Brooklyn, Burning by Steve Brezenoff

Brooklyn, Burning is about a street kid trying to fit in and create an identity for him/herself. Kid is just a teenager who has a love of the music and the soul of Brooklyn, but that is what seems to separate his/her father from him/her. When his/her father kicks his out of his home, Kid sleeps, hopes, and plays the drums anywhere he can find a friend. Another plot comes twisting into the story when Kid is found a likely suspect of burning down the historic warehouse, where he has been living for the past few weeks. In this story of survival, forgiveness, punk rock and love, the city of Brooklyn will be calling you home by the end.

In this book about a street kid trying to find his/her own life, it shows the power and force of dreams and love. Brezenoffs book reveals some harsher city moments, but also the hope that is sparked deep within those times. This book truly transforms the image of Brooklyn and its streets. I was a little confused with who Kid actually was, because it never completely said whether kid was a boy or girl. I understand that this may be intentional, but it bothered me because I couldn't fully relate to the character without completely knowing Kid. I thought that this was a great book, and it had a good fictional twist to the truth of the warehouse burning.


Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Lederach, PA USA

Wild @ Heart by Natsumi Ando

Like most teenage girls, Chino only wants one thing: to fall in love.  But when she finally does, it's nothing like she expected.  She ends up falling head over heals for Hyo, a jungle-raised boy who was found by her father on an exploration.  Hyo is completely uncivilized and has absolutely no idea of how to behave.  Nonetheless, when Hyo starts living with Chino's family and attending the same school, sparks begin to fly. 
A good manga has beautiful artwork and a more substantial storyline to match it.  A great manga has those two things, plus the ability to completely hold the reader's attention.  This manga is not good - it's great.  The artwork is beautiful, but clear, so it is easy to see what is going on in each illustration.  The storyline actually has depth and is not just an after-thought added to the pictures.  Everything about this manga works together and creates an overall great reading experience.  And since it is a three volume set, there is more of the story in one book, which is something that I look for.  I would recommend this manga if you've enjoyed mangas by Matsuri Hino or Bisco Hatori. 

Reviewer Age:18
Reviewer City, State and Country: Shippensburg, USA

Messiah: Apotheosis by S Andrew Swann

This book is an exciting action adventure. It is about a alien AI (artificial intelligence) who is trying to become God. He has many bodies of himself and grows stronger by making people join his cause. This book takes place on a world called Bakunin and its surrounding space. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read sci-fi books.

  I liked this book. It had a ring of Star Wars about it but was totally different. It was written so that you cannot wait to read the next chapter. I could not put down this book until I finished it. The author did a great job of describing different parts of the settings and characters. I would definitely recommend this book to people who love science fiction.

Reviewer Age:13

Reviewer City, State and Country: Hunting Valley, OH USA

Starstruck by Cyn Balog

When Gwendolyn Dough Reillys best friend in New Jersey moves away from her all the way to California, the only real way to cope with this is to start eating more items from her mothers bakery. As time passes by she her friend, Wish finally asks her out to be her boyfriend. Dough accepts, but does not realize that he will be coming back to the east coast. As Wish transforms into a bronze goddess, dough has packed on a few pounds. Dough is just waiting for her boyfriend to break up with her once he sets her eyes on her. When they first meet at school, the pictures on facebook do not do him justice at all. Wish is acting really weird around Dough. Not only is he more in love with her then ever, but he is obsessed with the sun and is afraid from the rain.  The only thing is how did wish change from a lanky kid into a Hollywood rock-star? Will he still stay with her once he sees what Dough has turned into? Find out in this romantic, Sci-fi/fantasy mystery! The setting of this book definitely comes easily into the mind. I can totally picture the crappy bakery on the island that Dough lives in. I feel as if I was a fly following Dough around the whole book. The characters take a life of their own. Dough materializes so easy within my head, and all her actions I could see could be easily done. Balog writes her in the book in which her actions are easily seen. Barlog contrasts the character of Evie, Doughs sister, who is so pretty and skinny. Wish is also easily seen and just thinking about him could make anyone drool. Dough is the narrator of the book and she is so funny. Not because she jokes around, but I always start to laugh when she describes how bad she looks. The only thing is she does get a little annoying in the beginning when she talks about how fat she is.
The Author defiantly achieved her purpose, which was that looks are not everything. The writing is age appropriate, which is young adult. The vocabulary was alright for young adult, but definitely could have been a little more difficult. The strengths of the book are the characters and how they come to life, and the setting. The major weakness of the book is how the book develops. In the beginning of the book I barely read a few chapters. Dough was whining to much, but near the end I could not put down the book. I found this book refreshing and very moving. I find this refreshing because most of the books now-a-days in the teen genre are about vampires or werewolves in the sci-fi/ fantasy genre. It was nice to see something new and fresh. It was also interesting to see how the book developed till the end. Which I loved the ending! This book just reinforced that looks are not everything, and that exteriors are not everything. I would definitely recommend this book to others because it was funny and interesting to find out what happens between Dough and wish.
Some talk about sex and drinking alcohol.
Reviewer Age:18
Reviewer City, State and Country: Northport, NY USA

Touch of Frost (eBook) by Jennifer Estep

Gwen Frost is a freak, at least thats what all her classmates think. While they are rocking superpowers from fighter ancestors, Gwen is only a common Gypsy. When a fellow classmate is murdered, Gwen is all set to start tracking down the killer, but it seems she is the only one who really wants to know what happened. Along the way, Gwen will uncover family secrets, secret love, and possible love for herself. Will she find out the truth, or will the truth kill her?

