The Burning Bridge

John Flanagan's The Ranger's Apprentice series is wildly popular in my library, and I can see why. The books are packed with action and written in a way that makes you turn each page thinking "And then? Then?" This one took me a while to get into, but I am blaming the summer doldrums. Will, the ranger's apprentice, is hanging out training with Halt and Horace when Morgarath's evil plans start to emerge. Wargals are traveling about destroying buildings and kidnapping all of the miners. But why? Halt gets sent off to help an emissary deal with an uncooperative leader, and Will and Horace (as well as Gilan, whom they meet later) have their lot thrown in with Evanlyn, who may or may not be a princess. The three stumble upon Morgarath's plan-- he is building a bridge over an impassable canyon and tunneling under a mountain in order to attack. Horace's fighting skills come in to play, and I won't spoil things by describing the very exciting scene near the end of the book.

Good stuff, and well-written, too. I am going to read The Icebound Land, but devote some time this week to reading some of the low level series that were purchased for summer intervention. If you deal with students in 3-6 grade, stay tuned!