Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schlitz

Clara Wintermute is speechless when she sees Gaspare Grisini's masterful puppetry at work. All she wants for her birthday is another puppet performance and her father, a wealthy doctor, grants her wish, not only because money is not a factor, but because Clara is his only living child, following the death of the other four due to cholera.

The big night comes at last and Clara is mesmerized not only by the act, but by the two orphans, Lizzie Rose and Parsefall, that help in the performance. When Clara goes missing the night of her birthday, the first thought is that she has run away with the children. However, there is something much darker at work than the children could ever fathom.

Grisini's  past is painstakingly shoveled to the surface along with other dark truths about Lizzie Rose and Parsefall's paths in the short time they have been on earth. The children are faced with uncertainty as they hastily leave London in search of a better life, but their destination is wrought with deception.

This book is a boiling cauldron of magical spells, deceit, and broken souls in search of something that will mend them. This book teeters between Junior and Teen Fiction, with a few choice words and higher vocabulary pushing it one way and the childish idea of puppets (though, it couldn't be further from childish) pushing it another.

"All the Wrong Questions: Who Could That Be at This Hour?," By Lemony Snicket

Who Could That Be at This Hour? is not only the title of the first book in Lemony Snicket's new series, All The Wrong Questions, but one of many questions that Snicket asks in his escapades while apprenticing as a detective. Theodora is the detective he is shadowing, even though she is far from being the best detective herself.

However, Snicket does his best to put the pieces together in a blooming mystery in the town of Stain'd by the Sea. This is not a normal town; with octopi producing ink and seaweed swaying in the wind, rather than the water. You see, Stain'd by the Sea was once underwater, but now that the water has gone, many of the sea characteristics have remained. This budding detective is also presented with an abnormal mystery. A wooden statue, known as the Bombinating Beast, has gone missing and it is not clear why so many people want it, where it has gone, and why it is so important.Snicket finds himself in a tearoom with machines churning, discovers a questionable friendship in a girl named Ellington, and finds solace from the murky mess in the library with the help of a leather clad librarian.

Lemony Snicket asks a lot of question, many that are left unanswered, but if you're asking yourself whether or not you should take the time to read this book, there is no doubt that the answer is "yes!" This book will keep you on the edge of your seat with the unknown, put a smile on your face with the the quirky friendships, and leave you wondering when the next book will come out. Hopefully, soon!

Three Times Lucky, by Sheila Turnage

Hurricanes swirl together water with land. Bottles, houses, cars and people churn together when the water comes ashore. During one such hurricane a baby washed downstream and into the arms of a man known simply as the Colonel. With no luck finding the girl's parents, the Colonel named her Moses, Mo for short, and raised her in Tupelo Landing with the help of many townspeople. Miss Lana is a cafe owner that will do anything for others and Dale Earnhardt Johnson III is Mo's car racing best friend.

Life is steady until Mr. Jesse is killed and a lawman comes into Tupelo Landing asking for answers and pointing fingers. Suddenly, all that is known is set adrift as Mo has to fight to find out the truth to save the only family she has ever known. 

This is an adventurous, yet heartwarming tale, with characters that fill the heart with their small town goodness and intertwining storylines that come together like rivers spilling into the ocean. While it is appropriate for 5th graders, it will be loved by all ages, genders, and lovers of various genres.