What a year for books, too! Scott Westerfeld’s Behemoth (sequel to LEVIATHAN), Suzanne Collins’ Mockingjay (the conclusion to the Hunger Games trilogy,) and Rick Riordan’s Lost Hero, (The new Percy Jackson series, called the Heroes of Olympus) came out this year, just to name a few. There is also a bunch of movies based on books- Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, The Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, and my personal favorite, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I, just to name a few.
.So here’s my Top Ten. Some are true newbies; others are old favorites; but all are worth the read.
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In the Number One Place and also taking my Book of the Year honor is…..
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(Drum roll please!!)
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS BY J.K ROWLING!!!
Bet you saw that coming, huh? This is my absolute favorite book of all time and I seriously doubt that will ever change!!
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One of my favorite things about this series is that it seriously keeps you on your toes with plot twist and villain redemptions and stuff like that. Deathly Hallows is even more so. For one thing, you don’t have the stable platform that is Hogwarts anymore. Anything can happen, and in general, everything does. Hermione and Ron have their traditional fights, and Harry contemplates the problem of Horcruxes vs. Hallows. Professor Umbridge reaches new heights of pure nastiness, Luna is her usual helpful self, and Ginny wants to get together with Harry again. Not to mention the movie’s out and it’s probably the most accurate-to-the-book one yet!!.
This is perhaps the most explosive Final Battle I’ve ever read. I won’t give away the ending, though. But I promise, this book did not get my Book of the Year honor for nothing!!!
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And now for the rest of my list. In Number Two place I have-
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This book is my favorite in the Pendragon series for several reasons. First off, this one you see a lot of Loor, who is my favorite heroine in this series and had been practically absent in the last book. Second off, Loor and Bobby have that…..thing…..I was telling you about in my review. Third, there are at least two HUGE mysteries in this book. I figured them out, of course, but it took a while.
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Fourth, something I never, ever, in a million years expected to happen happened. A bad guy saved a good guy’s life!!! I’ll tell you, I had a time figuring out that it WAS the bad guy, but when I did I was literally reeling with shock. I’ve heard of good guys saving a bad guy’s life, but never the other way around!!!!
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I think of the Rivers of Zadaa as a bit of a transitioning book. Before, Bobby was saving worlds to keep Saint Dane at bay. The end wasn’t in sight. Also, Saint Dane had weird powers that the rest of the Travelers didn’t. What was up with that?
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Now, we find out something else is going on. Strange things are happening, not the least of which is Saint Dane saving Courtney’s life. Bobby is beginning to realize something bigger than anything he can imagine is going on. But what?
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That’s for you to figure out.
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And that’s why PENDRAGON # 6: THE RIVERS OF ZADAA is my number two favorite book!!!
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And in third place we have-
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BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA BY KATHERINE PATERSON
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This book is really sad but wonderful. There’s also a movie, so it’s pretty cool. The main characters are Leslie and Jesse, two fifth-graders who band together in the face of school bullies and other threats. They create their own fantasy world called Terabithia, which they rule together as they become closer and closer. But when an unforeseen event forces Jesse to stand alone, will he realize what he’s really learned from Leslie?
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I almost cried when I first read this. It’s weird because I knew it was coming. I even had a rough guess where it would be. But when it actually happened, it caught me totally off guard.
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And that’s why Bridge to Terabithia is my number three favorite book!
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And scoring an honest fourth is-
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ANIMORPHS NUMBER NINETEEN: THE DEPARTURE BY K.A APPLEGATE
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Animorphs #19: The Departure is my favorite Animorphs basically because I think it’s the funniest and it stars my favorite of the crew, morphing extraordinaire Cassie.
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Animorphs is this cool series where these five kids-Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Marco, and Tobias-have the ability to turn, or “morph”, into any animal they can touch. This power was given to them by a dying Andalite prince because the evil Yeerks are coming. Yeerks are these really weird aliens that literally slither into your brain and possess you. They have come to take over Earth. And the only thing standing in their way is-you guessed it-the Animorphs.
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In The Departure, peace-loving Cassie has reached the end of her rope. She’s had it with battles and lies and all the things that come with war. So she quits the Animorphs.
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But no sooner has she done that then she meets Karen, a small girl infected with a Yeerk named Aftran. Aftran now knows Cassie is a human, not an Andalite like the Yeerks currently think. If she tells, it’s all over. But will Cassie’s gentle ways be enough to change Aftran’s mind?
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And that’s why ANIMORPHS: The Departure is my Number Four!
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Scoring Number Five is:
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Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Titan’s Curse is my favorite of this series because it introduces three of my favorite heroines: Thalia, daughter of Zeus, Bianca, daughter of Hades, and Zoe, huntress of Artemis.
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In The Titan’s Curse, fourteen-year-old Percy Jackson is gearing up for battle. The evil Kronos is rising thanks to Percy’s old friend-turned-enemy, Luke. He is getting stronger.
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Then one day, Annabeth is captured and forced to take the Titan’s Curse. She is imprisoned along with the goddess of the hunt, Artemis, and must be rescued.
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Percy, Grover, and their new friends Thalia, Bianca, and Zoe must rescue them, but will the uneasy alliance between the campers and the Huntresses be enough to save the world?
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That’s why The Titan’s Curse takes the number five spot!
