Fantasy books to keep youth in Waterloo region reading all summer

Interstellar Cinderella by Deborah Underwoodis a fairytale re-telling with a futuristic twist! Take an old story, place it ina new, intergalactic world and you're left with a modern story about a millennial girl.

Once upona time,Cinderella lived on a planetoid amid rockets and robots and mice named Murgatroyd. Thislyrical, rhyming text is a perfect read-aloud story and this little mechanic will warm your heart.

When the Prince's rocket ship crashes, Cinderella makes a speedy repair and zooms away, muchto the chagrin of the smitten Prince. Luckily, Cinderella has left her socket wrench behind and thePrince searches the land for the girl who can fix his prize ship once again. In a cheeky move, andagainst typical fairytale rules, when asked for her hand in marriage, Cinderella thinks it overcarefully before exclaiming, "I'm far too young for marriage, I'll be your chief mechanic!"

Interstellar Cinderella has more charm than a Disney princess and doesn't need rescuing, thankyou very much!

Beyond the Pondby JosephKuefleris a charming story about life underneath the surface.

Even the cover designhints at things beyond what they seem; a little boy looks down into a forest pond, to see theshadowy movement of fish and more fish and sharks and a squid?

This intrepid little boy andhis dog gather their explorer supplies and dive down into its depths. Opening out like the insideof a Tardis, he explores sunken ships, a land with dinosaurs, a place with birds big enough tohitch a ride on, eventually arriving safely back at home.

Beyond the Pond is a simple story butdon't miss the message at its heartthere is absolutely no limit to the imagination!You'll never meander past a simple pond again without wondering if it really isn't bottomless.

Ages 9-12

An easy way to convince a kid to read is tell them their book contains a traveling circus on atrain. Add a missing person, a fearless tightrope walker, a fast-paced plot and Sasquatchesand you've got it in the bag.

The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel is one of those books you wish will be published every year.

PartMurder on the Orient Expressand partSeries of Unfortunate Events,Oppelalso weaves strong cords of Canadian history into this tale.

Follow Will as he boards TheBoundless on its maiden voyage across the continent and learn about Indigenous Canadianhistory, how the Canadian Pacific Railroad was built, and the dark and magical creatures inCanadian folklore.

But this isn't The Magic School Bus; The Boundless is ensorcelled inCanadiana but avoids becoming a history textbook. This is high caliber adventure where the onlything more suspenseful about being onboard is what happens off the tracks.

The Boundless is a great pick for a family read-aloud or family book club, appealing to both kidsand adults alike.

Ages 13-15

You can count on one hand the amount of fantasy novels set in Canadian cities such as Torontoand Hamilton, making reference to well-known landmarks like the CN Tower and the QEW.

There is something about fantasy that usually wants to fling us to remote locations.

Not so with E. K. Johnston'sThe Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim, which is firmly grounded in a small town in Ontario and incorporates major world events into the alternate history of dragons in Canada.

Owen is training as a dragon slayer from a long line of dragon slayers when he meets Siobhan, who becomes his Bard. It's through her darkly comic narration that we get to know the history of dragon slaying and how dragons came to love the taste of fossil fuels.

Siobhan's voice is atestament to the power of storytelling and ultimately how legends and folklore are made.

Fantasy fiction has always had dragons on the mind but The Story of Owen is a new twist on anold taleabsolutely enveloping.

Ages 16 and up

Much has been written in the dystopian genre, but The Scorpion Rules blows that out of the water.

Forced to live as royal hostages, the children of the world's leaders are summarily executed if their parents declare war on another Nation. Idealized as instituting world peace, this new system has been ushered in by a truly mysterious agent who sends the royal children to a school for future leaders.

The Scorpion Rules is markedly different than any other teen dystopian story in its sophisticated world-building. Intricate political insight and thought has gone into imagining the full consequences of this future "utopian" vision. The result is a seat-of-the-pants adventure with so many twists and turns to count.

MandyBrouse, the co-owner of Words Worth Books in Waterloo, is writing a series of columns this summer with book suggestions to keep children and teens reading.