Paraworld Zero

In this fantasy novel, the main purpose of the story was to
entertain. It was not a really deep novel, even though
there were a few personal and moral conflicts. It was an
action-packed story set in a series of parallel worlds.
Most of the characters had magical abilities. The main
character, a boy named Simon, leaves planet Earth with a
magic user trainee named Tonya. They are stranded on a
paraworld completely devoid of magic and make friends there.
Soon, Simon discovers that he is the only person that can
perform magic on that particular planet. With their
newfound friends, Simon and Tonya must save the world and
make their way off the planet. In the other paraworlds,
sinister events are taking place. The ending answers the
immediate questions, but leaves some questions to be
resolved later in the series.

As a fantasy and science fiction lover, I greatly enjoyed
the story. However, if you are not into fantasy, it may not
be the best choice for you. The author did a great job
creating a setting completely unique to his series. The
plot could be a little jumpy or rushed at times, but it was
fairly easy to follow the story line. It is a must read for
anyone who loves fantasy and for anyone who loves a good
adventure/coming-of-age novel.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 9

Reviewer Age:13

Reviewer City, State and Country: Royersford,
Pennsylvania United States

The Ice Dragon

Adara is the protagonist, with the heat, her father, and the
war as the antagonists. Adara must overcome her cold heart
and experience death and life to understand warmth, but she
was born in a snow storm, which killed her mother. Then, in
the midst of a cold childhood, Adara meets the ice dragon.
It is even colder than her, breathing ice instead of fire,
and freezing rivers that it settles next to. But just as her
friendship with the ice dragon blossoms, a war is upon her
father's farm. Adara has to choose between her family or a
cold life with the ice dragon, in a land where winter never
ends... the decision is up to her.

The Ice Dragon was a captivating book, with a tragedy and
a mystery wound into it. Adara is a mysterious little child,
unloved by her father and shunned by the rest of the village
children. But the most interesting thing is that she doesn't
care, preferring to go and build ice fortresses alone than
torture ice lizards with the other children. When the ice
dragon is introduced to the story, at first I was afraid for
the villagers; and the Adara befriended it, so the fear
abated. The climax point (where Adara chose which life to
live) was thrilling, and showed a clear hardship for Adara.
The only thing that I thought could have been made more
clear was the location, as it only included Uncle Hal
talking about the king. But other than that, the overall
book was definitely a page-turner, keeping me from other
tasks to read it.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8

Reviewer Age:13

Reviewer City, State and Country: Eagle Creek, OR USA

The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa

This book follows the journey of Jeff Swiller as a Peace
Corp volunteer in the village of Mununga in Zambia. Swiller
is legally deaf and has learned to use hearing aids. But
this puts him in a difficult situation- he doesn't fit in
with the hearing community, nor with the deaf community.
When Swiller goes to Mununga, he believes that this is
finally a place where his hearing ability doesn't matter.
But Mununga also has the harsh realities of life. Swiller
witnesses sickness, death, disease, a mob, and a violent bus
crash. He finds good friends, but also makes some enemies.
In the end, his Peace Corp trip will change the way Swiller
views the world and himself.

This book is not a larger-than-life story about how one
man made the world a better place. Rather, it is a honest
memoir about real life. It is not a cheerful book, but it is
something that will make an impression. The book deals with
many different issues, including issues faced by deaf people
in America and around the world, issues about understanding
different cultures and places, and issues about life and
death. The book is very detailed, and in some cases I
thought the details were excessive. This is definitely not a
book to read for a happy bedtime story, but don't let that
put you off - it is definitely a book worth reading,
especially if you are interested in learning more about the
world.

bad language, sex

Reviewer Age:14

Reviewer City, State and Country: Urbana, Illinois USA
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 7

Dragon Maze

Dragon Maze is the story of a girl, named Shiloh, who
time-travels into ancient Babylon. Sad because her father
is dead, she looks through his boyhood toys and finds a very
old puzzle. The puzzle is a portal that sends Shiloh from
our world into Babylon. Once there, she gains new friends
along with many enemies. Desperately trying to find a way
home, Shiloh takes on a quest to save dragonkind and mankind.

Dragon Maze is a fantastic book that takes you on a
magical journey through time. The author draws you into the
story with fascinating characters and detailed description
of an older time and place. Even though the book is a
fantasy, the author has a way of making it believable. This
is my first time travel book but it definitely won't be my
last.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 9

Two people got their tongues cut out, one person got
stabbed and died, and another got eaten by demons.

Reviewer Age:13

Reviewer City, State and Country: Hamilton, OH USA

Extras

Aya Fuse is fifteen and living in the time after the world
of uglies, pretties, and specials. People don't care about
how you look. They care about how famous you are. Everyone
has a social status that is monitored 24/7. Aya is a
miserable extra, someone that no one knows about and is just
there. She wants to be famous so she kicks stories, or
writes stories about others to get fame. When she finds a
secret group, the Sly Girls, she plans on kicking a story
about them and a weapon that could be the end of the world.
Her story gets kicked and instantly she is extremely famous.
Then, they need to save the world with just herself, a
famous guy named Frizz (who she has a crush on), her brother
Hiro, his friend Ren, and a couple other people who are so
famous they can't be seen.

I loved Uglies, Pretties, and Specials. Extras was just
as good as the rest. The setting is in the future, but it
seems so realistic and I find myself in their world.
Everything is described well and the book has great imagery.
One problem was that in about the middle of the book it
starts saying that she is talking in Japanese. I think that
is a really cool thing, however, I don't recall it ever
mentioning it earlier so I had no clue she wasn't talking in
English! Westerfeld could have added that earlier on in the
book for a better understanding. I recommend Extras to
mostly girls who like futuristic suspense, but I think
everyone would love it.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 9

Reviewer Age:14

Reviewer City, State and Country: Carlisle, Pennsylvania
United States of America

Pageants of Despair

Peter is a normal boy, living a normal life, until that
fateful day.

