The Pillow Book of Lotus Lowenstein by Libby Schmais

The Pillow Book of Lotus Lowenstein by Libby Schmais is a realistic-fiction journal about a teenager named Lotus who is an anything French addict. Her greatest aspiration is to live in France and live as an existentialist. She is not looking for love, but when a cute boy walks into to the French Club she created, she is head-over-heels. When Lotus hears that her best friend, Joni, feels the same way about the new boy, Sean, she hides her feelings, for she doesn't want to stomp on the socially awkward Joni's first crush. This book talks about how insane a teen's life can be and shows how boys can test friendship.

It is necessary to say that this book will not be the next literary masterpiece of the decade, but it is a truly "livre intressant." I loved how the author decided to use French continually during the book; it really brought out the main character's character! While the book did move fast enough, I felt there was really no plot line. The book really didn't go anywhere. Also, I didn't like many sexual comments that littered the pages, even though I am a teen, and this is a teenage book. Overall a "merveilleux" read!

Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Lake Bluff, IL The United States of America

Day of the Assassins by Johnny O'Brien

Jack Christie and his best friend Angus enjoy playing
their Point-of-Departure World War 1 video game although
they do not realize what an impact World War I has on
their present day lives. How could something in the past
affect the present? After Jack and Angus discover a secret
library in Jack's house that used to belong to Jack's
father, their adventure begins. When the boys bring in an
artifact found in the library to show their history
teachers, they learn about things that they thought were
impossible and somehow end up in 1914. They learn that
time travel does exist. They also learn about how the
scientists who invented this amazing, or maybe terrible,
method of time travel have entirely different viewpoints.
The VIGIL group does not want time travel to be used
because of the unknown consequences. The Benefactor wants
to use time travel to change history by preventing the
assassination of Franz Ferdinand. It's up to Jack, stuck
in time before WWI, to decide. Who will he side with?

Day of the Assassins, by Johnny O'Brien was a pretty
good book. It had some aspects of historical fiction and
science fiction so if you like either science fiction or
historical fiction you would probably like it. Part of
this book takes place right before WWI and the
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. If you are
interested in that period of time you would probably like
this also. The beginning of Day of the Assassins was a
little slow but after I got into it I couldn't put it
down! This book showed a different side of the trigger of
World War I, the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. You see
the assassination through the eyes of the assassins.
Overall, Day of the Assassins was a good book!

Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Harleysville, PA USA

Girls Acting Catty was a great book to read. In it, Annabelle is a new girl in town and Rachel is a mean girl who makes it hard for Annabelle to fit in. When Annabelle arrives in town, she makes friends with some of the other girls, but they are not part of the popular crowd. Rachel is beautiful and popular, and eventually invites Annabelle to be part of her group, but Annabelle wouldn't be able to include her other friends. Eventually, she has to choose between Rachel and her older friends, and it is a hard decision to make.

This book was very interesting to me because it was something that everyone could relate to in their own school. The setting was very realistic because the characters and the things that happened could happen to anyone. That made the book more interesting. I also thought that the story had a very good message, and I liked the ending. I would definitely recommend this book to others.

Reviewer Age:10

Reviewer City, State and Country: Pittsburgh, PA USA

Adam Canfield: The Last Reporter, by Michael Winerip

Adam Canfield is the star reporter/co-editor of his school newspaper, The Slash.The Slash was shut down and they're trying to put it out by them selves. Adam Canfield: The Last Reporter, by Michael Winerip, is a story of adventure with a touch of romance through out the whole book. You won't want to put it down from cover to cover. It's like a movie in your mind, you can picture everything that the author explains in this number one choice book.

I love this book and I think a lot of other people would like it also. The characters are likable, and easy to relate to. This is a top book and easily makes my top ten books. A reason I recommend this book for others is the plot is clear and understandable.
Winerip uses a clear writing style that is easy to follow.

