The Less-Dead by April Lurie

In the book, The Less-Dead, Noah Nordstrom hates being the son of the famous Bible Answer Guy, and constantly likes to rebel against his parents. Whether it's eating crackers topped with apricot-has jelly or coming home drunk from parties, Noah loves to test his father's patience and claim that he's spreading hate. When two gay teens are murdered, Noah is almost positive that it's been a frequent caller on his dad's show. Then Noah meets Will Reed, a cool guy that understands him. But when he finds out that Will's gay, he gets a bit freaked out, and even more when Will seems really into him. Meanwhile, the killer is still out there, and has found it's next victim. Will. Filled with guilt, Noah is determined to find out who has been killing off these gay teens. After pocketing Will's journal at the scene of the crime, Noah uses clues with the killer wrote down in a poem format. The closer Noah gets to uncovering the murderer's identity, the more his own life is put into jeopardy.

I really enjoyed this book a lot. The suspense scenes made me chew on my lip, and can easily keep reader's wondering what comes next. On a rating scale of one to ten, I give it an nine. The way the details are written by the author are very descriptive, and makes you envision the characters and the setting. I don't have any negative comments, except for that their could have been a few more clues to who the killer was and that would've lengthened the book by a little more. There was a lot of content that was always there, but took some studying of the words to get the concept. I suggest no on under the age of 13 reading this.

Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Fortuna, CA USA

Watching July by Christine Hart

"Watching July" by Christine Hart is a mix of teenage angst, thrilling mystery, and supernatural sci-fi. When July's lesbian mother is killed in a hit-and-run incident, July [with her other mother's partner] move to where her mother used to work as a shrink and bring the family on vacation. Sad and lonely, July writes in her diary, eventually manages to make friends, and even snags a hot boyfriend. However, she is perturbed by odd sensations she feels in her rural home that make her think she is being followed. Drama escalates when July's boyfriend becomes controlling and jealous.

This book feels a bit like "The Lovely Bones," but it has enough differences to not seem like a direct copy. The author has some predictable moments, but others are truly twists (e.g.- who July's mother's real killer is, who is following July, etc). In terms of lessons, it's great that July's gorgeous boyfriend is seen as obsessive. Usually, culture paints the good-looking as virtuous, and it is essential for teen girls to learn that appearances do not always reflect character. In terms of detail, there are no explicit details of relations, but the author hints at events that make this not suitable for very young readers.

There is some swearing, sexual innuendos, and the fact that the main character has "two mothers"

Reviewer Age:18
Reviewer City, State and Country: Staten Island, NY USA

Mango for the Beginner Chibis by Christopher Hart

"Mango for the Beginner Chibis" by Christopher Hart is an instructional drawing book for kids. A chibi is a term for a short, stock, cute character in Japanese manga (cartoons). They tend to represent children or are supposed to be adults transformed by emotion. Their bodies are only about as long as three of their large heads, and their expressive eyes take up most of their face. This book both shows and tells readers the basics of drawing them and then goes into the more complex nature of motion, backgrounds, costumes, sidekicks, and more.

This book is great for kids that want to draw cute little chibis. Girls will probably enjoy this book more than boys because, while there are some action drawings and weapons, for the most part, the drawings are fluffy and girly. While chibis are a form of Japanese manga, this book does not show just Asian-looking characters; providentially, there are some Aryan looking characters as well as some African looking characters. Additionally, while some manga has a bad reputation of depicting boys and girly grossly immodestly, this book shies away from that and does not draw characters with "adult" bodies. Overall, this book would make a great gift for young artists, especially girls.

Reviewer Age:18
Reviewer City, State and Country: Staten Island, NY USA

Dark of the Moon

Brittany, a young girl, strives to be a Dark Guardian, a group of powerful shifters. She wants so badly to be a Dark Guardian. But, to be one, you have to be a shifter. Unfortunately, Brittany did not experience shifting and she was devastated. She acted normal, assuming everyone thought she was a shifter. She became close with Connor, a longtime crush. Connor and Brittany were captured by Mason, a scientist, and while they were locked in a cage they grew closer. Will they escape?

