Carl Melcher Goes To Vietnam

Carl Melcher, an eighteen-year-old boy from Philadelphia, is
drafted into the Vietnam War. His first six months are spent
fighting, running, advancing, and touring through different
stations. As he meets and fights alongside people, he
acquires several friends. However, as the battle continues,
they begin to fall. One by one, and sometimes two at a time,
his friends fail in battle, and soon it is Carl and three of
his friends that are left of their previous group.

The author, Paul Clayton, shows a clear understanding and
knowledge of several war slang words. This knowledge was
easily shared with me, and I learned a good number. The
actual plot of the story was captivating, and balanced the
genres of adventure, suspense, comedy, and even romance very
well. There would be a time of absolute peril, and all of a
sudden a few sentences that equaled the adventure in comedy.
Carl's romance with the Vietnamese girl was interesting, and
although it was short was satisfying, in the sense of
balancing genres. The wide array of characters kept my
memory moving, and in doing so I easily not only learned,
but memorized the new phrases mentioned earlier. The
stereotypes of soldiers, lieutenants, and captains were
present, but were a minority. The majority of the
characters' personalities were colorful, and I enjoyed the
introduction to each new one every time.
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8

Reviewer Age:13

Reviewer City, State and Country: Eagle Creek, OR USA

The Thief Queen's Daughter

This book describes the journeys of the explorer Ven. Set in a parallel world this book includes many different creatures including Ven, who is a Nain. Ven is entrusted with a mission by the king, who wants to discover the origins of a box given to his father. Inside the box is a stone which appears to be made of light. Engraved upon the stone is the seal of The Gated City where the descendants of ancient thieves are forced to live. Ven and his friends have many adventures in the Gated City, including a run in with a weapons dealer, a search missing companion, and a gift from a fortune teller. Eventually, however, their journey takes a turn for the worse when they encounter the queen of thieves and realize that one member of their party has a dark past.

Perhaps most importantly, I would like to say that I would have enjoyed this book much more had I been three years younger. I would not recommend this to older readers because the plot can be predictable at times and the language is not challenging. Another problem I had was that at times it seemed as if the author was attempting to fit a longer story into a certain number of pages. This novel had a lot of potential and an original plot, but the length didn't do it justice. I feel that it would have been more enjoyable had the author put more detail into the adventures. My biggest complaint was that is was simply okay. It didn't excite me or seem to be special in any way. These points aside, I think preteen readers will enjoy it for its creativity.
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 5

Reviewer Age:13

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

The Sweet, Terrible, Glorious Year I Truly, Completely Lost It by Lisa Shanahan

Gemma Stone’s existence is far from boring. In the beginning, Debbie, Gemma’s sister, is planning to wed her newest boyfriend, Brian. After a plethora of uncanny characters that had held the position of “Debbie’s Boyfriend,” Brian certainly seemed normal…until the Stones meet his war-fanatic family. To add to this, Debbie has gone completely over the edge with her preparation, insisting that the day be planned to absolute perfection. Matters are only complicated when Gemma auditions for the school play. Her initial motive is to gain the attentions of heart throb Nick Lloyd, but her plan splatters as bad-boy Raven DeHead begins creeping into her life, instead. Unwittingly, a unique bond forms between the two, and things begin to get complicated. This sweetly comical narrative, laced with romance and action, is an enjoyable read.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I was hooked throughout a majority of my reading, and captivated by Gemma’s very real feelings. It caught me by surprise that the story takes place in Australia, and I’ll admit that the “lingo” took some getting used to. The author created believable characters, if somewhat unbelievable circumstances. The tone throughout the book was humorous, and at times gentle. I liked that the author seemed to sympathize with Raven, and that even though Gemma tells her story through first person, we can still see her critically. The book might have been more satisfying had the ending been more thorough. I felt as if the conclusion was rushed, and didn’t have quite as much detail or action as I expected. Overall, though, The Sweet, Terrible, Glorious Year I Truly, Completely Lost It was a delightful read that I would recommend to any teenage girl who’s looking for a lighthearted, quality read.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8
Reviewer Age: 14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Tipp City, Ohio USA

Haunted Heritage

Haunted Heritage by Michael Norman and Beth Scott is a
compilation of ghost stories and unusual events that have
occurred throughout North America. Divided into chapters by
region, (the Northeast, the Midwest, the South, the West,
and Canada) each section contains stories devoted to the
history and culture of a particular area. There are twelve
stories about ghost sightings on college campuses and
sixteen stories of appearing lights; no one knows where they
came from or their significance. Haunted Heritage is almost
like a textbook of scary, gory, or just plain weird events
that have supposedly occurred in the United States and
Canada. The stories are well researched and provide
insightful views of the supernatural.

