Trail of the Spellman

Isabel Spellman retains a normal life since the crazy antics of her last adventure. But this only lasts so long. Soon everything in her life begins going wrong. Her boyfriend might break up with her, her P.I. agency is getting too many jobs to handle, and her family is falling apart. Can Isabel save her family from all the craziness they had in past novels?

This book was a smart read about a dysfunctional family with humor laced throughout. The downside to this: this is a series book and can only be understood by having read past books by Lisa Lutz. I thankfully have read all of them; and this one is by far the best. The smart humor goes hand in hand with the mystery and creates a great book.

Reviewer Age:13

Reviewer City, State and Country: Addison, Illinois USA

Agent Amelia No, 1: Ghost Diamond!

              Who's super sneaky and likes to pretend she is someone else?  It is Agent Amelia in the book Ghost Diamond by Michael Broad.  Ghost Diamond is the first book in the Agent Amelia series. Amelia uses her brains and courage to solve crimes.  There are three mysteries in this book.  In the first case, Amelia sends her teacher to jail after she discovers her teacher stealing a diamond. In the second case catches some cat nappers who use real cats to rob a bank.  In the third case, Amelia stops a man from using his whispering weeds to take over the plant world.  

              If you are a girl seven through twelve and you like mysteries you will like this book.  Although this book was very easy for me to read I enjoyed reading about how Amelia solved the mysteries.  If Amelia lived in my neighborhood I would love to be her friend.  My favorite part of the book was when Amelia discovered her teacher was a crook.

Age:8

Jackson, MO USA

Plunder by Mary Anna Evans

Faye Longchamp-Mantooth and her husband Joe just consider themselves normal archaeologists until, on a research mission to find sites soon to be wrecked by oil at the mouth of the Mississippi in Louisiana, their voodoo mambo babysitter becomes unable to work due a major injury.  Babysitterless with a toddler that can potentially slow their plans of getting any work done, they hire treasure-hunting, school-loving Amande.  They suddenly find themselves thrusted into her life where relatives are battling for Amande's miniscule inheritance due to her grandmother's death, including a rundown houseboat, some shares of stock, and an inhabitable island soon to be swamped by oil.  Will Faye and her family be able to protect Amande from her greedy relatives, and possibly, even death?
I delved into this book thinking it would be terrible, because I don't really like archaeology or pirates.  But, as with the other Flamingnet books I have reviewed, I was greatly surprised.  This book is probably the absolute opposite of what I thought coming in to it.  It ended up being a murder mystery with a touch of romance.  The plotline is exquisite, the subplots tie together with the main plot very nicely, and there are many gripping plot twists.  The character development is superb and I felt connected to all the characters.  I strongly recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries.

Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Torrington, CT United States

Following Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci

College reporter Mike Mavric sells everything he owns, for the oppurtunity that he hopes will launch his writing career. He drives to sleepy town of Steeplton with his girlfriend Rayann hoping to interview some of the most important and popular people involved in the case of Christopher Creed's disappearance. Nobody knows what could have happened to Chris. There were no clues left behind, thats what makes this case so astonishing. Does Mike have what it takes to put these different stories to find the real answers behind this stor? Mike will have to put his true dedication to reporting to the test, and find the lines between business and personal.
Overall, I would say that this book is probably my favorite of all time. Every single sentence has you on edge, down to the peiod. You will never be bored. It has such powerfull effect that you find yourself putting yourself in the characters shoes, trying to imagine what it would be like to feel such pain and aganony of never knowing what happened. This boook is definitly worth reading. I highly recomend it.
The book makes a lot of drug and sex refrences. Also a lot of cussing.
Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Jackson, MO United States

Nameless by Kyle Chais

    Life as a Nameless can get boring. Monotonous days awaiting your execution can get very dull. That's why one Nameless decides to possess a troubled human named Aurick. The Nameless sees Aurick, about to be murdered, and steps in to save Aurick's life. The only problem? The Nameless gets a bit too comfortable in Aurick's body and decides to stay awhile.
Let me start by saying this book was written by an 18 year-old, Kyle Chais. I think it's absolutely amazing an 18 year-old could crank out a full-length novel at such a young age, and that's to be applauded. However, I really just didn't ever connect with this book. I guess it just wasn't my cup of tea. My main problem was that I found there to be too many extraneous events and characters that detracted from the overall plot. There were just a lot of characters who floated in and out, not really having a purpose. I did enjoy some of Aurick's antics towards the middle of the story; some of his adventures are fun to hear. Though, as the story stretched on, I just never had that moment where I was enthralled. I never felt engaged with the characters. Another problem I had with this story was the peculiar religious themes. I don't want to give anything away, but there is a lot of both challenge and support of religion and it felt misplaced. I have read several other books about fallen angels and such that managed to keep the plot away from religious territory. I just didn't care for the writing style, so it was hard for me to enjoy the story. Overall through, Chais has accomplished an amazing feat as such a young author. I hope he continues to grow as a writer and that maybe his next book will be something more up my alley.
Along with religious themes, this book has a fair amount of sex and violence and is more suitable for older teens and young adults.
Reviewer Age:15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Tigard, Oregon United States

A Million Suns by Beth Revins

In the first book we learned that GODSPEED was run by secrets, but that was only the beginning. In the second book, with Eldest dead and Orion in cryo, Elder assumes leadership, but some people don't think he's ready.  As Elder tries to deal with the growing chaos, he learns a secret that could crush everyone's hope.  Elder and Amy race to uncover the truth that's been hidden for hundreds of years with the fate of 2,298 passengers on their shoulders and the knowledge that they have to get off this ship.


