Two For One: Infinity Ring Books Six and Seven

The Infinity Ring series is the latest print and online combination series by Scholastic that takes a story that starts in the books and continues it online through a game that is accesses using a special code from the book. Scholastic's first attempt at this combination was the popular 39 Clues series which is still going strong with it's third spin-off series. Like the 39 Clues series, each book in the Infinity Ring series is written by a different author. Where this series differs, however, is that the online game tells a part of the story that isn't included in the books. While you don't HAVE to play the online game to understand the series, you do miss details and part of the adventure if you don't signup and play the game.

Behind Enemy Lines by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Book six in the series has Dak, Sera, and Riq landing in Europe in 1943 during World War II. Just after meeting the local Hystorian, a bombing raid causes a building collapse that kills the Hystorian and destroys their SQuare, leaving the group with no guidance as to what the break is or how to fix it. Dak and Sera are  forces to travel back to their time to try to get a new SQuare, but instead of finding the Hystorians, the find Tilda, leader of the SQ. While trying to escape teh SQ and warp back to 1943, Dak and Sera inadvertantly take Tilda with them. Now, in addition to trying to figure out and fix the break, they also have to try to stay away from Tilda and the additional danger she brings to their mission.

With a new SQuare in hand, the group learn that this break is the one that led to the SQ rising to power, so it becomes even more important to them to fix this particular break. The break involves a covert mission called Mincement Man which tried to distract the German forces away from the Allied's true target. In order to fix the break, the group must split up. Riq stays in Scotland while Sera goes to Spain and Dak heads to Germany. If the kids can pull this off, the Allies will win the war and the SQ will not rise to power. Can they convince the Germans of Mincement Man's authencity, or will they end up prisoners themselves? Will they be able to stop Tilda, especially now that she has her own time-travel device or will she mess up everything they have fixed and bring on the Cataclysm?

The Iron Empire by James Dashner

Dak, Sera, and Riq have traveled up and down the timeline of history and have finally ended up in Ancient Greece, the site of the Prime Break. If they can fix this break, they will have defeated the SQ and prevented the Cataclysm that ends the world, but in order to do it, they'll need the help of Aristotle, the founding father of the Hystorians. They must stop the assassination of Alexander, heir to the throne and Aristotle's favorite former pupil, and they only have three weeks to stop it; however, as the group is talking with Aristotle, a messenger arrives to announce that Alexander has just been killed by a woman that the time travelers identify as Tilda. Now the kids and Aristotle must travel even farther back in time to try to stop Tilda and the original assassin and save Alexander so that they can prevent the great Cataclysm from destroying the future. Can they fix the Prime Break, and will it really save the future?


Much like Margaret Peterson Haddix's Missing Series all the books in the Infinity Ring series take place around actual historical events, but one of the things I miss in this series that Haddix includes in her series is an author's note giving some factual information about the time period, event, or people. When reading both of these two books, I found myself pulling out my phone to look up details to see if they were factual or fictional. While the factual note isn't necessary to understanding the story, I think it would enhance the reader's experience with the historical side of the historical fiction.

Breaking Down the Doors of Death

If you like a good cliff-hanger, then Rick Riordan is the author for you. In fact, the dedication of The House of Hades reads, "To my wonderful readers: Sorry about that last cliff-hanger. Well, no, not really. HAHAHAHA. But seriously, I love you guys." The House of Hades, the fourth book in The Heroes of Olympus series, picks up right where the third book, The Mark of Athena, leaves us hanging, with Percy and Annabeth stuck in Tartarus trying to get to the Doors of Death while Jason, Leo, Nico, Hazel, and Frank sail the Argo II to Epirus to find the other side of the Doors of Death. If you have no idea what I am talking about, stop reading this blog right now and go read all the books leading up to this one because this is definitely a series that has to be read in order beginning with with the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and continuing with the Heroes of Olympus series.

If you're still reading I assume you have read all the preceding books and know the gist of what is going on: Gaea is waking and seven demigods from Camp Halfblood and Camp Jupiter are on a quest to find and seal the doors of death and stop Gaea from waking. In the last book, shortly after finding and rescuing the Athena Parthenos, Annabeth and Percy fall into Tartarus, the place where Titans, giants, and monsters go after being killed to regenerate. House of Hades finds the two trying to make their way through Tartarus to find the Doors of Death while avoiding being killed by empousi, giants, telkines, Titans, and various other Gaea supporters who would relish the opportunity to kill the great Percy Jackson (who, by the way, is the very one who sent many of them to Tartarus in the first place). As Percy and Annabeth fight their way through Tartarus, their friends above in the mortal world are facing their own battles including poisonous cow monsters, mischievous dwarves, and a few Titans, gods, and goddesses who have their own agendas in mind. All of them are in a race against time to find and permanently destroy the Doors of Death that have been allowing the slain monsters to regenerate and return to the mortal world to wreak havoc. Will the group be able to find the doors before Gaea wakes?