Haunted Heritage contains too many ghost stories. The
majority of them are fascinating and intriguing, and some I
even wished I was there. After awhile, however, the
similarities and length of the accounts become barriers to
potentially great stories. The book becomes tedious to read
and some of the stories are boring as they are too factual
and the information takes away from the general theme of the
story. One story I particularly liked was a great tale of
the strange events that occurred on Larabee Street. The
story was frightening and had me turning pages, however,
towards the end, it was devoted to what happened to the
family of the story,including information about the sale of
their house and how much the family lost in value. Haunted
Heritage has such fantastic potential to be a book on every
child and adult nightstand. It contains stories teenagers
will read to friends at sleepovers, trying to scare each
other into nightmares. However, it lost its appeal with too
detailed and informative accounts. Haunted Heritage is worth
the effort, if only it was not deluded with unrelated
information, it would be perfect.
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 6

Many of the stories are frightening and there are some
accounts of gore and killings that may be too disturbing to
young readers.

Reviewer Age:16

Reviewer City, State and Country:
Concord, Massachusetts Unit

Something To Blog About

Sometimes chances come along that you just can't pass up.
That's what happens to Libby Fawcett when she is asked to
tutor Seth Jacobs, a boy who she has liked for nearly two
years. She accepts the offer mostly because of her crush,
but also because she knows that her rival, Angel Rivera,
likes Seth, too. But Libby gets sidetracked from trying to
figure out if Seth likes her or not when she discovers that
her mother is dating Angel's father. In this whirlwind of
events, Libby becomes hopelessly confused about her
feelings toward everyone in her life, namely her mother,
Seth, and Angel. She tries desperately to uncover her own
feelings in the myriad of events that follow, the most
important of which would be her fight with Seth, dinner at
the Rivera's house, and finally, Angel's art show. The
novel culminates as the entire cast of characters decides
things once and for all.

The idea behind this book is sound and the plot provides
plenty of interesting situations, but I thought that it was
not executed as well as it could have been. The character of
Libby Fawcett is believable as a teenage girl, as is the
character of Angel Rivera, but many of the others felt less
real. For instance, Roger Fawcett and Keisha Jones were fairly realistic, but I found myself getting aggravated by them rather than endeared towards them. The subplot of Roger and Keisha's romance seemed to intrude on the main plot of the book and, other than this subplot, they served no real
purpose. The storyline moved along quickly and didn't drag,
but none of the events satisfied themselves until the very
end. As the book ended, the various conflicts resolved in
one of three ways: they ended in a believable, though
clich, resolution, they didn't end at all, or they ended in
a completely arbitrary conclusion. I would recommend this
book for its plot and quick pace, but not for the style in
which it was executed.
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 6

Reviewer Age:14

Reviewer City, State and Country: Melrose, MA United States

Two-Minute Drill: Mike Lupica's Comeback Kids by Mike Lupica

Scott Parry has just moved to a new town with new kids, new school, new opportunities. Of course he is the biggest know-it-all in the whole sixth grade. His dream though is to become just like Doug Flutie, former player of the New England Patriots. The rest of Scott's skills are very poor and he is not confident that he will make a football team. His "new friend" Chris Conlan is possibly the best football player in the league but his school skills arn't to great. Together will Scott and Chris find a way out of both their delemas?

This book was great for the school "smarty" or for the school's best sports star. The way Mike Lupica set up his story was that he did not want to give the reader too big of a hint. The reader would have to solve it themselves. The characters from this book are from the school nerd to the school bully. In the end it always works out good for the innocent one. I would recommend it because there is suspense along with minor tragedies that keep the book interesting.

Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Forestdale, Massachusetts United States

Ready or Not : An All-American Girl Novel

Sam returns in this sequel to All American Girl busy as
ever. She now has to contend with juggling school, art
lessons, her duties as teen ambassador, and dating her
boyfriend, David (the President's son). Sam is as hilarious
as ever as she fumbles from one incident to another. How was
she to know that taking a life drawing class meant drawing
naked people? Or that despite dying her hair black she would
still be recognizable as the girl who saved the President.
On top of all her worries, Sam's parents insist she get a
job, which creates some more interesting situations. But her
main worry is whether or not to spend Thanksgiving weekend
with David. So once again, we laugh and commiserate with Sam
as this time she tries to dodge her boyfriend while trying
to figure everything out.

