This Is What I Did by Ann Dee Ellis

Logan Palony is stuck in a new town, which he hates, and where everything is 'fine' and 'nothing is wrong'. With no one to talk to, his best friend gone, and the whole neighborhood (including parents) ganged up on him, Logan doesn't know what to do. All he ever wanted to do was continue being an outcast, continue not liking girls, continue being terrible at sports and reading science textbooks. He never wanted to be like this, silent, alone, and harassed. Logan finds that doing one thing, in one night, can change his entire personality, his entire life, just like that. All from something that he did, and he knows he did. He's in therapy, and even his brothers think he is a complete loser. Aside from one girl who seems to understand him, his life is a complete wreck.

This is What I did: is written from the perspective of 8th grader, Logan Palony. Written in almost entirely screenplay, this book starts out extremely confusing and jumps around from past to present, giving it a choppy feeling which can be exciting for some, but quite tedious for others. The plot however, is original and keeps you turning pages, at least during the climax, but, it has a rather disappointing ending that leaves you hanging in too much suspense. Though This Is What I did: is writtten from the perspective of a boy, it would be enjoyable for girls as well. There is little challenging vocabulary, the reading level is at that of someone around the age of 10, but the content is too mature for someone of that age, making it an odd ‘fit’ for any type of reader. This book acts best as a very quick read, in between more challenging books, or something for light summer reading.

Content:This book has some adult content and is most definately best for a mature reader due to sexual situations and extreme violence.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 6
Reviewer Age: 13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Marblehead, Massachusetts USA

Corydon and the Island of the Monsters by Tobias Druit

This book is about a boy whose troubles lead him to a friendship with the Greek monsters. He lives with them and become family. Then a warrior comes along and threatens the very existence of his family. Whatever path he chooses I promise you it won’t be easy. He will journey through the pits of apocalypse and back to complete his journey.

I really liked this book. It’s an epic journey like the Greek myths but better. It has a moral. It has precise details of places from Greek myths. And best of all it doesn’t feel like the book is mocking Greek myths. If you like this and say want something like it for your younger child try the Myth-O-Maniac series.

Inventing Ott: The Legacy of Arthur C. Guyton

Inventing Ott: The Legacy of Arthur C. Guyton is about the life of a modern-day Renaissance man. Arthur C. Guyton, also known as Ott, was born on September 8, 1919 in Oxford, Mississippi. He would not only become a successful doctor and professor but also a sailor, radio expert, tennis player, pilot, inventor, carpenter, appliance repairman, electrician, husband, and father of ten children. In 1946, Ott caught paralytic polio which led him to invent the power wheelchair, the “walking” leg brace, and a type of hoist for humans. While teaching and doing research in physiology at the University of Mississippi’s University Medical Center, Ott discovered that kidneys control long-term blood pressure. He then discovered the true relationship between the blood, veins, heart, and kidneys. The more complex form of this discovery is known as the Theory of Infinite Gains. This theory led many people to consider Ott to be the Father of Modern Cardiovascular Physiology. In 1956, he first wrote the Textbook of Medical Physiology. It is the best-selling medical textbook of all time. His teaching methods were so popular that his students called themselves “Guytonians”. All of his ten children became doctors. August 25, 1989 was named “Arthur C. Guyton Day” by the United States Congress. Ott died in a car accident on April 3, 2003.

I use a modern power wheelchair and modern “walking” leg braces. I found learning about their inventor to be fascinating and educational. This book showed me how difficult it is for a person to be a medical resident. The author, Jerusha Bosarge, did not explain many of Ott’s inventions and scientific discoveries in much detail. For example, it would have been interesting to understand more about the instrument used to remove gases and liquids from the gastrointestinal tract during surgery. The author puts Arthur C. Guyton on a pedestal. Jerusha Bosarge keeps mentioning that Ott was a soldier; while he worked as a researcher and surgeon for the military in the United States, he never was a common soldier. Other than these few small errors, the book was very educational and wonderful.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8
Reviewer Age: 16
Reviewer City, State and Country: Urbana, Illinois United States of America

House of Red Fish by Graham Salisbury and Wendy Lamb

Tomi is a Japenese-American boy who is trying to bring up his father's fishing boat, the Tayio Maru. He gets his old buddies to help but the boat is just too big, and there is Keet Wilson whose main goal at the moment is the expulsion of the Japenese traitors living on his family's land. He counteracts every attempt made by Tomi. In the end he brings a small army of teens to beat some sense into the boys. But when they arrive the teens see that whatever Keet told them was a lie. They help get the boat up and tow it to a dry-dock.

It was a very good book. I could see what and where things were without having to go to the dictionary every other word. House of the Red Fish should be an easy and captivating read for everyone. This is a unique description of persecution of Japenese-Americans during WW2. It is also another peek into an Americanized Japenese culture.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 10
Reviewer Age: 15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Raymond, IL USA

Do-Over by Niki Burnham

After spending winter break with her mom in Virginia, Val is back in Schwerinborg with her father and things seem to be going well with her Prince boyfriend, Georg. They decide to take a ski trip, and everyone is having a good time until Val's dad decides to give her some big news, that he's seeing someone. Val doesn't handle this situation in the best way, so she sulks for most of the vacation. When she gets back to school, she decides to help her friend Ulrike set up for the school dance. She wants Georg to go with her, but since their relationship is private, he isn't able to go. Things don't seem to be working out for Val and on top of that, she's starting to feel guilty about going out with her childhood crush back in Virginia and not telling Georg. What will happen next in Val's crazy life?

