The 13th Floor : A Ghost Story by Sid Fleischman

This story takes place with an orphan named Buddy Stebbins who makes his way to an abandoned building. While exploring the place he reaches the 13th floor and then gets transported to a leaky pirate ship in a roaring storm, 300 years in the past. As the ship lands, he washes up in New England where he finds a ten year old ancestor Abigail in witchcraft mania. She’s caught up in a lot of controversy and is about to be hanged to death. There is a new surprise in nearly every page in the book and I love a good ghost story.

This book stood out to me because it involved a lot of ancestry and fantasy. It’s like falling into a deep dream and dreaming 1,000 different dreams. As if you’re being put on another world.

This book is recommended for those who love fantasy books and are interested in time travel. The book is very descriptive with the story and it was interesting to hear about New England 300 years in the past.

Review written by Devon W.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

I recently read a book called “The Lightning Thief.” I’m very familiar with this book series. This story dives into Greek Mythology and introduced me to a lot of the Greek gods and goddesses. The story starts in upstate New York with Poseidon’s son “Percy Jackson” unaware of who his real father was. He is a 12 year old troublemaker that got kicked out of many schools in his past. He lives this miserable lifestyle with his mother being his only delight.

A time came where Percy’s mother took him on a trip to a beach. This was a chance to sit down and talk about his mental problems in and out of school, with plans to let him know his real father’s identity. Until an unfriendly 7 foot creature comes into play and takes his mother’s life. Percy manages to kill the creature and passes out in the process. He then wakes up at a place called Camp Half-Blood, a herd of Satyrs and unusual creatures from Mount Olympus. Zeus accuses Percy of stealing his master lightning bolts and it's up to him and his two companions, “Grover” and “Annabeth” to use the 10 days they’ve been given to return Zeus’s stolen property. In the process he learns who his father is with questions of his abandonment, and uses what he learns at camp to get back his mother.

This book was very adventurous and a great way to start learning about Greek mythology. It was the first advanced chapter book I read. Being a chapter book without any pictures and a blank theme, this would be the first book in that category you would actually enjoy. The author gets very detailed with his words. The book helps work your mind and has you re-imagining certain things from the book. This book is a great way to start diving into bigger and more detailed stories.

Review written by Devon W.