Reviewer Age: 13

Reviewer City, State and Country: Sandy, Oregon

The Curse of the Romany Wolves by S. Jones Rogan

This animal fantasy could also be called an adventure novel. The Curse of the Romany Wolves starts in a land called Kernovia, with two foxes, Penhaligon and Rowan, living in an old manor. They have turned this manor into a hospital. In a nearby place called the Purple Moor there once lived a pack of wolves known as the Romany Wolves. One day a sickness called "wolf fever" came through and wiped out almost all of the wolves. Penhaligon and Rowan adopted the only two survivors, wolf cubs Dora and Donald. When Donald suddenly comes down with wolf fever, Penhaligon sets out on a journey to try and find the cure. On this journey, Penhaligon becomes friends with a sea serpent, is captured by a pirate, and reaches the Howling Island where he finds his father, Mawgan. Meanwhile, in the town of Porthleven in Kernovia, the sickness is spreading to the children of other animal families, which is strange because wolf fever had never spread to other types of animals before. Though he goes through many hardships seeking the cure, Penhaligon will not give up, because he is determined to save Donald.

I liked the pictures in this book, and thought that the ones of the sea serpent were very creative. This book is very interesting because the characters have unusual names, and there are a lot of characters who play important roles in the story. This book is a pure animal fantasy, with no human characters, and almost all of the characters are hilarious in their own way; for example, Pig-wiggy, one of the pirate Dredge's crew, is a guinea pig who is very concerned about his hair, and Dredge and his ferret crew are frequently described as very stinky. The setting of the book was easy to imagine, for example, the description of the three peaks on Howling Island and the serpent's cave were easy to picture in my mind. I found this book so good I could not take my eyes off of it, and finished reading it within four hours after it came in the mail. The ending surprised me a lot because Penhaligon found in the end that he had had what he needed without knowing it. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys books with talking animals or sea serpents.

Reviewer Age:11

Reviewer City, State and Country: Lake City, IA USA

Laughing Wolf by Nicholas Maes

Circa 71 BC - this is where Felix Taylor and Carolyn Manes must go in order to save the world. In the 23rd century people are suffering from a mysterious disease that will kill everybody on the planet if not cured. The laughing wolf flower is the only thing that can possibly cure the plague. However, the flower has been extinct for thousands of years! Felix and Carolyn must travel back in time and find the flower. The fate of the world rests in their hands.

Laughing Wolf was an okay book. It was sometimes hard to figure out what character said what. Also, the author introduced too many characters, some of whom were easily forgotten. But, the ending was strong and very interesting. It wasn't one of the best books that I have read but kids who are particularly interested in history and the future might like Laughing Wolf.

Reviewer Age:11
Reviewer City, State and Country: Randolph, NJ United States

The Other Queen by Pjilippa Gregory

During Elizabethan England, Queen's Elizabeth's cousin Mary Queen of Scots has been forced to flee her country from rebels and seek refuge in England. Mary, while being the Queen of Scotland, is also heir to the English throne, and some believe that she is the true monarch while Elizabeth is merely an imposter. Fearing assassination and a royal overthrow, Elizabeth imprisons Mary against her will as a "guest" of the Earl of Shrewsbury, George Talbot, and his wife Bess. George and Bess, at a great expense to them, are forced to host Queen Mary and her entire court. As they sink deeper and deeper into debt, their residence becomes a center of intrigue and rebellion against Elizabeth. But as George begins falling for Mary and Elizabeth and her steward, William Cecil, become mroe and more paranoid, will George and Bess be able to escape with their fortune intact, and hopefully their lives?

I love books about Tudor England and think that Philippa Gregory is a fantastic writer, so I knew I would enjoy The Other Queen. The one problem I had with this book, that I didn't have with others written by Gregory, is that it was really hard to get into. In the beginning, there wasn't a lot of dialogue or movement in the plot, just a lot of narration, made worse by the fact that The Other Queen is written in first person. It wasn't until the 200 page mark that the book picked up and I actually started to enjoy it. I didn't know that much about Mary, Queen of Scots, so it was neat to read and learn about her. The characters, especially George and Bess, had a lot of depth, and it was interesting to get into their minds and see their thoughts and feelings. I would recommend The Other Queen to any fans of historical fiction.

