Shark Wars

In Shark Wars, a reef shark named Gray should have known he didn't belong in Coral Shiver after he grew bigger than the leader.  A shiver is practically a clan.  Gray is banished from Coral Shiver after giving a shark from Goblin Shiver a clue about his clan and putting them all in danger.  In the deep ocean he has only 3 choices:  go with his friends, join a larger and more successful shiver, or face the whole big blue sea himself.  He is growing unnaturally large.  Does it have something to do with the fact that he has never heard any information about his father? Does his mother know more than she will admit?  Will Gray ever see his mother again? 

Find out who rules the ocean.  You won't be sorry you tried!

Ty, 8

The Absolute Value of Mike

I liked The Absolute Value of Mike. The book is about about a boy who went to his aunt and uncle’s house thinking that he could do nothing, and came back and changed more than one person’s life. The only character in the book that I didn’t like was Poppy. I thought that he shouldn't have acted so mean to everyone even though his son just died. I would recommend this book to my friends because it was very funny. My favorite character was Past, he was such a good friend to everyone. I would recommend this book to my friends because it has a very surprising ending. 

Anna, 12

Sidekicks

I really loved Sidekicks. I loved it so much I read it all in one afternoon--the same day I got it! The characters are: the dog Roscoe, aka Metal Mutt; the cat, Claw, aka Static Cat; the hamster, Fluffy; and a chameleon, Shifty, aka The Chameleon. The Chameleon is very funny!  He says and does really funny things.

 
Their owner is a superhero and they want to be superheroes too, and in the end they are. The owner's name is Captain Amazing and he can fly and he's allergic to peanuts. He fights crime and his pets do too. One of my favorite parts is that there's a giant hippo at this restaurant who is hogging all the food and he's eating some fish when the chameleon becomes invisible and makes the fish look like it is actually alive which scares the hippo and he runs away.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes comics or superhero animals!

Natalie, 7

A True Princess

Twelve-year-old Lilia and her friend Karina must save her best friend Kai from a terrible enchantment caused by the Elf King! She only has two weeks to save him by getting Odin's cloak clasp. I would totally recommend A True Princess to my friends! This is like a book I've read before it is called The Two Princesses of Bamarre By Gail Carson Levine. I like this book because it makes you want to see how Lilia's adventure turns out. I really liked this book I loved everything about the book.

Sage, 10

Invisible Inkling

Invisible Inkling is about Hank, a boy whose friend moved away so he doesn't have any friends at school. Then, he meets the bandapat, a creature that is invisible and is striped and orange like a cat. Like the Cheshire Cat, it can sometimes make itself visible. The bandapat can talk. Hank saves the creature's life. At gym, Hank kicks the ball into his own goal by mistake, and another kid gets mad and bullies him. Later, the bandapat comes to school in Hank's backpack and stops the bully from hurting Hank by biting him. But Hank's teacher thinks that he bit the bully! Hank isn't bullied anymore and is grateful to have his invisible friend.

Emily, 9

The Eternal Sea

The Eternal Sea should have been a sequel to another book, but the perspective it lent to the reader was marvelous, in the middle of a linear plot, where the story's already half-done. Your mind is figuring out things while their effects happen. Thoughts are happening in two places of time, and there's a reckless exhilaration of I know what they're talking about, without knowing anything at all.  With death, mystical stones, and vengeful goddesses, Angie Frazier makes sure your thoughts never crash, but your mind is given a roller coaster of turbulence! 

Dia, 13

Starcrossed

Haunting! …..Angelini catches the readers’ eye first with her gorgeous cover, then the amazing beginning. I could not stop reading this. The plot and the characters make Starcrossed especially unique! I loved how the characters developed, and how in the end Angelini grabs you in the gut and does not let go…the last few chapters are the most intense piece of writing ever! Five stars all around!

Kasia, 13

Dogtag Summer

If you like books about historical fiction and girls searching to find clues about their past, you'll like Dogtag Summer! This is a great book about how a Vietnamese girl, Tracy, is trying to figure out more about her past in Vietnam and how it relates to her adoptive family. Tracy and her best friend Stargazer work together throughout the book to find clues and answers about Tracy's life in Vietnam before she came to America. This is a very interesting book that's hard to put down and I definitely recommend it!

Kate, 11

Emmy and the Rats in the Belfry

Emmy and the Rats in the Belfry was a great book. It had lots of adventure. I couldn’t stop reading it. It’s the third book in a series of Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat and it was probably the best in the series. Ms.Barmy, who is Emmy’s babysitter that stays with her all the time, goes back for revenge for Emmy turning Ms.Barmy into a rat. Ms.Barmy stays a rat though. I would recommend this book to people who like adventure. Also to people who like talking animals, you should also read the first two books.

Fiona, 11

Divergent

Divergent was very compelling. I really liked the plot, and the characters felt very real. This book really has something for all of us. It has action, it has drama, it has romance, and it has a really haunting yet interesting vision of the future. I really liked how you can relate to things that are going on in the present, although it is set in the future. I hope there is a sequel, the book was that good. The lead character is such a relatable figure, and that is wonderful. I advise you to read this! 

