The first installment, The Wild, begins with 17-year-old Jack heading to the Yukon to look for gold. Thrilled by the prospect of getting rich as well as the challenge of pitting himself against the extreme Alaskan weather, Jack's ready for the adventure. Even when his brother-in-law, an older man with a bad heart, turns back, he continues undaunted. Despite his vow to trust no one, Jack hooks up with two newbie prospectors, who soon become his best friends. The trio make an unlikely group - Merritt Sloper's a 25-year-old stonemason, Jim Goodman's a 22-year-old schoolteacher, and Jack's a young scrapper with a hot temper - but they're still alive. Which is more than they can say for a lot of their comrades.

Jack attributes the group's success to blind luck and grim determination, but when he's rescued from a desperate situation by an animal straight out of a fairy tale, he's forced to admit that he's got some otherworldly support. A good thing, since not all of the enemies he's battling out in the wild are human. He's seen the evil men embrace out in the lawless north and he's seen ... other things. The only question that remains is: Will he make it out of the Yukon alive?

I don't read a lot of Man vs. Nature type books, so I wasn't sure this one would strike my fancy, but guess what? It totally did. Not only is the book well-written, but it's surprising and engrossing, even funny in parts. Vivid illustrations by Greg Ruth add even more suspense to the tale. I liked The Wild so much more than I thought I would. And I'm a 30 (ish) woman - I imagine teenage boys would find the story especially compelling. The Sea Wolves, the next installment in the series, comes out in February and I can hardly wait. So inspired am I that I might even re-read Call of the Wild. How's that for enthusiasm? Well, what can I say? Judging from the first book, this series deserves it.

(Readalikes: It's been a long time since I read Call of the Wild or White Fang, but I assume both have some similarities to this story.)

Grade: B

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for language (no F-bombs), violence and mild sexual innuendo

To the FTC, with love: I received an ARC of The Wild from the generous folks at HarperTeen. Thank you!

In case you need a refresher, And Then There Were None begins with ten strangers arriving at an imposing mansion on a remote island off England's Devon coast. Although all have been invited by a "U.N. Owen," none of the guests have actually met their host. Even the estate's staff, a married couple charged with cooking, cleaning, and serving food, has never encountered Owen face-to-face. It's a curious situation, one that makes more than one guest a little uneasy.

Even though Halloween's over, I still have a few treats up my sleeve. Mostly they're treats for me, but still, I thought I'd share. I'm just generous that way :)

-- First off, I have a winner to announce. Pam, you won copies of all three books in the Iron Elves series by Chris Evans. Congratulations! If you'll shoot me an email (blogginboutbooks AT gmail DOT COM) with your mailing address, I'll pass it onto the author's publicist so she can get your books to you.

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest. I'll be having more giveaways, including a big one to celebrate my 1000th post - when I reach that milestone, of course (this post is #951). So, definitely stay tuned.

-- Secondly, I thought you might like to see my new license plate. I totally love it, especially the Q's, which look like little googly eyes. Anybody else have a bookish plate? They're so fun!

-- Thirdly, I wanted to give a big shout-out to my (kinda) local indie bookstore, Changing Hands. Since it's about a 30-minute drive from my house, I don't go there that often, but when I do, I'm always impressed by the place. They have a HUGE selection of new and used books and the booksellers there are so helpful and friendly. Case in point: CH has a promotion going on where you get a $10 gift card to their store when you purchase a one-year subscription to the Arizona Republic. Since I'm big into coupons, I wanted another copy of the paper anyway, and this seemed like the perfect time to order it. So, I did. My extra paper came right away, but I didn't hear anything about the gift card. When I still hadn't heard anything after a week, I emailed the folks over at CH. Soon, I got an email back apologizing for the mix-up and offering me a $15 gift card for my trouble. Nice, right? CH also has a rewards program and they give you a discount during your birthday month. Plus, the Wildflower Bread Company store/restaurant is right next door, so the bookstore smells amazing! There are so many reasons to check Changing Hands out - if you're in the Tempe area, stop in. You'll love it.

I took my 9-year-old daughter with me on this excursion. Neither of us can resist a bookstore. She was super excited to find some old American Girl books and at bargain prices, too. Since she was making such frugal choices, I wandered over to the new releases section and found these two titles:

I've been really excited about When She Woke by Hillary Jordan ever since I first read about it. A dystopian Scarlet Letter-ish story? Yes, please! Cannot wait to read this one. And the book's signed by the author to boot. Insert happy dance here.

I'd never heard of Those Across the River by Christopher Beuhlman until I saw it in the store, but it looks really good, too. Creepy. I probably should have read it before Halloween. Oh well.

-- Speaking of things I should have done before Halloween, I have a Cooking the Books post for you that I'm going to publish today (with an earlier date on it, though, so it looks like I did it when I was supposed to). It's for Whoopie Pies and it'll go up right before my review of Pumpkin Roll by Josi Kilpack, since that's the book it came out of ('kay, the recipe is now up. Click here). Even if you're not interested in Whoopie Pies (which you should be because they're rich and chocolatey and just yummy), you might want to check out the post about Pumpkin Roll. Josi's running a giveaway for an iPad 2 that ends today. You can get extra entries by commenting on my review of Pumpkin Roll. So, if that interests you (and why wouldn't it?), click here for all the details.

-- Okay, that's it. I'm going to be working on catching up on everything today - reviews, reading, laundry, ironing, coupons, dusting, mopping, etc. Gah! I can't believe it's November already. Where did 2011 go?

An already hopeless situation takes a turn for the worse when the kids' plane makes a weird detour. One glance at the taxi waiting to whisk them away from the airport - it's pink with white feathery wings - tells Finn they're not in Denver. Where they are is Falling Bird, a strange in-between world unlike any place they've ever been before. They're welcomed into the city like celebrities, showered with lavish gifts, and encouraged to stay forever. Finn's never been so admired. Falling Bird is the perfect home ... until it starts feeling like a prison. The longer Finn stays in this odd, alternative universe, the more he's convinced he needs to leave. The only problem is convincing his sisters. And escaping. And finding his way home, wherever that is. Impossible? Probably, but Finn has to try. Or risk losing everything he holds dear.

No Passengers Beyond This Point, a new middle-grade novel by Gennifer Choldenko, takes readers for a nail-biting, reality-twisting, thought-provoking ride that proves no matter how harsh it may be, there are things in our world worth fighting for. The characters made me laugh, the story made me think, and Finn's determination to save his family made me cheer. Maybe I didn't like this one quite as much as Choldenko's Al Capone books (She's working on the third one, by the way), but I still enjoyed the story. And I'm always impressed when an author can get her point across in a creative, understated way. Choldenko does that. Just one of the many reasons why I love her. Even though it isn't my favorite of Choldenko's books, I still recommend No Passengers Beyond This Point to anyone with a hankering for a little out-of-this world adventure. It won't disappoint.

(Readalikes: The story reminded me a little of A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, Coraline by Neil Gaiman, Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin, and Everlost by Neal Shusterman; the relationship between Finn and Mouse reminded me of that between Moose and Natalie from Choldenko's Alcatraz series [Al Capone Does My Shirts; Al Capone Shines My Shoes])

Grade: B

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for some intense action scenes

To the FTC, with love: I bought No Passengers Beyond This Point at a school book fair with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger. Ha ha.