Roland Wright: Brand New Page by Tony Davis

When Roland's father makes a suit of armor that saves the king's life, the king allows 1 of his sons to become a page, which the first step in becoming a knight. But once Roland gets to the castle, he realizes it isn't so great. The queen won't even let Roland's pet mouse stay! And there's a mean older page that hates kids like Roland. Ho will he get through this?
The book was pretty good, but very short. The type face was big, and the book had many pictures, so it was a short story, most likely meant for younger kids. The plot was good though, so I did like it. The story had more detail than you may expect because the book is so short. The author did a great job making a short but thorough novel.

Reviewer Age:11
Reviewer City, State and Country: Baltimore, Maryland USA

Book Title: The Flying Beaver Brothers and The Evil Penguin Plan by Maxwell Eaton III

This book was about two beavers that helped the island from being a frozen resort. Just before the day of the beaver surfing contest, was when the penguins devised to turn the island into the frozen resort. This machine of the penguins seemed to be invincible, but can the two heroic beavers even be able to solve this problem? The climax is as surprising as the end, and is you to see what happens!
The Flying Beaver Brothers And The Evil Penguin Plan was a book that did not appeal to me. Although I thought it would. So when I read the book I knew it was for someone of younger age. My eight year old brother was amused and enjoyed the book. I would recommend this book for anyone still in elementary school, and I found this book also very predictable.

Reviewer Age:11
Reviewer City, State and Country: Sterling, Virginia USA

A Smile of Fortune (eBook) by Adam Kisiel

This book is about a bard who is traveling to his family member's funeral and gets caught up in a life or death situation. The Man starts on his way to Romarillan, the city where his uncle's funeral will be held, when he meets a Halfling. This is where his story begins. When they get to the city, the bard gets stuck in a situation where he is in debt to an inn and the only way to pay is through thievery from a friend. The bard steals a ring that turns out to be a powerful wizard artifact, the ring of air. The bard when to a store to sell the ring so he could get money to repay his debt. He got home with all the money he needed, but instead of a debt collector, he found men wreathed in black robes waiting to kidnap him. He is put in a life or death situation in a fight for the rings. The ring is nowhere to be found, so the assailants are struck at by the captured and are forced to flee with he rings they already have, fire, water, and earth. Then the end of the book arrives, where they all the friends are reunited and thieves are on the loose with three rings of immense power.
A Smile of Fortune was a very creative book dealing with lots of interesting characters and a bit of a confusing plot. I didn't understand the moral of the story or why the author created the story. There was little rhyme or pattern to the plot, so the story made little sense. In the beginning, when the bard meets the Halfling and the Halfling gets put in jail, he leaves him there, if they were friends, then why would he leave him there. That made no sense to me. The book had several editing problems and no order to the story.  Personally, I didn't like the book and would rather the story had been explained better, the characters introduced more completely, and the story continued so you could learn what happens to the magic rings stolen by a thief and so the readers could learn more about the characters backgrounds.

Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: charlotte, North Carolina United States

I, Dwayne Kebler by James Connor

The book I, Dwayne Kebler is about a young boy in high school. Dwayne's mother is pregnant and quit her job, so Dwayne and his brother Reggie have to find jobs to help support the family. One day Dwayne runs into a paperboy who tells him there are plenty of streets open. When Dwayne gets the job, he finds that one street is not enough to fit the budget for the family. Dwayne's father makes Reggie sign up for another street although Dwayne is actually going to deliver to both streets. The 2nd road Dwayne is delivering to was named suicide seventeen by his fellow paperboys. Dwayne soon discovers why because on his second day of delivering, he gets robbed and ends up with a broken tooth. Dwayne's father wants the newspaper to give him an insurance claim since Dwayne got hurt but the company doesn't give him one, so Dwayne quits the job.


One thing I enjoyed about the book was the perspective. Reading the book from Dwayne's perspective was very interesting because his view was very unique and he used slang terms which was very amusing. Although when I read the ending, I felt that it was not very good. In the end, Dwayne's father just tells him to get a new job and the book ends. I also thought that the plot of the whole story was pretty bad because all that happens is Dwayne gets a job, he stops doing his old job, and looks to find a new job. I also think that the vocabulary is not very age appropriate because all of the characters use cuss words very often in the book. Comparing to other realistic fiction books, I think that this book is not very good. I think this because it was very cut and dry and was not as interesting as other realistic fiction books I have read. I think the author could have added more appealing things in the story other than his job, like maybe more details about his family like whether his mother even had a baby, or even if he found a new job. Another thing I did enjoy about the book was it was very realistic. This book was all about Dwayne helping his family survive and to do that he had to earn money. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book to other people because I didn't really like the plot of the story and it was not very interesting.
All characters cussed many times throughout the book.
Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Champaign, Illinois USA

Alien Proliferation by Gini Koch

In the book, Alien Proliferation, there was action and romance. In the beginning, the main character Kitty, was in a lot of pain. That was because she was having a baby. She is tired of sitting around and doing nothing. So after she has it, she is relieved. She can go on missions! But will the baby restrict her? Read this action and romance novel to find out!

