Please enable JavaScript
All Books | Page 41 | LitPick Book Reviews
All Books
Portia's Ultra Mysterious Double Life
Synopsis:
I look at the clock: 4:23 a.m. In approximately three hours I have to wake up again to go to school, and I haven't even gone to sleep yet. How can I possibly care about pop quizzes, bad hair days, and beauty makeovers now that I've found a major clue to the true identity of my missing father?

IDENTIFYING DATA

Subject: Portia Avatar -- Girl Psychoanalytic Detective

Background material: Twelve years old. Lives with earth mom, Indigo, and gray-and-white cat (who thinks he's a dog) named Frederick. To date, Portia does not know the whereabouts of her mysterious father, Patch.

Recent developments: An earthquake shakes up Portia's sleepy hometown of Palmville, California. A photograph of Patch is uncovered. Portia's life, as she knows it, is about to change forever.
Publication Date: 03/04/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
Brothers of War
J. Marshall Martin
Synopsis:
Publication Date: 03/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
Hannah Pritchard
Bonnie Pryor
Synopsis: Upon finding her family murdered by British redcoats, Tories, and Iroquois Indians, Hannah Pritchard begins a long and difficult journey in search of revenge and adventure. The former New York farm girl wants the opportunity to fight the British, and she finds it aboard an American privateer ship during the Revolutionary War. However, Hannah must hide her female identity to be able to work as a cabin boy aboard the Sea Hawk. Follow Hannah s brave story as this teenager discovers a wild life at sea, forges new friendships, and learns the bittersweet taste of revenge.
Publication Date: 03/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
Jesse Bowman
Tom McGowen
Synopsis: In this action-packed historical fiction novel, Jesse Bowman joins the Union Army in hopes of finding adventure. However, this teenage soldier learns that victory comes at a great cost. He discovers the hardships of war, the horror of battle, and the loss of friendship on his journey through the Civil War. Join Tom McGowen as he tells the story of one boy s contribution to the Union s triumph over the Confederacy.
Publication Date: 02/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
King Solomon’s Mines
H. Rider Haggard
Synopsis: The first great "Lost World" action-adventure, a precursor to Indiana Jones

H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines has entertained generations of readers since its first publication in 1885. Following a mysterious map of dubious reliability, a small group of men trek into southern Africa in search of a lost friend-and a lost treasure, the fabled mines of King Solomon. Led by the English adventurer and fortune hunter Allan Quartermain, they discover a frozen corpse, survive untold dangers in remote mountains and deserts, and encounter the merciless King Twala en route to the legendary hoard of diamonds.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Publication Date: 01/29/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
Endless Quest
Bruce Algozin
Synopsis: You are charged with carrying a message to stop dragons from attacking your village. With your brother you must travel to the Ayrie before the evil red dragon convinces the other dragons to attack!

Updated for today's young readers, this action-packed series allows readers to jump right into their very own fantasy adventure.
Publication Date: 01/08/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
Dragon Maze
Jean Rabe, Andre Norton
Synopsis: Shy realizes that she is lucky to be taken in by her grandparents after her father dies–but life above an antique store in Slade’s Corners, Wisconsin is not exactly the place a teenage girl wants to be.
 One day while going through boxes of her father’s boyhood stuff, she comes upon a rare old set of dragon puzzles … all of which are missing pieces. Her grandmother recalls the fantastic tales Shy's father would tell about his travels to lands of dragons and adventure. She always thought that these fantasies were inspired by the puzzles Shy has found.
 Shy realizes that by mixing and matching the different sets she can complete a single dragon puzzle that combines all of the others. Upon doing so she is whisked away to ancient Babylon where she must continue the duties of her father’s legacy as a servant to the dragon and a savior of the world.
Publication Date: 01/08/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
The Dragons of Babel
Michael Swanwick
Synopsis: A fantasy masterpiece from a five-time Hugo Award winner! A war-dragon of Babel crashes in the idyllic fields of a post-industrialized Faerie and, dragging himself into the nearest village, declares himself king and makes young Will his lieutenant. Nightly, he crawls inside the young fey's brain to get a measure of what his subjects think. Forced out of his village, Will travels with female centaur soldiers, witnesses the violent clash of giants, and acquires a surrogate daughter, Esme, who has no knowledge of the past and may be immortal. Evacuated to the Tower of Babel -- infinitely high, infinitely vulgar, very much like New York City -- Will meets the confidence trickster Nat Whilk. Inside the Dread Tower, Will becomes a hero to the homeless living in the tunnels under the city, rises as an underling to a politician, and meets his one true love–a high-elven woman he dare not aspire to. You've heard of hard SF: This is hard fantasy from a master of the form.
Publication Date: 01/08/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
The Comet's Curse
Dom Testa
Synopsis:

