Eats, Shoots & Leaves: By Lynne Truss and Bonnie Timmons

     In honor of National Punctuation Day, I read this classic story to my class.  They thoroughly enjoyed the humorous scenarios created by the use and misuse of commas.

     This is an excellent, fun read for all ages!  It is interesting to see the drastic changes that can be made by the simple placement of punctuation marks. 

Grade Level: 1.6

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: By Ransom Riggs

Haunting photographs.

An island devastated by war.

An empty, ruined orphanage.

And Jacob.

Jacob lives an ordinary life.  He eats ordinary things and has a very ordinary job working at a Smart Aid.  The only special thing he has is his Grandfather.  Then, one fateful night, he doesn't have him anymore.  Jacob is then haunted by the terrors that invade his grandfathers' childhood.  Are they real? 

After his grandfather's death, Jacob finds a letter that takes him to the desolate island off the coast of modern-day Wales.  Did the children in my grandfathers stories actually exist? Or is there more to this story than meets the eye?

This book I simply could not put down.  I HAD to find out what was going to happen next!! I did get a little creeped out by some of these old photographs as well.   Be advised, this novel does have (sorry!!) a few crass conversations and (gasp!) a bad word or three.  I would recommend this only to older students (High school and up) due to such content.  

Grade Level: 5.7

The School for Good and Evil: Soman Chainani

     Welcome to your first day of class!! If you are in Good (the school for princes, princesses and all manner of kind folk) you will learn what it truly means to be heroes.  If you are in Evil...well you can figure that one out on your own.  
     Sophie thinks that with her pink dresses, sweet smile, and blonde hair, she will be a shoe-in for the school of Good.  Agatha, her best friend, would rather sit in her dark, dungeon of a bedroom than socialize with anyone.  They seem to fit the exact stereotype for Good and Evil.  But when they arrive, a terrible mix up happens, and they are sent to the wrong schools.  
     Is this all some terrible accident? Or is this the first step in finding out who really is good and who really is evil?
   
     This book is an excellent, fast paced read.  I would recommend this book for high-school aged students, based on content (after all, there is a whole school devoted to being evil.  When they say Evil, it is really EVIL and frankly kind of unnecessary with the amount of time they spend learning about maiming and harming cute animals.)  

Grade Level: 5.1