Great Books for Middle School

I don't know about you, but finding good books for middle school in kinda important, to that end, I've been keeping my eyes and ears open for good books for my lad.

So I've been collecting book titles (as well as going through my own books from that age)  ... go figure.. I kept a bunch of them!!!   Moved them more times than I aught to have but there yeah go, a well loved book is just that eh?   First I will start with what have read, and/or what I have here.

Books Read or In Progress

Just finished this one: The Wolf Keepers... wow!!!   What a fantastic book this is that Raincoast Books provided me... just fantastic.   One troubled lad, a busy girl, a zookeeper and a bunch of wolves.  The wolves are dying... mysterious happenings are going on at night... and before you know.. trouble looms.   OH.. I want to tell you more but then there would be huge spoiler alerts!!!
Just go.. get it..read it.   I will assume that you will enjoy it as much as the lad and I did.  We enjoyed it so much that some nights we read TWO chapters!!!!

 
The Seeker of the Lost Cities... we have just finished book two of these series... hubby has read ahead to book four... we are looking for the audio of book three to continue our adventures.  Sophie is such a real character, and the plot is thickening between the council, the black swan, and the other group.   We are getting more on pins and needles about what is going to happen next.  Dex is such an interesting character and Keith (and the shiny silvery Alicorn) make us laugh, and all the other characters, so real and alive and you are just drawn in deeper.

 The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.

The lad and I finished this gem off last month, and it was a good read that brought out all kinds of thoughts and emotions.   Good characters development, a look into some of the realities of history all within a fictional context .





The Rangers Apprentice... we finished the audio up to book 10, but the lad is wanting to read the book for himself before we continue the series... so we are needing to be patient.  I bought the audios for book 11 and 12 as I WAS NOT being patient and have told him to HURRY UP so that we can all listen to it together.




What is he reading right now?   The Warrior Cat Series by Erin Hunter.  LOVES THIS series... I can't tell you how much cat-loving boy enjoys this series... he's one book into the second series (reading them in the order of the history not in the order of writing) and is talking about how we need to buy ALL the books that we currently don't have.  I'll buy them if you can't afford to okay mom?

 


I am currently reading through Miss Peregrine home for peculiar children to see if I'll let the lad read it or not.  I found the movie a tad alarming and the book just odd to read through, so the jury is still out on that.  Hubby wants to read it and if he likes it, it will be passed down to the lad.

Before I forget.. The Unwanteds.  Great series that we are both reading and listening to.   Alex and Aaron...Mr. Today and Secretary, Simba, Florence and the squirrleycorns.. interesting characters that are well developed.

Fablehaven.   oh my fablehaven... captured our thoughts and feelings and made us angry and happy and ever so pleased, and worried at times too... but it all comes good in the end.   Great series..  Brandon Mull...

 The Beyonders , another great series that we have enjoyed.   By the same author.  Smaller series at three books. We will be finding more by this author and reading them.


The Harry Potter series.. audio and written.  We like them all.. ONLY I haven't yet read or listened to The Cursed Child.  I leafed through it and it is written like a play so I'm left feeling a bit skeptical about it.   Anyone read it?   Was it any good???

Books from my younger years:
The Bronze Bow: one of the next books I'll be reading with him.

The Wrinkle in Time series.    I have long remembered these books and how they made me think.  I still wonder about the "X'd out"... I want my lad to like these books and enjoy them, I suspect I'll be reading them with him one of these days.

 The Narnia Series... we've read through the first two books but keep getting distracted.. once the new
year hits we'll get back on track again with book three.  Mind.. we are slightly frustrated as we lent out one of the books and it's disappeared so our set is incomplete.   It's frustrating because we had TWO full series and got rid of one because of our impending move only to be left with one incomplete series.   ARGH.


