Whispers from the Bay

Whispers from the Bay by John Tkac, is an adventure book. The main character, Mike Connelly finds out he can communicate with the dolphins in the Florida Bay. Mike fell into the water; when the dolphins came to help him he realized he could read their thoughts and they could read his thoughts. With the dolphins help Mike learns to study and wins a spelling bee. Mike reads to the dolphins. Mike learns a very important secret about the dolphins. A friend of Mike's disappears and Mike must keep the secret and find his friend.

This book will not go on my list of favorite books. I thought I would like it from the information about the plot but it was difficult to follow most of the time. I think the dolphin names and the italics used when they spoke bothered me. The adventure in the book was not too exciting. I was not drawn into the story right away. I had to keep reading through several chapters before it got even a little interesting. I honestly would not recommend the book to anyone but I am sure there would be others who might like it.

Reviewer Age:11
Reviewer City, State and Country: Leopold, MO USA

The Pearl of the Soul of the World by Meredith Ann Pierce

A pale girl is lost underground. She does not know who she is or how she got where she is, just that the torturous pain behind her ear forbids her from learning anything about her. She then meets the last of the Ancient Ones, Ravenna, who gives her a blazing sword and a pearl that contains the knowledge and soul of the world. Ravenna tells the girl that in order to save the world; she must give the pearl of the soul of the world to the horrible Witch. That's the same witch that has brought a terrible drought upon their fragile world. Join this mysterious girl as she journeys to the Witch's Palace and discovers that sometimes, you must sacrifice all you love for a greater cause.

The Pearl of the Soul of the World was an okay book. If you'd like to read it, just make sure you read the first two books in the Darkangel series, or you'll feel just as lost as the girl in the beginning. At some parts, there was a little too much detail that made you want to skip ahead a few paragraphs, and sometimes there wasn't enough. Sadly, the ending was a cliffhanger, and it left me wishing that this was not the last book in the trilogy! So much was left unsaid and explained. The author's style, however, was beautiful and made up for everything the book lacked. You felt the same pain, sacrifice, and love that the pale girl felt. A great lesson awaits anyone who reads it. I'd recommend The Pearl of the Soul of the World to anyone who likes foreign, magical worlds and fantasy.

Reviewer Age: 14

Reviewer City, State and Country: Coatesville, PA USA

Genshiken by Kio Shimoku

Summary: The "Genshiken Official Book" by Kio Shimoku covers almost everything a fan of the nine volume manga series would want to know. It has corsplay, Otaku ten commandments, fun quizzes, a start-up guide for making your own fanzme, a new story set in the world of Genshiken, and even some Genshiken love!

"Genshiken Official Book" by Kio Shimoku was very educational to me as a newbie. I have always wondered about the anime/manga fandom and this book has taught me a lot. I would recommend this book to people who want to learn about anime/manga or to hard-core Otakus. It was a new type of reading for me and I enjoyed it.

Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Mishawaka, IN USA

Hot Girl by Dream Jordan

It's summertime in Brooklyn, New York. Kate is this raggedy tomboy with a police record trying to make it and feel at home in the foster care system. Naleejah is the hot and stylish thing that just moved to Bed-Stuy. Naleejah thinks Kate could use a makeover to please her love time crush, Charles. Then Kate catches Naleejah flirting with Charles. Will Kate change her ways or continue down the path of destruction in Dream Jordan's Hot Girls.
I thought that it was a pretty good book. It was funny at times, like all of the stupid things that Naleejah would make Kate do. I kind of thought that parts were a little bit too ghetto for me. Like how everyone holds everyone else's drugs and how they just hang around in the alleys and get into complete strangers' cars. I do understand that this is really life and it really does happen, but it was a little too much for me. On the other hand, I thought that it was very well writen and descriptive. I felt like I was walking down the streets with Kate in Brooklyn.

