King Lear by Gareth Hinds

King Lear is a tale about a king who is slowly descending into madness. The King decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, but instead of splitting the kingdom equally, Lear uses a more unique way. Lear tells his daughters whoever loves him the most will get the largest part of the kingdom. Goneril and Regan both tell their father that they love him more than anything in the world, while Cordelia answers the question honestly, enraging her father. The stage is now set for the schemes and plotting for old King Lear's throne.

Shakespeare's plays are hard to read as normal plays. Reading King Lear in graphic novel format was much easier. Even though some of the speeches were shortened in the novel, it still had the Shakespearen feel. The artwork in King Lear is rather stunning. It shows the setting and reflects King Lear's state of mind. It is also easy to identify characters by the colors given to them in their clothing. I feel that reading King Lear is much easier to read in this format than reading it from a book.

Reviewer Age:14
Brownsburg, Indiana USA

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger is a new and unique twist on a typical ghost story. The story begins with the death of Elspeth, who is involved with Robert, a graduate student living in the apartment downstairs from her. Elspeth is estranged from her sister, Edie. Edie has two twin daughters, Julia and Valentina, who have been left Elspeth's apartment in London; but only on the condition that they live in it for one year before they sell it and they must not let their parents enter the premises. When the girls arrive in London they meet a colourful cast of characters: Martin who suffers from OCD and whose wife has recently left him, and Robert, Elspeth's former lover who works in the cemetery across the street. As the story unfolds, Elspeth returns to her apartment as a ghost and the lives of those living in the apartment become deeply entangled.

I found this book extraordinarily interesting and readable. The novel changes points of view to include most of the major characters. Each character had a distinct voice and poignant emotions that pulled the reader deep into the story. The reader always feels connected to each character and sympathetic to their problems. There are several big twists in the story, always shocking and unexpected. Niffenegger writes stunningly as she did in The Time Traveller's Wife. Fans of that novel will most certainly enjoy this one as, while the plot is very different (although just as unique), has the same feel to the writing. The reader feels as if they happen to live in the same apartment building as the cast of the story and are right there in London, experiencing everything. The London that Niffenegger describes is vivid and real. I highly recommend this novel to both lovers of realistic fiction and fantasy. It is excellently written and thoroughly enjoyable. A must read for any reader.

While there is no explicit content, the novel deals with some mature topics.

Reviewer Age:17
Reviewer City, State and Country: San Diego, California USA

Free Fall

Basically, FREE FALL is about a high school boy named Luke. He's a fencer, not the best student, and is looking for a college that will accept him. A new boy shows up and isn't being very nice to Luke's best friend, Hayden. (He's a fencer too). But it turns out he's does fencing as well. At this school, there is an unofficial initiation ceremony. The new fencers have to jump of a cliff into the lake. Luke and Hayden take Russell to the cliff. When Russell chickens out, he and Hayden get in an argument and Hayden ends up pushing Russell OFF THE CLIFF! So now Luke has to figure out what to say at the impending court trial. What's the right thing to say? What about Hayden? Can Luke stay true to himself?

It was an interesting read, but it was hard to tell who was telling the story. Sometimes it sounded like the character was talking and sometimes it sounded like someone else was telling the story. I think it should have been in the main character's point of view. All in all, I wasn't that fond of this book. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. It would have been better if the main character wasn't such a whiner.

Reviewer Age:13

Reviewer City, State and Country: Sandy, Oregon US of A

Runaway Storm by D. E. Knobbe

Nathan is a runaway even though life isn’t too terrible for him. He has parents who care, but when their separation drives Nathan’s heart apart, he decides to steal his father’s kayak to fulfill his life dream. He kayaks day and night, battling rough storms and violent drug smugglers; meeting runaway friends along the way. Danger lurks in every corner in the uncharted string of islands off of San Juan, and the need for food, water, and safety is vital at this desperate point in Nathan’s life. Can he save himself and the Goth girl who saved his life? Or will he die trying?

I was very enthralled with Runaway Storm by D.E. Knobbe. It was very good, an easy read, although it was more of a leisurely read than an edge-of-your-seat thriller. I would recommend this book to any teenager who would like an informative and highly likable plot. Runaway Storm includes very good detail and action scenes that portray very believable scenarios. At the end of the book I was gripped with suspense and worry; tensions ran high I loved the elaborate detail, and was pleasantly surprised.

large amounts of swearing and graphic situations
Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Osseo, Wisconsin United States

I So Don't Do Spooky by Barrie Summy

The book I So Don't Do Spooky by Barrie Summy is about a girl named Sherry who has a ghost for a mom. Sherry's mom died a couple of years ago and came back as a ghost, and Sherry's stepmom is a teacher at Sherry's school. When Sherry went to a meeting with her real mom and the head ghost, the head ghost told her that her stepmom has a stalker. In order for her to be able to keep in contact with her mom and feel safe again, Sherry must find and turn in the stalker . On the same day she got roses from somebody . . . who wasn't her boyfriend (and she needs to find out who the flowers are from). Can Sherry do it all and stay alive to tell the tale? Read this enchanting mystery to find out!

