Timelock by David Klass

Timelock by David Klass, is a book that fuses both the future and the past together. A boy named Jack is the Prince of Dann in a future world. His parents sent him back in time to our present-day with a set of legal guardians, in hopes that he will save the future world. There are many sacrifices that the royal family made to save the grim future. But will they be enough?

Timelock is the third book of the Caretaker Trilogy. If you ask me it was fairly easy to follow, but they did refer to the previous written books on numerous occasions. If you plan on reading this book, I'd suggest reading the first two books to get the full emotional impact.

Since the book was written in past and present tense the author did divide the book into different parts. Personally I found the reading too choppy in the present tense, which was how the majority of the book was written. Also, certain parts were a little too cheesy for me. It was definitely not my favorite book. That being said I have to commend the author for the wonderful fight scenes. These scenes were the only ones that I liked in present tense. The fights had a perfect balance--weren't too bloody-gory, and yet I felt involved. The scenes were also vividly captured and to the point.

This book took me over three weeks to read, because I kept putting it down and didn't want to pick it up again. It needed suspense to propel the book forward.

Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Libertyville, IL United States

Growing Wings by Laurel Winter

"Growing Wings" by Laurel Winter follows an eleven-year-old girl called Linnet on her journey one summer. Her mother refuses to cut Linnet's hair, and Linnet's back is always itchy. Facts fall into place when Linnet finally has wings growing out of her back. Drama ensues with Linnet and her mother as family history is divulged. Then, through a series of events, the setting changes and more characters with wings are introduced. Mysteries still linger all throughout the book, but readers will relish the interactions amongst the winged characters, especially when a dangerous act of suspense threatens their lives.

This book is a classic page-turner. Children will get lost in the pages as they walk alongside the characters. They will identify most with Linnet and feel connected to her. Descriptions of the winged characters are most breathtaking, not methodical like most fantasy books. At parts in the book--just when the reader thinks it will get boring because some situations can't last for another 70 pages or so--the author inserts something new to make the reader lean even further forward over the book in enthrallment.

Reviewer Age:18

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

Akira by Katsuhiro Otoma

This book is a science fiction manga. Manga is a type of Japanese graphic novel that is typically black and white. In the story, Tokyo was destroyed in 1992 by a mysterious explosion that triggered World War III. It was rebuilt as Neo-Tokyo, a dystopian city with military police and teenage gangs. The year is now 2030, and Tetsuo and Kaneda are two of these gang members who attend a school filled with violent teachers and students. Tetsuo is injured in a motorcycle crash when a man appears in the middle of the road. However, the man disappears before Kaneda can confront him. During another encounter with the man, Kaneda meets Kei and Ryu, who have a relationship resembling younger sister and older brother. They tell Kaneda that the mysterious man has escaped from a shady government organization. This organization is finding people with paranormal abilities and harnessing their power. Kei and Ryu are fighters for a group that is resisting this organization. All three of them try to find the old man and help him escape but are foiled by the government. Before escaping, Kaneda steals a mysterious pill from the government. Kei and Ryu escape separately from Kaneda. Kaneda then returns to school to find that Testsuo has been released from the hospital. However, Tetsuo's personality is unbalanced and his strength has drastically increased. The head of the government organization shows up at the school and takes Tetsuo to the group's headquaters. Kaneda soon meets up with Kei again, and they wind up on the run and living together, which Kei is not pleased with. By the end of the story, Kaneda and Tetsuo are both involved in the world of the paranormal.

This book was very interesting. It is the first in a series, and I am definitely going to read the others. The story is unique, with conflict between a shady government organization seeking people with paranormal talents and a fairly suspicious rebel group. There is a backdrop of impending doom and fear of a creature called Akira. One weakness is that the characters are not outstanding or particularly likable, but the plot is good enough to make up for this. The drawings are detailed and intriguing, even though they are mainly in black and white. The ending is not very conclusive, but that is because it is in series. Despite its many good points, this book may not be for everyone. I personally love action, science fiction, and manga. This book is probably best for people who enjoy action stories and are open to reading a graphic novel instead of a traditional book.

This book has very graphic violence, due to the fact that it is illustrated, and some fairly mild sexual references. It is probably best suited for high school students and adults.

Reviewer Age:16
Reviewer City, State and Country: Royersford, PA United States

Boys Without Names by Kashira Sheth

Running away from the law seemed difficult for Gopal and his family. Money in their meager Indian village was tight, and when his family couldn't pay off their debt, they had to escape to Mumbai. After Gopal's father disappears, Gopal is offered a job in a factory, and he takes the chance to earn some spare change. However, he ends up being drugged and whisked away with four other boys. All of them are forced to make beaded frames for no pay and little food. The only way they can survive and keep themselves sane is to tell stories. Their boss becomes more violent each day, and their need to escape is dire. Can Gopal save himself and his newfound friends before time runs out?

