The Roman Mysteries - The Thieves of Ostia

by Caroline Lawrence




 Flavia Gemina is a 10 year old girl who lives in the ancient Roman town of Ostia. She and her father, Marcus Flavius Geminus, a well to do sailor, live by themselves with their two slaves. Flavia has a real skill for locating lost trinkets, and that skill will come in handy as the plot of the story unfolds.
Soon after meeting her new next door neighbors and becoming fast friends with a boy her age named  Jonathon, she finds her first real mystery.
 Dogs are being beheaded!
 She needs the help of her three new friends to solve the mystery: Jonathon, her next door neighbor; Lupus, a beggar boy with no tongue; and Nubia, Flavia's slave (whom she received as a birthday present).
 Can they stop these happenings? What is the reason for this, and most importantly who is behind this?
The answers will shock you!


 This is a must read for all who love a good mystery. With a lot of factual insight on ancient Roman life mixed with the tension of a good mystery, you really can't put the book down!




This book is suitable for advanced 7th graders and up.

Julie of the Wolves

By Jean Craighead George


 Miyax, known as Julie to her American pen pal Amy, is wed at age 13 to her father's friend's son Daniel. Miyax runs away headed towards San Francisco, where her friend Amy lives. But she soon gets lost in the arctic tundra with no food and not even a compass to guide her! She manages to survive by being excepted by a pack of arctic wolves led by a wolf she names Amaroq. Miyax learns to love them like family, but the time comes when she must leave the wilderness and choose between the old Eskimo ways or the new.

    
     The seals are scarce and the whales are almost gone.
     The spirits of the animals are passing away.
     Amaroq, Amaroq, you are my adopted father
     My feet dance because of you.
     My eyes see because of you.
    My mind thinks because of you, and it thinks, on this thundering night,
    That the hour of the wolf and the Eskimo is over.


 This book is suitable for 7th grade and up. There is one "questionable" part in the book, that needs the possible review of a parent.

Otto of the Silver Hand

by Howard Pyle

Manus argenta quam manus ferrea melior est

( A silver hand is better than an iron hand)    

 

 

 

A story of the harsh life of two rival robber Barons and one young boy named Otto. 

 Otto was the son of Baron Conrad of Drachenhausen, he was raised in St. Michaelsburg with the monks. Until one day when he was nearly twelve his father came to take him home. Not long after returning home, Baron Conrad left with most his men to pay homage to the new emperor of Germany. While he is away the Baron Henry of Trutz-Drachen destroys the castle taking little Otto with him. Otto learns that he is to pay a score for the deed that his father did to Baron Henry's father. So showing no mercy, the Baron cuts the lads right hand off!


 This story is moving with an underlying thread of romance and old English narration. While you read this book it's almost as if you are there in Medieval times!


   This book is suitable for 8th grade and up.