The Queen Bee of Bridgeton does its best to be an entertaining story with real-life characters but falls flat due to the poor writing style and cheesy dialogue. The narrator, Sonya, has a fresh personality, but makes dim-witted decisions and is occasionally blind to the events going on around her. I did enjoy the plot twist at the end of the book, but the whole storyline of challenging the norm seemed a little overdone. Overall, the book was entertaining, but wallowing through the scripted dialogue and one-dimensional characters was not. I would recommend this book for any girl looking for a light, romantic read, but I would warn anyone looking for more substance to pass this book up.
adult content, such as alcohol use and language
Reviewer Age:15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Bayside, WI USA
Thursday, June 02, 2011
The Queen Bee of Bridgeton
All Sonya and her sister Sasha have ever wanted is to get out of their terrible neighborhood, so when a chance to go to school at the upscale Bridgeport Academy is offered to them, both girls eagerly take the opportunity. At first, Sonya confines herself to her passion for dancing and doesn’t quite fit in at her new school, while her popular older sister easily molds to the competitive atmosphere. However, Sonya’s differences from the rest of the school gain her a basketball star boyfriend, and also push her into the spotlight when she dares to challenge the queen bees of her high school. Sonya’s bravery earns her both popularity and hatred, and she finds her character tested as she learns things about herself and those close to her that she was never aware of before.
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
Desperate Measures by Laura Summers
Vicky is a girl living in a foster home after her mother died and her father "went away". She has to look after her mentally-disabled twin sister Rihanna and her little brother who's always ready for a fight. She 's doing a good job of it--defending her sister from the stereotypical mean girl, and stopping her brother from punching everyone he meets--when she' s told that the couple they're with can't keep them anymore and they have to split up. So they decide to runway.
Laura Summers gives Rihanna a unique point of view, one that is both innocent and with deep insight. She writes about how these three siblings love and care for each other and how they fight and scream at one another. I really enjoyed reading about the relationships between the characters. All in all this was a great book.
I would say this book is for all ages, but there is some talk about dying and what that means.
Reviewer Age: 15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Juda, WI, USA
Laura Summers gives Rihanna a unique point of view, one that is both innocent and with deep insight. She writes about how these three siblings love and care for each other and how they fight and scream at one another. I really enjoyed reading about the relationships between the characters. All in all this was a great book.
I would say this book is for all ages, but there is some talk about dying and what that means.
Reviewer Age: 15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Juda, WI, USA
Solstice (eBook) by P.J. Hoover
For 18 years, the world had been in a Global Heating Crisis, a summer that never ends. For Piper, it has been going on her entire life. She has never seen a snowball or the leaves turn in autumn. With her over protective mother and a crazy, wild, friend she decides to take some risks in her life. Dating behind her mother’s back is one of those risks. Soon, she is thrown into another world where Greek gods reside and she may be the one to change the world. p>This book was great. At first I thought it jumped into the main part of the story too fast. Later I realized this was needed to get everything in. I loved how the gods seemed like real people and how relatable Piper was. The setting of a world in global warming was perfectly described. I recommend this book to people who liked the Mortal Instruments series, the Lightning Thief, the Red Pyramid, and the Lost Hero.
Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Northglenn, CO United States
Everything I Was by Corinne Demas
Everything I Was is about a thirteen year-old girl named Irene. She has a perfect life. Until one day, her dad loses his job. Then, her world is turned upside-down when her parents decide to move out to her grandpa's farm for the summer, just so they can get back on their feet. At first, Irene hates it in the country. Then, when she realizes how appreciate the little things in life, like friends, family, and hobbies, she really begins to love it there. But at the end of the summer, her parents want to move back to the city. Will Irene go back to everything she was, or will she stay with her new, care-free life?
This book really showed me that kids can really help parents make decisions in their life. But, it shows me that bad things in life can sometimes turn into good things, depending on what you choose to make out of it. I was really happy with the ending because Irene had gone through some hard times and she finally had something good happen to her. Even though life sometimes doesn't give you happy endings, it's good to know that they still exist. I thought this book would be for ages 12 and up because having a parent out of work is becoming more and more common, and kids need to learn how to deal with that type of situation.
Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Leawood, Kansas United States of America
This book really showed me that kids can really help parents make decisions in their life. But, it shows me that bad things in life can sometimes turn into good things, depending on what you choose to make out of it. I was really happy with the ending because Irene had gone through some hard times and she finally had something good happen to her. Even though life sometimes doesn't give you happy endings, it's good to know that they still exist. I thought this book would be for ages 12 and up because having a parent out of work is becoming more and more common, and kids need to learn how to deal with that type of situation.
Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Leawood, Kansas United States of America
The Spirit of a Poem by Aazam Yaqoob
The Spirit of a Poem is a small book with a collection of poems. There are also pictures by Aazam Yaqoob. The poems speak of weather, thoughts, ideas, and islands. Fruit was even an inspiration for the author. The poems are short and easy to read.
The mood of this book is simply dull. My imagination was barely even sparked by the use of plain font and common adjectives. The overall structure of the book was rather plain and boring. It seemed almost as if anyone could have written these poems as there was no distinct voice from the author. With this book, it would seem that Yaqoob didn't have a set purpose in mind besides putting a few of his poems into book form. The writing is nothing special, almost like a cold cup of coffee. No warmth or flavor to be found. The strength would be that Yaqoob was willing to put his creations out there into the world.
The book contains multiple grammatical and formatting mistakes, and I wonder how they could have escaped editing. The flaws caused me to become distracted and put off by the book. In his poem, "Rain and the Universe's Way of Life," there was a glaring mistake of a homophone. The line was, "I here drip, drip," I feel he must have meant, "I hear drip, drip." Yaqoob wrote three lined Japanese haikus, which should have contained five syllables on the first line, seven on the second and five on the third. None of them had the correct amount of syllables.
Finally, while poems don't necessarily have to rhyme, it is commonly found and an appreciated break from the non-rhyming variety. I don't believe any of Yaqoob's poems rhymed, save for a "question" and "section" pair. I was disappointed that it didn't have any interesting rhymes to experience. Granted, this book was self-published, but I feel that it could use a fair amount of editing and constructive criticism before I would recommend anyone to read this book.
Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Doylestown, Pennsylvania USA
The mood of this book is simply dull. My imagination was barely even sparked by the use of plain font and common adjectives. The overall structure of the book was rather plain and boring. It seemed almost as if anyone could have written these poems as there was no distinct voice from the author. With this book, it would seem that Yaqoob didn't have a set purpose in mind besides putting a few of his poems into book form. The writing is nothing special, almost like a cold cup of coffee. No warmth or flavor to be found. The strength would be that Yaqoob was willing to put his creations out there into the world.
The book contains multiple grammatical and formatting mistakes, and I wonder how they could have escaped editing. The flaws caused me to become distracted and put off by the book. In his poem, "Rain and the Universe's Way of Life," there was a glaring mistake of a homophone. The line was, "I here drip, drip," I feel he must have meant, "I hear drip, drip." Yaqoob wrote three lined Japanese haikus, which should have contained five syllables on the first line, seven on the second and five on the third. None of them had the correct amount of syllables.
Finally, while poems don't necessarily have to rhyme, it is commonly found and an appreciated break from the non-rhyming variety. I don't believe any of Yaqoob's poems rhymed, save for a "question" and "section" pair. I was disappointed that it didn't have any interesting rhymes to experience. Granted, this book was self-published, but I feel that it could use a fair amount of editing and constructive criticism before I would recommend anyone to read this book.
Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Doylestown, Pennsylvania USA
Lila and Ecco's Do-it-yourself Comics Club by Willow Dawson
The book,Lila and Ecco's: Do-It-Yourself comics club, is mainly about two kids,who are comic fanatics, go to a comic convention. After losing her sister,Lila and Ecco stumble upon a Q and A session that was all about how to make,design,and create a comic book. When Lila and Ecco return from the convention they start to make their own comic by following step-by-step procedures. Lila's comic was about cooking,while Ecco's was about a crime-fighting superhero. So what happens next, find out in Lila and Ecco's: Do-It-Yourself comics club.
