The City of Ember is a tale about a rundown underground city due to a mysterious disaster. This story follows Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow who live inside the crumbling city. They must hurry to solve clues to get everyone out before the lights go out forever. I like how this book leaves you clinging to every word so once you start you can’t stop! My favorite part is when they get to choose their jobs and when they are exploring the pipeworks.
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo follows the story of Galaxy "Alex" Stern, a young woman with the ability to see ghosts and interact with the supernatural world. She is offered a chance at a new life when she is recruited into Lethe House, a secret society at Yale University that monitors and regulates magic and occult activities among the elite students.
Circe by Madeline Miller is a retelling of the ancient Greek myth of the witch-goddess Circe. The novel follows Circe, an immortal nymph with a unique ability to practice witchcraft, as she navigates her way through the challenges and complexities of her divine existence. Exiled to a remote island for her transformational powers, Circe encounters numerous mythological figures including Odysseus, who visits her realm during his journey home from the Trojan War.
In a war-torn world with the commanding general as a mother and a chronic medical condition, Violet only prays she’ll be able to live a peaceful life as a scribe like her father, who always told her that scribes held the history of their race in their hands. However, her mother has a much different plan in mind for Violet - to bond with a dragon and become one of the warriors of their nation. Forced to enter the dragon rider quadrant, she begins training at first with trepidation, only trying to survive.
The Wishing Spell is a book about twins that travel to an unexpected location, a fairytale world. They have fun at first meeting their childhood heroes, but soon they wanted to go home. To do this, they must adventure around this unfamiliar world to collect magical items. They run into friends, but they also run into some unpleasant people.
After just surviving their first game of Caraval, the Dragna sisters planned on traveling with the Caravel crew and taking their positions as spectators for the next game. Donatella had other plans. Turns out, she’s been secretly in contact with an anonymous thief who can track down their long-lost mother. The catch: she’s going to have to win the next game.
After the Flood is the third and final book of a 3-book graphic novel miniseries called Skyclan and the Stranger by Erin Hunter, overall part of the Warriors books. At the end of the second book, a devastating flood washed over the gorge, destroying everything Skyclan had built, and killing one of their elders, Lichenfur. In this book, they are focused on rebuilding. However, some cats express feelings about leaving Skyclan, and Billystorm wants to bring the kits to his human home.
Beyond the Code is the second book of a 3-book graphic novel miniseries called Skyclan and the Stranger by Erin Hunter, overall part of the Warriors books. At the end of the first book, a pet named Sol decides to join Skyclan. He has a different hunting strategy to get food, which horrifies Leafstar, who orders him to stop immediately. Sol also tells Leafstar where he actually comes from, which makes her think more kindly about him.
Land of Stories, The Enchantress Returns is a thrilling novel that I would recommend to middle schoolers. My favorite part of this book was the character development. Example, Princess Red goes from being shallow and vain to caring and thoughtful towards others. All in all, if you like books that involve friendship, fantasy, and adventure, I think this book would be great for you!
