The Sweetheart of Prosper County by Jill S. Alexander

"The Sweetheart of Prosper Country" is a touching story about a young girl who overcomes emotional struggles. Austin Gray is a fifteen-year-old girl who resolves to be the Sweetheart of Prosper County so she can be the center of the annual parade in her small town. She joins the Future Farmers of America, raises a rooster named Charles Dickens, and tries to get over the death of her father that occurred a few years before.

Austin resolves to prove her town and the stuck-up boys and girls her age that she is worth something. This inspiring message is well suited for young girls around Austin’s age. She overcomes struggles on her life on her own, using only her determination and free spirit. Having to take care of her own mother’s hat she can grow up, be responsible, and work hard to earn what she wants. She remembers the good times she had with her father while he was alive and strives to do what might have made him proud if he were still there. This book is a great example of how young people can shape their own destinies and conquer any obstacle in their path.

This book was a truly touching story. However, it seemed tailored for younger readers, mainly pre-teens or younger girls. The story line was quick and enjoyable. Its inspiring plot is suited for those who want to go above and beyond their current circumstances and make something of themselves. The main character, Austin, shows her strength when she tries to win the title of 'Sweetheart of Prosper County', but also remains true to her convictions and integrity.

Reviewer Age:16

Reviewer City, State and Country: Cary, NC USA

Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran

Princess Selene and her twin brother Alexander, twin children of Queen Kleopatra VII and Marc Antony, were only twelve when their whole life changed. Caesar Octavian and his men had won the Battle of Actium, which meant all hope of saving Egypt from the enslaving force of Rome was lost. Within months of their parents' deaths their kingdom fell. They were taken to Rome to live with Octavian's sister Octavia. While living in Rome mysterious notes from a rebel called the Red Eagle keep appearing. While no one knows who the Red Eagle is his goal is clear: end slavery in Rome. Selene, who loves to sketch, tries to prove herself as an architect on hopes of being found useful to Octavian and some day returned to Egypt with her brother.

While reading Cleopatra's Daughter I felt that I was transported back to age of Rome. If you are interested in the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Rome I highly recommend this novel. It is, along with being historically accurate, very well written and will interest even those who do not enjoy reading. Her characters were all based on real people, with the exception of a few minor characters, and were so real I felt as if they were standing next to me. Each character had his or her unique personality that is also historically accurate. This is an over all interesting read.

Reviewer Age:15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Machesney Park, Illinois USA

Wunschkind by Liesel Appel

Wunschkind is about a girl named Liesel. She was born near the end of WWII, as a wunschind, or gift to Hitler. Liesel grew up believing what her country, Germany, had done was right. When an old Jewish neighbor visits and tells her his story, she sees what a great crime her country has committed. After this, Liesel sees her mother as the enemy because she believed Hitler and taught Liesel to believe Hitler too. The neighbors turn against her. It seems that her life has changed overnight.

This book was great!!! The author goes into great detail. You feel mad at Liesel’s mom when the character does. The really fun thing is the author is the girl she is writing about and you get a behind the scenes look, almost. This is a true story. I would recommend this to any reader who wants to learn about WWII.

Content: 1

Rating: 9

Reviewer Age:10

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

The Silver Mage by Katharine Kerr

In the Magical world of Deverry, war has broken out. The humans and their allies, the elves, are realizing that the fate of the Northlands is in their hands. The evil army of the Horsekin continue to try to convert the denizens of Deverry with any means possible, even deadly force. In order to stop the powerful Horsekin army, the magic of the elven Wise Ones, such as Dallandra and Valandario, and the help of the dragons, Arzoash and Rori,can possible defeat the crusaiding army. But at what cost? Will Rori, a man in a dragon's body, ever be freed? The Silver Mage by Katharine Kerr, is the exciting ending to the entire Deverry saga, which fans of the series will enjoy immensely.

The Silver Mage, by Katharine Kerr and her world of Deverry is a wonderful fantasy, but hard to follow. In the Silver Mage, you are immediately thrust into the middle of a war and you hardly get to realize who is the main character. There is many character names and view points that are thrown at you that can get confusing at times. I wouldn't suggest this book as a way to start reading the Deverry saga. It is also hard to visualize the layout of the story (previous books in this saga probably describe Deverry more indepth than The Silver Mage does). Although, when Kerr writes about the way that Dweomer (magic) is used, she creates a wonderful painting in words. The way she describes magic makes it seem real to the reader. With an overall view of the Silver Mage, it was well written and a good conclusion to the Deverry saga. It left no loose ends and ended happily. A very good book overall. One more thing, there are no chapters in The Silver Mage, only parts and symbols that start the beginning of a different section. Very confusing at times but it was a decient way of breaking up the information.

Reviewer Age: 14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Paynesville, MN USA

Ghostgirl

Charlotte Usher has always wanted to fit in at school. She wants to be popular. Her first day back at school doesn't start out great, but it starts to get better. Then, just as it does get better, its jerked away from her just as fast as it came. And all because of a gummy bear. Now she actually is invisible, dead. She still wants to be popular and she still wants that perfect moment with the guy she likes. What will she go through to get this? Will she be able to survive with her ghost friends, a ghost herself?

Ghostgirl was a very creative and different novel. It was extremely interesting and not like other books I have read. Tonya Hurley was able to express so many different emotions in such a unique way. The way she describes the emotions and the events in the story will reach out to every teenager. This story had a very clever plot and definitely reached out to me. Tonya Hurley did an incredible job on this novel and I recommend it to all young adult readers.