In the gripping start to this young adult science fiction adventure series by popular Colorado radio host Dom Testa, the teenage crew of the starship Galahad must find a new home for humanity among the stars--if they fail, it will be the end of the human race....

When the tail of the comet Bhaktul flicks through the Earth's atmosphere, deadly particles are left in its wake. Suddenly, mankind is confronted with a virus that devastates the adult population. Only those under the age of eighteen seem to be immune. Desperate to save humanity, a renowned scientist proposes a bold plan: to create a ship that will carry a crew of 251 teenagers to a home in a distant solar system. Two years later, the Galahad and its crew―none over the age of sixteen―is launched.

Two years of training have prepared the crew for the challenges of space travel. But soon after departing Earth, they discover that a saboteur is hiding on the Galahad! Faced with escalating acts of vandalism and terrorized by threatening messages, sixteen-year-old Triana Martell and her council soon realize that the stowaway will do anything to ensure that the Galahad never reaches its destination. The teens must find a way to neutralize their enemy. For if their mission fails, it will mean the end of the human race….

Publication Date: 01/08/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
Paraworld Zero
Matthew Peterson
Synopsis: Simon Kent is just an ordinary 12 year old trying to cope with the loss of his parents and the bullies at school . . . or so he thinks. After meeting an outspoken girl with strange hair that changes colors with her mood, he is swept into a futuristic world filled with dragonlike creatures, vast technology, and enslaved giants. But Simon also stumbles upon a secret: He can perform magic in this parallel world! While fighting mystical creatures, unraveling an ancient mystery, and even experiencing his first kiss, Simon discovers that he, an outsider from Earth, is the only person who can save the high-tech planet from an impending doom.
Publication Date: 01/01/08
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception
Synopsis:

FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING NOVEL SHIVER

"Vibrant and potent, YA readers searching for faerie stories will be happy to find this accomplished debut novel."
–Publishers Weekly
(starred review)

"This beautiful and out-of-the-ordinary debut novel, with its authentic depiction of Celtic Faerie lore and dangerous forbidden love in a contemporary American setting, will appeal to readers of Nancy Werlin's Impossible and Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series."
–Booklist
(starred review)

"Part adventure, part fantasy, and wholly riveting love story, Lament will delight nearly all audiences with its skillful blend of magic and ordinary life."
―KLIATT (starred review)

Sixteen-year-old Deirdre Monaghan is a painfully shy but prodigiously gifted musician. She's about to find out she's also a cloverhand―one who can see faeries. Deirdre finds herself infatuated with a mysterious boy who enters her ordinary suburban life, seemingly out of thin air. Trouble is, the enigmatic and gorgeous Luke turns out to be a gallowglass―a soulless faerie assassin. An equally hunky―and equally dangerous―dark faerie soldier named Aodhan is also stalking Deirdre. Sworn enemies, Luke and Aodhan each have a deadly assignment from the Faerie Queen. Namely, kill Deirdre before her music captures the attention of the Fae and threatens the Queen's sovereignty. Caught in the crossfire with Deirdre is James, her wisecracking but loyal best friend. Deirdre had been wishing her life weren't so dull, but getting trapped in the middle of a centuries-old faerie war isn't exactly what she had in mind . . .

Lament is a dark faerie fantasy that features authentic Celtic faerie lore, plus cover art and interior illustrations by acclaimed faerie artist Julia Jeffrey.

