Bad Moonlight: A Review by M. C. Doodledog

Title: Bad Moonlight

Author: R.L.Stine                                         

Format: Paperback

Price: $8.89   

Hey it's M.C. Doodle dog and I just finished a great book! Its called Bad Moonlight by R.L.Stine. The main character Danielle had just lost her parents when they got in a car crash. Danielle lives with her aunt and brother.  Her aunt said that she should join a band so Danielle did. When she was with the band Danielle would get horrifying fantasies that seemed so real. The people in the band are Dee (she does NOT like Danielle at all!), Joey ( he hits on every girl he can see), Caroline (she is REALLY nice to Danielle ), Mary Beth, Billy, And Kit (Danielle has a crush on him!). Before the concert, Danielle went on a walk with Kit! The band did their first concert and rocked the house. After that bad things started to happen. As you get farther in the book, Danielle starts to just run, at random times when she she's in the moonlight she just runs. Danielle thinks Kit is the only thing that keeps her safe.

What I really liked about this book is how many times it made me predict what was going to happen next. And how the book would make you think one thing was happening but it wasn't. What I didn't like in the book is how some of the characters turned out. That's pretty much all of the things I didn't like. My favorite parts were whenever  Danielle and Kit were together. It made my stomach tingle.

         
I rate this book 5 out of 5 chocolate bars.
There was violence in this book.
I thought that the cover of the book was pretty good, but I thought that it could have been better. It was really fun trying to find out who was who on the cover.   

Tatianna M.'s Book Review of Last Act

Title: Last Act
Author: Christopher Pike
Pages: 226
 
Last Act is about a teenage girl named Melanie. She had to move to a new town because of her parents' divorce. At her new school, she didn't have any friends until she helped Susan cheat on a test. Susan convinced her to try out for the school play. But on opening night, a disaster strikes the stage!
 
One of Last Act's strengths is that it's very suspenseful and keeps you interested until the end. It is short enough not to get bored with but long enough so it doesn't take five minutes to read. Last Act also had a well thought out and somewhat complicated plot and a surprise ending.
 
Some weaknesses of Last Act are that it doesn't take very long to read. Also, the character that everyone becomes fond of is negatively viewed in the twist ending. But, on the other hand, that also makes the last chapter of this book really good.  Another weakness is the cover design. Last Act has a few different cover designs but none are really amazing. They give away what the entire book is about and leave no mystery to be uncovered.
 
I liked Last Act and I rate this book 4 out of 5 chocolate bars. This book is rated vampire because it's about a murder and an investigation.

Knowing Death: original fiction by Maja



picture from http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/death-is-beautiful

 Knowing Death part one: long ride

So today is my last day here in my small-town home in North Dakota to go to an engineering college in New York City. I’m excited to go, but I’m going to miss my friends, and I don’t really want to be alone after what happened last night.

My friends and I were supposed to go stargazing at Black Lake like in the old days, but we got distracted by a meteor that crashed about a mile from the car. We went to look for it, but I guess we were imagining things, because we, at least I, saw something very different.

It was like an escape pod from one of those Science fiction shows that Mom used to watch. I saw someone running from it and we ran after him, but he/she was too fast and when we got back to the space junk it had magically turned into an abandoned rusty car. So I’m questioning my sanity, even as my Mom is crying on my shoulder. She’s always been the super emotional type and the fact that she’s hugging me so tight is also normal.

“Mom,” I said, “You’re crushing me.”

When she finally let go she started talking again, “It’s just I love you so much and I don’t want you to leave, but I’m so happy that you’re going to college!” most of it was like a sobbing gibberish but this is nothing compared to my first boyfriend.

Then I saw dad come out with my last bag, “Hey, my little sport’s going to college!” he said, Dad has called me that ever since I beat the cousins at football when I was seven. My mom wishes I’ll become an artist or a writer or something other than an engineer, all of my teachers say I’m a genius but nothing like that really interests me as much as building my own stuff does.  So that’s why I’m going, plus I want to prove all of those football jerks that say I’m too girly to do anything worthwhile. 
           
I met my friends at the airport where they were arguing over a bright pink sign that had glitter covering the edges and said “Goodbye Jamie!!!” in big bold letters. Jeff would not stop talking about how lucky I am to be going to the music capital and managed to make me promise to email him pictures of every stage I go to. It’s probably the single weirdest promise I have ever made, but the chances of that actually happening is zero. Then Amy shoved him aside and started her nonstop talk about how lucky I am to be going to the fashion capital of America, and now I have to go shopping. Which I’ll tolerate when I’m with Jeff or Amy because they practically pick all of the outfits, so I just have to try them on, but now I think they’re going to kill what’s left of my Christmas spirit this holiday season. I guess I’ll just buy the worst sweater I can find so I can see their faces! Anyway, we say our last in person goodbyes before the endless calls and texting that will start as soon as the plane lands. Then I go through the intense security and finally get on the plane. It already feels like a long trip, makes me wonder how I’ll feel after a few hours squished between a random snoring person and the window.            

Now that the plane has landed in New York a few hours later I don’t feel as bad, still a little dizzy but at least I don’t have air-sickness anymore. I walk around for a while looking for the exit when I look outside and see the city, the absolute, most amazing place I’ve ever seen. My train of thought came to an abrupt halt when someone tapped me on the shoulder; I turned and saw a tan girl with braided hair and a super smiley expression. “Hi, are you Jamie?” she asked in a no nonsense voice.

“Yeah?” I said to the stranger.

“I’m Becky, your roommate from the tech school.” she said.

“Oh! Nice to meet you, I didn’t know this place had dorms at least they weren’t on the brochure.” I said holding out my hand.

“They don’t but I thought you would need a place, am I right?” Becky grabbed my forearm instead and said, “It’s only temporary if you don’t want to stay, but either way you need to know that handshake for your own survival.” That was the last thing she said before we went out and got a taxi. Leaving me wondering what's in store for me...

I'd tell you I love you but then I’d have to kill you, a review by pinkunicorns

Title: I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I’d Have to Kill You

Author: Ally Carter

Format: paperback

Length/number of pages: 288

Price 8.99

Short Summary: Gallagher girl Cammie Morgan can kill a man with her bare hands. She speaks seven languages. She is a spy and can't have a boy friend but has one anyway!

Strengths/Weaknesses/Favorite Parts: My favorite part of the book is the dance and where she fakes a head ache because she wants to get away from her secret boyfriend that nobody knows about.  It was funny to read! I just collapsed in heaps of laughter for no reason. Cammie's weaknesses are Josh and chocolate!      

Rating I would give this book 5 stars
Appropriateness: not for boys.

Cover Thoughts: It is cool because it looks like a newspaper.

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.

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

Zach's Lie, a review by Brandon

Title: Zach's Lie
Author: Roland Smith
Format: paperback
Length: 211 pages
Price: $3.99

I finished reading the book Zach's Lie by Roland Smith in about four days.  The book has a third person narrator, and every chapter begins with one of Zach's journal entries.

The book starts out with Zach's (who is actually known as Jack in this part of the book) retelling of the night when three men came into his house and warned him, his sister, and his mother not to go to the police.  The police arrive on their own and ask what happened.  When they discover that Zach's father is in DEA custody, they decide to stop keeping quiet.  As a precaution, the DEA has to relocate the Osbourne family in the witness protection program.

They are moved to Elko, Nevada, and have no contact with their previous friends and family.  They are now known as the Grangers, and Jack's name becomes Zach.  But they haven't seen the end of those three men that came to their house in the night.

Zach starts out extremely upset and skeptical about moving to Elko, Nevada, but ends up liking it.  He grows up about the whole situation towards the end of the book.  He grows to like Nevada because the new friends he makes and well, I guess the food.  If given the chance to move back home, I think he would stay in Elko.

This book teaches that moving is not always a bad thing because you still make more friends.

I liked that the book wasn't too long, but it was pretty quick, and I felt like there should be more so I guess it's a good thing they made a sequel called Jack's Run.  It was very suspenseful and even was able to spark emotion in the reader, and I liked it a lot.  I suppose that's all thanks to Roland Smith's excellent writing.

Zach's Lie ended with a major cliff-hanger, implying that there would be a sequel written.  I definitely want to read this sequel.

Rating:  I would give Zach's Lie 4 out of 5 chocolate bars
Cover thoughts:  the cover has a picture of Zach on the front with unnaturally blue eyes.  He actually has brown eyes but was to wear blue contacts.  I thought it was interesting that it related to the book in only that small of a way.
Appropriateness:  There was no sexual content or bad language in the entire book, and only one or a couple brief scenes of violence.

All in all, it was a pretty good book and very underrated.

A review on the secret series by SpicyChocolate

Title: The Secret Series
Author: Pseudonymous Bosch
Format: Hardcover

Length/Number of pages: 400
Price: $16.99

Summary:

This crazy, suspenseful series is about two kids named Cass, and Max-Ernest. Written by Pseudonymous Bosch, it is very funny and exciting. The names of the book in the series are: The Name of This Book is Secret, If You're Reading This It's Too Late, This Book Is Not Good for You, This Isn't What It Looks Like, and the newest book, You Have to Stop This. They are very good, and I would recommend the series to everyone who likes to read a fun book.

Strengths: My favorite book was probably the first one, (The Name of This Book Is Secret), because it is a great introduction to the series. It has a lot of plot twists, and it is really funny and good.  My favorite scene is probably when Cass and Max Earnest find the Symphony of Smells.  It was really weird because there were vials of smells in a big case.

Rating: 5 out of 5 chocolate bars
Appropriateness: Fairy- Princess
Cover thoughts: I like all of the covers to the books because they all show some part of the book, but in a secretive way.The illustrations are also really good, and they are by Gilbert Ford.