Daughter of Kura by Debra Austin

Snap, a bubbly and creative woman living in an native clan named Kura is on line to be Mother, or ruler of the city. But, when her mother's mate dies in a hunt, she chooses to accept Bapoto, a foreigner as her mate. This man has unheard of ideas about a god called The Great One , hunting rituals, and male leadership in the clan. Many people are starting to practice his religion, and Snap and her mate are getting worried. Soon, the males leave for the summer to hunt, but Bapoto stays. He gradually takes control of the leadership roles, and Snap has to make a very important decision, whether to try to fix things and Kura, or leave the clan forever.


I really enjoyed this book. It took me a while to get into it, but it was worth my while reading it. The characters were so real, and scenes so descriptive that I had no trouble making them into a mental movie. The book talked about real life problems, like difference in thoughts about leadership and different religion. Another thing I really enjoyed about this book was that here and there, the author would use an African word. There is a glossary at the back of the book with the words in it. This made the words genuine, like there was actually someone saying them, only many years ago. The characters, scenes, conflicts, and even words in this book were real, and that made the book fantastic.

Sexual content

Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Leawood, Kansas United States

Hallowed Circle by Linda Robertson

The High Priestess of Cleveland, Ohio has disappeared. To restore order out of chaos, the town holds a competition for the new leader. As a future key player in the town, Persephone (Seph) Alcmedi must compete for the job. When people start disappearing from the competition and one woman is murdered, it's becoming harder and harder for Seph to hide her biggest secret from the judges; to add to the trouble, her sexy boyfriend, Johnny, is having trouble with some fairies. Will Seph be able to handle everything without completely breaking down?

I adored the novel. It always kept my on my toes, and I thought the plotline was interesting. In this time where everyone is obsessed with vampires and magic, it's refreshing to see a twist on the classic vampire-is-in-charge-of-human plotline. All of the plotlines were tied up at the end, and I put the book down feeling satisfied. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy with a roll-and-roll twist.

Sexual situations.

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

Paper Daughter by Jeanette Ingold

"Paper Daughter" by Jeanette Ingold. Maggie's father died in a hit-and-run accident, and it made her determined to follow in his footsteps and become a journalist. As she interns at her local newspaper, the truth about her father and his past that she's never doubted is collapsing. Maggie grows bolder and sets out on a quest to discover her ancestry and clear her father's name as she uncovers a local scandal. Intercut with Maggie's story are chapters following the story of Fai-Yi Li in the 1930s, who illegally escaped to America as a "paper son" with his sister, Sucheng, because she killed a man. In the end, it is revealed that Fai-Yi Lin is actually her great-grandfather.

"Paper Daughter" is a good enough book, but not spectacular. Maggie didn't show very much emotion at her father's death and, because of that, I couldn't feel like I was looking through her eyes. I also was confused by the ending. It was cookie-cutter precise -- Maggie got better at her job, her father's name was cleared, the scandal was exposed, and she found out who her ancestors were -- except for Sucheng Li. She never received any justice for the murder that she had committed, except for living in "a shadow world of madness." That does not make sense to me -- Maggie's father is killed trying to expose the truth and she gets to walk?

However, I did like how Maggie grew stronger throughout the novel by exposing her family's past instead of closing her eyes. Accepting a paper-thin lie instead of the truth made her stronger, and we all can learn from that.

Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Seaside, Oregon United States of America

Leprechaun in Late Winter by Mary Pope Osborne

This was a great book. I know that this book is very light reading for me but I have always loved this series. In this book Jack and Annie are sent by Merlin on a Merlin Mission. They go to Ireland in the 19th century and their mission is to inspire a girl named Augusta so that she can share her amazing gift, her mesmerizing potential with the rest of the world. Jack and Annie face a few obstacles along the way but after all that is one of the milestones in making a great story, creating conflicts. They successfully achieve their goal in the end.

This was a good book. I personally liked it. The only thing that I don't like about this series is that the author always follows the same format. She never varies or differentiates from her strict format. Other than the story itself. That is what gets you fed up with the series. You know, if you're not a 7 year old.

Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: flushing, New York United Sates of America

Dear Big V by Ellen W. Leroe

Dear Big V is about a young girl, Courtney, who is battling with her club, Donuts and Coffee, and her school's sexual activities. Donuts and Coffee is a club that Courtney founded to announce and protect girls' and boys' virginity. As the book progresses Courtney finds that she is slowly falling for the school's biggest hunk and player, Lance Lindsey, and is losing the one thing that matters to her, her virginity. Courtney finally makes a decision that will not only determine if she stays with Donuts and Coffee or to go against everything she ever believed and throw away her virginity.

Reviewer Age:14

Savind Maddie by Varian Johnson

Saving Maddie by Varian Johnson is difficult to put into words. The synopsis makes it seem as if this is about a wayward girl with low morals that is brought back to the Church by a preacher's son that must resist her temptations. However, Maddie never returns to the Church. She claims to still believe in God but renounces organized religion. She drinks, smokes, wears provocative clothing, and is not sexually pure. She does seduce the preacher's son and causes him to rethink why sex before marriage is wrong--something the author does not explicitly use Scripture to back up.

