Alexandra's Secret

Alexandra's Secret


Missiles, betrayals, and spies, oh my! You'll get all that and more in Annie Laura Smith's new novel, Alexandra's Secret. Set in the mid-1940's, right when World War 2 is just heating up, eighteen year-old Alexandra Cockrell has just graduated from the American Office of Strategic Services (it would take a couple days training just to be able to say the name) otherwise known as the OSS. Graduating youngest in her class, Alexandra doesn't expect to be assigned to a high-profile mission until the OSS discovers that an important military document has been lost. If the manuscript falls into the hands of the enemy, the entire war could be compromised. With older, more experienced agents otherwise occupied, the OSS chooses Alexandra to carry out this vital mission, due to her impeccable memory, glowing physical record, and bilingual abilities. As she sets out to Belgium to try and recover the text with nothing more than a hint of where it might be, Alexandra is putting herself and everyone who helps her along the way into mortal peril. With the outcome of the war on her shoulders, will Alexandra be successful in her quest for the article? Or will she even make it out alive?

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Jason Norris is in quiet a situation himself. Just shot down by enemy planes, Jason is in the middle of nowhere, lost, hungry, dirty, and would really like a to use a decent bathroom. If that doesn t seem bad enough, while he was busy trying to parachute safely out of his flaming fighter jet, he somehow misplaced a key file that his superiors said should never EVER be lost. In a nutshell, he's having quite a day. With the manuscript now lost, he can only hope that it doesn't fall in the wrong hands. As Jason travels across who-knows- where, can he find a source of safety before the Germans find him instead?

The B-17 spin increased dramatically as Lt. Norris scrambled toward the bomb bay and the escape hatch&.The wind buffeted him, and slammed him up against the fuselage before he fell free into the night.

Ok, so when I first read the back cover of this book, I was super excited. War, danger, intrigue, and a boy and a girl, which practically screams ROMANCE! Sadly, everything in this book was the exact opposite of what I had hoped it to be. I know I like a story to be fast-paced and thrilling, but the book moved a little too fast, which completely buried the sense of anticipation. There characters would be in a new place every few pages, which didn't give the plot time to elaborate on the setting or individual emotions. I also didn't connect with the novel all. It was just like Smith was going through the motions of writing a book, plot, setting, problem, and solution. It was really hard for me to get immersed in the novel, and actually feel like I was there. And, for all you lovers of the romantic side of reading, there was some romance. Some. I just felt like that was kind of rushed, too. One thing I did like about this book was all the information I collected about World War Two. Smith definitely did her research. All in all, I was a little disappointed in this book, and certainly felt like Smith could do better.

One of the Spanish soldiers grabbed Jason by the arm before he could raise his pistol. Other soldiers entered the room, and surrounded him.



I would recommend this book for ages 8 and up, because of the World War Two lingo and some sensuality. This wasn t really a bad book for profanity though it was clean-cut and mostly innocent.

Will Alexandra be successful on her quest for the key manuscript that could change the course of the war? Will Jason be able to get to safety and notify the U.S. of his whereabouts? Or will the enemy find them both first?

Age 12, Leopold, Missouri USA

52 Days of 52 Reasons to Love Jessica Brody and Her Books

1 of the 52 Reasons to Love Jessica Brody and Her Books….for 51 other reasons, visit Lili’s Reflections (August 20th), Book Soulmates (August 22nd) and Y.A. Love (August 23rd), and stay tuned for more!

Jessica's favorite summer Olympic event is couch lounging for which she would have an Olympic gold medal! But she loves Gymnastics.

About 52 Reasons to Hate My Father (FSG, July 2012)
Being America’s favorite heiress is a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.

Lexington Larrabee has never to work a day in her life. After all, she’s the heiress to the multi-billion-dollar Larrabee Media empire. And heiresses are not supposed to work. But then again, they’re not supposed to crash brand new Mercedes convertibles into convenience stores on Sunset Blvd either.

Which is why, on Lexi’s eighteenth birthday, her ever-absent, tycoon father decides to take a more proactive approach to her wayward life. Every week for the next year, she will have to take on a different low-wage job if she ever wants to receive her beloved trust fund. But if there’s anything worse than working as a maid, a dishwasher, and a fast-food restaurant employee, it’s dealing with Luke, the arrogant, albeit moderately attractive, college intern her father has assigned to keep tabs on her.

In a hilarious “comedy of heiress” about family, forgiveness, good intentions, and best of all, second chances, Lexi learns that love can be unconditional, money can be immaterial, and, regardless of age, everyone needs a little saving. And although she might have 52 reasons to hate her father, she only needs one reason to love him.

