Music-loving Quinn is going to be an intern at Amalgam Records in Austin, the company that signed her favorite band, the Walters. So she's off to Texas to stay with her cousin Penny, a girl who is president of her sorority and is nothing like Quinn, whose wardrobe consists of jeans and t-shirts of her favorite bands. Nevertheless, Quinn is all ready to hit the Austin music scene and snag the perfect indie boyfriend. That is, until she meets frat boy Russ, who happens to be Penny's neighbor. He's annoying, likes country music and has the nerve to call Quinn by her real first name, Priscilla. Even though Russ is completely irritating, there's something about him that Quinn likes. Could he end up being the guy for her?
I was really surprised by Lovestruck Summer. I knew it was a romantic comedy, so I was expecting it to be shallow and a little corny. Instead, I was hooked after the first page. I am not like Quinn or her cousin Penny or any of the other characters, but I was able to relate to and become fond of all of them. The romance aspect was a little predictable, but the ending turned out a bit different than how I thought it would. There were a ton of funny moments and quirky things that made this book enjoyable. For example, Quinn's cousin has a cross-dressing dog, which is definitely unique. Things like that made this book stand out from other romantic comedies. I thought Lovestruck Summer was adorable and I can't wait to read Melissa Walker's other books.
Reviewer Age:17
Reviewer City, State and Country: Aston, Pennsylvania United States
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Monday, July 06, 2009
The Devil's Queen by Jeanne Kalogridis
Caterina de Medici, the Italian duchess of Florence, has witnessed betrayal and hardship at a young age. As a prisoner of the rebels who wanted to take over Florence, she has suffered through hunger, cold, and the plague. With the help from a horoscopist and prophet, Cosimo Ruggieri, Caterina was able to escape from her captors and be placed in the favor of her uncle, Pope Clement VII. In a political power play, Clement married her to a French prince, where she was forced learn a new language, customs, and name: Catherine, queen of France. But to get what she most desires, first, children, and later, for her children to remain on the throne, Catherine must delve into the black arts and do everything in her power, short of selling her soul.
I learned about Catherine de Medici briefly in history class, when we were discussing the evolution of Protestantism in France, and I decided to read this book to see what else I could learn about her. Jeanne Kalogridis does a great job of using a lot of detail and information to describe Catherine's life. The book is really long, and I felt like I was living Catherine's life along with her as I turned the pages. Upon completion of the novel, I did some research on Catherine, and not everything in the book is accepted fact. A lot of what the author wrote, mostly regarding the black arts Catherine is involved in, are rumors, so they could be true or untrue. Even though the book wasn't completely historically accurate, I liked that I could get a different view on Catherine than what is normally written about her, since Catherine is considered to be a ruthless monarch. Putting aside the disputed authenticity of the book, I can definitely say that The Devil's Queen was entertaining, and any fans of historical fiction will enjoy it.
Reviewer Age:17
Reviewer City, State and Country: Aston, Pennsylvania United States
I learned about Catherine de Medici briefly in history class, when we were discussing the evolution of Protestantism in France, and I decided to read this book to see what else I could learn about her. Jeanne Kalogridis does a great job of using a lot of detail and information to describe Catherine's life. The book is really long, and I felt like I was living Catherine's life along with her as I turned the pages. Upon completion of the novel, I did some research on Catherine, and not everything in the book is accepted fact. A lot of what the author wrote, mostly regarding the black arts Catherine is involved in, are rumors, so they could be true or untrue. Even though the book wasn't completely historically accurate, I liked that I could get a different view on Catherine than what is normally written about her, since Catherine is considered to be a ruthless monarch. Putting aside the disputed authenticity of the book, I can definitely say that The Devil's Queen was entertaining, and any fans of historical fiction will enjoy it.