I loved Alien Proliferation. It was dull at some parts, but I adored the rest. The description of everything was amazing. I could see parts of the book very clearly. Gini Koch did an amazing job writing the book. I would recommend this book to any action and/or romance lover.
I gave this book a 3 because there was language that younger kids starting to read novels shouldn t read
Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Whitinsville, Masachusetts United States of America

Kings of Colorado by David E. Hilton

  William Shepard's father abuses his mother, and Will, having had enough, tries to stab his father to death. He fails to kill his father, and in consequence he is sent away to the Swope Ranch Boys' Reformatory, in Colorado's isolated harsh mountains. Mind you the time period is the 1960's. His sentence is to stay there for two years, on his first night there he learns that it will be hard surviving mentally and physically at the ranch. He finds friends, three, and learns the ways of horses while training them there. Near the end of his sentence, Will learns what truly creates fear, and what it means to survive in the woods with crazed teenage murderers running loose. And in the end he knows what death does to those you love, and that life is not worth wasting.
Immediately the author, David E. Hilton, makes the setting clear, to where you can picture what's going on in intense details.


 If you asked me if the book had a tone I would tell you that no doubt it did. The tone was definitely one of sadness and darkness, in which it shows the humans will to survive.


  The books main characters had foul mouths but the author showed well that they had one another's backs. The main character is Will, who is a quick learner. His friends are, Mickey, Benny, and Coop; who all were tight as spandex on a chubby person. I really believed that these characters were real and when one or two died, you felt the pain in your heart, it was as if a family member had died.


 The author's voice had a great influence over the book; just the fact that he chose to make the main character, Will, reminisce his past was what made me love the book, a lot. And the detail was finite but it was there for a reason, and the word choice was amazing; it made you feel as if someone was actually telling you their life story. Something that most authors do that disappoints me is they leave me hanging unnecessarily onto what happened to the character because of their actions. David E. Hilton didn't do that, he took you to the end and told you, in the main character's point of view, exactly how Will ended up.


 I believe that the authors did achieve their purpose of informing you on life's many choices and hardships that come because of them. Books in general have to have a great premise to make me cry, this one made me tear up; so that is a sign of it's greatness. The vocabulary was vulgar at times but it was not to high leveled to make the reader feel stupid.


 The books strength is that it pulls you into Will's problems and hardships  so that you feel like you are reading someone's diary. It's one weakness, I think, is that you might feel it was too gory, or something along those lines because of the finite detail.


 I've not read other books by this author, so I cannot judge whether it is better than those or not; but, I can say that it even though it is not in the same genre as something as Harry Potter or The Hunger Games it is up to that level, maybe just a step or two below those books. I think it's genre might be adventure or historical fiction.


The book made me look at my priorities and wonder if they were silly. So I'd definitely say that this book moved me, like hundreds of feet from where I'd been previously.  I adored the ending; it was what I wanted so badly for the main character, after all that he'd lost. There was not a thing that the author could've done to improve the story; because it was already good enough, at least for me.


 I could say that I learned life is not a thing to take for granted, and that love is the greatest thing to have and give; along with friendship being something everyone should have.
 I'd recommend this novel to anyone who loves a bite of real life, or just anyone who reads because it really can open your eyes to what the world can be like at different corners of the Earth.
 
I gave this book a content rating of three because it was explicit in it's word choice and of some things mentioned such as masturbation. Also the murder in this book is described in great detail.
Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Nampa, Idaho United States

Married Mom, Solo Parent by Carla Anne Coroy

Married Mom, Solo Parent by Carla Anne Coroy does exactly what its sub-title states: it helps you to find God's strength to face the challenge of being a married mom while also being a solo parent.  While completely aware of single and divorced moms parenting alone, I had never really thought of married moms also doing the parenting by themselves.  According to Carla, a solo parent is someone who is raising children and running a home and family alone. Their husbands may be physically absent due to their jobs or serving in the military, or while being there in body, may be emotionally absent or too busy with their own interests to participate in the child rearing duties.

