Thursday, July 14, 2005

Wringer by Jerry Spinelli


WRINGER is a great and exciting book by Jerry Spinelli. Living a normal, but sad life, Palmer LaRue has really no friends. He only plays with Dorothy Gruzik, a sweet little girl who is one year younger than him. He finally gets this gang of kids who he wants to join, and he does. After his ninth birthday, he invites Beans, Mutto, and Henry, the gang members. The only way he can be in the gang, he has to get the treatment from Farquar, the most feared kid in town. He joins the gang, and his nickname is Snots. He fears only one day that he hoped would never come: Pigeon Day. On his tenth birthday, he has to wring the pigeons' necks that don't die whenever the shooters shoot them. He doesn't want to kill them. He also has a secret pigeon named Nipper. Will Palmer become a wringer? Will Palmer fight for what he believes in? All you have to do is pick up this book.

I liked the way how Palmer thought differently about something that everyone else thought only one way of. I liked how this book ended. It was very exciting and a great book for all ages. -Nilma M.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling


HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX is the latest and the best series of Harry Potter yet, with more excitement and adventure following the famous Harry Potter and his friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasly. More trouble brews at Hogwarts, and, as usual, Dumbledore tries to do his best to keep Hogwarts safe, but no one believes him. Harry and his friends find out, and they think of ways to help Dumbledore. Harry has many other problems of his own. Harry finds a teacher worse than Professor Snape. How will Harry help Dumbledore? Who is this horrible, but curiously familiar-related, teacher who he hates? Pick up this book and find out!

J.K. Rowling's writing style makes this book great! I love the way this story went. It was scary and nice at the same time. This book gave me chills, and sometimes I felt really bad for Harry, and sometimes I wish I was Harry. I felt like I was in the book because I was really in to it. -Nilma M.

The Drowning of Stephan Jones by Bette Greene


THE DROWNING OF STEPHAN JONES is about a girl's boyfriend, Andy, who hates the guy couple Stephen Jones and Frank Montgomery. Andy Harris totally dislikes gay people, from who he takes after his father. After Andy and his friends beat Stephen Jones up, they decide to throw him in the lake. Even though Stephen tells them that he cannot swim, they still throw him, anyway. After a while, he does not come back up. Andy is accused of murdering Stephen Jones. Carla Wayland, the narrator and Andy's girlfriend, cannot decide which side she is on, Andy's or Frank's side. I did not really have a favorite part of this book. It was not very appealing to me because of its hatred and revulsion. -Chessa H.

From E to You by Chris d'Lacey and Linda Newberry

Boy meets girl. Boy likes girl. That is the typical relationship. This relationship is like the one in the book From E to You. Annabelle's dad and Guy's dad thought it would be a good idea if their daughter and son wrote emails to each other. They soon became cyber-friends, but their budding relationship creates havoc when they start to speculate about what caused a feud between their fathers, letting their imaginations run wild- with hilarious results. My favorite part of the book was when they both insulted each other back and forth. It was hysterical! Guy Woodham was my favorite character because he was so down to earth. -Chessa H.

Real Teens Volume II: A Diary of a Junior Year

This book is made up of diaries of junior boys and girls who are all friends. The friends are Marybeth Miller, Billy Shah, Teresa Falcone, Jake Barossa, Katie Carson, Edward Baxter, Emma West, and Kevin Moran. The diaries are a continuation of Volume One on their relationship problems and their other high school problems. I didn't like this volume as well as I liked the first, but the things that the teens talk about are the typical things that occur in today's high school. That was my favorite part of the book. My favorite character in this book was Kevin Moran. -Chessa H.

Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul

CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE PRETEEN SOUL is a great book for preteens. This book is about friendship, family, hardships, happiness, growing up, and love. This excellent book has stories of real kids and real problems. I know that everyone will enjoy this book as much as I did.

This book made me realize that more kids my age go through the same thing as me. It also, in a way, gave answers to my problems. It was very hard to put this book down because it was very interesting. So why don't you just try it? -Nilma M.

Brian's Return by Gary Paulsen


I read the book BRIAN'S RETURN by Gary Paulsen. One part of the story that I liked was how Brian matured. At the beginning, he viewed himself as a wild boy in the city. He then decides to move back to the wild, where he can view himself as normal. He prepares himself with items he may need, then he sets off to the woods.

I also like how Brian meets Billy. Billy teaches Brian about his medicine animal which will help him. Brian's medicine animal is a deer. Brian realizes that he will be like Billy when he gets older.

Some things in the Brian series have happened to Gary Paulsen. He wrote in the author's note that he lived in the wild just like Brian. Also, the character Billy and Gary Paulsen both have a crow as their medicine animal. I liked BRIAN'S RETURN. Bruce H.

Sirena by Donna Jo Napoli


Sirena, a cursed mermaid, cannot become immortal until a human man loves her. She longs to sing the song that she sings with her mermaid sisters, but it leads men to their deaths as well as it makes thenm adore the mermaids. This causes Sirena to hide on the isle of Lemnos. She finds a young soldier abandoned on the isle, and eventually they fall in love. Sirena finds that her immortality can be more of a curse than a gift, when she realizes that her lover is growing older each day.

