Maximum Ride

Author:  James Patterson
Rating:  4
Summary:  A group of children has grown up all their lives being experimented on, because of their unique abilities- they are 2% avian.  Fortunately, the children escaped from their captors, and have been living alone in the middle of nowhere for six years.  But, now the scientists in white lab coats have found them again, and have concoted a plan to get them back.  The rest of the series, is what follows.
Note:  I am going to be honest with you- I never read past the first book.  I can't really tell you what goes on in the books passed The Angel Experiment, but I know that my twelve year old friend read them, so I just don't know.  Make your call, I'm sure there are other sites that have a more thorough review than mine.
Violence and gore:  These children were experimented on for their childhoods, and Max- the main character- does reflect back on those experiments a few times.
Sexual content:  There is a romance brewing between Max (Max is a girl.  The scientists named her Maximum, for certain reasons, and she likes to be called Max) and Fang.
Language:  There is the occasional 'd' word- much more occasional than others book
Morals:  These kids are very brave, and are great examples of surviving hard times
                                    Girls, 13-14 years old, science fiction

The Staff and the Sword

Author:  Patrick W. Carr (christian author)
Rating:  3.5
Summary:  The Fate of the Kingdom Awaits the Cast of Stones 
In the backwater village of Callowford, roustabout Errol Stone is enlisted by a church messenger arriving with urgent missives for the hermit priest in the hills. Eager for coin, Errol agrees to what he thinks will be an easy task, but soon finds himself hunted by deadly assassins. Forced to flee with the priest and a small band of travelers, Errol soon learns he's joined a quest that could change the fate of his kingdom. 
Protected for millennia by the heirs of the first king, the kingdom's dynasty nears its end and the selection of the new king begins--but in secret and shadow. As danger mounts, Errol must leave behind the stains and griefs of the past, learn to fight, and discover who is hunting him and his companions and how far they will go to stop the reading of the stones. 

Alcohol:  The main character is an alcoholic, but by the end he has overcome his addiction

Morals:  This series addresses the problem of addiction, and overcoming it through the help of friends and God.  It deals with grief, and regret, and through all this the main character perseveres ahead towards his goal.

                           Boys, 15-18 years old, fantasy

The Missing

Author:  Margaret Peterson Haddix
Rating:  5
Summary:  Thirteen-year-old Jonah has always known that he was adopted, and he's never thought it was any big deal. Then he and a new friend, Chip, who's also adopted, begin receiving mysterious letters. The first one says, "You are one of the missing." The second one says, "Beware! They're coming back to get you."
Catholicism:  In the second book, Sent, catholicism is discussed by a king, and the kids discuss it later in the book.  However, this is not Christian book, and they seemed to agree with the beliefs of catholics.  
Morals:  What would you do to find your family?  What is family?  These are all questions the series asks, and answers.  Does the family we come from identify us?
                 Neutral, 9-12 years old, sci-fi

Left Behind

Author:  Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye (christian authors)
Rating:  4
Summary:  An airborne Boeing 747 is headed to London when, without any warning, passengers mysteriously disappear from their seats. Terror and chaos slowly spread not only through the plane but also worldwide as unusual events continue to unfold. For those who have been left behind, the apocalypse has just begun.
In one shocking moment millions around the globe disappear. Those left behind face an uncertain future—especially four kids who now find themselves alone.
As the kids search for help and for answers, they are told the truth behind the disappearances. But are they ready to believe it?
The tribulation:  Both of these series takes place during the tribulation, so this is a great time to discuss Revelation.
Morals:  If you're trying to explain the end times to children, this is a great series to use as a tool.  It doesn't skip anything, and follows the bible very well.  It teaches how we can lean on God for strength through suffering, loss, and pain, and even in the good times.  
Note:  This is two different series.  The first one is the series for adults, and the second one is for children.
                   Family, 9-14 years old, dystopian

Percy Jackson

Author:  Rick Riordan

Rating:  4

Summary:  Percy Jackson is an ordinary kid, until one day he finds out that he's the son of a greek god.  He's the son of Poseidon, and he was prophesied about.  His destiny is to die.  But not quite yet, it's not for another five years until he has to face his destiny, and until then, he saves the world a million times.

           Violence and gore:   Almost every single fantasy book will have a violence and gore parent alert on it, because there's swords a lot of the time, and people are stabbed.  Percy kills several monsters, but that's it.  A girl dies inside of a robot, and another girl is stabbed.

           Greek gods:  Yes, there are greek gods.  In the very beginning of the series they clearly state, that these gods, is not the God, they are gods.  In my opinion, I think if your child is aware that this world is purely fictional- based off of legends from a thousand years ago, then it's fine.  But that's just my opinion.

