The Accidental Hero

The Accidental Hero

by: Matt Myklusch

for both genders

ages 7 + up

     All Jack Blank knows is his bleak, dreary life at St. Barnaby's Home for the Hopeless, Abandoned, Forgotten, and Lost, an orphanage that sinks more and more into the swampland of New Jersey with each passing year. His aptitude tests project him as spending a long, unhappy career as a toilet brush cleaner. His only chance at escape comes through the comic books donated years ago to the orphanage that he secretly reads in the dark corners of the library. 

     Everything changes one icy gray morning when Jack receives two visitors that alter his life forever. The first is a deadly robot straight out of one of his comic books that tries its best to blow him up. The second is an emissary from a secret country called the Imagine Nation, an astonishing place where all the fantastic and unbelievable things in our world originate - including Jack. Jack soon discovers that he has an amazing ability--one that could make him the savior of the Imagine Nation and the world beyond, or the biggest threat they've ever faced.*

    This series was amazing. It was one of my favorites and I greatly recommend it. There is lot's of action, but not so it's overwhelming and it has an amazing story, with a killer plot twist.

* From the dust jacket

Virals

Virals

by: Kathy and Brendan Reichs

     Tory Brennan, niece of acclaimed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan (of the Bones novels and hit TV show), is the leader of a ragtag band of teenage “sci-philes” who live on a secluded island off the coast of South Carolina. When the group rescues a dog caged for medical testing on a nearby island, they are exposed to an experimental strain of canine parvovirus that changes their lives forever.
     As the friends discover their heightened senses and animal-quick reflexes, they must combine their scientific curiosity with their newfound physical gifts to solve a cold-case murder that has suddenly become very hot-if they can stay alive long enough to catch the killer’s scent.
     Fortunately, they are now more than friends- they’re a pack. They are Virals.*

     Virals was actually one of my favorites. It was very well written and all the books in the series had a plot twist you never expected. It was very exciting and action packed.

* From Kathy Reichs (kathyreichs.com )

Mistborn

Mistborn: The Final Empire

by: Brandon Sanderson

Lately I have been reading a lot of Brandon Sanderson's books and the Mistborn trilogy has quickly become one of my favorite books. I would not recommend younger children reading this series because it is very complex and goes into politics a little which younger kids will have trouble following.

     What if the hero of prophecy fails? What kind of world results when the Dark Lord is in charge?
     For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the "Sliver of Infinity," reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler's most hellish prison. Kelsier "snapped" and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.
     Kelsier recruited the underworld's elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. Only then does he reveal his ultimate dream, not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot.
     But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel's plan looks more like the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she's a half-Skaa orphan, but she's lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets, and gotten it. She will have to learn to trust, if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed.*

     I really did like this series. It was so different then anything I have ever read before and it was so, much better then everything. Bad wording but I can't think of any other way I could put it. It's very complex and very engaging. 

* From the dust jacket