The Substitute Kid by Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith's "The Substitute Kid" is a short children's book. It follows the month of a fourth grade girl yearning for summer vacation

with her best friend. Cute little shenanigans are sprinkled across the pages as sibling rivalry comes into play. Also, the main girl

discovers that her father--who is a science professor--has made a life-like robotic replica of her. The girl then uses this robot to act as

herself and literally as a substitute for her. The robot takes a history test for the girl and earns an A. Suspicion arises as the father

looks over surveillance tapes and the girl's arch nemesis realizes this "substitution" is suddenly very nice towards her. The book ends

with a discovery for all that is quite pleasant and touching.


This book is fabulous for young readers. The author gives the main action away on the back (the girl using a robot) but does not fully

divulge into that scene until at least halfway through the book. This gives youngsters extra incentive to read. Additionally, since the

chapters are only a couple of pages each, little ones will not find the book too hard / difficult to read at once. Great messages are in this

book. When the girl uses a robot to take her test, it is a history one. The girl does not need help in math or science. Hence, that

stereotype about girls is not played into. The girl even wears glasses and is an athletic captain. Also, her best friend is a girl with blond

hair and blue eyes. The main character stays very true to her self and does not envy other characters or girls' features. The book subtly

gives girls confidence while making reading fun and cool.



Reviewer Age:17

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

Rating: 8
Content rating: 1

The Rule of Claw

This novel is a dystopian science fiction story set in the near future. Thirty-one teenage humans live in a seaside camp, trapped in their camp by a forest that maliciously attacks them. Ash, the best surfer, is their leader until she loses a surfing contest due to a seagull. The new leader, Jon, is the first to kill and eat an animal, driving others to savagery as well. That night, Ash is captured by a species she did not even know existed, the Raptors, and is saved from death by the Raptor king, who is the most peaceful member of his species. She also befriends a Rodent, another species and an enemy of the Raptors. The situation becomes chaotic when the Raptor king dies and Ash must flee for her life. Luckily, she is taken in by the Rodents. She learns that all these different species are a result of her father's work of designing plants and animals to rapidly evolve to better suit humans. Unfortunately, most humans died off as a result of his work. Soon after she learns this, the Raptors attack all the humans. They are saved by a militant religious society that decides to help the human teenagers by killing off inferior races. Both groups plan an attack on the Raptors.

I enjoyed the setting of the book and the variety of characters. The different species were imaginative and interesting, as were the different humans. However, the book had too many messages. It seemed that the book’s purpose was to warn humans to respect each other and the environment. However, for long stretches of time, all the book did was express different morals. The major morals were: do not be racist, understand science instead of blindly following religion, all killing of animals is bad, and do not tamper with the environment. These messages did not always fit together well and interfered greatly with my appreciation of the story. In my opinion, the book would have been much better with more plot and less preaching. In addition, this book has some violence and anti-religion messages.


Content: 2
Rating: 5
Reviewer Age:15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Royersford, PA United States

Sass Girls

If you like to read books about alien babes and dumb dudes, then you will love Sass Girls. One day while Sho and Steve are guarding the museum, Sho accidentally knocks over one of the sculptures on display. Steve decides that they should try to put it back together with glue. Sho goes to look for the glue in the janitor’s closet which is on the floor below. However, after retrieving the glue instead of going back upstairs, he accidentally pushes the down button which leads to the basement. When he arrives, he sees a hole in the wall ahead of him. He approaches the hole and discovers a capsule that has “Her” in it. “Her” is an alien – and one of the hottest babes ever- alien or not!

In Sass Girls, Passiona or “Her” is the daughter of the supreme leader of her planet, who has invasion plans for planet Earth. She and her two sisters are sent to Earth as spies to learn more about the “weaklings” that their father plans on subjugating. After Passiona meets Sho her attitude towards the weaklings changes; and she joins with Sho and Steve to prevent her father’s invasion of Earth.

Sass Girls is a great book. As you get started, it may seem boring. However, once you get past the first seven pages, I promise you that you will not want to put it down! It is full of action and alien romance. It’s a great book all and all. I would personally recommend it to readers over the age of fourteen due to language.

Due to adult language.
Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Casa Grande, AZ USA

The Girls by Tucker Shaw

The main characters in The Girls are five very different
girls: Mary, Crystal, Sylvia, Amber, and Peggy. Peggy is
Mary's best friend that is obsessed with becoming a chef.
Mary is the "perfect one." She's nice to everyone, is
rich, beautiful, and her boyfriend is cheating on her.
Sylvia is rich as well and likes to cause trouble,
especially when she finds out who's cheating with Mary's
boyfriend. Crystal is the one cheating with Mary's
boyfriend. Amber works in a coffee shop and knows
everything there is to know about everyone.

