Castlebots by Terry Goudy

Scott Freeman is a fifteen year old who has successfully completed a game in Star Park, a virtual gaming world in which he is employed. He is planning to do another test run to make sure it will be safe for costumers. Scott also hopes to use the second test to search for a cure for his sister's illness. Unfortunately, after a failed kidnap attempt to capture Scott, a military official, General Z, sends him back into the virtual world taking away Scott's ability to control the game. This time the scenario is set around a disaster where the Earth may be destroyed. While Scott must hurry to save Earth, someone else secretly entered the game with him. This mysterious person has it in for Scott. Is there any hope left for the Earth or Scott? And is Scott the hero everyone thinks he is?

This book was strong and well written. A few times Goudy seemed to be leading to something that could have branched off in numerous ways but he ended the thought before it could really take off. I thought the plot and characters were really complex and enthralling. At times it seemed that more information from the back story should have been included. His ideas for the setting of the virtual world were extraordinarily creative and unusual. I am excited to continue the adventure in the second book.

Pregnant Pause by Han Nolan

Eleanor Crowe hates being told what to do. But when she gets pregnant with her boyfriend and is forced to choose between either marrying him and working at his parents fat camp or moving back to Kenya with her missionary parents but without her baby, she wishes someone would tell her what to do. Unsurprisingly, Eleanor hates the idea of working at the camp. But once she begins working there, she finds that she likes working with kids and can finally imagine herself being a mom. Then something terrible happens on the day the baby is to be born, and Eleanor is in turmoil once again-what should she do about her baby and her husband?
This book is a welcome change from the the tired stories in which a young girl has a baby but her parents accept her for what she is because that's not what real life is always like. This book is real and at times a little depressing, but for me it is a great story. I love the character Eleanor because she seems so strong. Since Pregnant Pause is from her point of view you can see all of her problems and feelings. I also like the change of scenery and I think the camp for overweight kids is a great setting. I would have liked if there were a little less focus on Eleanor's husband and a little more on flashbacks from when she was younger. All in all, the book is a great read for mature readers and especially for girls to see what one mistake can do to them and their futures.
Sexual references and death.
Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Holland, Michigan USA

My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland

Rebel Angel Crawford thinks her messed up life in Alabama can’t get any worse. Then after a mysterious accident and a run in with detectives who want to ask some questions about a missing person, she gets a job offer at a morgue. Angel experiences cravings for human remains instead of cigarettes and blood rather than alcohol.  Angel Crawford had a tough life just living as white trash. And now she's a white trash zombie.

This book was very hard to get into and boring to read. After a very slow beginning, I began to think the book was dull. Then the middle spiced things up a little body-wise, but the ending was too fast paced and the whole book was a blur of events that just seemed to repel readers; not attract them. There were many points in the book that fooled the reader at the climax of the story, but good tricks are always revealed. My Life As A White Trash Zombie also had some colorful language not suitable for younger children. Overall this book was okay, but not recommended for readers who hate sappy stories about tough life.
This book had many references to drugs and alcohol with a lavish amount of curse words in the mix too.
Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Addison, IL United States

One Salt Sea by Seanan McGuire

October Daye is finally getting back to normal. She is now Countess of Goldengreen, she's taken on a squire, and life is good. But, when life is good, that means it's about to get real bad, real soon. Someone has taken the sons of Duchess Dianda Lorden, leader of the Undersea Duchy of Saltmist, captive. That means that a war between land and sea is going to happen in the near future. To prevent this disaster from happening, Toby has to find the kidnapped boys and prove that the Queen of the Mists isn't the kidnapper. She's going to need all the help and luck she can get! Toby's quest is taking her from San Francisco to the underwater land and she has a deadline: three days. She has to find the boys and solve the mystery of the kidnapper before three days are up, or the whole land is going to pay. But someone is against her, and whoever it is isn't playing fair. As the battle gets closer and closer to Toby's personal life, one thing is obvious: everyone is not going to survive this war.


