Angel In My Pocket by Ilene Cooper

Angel in my Pocket is about a girl named Bette, who finds a coin with an angel on it in a pile of money her sister earned in a car wash, for charity. It s like a good luck charm for her. A person named Gabby moves in downstairs and looks like an angel to Bette. After Gabby moves away Joe steals Bette s angel coin. She was so upset at first, but soon forgets about it.  Joe soon starts having good luck too. He gives it to Andy whom Joe takes money from, like a bully. He gives the coin to Andy who has a sister named Vivian who has bad asthma. They all become friends. Andy and Vivian are going on a trip to Florida and hope to bring Bette. Let s just say& both Bette and Vivi find a special someone.
                 More to come read the book!

I really liked Angel in my Pocket. The format was great for my reading style and the story itself was awesome. It's the kind of story  that kids ages 10 to 13 or 14would like if they are into stuff like angels. It's not really that much about angels. So, Angel in my Pocket is appropriate for the recommended age group... and it's a REALLY GREAT BOOK!

Reviewer Age:11
Reviewer City, State and Country: Claremont, New Hampshire United States

Gladius and the Bartlett Trial by, J.A. Paul

In the Wiggin culture, once a child has reached the age of fifteen they must embark on a journey call the Bartlett Trial. They must prove their worth by surviving in the wilderness for one month before returning home and collecting some money. Sounds like you just have to camp for a month to get some serious cash right? That is what Gladius Oldmont thought for a while. But after hearing of his family's experiences he is determined to have an adventure greater than his siblings. And so that adventure was began the moment that he enters the wild. After being attacked by a great cat he meets a man named Flint. Together they work to help reclaim to home of the Lake people. Can they succeed against a hoard of death bats? Find out in Gladius and the Bartlett Trial.

Gladius and the Bartlett Trial was a fairly good book. It supplied plenty of action and suspense along with enough of a plot to keep the readers hooked. Though it maintained a steady tempo throughout most of the book it faltered in some places. It was a great renaissance themed book and was enjoyable from cover to cover. I would recommend this book to just about everyone looking for a thrilling action-adventure book.
Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: P. Hurley, Mineola, Texas,  America

Trying to Figure Out Some Great Reads For Teen Boys This Summer?

Check out this excellent list by Don Calame (author of Swim The Fly) on some of the books that helped him turn reading from a chore to a pleasure. The list contains books specifically designed for the teenage boy who wants something humerous, insightful, and true to life. 

The Galapagos Islands by Terry Ross

The Galapagos Islands, the first of the Steve Trek Adventures, is a novel written by a first time author, Terry Ross. The author has always loved the sea and he shows it in his book. He writes about a young, charming divemaster, Steve Trek, his love interest, Jenny, and his friends, Doc and Jeff. Steve and his crew encounter iniquitous drug lords. Together the gang defends the peace of the Galapagos Islands, a beautiful and exotic landscape surrounded by pristine waters, and later confront and defeat the merciless leader of the drug lords, Hiro.
For a first time author, Terry Ross has written a creative piece. His idea to write about divemasters is unique. His sentences and descriptions are clear. His choice of setting, the Galapagos Islands where Charles Darwin discovered the variety of species and started to develop his theory of evolution, is very appropriate.
However, I must admit there are some flaws. The story seems to be in a hurry, for one. For example, the love line was introduced in the very start of the plot. Regardless of the hasty plot, the story seemed to make pauses whenever introducing new material, sometimes abrupt ones. While reading, I was confused by the tense in which the author was speaking on numerous occasions. Also, the book would be more enjoyable if the outline were subtler; many times I thought that the scenario seemed obvious.
All in all, The Galapagos Islands is a good book, but not a great one.
The love interest of the book might be considered suggestive and portions contain violence.
Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Washington Depot (Seochogu), Connecticut (Seoul) USA (Korea)

Almost Final Curtain by Tate Halloway

Wow! High school really sucks! Ever since Anastasija Parker found out she was half vampire and half witch, her life has been spiraling out of control. Between boyfriend troubles, spring musical tryouts, and trying to please her parents, Ana almost doesn’t have time to breathe. To make matters worse, an ancient talisman that allows witches to turn vamps into slaves has just been stolen from its safe house. Ana needs to track it down fast, or else this year’s performance may just be her last.




Tate Hallaway has made a masterpiece! Her thrilling sequel to Almost to Die For has forbidden love, mythical creatures, and an awesome battle scene. She really pulled me into the story, especially in the more intense scenes. There were a few parts though where the writing didn’t seem to flow; I wish she could’ve made those scenes fit a little better into each other. Otherwise, it was a wonderful book that I’d be happy to read again. I’d recommend this book to 13-15 year olds. It’s not entirely for little kids, but it might not be what an older teen is looking for in a good read.

Reviewer Age: 14

Reviewer City, State and Country: Fresno, California USA

Passion by Lauren Kate

This book starts off right were the Torment left off, after Luce jumps into the Announcer. As Luce travels through her past reincarnations, she discovers what really happened between herself and Daniel. With some help from a little gargoyle friend, she discovers what Daniel was hiding from her. But soon Luce starts to doubt whether he loves her or just her soul. Will their relationship survive the journey?

This book was great. I loved how descriptive the setting and characters were. I did not like that the story had no background to it. I recommend this book to people who liked Hush, hush, Banished, Delirium, and Nightshade

Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Northglenn, CO United States

Paradise Island by J.L. Manning

Paradise Island Summery

By: Ellie Johandes

This book starts when Josh and Anna win an island through a credit card company contest. They then proceed to build a small resort with huts, a sauna, and a pool at the top of the volcano. Most of the workers they hire are scared off by strange events that occur around the trees.  The first guests arrive and encounter tree spirits.  WARNING: I HAD TO FORCE MYSELF TO READ THIS BOOK! It was that boring.

