The Horse Road

This novel starts with a heart pounding horse race across the countryside!  Kallisto is determined to win this race for the honor of her family and her stables, but her horse, Gryphon, is just as eager to defeat his rivals.

Up until now, Kali has only worried about the horses, but that day she and her best friend, Batu, saw something that will change their lives completely.  From the top of a cliff, they see the invading Chinese army coming to take their beautiful Persian horses by force.

Kali will do anything to protect her family's herds, but Gryphon and her pure white mare, Swan, are the most important things in the world to her.

In her efforts to save Swan, Kali will face a leopard, a deceitful fiance, a tribal warlord, even the earth itself seems to struggle against her, and that's not to mention the Chinese army!

Will Kali be able to overcome her own fears and natural shyness to protect her beloved horse?  Read Troon Harrison's new book to find out!  Be sure to read the author's note at the end to find out how much of this story is based on real history.

This is a great choice for animal lovers who will understand Kali's bond with her horse, and while it is historical fiction, The Horse Road reads like an epic fantasy with plenty of adventure and action!

The Boy on Cinnamon Street

Louise, AKA Thumbelina, has a secret admirer.  She loves the notes he send, and she's pretty sure she's figured out who he is.  When she sees Benny, the pizza delivery guy, she gets a funny feeling that must be a crush even though it isn't necessarily a good feeling.  Her best friend, Reni, assures her that crushes make you feel terrible.  Reni should know.  She's been crushing on Justin Bieber for years.

But maybe it isn't a crush.  Maybe this funny feeling has something to do with all the things Louise refuses to remember about her past.  The reason she lives in a condo with her grandparents instead of in the green house on Cinnamon Street.

Of course, there is also Henderson, Reni's brother and Louise's other best friend.  He's the one who gave her the Thumbelina idea.  Hen says everyone has a personal story they adhere to, and he should know.  He's writing a novel of his own, and Thumb always gets to read the pages first.

There are plenty of secrets in Louise's life waiting to be discovered, some good, some bad, but all of them could break her heart.

Read Phoebe Stone's new book for a bittersweet story about life.  Make sure to read the author's note at the end for a personal connection to the story!

Outlaw

Fifteen -year-old Jake Knight would much rather live at the British Embassy in Burkina Faso with his family than at his boarding school in England, so he's not really too upset when he is suspended for the rest of the semester.

Jake thinks Africa will be one long adventure full of fun and entertainment.  How could he know that almost immediately, he and his sister would be kidnapped and held for ransom.  This isn't the adventure Jake bargained for.

Now he is in the desert with terrorists and Yakuuba Sor, the most wanted outlaw in the Sahara.  Armed with only a cell phone, can Jake and his sister survive the harsh elements and a terrorist cell?

But things are not always what they seem, and Jake will have to face greater danger than he's ever imagined.

Author Stephen Davies is a missionary in Burkina Faso and speaks several languages including a local dialect that gives authenticity to this book.  Fans of Alex Rider will love this action-packed thriller!

Planet Tad

When Tad gets his dad's old computer as a Christmas gift, he decides to start a blog to record his deep thoughts and random adventures.  He has four goals for this year:  survive seventh grade, get girls to notice him, learn to do a kickflip, and start shaving.  Pretty much all of that, plus more, goes horribly and hilariously wrong.

Don't expect a straightforward story line with this book, but you should expect plenty of laughs as Tad blunders through his seventh grade year!

With plenty of misadventures, questionable choices, and even a mystery, fans of the Wimpy Kid books will love Tad!

Author Tim Carvell is a writer for The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and has been writing as Tad for Mad Magazine for several years.

Two FREE Audiobooks Every Week This Summer!

No, it's not too good to be true!  View the attached presentation to find out which books and how to get them! 

Disclaimer:  I have not read all these books, and I don't know what age/grade they are appropriate for, so use your own discretion!

SYNC audiobooks 2013 from jendsmith

Tua and the Elephant

Tua's name means peanut because she was as small as a peanut when she was born.  The name still fits because she is a small girl with a big heart!

One day in the market in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Tua discovers an abused elephant help captive by her cruel masters.  Tua and the elephant have an immediate connection, and before she knows what she is doing, Tua is rescuing an elephant.  She decides to call the elephant Pohn-Pohn because it means double happiness.

But this is just the beginning of Tua's troubles.  Where do you hide an elephant?  How do you feed one?  And how can Tua keep Pohn-Pohn safe from her cruel masters who will try anything to get their property back?

Author R. P. Harris wrote Tua and the Elephant after a trip to Thailand where he visited an elephant sanctuary.  All animal lovers will enjoy this story of friendship and loyalty.

Watch the video below to meet Lek and her elephants, who inspired this book.

Tokyo Heist

Violet has been looking forward to spending the summer with her artist  father, but things get off to a bad start when he is so wrapped up in his work that he forgets to pick her up.  On top of this, her father is dismissive of Violet's beloved manga including her work on her own Manga, Kimono Girl.

But Violet is intrigued when she learns that some lost Van Gogh prints have been stolen from the Yamadas, a wealthy Japanese couple who want to hire her father to paint a mural.  No one wants to listen to a teenager, but Violet does some amateur sleuthing and soon becomes convinced she's on the right track.

That track and her father's work for the Yamadas soon lead to Tokyo, and Violet is in her beloved Japan secretly investigating an art theft that seems to have started in the past.  Family secrets and the Japanese mafia both play starring roles in this globe trotting tale of adventure, art, and crime.

Fans of Ally Carter's Heist Society novels will love Diana Renn's Tokyo Heist!  My only complaint about this book was the lack of actual manga.  Violet loves manga and uses her her art to help her figure out the mystery, and I think it would've been nice to actually see the art instead of just reading about it.  But I enjoyed the book anyway, and I'm sure you will, too.