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6 days ago | 
commonsensemedia.org | Maureen Johnson |Carrie R. Wheadon
age 14+ Clever murder mystery at truly hip, mature boarding school. Parents need to know that Truly Devious is the first book in a trilogy by the author of the Shades of London series. The story takes place at a school for gifted students in Vermont where a kidnapping and murder happened in the 1930s. In the present, a student is also found dead.
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Jan 31, 2025 | 
commonsensemedia.org | Carrie R. Wheadon
age 10+ Fourth Potter has brilliant plotting -- and dragons. Parents need to know that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the fourth book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series about an orphan boy at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Know right off the bat that a Hogwarts student dies in this one, and he's heavily mourned by fellow students and young readers alike.
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Jan 31, 2025 | 
commonsensemedia.org | Carrie R. Wheadon
age 11+ Emotionally powerful volume book mines Voldemort's past. Parents need to know that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series about an orphan boy at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Like Books 4 and 5, a major character dies at the end.
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Jan 31, 2025 | 
commonsensemedia.org | Carrie R. Wheadon
age 12+ Grim, gripping end to the biggest saga in history. Parents need to know that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the seventh and final book in J.K. Rowling's series about an orphan who discovers that he's a wizard tasked with saving the magical world from the evil Lord Voldemort. There have been major character deaths since Book 4.
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Jan 31, 2025 | 
commonsensemedia.org | Carrie R. Wheadon
age 9+ Third Potter is darker, more complex, and fantastic. Parents need to know that Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the third book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series about an orphan boy at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The series gets more layered and scarier from here on.
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Jan 31, 2025 | 
commonsensemedia.org | Carrie R. Wheadon
age 10+ J.K. Rowling mixes up a more intense brew in fifth book. Parents need to know that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the fifth book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series about an orphan boy at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As in Book 4, a major character dies at the end, but this time it's an adult and he's heavily mourned. Another adult is brutally attacked by a snake and almost dies.
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Jan 31, 2025 | 
commonsensemedia.org | Carrie R. Wheadon
age 8+ Potter sequel is a creature-packed page-turner. Parents need to know that Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series about an orphan boy at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
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Jan 29, 2025 | 
commonsensemedia.org | Carrie R. Wheadon
age 14+ Teen learns a dangerous dragon language in decent fantasy. Parents need to know that A Language of Dragons is a debut fantasy by A. F. Williamson set in an alternative version of 1923 England where humans and dragons coexist, but less peacefully by the day. Vivian is a linguist sent to decipher dragon speech with a secret team of university-aged students.
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Jan 21, 2025 | 
commonsensemedia.org | Carrie R. Wheadon
age 14+ Fierce friends battle mega monsters in very gory sequel. Parents need to know that Among Serpents is the second book in Above the Black, a thrilling and gory monster-hunter trilogy by debut author and middle school teacher Marc J. Gregson. This book is nearly 100 pages longer than the first, Sky's End, and super-sizes the gruesome fighting scenes, so it earned a rare 5-dot rating for violence.
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Jan 21, 2025 | 
commonsensemedia.org | Carrie R. Wheadon
age 14+ Stellar eco-message, too many characters, and lots of sex. Parents need to know that Laurie Forest's The Dryad Storm, the fifth and final book in The Black Witch Chronicles, is a mature fantasy read with a serious environmental activism bent. The series has always dissected ideas of prejudice.
