Mette Ivie Harrison. THE PRINCESS AND THE HOUND

Prince George is being groomed to become King. But he has a secret. It’s a secret he shared with his mother, but now she is gone and he has no one to understand him. He has animal magic, which means he communicates with animals. However, his kingdom punishes those with this magic. They think it’s evil. His father has arranged a marriage to the Princess of the nearby rival kingdom in hopes of joining the kingdoms. When George meets Princess Beatrice, he is intrigued by her unique relationship with her hound. Could she have animal magic too? The Princess is indifferent and cold towards him. George wonders if they will ever be able to have the kind of marriage his parents had. And will he ever be able to fully appreciate his animal magic and see it as the gift it truly is?
This was quite a moving novel. Fortunately, it lived up to all the hype I’ve been hearing about it. If you relate to the bonds people form with animals, you will really enjoy it. If you don’t, probably not so much. I personally loved it!

Gordon Korman. SCHOOLED

The setting of SCHOOLED is a middle school called CLAVERAGE MIDDLE SCHOOL. But,the “L” is continually stolen from the sign so that it appears that the school is called C Average Middle School. Also, every year the geekiest kid is nominated to be the 8th grade class president. Then they use the remainder of the year to publically make fun of this chosen kid. Well, this year, they are in for a huge surprise. A kid who has literally never met another living soul, except his grandma, has joined the student body. His name is Capricorn. He has lived on a hippie commune his whole life. The previous super geek, Hugh Winkleman describes Cap him this way, “He wasn’t nerdy in the typical way. He wasn’t a computer geek or captain of the chess club (that was me). He couldn’t speak Klingon; in fact, he’d never even heard of Star Trek. But just one peek at the new guy and you knew that, dweebwise, there was a new sheriff in town.” The kids have picked a new class president. But school will never be the same after Capricorn Anderson serves as president. This is one more in a long line of hilarious books by Korman. I laughed out loud and you will too!
Other hilarious adventures by Korman:
SON OF THE MOB, SON OF THE MOB-HOLLYWOOD HUSTLE,
BORN TO ROCK, NO MORE DEAD DOGS

Melissa de la Cruz. MASQUERADE

This is the sequel to BLUE BLOODS. I was pleasantly surprised that I really, really liked this one, even more than the first. I guess after the TWILIGHT vampire series, I thought I’d have a hard time enjoying another. Well, I was wrong. This one begins with the Committee swearing that the Silver Bloods are no longer a threat after the murders in BLUE BLOODS. But Schuyler and others are not so sure. Since Schuyler’s grandmother has died, she goes to Venice with Ollie to hunt down her grandfather to help them. Finally he agrees to come home to New York and train her to defeat the Silver Bloods. She has some awesome powers. We learn more great details about the history of these families and how they’re all connected. This is a definite read if you enjoyed the first one. I’m feeling a trilogy here.

Laura Anne Gilman. GRAIL QUEST: THE CAMELOT SPELL

This is the first in a trilogy set in King Arthur’s time. Just before a quest for the Holy Grail was about to begin, a spell has been cast that put all of the adults to sleep in Camelot. Fourteen-year-old squire Gerard has dreamed of being a member of the Knights of the Round Table his whole life. Now, he sees this as an opportunity to find the source of the spell and bring Camelot back to life. He reluctantly teams up with a stable boy, Newt, and the female servant to the queen, Ailis. I had no idea I would be interested in reading about this time period. But it was quite enjoyable. The three main characters are a delight. I’ll look for the other two in this series.

Meg Cabot. VALENTINE PRINCESS.

Valentine Princess is one among many in the Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot. In this installment, Mia finds a diary from a few years back. It was written during her first year of dating her boyfriend, Michael. It was right before Valentine's Day and Mia is worried because it's her first one with an “actual” Valentine, but Michael is opposed to commercialized holidays. She finally gets advice from an unlikely source, her mother. Will Michael finally come around and enjoy the holiday? This is a nice little treat for anytime of year. Enjoy this one or any of the many books in the Princess Diaries series.