Welcome to Gavaldon, a seemingly ordinary village surrounded on all sides by woods. But there is one part about this village that is out of the ordinary. Every four years, on the eleventh night of the eleventh month, two children are taken from their beds and spirited away. They are taken to the School for Good and Evil, where good children train at the School for Good to become princes and princesses, and where evil children train at the School for Evil to become villains and witches. One of the children is always kind and beautiful, while the other child is always ugly and odd. Sophie and Agatha are best friends, and they seem like the perfect pair to be taken this year. Sophie is the perfect candidate for Good, for she is 'kind' and beautiful, while Agatha is odd and ugly. But, when these two friends reach the school, Agatha is taken to Good, and Sophie is taken to Evil. Did the School Master make a terrible mistake... or was he right all along? In this entertaining story, Sophie and Agatha learn about love, hard work, friendship, and what it truly means to be good or evil. I loved, loved, loved, LOVED it, and once I started reading it I could never put it down. This is a great book to teach kids about staying true to themselves, and it has a great twist to the fairy tale stories that we all know and love. I highly recommend this to older elementary and middle school kids. Enjoy!

Welcome to Gavaldon, a seemingly ordinary village surrounded on all sides by woods. But there is one part about this village that is out of the ordinary. Every four years, on the eleventh night of the eleventh month, two children are taken from their beds and spirited away. They are taken to the School for Good and Evil, where good children train at the School for Good to become princes and princesses, and where evil children train at the School for Evil to become villains and witches. One of the children is always kind and beautiful, while the other child is always ugly and odd. Sophie and Agatha are best friends, and they seem like the perfect pair to be taken this year. Sophie is the perfect candidate for Good, for she is 'kind' and beautiful, while Agatha is odd and ugly. But, when these two friends reach the school, Agatha is taken to Good, and Sophie is taken to Evil. Did the School Master make a terrible mistake... or was he right all along? In this entertaining story, Sophie and Agatha learn about love, hard work, friendship, and what it truly means to be good or evil. I loved, loved, loved, LOVED it, and once I started reading it I could never put it down. This is a great book to teach kids about staying true to themselves, and it has a great twist to the fairy tale stories that we all know and love. I highly recommend this to older elementary and middle school kids. Enjoy!

Although Aru Shah goes to a private middle school, she doesn't fit in with all of her snobby rich classmates. Instead of flying to a far away vacation home for break, Aru is spending her break at the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture, which her mom curates. As an attempt to fit in, Aru constantly tells lies to impress people, about the clothes she wears, or where she is going for vacation. When three of Aru's classmates arrive at the museum to catch her in a lie about the cursed Lamp of Bharata, Aru had to either light the lamp, or face humiliation in front of her entire school. So she lights the lamp. But lighting the lamp unleashes the Sleeper, a demon who is determined to end all time. In order to stop the world from ending, Aru, her sister Mini, and a talking pigeon named Boo have to go on a wild journey through the Kingdom of Death. Will these heroes stop the Sleeper, or will everything they know and love disappear? Read this inspirational book to find out. I really enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to older elementary school age kids. This book has a great twist on Hindu mythology, and you learn a lot while reading it. It also conveys great themes, about friendship and makng the right choices. If you want to read an exciting and interesting fantasy story, this is the book for you!

Although Aru Shah goes to a private middle school, she doesn't fit in with all of her snobby rich classmates. Instead of flying to a far away vacation home for break, Aru is spending her break at the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture, which her mom curates. As an attempt to fit in, Aru constantly tells lies to impress people, about the clothes she wears, or where she is going for vacation. When three of Aru's classmates arrive at the museum to catch her in a lie about the cursed Lamp of Bharata, Aru had to either light the lamp, or face humiliation in front of her entire school. So she lights the lamp. But lighting the lamp unleashes the Sleeper, a demon who is determined to end all time. In order to stop the world from ending, Aru, her sister Mini, and a talking pigeon named Boo have to go on a wild journey through the Kingdom of Death. Will these heroes stop the Sleeper, or will everything they know and love disappear? Read this inspirational book to find out. I really enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to older elementary school age kids. This book has a great twist on Hindu mythology, and you learn a lot while reading it. It also conveys great themes, about friendship and makng the right choices. If you want to read an exciting and interesting fantasy story, this is the book for you!