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Guardians of the Gryphon’s Claw by Todd Calgi Gallicano , 373 pages.  Delacorte (Random), 2017.  $17. Language: G; Mature Content: G; Violence: G (some violence, without being graphic) BUYING ADVISORY:  EL, MS - ADVISABLE AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE Sam London has been dreaming about a gryphon – over and over.  When he pursues the dream to Death Valley, he finds not only a gryphon, but gets involved with a whole secret world of what he thought were mythical creatures.  With Dr. Vance Vantana, Sam sets off on adventure to save the Gryphon’s Claw – the object that stops most humans from seeing magical creatures – from the evil creatures who want to rule over humans.   Sam’s first adventure is a whole lot of fun.  And danger. Kids who like Brandon Mull or Chris Colfer will also enjoy this. Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS

Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo : The Middle-Route Run by Ben Costa and James Parks 208 pages GRAPHIC NOVEL Alfred A. Knopf 2018 $20.99. Language: PG (2 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (sword play, battles)  BUYING ADVISORY: MS - ESSENTIAL  AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH   Rickety Stitch is captured by a witch who uses his skeleton arm to reanimate what turns out to be the minion of the Gloom King - bad idea. The witch restores Rickety's arm with a different one - so he's got that skeleton's memories and an arm that digs and digs and digs. Now, this arm has a mind of its own and has dug it's way into another adventure, as Rickety and Goo search for more clues about what happened to them and why he is a walking, talking skeleton.  Another grand adventure! No mature content in this one, just great battles, surprise villains and heroes and another fine mess for Rickety and Goo. Includes an appendix with a link to listen to the songs online and a descri...

Neverworld Wake by Marissa Pessl , 336 pages. Delacorte Press, 2018.  $14. Language: PG (2 swears); Mature Content: PG-13;  Violence: PG-13 BUYING ADVISORY: HS – ADVISABLE.  AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH A year after her boyfriend's untimely death, in an attempt to understand what happened, Beatrice reconnects with her former best friends. After a raucous night out, and a harrowing car crash they are trapped in a never-ending loop of the same 24 hours. The only way out is for the five of them to agree on one person who will live to see the next day. Magical realism at its finest. This book is trippy in the truest sense of the word. I really enjoyed the pacing as well as the way the characters developed, it had all the existential crises of a New Adult book without the superfluous cursing or sex. Really interesting ideas about existence and growth as well as the secrets we keep from those we are closest to. Catherine, Library Teacher

Slayer by Kiersten White , 416 pages.  Simon and Schuster, JAN 2019.  $19. Language: R (82 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G (some LGBT characters); Violence: PG-13 (lots of fighting) BUYING ADVISORY:  MS, HS - OPTIONAL AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH Buffy may have broken the world and the rules of magic, but Nina (Athena) and her sister Artemis, the twin daughters of Buffy’s first watcher, and the rest of the members of the Council of Watchers are still watching.  Nina has never been allowed to train as a Watcher and Artemis failed the test. But then Nina is confronted by a demon and she and all of the rest around her realize that Nina was the last Chosen Slayer – given her powers before everything was broken.  So, Nina may be a Slayer, but she has no skills, no training, and her own mother is vehemently against her doing anything Slayer-y. Worse in Nina’s eyes – her secret Watcher is Leo, her childhood crush who has just reappeared a...

Arlo Finch in the Lake of the Moon by John August , 384 pages.  Roaring Brook (Macmillan), FEB 2019.  $17. Language: G; Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (danger) BUYING ADVISORY:  EL, MS - ADVISABLE AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE Its been six months since Arlo arrived in Pine Mountain and found out about the Long Woods.  One day Arlo finds a strange passage and sees himself and his friends across the chasm.  Before he and the others can puzzle out what as actually happening, they must first head off to Ranger summer camp.  Unfortunately, they have a newcomer in their patrol – Thomas, which means they can’t discuss or investigate the earlier mystery.  Nothing is as it seems at camp either.  The danger is imminent and the mysteries abound.   There is certainly plenty of mystery in Arlo’s second book.  While we learn a bit more of Arlo’s family history, The Long Woods are not much explored, which ...

The Legend of Grimm’s Woods (Hocus Pocus) by Manuro Gorobei , 295 pages. INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC NOVEL. Quirk Books, 2018. $10. 9781683690573 Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG.  BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE. AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE Hocus and Pocus are going to a school where they learn how to care for the earth and train magical creatures. As part of a challenge to get their creatures permanently and graduate, they must find two lost kids. At this point in the story, the reader picks a character to follow and jumps around the story based on decisions they make. Hocus and Pocus ultimately find the kids in the house of a witch, but the journey to get there will differ for each reader. The plot of this book is simple and clear, but the way of reading it makes it difficult. When you make a choice in the book, you go to a different number panel and sometimes you jump to a new panel after reading just one. Sometimes you read for a longer time before you jump, a...