Dragonfrigate Wizard Halcyon Blithe, by James M. Ward, starts as Halcyon Blithe, an Arcanian midshipwizard, heads off to attack a fleet of Maleen ships. They single out one ship in particular, a small ketch. As they attack the ketch, it fires red-hot mortar shells back at them! Halcyon; Ashe Fallow, a friend and countryman of Halcyon’s; Denna Darkwater, a half-troll marine; and a few other marines take a rowboat and launch off their dragon ship, the Sanguine, as soon as the ketch has been wounded. Halcyon and his war party quickly take over the ketch, the Salamander. Halcyon goes belowdecks and discovers the captain of the ketch. Halcyon disarms the captain by managing to heft a table at him. After defeating the captain, Halcyon and his crew sail smoothly. Smoothly, until one day a ship has been spotted a couple of miles off. As the ship draws nearer, it is identified as a demon ship--a ship made of metal, with no sails, that is piloted by demons. The crew panics and thinks that they are going to die. Halcyon, having demon heritage himself, remembers some powerful demon spells. Beginning to cast the spells, Halcyon starts to grow bigger in size. Halcyon’s spells are powerful, and he begins to grow savage; all the while, the demon ship is drawing nearer to the small Salamander. Will Halcyon and the rest of the crew defeat the demon ship, or will Halcyon forget his loyalty and kill all of his fellow crew? Read Dragonfrigate Wizard Halcyon Blithe to find out!
I liked Dragonfrigate Wizard Halcyon Blithe because I like books about sea adventures and mystical characters. However, I think that the author gives Halcyon a bit too much luck and skill. I thought to myself as I was reading certain parts of the book, “He should have just died.” Although this unrealistic good fortune took place a lot, the book was very enjoyable. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the previous book, Midshipwizard Halcyon Blithe, or likes naval combat and fantasy stories.
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8
Reviewer Age: 12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Saugerties, NY USA
Monday, March 12, 2007
Why I Let My Hair Grow Out by Maryrose Wood
Relationships can be tricky at best and are especially complicated for high school student Morgan whose boyfriend Raphael breaks up with her just before summer vacation. She responded as any heart-broken teenager would; she cut off twenty-four inches of her strawberry blonde hair and leaving nothing but stubble. Her parents decided a change of scenery was in order and sent her on a bicycle trip through Ireland, the land of leprechanus and magic stories. They had not counted on time travel as part of the adventure, but it was. Morgan learned, among other things, that hair grows back and a broken heart does not have to stay that way.
Imagine bicycling around Ireland with newly married starlets, a grieving widow and a family with two middle schoolers. Not much opportunity for friendships, or so Morgan thought. Her definitions of friend and boy friend change as she peddles up and down the hills and across time. Across time? Yes, she can and does. For readers who like just a bit of fantasy with their reality, this is a perfect book to read while you are waiting for your hair to grow out. Even if you have no hair issues, you are sure to find this book well worth your reading time. I highly recommend it.
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 9
Reviewer City, State and Country: Timonium, Maryland US
Imagine bicycling around Ireland with newly married starlets, a grieving widow and a family with two middle schoolers. Not much opportunity for friendships, or so Morgan thought. Her definitions of friend and boy friend change as she peddles up and down the hills and across time. Across time? Yes, she can and does. For readers who like just a bit of fantasy with their reality, this is a perfect book to read while you are waiting for your hair to grow out. Even if you have no hair issues, you are sure to find this book well worth your reading time. I highly recommend it.
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 9
Reviewer City, State and Country: Timonium, Maryland US
L8r g8r by Lauren Myracle
L8r, g8r by Lauren Myracle is a fictional compilation of instant messaging between three friends. Maddie (mad maddie), Angela (SnowAngel), and Zoe (zoegirl) depict the drama of their senior year by typing frantic, excited, or depressed messages to each other. Jana, a girl that has been the bane of the trio's existence, is along for the ride, playing cruel tricks on each one of them. It is a novel of budding romance, but it especially demonstrates the strong power of friendship that binds the girls together as their support, love, and compassion are expressed.
