Some of my very favorite books are Brandon Mull's Fablehaven series, if you haven't read them, you definitely should. Anyway, we had to read this new series of Brandon Mull's. I got to read it second, because our 10 year-old wasn't already in the middle of a book like I was. It was kind of funny to be reading a book second for a change, I usually get to read them first, she kept coming and reading over my shoulder to see where I was and saying how much she loved the part that I was reading. Jason is a normal boy about to start high school. He does normal things like playing baseball and working at his afternoon job at the Vista, Colorado zoo. One day he's cleaning the hippo's tank when all of a sudden he hears music- normally not a problem - but this music is coming from the hippo's mouth. Jason climbs onto the railing for a better look, not a smart move, because he loses his balance. As he's falling into the hippo pool, the hippo opens his mouth and Jason falls into it and down through a tunnel and he ends up in a tree. Jason finds this a little strange as he tries to figure out where he is and how to get back to the hippo. He gives up as he realizes that the same music is still playing. He makes his way to it and finds a river. On the river is a raft and on the raft is a group of nine musicians playing the music. He's told by a boy by the river that this is the Giddy Nine and they are going to play their music on the raft as they go over a waterfall. Pretty crazy! This is only the beginning of Jason's crazy adventures in the world called Lyrian. Soon he will meet another Beyonder like himself, Rachel, and they will have tons of insane adventures! This was a fun book. I can't say that I liked it better than the Fablehaven ones, but I enjoyed it and it got several thumbs up from our 10 year-old!