Boys Without Names is a superb book. The characters are so real, and the material is raw. The realistic fiction novel Boys without Names details the situations some homeless children in India are forced to endure: harsh conditions, slavery, and working with toxic chemicals. The message is so powerful it teaches readers to never look at the world the same way again. I recommend this book to anyone ages 12 and up. Once I read the first fifteen pages I was hooked, and couldn't put it down. It seemed like I was one of the boys as their emotions poured out onto the page.

some harsh and graphic situations

Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Osseo, Wisconsin United States

The Seven Rays by Jessica Bendinger

Beth Michaels is a straight A high school student taking classes at the local community college. Living with her single mother and hanging out with her best friend, Shirl, is a normal day in Beth's life. Until Beth receives a message saying "You Are More Than You Think You Are" and Beth's life starts to spin out of control. She discovers gold envelopes addressed to someone named Aleph Beth Ray, starts seeing strange images and can read minds. Her mother is definitely keeping something from her and soon Beth begins to think there might be more to the message than she ever thought.

The Seven Rays was an amazing whirlwind of mystery and romance. I never knew what was going to happen next and I was swiftly turning the pages anxious to read more. The author did a terrific job of creating an original plot that kept the reader at the edge of their seat. The characters were excellent as well. They were well developed and original, I enjoyed the alternating chapters about different characters. By the end I couldn't put the book down and the ending was fantastic. I never would have guessed the ending and I really liked how Beth learned a lot about both herself and others by the end of the novel. I also loved how everything tied together in the end, all the characters and the little twists in the plot came together perfectly. I would highly recommend this to anyone and am looking forward to more books by Jessica Bendinger.

Reviewer Age:15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Hightstown, New Jersey USA

The Van Alen Legacy by Melissa De La Cruz

Bliss has spent the last year as a passenger in her own body, as her father Lucifer has taken control. Schyler and Olive have been on the run after she was found guilty of her grandfather's murder. And Mimi? She's roughing it in South America. The Silver Bloods are growing closer and closer. The softened blue bloods have been forced to face there greatest enemy. Everything has been turned upside down in the world of Manhatten's elite.

This book is by far the best of the Blue Blood series. The world has changed for all of the characters in the series leaving a sad air over the book. Every character, even Mimi, has much more important things to take care of than shopping, things that if left undone could result in the end of the world. This causes some really interesting chraracter development leading to a deeper and more interesting story. This is a must read for Blue Blood fans!

Reviewer Age:16
Reviewer City, State and Country: Greenwood Village, Co USA

Shadowland by Alyson Noel

In the paranormal fiction novel, Shadowland, by Alyson Noel, the main characters Ever and Damen, soul mates, can sadly never touch each other because of Evers misguided attempts to save him in the previous novel. In the previous book of this series, Blue Moon, Ever saved Damen from dying by giving him a cure. However, due to pressure from the horrid Roman, she also put some of her blood in the cure. Somehow, this means that Damen can never touch her DNA again because it is now poison to him. Ever decides that that dreadful curse must be broken. In her desperate attempt to actually break it, she asks Roman, the person who brought about the curse, for help. However, Ever mostly relies on the help of Jude, an odd surfer, because she feels a connection with him, which shocks her and causes her to wonder whether or not Damen is truly her soulmate. Ever further wonders about her relationship with Damen when she discovers that his extremely long past was not completely noble and good. Ever has friends, such as Haven and Miles, which also cause drama. For instance, when Haven was worried about her cat dying, she turned to Ever for help. Overall, Ever's friends fade into the background and don't really contribute very much to the plot.

I very much disliked Shadowland, the third book in Noel's series. It was written fairly decently, but the characters, the plot, and the overall book annoyed me in that the characters were not well formed and were not at all interesting. I didn't agree with the choices that the characters made, such as when Damen decided to get rid of all of his expensive things. It seemed pretty pointless to do so. Above all, Ever was impulsive and silly because she did not plan things out, but rather meandered along until she thought of something to do, such as be stressed about her relationship with Damen. I did, however, like the part when Miles found out that he was going to Florence. This is a great book if you're stranded on an island, have nothing to do, and already ate all the monkeys, but not a very good as a means of entertainment. I definitely would borrow this book from the library and not buy it since it's really not worth the money.

