Action & Adventure

The Incredible Journey was written by Sheila Burnford and published in 1960. It is a children’s title—although Burnford has asserted that it was not meant for children exclusively. The novel began to enjoy cultural prominence when it was adapted into a Disney film in 1963. It was also re-made in a 1993 film. Plot SummaryIt is the beginning of an Indian summer in northwest Ontario at the outset of the story. The writer John Longridge... Read The Incredible Journey Summary

Published in 1980, the fantasy novel The Indian in the Cupboard tells the story of a small cabinet that converts a boy’s plastic toy figures into real, if tiny, people, and the misadventures the boy and his best friend have with those visitors. The first of five novels about the magic cabinet, The Indian in the Cupboard has sold more than 10 million copies and been made into a motion picture. Author Lynne Reid Banks... Read The Indian in the Cupboard Summary

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In 1867, the San Francisco Alta Californian assigned its 31-year-old reporter Mark Twain to cover a steamboat pleasure trip to the Mediterranean. Twain’s account of the trip was published in 1869 as The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrim’s Progress. The book would become the most popular and bestselling work of Twain’s career, acclaimed by both critics and readers. Twain’s travelogue chronicles a voyage through Europe and the Holy Land attended by a group of... Read The Innocents Abroad Summary

The Inquisitor’s Tale is a 2016 work of historical fiction for children, written by Adam Gidwitz and illustrated by Hatem Aly. It received a 2017 Newbery Honor. This guide refers to the 2016 Penguin edition.Plot SummaryThe story begins in a medieval French inn, where a mysterious narrator is asking questions about the three mysterious outlaw children with magical powers and their holy dog.Nearly everyone in this tavern has a part of the story to tell... Read The Inquisitor’s Tale Summary

The Iron Trial (2014) is a young adult fantasy novel by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. Both Black and Clare are New York Times best-selling authors who have separately written multiple young adult novels. The Iron Trial is the first book in the Magisterium series and follows Callum “Call” Hunt, a 12-year-old boy who earns a place at a sinister magic school called the Magisterium. At the Magisterium, Call makes startling discoveries about his true... Read The Iron Trial Summary

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The Jungle Book is a collection of stories by Rudyard Kipling first published in 1894. Rudyard Kipling was born to a British family living in India and spent the first six years of his life there before being sent to England for schooling. Kipling’s works reflect his colonialist upbringing and support for British imperial rule over India, as well as ideas of European racial and cultural superiority developed in the Victorian Era. While the seven... Read The Jungle Book Summary

The Juvie Three (2008) is a young adult novel by Gordon Korman. It is a unique coming-of-age story about personal transformation and found family, and a commentary on the stigmas that often burden those held back by their pasts. Korman challenges these societal perceptions and shows that we all have the power to change. This study guide references the 2008 paperback edition from Hyperion Books.Plot SummaryGraham Fosse, known as “Gecko,” drives a stolen getaway car... Read The Juvie Three Summary

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The Kill Order (2012) by American author James Dashner is the fourth novel in the Maze Runner series and a prequel to the first three books. Like the other Maze Runner books, The Kill Order is a work of young adult (YA) dystopian science-fiction. The novel reveals that a virus (the “Flare”) caused by solar flares incited civilization’s destruction and led to the development of the Glade project. The Maze Runner protagonists, Thomas and Teresa... Read The Kill Order Summary

First published in 2005, Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark is a fantasy-adventure for middle-grade readers by Ridley Pearson. Young Finn Whitman and his fellow Disney Hosts each night turn into holograms who visit the Magic Kingdom, where they must defeat a cadre of evil Disney characters trying to break out of the park and take over the world. Winner of the Sunshine State Young Readers Award, the book is the first of more than a... Read The Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark Summary

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The Last Battle, first published in England in 1956, is the seventh and final novel in The Chronicles of Narnia. The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of fantasy novels by celebrated British writer and literary scholar C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), is considered a classic of children’s literature. The Last Battle represents the culmination of the series’ themes and characters and won the Carnegie Medal, which annually recognizes an outstanding book for children. Although The Last... Read The Last Battle Summary

Rodman Philbrick’s The Last Book in the Universe, originally published in 2000, is a young adult novel geared toward children ages 8 to 12. It depicts a dystopian future where “normals” (genetically-unaltered humans) live in the Urb, a place of filth and unrest, while “proovs” (genetically improved people) live in Eden, a place of joy and happiness. This has been the status quo ever since the Big Shake, the environmental disaster that marked the region’s... Read The Last Book In The Universe Summary

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The Last Kids on Earth—a New York Times bestseller and winner of the Texas Bluebonnet Award, which is determined by the popular vote of grade school students throughout Texas—is a post-apocalypse graphic novel for young readers, filled with illustrations, humor, friendship, and zombie survival. The story is written by Max Brallier and drawn by Douglas Holgate, and was originally published in 2015, but has since gone on to become a seven-book series; this is the... Read The Last Kids on Earth Summary