Look Both Ways

Jacquelyn Mitchard's "Look Both Ways" closely follows both the social and magical angst of two teenage twins. Merry Brynn has visions of the past; Mally Brynn has visions of the future. When dating older boys and senioritis couple with dangerous mystical encounters, the young ladies consult their family and closest friends. This book is part of the "Midnight Twins" series, but readers can easily follow the plot without any prior knowledge of Mitchard's other lackadaisical novels. The main intrigue revolves around a robust cat wreaking havoc, which turns out to be a shape-shifting friend. Adventure ensues as the sisters are urged to fight for humanity and fight over common love interests. When the dynamic duo are involved in soccer, cheerleading, and various other extracurricular activities, students around them begin to pick up on their aura of unusualness.

One will definitely not be on the edge of their seat while reading "Look Both Ways" by Jacquelyn Mitchard. When there is a juxtaposition of teenage melodrama and supernatural phenomena, all enthusiasm is lost in the process. The novel has little descriptions of magical scenes with the exception of some haunting night sweats. As for the melodrama, it seems mostly cliched and easy to predict. While the book is an easy read that definitely entertains the reader, it is by no means a page-turner. Readers interested in teen magic should find novels that better coalesce the two genres of fantasy and drama. While one does not have to read the other "Midnight Twins" novels, this book seems more appropriate for collectors of the series as opposed to capricious readers looking for a dazzling piece of literature.

Reviewer Age:17
Reviewer City, State and Country: Staten Island, NY USA

Christine & Ethan Rose: Guest Bloggers on Wednesday

Flamingnet is excited to host Christine and Ethan Rose, authors of the new, award-winning YA fantasy novel Rowan of the Wood during their Geekalicious Yuletide Blog Book Tour! The authors are stopping by here on Wednesday, December 10th as guest bloggers. Their post is called "A Matter of Taste" about the subjectivity of book reviews.

Rowan of the Wood:
An ancient wizard possesses a young boy after a millennium of imprisonment in a magic wand. He emerges from the child in the face of danger and discovers Fiana, his new bride from the past, has somehow survived time and become something evil.

The authors are also hosting a contest on YouTube and giving away a digital camcorder just for following four simple steps. Check it out!

Come back and visit on Wednesday, read their blog, and post questions/comments. The authors will be available all day Wednesday and Thursday to answer your questions. Every comment on this blog is an entry to win a signed, limited edition print of Christine's Green Man II painting. The authors are also giving away autographed books and over $600 in other prizes through their website.

Gankutsuou 1: The Count of Monte Cristo

Albert is a young Parisian who is vacationing on the moon. His friend Franz is accompanying him, but he cannot seem to keep Albert out of trouble. Albert decides to follow a man, finding out later that the man is the Count of Monte Cristo. Albert is instantly intrigued and fascinated by him, but does not know what the Count’s intentions are. Apparently, betrayal was committed against the Count years ago, and now he seeks revenge for it, planning that Albert’s parents, and the entirety of Paris, will feel his wrath soon.

Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo was a very different kind of story to read. I have never read the actual story of The Count of Monte Cristo, and this manga made me want to read it. At first I thought that the characters were drawn strangely and looked incomplete. As I read on, though, I got used to the images and they seemed to be drawn exactly how they should be for this certain story. Overall, the plotline was great. It moved quickly and kept my attention. I was confused a few times, due to the quantity of characters and events that take place. I recommend people who have read The Count of Monte Cristo or people who like manga to read this book.

Rating: 7
Reviewer Age:15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Carlisle, Pennsylvania United States of America

The King's Rose

A new and different approach to the Tudors and Henry VIII, Alisa Libby's The King's Rose tells the story of Henry's fifth wife, Catherine Howard. Cousin to Anne Boleyn, Catherine's story reveals her concerns with the marriage even before the king's proposal. Free from any glaring historical anomalies, The King's Rose builds upon real letters and testimonies to develop a love plot between Catherine and her cousin Thomas. The novel is structured around the contradictions of court life. Though outsiders to the situation may see her as greedy, this portrayal of Catherine focuses on her young age and responsibility, especially as her marriage is presented as a duty. In this way, The King's Rose tells the story of a teenage girl who perhaps isn't ready to become Queen, but who is thrown into the position regardless in order to protect her family interests and then must struggle to balance King Henry's interests with her own.

Considering my interest in history, I truly enjoyed reading The King's Rose. To my knowledge, the setting is accurate and well developed, though liberty was clearly taken with the romantic plot. I was pleased to note Libby's emphasis on the importance of family in early English society, between Henry's nightmares over his heir and Catherine's rise to Queen as critical to social status of the Howard lineage. Though I knew how the novel would end, I appreciated how Libby led into it. Like Catherine herself, the reader feels helpless to the control of the council and upon finishing will likely contemplate Catherine's decisions as I couldn't help but do. In addition to young adults, this novel is certainly accessible to an older crowd with an interest in the Tudor era and the many wives of Henry VII.

