Books with author Joel Anderson

Forget everything you think you know about faeries. . . .Creatures full of magic and whimsy? Not in the Oakenwyld. Not anymore. Long ago the faeries of the great Oak mysteriously lost their magic. Robbed of their powers, they have become selfish and dull-witted. Now their numbers are dwindling and their very survival is at stake. Only one young faery—Knife—is determined to find out where her people's magic has gone and try to get it back. Unlike her sisters, Knife is fierce and independent. She's not afraid of anything—not the vicious crows, the strict Faery Queen, or the fascinating humans living nearby. But when Knife disobeys the Faery Queen and befriends a human named Paul, her quest becomes more dangerous than she realizes.Knife is a gripping tale of lost magic, high adventure, and surprising friendship in which the fate of an entire realm rests on the shoulders of one brave faery rebel.

After decades of under-the-radar success, the Boise State Broncos became a household name during the 2006-07 NCAA football season. That was when the 12–0 Broncos were set to face the 11–2 Oklahoma Sooners in the Fiesta Bowl. A David vs. Goliath event, everyone expected the Sooners, who played in the highly competitive Big 12 conference and had dominated since coach Bob Stoops took over in 1999, to beat the no-names from the Western Athletic Conference. The match-up would end up becoming one of the greatest college football games ever played, with Boise State beating Oklahoma, 43–42, on a trick-play two-point conversion to win in overtime. But where did it all start? How did a school in Idaho become one of the most successful and polarizing schools in the country? In Boise State, writer Joel Gunderson tells the story of how the school went from a junior college to Division I, climbing the ranks and building a program that has since beaten such college football powerhouses as Oregon, Georgia, Virginia Tech, and Oklahoma, and has the highest winning percentage in the country since 2000. With in-depth interviews with current and former players, coaches, and administration, Gunderson offers an entertaining story of the growth of a program that rose from anonymity to becoming arguably the most successful underdog in the country. While the city of Boise in Idaho has a population of approximately 223,000 people, the state, in general, is not a sports powerhouse. The closest NFL team is the Seattle Seahawks, who are a 7.5-hour drive away. There are currently only six players in the NFL that were born in Idaho. So how did Boise State, known mostly for its blue turf, become known for football excellence? This is more than a Cinderella story. It’s about how they arrived, how they conquered, and how they’ve maintained in the cut-throat business that is college football.

A determined young girl joins forces with an adventure-loving street boy to save her father’s life in this “thoroughly entertaining” (Kirkus Reviews) magical murder mystery.In the spell-powered city of Tarreton, the wealthy have all the magic they desire while the working class can barely afford a simple spell to heat their homes. Twelve-year-old Isaveth is poor, but she’s also brave, loyal, and zealous in the pursuit of justice—which is lucky, because her father has just been wrongfully arrested for murder. Isaveth is determined to prove his innocence. Quiz, the eccentric, eyepatch-wearing street boy who befriends her, swears he can’t resist a good mystery. Together they set out to solve the magical murder of one of Tarreton’s most influential citizens and save Isaveth’s beloved Papa from execution. But is Quiz truly helping Isaveth out of friendship, or does he have hidden motives of his own?

Back home Tori was the girl who had everything a sixteen-year-old could want—popularity, money, beauty. Everything. Including a secret. That secret made her very valuable. Now she's left everything from her old life behind, including her real name and Alison, the only person who truly understood her. She can't lose the secret. But if she wants to have anything resembling a normal life, she has to blend in and hide her unique…talents. Plans change when the enigmatic Sebastian Faraday reappears in Tori's life and delivers bad news: she hasn't escaped. In fact, she's attracted new interest in the form of an obsessed ex-detective now in the employ of a genetics lab. She has only one shot at ditching her past for good and living like the normal human she wishes she could be. Tori must use every ounce of her considerable hacking and engineering skills—and even then, she might need to sacrifice more than she could possibly imagine if she wants to be free. The riveting companion to R.J. Anderson's acclaimed Ultraviolet, which is now available in paperback.

She swore never to shed blood in violence, no matter how grave the danger.But when a faery war threatens her home, the price of peace may be higher than Rhosmari can pay…For a thousand years the faeries known as the Children of Rhys have lived in safety on their magical islands, protected from the evils of the outside world. Yet a deadly conflict is brewing on the mainland, as the evil faery Empress gathers an army to destroy the brave rebels known as the Oakenfolk. And when Rhosmari's betrothed Garan steals the sacred Stone of Naming and runs off to help the rebels, she realizes that the only way to keep the Children of Rhys out of the war is to go after him and get the Stone back.But the world beyond the Green Isles is stranger and more confusing than Rhosmari ever imagined, and Garan and his fellow rebels are not easy to find. Every step she takes leads her deeper into danger, testing her courage, trust, and even the beliefs she holds most dear. If she refuses to fight the Empress, she could end up dooming the whole rebel army… but if she breaks her oath of non-violence, she can never return to her beloved home and people again. Can her new faery and human allies help Rhosmari choose the right path, or will she only end up pointing them all toward destruction?