His mother was out walking and was molested. Now Peter is
on a train away from his hometown to visit with his aunt and
uncle. On the train, he meets a stranger named Gilbert.
This stranger is stranger than any person Peter has ever met
before. He says he is from fourteenth century Dunfield.
Gilbert takes Peter back in time to save a play that is
turning the unsuspecting actors into the characters they play.

When the story takes a turn for the worst, what will Peter do?

First off, this book was brilliant. The idea behind the
plot was fascinating. On the other hand, the plot was
sparse, and confusing. The author would explain bits here,
and there, and then the rest would be up to your
interpretation.

His characters didn't have a lot of depth, they seemed
unnatural, unlike real people. Hamley didn't do a very good
job of getting into a young boys mindset. It sounded more
like an older man contained in a twelve-year-olds body.

The book didn't always make a whole lot of sense, definitely
an advanced read.


Rating (0 - 10 scale): 5

Reviewer Age:14

Reviewer City, State and Country: Shippensburg, USA

The Silver Kiss

Zoe is depressed. Her mother is spending weeks at a time in
the hospital because of Cancer. One day, she meets a boy.
His name is Simon. They start spending time together when
he tells her his secret. Simon is a vampire. His mother
was murdered years ago by a demonic vampire. It was this
vampire who changed Simon. Zoe must help Simon to avenge
his mother's death and find a way to help herself deal with
her mother's illness.

This book is a definite read for any vampire romance
lovers. It ranks right up there with the Twilight series.
Simon is one of the most in-depth characters i have ever
come across. He was well thought out and described. Zoe
was the same way. She always seemed to be doing the thing
that her character would do, meaning, she would never go out
of character.

The book's plot was a little sparse. It was slow in the
beginning, and sped up in the end. In the beginning, Clause
paid much attention to detail. By the end, she wasn't
explaining herself fully. She left me with some unanswered
questions.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 8

It talks of love,kissing and sex.

Reviewer Age:14

Reviewer City, State and Country: Shippensburg, USA

The King of Mulberry Street

In Napoli, Italy, a nine-year-old boy (later to be called
Dom) lived his regular life with his aunt, mother, uncle,
and younger siblings. But one day his mother woke him up
early, and suddenly set him on a ship straight to America.
Dom found himself alone on the streets of the strange town
the civilians called Five Points. Dom discovered friends on
the streets and realized that he had to rely on himself more
than on others. Even though he was Jewish, Dom was forced to
go to a Christian church and eat un-kosher foods. Soon he
settled into life and blended into the New York crowds.<

p>The King of Mulberry Street was amazingly written, and
suspense was included in all of the appropriate places to
polish it off. Donna Jo Napoli helps the reader visualize
the life of an orphan living on the streets in New York in
the 1890s. I think this novel could become a well-known
historical book about what life was like for nineteenth
century American immigrants. It might be as popular as the
novel Stones in Water, another one of Donna Jo Napoli's
books. The King of Mulberry Street is definitely a page turner.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 9

Some adult situations that some children may not understand.

Reviewer Age:11

Reviewer City, State and Country: Osseo, Wisconsin United
States

Lily Dale: Awakening

A girl named Calla is recovering from her mother's recent death when she is sent to live with her Grandmother in a little town called Lilly Dale. Unbeknownst to her this town is a haven for mediums and clairvoyants who call themselves followers of Spiritualism. Calla is shocked when she learns this and she abruptly plans to leave. Suddenly however, she herself begins receiving visions from a missing girl. Will she be able to forget her misconceptions and trust her instincts? Read the book to find out.

This book was very good. It held my interest with an exciting mix of mystery, fantasy, and romance. Calla was a likable main character that had you rooting for her. The only thing I did find odd, if not necessarily bad, was the fact that the whole book was written in the present tense. Nonetheless, I would recommend this book as a well written and exciting novel.

There were points that contained descriptions of ghost that may be mildly scary for some readers. People may not be comfortable with the Spiritualism either.
e were points that contained descriptions of ghost that may be mildly scary for some readers. People may not be comfortable with the Spiritualism either.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 9

Reviewer Age:13

Reviewer City, State and Country: Chambersburg, PA Franklin

Hot Mama

Fiona Fine, also known as Fiera, is one of the most famous
superheroes in the world. As part of the Fearless Five, she
has made it her mission to rid the world of ubervillians,
especially after her fiance was killed by one. After a year
of grieving, she decides that she needs to move on, and
happens to meet Johnny Bulluci at her friend Carmen's
wedding. While her love life slowly starts to improve, her
superhero life gets more complicated. Siren and Intelligal
are two villains intent on taking over the world and it's up
to Fiera and her fellow companions to stop them before it's
too late. But then another fighter, Johnny Angel, comes on
the scene and it's not to save the day, and rather causes
more trouble for the Fearless Five.

The last time I read anything with superheroes was back
in grade school. This new book gives a fresh look on a
rather childish idea, but this story isn't childish at all.
The story is filled with romance and action and makes a
great read for older readers. Once I started the book, I
couldn't put it down and read it pretty much in one sitting.
I'm excited to see that the author will continue to write
about superheroes and I look forward to seeing what Jennifer
Estep will come up with next.

Rating (0 - 10 scale): 10

sex scenes

Reviewer Age:20

Reviewer City, State and Country: Philadelphia, PA USA