Juvenile Literature

The Hidden Oracle (2016) is the first installment in Rick Riordan’s The Trials of Apollo, a five-book fantasy series for young readers. Inspired by Greek and Roman mythology and history, the books follow the fallen god Apollo on a quest to rescue the five Oracles from a group of foes. The Trials of Apollo series takes place in the same universe as Riordan’s popular Percy Jackson oeuvre. Praised for its humor, The Hidden Oracle earned... Read The Hidden Oracle Summary

J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is a classic high fantasy adventure novel first published in 1937. Tolkien (1892-1973) was an English writer, philologist, and professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University, as well as a close friend of fellow writer C. S. Lewis. The Hobbit is the first published work recounting tales from Middle Earth, Tolkien’s fantasy world with fictional races of hobbits, elves, dwarves, and more. After fighting in World War I, Tolkien worked... Read The Hobbit Summary

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The Honest Truth is a middle-grade coming-of-age novel by Dan Gemeinhart, a former elementary school teacher and librarian who won the Parents’ Choice Award Gold Medal for another one of his five novels. The book was published on January 23, 2015. The novel incorporates drama and a bit of poetry to narrate the story of twelve-year-old protagonist Mark who has spent most of his life in hospitals receiving cancer treatments. Now, Mark takes his fate... Read The Honest Truth Summary

The Horse and His Boy, published in 1954, is the fifth of the seven books that comprise C. S. Lewis’s young readers series The Chronicles of Narnia. The first of the books, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, was published in 1950. Lewis published an additional book in the series each year through 1956. The Horse and His Boy was published in 1954. Lewis later requested the reading order of the books be changed... Read The Horse And His Boy Summary

The House of Hades is the fourth of five books in the Heroes of Olympus series, which follows seven Greek and Roman demigods on a quest to prevent the rise of the earth goddess Gaea, who is bent on destroying the world.The House of Hades was written by Rick Riordan, a New York Times bestselling author who explores Roman and Greek Mythology in these two series. Riordan is the publisher of an imprint with Disney... Read The House of Hades Summary

Published in 2002, Nancy Farmer’s The House of the Scorpion is a young adult science fiction novel that earned a US National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. It is set in the futuristic country of Opium, which is situated along the border of the United States and what was once Mexico. The protagonist, a clone of Opium’s dictator and drug lord, struggles with his identity. His experience articulates a complex argument about the potential... Read The House of the Scorpion Summary

The Hundred Dresses is a children’s book by Eleanor Estes that was originally published in 1944. It includes pen-and-ink illustrations by Louis Slobodkin. In 1945, it was awarded the Newbery Honor, and it continues to be a popular book in elementary schools. A 2004 survey of third-grade teachers found that the book was a popular choice for reading aloud in the classroom, and a 2007 survey by the National Education Association named it one of... Read The Hundred Dresses Summary

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The Incredible Journey was written by Sheila Burnford and published in 1960. It is a children’s title—although Burnford has asserted that it was not meant for children exclusively. The novel began to enjoy cultural prominence when it was adapted into a Disney film in 1963. It was also re-made in a 1993 film. Plot SummaryIt is the beginning of an Indian summer in northwest Ontario at the outset of the story. The writer John Longridge... Read The Incredible Journey Summary

Published in 1980, the fantasy novel The Indian in the Cupboard tells the story of a small cabinet that converts a boy’s plastic toy figures into real, if tiny, people, and the misadventures the boy and his best friend have with those visitors. The first of five novels about the magic cabinet, The Indian in the Cupboard has sold more than 10 million copies and been made into a motion picture. Author Lynne Reid Banks... Read The Indian in the Cupboard Summary

The Inquisitor’s Tale is a 2016 work of historical fiction for children, written by Adam Gidwitz and illustrated by Hatem Aly. It received a 2017 Newbery Honor. This guide refers to the 2016 Penguin edition.Plot SummaryThe story begins in a medieval French inn, where a mysterious narrator is asking questions about the three mysterious outlaw children with magical powers and their holy dog.Nearly everyone in this tavern has a part of the story to tell... Read The Inquisitor’s Tale Summary

The Iron Trial (2014) is a young adult fantasy novel by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. Both Black and Clare are New York Times best-selling authors who have separately written multiple young adult novels. The Iron Trial is the first book in the Magisterium series and follows Callum “Call” Hunt, a 12-year-old boy who earns a place at a sinister magic school called the Magisterium. At the Magisterium, Call makes startling discoveries about his true... Read The Iron Trial Summary

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The Jungle Book is a collection of stories by Rudyard Kipling first published in 1894. Rudyard Kipling was born to a British family living in India and spent the first six years of his life there before being sent to England for schooling. Kipling’s works reflect his colonialist upbringing and support for British imperial rule over India, as well as ideas of European racial and cultural superiority developed in the Victorian Era. While the seven... Read The Jungle Book Summary

The Juvie Three (2008) is a young adult novel by Gordon Korman. It is a unique coming-of-age story about personal transformation and found family, and a commentary on the stigmas that often burden those held back by their pasts. Korman challenges these societal perceptions and shows that we all have the power to change. This study guide references the 2008 paperback edition from Hyperion Books.Plot SummaryGraham Fosse, known as “Gecko,” drives a stolen getaway car... Read The Juvie Three Summary

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