The Last Days of the Romanovs by Helen Rappaport

This book is about the Romanovs and the terrible ordeal they experienced. Tsar Nicholas and his family ruled over Russia during World War 1. Tsar Nicholas and his family were forced into hiding when the people revolted because the Tsar wouldn't help them get food or water. Tsar Nicholas then took his family to Ekaterinburg to go into hiding. The events that took place ultimately led to the death of the Tsar Nicholas and his family. The author's purpose is to illustrate the chain of command linking Lenin to the execution of the Romanovs. This book has history, adventure and mystery.

The author achieved her goal. She taught me that there was more then one person responsible for the murder of the Romanovs. This book was very powerful, but difficult to read. It would be better suited for adults. If you are a young adult who would like to learn about the history of the Romanovs, I would recommend this book to you. If you are person that doesn't care for history, then I wouldn't recommend this book to you.

I would rate this book a three due to the execution that took place and the adult language.

Reviewer Age:16

Reviewer City, State and Country: Chico, Caifornia USA

Christian the Lion by Anthony Bourke

"Christian the Lion" by Anthony Bourke is a fun little book. It documents the story of two friends adopting a baby lion. Their tale continues up until the point when the lion is sent to Africa to live in the wild. However, the bulk of the plot centers around the lion Christian living with John and Ace. Reading about the lion getting used to being in a city is interesting. It is also very cute to read about how he entertained himself.

Consisting of only 120 pages and a full spread of photos, this book is a quick read. It is quaint and excellent for a dull afternoon. The vocabulary is simple for young readers, but older readers still find the story charming. At the end of the book, there is even a whole set of pages full of fun facts on lions and animal endangerment in general. Overall, this book is a great read and will leave readers with a smile on their face.

Reviewer Age:17

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

Kisses and Lies

In the book Kisses and Lies by Lauren Henderson, sequel to Kiss Me Kill Me, Scarlett Wakefield is tracking down the murderer of Dan McAndrew, her crush that she kissed at an A-list party. As soon as she kissed him he dropped dead. She later finds out that he was allergic to nuts and at that very party she ate chips with peanut oil in them. If only Dan had his EpiPen on him, which would have saved him, but someone stole it from him.

Scarlett and her friend, Taylor McGovern, who's goal is to become a private investigator, try to figure out who killed him and why. But when Scarlett visits Dan's family and stays at their castle for a few days, the case gets more complex. Signs point in different directions and anyone in the castle could be the murderer...

I found this book very interesting. For example it takes place in Britain and has a lot of places and traditions that average Americans wouldn't think existed. This includes castles and manners (you have to say things slower and add in "if you wouldn't mind", "please" and, "thank you".) I also found it confusing at parts where you think one person is the murderer, then it completely changes and you have no idea who the murderer is, but that's what makes a good mystery.

Overall, I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a good book, even if you aren't into mysteries.

recommended for 14 and up has some sexual content (e.g. Dan had porn pictures of every girl he dated)

Reviewer Age:13

Reviewer City, State and Country: Norristown, Pennsylvania USA

Lord of Misrule

In the book, Lord of Misrule by Rachel Caine, the main character is Claire. Claire and Amelie, the vampire leader and some body guards attempt to rescue Myrnin who is a very intelligent vampire. He is on the side of the good vampires. He had an antidote to cure all vampires of a certain disease. In order to rescue him Claire and Amelie have to fight Bishop and Amelies father. Claires friend Eve disappears into a warehouse. In the end Bishop thinks he has won but is surprised to find out he has not really won after all.

This is a great book. It's the fifth book in the series but is also stands alone and makes sense by itself. It is filled with suspense and action all the way to the end. I like reading about vampires and this book held my attention.
Age:12
Leopold , Missouri United States

Portrait of a Lady by Diane A. S. Stuckart

Upon returning to the city Milan, Dino and Vittorio, apprentices to Leonardo, stumble across a motionless woman lying at the base of the city's guard tower. Dino is really Delfina disguised as a boy so she can be an apprentice to Leonardo da Vinci, the great artist/painter who is her mentor. While looking into the woman's tragic death they discover that her identity is Bellanca, Caterina's servant, and on Bellanca's person they find four extravagant tarrochi cards, the very ones that belong to Caterina, the contessa. Caterina is in love with her dog as well as her sacred tarrochi cards that had once belonged to her mother, therefore she holds them very dearly. A few days later as Dino and Leonardo go in search of Lidia, another of Caterina's servants, to question her about the death of her fellow servant, they also find her at the base of the tower, but to their great shock, Lidia is dead. Leonardo is suspicious of the two ladies' deaths and has reason to believe that Gregorio, the Captain of the guard, was the murderer. So, in order to gather some clues and learn the truth about these strange deaths, he ironically disguises Dino as a girl, and sends her to the castle to be a servant to Caterina, all the while also spying on her and Gregorio to learn the truth. A lot of mysterious things occur at the castle and hidden secrets are everywhere. Leonardo is assigned by Moro, the contessa's cousin and keeper since her parent's died, to plan a masquerade ball, which is actually a secret marriage for Caterina, who has no idea about Moro's marriage plans for her, and the person of Moro's choice. Leonardo gives Dino until the date of the masquerade ball to learn what truly happened to the women, but with the date of the ball coming ever so closer, will the truth ever be unmasked before it is too late?

