Book: The Last Unicorn

TITLE: The Last Unicorn
AUTHOR: Peter S. Beagle
PUBLISHED: 1968
GENRE: Fantasy
CATEGORY: I say it's adult as all the characters are adult, but I've seen it shelved as both YA and Childrens and adult so...
PAGES: 294
SUMMARY:  The unicorn, alone in her enchanted wood, discovers that she may be the last of her kind. Reluctant at first, she sets out on a journey to find her fellow unicorns.

Series: The Oz series

SERIES: Oz series
AUTHOR: Frank L. Baum
ORDER OF BOOKS: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Marvelous Land of Oz
Ozma of Oz
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz
The Road to Oz
The Emerald City of Oz
The Patchwork Girl of Oz
The Tok of Oz
The Scarecrow of Oz
Rinkitink in Oz
The Lost Princess of Oz
The Magic of Oz
Glinda of Oz
STARTED: 1900
COMPLETED: 1920
GENRE: Fantasy
CATEGORY: Childrens/Middle-grade/Classic
SUMMARY OF FIRST BOOK ON GOODREADS: The classic American fairy tale of Dorothy Gale and her dog, Toto, one of the true staples of American literature, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has stimulated the imagination of young and old alike for generations.

Book: On My Honor

TITLE: On My Honor
AUTHOR: Marion Dane Bauer
CATEGORY: Childrens/Middle-Grade
GENRE: Realistic Fiction
PUBLISHED: 1986
PAGES: 96
SUMMARY ON GOODREADS: Joel dares his best friend, Tony, to a swimming race in a dangerous river. Both boys jump in, but when Joel reaches the sandbar, he finds Tony has vanished. How can he face their parents and the terrible truth?

Note: this author has written several more books, but this one is probably her most well known.

Book: Hope Was Here

TITLE: Hope Was Here
AUTHOR: Joan Bauer
CATEGORY: Young Adult
GENRE: Realistic Fiction
PUBLISHED: 2000
PAGES: 186
SUMMARY ON GOODREADS: When Hope and her aunt move to small-town Wisconsin to take over the local diner, Hope's not sure what to expect. But what they find is that the owner, G.T., isn't quite ready to give up yet - in fact, he's decided to run for mayor against a corrupt candidate. And as Hope starts to make her place at the diner, she also finds herself caught up in G.T.'s campaign - particularly his visions for the future. After all, as G.T. points out, everyone can use a little hope to help get through the tough times... even Hope herself.

Notes: Newbery Honoree and has won several other awards.

Also look into some of the author's other many books: Close to Famous

Almost Home

Peeled

Rules of the Road series

Trilogy: The Door Within

TRILOGY: The Door Within
AUTHOR: Wayne Thomas Batson
ORDER OF BOOKS: The Door Within
The Rise of the Wyrm Lord
The Final Storm
CATEGORY: Middle-Grade
GENRE: Fantasy/Christian
STARTED: 2005
COMPLETED: 2006
SUMMARY OF FIRST BOOK ON GOODREADS: Aidan Thomas is miserable. Within two weeks, Aidan’s life is completely uprooted as his parents move the family across the country to care for his ailing grandfather. The quiet but imaginative Aidan is struggling with attending a new school and fitting in with a new group of friends. But when he begins having nightmares and eerie events occur around his neighborhood, Aidan finds himself drawn to his grandfather's basement—where he discovers three ancient scrolls and a mysterious invitation to another world.

No longer confined to the realm of his own imagination, Aidan embarks on an adventure where he discovers a long-fought war between good and evil. With the fate of two worlds hanging in the balance, Aidan faces Paragory, the eternal enemy with unfathomable power. Will Aidan be willing to risk everything and trust the unseen hand of the one true King?

Good for: Chronicles of Narnia fans, Christian Fiction fans

Book: Company

TITLE: Company
AUTHOR: Max Barry
PUBLISHED: 2006
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Realistic Fiction
PAGES: 338
SUMMARY ON GOODREADS: Stephen Jones is a shiny new hire at Zephyr Holdings. From the outside, Zephyr is just another bland corporate monolith, but behind its glass doors business is far from usual: the beautiful receptionist is paid twice as much as anybody else to do nothing, the sales reps use self help books as manuals, no one has seen the CEO, no one knows exactly what they are selling, and missing donuts are the cause of office intrigue. While Jones originally wanted to climb the corporate ladder, he now finds himself descending deeper into the irrational rationality of company policy. What he finds is hilarious, shocking, and utterly telling.

Series: Peter and the Starcatchers

SERIES: Peter and the Starcatchers
AUTHOR: Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
ORDER OF BOOKS: Peter and the Starcatchers
Peter and the Shadow Thieves
Peter and the Secret of Rundoon
Peter and the Sword of Mercy
CATEGORY: Middle-Grade
STARTED: 2004
COMPLETED: 2009
GENRE: Fantasy/Retelling-Reimagining
SUMMARY OF FIRST BOOK ON GOODREADS: A fast-paced, impossible-to-put-down adventure awaits as the young orphan Peter and his mates are dispatched to an island ruled by the evil King Zarboff. They set sail aboard the NeverLand, a ship carrying a precious and mysterious trunk in its cargo hold, and the journey quickly becomes fraught with excitement and danger. 
Discover richly developed characters in the sweet but sophisticated Molly, the scary but familiar Black Stache, and the fearless Peter. Treacherous battles with pirates, foreboding thunderstorms at sea, and evocative writing immerses the reader in a story that slowly and finally reveals the secrets and mysteries of the beloved Peter Pan. 

Note: there are many companion series/books to this series. It was also made into a Broadway musical.

Book: The Lace Reader

TITLE: The Lace Reader
AUTHOR: Brunonia Barry
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Magical Realism/Historical Fiction/Drama
PUBLISHED: 2006
PAGES: 390
SUMMARY ON GOODREADS: Every gift has a price . . . every piece of lace has a secret.

Towner Whitney, the self-confessed unreliable narrator, hails from a family of Salem women who can read the future in the patterns in lace, and who have guarded a history of secrets going back generations. Now the disappearance of two women is bringing Towner back home to Salem—and is bringing to light the shocking truth about the death of her twin sister.

Also look into her other book: The Map of True Places

Series: Merlin

Series: Merlin
Author: T. A. Barron
Order of Books: The Lost Years of Merlin
The Seven Songs of Merlin
The Fires of Merlin
The Mirror of Merlin
The Wings of Merlin
Started: 1996
Completed: 2000
Category: Middle-Grade
Genre: Fantasy/Classic Book Referencing/Wizards
Summary of First Book: When Merlin, suffering from a case of severe amnesia, discovers his strange powers, he becomes determined to discover his identity and flees to Fincayra where he fulfills his destiny, saving Fincayra from certain destruction and claiming his birthright and true name.

Also look into: The Great Tree of Avalon Trilogy by the same author