Episode 48 – The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Teen girl magically transported to a surreal land.  Killing the first person she meets she teams up with three strangers to kill again. – Rick Polito
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a book you think you know, but only slightly.  Dorothy a teen girl in turn of the century America is transported to the Land of Oz where she must find a way home.  Joining on the adventure is the Scarecrow, the Tinman, and the Cowardly Lion all of which want their own blessings from the all-powerful Wizard of Oz.  But know that the movie stops halfway through this classic tale.  There is so much more you have never heard.
Recommended Age:
All ages
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Jump in on our Next book and read along with us.

Looking for more books like The Wonderful Wizard of OZ check out or other Shows:
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Giver by Lois Lowry 

Episode 47 – Legend of Sleepy Hollow
In a sentence: Skinny dude with a funny name gets chased by a headless horseman and dies. Or runs away—unclear. The end. S
—Shmoop.com
Recommended Age: 15 for readability.  The content is clean but the archaic language would be difficult for younger readers.
 
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If you haven’t read it yet, get the book from Amazon and support the show!
Next Month we are reading the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, so pick it up now!
Looking for more books like The Legend of Sleepy Hollow?  Check out our other Show:
Dracula by Bram Stoker – Episode 40

Episode 46 – Percy Jackson
Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson is on the most dangerous quest of his life. With the help of a satyr and a daughter of Athena, Percy must journey across the United States to catch a thief who has stolen the original weapon of mass destruction — Zeus’ master bolt. Along the way, he must face a host of mythological enemies determined to stop him. Most of all, he must come to terms with a father he has never known, and an Oracle that has warned him of betrayal by a friend.
From The Author
Recommended Age:
10+ – Death discussed some middle grade violence
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If you haven’t read it yet, get the book from Amazon.

Get ahead and read our October book

Looking for more books like Percy Jackson check out or other Shows:
City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau – Episode 13
The Giver by Lois Lowry – Episode 17
Keeper of the Lost Cities – Episode 32

Episode 45 – Dodger By Terry Pratchett
Summary from the Guardian:
Dodger is a tosher who scavenges in the sewers and earns a living selling what he finds. All the poverty stricken people on the streets know him as a friend in times of need. But when he rescues a girl from a beating his life changes dramatically forever… Soon he becomes accidentally famous, discovers a dark plot against him, enters the world of the rich and learns the truth about the girl he rescued.
Recommended Age: 13
 
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Next month’s book is

Looking for more books like Dodger check out our other Shows:
The School for Good and Evil

Artemis Fowl
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes 

Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 451 tells of a future where books have been banned and entertainment is designed to dull the senses of the masses.  A fireman named Montag goes from burning books to discover what has been lost by his society.  He must make a choice of what he will do with his discovery and it could cost him everything.
What can I say, we love dystopian sci-fi books.  At almost 70 years old this book holds up almost too well as we see a vision of our own future.  Disconnected by their earbuds and their reality TV, this book serves as a warning of things possibly to come.
Listen to our discussion on Farhenheit 451 here on Reading Radio.
For the record Jason was not making up words:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/prescient
Recommended Age:
13+ based on the complexity of language and darkness of some topics covered.
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If you haven’t picked it up yet you can buy it here:

Next Months Book

Looking for more books like Fahrenheit  451  check out or other Shows:
Animal Farm – George Orwell – Episode 22
City of Ember – Jeanne DuPraul – Episode 13
The Knife of Never Letting Go – Patrick Ness –  Episode 36

Episode 43 – The Inheritance Games
In the Inheritance Games we learn that Avery Grambs has a plan for a better future: survive high school, win a scholarship, and get out. But her fortunes change in an instant when billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and leaves Avery virtually his entire fortune. The catch? Avery has no idea why — or even who Tobias Hawthorne is.
To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into a sprawling, secret passage-filled Hawthorne House, where every room bears the old man’s touch — and his love of puzzles, riddles, and codes. Unfortunately for Avery, Hawthorne House is also occupied by the family that Tobias Hawthorne just dispossessed. This includes the four Hawthorne grandsons: dangerous, magnetic, brilliant boys who grew up with every expectation that one day, they would inherit billions. Heir apparent Grayson Hawthorne is convinced that Avery must be a con artist, and he’s determined to take her down. His brother, Jameson, views her as their grandfather’s last hurrah: a twisted riddle, a puzzle to be solved. Caught in a world of wealth and privilege, with danger around every turn, Avery will have to play the game herself just to survive.
Recommended Age for The Inheritance Games: 13+

* Mild romantic content
* Inference and results of domestic violence
* Murder is always a possibility

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Looking for more books like The Inheritance Games?  Check out our other Shows:
Running Out Of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix – Episode 14
The Similars by Rebecca Hanover – Episode 41

Episode 42 – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

One Thursday lunchtime the Earth is unexpectedly demolished to make way for a new hyperspace bypass. For Arthur Dent, who has only just had his house demolished that morning, this seems already to be more than he can cope with. Sadly, however, the weekend has only just begun, and the galaxy is a very strange and startling place.

