Monday, January 31, 2011

Aloha, Kanani

Kanani is a 10-year-old girl living on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i. Her cousin Rachel comes from New York to visit for a month. Rachel almost never talks and Kanani uses her compassionate "Aloha spirit" to help her cousin. She accidentally reads Rachel's diary and discovers why Rachel is unhappy. Together, they rescue a rare baby monk seal. I really like Aloha, Kanani and recommend it to anyone over 7 years old. American Girl fans would probably love Kanani’s story.

Emily, 9

Friday, January 28, 2011

Entwined

Entwined  was a very captivating story because the setting was very new to me. So, my mind was open to new information. Another thing I liked about this book is how Heather did an excellent job on weaving together the two genres of fantasy and historical fiction. The historical way of mourning and Keeper's magic kept my nose in the book! Trying to find out about Keeper's mysterious character was a thrill in this book. I think the author should've revealed more about the silver forest because all I knew was that it was silver, magic, and people lived there.

Yemisi, 13

Thursday, January 27, 2011

The Detention Club


I liked the book The Detention Club.  I thought it had a very unexpected ending.   

I would recommend this book to my friends. I thought that it was very good because it showed a lot of different relationships Peter had with each supporting character, including his best friend Drew.  I would also recommend it to my friends because I thought it had a very good lesson in it, not everyone is who you think they are.  

If someone was to read the book, I think that they should know that every main character turns out differently by the end of the book.  The characters in the book all change their impressions about the other characters.

Anna, 12

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Taking Off

Taking Off is a wonderfully written book. I really liked how the author showed the differences between characters and how they felt about the hard decision ahead of them in their senior year: if they should go to collage, or not. I would recommend Taking Off to my friends because the book really kept me on the edge of my seat-I couldn’t put it down! I didn’t really dislike anything about Taking Off. I pretty much liked all of how Anne, the main character, decided how her life was going to turn out. Taking Off is very unique and definitely an original.     

Julia, 10

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Z. Raptor

Z. Raptor was very compelling. It pulls you in with an exciting chase in the beginning, and it only gets better from there. The language is very rich, and the plot is very clever and fast paced. Make sure to read the prequel (Z. Rex) before reading this, it will make a lot more sense. I would suggest this for anyone over 12. The gore and downright creepy scenes at the end are not for young readers. This is a great book!

Andrew, 11

Monday, January 24, 2011

The Six Crowns: Trundle's Quest

I think Trundle's Quest is a good book for people who like adventure stories about animals. I liked it because it's suspenseful. There is never a time in the book when you know what is going to happen next. However, I thought it had a very abrupt ending. 

 Dmitri, 8

Friday, January 21, 2011

So Shelly

So Shelly is a fascinating work of literature. It takes authors John Keats, Lord Byron, and Mary Shelley and turns them into modern teenagers. This is not an easy task, however Roth turns their respective lives right into the lives of teens today. For anyone interested in the lives of these famous authors, So Shelly is a good read. For anyone who wants a clever romance, So Shelly is just that. Even if one has not read any of the works by these authors, he or she will still be able to enjoy So Shelly, for it stands on its own.

Emily, 16

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Sean Griswold's Head

I found Sean Griswold's Head very interesting. What made me have this thought was that the book was written in two different forms. One form was that it was in paragraphs. The other one was in a a Notebook form where she kept all her notes about Sean Griswold's head. Your probably thinking, why is she writing about his head? Well another interesting twist in this book was that she was using his head as a "focus object" for a exercise recommended by her guidance consuler. While finding out about his head, she learned many interesting things which bloomed and ended new relationships with others. 

Yemisi, 13

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

The Ogre of Oglefort

Warning to all readers: The Ogre of Oglefort is unexplainable, but I can give hints like expect the unexpected! Find out what an ogre does if he or she doesn't like the taste of human flesh. There's nothing quite like it and in fact there's nothing likable about it, but I highly recommend this book. What I mean to say is the guy's wife has long black hairs on her legs, he has lice behind his ears and a spittle bug in his nose, yet this book is awesome. A great thing about this book is that there is a wide range of situations - a lot happens. There's at least one part that every good reader would like.

Ty, 8

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Timeless

What made Timeless interesting was how the author jumped back and fourth in time so well. It wasn't confusing to switch settings and blended in very well. Also there wasn't a lot of scientific information about time travel to bore the reader. Another thing the author did well was that her descriptions of each settings were very descriptive. Although the book was interesting the start of the book was weak. I think if someone was not committed to the book, they might abandon it because the beginning didn't capture themselves. I recommend this to a person with patience. 

Yemisi, 13

Monday, January 17, 2011

Starcrossed

Starcrossed is a very fast moving book with lost of suspense and twists. I was a bit surprised because I was expecting something a little different after reading the back, something a little more like Percy Jackson and the Olympians, but it was a more like Twilight. It is about a girl named Helen who has special talents, like being able to run fast and be really strong. Then she meets Lucas, the new boy in town, and together they learn about Helens twisted past. 

Jenna, 14

Friday, January 14, 2011

A Touch Mortal

I liked A Touch Mortal a lot because of he others twist on the whole "life after death" theories. Usually you go to hell or heaven. But in this book there were many options: falling out of heaven, going to heaven, becoming a sider, and fallen. It kept my nose in the book racing to uncover more details about each option. Definitely what made this book interesting was the authors thoughts about afterlife, how she wove the romance into it.  I wouldn't recommend this book to those who are uncomfortable with death, there are many suicides and violent acts.