I really liked this book. I was not at all into fantasy books before reading this. But this book kind of ties romance with fantasy, and it makes the book more interesting. I would totally suggest reading this book! It describes vividly what is going on and puts you in the moment.

Reviewer Age:12

Reviewer City, State and Country: Cedar Park, Texas United States

What would you do for money? Would you travel to a foreign country thousands of miles away from home? Would you risk your life? "Dodger's Lot" tells the tale of Jack Dawkins, a 14-year old orphan willing to do whatever it takes to get his hands on some "shiners". This adventure book follows Jack, better known as the Artful Dodger, after the story of Oliver Twist.

Jack's story begins as Bill Sike's ends, supposedly. Sikes, Jack's friend in the "business" of stealing, fakes his death as the entire town of Borough,London watches. When Jack meets up with Sikes, the pair stays at a suspicious boater's house for the night. Their suspicions are confirmed when the boater sells Jack and Sikes to the captain of the Opium Clipper.

Upon the Clipper, Jack learns to be at ease with the seafaring life, thanks to his new friend, Aaron. He also meets Jeremy Fynne, an aristocratic businessman, whose refined ways persuade Jack to work with him. Mr. Fynne promises Jack more money than he can imagine if he plays a small part in stealing opium sold by a merchant in India.

Turns out, the plan is a little more complicated than Mr. Fynne let on. However, Jack sticks to his goal and motto, "in for a penny."

I enjoyed the time period and setting that this book took me to. The author's descriptive words and old-fashioned writing style made me feel as if I were right alongside Jack in the poor streets of London, the rough decks of the Clipper, and the exotic town of Calcutta.

The mood was constantly suspenseful and mysterious, which kept me turning the book's pages. The plot contained tons of twists and turns, so I was never bored. However, the ending left me wanting to know more. Luckily, the last page of the book advertises the sequel to this story.

After reading this story, I learned much of the olden day British lingo. At times, Jack's crude grammar was hard to follow, but made the story feel more "real". I also found quite a few of typos and misspellings.

I would recommend this book to adventure and suspense lovers. If you liked the movie "Pirates of the Caribbean", this book is for you.

This book contains lots of violence and murder. Some of the language is also crude.

Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Wailuku, Hawaii United States

Shadowrise by Tad Williams

Barrick and Briony Eddon are prince and princess of a northern nation called Southmarch on the continent of Eion. The people who live to the north of them are the elfish race called the Qar. After two hundred years of peace they again are about to attack the castle of Southmarch for some reason only known to them. Hendon Tolly takes control of the castle after Barrick leaves for war against the Qar and after Tolly's failed plan to get rid of Briony, Briony is smuggled safely out from the castle by the master of arms. While this is going on the mad Autarch of the large country of Xis is trying to take control of Eion also. While Briony is trying to round up troops in other countries to retake her rightful castle her brother gets entangled with Qar's problems and learns of why the Eddon family is cursed. The third book of the Shadowmarch series is full of other exciting plot twists and interesting characters like Qinnitan, one of the youngest of the Autarch's wives who can somehow talk to Barrick when their asleep and Ferras Vansen the guard captain who is in love with Briony.

Considering Shadowrise is the third book in a series and I read the other two it was a very good book. Even with the synopsis of the other two books in the front you wouldn't understand some things that happened to the characters and important stories the characters tell about the stories of the gods that are important to the story. The plot was very good especially with the random twists that sometimes happen especially at the ending. Because of the many characters that have their own unique personalities and quirks it's not boring at all. Sulepis the crazy Autarch (god/king) was one of the more interesting characters I think. The point of view changes frequently in this series at least at every chapter. Just when something exciting or important happens in one chapter it turns you into the next point of view. If you don't like when books do that then you probably shouldn't read it but otherwise it is a very good book.

Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Loves Park, Illinois United States

That's Life, Samara Brooks by Daniel Ehrenaft

"That's Life, Samara Brooks" by Daniel Ehrenhaft is
something else. The book starts off with Samara getting
in trouble for starting a gambling ring at school. Then,
she proposes an idea to her principal--she will use an
electron microscope to test her DNA against Lily's (school
president and friend that bet on blackjack and lost); if
the structure is the same, Samara should not be punished
more for being "bad" because she is innately no different
from Lily. Nathan--a geeky boy obsessed with alien / code
theory--joins in the experiment, too. Mystery heats up as
Nathan points out a mysterious "eye" in the photos of
Samara's DNA that hint at extraterrestrial origins. The
story gets even more intense when the photos are stolen
and detectives are hot on the trail of the children.

This book is written from the perspectives of Samara,
Lily, and Nathan in chunks. The topic of God comes up a
lot--particularly because the donor of the electron
microscope to the school was a scientific rival to a
creationist. Certain characters believe in God as a
gambler but think it's okay if others don't believe in him
(Samara), certain believe in Jesus (Lily), and certain
claim not to believe in God but simultaneously think he is
an alien (Nathan). Unfortunately, at times, the
creationist is seen as stupid and an ill-representation of
the church. This book is a great mystery and quick to
read, but the religious views are somewhat reflective of
the perhaps confused nature of the author's own views. If
anything, this book will be good for young Christian
readers to test their faith and see how they react to what
these characters say, which would be excellent for group
discussion.

Religious discrepancies
Reviewer Age:18
Reviewer City, State and Country: Staten Island, NY USA

2009 The Best New Playwrights by Lawrence Harbison

In Play 1 a Korean family living in America are struggling
with the divorce of the parents divorce, coping with the
fact that their father has returned home from Korea after
years, and the separation of their family. The Playwright
is called "American Hwangap". This Playwright will make
you laugh and cry. It truly relates to modern struggles of
families. Another one of my favorite Playwrights
was "Animals Out of Paper". The play is about a woman
who's life is a mess. A fan of her's comes to ask her to
teach his student. Not to give away to much, this play is
full of romance, sorrow, and pain. It is definitely a
great play.

This book is a great read for an interested
actor. I enjoyed the relations you get to the characters.
I feel like I know the people in the stories. As, great as
the plays were, the book had one fault....The language.
Due to the vulgar words, I would only recommend this book
to people over 13. Other than that, this book was great! I
laughed, I cried, I felt like I was literally in the
audience at a Broadway play. The book was
enchanting...Four stars!

The language is vulgar.

Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Panama, Florida United States

Kris Longknife: Undaunted

Kris Longknife Undaunted is a sci-fi novel with military undertones. It opens with Kris captaining the scout vessel the "Wasp" in semi-neutral space. Kris has to turn her trigger-happy computer off to stop it from shooting up other ships, shortly afterward, she takes an Iteeche Imperial messenger on board the Wasp where she is promtly told her great-grandfather is needed and Kris will "take him to her leader", after which she takes off to settle some other dispute while her great grandpa takes care of the Iteeche problem.

It seemed a little forced, and not very smooth-flowing. Content-wise it was very well put together, but I thought the writing style left a little to be desired. The plot jerks the reader around a bit, and left me slightly confused as to the characters' place and rank and whatnot. Nicely done action-wise, I liked the military throwbacks and the few battles were well written. Overall, I thought it was a decent sci-fi novel for anyone with some spare time.

Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Loves Park, Illinois U.S.A

Rise of the Heroes, by: Andy Briggs

At the click of a button, Hero.com gives you power beyond your wildest dreams. These powers send four kids on a quest to save their mother and the world. They don't realize that Jake Hunter, the school's top bully, has discovered Villain.net. Now he is working with Basilisk, who will guide Jake on the path of evil! Can the heroes of Hero.com end the evil rampage. Read to find out.

The Hero.com series is a series that I think everyone would love. The story of downloading superpowers is so original. But with these powers, the characters must go on perilous quests to save mankind. Who knows what other websites are out there. It just goes to show, you should be careful what you find on the internet.

Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Mineola, Texas America