The Perfect Family

The Perfect Family is a book of modern discrimination
against homosexuals. Jamie, a sophomore in high school,
has been struggling with the idea that he might not be
attracted to women. He is very timid at first, but soon
finds he is not the only one. Luke, a classic sophomore
jock, has also been struggling with this problem, and they
find relief in each other. When they come out to public
with this idea things aren't as great as what they would
like them to be. Luke's parents blame it on Jamie, and
hate everything about Luke's homosexual feelings. Jamie is
having a lot of the same problems with his family. His
brother Brian is struggling immensely at school because of
it. Jamie's father struggles with questions about
religion. And his mother struggles to keep it all together.

I really enjoyed this book. I don't really enjoy the
topic, but this book was a page turner. I couldn't put it
down. And I would recommend it to anyone interested in the
topic. It pointed out many pros and cons.

The Perfect Family is a book of modern discrimination
against homosexuals. Jamie, a sophomore in high school,
has been struggling with the idea that he might not be
attracted to women. He is very timid at first, but soon
finds he is not the only one. Luke, a classic sophomore
jock, has also been struggling with this problem, and they
find relief in each other. When they come out to public
with this idea things aren't as great as what they would
like them to be. Luke's parents blame it on Jamie, and
hate everything about Luke's homosexual feelings. Jamie is
having a lot of the same problems with his family. His
brother Brian is struggling immensely at school because of
it. Jamie's father struggles with questions about
religion. And his mother struggles to keep it all together.

I really enjoyed this book. I don't really enjoy the
topic, but this book was a page turner. I couldn't put it
down. And I would recommend it to anyone interested in the
topic. It pointed out many pros and cons.

There is a little bit of sensuality, and homosexual
thoughts, and some adult language

Reviewer
Age:14

Reviewer City, State and Country: Dorr, Michigan
USA

black Dust Mambo by Adrian Phoenix

Kallie Riviere is a hoodoo apprentice visiting the Hecaten Alliance's annual carnival. However, Kallie finds herself as a suspected murderer when her lover is found dead in her bed. Now she has to find a way to clear her name and protect all the people she loves. Kallie's search leads her to Gabrielle, Kallie's aunt, who has helped her through her difficult past. The more Kallie searches, the more likely that it seems that Gabrielle is the person who wants her dead.

This book was not one of my favorites. The characters were well developed and realistic, but the story just kind of dragged on. It was kind of confusing at parts because I don't know a lot about hoodoo magic and that is mainly what this book was about. There were a couple sex scenes that were kind of unnecessary and I wish had not been included. This is a book for mature readers.

Reviewer Age:15
Reviewer City,
State and Country: Brownsburg, Indiana, United States of
America

Caves, Cannons, and Crinolines by Beverly S. McClure

Lizzie Stamford is a fourteen-year-old girl living in the South during the American Civil War. Everyday she has to struggle against broken moral prejudices against girls, and the separation of her family; she has to struggle to survive this war.

This book is mediocre at best. The one thing I really did like about this book is the protagonist, Elizabeth. She would be a very good, rounded, and dynamic character if the author was more skilled at writing. However, her spunk and defiance against the sexist practices during this time period gives the book a very feminist outlook.

The plot was a little like a badly written soap drama; there was no real development in the events, and all of them were pretty predictable. Also, the plot was not very compelling; I was counting down the chapters until I finished the book.

Some of the moments in this book were truly touching and well written, but most of the time the writing was laden with cliché phrases like, “I had found a beautiful friendship to treasure” (McClure, 101). The historical accuracy isn’t bad, but the voice of the novel sometimes slips and sounds modern. If you’re looking for a good historical fiction read, don’t bother with this one.
There are plenty of other well-written books about the American Civil War.

