The Phantom Limb

Summary: I read The Phantom Limb by William Sleator and Ann Monticone. I greatly enjoyed this book. It had an interesting plot and was unlike any other book that I have ever read. It is the story of Issac, a boy with a dead father and a mother in the hospital. Friends reccomend a hospital for Issac's mom, so the family moves to a new house with Issac's grandfather who hasn't been himself in years. Issac feels neglected and alone until he finds a mirror box in his new bedroom. When he tries out the mirror box, he realizes that it not only reflects his other limb...it reflects the limb of another boy. With Issac's mom getting worse, Issac turns to the phantom limb for help. Doing a little poking around, Issac soon learns that the phantom limb belongs to a boy murdered by the same doctor operating on his mother now. The phantom limb directs Issac on how to save his mother. But can Issac trust the phantom limb?


Opinion: I really enjoyed The Phantom Limb. It was extremely original, I doubt you could find anything else like it. William Sleator and Ann Monticone really made you feel for the main character. The boy who has been through so much, you really get a sense of who he is. However, my only problem was that the book was a little bit predictable. I didn't really see the ending coming, but I saw the rest of the book coming within the first half. The end wasn't one of those books that makes you want to throw it across the room, it ties up all loose ends which I liked. It's a short read, but each chapter leaves you wanting more. All in all, I would highly recommend The Phantom Limb.


Content:1

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 7

Reviewer Age: 13

Reviewer City, State and Country: Tipp City, Ohio USA

Horse Diaries: Black Cloud by Patricia Hermes

Horse Diaries is about a horse named Black Cloud.  The story begins when he is born.  He explores around the meadow as his mother keeps them from harm.  After discovering many things throughout the meadow, they go back to the herd of horses.  He meets his father and some other colts and fillies.  After many days of playing, grazing, drinking, and sleeping with the other foals, a strange machine flies above their herd.  When all the other horses go running, Black Cloud follows.  He runs from the machine, which his mom calls a helicopter, for hours on end.  Soon, many of the horses begin to fall and never get back up.  When the machine leaves, the horses stop near a foul-tasting creek.  Many horses are captured by humans.  What will happen to Black Cloud?

The story wasn't as long as it could have been.  It was a nice story someone could read to a little brother or sister.  If it had more chapters, it could have been more interesting.  It had a lot of repeat sentences in the first two chapters.  The story didn't get me attached to the characters in the book.  Horse Diaries didn't have a lot of details about most of the things that happened to the horses.  I wouldn't recommend this book for people over the age of 9.

Reviewer Age:11

Reviewer City, State and Country: Leesburg, Virginia U.S.A

 

Battle of the Onoxmon by Alison Kartevold

Princesses Sophie and Veronica live in the castle in KenKarta, located on Virtier. Above Virtier are the Upper Tiers, where magical creatures live. In the Lower Tiers, the evil creatures are imprisoned. In KenKarta Veronica and Sophie spend their time playing, studying, and learning to use their Gifts. (Gifts are a little like magic powers but not quite the same.) Sophie, Veronica, Queen Alison, and King Dale make up a very happy family. But all that changes when Alison is stuck on an entirely different tier, Dale is being held and tortured who knows where, and Sophie is kidnapped! Veronica sets out to save her little sister, but ends up with the task of saving her entire world. She has some help from old friends, Julia and Dalminyo, and the help of a new friend, a stable boy named Zane. Even so, is she up to the challenge?
This book was one of the best books I have reviewed! The plot was complicated and kept changing, so you never got bored, but you didn't become really confused either. The characters were really relatable (for me at least) and had a lot of the impulses I do. I love how one of the bad guys isn't completely bad and Sophie is the only one who can see the good in him. I would suggest this to fantasy readers ages 10-14 (especially those with younger siblings) because it's one of the better books around with main characters close to that age.