A Touch of Frost is a mysterious and exciting book to hold. Esteps idea of having a bunch of warriors come together is truly unique. Ive seen spies, half-bloods, mermaids, and a bunch of other mythical beings, and this is the first time I can say that Ive never read anything like this before. It has a wonderful plot with magnificent characters to go with it. I cannot wait for book number two to come out! This is definitely being recommended to my friends.

Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Fresno, California USA

Touch of Frost (eBook) by Jennifer Estep

Gwen Frost is a freak, at least thats what all her classmates think. While they are rocking superpowers from fighter ancestors, Gwen is only a common Gypsy. When a fellow classmate is murdered, Gwen is all set to start tracking down the killer, but it seems she is the only one who really wants to know what happened. Along the way, Gwen will uncover family secrets, secret love, and possible love for herself. Will she find out the truth, or will the truth kill her?

A Touch of Frost is a mysterious and exciting book to hold. Esteps idea of having a bunch of warriors come together is truly unique. Ive seen spies, half-bloods, mermaids, and a bunch of other mythical beings, and this is the first time I can say that Ive never read anything like this before. It has a wonderful plot with magnificent characters to go with it. I cannot wait for book number two to come out! This is definitely being recommended to my friends.

Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Fresno, California USA

Gravestone byTravis Thrasher

In the second book of the Solitary Tales series, Gravestone, by Travis Thrasher, Chris Buckley a teenager recently moved from Chicago to a weird town called Solitaire and life is not the same. In this small town, he cant find anyone who is sane or normal and his mom is becoming an alcoholic. To make it all worse he loses his girlfriend, Jocelyn, who is now presumed dead. He begins a search to find out what happened to Jocelyn. Along the way Chris meets lots of interesting people who might be able to help but he is unsure if he can trust or confide in them.

This book should not be read without reading the first book in the series. It has a very slow start and takes over one hundred pages too get somewhat interesting. The book is classifies as a mystery and suspense but I found very little suspense. To me this book was very boring and hard to follow at times. Do not read this book while reading other books, stop reading and start this book after a period of time or accidently skip a page otherwise you may become very confused. I do not recommend this book for anyone who likes a lot of action and suspense because this book has none of that. I would give this book a four out of ten because it was not entertaining or exciting to read.


Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Leawood, Kansas USA

The Kid Table by Andrea Seigel

The kid table is a story about a poker table that has been with the family for a while now. All 5 of Ingrid Bells cousins sit at it even though they are teenagers. All 5 cousins are struggling to with the challenges of growing up. Ingrid falls in love just to find out that he is already taken by her cousin! Her cousin decides to leave the kid table and leaves the cousins in shock. They all take different paths into adulthood and realize the kid table is where they belong.



The kid table is a easy read. It was enjoyable. Different emotions fly throughout the book and leave you wanting to read on. The book has a good ending that doesn't leave me with any questions. I could understand all of the characters' emotions. They were described very well.


Reviewer Age:13

Reviewer City, State and Country: braintree, ma us

Nancy and Plum by Betty MacDonald

Nancy and Plum (whose real name is Pamela) are sisters who were orphaned when their parents died in a train wreck six years ago.  Without properly investigating it, their guardian, Uncle John, sent them to Mrs. Monday's Boarding Home in Heavenly Valley.  Ever since then, he has had very little to do with them.  Mrs. Monday seemed kind, but shes really menacing and cruel to all her borders except her horrid niece, Marybelle.  Despite their miserable life at Mrs. Mondays, Nancy and Plum are cheerful children. One of their favorite things to do is sneak out by way of the tree next to their window and help Old Tom, Mrs. Mondays kindly brother, who takes care of the cows and chickens in back of the boarding  home.  One day while the girls are attending a school picnic, Uncle John comes to visit them. but leaves before the girls return.  When the girls come home they find out about his visit and that Marybelle and Mrs. Monday purposely detained the girls return home so they wouldnt be able to visit with him.  That night the girls decide to run away, so they pack up all their treasures in some handkerchiefs and, with the help of Old Tom, climb over the spiked fence. Will they succeed in running away?  Who will be their new family if they do?
 
I enjoyed this book very much, particularly because of Nancy and Plum's cleverness and creativity.  I also liked the wide range of the personalities displayed by the characters.  I disliked, however, that most of the dialogue was written as if it was a movie script with the name of the person speaking written before what they said.  I recommend this book to anyone who likes books about clever, adventurous girls.

Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Annandale, VA USA

A Caper in Fabel, the True Story of Humpty Dumpty by Alexander Anderson

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the Kings horses and all the Kings men couldnt put Humpty together again. We always assumed this rhyme to be true, but iguana Detective Nathaniel Spade is being led to believe otherwise. When he receives a tip suggesting that Humpty was pushed, the chase begins! With the assistance of his partner Virgil, who happens to be a sea turtle, they travel all through the land of Fabel tracking down possible suspects. He meets everyone from Miss Virginia Muffet to Old King Cole, as well as the mysterious Riding Hood. Join Detective Spade on his perilous and exciting journey to bring justice to the land of Fabel.
A Caper in Fabel was a fun and enjoyable read. Most of this tale was simple and easy to read but sometimes the vocabulary became a bit harder to understand. At times it seemed as if it was written more as an informative piece and not a story.  For the most part, this book was an entertaining one. Any fans of The Sisters Grimm or Chet Gecko books will enjoy this playful read!

Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Harleysville, PA United States