'One Salt Sea' is the 5th installment in the October Daye series. Having only read this book out of the five in the series, the plot was very confusing, and I would definitely recommend reading the first four before reading this one. But what I did understand had me hooked. The main character, Toby, was very stubborn and hardheaded and that made the book even more exciting - it was never boring! The author did a good job of writing descriptively, although the language was a bit excessive, and some scenes were inappropriate. Overall, it was an excellent book.


There was a lot of bad language and a couple inappropriate scenes.

Reviewer Age:14

Reviewer City, State and Country: Tatamy, PA USA

Shadow Fall by Seressia Glass

Shadow Fall, by Seressia Glass is the third book in the Shadow Chasers series. Kira works as a freelance antiquity expert, but doubles as a Shadowchaser, trying to keep the balance between Light and Shadow. She serves the Egyptian goddess Ma'at, and is romantically involved with an ancient Nubian warrior named Khefar. Kira's magic has sudddenly become unpredictable. An Atlanta exhibit about the Egyptian Book of the Dead goes horribly wrong. Her old friends are starting to turn on her. But while trying to fight the Shadow, she may finally find out the truth about her mother.
Though I had never read any of the Shadowchaser books before this, I more or less understood everything. Seressia Glass's writing immediately pulled me in. There was just enough amount of action, balanced out with a bit of romance. Glass weaves Egyptian mythology into the story, giving it an added depth. Kira's struggle throughout the book felt very real, and I couldn't help but hope things would work out for her in the end. There were plenty of twists to keep me turning the pages. This book has made me fall in love with Glass's writing. She knows how to write captivating books that will leave people wanting more.

Reviewer Age:16
Reviewer City, State and Country: Otsego, MN USA

Omnitopia Dawn by Diane Duane

Sometimes its nice to read about an impossibly Utopian workplace. Sometimes it feels comforting and familiar when stereotypical characters invade a corporate thriller. Sometimes it works when a novel tries to superimpose the concepts of Absolute Good and Absolute Evil onto Corporate America.

This is not one of those times.

Omnitopia Dawn, authored by Diane Duane is set in 2015, a scarily imminent time in which a Good CEO and a Bad CEO battle in the MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) field. Corporate America obviously can't have the Good CEO and the Bad CEO  directly interact and so these roles are overly stereotyped and clichéd.

The Good and Bad CEOs, and the Good CEO's online game, are actually playing pieces in an ongoing conflict between the "Forces Of Good" and the "Forces Of Evil". This explains why they're so painfully typical.

Omnitopia has to deal with  obstacles of a massive rolling out that their transformational update carries. They also have to deal with a massive attack by an organized group of hackers that plan to steal hundreds of millions of dollars from them.

Pretty awkward, as you might expect from a world of corporate thrill trying to resolve a greater conflict than it could or should handle. The charachers are cliched and the plot is typical. However credit is due, for the world of Omnitopia that the author builds around you is .........beautiful. It really is.

Content: 1

Rating: 6

Reviewer Age:15

Reviewer City, State and Country: Monsey, NY USA

Dungeon Crawlers Ep. 1 and Ep. 2 by Stefan U. G. Leblanc

This series is about the adventures of two brothers from a urban town into a technologically advanced world.  They find a map to a crystal of immortality and embark on an adventure to find it. They overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to  get what they needed in order to find the crystal. This book fits into the category of fiction. It is also kind of an adventure.

This book was a very interesting read. I found it both riveting and page-turning. The language used in the book was fine for any age group. The author did a great job of using words to bring you into the story. I felt like I was really there. I would recommend this to anybody who likes fantasy/fiction.

