DISPLAY: Here's to the Villains

By: Stephanie Sanders

Macmillan, 2011.

Twelve-year-old Rune Drexler is struggling in his classes at Master Dreadthorn's School for Wayward Villains and will be exiled unless he and his friends, Countess Jezebel Dracula and Big Bad Wolf Junior, can suceed at a nearly impossible plot.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

By: Frank L. Baum

HarperCollins Publishers, 2000.

After a cyclone transports her to the land of Oz, Dorothy must seek out the great wizard in order to return to Kansas.

Are You Scared, Darth Vader?

By: Adam Rex

Disney/Lucasfilm Press, 2018.

Although he professes to fear nothing, it turns out that the most-feared villain in the Star Wars universe may not be so fearless after all.

The Witches

By: Roald Dahl

Alfaguara, 1987.

A young boy and his Norwegian grandmother, who is an expert on witches, together foil a witches' plot to destroy the world's children by turning them into mice.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

By: C.S. Lewis

Collier Books, 1986, c1950.

Four English school children find their way through the back of a wardrobe into the magic land of Narnia and assist Asland, the golden lion, to triumph over the White Witch who has cursed the land with eternal winter.

Alan's Big, Scary Teeth

By: Jarvis

Candlewick Press, 2016.

Alan is very scary. He says things like 'I'm big, scary Alan! Fear my razor-sharp teeth!' But all isnot as it seems. Alan, you see, has a very BIG (not-so-scary) secret.

Dylan the Villain

By: K.G. Campbell

Viking, 2016.

Dylan's parents have always boasted that he is the "very best and cleverest super-villain in the whole wide world." but when he meets Addison Van Malice, his powers are put to the test.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

By: Dr. Seuss

Random House, 1957.

The Grinch tries to stop Christmas from arriving by stealing all the presents and food from the village, but much to his surprise it comes anyway. Could Christmas be more than presents?

w the Grinch stole Christm

Comments

Funny Farm by Mark Teague 2009

There are things I liked about Mark Teague's newest book, Funny Farm , and things I didn't like. Where should I start? I'll do the "didn'ts" first. The illustrations show animals personified. Well, some of the animals are. The main characters, Edward, and his farm family relatives, all dogs, are humanized. They stand upright, do farm chores, eat at a table, wear clothes, knit (yes, with paws) and sleep in beds. Most everybody else on and around the farm, who are also animals, act like animals. They are outside, roll in mud, live in the barn, and require care from their owners. It struck me the most on the page spread where there are pigs playing in puddle in the rain and Edward, a black and white boxer, watches from inside the house. I thought "You're a dog! Go play with them!" But, alas, he can't, seeing as how he goes through his entire visit to the farm wearing a suit and red bow tie. Another picture that bothered me was the maple syrup pa...

The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester 2008

J Fiction 328 pages I almost didn't finish this book. I got to Chapter 4, and was just about ready to quit (a kind of slow story about a girl, name of Piper McCloud, who discovers she can fly, parents freak out, she becomes a social outcast, yadda, yadda) but suddenly, right there in Chapter 4, the story takes a sharp turn and becomes really interesting . Piper finds herself in the company of others like her, but not "fliers", and under the care and authority of Dr. Hellion. I won't even tell you any more. Read this book. Forester does a great job of keeping you wondering who's the good guy and who's the bad? Piper is a likeable, strong, endearing character that girl readers will enjoy. But don't NOT give it to boys! The main male character is an extremely intelligent young man who is one of the ones you wonder about . . . good or bad? This is a good one, well worth your time.

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages. Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...

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