In my opinion, as an actual book it wasn't very interesting,but as a how-to book, it's awesome. I don't like this book as an actual book because it didn't grab my attention. Plus, at times it was very confusing because it has the essence of a storybook, but it wasn't impressive. But I love it as a how-to book because most of the steps on how to make a comic book where really easy to follow. So if you can keep up with the story line and to how-to parts then by all means READ THIS BOOK, if not, I would only recomend this if you wanted to know how to make a comic book. I would rate this book as a 5 or 6.
Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Mineola, TX America
In my opinion, as an actual book it wasn't very interesting,but as a how-to book, it's awesome. I don't like this book as an actual book because it didn't grab my attention. Plus, at times it was very confusing because it has the essence of a storybook, but it wasn't impressive. But I love it as a how-to book because most of the steps on how to make a comic book where really easy to follow. So if you can keep up with the story line and to how-to parts then by all means READ THIS BOOK, if not, I would only recomend this if you wanted to know how to make a comic book. I would rate this book as a 5 or 6.
Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Mineola, TX America
Dream Smashers by Angela Carlie
Dream Smashers is a book about hope. Autumn Winters lives in the town of Cultus, Washington. Cultus is known for its great access to methamphetamine, which is also why Autumn lives with her grandmother. Autumn was taken away from her mother when she was a baby because of her mother's meth addiction and alcoholism. Autumn hopes for her mom to just leave her alone so she can start a new, fresh, freer life. Then Evan, a blind date, enters her life. Evan is a Godsend, literally; he's a church-going-volunteering-marathon-running-saint. Evan starts to change the way Autumn thinks. And with each encounter Autumn's life changes, more and more.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I thought the characters were very developed and had great stories to tell. I think that the author did a great job describing the addiction of the entire town. I also thought that the plot of this book was great and always kept me on the edge of my seat and reading late into the night. I am definitely going to recommend this book to many of my friends.
Intense drug and alcohol use. Also much explicit language.
Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Hopkins, Michigan USA
I really enjoyed reading this book. I thought the characters were very developed and had great stories to tell. I think that the author did a great job describing the addiction of the entire town. I also thought that the plot of this book was great and always kept me on the edge of my seat and reading late into the night. I am definitely going to recommend this book to many of my friends.
Intense drug and alcohol use. Also much explicit language.
Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Hopkins, Michigan USA
Grounded by Kate Klise
The book Grounded by: Kate Klise is a wonderful novel about a girl named Daralyn. After a horrible plane crash that kills her father, brother, and sister she gets a bunch of dolls and everyone calls her Dolly. When a mysterious man comes to town and her Aunt Josie falls in love with him Daralyn begins her investigation. After almost getting tricked by the man everything clicks into place and Daralyn discovers this mans secret. Read this marvelous novel to reveal the mans secret and how everyone reacts to it!
The book Grounded by: Kate Klise is a wonderful novel. I think she did a great job on this book. I love Daralyn and how adventurous she is, I am like her in many ways. I think some of the possible maybe not as noticeable themes would be what shows on the outside isn't always what is within, and if you get to know the person you don't like you might find something inside them that you admire. This is a marvelous novel that I have already and will continue to tell my friends about and suggest they read it.
Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Sandy, Oregon U.S.A
The book Grounded by: Kate Klise is a wonderful novel. I think she did a great job on this book. I love Daralyn and how adventurous she is, I am like her in many ways. I think some of the possible maybe not as noticeable themes would be what shows on the outside isn't always what is within, and if you get to know the person you don't like you might find something inside them that you admire. This is a marvelous novel that I have already and will continue to tell my friends about and suggest they read it.
Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Sandy, Oregon U.S.A
The Amanda Project by Amanda Valentino
Three chairs sat in front of the principal's office and as Callie walked in, she quickly filled the third one, joining classmates Hal and Nia. Three different people from three different worlds, yet one person brought them here, together: Amanda Valentino. After painting the principal's car with strange designs and symbols, Amanda, who was secretly friends with all three students, left a symbol on each of their lockers before disappearing. Always talking cryptically, she had a secret that each one of them knew a part of. Now that she's missing, the three students must put together all that she has ever told them in order to find her before something bad happens.