Reviewer Age:13

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

Verity Gallant knows she s different, but her life takes a completely unexpected twist when an odd hysterical man gives her a mysterious book and a wooden ball. When reading the book, she finds the stories all relate to one evil character, the Mistress of the Storm. Soon after, a mysterious Grandmother that no one s ever met shows up. She claims to be there to help Verity s pregnant mother. Verity knows Grandmother is mean, but when Verity and her friends Henry and Martha find out that Grandmother is the Mistress of the Storm, the stories become frighteningly real. They find out that the Mistress is attempting something with Verity s new baby sister. But is Verity strong enough to save her?The attention to detail in this book was great. The surroundings seem almost real. I could smell the salty air and feel the sea spray. I love how relatable the characters are. Just when things get really dramatic, there s a little comedy to lighten the mood. The characters' feelings are contagious. The plot, however, was kind of predictable. Overall it was a very good book that I would recommend to people who like fantasy that s a little scarier.Reviewer Age:12Reviewer City, State and Country: Rockwell City, IA USA

Verity Gallant knows she's different, but her life takes a completely unexpected twist when an odd hysterical man gives her a mysterious book and a wooden ball. When reading the book, she finds the stories all relate to one evil character, the Mistress of the Storm. Soon after, a mysterious "Grandmother" that no one's ever met shows up. She claims to be there to "help" Verity's pregnant mother.  Verity knows Grandmother is mean, but when Verity and her friends Henry and Martha find out that Grandmother is the Mistress of the Storm, the stories become frighteningly real. They find out that the Mistress is attempting something with Verity's new baby sister. But is Verity strong enough to save her?

The attention to detail in this book was great.  The surroundings seem almost real. I could smell the salty air and feel the sea spray.  I love how easy it was to relate to the characters.  Just when things get really dramatic, there's a little comedy to lighten the mood. The characters' feelings are contagious.  The plot, however, was kind of  predictable. Overall it was a very good book that I would recommend to people who like fantasy that's a little scarier.

Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Rockwell City, IA USA

Vallar by Cindy Borgne

Summary: Ian is a pyschic working for the powerful marscorp faction on Mars. Ian has visions of a girl that is important to him, and when he is taken on a raid of an enemy base, he begins to realize that marscorp isn't as nice as he was raised to believe. When Ian has a dream about an enemy mine, Marscorp immediately goes to kill and take control of the mine, but Ian realizes that the girl he dreams of is a member of that enemy faction. Ian nearly dies there, but an enemy soldier rescues him, and is then shot and killed by marscorp soldiers. Ian questions his beliefs over and over, eventually providing false information to his superiors to protect the innocent people caught in this terrible war. Will Ian ever be united with this mysterious girl, and find a way to end this war??


Opinion: I REALLY liked this book…at times I thought that the descriptions were very good, and other times not so good. This book is suitable, I think, for even little kids to read. I personally havent read enough sci-fi books to compare this to other books in its genre, but I think that it would definitely be in the top of its genre. There is very little inapporpriate language, which makes it an even better book, to me. I wish that the book had been longer, since the end leaves you hanging, so I really hope that there is a sequel.

Darth Paper Strikes Back: An Origami Yoda Book

Dwight is in trouble again. After the events of last year, the class is now in seventh grade. Harvey, over the summer, made an origami Darth Vader. He instigates fights with Dwight and his origami Yoda. Some of Yoda’s advice to a student seems like a threat and is brought into more attention by Harvey. Dwight is suspended and may even be expelled, all because of Harvey and Darth Paper. If you want to find out what happens in the end, read this funny book.


This is the second book in the Origami Yoda Book series. I was hoping that a second one would come out after thoroughly enjoying the first one. An example of its humor is on page 57 when a pizza bagel blew up in the microwave. The character Dwight reminds me of the character Fregley from Diary of a Wimpy Kid. An example of this is on page 116 where Sara says he’s always sitting in holes. Those must be in the back of his house. I liked how the book was set up in little short stories of what Origami Yoda did to help them. I also like being able to make Darth Paper with the help of instructions at the end. I recommend this book to people age 10 and up and anyone who enjoys a good laugh.

Reviewer Age: 13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Uxbridge, Ma USA