Forget everything you think you know about faeries for this award-winning YA fantasy thrill ride...Includes the complete 800-page No Ordinary Fairy Tale series by R.J. Anderson in one ebook volume.Book 1: KnifeForget everything you think you know about faeries. . . .Creatures full of magic and whimsy? Not in the Oakenwyld. Not anymore. Long ago the faeries of the great Oak mysteriously lost their magic. Robbed of their powers, they have become selfish and dull-witted. Now their numbers are dwindling and their very survival is at stake. Only one young faery—Knife—is determined to find out where her people's magic has gone and try to get it back. Unlike her sisters, Knife is fierce and independent. She's not afraid of anything—not the vicious crows, the strict Faery Queen, or the fascinating humans living nearby. But when Knife disobeys the Faery Queen and befriends a human named Paul, her quest becomes more dangerous than she realizes.Knife is a gripping tale of lost magic, high adventure, and surprising friendship in which the fate of an entire realm rests on the shoulders of one brave faery rebel.Book 2: RebelThe last time Timothy broke a rule, he got suspended. But when he defies the faery empress, it might well get him killed.Timothy Sinclair doesn't believe in faeries—after all the hardships he's suffered since his missionary parents sent him away to boarding school, he's not even sure he still believes in God. But when a tiny winged girl named Linden bursts into his life and begs him to help save her people, the skeptical Timothy finds himself drawn into a struggle against a potent evil that threatens humans and faeries alike. With a deadly pair of hunters on their trail, Timothy and Linden flee across country, drawn by the legend of a white stone that could be the faeries' salvation. But the dangers that await them test their courage and resolve to the limit, threatening to tear their unlikely partnership apart. And when it comes down to one last desperate battle, they and all the people they love will be doomed unless Linden and Timothy can find the faith to overcome... Book 3: ArrowShe swore never to shed blood in violence, no matter how grave the danger. But when a faery war threatens her home, the price of peace may be higher than Rhosmari can pay…For a thousand years the faeries known as the Children of Rhys have lived in safety on their magical islands, protected from the evils of the outside world. Yet a deadly conflict is brewing on the mainland, as the evil faery Empress gathers an army to destroy the brave rebels known as the Oakenfolk. And when Rhosmari's betrothed Garan steals the sacred Stone of Naming and runs off to help the rebels, she realizes that the only way to keep the Children of Rhys out of the war is to go after him and get the Stone back.But the world beyond the Green Isles is stranger and more confusing than Rhosmari ever imagined, and Garan and his fellow rebels are not easy to find. Every step she takes leads her deeper into danger, testing her courage, trust, and even the beliefs she holds most dear. If she refuses to fight the Empress, she could end up dooming the whole rebel army… but if she breaks her oath of non-violence, she can never return to her beloved home and people again. Can her new faery and human allies help Rhosmari choose the right path, or will she only end up pointing them all toward destruction?

Cast into exile, she must return to free her people.Banished from her underground home by Betony, the queen of the Cornish piskeys, young Ivy sets out to forge a new life for herself in the world above. But a deadly threat lingers in the mine, and Ivy cannot bear to see her people suffer while Betony refuses to believe. Somehow she must convince the queen to let them go.Her mission only becomes more complicated when Ivy starts to dream of the ancient battles between her ancestors and the spriggan folk. Who is the strange boy in her visions? Could her glimpses of his past help Ivy find a new home for her fellow piskeys?To find the answers, Ivy must outfly vicious predators, outwit cunning enemies, and overcome her own greatest fears. And when evil threatens the people Ivy loves best, it will take all her courage, faith, and determination to save them.

Twelve-year-old Isaveth tries to take down the man who framed her father for murder in this lively follow-up to A Pocket Full of Murder, which Kirkus Reviews called “thoroughly entertaining.”The city of Tarreton is powered by magic, from simple tablets that light lamps to advanced Sagery that can murder a man from afar. Isaveth has a talent for spell-making, but as a girl from a poor neighborhood she never dreamed she could study at the most exclusive magical school in the city. So when she’s offered a chance to attend, she eagerly accepts. The school is wonderful, but old and new enemies confront Isaveth at every turn, and she begins to suspect her scholarship might be more of a trap than a gift. Even her secret meetings with Esmond, her best friend and partner in crime-solving, prove risky—especially once he hatches a plan to sneak her into the biggest society event of the season. It’s their last chance to catch the corrupt politician who once framed her father for murder. How can Isaveth refuse?

With simple, direct words and clear, close-up color photo images, this small book in the Wild Ones series does an excellent job of introducing preschoolers to the basic facts.Far from the usual tedious account, this enlivens the astonishing facts of the giant. ―-BOOKLIST (Giraffes) These books present colorful, clear, often close-up photos...Excellent choices for young reader or for read alouds. ―SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL