Primavera

14-year-old Flora is the last daughter of the Pazzi,
though she is hardly treated like one. While her older
brothers and sister live a life of luxury, she waits on them
like a servant. Determined not having to live at a
convent, Flora devises a plan to win her parents' approval.
But soon she must throw everything away in an attempt to
save her family's and her dear friend Emilio's lives. As
everything she loves is stripped away from her, Flora must
go into hiding to save herself. All she can do is cling on
to the hope that her only family member left, her brother
Andrea, will live long enough for her to see him once again.

Set in the Italian Renaissance, Primavera is a
story of growing up, living out your dreams, and finding
true love. It is written in first person, but unlike some
books I've read in that point of view, I didn't feel like I
was the main character. One thing I did enjoy about the
setup was that most of the book was one big flashback, which
made it much easier to understand. I found the first half of
the book rather boring. The main character was vain and
self-centered which made the tone of the story a little
whiny. However, as the book progressed there was more
action, the main character matured, and the plot became more
meaningful. I absolutely loved the ending! It was totally
unexpected and made me feel like the time I spent reading
the book was worthwhile. I would recommend Primavera to
teens who like historical fiction mixed in with a little bit
of action and romance.


Rating (0 - 10 scale): 7

Reviewer Age:13

Reviewer City, State and Country: Chambersburg, PA United States

Time to Smell the Roses

In the little town of Pinchester, a watch making mouse,
Hermux Tantamoq is happily waiting for his wedding to arrive.
When Hermux is in Thorny End he meets Reezor Blossom, a
mouse who is hosting a huge party, to show off his locally
grown roses. In the process, strange bees appear, and a
squirrel shows up dead on a beach. Tucka Merslin, a super
spokes model squirrel, wants to become a huge fashion
diva/squirrel, and tries many ways to succeed, so she can
dominate the makeup and fashion industry. Another mouse,
Androse DeRosenquill is trying to find his long, lost son
for his company, DeRosenquill & Son. All of the characters
fight their battles in what some would call the will to
survive.

Time to Smell the Roses, is thrilling and intense, a new
mystery Animal Farm, with less politics. Michael Hoeye has
captured the spirits of animals and heavily stuffed them
into the lives of humans. A murder case, missing person(s),
it could not be better! You need some time to adjust,
because it is a bit confusing with all the characters. This
is a definite page-turner. Join their mystery!
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8

Some violent murders, and violent situations.

Reviewer Age:11

Reviewer City, State and Country: Osseo, Wisconsin United
States

A war of Gifts

This novel is a short science fiction story designed mainly
to entertain. The book is short and an easy read. It was a
fairly serious story, but it has a few touching and sweet
parts. It is set in the Ender series that Orson Scott Card
created, probably in the middle of Ender's Game. In the
book, a boy named Zeck is taken from his abusive
Fundamentalist Christian family into Battle School due to
his amazing memory. War, however, is against his pacifist
views, but religion is against the rules at Battle School.
He still refuses to participate in the mock battles.
Therefore, he is shunned by his fellow students, who are all
being trained to become soldiers. He ends up in Rat Army
with Dink and Ender. When the students rebel by giving
holiday gifts, Zeck is confronted with the truth about his
family and the holidays.

This book is a decent, but not nearly as good as Card's
other Ender novels. To read this book, you need to have
read at least Ender's Game, the first book in the Ender
series. Otherwise, none of the characters or the settings
will make sense. Even if you have read the series as I
have, the book is a disappointment. It is not nearly as
good as any of Card's other novels. I would recommend
reading it only if you are an avid Ender fan and must read
every story about Ender. The plot is only mediocre and the
story is too short to fully develop the few interesting
characters. It is basically a Christmas and holiday story
using the characters in the Ender universe.

This novel has some violence and abuse. Zeke's father
beats him and there is a mildly violent fight between Zeke
and Ender. Also, there are also some anti-Fundamentalist
Christian aspects and pro-Christianity aspects of the story,
so it is partially faith-based.
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 5

Reviewer Age:14

Reviewer City, State and Country: Royersford, PA United
States

Dinosaurs

As the title suggests, this book is about dinosaurs - all
kinds of them. From oviraptorosaurs (egg-thieves) to
tyrannosaur's (tyrant dinosaurs), the book provides
interesting facts about numerous categories of dinosaurs.
There are also articles written by expert paleontologists,
and each page is loaded with colorful illustrations. But it
doesn't stop here. There are also chapters about geology,
paleontology, fossilization, and more. Instead of presenting
blunt facts, this book tells interesting stories and is
full of information. This book can amuse people of all
ages.

