Gwenhwyfar by Mercedes Lackey

Gwenhwyfar is a book written about King Arthur's Queen, Gwenivere. It is split into 3 parts; Princess, Warrior, and Queen, each representing a different stage in her life. Gwenhwyfar, Gwen, is the daughter of King Lleud and grows up a princess, but what she really wants is to be a warrior. Her father finally lets her and she begins one of the happiest and most successful times of her life which ends when she is arranged to marry King Arthur whom she has never met. She is unhappy with him, but knows her duties as a king's daughter includes what's best for the people. But it appears her evil sister, Little Gwen, who looks so much like Gwenhwyfar that she could be her twin even though they are a year apart, does not know her duties and will do whatever it takes to get Gwen out of the way.

This book is all about King Arthur's times, which I absolutely love, so I was very excited to read it, and was not dissapointed. There was a huge part that confused me however, and this might help clarify it to people: Gwenhwyfar is the main character, and her sister's name is Gwenhwyfach, also known as Little Gwen because of her resemblance to Gwen. This puzzled me for the first few chapters because I did not notice a difference in the names at first so I thought they were the same character. There is also a lot of other people with similar namesﾾGynath, Gwydion, Gwalchmai, Gwalchafed, Gwynfor, and Agrwn to name a few. Also, if you are hoping for Queen Gwenhwyfar, you will not get to her until the last third of the book. And lastly, I want to warn you, in this book she has sexual intercourse and describes it. Despite all that, I found that I enjoyed the book a lot and it kept me very entertained. I could see it as a great movie. Please read this book, I would highly recommend it.
In this book, Gwen has sexual intercourse with two men, while being married to one of them, and most likely a third man, though she is not sure because she was drugged. Also she is described quite a few times by herself and others as being bred. &the only thing that kept it from being rape was my consent& I was breeding. He stayed only long enough to put a child in me and then could not leave me fast enough.


Also, a few characters are seen using black magic to bring men to bed with them and other stuff like that.
 
Reviewer Age:16
Reviewer City, State and Country: Gearhart, Oregon United States

What Can't Wait by Ashley Hope Perez

Marisa (pronounced MarisAH not dropped flat at the end: MarisUH) is stuck between a rock and a hard place. When she is at school, her teachers encourage her to do better. She is a senior in high school, and honor role student, she should be applying to college. And not just U of H, either, Marisa has a chance to get into UT Austin. However, Marisa's home life could not be more different. Her alcoholic father cannot seem to leave his Mexican childhood behind. Marisa does not have to get good grades as long as she graduates from high school. College? Totally unnecessary. All she has to do is work, give him the money, and take care of her young niece when her sister is at work to take care of her permanently injured husband. When does Marisa have time for herself? Also, what can(t) wait?
This book was thoroughly enjoyable. It covers issues that hit close to the youth of today including parental influences and multicultural conflicts. Marisa is a real character who is easy to connect to. Perez wove a wonderful story about an extraordinary girl whom the average teen can sympathize with. It is a fun and engaging read.

Reviewer Age:17
Reviewer City, State and Country: Leverett, MA USA

Vicious Grace by M.L.N. Hanover

Kim starts working at the mysterious Grace Memorial Hospital in Chicago where strange things have been happening. She soon realizes it is too large for her to handle herself and calls Jayn￩ and her group of friends to help. They face many difficulties, including an attack in the hospital, which they barely escaped. The mysteries extend to their house when they find two hidden rooms. In one of the rooms they find Jayn￩'s uncle Eric's private study. Inside they find clues to what is terrorizing the hospital and things that may tear them apart.

￩ to fight the evil spirits of the world and to protect them.  When she is not fighting the forces of evil, she is almost a normal girl who has family problems and fights to keep her new family together.  I think the theme of this story is the importance of teamwork. I would recommend this book to teens who like fantasy, mystery, and action stories.

