Sweet 15 by, Emily Adler

In three months, Destiny Lozado will turn fifteen. In a Latino household, this means the countdown begins for a Quincenara, or big fifteenth birthday celebration. However, Destiny is not sure this is how she wants to celebrate. Her mother wants her to have a girly Quincenara complete with a fancy dress and caballero (male escort). Destiny's sister, America, is fighting tooth and nail against her mother to prevent Destiny's Quincenara. America argues for a Quincenara without the fancy clothes and definitely without the caballero. And stuck in the middle of this is Destiny, swooning over a possible crush and worrying about the toll the Quince￱ara is taking on her family's financial situation. Can Destiny put up with her mother's and sister's arguments about what's best for her, or will Destiny take things into her own hands?

I like the storyline because I enjoy hearing about other cultures' birthday celebrations. However, this book was hard to get through because, for most of the book, Destiny let herself be swayed back and forth by her mother and sister and never took control of her life till the end. This book presents an interesting view of the modern day feminist (America, Destiny's sister) and the strain of being caught between two cultures. I liked how in the end, Destiny managed to make her Quincenara her own with a mix of fancy and grungy aspects. Over all, this book has a sweet and inspiring story that female tweens will surely enjoy.

Reviewer Age:16
Reviewer City, State and Country: Mineola, TX U.S.A.

Nature Girl by Jane Kelley

Eleven year old Meagan didn’t want to be stuck in Vermont for the whole summer without her best friend, Lucy. The summer looks like it’s going to be horrible. It gets worse when Meagan gets lost on the Appalachian Trail with only her loyal dog, Arp. Instead of going back, she decides to prove herself and walk, oops, hike to Massachusetts, where Lucy is staying. Along the way she begins to discover herself more. After all, she has a long time to think and think and think.

I liked this book because I love how Meagan perseveres; hiking from Vermont to Massachusetts. She thinks about the times when she and Lucy were together and how she acted. I found this book very moving. I would definitely recommend this book to others. Why? This is a very touching book.

Reviewer Age: 10

Reviewer Cities, State and Country: Katy, Texas USA

Conspiracy 365: May by Gabrielle Lord

Cal has been locked in a mental institution, and given the fake identity of Ben Galloway. The only problem with this is, he doesn't know who put him there or how he got there. Vulkan Sligo has stolen important documents pertaining to his father's murder case. Cal is informed from his shrink that he will be released when he gives the the papers to Vulkan. Cal tries to persuade his shrink that Mr.Sligo is lying and that "Ben" is really Cal Ordman. After his chat with his shrink, Cal tries to run away from the asylum, but his plans are foiled by a guard! Then, one day Cal was watching television and saw his mother had been assaulted. Finally, Cal is able to contact Boges secretly over an email. Boges is allowed to visit Cal at the asylum, and Cal finds out that Boges has the documents. Then Boges dresses up Cal like a woman, and sneaks him out of the institution! Cal leaves town to get away from the police. The rest, you need to read and find out!

I wasn't a fan of this story. It was book 5 in the series and I didn't understand the plot. The setting wasn't very appealing, or interesting. The author didn't make the mental institution as exciting as it could have been. The main character is Cal, he wasn't a very interesting character. He was locked in a mental institution, yet didn't share his strong feelings for this situation. The author of this book made Cal feel boring, and i didn't connect with him at all. The author's voice just had a humdrum tone about it. The writing was difficult to follow and at times just didn't make sense. I found this book dull and at times it felt like the author was trying to push the situation too hard! I didn't learn anything from this book. I wouldn't recommend this book to readers, it was humdrum and the plot didn't make sense.

Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Enon, Ohio United States

Change of Heart by Shari Maurer

Emmi Miller is an average teenager; her life consists of
soccer, friends, and parental problems. However, her life
is radically changed in a short few days when she
contracts a virus that led to congestive heart failure.
Now, her life is in a form of a beeper, and she's waiting
day in and day out for it to tell her a new heart has come
so she can go one with her life. Soon, Emmi realizes how,
maybe, her life will never go back to normal, and through
it all, she learns how great her family and friends
are.