 

Publication Date: 08/25/25
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
Perilous Passage
B.J. Bayle
Synopsis:

Shortlisted for the 2009 Red Maple Award and commended in Best Books for Kids & Teens

After a shipwreck in 1809, Peter finds himself the victim of amnesia. The sea captain who finds the teenager gives him the only name he knows, while others derisively dub him Peter No-Name. Eventually, Peter finds employment in a Montreal tavern where he meets a French voyageur called Boulard who changes his life irrevocably.

Boulard works for fur trader David Thompson, soon to become one of the world’s most famous explorers and mapmakers. Thompson is impressed with the teenager and enlists him in his obsessive quest to establish an overland "northwest" passage to the Pacific Ocean via the Columbia River.

With Thompson, Peter embarks on an amazing series of adventures that brings him face to face with hostile Natives and exposes him to the hardships and life-threatening challenges of formidable mountains and primeval forests as the intrepid outdoorsmen canoe, ride, and sled across a continent still largely untouched by European civilization.

Publication Date: 12/03/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
Terror On The Titanic
Jim Wallace
Synopsis: Terror on the Titanic by Jim Wallace takes YOU back in time to an historical adventure aboard the infamous Titanic. 9-12 year old readers will explore the world's most luxurious ship and study how it operates, meet the crew, and drink up the magical excitement of this maiden voyage!

Choose Your Own Adventure Terror on the Titanic is an interactive adventure book in which YOU decide what happens next.

The date is April 10, 1912. Embarking on the Titanic seems like a dream. Quickly you learn that there is evil-doing aboard. Who can you trust? Will you be able to save the Titanic from certain doom as it careens into an iceberg? Will you be remembered as a hero, or just another victim of one of the sea's most tragic events?

For readers who enjoyed other titles from the Choose Your Own Adventure series including: The Abominable Snowman R. A. Montgomery, Secret of the Ninja by Jay Leibold, and Journey Under the Sea by R. A. Montgomery.

Publication Date: 12/01/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
The Mind of a Genius
David Snowdon
Synopsis:
Publication Date: 11/16/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
Eifelheim
Michael Flynn
Synopsis:

The alien world of medieval Europe lives again, transformed by the physics of the future, by a winner of the Heinlein Award

Over the centuries, one small town in Germany has disappeared and never been resettled. Tom, a historian, and his theoretical physicist girlfriend Sharon, become interested. By all logic, the town should have survived. What's so special about Eifelheim?


Father Dietrich is the village priest of Eifelheim, in the year 1348, when the Black Death is gathering strength but is still not nearby. Dietrich is an educated man, and to his astonishment becomes the first contact person between humanity and an alien race from a distant star, when their ship crashes in the nearby forest. It is a time of wonders, in the shadow of the plague. Flynn gives us the full richness and strangeness of medieval life, as well as some terrific aliens.

Tom and Sharon, and Father Deitrich have a strange destiny of tragedy and triumph in Eifelheim, the brilliant science fiction novel by Michael Flynn.

Publication Date: 11/13/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
Oblivion Road
Alex McAulay
Synopsis: Five stranded teenagers must battle for their lives against a group of escaped convicts, and each other, in this shocking survival thriller from the author of Bad Girls and Lost Summer.

Courtney Stanton thinks she's on just another ski trip with her friends -- until a horrific car accident strands them all on an isolated Colorado road during a blizzard. Frightened but alive, Courtney and her companions discover an abandoned vehicle nearby, and seek help. But the vehicle turns out to be a prison van, with the inmates missing, and the guard's dead body in the front seat.

Soon after, a stumbling figure emerges from the snow, a handcuffed refugee from the van. He says he's been in prison for selling meth, but that he once served in the army. Dare they trust him? He pleads innocence about the guard's murder, warns them about the other fugitives, and promises he will help guide them out of the wilderness. But as the group begins a nightmare trek across the frozen landscape, they start to get the feeling he hasn't told them the entire truth, and someone -- or something -- is secretly watching their every move.
Publication Date: 11/13/07
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure

Pages



RECENT BOOK REVIEWS