Peter is a normal 12-year-old kid living in a tiny New York apartment with his scientist parents. Thea lives in a mysterious underground world with her aunt. Peter has finally gotten the chance to go on an expedition to Greenland with his father and mother. He’ll get to participate in the adventures he had always heard about. Thea has started to worry about her secret home and its ability to sustain a growing population. As she tries to find a way to keep her people safe, Peter is trying to make sense of his new headaches and weird visions. First Light is Rebecca Stead’s first novel. People who like their science with a little bit of magic will like this book about two kids trying to save what is most important to them.

Holly Lisle has long been one of my favorite authors for adults, so I was thrilled to find out she has started a fantasy series for kids. The Ruby Key (Moon and Sun) is the first in the Moon & Sun series. Mankind and nightlings have a treaty: mankind “rules by the light” and nightlings “rule in the night.” They each have their own special magic. When Genna and her brother Dan venture into the woods at night to try to save their mother from a mysterious illness, they learn of an evil plot against their family and their whole village. With the help of a cat who is not a cat and a nightling who has secrets of her own, Genna must travel the moonroads to find the one person who can save them.

I really liked this book and recommend it to people who like to immerse themselves in a world where magic is real.

When three kids and their adult cousin are stranded by a fierce storm, their cousin tells a story about a tiny orphaned creature who is trying to discover his purpose in life. What-the-Dickens is a skibberee born in a tin can and adopted by a bird before discovering others like him. In this story, Maguire introduces us to the odd, secretive society of the skibbereen, who collect human teeth and plant them to create wishing candles. This book has gotten mixed reviews. I enjoyed it, though, especially the descriptions of the skibbereen society and the suspense of wondering if the kids would make it through the storm safely.

This was to be my next book for review here, but my 10-year-old literary advisor has taken off with it, so I won’t get it back for a couple of days. From what I was able to get from the cover, it’s about a boy growing up in a town where everyone has super powers. Everyone, that is, except for the boy.

Sophie is the oldest of three girls and she knows she has very little hope of an interesting future. When her family runs into money problems, Sophie’s sisters go off to be apprentices and Sophie stays home to work in the family’s hat business. Meanwhile, a mysterious castle appears on the horizon, said to be home to a young wizard who likes to suck the souls of young girls. After Sophie is cursed by the Witch of the Waste, she ends up making a bargain with the demon who powers the moving castle. She will help the demon break his contract with the Wizard Howl, and the demon will break the curse on her.

I stayed up all night to finish this book and absolutely loved it. Diana Wynne Jones consistently writes wonderful, fascinating, mysterious, and magical tales.

Ella of Frell has been given the gift of obedience by a well-meaning fairy Godmother. She would like nothing more than to be rid of the gift, especially when her classmates learn they can tell her to do anything and she’ll have to do it.

by Neil Gaiman
There is another city in the tunnels under London. Richard Mayhew stumbles into it by chance and finds himself in a world stranger and more dangerous than he imagined. This book wasn’t written specifically for teens, but as the author of the Sandman series, Gaiman is popular with teens.

by Vivian Vande Velde

Giannine Bellasario gets a gift certificate from her absentee father to play a virtual reality game. Meanwhile, the gaming center is under seige by a censorship group that apparently took its cues from PETA and ELF. While Giannine is under, the protesters damage the game she was playing on. She must win the game or she might die. The game itself features interesting characters like a barbarian king who just wants his crown back and some half-brothers that want nothing more than to off Giannine’s character. While playing the game, she learns about trust and forgiveness. Overall, an engrossing read. I would recommend it to middle school or high school girls who kind of like computers and fantasy, but aren’t obsessed. It would also be a good book for kids with absentee dads.