This book was very interesting, and it gave me lots of details. I like books that I can picture in my head and feel like I'm in it, and this book let me do that. As a character, Sherry was very realistic(except for the fact she can speak to her ghost mom) and she was almost always worried about something. Compared with other mysteries I have read before, like Sherlock Holmes or Nancy Drew, this one wasn't as intriguing as the others. I learned from this book nothing is ever as it seems, and I believe this statement with all of my heart. Overall, I recommend this book to teens and young adults for entertainment reading, for it will fill you with laughter and sadness, like any good book should.

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

X-Men: Misfits by Raina Telgemeier

This book is about a girl named Kitty Pryde who has been tying to keep the fact that she's a mutant. She eventually finds out about and attends a school for other kids like her called Xavier. She thought that attending a school where the kids are like her would make her feel like less of an outcast. She turns out to be wrong. She soon finds out that she's the only girl attending school there. This causes many complications through out the book.

I was disappointed in this book because of a few reasons. The first reason is that it's a graphic novel. Another reason is that it's completely different from the x-men origins movies, which I really like. The characters aren't even in the movie. It also doesn't have a lot of reading to it. It's mostly pictures. I also found the way it was written confusing. It seemed like you had to look at the pictures to understand what was going on, but it still didn't always make sense.

Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Cedar Grove, IN U.S.

The Singing by Alison Croggon

As the final installment to Alison Croggon's Pellinor series The Singing finishes up Maerad's story. Maerad and Hem must find each other after many troubles and a long separation. For this last book Maerads must finally understand her feelings towards her trustworthy man. Also, she has now to defeat the Nameless One, the only problem being she only has one part of the Treesong; which will aid her to victory. All this blended into an exciting adventure and romance tale.


This book, The Singing was hard to read because each book was published with a long period of time in-between. Therefore, readers should start from the beginning of the series in order to fully comprehend what is going on. I think that in this last book there were many exciting parts. There were well written sections, which was one of the reasons I loved this series, with strong description. Overall I felt like they were mashed together and the whole story didn't come together until the epilogue. Although I loved the first book (The Naming), this last one made me feel like the story was lost in a tumble of words.

Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Brewster, N.Y U.S

Sisteric92 (Meg) by Cheryl Dellasega

When Cara's eating disorders get out of hand her adoptive family gets upset.
Meg, Cara's half sister, thinks Cara's T2P2 (The Totally Perfect Person) that is until Cara's losing weight and is hiding something. Meg realizes Cara's not the fastest swimmer on the swim team; in fact she's the slowest. Soon Cara's skinny as a skeleton and is never herself. She's taken to the doctors and then quickly admitted to the hospital. While in the hospital she starts eating again but as soon as she gets home she doesn't eat a thing. Cara then goes out to Arizona to a nice faculty where she meets new friends, but returns bulimic. Meg tries to help but nothing works and even worse she finds figures out something that changes her life.

Sistrsic92 is a good book because it faces you with reality. It describes a girl's life as she watches her older half sister starve herself. This book is written in a blog enteries. I would reccommend this book to middle-age girls who like reality and a well written novel. This book has many great, enjoyable real life happenings.

Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Fairborn, Ohio USA

Hourglass by Claudia Gray

When Bianca and Lucas escape the vampire school known as Evernight, they hide out with the vampire hunters of Black Cross. When Bianca joins Black Cross she has to keep her vampire bloodline a secret. While in New York, a Black Cross headquarters is attacked by the vampires of Evernight, and her vampire friend, Balthazar, is captured and taken prisoner. Lucas and Bianca try to help Balthazar and soon Bianca’s secret is discovered, which forces Lucas and Bianca to escape from Black Cross. Soon, Bianca starts becoming weaker and weaker and she has to make a decision that will change her life forever.

Once I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down for a minute. I found the plot very interesting. I was always guessing about what would happen next. Hourglass, by Claudia Gray, is full of drama, romance, and suspense that make the book spectacular. This book will leave readers craving for a sequel. I recommend it to all vampire fans.

Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Enon, Ohio, United States

Werewolf Dreams by Maria Anderson

Werewolf Dreams is a book about a teenage werewolf, named Seamus Sullivan, who spends his life dedicated to the New City police force. Seamus takes many risks as a police officer, seeing as he's really a werewolf and not just your every day cop. But all is not well, Someone is onto Seamus and his furry little secret. Lyman Newlin a previously famous reporter for the New City Chronicle has written an article about Seamus questioning how he can time and time again escape from danger unharmed. This leads Seamus's Captain to put him on the night shift, just until things cool down and this reporter forgets about everthing, that is. Little does the Captain know that by doing this he may have set Seamus up for his...well shall we just say that Seamus is going to have a little run in with destiny and it might just bite back.

Werewolf Dreams stands well against the many supernatural books that are out there to be read. I have read many werewolf themed books but this one gave new life to the Genre, there is pretty much everything in Werewolf dreams; action, romance, comedy and just a little bit of the unknown.
While reading this book I became drawn into the world that Maria Anderson has created, she not only gave life to unique characters, but she created a whole new world in which they live in.

This book is fairly easy to read, and you will have no trouble fallowing the plot. Although there is action and a touch a violence in this book, it is all written very well and there was never a point where I found it to be overwelming.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about werewolves, finding romance, destiny, and of course some fighting scenes.

Reviewer Age:17
Reviewer City, State and Country: North Oaks, Minnesota USA