Recommended Age:
13+
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If you still need to pick up the book you can get it from Amazon, here
Our Next Book
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes – You can get it from amazon here
Looking for more books like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (as if there are any) check out our other Shows:
Mary Poppins

Episode 41 – The Similars
When six clones join Emmaline’s prestigious boarding school, she must confront the heartbreak of seeing her dead best friend’s face each day in class.
The Similars are all anyone can talk about at the elite Darkwood Academy. Who are these six clones? What are the odds that all of them would be Darkwood students? Who is the madman who broke the law to create them?
This book was a great rollercoaster ride.  Once you hit the top of the lift hill you are all set for a great thrill.
Recommended Age:
13+ due to some darker context
10+ based on vocabulary
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If you haven’t already you can buy THe Similars on Amazon
Next month we are reading The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy for our 42nd episode!
Get it and read it now!
Looking for more books like The Similars check out or other Shows:
Running out of time
Asgardian Exchange – Referenced in the show
Etiquette and Espionage – Referenced in the show

Dracula – Episode 40

Dracula represents our 4th year and our 40th show!  It has been wonderful to read and grow with all of you please continue to share us with your friends and form your own Reading Radio book clubs across the country.
Dracula is the classic gothic tale that made the vampire so famous.  Written in a unique format using journals and newspaper clippings you feel as if you are solving the mystery along with the main characters.
Join Jonathan Harker and Abraham Van Helsing as they try to solve the mystery of the original vampire before it is too late to save their beloved Madam Mina
Recommended Age:
15+ There is no explicit content but the language is this book is archaic as it was written in 1897.  It could be hard to physically read while the audiobook would make it much easier.
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Join us for our next book The Similars by Rebecca Hanover

Looking for more books like Dracula check out or other Shows:
Etiquette and Espionage
The Hobbit
 

Episode 39 – Dune by Frank Herbert
Here is the novel that will be forever considered a triumph of the imagination. Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Muad’Dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family — and would bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction.


About the Author
Frank Herbert is the bestselling author of the Dune saga. He was born in Tacoma, Washington, and educated at the University of Washington, Seattle. He worked a wide variety of jobs—including TV cameraman, radio commentator, oyster diver, jungle survival instructor, lay analyst, creative writing teacher, reporter and editor of several West Coast newspapers—before becoming a full-time writer.
In 1952, Herbert began publishing science fiction with “Looking for Something?” in Startling Stories. But his emergence as a writer of major stature did not occur until 1965, with the publication of Dune. Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse: Dune followed, completing the saga that the Chicago Tribune would call “one of the monuments of modern science fiction.” Herbert is also the author of some twenty other books, including The White Plague, The Dosadi Experiment, and Destination: Void. He died in 1986.

Recommended Age:
14+
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While you are there pick up Dracula for our October book!
Looking for more books like Dune? Check out or other Shows:
Shadow and Bone
The Hobbit

Episode 38 – Shadow and Bone
The Shadow Fold, a swathe of impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters that feast on human flesh, is slowly destroying the once-great nation of Ravka.
Alina, a pale, lonely orphan, discovers a unique power that thrusts her into the lavish world of the kingdom’s magical elite—the Grisha. Could she be the key to unraveling the dark fabric of the Shadow Fold and setting Ravka free?
The Darkling, a creature of seductive charm and terrifying power, is the leader of the Grisha. If Alina is to fulfill her destiny, she must discover how to unlock her gift and face up to her danger.
But what of Mal, Alina’s childhood best friend? As Alina contemplates her dazzling new future, why can’t she ever quite forget him?
Recommended Age:
14+
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Our Next book is Dune by Frank Herbert, the sci-fi classic.
 
Looking for more books like Shadow and Bone?  Check out or other Shows:
Keeper of the Lost cities
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

This show didn’t get nearly the love we thought it should.  If you didn’t read running out of time with us then please check it out, and give Margaret Peterson Haddix some love!