I have read both of the previous novels in this series, TTYL and TTFN. I enjoyed each of them immensely and was incredibly excited for the chance to read the third segment of Myracle's work. Although the novel drags at some points, the AIM "language" and pace allow the book to go quickly and the hilarious antics of the girls have you laughing from the start. This novel is both sharp and entertaining; the characters are fascinating and keep you wanting to read more. Maddie, a wild child, acts as the mature grownup in this book; she consoles her friends and gives them helpful advice. Angela experiences the most difficult events. She undergoes troubles with her boyfriend and Jana; this begins to affect her usually carefree spirit. Zoe, the more conservative “good girl”, finds that having a boyfriend can turn your world upside down (or right-side up) and she learns just how important love is. As the girls go to the end of their senior year, they realize that the time for fun is also a time for goodbyes. L8r, g8r appropriately declares the book about farewells but also about new beginnings. This book is a great, quick and easy read.
Content:There are several situations in which the girls discuss sex and protection(Zoe begins to have sex with her boyfriend) and several swears are used throughout the novel. This book should probably be considered for a mature reader.
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8
Reviewer Age: 15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Concord, Massachusetts United States
I have read both of the previous novels in this series, TTYL and TTFN. I enjoyed each of them immensely and was incredibly excited for the chance to read the third segment of Myracle's work. Although the novel drags at some points, the AIM "language" and pace allow the book to go quickly and the hilarious antics of the girls have you laughing from the start. This novel is both sharp and entertaining; the characters are fascinating and keep you wanting to read more. Maddie, a wild child, acts as the mature grownup in this book; she consoles her friends and gives them helpful advice. Angela experiences the most difficult events. She undergoes troubles with her boyfriend and Jana; this begins to affect her usually carefree spirit. Zoe, the more conservative “good girl”, finds that having a boyfriend can turn your world upside down (or right-side up) and she learns just how important love is. As the girls go to the end of their senior year, they realize that the time for fun is also a time for goodbyes. L8r, g8r appropriately declares the book about farewells but also about new beginnings. This book is a great, quick and easy read.
Content:There are several situations in which the girls discuss sex and protection(Zoe begins to have sex with her boyfriend) and several swears are used throughout the novel. This book should probably be considered for a mature reader.
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8
Reviewer Age: 15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Concord, Massachusetts United States
God Can Work It Out by Stephanie Perry Moore
Can Faith Thomas’s life get any worse? Faith’s family members are constantly fighting, she has a sparse supply of friends, her teammates on the cheerleading squad are total jerks who think they’re “all that”, and her mom wants her to hang out with the new girl across the street. From friends to family to cheerleading, something is always going wrong and Faith doesn’t see how if there really were a God, why he would let such things happen to her. After a state of depression, God finally gets through to her, she accepts him into her heart and things start to turn around until… her dad leaves. Her life once again is back to being a wreck and all Faith knows is that it is going to take a miracle to turn her messed-up life around.
It is very neat how God Can Work It Out is a book that is designed like a magazine. It is a very good choice for those who get bored easily by the layout of regular stories and enjoy reading magazines. It has many different things included in it, such as blogs, a quiz, character profiles, a few short reads called Salvation’s Path, and much, much more. It is divided into twelve chapters by what month the events are taking place. I very much enjoyed God Can Work It Out by the wonderful author, Stephanie Perry Moore, and I can’t wait for the next installment. This is the first book in the Faith Thomas Series, and I think girls who are interested in cheerleading will most definitely enjoy reading this awesome story.
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8
Reviewer Age: 13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Upper Strasburg, PA United States
It is very neat how God Can Work It Out is a book that is designed like a magazine. It is a very good choice for those who get bored easily by the layout of regular stories and enjoy reading magazines. It has many different things included in it, such as blogs, a quiz, character profiles, a few short reads called Salvation’s Path, and much, much more. It is divided into twelve chapters by what month the events are taking place. I very much enjoyed God Can Work It Out by the wonderful author, Stephanie Perry Moore, and I can’t wait for the next installment. This is the first book in the Faith Thomas Series, and I think girls who are interested in cheerleading will most definitely enjoy reading this awesome story.
