February 10, 2010 is the opening of The Lightning Thief Movie. That day will be here before we know it but you still have time to start…or finish the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series if you haven’t yet! 

• #1: The Lightning Thief on CD and Downloadable Audiobook
• #2: The Sea of Monsters on CD and Downloadable Audiobook
• #3: The Titan’s Curse on CD and Downloadable Audiobook
• #4: The Battle of the Labyrinth on CD and Downloadable Audiobook
• #5: The Last Olympian on CD and Downloadable Audiobook

The author of the Percy Jackson books, Rick Riordan, has announced TWO new series that will begin in 2010.

The Kane Chronicles
Just last week Mr. Riordan announced a brand new series called The Kane Chronicles. The first book in the series will come out May 4, 2010. He says, “my Egyptian mythology series will be called the Kane Chronicles, and the first book’s title is The Red Pyramid. The series follows brother and sister Carter and Sadie Kane, who accidentally help unleash the Egyptian gods into the modern world, and then discover they are the only ones who can set things right. ”

• Rick Riordan Official Blog
• Rick’s Official Website
• Welcome to Camp Half Blood

Watch this movie - Mr. Riordan reads the first part of The Red Pyramid.

Camp Half-Blood Series (Official Name Not Known)
Mr. Riordan also announced a new series about Camp Half-Blood. In his blog he said, “I’ve launched into the new Camp Half-Blood series and am having a great time with it. I get SO many emails from worried readers saying please, please, please, please (times fifty) write more Percy Jackson books, but all I can say is chill, guys. I’m putting a new twist on things but it’s not the end of Percy and friends by a long shot. You’ll see where I’m going with it winter 2010 when the first book comes out, and I think you’ll be pleased (and I hope a little shocked and amazed!) but that’s all I can say for now.” I haven’t seen anything more concrete about the date other than winter, 2010, so I guess we just have to wait and see…and be a little shocked and amazed…which will be fun!

The Exquisite Corpse Adventure is a story that is being written online by several different children’s book authors. A new chapter (episode) comes out every 2 weeks. The whole adventure will take one year to complete.

Jon Scieszka started off the crazy adventure on October 9. Today, Episode 3 came out written by Kate Dicamillo. Epidsode 4 came out today written by Susan Cooper.

Start at the beginning if you need to:

• Episode 1 by Jon Scieszka - A set of twins, Joe and Nancy, are on a train. They have run away from the circus and have in their possession a letter from parents they never new they had. The letter is mysterious and tells them to “follow the clues.” What they don’t know, is that there is a ticking bomb under one of the bridges their train will pass over in a very short amount of time.
• Episode 2: The Lost Clue by Katherine Paterson - Joe and Nancy are pursued by Boppo, a demented clown, and try to escape from the train and from Boppo, before the bomb explodes.
• Episode 3: The Found Clue by Kate DiCamillo. Boppo is in hot pursuit juggling meatballs…and a another bomb! And now somebody else might be after Joe and Nancy too!
• Episode 4: Dig That Pig by Susan Cooper. Actually, it’s not a someBODY else after Joe and Nancy, it’s a someTHING…a crazed pig to be exact and they encounter a roller skating baby and a white haired genius. Whew.

Tune in November 20, 2009 for Episode 5 by Gregory Maguire

Bobby and Holly have been friends since forever. They know boys and girls aren’t usually best friends and they know their friends at school wouldn’t understand, so they have a strategy they call “The Parting Place”.  They walk to school together everyday, but when they get to “The Parting Place” about a block from their school, Bobby speeds up and Holly slows down…just so they won’t be seen together. It works.

But then the week before fourth grade starts, Bobby starts to notice some weird things about Holly. She starts caring about her hair and misses a traditional rock hunting afternoon with Bobby because she’s going shopping with Jillian. On the first day of school their friendship hits a definite bump in the road:

“Hey Bobby, wait up!” Holly was running to catch up to him.

Bobby stared at her in disbelief. “Why are you wearing that? It’s not Halloween.”

Holly smoothed the sleeve of her light blue dress. The big white bow around the waist reminded him of toilet paper. “It’s new,” She said proudly, “Do you like it?”

Bobby shook his head. “Nope.”

