MAGNUS CHASE AND THE HAMMER OF THOR

Author: Rick Riordan

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Genre: Norse Mythology

Age Range: 11+

Short Summary:

As if one after death quest wasnt enough for Magnus he has to go on another quest to find Thor's Hammer. Yes, Thor's hammer! The mightiest weapon in the entire Nine Worlds. And to make matters even worse the hammer had fallen into the enemy's hand. If Magnus and his friends dont find the hammer in time then Ragnarok will begin and the Nine Worlds will end. But here's when it gets worse, the only way to get some whereabouts of the hammer is by asking Loki and the price for the whereabouts is high.

The plot also becomes more interesting with the introduction of the new character, Alex Fierro who is Loki's child too. Basically Samirah's step sibling. So Magnus along with Samirah, Alex and some other friends have to go and find Thor's Hammer before something bad happens to it. While in Valhalla Magnus also has dream visions of  Loki manipulating his uncle Randolph. And Loki also informs Magnus of some pretty bad stuff but Magnus doesnt really know whether its true. I mean how can you trust a god who is hated by everyone, right? In any case Magnus had to rely on his whereabouts since there are no other ways. 

But while finding the Hammer of Thor Magnus and his friends also happen to find the Skofnung sword and unfortunately Blitzen is wounded by the sword and to cure his wound they need the whetstone and after a lot of different challenges Magnus realises that the Thor's hammer was with a giant Thrym who was planning on using the hammer as a bride prize (what kind of gift is a hammer?) and in return Loki will recieve..well I wont mention this since it'll practically destroy the whole plot but Loki will get his ultimate wish of being free. And setting Loki free is a very bad idea.

~Avani Endait 

 MAGNUS CHASE AND THE SWORD OF SUMMER

Author: Rick Riordan

Publisher: Disney Hyperion 

Genre: Norse Mythology

Age Range: 11+

Short Summary:

Magnus Chase...if you thought he is related to Annabeth Chase from Percy Jackson then congratulations, you win a cookie. Magnus Chase, who is Annabeth's cousin, is a homeless teenager whose life changes when he dies! Okay let me make this a bit simpler. You see Magnus was a homeless kid and he just happened to get into a fight with a Norse giant and he dies. Magnus didnt really have Percy's luck when it came to fighting a monster with zero clue whats going on around. The entire series focuses on Magnus's afterlife and how he realises that he was the son of a Norse god. And here's when it gets better, he has to go on a quest!

He is taken to Hotel Valhalla by a Valkyrie, who is decided he was worthy of living in Valhalla. Valhalla is basically heaven. All the heroes are taken there as long as they are worthy. Unfortunately after he arrives the three Norns(fancy speak for prophecy speaker) deliver a prophecy that said that he was 'wrongly chosen' and wasnt really worthy (great way to decrease self confidence) and so the Valkyrie who bought him to Valhalla was banished. And ofcourse if you thought 'just ask him to leave' then thats not possible cause once you enter Valhalla getting out is like digging up your own grave. But his friends Hearth and Blitz, who were an elf and dwarf respectively, convinced him to get out of there. 

So he did and all three of them run around Midgard until they come across a god who tells them that the only way to get out of the mess they have caused was to find the sword of Summer and returning it to the island of Fenris Wolf. The ctach was that they had no idea where the sword was. They did have a bit of help from the gods but was it enough. And will Magnus prove a prophecy wrong by returning the sword of Summer to the island of Fenris Wolf?

~Avani Endait

 GOOD GIRL, BAD BLOOD: A SEQUEL TO A GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO MURDER

Author: Holly Jackson

Publisher: Egmont

Genre: Murder Mystery

Age Range: 14+

Short Summary:

This book is unbelievable. After reading A good girl's guide to murder I thought that it couldnt get any better but I was wrong. The sequel is on a whole new level or murder mystery and the saga goes on. But this time there is a lot more to find and a lot more risks. Pip's life changed drastically after she solves the Andie Bell case and she is no longer just a high school girl solving a mystery for her EPQ. After solving the Andie Bell case, Pip starts her own podcast about it which goes viral and she becomes an internet sensation.

