Alberic the Wise and Other Journeys is a compilation of several intricate short stories by Norton Juster, author of The Phantom Tollbooth. The first is a tale about a man who has success in his failures. The second is about a boy who gets pulled into a painting--maybe. The third is about two kings, one happy, one sad, who will soon switch places. Even though it was written in 1965, it still has many relevant morals for today.
Windblowne is an engaging adventure story starring a boy named Oliver. Oliver must stop his great uncle's evil counterpart who is killing the oaks. Along the way he discovers the secret of the oaks and learns that if your talents aren't in one area, they're in another area. The story has a message that technology can be bad, if in the wrong hands. The story is also somewhat medieval in its wording because of words like towne.
The Secret Saturdays The Kur Stone Volume 1 Part 1 is a mildly funny action graphic novel. The story is about part 1 of the search for Kur, the most powerful criptid on earth. Criptids are all the strange, exotic creatures that regular science doesn't believe in. The Kur Stone is needed to find Kur. To prevent the villian V. V. Argost from having all 3 pieces of the Kur Stone, the Saturdays need to retrieve the piece of the Kur Stone they had previously hidden. One of the reasons that the book is so short is that 6 out of 100 pages are just introduction to the characters.
The Gecko and Sticky: The Greatest Power is the second book in The Gecko and Sticky series. It is a hilarious action novel in which 13 year old Dave Sanchez and his gecko named Sticky battle the infamous Damien Black. Dave has a magical ancient Aztec wristband that was previously owned by Damien. The wristband has a slot for an ingot that gives the wearer of the wristband a special ability. Different ingots give the wearer different abilities. In The Greatest Power, Dave must recover items stolen by Damien, including money and a ring.