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And in number six we have:
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THE 39 CLUES BOOK SIX: IN TOO DEEP BY JUDE WATSON
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I’ll admit, I first got this book only because it involves Amelia Earhart. But now I’ve been reading the others in the series and they’re pretty good.
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The two heroes, twelve-year-old Dan and his fourteen-year-old sister Amy, have been looking all over the world for the clues to the mystery of the Cahills, a family whose branches have been collecting the Clues to a thing that will help them rule the world. Now their search has pointed them to Australia and the mystery of a famous philosopher. But when they are trapped in a fire very much like the one that killed their parents, who will save them?
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It’s no one you expect, I’ll give you that!!
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In number seven, we have-
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THE INHEIRITANCE CYCLE #1: ERAGON BY CHRISTOPHER PAOLINI
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This series is as epic as Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. Actually, I think it’s closer to the Lord of the Rings because Christopher Paolini literally made up languages for each of his peoples. It’s awesome.
.The story is about a common farm boy (or so he thinks) named Eragon who finds a strange rock in the mountains near his home. When it hatches into a baby dragon he names Saphira, it brings the forces of the dark king Galbatorix (who, in my opinion, bears a distinct resemblance to Voldemort) down on him. With the help of his new mentor, Brom, he must battle the forces of evil and save the world.
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Sound like your regular fantasy novel? It isn’t. Not by a long shot.
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In Number eight we have-
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THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA NUMBER FIVE: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER BY C.S LEWIS
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I chose this for number eight mostly because of the fact that its movie also came out this year, sometime this month in fact. It’s going to be awesome!!!
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It starts with the two eldest Pevensies, Peter and Susan, heading for America while their younger siblings Lucy and Edmund stay with their annoying cousin Eustace. But no sooner than Eustace gets on their nerves are they catapulted right back into the magical land of Narnia.
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They find themselves with their old friends Prince Caspian and Reepicheep on board the Dawn Treader, bound for lands unknown. Their mission: find seven missing lords that King Miraz exiled during his reign. What they find is far different: many magical lands with equally magical peoples, some friendly and some hostile. Will they be able to reach Aslan’s country, or will they founder on the way?
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I have three words for you: Read the book.
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And in Number Nine is-
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I’m not biased at all for or against this book, so nobody yell when I say it’s cool. Not the most awesome book I’ve ever read in my whole entire life, but pretty good nonetheless.
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It stars Ophelia Dawson, a high-school diabetic in the remote town of Togo, Alaska. She’s one corner in a brutal love triangle involving her, the resident super-spoiled jerk boyfriend Martin Brynner and a yet unknown secret admirer. Her twin sister Bianca tries to help her, but there’s just no shaking Martin. But why is he holding on so tightly? Is he just your usual jerk boyfriend who is absolutely unable to get a hint, or is there some diabolical plot going on?
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Turns out it’s both. Sure, Martin is the ultimate jerk boyfriend. But he’s also a vampire,
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(((Kimber An here: "Alien-Human Hybrid!" Kimber Jr says: "If it quacks like a duck, it's a duck. If it sucks blood...")))
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no kidding. And he wants Ophelia for his own. Can Ophelia’s secret admirer, the secretly cute Adrian, and her new friend Brandon protect her and her family from the resident vampires?
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In short, a pretty good book of romance and vampires.
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And finally, in number ten, we have-
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THE TWILIGHT SAGA BOOK NUMBER ONE: TWILIGHT BY STEPHENIE MEYER
These books are awesome! Everybody’s so negative about them; they never get around to actually getting to know them. Though I will admit, if this was just a pure romance and it didn’t have the whole good vampire vs. bad vampire thing I wouldn’t read it. But the action is good in three out of four books, and the good vampires, the Cullen family, is awesome. .
It stars seventeen-year-old Bella Swan who’s had to move to rainy old Forks from her old home in sunny Phoenix. There she meets the charming Edward Cullen and immediately falls in love.
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As things go on, she meets the rest of the Cullens, including the true kick-butt heroine of this series, Alice. Bella’s no wimp, that’s for sure, but Alice is the true kick-butt heroine, period. Then there’s the jealous-of-Bella’s-still-being-human Rosalie, the tough brothers Jasper and Emmett, gentle Esme, and the head of the family, Dr. Carlisle.
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There’s also the nice guy Jacob, but he really only gets super-important in the next book.
.But then she meets the bad vampires, led by James, a super-mean vampire with a deep-set grudge against the Cullens. He is followed by Victoria, a rare female villainess, and Laurent, their henchman. Together, they trap Bella. Will the Cullens be able to rescue her? Or is it the end of the line for everyone?
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Oh, yeah, and there’s also a movie, and it should be good because the guy who played Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Robert Pattinson) also plays Edward. I can’t wait to see it!
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There’s my Top Ten, everybody! But before I sign off, I’d like to do an Honorable Mention of the TV series:
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BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER!!!!!!!!!!
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This is possibly the coolest vampire series out there. It stars Buffy Summers, a sixteen-year-old girl who just happens to be the Slayer, a person who has to fight vampires. Along with her Watcher, Giles, her vampire boyfriend Angel, and her buddies Xander and Willow, she protects her home town of Sunnydale against the forces of evil. But will it be enough?
.Though the vampires aren’t the coolest-looking, overall it’s a really cool series and deserves its spot as an Honorable Mention!!!!
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Until next year, good-bye and happy hippogriffs to you!!
