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2025 Cover Lovers Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)
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2025 Literary Escapes Challenge
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2025 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge
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2025 Build Your Library Reading Challenge
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You Don't Need to Be Fairy-Smacked to See Fablehaven 2 Is Pure Magic
After spending a summer at her grandparents' preserve for magical creatures, 14-year-old Kendra figures she's seen it all. Still, when a goblin shows up in homeroom, she's a little surprised. Since no one else can see Casey Hancock's Halloween-mask scary face, she figures it's an after effect of her encounter with the Fairy Queen. Apparently, Kendra's still carrying a little Fablehaven magic with her. With her friends falling all over themselves to attract the outwardly handsome goblin, Kendra knows it's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt. Enlisting the help of Seth and a mysterious (but exquisitely dressed) stranger, she goes on a mission to rid her school of the menace. Only it doesn't go quite as planned. Soon, Kendra, Seth, their grandparents, and everything good at Fablehaven is in serious trouble.
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When the double-crosser is revealed, Fablehaven falls into chaos. Seth is missing, Grandpa and Grandma Sorenson are locked in the dungeon, and it's up to Kendra to keep the sanctuary from falling into the wrong hands. With a little help from some surprising allies, she rushes into the foray to save her family, her friends, and the magical world she's determined to protect.
Rise of the Evening Star, the second book in Brandon Mull's popular Fablehaven series, cranks the intensity up a notch. Although it backtracks a little, explaining some details from the previous book, it mostly runs on pure story. Mull brings back our favorite characters, but adds enough new ones to keep things interesting. With all the new faces, plus twists and turns around every corner, it's a fantastic adventure that proves this series is only going to get better. I can't wait.
(Readalikes: Fablehaven by Brandon Mull and other books in the series; The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis; a little like the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling)
Grade: B+
If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for fantasy violence
To the FTC, with love: Another library fine find
Got Milk? You're Going to Need It for Thrilling Fablehaven Adventure.
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Imps, brownies, satyrs, naiads, fairies, blixes, even a golem, oh my! When 14-year-old Kendra Sorenson and her 11-year-old brother Seth arrive at their grandparents' estate, they have no idea that its grounds teem with mystical creatures. All they see is a sprawling mansion with no t.v. or Internet where they will have to stave off boredom while their parents live it up on a 17-day Scandinavian cruise. At least they can jump in the swimming pool or explore the lush, butterfly-filled gardens. Grandpa Sorenson has warned them away from the forest that rings the house, but his explanation seems fishy - ticks? For real? It's almost as if there's something else living in the woods. Something ... magical.
Always obedient, Kendra resigns herself to two weeks of painting, sunning herself by the pool, and trying to solve the puzzle her grandfather left for her. Leave it to foolhardy Seth to plunge right into the one place they're not supposed to go - the woods. His bumbling leads to a shocking discovery: Grandpa and Grandma Sorenson are the caretakers of Fablehaven, a sanctuary for magical beings. Residents of the preserve range from resourceful brownies to playful satyrs to bloodthirsty demons. Grandpa's restrictions are still in place: wandering through the place can be dangerous, if not deadly. Still, it's a land full of wonders. And secrets. Like, what's in the barn? Why do they have to stay hidden on Midsummer's Eve? And, where's Grandma Sorenson?
All the excitement becomes a little too much for Seth, a boy not known for his inhibition. One false step and he manages to unleash an ancient evil into the relative peace of Fablehaven. The centuries-old laws which keep it all in check have been broken. Danger lurks around every corner in a place where spiteful fairies use powerful spells to exact revenge, naiads lure unsuspecting visitors to their watery graves, and something as harmless as a wooden puppet can become a most terrifying foe. Now, the fate of Fablehaven, its caretakers, and every one of its dwellers is in the hands of two children. Kendra's never cared much for adventure; Seth likes it a little too much - can the pair of them rally enough courage and common sense to save the preserve, themselves and, quite possibly, the world? Or will they, too, become victims of the horrors that roam the grounds of a bewitching little place known as Fablehaven?
(Readalikes: reminded me a lot of The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, a little of the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling and The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan)
Grade: B
If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for fantasy violence
To the FTC, with love: I received a finished copy of Fablehaven from the generous folks at Shadow Mountain. Thank you!
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Reading
Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano
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Listening
If Walls Could Talk by Juliet Blackwell
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Followin' with Bloglovin'
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Grab my Button!
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2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge
2024 - Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction
2023 - Middle Grade Fiction
2022 - Middle Grade Fiction
2021 - Middle Grade Fiction
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2020 - Middle Grade Fiction
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