Andrew, 11

Teeth

Teeth is a collection of short stories. As for the stories themselves, they revolve around one common topic: vampires. Vampirism in the stories is varied, for example in one story a vampire can stand light, and in another a vampire can’t. The stories are mysterious, sorrowful, cruel or hopeful, and they all use relatively modern language.

For me, some stories were page turners for me, others I didn’t really like for some reason or other, such as a story being pointless in my view. I generally prefer to read fantasy, not much realistic fiction, which explains why I didn’t prefer some of the stories; Teeth is a mixture of both. I recommend this book to people who generally aren’t picky the genre they read, it’s a good choice if the reader wants a fast read. 

Nisha, 13

EllRay Jakes Is Not a Chicken

I like EllRay Jakes Is Not a Chicken because it’s a mystery what’s going to happen next. In this story there’s a boy named Ellray Jakes around age 8 with only two real friends, everybody else is mean or he doesn’t want play with them. Jared “the meanest boy in the class”  has a partner Stanley together they plan an evil fight against Ellray. Ellray ends up going to Disney world because he went through a week without getting in trouble, but he didn’t know Jared would come with him, but it turns out to be fun.

Liam, 8

Liar, Liar

I think other kids would like Liar, Liar because the author gets you to feel sorry for Kevin and want his friends to like him. It teaches you a valuable lesson at the end, that lying makes it very hard to have friends.

Darcy, 8

Small Town Sinners

Small Town Sinners takes the very familiar plot line of a teenage girl finding her voice and puts a new spin on it should deserve a metal. And this book does just that. In a small town where religion means everything Lacey Anne, the pastors daughter, begins to question the world around her and the values she has always accepted as correct when one of the friends gets pregnant. Faced with the challenge of trying to figure this out when everyone but the new boy in town believe whole heartedly in the views that she has been told her whole life Lacey realizes that things might not always be as they seem, and that sometimes standing up for what you believe in is, even if people tell you not to, is what needs to be done. I loved this book and would recommend it to people who like realistic fiction.

Jenna, 14

Wild Wings

I really that liked that Wild Wings had so much suspense, the words were not hard to understand, and I read it easily. I didn’t like that it was a bit sad, and with one of the main characters named Iona, I had a very strong connection to a very bad thing that happened to her. When I read this book it reminded me of another book called: Alabama Moon. I read Wild Wings in two and a half days, I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested and loves connections with animals, Osprey, nature, and unbelievable surprises!!!

Sofia, 9

Scary School

I loved Scary School. The book is about a school that was not normal and it has humans and monsters. Scary School was hosting the Ghoul Games. There was a weird principal named Principal Headcrusher and whenever anybody did something bad, she would crush their heads. Yikes! Mrs. T is a teacher T Rex who eats people who don't follow the rules. Yikes! The story is about human kids who meet these monsters and they all end up friends. A teacher named Wolfbark wanted Scary School to only have humans in it, no monsters, so he told all of the other schools what their strategy was to win the Ghoul Games. He got discovered, and his head got crushed (yikes!), and Scary School played the Games (I won't tell the end).  

I really loved this book because it was really funny, not scary at all, and all the teachers were monsters. I am glad I don't have mean teachers. Other kids will like this book and it has great pictures.  

Leo, 7

Girl Wonder

Though I found the characters in Girl Wonder to be a bit infuriating, especially the main one Charlotte, I ended up really enjoying this book. It is a fast read about a girl whose family is in a time of upheaval because her father’s book that he just published has made the best seller list and he is never home. Charlotte is desperate to distract herself from her home life and finds a great distraction in a girl named Amanda. She is wild, crazy and beautiful, everything that Charlotte wishes she was. But slowly Charlotte starts to see another side to Amanda, a side that is cruel and dangerous. The only question is, can Charlotte get out? 

Jenna, 14

Leverage

Leverage is one of the best books I've ever read. The book is about two students: a tiny gymnast, and an immensely huge football player who are on opposite sides in a deadly prank war. It is so much like the real world I felt like it was real at many times. The quality of writing is superb, and the pacing is perfectly, deliciously suspenseful. I love the alternating voices it is told in, and the characters are very solid. The author has masterfully captured high school life.  For older readers. 

Andrew, 11

Blink & Caution

Blink & Caution is a boy, Blink, and a girl, Caution. They have nothing to do with each other until they meet at a train station. Both of them are running from something. Blink has witnessed the fake kidnapping of a businessman, and now he is on the run from the police. Caution is afraid that her jealous ex-boyfriend is going to find her. Neither of them have anything in common until she tries to steal his money and they get on the same train. And suddenly each of their problems are the other ones too. I loved this book, though I found the writing to be a bit confusing in the beginning. Once I got through about 30 pages got used to it and fell in love with the characters. This is a book filled with mystery and romance, a great read.

Jenna, 14 

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