A secret that's been hidden for hundreds of years is bound to change their lives ... and end others.
Okay, I'll admit I had very high expectations for this sequel and Beth Revis took it above and beyond anything I could have hoped for. She started A Million Suns so smoothly and took her characters to the next level. Her sensory details are amazing and easy to understand so you can picture what it's like to live on GODSPEED. She had a really good mystery woven in with a shocking ending that you don't see coming. Revis had just the right amount of romance - nothing going over the line, which is nice compared to some teen books. The only thing I didn't like was the language even though they're substitutes (see content review for more info) and there was a lot of violence for younger readers, but other than that it was a really good fast - paced book. I can't wait to see what happens next in book three, Shades of Earth, coming out January 2013.   
Language

 "Frex" the replacement of the f - word is used quite often

"Effing" the British equivalent of the f - word is used once

"Shite" the replacement  of the word shit is used often
 1 real f - word


Sexual content
1 steamy makeout scene


Violence
 There are several riots. People get sucked out into space. A girl is found strangled to death after being raped. Several people are killed with medicine patches and one is hanged as a warning. A girl is shot and killed in the end and another man is shot in the leg. A man is badly beaten along with several other fights. We read about a girl's suicide/murder and we are reminded of a man's suicide from the first book. We read about Amy's memories of just about being raped during the season in the first book several times. 
Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Sharpsville, Indiana USA

Warriors of Change by Tina Brescanu

Warriors of Change, by Tina Brescanu is about four teenagers trying to make a change in the world. They are Milla and Torsten, the Irish siblings, Sky, the new kid in school, and Sunny, the angel. In their lives, taxpaying adults get to do anything they want, while their kids go to school or prison as the teenagers describe it. The students have to endure mean teachers, physical punishment, bullies, and a lot of negativity. They go on a journey to save children everywhere from the schools and try to find freedom.
I would rate this book a 3 out of 10 because it was boring and difficult to follow. Also, there were a lot of random ideas in this story. There were ghosts, angels, kids with super powers, traveling to other planets, and other lives the characters have lived. There were just WAY too many ideas to understand! I was bored when reading this book and couldn't follow most of it. In the middle of the story there were a few chapters that were just a lot of life lessons crammed into paragraphs that had nothing to do with the story.

Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Kansas City, Kansas United States

Catwalk by Deborah Gregory

Pashima Purrstein is determined to win this year's Catwalk competition at Fashion International High School with the help of her team, the House of Pashima. She's ready to face any drama or challenges that come her way as House Leader to make sure her feline fatale fashion show wins. But it turns out to be more than she expected. Can Pashima handle all this trouble and accomplish her dream of opening her own clothing line, Purr Unlimited, or will her dreams come crashing down around her? Where Pashima and her house concerned, there's only one option, to win.
    This book was pretty good. The characters are super easy to relate to, given a many of the character's situations. The plot was always changing, and pretty realistic because, although unlikely, almost all the situations Pashima gets into could actually happen. The only problems I found with this book were some of the slang, although there is a glossary of the slang in the back, and the amount of teen drama. I mean, sometimes the drama got so thick I just put the book down and didn't go back to it for a few days. Overall I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves cats, fashion, and LOTS of drama.

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

Sudden Flash Youth by Christine Perkins-Hazuka, Tom Hazuka, and Mark Bud

The stories of Sudden Flash Youth may all be less than one thousand words, but that doesn't mean they can't pack a punch in those few pages. They're all short, and they all deal with the subject of youth, but it's certainly a diverse compilation, covering all voices and perspectives. In one story, we hear from a young narrator growing up during the Nixon era who is wondering if they he bother being good anymore, in a time when even the president has been caught lying. Then there's a story about a boy raised by wolves, followed by another about a fifteen year old girl wondering what gifts she will received at her quinceanera. The plot and the voices differ, but all the stories deal with the raw and real aspects of growing up. These are stories about first kisses, ugly breakups, wrecking cars, losing virginity and finding religion; about things that no doubt every teenager has experienced in some way. Reading the stories of Sudden Flash Youth is like looking through the scrapbooks of 65 different people. They read like snapshots, like tiny fragments of lives that we want to know more about. They re short and sometimes sweet and sometimes sad, but always satisfying.
   



Sudden Flash Youth truly was one of the best short story anthologies I've read in a long time. These stories spoke to me so much as a teeanger, and I loved reading things that are relatable to my lives and the lives of the other young people around me.The writing was wonderful and strong, and the voices of the narrators pulled me in and held me there, even if it was only for a thousand words of less. When you don't want a story to end, you know you just finished reading something amazing.

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

The Poisons of Caux: Book Three by Susannah Appelbaum

When Ivy awakens in an orphanage, she doesn't know what has happened. Everything seems strange and unusual. And when she meets a well keeper (who is amazingly strong), they join forces and begin the journey to where Ivy's evil father is so that she can destroy him once and for all. But will she make it there alive?
I LOVED this book! Every chapter was amazing! The characters were life like as well. I would've rated this book a 10, but there were some difficult words and some parts were a bit confusing. But other then that, it was an amazing book.

Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Yucaipa, CA USA