Best Friends For Never, A Clique Novel: Review by Alyx

Title: Best Friends For Never, A Clique Novel

Author: Lisi Harrison

Format: Paperback

Price: $9.99

There are five main characters in the novels of the Clique. First is Massie Block, who is gorgeous and hopes to rule the social scene at Octovian Country Day. Massie decides to throw her first boy/girl Halloween party, to keep her spot on top. Massie is mad. She doesn't know what's scarier, her parents making her invite the entire grade or that she has to throw the party with Claire. Next is Dylan Marvil, who has lost weight, has a bad attitude, and is planning on using her "new" boy to snatch a new guy. Then there's Kristin Gregory, who is jealous that Dylan likes the same guy she does, and she will do whatever it takes to get him. Her favorite quote is, "Clothes are for sharing. Guys aren't." Next, Alicia Rivera, who wants to takeover everything. And finally, Claire Lyons, who is out of the group and really wants back in.

I really enjoyed this book. I like that it is based upon friendship and the fact that I could relate to this book. I like how this book has letters in it because it makes the book more fun to read. My favorite part would have to be towards the end of the book when Claire and Cam were writing "love" letters back and forth. Claire isn't positive if Cam likes her or not. But Claire likes Cam! The last letter that Claire received from Cam, she read the note five times.

I rate this book 4 out of 5 chocolate bars. The book is contemporary fiction. I thought the cover of this book didn't really explain anything, other than the three main characters on the cover giving each other, "I'm mad at you, don't talk to me" looks. These girls are constantly getting into fights and starting drama over a halloween party with some guys. The design on the cover was pretty cool and the book was neatly organized.

Skeleton Crew, a review by Lianna

Book Title : Skeleton Crew
Format: Hardcover
Author: Stephen King
Length/number of pages: 566
Price : 8.99

"In this brilliant collection of stories, Stephen King takes readers down paths that only he could imagine-A supermarket becomes the place where humanity makes its last stand against destruction-a trip to the attic becomes a journey to hell-a woman driver finds a scary shortcut to paradise-an idyllic lake harbors a bottomless evil-and a desert island is the scene of the most terrifying struggle for survival ever waged." 

~ Summary from Barnes And Noble website

This book is extremely well written and clever. King is at his best with a great mixture of humor and horror. The characters feel like real people even though they are only in short stories,and they are generally well-rounded. The stories are also truly  horrifying at some points and will have you on the edge of your chair with suspense. 
    
The only bad points are that a few of the characters, despite being well-written are not very likeable. Because of this some of them are not relatable. Also some stories are not as good as others, but overall most of them are excellent.

Rating (out of five chocolate bars) 4.5 I would give this a five but some of the stories are not as good as others.

Appropriateness: Death. This book is not only pee your pants scary, it is full of swearing and other content I would only recommend this book to people who are comfortable with this kind of content. 

Cover Thoughts: I think the cover was kind of boring. All it is is a bunch of skulls.

My Sister the Vampire: Lucky Break, a review by Shutterbug

 

Title: My Sister the Vampire: Lucky Break

Author: Sienna Mercer

Format: Softcover

Price: $4.99

 

In the series called My Sister the Vampire, Lucky Break is the sixth book in the collection. One of the twin sisters Olivia gets a part in a play which she auditioned for so she could get her first kiss with her boyfriend. But her boyfriend doesn't get the part and now she had to kiss a guy she definitely doesn't like. Luckily the director says that she will cut out all the kisses till the end. Also at that time of the school year, the twins get to meet their aunt, and Olivia gets to ride a horse, but Ivy, Olivia's twin sister, can't because horses don't really like her. She thinks it's because she's a vampire. Ivy feels left out but turns out to be braver than she thought, so everyone gets happy, but just wait till next year.

 

I enjoyed all the action and all the times they were about to get in trouble but they got out of it. There's a lot of drama in the series, and I like that the sisters always stay together. My favorite part of this book was during the play when the boyfriend went to help Olivia so she doesn't have to kiss the boy she doesn't like!

 

Rating: I would give this book 5 out of 5 chocolate bars.

Appropriateness: It's appropriate for almost any age. There's no bad language at all.

Cover Thoughts: It's fitting to the book.

Saving Ceecee Honeycutt

Title: Saving Ceecee Honeycutt
Author: Beth Hoffman
Format: Hardcover
Price: $15.00
Length: 320 pages

The book Saving Ceecee Honeycutt is an amazing book with drama, comedy, action, and suspense.

A twelve year old girl named Ceecee Honeycutt first finds out her mother is suffering from a mental disorder and tries to deal with it. Her mother got so crazy she acts as if she was young at the time she won a beauty pageant. She wore many pageant gowns, tiaras, and lots of lipstick. She even started dressing Ceecee up in gowns. One day Ceecee got so sick of shopping and wasting money, and the mother drove Ceecee and her father so sick that they yelled at her and what happens next throws everyone's lives into sadness. Ceecee's father made Ceecee move with her aunt Tootie in Georgia. They helped her over that sadness and they had many happy times together in the new and improved Ceecee Honeycutt's new life which she loves very much.