Vicious Grace is a very unique book with many plot twists. I think M.L.N. Hanover did very well in creating an alternate world where demonic parasites, or riders, plague the world. Luckily for the people of that world, they have the powerful heroine Jayn
I gave it a 2 because it includes some material that may not be suitable for all younger children.
Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Makanda, Illinois USA

Pegasus by Robin McKinley

Princess Sylviianel is the fourth child of the king of Balsinland. She is bound at the age of twelve to a midnight-black pegasus named Ebon. As soon as they are brought together, the two new friends realize they can alk to each other in their heads. The first night after they are bound, Ebon takes Sylvi flying on his back, even though it is forbidden by law. For Sylvi's sixteenth birthday, Ebon invites her to visit the pegasus kingdom of Rhiandomeer. Sylvi accepts and while she is there, she visits the pegasi Caves and experiences ssshasssha (a type of pegasi recollection), as well as meeting Ebon's little sister. After Sylvi meets Niahi, she is able to silent-speak to the other pegasi as well. When Sylvi returns home, her kingdom is in great danger of falling to magical beasts including three rocs (giant birds, nasty habits) which are extremly hard to defeat. Will the king's army win the war? And how will Sylvi explain to her father what happened in Rhiandomeer

Pegasus by Robin McKinley was a wonderful book. It was extremely hard to put this book down. I loved all the pegasi, but I have to say Niahi, Ebon, and Hibeehea were my favorites. The kingdom of Rhiandomeer was amazing; I could see it as if I were there. I wish I could live in Sylvi's world, despite people like Fthoom, who was very strict about enforcing the rules about pegasi. I thought it was funny that Sylvi always broke the rules: no touching pegasi, no riding pegasi, no flying on pegasi. The rules seemed kind of pointless, because it didn't seem like most of the pegasi would mind being ridden. The author created a great cast of characters; the pegasi were as interesting as the people. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy, adventure, or magical creatures. I hope Robin McKinley will write a sequel to this book.

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

Old Photographs by Sherie Posesorski

In the story Old Photographs Phoebe Hecht finds herself trapped in the high class community of Forest Hill where she doesn’t belong.  Her best friend is back home in Tokyo for the summer and her mother is constantly shutting out their past lives back in Barrie. So Phoebe ends up spending her days reading under a tree or biking, until she meets Mrs. Tomblin. Mrs. Tomblin is a sweet elderly woman who easily befriends Phoebe and Phoebe’s crush, Colin.  Together Phoebe and Colin help Mrs. Tomblin solve the case of her mysterious robbery. 

I thought Old Photographs was a good book. The plot was pretty simple, but still interesting.  The characters were well developed, but at times they seemed to run together. I also found the book a little boring. I’m not the particular mystery type of person, but still I would not have my main character pretend to be a great detective just like the ones in the books she reads; its been done. But if you enjoy mystery stories or want a quick short read this a good book for you.

Reviewer Age:14

Reviewer City, State and Country: Hopkins, Michigan United States of America

The Sentinels: Stone of Tymora by, R.A. Salvatore

In the finale book of the the Stone of Tymora series Maimun's story has kept his pirate captors from killing him. But he knows that his story will end soon. He knows that he must at least attempt to escape. When he finally makes his move, though, the pirates are ready to catch him. Maimun has no way of fleeing the island that he is on, but the pirates don't seem to want to kill him. Can he really trust these pirates, or will they kill him as they intended to do in the first place? Find out in the thrilling conclusion to the Stone of Tymora trilogy.

There is no way that any book could get more epic than this one. The Sentinels is the best book I have read, no doubt about that. It was a roller coaster of events. First, it was the slow climb to the first climax, the pressure building and building as it went along. Then you finally get to the top and, bam, every thing goes much faster than before. Events taking place, secrets being reviled, epic battle fought and won. It doesn't stop until the book comes to an end, seemingly too soon. Anyone could read this book and fall into the adventure that is captured in those pages. So read what many have probably read and discover the pure awesomeness that others have experienced.      

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

The Traveler by Jeremy H. Barefoot

John doesn't see the world like everyone else; from the time he was eight, he has had strange dreams and finds bizarre differences with things he's seen a million times before. There are also the letters that pop up unexpectedly at random intervals in his life: CDRS. As he comes to realize that these things are not normal, he digs deeper. He and his friends discover the existence of travelers, people who can journey through time and space and who seem to follow him. When John learns of this, things become even more complicated. John doesn't know why his terrified girlfriend gets shouted at by a traveler, or what the eccentric and beautiful Tabitha, who shows up in the thick of things, is really doing there. He doesn't know if the travelers are meant to help or destroy, but he had better find out soon, before the end of the world is provoked, or prevented, by them.

This book was original and very short, which I liked, but it was also very confusing at times. Sometimes there would be scenes that seemed to serve no purpose to the plot that were just popped into places where they didn't fit. I was also waiting throughout the book for the plot to develop and turn into something, but it didn't happen until the very end, where a development was made and the book ended as a cliffhanger. It was written pretty well, I believe, in the way that I didn't want to stop reading, but it was kind of tense and a little bit awkward at points. This was overall an interesting book, but it had some issues that could be fixed with more development to the plot and a lot more organization. It was also written from the point of view of a sixteen-year-old boy, whose mind wasn't very pleasant to be in at some points. There was frequent crude language and scenes that were inappropriate for young ages, along with references to his activities with his girlfriend that also were unsuitable for younger minds. All things considered, I would recommend this book for someone who is in need of an interesting short read and is doesn't mind language and references to some questionable behavior.