           Morals:  From Percy, and his friends, I learned about bravery, friendship, and love.  I learned about the weaknesses we humans have, and that we need to know them, so that we can do our best to fix them.

Note: This series is a huge saga that spans over five series- Percy Jackson, The Kane Chronicles, Heroes of Olympus, Trials of Apollo, and Magnus Chase. They all deal with some ancient gods- norse gods, greek gods, egyptian gods, and roman gods. They also all have violence and gore, just like in Percy Jackson, and in Magnus Chase the 'd' word is said occasionally. Also, in Heroes of Olympus and Trials of Apollo there is a gay character and relationship. In The KAne Chronicles, the powers that the children have are referred to as magic, and they're not called demigods, they're called wizards.

Boys, 9-12 years old, fantasy

Princess Academy

Author:  Shannon Hale

Rating:  4

Summary:  Princess Academy is a trilogy which starts off with a young girl named Miri.  Traders from the Lowlands are arriving at her mountain for goods, and a message.  The priests have declared that the prince's future bride will be found on the mountain.  Every girl from twelve to seventeen is required to come to an academy, and train to be princesses for a year.  After a year, the prince will come and choose a bride.  Miri is one of the girls sent to the academy, and the plot of the first book begins.

  Palace of Stone begins, again, on the mountaintop, a year later.  Miri is getting ready to travel down to the Lowlands so that she can be a lady-in-waiting for Britta, and become a scholar.  When she gets to the Lowlands, she finds out that trouble is brewing amidst the capital's peoples, and Miri has to choose a side, before she is killed.

The Forgotten Sisters starts a year after the beginning of Palace of Stone.  Miri is starting her journey back up to the mountain, when she is recruited by the king and queen to go into the jungle, and train three royal sisters to be princess-like.

           Violence and gore:  Someone is shot in the stomach in Palace of Stone.

           Magic:  It is never called magic in the books, but there is a powerful telepathic linder that Miri finds, and learns how to manipulate in the series.  It can help others communicate from long distances, make you empathetic towards another person, and it stores memories inside the stone.

           Morals:  This book is not written by a Christian author.  This series was educational as well as thought provoking for me.  Throughout the series, it mentions different tools to use for debate, philosophy, critical thinking, and psychology.  It presents a question of, how important are our minds and opinions to society?  Also, a question is presented to Miri in Palace of Stone, that can be discussed between parent and child.  Here is the passage:

  "Now, imagine the Queens Castle catches fire.  Besides yourself, there is only one other person in the building- a confessed murderer of a child, chained in the dungeon.  If you save the murderer, he will not harm you but will live the remainder of his life in another prison, and the painting will burn.  If you save the painting, the man will burn.  Which would you choose- the murderer or the painting?"

  Miri goes through some trials, but by the end, she chooses her answer, which made me stop for a moment.  Her answer was that she would find a way to save both.  Somehow, someway, she would find a way to save both, because both are of value to her, and she knows that she as the ability to.  There is always a third option.

Girl, 6-8 years old, fantasy

The Veritas Project

Author: Frank Peretti (christian author)

Rating: 4

Summary:  The Veritas Project has two books- Hangman's Curse, and Nightmare Academy.  Hangman's Curse is about high school being haunted by a hundred year old ghost, who is injuring high school students.  In order to find out the truth, teen agents- Elijah and Elisha- go undercover, and are revealed to the ghost story.  Elijah befriends a troubled gothic teen, who wishes death for the people who bully him.  Elisha befriends a nerdy boy, who is also being bullied, but he is much more mild mannered about it.  Later, you find out that the nerdy kid has been tricking every single person in the school to believe there's a ghost, by using the venom of a spider to make people hallucinate.

  Elijah and Elisha go back undercover in Nightmare Academy, to visit a safe house for runaway kids called, Knightmoore Academy.  There they find that the kids are being brainwashed to think a certain way, and they have to fight to not be caught up in it.  By the end of the book, they find out that the teachers for the Academy are planning to blow up the place, and then take their curriculum to the rest of the world.  Elijah and Elisha eventually stop it, and free all of the kids.

           Violence and gore:  In Hangman's Curse there are teens hallucinating, and in some copies of the book, there is a picture of what the hallucinating kids see.  It is the ghost of a kid who hung himself, and after seeing that picture, I was too scared to put the book down.  My suggestion is that you don't let your kid read the version with the pictures unless you think they can.  In Nightmare Academy, two fights occur, but neither of them are very gory.

           Morals:  Hangman's Curse deals with the effects of bullying, and how we should respond to it.  Nightmare Academy deals with the modern education system, where they tell you to believe something, and expect you to believe it, because they said it was true.  Also, Elijah and Elisha are constantly pointing those around them back to God, and are examples of how we should be loving to everyone around us.  They show how to love through actions, and not just words.

Neutral, 9-12 years old, horror