(3) 4-6 Secrets of the Pied Piper series. Max and her friends are back on the Summer Isle, searching for her younger brother Carter, who has teamed up with their former enemy, the Piper, to learn magic. Can they unite to defeat the evil Grannie Yaga? Cody treats Carter's mobility impairment with nuance and partially subverts the unfortunate "magical cure" from book two, bringing the trilogy to a pleasing conclusion.

Reviewer: Amy Bennett-Zendzian

(4) 4-6 Secrets of the Pied Piper series. Carter is still trapped in the Summer Isle with the Pied Piper; separated, big sister Max is desperate to return to Carter and the other Hamelin children. The growing cast has become unwieldy, and a magical-cure trope disrupts what began as a thoughtful depiction of Carter's mobility impairment. Nevertheless, this middle book has a clear thematic arc; each parallel narrative reaches a satisfying, dramatic resolution.

Reviewer: Amy Bennett-Zendzian

(3) 4-6 Secrets of the Pied Piper series. In this series-opener, the Pied Piper transports Max, nearly thirteen, and her brother, ten-year-old Carter, from modern-day Hamelin to the magical Summer Isle, where the stolen children of Hamelin circa 1284 have been living in endless youth. The siblings' quest to escape features thrilling encounters with both new and familiar fairy-tale faces. Cody's perceptive portrayal of Carter's mobility impairment is especially notable.

Reviewer: Amy Bennett-Zendzian

(4) 4-6 The town of Noble's Green, famous for its superpowered teens, opens a boarding school overseen by superhero Johnny Noble. But a rash of vandalism implicates the Supers and creates ill will among the community, forcing their friend, regular kid Daniel, to solve the mystery. This final book (Powerless; Super) has lots of action, moral ambiguity, and familiar superhero tropes for comic-book enthusiasts.

Reviewer: David Elzey

(2) 4-6 Will Scarlet and Much the Miller's son join up with the outlaw Merry Men. Both have secret identities that are gradually revealed. Cody does a serviceable job slotting Will and Much in with Robin Hood, Little John, and the rest, all the while adding depth and realism to these classic characters. A cast of characters and a map are included.

Reviewer: Sam Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2014

(4) 4-6 Whip-smart regular-kid Daniel, who defeated the evil Shroud in Powerless, is now starting to show signs of Super-ness himself. But as he is getting stronger, his friends the Supers are losing their powers; still more worrisome is the arrival of the Shroud's nephew in town. Abundant plot details don't always add up, but this action-packed sequel covers all the superhero-narrative bases.

Reviewer: David Elzey

(4) 4-6 Steampunk for middle graders, this time-travel fantasy alternates between Tommy, an orphan from early 1900s New York, and Jezebel, a contemporary girl who comes across Tommy in the basement of her apartment building. Together, the two must save the world from a living corpse. Aside from a slow bit mid-book, this adventure is fast paced, with enough frights and near-misses to keep readers glued.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander

(4) 4-6 Noble's Green is "The Safest Town on Earth!" and it doesn't take new-kid Daniel long to discover why: child superheroes protect the residents. As an evil force conspires to steal the kids' powers, it falls to Daniel's intellect to succeed where superheroism fails. Though the writing lacks nuance, the story will capture readers' imaginations.

Reviewer: David Elzey