However things take a dark turn when she discovers that her friend Connor's brother has gone missing. Connor's brother, Jamie's sudden disappearance gets Pip to take things into her own hands even when she promised not to get involved. The book follows how the police of Little Kilton dont take Jamie's dissapearance seriously since they believe that Jamie isnt missing;he's just absent. Which is to say that Jamie just ran away from home and that is legal since he is an adult. But Connor and his mom believe that Jamie is actually missing and this leads to Pip, along with Ravi, to take matters into her own hands and uncover his disapppearance. But things just get harder when the whole world knows about the mystery because Pip posts about his disappearance on her podcast.

     

And like I mentioned earlier Pip's podcast had gone viral so she was really famous. And with great fame comes great responsibility. It didnt take people on the internet a hot minute to jump into conclusions about what happened to Jamie and the comments were traumatising Pip. But she needed to know what really happened to Jamie on Friday night, where did he go, why did he take a knife with him and what was the meaning behind the words he wrote 'Hillary F Weiseman left 11'? Would Pip be able to uncover the truth and find Jamie Reynolds before its too late?   

~Avani Endait

A GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO MURDER

Author: Holly Jackson

Publisher: Egmont

Genre: Murder Mystery

Age Range: 14+

Short Summary:

First off: No this book wont give you tips about murder or anything. I know the name sounds like it does give you tips on murder or something but it doesnt. The book is about Pippa Fitz-Amobi who decided to investigate the closed case of Andie Bell for her high school EPQ.This book is a total page turner and full of unpredictable things. But it also got my brain working with murder mysteries.

The story takes place in Little Kilton where Pip decides to investigate about Andie Bell, a girl who died 5 years ago,for her EPQ. Note that this book was published in 2017. I'll just give you a little information here. Andie was around 17 when she went missing and a few days later her boyfriend Sal was found dead. So everyone assumed that Sal killed Andie and then he felt guilty or perhaps was scared to be caught so he commited suicuide.This scenario happened in 2012 now fastforward to 2017 when Pip decides to investigate about the Andie Bell case since she wasnt convinced with the fact that Sal murdered Andie because Pip knew Sal quite well. So using the EPQ as an excuse she managed to go further into the case with the help of Ravi, Sal's brother.

        

 Like I mentioned earlier a total page turner. And the ending is literally so unexpected. I got the whole detective vibes and at one point I felt like I was in Pipa's place.There are so many suspects and so many plot twists that I lost count. I couldnt control myself and I would get up and start screaming every once in a while and I cant wait to read the sequel to this book which is Good Girl, Bad Blood.

~Avani Endait

 THE BIRD WITH GOLDEN WINGS: STORIES OF WIT AND MAGIC 

Author: Sudha Murty 

Publisher: Penguin Books

Genre: Children's Fiction

Age Range: 10+

Short Summary:
Like the book suggests the book is filled with stories of wit and magic. This book is more like a place filled with all sorts of stories. This book consists of a compilation of 21 stories all of them being equally good.It has over 50,000 copies sold all over the world. Here's a sneek peak at of my favourite stories from this book.
So there is this kingdom ruled by King Parakshit. Everything is going on great in that kingdom, they had good food, good water and everything that a kingdom needs. But the king was unhappy. He had a deep dark secret which he feared would be revealed. He had ears like a donkey!(did anyone get King Midas vibes over here?).He always wore a big turban to cover them up. Nobody but his parents and his barber,Somu knew it. After all cutting hair with a turban on is impossible. Somu had been sworn to secrecy by the king's mother and he didnt say the anything about the king's ears to anyone. But soon he became old so he had to send his son, Dinesh as the king's new barber. Somu warns Dinesh that when he goes to the palace he will find out a big secret which he should not tell anyone. Dinesh was an obidient boy and went to the king's palace to cut his hair. But when he saw the king'd donkey ears he almost fainted. Why, it was yesterday he had heard a song about the kings good looks. He realised that it was the secret his father was talking about. He couldnt sleep that night. He wanted to spill the secret to someone but he knew he'd be in trouble if he did that. Finally e couldnt take it any longer. He crept out of his house and went to a field and saw a pit that someone had dug to sow a seed.He shoved his head inside the pit and screamed the secret and then planted a sapling over there and left. After many years the sapling from the pit Dinesh had shouted into grew into a tree. The king started looking for a bride so he asked a person to spread the message. The town crier went to the carpenter and asked him to make new drums. The carpenter decided to use the best wood he could find to make the drums. He found a strong and sturdy tree and decided to use its wood for the drums. He cut down the wood and took it with him leaving the pile of leaves there itself. Soon a shepherd came by and took the leaves to feed his sheep.On his way he met a mahout (a person who looks after elephants) and a cowherd. He gave them a bundle of leaves too for their elephants and cows respectively. The leaves and wood were taken from the same tree which had grown in the pit in which Dinesh had screamed the king's secret. So when the cow, elephant and sheep ate the leaves they didnt make their original moo, trumpet and baa. And the drums made from the wood didnt make the usual 'dun dun' sound either. To know what sound they made and how the king's secret was spilled read The Bird with the Golden Wings.
~Avani Endait