Not only is this book packed with information, but
it also offers perspectives from many paleontologists. In
fact, over 23 paleontologists contributed toward the book,
and it is really enjoyable to read from them. This is not
one of the regular dinosaur encyclopedias where the book
just lists each dinosaur name and gives its features.
Instead, this book groups some species into one (such as
stegosaurus). And for each chapter, the author presents
colorful information, such as stories, pictures,
interesting behaviors, etc. In addition, there are
information about geology, geography, paleontology, and much
more. You won't be bored with dry, boring facts with this
book!
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8

Reviewer Age:14

Reviewer City, State and
Country: Urbana, IL USA

Dinosaurs by Thomas R. Holtz Jr.

As the title suggests, this book is about dinosaurs - all kinds of them. From oviraptorosaurs (egg-thieves) to tyrannosauroids (tyrant dinosaurs), the book provides interesting facts about numerous categories of dinosaurs. There are also articles written by expert paleotologists, and each page is loaded with colorful illustrations. But it doesn't stop here. There are also chapters about geology, paleotology, fossilization, and more. Instead of presenting blunt facts, this book tells interesting stories and is full of information. This book can amuse people of all ages.

Not only is this book packed with information, but it also offers perspectives from many paleontologists. In fact, over 23 paleontologists contributed toward the book, and it is really enjoyable to read from them. This is not one of the regular dinosaur encyclopedia where the book just lists each dinosaur name and gives its features. Instead, this book groups some species into one (such as stegosaurs). And for each chapter, the author presents colorful information, such as stories, pictures, interesting behaviors, etc. In addition, there are information about geology, geography, paleotology, and much more. You won't be bored with dry, boring facts with this book!

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8

Reviewer Age: 14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Urbana, IL USA

The Mysterious Adventures of Pauline Bovary by Edeet Ravel

This book is the second in the series, Pauline, btw. It is written in a new type of format, as Pauline is recording her story as a novel, and attempts to get it published, as in the first book in the series. In this episode, Pauline struggles with many adolescent problems: her best friend is moving to Toronto, her parents recently divorced, and she is starting the 8th grade. She meets a new boy at school, and starts seeing him, although she already has a boyfriend. When things fall apart, and she breaks up with her actual boyfriend to be with the new guy, Ryan, she finds out that Ryan was just using her. Will Pauline be able to patch things up with her ex-boyfriend? And will she ever see her best friend again? Edeet Ravel writes another exciting chapter in the life of Pauline Carelli-Bloom.

I did not enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. It did not have a very filling story line and felt like just a chapter in a bigger novel. I was pleased to see that her problems greatly resembled the problems of the pre-teens and teens of today. It was an interesting book, but it was written as a first-time novelist might write, with many notations such as, "Zane Burbank's book said to keep chapters short, so I will talk about Mom in the next chapter." Rather than a novel, it was written more in Diary format, with chapter headings instead of dates. I wouldn't recommend this as a first-choice book, maybe a second or third choice. I would possibly be willing to read more books by this author.

Content: This book has a few references to adult content. Her mother searches for men on the internet, and Pauline overhears her mother talking about adult content to her mother's best friend. There are several scenes where Pauline is cheating on her boyfriend and ksiing another boy. She is also asked to go further with the same boy she was kissing.

Reviewer Age:12

Reviewer City, State and Country: Boothwyn, Pennsylvania United States

Final Sins by Michael Prescott

This book is about a private investigator named Abby Sinclair. One day, she is hired to do some work for a man named Peter Faust. Faust claims that his younger girlfriend is being stalked. There is only one problem; Faust is a known murderer who only avoided prison with an insanity plea. Police are sure that he has continued his serial killing but they are unable to pin the crimes to Faust. Abby refuses to take the case until she meets his girlfriend. She is a frail, young girl name Elsie. Abby becomes convinced that she must take the case in order to protect the girl. Abby is shocked to mind that her only enemy Tess is also on the case. Due to unforeseen circumstances the unlikely pair must work together. This exciting case will lead the two women into the underground of rebel FBI agents and the secrets Faust himself may be hiding.

