I have been reading this series for a long time, so I had to push the latest and final installment of the story toward the top of my reading list.  Artemis Fowl began the series as a powerful, ultra-intelligent, billionaire super villain bent on world domination, and not just of the human world.  He kidnapped Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon Unit of the Fairy Police and held her prisoner for gold.  Since that first awkward meeting, Artemis and Holly have become friends and Artemis uses his massive genius to help Holly and the fairy folk out of some major jams that threaten to wreak havoc on both the fairy and human worlds.  In the eighth and final book of the series,  Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer (Lexile: 960; Interest Level: 5-8), Artemis, Holly, Butler, Foaly and Mulch face a showdown with the evil pixie Opal Koboi as she aims to kill off all of the humans of the world with a massive dose of magic.  Will they be able to reach Opal before she opens the final key?  If they do reach her, will they be able to stop her or have to stand by and witness the destruction of humankind?  The surprising twists of the plot throughout this story  will keep you on your toes wondering the answers to these questions until the very end!  (If you haven't read this series, start with the first and read them in order.  The first one is call

"All it takes is 8 seconds..." started the Barnes and Noble book review for Bull Rider by Suzanne Morgan Williams (Lexile: 650, Interest Level: Grades 3-6).  I understood that reference to the rodeo, but I didn't realize it also meant "...to get hooked into this book."  Wow!  

Cam O'Mara's family owns and runs a ranch in Utah.  And his grandfather, father, and older brother were all participants in the rodeo.  Fourteen-year-old Cam, however, prefers skateboarding.  But when Cam's brother Ben comes back from Iraq with severe injuries, Cam is prodded into trying bull-riding, and gets hooked on the adrenaline rush.  Although there is a lot of rodeo and sport in this book , the main story is about Cam trying to help his brother Ben come back from a depression caused by his experiences in Iraq.  In a rash move, Cam makes a bet with his brother that if he rides Ugly, a bull so tough that no one has ever ridden him, Ben will start trying to do what he can to move on and recover from his injuries.  To ride Ugly, Cam needs the support of his best friends, his grandparents, and a mysterious stranger in the stands; and he has to break a few rules.  Will it be worth it?  Will the scheme work?  Give this book a try for some real heart-wrenching, gut-twisting, adrenaline-pumping action!

Tanya has a difficult life because of the fairies.  She tries to tell people about them, and everyone, including her mother, thinks she is making it all up.  Then the fairies punish her for telling. Her mother decides to send her to stay with her grandmother at Elvesden Manor for the summer, but she never feels welcome at her grandmother's house.  Strange things happen around her this particular summer, including seeing a ghost in the woods, being given a compass that doesn't point north, discovering a strange girl in an underground cavern, and finding a special bracelet in her grandmother's library.  Her family history seems to be a story she is not allowed to know, and she doesn't understand why her grandmother seems to not want her.  The story gets really good when Tanya finally decides to tell Fabian about the fairies.  You should definitely read Thirteen Treasures by Michelle Harrison (Lexile: 770, Interest Level: Grades 4-6) if you like stories with lots of twists and turns.