Loki's Wolves by K. L. Armstrong

Looking for something to read that is similar to the Percy Jackson series?  Loki's Wolves may just be the right fit.  This first book of The Blackwell Pages series takes the reader on the beginning of a quest to save the world.  Ragnarok, the Norse end of days, is coming, and Matt Thorsen is named the champion who will save the world.  Unfortunately, if all legends hold true, he will die in the attempt.  What Matt does and who he gathers to help him save both the world and his own life is the heart of this fun and adventurous series. Based on Norse myths and gods, Loki's Wolves is a good read.  Watch for the second volume, Odin's Ravens.

One Came Home by Amy Timberlake

"A girl lost.  A body found. The truth buried."  In a small Wisconsin town in 1871, the greatest recorded nesting of passenger pigeons occurred.  When the birds are gone, so is Agatha Burkhardt.  When the sheriff goes looking for her, all he finds is a nearly unidentifiable body wearing a dress that she owned.  Although the family believes Agatha is dead, her sister Georgie refuses to accept the body as evidence and goes in search of Agatha herself.  Where her quest leads her and what she finds at the end of it is the heart of this story.  An incredibly well-written novel worthy of the Newbery Honor award it received, One Came Home is not for the struggling reader but would make a great shared reader with those who are more advanced.