Paradise Island Book Review

By: Ellie Johandes

This book was like a bad apple: full of promise on the outside, but when you cut it open, it was squirming with  worms.  I was excited in the beginning, because Josh and Anna won a small island through a credit card company's contest. But as they were building on it, weird things start to happen with the trees. I personally think that the author spent too much time building the resort. By the middle of the book, I couldnt tell you more than three sentences on the characters' personalities. It gets a bit more interesting when the guests finally arrive, with a girl who sees the paranormal. But when the guests leave, it goes back to being unbearably dull. It ends with a bad, drop off ending that does not finish the book properly.  The author has a choppy writing style that makes it difficult to read, and the book contains many grammatical errors to boot (example, page 118 the last sentence in the first paragraph, it should be their instead of there). I would not recommend this book to anyone, and am surprised it even was published. I hope I get a better book next time. 

Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Rockford, Michigan United States of America

Kiss of Death by Lauren Henderson

Kiss of Death, by Lauren Henderson, was a wonderfully written book with its own twist on a traditional type of story line. Having failed to realize it was the last book in a series when I chose this book, I would hardly have figured out that it happened to be a sequel if I hadn’t checked. Noted, I did wonder why it left so much unexplained. This book is about the adventures of Scarlett Wakefield while on a school trip to Edinburgh. This school trip turns out to be no pleasure retreat however, for someone’s out to get Scarlett. When Scarlett is faced with a rather unpleasant blast from the past at a Celtic Connections concert, she falls into a void of memories, which include a few boys, and a couple near death experiences. To the avid readers of this series it will make perfect sense, and I even grasped more than just the general idea of the happening between Scarlett and her ex-best friends, Luce and Alison, who appeared with noted contempt for Scarlett. Plus, an old murder rears its ugly head in the appearance of the victim’s twin brother. After a prank goes wrong, which nearly ends in Scarlett’s death, Scarlett must find out who’s behind this mystery before it’s too late.

I hugely enjoyed this book. I liked that it showed individuality when there are a million or so teen mystery romances. As a boy, I will never understand fully the emotional trip that Scarlett is tumbling head over heels through, however, I marvel at how the character is flushed out. On the down side, I felt she was just a little dependent on others. For instance, she spent a good portion of the book bemoaning the fact that her boyfriend wasn’t right by her side. Still she almost seemed to be a real person. One of the most amusing and logic based characters in this novel was Scarlett’s best friend, Taylor. In fact, she had me chuckling throughout most of the book. Taylor seemed like the anchor of sense through the pages of this novel. The obvious bully in this tale was Plum; the rich, self-absorbed and domineering bully who has it in for every other girl in Wakefield Hall. I was cringing as she tormented Scarlett with her sideways comments, snide remarks, and other general unpleasantness she displayed towards the heroine. I am looking forward to reading the previous books in this series, and advise anyone who’ll listen to give it a go. It’s quite worth it.   

Reviewer Age:13

Reviewer City, State and Country: Monrovia, MD USA

The Crepe Makers' Bond by Julie Crabtree

Ariel has had 'M' as a friend forever, and Niki soon came to the group. And they are BFFs FOREVER! Things change when the girls hit their 8th grade year. Ariel think she is the laughing stock of the year when she trips in front of the whole school on the first day. But then people start acting all nice and sympathetic to her and she doesn't know why. Luckily Ariel has her baking. She cooks when she is nervous and her friends are always willing to be her guinea pigs. But is it enough to deal with the upcoming problems? Something is up with Niki, and M is on the point of a breakdown. The girls think they fixed M's problem, but they made it worse. A lot worse. For all of them. Will they ever survive this friendship crisis?

The Crepe Maker's Bond was an entertaining novel. I felt that I could truly relate it. I was familiar with all the emotional things that Ariel was facing. In middle school friends are tough and you don't often know where they stand. Another delicious thing about this book was that they had little recipes pertaining to that chapter. I tried one and I was a huge hit in my family! The only problem I had was with the ending. It was predictable and a bit too 'happily ever after'. All in all this is a book you should read.  

Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Coconut Creek, Florida U.S.A

Dragonfaerie by Christoper A. Cooke

Will is crazy. So everyone thinks, when he is constantly babbling about how a goblin came out of the closet and stole his baby brother. But 10 years later, the goblin comes back for him, taking him to Enoch, another world. A girl rescues him and they meet with a party of men, the leader of who assigns the girl to be Will's teacher until he is able to return to his own world. To return to Earth, Will, his teacher Adept Tenhmur, and his friend Prentice McBride must seek out the help of the Dragonfaerie. Enduring painful training and a dangerous journey, they at last meet the Dragonfaerie. But instead of returning home, Will stays in Enoch, for he learns that his brother still lives...

Enoch is a world so different from ours that Will is completely lost, but it is still detailed and believable. The plot has many twists and turns that lead you in circles right up until the end. The characters fit perfectly with their world and are just as detailed and believable. Many stories related with great battles are right in the middle of it, with a few key characters who can turn the tides of war and whatnot. But in this story, the two lands of Enoch are at the brink of war, close to fighting but not there, just spying and inside operations. Yet even so it only touches on the whole war idea and instead focuses on the character making the deadly journey to a goal he is not even sure he wants. All in all it is a wonderful adventure.

Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Santa Fe, TX USA