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  Rereading this while my Daughter dives in for the first time.. Solid teen fiction. Love that magic and science coexist in the Chrestomanci series. The entire series is a Multiverse theory primer for early teens. Cant go wrong with Diana Wynne Jones This novel follows an entire class of 6th graders at a boarding school for orphans of Witches. Users of magic are actively burnt at the stake and disappeared by the government. Sideways goes the story when on page one a note is passed to the teacher advising someone in the class is a Witch. Things get stranger when many of the class are accused and fear for their lives. Jones as always is just a spectacular writer and I wish Miyazaki would keep on trend and pick up yet another of her books for a new animation. --- for reference: Book cover from when I was a kid.

  I read this book back in the 80's. Bought it at Sears with my grandfather on my birthday. Always thought it was a great book. I read it several times over my middle grade years. Related, while an adult I read Harry Potter and enjoyed the universe. I always felt that it was a little referential to the Chrestomanci series, though the level of detail Rowling applied was insane. I just got done re-reading 'The lives of Christopher Chant' again.. Read it again because my daughter was reading by suggestion. I was just as enamored by the plot, the characters, and the arch of growth Chant experiences as the chapters fly by. I can tell my kid enjoyed the book as much as I did. I am proud to say my daughter and I just had a detailed theoretical discussion about how Harry Potter was heavily influenced by this series, and yet, because Voldemort only had himself +Horcruxes, he is still one 'soul' shy of 9, and if the universes are related (maybe Potterverse is world Twelve D o...

  Blake Crouch, Blakey Blakey Blakey. I really liked Dark Matter. Dark Matter has been on my TBR list for years. Since it's release in 2016, I have had friends telling me it is up my alley, that I would really dig it. I trusted them so I never read the back, it was just on the list. I would see it in book stores and say 'Oh Yeah! I need to read that.' This year, it actually entered my home. My wife ran into it, bought it, read it, handed it to me, and... It skipped the To Be Read Pile and just got CONSUMED. It was a fast and solid read. Light on deep quantum mechanic details but solid on describing what you need to grok to enjoy the book and screw with your head the right base amount. Reminded me of drunk 20-something nights slurring theories under the stars about the universe and concepts our inebriated brains believe we are speculative experts at, but are actually to afraid to scratch the surface of. Runonsentance. Twists and turns keep it fresh, which is nice since the f...