52 Reasons to Hate My Father Excerpt: http://www.jessicabrody.com/books/teen-fiction/52-reasons-to-hate-my-father/about-the-book
52 Reasons to Hate My Father Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YjWYB327yHc
The Making of the 52 Reasons to Hate My Father Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRuX1LkvDlw&feature=youtu.be

Lazarball: Book One of the Anumal Empire Series (eBook) by Darren Jacobs and David Ayres

Lazarball: Book One of the Anumal Empire Series written by Darren Jacobs and David Ayres sets itself in the future. The human race is long gone, replaced by the new dominant race, the anumals. Created using a combination of human and animal DNA, anumals come in many shapes and sizes, or rather, in many breeds. Clinton, our protagonist, is a feline; a lion. Having lost his parents, Clinton is now responsible for his little brother Raion. As if that weren't enough, his family is despised and the two brothers have been forced to live in the village slums and scrounge for food. All Clinton wants is to win the Lazarball tournament, so he can use the prize money to get himself, Raion, and his father's old friend, a gecko named Arkie, away from Wooburn to a place where no one's ever heard of them and they have a fighting chance. Little does Clinton know that he's destined for things much greater than simply Lazarball.

This book is phenomenal. The story is insanely creative what with the human-animal creatures (I love that they're called anumals). The Anumals behave like humans. They share our flaws and they also share our strengths. Despite his name there are those still willing to show kindness to Clinton and despite a corrupt government there are still a few willing to fight for the Right. There are also plenty happy to sell out for personal gain or treat Clinton like trash because his last name is Narfell. I guess really what I'm getting at here is that the true beauty of this book is that despite the fact that Clinton Narfell is a lion-human thing the reader can still connect with him. He is not totally alien. Reading this story I really felt for and connected with Clinton. I even grew to love his brother. This book is exciting, emotional, and fun and I definitely recommend it.

Reviewer Age:15

Reviewer City, State and Country: El Paso, Texas United States

Witch World by Christopher Pike

Jessie never expected anything out of the ordinary to happen when she and her friends went to Vegas for the weekend after graduation. She didn' t expect to meet Russ, who was enchanting and strangely amazing at blackjack. She didn' t expect for the love of her life to come back to her with strange reasons for leaving. In the night lights of Vegas, Jessie is launched into a new world, where people with powers are everywhere. But she didn 't expect to be a part of Witch World' s biggest conspiracy. Will Jessie make it out the way she was before or will she become a new person completely?

The concept of this book was really good. The characters were developed very well. You could easily see Jessie' s struggles throughout the whole book. I also really liked that this was written in first person. This  aspect helped the book a lot. This book will keep you guessing the whole time. The only part I did not like was how the world was shown to Jessie, it was confusing. I recommend this book to people who like magic and adventure. This book has quite a few innuendos and cuss words.

Reviewer Age:15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Denver, CO United States

Child of the Mountains by Marilyn Sue Shank

Lydia Hawkins is a 12-year-old girl living in the mountains of West Virginia. Her whole world gets turned upside down when her brother, B.J. passes away and her mother gets put in jail for an unfair reason. When she gets sent away to live with her grumpy uncle and crazy aunt some weird things happen. Lydia figures out some family secrets that change her entire life. If you like suspense, tragedy, and standing up for what s right, Child of The Mountains is the perfect book for you.
I really enjoyed this book. This book teaches kids to appreciate what they have and that not everything will go their way. It also teaches them to realize how many gifts God has already given them. The emotion written in the book is so powerful and moving. Each chapter is filled with suspense. I could hardly put it down. I would go upstairs to clean my room and then stay up there for an hour just reading my book. This is not the kind of book I would normally read but I'm glad I did. I thoroughly enjoyed this story.

Reviewer Age:10
Reviewer City, State and Country: Charlotte, NC United States

Ashes of Twilight by Kassy Taylor

Wren MacAvoy is a coal miner. She is a lower class shiner forced to work in order to maintain the royals luxurious way of life. Coal keeps the giant fans running, along with everything else because Wren s world is a giant dome. The royals and everyone else were sent here long ago, in the hopes that they could protect and preserve the bloodline of the royals after a giant comet struck the earth and set it ablaze. As far as anyone inside the dome knows, the outside is still engulfed in flames but the dome s coal is running out, and conditions are worsening. Wren has always thought there was something more outside the dome, and she is even more certain after her good friend, having attempted to escape the dome,  gives her his dying words The sky is blue. Is there really hope for a better life outside the dome? Wren is determined to find out.Ashes of Twilight is a great dystopian romance/adventure, with twists that keep you entertained and a familiar theme rebellion against a controlling society presented in a unique way. . . for the most part. I found a few uncanny similarities to other books, but they were small and maybe they were just coincidental. Other than that, I enjoyed Ashes of Twilight. I would recommend it for a middle teen crowd. My final verdict: a good read.Some of the romantic scenes are questionable for younger readers.Reviewer Age:12Reviewer City, State and Country: Tigard, OR USA

