KICKOFF!

Barber, Tike & Ronde; Mantell, Paul. KICKOFF! NY: Simon & Schuster, 2008. 176 Pages. (Sports / Poem Review)

Brothers moving on
Tiki and Ronde Barber
Off to Junior High

Very nervous
About Junior High
Could be stressful

Not a good star
Do not like teachers
Could be better

Try out for football team
Hope for the best after tryouts
Not good made third stringers

To find out what happens you have to read this great book. It has 155 pages of cliff hangers. I recommend this book to someone who loves football and or the Barber brothers. I liked the book and found it enjoyable.

Reviewed by: LettermanJacket56

A Northern Light

Donnelly, Jennifer. A Northern Light. Orlando: Harcourt Books, 2003. 380 pages. (Historic Fiction / Mystery)

A Northern Light is based on a true story about a chilling murder of a young woman named Grace Brown from Cortland, New York in 1906.

Mattie Gokey lives on a farm with three sisters, her father, and their animals. Her mother died several years ago of cancer. Mattie has dreams of going to New York City to become a writer, but she is sure that will never happen considering she doesn’t have any money to spend and her family needs her help around their farm. When Mattie’s family is in desperate need of money, Mattie takes a job at the Glenmore hotel. One day one of their guests, a woman by the name of Grace Brown, pleads Mattie to burn a bundle of letters, Mattie promises but doesn’t get the chance to right away. That afternoon Grace’s dead body is found in the lake. Everyone suspects she and her lover accidentally capsized the boat and both drowned, but when Mattie breaks her promise to burn the letters and reads them, she discovers what really happened that day on the lake.

This is an extremely chilling story that you will find yourself reading well into the night. The chapters switch between the present and past and in the beginning, the “past” chapters are a little dull. Towards the second half though, every sentence grabs your attention and makes you want to keep reading.

Reviewed by: DancingPenguin96

Princess Academy

Hale, Shannon. Princess Academy. New York City: Scholastics Inc., 2005. 314 pages. (Fantasy)

High up the cliffs of Mount Eskel lives a fourteen year old girl named Miri. There on Mount Eskel her family has worked for centuries in the linder quarry pounding out linder to trade for goods and food. Miri has dreamed of working beside her father, sister, and friends- but her father forbids her to set foot in the quarry. She doesn’t know why.

Then word comes from a lowlanders’ priest that Mount Eskel will be the location of the next princess. So Miri heads off to an academy with most of the other teenage girls in the village to learn how to be a lady. At the academy she struggles with her own self doubts, her criteria, the older girls, and her own friends. She also makes a genuine friend from the lowlands and makes discoveries to help her village with their struggles.

But someone else is on their way with their own rules and punishments: make them mad... you die.

This book sucked me up and dropped me off at Mount Eskel. It was like there was a movie playing inside my head and I was never bored. Every twist and turn is so unexpected it leaves you breathless. I recommend this book to every girl. It is written exquisitely, just waiting for you to pick it up.

Reviewed by: DancingPenguin96

Wrecked

Shaw, Linda. Wrecked. New York: Taper House, 2003. 246 pages. (Mystery)

In my book the main characters Anna and Ellen go to a pre-SAT party and they end up having a few beers. When Ellen goes over the edge with Jack Daniels Anna drives them home. They are driving when Anna looks over at Ellen and notices that she doesn’t look so well. Then before she could do anything, something hit them. Anna falls out of the car, even though she had her seatbelt on, with Ellen on here lap. Ellen’s ponytail as sharp as glass in her eye. Then she heres screaming and screaming then the screaming stops. Then all she can see is her globe keychain hanging glowing in the dark. Then a month later when Anna starts taking therapy and her therapist Frances tells here that the person in the other car died she realized that it was her brothers girlfriend, Carmen, who 'mysteriously' died from a car accident the same night that she and Ellen were injured.

I really enjoyed this book. I anyone ever asked me for a good book to read I would defiantly recommend this one. I am currently on the look out for more books by this author

Reviewed by: waddlesthepenguin

They Never Came Home

Duncan, Lois, They Never Came Home, New York: Random House, 1969, 183 pages. (Mystery)

Joan’s brother has never been the hiking type. But one day Larry and Dan go on a hiking trip that goes terribly wrong. They don’t come back. Do you think they are lost? Or dead? Nobody knows. Everyday Joan gets a phone call seeking where Dan and Larry are from her friends. Her mother and father need sleep but can’t because they are very worried. Dan does this sort of thing. He is used to the outdoors. He is a JV jock. But Larry is not used to this kind of thing he is not the hiking type. Well things go downhill from there.

Joan was a lot like me because I would freak out to if my brother went missing. But he isn’t he lives in Tennessee. But anyway Joan Is worried about her brother and I would be too. I recommend this book to people who like to read mysteries or horror books I know I do!