Unsure of where to begin, Callie, Hal and Nia decide to tell each other all of the information they know about Amanda. They soon realize that she told them each a different story about where she lives and where she comes from. With all of this jumbled information, they have no choice to investigate it all. At every place they stop, they find symbols spraypainted on the wall, indicating that Amanda was there. Now it's just a matter of putting together all the clues before it's too late!
Unsure of where to begin, Callie, Hal and Nia decide to tell each other all of the information they know about Amanda. They soon realize that she told them each a different story about where she lives and where she comes from. With all of this jumbled information, they have no choice to investigate it all. At every place they stop, they find symbols spraypainted on the wall, indicating that Amanda was there. Now it's just a matter of putting together all the clues before it's too late!
A mysterious story of friendship and lies, Amanda Valentino and Melissa Kantor's novel "The Amanda Project" is hard to put down. Thrown into this world without context, it is up to you to put together everything and make sense of what Amanda's plan is. It feels as if you are a part of their world working on the mystery with them, rather than watching from the outside.
Valentino and Kantor understand the dynamics of high school and the ups and downs of being a student which makes it easy to sympathize with Callie, Hal and Nia. It's easy to relate to their struggles with teachers and school work, and their budding friendship as they search for Amanda is something that everybody experiences.
"The Amanda Project" kept me on the edge of my seat till the end. Although it is frustrating to get clues to Amanda's disappearance without being able to put them all together, that is what makes the book interesting. Valentino and Kantor do a great job of balancing mystery and relatability, and with the cliff-hanger ending, I can't wait to read the next book in the series!
Reviewer Age:17
Reviewer City, State and Country: Champaign, Illinois USA
Baby Grape and Southern Exposure by Thom Rogers
The third book in the Baby Grape series, Baby Grape's Southren Exposure, follows Toby, Jaynee and their forever growing group of tag-alongs as they head south to find Toby's mother and sisters. No journey is simple, however, as they encounter runaway slaves, stolen money, and abandoned children. Everywhere they turn, there are people to be helped, goods to be transported up and down the rivers, and someone coming at them with a gun. With all of the adventures going on, Toby still has to take care of his family, look out for his employees, and make sure everything runs smoothly on his steamboat. Toby has taken on a lot of responsibility, and his leadership abilities show as he and his friends prove once again that they have what it takes to survive.
Baby Grape's Southern Exposure had a much different feel to it then the first two books. The writing style is the same, with lots of dialogue, description and surprises, but the characters are, at times, hardly recognizable. In the beginning of the series, Toby was younger. He had hardly been anywhere or had any adventures up until that point, and was learning what survival meant. In this book, he is much more authoritative. On his boat, he is in charge and expects everyone to do exactly as he says. I felt that his transformation was realistic, but I found myself not liking this Toby as much as I had when he valued other's opinions and had a more even temper. I did like that, although there are many different adventures in many different settings as in the other books, they did not skip around quite as much and gave me time to really concentrate on the goals of the characters. Baby Grape's Southren Exposure had less romance and drama involved than usual, but it did have feel-good ending. It was my favorite Baby Grape book, and I would recommend it to those who read the first two books, like historical fiction, and are ready for a whole new bunch of adventures.
Reviewer Age:15
Reviewer City, State and Country: , Pennsylvania USA
Baby Grape's Southern Exposure had a much different feel to it then the first two books. The writing style is the same, with lots of dialogue, description and surprises, but the characters are, at times, hardly recognizable. In the beginning of the series, Toby was younger. He had hardly been anywhere or had any adventures up until that point, and was learning what survival meant. In this book, he is much more authoritative. On his boat, he is in charge and expects everyone to do exactly as he says. I felt that his transformation was realistic, but I found myself not liking this Toby as much as I had when he valued other's opinions and had a more even temper. I did like that, although there are many different adventures in many different settings as in the other books, they did not skip around quite as much and gave me time to really concentrate on the goals of the characters. Baby Grape's Southren Exposure had less romance and drama involved than usual, but it did have feel-good ending. It was my favorite Baby Grape book, and I would recommend it to those who read the first two books, like historical fiction, and are ready for a whole new bunch of adventures.
Reviewer Age:15
Reviewer City, State and Country: , Pennsylvania USA
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