Parents' Guide to Fire and Ice: Spirit Animals, Book 4

Parents need to know that Fire and Ice is the fourth book in a multimedia, multi-author series from Scholastic, similar to its 39 Clues and Infinity Ring series. There's a website where young readers can choose their own spirit animal and character identity and enter codes from the books they read to unlock prizes and whatnot. Aimed at animal-loving tween readers just digging into fantasy tales, each book since the series debut in September 2013 -- Wild Born, by Brandon Mull -- is written by a different, seasoned children's author with new installments appearing every few months. Kids may recognize this author, Shannon Hale, from the Newbery onor book Princess Academy. The four diverse 11-year-old characters at the center of the story, all with their own cool spirit animals, continue to fight against an evil cobra called the Devourer. The cobra eats people in the beginning chapter, and his followers stage a big battle near the end; many bad guys die from fire, swords, knives, and arrows. The rest of the story follows the foursome north, where the harsh elements nearly cause frostbite and starvation, and there are multiple rescues from falls into crevasses. Although the four characters mostly suffer minor injuries, two deal with the loss of close family -- one from battle -- and another has a painful parting from a family member who deserted him as a young child due to mental illness.