“The School for Good and Evil” by Soman Chainani (ebook version)
“My name is Sophie... I’m totally gorgeous - look at my long, flowing blond hair, and as selfless as I can be, the very picture of all things good, but I’m am completely bored with my life and this town. Now my best friend, Agatha, she is the complete opposite of me - a loner, odd-looking, dark, mysterious, everything that seems evil. We live in a town surrounded by a dark forest. There seems to be only one way to leave the town, by getting kidnapped by the mysterious school-master, and I for one, cannot wait. Now, not everyone is town believes the legend of the school-master, but once per year, two children disappear, never to return and they reappear as stars of their very fairy tales, Rapuzel, Jack, the Giant (that was a kid named Angus who used to be a pointy-eared, freckle-faced hooligan), they all got their own stories. Now, the thing is, these kids that get taken, well one is good and one is evil. Me, of course I’m good and I cannot wait to be a star in my very own princess story - sigh - Princess Sophie, sounds perfect. I only hope there is a prince worthy of me out there somewhere.” Sophie seems a little full of herself, right? Well, she is, and she’s in for a BIG surprise. She and her friend do indeed get kidnapped, but somehow, she ends up at the school for evil while Agatha ends up at the school for good. The girls are sure there’s been a mistake - even Agatha’s mom has been prepping her to be an evil witch someday, but the girls are assured that there was NO mistake. Seems like appearances can truly be deceiving. What will happen to the girls? Will they get their own fairy tale?
“Shredderman: Secret Identity” by Wendelin Van Draanen
He’s a boy, he’s a nerd, he’s a math-whiz, he’s a 5th grader... he’s Shredderman, secret cyber-hero who can’t quite keep his shoes tied. Nolan Byrd is tired of being bullied by Bubba Bixby who lies, cheats, steals, pounds on people, and totally gets away with it - he’s a complete nightmare, but no one, not even the principal can control him. Armed with a secret camera and a backpack, Nolan creates the website Shredderman.com to expose Bubba for the bully he is, but he has to figure out how to get kids to the site without exposing his identity, a superhero’s most sacred secret. Nolan learns how to make change like a real superhero but no one can ever know it was him. He's a true superhero. What kind of superhero would you be?