I felt like I've encountered this storyline so many
different times, and this book doesn't write it in a very
refreshing way. The plotline is predictable and cliche.
The characters and situations are underdeveloped. One
dramatic event happens after the next making them seem
unrealistic and jammed together to make the book more
exciting. Also, the characters relationships are
established, but the reader doesn't feel the full
connection between the characters. Moreover, the narrator,
Emmi, is extremely whiny and immature. The author's
writing is choppy and unsophisticated. Although she
captures the teenage voice pretty well, at times it seems
as if she's trying too hard. All in all, it was a decent
book if you're looking for a light read full of cheesy,
predictable drama.

Reviewer Age:16

Reviewer City,
State and Country: Hinsdale, IL USA

Keeper by Kathi Appelt

Poor, poor Keeper! It's supposed to be a wonderful day: the blue moon will come out tonight, Dogie is going to ask Signe to marry him, Signe will make her blue moon gumbo, and Mr. Beauchamp's magic flowers are going to bloom! But when ten crabs spoke to Keeper, the whole day just went disastrously wrong. Going off the stories Signe told Keeper about her mother, Keeper ventures off with her dog named B.D. (Best Dog) and her seagull friend, Captain, to go find her mermaid mother at the sandbar. What will happen to Keeper, Captain, and B.D. on this crazy trip? Will Keeper ever find her mother and fix everything that went wrong, or will she find out everything is not what it seems?

Keeper, by Kathi Appelt, was a truly enchanting story. This book reminds me of me, of something I might do if told certain things. A strength of Keeper is always keeping the reader puzzled. It had me guessing what would happen next, and then amazed me by doing something totally different. One weakness it had was the skipping between characters. Most of the time I'm pretty good about realizing who is talking in the story or whose point of view the story is coming from, but in this book's case I was constantly confused about what was going on in the different story settings. I would recommend this book to kids who love mermaids and to kids between the ages of eight and twelve.

Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Fresno, California USA

The Squad: Perfect Cover by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

This book is about Toby Kline. Who is that you might ask? She is a girl who does what she wants; from hacking computers to being a black belt karate student..she is the very last person you would ever expect to find on the cheerleading squad. Not only would they not want her in the squad, but she would not want to be close to them either. That is until she is invited to join the cheerleading squad for her high school. This is when Toby finds out that the cheerleaders of her school double as secret agents. Is Toby willing to become something she always hated in order to become an agent?

I do not think that the book was all that great. I was expecting the author to be more descriptive. Though the author was not descriptive, she was very good at talking as if she was a teen. This book is more of a leisurely read. The words the book used were very easy to read and understand. I would not recommend this book for others because it does not do a very good job in drawing a person's attention. If I had to recommend this book to anyone, I would for middle school cheerleaders because I think they would be able to relate well with the characters.

Reviewer Age:15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Newville, Pennsylvania, United States

Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey

Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey is a novel about love, chemistry, and what lies in within a person. Of course no one can overlook the combination of Jekel and Hyde. But when good girl Jill and loner fighter Tristen join forces to uncover secrets in both of their lives, unexpected things start to occur. Jill's father is murdered right before the start of the book, and the secrets of his life, and death, force Jill to dig into his final months, and her family's past. Tristen, on the other hand, has dark secrets of his own that he is trying to hide, and an evil side he is trying to defeat. When Jekel and Hyde come together to win a chemistry competition, and base their project on the work of Dr. Jekyll, you know the results will be explosive. But through their project they discover things they never expected, and both of their lives are changed forever.

