By Ridley Pearson

What better setting could there be for a book than Disney World after dark? In this book, Pearson creates a world where Disney characters come to life and the evil characters are trying to take over the park. A group of young people who are park hosts and play a virtual Disney game are fighting these evil forces. Another book in the Disney series, Peter and the Starcatchers, a prequel to Peter Pan, is also available in the library.

By Joan Bauer

In this book, a brand new 16 year old driver gets to chauffeur her boss, the owner of a chain of shoe stores, to Texas. She learns a lot about shoes, driving and doing the right thing to conquer the difficulties she faces in her life. The sequel, Best Foot Forward, and other books by Joan Bauer, who writes with both emotion and wit, can be found in the library.

By Jonathan Safran Foer

Ask anyone who has Mr. Brown, who is reading this book out loud to his student’s right now, and they will probably agree that the best part of the book is the quirky young main character. This character does use some “colorful” language and descriptions, but they don’t take away from the more powerful messages the book is trying to get across. Although the book is often funny, it is emotional as well because the father of the boy in the story died in the tragic events of 9/11. The boy has found a key that he thinks may lead him to more information about his father and he travels around New York looking for resolution for the loss he has suffered and a secret he keeps.

By Jonathan Safran Foer

Everything is Illuminated is the debut novel by Jonathan Safran Foer. It is about to come out as a film starring Elijah Woods of Lord of the Rings fame. I read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close last year and just picked up this first novel last weekend. Before I go on, I must mention that this one has a lot of adult content and comments in comparison to his second book, which has its share, and so if that’s not for you choose something else. In this novel, Jonathan Safran Foer puts himself in the story as he travels to the Ukraine to trace his family’s roots with a young translator who tends to get English a bit mixed up. Jonathan Safran Foer really did travel to the Ukraine looking for the woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis during World War II. He intended to write a non-fiction account of his journey, but ended up with this well received first novel full of great humor and emotion much like Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close instead.

By Isabel Allende

A teenage boy has the chance to accompany his grandmother on a trip to the Amazon in search of the Beast, the Yeti of legends. The story is told through the literary art of magical realism as Alexander and a friend Nadia explore the secrets of the rain forest. This story is full of adventure and interesting characters and the challenges they face. If you like this one, the next two books, Kingdom of the Golden Dragon and Forest of the Pygmies, are also available in the library. Isabel Allende also writes adult fiction. We have two of them, Daughter of Fortune and her newest book, Zorro.