Westerfeld’s latested series goes steam punk (a blending of future and past). World War I is on the horizon. Clankers (Austrian-Hungarians and Germans) versus the Darwinists (British). The Clankers have machines that walk and zepplins. The Darwinists have genetically altered beasts for every kind of job. Leviathan tells the story of Alek, a young prince, on the run with his men from the Germans, and Deryn Sharp who has disguised herself as Mr. Dylan Sharp to join the British Air Service. In alternating dual chapters, readers follow Alex’s escape and Dylan’s rise to a middie on the Leviathan, an ecosystem airship made of all kinds of “beasties.” Their paths cross unexpectedly, throwing these “boys” from different belief systems into a situation where they will need to trust each other. Leviathan is an interesting mesh of machines and beasts. A great adventure!

This sequel to The Red Pyramid finds Sophie and Carter Kane on another hero’s quest to save the ways of Ancient Egypt.  Apophis, the Chaos snake, threatens to break free of his prison.  The magicians of the House of Life do not trust the Kanes.  Sadie and Carter with the aid of their Uncle Amos,  Bast and Bes (the Egyptain gods), and many newly trained magicians from the Brooklyn House, must find a way to bring the sun god, Ra, out of retirement.  Only Ra can to bring balance to our world. This will not be an easy task since the majority of Egyptian gods and the majority of the magicians in nomes all over the world oppose this action. Needless  to say, Sadie and Carter will have to use every ounce of magic they know to complete this quest.  Narrated by Sadie and Carter, The Throne of Fire, is an adventure not to be missed.

This is book one of The Heroes of Olympus Series. Jason awakes on a school bus on a field trip to the Grand Canyon. He doesn’t remember anything that happened before. He has a girlfriend, Piper, and a best friend, Leo, but he doesn’t remember anything about them or his past. Apparently, he attends the Wilderness School, a school for students with issues. But Jason can’t remember what he did to get sent to the Wilderness School. Piper is there because she can talk people in to giving her things. Expensive things. Leo’s there because he runs away from his foster care homes. Both Piper and Leo have secrets they are keeping from their friends. Jason can’t get over the feeling that something is wrong but he can’t remember what it is. After a horrifying monster attack at the Grand Canyon, the trio is extracted and deposited at Camp Half-Blood where the demi-gods wait to be claimed by their godly parents and await their quest assignment. Jason, Leo, and Piper meet many of the other demi-gods including Annabeth. But where is Percy Jackson?