Season 3 has come to an end, but if you are looking for a great little classic book, you can’t go wrong with The Secret Garden.  We read the book this past season, both of us for the first time.
It is a coming-of-age story with a touch of magic set at the turn of the 20th century in the Yorkshire Moors.
For all the original show notes check here
You can get the book here at Amazon
 
From Goodreads:
“One of the most delightful and enduring classics of children’s literature, The Secret Garden by Victorian author Frances Hodgson Burnett has remained a firm favorite with children the world over ever since it made its first appearance. Initially published as a serial story in 1910 in The American Magazine, it was brought out in novel form in 1911.
The plot centers round Mary Lennox, a young English girl who returns to England from India, having suffered the immense trauma by losing both her parents in a cholera epidemic. However, her memories of her parents are not pleasant, as they were a selfish, neglectful and pleasure-seeking couple. Mary is given to the care of her uncle Archibald Craven, whom she has never met. She travels to his home, Misselthwaite Manor located in the gloomy Yorkshire, a vast change from the sunny and warm climate she was used to. When she arrives, she is a rude, stubborn and given to stormy temper tantrums. However, her nature undergoes a gradual transformation when she learns of the tragedies that have befallen her strict and disciplinarian uncle whom she earlier feared and despised. Once when he’s away from home, Mary discovers a charming walled garden which is always kept locked. The mystery deepens when she hears sounds of sobbing from somewhere within her uncle’s vast mansion. The kindly servants ignore her queries or pretend they haven’t heard, spiking Mary’s curiosity.”

Episode 37 – Rich Dad Poor Dad
Written in 1997 but updated for the newer times Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, is a book that teaches valuable lessons about money in ways that are easier to understand than your standard finance book.  Though this book is not intended for children at age 15 I had no problem understanding it and am almost positive a bit someone younger could understand as well. Jason and I found that this book was a good tool for bringing up questions we could talk about together. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to further their knowledge in finance and how money works.
 
Recommended Age: 13 and up
 
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Rich Dad Poor Dad
 Our next book is A Tale of Two Cities.
We’ve never done a non-fiction book before, we’d love to hear what you thought about it in the comments below.
In the mean time while we are off on summer break check out some of our previous shows…
The book that started Chaos Walking – The Knife of never letting go.
Or a classic like To Kill a Mocking Bird

Episode 36 – The Knife of Never Letting Go
The Knife of Never Letting Go is a science fiction book set in on a planet where every man’s thoughts are broadcasted out loud for anyone to hear, and it is impossible for secrets to be kept.  Young Todd Hewitt finds a place where there is no noise and discovers something he has never seen before a girl. After things go awry he has to go on the run to protect himself and the girl from a past he is yet to discover.
 
Recommended Age: 13 and up.
 
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Our next book is Rich Dad Poor Dad.
Looking for more books like The Knife of Never Letting Go check out our other Shows:
Game Changer By Margaret Peterson Haddix 
Hunger Games Episode 6

To Kill a Mocking Bird – Episode 35
To Kill a Mockingbird is the 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in 1960.
Told by the six-year-old Jean Louise Finch, known as Scout, the story takes place during three years (1933–35) of the Great Depression in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, the seat of Maycomb County. Nicknamed Scout, she lives with her older brother Jeremy, nicknamed Jem, and their widowed father Atticus, a middle-aged lawyer.  It is the story of Scout, her brother, Jem, and their small town.  The story revolves largely around Addicus’ defense of Tom Robins, an African-American, for the alleged rape of Mayella Ewell.  But the story is also full of small-town stories and wonderful characters.
Recommended Age:
Due to some of the racially charged topics and language of this book we suggest 14-15 to start this book.
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Our Next book is

Looking for more books like To Kill a Mockingbird? check out or other Shows:
Penderwicks
Secret Garden
Of Mice and Men
 
Transcript: (This was done by AI so it may not be 100% correct, just trying it out)
Alora
Hello, and welcome back to reading radio.
Alora
I’m Alora
Jason
and I’m Jason.
Alora
This month’s book is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This was one of the books chosen by our Facebook page. I think I have no idea I’m not allowed on it.
Jason
Yes, it was a top vote that remain for our Facebook groups polls for what books we should do. And that so it the topwas a topic. So we did. But before we jump into all that, you have a very important announcement.
Alora
I am being published again.
Jason
Yay. Tell us about it.
Alora
So I entered a writing competition through young writers, USA, it was a 100 word, short story. That was the limits. And the theme was trapped. And my story was chosen to be published.
Jason
Nice. And you didn’t tell us that you’re putting in for this? No, I didn’t. You just decided to surprise us.
Alora
Yes. And then I forgot about it. And my mom opened the letter and called me up and I completely forgot. And she used my name. And so I thought I was in trouble. And then she handed me the paper.
Jason
So I don’t even know. Okay, I was at work when this happened. You didn’t tell me this. I’m hearing this for the first time. So she opened your mail. Was it addressed to you or addressed to the parents?
Alora
I think it was addressed to me.
Jason
That’s a felony. We want us to take this part out. Oh, no. Anyway, so yeah. So she found out people you didn’t get a chance to tell her? Yes, she. So what inspired you to write the story?
Alora
I just saw it and I kind of had nothing else to do because it was in the midst of quarantines.

