony DiTerlizzi, Kenny the rabbit is stuck in a bad situation.  His only true friend is George the badger, the friendly and elderly owner of the town's bookshop. Kenny is at first scared, but then delighted to make another new friend: Grahame the dragon, who enjoys reading, theater, and a good dessert.  Unfortunately, the townspeople are terrified to learn that a dragon is nearby.  The king sends a royal command that the dragon is to be slain by the retired knight St. George...none other than George the badger!  It's up to Kenny and his friends and family to come up with a plan.  Although some of the words in the story won't be familiar to younger readers, this is still a delightful nod to Kenneth Grahame, author of the tale The Reluctant Dragon, which inspired this book.