Touching on topics such as anger at the absent spouse, loneliness, and disciplining the kids, in addition to many others, this book from Kregel Publications will encourage its reader and give solid advice on how to not only survive but be happy while shouldering much of the day-to-day responsibilities of child-rearing and household duties.  A final chapter written by Ms. Coroy's husband giving his viewpoint is an interesting addition to a well-written book that is sure to help many women keep their sanity and their marriages intact.  I highly recommend Married Mom, Solo Parent by Carla Anne Coroy!

This book review was a special request for an adult reviewer.

Reviewer Age:46
Reviewer City, State and Country: Upper Strasburg, PA USA

Santa Claus and Little Sister (eBook) by Dr. Brian G. Snow

Santa Claus and Little Sister is the sad yet powerful story of a young teacher who moves from Boston to Los Angeles and finds himself in a classroom full of girls who have grown up in the gang life, abused and distrusting of others. He is suddenly immersed in a culture where wearing the wrong colors can get you killed, but he manages to handle the many conflicting emotions as he starts to connect with his students. One student in particular, Lupe, catches his attention. Her parents have a contract out for her death, as they are afraid she will identify pictures and get them arrested. Another girl, 17 year old Chata, is an active gang member and a constant annoyance at the school. When Lupe's life is threatened, the young teacher and Chata must work together to figure out a way to save the child.

If Dr. Brain G. Snow's purpose for writing Santa Claus and Little Sister was to make his readers feel like crying and rushing out to do good in the world at the same time, he certainly achieved his goal. The story was told through the friendly, likable voice of the young teacher, whose emotions and thoughts were clearly portrayed in the text. The characters were intense and well-described, evoking many different reactions to their personalities at once. The plot itself started out slow and detailed, as the author set up the setting and developed the characters, but ended with a bang. The resolution to the story was bittersweet, and tied up all the loose ends perfectly. I would definitely recommend this book to teens and young adults interested in an emotional story, as well as those interested in careers with abused or gang children.

Reviewer Age:16
Reviewer City, State and Country: Harleysville, PA USA

Fright Flight, Book One of Dream Seekers (eBook) by Lisa Ard

Fright Flight is a science fiction/ fantasy eBook and is the first in the Dream Seekers series. When dream seekers sleep, they are actually in the dream, not imagining it. This book is about a dream seeker named Patrick. After watching a starship fighter movie, Patrick dreams he is flying one. As you can see, Patrick has to be very careful not to get hurt or worse! He has to remember to follow his mom's rules for safe sleep'ing. Can Patrick pilot his ship to safety and defeat the enemy ships?
Fright Flight is an easy, one-hour read that really drew me in. I love the author's choice of words. The book really flows well and makes sense. It also has an interesting sub-plot involving one of Patrick's sister's friends, which I think made it more interesting and true-to-life. Even though this book is fantasy, it is also about the main character's non-dream life. It does not really stray away from the main plot very much, and when it does it is not confusing.  This is because of the way the author explains things. Some things that could be learned from this book are self-control and not giving up. I look forward to reading the next books in this series.

Reviewer Age:11
Reviewer City, State and Country: Calhoun, GA USA

Reel Culture: 50 Movies You Should Know About by Mimi O'Connor

Reel Culture by Mimi O'Connor outlines fifty influential movies from the 20th Century.  These films have shaped our culture with memorable quotes, scenes, and characters.  From Audrey Helpburn's little black dress in Breakfast at Tiffany's to Al Pacino's famous shootout in Scarface, O'Connor describes what has made these films endure in American culture.  Furthermore, she references more films outside of the main fifty that are related via director, actor, or film style.  The book also outlines the plot for each movie, and there are definitely spoilers involved.  All these elements put together give young readers a solid account of American pop culture in cinema in an accessible, easy-to-reference format.

I was very impressed by the analysis of the films given the target audience of the book.  O'Connor goes much deeper than the performance of actors and famous directors.  I learned the most from the analysis regarding film styles, especially the significance of films that pioneered certain genres such as film noir.  These tidbits contribute to a dimension of the book that serves as a very brief snapshot of film in an art history class context.

The only issue I have with the book is the spoilers.  I would advise readers not to read the complete synopsis if they are interested in seeing the film.  However, the plot summary is a necessary evil for the book to deliver on a variety of levels.  Some films are most remembered for a twist ending or the death of a character, and the cultural references described by the book would be limited without spoilers.  Furthermore, the most sophisticated film analysis books also do not hold back on spoilers.  It is needed to properly discuss the merits of a film.

Overall, with the suggested reader audience in mind, I highly recommend Reel Culture for movie lovers and the pop culture aficionado.

Reviewer Age:22
Reviewer City, State and Country: Eden Prairie, Minnesota United States