Sister Bear: A Norse Tale

by Jane Yolen

Summary: Halva is traveling with her trained bear to visit the King of Denmark when they stop for the night at a cottage where, they learn, a pack of trolls is about to make its annual Christmas Eve visit, causing trouble and making a big mess. Includes author's note about the story's origins.

This is a captivating tale with gorgeous, vibrant illustrations. This lesser known European folktale is wonderful for genre studies lesson units. However, is lengthy and I do not recommend reading this book aloud to a young class.

Interest Level: grades k-6
Reading Level: grade 4

 

Goldilicious 

by Victoria Kann

Summary: A little girl and her brother play with her imaginary gold-horned unicorn that can float on water, fly, and turn herself into a fairy princess.                           

This book is one of the sequels to the very popular book, Pinkalicious. The story is not particularly noteworthy, but it will be enjoyed by fans of the series.

Interest Level: ages 2-grade 3
Reading Level: grade 3 

Skulduggery Pleasant

by Derek Landy

Summary: When twelve-year-old Stephanie inherits her weird uncle's estate, she must join forces with Skulduggery Pleasant, a skeleton mage, to save the world from the Faceless Ones.

This is a strange, far-fetched, fabulous fantasy. I thoroughly enjoyed Skulduggery’s dry sense of humor and bitter sarcasm. I admire Stephanie, who is a strong, stubborn, young female. I look forward to continuing this series.

Interest Level: grades 4-8
Reading Level: grade 5

Horror Stories for Grades 6-8

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Horror Stories for Young Adults

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Zombie in Love

by Kelly DiPucchio

Summary: When all his efforts to find a sweetheart fail, Mortimer the zombie decides to place an ad in the newspaper.

This book will appeal to both romantics and children with a silly or gross sense of humor. This book is great for celebrating Halloween or Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately, the book is narrow compared to other picture books, which does not make it an ideal read aloud.

Interest Level: grades K-3
Reading Level: grade 2

What Am I? Halloween

by Anne Margaret Lewis

Summary: A rhyming text provides clues for the various Halloween themed pictures hidden under the flaps.

This is a terrific interactive book. The illustrations under the flaps have parts of the pictures sticking out on the page before; this makes it easier for little ones to guess what the picture is.

Interest Level: ages 2-4
Reading Level: grade 2

The Haunted Hamburger and Other Ghostly Stories 

by David LaRochelle

A ghost father tells his children three frightening stories to help them go to sleep at night.

This is a humorous collection of a few short stories. Though the book is lengthy, if the stories are read separately, it is an excellent read aloud. The stories are meant to scare the children who are ghosts, but as a human, they are laughable. This is a wonderful book for students who want to celebrate Halloween but do not want to hear scary ghost stories.

Interest Level: ages 2-grade 3
Reading Level: grade 3

What's in the Witch's Kitchen?

by Nick Sharratt

Summary: The contents of the witch's kitchen are hidden by flaps that can be opened either to the left or right to reveal pop-up illustrations of either a delight or a nasty fright.

This is a really fun book and is great for celebrating Halloween. The story is fabulous for young children with a silly sense of humor or children who enjoy gross things.

Interest Level: ages 2-grade 3
Reading Level: grade 2

The Sleepless Little Vampire

by Richard Egielski

Summary: A young vampire, unable to sleep, tries to figure out whether it is the howling of a werewolf, the clacking of skeletons, or something else that is keeping him awake.

This is a wonderful read to celebrate Halloween without a horror story! I recommend this book as a read aloud for students in kindergarten through third grade. Children can join the reader by making the different sounds in the book. This book could be read with younger children who are not especially sensitive to the supernatural. The story is not scary; but the characters are classic characters displayed in a cartoonish fashion (ghost, vampires, skeletons, etc.)

Interest Level: ages 2-grade 3
Reading Level: grade 2

Tales of Mystery and Magic

by Hugh Lupton

Summary: A bewitching world of mystery and magic awaits young readers in a collection of seven stories with an uncanny edge from Chile, Greenland, India, West Africa, Seneca, Russia, and Scotland.

The digital collage illustrations contained in this book are beautiful. The stories are lengthy and each contains a few pictures. A few of these stories are fantastic, and others I enjoyed less. This book is great and fits well with this summer’s national reading theme, “One World Many Stories.”

Interest Level: grade k-6
Reading Level: grade 6

The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Eighth Grade Bites

by Heather Brewer

Summary: For thirteen years, Vlad, aided by his aunt and best friend, has kept secret that he is half-vampire, but when his missing teacher is replaced by a sinister substitute, he learns that there is more to being a vampire, and to his parents' deaths, than he could have guessed.

This is the first book in the Chronicles of Vladimir Tod series. It is an excellent read for anyone who is interested in vampires without a mushy romance element. Many young adult boys have requested this action story set in the present. Although Vlad is not entirely human, his emotions and characteristics seem to resonate with male and female teens alike. The small mysteries in the story held my interest throughout the book.

Interest Level: grades 6-12
Reading Level: grade 6

Vampire Reads for Young Adults

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Evermore
by Alyson Noel

Summary: Since the car accident that claimed the lives of her family, sixteen-year-old Ever can see auras and hear people's thoughts, and she goes out of her way to hide from other people until she meets Damen, another psychic teenager who is hiding even more mysteries.

I love this book! This book would be great for fans of Twilight, especially if they enjoyed the strange romance aspect of Twilight. Unlike the lead girl in Twilight, Ever has a supernatural aspect to her as well, and I feel is a better character.

What kind of ending without completely giving it away:

At times this book is sad. Ever is the narrator and tells what she is thinking about including her family’s death and life. I thought I knew exactly where the book was heading but I was pleasantly surprised that I was wrong. The story reminds me of my Romantic Era Music class and the operas we watched. It is very romantic, but not in the candle lit dinner type of way. However, the ending is neither depressing nor a Disney fairy tale “happily ever after” ending either. It’s the kind of ending I like to call “Life’s hard, but we are trying”.

Reading Level: YA
Interest Level: YA

Dragon Reads for Grades 1-2

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The Legend of the Golden Snail

The Legend of the Golden Snail

by Graeme Base

Summary: Wilbur loves the legend of the Golden Snail, an enchanted galleon, and vows to become its next master.

This is a lengthy picture book. The vibrant illustrations in this book may help to hold younger readers’ attention. I recommend it to those who enjoy strange nautical adventures such as The Pirates of the Caribbean.

Interest Level: grades K-3
Reading Level: grade 3

Dragon Reads for Grades 6-8

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The Nightwood

The Nightwood

by Robin Muller

Summary: Retells the Celtic folktale of Tamlynne, a young knight in the court of the Elfin Queen, and Elaine, who is enticed into a nearby wood and, once inside, meets and falls in love with the young knight.

This book has beautiful, though often eerie, llustrations. This dark romance is a lengthy picture book. I enjoyed this book thoroughly and recommend it to anyone in fourth grade or older who enjoys dark fairytales and love stories. I do not think this book is appropriate for younger children because of its length and because they may find it frightening. However, I found the love story component does not contain objectionable material.

Interest Level: grades 4-6, grades 7-8
Reading Level: grade 5

If you like the Percy Jackson Series you might like...

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Young Adult Supernatural Reads

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