Isaac Newton by Kathleen Krull

Many of us have enjoyed Kathleen Krull's Lives of the Presidents, Lives of the Athletes, and so on. Isaac Newton is the second book in the new series, Giants of Science, and a marvelous book it is!

We meet Isaac Newton the man, with all his hatreds, fears, and idiosyncrasies, as we read about his investigations of light, motion, and matter. Fascinated and frustrated with alchemy, Newton was in some ways a Harry Potter. Cambridge University, where Newton was Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, was not unlike Hogwarts in atmosphere. Here the similarities end. Seventeenth century England was a place where the temperamental Newton verbally sparred with Robert Hooke, Robert Boyle, and Edmund Halley. It was Newton who bridged the gap from a mysterious natural world to modern science based on observation and hypothesis. His laws of motion form the basis for classical physics. 

Check out other biographies in the series, including the soon to be published biography of Albert Einstein,  who called Newton the greatest genius of all time:

http://www.kathleenkrull.com/science.html

Dragon’s Egg by Sarah L. Thompson

"Thief! Where have you taken it?"

This.......this thing that towered as tall as the highest oak and talked like a mountain speaking-this thing was a dragon. Not a "common dragon" which is small and tame and raised for its eggs. This was a "true dragon," the enormous, fearsome, speaking cousins that had once terrorized the kingdom.

The long nostrils quivered with rage.

The dragon's head, larger than a horse's, swooped down close to Mella's face. She squeezed her eyes closed so that she wouldn't have to look at its white teeth, each longer than her finger, the snaky tongue, and the deep red throat.

"I found it. I didn't steal it," Mella insisted. "I'll get the Egg for you. I'll get it and bring it back."

But when Mella returned with the Egg, she discovered that the dragon had been injured by the knight defender whose job it is to keep the kingdom safe from "true dragons." Mella promised the dying creature that she would deliver the warm and glowing Egg to its herd living at the Hatching Ground in the distant Dragontooth Mountains.

Join Mella and  Roger, the knight's page, as they embark on this dangerous quest. Can they keep the egg hot and safe? Can they keep themselves alive?

Do you believe in true dragons? Explore the links in Fact Monster's Menacing Monster Guide. 

http://www.factmonster.com/spot/monsters1.html

Cozy up with a Komodo Dragon and don't miss the video at http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/komodo-dragon.html

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen

This realistic fiction, often mystery is a definite page turner. Roy is the new kid in his middle school in South Florida. He finds two off-beat friends, Beatrice (with “major attitude”), and her runaway brother, Mullet Fingers (you’ll find out about the name on your own). The three of them unite when they discover that a major pancake restaurant chain is going to build its newest store on land that is home to a protected species of owls. There’s a big cover up going on, and what can three kids do in a world of grown-ups? You’ll be surprised, and delighted, and very gratified at the imagination with which Roy, Beatrice and Mullet Fingers manage their…sabotage. This book, which inspired a movie in 2006, is perfect if you care about animals, the environment, and making a difference.

Check out the author's web site:

http://www.carlhiaasen.com/young.html

Carl Hiaasen’s web site for young readers. Take a look at some of his latest books.

The Boggart by Susan Cooper

Twelve year old Emily and her brother Jess manage to be regular kids, even after their family has inherited a real, old, damp, drafty Scottish castle. They visit it during the summer to tend to details, like caregivers and fix-up work, and they bring some souvenirs home to Canada. Including, unknown to them, a mysterious…something. Ice cream and peanut butter start to disappear, and things that never went bump in the night are doing it now. What was in that desk that Emily brought home from Scotland? Whatever it is, it’s discovering electricity for the first time, as it tries to communicate and play jokes on Emily and Jess through their computer, the lights in a theater, and worst of all, traffic lights… This supernatural tale combines science and legend with humor and very believable consequences.

Author's web site:

http://www.thelostland.com/bogg.htm

The Lost Land is Susan Cooper’s web page. It has lots of information about her other books, including the Dark is Rising Series.

There's a Dead Person Following My Sister Around by Vivian Vande Velde

What do you do when your annoying little sister has imaginary friends? You ignore her, of course. But Ted becomes less annoyed and more intrigued when his sister Vicki’s imaginary friends take a very scary turn. When the two ghostly visitors gets into Ted’s dreams and start to do some real haunting, Ted needs to dig into the history of his house to find out what they want, and how to stop them from hurting anyone in order to get it. When Ted finds a journal belonging to an ancestor, he begins to untangle the mystery and works toward helping these ghosts find their rest after so many years. A spooky ghost story, and extremely satisfying as a problem-solving mystery.

Cool web site:

http://www.vivianvandevelde.com/books.cfm

Go to Vivian Van Velde’s web site. Click on the Books for Teens, or the Books for 8 to 14 year olds. There are so many great titles! She does fantasy, fairy tales turned on their ears, and cyber fiction. Check it out!

Out from Boneville by Jeff Smith

We meet the Bone threesome in Book#1 under very trying circumstances. Due to one of Phone Bone's financial swindles, the three Bone cousins have been exiled from Boneville and they are lost and disheartened. Fone, the goodhearted hero, tries to lead the group on to find water and whatever else can be had, while looking out for his cousins. Turns out, the valley is populated by bugs, rats, a dragon, and even humans! Thorn and her Cow Racing Gran'ma take Fone Bone under their wings. We soon get the idea that something is not quite right as Gran'ma gets the "gitchy" feeling that's an omen of bad things to come....

Watch the video where Jeff Smith takes us to the setting for

Bone #6 Old Man's Cave

http://www.scholastic.com/bone/index.htm

Skeleton Man by Joseph Bruchac

If you like scary stories, you'll love Skeleton Man. When Molly's parents mysteriously disappear, a creepy "great-uncle" she's never met before arrives and takes her to live with him. He locks her in her room at night and looks an awful lot like the "skeleton man" from the Native American tales her father told her. Molly's dreams of her Native American heritage give strength, courage, and clues to save herself and solve the mystery of her parent's disappearance as the story of the "Skeleton Man" becomes reality for Molly.

If you want more spooks from Joseph Bruchac, read The Skeleton Man Returns!

Find out more about Joseph Bruchac at his website.