Penumbras by Braden Bell

Conner, Lexa, and Melanie are back! Just when they think life is normal again, a dangerous shadow creature begins to hunt them. The trio must develop their powers in order to conquer this new peril and protect their school. Filled with action and even more magic, this book continues the exciting adventure in the Middle School Magic series.

My review:

5 stars

I LOVE this book. I LOVE the characters. I LOVE the magic system. I LOVE the message that's woven into this exciting and fun story about friendship, love, and discovery.

Penumbras is an engaging read for everyone. It targets middle-school readers, but I found myself cheering for the characters. It also has some tender scenes that made me teary, especially at the end.

There's plenty of action and some intense scenes as well, but I loved the relationships between the characters and their growth.

Bell is a master storyteller and the depth of this story is amazing. Those who love a great story with realistic, layered characters will want to read this one because it's so captivating. 

You can learn more about Braden Bell here.

You can purchase Penumbras here.

The Kindling by Braden Bell

From the back cover:

Loud shrieks sliced the air, followed by the smell of burning cloth. Conner looked over in time to see Geoffrey jumping up and down, yelling and shrieking. Smoke poured from the seat of his shorts while blue and yellow sparks snap-crackle-and-popped all around the heater.


All thirteen-year-old Connor Dell wants to do is pass pre-algebra, play lacrosse, and possibly kiss Melanie Stephens. He didn’t mean to set anyone’s gym shorts on fire or make school lunches explode. But now that the strange powers inside him have been ignited, Connor’s normal teenage life is about to go up in flames!

***

Homework? Of course. Crushes? Sure. But who knew seventh grade included superpowers?

LOVE this book! Great story filled with plenty of humor, realistic characters, and a great battle scene. Bell has an incredible imagination that he's used to create an unforgettable story about three friends who discover they have powers. Powers they will need to use to defeat some pretty nasty bad guys.

The story is entertaining  from start to finish and Bell's beautiful writing style makes for a smooth read. I highly recommend this book to anyone, kids and adults. It's funny, poignant, clean, imaginative. I really enjoyed the characters, all of them. They each have distinctive voices. I love the relationships between them as well.

And I love the message that good truimphs over evil. It's subtly and naturally woven into the story.

You can watch book trailers here: http://youtu.be/2_tokouvPUM, http://youtu.be/JznT4wGkfUc, http://youtu.be/cDNxWvZua7Q

You can learn more about the author at www.bradenbell.com.

You can purchase The Kindling at Amazon.