This retelling of the play The Women is filled with twists and
turns, and the last pages are filled with surprising
secrets that are revealed and the lies told are brought to
light.

The Girls was a decent book that had a pretty
interesting plot and characters that seemed real due to
their thoughts, dialogue, and actions. I found it
surprising how there were only girls in the book. Sure,
Mary's boyfriend was cheating on her with Amber, but he
never actually appeared in the story. The ending was
decisively the best part. I also liked how Peggy always
thought of recipes when she was stressed, and overall,
this was an acceptable book. It was attention-grabbing
enough to read once, but perhaps not good enough to read
again and again. At first, it was difficult to distinguish
the characters since there were so many. It was a pretty
good book, but definitely not on the same level as
Stephenie Meyer's Twilight, Cassandra Clare's City of
Bones, or Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries. It's a worthwhile
quick, easy read, but not an outstanding book, nor will it
be a bestseller.

Reviewer Age:16

Reviewer City,
State and Country: Charleston, SC USA

The Smile by Donna Jo Napoli

The main character of The Smile by Donna Jo Napoli is Elisabetta, who is the daughter of a silk merchant outside Florence, Italy during the Renaissance. There is a subplot where Elisabetta is friends with a young servant named Silvia. Elisabetta's parents keep pressing her to end her friendship with the servant. Later on in the story, Silvia becomes important to the plot. Once when Elisabetta's family attends the funeral of the ruler and banker of Florence, Lorenzo de'Medici Il Magnifico, Elisabetta tours the city with her father's friend, Leonardo da Vinci. He promises to paint her portrait when she is older. Elisabetta meets Lorenzo's youngest son, Giuliano. They fall in love. Then the French army masses outside the gates of Florence because the city is an ally of France's enemy, Naples. The citizens support France, because Florence is one of the financial capitals of Europe, and the French were financially powerful at that time. The Florentines accuse the ruling Medici, Piero of being a tyrant and banish the family from the city. Will the love between Elisabetta and Giuliano survive the political turmoil? Will Elisabetta's friendship with Silvia survive? Finally, what does this have to do with the portrait da Vinci is going to paint of Elisabetta?

I will give this novel a 7. First I will give a disclaimer. I did not realize that this book was a romantic historical fiction. Anyone who enjoys romantic fiction would probably rate this novel higher. The author knew a great deal about the Italian Renaissance. The novel contains many historical events. I through transitions as Elisabetta gets older could have been smoother. I have noticed that young adult historical novels often interject modern thoughts and ideas into the story, especially about the role of women and class structure. I through that part three was realistic for the role of women at that time. If you enjoy romantic historical fiction, you will enjoy The Smile by Donna Jo Napoli.

Reviewer Age:18

Reviewer City, State and Country: Urbana, Illinois U.S.A.

The Smile by Donna Jo Napoli

The main character of The Smile by Donna Jo Napoli is Elisabetta, who is the daughter of a silk merchant outside Florence, Italy during the Renaissance. There is a subplot where Elisabetta is friends with a young servant named Silvia. Elisabetta's parents keep pressing her to end her friendship with the servant. Later on in the story, Silvia becomes important to the plot. Once when Elisabetta's family attends the funeral of the ruler and banker of Florence, Lorenzo de'Medici Il Magnifico, Elisabetta tours the city with her father's friend, Leonardo da Vinci. He promises to paint her portrait when she is older. Elisabetta meets Lorenzo's youngest son, Giuliano. They fall in love. Then the French army masses outside the gates of Florence because the city is an ally of France's enemy, Naples. The citizens support France, because Florence is one of the financial capitals of Europe, and the French were financially powerful at that time. The Florentines accuse the ruling Medici, Piero of being a tyrant and banish the family from the city. Will the love between Elisabetta and Giuliano survive the political turmoil? Will Elisabetta's friendship with Silvia survive? Finally, what does this have to do with the portrait da Vinci is going to paint of Elisabetta?

I will give this novel a 7. First I will give a disclaimer. I did not realize that this book was a romantic historical fiction. Anyone who enjoys romantic fiction would probably rate this novel higher. The author knew a great deal about the Italian Renaissance. The novel contains many historical events. I through transitions as Elisabetta gets older could have been smoother. I have noticed that young adult historical novels often interject modern thoughts and ideas into the story, especially about the role of women and class structure. I through that part three was realistic for the role of women at that time. If you enjoy romantic historical fiction, you will enjoy The Smile by Donna Jo Napoli.