Reviewer Age:19

Reviewer City, State and Country: Farmington, CT USA

The Case of the Silk King

"The Case of the Silk King", one of the Choose Your Own Adventure Series, is a book of many adventures. In this story the reader is the main character. You, as the reader, are a detective and haven't had an exciting case in a year. You start with the same beginning by getting a plain brown envelope with no return address. It contains two one thousand dollar bills, a plane ticket, and a newspaper article. The article is about Jim Thomas. He works for the OSS and has now disappeared while visiting friends in Malaysia. As you continue you will have to decide what to do; such as, if you decide to leave for Bangkok tonight, turn to page 15. If you decide to put off your leave until you have more information, turn to page 6.

If you like adventurous books, you will be interested in The Case of the Silk King. I would recommend this book for ages ten and up. The hand drawn sketches are terrific and detailed. You never know what will happen next. Each character has their own individual personality. Mr. Sing is a sly man and Ning is a young friendly woman. I chose three different ways to find Jim Thomas. Out of the three different ways I chose two of them ended in disaster and one was sucessful. Each route is about fifteen pages long. I enjoyed this book very much and hope you do to.

Reviewer Age:11

Reviewer City, State and Country: Leopold, Missouri USA

The Way He Lived by Emily Wing Smith

Joel Espen was the nice guy of the community - always friendly, kind, and helpful. Everyone considered Joel to be a friend. So, when he unexpectedly dies of dehydration on a boy scout camping trip, the whole town of Haven is shocked and upset. In this heartbreaking novel, the six teens closest to Joel each explain their story and must learn to cope with Joel's death, and learn to live the way he did.

I was not impressed by this book at all. Since the novel has the point-of-view of six different teenagers, and each teenager takes turns narrating, the novel was choppy and unorganized. There was no plot, just six people rambling on about nothing very important. The characters didn't have any interaction with each other, and the author should have tried to tie them together better. The only saving grace of the book was the character of Joel, and he wasn't even alive. He seemed to be a good person, and a respectable role model for all teens.

Reviewer Age:16

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

Ariel's Journey by Doug Kane & Christy Wood

Ariel's Journey by Doug Kane and Christy Wood is a fantasy book. The book starts out in a 'normal' world with Kim and Emily, two sisters whose parents own Icelandic horses they keep behind their house. They are great friends with many girls, like Darcy, from the 4-H club that they attend. However, girls from the club often make fun of Kim and Emily for their love of the Icelandic ponies. After Emily gets into a fight with another girl from 4-H, Emily and Kim's mother decides to arrange for all the girls to go on an overnight trail ride in hopes they will bond. This begins an adventure that brings the girls to a 'fantasy' world where they will discover more about their horses and themselves.

I liked Ariel's Journey initially because it was about horses, a genre that I enjoy a lot because of my own horseback riding experiences. The characters were likeable and believable, as well as the relationships they share with their horses. However, after the girls transport into the other world I lost interest in the book. Instead of a page-turner, the book turns to a lot of description and I found myself flipping past many parts. I didn't feel satisfied with the way the author sums things up at the end of the novel. Many loose ends tie up quickly and without depth. I would recommend this book for horse loving children under the age of 12; however, I would not recommend this book if you are looking for a fast-paced adventure story.

Reviewer Age:16

Reviewer City, State and Country: Westerville, OH USA

The New York Yankees by Matt Christopher

The reason I love this book is because of all the facts that were given. I liked learning that the Yankees won 26 World Series and 39 pennants. Another fact given was when Babe Ruth called his shot to center field, and then on the next pitch he hit it right where he pointed! That was a really good story. I never knew the New York Yankees had such a history.

I loved the stats given at the end such as the Hall of Famers and their regular season results. I even keep stats myself, mostly of the Cardinals because they're my favorite team. It's fun to see what today's players like Albert Pujols are doing compared to the great players of years ago like Babe Ruth. This book will be enjoyed by many sports fans.

Reviewer Age:11
Leopold, MO USA

Faust

Faust is a book about the japenese culture of manga-ka. There are ten stories in this book. They are all different examples of how manga is different from english writing styles. Some are about being different and not following the crowd, and how it may affect a person's abilities later in life. Others tell about what can drive a person to suicide; and how one girl can save many others. This book includes stories by: Clamp, Takeshi Obata, Ueda Hajime, NISIOISIN, Yun Kouga, Take, and Kouhei Kadono. There is also an interview between Kinoku Nasu and the writers of the book, mostly asking questions to Nasu about his book The Garden of Sinners. If you thought this was a manga book, this is not the book for you.

To me Faust was a totally different from what I expected because I thought this was a manga book. For me it was hard reading a book that is about manga, and having parts of the books in it that I may have already read without the pictures. So of course like a normal book I had to picture everything that was happening. Also it was a little difficult to follow because all the different stories made it hard to keep up. Other than that I totally loved this book. I was fascinated with all the different styles of manga-ka.

because it has sexual content

Reviewer Age:13

Reviewer City, State and Country: Casa Grande, Arizona United states

The Golden Tower by Fiona Patton

This book is about two boys named Spar and Graize. They both live in completely different worlds. They both have a demon/god. He is both children's demon and god. Graize wants to burn down Spar's city so he enlists the help of a different tribe. I thought I would really like this book, but I found it confusing.

You should not read this book until you have read the first one. It doesn't seem to make much sense by itself. Maybe I should have read the first book so I could understand what was going on in the story. The character names and cities seem to be difficult to say and remember. I don't really feel it's fair to say it's not a good book, maybe if I would have read the first one it would make more sense.
Age 12
Leopold, Missouri USA