For frequent crude language, a couple times with the f word, underage drinking, and teen sex mentioned and portrayed as okay.

Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Sandy, OR USA

Saraswati's Way by Monika Schroder

A young boy named Akash loses his Bapu (father). Then,


Akash's Daddima (grandmother, father's side) orders him to

go work for the land owner to pay off his family's debts,

but Akash realizes that the amount of work he does is

unimportant, because he will never be able to earn enough

money. Akash escapes to Delphi to seek an education.

There, he learns to live as an orphan at the train

station. Through a series of lucky events, Akash finds

that soon, he will be living out his dream- attending a

city boy's school


I did not really like this book because although it did

have an adventurous plot, it just did not seem like my

kind of plot. It was a common 12-year old, living out

ordinary events, such as sleeping on rooftops, selling

drugs, ect. Also, although I understood how the end was -

well, an end, it just sort of dropped off suddenly. I

think if there were an epilogue it would be better, but

this book would do best in a three or four book series.


Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country:

Santa Fe, TX USA

Threads and Flames by Esther Friesner

Threads and Flames was a book about a girl named Raisa, who had been hunted by disease in her hometown, or shtetl. Raisa arrives in America with a cousin named Brina and 2 friends, Zusa and Luciana, in tow to find that her sister is gone. She scouts the whole neighborhood for a place to board, and eventually runs into Gavrel, a boy who takes her to his home. His mom, Mrs. Kamenski, welcomes Raisa and 5-year-old Brina into her home. When Raisa finds a job at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory and is convinced by Gavrel to follow her dreams and learn English, life settles into a routine. Until a certain New Year’s Eve, Raisa works, learns and hangs out with friends. On that day, she discovers her romantic side, which changes her life. On a memorable Saturday she settles in to work when a shout echoes throughout the workroom: Fire! A tragedy occurs that day, and forever in Raisa’s mind. When she struggles to uncover the mysteries of Zusa, Luciana and Gavrel, friends who have missing since the fire, she learns a new story. Enjoy this book of heart-throbbing tragedy, families found, a bond of friendship, eternal struggles and a touch of romance.


After finishing the last sentence on the last page, I felt satisfied. The plot of the book had power and twists, the characters had personality, and the author’s voice was captivating. I disappeared into the pages of this book; I was Raisa and then Gavrel and then Zusa. Gavrel did annoy me, but when he vanished I missed him. It was completely realistic. Esther Friesner gripped you and held you tight until the end, when she released you gently. I would never put this book down, but the beginning was a little slow. I would recommend this book to anyone who loved a page-turner and Historical Fiction.

Rating: 9
Reviewer Age:11
Reviewer City, State and Country: Ellicott City, MD USA

Fate of Thorik by Anthony G. Wedgeworth

From the first sentence, this book grabs you and doesn't let you go. The action moves at a breathtaking pace from the quiet, charming village of Shorview where the Nums spend their days hunting, fishing, and caring for their families, to the awe-inspiring, divine city of Kingsfoot, to the city of Weirfortus where the climax between Darkmere and Ambrosius takes place, you hardly get a moment to catch your breath. Locations are described in minute detail so that you actually feel as if you are walking next to Thorik and his band. The cast of characters that Thorik meets along his journey add friendship, understanding; of himself and others; and of course just a bit of animosity to keep you on your toes. One thing is for certain, this band of travelers will accomplish the taks set before them, and I for one, can't wait to continue on with them through their journey.




I enjoyed this book, and look forward to further installments of this series. Those of us who enjoy fantasy literature always are looking for new worlds and characters to explore, but were often disappointed. Too often its more of the same, and Piers Anthony and J.R.R. Tolkien did it better. Wedgeworth may not be in their league yet, but he has created characters with depth and believability that we can care about, and the action keeps moving. The descriptions of Thoriks world are vivid in detail, yet they do not overwhelm the narrative. Plot turns and twists are reasonable, but not ridiculous. The story stands on its own, yet leaves the reader with an interesting cliffhanger to bring him or her back. A fine first offering."


Reviewer Age:16
Reviewer City, State and Country: Hearne, Texas US