Raven's Gate by Anthony Horowitz

I am a great Anthony Horowitz fan, but until now hadn't read any of the Gatekeepers books. I have been "pestered" by a 6th grade boy to read the series. I started late Saturday night and could not put the book down.

Matt is the 14 year-old main character. His parents died in a tragic car crash...one that Matt foretold. For the past eight years he's been in and out of trouble. Finally he is "sentenced" to live with a very strange old woman on an isolated farm in Lesser Malling, England. She, along with the inhabitants of the town are witches. Matt is involved in a classic fight between the good and evil forces in the world. The Old Ones are ready to unleash evil from a gate beween our world and a strange circle of stones. Think Stonehenge. As Matt is laying on a stone slab, ready to have his heart cut out, his magical powers are realized. Read the book and be warned. There are more gates opening. Read Evil Star, Book 2 of the Gatekeepers!

Satch & Me

Do you like stories where people time travel? Dan Gutman writes books in the Baseball Card Adventure Series where people do just that! Thirteen-year-old "Stosh", Joe Stoshack, has the ability to travel back in time. In this adventure he and his baseball coach, Flip, travel to 1942 using a baseball postcard they purchased on eBay. They take along a modern-day device -- a radar gun. Hopefully the gun can be used to clock the speed of the famous Leroy "Satchel" Paige's throwing arm. Is he the fastest pitcher that ever lived? Some people say so.

This is also a good book to introduce you to the Negro Baseball League and the injustice that Black Americans faced in the 1940's. Good author -- good book!