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

R and the Sabre of Slaytr (eBook) by Summer Lockhart

This book is about a young orphan who goes on a quest to find out who his parents are. It starts out with him on a beach not knowing anything about himself. He then sees terrifying dreams. Except the dreams he sees are real events that happened. He is then taken to an orphanage by a man called Right Virgil. After a few years Right Virgil dies and on his deathbed tells him to read from the Sabre of Saltyr.
I loved this book. It was really well written and had me guessing what came next. In the end there is a twist so huge not even a magician could have predicted it.  The vocabulary was a little interesting and I had to look up some words but not to many. This book compares to Eragon but is more amazingly written. This is a beautifully written book with a beautiful ending.
I would recommend this book to anybody who liked Eragon but can handle a more twisted plot.





Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Hunting Valley, OH USA

The Knife and the Butterfly by Ashley Hope Perez

After a huge gang fight between Azael's MS-13, and a rival gang, 16-year-old Azael wakes up to a familiar sight--juvie.  Or is it?  No lawyer, no phone call, and no news about his brother. The only thing they make him do is watch some white girl he doesn't know and remember what happened.

Lexi Allen has no trouble remembering the fight, but her family and lawyers would love it if she could choose to forget it once it's time to testify.  She may be the key to Azael's understanding of what happened. There's a connection intertwined between them that goes deeper than they could both imagine.  Will Azael be able to figure out what happened before it's too late?  Can Lexi sort through what's right and what's wrong?
At first, I was a bit apprehensive about this book because of the language. Azael uses a lot of swear words and likes to describe girls in a rough manner. Not to mention that there were a lot of Spanish phrases that I did not understand, having never taken Spanish before. Then I realized that it was all part of the character. Perez does a beautiful job getting into Azael's head, and had she not used this language, Azael would not be believable.
The whole book is rather like a mystery trying to figure out what happened during the gang fight, and once I finished, I read it again and was able to pick up clues. The ending was absolutely beautiful, and immediately I gave the book to my English teacher to read because I really think she will like it. The chapters switch between then and now, so the reader finds out more of Azael's past along the way and what caused his tough life. Through his past, the reader is able to find Azael's lovable side of the boy who's just trying to survive. Even the disrespectful Lexi has a heart, and I came to love her, too.

I loved this book so much. If it were a movie, it would probably be rated R because of the profanity and gang violence, but it would be powerful enough to get nominated for an Academy Award. I would recommend this book to anyone, and think it should be read in school. And I will say it again, the ending is beautiful!
There was a lot of swearing and some slang descriptions of girls that would be a little disrespectful to someone who may not be OK with that. 

Reviewer Age:18
Reviewer City, State and Country: Gearhart, Oregon United States

Narrative Loserdom by Ryan Collins

     Narrative Loserdom, by Ryan Collins, is a classic tale of two teenage boys.  This book is written in the journalistic style by Justin Taggart; he writes about all the interesting things he and his friend Adam do.  From video games and girls to money, they're always doing something different.  Justin's fear of being rejected makes his dating life very miserable.    Find out if Adam and Justin make it through high school, in Narrative Loserdom.

     The plot to this book was very interesting, yet confusing.  Justin would often have flash backs or change the scene.  The author did a nice job at making you feel like you're part of the book.  You could feel Justin's voice the whole time.  This book is not meant for younger kids, although it's short.  It involves stealing and some pornographic references.

I gave this a 3 because there is references to Adam watching pornography, and stealing.

Reviewer Age:12

Flying to the Light (eBook) by Elyse Salpeter

Flying to the Light by Elyse Salpeter is about two brothers- Michael and Danny- whose parents get kidnapped at an awards ceremony late at night. The next morning, they wake up to immediate chaos. Michael sees news reports telling of his parents being partners with an evil biochemist, Samuel Herrington, and soon the bad men begin chasing them down, desperate to capture Danny. Michael doesn t know much at first, but he discovers that Danny isn t just his innocent kid brother. Danny can do the impossible: he knows what happens after you die, and Herrington is after that ability. Through betrayals, discoveries, and Danny s unique abilities, Michael and Danny do their best to escape from Herrington s men- and find their parents.
What I enjoyed most about this book was learning about Danny s powers. At a few points in the novel, I was shocked by how creative the author was being. She drew me into the story by exposing little by little of Danny, and each part made me want to discover more. I also liked the characters of both Danny and Michael. Danny seems like just a regular little boy, and he doesn t act like his ability makes him all that special. Michael always does anything he can to get him and his brother out of tight situations.