Going into this book, I expected a lot. Something based off of Jekyll and Hyde had to be amazing, which is partly why I chose the book. Unfortunately, I was let down. The book started off being amazing, and I could not put it down. But the more I read, the less fascinating it became. A minor issue I had was the awkward formalness of every conversation the high school students had. It was also really jumpy at some points. It alternated chapters between Jill and Tristen, but I was often left confused and wondering, usually for so long that at one point I could barely keep track of all that was happening. The author seemed to stuff five or six different plots into this one book, leaving it confusing, with twists and turns, some stories starting while others come to abrupt halts. It was just far too much, and I felt a little overwhelmed. It was a good idea for a story, but I was ultimately let down by it.

Reviewer Age:15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Minnetonka, Minnesota United States

Kiss in the Dark by Lauren Hendersen

Scarlett Wakefield thinks she will finally be able to put
Dan McAndrew's murder behind her and start fresh at
Wakefield Hall Collegiate that her grandmother runs and
will soon be hers. Everything is going her way with a new
boyfriend, new best friend, and nobody who knows about
what happened with McAndrew. But that is all ruined when
Plum Saybourne is transferred to Wakefield from Scarlett's
old school, and establishes her reign in no time.
Scarlett can handle Plum just fine until she targets
Taylor, her best friend, and Jase, her boyfriend. And
things can only get worse when Jase's dad is found dead on
campus. Could Jase be involved with the murder? Or is
Scarlett just bad luck like everybody says?

This book is incredible! It's kind of a cliff hanger ending, but not
the kind that stops in the middle of an exiting part, and
it's not the first book in this series, but everything is
really well explained. You could easily read just this
book and be satisfied, but yet there is a bit of mystery
that intrigues me to read the others in this series. You
can really get into the characters, and unless you are a
Nancy Drew prodigy, the ending isn't what you would
expect. Scarlett goes through a lot of different suspects
and with each one you thing Oh yea, they definitely did
it! but they didn't. So it was really interesting in
that way. I would say this book is like a Sarah Dessen
mystery book.

Reviewer Age:16
Reviewer City, State and Country: Gearhart, Oregon United States

Split by Swati Avasthi

In Split by Swati Avasthi, a sixteen year old boy named Jace is kicked out of his home by his abusive father leaving his mother alone with his father. He is forced to move in with his estranged brother Christian whom he hasn't seen or talked to in years. After moving in with Christian, Jace starts with a clean slate where no one knows his past. He comes to realize its not as easy as it looks and his past starts to haunt him. Jace has to come to terms with his father's faults so he can see it was never his own fault.

Split is one of those books with characters that you feel sorry for in the beginning but eventually fall in love with by the end. This book should be read by as many people as possible. It is an open window to domestic violence in the homes of those we are told to trust. While some of the passages were graphic, this was one of the better books that I have read in a long time. I was glad to see that after everything Christian and Jace were able to stay together and finally have a happy ending. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good read with a little angst mixed in. Great Story!

Reviewer Age:18
Reviewer City, State and Country: Mantua, NJ USA

Fire Will Fall by Carol Plum-Ucci

Scott, Cora, Rain, and Owen are typical teenagers, at least they were until two months ago when a terrorist group, called ShadowStrike, poisoned the water of their town. They now have a level four disease and are living in the kellerton mansion, trying to deal with their scary symptoms and haunting personal lives. They all hope for a cure, but even more they hope they can trust the people in care for their life.


Tyler Ping and Shahzad Hamdani are internet spies, they've taken on the illegal job of tracking members of ShadowStrike online. Only problem is no one will listen to them when they find out that ShadowStrike might not be as far away as everyone seem to believes. And their coming back.
 
Fire Will Fall by Carol Plum-Ucci was a great sequel to Streams of Babel. I had not read the first one before this, but I still understood. Each page was filled with thought-provoking words, weaved in with suspense. Each chapter was terrifyingly realistic, every page raised goosebumps on my arms. It was entertaining yet filled with horror. I would think I had everything figured out, and then Plum-Ucci would throw in a horrifying twist. There was action, mystery, and even romance. I was engrossed with the book the whole time I was reading it. I would extremely recommend this book to a mature reader. A lot of the language, and sexual content was mature. I didn't approve of it, even though it did make the situation more believable.
 
