Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

Until the woodpecker comes to Lily, Arkansas, Cullen Witter is preparing for another slow summer in his boring small town. A suspicious birdwatcher's alleged sighting of the thought-to-be-extinct woodpecker brings publicity and hope to the small town, and Cullen's hairdresser mother is busy giving young boys bright red mohawks, inspired by the town's obsession with the "Lazarus bird." Cullen highly doubts the birdwatcher's credibility and the existence of the bird, but he also has bigger things to think about. Ada Taylor, the girl of his dreams despite her tragic history of dead boyfriends, is actual starting to take notice of him. His troubled cousin has just died of an overdose, leaving his family fractured and fragile, and Cullen struggles to hold it all together. Weirdest and worst of all, Cullen's cultured and talented younger brother, Gabriel, disappears as suddenly and mysteriously as the woodpecker reappeared.


On the other side of the world from Arkansas, a young missionary named Benton Sage works desperately in Ethiopia to please his father and get a grasp on his faith. His disgraceful return to the United States sets off a chain of events that lead to the woodpecker, Cullen, Gabriel's disappearance, and the once-dull town of Lily.


At first, I was wondering how the stories of Cullen Witter and Benton Sage would intertwine in a logical way, but the climax was a beautiful weaving of the lives of two very different and complex characters. The ending left me with no questions, just a satisfied feeling. Though dark and suspenseful, the story had an overall whimsical feel to it, and the chapters from Cullen's perspective read exactly as if I were being told the story by an imaginative and sarcastic seventeen-year-old boy. This was a beautiful debut novel with a perfect balance of sadness and hope, and it painted a great portrait of how extraordinary things can happen in the most unlikely of places.

Reviewer Age:17
Reviewer City, State and Country: Tarpon Springs, Florida United States

Miles From Ordinary by Carol Lynch Williams

Miles from Ordinary by Carol Lynch Williams is a dark read.  It follows the story of thirteen-year-old Lacey who is barely managing to keep her life together.  The last time Lacey had a friend was in the fourth grade.  Her father left when she was young and her mother, Angela, is sick and suicidal.  Furthermore, Lacey s mother has an obsession with tragedy and often looks at pictures of destruction and death.  Angela sees visions of her own dead father and believes him to be alive.  This ghost encourages Angela to harm herself.


The one constant in Lacey' s life, her Aunt Linda, left when Angela, in a rage, decided to kick her sister out of the house.  Things go from bad to worse.  When she comes to pick up her mom from work, Lacey discovers that Angela is missing.  A friendly boy on the bus, Aaron, offers to help Lacey, giving her the first friendship she s had in years.  Through the book, Lacey, who is extremely protective of her mother, becomes more willing to understand that she has to get help for her mother.
I found this depressing book unenjoyable.  The author did not do a good job of lightening up the tension for even a few paragraphs.  She could have added a little brightness to Lacey s life in some way, such as even a TV show to which the girl looked forward.  The book had one tone without much variation.  The writing was mostly monotonic and dialogue never varied from character to character.  Additionally, I found the use of incomplete sentences such as Not my aunt after all (p. 138) sprinkled throughout the book to be irritating.  While the writing was somewhat descriptive, it never leapt off the page.   Furthermore, the author never made it quite clear from what type of mental illness Lacey' s mom was suffering, leaving the reader with a feeling of not fully understanding Angela' s problems.  The cause of Angela' s disease or Lacey 's feelings about her missing father were never explored.  In all, this book is not a must read.

Reviewer Age:16
Reviewer City, State and Country: Chicago, IL USA

W.S. From Rear-Ender to Slender Brenda by Jane Cuff

Twelve-year-old Katie is thin, popular, and beautiful. When twelve-year-old, not-so-thin Brenda joins Katie s school, Katie immediately nicknames Brenda Rear-ender. Katie and her friends are very cruel to Katie, but within six short months, Brenda mysteriously grows thin and Katie mysteriously puts on the pounds. Brenda still eats sweets and chocolates, yet she never gains any weight. As soon as Katie puts on the weight, she becomes unpopular and her friends turn on her. Everyone makes fun of her, and Katie discovers it s no fun getting the short end of the stick. Will Katie lose the weight, or will she be known as Weighty Katie forever?
I thought this book was pretty good. Sometimes, though, it was a bit hard to understand, because the book is from the U.K., and I am from the U.S. I liked it, though. Jane Cuff did a good job showing just how cruel bullying can be and what happens when the tables are turned and the roles are reversed. I think Ms. Cuff did achieve her purpose, which I believe is that bullying can be cruel and harmful, especially when you are the one getting bullied.

Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Hopkins, Michigan USA

Faerie Winter by Janni Lee Simner

  After it is known throughout the town that all born after the war have magic in them the "Afters" are more free to practice their powers in front of the "Befores", those born before the war. Some of them use their gifts to help the town, Liza and Matthew do just this by going on patrols. The point of their patrols is to find shadows, spirits of those who died during the war, and lay them to rest before they reach the town in search of lost loved ones. One day during an ordinary patrol they come across something far from ordinary, a child's charred body buried in the snow. They return to town and tell Tara, Liza's mother, about their discovery so that the child may have a proper burial and the cause of his death can possibly be found. On their next patrol they find another child, but this time he is alive and a firestarter, one who can start fires in his mind. They bring him to the village so that they can possibly find out what happened, but he does not trust their intentions. One day he turns on them setting their house ablaze, Liza uses her gift and calls to him leading out of the house as well as her mother. Upon seeing what he had done he calls the fire back into him, putting his life at risk and burning him horribly. They must go get Kaylen from his town to heal him and Matthew insists on travelling alone so that they will be there sooner, Liza agrees on the condition that he will be back by sunrise.   She wakes up and finds Matthew is not back yet so she decides to set out to find him. To learn what befalls her on her journey read Faerie Winter by Janni Lee Simner.
Simner has created a post apocalyptic fantasy world where nothing is ever quite as it seems and romance keeps hidden in the shadows. The characters are quite memorable, this adds to the story making it that much better. Some of the more memorable characters are Liza,  The Lady, Kyle, Matthew, and Elin. The vocabulary was easy to understand and age appropriate. This book has a voice that is slightly eerie with undertones of romance. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a good read.
This book has mild gore
Reviewer Age:15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Makanda, Illinois USA

The Girl Who Became A Beatle by Greg Taylor

Have you ever imagine becoming a legend? Everyone has a
fantasy of living the life of a famous person but it seems
impossible& right?  Well, Regina Bloomsbury thought it was
impossible too, but after one of the worst days of her
life, her band fell apart because of the minimal gigs they
were playing, she wishes her band the Caverns were as
popular as the Beatles.  The next morning Regina wakes up
and sees the Beatles collectables in her room were gone
and were replaced with Caverns memorabilia.   Suddenly her
life was drastically different from what it was before. 
The Caverns have replaced the Beatles and are on their way
to California to kick off their world tour. At first
Regina loves the fame her wish has brought her but she
realizes that it was not all that she thought it would
be.  When she is given a choice that will change her life
forever she is conflicted.  Will Reginas life be changed
forever or will she go back to her normal life?
Overall
this book was a very good read.  It started with a typical
storyline about a band but evolved into a very interesting
plot.  I enjoyed reading about the ups and downs of
Hollywood and I think that Regina s problems made her very
relatable.  The author told the story in a voice that made
it easy to read.  This book had many Beatle references and
I would recommend it to a reader with interests in music. 

Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country:
Owings Mills, Maryland USA

Graffiti Art Coloring Book by, Aye Jay

Ever wish that you could capture the colorful art of graffiti on paper. Well now you can!
Color your own styles of the hottest art on the street. Paints like Lady Pink, Pose, Mear, and many more. So get out some crayons, colored pencils, markers, anything and get to coloring!

No one in the world is to old to enjoy a good coloring book. Now anyone can have his or her own graffiti masterpiece. The owner can color each piece of graffiti in any way. This adds a little of the personal touch the reader has. Whether it's in rainbow colors or outside the lines, this book is sure to satisfy anyone looking for a good coloring book.   


Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Mineola, Texas America

The Other Countess by Eve Edwards

Four years previous William Lacey, the new, young, and penniless Earl of Dorset, was kicking Lady Eleanor Rodriguez, Countess of San Jaime, (also known as Ellie) out of his house after her father, ruined the Lacey family s name and fortune.  Now, in the year 1582, the two meet again on different circumstances at the Queen Elizabeth s court.  The Earl seems quite enchanted with Ellie quick wit and exotic looks, not recognizing her for the girl he kicked out so many years before.  If only he could find a bride with the money he needs to bring his family s home to its former glory.  Money - something Ellie was without.  William will have to choose between duty and love, Lady Jane and Lady Eleanor.
This book was absolutely my favorite book Flamingnet has sent me so far.  Eve Edwards s writing is a lot like that of Eva Ibbotson s, who happens to be my favorite author.  I have recommended this book to all my friends and cannot wait to read the next book in this romance series coming out in 2012!  I learned a lot about Elizabethan clothing which was interesting, and the spoken language was old fashioned, but very easy to understand, which made it very beautiful.  I have nothing but praise for this book and hope others enjoy this as much as I did.

Reviewer Age:17
Reviewer City, State and Country: Gearhart, Oregon United States

Between Two Ends by David Ward

Between Two Ends, by David Ward, is a good book because it s about magical books.  Yeats, the main character, is a 12 year-old boy with a depressed father and a scared mother. He and his parents are visiting his Grandma s house.  He wants to find out why his dad is so depressed, so he asks his grandma. She tells him that 20 years ago, a girl named Shari, disappeared in the library.  Exploring the library, Yeats finds magical bookends that can transport him into any book.  The living bookends also tell him about a girl they transported into the book 1001 Arabian Nights 20 years ago. Shari was his dad' s best friend.  She never came out. So, he goes in after her in hopes of making his dad stop being so depressed.  However, some book' s spells are not easy to break and sometimes the people in the book lose their memory and become part of the story.  This story tells about love, bravery, mystery and humor.  I recommend this book for anyone who likes a good laugh and a great adventure.  Beware!  This book is addictive!
This book is very good with some unexpected twists. It took a while to get me interested,but once I was,it hooked me for good. The author did a good job, accept at the beginning,where he forgets to lay hooks for the reader.

Reviewer Age:11
Reviewer City, State and Country: Merced, Ca united states

The Poisons of Caux: Book Two by Susannah Appelbaum

Ivy the prophecy child and her sidekick Rowan have to travel to the guild to face the evil director.  Ivy keeps on healing others and is becoming well known around Caux.  They make many new friends on the way. They also face many hardships.   This book is packed with action from the start to the deadly encounter.


Overall I enjoyed this book. One of the things that I enjoyed about it were the people in it because they are really interesting.  One example is “the errant taster was on the run from the dreaded Tasters’ guild, where he learned his trade, only to practice it disastrously-killing twenty of Kings Nightshade’s men and the man he was specifically charged with protecting.”   The beginning was sort of slow for me but it got into a lot of action by the end. An example of that is “the footsteps were quickening now as she turned instead to  wake Rowan, and she had little time to shake her friend before the unwelcome arrival was upon them.”   I really hope that the third book in this truly frightening series is like the first two. The author did a great job on her second novel. My favorite thing I liked about this book is the main chaaracter Ivy. She is a very smart and courageous young girl. She also reminded me of Violet from the Series of Unfortunate Events.    I recommend this book to people 10 and up.


Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Uxbridge, MA USA

The Lunatics Curse by F.E. Higgins

In a town named Oppum Oppidulum, a twelve year old boy by
the name of Rex Grammaticus is the son of a famous engineer
and inventor.  His father is pronounced a lunatic by his
evil step mother and taken to a high security asylum in the
middle of a freezing lake. This lake is rumored to be the
home of a giant sea monster and diamonds are believed to be
at the bottom of the lake.  Soon after the story gets going,
there is a jail-break and the head warden of the asylum is
replaced by a mind doctor, who uses hypnotism in crooked
ways.  Rex 's father also escaped during the jail-break and
soon enough found Rex locked in his room by his step mother.
From there, Rex enters into various suspenseful adventures
that help him unravel the mystery of the asylum and the
strange Andrew Fey Society that controls it.
The Lunatic s
Curse was my first book to read by this author and I really
liked it. The characters were very interesting and the story
was good, even though confusing at times for me.  At first,
I wasn't sure I' d like it, but by chapter three, I was
hooked.  I hope that others will like this book, too, and I
think that people who liked books like Artemis Fowl should
especially like The Lunatic s Curse.  It has a good plot and
it is full of action and adventure.  There are a few dull
spots, but it gets interesting again fairly
quickly.

Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and
Country: MEMPHIS, TN USA