With school out, bring home books young readers will want to read.  For fantasy and magic, there’s Rick Riordans The Battle of the Labyrinth, fourth in the popular series about Percy Jackson, a regular kids who just happens to be the son of Poseidon.  The heroes are Greek gods, and the action is on a mythic scale.

Margaret Peterson Haddix launches a new sci-fi series with The Missing:  Found, a mesmerizing tale of adoptees, time travel and technology.

And Magic in the Mirrorstone, edited by Steve Berman, is an enchanting anthology that includes stories by 15 of today’s top fantasy authors.

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street,by Jeanne Birdsall, about a charming family of four girls, is an old-fashioned (in a good way) read with well-drawn characters, warmth and humor.

The Willoughbys, on the other hand, are not very nice–but they are fun.  The story, by Lois Lowry, about children seeking to rid themselves of their wicked parents (and parents with their own diabolical plans), is part parody, part homage to classic tales of orphans and over-the-top villains.

And Peter Howe’s Waggit’s Tale, about an abandoned puppy surviving in the wilds of a city park while looking for friendship, mixes emotion and suspense.

In Brett McCarthy:  Work in Progress, Maria Padian’s hilarious coming-of-age story, the heroine–an ace soccer player who has a way with words–looks inward to accept herself.  Somewhat more grownup is The Joys of Love, about first love and the romance of the theater.  Written in the early ’40s by Madeleine L’Engle (author of A Wrinkle in Time), who died last year, the book has been published for the first time, thanks to the efforts of her granddaughters.

This a most delightful book, even if you don’t have any boys in your life!  The authors have gone and written down a handbook for children of all ages….a rough and tumble example of all the stuff that childhood use to stand for…building tree-houses, making crystals, learning to juggle, first aid, camping skills, fishing, tying knots and even skipping stones.

Hardcover and ready to stand up to being read over and over, the Dangerous Book for Boys is a great read and is captivating even for adults!  All the skills that you need to be a rough and tumble boy, it’s all here in this great book!   Check this book out soon!