THE LOST WONDERLAND DIARIES by J. Scott Savage

Something monstrous wants to exit Wonderland and enter the real world.

Lewis Carroll, author of the classic book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, secretly recorded the true story of his actual travels to Wonderland in four journals which have been lost to the world . . . until now.

Celia and Tyrus discover the legendary Lost Diaries of Wonderland and fall into a portal that pulls them into the same fantasy world as the White Rabbit and the Mad Hatter. However, Wonderland has vastly changed. Some of the characters that Tyrus remembers from the book have been transformed into angry monsters.

Helped by the Cheshire Cat and a new character, Sylvan, a young rabbit, Celia and Tyrus desperately work to solve puzzles and riddles, looking for a way out of Wonderland. But the danger increases when the Queen of Hearts begins hunting them, believing the two young visitors hold the key to opening multiple portals to multiple worlds, and she will stop at nothing to capture them.

Will the crazed creatures of Wonderland escape into the real world? Can Celia and Tyrus stop them and save both worlds? Or will they be trapped in Wonderland forever? 

Opening line:

"Is it time?"

What a funny, strange, laugh-out-loud ride in a fantasy world created by Carroll and Savage! Celia and Tyrus are thrust into the iconic world of Wonderland, thanks to one of Carroll's lost diaries. Tyrus is a reader, loves imagination, and understands the world. Celia loves math and logic and not reading since she has dyslexia. 

I LOVED all the different areas of Wonderland the two characters had to get through by solving puzzles. I LOVED the puzzles! Except the math ones, which went over my head but that doesn't mean I'm not logical. haha! 

I believe any reader, young or mature, would love this book. It's compelling, smart and intriguing. 

I have a couple of favorite quotes from the book:

""Now then," Judge Dodo said, "having heard the evidence, it is my duty to inform you that, should you be found guilty, you are subject to swift and just punishment up to and including name-calling, hair-pulling, button-pushing and being forced to listen to bad karaoke.""

I had to reread that part a couple of times and I laughed every time. 

""I don't read books because I have to," he said, in a stunned voice. "I read them because I want to." 

LOVE IT!

And one last one, which is my favorite and sums up this book loverliest:

 

Thank you to netgalley and Shadow Mountain for the early read!

Stu Stories: The Adventures of Dirt Clod and His Sidekick Bird Bones by Patrick Hueller SPOTLIGHT!

 You know you want to read this book! Look at this cover! Read the description! Then look at the author picture! 
(Yes, I used a lot of exclamation points. Middle grade books do that!).

Book Summary: Stu Sanderson is no ordinary eighth-grader. Almost seven feet tall, he vanishes into thin air, duels knights with ninja stealth, lifts the downtrodden, and woos the coolest, best-calved girl in school. Become a middle-grade legend with Stu and his sidekick, Bird Bones, on the journey of a lifetime in Stu Stories.

Blurbs:
“Stu and Bird Bones’ adventures are hilarious, sometimes horrifying, and definitely legendary. This book hits on pretty much every topic I cared about when I was a kid (love, Jedis, severed legs, etc.).” —Geoff Herbach, author of Fat Boy vs. the Cheerleaders

“Really fun . . . has tones of Wayside School and Maniac Magee and How Angel Peterson Got His Name.” —Kurtis Scaletta, author of Mudville

 “Stu Stories captures eighth grade life in its finest and wackiest form. A fun-filled zany ride!” —Frank Cole, author of The Afterlife Academy

"“Because I’m Patrick ‘Bird Bones’ Hueller’s brother, people ask me, ‘Did everything in Stu Stories really happen?’ But enough about Patrick. Let’s get back to talking about me.” —Andy Hueller, author of Skipping Stones at the Center of the Earth and other amazing books

 “The more legendary this book becomes, the more legendary I become.” —Stu




Patrick Hueller has an MFA from the University of Minnesota. Through various pen names, he has written several YA and MG novels. Foul, a sports-horror story written under the name Paul Hoblin, was described by Booklist as “the strongest entry yet in the Night Fall collection” and “unbearably tense.” The Beast (also as Paul Hoblin) was a School Library Journal selection. His most recent titles include Wolf High and The Wish (as P.W. Hueller), both of which made SLJ’s list of “Accessible Reads for Struggling Reluctant Readers.” His work is included in several anthologies, including Fright Before Christmas and Love and Profanity: A Collection of True, Tortured, Wild, Hilarious, Concise and Intense Tales of Teenage Life.

Mr. Hueller is a writing instructor at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. Check out more of his and Stu’s thoughts on Twitter (@callmebirdbones). To contact Patrick you can visit his author website: www.patrickhueller.com. (Stu's a little harder to track down.)