Reviewer Age:18
Reviewer City, State and Country: Aston, Pennsylvania United States

The Better Part of Darkness by Kelly Gay

This book is a fantasy adventure novel. Several years before the book began, the Revelation occurred, bringing off-world beings reminiscent of the angels, fairies, and demons of myth into open contact with humans. As a result, Atlanta has become a mixing pot and hotbed of off-world and human crime. The Atlanta P.D. Integration Task Force partners humans and non-humans to deal with this crime. One of its detectives is Charlie Madigan, a divorced mother of one. She has been recently resurrected from the dead, which has left her with horrible and mysterious dreams. Her partner is Hank, a siren who can control beings with his voice if he removes his voice-modification device. Together, they are trying to track down the source of a new, deadly, and off-world narcotic known as ash. While doing so, Charlie must deal with and protect her daughter, her sister, and her ex-husband. This book is the first by Kelly Gay and has a sequel coming out in August.

This book wasinteresting and entertaining but not completely satisfying. The settings and various types of beings were well explained and creative. The characters, especially Charlie, develop as the book progresses. The plot is enjoyable and has unexpected twists. As a side note, this book had several references to sexuality and a few lust-charged scenes. However, the ending was not conclusive enough. There are still unanswered questions and unresolved serious problems. There is going to be at least one sequel, possibly more. The book is best for someone who likes fantasy and adventure and either enjoys or does not mind some complex relationships and sexuality. Readers should also expect to be left hanging and waiting for the sequel.

This book had both violence and sexual references. It is best for high school or adult readers.

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

Panama by Shelby Hiatt

When recruiters of the Panama Canal send for Miss Hailey's father to be an overseer of the railroads for the construction of the canal, he can hardly resist. So when Miss Hailey finally turns fifteen, they pack their belongings and leave their small Dayton home beside the Wright bothers and head off to the tropical lands of Panama, promising to return in three years after the construction of the canal is finished. Her dad introduces her to an interesting fellow named Harry and that's when her real adventures in Panama begin. Going with Harry on his enumerating trips, she meets a very unique Hispanic worker named Federico, who has the job of pick and shovel. Throughout the three years that she's there, she and Federico get closer than she could have ever imagined and in more ways than one. Although she craves the time that she spends with Federico, there is still one question looming in her mind; when the canal is finished, will she and Federico leave each other for good or is there more in store for them in the years to come? Is this fate that has brought them together or a lucky misfortune?

The beginning was very good and kept me interested to the point where I just couldn't put it down. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. After about midway through though, the story really started to drag on and became dull and monotonous and I became bored and lost interest in reading it. It was very repetitive, where a lot of the same stuff and events happened; I was really hoping for a turn of events and something huge and exciting to happen but what ended up happening was hardly thrilling at all. I just wanted to finish it. Many small chapters made it feel like the book was progressing well throughout the story, which was good if you only had a few minutes to read because the many chapters allowed for a lot of great opportunities for places to stop at; but it also meant that not quite as much detail was provided for each new event. I definitely did not like or approve of the main girl's lying and deceitful behavior, definitely to her parents. She would not be a good role model for anyone, especially not to the teenage girls this novel was geared towards. The ending was very confusing and I'm not sure if it was the girl speaking or her mother. I'm also curious as to why the author did not give the main character a name. I would recommend Panama by Shelby Hiatt to mature readers only because it deals with a lot of sexual and mature themes and behaviors.

There was a lot of sexual content.

Reviewer Age:16
Reviewer City, State and Country: Upper Strasburg, PA USA

Star Trek: The Never-Ending Sacrifice by Una McCormack

Star Trek Deep Space Nine the Never-Ending Sacrifice by
McCormack is about a young boy named Rugal, who was
kidnapped and taken to live with the Cardassians against
his will. The book begins with Rugal s first experience on
Cardassia. Rugal s Bajoran parents are devastated by the
kidnapping and are trying to get Rugal back home. Rugal
hates it on Cardassia and he is just as determined as his
parents to go back to Bajor.

The book started out a
little slow. It was extremely tedious to read for the
first portion of the book. The book does become more
interesting though. It grows in interest as Rugal becomes
comfortable in living with the Cardassians. One of my
favorite aspects of the story was the relationship between
Rugal and his father Kotan. Overall in my opinion, the
book was just ok. I think you definitely need to be a Star
Trek fan to read this book. You need to be familiar with
Star Trek terms and names or you may find yourself
confused at points in the book. If you are a Star Trek fan
and you can make it past the slow beginning you will enjoy
the book.

Reviewer Age:17
Reviewer City, State
and Country: Lemoore, California U.S.