This is an excellent book by Donna Jo Napoli, a beautiful tale of an immortal and cursed love. I think this book is excellent for people who love Greek mythology. This book has a feeling of great joy and despair. With each passing year, new events occur, sometimes painful and sometimes joyful. What made the book stand out was its tale of a Greek mermaid with famous characters from Greek myths. -Olivia R.

Be True to Yourself by Amanda Ford


This book is about everything from living a great life to loving yourself. It's a wonderful book about being true to yourself. Did I mention it has something written from January 1st to December 31st and every day in between? It's lovely, it's wonderful, and it's extremely helpful giving you confidence for every day of the week, month, and year. It teaches you most importantly to love your life and self and if you do your life is complete. So remember: Be true to yourself! -Melissa L.

Wurst Case Scenario by Catherine Clark


The worst decision that Courtney Von Dragen had ever made was to go to college in Wisconsin. This not only means living miles away from her home in Arizona, but being apart from her longtime boyfriend, Grant. Courtney worries about keeping up this relationship. She's afraid that Grant will find someone else or they'll lose contact with each other.

Other obstacles are put in front of Courtney, so she has more than one thing to worry about. In Wisconsin, they sell only cheese and meats, but Courtney can't eat anything since she is a vegetarian. Not only that, she is having trouble with her roommate, Mary Jo.

All of these problems and how Courtney gets out of them is what makes this book so great. Courtney is someone that you could relate to. She was also in the book, Truth or Dairy. Catherine Clark has a great way of making characters come to life. This is a wonderful book to enjoy. -Christine Y.

The Princess Diaries: Volume IV Princess in Waiting by Meg Cabot


Meg Cabot continues this sensational series. Mia must suffer through the duties of being a princess, her cousin Rene, and her grandmother. Then the whole boyfriend thing of whether or not Michael is in love with her or loves her like a friend. And, of course, what shall she get him for his birthday?

I loved this book and could not put it down until I finished it. It was a captivating tale of a princess and her semi-normal life. I cannot wait (with hope against hope) that the series will be continued. -Chelsey C.

Candle in the Wind by Maureen Wartski


A sad tale of a family breaking apart because of the eldest son's death. Then a strange force unites the family together again, but not before tragedy and disaster strike too many times. But throughout this all, Terri realizes her dream job of a writer. She has help through this from her new friend and his newspaper dad.

As I strayed away from the usual books I read, I admit it was a very sad yet satisfying tale. I realized how lucky I am to have my family and deeply appreciated them much more. -Chelsey C.

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes


FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON was about a man with a low IQ. The man's name is Charlie Gordon, and he has been chosen to have an experiment done on him to see if he gains more intelligence. It already has proved positive on a mouse named Algernon, but the doctors want to see if this test proves positive on humans. The book talks about what Charlie is feeling day in and day out.

When I first got introduced to the book, I thought it would have been very boring, but I was wrong, and I loved it. I also liked the way the author, Daniel Keyes, wrote how a mentally disabled person writes. This book was formatted from Charlie's reports that he had to do for the doctors that were there to see his progressions. I liked how Keyes wrote from Charlie's point of view, not from somebody else's. Without a doubt, I would recommend this book to everyone. -Elyse H.

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Fire-us by Jennifer Armstrong and Nancy Butcher


FIRE-US starts with memories of adults and the terrible fever-like disease that kills only adults. The main characters are Teacher, Hunter, Mommy, and Anchorman/Angerman, all teens, and they act like their names. They take care of kids called Teddy Bear, Action Figure, Dolly, and Baby. One day, Angerman shows up and says he is going to find the president. The trip is very hard because Mommy hates being outside. They find a river and follow it up and run into an Adult. They are terrified because all the adults died.

This book is like the aftermath of the end of the world. It is a little strange, but lots of fun. -Josh M.

Monday, July 11, 2005

Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul compiled by Jack Canfield and others


CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE TEENAGE SOUL is about teenagers talking about things that have happened in their lives. The stories they write are about life, love, and learning.

My favorite story in this Chicken Soup book would be "Reaching Out to a Stranger". Even though I love all the stories, this one made me cry. It is about a boy who gave his favorite basketball sneakers to a pregnant woman who couldn't afford shoes. Deep in this boy's heart, he gave the woman his shoes. I thought that this was the most caring thing that someone could do for another. I hope that people in this world do more of these actions every day; even a simple "Hello" to someone would make them feel better.

I would recommend this book to all teenagers in the world. That is how good it is. -Elyse Horomanski

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

THE OUTSIDERS was about two groups of people. One group was called the "Socs", which were the rich kids, and the other group was called the "Greasers", the poor kids. Some of the main characters were Johnny, Ponyboy, Darry, Dally, and Sodapop. The main event that happens was that Johnny manslaughters one of the Socs. So Johnny and Ponyboy run away. There is much more to this story and more interesting facts that I won't give away so you can read the story.

I really enjoyed this book a lot. I also liked how the author, S.E. Hinton, got the main point across. I would recommend this book to everyone. - Elyse H.