"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read" ~Groucho Marx

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Monday, November 10, 2008

Eclipse

Meyer, Stephanie Eclipse. NY: Little Brown and Company, 2007. 629 pages. (Fantasy Series / Vampires)

All the characters are back in the best selling book Eclipse. In this book Bella has to choose who she loves, Edward, her vampire boyfriend, and Jacob, her werewolf best friend. In this book a vampire, Victoria, is out to seek revenge for her old clan member James, who was killed by Edward and his brothers, Jasper and Emmet, in Twilight. Victoria has made a mess. She has made newborn vampires, and they are out of control. They are killing people because they have no self-control. Jacob and his pack along with Edward and his family must work together to save Bella’s life once more. The wolves and vampires are finally working together to defeat Victoria and the newborns to save Bella.

If you like thrills, romance, and action, I suggest these books 100%. You won’t want to set it down once you start reading it. These are best selling series, and I highly recommend these books. They’re great.

Reviewed by: PenguinLover12

Teen Idol

Cabot, Meg. Teen Idol. NY: HarperCollins, 2004. 291 pages. (Fiction)

Meet Jenny Greenley, the “mayonnaise” of Clayton High. She’s also a secret keeper and because of that, she writes as Ask Annie, an advice columnist in the Clayton High newspaper. One day Jenny is called to the principal’s office and discovers that Luke Striker-a Hollywood movie star-is coming to the tiny town of Clayton to research for an upcoming movie. Since Jenny is good at keeping secrets, she will be ‘Lucas Smith’s’ guide in his two weeks at Clayton High. When Luke is introduced to Clayton, he is surprised and disgusted with the cruelty of the student body. Everything else with Luke keeping his disguise goes fine until the Saturday of the school chorus’ car wash. There Luke removes his shirt and reveals a tattoo. He jets off to L.A., but not before a) asking Jenny to the Spring Fling the following week and b) asking Jenny to help things at Clayton High be more humane. So now, instead of smoothing problems over (the mayonnaise), Jenny has to be up there, actually causing problems to fix others (like going against the most popular kid in the school to get her favorite teacher’s Cabbage Patch doll back). How will a girl who is everyone’s friend and an idol student go rebellious and rock the boat?

I enjoyed this book. It really talks about going against the grain and standing up for what you really believe in.

Reviewed by: Fuzzy Zebras

Travel Team

Lupica, Mike. Travel Team. NY, Philomel Books, 2004. 274 pages. (Sports Fiction)

Danny Walker, all though he’s the smallest kid in his grade, is trying out for the 7th grade Travel Team (basketball). Danny’s dad, Richie Walker, came to town on one of his annual visits to Middletown. When things go from okay to awful, Danny and Richie become closer than ever. Danny also becomes friends with some unexpected people throughout the book. Read the pages of Travel Team to find out more about Danny and Richie Walker and all their unexpected friends have to offer! I think that Travel Team is an excellent book to read, and I think that it shows that, through tough times, there is always someone to fall back on even if it happens to be someone unexpected! I would recommend this book to anyone who likes sports, basketball in particular.

Reviewed by: BlueberryBuddy

Blind Alley

Johansen, Iris. Blind Alley. NY: Bantam Books, 2004. 344 pages. (Mystery / Suspense)

This book has a character named Jane, Eve Duncan’s adopted daughter. Jane has a face that is one of a kind, but one killer wants to wipe her face from the earth forever. Anyone with the same facial features as Jane better look out. Jane is forced to have guards around her twenty-four seven to keep her safe, but even then, the killer may manage to get his hands on her. Will Jane be safe? Will the killer find her? Why does the killer hate her face? To find out read Blind Alley, this is a thriller you will become addicted to.

This is a wonderful book that you can’t put down once you begin. On a scale from one to ten I give this book a nine.