Violence, sexual content, and mature language.
 
Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Springtown, Texas United States

Phliberty-Jibbits by William Moore

This story, Phliberty-Jibbits, by William Moore is about a young girl named Ima Jean Snodgrass, who finds a little shop called Phliberty-Jibbits . Ima Jean makes new friends and learns anything is possible. Phliberty, who is the owner of the shop, goes on a daring rescue to find Jibbits. Ima Jean goes with him and tries to survive a lot of obstacles, and will Ima Jean rescue Jibbits and save Phliberty from losing the shop?


William Moore writes an adventure story filled with different feelings, like sad, excited, surprised and disappointed. This story was definitely a page turner and I could picture the setting when I close my eyes. Moore taught me a lesson that anything was possible. The author gave a lot of details and did a pretty good job wrapping up subplots. I would recommend this book to anyone who believes anything is possible and likes adventure.

Reviewer Age:9
Reviewer City, State and Country: Elkton, Maryland United States of America

Arson by Estevan Vega

    Have you ever dreamed of spontaneously combusting? If you have, Arson, by Estevan Vegas, is the book for you. Arson is a boy in his late teens who hides the terrible power of creating fire with his mind. His gift, or curse, killed his mother, and his grandmother, whom Arson is living with, hates him for it. The story begins when Emery, a girl that will not appear in public without her mask, moves in next door, and changes Arson's view of life.

    I would recommend this book to readers that like to go against the grain, as the book is not written in a straightforward manner, nor is it written with the same style as most other authors. Almost everything that happened was a surprise, and while some events were more logical than others, this helped keep the book interesting. Without the shockers every few pages, however, this book would have been quite boring. By not telling the story in its entirety, and leaving ends not tied up, I felt like a heavy fog had been placed in my head,rendering me unable to fully comprehend the plot and make connections to the text. The information Vegas gave was often not complete and out of order- which is an interesting style, but one that prevented my total enjoyment of the book.

    Having said my piece on Vegas' style, I want to congratulate him on excellent character development. Arson's grandmother was especially real to me, as was Emery, because they had such real feelings of loss and shame.

    Another admirable part of "Arson" was the setting development. By the time the book ended, I felt like I had lived in Arson's town my whole life. Arson and Emery, along with the other characters, visit so many important parts of the town and these places are described with a poetic detail that makes visualizing the scenes incredibly easy.
 
    I gave Arson a content rating of 2 because there was some inappropriate "stuff" that should be looked at by an adult before allowing young children/ teens to read the book.
 
Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Lederach, PA USA

The Letter Writer

The Letter Writer by Ann Rinaldi is a historical fiction novel. It takes place pre-Civil War, in 1831. The main character, eleven-year-old Harriet, writes letters for her blind stepmother. She feels left out with her strict stepbrother in charge and knowing she will never meet her real parents. This story takes you through the events and Harriet's decisions leading to and after the Nat Turner Slave Rebellion.

The Letter Writer is as good as the rest of Ann Rinaldi's books. It may start slow, but it is necessary to describe Harriet's life and "set the stage". The climax, although a bit gory, is as exciting as any novel. It was educational and taught me about the Nat Turner Slave Rebellion, while I had fun reading it. I could imagine the setting and relationship between Harriet and her "girl", Violet. The plot was believable. Overall, the book was educational, well-written, and interesting, but lost my attention at points.

Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

It starts out with the main character, Tommy, talking. He's explaining about how this freaky kid named Dwight, who goes to his school, can do origami. So one day Dwight makes an Origami Yoda. Not with directions off the internet, no he made up the pattern. Also when something exciting is happening Origami Yoda gives advise through Dwight. The thing is, it's really good advise. But Dwight is too stupid to have such good ideas. Isn't he? So Tommy sets out to find out; is Dwight actually smart or if the force is with us?