Drug and Alcohol reference Sexual content Bad language

Reviewer Age:14

Reviewer City, State and Country: Minooka, Il United States

The Walls of the Universe

John Rayburn's life in small-town Ohio is boring, to put it in the least. That is, before another version of himself from another universe stops in for a visit. This John, John Prime, is tricky and deceitful, and eventually cons John into taking a spin on his broken universe travel device. John soon finds that the device will not allow him to travel back to his home universe, so he settles in one similar to his own. While there, he enrolls in college, and makes two new friends, Henry and Grace. At one point, John mentions an arcade game, pinball, to the two. Amazed at the concept, the pair demand that he help them to build a pinball machine of their own. Despite his doubts, John agrees to help them.
Meanwhile, John Prime's life in Ohio is definitely not taking off. After impregnating and marrying one of John's former suitors, he is bombarded by lawsuits over his design for a "Rayburn's Cube" similar to a "Rubik's Cube". He is reduced to working in a factory, until the idea is finally accepted by a marketing company. However, his newfound happiness is shortlived, as he is soon incarcerated for murder.
Back in universe 7560, John's idea for pinball takes off, and so does a relationship with an old friend named Casey. However, his newfound obsession with recreating a machine to take him home breaks them up for a time, until he comes to his senses. At this point, John discovers some information on the company that sponsors his pinball business that causes him to worry. He then transports himself back to his home universe to retrieve the one person who could help him to defeat the corporate monsters. It is up to himself and John Prime to save the multiverse from complete destruction.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Paul Menko's beautiful script wowed me from page one to the end. This book has the potential to become the next Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I felt that this book had no weaknesses whatsoever, and never once felt myself yawn as I started a new page. This captivating novel held to an adventurous but scientific theme, and taught me alot about the theories of cosmology and the multiverse. It also challenged me to think outside of my comfort zone, and made me feel as if there could be thousands of universes. I would most definitely recommend this book to others, as the book is a definite attention-grabber!
I gave this book a content rating of "3" because of the sexual situations and extreme language that it contains.
Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Charleston, West Virginia United States

Ten Explorers Who Changed the World

10 Explorers Who Changed the World is about ten different
explorers and the adventures they had. It tells facts you
probably all ready knew about the explorers and facts that
you might not be able to find in a textbook. After each
story about the explorer there is a Life Link. A Life Link
tells you how the explorer you read about and the next
explorer are related. For example, after a short story
about Marco Polo there is a Life Link that tells how The
Travels of Marco Polo inspired Christopher Columbus.

This book is well written. I loved the amount of
graphics and captions that there were. The illustrator is
very talented and did a very good job illustrating this
book. I would recommend this book for those who like
history and adventure. I think the Life Links were very
interesting and a good idea. This book would also be a
good reference source for children in fourth, fifth, or
sixth grade to use for a report about
explorers.
Reviewer Age:12: Leopold, Missouri USA

Stitchin' and Pullin

Stitchin and Pullin' is a picture book of several poems. Baby Girl is telling the story. She is telling a story of a quilting group called Gee's Bend. She sits by the group and listens to their stories and songs while she waits for her turn to quilt. Then she makes her own quilt. Her grandma tells her that her quilt should have a story like hers did. So she does tell a story in her quilt. Three strips of brown cotton border her quilt like Gee's Bend is surrounded on three sides by muddy waters. A strip of green symbolizes the fields where their ancesters worked cotton. A large gray square stands for hard times. It also tells about who discovered the Gee's Bend quilts, and how some of the quilts got placed in museums. This book tells the history and story of their community.

Stitchin and Pullin' is a great book. It has very detailed and descriptive poems. One of my favorite poems is about the colors. It talks about what the colors stand for. Some examples are green oozes, orange laughs, pink smiles, and many others. The poems also show how the writer feels for about her grandma, mother, and her cousin. This book is very interesting. I loved this book because it tells the history of her family and Gee's Bend.
Reviewer Age:11
Reviewer City, State and Country: L eopold, MO USA

Lucky Breaks by Susan Patron

Lucky is a 10 year old girl living in a little town
called Hard Pan. Her best friend Lincoln is working on a
secret netting project and might move to England. Lucky's
other friend, Miles, is turning six and his birthday is
around the same time as Lucky. He wants to have a birthday
party for both of them and invite the whole town. Lucky's
mom is French and is trying to become more American. Lucky
is almost 11 and doesn't have any friends who are girls.
When a new girl named Paloma visits, Lucky thinks she might
find another best friend. Lucky is a huge fan of Charles
Darwin and wants to be just like him. She loves going on
adventures and even named her dog after his ship, the HMS
Beagle. When Lucky tries to find to find a missing artifact,
half of a famous brooch in a well, she runs into trouble.
Will she be alive for her birthday party? Read this amazing
story that kept me guessing until the end.
I thought this book was a great story. The only problem was that it
didn't really get exciting until I was at the middle of the
book. I like how the story ends in a way I didn't expect.
The characters and the setting was described well. I could
picture the town and the characters in my mind. I think this
is a great book for people who love
adventures.