Books Already Planned that are New:

•  Maze Runner
•  The Brotherband Series is a spin-off of The Ranger's Apprentice-so looking forward to reading/listening to this new series.
•  The  Eragon series

Books Recommended:

• Through the looking glass, 
• The giver series.
•  Micheal Vey series by Evans
• Steelheart, Firefight and Calamity by Brandon Sanderson
• The Five Kingdoms by Brandon Mull
• Edgar Rice Burroughs - Tarzan series, Mars series, Venus series
• Maze Runner
•  Tuesdays at the Castle
•  The Series of Unfortunate Events
•  The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series by (starts with the Alchemist.)
• The Bartemaeus trilogy
• Firefly Hollow

Can you think of any that I missed?  Let me know in the comments below and I will add them.  :)

Sunday Sermon: Saviour, God With Us

Hymns

Come thou long-expected Jesus

Joy to the world

It came upon the midnight clear

As with gladness men of old

O come, o come Emmanuel

Ere zij God (Glory to God)

The first Noel

Hymns in italics are linked to posts talking about the history or the author of the hymn.

 

Review: It's Snowing in Hawaii

Just so you know, Affiliate links may be used in this post.  They bless my family. Thank you.

It was funny last night, hubby was looking at my pile of review books and said "It's snowing in Hawaii?"   And I said yes, he said that was funny because apparently.. it's snowing in Hawaii.  :)   So what better time than to bring you a really fun picture book for children called It's Snowing In Hawaii.

Mike Guardia has written a cute book.. sorry but that's what it is.  It's cute.
It answers the question.. what would happen if it snowed in Hawaii.  

And just what might happen?

 You might have bobsled teams, and snowmobilers, bear skins hula skirts, icicles in the palm trees and snowboarders on Diamond Head.

This book is cute and clever, introducing many typical Hawaiian culture pieces in a funny way.   Could Snowmobiles really be driven by the surfers in order to plow the beach?   Would the college football game be turned into a massive snowball fight?

It's fun, it's easy, it's has great illustrations to share with your children.

Perhaps we should all go ice-fishing in Kahuna Bay.  :)  

This is Mike Guardia's first childrens book.   I think he did a great job making an easy book to read with fun rhymes, great illustrations, and interesting way to learn about the cultural icons of the State of Hawaii.   Give it a go won't you?    

 
Written by: Mike Guardia
Illustrated by: Melanie Stephens
Publisher: Willow Clubhouse Books
Pages: 14 pages
Type: Children's picture book
Style: Hardcover
Private Review for Mike Guardia



Where can you find this great book?   You could check out your local bookstore, or get it online.

 Amazon.ca: It's Snowing In Hawaii

Amazon.com: It's Snowing in Hawaii

God's Job, Not Mine

    [15] “Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the Philistines acted revengefully and took vengeance with malice of soul to destroy in never-ending enmity, [16] therefore thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the rest of the seacoast. [17] I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I lay my vengeance upon them.”
(Ezekiel 25:15-17 ESV)

 The Lord has already called to account the Moabites, the Ammonites and the folks from Edom and Seir.  Now it is the turn to the Philistines.

The Philistines have long been the enemy of the Israelites and God says because they "acted revengefully and took vengeance with malice of soul to destroy in never-ending enmity," that he will correct their behaviour.   He will cut them off, he will destroy them, he will execute his vengeance upon them with wrathful rebukes.   WHY?    So they will know that HE IS THE LORD.

That's what it always seems to come down to eh?

The need for the Lord to protect his people from the wrath of others... and to show them that HE is the Lord God.  None other.   

Their need for vengeance, their pettiness, their whatevers it might be against his people is NOTHING compared to the fact that HE is Lord God.  ONLY HE.

Makes me think eh?
About me and my stuff...how if someone does wrong against me sometimes all I want to do is get back at them (I see the same in my lad which helps me see what it looks like in me).

BUT that is not our job.

It isn't.

Vengeance is all the hands of our Lord and God.  HIS hands, not mine. 

He knows the heart of the person who hurt me and knows the full story.   It's in his hands to monitor and wreak vengeance if it is justified.  

My job is just to get on with being who God has called me to be... one seeking after his perfection.  One who draws other people into the joy of knowing who the Lord God is.   How does getting revenge fit into that?   It doesn't really.

This passage just helps cement that notion into my head.   It's God's job not mine, and when the time is right, he will mete out the vengeance that is required.  But he won't do it to make ME look good.  He will do it so that folks know that HE is God.   This is what it all comes down to ... the earth and it's peoples needing to know that God is .... GOD.   Lord of all. 

Find the rest of my devotional series on Ezekiel.