Reviewed by: McFly

Revenge of the Wannabes

Harrison, Lisi. Revenge of the Wannabes. N.Y: Little Brown, 2005. 195 pages. (Clique Series)

Massie Block is once again on a mission, this time to prevent her former BFF Alicia Rivera from leaving her behind when Alicia goes to a Teen People photo. Alicia* cheated on a uniform contest, won the photo shoot in New York City, and is now trying to put her own “Pretty Committee”. She even finds knockoffs of former friends Dylan and Kristen. Massie* is angry and jealous because Massie and Claire Lyon’s design was the supposed winner. She shows up in New York City, unbeknownst to Alicia and her new “clique.” Massie bosses her way into the photo shoot and makes Alicia look bad, in front of her new friends and the people who run Teen People. Massie and Alicia finally reconcile after a HUGE fight in the lobby of the Teen People. The photos of the fight are published in the magazine under the title “Santa’s Little Hell-per’s,” so the photo shoot was a success.

I thought this book was entertaining and humorous. The author was very witty and clever in describing the characters profiles and describing the clothes, really. I would read this book again and recommend it to another person.

Reviewed by: The Imp

That Was Then, This Is Now

Hinton, S.E. That Was Then, This Is Now. NY: The Viking Press, 1971. 159 pages. (Fiction / Drama / Poem Review)

STORY OF TWO FRIENDS
BRYAN, MARK CAUSING TROUBLE
WILL THE FRIENDSHIP LAST?

FOUGHT OFF THE SOCS
ALWAYS TOGETHER, BEST FRIENDS
M&M CHANGES THAT

BRYAN GROWING UP
STARTING TO CARE FOR CATHY
MARK STAYING THE SAME

JUMPED IN THE ALLEY
CHARLIE CAME TO HELP THE BOYS
DYING A HERO

BRYAN CHANGED HIS WAYS
TURNED MARK IN FOR SELLING DRUGS
JAIL COMES BETWEEN BUDS

I would recommend this book to someone else my age. It had some good action and good interaction between the characters. It was the story of two friends growing up together and how they ultimately grew apart. The friendship ended in a tragic way, but it demonstrated that decisions in life are not easy sometimes. I would give this book a four out of five. I like S.E. Hinton’s books.

Reviewed by: Mark Twain

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Brashares, Ann. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. New York City: Random House Children’s Books, 2001. 326 pages. (Fiction Series)

Tibby, Lena, Bridget, and Carmen are best friends. They have a pair of pants- but not just any pants, magic pants. The pants amazingly fit each one of their different body types perfectly and they are convinced that the pants will help them through their first summer away from each other. Where are they going? Lena is going to Oia, Greece with her younger sister Effie to stay with her grandparents. Carmen’s going to South Carolina to spend the summer with her dad. Bridget’s going to Baja, California to go to a soccer camp. Tibby is staying home. Four best friends, four very different summers, one pair of pants.

This book is so captivating!!!! It’s so different because the chapters are slit up into sections and every section is from a different point of view. Surprisingly you never lose track of what’s going on because it’s never boring. Every twist and turn is unexpected so you never can predict what’s going to happen (in a good way). You are definitely in for an adventure when you read The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

Reviewed by: DancingPenguin96

The Second Summer of the Sisterhood

Brashares, Ann. The Second Summer of the Sisterhood. New York City: Random House Children’s Books, 2003. 430 pages. (Fiction Series)

It’s a new summer full of new experiences for Carmen, Tibby, Bee, and Lena. With the help of the Traveling Pants they will overcome obstacles and face love, disappointment, anger, and forgiveness. Bee is off to Alabama to visit her grandmother after she discovers letters that her father has been keeping from her, Lena is having trouble with love and is not on great terms with her mom, Tibby is off to a film camp for the summer where she makes a serious mistake and almost loses a friend, and Carmen is jealous of her mom... Why? Read The Second Summer of the Sisterhood to find out.

These books are amazing! Although they may not contain as much passion as some other books, they are really fun to read. These books are unique especially because each chapter switches points of view several times. There is not a second that you are bored or lose track of what’s going on while you’re reading these books. This is the second book in this series, the first is The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and there are two other books. A real adventure to read.

Reviewed by: DancingPenguin96

The Cataluña Chronicle

Stine, R.L. The Cataluña Chronicle, New York: Pocket Books, 1995, 149 pages. (Fear Street Series)

The main Chris, Matt, Joseph, Bryan, Edmund, William, and Misty. The story takes place characters are with an evil car that has an evil laugh. Chris and Matt stole a car from cars. In Denny’s used car they have a car that has a mind of its own and drives off by itself. They stole the car and went on the highway, they reached the high speed of eighty and Chris yanked open his door open. He told Matt to jump out and both of them jumped out. Right behind them was a tractor trailer and the tractor trailer ran over the boys. The driver got out of the truck and thought he hit a deer and found there bodies.

I would recommend this book to the kids that like gruesome and gory mystery books. In this book there is a lot of action and mysteries about how they die.

Sincerely