Riordan is a master at tongue-in-cheek humor. His outlandish descriptions of the characters spark vivid images in the reader's imagination and puts a new, modern twist of Greek mythology (my favorite of this book are of the two wildly dressed thieving dwarves, Passalos and Akmon). As in all the previous books, chapters are told from different characters' points of view so you get to see the story from all angles and all perspectives. Many of the demigods have individual experiences during this voyage that cause them to grow into themselves and their abilities. Just as Mark of Athena left readers desperately counting down the days until the release of the next installment in the series, House of Hades does the same thing.Part of the quest has been completed, but there are still two wars to stop; one between the two demigod camps and one between the gods of Olympus and Gaea and her forces. Readers will have to wait until October of 2014 to read Blood of Olympus to see if Riordan brings us to a satisfying conclusion or keeps us hanging again. My hope is that he keeps us hanging for many more installments.

If you want to learn more about Rick Riordan and his books, check out his web site http://www.rickriordan.com/home.aspx.

Ill Come to Thee by Moonlight

Cynda's life seems to be falling apart. Her mom and stepfather are moving to Italy for three years. Cynda hates the idea, so her mother arranges an invitation for Cynda to move to Maine to stay with her dad for at least six months. The dad that left them ten years ago to marry one of his students. The dad who lives in an old inn and writes crime mysteries. The dad she has not seen in two years and who really knows nothing about her. It was obvious that her mom and Steve didn't want her, but what about her dad? He had a new family, a wife, a five year old son named Todd, and a baby on the way. Would he want her?

Life with her dad at Underhill Inn doesn't get a lot better. Dad spends most of his time writing, Susan spends her time sewing, and Todd spends his time whining for Cynda to play another game or read another book. When they are all together, Cynda still feels left out and alone. To make matters worse, Cynda learns that the inn is supposed to be haunted by the ghost of a young girl who was murdered sixty years earlier, possibly by one of the inn's male guests. Now she not only has to worry about trying to be part of this family, she also has to worry about running into a ghost.

Because it is winter the inn usually has no guests because of the harsh Maine climate, but a mysterious and handsome stranger, Vincent Morthanos, shows up at dinner wanting to rent a room for a month or more. Everyone is entranced by Vincent almost immediately, everyone except Todd who insists that Vincent is a bad man. Cynda is especially taken with Vincent, and he seems to be just as interested in her. Even though he is at least ten years her elder, he seems to understand and sympathize with every one of her fears and insecurities. During a game of Scrabble, Cynda's dad realizes that the words played on the board spell out a sentence, "Ill come to thee by moonlight". Cynda realizes that it doesn't say "Ill" but rather "I'll" and she knows it is a message to her from Vincent; he will meet her after dark, but was Cynda's dad's interpretation of the sentence the more accurate. Is Vincent really all that he seems to be, or is he hiding a dark and deadly secret? Will Cynda finally have someone who will love her unconditionally, or will her feelings for the handsome stranger put her life in danger?

Look For Me by Moonlight is a YA book by one of my favorite authors, Mary Downing Hahn. Ms. Hahn is a very sophisticated and sweet lady who looks like she should be baking cookies and knitting scarves instead of writing dark and intriguing paranormal fiction. Her books are among the most popular titles in my library, and she is my go-to author when I have a student who comes in looking for a "scary book". While my elementary students love Ms. Hahn's books, Look For Me by Moonlight is for a slightly older audience. There is a strong romantic element that would not be appealing to most elementary aged students. A forte of Ms. Hahn's writing, however, is that they do not only appeal to a certain age group. The very books that my elementary students love, are also loved by many of my teachers as well. Her stories are so well written that their enjoyment is not confined to a single age demographic.

I will admit that I had the antagonist figured out pretty quickly. The main character, Cynda, is the narrator of this story, so the reader sees the events unfold through her point of view. With that said, this is one of those novels that makes the reader want to shout at the narrator and ask, "Are you stupid??? Can you not see what this guy is????", but you know that she is so infatuated with the villain that she can't see what is right in front of her face. Even though I had the antagonist and main conflict figured out pretty quickly (which may turn off some readers), I couldn't stop reading because I couldn't figure out how Cynda was going to get herself out of the mess she had gotten wrapped up in. As with all of the other Hahn books I have read, Ms. Hahn worked her magic and brought the whole thing to a satisfying conclusion even though I had my doubts that there was any way to rescue Cynda. Guess it's a good thing Ms. Hahn was writing this book and not me :-)

(Mary Downing Hahn photo credit: http://www.grimmensteinbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/mary_88171-244x300.jpg)