Cryptid Hunters and Tentacles

Cryptid Hunters is the first book in this series. Until Roland Smith wrote Tentacles, no one knew that it was a series. And he has done it again. Like his other books, Tentacles is action-packed.

In Cryptid Hunters, brother and sister Grace and Marty travel to the Congo with their uncle in search of a dinosaur. There are bad guys galore and staying alive in the jungle is not easy. Marty and Grace find that things are not what they seem and people are not whom they appear to be.

In Tentacles, the setting is the ocean. Marty and Grace are in search of a giant squid. Inventors with amazing new technology, really bad guys (and I mean really, really bad), and clever heroes make this book just as exciting and full of adventure as the first. There is also the distinct possibility (probability) that there will be another book in this series. I hope it doesn't take as long to write as Tentacles did!

The Roar by Emma Clayton

The Roar, by Emma Clayton, is a book I couldn't put down. It takes place in the future in a world without animals. Everyone lives behind a concrete wall build to keep out the plague-crazed animals. The world outside the wall is dry and barren and dangerous because of the plague virus.

Because the whole world is living behind a wall in the northern hemisphere, there is not enough space for everyone. No one is allowed to have children for 30 years, and the poorer people must live in a dark, damp layer while the rich live above and get fresh air and sunlight.

The contrast between the haves and the have-nots is well developed and could lead to a classroom discussion about class structure in different cultures, including this futuristic one.

Into this world we meet Mika, whose twin sister disappeared a year ago. Mika refuses to believe she is dead--he would KNOW if she were--and decided to find her. He must first discover THE SECRET.

The story is told in alternating voices--both Mika and his sister's. There-- I told you that his sister IS still alive. But that's not giving anything away. Read it to find out if they ever get together and what secret she knows--to her peril.

This book grabs you from the first page. I just want to know when the sequel will be out. Also, strangely, it seems to have been published in paperback in UK before hardcover.