The strengths of this book were that I enjoyed how much Ceecee loved spending time with her aunt and her aunt's best friend who lives with them. Everyone's lives got better ever since she came to live with them. I might change the relationship Ceecee had with her mother because they didn't really show anything that special. My favorite part was a funny part that happened near the beginning of the school year.

Rating: I give this book 4 out of 5 chocolate bars
Appropriateness: I think this book should be for ages fourteen and up because there are bad words and a few inappropriate parts.
Cover Thoughts: I think it's very sweet.

Wednesday Wondering: Genre Edition

Is Non-fiction as Popular as Fiction is? WW By: ZombifiedUnicorn (a.k.a the best student evaa)                   

A couple of weeks ago I noticed that a ton of middle schoolers were saying that they “don’t like non-fiction books” because they’re so “boring." And I was kind of appalled. I wandered if they even knew how vast and voluminous (vocab words!) the non-fiction genre is, just like fiction is. So I decided to conduct a survey and not just ask one student, but to ask 20, because 20 students would probably be more reliable than 1. And I needed to find out about a few things. At first I needed to know if each individual liked fiction or non-fiction, and why. If they knew some examples of non-fiction. And if any non-fiction interested them. I surveyed roughly the same amount of 6^th, 7^th and 8^th graders and here were my results.  

           
Fiction or non-fiction?: 15 fiction, 2 non-fiction, and 3 said both.

           
Why do you like that genre?:

• Don’t like the real world, like fake things. – 5
• Boring. – 3
• Too serious [in non-fiction] – 2
• Everything is perfect [in fiction]. – 1
• Lose interest [in non-fiction]. – 1
• Truthful [in non-fiction]. – 1
• [Non-fiction] is helpful to learn. – 2

Examples of non-fiction?:

• Magazines. – 8
• Newspapers. – 5
• Science/math books. – 4
• Biographies. – 3
• Journals. – 2

Does any non-fiction interest you? What kind?:

• Science books. – 1
• Math books. – 1
• Biology books. – 1
• History books. -1
• True stories. – 1

When I saw the results, I wasn’t that surprised. I kind of figured that fiction would be more popular than non-fiction because the students were almost telling me this BEFORE I did the survey… and the reasoning behind their decision was ‘normal’ in a sense. But when I saw how many examples of non-fiction people said, I was blown away (...almost). Everybody knew a lot of works of non-fiction and they still didn’t like it. I thought that if, and when they knew what was in the non-fiction genre they would like it. But evidently that wasn’t the case. So, my conclusion is that they are all aliens… (Just kidding)

The Face on the Milk Carton Book Review by Phoenix

Title: The Face on the Milk Carton Book Review by Phoenix

Author: Caroline B. Cooney

Format: Ebook

Price: $7.99

Length: 210 pgs

Summary:
Jane Johnson or, as she likes to be called, Jayyne Johnstone, is a normal teenager. She isn’t struggling with grades, she is well off, and, like everyone else, she pays no attention to the faces on the milk cartons. One day, she sees a face and suddenly realizes something. That missing child on the milk carton is her. She then has to figure out if it is truly her and if it is, how could her caring parents be kidnappers and how did they do it? Just one skipped school day and a drive to New Jersey and the discovery of a family that looks a lot like her reveals all.

This book’s strengths were suspense and it keeps your attention. Its weakness is that it’s way too short. It’s part of a series but it still it really short compared to other series. I give this book four out of five chocolate bars because it’s an amazing book but it’s too short. I liked this book because everyone can relate to Jane when she wonders if she doesn’t really belong to her parents. I rate this book fairy princess; anyone who can read chapter books because there is no inappropriate content. The cover is simple but interesting.

Fairy Tale: A review by ArwenPond

Title: Fairy Tale

Format: Paperback

Author: Cyn Balog

Length: About 260 pages

Price: $8.99

Morgan Sparks and her boyfriend Cam have been best friends since they were children, but just before their shared sixteenth birthday, Cam confesses that he is a fairy who was switched at birth with a human child, and now the fairies want to switch them back. 

I personally don't have a favorite part of this book; I didn't like it very much. At the very beginning we're told that Morgan can see the future when she thinks about someone, but she can't see Cam. The power itself doesn't bug me. It's the fact that they never mention it again throughout the whole book. Another thing that bugged me was the fact that it has an awful ending and yet the characters don't seem to mind at all! You would think that they're all miserable, but they're not! I mean, I don't wish misery onto people, even fake people, but still, I don't think that they react appropriately for the situation.  Overall the writing was very good and I liked the characters and thought that the plot was interesting, but those things bugged me too much to actually like it. 

I give this book 2 out of 5 chocolate bars. 

There's nothing inappropriate throughout the book.

I thought the cover looked interesting, but it doesn't look like a fairy like the cover people are trying to do. It just looks like words written down the middle with pretty fairy wings on either side.  