This is one of the best books that I have ever read! Portrait of a Lady contains romance, lies and deceit, hate, treachery, love, truth, many tears of sadness and joy, well just about every emotion out there, and ones that I never knew existed! It is just filled with so many emotions it is difficult to describe. The conclusion was a huge surprise; I had no idea that it was going to be such a heart-wrenching, truth-telling, and tear-jerking/teary-eyed ending; what a conclusion! The author, Diane A. S. Stuckart, did an awesome job at writing this novel; it felt so much like I was actually living Delfina's life that I literally experienced all of the same emotions she did. This book was very intriguing; it kept my mind open, alert, and focused the whole time, as I was wanting to see what very surprise and/or secret meeting with the stunning Gregorio lay around the corner. I'm greatly looking forward to reading The Queen's Gambit, which was also written by this amazing author, and any other books that she writes in the future. These books are spectacular and should be read by everyone, but I mainly recommend Portrait of a Lady to older girls and women.

There were some sexual references.

Reviewer Age:15

Reviewer City, State and Country: Upper Strasburg, PA USA

Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry

Joe Ledger, a leader of the Echo Team for the DMS (Department of Military Service), was a cop but is now a hero. Joe is in charge of a group of four other fighters who all had to go on their first mission after only one day of training. The Echo Team fights infected dead people called walkers. Walkers are dead, zombie-like creatures who feed on living flesh. On the Echo Team's first mission, they arrived at an old meat packing plant in Delaware. There they fought many walkers and left the plant deserted. On their second mission, they fought so many walkers that all of the men ran out of ammunition. This group of men, the Echo Team, are faced with many heart-racing challenges of saving the world from walkers.

Patient Zero is a fairly good book, but it can be hard to follow at times. I did enjoy this book, because it had lots of action and suspense. I would recommend Patient Zero to anyone interested in war, zombies, action, suspense, and risk-taking characters.

Reviewer Age:12

Reviewer City, State and Country: Fairborn, Ohio USA

The Girl From Junchow by Kate Furnivall

Lydia and Alexei lost their father several years ago. Now, the two are reuniting in an effort to rescue their father from an unknown camp in Russia. Their relationship is strong; neither sibling wants the other to be alone or be at risk of getting hurt. Lydia finds that the location of their father is in Moscow. Alexei does not know whether or not to believe that is true. Together, and with help from trusted companions, they search for their father. Meanwhile, Lydia's love, Chang An Lo, knows more about their father than either of the two. Chang An Lo rushes to aid Lydia and keep them safe.

I really enjoyed the historical context that is found in The Girl From Junchow. I did not know that it was a sequel to another book, The Russian Concubine, and that made it a somewhat confusing book for me to read. The descriptions of the characters and plot were well-written enough for me to understand their relationships from the previous novel. I liked how the chapters would switch from one character's perspective to the next. This gave me insight on what each character was specifically feeling and thinking. I recommend this series to anyone interested in Stalin-controlled Russian times or historical fiction.

The book has swearing and violence.

Reviewer Age:15

Reviewer City, State and Country: Carlisle, Pennsylvania United States of America

Secret Subway by Martin W. Sandler

"Secret Subway" by Martin W. Sandler is a non-fiction book from National Geographic. It tells the story of a scientst called Beach, whom first thought of a subway system. Historical characters are cited, like Edison and Tweed, while other lesser known figures are mentioned. The book accounts the marvelous journey of Beach with his subway cars propelled by pneumatic science (air pushes the car back and forth in the tunnel from a giant fan).

This book is somewhat scientific but does not go too into depth as it is a children's book. However, some parts just don't make sense. Some pictures have words written over them from other sites, and one picture is omitted completely with just a box in its place. Also, each page has the same caption in some language that is definitely not English. Aside from that, the text is wonderful.

Reviewer Age:17

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

Blackbringer by Laini Taylor

Magpie Windwich is a faerie with the seemingly impossible mission to save the world. She and her feathered friends hunt down escaped devils that the humans have been releasing. Now, she comes upon a devil like no other, a dark force only few know. With faerie people who have forgotten their own legends and the Djinn, creators of the earth, mysteriously gone, where is one small faerie to start? Well, maybe Magruwen, the King of the Djinn.

Blackbringer is an extremely well written book. Taylor created wonderful characters, especially Magpie that spunky, stubborn faerie that made the book come alive. Each character brought spark to this book and it was a perfect example of a fantastic multi-view story. I can imagine Taylor's world of faeries, the castle, spider caves, and the whispering old trees. I give five stars.

Reviewer Age:12

Reviewer City, State and Country: Lake Bluff, IL United States of America

The Beautiful Stories of Life by Cynthia Rylant

"The Beautiful Stories of Life: Six Greek Myths, Retold" by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Carson Ellis is a pleasant book. It puts the stories of Pandora, Persephone, Orpheus, Pygmalion, Narcissus, and Psyche into modern language. While the stories are all different, some characters' names are mentioned in several scenarios. The text flows as readers revisit Greek tales that captivate their imagination.

This book is a quick read; with under seventy-five pages, it can easily be read in a day. Its black and white pictures are beautiful, but the reader is left wanting to see more. The vocabulary is simple, with the hardest word being philandering. There are some sexual innuendos, but they are not at all graphic. They refer to married couples sleeping in the same bed and loving each other. The euphemisms aren't explicit, but parent guidance is suggested.

slight sexual innuendos

Reviewer Age: 17

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