I thought that this book was a serious yet humorous story about a boy and his "quest" for the truth. If you read quickly it's a short read but something to occupy your time. If you are a slower reader then this will be a good book for you too. It's short as well as easy. It's got fun little doodles on some of the pages which just adds to the humor.


Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Sandy, Oregon USA

My Double Life by Janette Rallison

The story Maestoso Petra is about a young colt that has a very exciting life. He goes to the Spanish riding school to learn how to get off his feet and to fly, he thinks of her mother because she taught him how to move and to speak to others. I like this book it has a lot of great details to it. Plus it would be great for kids under my age as well. One thing I dislike is that it could be a little longer.

The story Maestoso Petra is about a young colt that has a very exciting life. He goes to the Spanish riding school to learn how to get off his feet and to fly, he thinks of her mother because she taught him how to move and to speak to others. I like this book it has a lot of great details to it. Plus it would be great for kids under my age as well. One thing I dislike is that it could be a little longer.

2 because it has good details in it.

Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: hopkins, michigan allegan

Chaosbound by David Farland

When Fallion binds two worlds together, everything messes up. Borensen and Myrrima are called into battle again to save their once beautiful land. In the process, Borensen becomes merged with Aaath Ulber, a monstrous berserker warrior, and he gains strength and speed. The rulers of the new world begin to play an evil game. Unfortunately, Aaath Ulber/Borensen gets pulled into the spotlight to be a part of it.

Chaosbound is an exciting book that keeps you on your toes; one moment everything is going great,
then in the next, the world is falling apart. This is the eighth book in the Runelords series, and it's confusing in
the beginning if you haven't read the other books; there isn't enough information for new readers. I loved how
Farland described the family, it really painted a picture in my head. The book is action-packed, but I think it was a little rushed and short. I would also recommend this book for older readers, because there is some mature content. Overall, it was a good book, but not necessarily the best I've ever read.

Sexual content.
Rating:  6

Reviewer Age:12

Reviewer City, State and Country: Panama City, FL USA

Orange Planet by Haruka Fukushima

My mommy and Daddy are dead. And today is my birthday. Says Scared little Rui. I'll give you something if you stop crying, I'll give you the brightest star up there. Weather its spring, Summer, Fall, or Winter& That star will always shine bright in the Northern sky, Says a mysterious kid to Little Rui. Now she's in junior high school and no matter how many days go by she'll never forget her mom and dad. Now that she's in junior high school, It's raining boys. She has a major boy problem, she is in love with a boy, but two others are in love with her! The boys names are: Taro Amanatsu who is her neighbor, Eisuke Tachibana whose apartment room caught fire and is now living with her, and we can't forget the one she loves Kaoru Nakamura. She is writing to a guy named Haru-san, who she met at the funeral of her mother and father, because he sent her a letter saying, If you get sad write a letter to Haru-san which was taped to a teddy bear. So since the day of her mother and fathers death she has been writing to Haru-san about her day and about the guys in her life.

In this book you will feel you are apart of the story, because her life is probably as crazy as a normal junior high school students', or maybe even crazier. But then in some parts you will be - wow is that really happening? I would really recommend this book to anyone who likes a good romance Manga every once in a while. There is also humor, and just plain out embarrassing things on every page. I really think the main purpose of this author writing this book is that what goes on in Rui's life can really be happening to junior high schoolers today. So anywhere in the world there is someone who has lived in the footsteps of Rui.