It was so nice to read about Georg and Val in the next installation by Niki Burnham. The story picked up right where it left off in Spin Control and Val was just as fun to read about. Once I started the story, I couldn't put it down. I also loved how she connected Val with her American friends in the emails. I really hope that the author continues writing about Val and I'm looking forward to reading her next book.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 9
Reviewer Age: 20
Reviewer City, State and Country: Philadelphia, PA USA

Swede Dreams by Eva Apelqvist

I’m going to Sweden! Calista Swanson is studying abroad in Stockholm, Sweden for a whole semester so she can learn Swedish and keep in contact with her boyfriend, Jonas, but a few days after arriving he dumps her because he decides that it isn’t a good time for him to have a girlfriend. She quickly gets over him after she meets Hakan, a friend of her neighbor’s daughter, Moa. Calista realizes that she has been choosing her boyfriends based on other people’s opinions, so she decides that it’s better to make her own decisions than to let other people make them for her. There is only one problem though; she thinks Hakan is going out with Moa, so why is he hitting on her then? Join Calista as she discovers the many wonders that Sweden has to offer, from trying new foods to learning about the Viking era to making new friends. Swede Dreams is one of the many books in the SASS series, in which each are written by different authors.

Swede Dreams by Eva Apelqvist is an amazing, realistic story that tells about how when you think everything will go terribly wrong that you should never worry because in the end everything will turn out okay. The characters were pretty well developed and I really enjoyed all of the characters except Moa because she is really strange. This story is a real page-turner that will keep you up all night long wondering what will happen next. You think that this book will take forever to read and before you know it you’re on the last paragraph wishing there was more. I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait to read the rest of the books in the SASS series. I recommend this fantastic story to teens ages 12-16.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 9
Reviewer Age: 13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Upper Strasburg, PA United States

Dreams and Visions by M. Herry Weiss and Helen S. Weiss

A collection of short stories, this book focuses on the fantastic, the wild possibilities. A captivating read, the vast differences between each story is tied together by a single unifying thread: dreams. From a hippie's hallucinations to a woman who finds power through her God and her veil to a girl with writers' block, these stories resolve themselves through the power of dreams. Distinguished authors such as Charles De Lint and Tamora Pierce contribute to this book, infusing it with lively characters and captivation story lines. The concise nature of each story makes the book a fast read.

This book dealt with the dreams and aspirations of every fantasy novel reader. A wide range of topics and characters made it impossible not to appeal to anyone. The spectacular writers who created these stories wrote with grace and beauty, making the material inspiring and graphic. It was impossible to read a page without fully visualizing the scene and sympathizing with the characters. Though some of the stories were not as well crafted as others and some topics were a little childish, the overall effect was astonishing.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8
Reviewer Age: 16
Reviewer City, State and Country: Overland Park, KS United States

Haunted Homeland by Michael Norman

Seen a ghost? Then perhaps your tale, along with others, is in Haunted Homeland. This book is about American and Canadian ghost stories. Crammed with detail, it tells not just about the ghost, but also about all the accounts of everyone claiming to have seen it. It includes lists of when those particular people were born, and when they died. It even lists how they died. Its grim facts can chill to the core, as you read spooky tales about ghosts and phantoms, poltergeists and specters.

The Haunted Homeland is an extremely fact-filled book. In fact, it is so crammed with detail, parts of it seem like reading a history textbook, rather then a collection of ghost stories. The few parts of this book that I liked were the small tid-bits of the actual ghost stories. I think that this book should be divided into two parts. One part containing the ghost stories, and the other full of the boring extraneous details. I did not like this book, but some people will love this book and all of its extra details.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 5
Reviewer Age: 13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Denair, California America

Hearts of Stone by Kathleen Ernst

Hearts of Stone is set in the mid 1800's right in the middle of the Civil War. The main character Hannah struggles with difficult decisions throughout the book. She finds herself homeless with 3 other siblings, hungry, and heartbroken. Her father went off to join the union and died, and her mother soon after that dies from stress, and heartache. Hannah faced with no other option decides that the only way she can keep her family together is to travel thousands of miles to Nashville. There they hope to find their only living relative.

I really enjoyed this book. I know a lot about the Civil War, but I didn't know how bad it was for the children. I know the book was fictional but I'm sure children really did pick cigar buds off the street just so they could have a little bit of food to keep them going one more day. I also felt really bad for Hannah, because the Civil War did put friends against friends and family members against family members. And being young, your confused and it was understandable why she cut off all ties with her best friend just because he was a confederate.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 7
Reviewer Age: 17
Reviewer City, State and Country: Dundee, Oregon USA

The Last Universe by William Sleator

Susan's older brother Gary falls ill and wheelchair-bound and she is forced to care for him. Unhappy about her new responsibility, she complains incessantly, especially when he makes her wheel him to the garden, a place that irrationally scares Susan. But when strange things happen in the garden, such as the discovery of a maze that they couldn't previously find, that make her brother healthier, she starts to despise the garden a little less. But every time they enter the maze, things change unpredictably in the world outside. As they struggle to find the perfect outcome, their view of perfection becomes more unclear, and they wonder if their only fate is to be lost forever in the maze.

The book began as a typical teenage-esque book, that took away from the heart of the story. As the plot intensified, the reader could excuse the language and enjoy the story, but initially, the story is hard to engage in. But the characters are realistic, and the setting is believable, so there are some redeeming qualities. I found it hard to enjoy fully, however, because the plot was predictable, especially the ending. And the science was explained too simply and for someone who knows a little about quantum physics, there were major plot holes. But the idea was exciting enough to carry me through.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 5
Reviewer Age: 16
Reviewer City, State and Country: Overland Park, KS United States