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For the very first time I am participating in the MKB Read Around the World Summer Reading Series! The multicultural location I have chosen to visit is Rome and the book I am reviewing is an awesome middle-reader book called Moving Target by Christina Diaz Gonzalez (Scholastic Press).

Read around the world this summer with great books recommended by the bloggers of Multicultural Kid Blogs (and friends!)  Throughout the summer we will be sharing great books for the entire family!  Mondays are for ages 5 and under, Wednesdays for children ages 6-10, and Fridays for tweens, teens, and adults!  We’ll have some additional days sprinkled in, so can fit in even more great reads for you!

Set in present-day Rome, this thriller will keep readers hooked from beginning to end with excellent detail and spine-bending twist and turns. Eighth-grader Cassie Arroyo is an American who is studying in Rome. Her life is normal until the day she is unexpectedly snatched out of school one afternoon by her father who is a history professor at an Italian university. Her father then tells Cassie that a secret organization called the Hastati is after her.

He instructs Cassie to find a man named Brother Gregorio who is holed up in fear in a secretive monastary. After escaping to the monastery where Brother Gregorio lives with his nephew, Asher, Cassie’s questions are slowly answered. For centuries, the Hastati has guarded the mythical Spear of Destiny, which purportedly can shape world events when paired with a descendent of St. Longinus. Cassie sets out to uncover what is happening, only to learn that she is a member of an ancient bloodline that enables her to use the Spear of Destiny a legendary object that can alter the future. . As she, Asher, and her best friend Simone set off to find the spear, following clues that lead to more answers, questions, and peril. Oh yeah, there is a MAJOR betrayal inter-twangled with this fast-paced story: one that isn’t obvious until the very end.

For Ages 8–12.  Christina Diaz Gonzalez has created a fast-paced thrill-ride of a book, rich with riddles and myth, that young readers will not want to put down. Grab your copy on Amazon and add this great book to your summer reading stack!

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