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8
Reviewer Age: 13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Upper Strasburg, PA United States
Kichi in Jungle Jeopardy by Lila Guzman
Kichi in Jungle Jeopardy, by Lila Guzmán, takes place in Chilaam, an ancient temple, where Kichi, a rare blue Chihuahua, is pampered by Fortune Teller and everyone else in the Mayan City. Kichi is so happy in Chilaam, he does not know what he is in for! One day, Ah Tok, Fortune Teller’s brother, comes back from a raid with a slave named Uxmal. Kichi is delighted to see that Uxmal can speak Dog. After so many years of trying to get Fortune Teller to understand his language, he almost gave up on having anyone to talk to! Kichi takes a liking to Uxmal, and they meet every day. Until . . . an army attacks Chilaam and kidnaps Uxmal. Kichi sets out into the jungle, a scary place for such a small dog. Kichi has adventure after adventure, eventually learning a big surprise about Uxmal that turns out to be very important for Kichi and the future of his friends.
This story was great. It was exciting around the edges and mild in the middle. My favorite part was when Uxmal was captured and Kichi is sent on his journey into the jungle. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes talking animals who behave like people, and slight wars (without too much violence). The theme of this book, in a sense, was friendship, and sticking by a friend in a difficult situation. Also, I learned some of what it is like to have a really good friend. I really enjoyed this book!
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8
Reviewer Age: 11
Reviewer City, State and Country: Saugerties, NY USA
This story was great. It was exciting around the edges and mild in the middle. My favorite part was when Uxmal was captured and Kichi is sent on his journey into the jungle. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes talking animals who behave like people, and slight wars (without too much violence). The theme of this book, in a sense, was friendship, and sticking by a friend in a difficult situation. Also, I learned some of what it is like to have a really good friend. I really enjoyed this book!
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8
Reviewer Age: 11
Reviewer City, State and Country: Saugerties, NY USA
Summer of Love by Emily Franklin
Summer of Love, by Emily Franklin, is part of a series about a girl named Love Bukowski, this time focusing on the summer before her senior year. As the book begins she looks forward to a great summer with her best friend and to using the summer to discover the mysteries of her past, like the whereabouts of her previously absent mother. She soon finds some of the fun she was seeking but with it comes new confusion about her past. As she tries to live in the moment, she is thrown into even more confusing situations and faced with new obstacles, like choosing a good college and making important decisions about her future goals. The book ends with a new set of revelations, and therefore a new set of questions for Love to answer in the next book.
This book was sprinkled with a plethora of musical references from the Talking Heads to the Beatles and everyone in between. It was an easy read; information from previous books in the series wasn’t necessary to understand what was happening. Love seemed like a real character, however, the circumstances of her life were a bit too unrealistic. The book floated along but without any real substance to hold onto, relying instead on clichéd situations. Some parts screamed potential but then were left with the surfaces unscratched. Franklin’s characters are easily related to but the plot was so quick and implausible that they could not be empathized. The plot was nothing too exciting or new but it wasn’t horrible because it was expected. Overall, it was an easy and semi-enjoyable read, but lacked potential depth that it could have held.
This book was sprinkled with a plethora of musical references from the Talking Heads to the Beatles and everyone in between. It was an easy read; information from previous books in the series wasn’t necessary to understand what was happening. Love seemed like a real character, however, the circumstances of her life were a bit too unrealistic. The book floated along but without any real substance to hold onto, relying instead on clichéd situations. Some parts screamed potential but then were left with the surfaces unscratched. Franklin’s characters are easily related to but the plot was so quick and implausible that they could not be empathized. The plot was nothing too exciting or new but it wasn’t horrible because it was expected. Overall, it was an easy and semi-enjoyable read, but lacked potential depth that it could have held.