Oh, man. NOT smooth. And it’s downhill from there!  When Bobby and Holly are both nominated to run against each other in their class election for Student Council Representative an all out boys vs girls war begins. What’s the best strategy when your arch rival knows your weaknesses and all your secrets? Game on! Author: Lisa Yee

• Read Chapter 11 Bobby vs. Girls
• Official Website Bobby vs. Girls (Don’t miss the Fish Tricks videos!)
• Read an Interview with the author Lisa Yee

Bobby isn’t the only boy mystified by girls. Alvin Ho is allergic to them! Holly isn’t the only girl mystified by boys. Sheila Tubman never has understood Peter Hatcher. Here are some more funny books that showcase the battle between boys and girls:

WATCH: The 39 Clues: Advanced Agent Training Webcast  

The webcast featured the first five author of The 39 Clues: Rick Riordan, Gordon Korman, Peter Lerangis, Jude Watson, and Patrick Carman. I watched the webcast live and it was really good! Click the link above and you can watch a video of the webcast. Each author revealed a puzzle to solve.  I could solve all of them but one. One was a math story problem - that one was hard. Even the kids on the panel didn’t get that one right, which made me feel slightly better. At the end of the webcast each author revealed a secret. One of the secrets was a surprise and one was shocking! The surprise is that the author of book seven, Peter Lerangis, revealed the book’s title: The Viper’s Nest and showed a picture of the book cover. Book 7 will come out February 7, 2010. The shocker is that Jude Law (the author of Book 6: In Too Deep that comes out tomorrow)…said that in her book, a character we are all familiar with…DIES! Who, who, who? I want to know! The 39 Clues Official Website

• 39 Clues Colorcross Game
• The 39 Clues Family Tree
• Grace Cahill’s Will

The 39 Clues Books so far…there will be 10 in all. The 39 Clues #6 In Too Deep comes out November 3, 2009.

Here is a perfect Halloween adventure for you - book 3 in the Skulduggery Pleasant series, The Faceless Ones. If you haven’t read Skulduggery yet you’re missing something. Skulduggery Pleasant is a wise-cracking, classic car driving detective, an impeccable dresser…and a skeleton with magical abilities! With his 14 year-old detective in training sidekick Valkyrie Cain, he’s out to save the world from all kinds of vampires and and a slew of creepy villains bent on taking over the world.

In The Faceless Ones, Skulduggery and Valkyrie are working their beat following up on some mysterious murders. They are really undercover this time as they have been banned from working for the official police force and deemed dangerous “loose cannons.” (A “loose cannon” is someone who is unpredictable or reckless, a person whose behavior is believed to put the people around them in danger.  The phrase originates from heavy cannons that used to be secured to the decks of ships. If a cannon came loose and was able to slide around the deck on its own it endangered all of the sailors on the ship.)

Anyway, Skulduggery and Valkyrie ARE unconventional…and they DO bend the rules on occasion, so they find themselves working the case secretly. They’re good though, and they begin to piece together a plot by their arch enemies, the evil Diablerie, to bring back to our time the Faceless Ones, beings that will threaten life on earth as we know it if they are allowed to return.

Of course Skulduggery’s former boss thinks he’s a trouble maker and doesn’t believe him, or maybe he just doesn’t want to believe him, or maaaaybe he’s working for the bad guys. It takes a good detective to figure that out.  Skulduggery’s former boss is a lot like Cornelius Fudge actually, when Fudge doesn’t want to believe that Voldemort is back.

Skulduggery and Valkyrie have to call on all their friends, make some new friends and take some risks to rally a ragtag group that are willing to confront the Diablerie and keep the Faceless Ones from returning. Who to trust and who not to trust is a challenge this time around. Also, Skulduggery is not above making an alliance with someone he may or may not trust in different circumstances. To complicate matters, even some of Skulduggery’s close associates are beginning to question his judgement, mainly his judgement about the dangerous situations he puts Valkyrie in. She IS only fourteen. Why DOES Skulduggery train Valkyrie and what does he really want for her future? In this book, we find out more about Skulduggery’s past and what might motivate him as he continues to exist as an immortal skeleton.

Hand to hand combat, trying to weed out double crossers, following hunches, planning surveillance…it’s all here…plus the sarcasm and wise-cracking. Skulduggery and Valkyrie can dish it out as fast as they can take it.

I think you will enjoy these more if you start at the beginning and read them in order. There are a lot of characters and a whole different world to understand. Besides, all three are good! They are full of action and very funny. Dialogue like this that is truly funny is rare - don’t pass it up. Author: Derek Landy

• Watch Skulduggery Pleasant in 60 Seconds Video
• Listen to an Interview with Skulduggery Pleasant
• Look Inside The Faceless Ones
• Skulduggery Pleasant Official Website
• Book 1: Scepter of the Ancients on CD or Downloadable Audiobook
• Book 2: Playing with Fire
• Book 3: The Faceless Ones

Don’t miss the first two Skulduggery Pleasant books. And if you like the idea of a wise-cracking, unconventional team - try the Bartimaeus Trilogy beginning with The Amulet of Samarkand. It is the story of a magician’s apprentice and a sarcastic, wise-cracking genie. They also team up to save the world.