This book was very interesting. At some points I found that I could not put it down. It was fast paced and had many twists and turns. The book also changes perspective between characters (mostly Abby, Tess, and Faust). I found this to be an excellent way of keeping the reader's interest since all the character had different ways of seeing the problems. While I will admit that it lagged at some points, what this book lacked it made up for in the end. I would recommend this book to fans of adventure and mystery novels.

Content: This book contain sexual content not approporate for children.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8
Reviewer Age: 13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Chambersburg, PA Franklin

Or Not by Brian Mandabach

If in America we are entitled to free speech and our own opinion, why is one girl punished so cruelly when she doesn’t sing God Bless America because she doesn’t believe in what it’s saying. Just because Cassie doesn’t believe in God and she refuses to keep quiet, Cassie is now the target of everyones hatred. Even some of the teachers know what other kids are doing to her, and they turn the other eye. Cassie turns to her diary for solace, and starts to write stories. But when people think that her stories are actually going to happen, Cassie is alienated even more. Will Cassie crack under everything around her, or will she end up free of the prejudice that has been fallowing her all year?

I enjoyed Or Not because Brian Mandabach understands what happens in middle school and how it feels to be the target of everyones hate, and he puts it in his writing.He makes it easy to relate to the characters, so the book runs along smoothly.Though at some points in the story it is hard to understand what is going on, it all is explained in the end. But Mandabach understands what goes on in middle school so well, I can match up characters from the book to people I go to school with. And it takes a skilled author to be able to do that.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8
Reviewer Age: 13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Casa Grande, Arizona Unites States of America

Speechless by Valerie Sherrard

Speechless by Valerie Sherrard is an intriguing book about a boy named Griffin Maxwell, who is dreading the upcoming yearly speeches in his class. He's worried that this speech will end up like his last one, which was a complete disaster. Finally his best friend, Bryan, comes up with a solution, to go on a protest of silence for all the children fighting in wars in African countries. At first all of this is just a big scam, something to get him out of giving the speech. But after fighting with the school bully and many other outrageous things (all without speaking) Griffin starts to realize what he's actually doing. That's when Griffin realizes he wants to do something to help the children fighting in the war. The question is, what can he do, after all he's just a kid.


Speechless is a very interesting and gripping book. It is definitely a page turner that grips the reader's attention until the very end. The book was also very touching, the plight of the young children fighting in wars made me want to do something for the children as well. But the book was not completely realistic, I know that it's a work of fiction and it's not something that actually happened but at times everything seemed strange and hard to believe. Overall, the book was fantastic and though it's not my favorite I would definitely recommend it to others.

Reviewer Age:13

Reviewer City, State and Country: Champaign, IL USA

The Demonata Blood Beast by Darren Shan

The Demonata Blood Beast is about Grubbs Grady, a ttenager who has battled demons to save his half-brother's life. Now, he is fighting for his own. When his Uncle Dervish goes away for a weekend, Grubbs throws a party. During this party, he begins to feel sick. This is just the beginning. When his uncle comes home, he doesn't tell Dervish his suspicions: that he is suffering from the family curse and will soon become a werewolf. So, he continues life as normal. He and his two friends, Bill-E and Loch start digging out in his backyard for the treasure that is said to be buried there. However, the next day, the hole is much deeper than when they left. Grubbs was responsible. For some reason overnight he had lost control to the werewolf growing in him and it had dug the hole very deep. Then, it collapses, opening up to an enormous cave. In it, Loch falls, hitting his head, and dies. Then, over the next few weeks, Bill-E, Grubbs, and Loch's sister, Reni, Grubbs's girlfriend, go to numerous sessions with their new counselor, Juni Swan, whom Grubbs had met months ago in the demon town Slawter. She helped them with their problems, and fell in love with Devish. Meanwhile, Dervish is doing his best to help Grubbs with his werewolf problems. However, not all is as it seems. Will Grubbs be able to hold of his inner werewolf? Read "The Demonata Blood Beast" to find out!

Although I haven't read any of the first four books in the Demonata series, I caught on quickly. The author does a very good job explaining past events in a short period of time. This book was a very good read. It was nonstop action, with Grubbs fighting his internal battle against the werewolf while simultaneously fighting battles, both emotional and physical, outside. All of the characters are unique, with interesting personalities. Although I even had trouble reading it at night with some of the more frightening parts, this was a great book. The Demonata Blood Beast gets a nine out of ten from me.

Some of the thoughts and nightmares of the character are quite frightening. Not a good idea for young readers.

Reviewer Age:14

Reviewer City, State and Country: Chambersburg, PA USA