The Notorious Izzy Fink by Don Brown

Sam Glodsky, a 13 year old boy, live in the rough streets of the East Side of New York City at the turn of the twentieth century. Because his dad needs help making money, Sam is constantly looking for jobs to make a few cents here and there. To help a friend he has to work for a big time gangster Monk Eastman, who no one wants to mess with. He and his archenemy are mixed up with Monk, and Monk ends up trying to kill them. Read this book to find out how he gets out of this mess....and if he gets out of it.

I thought this was a pretty good book. It had a lot of action and suspence, just the kind of book I like. It was a gang book, which kept me very interested. The author put enought detail so I could picture everything in my head. It seemed like it was in the twentieth century, and it really told me something about teh times. Overall, it was a great book.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 9
Reviewer Age: 12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Lutherville, Maryland United States Of America

Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck

The story takes place in a rural, 1900s town in Illinois. Peewee (real name is Eleanor and her brother Jake operate a automechanic shop. When three women stop to get there car fixed, Eleanor's life changes forever. The one woman, Irene Ridpath, believes that the three of them can revive the old town library. Soon Irene begins to transform Eleanor from a tomboy to a high-class young adult. When her brother becomes unable to race his car, Eleanor has to take his place and try to win the race.

This book was mildly interesting. However, some parts seemed slow and bogged down. It had a surprising ending and was a real page-turner at times. Richard Peck is a great writer and easily captures the mood of early twentieth century rural America. His descriptions are very rich. This book would be a good read for preteens.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 7
Reviewer Age: 13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Chambersburg, Pennsylvania U.S.A.

Just For You To Know by Cheryl Harness

Twelve-year-old Carmen Cathcart, the oldest sister to five brothers, is constantly embarrassed by her overly large family. Several weeks after settling into their new home, Carmen and her pregnant mother start planning Carmen’s thirteenth birthday celebration. Carmen’s birthday has finally arrived, and Robin (her new best friend) and Carmen go off to see the movie Cleopatra with her aunt. When she comes home she starts thinking of how she could draw Cleopatra when she hears a gasp and glass breaking in the kitchen (the room her mom just walked into). Tomato, glittering glass, and dark red blood lay all over the floor; her mom was going to have the baby! What will happen next in this suspenseful, edge of your seat novel?

Just for You to Know is a very realistic, touching, and heartbreaking book that rips your heart to pieces. I felt a lot of emotion towards the characters while reading this fantastic book. Just for You to Know is such a realistic book that it was almost like you were a part of the Cathcart family and their lives. This book really teaches you that no matter what happens in life, time is going to keep ticking with or without you there. I recommend this book to anyone ages 10 and up who loves real life fiction stories.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 9
Reviewer Age: 12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Upper Strasburg, PA United States

Alabama Moon by Watt Key

This book tells a story about a ten-year-old boy, who throughout his journey through the forests of Alabama learns the true meaning of friendship. Moon Blake knows how to find just about anything in the forest. He and his father, a Vietnam War veteran who dislikes the government, had been hiding in a forest in Alabama for as long as Moon can remember. His mother died young, and she was buried not far from their little hidden shelter in the woods. But when the land they are living in was sold to a big-city lawyer, things started to go wrong. Pap died because he won't let Moon get any help from the outside world when he got a leg infection, and he was buried next to Moon’s mother. Before Pap died, he told Moon to head to Alaska, where there are other people who hate the government. But he was caught by Mr. Wellington, the lawyer who owns the land, and was turned in to a boy’s home. Moon soon escaped with his new friends, and made their way back to the forest; planning to head to Alaska together. Mr. Gene from the boy’s home contacted an insane constable who would do anything to track down the boys. But Moon soon find himself very lonely when one of his friends went to live with his father and his best friend got sick and had to go to the hospital. Throughout this book, Moon learns more and more about the world around him, and just when Mr. Wellington found his long forgotten uncle who agreed to adopt him, his best friend got really sick and later died. Moon was overwhelmed with grief, but soon got over it. Finally, his uncle, who was just like Pap, came and adopted Moon and brought him to Mobile, Alabama to live with his family. Moon never got lonely again.