There are some parts in the book that are unnecessary. Sure, Maddie and the preacher's son never "make babies," but they get awfully close and in detail that readers will not want to hear. Also, while God is mentioned, there is not any explicit discussion of Jesus. There are even points in the book where Catholicism is subtly demoted compared to other forms of Christianity. Towards the end of the book, readers discover why Maddie acts the way she does. There is a seed of sympathy, but that seed is not planted on good soil (pun intended for Bible scholars). The book is engaging, but readers are left unhappy with the ending, longing for a more Christian basis for a book with a cross on the cover, and an edition of the book with perverse scenes deleted.

Inappropriateness

Reviewer Age:18

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

Still Sucks To Be Me by Kimberly Pauley

Mina (Hamilton) Smith is a regular teenage girl about to start her senior year of high school. She has a boyfriend, George and a best friend, Serena, both of whom she cares for deeply. She argues with her parents and even does a little bit of rule breaking. There is one thing, however, that makes Mina different from other girls her age. She is a newly turned vampire. After her changing, Mina's life starts to go downhill. The Vampire Council stages her death, changes her name, and forces her family to relocate. Against all rules, she manages to let Serena know about everything that is going on. But her life continues to get worse. Her family moves to Cartville, a tiny town in the middle of Louisiana so that her dad can play historian with some vampire doctor who is older than the earth itself; her boyfriend goes to Brazil to reconnect with his absentee parents and she has not heard from him since he left; the only other vampire teen in town, Cameron, is oh-so-complicated, mysterious and smells way too good to be allowed; and, to top it all off, a weird, vampire wannabe, Goth girl, who got kicked out of Mina's vampire (propaganda) preparation classes, is stalking Serena. Add to that the fact that neither girl should know anything about the existence of vampires and Mina is in a whole lot of trouble.


Kimberly Pauley sucks the reader in with her capture of Mina's voice. Her writing style makes a reader feel as if Mina is their close friend. Her sarcastic and witty humor keeps a reader laughing at every turn. I was glued to this book from start to finish and if a reader enjoys teen fiction, then they will be too. Mina's life is a roller coaster of laughs and thrills all the way to the finish.

Reviewer Age:16
Reviewer City, State and Country: Leverett, Ma USA

The Seven Rays by Jessica Bendinger

The Seven Rays, a fantasy and science fiction novel by
Jessica Bendinger, is about a girl named Beth Michaels, a
seemingly normal girl who's a senior in high school and
on her way to go to Columbia University, after a lot of
hard work. She receives a strange golden envelope, at her
school, with an intriguing message that's not even
addressed to her, rather to an Aleph Beth. Then she
starts seeing things, strange things, like dots, bands,
and ropes. She has surgery done to her eyes because she's
so worried about her strange vision, but it doesn't work.
She also falls in love with a guy from school, Richie. He
happens to be the brother of her best friend's love
interest. Beth eventually ends up in a mental institution
because she keeps seeing things and has episodes. She's
diagnosed as a schizophrenic. While she's there, she
befriends a girl that happens to be deaf, learns difficult
truths about her mother and best friend, who actually
turns out to have a terrible character, and discovers that
she's actually not crazy.

The Seven Rays started off
pretty boring, when Beth got her golden letter. It got a
lot better in the middle, when Beth was at the mental
hospital, but got worse when she got even more messages in
golden envelopes. It was somewhat interesting when she
broke out of it. The plot was interesting, though not
spectacular, and Beth was a decent character. It was,
however, pretty predictable. I could tell that something
was off about her mother from the beginning. This was not
one of my favorite books, but neither was it one of my
least favorites. It was pretty strange when Beth got a
tattoo and started talking to a deaf person, who talked
back, at the mental hospital. I got mildly sad after
Richie, Beth's boyfriend, left. If you're looking for a
fantastic book to read, go somewhere else. If you're
looking for a decently written book with interesting
characters and an somewhat unusual plot, then read The
Seven Rays.

There were some inappropriate and
disturbing scenes with Beth and Richie.

Reviewer Age:17

Reviewer City, State and Country: Charleston, SC US

Prowling The Seas by Pamela S. Turner

Daniel Corrigan just moved to Nodle's Green, Pennsylvania and notices something strange. Soon, he figures out that his new friends have superpowers. One can fly, one is super strong, and another can turn invisible. These kids watch over the town and keep everyone safe. The only problem is that the superheroes are disappearing one by one because when they turn thirteen, their powers and any memories of them disappear. To find the villan that is stealing the powers of the kids of Noble's Green, everyone will have to work together and stop him once and for all.

This book is now one of my favorites! The author made me feel like I was actually there. I felt like I could relate to all of the characters in some way. I also liked how the author described eveything in great detail so you knew exactly what was going on. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good adventure or mystery.

Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Enon, OH USA

I Kissed A Zombie, and I Liked It by Adam Selzer

Alley knows how it is with vampires.She has them as daily life.When she goes to review the Sorry Marios there is a mysterious new guest that she falls under his musical voice. When they start dating she is so head over heels in love she can't see that he wears the same clothes,has a weird smell,and can't talk a lot. He's a zombie... She knows that they have to break up but,later learns that she can't shake him.Then figures out that another guy(dead) is after her and has an expirement in mind.Will she survive the expirement and dating her boyfriend?

The book I would say have mainly the ideas of the book have love,fighting,death.I would say Alley has the characterictes of in a popular and a stab in the back with disses.She really likes to make fun of people.It was kind of dull. Adventure here, attack over there. Lots of talking. A little weird with some of the things.Make it some more romantic. If she did a vampire I think it would been a little more exciting.I don't think I would recommend it to others with how the story went.

Reviewer Age:11
Reviewer City, State and Country: katy, Texas U.S.A.