Wooden Bones by Scott William Carter

This book is about a boy named Pino.  He carved a lady puppet and it turned alive.  Angry neighbors all wanted their deceased ones back.  Pino ran away with his father, Geppetto.  They had many adventures that had good and bad consequences.  But every time Pino used his magic to create something from wood, his hand turned into wood.  What will Pino and his father do?Pinocchio s story is back, except this time, he can create wooden people.  I liked this book because of the characters.  They were trusted and realistic.  I find the book has strong words and plenty of excitement.  If you like to have an adventure in a book, this is the book for you.  I don t recommend it for people under 10.Reviewer Age:12Reviewer City, State and Country: Leesburg, Virginia USA

The Adventures of Benjamin Skyhammer (eBook) by Nicole Sheldrake

Benjamin Skyhammer goes relic hunting for a relic collector on his home planet Pingala. While he relic hunting he meets creatures that also want this relic for its magic powers. When he gets back home he is thought to be a Retrograph Sorcerer . He goes to find the real Retrograph Sorcerer but learns that she was killed. He goes back to Quansity to find the ceremony is sabotaged because all magic is replaced with technology.


This book was excellent. I wish the author would write another book in the series so he could expand on the story. It was too good for just one book.  I loved the relic hunting parts, they remind me of searching for treasures in ancient Egypt ,one of my favorite time periods.
Reviewer Age:11Reviewer City, State and Country: Glen Burnie, MD USA

Mary of the Aether (eBook) by Jeffrey Aaron Miller

Mary of the Aether is a thrilling book, centered around a teenage girl who discovers that she' s not as normal as she thought. Before turning 14, Mary had lived a completely boring life, with some unexplained moves between states and houses, along with not knowing anything about her mother. But when she discovers Aether, and the magic she has within her, everything changes, and she finds out more of her past than she ever hoped to know. Sadly, after discovering the power of Aether, or magic, Mary also finds out that there are magic-craving demons after her, willing to kill her to get what they want. Using all her strength and courage, Mary will have to either destroy the demons or have the last remains of Aether leave the Earth. Join Mary on an exciting adventure as she works to save the remains of magic in this adventure and action-packed book!

I found this book to be absolutely brilliant! After the first couple of pages it really picked up, and I could hardly put the book down as I felt like I, myself, was in the book alongside Mary! Mary of the Aether carries a tone of mystery, as the puzzle is never quite finished, but it does include all the right details at the same time. The book is perfect for the selected age group, but also has some brilliant words and dialect. Mary of the Aether may not be the next Harry Potter, but it is very good! This book uplifted me as I found that it portrayed the message that if you believe in yourself and work hard, nothing is impossible. I would most definitely recommend this book to others, and I found it to be a pleasure to read!

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

My Beginning (eBook) by Melissa Kline

In the book My Beginning by Melissa Kline, the world has changed as we know it. The main character, Ivory, has been raised in an institution for children after the world was plagued by a deadly virus. The children are taught their entire life that they must remain inside institution walls at all times or risk catching the virus and dying. Inside, one of the most important rules is that boys and girls must no t mingle. For Ivory, that has never been a challenge, until Aiden the mysterious new boy who catches her eye, is transferred to her institution after his was overrun by the plague. They soon begin to fall for each other and meet in secrecy, but when they are discovered lurking in the broom closet they are both severely punished. Their options suddenly become clear: stay away from each other forever or run away. They choose love and run from the institution, soon discovering not everything is as they were told. Over the course of the story, we follow Ivory and Aidan as they fight to find a way in the world for love, and fight off the all controlling evil. They prove love really does trump all.

In the book My Beginning, Melissa Kline tells an inspiring story where love can defeat all evil. It is a long story, with a twist in the middle you would never guess. I thoroughly enjoyed it and believe that any teenage girl interested in Sci-Fi will instantly fall in love with it. Ms. Kline keeps you on the edge of your seat with little interludes throughout. I couldn't wait to reach the ending of Ms. Kline's story, since I was anxious to figure out how Ivory and Aidan overcame to mounting obstacles laid in their path. It comes to an overall pleasing ending that you may not have expected from the beginning. I can't wait to recommend this book to my friends the moment the opportunity arises, and I would recommend this book to every teenage girl, even those hesitant to dive into Science Fiction.
The book made a few references to sex and violence.

Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Glendale, Arizona United States