Reviewer Age:18

Reviewer City, State and Country: Urbana, Illinois U.S.A.

Persistence of Memory by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

For Erin Misrahe, going to public school is something to celebrate. Ever since her diagnosis she's been in hospital after hospital, and had to take a rainbow of pills. And up until recently those pills have done the trick. Erin is surprised one day when her alter ego Shevaun shows up on an average day. But what if Shevaun isn't an alter ego at all, but a real person? What if Erin hasn't been crazy all these years after all?

Amelia Atwater-Rhodes has a very unique style of writing. I felt the book was very original and had a good creative twist. But towards the middle of the book it started getting rushed. It was like the author was trying to fit as much in before the end of the book. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a good book. Or to anyone who enjoys predicting what the end of the book will be.

Reviewer Age:15

Reviewer City, State and Country: Seaside , OR USA

Fabulous and Monstrous Beasts by Belinda Weber

Fabulous and Monstrous Beasts is a fictional field guide, rather than an actual story. The book is very well organized, dividing the monsters into three different sections: air, land, and water beasts. The major and minor sections are arranged clearly and according to the table of contents. Large, colorful, detailed pictures help the reader visualize the monsters and connect to the informative paragraphs about the different creatures. The guide hits the basic points about the monster such as its lore from the area it originated but doesn't go into complicated details. The author only gives small examples of the variations of the creatures, and doesn't list all of them. When you reach the end of the book, there is a reference that contains the following sections: Folklore of today, Real-life monsters, a Glossary, an Index, and Further reading. The Folklore of today lists common animals and their place in folklore. The Real-life monster section describes animals from our natural world with amazing traits or abilities some of which were the basis for the mythological creatures list in the book. The Glossary gives a brief definition of the monsters or creatures along with places and other terms used in the book. The index is straightforward; it lists the term and the page number(s) it is located on. The Further reading section contains a list of books and websites with more information about monsters and creatures.

Now, you may be thinking, If it's a book about monsters that could tear you apart, won't there be blood and such in it? The answer to that question is a simple no. The only parts of the book that weren't too gentle weren't as bad as you may think. There was only three pictures, one with MINOR blood, another was a bunch of stuff that could have been an extremely large lump of seaweed that kind of resembled a sea-monster carcass, and the last one was a beheaded Hydra head. I really enjoyed how the pictures were painted with intricate details, so that you can see every separate strand of fur and scale. I would recommend this book to anyone who is 7 and up, and who enjoys fantasy beasts.

Reviewer Age:12

Reviewer City, State and Country: Round Rock, TX USA

Barnaby Grimes and the Curse of the Night Wolf by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

Barnaby Grimes and the Curse of the Night Wolf is about a boy, Barnaby Grimes, who is a tick-tock lad, delivering messages to people all over the city of London. He is also a highstacker, meaning he gets around by climbing up houses, chimneys, and things like that. One night, while climbing above the rooftops, Barnaby runs into a wolf! That same night, his good friend Old Benjamin mysteriously disappears. Barnaby knows there must be some link between these odd events, and he is determined to find out what. Then Barnaby meets the suspicious Doctor Cadwallader after receiving a letter that was meant for Old Benjamin from the Doctor.

This book was a good light read. The plot was a little boring because I got the main idea of what was going to happen within the first third of the book. It is a good read for anyone who is looking for an easy book to read in one afternoon. The vocabulary was a little difficult, but not hard enough to ruin the story. Barnaby Grimes was a little scary, so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who doesn't like to be a little freaked out. Overall, I enjoyed reading Barnaby Grimes and the Curse of the Night Wolf.

Reviewer Age: 12

Reviewer City, State and Country: Harleysville, PA USA

Rating: 8
Content Rating: 1

Lay-ups and Longshots by Joseph Bruchac

This book is about different people's experiences with sports. The stories range from having difficulties playing the sport to how they got treated on the team. There were also stories about how they found confidence in themselves. The author’s purpose was to entertain the reader with stories of other peoples’ experiences. The author did this by having different stories about various sports to keep us hooked and excited for a new story.

This book was interesting because the writers have all kinds of stories. I liked how the author used detail to give me a picture in my head. My favorite story was when a guy could never make two baskets in a row. But when he asked if his grandpa was going to live he made a couple shots in a row. I would recommend this book to people who like realistic fiction and sports. If you like short stories, read this book.

Flamingnet student reviewer
age: 15 St. Paul, MN.