Reviewed by: English Girl 4000

My Side of the Mountain

George, Jean Craighead. My Side of the Mountain. NY: Penguin Books, 1991. 177 pages. (Survival Fiction)

Meet Sam Gribley, an ordinary boy who hates living in New York City with his family. He decides to run away to the Catskill Mountains with very little money and limited resources. On his journey, Sam will meet “Bando,” an English teacher who got lost in the Catskills and was lucky enough to find Sam’s campsite. He will also train a falcon named Frightful and will have lots of fun along his way while fishing, hunting, and playing. But, what happens when rescue comes? Will he stay with all he has known for almost a year now, or will he go back with civilization and live with his family? Find out in My Side of the Mountain. I think this is a very fascinating book that tells you can do anything you dream about. I highly recommend that everybody try this book. It teaches a great lesson and shows you that everything is possible if you put your mind to it.

Reviewed by: BaseballPlyr

Deep Down Popular

Stone, Phoebe. Deep Down Popular. NY: Scholastic, 2008. 280 pages. (General Fiction)

Every grade has one outcast. It’s someone who doesn’t fit in, has no friends, and hides from all her other classmates. In this story, that outcast is Jessie Lou Ferguson. She’s a shy, 6th grader, living in the boring town of Cabanash, Virginia. She’s also been secretly in love with the most popular guy in school, Conrad Parker Smith, since the third grade. But then, one day Conrad came to school… with a leg brace. His popularity instantly started going down. He became less and less popular until, suddenly, he had no friends. And to make matters worse, the teacher assigned Jessie Lou to walk Conrad home every day after school and carry his books for him during school! She’s never even said one word to the guy! Will Conrad look past an image and fall in love with her or will Jessie Lou find that loving the popular boy is sometimes the worst possible thing you can do?

I liked this book. I thought it was really cute but kind of confusing. The author went all over the place with her writing. She would talk about things that happened in the past, and wasn’t very clear on when the story came back into the present. I would give this book a B.

Reviewed by: JustGuess

Pretties

Westerfeld, Scott. Pretties. NY: Simon Pulse, 2005. 370 pages. (Sci-Fi)

Tally Youngblood has finally become pretty after all these years. She loves it! She has finally crossed the bridge and is getting used to seeing all of her friends pretty faces, although they still amaze her. Shay has also become pretty and they are still best friends. Tally has an amazing boyfriend and is having a great time until someone from her past finds her in New Pretty Town and reminds her of what happened to her brain: turns out that when you get the operation, not only does it change your face, but it affects your brain as well. He also brings her two small pills and says that they are the cure. Tally is so shocked, she is afraid to take the pills alone, so she takes one and her boyfriend Zane takes the other. Tally sees the difference in her own behavior and Zane’s. But Zane starts getting extreme headaches, and Tally realizes that something has gone terribly wrong with the cure. The only way that Zane will have a chance of living is if the two of them can escape into the wild and find the woman who made the cure. Will they make it? Read the book and find out!

I LOVE this book! It is a great follow up to what happened in the first book of the series, Uglies. I highly recommend not only this book but the entire series!!!! I give this book a 11 out of 10J!!

Reviewed by: Figur8girl4ever

Breaking Dawn

Meyer, Stephanie. Breaking Dawn. NY: Little, Brown and Company, 2008. 754 pages. (Fantasy Series / Vampires)

Breaking Dawn is the fourth and last book in the Twilight series. The series is about a teenager named Bella, Edward Cullen, Jacob Black, and the Cullens (Edward’s family). The story takes place in a small, rainy town called Forks. In this book, many things happen: One of the first events to happen is that Bella and Edward get married. While on their honeymoon, Bella gets pregnant, but the child threatens her life. Edward and Bella are faced with the problem that another group of vampires wants to kill their unborn child- and then their family. The couple rounds up as many friends, family members, and allies as possible to try to slow down death. I loved all of these books, and I find it hard to believe there will ever be a series that pains me so much to stop reading. I highly recommend reading the first book first and going in order or you will be terribly confused. Read Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and then Breaking Dawn. If anyone is in need of a thrilling book, an adventure book, a love story, or just a book to fall in love with, these are your books.

Reviewed by: DancingPenguins96