Vampire Academy, by Richelle Mead

A review by LocoCoco of the Vampire Academy Series, by Richelle Mead

Rose Hathaway is the type of girl you would see beating people up for her friends or loved ones.  Or if people just tick her off.

Rose attends a special school, St. Vladimir's Academy for Future Guardians, Dampires, and Moroi, which is a type of vampire that can control the four elements of the earth: air, water, earth, and fire.  But Lissa Dragomir, Rose's best friend, controls a rare power--spirit.

As Rose and Lissa go on with their school life, they find more and more problems and more answers.

I read almost all of the Vampire Academy books, and I've loved it every step of the way.  The plot is very absorbing and I have to read what's next.  Sure, sometimes it gets a slow start but towards the end, you can't put it down.  Trust me, I tried, and failed.  Richelle Mead does a very good job with the whole fighting, which is good because most of the book has to do with killing Strigoi.  The book also has a good, close-to-home feeling to it.  What I mean by that is that some of the vampires have lived at the school since they were young, and they feel like a family, and the school like their home.

I rate this series 5 out of 5 chocolate bars.
Rated DEATH for sexual content and harsh language.

Fan Art by Up North Girl

CLAUDIA FROM INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE BY ANNE RICE

This character is Claudia from The Vampire Chronicles. I’m actually not sure what she’s supposed to be doing in this picture… I saw that pose in a book about vampires and thought “Oooh! That reminds me of Claudia!” So I drew her. The character Claudia in the books is a female vampire who was made when she was six years old. And she is very violent.

YAMI BAKURA AND MARIK FROM YU-GI-OH! BY KAZUKI TAKAHASHI

It’s Yami Bakura! And Marik. But mostly Yami Bakura! I’m not really sure what they’re doing in this picture… According to the theories me and my friends, Kaila and Kaylin, came up with, they’re standing in the middle of the Great Depression plotting their revenge because they’re evilly depressed and angry. Oh, and Marik saw a spider on the floor. I drew them because… erm… I love Yami Bakura! And Marik is pretty cool too. Go easy on the criticism, please, this is my first attempt at drawing anime.

YAMI BAKURA FROM YU-GI-OH! BY KAZUKI TAKAHASHI

I like this one. He looks diabolical. I drew this picture because I had nothing better to do while I was waiting to be judged at regional history day. It’s not my favorite one, but, hey, it’s Bakura.

YAMI BAKURA FROM YU-GI-OH! BY KAZUKI TAKAHASHI

Another Bakura picture!!!!!! I don’t really like this one as much,but I still think it's all right. This was when he was trying to find Yugi after Yugi had been kidnapped.

YAMI BAKURA FROM YU-GI-OH! BY KAZUKI TAKAHASHI

Yeah… another one. Sorry. You could say I’m a bit obsessed. But I love this picture! I drew this at midnight, like most of my pictures…. Anyways. That’s all of mine! I hope you like my drawings!

Poetry, by YamiHeart

Hello. YamiHeart here with two poems. They don't really have anything in common, but I hope you enjoy them anyway.

Inspiration

The gears in my head have stopped turning
for I have no oil to make them go.
My train of thought should be at the depot
but it's being held up by a man with a gun.
And the mouse refuses to run on the wheel
because my fridge is all out of cheese.
But the distractions...
The distractions...
The clock ticks loudly,
The music blares,
And someone has just stolen my book.
Giggles carry across the room and my name is called so I go over to the computer to see a pointless picture that makes me laugh and-
Wait.
Laughter.
People laugh when they're happy.
And sometimes they laugh so hard they cry.
And other times people cry because they are sad.
Crying.
What causes people to cry?
Sometimes...
The gears slowly turn,
the train is approaching the station,
And the mouse has gotten his cheese.


Light and Dark

In the light I can see everything.
I can see how alone I truly am.
I can see all of the ugly people.
I can see the hate, the pain, and the death.
In the light I must share how I feel,
Even when I am not comfortable in doing so.
That is what happens in the light.

In the dark I can see nothing.
I can pretend the voices in my head are real.
I can hear how beautiful people are.
I don't have to close my eyes to the hate, the pain, and the death because I cannot see it.
In the dark I can hold all of my emotions in
And it feels so good to keep them bottled up.
That is what happens in the dark.

If the light causes me discomfort, and the dark makes me feel at home
Why go to the light at all?

Readers' Favorite: Picture Books

A post by Abby

In language arts, we were doing a unit in children’s books, and sometimes all we did was read children’s books and it was really fun! But that made me think, what are the readers' favorite children’s books? I mean, almost everyone read children’s books when they were little, right? So why not find out their favorites? So I asked about everyone I knew what their favorite was, and this is what I got:

1) Green Eggs and Ham , by Dr. Seuss
2) The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle
3) Good Night Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown
4) Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak
5) The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss
6) Oh the Places You’ll Go, by Dr. Seuss
7) Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, by Judi Barrett
8) One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, by Dr. Seuss
9) Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, by Bill Martin Jr., and Archambault
10) Whinnie the Pooh, by A. A. Milne

So, that’s the top ten, but feel free to comment and tell me what your favorite is.