Hide in Plain Sight, a review by Zombified Unicorn

Title: Hide in Plain Sight

Author: Marta Perry

Format: I read this as an e-book on the kindle library

Price: Free on the kindle library

Hide in Plain Sight is one of those books that you probably shouldn't read in the dark at night… It was a great book to get lost into the plot. The two main characters are Andrea Hampton and Calvin Burke. Andrea’s younger sister gets hit by a car, and Andrea is forced to move in with her grandmother (where her sister Rachel was living and working). They were working at turning her grandmother’s mansion into The Three Sisters Inn. But with Rachel’s accident, their chances at finishing by their opening date are now slim. But as word gets out about Rachel, and the Inn, and the opening date, strange things start to happen. Andrea and Calvin have a hard time figuring out who is out there, and it takes a while to get their final answer.

            

If you asked me to pick my favorite part of this book, I honestly wouldn’t have an answer for you. The entire book is full of cliffhangers and suspense. It’s a great book to just pick up and read. 

            

Rating: five chocolate bars

Appropriateness: I think it might swear ONCE. So if you’re freaked out about it, I’m sure it won’t be a problem.

Cover Thoughts: The cover was a great example of the book. There are a lot of Amish families in the book, and the mansion looks very realistic

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part time Indian: A review by: cece07

Book Title: The Absolutely true Diary Of a Part time Indian

Format: paper back

Author: Sherman Alexie

Length/number of pages: 230

Price: $8.99

Short Summary:  
This book is about a boy named Junior who gets picked on.  He feels confined on the reservation where he lives, and his grandma tells him to take a big step.  He transfers schools to a place where he is the only Indian there.  He meets this attractive girl and falls for her right at that moment.  When he moved schools, all the people on the rez ( reservation..) hated him, even his best friend Rowdy, because they think he is betraying them by moving to a white school. His grandma  was proud, and his parents didn't care. Along the way Junior makes a couple of friends, gets into a couple of fights, and is faced with a big decision. 

Sherman Alexie is the king sitting on his jewel-encrusted throne (meaning he is a FANTASTIC writer...) writing this book. You can tell it came from his heart. It is a terrific book...you will read one page and you can't stop. It's hilarious, heart crushing, enthralling, and sad. Check it out!

Strengths: very poetic, awesome cartooons, has a lot of meaning, and it's hilarious.

Rating (out of five chocolate bars)5 (all the way.)

Appropriateness:  for 12 & up

Cover Thoughts: It fits the book ( once you read it.)

Catching Fire, a review by Sammy G.

Title- Catching Fire (The Second Book in The Hunger Games)

Author- Suzanne Collins

Format- ebook

Price- $5.99 on Amazon.com and 9.99 on BarnesAndNoble.com

Plot Summary-

Catching Fire starts out with the victory tour for Peeta and Katniss. Right before it President Snow shows up and basically says if you don’t convince EVERYBODY that you love Peeta I will kill Gale. So they go on this Victory Tour and Peeta proposes to Katniss, she accepts, but even that isn’t enough to convince President Snow. Life goes on and eventually it is announced that in the 75^th Hunger Games tributes will be chosen from the existing pool of victors! And for district 12 that means the 2 tributes will be Katniss and Peeta or Katniss and Haymitch! When the drawing happens it is decided that Peeta will go in with Katniss again. During the training and interviews Cinna and Portia, their stylists, come up with more amazing outfits. Also during one of the interviews Peeta drops 2 huge bombshells and says that Katniss is pregnant and that they already got married in secret. Finally the real Hunger Games begin but I won’t tell you what happens because that may spoil the book for you.

Important Characters (edited for length):

Katniss (main character)- She is courageous, a victor of the 74^th Hunger Games, a beautiful singer, in love with Peeta and Gale, named after an edible root, great with a bow and arrow, and she hates the Capitol.

Peeta (main character)- He is great with words, a victor of the 74^th Hunger Games, an amazing painter, he has been in love with Katniss since he first saw her, he is strong, and he hates the Capitol.

Gale (main character)- He is a great hunter and trapper, in love with Katniss, and he hates the Capitol.

Haymitch (main character)- He is a drunk, the victor of the 50^th Hunger Games, and the mentor for katniss and peeta in the 74^th and 75^th hunger Games. He also hates the Capitol.

Prim (Katniss’s sister)- She is sweet, innocent, and almost everyone absolutely loves her.

Theme- I think the theme of the Hunger Games is to stand up for what you believe in no matter what.

Strengths:

1. Interesting back story

2. Great plot and characters

3. Easy to visualize

Weaknesses:

1. Confusing at times

2. Said is used a lot

3. I wish they would have played it out

Evaluation- Over all it is one of the best books I have ever read and encourage anyone who hasn’t read it to read it.

Ending Thoughts- I personally did not like the ending, but without it the third book would be completely different.

Rating- 4.5 chocolate bars

Cover Thoughts- I think the cover is a good cover because it matches the other covers and the mockingjay is basically the symbol for the whole story.

Appropriateness- The only inappropriate thing is Haymitch’s drinking. (and kids killing each other.)  For ages 9 and up.