Reviewer Age:17
Reviewer City, State and Country: Aston, Pennsylvania United States
Tommy Latrella is expected by everyone to be exactly like his older brother, Jimmy. People just don't seem to realize that Tommy and Jimmy are different. Jimmy died a hero 9/11 and Tommy lives in his shadow. Tommy, who goes by Latrella, decides to run away to Las Vegas to play poker. But first, he wants to make himself look like a hero. When Latrella's prank in a New York City subway station goes horribly wrong, the subway system decides to bring him back in time to 1918. Over the course of the story Latrella visits several different time periods. Will he survive 1918, 1932, and 1942? Will he discover what it means to be a true hero? Read Backtracked by Pedro de Alcantara to find out!
Backtracked was an interesting read for me. I enjoyed the mix of past and present times. There were a few boring parts, though. There also were a few paragraphs that got a little too religious for me. I could relate to some parts of the story because it took place in time periods that I learned about and Latrella visited some historical sites. People who are interested in history, like me, would most likely enjoy Backtracked. Backtracked is a good book.
Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Harleysville, PA USA
Backtracked was an interesting read for me. I enjoyed the mix of past and present times. There were a few boring parts, though. There also were a few paragraphs that got a little too religious for me. I could relate to some parts of the story because it took place in time periods that I learned about and Latrella visited some historical sites. People who are interested in history, like me, would most likely enjoy Backtracked. Backtracked is a good book.
Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Harleysville, PA USA
Cool Jewels by Naomi Fujimoto
Cool Jewels is an arts and craft type of book. It is filled with almost a hundred pages split up into groups of beautiful bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and even a small section of other items that can be made with beads. The beginning of the book gives generic instructions about different tools, beads, and teaches you some of the basics of making jewelry. The jewelry featured in this book are extremely fun and colorful. The pages are filled with diverse and unique pictures. Cool Jewels has many different jewelry project ideas.
I think this book is right by being targeted towards teenagers. For younger children it would be more difficult and not be considered beginner. The book has (for the most part) simple and easy directions. The directions are not too wordy and above are pictures showing what to do, but pictures are not always easy to follow. Most of the jewelry in this book take a decent amount of time to make. A piece of jewelry that is easy for one to make, may be difficult for another to, depending on artistic talent. When making your jewelry, you have to know that yours will not turn out exactly the same. The technique, skill, and the beads are going to be different. Although, the author does include many store names where you can buy similar beads and tools. Cool Jewels provides fun time to spend with friends on a rainy day.
Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Gochland, VA USA
I think this book is right by being targeted towards teenagers. For younger children it would be more difficult and not be considered beginner. The book has (for the most part) simple and easy directions. The directions are not too wordy and above are pictures showing what to do, but pictures are not always easy to follow. Most of the jewelry in this book take a decent amount of time to make. A piece of jewelry that is easy for one to make, may be difficult for another to, depending on artistic talent. When making your jewelry, you have to know that yours will not turn out exactly the same. The technique, skill, and the beads are going to be different. Although, the author does include many store names where you can buy similar beads and tools. Cool Jewels provides fun time to spend with friends on a rainy day.
Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Gochland, VA USA
Why Do Horses Have Manes?
"Why Do Horses Have Manes?" by Elizabeth Macleod is an
informative non-fiction book. The format of the book has a
paragraph per page. The writing answers questions about
horses. Also, many colorful pictures of horses are
included. There are even some quizzes and match-up games
about horses. Science about horses, as well a popular
culture horses and horse myths, are covered.
informative non-fiction book. The format of the book has a
paragraph per page. The writing answers questions about
horses. Also, many colorful pictures of horses are
included. There are even some quizzes and match-up games
about horses. Science about horses, as well a popular
culture horses and horse myths, are covered.
With only
four chapters and sixty-four pages, this book is not too
daunting for younger readers. There are some terms that
little ones may be unfamiliar with. However, Macleod
defines words in a comprehensible manner. After reading
this book, kids will have a better understanding about
horses. They'll even learn some unusual facts and horse
jokes.