When I first began reading ALABAMA MOON, I had no idea what to expect. I had to force myself to keep reading during the first couple of pages because there were so many things to establish. But when I got to the middle of the story, the excitement began… The plot was very interesting, and I can tell that the author spent a lot of time doing research and applying that to his well-written story. Overall, I believe that ALABAMA MOON is a book worth reading because it not only tells an interesting story, but also explains to us what friendship is all about.

Content:Even though the character in the story is only 10, I suggest that the readers should be 12 and up when reading this because of some profanity.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8
Reviewer Age: 13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Urbana, Illinois United States of America

Listen by Stephanie S. Tolan

Charlene, a young girl, is currently ailed by a broken leg, and the two-year-long loss of her mother. Her father, of course, worries about her condition, and forces her to start walking again, claiming that it'll help with her strength. And then Charley runs into something amazing; a dog, a wild dog, which at first, she dismisses, but gradually grows to respect. As she embarks on a journey to save him from the wild, she gives him a name- Coyote. 'The Taming', as she calls it, takes a long time, but she's determined, and after many long, hard weeks, she'd rewarded. Coyote is a semi-tamed dog; although when the book ends, he's still pretty cautious.

'Listen!' definitely had a good story line, for me. I found myself interested in what was going to happen next- and the taming of the dog seemed realistic enough, as realistic as you get, I assume, since Coyote had a very interesting temperment. What seemed a little unrealistic was Charley's... visions of the dog, but the story didn't go badly with a fantasy touch to it. Now, this appears to be written for children, simple content, large text (in that particular edition), and a childish main character. Also, I found the girl's, the father's, and the maid's temperments very real; not perfect, as (unfortunately) many stories are. I did appreciate that.

Content:Censorship? Not really. There was a brief thing around the end of the book, when Coyote disappeared to mate with some random female dog, but... I'm really not going to be such a great judge on this, since censorship isn't a big thing with me. So if you've got an extremely sheltered family, compared to a bunch of biologists...

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 7
Reviewer Age: 12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Mahomet, Illinois United States of America

I Was a Teenage Popsicle by Bev Katz Rosenbaum

Floe Ryan…Frozen zombie or out-of-date freak? Floe was a girl of sixteen when she was “frozen.” She and her parents contracted this strange disease called lympaticotosis, and the only option to come back to life after she had been declared “legally dead” was to be frozen, or vitrified. After a whole ten years, Floe is brought back to life again by the cyronics team (the people who do the vitrifying). With all that done, she must go through rehab. Along with her is totally hot Taz Taber. She has had a crush on him since before she was vitrified. Once through with rehab, Abe Dixon (short for Abercrombie), the cyonics lab owner, shows them one of the latest trends: HOVERBLADING!!! Back in Venice Beach, Floe and Taz were expert bladers; now they have to adjust. Sunny, Floe’s younger sister, comes to take custody of her until her parents are revived since Sunny is now her OLDER SISTER! She is forced to go to the school in the Valley. She meets a new friend, Halley, and her worst enemy ever, Ashleigh Jones, the congressman’s daughter! Soon the cyronics center is being threatened to be closed down. Floe must help save it so she can get her parents back. She comes up with a way to earn money: selling retro bracelets. They are all the rage and the kids make ton of money selling the bracelets, but still no change in the lawsuit from the cyronics center. Ashleigh falls sick with the same disease as Floe and is vitrified, Dick Jones drops the law suit and the cyronics center is reopened. In the end, Floe’s parents are revived.

I liked this book a lot. It had great characters and a gripping plot. The “freezing” was a little freaky because it didn’t seem real, but the book was fun to read. This book also had great relationships between the characters. My favorite character was Taz because he was just that laid back kind of guy – funny and a wonderful friend to Floe. The difficult situations Floe was put through were real enough that I could put myself in her place and relate to her feelings. This made it a better read for me. The only thing I did not like was the fact that they didn’t say what happened to Floe, Sunny, and their parents after they get unfrozen. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good story and a little Sci-Fi. I would also recommend it to people between ages 10-18.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8
Reviewer Age: 13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Shippensburg, Pennsylvania

Side Effects by Amy Goldman Koss

High school is awful under the best circumstances. When Isabell's swollen glands result in a diagnosis of lymphoma, ordinary concerns of homework and popularity give way to hospital visits and chemotherapy. The kids at school don't know how to react and send emotional cards and tastelss videos. Izzy's familt tries to handle the upheaval while holding on to just a bit of normalcy. Izzy make her way through treatment not as a shining hero, but as a regular kid.