The Invisible by Mats Wahl
A high school boy, Hilmer Eriksson, becomes invisible on a Monday morning, and is the main character in a murder mystery. Once he realizes it, he becomes dependent on the detective investigating his disappearance; Detective Fors. Hilmer stays invisible through Monday morning to Tuesday afternoon, following Fors in hopes of becoming visible again. But, as the detective uncovers more clues, Hilmer suffers invisibly, where no one can help him. In the visible world, Detective Fors finds information on Hilmer's troublesome classmates. In the end, he discovers just who caused Hilmer to be where he is now.
This is one of the best mysteries I have ever read! It is quite literally a book that you cannot put down! If you are a mystery lover, whether you care if it is a murder mystery or not, this book will have you hooked and wanting more! It includes wonderful dry humor, engaging interrogations, and, several flashbacks between the past and present. The author clearly wound these three key attributes around an original plot, to create a fantastic book.
Content:Has some extreme violence and vague sexual content, but I do not think it should be restricted to a mature reader.
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 9
Reviewer Age: 12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Eagle Creek, OR USA
This is one of the best mysteries I have ever read! It is quite literally a book that you cannot put down! If you are a mystery lover, whether you care if it is a murder mystery or not, this book will have you hooked and wanting more! It includes wonderful dry humor, engaging interrogations, and, several flashbacks between the past and present. The author clearly wound these three key attributes around an original plot, to create a fantastic book.
Content:Has some extreme violence and vague sexual content, but I do not think it should be restricted to a mature reader.
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 9
Reviewer Age: 12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Eagle Creek, OR USA
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Penelope Bailey Takes the Stage by Susanna Reich
Penelope Bailey is an 11 year old girl who is absolutely obsessed with acting. She lives, thinks, and talks acting. If you haven’t guessed already her dream is to be a famous actress on stage. Penelope and her best friend, Cassie are planning on practicing scenes from Romeo and Juliet over the summer to perform at their school in the fall. But, Penelope’s mom decides to go and help her dad on a scientific experiment and sends Penelope to live with her aunt and three cousins. Penelope is horrified. She can stand her bratty cousins, but not her aunt. Her aunt thinks that anything and anyone to do with the theater is vulgar and shouldn’t be on the earth. Penelope doesn’t think she will survive. Then she befriends a girl at her new school, a professional actor next door, and a flamboyant dancer/actress who has a totally different life style then Penelope has ever seen or heard of before. With their help and encouragement Penelope learns to follow her dreams and to never ever give them up.
Named by Scripps Howard News Service as One of the Best Kid’s Books of 2006, this book is definitely one of my favorites. I am an aspiring actress and this book was perfect for me. It gave me encouragement, self confidence, and even some useful tips on acting. I believe any performer, actress, dancer, or singer will eat this book up just as much as I did. I applaud Susanna Reich.
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 9
Reviewer Age: 15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Moscow, Idaho United States of America
Named by Scripps Howard News Service as One of the Best Kid’s Books of 2006, this book is definitely one of my favorites. I am an aspiring actress and this book was perfect for me. It gave me encouragement, self confidence, and even some useful tips on acting. I believe any performer, actress, dancer, or singer will eat this book up just as much as I did. I applaud Susanna Reich.
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 9
Reviewer Age: 15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Moscow, Idaho United States of America
Such A Pretty Face
"Such a Pretty Face" is a collection of stories about beauty. The first story is about a beautiful, seemingly perfect girl wanting to just be ugly and fit in with everyone else. The second about a girl living in another country where everyone she sees seems beautiful, making her feel like an outsider. The third a story of a boy stuck in the hospital with a broken back and falling in love with a nurse he can't evem see. The fourth is a story of a girl who has a a hair on her chin that keeps growing longer and thicker, and on the day of prom too. The fifth is a story of boy going to a circus freak show, and finding a beauty he did not expect. The sixth story is about a girl trying to find her own look, a look that does not parallel her mother's looks. The seventh of a very hairy boy nicknamed "ape," who just wants to get a date with his dream girl. The eigth is of a a beautiful girl whose mom wants her to be a model, but who doesn't want to draw attention to herslef. The nineth is about a depressed boy whose best friend is trying to make him feel better by making up a bingo game with him. The tenth is about a girl named Beauty, but is considered anything but a beauty. The elventh is about a depressed, suicidal girl who is getting therapy from a short comedian. And the twelfth is about moments in a girl's life when her perceptiona of beauty does not include her.
