Pennyroyal Academy

Written by: M.A. Larson

First line: If I'm still in this forest by nightfall, I'll never leave it again.

Why you should read this book: Evie doesn't know her real name, and she can't tell anyone about her past, but she's determined to make it through Pennyroyal academy and become a real princess, trained to use love to combat evil, fighting off the witches that threaten the land. Training with a fairy drillsergeant and bunch of snooty, titled royalty isn't easy, but Evie is highly motivated. There's plenty of fantasy action in a book that is, most likely, the first of a trilogy.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're a witch and you don't care for negative depictions of your cultural heritage.

Lumberjanes 1: Beware the Kitten Holy

Written by: Noelle Stevenson and Grace Ellis

First line: Mal, Molly, what in the Joan Jett are you doing?

Why you should read this book: There are strange goings-on in the woods around Miss Quinzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpter's Camp for Hardcore Lady-Types, and five friends are determined to get to the bottom of things, even if it means breaking every camp rule and meeting a bunch of weird monsters. I picked this book up because people were raving about it, and I thought it was cute, but my almost completely non-reading stepdaughter loved it. No joke: this kid has NEVER voluntarily read any kind of book, but she picked this one up, devoured it, and said, "I hope they make more," so if you're looking to get a little girl excited about reading, this is the way to go.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Rabid anti-feminism.

Yoko Learns to Read

Written by: Rosemary Wells

First line: Yoko and her mama loved to read their three books from Japan.

Why you should read this book: Japanese-American kitty cat Yoko's teacher rewards students for every new book that they read, but in Yoko's house there are only three books for children, and they're all in Japanese. To keep up with her classmates, Yoko must venture to the library and learn to recognize individual words. Of course, Yoko soon learns to read well enough that she can help her mother learn to read in English as well.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Brainwashed by anti-immigration rhetoric.

The Egypt Game

Written by: Zilpha Keatley Snyder

First line: Not long ago in a large university town in California, on a street called Orchard Avenue, a strange old man ran a dusty, shabby store.

Why you should read this book: I remember this book from my childhood, and it withstood the test of time: when April Hall's mother sends her away from Hollywood to live with her grandmother, she brings an air of painted glamour to her newfound friendship with neighbor Melanie, and the two girls invent a magical game involving the ancient gods of Egypt in an unused yard. Soon there are a half-dozen kids involved in the work of creating altars and costumes and rituals and hieroglyphic alphabets, until the day tragedy strikes the neighborhood and none of the kids are allowed to play outside anymore. But there and mysteries to explore in Egypt, and April refuses to give up the allure of serving as a priestess to the gods.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Kids making up their own religions and worshiping foreign gods is just too much blasphemy for you.

Doll Bones

Written by: Holly Black

First line: Poppy set down one of the mermaid dolls close to the stretch of asphalt road that represented the Blackest Sea.

Why you should read this book: It's a simple, but rather thrilling story, part thriller, part murder mystery, part road story, and all about that age when boys and girls start thinking about growing up. Zach, Poppy, and Alice have been playing make-believe together for a long time, but when Zach's father pushes him to quit, Poppy will do anything to get him back in the club, including taking her mother's mysterious, forbidden, and apparently haunted doll out of the cabinet. Now they're either being haunted by the ghost of a Victorian girl, or the victim of Poppy's imagination, and either way, they'll be going a very long way to free themselves from the past.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You would do anything to keep the remains of your loved ones nearby.

Lumberjanes 1: Beware the Kitten Holy

Written by: Noelle Stevenson and Grace Ellis

First line: Mal, Molly, what the Joan Jett are you doing?

Why you should read this book: As our tale opens on this popular graphic series, five friends have sneaked out of the cabin at their overnight camp in the middle of the night, and spooky things are happening. There are weird three-eyed foxes to fight and mysterious messages in anagram, and their counselor doesn't believe them, but the camp director might. It's girl power all the way as the Lumberjanes investigate the strange goings-on around there, using all their scouting knowledge to defeat monsters and solve problems.

Why you shouldn't read this book: It always bothered you that Harry Potter never got busted for sneaking around in the middle of the night.

When No One Is Watching

Written by: Eileen Spinelli

First line: When no one is watching, I dance.

Why you should read this book: In a poetic voice, a little girl illustrates how her shyness is situation-dependent. When alone, she is fearless, but among others, she shrinks away. However, in the company of her one special friend, she can be herself.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're an extreme extravert.

A Year with Marmalade

Written by: Alison Reynolds and Heath McKenzie

First line: Ella and Maddy were best friends.

Why you should read this book: When Maddy's family goes away for a year, Ella has to take care of her cat, Marmalade. Ella and Marmalade are both heartbroken by their loss, but gradually they warm up to each other. Time passes, and the three friends are soon reunited.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You don't get cats.

How the Library: (NOT the Prince) Saved Rapunzel

Written by: Wendy Maddour and Rececca Ashdown

First line: On the sixteenth floor of a tall tower block sat Rapunzel, quite idle, whilst growing her locks

Why you should read this book: Reimagined in an urban setting, Rapunzel is not held captive by a witch, but by her own sense of inertia. Although various neighborhood folks attempt to get her out of her own head, she refuses them all, including the prince. When her aunt finally stages in intervention, it turns out that Rapunzel has somehow been offered a job, which is all she needs to turn her life around.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're unemployed and getting frustrated.

I Am Princess X

Written by: Cherie Priest

First line: Libbie Deaton and May Harper invented Princess X in fifth grade, when Libby's leg was in a cast, and May had a doctor's not saying she couldn't run around the track anymore because her asthma would totally kill her.

Why you should read this book: In a really fast paced thriller, May Harper never fully accepted the death of her best friend, Libbie, even though she went to Libbie's funeral years ago. When she starts to see images of their character, Princess X, all over town and the Internet, she's convinced that Libbie is in trouble, in hiding, and desperately trying to send her a message. With the help of a disgraced computer hacker called Trick, May follows the clues left in a webcomic and races against time and a dangerous interloper they call the Needle Man in an effort to learn what really happened to her best friend.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Your child is in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant.