Can you keep a secret? Review by Porkers

       

Title: Can you keep a secret?
Author: Sophie Kinsella
Format: Paperback
Price: $9.99

This book was about a girl called Emma Corrigan who lived in London, England. She went on a plane to help out with a meeting and there was a lot of turbulence on the plane. She was so nervous because she doesn't like planes so she accidentally started telling all her secrets to this guy sitting next to her called Jack Harper. Little does she know that he was the founder of Panther Cola. 

I really enjoyed this book. I like the sense of humor the author used and how descriptive she was while explaining where they were or what a person looked like. My favorite part was when Jack Harper had an interview and everyone was watching it from a tv in the office. Then Emma had to man the phones but she went to watch it anyways, and she was mortified because, later after she was watching it for awhile Jack accidentally started saying her secrets on tv.


I rate this book 5 out of 5 chocolate bars.There was violent language in this book.I thought the cover of this book represented the book well because it had key representing when you lock your mouth shut and don't tell anyone the secret that you are supposed to keep.
   

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.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, a review by Ezio

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows is like one of my favorite books! It was a very good book. 

This book is mostly about Harry, Ron, and Hermione getting the final horcruxes in order to defeat Voldemort. 

SPOILER ALERT! Harry and Voldemort have the FINAL BATTLE!! Harry has to look for the Horcruxes (as heard about in book 6.)  

I like it because there was a lot of suspense, it was thrilling because Harry is running through a bank and a castle that is like crumbling. My favorite part is the final battle because it was cool. You didn't know who was going to win, even though you have a pretty good idea because mostly it's the good people who win. My favorite character is Harry. I relate to him because he breaks rules and doesn't listen to rules, and I do the same, at least not all the time. He also takes risks, and I also take risks, like when I jumped off a twenty foot cliff into a lake and almost hit the rocks. I've finished this series twice because I really like it. I recommend the series to ages at least nine and up, or just people who really, really love a good book.

I rate 5 chocolate bars!
Appropriateness: swearing and lots of violence
Cover Thoughts: Pretty cool. It gave you and idea of what was going to happen in it, not much though. 

plz comment!

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.

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.

The Ministers Daughter: A Review By ArwenPond

Title: The Minister's Daughter

Author: Julie Hearn

Format: Hard Cover

Length: 272 pages
Price: $7.99

"Powers of the air, be here now. So mote it be." Nell is a wild child. Conceived on May Morning, she is claimed by the piskies and faeries as a merrybegot, one of their own. She is the village cunning woman's granddaughter: herb gatherer and healer, spell-weaver and midwife...and, some say, a witch. Grace is a Puritan minister's daughter: beautiful and refined, innocent and sweet-natured...to those who think they know her. But she is hiding a secret -- a secret that will bring everlasting shame to her family should it ever come to light. A merrybegot and minister's daughter -- two girls who could not have less in common. Yet their fates collide when Grace and her younger sister, Patience, are suddenly spitting pins, struck with fits, and speaking in fevered tongues. The minister is convinced his daughters are the victims of witchcraft. And all signs point to Nell as the source of the trouble....

--Summary from Google Books

The story is told in a really interesting way; every other chapter is told in third person and the others are told as a witch trial confession of Patience Madden, the younger of the two minister's daughters. You always know what's really happening with this book and you never really get confused, which is nice. If you weren't quite sure what was real and what wasn't, then the story wouldn't be as good. My favorite part was the end, not because it was the end, but because it ties it back to Salem (the story takes place somewhere in England, I think). It shows the beliefs of people back then and the traditions they carried out, which is really cool.

I give this book 5 out of 5, because it's amazing.

There's nothing inappropriate in it at all.

The cover shows Grace, the older of the Minister's daughters.

ArwenPond

Guitar Notes, a review by niallover12

Title: Guitar Notes

Format (Paperback, Hardcover, ebook?) hard cover

Author: Mary Amato

Length/number of pages;  273

Price $ 9.40      

Short Summary:  This book is mainly about a two teenagers tripp and layla meet at school and realize they have very similar lives. They became close friends. They both share an interest in music. They decided to make a gig. But after her dad finds out what she's doing he makes her do a music addition she doesn’t want to do, and she cant do the gig. But the two sneak to the gig, and Layla's dad finds out and drives her to to the addition. On there way the got in a horrible accident. Layla's dad is fine but is Layla?.........  Can the two kids live their dreams?  

Strengths/Weaknesses/Favorite Parts, etc 

A strength I really like is when Layla was in the hospital and tripp was playing the guitar for her. It was really touching.

Rating (out of five chocolate bars)

  Five chocolate bars!!! 

Appropriateness: Describes someone after a car accident, also in a coma.

Cover Thoughts: The cover is cool. It shows something that doesn’t really describe the book.

The Cupcake Queen: A Review By ArwenPond

Title: The Cupcake Queen

Author: Heather Hepler

Format: paperback

Length: About 250 pages

When Penny moves to Hog's Hollow from New York City, her life changes drastically. Penny's mom now runs a cupcake bakery, and Penny is stuck helping out. But that isn't the worst of it. Not only did she leave her friends back home, but her dad stayed behind too. And then there's Charity, resident mean girl who's out to get Penny. With all this, Penny still finds some things to like: Tally and Blake...and Marcus - the cute, quiet boy who runs on the beach every night. But just when Penny begins to accept her new life, she's forced to make a choice that will change everything.

I really enjoyed reading this book, in fact I've read this book several times. Even though I moved from a small town to a large town, just the opposite of Penny, the book actually helps me feel slightly better about the move. Everything about the story is intriguing and the characters are really interesting. I feel everything that the characters are experiencing. At the end of the book you feel a sense of peace, not about having finished a book, but about how everything turned out. But you also wish for more, more of those characters, the setting, everything about Hog's Hollow. The only reason I don't have a favorite part is that I liked the whole book.

I give this book 5 out of 5 chocolate bars because it's absolutely amazing.
There was nothing inappropriate about this book.
I thought that the cover was a perfect fit for this book because exactly what's happening on the cover happens at the beginning.

ArwenPond

Wednesday Wonderings

We at In the Middle (Of a Good Book) are a curious lot.  As in, we have a lot of questions.  And we thought, hey, we are an inquisitive bunch of people, and we also have access to entire classrooms full of middle school students who might have answers.  So each Wednesday, we are going to try to pose some questions about books and reading to our fellow middle school students and choose the most awesome answers to post for you.

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!

You, too, may have questions about books and the reading habits of middle school students...and we would be more than happy to survey our guinea pigs test subjects classmates with your questions.  Leave any questions you have in the comments, or you can email them to us at inthemiddlereading (at) gmail (dot) com!

NEXT WEEK: Our first post will explore what makes a compelling villain!