Although, I don't think Ready or Not was as good as the
prequel, Sam is still the same amusing teen. Her personality
is what really makes the book come together in the end. In
this saga of the installation, Meg Cabot tries to make Sam
deal with more serious issues. But, in the end, this goal
does not work out as Sam's mirthful personality just makes
them laughable issues and thus undermines the true
seriousness of the topic. But it is still a great, funny
novel that is a great read for relaxing. The writing is
once again fantastic, and Cabot puts in just the right
amount of sincerity to make Sam into a believable character.
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8

Reviewer Age:18

Reviewer City, State and Country: Kansas City, Missouri U.S.A

The Faceless Friend

Emmaline Cayley... Aviation extraodinaire... Robert Burns...
Errand Boy... Princess Purnah... Porok! Glekk!. Three young
children, one evil kidnapper, and a suspenseful adventure in
London- all woven together into one insane story called The
Faceless Fiend. It starts off in a pretty conspicuous
setting, in mad Mrs. Butterworth's cottage, with the three
children attempting a flight experiment shortly followed by
their teacher, Bellbuckle's lecture on why humans can't fly
like birds and the first impressions of the three children's
personalities. Emmaline; calm and scientific, is a careful
and calculating character. Purnah, shown as a bit of a
nutcase to the people of England (although she's mild
compared to the people of her Chiligriti homeland), and
Robert; enthusiastic, and not easily hurt, one of the only
two fans of Mrs. Butterworth's slug cake. (Stanley, the
little brown dog, was the other fan.) And all seems well.
However, when a series of mysterious events regarding
Princess Purnah and Chiligrit arise, everyone's suspicious-
and for good reason. Robert, dressed as Purnah, is kidnapped
by the henchmen of the infamous Faceless Fiend. Purnah,
trying to escape, finds herself lost in a forest, only to be
found by Emmaline, off a newly twisted ankle and bearing
chocolate, to Purnah's salivation... and salivation.
Although riding on separate carriages, all three find
themselves in London, and after Robert's half-baked escape,
he runs into a boy of the London streets, Peachey, who
inadvertently leads him to Banjo, a dog nearing senility,
the newest main character. But in attempting to save Purnah
and her country, and Robert from the Fiend's irritation with
him, can they possibly defeat a criminal mastermind?

I adored The Faceless Fiend. It's charming, funny, and
the characters were the most amusing people in the world.
Even serious Emmaline had her moments. I hadn't read any
other books in the series, but this one stands alone
wonderfully, with all the little details of previous books
inserted into the text, so the reader wasn't confused.
Although I was an avid Purnah fan throughout the book,
Robert was a close second- both of them, especially in the
same place at the same time, created a hilarious duo.
Emmaline, though, had a surprisingly small part in the book,
considering the series name (The Mad Misadventures of
Emmaline and Rubberbone), and I do think she could have been
a bit more prominent. Faceless Fiend is, just a little,
childish in writing style- something I would have
appreciated several worlds more when I was seven or eight,
but for those older adolescents, even adults who are still
fans of Dr. Seuss, I'd definitely recommend this.
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 9

Reviewer Age:13

Reviewer City, State and Country: Mahomet, Illinois
United States of America

Unholy Grail

This book is definitely a thriller. The pace of the book
travels so fast that the reader is breathless throughout the
reading. However, the fast pace does not cover the bad
writing, and Unholy Grail reads a little like the Da Vinci
Code without Da Vinci. To start the book, two people are
separately lured into Grand Central Station and one is shot
while the other is framed for it. Meanwhile a renegade
priest is killing other priests and marking them with
stigmata. There's also a mysterious Circle of Five, involved
with maintaining the bloodline of Jesus Christ and Mary
Magdalene. But this is all side story, because the two from
Grand Central Station decide to travel together, arguing
about Jesus and going through the story just because, not
even trying to unravel the conspiracies mixed in.

This book is like any of Dan Brown's books, and just as
poorly written. While the plot is interesting, there is so
much clunky dialogue and it seems that every other sentence
is cliche. The actions seem scripted and despite the intense
pacing, no suspense is truly built up. The characters were
all two-dimensional and seemed able to convey emotion only
through their eyes. Their eyes would flash with anger. Their
eyes bug out. Also, the descriptions were drawn-out and
ineffective. Overall, I would not recommend this book.
Rating (0 - 10 scale):

Reviewer Age:17

Reviewer City, State and Country: Overland Park, Kansas
United States

The Heights, The Depths,and Everything in Between

This book is about a girl named Lucy struggling to defy the
stereotypes of life being thrown at her. Her best friend
Jake is a midget with a mom that's in love with a man who's
not his dad. She and Jake start hanging out more and more
with the resident bad kid, Gary. Her dad is currently on the
road, and he doesn't seem like he wants to come back. Oh,
and Lucy's super tall, but she's got the last name of Small.
Watch Lucy come to terms with herself and her friends
lives...whenever that happens.

This book is very well constructed. Sally Nemeth, the
writer, creates a story of dilemma after dilemma, but in a
way that's not overwhelming. Towards the end, you can't peel
your eyes away from the book. But I don't know how well
written it is. I would say that Nemeth could've made her
audience feel more connected to the book. When you read it,
you'll like it, but you don't feel much emotion for the
characters. Maybe you'll sense a little triumph for Lucy at
parts, but that's it.
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8

Reviewer Age:11

Reviewer City, State and Country: San Francisco,
California United States of America