Reviewer Age:16

Reviewer City, State and Country: Hinsdale, IL USA

Ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley

Charlotte's world is turned upside down by a simple gummy bear in the first book of this series, Ghostgirl. She dies and enters the afterlife, where she is forced to work at a hotline for troubled teens. Charlotte's old friend, Scarlet, desperately needs her help because her big sister, Petula, is gravely ill. Charlotte's friend, Maddy, in the neighboring cubical
intercepts the call from Scarlet. Forced to find another way to get to Charlotte, Scarlett enters the afterlife world herself to find Charlotte. When she finds her, they go on a search for Petula's holding room . Along the way, Maddy tries to lead them astray (because she is trying to
steal Petula’s life for herself). In the end, Petula is saved
and crowned Homecoming Queen.

I enjoyed this book because the author made me feel like I was there. The characters were great and worked together well, like best friends or sisters. The author’s voice also changed throughout out the book to what every mood they were in at the moment (funny, serious.). She gave great detail and I was never left wondering what was happening. I found this book to be entertaining and interesting. I think the ending was great because I like happy endings. I would recommend this book to others.

Content: 1
Rating: 9
Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State
and Country: Mineola , Texas USA

"Noah's Castle" by John Rowe Townsend

Noah's Castle is a great fiction thriller filled with the suspense that something is about to happen. A few decades after the Great Depression in England, Barry Mortimer and his family find that the cost of living is skyrocketing out of control. This dilemma not only affects Barry's family, but the entire country of England as well. Barry's family is faced with the fear of a second great depression and Barry realizes that his father is spending hours down in the cellar without anyone knowing what he is doing.

In this well-woven story, Barry is faced with choices that could change his life forever. Townsend's characters seem to come alive in this breathtaking story and reveal how truly terrifying life can sometimes be. While reading Noah's Castle, I found myself on the edge of my seat and turning each page quickly.I think this story will intrigue many pre-teen readers interested in historical fiction with a suspenseful twist. There was a good balance of detailed information in Noah's Castle. When I closed my eyes, I could easily imagine the setting and characters. The characters act and speak so realistically that they seem alive, and the setting, time, and place appear very accurate. However, this book is characterized by an unrealistic chain of events. At times, it seems like too many things are happening, one after the other. Also, I hoped for a more captivating ending.

Reviewer Age:11
Reviewer City, State and Country: Akron, Ohio United States of America

Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell

Genevieve Welsh is excited, summer has finally come, so that means that she'll get an awesome summer vacation...right? Not necessarily...her mom is a super history geek. Loves the outdoors, loves the adventures, blah, blah, blah. Gen likes cruises, beaches, cute boys, and swimming with her best friends, Kristin & Ashley. Anyways, instead of going to the normal place, Club Med, her mother signs them up for Camp Frontier. Camp Frontier, run by Betsy, Ron, and their daughter, Nora, is a place where you ditch everything. Well, everything that matters to Gen: her iPod, sneakers, t-shirt, and make-up. Betsy puts her into a bib, a petticoat, pantaloons, wool stockings, a wool floor-length dress, and boots. Basically what you would wear if it were 1890. It is what you wear in Camp Frontier, where you spend a summer living in the 1890's. There are some highlights to this trip, like the other families who, for some reason, decided to do this "vacation", like Caleb's family, or more specifically, Caleb, and Kate (Ka). But it seems anytime Gen wants to have fun, one person is there to ruin it-Nora. Soon Gen realizes how terrible this can be, how hard it is to grow your own food, chop your own wood, wash clothes in a creek, and milk a cow, and on top of that, they get graded! Graded for a vacation! Will Gen ever be able to survive this "Little Hell on the Prairie"?

Little Blog on the Prairie was a funny, and somewhat of an entertaining book. I will be honest-it was not my favorite, but it was still a good read. I would think that girls would enjoy this book. If you guys like a little drama, farms, and a big twist, you might also enjoy it.

