Reynie, Sticky, Constance and Kate are locked in, in fact they’re prisoners, but this time their captor is none other than Mr. Benedict himself, as well as Rhonda and Number Two. In order to keep the kids safe from Evil Ledroptha Curtain, the grownups have the kids stashed in a safe house. Ledroptha wants his evil Whisperer machine back and the grownups are sure that he would kidnap the kids in a second and hold them for ransom. The kids are safe…but bored out of their genius little minds!

Constance is extra cranky, especially after a stranger shows up claiming to be her father and challenging Mr. Benedict’s adoption of her.  In an emotional meltdown, Constance runs away - an act that sends the grown-ups and the Society outside the safe house in hopes of finding her…just what Ledroptha and his minions The Ten Men want. The kids are now vulnerable and fall into a carefully constructed trap. But Ledroptha isn’t the only brain capable of setting and springing a trap. These kids are smart and motivated by something powerful - the desire to save the family they’ve built for themselves in The Mysterious Benedict Society. A terrific addition to The Society’s adventures. Author: Trenton Lee Stewart

• Look Inside The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma
• The Mysterious Benedict Society Official Website
• Could you be in the Society? Try some of these Games for the Gifted and Logic Challenges

If you haven’t read the first two, don’t miss The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey, each one is excellent, action packed fun.

Cass and Max-Ernest from The Name of This Book is Secret are back in another sense-filled adventure as members of the secret Terces Society. Cass and Max-Ernest have been inducted into the Society as agents keeping the world safe from the evil Midnight Sun, people who will stop at nothing (even murder!) to carry out their plans to live forever. Their previous adventures involved the senses of smell and sound. This time around, it’s taste, and what tastes better than chocolate? Nothing!

Cass’s mom is obsessed with the blind chef Señor Hugo and is invited to one of his exclusive dinner parties. Cass and Max-Ernest come along and are suprised to learn that at these parties the guests dine in complete darkness so that they can focus on their sense of taste. Partway through dinner Cass gets a feeling something isn’t right and when she shines a contraband light, she and Max-Ernest realize that all of the tables in the restaurant are empty and Cass’s mom is nowhere to be found. Señor Hugo has kidnapped Cass’s mom and is demanding the legendary Tuning Fork for her safe return. Somehow, he knows about Cass and Max-Ernest and The Terces Society. What is the Tuning Fork and what does the chef want to do with it? You can bet that The Midnight Sun and the creepy Dr. L and Ms. Mauvais are in on it too. Author: Pseudonymous Bosch

• Look Inside This Book Is Not Good For You
• Listen to an Excerpt of This Book Is Not Good For You
• This Book Is Not Good For You on CD
• Official Secret Series Website

Chocolate plays an important part in this Cass and Max-Ernest adventure. Chocolate is loved the world -over, now you can find out the secrets behind its power:

• Exploratorium: The Sweet Lure of Chocolate
• The Field Museum Chicago: All About Chocolate
• Hershey Video Tour: How Chocolate is Made
• Neuroscience for Kids: Discovering the Sweet Mysteries of Chocolate
• The Cocoa Tree The story of chocolate from Aztecs to rainforest ecology to modern manufacturing.

Here are the first two in the Secret Series with Cass and Max-Ernest: The Name of This Book is Secret and If you’re Reading This It’s Too Late. If you like these, you might also like the rest, each are about kids having incredible adventures, but without wands or dragons or spells. These kids fly airplanes, shrink, hypnotize people, solve puzzles and more.

In Amulet Book 1: The Stonekeeper, Emily and Navin teamed up with some of their Great Grandpa Silas’s robots to rescue their mother who had been transported to an alternative world and was captured by a tentacled creature. The kids traveled inside a house invented by Great Grandpa Silas. The house can transform into a giant robot and move on their command. Emily wears an amulet that wields power in the alternative world. The kids recovered their mom, but she is poisoned.

In Amulet Book 2: The Stonekeeper’s Curse, the family is safely back in their robotic house but their poisoned Mother has not awakened and is growing weaker. The kids point their house toward Kanalis, a mysterious and beautiful city, in hopes of finding an antidote for the poison. The kids’ mom is fighting for her life against the poison. Emily is fighting to figure out the power of the amulet she wears and how to control it. The amulet seems to be fighting to control HER.

At the same time, the family is being pursued by the Elf King’s son, Trellis, who needs to prove his abilities and loyalty by capturing them. The elves are NOT cute and have the most evil looking mouths full of shark-like teeth. What do they use those teeth for? I’m sure Emily and Navin do not want to know. In Kanalis the kids find that there is an underground resistance, an army of citizens fighting to free themselves from the elves. This group knew their Great Grandpa Silas and recognize the power of Emily’s amulet

This story is action scene upon action scene. Be sure to look at the Look Inside link to see the lush artwork - this is a graphic novel whose pictures tell the story as much as the words. Author: Kazu Kibuishi

• Look Inside Amulet 2: The Stonekeeper’s Curse
• Scholastic: Official Amulet Website
• Amulet Blog
• Amulet Comic Book Maker
• The Amulet Characters
• Video: Look Inside Kazu Kibuishi’s Notebook
• Watch Kazu Draw Amulet Characters
• Watch Kazu Talk about Book One: The Stonekeeper

Don’t miss Amulet 1: The Stonekeeper and if you like the idea of a kid fulfilling a prophecy to save an alternate world, there is a whole series of Star Wars graphic novels too. In Robots from Everyday to Out of This World you can find out about real robots - maybe Miskit isn’t that far from reality! Finally, In Robots! get some great ideas for drawing your own robotic creations.

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