Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

Greg Heffley is a good person. To prove it, he kicks off the book with his New Years' resolution of helping people improve. He starts by telling his mother that she should eat her potato chips more quietly. Many other incidents such as this bring Greg's father to think of military school, which he considers a great way to make Greg more manly. The book ends just as summer is about to begin, setting the stage for the sequel "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days".

This was a hilarious book! The author's style of incorporating humor into Greg's reasoning was something that made me laugh out loud every time! Greg's character was self-absorbed yet lovable and you couldn't help but laugh at almost anything he said. The journal format of the book was entertaining and it was a very quick read. I was definitely recommend this to everyone I know!

Reviewer Age:15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Westerville, OH United States

The Cave by Steve McGill

Arthur Pratt's legacy is like many other Americans during WWII: he enlisted in the army and fought for his country. He was supposed to have been killed in action, but his body was never found. Now, many years after WWII, Arthur's great-great-grandson Ian begins to become fascinated with WWII and his grandfather's past. Ian wants to be brave and strong, just like Arthur, but, in order to do that, he must face one of his greatest fears: the cave. The cave is dark and spooky and Ian just can't bring himself to go inside, no matter how hard he tries. Soon, however, Ian discovers that he must solve a mystery. Solving this mystery, however, requires him to go inside the cave. He must reach within himself and confront his fears to find the magic that awaits inside the dark abyss.

I found that this book was extremely difficult to get through, as the writing style was disjointed and the book was written in three-line paragraphs. It felt like the author wanted to express many different ideas at once and had to jump around in order to do that. The plot was not well communicated and difficult to understand. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

Reviewer Age:15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Westerville, OH United States

Four-eyed Prince by Wataru Mizukami

Sachiko has extreme feelings for the mysterious Akihiko. She confesses her feelings to him, however, is automatically turned down. In an extremely lucky--or unlucky--circumstance, Sachiko leaves her grandmother's house to move in with her mother who has just taken Akihiko in with her as well. Now the two are living together as siblings by marriage and are forced to interact. When a coolest in school contest is announced, Sachiko convinces Akihiko to enter it with her. She finds out that Akihiko has two personalities by spending more time with him; will she be able to woo the newly discovered Akihiko?

After reading many different mangas meant for girls, I have picked up on several patterns that they follow in their storylines with conflicts and relationships between the characters. In particular, the ways the female characters always go about winning the male character's hearts always end with success but only after numerous futile attempts. I liked how this manga continued that "tradition" but incorporated other conflicts beyond that with other characters. The story flows nicely and is complemented well by the drawings. I recommend Four-Eyed Prince to any teenage girl who likes manga.

Reviewer Age:16
Reviewer City, State and Country: Carlisle, Pennsylvania United States of America

FontArialCourierGeorgiaLucida GrandeTimesTrebuchetVerdanaWebdings

• Smallest
• Small
• Normal
• Large
• Largest

Silver Dragon Codex by R.D. Henham

In this book, Silver Dragon Codex, a young woman named Belen is accused of being a dragon and killing around a hundred people. Believing she is innocent, she and her friends Cerise, Ebano, and Jace embark on a journey to who-knows-where to prove it. While on this journey, the four friends friendship will be tested multiple times. Secrets and mysteries that Belen has hidden from herself and her friends will come out and nothing will be the same. Will the truth save them all, or will it bring them to their own deaths? Read the book to find out!

The author, R.D.Henham, wrote this book beautifully. When I was reading it, I could imagine that I was flying on a silver dragon's back over a thick, green forest. At certain points in the book I was crying when something bad happened, or I was laughing when one of the characters said or did something funny. The main character, Belen, is a young girl somewhere in her twenties with long, flowing silver hair. Jace, even though they are about five years apart, is in love with her...or so he thinks. Once I was done reading it, I started to wonder how everyone's lives had turned out and if anything else that was interesting had occurred. Even though the story itself was beautiful, the point at the beginning was very unclear. Henham has also written five other Dragon Codex books, and out of all of them, this one was the absolute best. I recommend this book to fantasy and dragon lovers because it will touch your heart.

Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Fresno, California USA

Claim to Fame by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Lindsay Scott was a TV star until she was elevan and
appeared to have a nervous breakdown. In reality, Lindsay
hears voices. She can hear anything anyone says about her
at any time. Since Lindsay's "breakdown," she has spent
five years living in her house with her father, which is
the only safe place where she can't hear anyone. When a
tabloid writes an article about her father holding her
captive, two teenagers try to rescue her by kidnapping
her. Now that she is out in the world again, she hears
her mother's voice for the first time ever. She must try
to save her mother and learn as much as she can about her
secret talent.

Claim to Fame, by Margaret Peterson Haddix, is a good
book. I couldn't put it down after I got it. I don't
think that this is one of Margaret Peterson Haddix's best
books, but it's not the worst. The book isn't as focused
on the kidnapping and Lindsay's mother as it seems it
would be. I would recommend this book to anyone who
enjoys books by Margaret Peterson Haddix or books that
have an interesting twist on reality.