Evolution is discussed
Reviewer
Age:18
Reviewer City, State and Country: Staten Island,
NY USA
Blue Blood: The Immortals
In the second novel of the Immortals series, Ever lets Damen guide her through the ways of an immortal, showing her the extent of her powers. However, when her powers broaden, Damen's seem to dwindle. She goes to a magical place called Summerland to try to save her love, gaining knowledge of Damen's past and the ways to control time. She is then stuck with the decision between returning to her past life, or saving her beloved Damen.
I read the first book in the series and was left wanting more; this left me with the same feeling. This book gave an interesting turn of events, while adding new elements altogether. It is a little slow paced at the start of the book, but the rest is a page turner, leaving a big bang in its ending. If you enjoyed the first book of the series, you will like this book as well.
Content: 1
Rating: 6
Reviewer Age:16Reviewer City, State and Country: Carlisle, PA United States
I read the first book in the series and was left wanting more; this left me with the same feeling. This book gave an interesting turn of events, while adding new elements altogether. It is a little slow paced at the start of the book, but the rest is a page turner, leaving a big bang in its ending. If you enjoyed the first book of the series, you will like this book as well.
Content: 1
Rating: 6
Reviewer Age:16Reviewer City, State and Country: Carlisle, PA United States
The Witches of Dredmoore Hollow by Riford McKenzie
Elijah worries constantly and is known for his less than courageous nature. He suspects that his family's ancient farm, Dredmoore Hollow, is haunted, and lives in a state of constant fear. His worst fears are realized when his two creepy aunts appear at the Dredmore farm for a family visit. His mother and father mysteriously disappear the following day. Elijah has no choice but to accompany his aunts to their home in Moaning Marsh. While there, he can't help but notice that the only customers at his aunt's salon, Magic Snippers, seem almost bewitched and that the hired man has a werewolf as a pet. He comes to the realization that his aunts must be witches, and evil ones at that. But what do they want with Elijah?
Overall, the Witches of Dredmoore Hollow was a fun book to read, although it wasn't exactly a page-turner. Despite the fact that Elijah's aunts were supposed to be frightening, I didn't feel worried for Elijah's fate. I did like the characters of the always-worried Elijah and brave Dez, but they simply weren't enough to keep me interested. I wish the plot had been more complicated and faster-moving. On the positive side, I thought the book was well-written. I would recommend it to readers who are interested in witches or in the time frame of the early 1900's.
Reviewer Age:15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Chula Vista, CA USA
Overall, the Witches of Dredmoore Hollow was a fun book to read, although it wasn't exactly a page-turner. Despite the fact that Elijah's aunts were supposed to be frightening, I didn't feel worried for Elijah's fate. I did like the characters of the always-worried Elijah and brave Dez, but they simply weren't enough to keep me interested. I wish the plot had been more complicated and faster-moving. On the positive side, I thought the book was well-written. I would recommend it to readers who are interested in witches or in the time frame of the early 1900's.
Reviewer Age:15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Chula Vista, CA USA
Promise of the Wolves takes place approximately 14,000 years ago, in a place called WideValley, back when humans were still sort of evolving. The story is told from the point of view of a wolf called Kaala, the main character of the book.
