Do you love The Percy Jackson series?

If you love The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, try these other novels based on mythology:

Anatopsis by Abouzeid
Ever by Levine
The Game by Jones
The Great God Pan by Napoli
Iris, Messenger by Deming
Ithaka by Geras
Jason and the Gorgon's Blood by Yolen and Harris
Lost in the Labyrinth by Kindl
Nightsong: The Legend of Orpheus and Eurydice by Cadnum
Nobody's Princess by Friesner
Odysseus in the Serpent Maze by Yolen and Harris
Singer to the Sea God by Alcock
The Siren Song by Ursu
Sirena by Napoli
Troy by Geras
Walking with the Dead by Falcone

2 New Graphic Novels from DC Comics

All Star Superman volume 2 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely with Jamie Grant



Batman R.I.P., The Deluxe Edition by Grant Morrison and Tony S. Daniel

New Video Games!

Castlevania Judgment for Wii: The first Castlevania title for Wii. A combination slasher/fighter/action title in which the 13 most popular characters from the series come together along with a new character, Aeon. You can slash, stab and whip as you fight on your chosen side.

Halo Wars for XBox: The year is 2531, 20 years prior to the events in Halo: Combat Evolved. Command armies and lead them into battle in an effort to stop the anihilation of humans by the Covenant.

Grid for Playstation 3: It's all about the race! Drive the world's premier performance vehicles at blistering speeds on 3 continents.

New Manga Series: Blade of the Immortal

We have added several volumes of Hiroaki Samura's riveting manga series Blade of the Immortal to our collection.
From the back of the book:
Manji, a ronin warrior of feudal Japan, has been cursed with immortality. To rid himself of this curse, regain his mortality, and end his life of misery, Manji must slay one thousand evil men! His quest begins when a young girl seeks his help in taking revenge on her parents' killers. His quest ends only after he has spilled the blood of a thousand!

Review of Trouble by Gary D. Schmidt

I couldn't wait to read this new book by the author of one of my favorite books, The Wednesday Wars (reviewed on Book Bits 11/7/2007), but it just didn't do it for me. I think the author was so wrapped up in the issue of racism, that the book became only a vehicle for a moralistic message, and writing style went out the window. It's alternately stilted and flowery, with these strange little cryptic italics sections at the ends of the chapters. Everything is so overlaid with heavy-handed meaning that there's no joy in reading it. Review by Stacy Church

Review of Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins

I found this book slow going at first, but I became completely engrossed as I kept reading. 16-year-old Asha is a top-notch tennis and cricket player who, since she "became a woman," has been forced by her family to adhere to the conventions of 1970's India and quit playing sports in public. Her freedom is curtailed even more when she, her older sister Reet, and her mother have to move in with her uncle's family in Calcutta while her father goes to America to look for a job. Her mother has slipped in and out of depression for as long as she can remember, and she and Reet will do almost anything to keep the depression at bay. Secret Keeper is what Asha calls her diary, and as she hides on the roof to write in it, she is observed by, befriended by, and eventually falls in love with the strange boy next door. I won't go into all of the plot twists that make up the story, but I was surprised by the ending. There is an author's note at the end of the book detailing the political situation in India at the time the story was set. Review by Stacy

Review of House of Clay by Naomi Nowak

This is a truly beautiful graphic novel. The story, on the other hand, is not so beautiful. Josephine, whose family used to be wealthy, must go to work in a sweatshop, House of Cotton, to earn enough money to go to nursing school. How she plans to be a nurse when she faints at the sight of blood, is unclear. A feeling of sadness and loneliness pervades the book, mostly through the watercolor, Art Nouveau-ish artwork. Josephine makes friends with a mute girl, who is in an abusive relationship with their boss. She makes another friend when she follows a little dog to the house of a fortuneteller, who, when she was younger, looked remarkably like Josephine. Beyond that, the story is pretty unclear. I enjoyed looking at each picture, even though I often had no idea what relevance it had to the story. Review by Stacy