Yemisi, 13

Thursday, January 13, 2011

The Girl Who Became a Beatle

The Girl Who Became a Beatle was really intriguing. I loved every bit of it! This book is about a girl who makes a wish, and it is granted! She and her band end up replacing the Beatles in history! The main character ends up having to make a huge decision about how she wants her life to be. If you are a fan of the Beatles, music, or just enjoy reading about Hollywood or famous people’s lives you should definitely read this book! This book was a mixture of fantasy and realistic fiction. So, if you just love realistic fiction or fantasy come read this book! 

Lucia, 13

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Flip

Flip was a great book filed with suspense and mystery. It all starts on a normal day when Alex Gray is walking home from his friend’s house. When he wakes up the next morning he is in a strange house, with a family who thinks he is there son, and who calls him Philip. Alex is sure that this is all some big prank until he looks in a mirror and sees a strangers face staring back at him. Who is Alex Gray, and why is he in the body of someone else?

Jenna, 14

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Elixir

Elixir was a fun light read. But that was all it was to me, I am not going to think about it again. It was about a girl named Clea whose father has gone missing. She is shocked and upset, especially when she realizes that in all of the photos that she has taken there is a man in the background. Soon after noticing this she is brought in a whirlwind of adventure and romance. As on of a series do not be disappointed when you get to the end only to find more cliffhangers than when you started.

Jenna, 14

Monday, January 10, 2011

The Jaguar Stones: The End of the World Club

It's the end of a Maya bak'tun (144,000 days), and people are panicking. However, teenager Max Murphy is panicking, too---for a different reason. He owes the ancient Maya Death Lords a favor. He has to bring the long-lost Yellow Jaguar to Xibalba, the Maya underworld, in ten days. Accompanied by his jungle friend, Lola, and Lord 6-dog (an ancient Maya king) and Lady Coco (Lord 6-dog's mother), Max faces headless phantoms, wakes up in his own coffin, gets arrested for murder, gatecrashes a wedding, and meets his favorite rock band, The Plague Rats, mysteriously being managed by Au Pukuh, the Maya God of Violent and Unnatural Death. The End of the World Club is great for adventure readers, or anyone just looking for a good book.

Miles, 10

Friday, January 7, 2011

Hereafter

Hereafter is a book about a ghost girl named Amelia who has haunted the lake that she drowned in for as long as she can remember. And yet her days pass in a sad and boring fog until a boy named Joshua falls into the lake and starts to drown and in that one moment, when Amelia reaches out and wills him to live, both of their lives change forever. I would recommend this book to people who like romances or the book a certain slant of light by Laura Whitcomb. I felt that it was really good, I read it in one sitting because I was so hooked.

Jenna, 14

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Bumped

If you have noticed the sudden rise in reality TV shows about pregnant teenagers, or if you are fascinated with propaganda, then Bumped is the book for you. It is about a futuristic USA where everyone over the age of 18 cannot conceive a child. Because of this, older married people are looking to the only people that can create children, the teenagers. This book shows a society were everything that we think about today is backward, condoms are banished, being a pregnant teenager is cool, and giving up your baby is something that you have to do. Bumped shows you a shocking look at what our society really could become, and makes you question what view you would have.

Jenna, 14

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Kick

In Kick, by Walter Dean Myers and Ross Workman, a good-natured, soccer-loving teenager, Kevin Johnson, is in serious trouble. All he was trying to do was help a friend, and now his future is in jeopardy, unless he and Sergeant Brown, the man assigned to Kevin’s case, can learn to trust each other before its too late. I enjoyed the style in which the book was written, switching between the main characters after each chapter. The book also felt real, seeing as it was not only written by an adult but by a teenager who had similar experiences as well in Ross Workman. All in all, I would highly recommend Kick.


Peter

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Cloaked

In the book Cloaked, Alex Flinn, author of Beastly and A Kiss in Time, crafts magic into the modern world. It mixes up different fairy tales and sticks them into seventeen-year-old Johnny’s life. Johnny has enough problems running his family’s shoe repair shop, without adding a princess, a curse, and a magic cloak. When a witch turns a prince into a frog there’s bound to be trouble. Readers who like action and humor will love this exciting novel. Prepare to be wrapped up in a magical adventure!


Maddie, 12

Monday, January 3, 2011

A Touch Mortal


A Touch Mortal was a fun addicting read that completely had me hooked from beginning to end. The plot is about a girl named Eden who falls in love with a boy named Az. Seems simple, doesn’t it? Well that is until you find out that Az is an angel with a dark past, and all of his girlfriends end up getting killed by the devil Lucifer, who prefers to go by Luke. I enjoyed this book and would suggest it to people who like fun romances with a paranormal twist.

Jenna, 14

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Oddfellow's Orphanage

Everything at Oddfellow's Orphanage is, well, very fun and odd. From unusual classes to Haircut Day and from "A Very Grand Picnic" to "A Star with a Tail," everything at Oddfellow's is laugh-your-head-off-funny! I would absolutely recommend this book for anyone who likes a few laughs.

Sydney, 9