The author s style is just perfect for the plot of the book: she has fairly good writing, but it didn' t go into too much detail about every little thing, which I liked.


Some things I didn' t like about the novel: I felt like almost every chapter, there was a new discovery about someone they trusted being evil. Although it kept the plot moving, it was a little too much. Overall, I would recommend this book to someone who likes mystery novels and adventure- it was a page turner.



Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Burke , Virginia USA

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Aria has been cast out of Reverie, out of the Realms, out of her home.  Now she is in the outside, "the Death Shop".  With the raging Aether storms, she doesn't know how long she'll be able to survive.  Then she meets an Outsider named Perry who is her only chance of survival.  Despite their mutual hatred for each other, Perry and Aria come to an agreement so both can get what want most: Aria her life and Perry his salvation.  But will they be able to work together long enough to save everyone they know?

Under the Never Sky was an amazing book.  I could not put it down once I opened it and read it in one sitting.  Veronica Rossi has the book switching back and forth between Aria's and Perry's perspectives.  This helps the plot to be smooth and continuous and melds the lives of Aria and Perry.  The characters were extremely well developed, and there is never a dull moment in Aria and Perry's story.  I would recommend this book to anyone who liked the Uglies series by Scott Westerfield.

Reviewer Age:16
Reviewer City, State and Country: Brownsburg, Indiana United States of America

Cutting Cords

Book Title: Cutting Cords
Author: Jo Ramsey
ISBN: 9780983262428
Summary: This book was about a young girl named Shanna, who's father just moved out, due to an unhealthy marrige. Shanna is now left with her abusive mother. The only person she can look to for comfort is her best friend, Jonah. Jonah is trying to teach Shanna about being of light, banishing demons, and how to meditate. A friend of Shanna's, named Tammi, is cursed with a demon, and the demon has created an invisible cord, attached to Tammi, so she can drain Tammi's energy and transfer into the real world. Shanna must overcome her insecurity, and fear of her mother, to cast out the demon in Tammi.
Opinion: Wow. This book was amazing. I loved how the book started out by introducing the marrige problem between her mother and father right off the bat. It made me want to keep reading to see what might happen next. I loved the suspense that the author used at the end of some of the chapters. It gave the book an element that kept me reading. I appreciated that. I also loved how she eventually became more comfortable with her friend Jonah. It gave a romantic edge to the book that was very fun to read about.

Content:1


Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8
Reviewer Age: 13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Enon, Ohio USA

True Grime by Natasha Deen

True Grime, by Natasha Deen, focuses on the adventures of a teenage fairy cop named Pepper Polly Pebble Petunia Powder Puff, but don't ever call her that unless you're her partner Harley Hands! Pepper and Harley, two hard-working Grime cops, work to keep magical creatures from misusing their magic. However, when a high-tech bomb set by terrorists turns Pepper into the world's first fairy amputee, things get personal. Pepper and Harley go undercover as humans to keep the very same terrorists from destroying all of humankind by unleashing a Violent Illness of Unusual Resistance and Strength (V.I.U.R.S) in one of the human world's biggest shopping centers. The mission, however, ends up being tougher than Pepper had expected -- what with the fancy new technology of the terrorists and the unpredictability of humanity.
I did not find the book to be a particularly engaging read. While the characters were witty and likeable, the plot was quite predictable. The writing style and vocabulary were not very advanced, though that may be due to the fact that the narrator is a teenage fairy. The book was a mix of fantasy, adventure, and teen romance. Many aspects of the fantasy world created by Deen were unoriginal and made me immediately recall markedly similar elements or items from popular series such as Harry Potter. I will say that True Grime was a quick read and fairly amusing. However, readers should not expect to find any underlying themes; it's a story told for the sake of telling a story.

Reviewer Age:17
Reviewer City, State and Country: Columbus, IN USA