Peter and the Starcatchers, by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

"The early chapters introduce Peter, leader of a group of orphan boys being sent into slavery aboard the Never Land, and Black Stache, a fearsome pirate who commands a villainous crew. New characters include Molly Aster and her father. Molly, at 14, is an apprentice Starcatcher, a secret society formed to keep evildoers from obtaining "starstuff," magic material that falls to earth and conveys happiness, power, increased intelligence, and the ability to fly. The ships wreck off a tropical island and a trunk of starstuff is temporarily lost. Here, we meet more familiar characters: the mermaids in their lagoon; the people who live in the jungle; and, of course, the crocodile."

--School Library Journal

Holes, by Louis Sachar

This is an awesome adventure story.

"Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-
great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnats. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys' detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the warden makes the boys "build character" by spending all day, every day, digging holes: five feet wide and five feet deep. It doesn't take long for Stanley to realize there's more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something. Stanley tries to dig up the truth."

-Inside flap copy