Crouching Vampire Hidden Fang by Kate MacAlister

Pia Thomas is the Beloved of a Dark One named Kristoff, meaning that Kristoff can no longer live without her. She hasn't seen him since Iceland two months ago and is surprised when the messenger from the vampire council comes to her doorstep. She drags her best friend and her fiance, Magda and Ray, to Venice to go before the court. There, she once again meets Kristoff. Together, they are charged with crimes they did not commit and set off to clear their names and possibly learn to love each other.

Crouching Vampire, Hidden Fang was a well written book. It was interesting and made me want to keep reading. However, the book was a little confusing in the beginning. This book has another before it called Zen and the Art of Vampires which probably would have helped my understanding of some of the terms used and how Pia became a Beloved. There were also some adult moments in the book, especially when Kristoff and Pia were together, that some parents might not want their children to be reading. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy romance and vampire books.
There are four major sex scenes in the book along with a lot of sexual thinking on Pia and Kristoff's part that some teens and young adults should not be reading.

Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Brownsburg, Indiana United States of America

Soldier Mom

Jas is a 12 year old girl who has everything she needs: a mom who works for the Army at an office close to home, (She orders supplies and ships them to soldiers.), a cute 10-month old baby brother who is good to cheer you up, and a game that she is good at, basketball. But she also has a nuisance, her mom's boyfriend and her little brother's dad,
Jake. He is so irresponsible! Jas just goes on with life, even though Jake is SO annoying, and makes team captain for her b-ball team. Everything is fine and dandy until Paula, Jas's mom, gets a phone call. Paula is to leave in a day to
go to a country near Saudi Arabia called Kuwait, no excuse to leaving the mission, she has to go. Jas is destroyed. How can her mom leave her? Leave her with Jake? The one person who is always late, and Jake's work hours mean that Jas has to pick up Andrew, her baby brother, from daycare, at 5:00 o'clock sharp, exactly when basketball practice ends! She'll have no time, and coach won't let her be captain if she has to leave practice! And Jake refuses to get up earlier and take the early shift. What will Jas do? When will her mom get back? Is her mom even okay?

This book, "Soldier Mom," is a wonderful book that really opened my eyes and let me know what kids sometimes go
through when one of their parents gets called to war. It has a fantastic writing style, which gets you all wrapped up in the story. This book is a very quick and easy read, yet the two days I read the book, I was captivated by the story...it
even made me shed a few tears once. The main character, Jas, really got through to me, and let me know how she felt, and how she thought; it was amazing. Also the plot was something most people never think will happen, but sometimes it does, so it really informed me about those situations.

Reviewer Age:13

Reviewer City, State and Country: Winslow, Arkansas, United States

Death's Daughter by Amber Benson

Death's Daughter is a science-fiction book about the family of Death himself. One of his three daughters doesn't like the family business and enchanted herself to think she was a human when she was in college. For the past few years, she has been living a completely normal life. That is, up until now. When her father and older sister are kidnapped, she may have to not only return to her family but take over the family business as well. Too bad the person competing for the job happens to be very, very hot...

I thought this book was very confusing. The scenes changed very quickly and I had a hard time keeping up with everything because the main character was the narrator of the story, so she often added unneeded details and not enough to explain the story. Because the story was science fiction, there was also lots of new terms and words. They were not well-explained or described, and I felt very lost. Overall, it was not well-explained, but I liked the main idea.

This book contained many thoughts of sex and other adult content because of it's first-person narration.

Reviewer Age:13

Reviewer City, State and Country: Braintree, MA United States of America

Radient Darkness by Emily White

Tired of being treated like a child, Persephone runs away from home and elopes with the ever-charming Hades, Lord of the Underworld. However she finds it difficult to settle into her new role as Queen and is troubled when she learns her mother, Demeter, is so distraught with worry she has stopped the earth from producing food, causing a major famine among the mortals. Persephone convinces Hades to let her visit her mother. However Demeter learns Persephone cannot stay with her because Persephone had eaten food from the underworld. In order to satisfy both Demeter and Hades, Zeus rules that Persephone will stay with her mother six months out of the year and the return to Hades for the remaining months.
It was refreshing to read the story from Persephone's point of view since the story is usually centered on Demeter. However, I feel the only reason it is a young adult novel is because of the elopement between Persephone and Hades and a few cuss words. My suggestion would be not to romanticize the myth. The original tale is not a story about an adolescent finding love but one about a mother trying to find her kidnapped daughter. It would have been better if the author would have stuck to the original version of the myth.
Reviewer Age:15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Holly Springs, North Carolina , United States of America

The Problem with the Puddles, by Kate Feiffer

Mr. and Mrs. Puddle can’t agree on anything. They couldn’t even agree on what to name their daughter. They each have their own name for her, but everyone else calls her Baby. They wanted a dog named Sally, but couldn’t agree which one to get, so they got both. One day, when the family is moving from their country house to their city house, the Sallies get left behind in all the commotion. When they realized they forgot their dogs, they turn around and their car breaks down. They get the attention of Frankolin, a man who thinks they are a dancing family. He brings them to his messy house that he shares with his wife, Felicia, and their dog, King. Meanwhile, the Sallies are making their way to the city to find the Puddles. Will the Puddles and the Sallies meet up?

I really enjoyed The Problem with the Puddles. Kate Feiffer shows a great sense of humor that kept me reading. The characters came to life with her wonderful writing style and the help of Tricia Tusa’s illustrations. She sprinkles pictures here and there that top off this great book. My favorite part of the book was the end. There was a great twist that tied the whole story together. I would recommend this book to anyone who’s looking for a fun, easy read.

Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Oakmont, Pennsylvania United States

Nothing But Ghosts by Beth Kephart

When her mother passed away, Katie started to feel alone in her huge home. She lives with her dad, who restores old paintings for a living, but still always feels like she is living by herself. Katie takes a summer job at a garden estate where she meets two brothers. With the help of them and the town librarian, she becomes immersed in deciphering a mystery. Katie, the brothers, and the librarian work together to solve the mystery. There are many secrets throughout the mystery; symbols hidden in a darkened painting, and surprises behind a locked door. While decoding the mystery, Katie learns about love and learns to live with her own ghosts.

Nothing but Ghosts was the greatest mystery, yet, love story I have read in ages. It was interesting and really detailed. I absolutely loved how the author would take breaks from the main idea to express smaller points in the plot. As the main characters learned certain things, I learned right along with them. The author, Beth Kephart, did an amazing job from the beginning to the end. I recommend Nothing but Ghosts to all young-adult readers who enjoy love stories or mysteries.

Reviewer Age:13

Reviewer City, State and Country: Fairborn, Ohio USA

Keeper by Mal Peet

World soccer superstar El Gato has just won the World Cup;
he is at the peak of his career and has been named the
world's greatest goalkeeper. Paul Faustino, South
America's top football journalist expected a reasonably
normal post World Cup interview, but what he got was more
than he ever imagined. During the hours of the interview
between El Gato and Faustino, the football legend gives an
exclusive into his intriguing past. He tells Faustino how
the lingering spirit of mysterious Keeper changed his life
and how he went from being the struggling son of a poor
logger to being thrown into the thrilling world of major
league football. The strange life that El Gato lived was
not at all what anyone expected and his unusual past was
not the only shock he was ready to unleash on the world.

Keeper by Mal Peet is a truly interesting and
extraordinary journey through the roller coaster life of a
disadvantaged teenager who makes it big. I'm not
interested in football at all and when told about this
book, I was dubious. By the end of the story, however, I
was caught by its reveling excitement and spine tingling
mystery. There was definitely no need to be a football fan
to enjoy the absorbing story line and enthralling
characters. This book was all told by El Gato in first
person, in the context of Gato telling his life story to
Faustino. There was a bit of football lingo, which was not
always clear and entirely understood, but that was made up
for by the amount of time that went into telling the story
of spirits and ghosts. I am looking forward to the next
Paul Faustino installment and continuation of El Gato's
story.

Reviewer Age:15

Reviewer City, State and
Country: Melbourne , Victoria Australia

Ignatius Macfarland by Paul Fieg

"Ignatius Macfarland" by Paul Feig is a fast-paced, fantastical novel. Ignatius (AKA Iggy) is picked on at school and builds a makeshift rocket in a vain attempt to go into outer space and befriend aliens that won't make fun of him. When his rocket explodes, he wakes up in a parallel universe with wild creatures and peculiar surroundings. Iggy finds his old English teacher also blew himself up and landed in the same exact place. This teacher is the president of the land, and he has been enforcing the creatures, forcing them to bend to his will, and making them believe he came up with inventions that were really made back on Earth.

The suspense and action are phenomenal as Iggy and his friends are hunted down by the English teacher's army; he fears that Iggy and his friends will undermine / usurp him. A shocking twist is at the end, both with regards to the English teacher's motives for tyranny and with whether or not Iggy returns home. There is some romance in the novel as Iggy is infatuated with a girl from the parallel universe. However, it is not at all vulgar or perverse (Iggy is twelve, and the audience is meant to be preteen). The way in which Feig writes is simple yet unusually unique. "'K-kill her?' Mr. Arthur said, the words sticking in his throat like saltine crackers when you try to swallow a bunch of them without any water" (Feig, 320).

Reviewer Age:18

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

Brand-New Emily by Ginger Rue

"Brand-New Emily" by Ginger Rue is a dramatic girl's book. In eighth grade, Emily is picked on by the popular Daisy clique. One day, she simply can not take it anymore, and she hires a publicist to make her popular. That same publicist works for a teenage heartthrob. When Emily reveals she knows a secret that could destroy the star, the publicist agrees to work for Emily. As Emily transforms, she becomes a whole new person. Drama ensues when the teenage heartthrob becomes entwined in the publicist's plan. Matters get worse when Emily does not like the person she has become.

This book fully captures the world of school for young teenagers. The taunting and humiliation that Emily faces in the beginning of the book are horrifyingly plausible. Also, the publicist part is fun, especially when public relations lingo is interspersed. While teens may not be able to hire / blackmail others into giving them Hollywood-style help, they learn what a good makeover can do. Also, by the end of the book, teen girls realize that popularity comes at a price--oneself.

Reviewer Age:18

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

Nebula Awards Showcase 2009 by Ellen Datlow

This book is a grand overview of 2008's best work in Science Fiction and Fantasy. It encompasses both writing and screen work. The winners and nominees featured vary in length and topic. Also included are short essays predicting the future of both the science fiction and fantasy genres.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. The greater majority of the award-winning selections were a good representation of the genres of SF and Fantasy. The stories widely varied in their structures as well as topics including poetry, excerpts from novels, novelettes, and short stories.Because the entire book was a collection of short stories, excerpts, and essays, I often found myself having to go back to the beginning of a section and rereading it, paying close attention to what I was reading. I would recommend this book for readers that enjoy reading science fiction and fantasy and are comfortable with different and possibly controversial topics.Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. It's a good book to read to pass the time or over a break.

This book had both controversial and profane topics and language.

Reviewer Age:14

Reviewer City, State and Country: Brownsburg, Indiana United States