The Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Basil

Author: Wiley Miller

First line: It was snowing again.

Why you should read this book: Twelve-year-old Basil Pepperell lives in a lighthouse on the coast of Maine and can't imagine a more boring life than his own, until the day a man in an airship hears his idle whistle and takes him to visit Helios, a remarkable city in the sky. Helios is an ancient civilization where arts and technology thrive, little girls ride pteranodons, and warfare is unknown, but when Basil takes a joyride on a flying dinosaur with his new friend, Louise, the children learn that an evil genius has set his sights on conquering Helios, as the first step in his master plan to take over the world. Award-winning cartoonist, Wiley, writes and illustrates this book with his usual whimsy and just a hint of irony, in the grand old tradition of children's classics such as The Phantom Tollbooth and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Why you shouldn't read this book: If you knew the exact location of the lost city of Atlantis, you'd grab a shovel and start looting.