Reviewer Age:16
Reviewer City, State and Country: Charleston, SC USA

Into The Wild Nerd Yonder by Julie Halpern

This book is about a girl who has never had to really be herself. She has an older brother who always gets her into the good social events and two best friends who helped her through life. Everything was as it was until her two best friends turn into punk posers and change completely. Jessie begins to start look for new friends and finds people who she never would of assoicated with before. She has to decide whether to stick with her new nerd friends or her old cool friends.

Into the Wild Nerd Yonder is a book that every girl who is doubting herself should read. Jessie is a girl who has had the same two best friends her entire life and all of a sudden she has to give it up because they aren't the same people she once knew. I loved this book! It was well written with romance, humor and a life message mixed in. I would of liked to find out more of what happened to henry and Jessie but it was a very good book. If the author wrote a sequel I would be the first to buy it. I would recommend this to any teenage girl.

Reviewer Age:17
Reviewer City, State and Country: Mantua, NJ USA

The Silent Gift by Michael Landon Jr.

The Silent Gift by Michael Landon Jr. takes place in America during the 1930s-in the middle of the Great Depression. It tells the story of Mary and her son Jack, who is a deaf mute. At the beginning, Mary finds out her husband is cheating on her and plans to abandon her, so she steals his money and runs away, taking Jack with her. They stow away in a van and wind up in Chicago. Mary lives for several weeks off of the money she took, but then loses all of it when she drops her purse. She and Jack then spend several nights at the Salvation Army and befriend a woman working there, Grace, who is unable to have a child. Grace prays over Jack one night before going to sleep. Jack then takes a pencil and writes a series of numbers, which Mary discovers correspond to a verse in the bible. This verse predicts that Grace will bear a child and give birth. This is the first sign of Jack having a "gift." Mary eventually finds a job as a maid in Olivia Edmunds's house. Jack continues to make predictions through bible verses, including one that saves Olivia's daughter's life. Eventually, word of Jack's gift spreads, and Olivia is forced to release Mary to protect her family. Mary and Jack, once again homeless, plan to take a bus away, but Mary falls ill. An old woman named Agnes takes her in, and Mary and Jack go to live with Agnes. They begin to use Jack's gift to make money, allowing people to come in and receive their verse and taking offerings. This goes on until Jerry, Mary's husband, tracks them down. Mary is sent to prison for kidnapping her son, and Jerry takes Jack. Jack runs away, and is found and sent to a home for children with disabilities. One of the workers there takes Jack and frees him when Jack is in danger of being used for testing. The worker, Felix, takes Jack and joins a circus as a cleaner. Meanwhile, Mary is released from prison and begins to search for Jack. Will Mary ever find Jack and be reunited with her beloved son? Read The Silent Gift to find out.

The Silent Gift by Michael Landon Jr. is one of the most inspirational stories I have ever read. The message sent by Landon's powerful writing is truly fantastic. Landon expresses Mary's love for her son in such a way that the reader cannot help but share the feelings. The reader shares the fear Mary feels as Jack is taken from her. When Jack and Mary finally reunite, you share their joy in each others company. As the story ends and Landon brings it to its conclusion, you will feel the emotion running through the characters. The Silent Gift is truly a masterpiece of fiction.

Reviewer Age:16
Reviewer City, State and Country: Chambersburg, PA United States

The Dragon Book by Jack Dann

In this book, The Dragon Book by Jack Dann, dragons come alive in many countries. Twenty-one of our young adult writers wrote these short stories for us to read and enjoy, and enjoy you will. Even though the stories are all different, they all have the same idea... DRAGONS! In one of the stories a young dragon asks his mother how they came to be, and she talks about an evil knight. In another story, a young lady is special... but not in a bad way. She can talk to dragons, and she even has her own personal dragon! So, as you can see, these stories are different and individual in there own ways, yet they are about one of my favorite things, dragons.

Do you love dragons? Well I do, and that is the main reason I chose this book in the first place. When I first started to read this book, I wasn't so sure I made a good choice in my selection. Just like with any collection of short stories some stories are better then others. In this particular book you must read a few confusing stories. But a couple stories in, I realized how great the stories were. Each author's style was unique, so I got a taste of how each author writes and how their imaginations are working. All of the author's reached their goal which was to talk about dragons. Every time I closed my eyes I could imagine dragons soaring or helping out a new friend, and when I finished that story and would go on to the next, I could imagine the two dragon's and the people from both stories forming a whole other book. Even though it wasn't the greatest book I've ever read and had some flaws such as the titles of some of the stories, and how confusing some of the stories were with their plots. It was really good, and I hope I will be able to read some of these amazing author's works again sometime soon.

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