Aladdin | Daddy Mojo

The Sherlock Society Art Attack balances intrigue, family, action and humor

The Sherlock Society: Art Attack, AKA, The Sherlock Society 3 knows its family, and its role. It’s very important to know your role. The Sherlock Society is the literary sibling to City Spies, which is the literary best friend to Spy School. Note that the first two series are related and the third one is RIYL. The Sherlock Society is mid-elementary through middle school as middle school metaphorical manna. Art Attack is a fun, confidence-building romp that’s got travel, age-appropriate relationships, a surprisingly twisty plot and characters audiences will grow along with.

The Sherlock Society 3, or The Sherlock Society: Art Attack, is the answer for upper-elementary, mglit people who want a semi-grounded, great book.

Neatly fits in the upper-elementary through mid-middle school puzzle

Little Monsters, a fun twist on Little Women that engages girls aged 8-12

I never read Little Women. I saw the shout-out that the classic book received in Ride or Die, felt momentarily guilty for it, but it’s not enough to make me read it. Little Monsters alludes to that classic title by having “Little” in the same regal font as “Women”, but having the latter word physically scratched out via a series of horizontal claw marks. Underneath that is “Monsters”, hastily scrawled as if someone’s leaving the scene of a cattle mutilation. You don’t need to have read the timeless book it references to be attracted to Little Monsters. This is a retelling of that story, and updated in ways that will engage young readers.

Little Monsters twists the time and setting of Little Women, and adds some monster paranoia, that will entertain girls in upper-elementary through middle.

Girls, gossip, monster, paranoia the destroyer

Relic of Thieves pivots the focus, but stays true to its world

Remember in college when you heard that song from Gypsy Kings? Maybe it was later in life when you discovered that 99 Luftballons was just the tip of Nena’s catchy rock/pop German catalogue. Your kids are into KPOP or J-rock and you probably don’t understand any of those lyrics. The comprehension is low to none, but you can enjoy it just the same. The Underwild: Relic of Thieves has something in common with all of that music for the uninitiated reader.

Relic of Thieves is a very enjoyable book by itself, but is even more so because it builds an established world set against Greeks Gods.

Great for new readers, perfect for existing fans

Winnie-the-Pooh: 100th Anniversary Edition, a bit aged, still as awesome

I thought it was a velvet cover. But no, the cover to Winnie-the-Pooh: 100^th Anniversary (Winnie-the-Pooh; The House at Pooh Corner) (The Winnie-the-Pooh Collection) is a flocked cover. Flocking is a process where short fibers are glued to a surface and feels like velvet, but it is much cheaper. If the question was, how do make reading Winnie-the-Pooh more adorable, the answer would certainly be to provide it with a flocked cover.

Winnie-the-Pooh: 100th Anniversary Edition brims with life, energy, fun and doesn’t look a day over 100.

Pooh sticks at dawn!

City Spies: Europa keeps the streak going as a go-to book in mglit

City Spies is seven? How is it that this go-to middle school series is seven books in and there hasn’t been a movie yet? The City Spies book series is mglit gold and the kind of books your adult self wishes existed back in the 80’s, 90’s, naughties or aughts, depending on where you’re from. Every book that we’ve read from the City Spies series is constant like gravity. They’re easy, breezy and one step away from being a CoverGirl, but this is a team joint. City Spies: Europa got the memo and author James Ponti is holding course. It set sail for age-appropriate action and intrigue to those in grades three through seven.

City Spies: Europa, or City Spies 7, maintains the twists, characters, arm chair travel, action and espionage that mglit readers want.

City spies 7 got the memo

The Aftermyth is mglit you didn’t think you’d like, but end up absolutely loving

I never considered myself the type who would enjoy a young adult vampire romance book. The Aftermyth is by #1 New York Times Bestselling Author, Tracy Wolff. Wolff has written dozens of books and has a very extensive categorical list on her website. There are dark and sexy romances in Ethan Frost, sexy dragons in the Dragon’s Heat Trilogy, adult romance in Extreme Risk, sexy and heartwarming in San Diego Lightning and the aforementioned vampires in the massive Crave series. She’s also written some books for the Harlequin Superromance imprint. This is a series of books that my wife is wishing I’d take inspiration from; either for my abdomen workouts or romantic wooing. Out of the five sub-genres that Ms. Wolff writes books for, The Aftermath is the first one in the middle grade line up and it runs like a refrigerator.

The Aftermyth uses its wit, action, creativity and manic pacing to create an mglit release that’s hard to put down.

So good it’ll make you forget something something…

The Rise of Neptune, has action and imagination for young readers

It’s a great thing when you can jump into the second entry in a book series and be entertained. It’s also quite rare. The Rise of Neptune is the second book in The Dragonships Series. It does something equally rare in middle-grade fiction, it makes you want to find the first book and read it so that you can connect the dots.

The Rise of Neptune is the second book in The Dragonships Series and proves that its predecessor laid the ground for a go-to mglit series.

It’s as good as it is pretty

Letters to Misty is a ballet-centric, self-help Q & A for girls aged 8-12

If you are an elementary school aged girl, or otherwise that age and in ballet, Letters to Misty is your jam. From its soft pink and purple cover to the lovely ballet dancer on the cover this book knows its target audience. This is self-help for those young people (mainly girls) who are navigating soft social skills and personal interactions that have the potential to vex people of any age. It might be helpful if you know that Letters to Misty is written by Misty Copeland with Nikki Shannon Smith, but it’s not mandatory.