Endymion Spring by Matthew Skelton

Endymion Spring is a young man working for Johann Gutenberg in Germany in 1492 when he is inventing his printing press. Johann Fust came to visit and in his possession he had a book - a magic book. The pages were made of dragon skin and it contained secret knowledge of past, present,and future. Endymion Spring opens the book and takes a few of the magic pages.
600 years later, Blake Winters finds these pages in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England. He can read the riddles contained in the book, but to others, including his sister, Duck, the pages are blank. Blake learns that there is another book - The Last Book and the two parts must be joined. He and his sister decide they must find the Lost Book and return the lost pages, but others in the library world are also searching for the book. The book tells Blake that there is a Person in Shadow who will try to kill him to get the pages. Is it Professor Jolyon Fall, the book expert; Sir Giles Bentley, the book collector; Psalmanazer, the homeless man; or Diana Bentley, Sir Gile's wife. Some of these characters seem to be helping Blake and Duck but can they be trusted?
Great mystery! Both boys and girls would like it. Flashbacks are well marked.

Having reluctantly accompanied his academic mother and pesky younger sister to Oxford, twelve-year-old Blake Winters is at loose ends until he stumbles across an ancient and magical book, secretly brought to England in 1453 by Gutenberg's mute apprentice to save it from evil forces, and which now draws Blake into a dangerous and life-threatening quest. - OCLC

Sneak Peek: "" You've stumbled on to something much larger than you can possibly imagine." "In the dead of night, a cloaked figure drags a heavy box through snow-covered streets. The chest, covered in images of mythical beasts, can only be opened when the fangs of its serpent's-head clasp taste blood. Centuries later, in an Oxford library, a boy touches a strange book and feels something pierce his finger. The volume is blank, wordless, but its paper has fine veins running through it and seems to quiver, as if it's alive. Words begin to appear on the page--words no one but the boy can see. And so unfolds a timeless secret . . . . "From the Hardcover edition.

Iron Thunder by Avi

January, 1862, Tom Carroll goes to work in the ship yard to help earn money for his family. Mr. John Ericsson is building an iron clad ship called the Monitor. It is the first of it's kind - "a tin can on a raft". It is being built to fight the Merrimac, the first iron clad ship ever and to protect the Naval Blockade of the North. March 9, 1862, the Monitor met the Merrimac at Fortress Monroe and saved the flagship Minnesota. Both sides claimed to have won the battle, but the blockade held and the Merrimac was never used again. The Monitor only was used for one year. It sank in a storm, but it was a turning point in the Civil War that has gone down through history. This is told through the eyes of the young boy Tom as he works at the ship yard and later sails on the Monitor and takes part in the historic battle.

Scorpia by Anthony Horowitz

Alex Rider video
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The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Frankie (Frances Rose Landau-Banks) attends exclusive Alabaster Preparatory Academy, where she is a sophomore. During the summer she meets a young man named Alpha at the beach. When she arrives at school, she receiving attention from Matthew Livingston, one of the most popular guys on campus. She also finds out Alpha is attending school there, too, and is a good friend of Matthew's. Matthew keeps disappearing at weird times, so one night she follows him. She finds out that Alpha and Matthew are the leaders of a secret society called The Loyal Order of the Bassett Hounds. She wants to be included, but the society is only for boys. When they are planning their Halloween pranks, Frankie sees an opportunity to show them what she can do. She creates a fake email address in Alpha's name and plans and executes a great Halloween prank. Instead of figuring out that Frankie thought up the prank, Alpha takes the credit for it. Frankie decides she is going to really show them her stuff and pulls off one prank after another, getting the boys to do all of the work. Little does she realize that her actions may lead to Alpha getting expelled.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis

Elijah is an eleven year old boy living in a free settlement of former slaves in Canada. Many of the people living there are saving money to buy the rest of their family from slavery. One of the resident, Mr. Leroy does get the money to buy his family. One of the other residents, the Right Reverend Deacon Doctor Zephariah Connerly the Third, who is not always trustworthy, volunteers to take the money to American and buy Mr. Leroy's family through an abolitionist friend. Another resident of the community volunteers to go with him to be sure everything goes smoothly. Zephariah shoots his companion and takes the money to gamble. Mr. Leroy kidnaps Elijah and takes him to America to find Zephariah and get his money back. Mr. Leroy dies, but Elijah does find Zephariah and also a slave stable where he finds a family that has been captured and chained. What can he do to help?

Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson discovers he is the son of Poseidon, the god of the sea. Zeus's master lightning bolt has been stolen along with Hades helm of darkness. Percy and his friends Annabeth and Grover must find the lightning bolt and the helm and return them to their owners to prevent the gods from starting World War III.