Koss addresses issues students have trouble facing with cancer. Humor and clarity carry Izzy from diagnosis and chemotherapy to the joy of being cancer free. What do you do when your friend has cancer? Read Side Effects and let Izzy and her friends and family share their story. This book belongs in school libraries and oncology waiting rooms.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 10
Reviewer Age: 59
Reviewer City, State and Country: Timonium, MD US

Mia the Meek by Eileen Boggess

Fourteen-going-on-fifteen-year-old Mia Fullerton is a very shy person who has the nickname, “Mia the Meek”. She will soon start her freshman year of school at St. Hilary’s with a goal of getting rid of her nickname and being known throughout her school. There are a few problems getting that accomplished though, such as her mom being her English teacher, her annoying little brother, and new neighbors with a son her age named Tim. At first she thinks Tim is the best neighbor she could possibly get--hot, has her teddy bear’s eyes, and loves her favorite book, until she realizes that he is the biggest jerk ever after he contradicts everything she says. After school started, an election was held for class president and Mia was nominated by her best friend and was seconded by her forever crush, Jake Harris. What better way to leave her shell and lose her nickname? The only problem is that she is running against her popular archenemy, Cassie. Who will win the battle for class president, and will Mia get to finally date Jake?

Mia the Meek is an extremely hilarious, laugh-out-loud book with an acceptable amount of romance. I highly recommend this amazing book to young adults who enjoy funny love stories. This is the first book in the Mia Fullerton series and I can’t wait to read the next one, which is called Mia the Melodramatic. The only thing I really didn’t overly enjoy and I thought took away from this book was the swear words and the use of God’s name in vain. Overall though, I think this is an incredible book that I wouldn’t mind reading again and I would definitely give praise to the author for writing this marvelous piece of art.

Content:Use of "oh my God" , "thank God almighty" and Phrases like that talk about stuffing bras

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 9
Reviewer Age: 12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Upper Strasburg, PA United States

In the Break by Jack Lopez

Jamie and Juan are best friends and dedicated surfers. When Jamie injures his stepfather, F, during a fight, he needs to get away--and Juan's going with him. So is Jamie's older sister and Juan's unattainable crush, Amber. The three of them are heading South, going down the coast to Mexico and stopping to surf; there are some great waves along the way. They're running from the law, but they're having the time of their lives at the same time...At least while they're in the water and able to forget about what they're running from, and what they might be runing towards.

In The Break is a fantastic story, once you get caught up enough in it not to take so much notice of all the slightly tedious talk about surfing (though that's probably not a problem for people who know something about surfing). The fact that Jamie, Juan, and Amber are surfers is a big part of the story, but it's a great story even for those of us who know nothing about surfing! It's definitely a page-turner, with very believable characters. The characters, and their relationships with each other, are very real, but real life doesn't always have the neatly tied-up happy endings that a lot of movies or books do. The ending of In The Break is very realistic, which isn't a bad thing, but be warned--if you like tidy, happy endings, this isn't the book for you. It is, however, an awesome story!

Content:Some sexual situations & violence.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8
Reviewer Age: 15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Asheville, NC USA

May Bird - Among the Stars by Jodi Lynn Anderson

What happens when you're lost in a strange world and need to find your way home? If you're May Bird, you enlist the help of some unique friends, face the bad guys head-on, and believe that you'll get home, no matter what.

May Bird Among the Stars is the second book in a trilogy. It picks up right where the first book, May Bird and the Ever After, leaves off. May is the only living human in the Evil After, where ghosts and the undead roam. She and her loyal cat, Somber Kitty, must escape before the evil Bo Cleevil finds them.

This book does just what the middle book in a trilogy should do: continue the story set up in the first book, offer changes, dangers, and rewards to existing characters, introduce new characters, and have skirmishes with the villains.

May Bird Among the Stars is just as funny and well-paced as its predecessor. It delicately balances the humorous bits with the scary parts, and is intelligent enough to engage adults while fun enough for the target audience of kids.

As soon as the third and final book comes out, I plan to read it all in one sitting. I am quite anxious to see how this wraps up!