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 THE MAGIC OF THE LOST TEMPLE

Author: Sudha Murty

Publisher: Penguin Books

Genre: Adventure Fiction

Age Range: 10+

Short Summary:

I must say Sudha Murthy's books never fail to amaze me.But this book in particular amazed me. Unlike most of Sudha Murthy's other books, this book is based on only one story whereas other are compilations of various stories. The magic of the lost temple is about Nooni, a middle school girl and how she spends her time at her native village during the summer. While most of us would rather go to the beach and chill out the whole day Nooni has other plans. She is shown as a tomboy who loves exploring and adventuring. 

The entire book mainly focuses on Nooni a city girl who is surprised at the pace of life in her grandparents village, Somanahalli located in Karnataka, India and how things work differently over there. But she quickly makes friends and gets involoved with daily activities and picnics. She also gets used to papad making and learning to ride a bike with her new found friends. However things get even more exciting when Nooni stumbles upon a stepwell which may or may not be the stepwell from the ancient fabled stepwell. 

    

 What I love about this book is that it is very relatable. Nooni is described like any other teenager and how she gets used to her surrounding and I honestly felt like I was in her place and experienced all those things. And what makes is even better is they way the book is written. Simple yet elegant and you dont need to be a pro or anything to read this book which is probably why this book has a 4.8 star review and is loved by everyone who reads it.

~Avani Endait

THE MAGIC DRUM AND OTHER STORIES

Author: Sudha Murty

Publisher: Penguin Books

Age Range: 11+

Short Summary:

This book is also a compliation of stories by Indian author, Sudha Murthy. It has a total of 37 fictional stories which are all really good. From moral stories to funny stories, you'll find everything here. But since I cant tell all of them right now I will just give a brief summary about one of my favorite stories.

This is the 12th story from the book and is about how Chandrakant, a miser got into trouble all thanks to a coconut. One day Chandrakant had gone to a wedding where he was served coconut burfi which is an Indian sweet dish. He liked it so much that when he went home he asked his wife to make him some for him. So the wife asked him to get a coconut. So off Chandrakant went and pretty soon he found a coconut vendor. He asked him the cost of one coconut the vendor replied 'Five rupees' which is like less than an US dollar. An US dollar is 70 rupees so you can imagine the cost of that one coconut. But Chandrakant was a miser so he nearly fainted when he heard the cost. Guessing the expression on his face the vendor told him that there was a store in 100 kilometers(6 miles) where he would get a coconut for 3 rupees. So Chandrakant walked 10 kilometers but upon reaching the store he found 3 rupees a high price too. The vendor told him that in another 10 kilometers there was a store when he would get it for 1 rupee, so again Chandrakant walked 10 kilometers but then too he found 1 rupee a high price so the vendor told him that another 10 kilometers and he would reach the seashore where he could just pluck a coconut and get it for free. So Chandrakant walked and reached the seashore. He climbed up the tree and grabbed a coconut when all of a sudden a strong wind blew and he lost his hold to the tree. Now he was hanging on the coconut. He called for help but nobody was around. Just then a man on an elephant came and Chandrakant asked him to stand on his elephant and get him down. The man said he'd help him only if Chandrakant gave him 100 rupees. Chandrakant was shocked but he knew that he would break his bones if he stayed there so he agreed. But when the man grabbed his legs the elephant ran away. Now both, Chandrakant and the man were hanging on the tree. 

        To know how they got down you should read Sudha Murthy's The Magic Drum and other favorite stories which you will find online.

~Avani Endait