First of all, I am sorry about my summary, it's just that it is hard to convey the plots of every story in this book in a couple of sentences. I liked this book because although every story in this book is very short, all the stories are long enough to send the reader a message about beauty, not always outward beauty but sometimes inner beauty and perceived beauty. I especially liked how every story offered something different, told something different about beauty, which made it so the book was not a repitition of the same idea. The book was good because every writer wrote kind of heart warming characters that you could somehow relate to because of their perception of beauty. Some of the stories in the book left you hanging, though, but it wasn't a necessarily bad thing not to know what happened to each charater, and those stories left the future of the charater's and their ideals up to the reader to decide, which I think made those stories better. This book was also good because it made you think about beauty and how you define it, which before I read this book I never actually considered anything outside of the magezine definition of beauty. I thought this was a great book that you should at least read once.
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 9
Reviewer Age: 15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Tucson, Arizona U.S.A.
First of all, I am sorry about my summary, it's just that it is hard to convey the plots of every story in this book in a couple of sentences. I liked this book because although every story in this book is very short, all the stories are long enough to send the reader a message about beauty, not always outward beauty but sometimes inner beauty and perceived beauty. I especially liked how every story offered something different, told something different about beauty, which made it so the book was not a repitition of the same idea. The book was good because every writer wrote kind of heart warming characters that you could somehow relate to because of their perception of beauty. Some of the stories in the book left you hanging, though, but it wasn't a necessarily bad thing not to know what happened to each charater, and those stories left the future of the charater's and their ideals up to the reader to decide, which I think made those stories better. This book was also good because it made you think about beauty and how you define it, which before I read this book I never actually considered anything outside of the magezine definition of beauty. I thought this was a great book that you should at least read once.
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 9
Reviewer Age: 15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Tucson, Arizona U.S.A.
Stuff - The Life of a Cool Demented Dude by Jeremy Strong
Life isn’t always easy, and never has that saying been truer for Simon. His parents are divorced, and now Simons house has been taken over by GIRLS(Sherry Trifle, his dads girlfriend, and Natasha, his new stepsister)!!! What’s more is that there is an evil man-obsessed rabbit that wants to kill Simon and his dad! But Simon finds solace in his comic book drawings and dreaming about a new girl in his class, Sky. But when Simons art teacher has him draw an anonymous comic strip for the schools magazine, what is everybody going to do when they realize the people in the comic strip are based on them? Will Simon survive having to live with girls in him home? Will Sky, the love of his life, ever like Simon back? Will Pankhurst, the rabbit, kill Simon before he has had a chance to live?? Find out in Stuff: The Life of A Cool Demented Dude.
I did not really like the book at the beginning. It was confusing at first, and some of the English sayings (like thing thong and Citroen)were driving me nuts, because I did not know what they meant ( I didn’t know about the glossary in the back). But after the first few chapters, I started to really get into it, and couldn’t stop reading it! I felt that a lot of the things in the book were true, about the way Middle school is in real life. Overall, It was a good book, with a lot of surprises!
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 7
Reviewer Age: 12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Casa Grande, AZ United States of America
I did not really like the book at the beginning. It was confusing at first, and some of the English sayings (like thing thong and Citroen)were driving me nuts, because I did not know what they meant ( I didn’t know about the glossary in the back). But after the first few chapters, I started to really get into it, and couldn’t stop reading it! I felt that a lot of the things in the book were true, about the way Middle school is in real life. Overall, It was a good book, with a lot of surprises!
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 7
Reviewer Age: 12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Casa Grande, AZ United States of America
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