The Dark Years Part 1, a Fictional Piece in Installments

Hello all,

Crazienis here. I had a spark of inspiration after being squeezed to the thickness of a pancake during elective one day. I would then continue on to be here, and write this post. I'm going to release a story in installments for ?????????? installments. Here goes!!!!

Of all the quirky things to do with my life, I decided to end the world. Not that I was at all remorseful, because mankind had destroyed all my childish innocence by eliminating my family when I was four.

It was a stormy, gloomy night as I crept out. I wished I had picked a better night to go, but Mother Nature had other ideas. I squished across my soggy front lawn and slowly crept up the tree where I would wait.

End of Part One.

Prom and Prejudice, by Elizabeth Eulberg

A review by ~twistar24~

Prom and Prejudice, by Elizabeth Eulberg, is a twist on the classic book by Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice.  But in this one Elizabeth (Lizzie) Bennet got a scholarship to this all-girls private school where there are snobby rich people.  The whole story is about them getting ready for prom.

There is also a boys' private school, where Will Darcy and Charles Bingley go to school.  There is also another person who gets in the way of Darcy and Lizzie.

I enjoyed reading this book because I like when people put twists on classic books.  It didn't take me long to read it because it was REALLY good!  I saw it on a shelf at the bookstore and decided to give it a try.

The book was funny and cracked me up sometimes.  If you like drama, romantic  kinds of books, then this one is for you.  Also, if you are a Jane Austen fan (like me!) then this might be a book to try.

I give this book 6/5 chocolate bars.
Fairy level of appropriateness--nothing inappropriate!

Death Note, by Tsumgumi Ohga

A review by Hidden Shadow

The manga I read is called Death Note, by Tsugumi Ohga. A manga is a Japanese comic that is mostly rated teen (T) or teen 16+ (T+).

The main character in the story is a seventeen-year-old named Light. He was always an A student, but he was always bored to death. That is, until Light found the Death Note. A Death Note is a note book that you can write down somebody's name and they will die. There are many ways they can die, but you need to explain how the person dies or they will die of a heart attack.

I thought that the art and the story-line was very detailed and the story never slowed down the action.

I rate this 4 out of 5 chocolate bars because of the action and the awesome art. The violence and swearing makes this rated death, or to manga T+.

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

Review by Up North Girl of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini 

First off, let me tell you that I am not one to cry in books or
movies. I’ll cry about things in real life, but not fantasy. Marley & Me didn’t even get me. But The Kite Runner? That book had me nearly sobbing at the end.

It was well-written, and Khaled Hosseini really has a knack for writing endings that are happy, but still make you cry. He did the same thing in A Thousand Splendid Suns. Both endings were not exactly happy, but hopeful. And for some reason that really got me. I loved the winding story of The Kite Runner and how he kept looping back to things at the beginning of the book; how Hassan named his son Sohrab after the hero in the stories that Amir read him, how Assef made another appearance, things like that.

I must warn, however; this book is NOT for the faint of heart. It was very violent, and at some parts, had some adult writing and scenes. Some of them left ME scarred, and let me tell you, I’ve read a lot of books. This one and Hosseini’s other book had me trembling. What makes it so powerful is that the horrible things that happen in it aren’t fantasy. It’s not a dystopian future. And it didn’t happen several hundred years in the past, either, which is what you expect when you think about brutal torture. It happened less than ten years ago, and in some parts of Afghanistan, it’s still going on. As I said, not for the weak hearted.
All in all, I think this was a wonderful book, and if you’re looking for a book that will really make you think, this might be the one for you.

4 ½ out of 5 chocolate bars.

Death rating for appropriateness.

Three Quarters Dead, by Richard Peck

Review by Crazienis

Recently, I read the book Three Quarters Dead By Richard Peck. It is about a girl, Kerry, who gets to join the populars' group. It's everything she ever dreamed of, until the night of the party... When the mean girls die in a car accident, will Kerry bring them back to life? Unfortunately, I can’t say a whole lot more than that without spoilers. I’d have to say, it’s really good, however. It has a complex plot, ghosts, and a lot more. A really strong thing about this book was the plot. It was as strong as the flavor of chocolate syrup on vanilla ice cream. The characterization was also really well done. Tanya, another character, is subtly portrayed as a snob, who doesn’t like people of a lower status than her. And this is all done through what she says and does, but even in that, it is very, very subtle.

I’d rate this 4 out of 5 chocolate bars.

Warning:
This book contains some suggestive elements and half-ghosts.