Reviewer Age:14

Reviewer City, State and Country: Winslow, AR USA

Invisible City, by M.G. Harris

When Joshua Garcia's father dies in a plane crash in Mexico, Josh decides to find out the mystery behind his father's death. He starts a blog about his journey, and finds a friend in one of his faithful readers, Ollie. After discovering some evidence of the reason behind his father's disappearance, Josh teams up with Ollie and Tyler, a boy from his Capoeira class to decipher some hieroglyphics on the ancient document. They discover that it is half of a letter telling where the IX Codex is. The IX Codex was said to contain information about the end the world that the Mayans had predicted centuries previously. Their findings lead to a trip to Mexico. But they are not alone in trying to find out why Mr. Garcia ventured to Mexico in the first place. An international hit man is on his tail and the CIA agents are close behind the trio. The agents delay Ollie and Tyler at a hotel to question them about their findings regarding the document. Josh escapes and continues the journey to find the lost city of Ek Naab with the hit man hot on his heels. When he uncovers the secret of Ek Naab, his life changes forever. And he is now the keeper of the best kept secret in the history of all mankind.

I loved this book! It was very intense at times, such as during the car chases and when the main characters were getting shot at and being driven into a lake, and heartbreaking when you experience the internal debate in Josh when he has to decide to save himself and leave his sister behind to drown in the rapidly sinking car. Times like those I wanted to cry as if I were Josh. The author made me feel as if Joshua's struggles and my own were one, just as I could find myself running through beautiful Central American jungles and journeying through the forgotten city Ek Naab. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves action-packed books with great storylines. This book has a bit of everything in it; action, deceit, heartbreak, betrayal, and a tiny spark of romance.

Rating: 9
Content: 1

Reviewer Age:13

Reviewer City, State and Country: Garden Ridge, Texas USA

Awakening on Orbis 4 by PJ Haarsma

Johnny Turnbull imagined life on the rings of Orbis as a perfect utopia, where he could live life to its utmost. His previous excursions on the rings hadn't been terrible, even though he was a kudnik. Being a kudnik rendered JT meaningless to the citizens of Orbis, but life went on, mainly because of his sister and friends. But things begin to change upon the discovery of his sister's unique and unprecedented powers, and JT is pushed into a land of unfamiliarity. In "Awakening on Orbis 4", JT discovers many things about life, and becomes more in-tune with his inner self. However, his personal gains come at the sacrifice of a great many things, things he thought he would cherish forever.

Awakening on Orbis 4 was a well-written, emotional, and powerful novel. The futuristic setting developed in the mind of the author is both creative and descriptive, perhaps one of the most intriguing I have ever encountered. The book also contains small, yet effective romance scenes that have a huge effect on the overall feel of the book and the layout of the plot. It is because of these very realistic human emotions such as love, fear, and desperation that the characters seem very real and true to themselves. The voice of this novel isn't very strong, as it uses much dialogue to tell the story. But when there is no dialogue, the narration is rather matter-of-fact. However, this fault does not impede on the quality of the story, as it is not very apparent.

Having read the prequel, I found this book to be everything I expected it to be, and much more. I felt the emotions of the characters, as they experienced pain, love, and confusion. This was perhaps the greatest strength of the book. Another strength was that the vocabulary was age appropriate, and so was the content of the book. A minor weakness was the book slightly confused me at the beginning, because the settings were very intricate and complex. However, the complexity of the book also adds a dimension that was very intriguing. Compared to other books in the Sci-Fi category, it was one of the best, even better than its prequel. I found the book very interesting and moving, and am eager for the next book to be published. The ending was excellent, setting the scene for many more stories to come. I would definitely recommend Awakening on Orbis 4 to anybody who has read the previous books in the series, and wants a phenomenal book to read.

Reviewer Age:14

Reviewer City, State and Country: Baltimore, MD United States

The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller

The Eternal ones is about the concept of reincarnation and
ever lasting love. In it, a girl named Haven has both of
these things, she is reincarnated to find her ever lasting
love. This love comes in the form of Iain, a sexy rich bad
boy, who rocks the tabloids and rocks the ladies. But this
is not Haven and Iain's first time meeting each other,
they have been in love for many thousands of years, with
different names and different appearances, always finding
each other and searching for that happy ending. We mainly
focus on their last meeting, as two people named Constance
and Ethan, a couple which tragically perished in a fire in
each others arms. Throughout the book, we question whether
Ethan/Iain really loves Haven, and whether he could have
started the fire that ended his life. We also look into
the existence of the devil, who may or may not be the
reason that Constance and Ethan didn't get there happily
ever after in the first place. Find out what happens in
The Eternal Ones.