Reviewer Age:15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Casa, Arizona United States

Goose Chase by Patricia Kindl

Goose Chase by Patrice Kindl is an original fairy tale. It shares some elements with the stories The Wild Swans, by Hans Christian Anderson and perhaps also The Goose Girl by the Grimm Brothers, but on the whole is a new story. Alexandria Aurora Fortunato is an orphaned goose girl, whose only true companions are her twelve geese. She has been taken from her cottage and locked in a tower until she chooses to wed either King Claudio the Cruel or Prince Edmund of Dorloo. She faces this dilemma because she had been kind to an old lady, who gave her three gifts: that she would be as lovely as the dawn, that when she brushed her hair, gold dust would fall out of it, and that when she cried her tears would be diamonds. She does not wish to marry either of the men, King Claudio because he's cruel or the Prince because she believes him to be rather unintelligent, and because she suspects that King Claudio will kill the Prince if she chooses Edmund. Her geese help her escape the tower, and take her to a cottage inhabited by three ogresses. The prince comes after her and when they escape they take the ruby necklace promised by the ogresses for her services to them. Later they obtain a ruby ring, which along with the necklace, matches the crown which the old woman had created from the circle of roses she had been wearing when her gifts were bestowed. These jewels eventually allow her to reveal the true identity of her geese, and reclaim her own destiny.

I chose this book to review because I really like reading fairy tales and fairy tale remakes, and this one turned out to be really good. The author does a good job of putting together typical fairy tale elements such as romance, magic and concealed identities, and sends her heroine and hero on a quest that is only revealed after it s well under way. Many of the characters in this book were quite funny, such as the three ogresses, Lucinda, Nellie, and two-headed Tessa. Alexandria sometimes finds her gifts to be an annoyance, because they make it harder for her to go unnoticed, and when she wakes up, she has twenty-four carat dandruff. Alexandria's hair is fun to imagine, because not only does it give off gold dust, it has other magical powers that Alexandria can use as long as she speaks to it very nicely. I would recommend this book to fairy tale readers and fans of writers such as Gail Carson Levine and Shannon Hale.

Reviewer Age:11
Reviewer City, State and Country: Lake City, IA USA

Virginia by Susan Hughes

Ivy Morell is a typical teenager with a dysfunctional life. Her mother is an alcoholic, her father pretends not to notice, and the only friend she had who actually knew anything about her stopped talking to her years ago. However, when this friend, Virginia, starts calling Ivy once again, Ivy is thrown into a world of mystery and intrigue. Her friend thinks she has been chosen. She believes that the angel Gabriel has come for her and she is carrying a child of God. Ivy must look past Virginia, Virginia's strange family, and the herself to find out what is really going on.

This book was rather interesting because it was the exact opposite of what I expected. I wasn't expecting the mystery of the novel to be about a modern day Virgin Mary. The plot was very well lined up and I was intrigued the entire way through. However, there were parts where the book switched back and forth between different points of view and it took me a while to figure out who those points of view were. Overall, a well-written book full of mystery and an interesting plot from cover to cover.

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

Hot Issues: Cool Choices by Sandra McLeod Humphrey

Hot Issues Cool Choices is twenty-six stories designed to help children with problems of "facing bullies, peer pressure, popularity, and put-downs." It is set up that there is a story from a real child talking about a specific subject. The last line of the story is always "What do you think I should do," emphasizing the individual reader's opinion and choice. Immediately following the story are some questions asking children about things they would do in the situation. Then it flips the scenario around and asks what they would do if they were the other person. This book has won several awards and is very highly praised.

The very first thing written in this book hit me and made me think of this book in such a serious light. It said, "In memory of Tommy who took his own life at the age of twelve years, two months, and ten days." This shocked me that someone so young had taken their own life. As I read through this book, I found myself putting myself into all of the situations and assessing what I would have done; sometimes I liked the outcome, and sometimes I didn't. It changed the way I view a lot of things, especially bullying. This is a must-read for children of all ages and would be especially helpful if it was then discussed with a parent or a teacher. I loved the layout, I loved the illustrations included, I loved that there were statistics and references included, and I loved the message this book sent.

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