Episode 34 – Cadre Kids
The Cadre Kids is an adventure book where homeschooled ghost-hunting teenage twins Jake and Rosa are forced into the daunting world of public school. Where they must face the challenges that come along with it. Join in their adventures as they are thrust into a new world with new challenges.
An ambitious politician with an underlying nefarious agenda pushes for school choice but, it comes at a cost. Their mom instead of embracing the change fights the system thrusting the twin teenagers along with their older brother, Ted, into the public eye and national headlines. The good news is the teenagers test two grades above their age level. The bad news is being smart, they question everything drawing the ire of the Congressman’s Aide.
This is one of the first books where the author reached out to us. If you are an author of a young adult book let us know and if it is something up our alley we’d be glad to review it for Reading Radio.
Recommended Age: 11-12
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Get Cadre Kids on Amazon
Or check out our next book: To Kill A Mocking Bird 
Looking for more books like this one check out or other Shows:
Running Out Of Time – Margaret Peterson Haddix – Episode 14
Penderwicks
The Asgardian Exchange

Episode 33 – Of Mice and Men
Publishers summary:
Over seventy-five years since its first publication, Steinbeck’s tale of commitment, loneliness, hope, and loss remains one of America’s most widely read and taught novels. An unlikely pair, George and Lennie, two migrant workers in California during the Great Depression, grasp for their American Dream. They hustle work when they can, living a hand-to-mouth existence. For George and Lennie have a plan: to own an acre of land and a shack they can call their own. When they land jobs on a ranch in the Salinas Valley, the fulfillment of their dream seems to be within their grasp. But even George cannot guard Lennie from the provocations, nor predict the consequences of Lennie’s unswerving obedience to the things George taught him.
Recommended Age: 13 and up
This book has some serious tones several
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If you want to check out Of Mice and Men you can get it at amazon
Our next book is Cadre Kids
Looking for more books like Of Mice and Men check out or other Shows:
Animal Farm 
The Indian in the Cupboard 

Episode 32 – Keeper of the Lost Cities
This book follows the adventures of a 12-year girl named Sophie Foster who has the strange ability to read minds. Everything changes when a strange boy claims that he is an elf and that she is as well. He takes her to a world where she can finally belong.
Recommended Age: 8-101
 
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Our next book is Of Mice and Men. (Warning this book may not be suitable for some audiences)
Looking for more books like Keeper of the Lost Cities check out or other Shows:
The School for Good and Evil
 Percy Jackson, The Lightning Thief.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child 

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett – Episode 31
The Secret Garden is a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in book form in 1911, after serialization in The American Magazine (November 1910 – August 1911). Set in England, it is one of Burnett’s most popular novels and seen as a classic of English children’s literature.
The Secret Garden tells the story of Mary Lennox a sickly brat born to privilege as a British citizen in colonialized India and her transformation after her parents die in a plague.  Mary is sent to live with her uncle at Misselthwaite Manor on the Yorkshire Moors.  There she discovers that life is more than being waited on hand and foot as she begins to be changed by the Moor and the people she meets there, especially her equally bratty cousin Colin.
Recommended Age:
While the Secret Garden does not have much in the way of questionable content, Mary does have some very racist ideas about the natives of India and expresses them as a young lady would in 1911.  These topics could be offensive to some and should be addressed accordingly.  Additionally, the language, especially the Yorkshire may be harder for some readers to follow.
Read aloud 7+
Read along 10+
 
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You can find The Secret Garden on Amazon
Make sure you read the next book before next month’s release
Keeper of the Lost cities, our family has been binging the entire series it is amazing.
Looking for more books like The Secret Garden?
Check out or other Shows:
Penderwicks – Another character-driven genre story
Fever 1793 – A bit of historical fiction set in the middle of the Philadelphia Yellow Fever epidemic.