The lives of the wolves revolve around a promise made by Indru, one of the first wolves. The rules were: never consort with humans, never kill a human, and kill any wolf that has mixed blood. Kaala was born with the power to either help or destroy her pack and all of wolf kind. When she was born, Ruuqo, the leader of the Swift River pack, attempted to kill her because he was afraid of her powers and because she had outsider blood. However, Ruuqo was stopped by two Great Wolves, who had great power over the other wolves. They allowed Kaala to live because of the white crescent-shaped marking on her chest; it was a symbol of her great power. Ruuqo grudgingly let Kaala stay in the pack, but made survival very difficult for her. Kaala soon befriended two pups of Rissa's (Ruuqo's mate) litter. They were both runts and they respected her. One was named Azzuen, and the other, Marra. Two others of Rissa's pups, Borlla and Unnan, also made Kaala's life difficult for her. One day, Kaala found a girl stuck in the river, and saved her. Kaala was fascinated by humans, so she followed the girl to her camp and repeatedly came back. Some time later, the girl, TaLi, brought Kaala to her grandmother's house. TaLi's grandmother was a shaman, and still had the ability to speak to animals. She told Kaala that the wolf legends weren't entirely true, and that the Great Wolves were hiding something from both the humans and wolves. A few months later, Kaala, Azzuen, and Marra overheard some Stone Peak wolves in their territory planning an attack. At first, they thought they planned to attack Swift River, so they told Ruuqo. Torell, the leader of the Stone Peaks, explained that they weren't going to attack Swift River, but the humans instead. Earlier that day, the same Great Wolves that saved Kaala tried to take her away from Wide Valley because they were going to kill every wolf and human if they started to fight. Kaala refused and ran back to tell Azzuen and Marra. Now, Kaala had to find a way to stop the wolves and humans from fighting.
The lives of the wolves revolve around a promise made by Indru, one of the first wolves. The rules were: never consort with humans, never kill a human, and kill any wolf that has mixed blood. Kaala was born with the power to either help or destroy her pack and all of wolf kind. When she was born, Ruuqo, the leader of the Swift River pack, attempted to kill her because he was afraid of her powers and because she had outsider blood. However, Ruuqo was stopped by two Great Wolves, who had great power over the other wolves. They allowed Kaala to live because of the white crescent-shaped marking on her chest; it was a symbol of her great power. Ruuqo grudgingly let Kaala stay in the pack, but made survival very difficult for her. Kaala soon befriended two pups of Rissa's (Ruuqo's mate) litter. They were both runts and they respected her. One was named Azzuen, and the other, Marra. Two others of Rissa's pups, Borlla and Unnan, also made Kaala's life difficult for her. One day, Kaala found a girl stuck in the river, and saved her. Kaala was fascinated by humans, so she followed the girl to her camp and repeatedly came back. Some time later, the girl, TaLi, brought Kaala to her grandmother's house. TaLi's grandmother was a shaman, and still had the ability to speak to animals. She told Kaala that the wolf legends weren't entirely true, and that the Great Wolves were hiding something from both the humans and wolves. A few months later, Kaala, Azzuen, and Marra overheard some Stone Peak wolves in their territory planning an attack. At first, they thought they planned to attack Swift River, so they told Ruuqo. Torell, the leader of the Stone Peaks, explained that they weren't going to attack Swift River, but the humans instead. Earlier that day, the same Great Wolves that saved Kaala tried to take her away from Wide Valley because they were going to kill every wolf and human if they started to fight. Kaala refused and ran back to tell Azzuen and Marra. Now, Kaala had to find a way to stop the wolves and humans from fighting.
Promise of the Wolves was a great book. It reminded me of Children of the Dawnland with the connections humans had with nature. I really like stories that take the point of view of an animal, so that the reader can experience the kind of lifestyle the animal has. I didn't like the fact that the grown up wolves would yell at the pups a lot; they just seemed really mean sometimes. I thought it was really cool how the ravens would talk in haiku (a Japanese poem of three lines, five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second, and five syllables in the third line).
Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Round Rock, TX United States
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Queen of the Masquerade by Tiffany Trent
Is anyone or anything to be trusted in a rath so full of evil, lies, mystery, glamour, and deceit that you cant tell what is real, true, or what is actually there in your presence? Christina wakes up to find herself lying in a bed with no understanding of where she is, how she got there, or anything else for that matter. Lost in a rath she learns to be as Lamasque with no memories of who she is, she looks to her rescuer Duke Deglisse, the ruler of Lamasque, for help and learns that she is actually the one who will be of the greater help (she is supposed to be the God-sent savior of Deglisse, his people, and his rath). Knowing no one, Christina befriends the Duke and agrees to do his bidding and go on daily searches through the forest to search for the rathstone. Deglisse tells her of a riddle that is to unlock the rathstone and that she is the answer to it. Understanding her fate, which is that she will be a sacrifice to the stone, she realizes that she must find a way to stay alive and leave the rath before it's too late. To do that she decides that she can't trust anyone, but when a mysterious creature and a handsome boy show up to help her, will she be able to put aside her fears and trust them if it means a chance at saving her life?