Reviewer
Age:14

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

The Snog Log by Michale Colman

So... its like a Readathon but its a snogathon. Robbie and his mates think they have come up with something much better. See know one's supposed to know. What would the girls think if they fgound out that every time Robbie, Daz, Greg, and Twilly hook-up with them its scored by their difficulty. But then Robbie's potential "snogee", Mel, might just not want to play along...SHe has other plans.

This book is really cute. The Snog Log is a simple and nice book with a good moral message. If a pre-teen was reading it they, and their parents, would be very happy. But as a 15 year old more used to an ounce of passion, the stupid hi-jinks of Robbie and the half-baked retaliation of the girls seem to fall a bit short. Although not the most passionate book, it makes for a good, quick read.

Reviewer Age:15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Greenwood Village, Colorado USA

Killer Pizza

School just got out, and Toby MaGill is bored already. Pursuing his secret ambition to become a chef, he applies to work at Killer Pizza, a small pizza shop on the edge of his small town. He gets along well with his co-workers, Annabel and Strobe, until they're introduced to the company's main goal and the world of monsters. Unbeknownst to the general population, a group of vicious monsters are living in secret among the residents. Killer Pizza's manager offers a promotion and a raise if Toby and his friends agree to become KP's newest Monster Combat Officers (MCOs). Is Toby up for the challenge?

I thought Killer Pizza was a well written adventure/fantasy book. The writing was very fluent and enjoyable. This is a great story if you liked the Percy Jackson books, what with all the monster slaying. I liked how the author used intense detail when describing the monsters, which really helped me visualize what they looked like. For example, the author describes a guttata as having an abnormally large chest, even for its six-foot-tall frame. Finally, there was the distinctive-looking skin. Tough as leather, it was irregularly spotted light and dark, camouflage-like. I'd recommend this book to grades 5 and up.

Reviewer Age:13

Reviewer City, State and Country: Round Rock, TX United States

Goth Girl Rising by Barry Lyga

When Kyra Sellers spends six months in the Maryland Mental Health Unit after trying to kill herself, she never gets one email or phone call from the person she wanted to talk to the most: Fanboy. When she gets home, she is angry that Fanboy never tried to contact her and wants revenge. When she goes to school again, she finds out that the secret comic that she and Fanboy had created has been published. Once she sees Fanboy again, she barely recognizes him. He has changed everything about himself. Kyra thinks of many different ways to get back at Fanboy for all of the pain he caused her while she was away. While trying to get revenge, many things happen that she doesn't understand. By the end of the book, Kyra realizes that she has to deal with life, and everything makes sense again.

I liked the book Goth Girl Rising because I could picture everything that was happening. I could see what Kyra was going through in the book. Goth Girl Rising made me realize how different some teens' lives are. The problems that Kyra had to face would have been hard for me too. I found this book interesting and exciting because I never knew what would happen next. From reading this book, I learned that everyone has to go through something rough in their life. The way you handle your problems, though, is what changes things.

Goth Girl Rising talks about drugs, sex, and lesbians. It talks about Kyra cutting her wrists and wanting to commit suicide.

Reviewer Age:13

Reviewer City, State and Country: Nokomis , Illinois United States

Ring of Fire by P.D.Baccalario

The book Ring of Fire by: P.D. Baccalario a pure adventure and mystery. It is so interesting, and it gets your attention as soon as you pick up the book. I told a few of my friends about it too; this is an amazing book, and I think anyone in the teen years or older will really enjoy it.

It is a very interesting book, it is about these four kids all come together from all over the world. You think this was a random choosing? Not quite. They got together and tried to find out why they were chosen. They found out that they all had the same birthday. Every hundred or so years, these students are chosen, for a different assignment for a serial killer. It was so interesting, I got so into it from the very beginning that I will probably read it over and over. Then at the very end, there is a huge twist. Anyone who reads this, is going to fall in love with it and you will read it over and over.

Reviewer Age:13

Reviewer City, State and Country: Mineola, Texas

Pearl of Baxter Grove by Mary Kay Abbott

This is a fictional book written to help you understand how life goes on. It's about an eleven year girl named Casey whose mother dies in tragic accident. She is left without any motherly influence and her grieving father is unable to give her the love and attention she needs. With her mother's death she is force to get a job to help support the family and search for someone to replace her mother's affection. She has two chooses. She can either work in a bait shop where the shop owner hates kids or she can work for a new African American family who greets her with a gun. Which job will she take? Will her relationship with her father improve?

At the beginning of the book it was difficult for me to understand, but that is what made we want to keep turning the pages. The problem I had was Mary Kay Abbott jumped right into the storyline, but latter in the book it made more and more sense. This book is not like most books I read. For some reason I still wanted to keep going on to see what happened next. She made the characters so real and made you feel like you were there, step by step. This book was so interesting and so alive. Even the cover of the book grabbed my attention. At first I really didn't like the book, but as I got more into the book the more I liked it. I would recommend this book to my friends and teens because I don't feel like a 10 year old and below would understand the book. Last, I would like to say this book truly came from Mary Kay Abbott's heart.

Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Germantown, Tennessee USA