As you can see, this is an extremely
complicated book. It has a fantastic plot line that leaves
you frantically flipping pages late into the night. The
wonderful descriptions make you feel like you could call
Haven up and ask about her day. However, sometimes the
plot line doubles back onto its self, making the book not
only complicated but extremely confusing and hard to get
through at some parts. Also, the twist at the end was TO
twisted, making the ending not good enough. It was
unrealistic to the plot (and that's really saying
something in a book all about people coming back to life
tens of hundreds of times) and made it so the ending to
this book didn't settle well in your stomach. So, in
conclusion, if you have any interest at all in
reincarnation, or just these concepts, this book is a
fantastic read, but if you aren't capable of getting so
caught up in a book that you can overlook some bad parts,
then just don't bother.

This book deals with some
difficult subject matter.
This review is being resubmitted because it was wrong the
first time.

Reviewer Age:13

Reviewer City, State and
Country: Exeter, NH 03833

Full Metal Jacket: Certified by Jackie Kajzer

Full Metal Jackie: Certified is intended to be, in the

words of its frontcover, as an exposition on the 50 most
influential heavy metal songs of the 80s, and the true
stories behind their lyrics. The book consists of an
anthology of the songs, with a short section consisting of
a few pages and black and white photographs devoted to
each, along with a section containing color pictures in
the center. The 323 page compendium contains several
sections containing background and relevant information
for every song, and also often contains interviews and
unique tidbits of pertinency. Much of the book is devoted
to analysis of the lyrics of the songs themselves, at
times deriving these analyses from the songwriter
themselves, or from contextual information researched by
the author. It also provides surprisingly profound
commentary on the impact and origins of the songs,
especially to the political and social situations that
stimulated their authors.

My review of the book must be
considered in light of the fact that I chose it
accidentally. It was my hope to encounter classic rock
songs from Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, and
AC/DC. However, most of these were necessarily ruled out
when I noticed the caption after recieving it, which
limited the time frame to the 1980s. Thus, as I admit that
I am no expert in (recent) Heavy Metal music, my review of
this book will be be through the scope of a novice,
uncolored by the filter of appreciation for the songs this
book was chosen about. Resultingly, I will review this
book on the merits of its writing and content alone, and
not on the songs or bands selected or any of the
characteristics that will appeal to the Heavy Metal fans,
familiar with the subject matter, who it is clearly
directed at.

The book is quite long; as mentioned before, it is over
300 pages. Although this pales in light of recent and
historical novels, for an anthological analysis it is
quite large, and thus requires a generous time commitment.
However, while not exactly absorbing, it does prove quite
interesting. The prose demonstrates maturity and
thoughtfulness in its analyses, revealing an intimate
knowledge of the topic and presenting a firsthand account.
There exist several dimensions of analysis, ranging from
subjective to contextual, much of which is supplemented by
statements from bandmembers and interesting sidenotes
about the relationships of the members. At the same time,
the content eventually approaches redundant and
repetitive, relying too often on political and
rebellious sentiments to account for lyrics. Although
this might be out of sheer necessity, additional topics
would be appreciated. Presentation wise, Full Metal Jacket
proves mostly utilitarian, the grayscale color scheme
rubbing thin at times later on. Whether this is
intentional, to reflect the moodyness of the topic matter,
or merely a fiduciary measure, it does not significantly
impact the overall appeal of the book. A section devoted
to color photographs halfway through is a nice touch, as
are the accompanying captions.

Overall a fine book and excellent coffee-table material,
Full Metal Jacket: Certified's contradictory facets
detract somewhat from its overall score.

Adult Language/Profanity at times

Reviewer Age:16
Reviewer
City, State and Country: Shrewsbury, MA USA