I enjoyed Queen of the Masquerade but I thought that the story moved along quite slowly and that there wasn't a lot of adventure or depth to the plot. I admired Christina's character, which was fun, upbeat, flirty, strong, and loyal. A lot of the story seemed to take place in the forest or in Christina's bedroom, which got somewhat boring after a while because of the repetitious actions that took place. The little action that did happen occurred so quickly that I barely got a feel for what was going on. The author used foreshadowing very well and didn't give away too much information for what was yet to come. As the story went on, I became more and more anxious and excited for the conclusion to come to find out the outcome and how all of the events would fall into place. The conclusion came as quite a surprise to me though because the tricky foreshadowing led me to expect a very different ending than what actually occurred. The ending was well written and fell into place nicely, but left me with a few questions such as the fate of Maurus. The characters and scenes for the most part were well described, which made them easy to picture in my mind. Overall, I did greatly enjoy this novel and this series still remains as my favorite. This was another great book by Tiffany Trent (and Amanda M. Jenkins) and I recommend it to teenage girls who enjoy fantasies with a hint of romance.
Reviewer Age:15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Upper Strasburg, PA USA
I enjoyed Queen of the Masquerade but I thought that the story moved along quite slowly and that there wasn't a lot of adventure or depth to the plot. I admired Christina's character, which was fun, upbeat, flirty, strong, and loyal. A lot of the story seemed to take place in the forest or in Christina's bedroom, which got somewhat boring after a while because of the repetitious actions that took place. The little action that did happen occurred so quickly that I barely got a feel for what was going on. The author used foreshadowing very well and didn't give away too much information for what was yet to come. As the story went on, I became more and more anxious and excited for the conclusion to come to find out the outcome and how all of the events would fall into place. The conclusion came as quite a surprise to me though because the tricky foreshadowing led me to expect a very different ending than what actually occurred. The ending was well written and fell into place nicely, but left me with a few questions such as the fate of Maurus. The characters and scenes for the most part were well described, which made them easy to picture in my mind. Overall, I did greatly enjoy this novel and this series still remains as my favorite. This was another great book by Tiffany Trent (and Amanda M. Jenkins) and I recommend it to teenage girls who enjoy fantasies with a hint of romance.
Reviewer Age:15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Upper Strasburg, PA USA
Coraline was adapted and illustrated by P. Craig Russell. In this comic book, Coraline finds a door in her new house that takes her to another world. This new world seems better; great food, more toys, nicer parents. These parents call themselves her other mother and father. They seem kind, but Coraline soon discovers that they plan to sew buttons on her eyes and keep her soul locked away. When she tries to return to her original parents they are gone. Coraline must play a game against her other mother in a race to find her parents and save the souls of the other children.
This comic book is based off the original book Coraline, by Neil Gaiman. The comic book takes you visually through Coraline's adventures in her house. I have read the original book as well and I found the comic to portray the story wonderfully. I really enjoyed the book and found the comic version of the story to be just as good. I would highly recommend reading the comic; and if you enjoy it you might even want to pick up the original book or watch the movie. I found all three enjoyable.
Reviewer Age:16
Reviewer City, State and Country: Lemoore, CA US
This comic book is based off the original book Coraline, by Neil Gaiman. The comic book takes you visually through Coraline's adventures in her house. I have read the original book as well and I found the comic to portray the story wonderfully. I really enjoyed the book and found the comic version of the story to be just as good. I would highly recommend reading the comic; and if you enjoy it you might even want to pick up the original book or watch the movie. I found all three enjoyable.
Reviewer Age:16
Reviewer City, State and Country: Lemoore, CA US
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