Reviewer Age:14

Reviewer City, State and Country: Fairborn, Ohio USA

Flightsend - By Linda Newbery

Charlie was young when Sean moved in. Sean has been there almost as long as she can remember. Everything was going right; her mother was going to have a baby, Sean had moved in, and it seemed as if they were headed toward marriage. But then everything went south.
Her mother had a miscarriage, pushed Sean away, and seemed to be suffering from depression. Charlie thinks that Mum is making a terrible mistake, and doesn't know what her mother is going to do.
Mum's solution - move to Flightsend. Of course, Charlie thinks that this is the worst thing ever. But through the course of this novel, Charlie grows up and shows maturity beyond her years. But will her mother?

I felt that this book was very well written. The plot didn't drag, the characters were fun and easy to relate to, and the writing style was good. The book is in first person; from Charlie's point of view. This alone makes it interesting, to see it from the kid's point of view. I loved how reality hit hard for both her and her mother and seeing their ways of dealing with things. Also, I enjoyed how she and her mother lost, then found, a connection with each other. Lastly, I think that it was interesting so see Charlie's way of dealing with her mother's "depression".
I would most definitely recommend this to other readers my age, for it shows the true hardships of growing up.

This book deals with some more mature themes, dealing with pregnancy and relationships. Some children might need some guidance with these themes.

Reviewer Age:12

Reviewer City, State and Country: Oakmont, PA USA

Dragonfly by Julia Golding

Taoshira,or Tashi to her friends, was commonly known as the Fourth Crown Princess of the Blue Crescent Islands. Soon, however, she must marry Prince Ramil of Gerfal, and she doesn't want to leave her friends and family. She's not too keen on marrying a stranger, either. Upon arriving at Prince Ramil's palace, she finds he's every bit as rude as she imagined. Then the two get kidnapped by the enemy, Fergox. They fight their way out of his prison after being humiliated and tortured, but due to unforseen problems, Tashi and Ramil are separated on their way home.
But will they ever reunite and defeat Fergox? Can they bring peace to their two different countries? And will they ever become friends?

I thought this book was well written. It gave me a clear picture of what was going on. Golding clearly describes just enough so that you don't get bored, but not too much so that you still need good insight. It wasn't very realistic though, and there was no modern technology, either. There's lots of action. Definitely a book for people who like suspense.

There was quite a bit of violence in this book. There was also a lot about different faiths and religion.

Reviewer Age:11
Reviewer City, State and Country: Eagle River, AK United States

Snapped by brntpopcorn

Melany, a girl looking for trouble gets way in over her head when an angel comes crashing into her window. Melany would have loved to forget what happened but that soon becomes nearly impossible. The next day the angel with a friend, follow her to school. She soon discovers that he is no ordinary angel. (Not that angels are ordinary!) What Melany doesn’t know is that her life is about to change forever.

I have to say that I thought Snapped definitely had a lot more potential. I wish the writer had been a little more creative when it came to their plot lines. This book just could not keep my attention and even though it was only about 200 pages it took me months to read. Melany’s character was not very well developed but of what we did know about her she suited the story well. Sadly I would not recommend this book to anyone.

Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Tipp City, Ohio United States

Chosen by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Zoey Redbird is a unique fledling with intricate tattoes who is on the verge of becoming psychotic. She is having trouble deciding who she will be with between her boyfriends, Heath and Erik. Along with being outstandish and blessed by her Goddess Nyx, she tries to live a normal life. The themes are romance, comedy, and fantasy. It is romance because it deals with Zoey trying to find her true love. It is comedy because it has a lot of really funny jokes in the book. It is a fantasy because it talks about vampyres.

The way the authors wrote it makes me feel like I'm Zoey herself. They give vivid details and characters. When I close my eyes I feel like I'm there right where Zoey is. It has a very dark mood because it talks about death and the apocolypse coming. The characters are very vivid and I feel like they are real because the way the authors describe them reminds me of my friends (except Aphrodite because none of my friends are that mean). I like how it's written because the main character, Zoey, talks in the first person.

I think the author's purpose was to keep the reader reading and yes I think their purpose was achieved. The way it was written was very beautiful. They used proper grammer and a very big vocabulary. The strength of this book was very vivid. The weakness of this book was sometiemes it got off track. I found the book to be very interesting. I didn't like the ending because it made me want more. No, I did not learn anything important from the book. I would recommend this book to others because of the vividy, characters and vocabulary.

The book has a ton of cuss words and sexual content.

Reviewer Age:15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Loves Park, IL U.S.A

The Georges and the Jewels by Jane Smiley

The Georges and the Jewels is set on a horse farm in California. Abby, a seventh-grader, lives on the farm with her parents, and misses her brother Danny, who left home to work for the local horse-shoer because he had a fight with his parents. Abby's parents' goal is to train and sell each horse within six months, so they try to stop Abby from becoming attached by naming all the geldings "George" and all the mares "Jewel." Abby does most of the work of caring for, riding, and training the horses. The author takes more time describing the horses than the people. Each horse has a different way they like doing things; for example, Ornery George does not like being bossed around. Even though her father doesn't want Abby to get attached to the horses, she does, and makes nicknames for each horse. At school, Abby makes friends with a new girl, Stella. Stella, out of a jealousy over a boy, causes trouble for a popular group of girls, and Abby ends up taking the blame. Abby struggles to clear her name at school and keep up with things at the farm.

This book was a little slow at the beginning, but after I got through a couple of chapters, I could hardly stop reading it. I don't usually read horse stories, so I really liked the sections at the beginning of each chapter that showed different pieces of tack and equipment along with their names. They helped me understand the vocabulary in the book. Abby is a good character because she has a mind of her own and even when she is blamed for the troubles at school, she doesn't get upset. I liked the ending of the book because Abby's parents decide that she can name the horses. Her mother says, "maybe when we name them, we're really seeing something in them that will help us train them the best way we can." This book is really about learning to recognize who people (and horses) really are.

Reviewer Age:11
Reviewer City, State and Country: Lake City, IA USA