Reviewer Age:12
Enon, OH USA

Living With Ghosts by Kari Sperring

Graciel is a failed assassin priest and spy who doesn't accept his abilities. The ghostly shadows around him and even the sorceress who rules him can't be ignored by him. Thiercelin wishes he had his wife's love though she is devoted to the city of Merafi and the ruler. In this ancient city you can't always get what you want. In the city of Merafi their safety relied on a pact sealed by the blood between the land's first king and the land's elemental forces. When the city should be protected to the power of elementals it isn't because a sorceress and a prince have broken the pact. Terror and destruction are to come but the Merafiens don't believe in the elemental powers and are blind to the danger to come. Find out what happens when you jump into this book!

This book had a very slow beginning but if you are into these kind of books it picks up after a while. If you don't like to read a big book that doesn't pull you in, then this is not for you. Some parts were confusing but once you read the whole book you get it. Detail I believe is a big thing in this book. This is a good book to read on a bad day, though of course it depends on the person. Fantasy books...you either like them or dislike them.

There were some parts where depends on the maturity of the reader. Also I recommend adult guidance.

Reviewer Age: 16

Reviewer City, State and Country: Northport, NY USA

Alligator Bayou by Donna Jo Napoli

Loosely based on a true story, and developed as an
exposition on cultural tensions in the nineteenth century,
Alligator Bayou traces the journey of a fourteen year old
Sicilian migrant who is thrust into a milieu hostile to his
very existence. The story revolves around Calogero, the
fourteen year old migrant, and the experiences and
occurrences in the racially-charged town of Tallulah,
Louisiana. During the course of the novel, Calogero attempts
to gain new friends, expire racial and cultural boundaries,
secure his budding love with an African-American girl, and
gradually ease into his transposed town. However, despite
these peaceful pastimes, he is also held beholden to the
violence present in Southern towns toward those of varying
heritage. This violence is visible almost immediately after
the exposition, and dramatically conducts the occurrences of
the preponderance of the novel. In the conclusion of the
novel, Calogero is forced to concede the town he has come to
love in spite of its flaws, and seek a destiny discrete.

It is clear from Donna Jo Napoli's prose and style in
Alligator Bayou that she intended to compose a counterpart
or sibling to To Kill a Mockingbird, or even Uncle Tom's
Cabin, in terms of illuminating racial conflicts typically
ignored in the face of larger calamities. All three novels
hold a surprisingly satisfying plot, richly detailed
characters, and a vividly created medium of venue through
which they are transmitted. It is also clear from Alligator
Bayou that Napoli invested a large sum of time in
painstakingly recreating and archiving the cultural syntax
of Sicilians in America. The novel proves both historically
accurate and emotionally subversive. The plot is compiled of
a multiplicity of domains, ranging from romance and drama to
action, allowing access and enjoyment to fans of all genres.
However, as with all novels, Alligator Bayou retains a
number of blemishes which mark the otherwise vibrant taste.
Although slower early on, the novel increases in pace
dramatically toward the end, creating what some readers
might find an uncomfortable channel which prevents the
attainment of full achievement. Although it is possible this
change in pace was intentional, it still serves as a
detraction from the overall gridiron of the story. Likewise,
certain elements of the novel feel half-baked and clunky
toward the end, as if they offer only superfluous enjoyment
and serve no genuine objective in the storyline. Again,
while this may be intentional to result in a more acute
finale and to sharpen the key themes of the novel, it serves
to disenchant the reader. However, while the novel does
preserve some weakness, it offers overall a wholly
gratifying experience for those willing to ignore the grain
and chuff in search of the diamonds at its
heart.

Violence, references to lynching may be
inappropriate for younger readers, but overall not a major
problem

Reviewer Age:15

Reviewer City, State and
Country: Shrewsbury, MA USA