Reviewed by Qaday Robinson

What can I say about the Hunger Games?  All I can say is wow!  This book had me reading until midnight and in class too. I could not stop, because it was just a constant line of action that had me skipping meals just to read it. Since it was about teens killing each other to live, I found it extremely interesting that a popular book could be so gruesome.  The action and the weird romance were my favorite part. I can’t wait to read the 2 sequels.  Five stars!

Reviewed by Camie Mendon

I loved the book Flush by Carl Hiaasen. It is great for all ages and will have you laughing the whole way through.  In the story, young Noah and his sister Abbey are trying to expose the corruption of a casino boat owner after their father burns down the boat out of rage and expose the crook; they come up with a mischievous plan that will have you wanting to keep reading. Along the way they find help from very unusual places, Shelly a tough bartender, and a curious old biker/pirate. This is a funny and sarcastic book about learning to stand up to bullies no matter what the cost. If you love this book as much as I did, be sure to also check out the book Hoot by Carl Hiaasen as well.

Reviewed by Christy Verboom

The Hunger Games is the first book of a series written by Suzanne Collins.  This young adult fiction is an exciting action filled romance story that makes it hard to ever put the book down.  Katniss Everdeen lives in Panem, the country that America has turned into.  Panem is ruled by an oppressive government that has divided the country into 12 districts.  Every year, as a way of entertainment for themselves and punishment for their citizens, the government picks a boy girl from each district to be in the Hunger Games.  A game where all the contestants brutally kill each other, fighting to be the only survivor.  Twenty four contestants and only one winner.  But what will happen when Peeta Mellark is forced to face his long time crush Katniss in the arena? Find out by reading this suspenseful story or wait until it comes out in theatres March 23!   (It’s also a #1 New York Times Best Seller).

 Reviewed by Ms. Kelley

The Hunger Games is the ultimate reality show of the future.  Take Big Brother, add Dual Survivor, include a dose of The Bachelor, and then add…a fight to the death where only one contestant can emerge alive.  It will break your heart one moment and bring you back to the edge of your seat the next.  You’ll find yourself glued to the pages the entire story.

The Hunger Games features Katniss, a teenager from District 12.  For Katniss, life in a District means living on the edge of starvation and struggling for life.  After the death of her father, Katniss takes the lead in providing food for her distraught mother and her beloved younger sister Prim.   Sneaking off into the forbidden woods, Katniss becomes a skilled hunter.  She forms a friendship with Gale, another District 12 teen who has taken to the woods to also provide food for his family.  Their days of hunting and shared friendship almost make life tolerable for Katniss.  Until the day of the Reaping.  At the Reaping, a boy and girl are selected from each Distrcit to represent their District in the Hunger Games.   There is only one winner in the Hunger Games.  And the only way to win is to survive.   This is a reality show you will never forget.

This book is good.  Sooo good.  Too good.  I told my kids they had to go to bed early  just so I could read this book.  My boyfriend rented a movie and popped popcorn, and I lied and said I was tired…just so I could read this book.   My mom called from out of state, and I told her I couldn’t talk….because I was busy readin this book.  This book made me a horrible mom, girlfriend, and daughter for a few days.  But I couldn’t help it!  It’s THAT good.   Warn your family you’re “checking out” for a few days, and check out this book!

Reviewed by BJ Rosen

James Patterson has nonstop action, I tell you what.  Especially, in his newer books such as Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports.   Doomsday is approaching, and the kids’ time is runnin short.  With the radicalistic ideas of “Re-evolution” ( a regime devised by Itex’s director to forge a genetically superior race to humans and to wipe out the rest). As the Flock discovers more and more about Itex, it becomes clear that they will have to put a stop to it some way or another.  However, the Flock is separated due to a conflict between Max and Fang over letting Ari stay with them (whose expiration date is nearing and will soon die).  On top of that, Itex has resorted to using what has been dubbed by the Flock as “Flyboys” – winged mechanical replacements of Erasers who are now retired (killed).  Personally, I found this book to be great!

Reviewed by Lucero Ortiz

Willow is a novel that is sure to hit a nerve.  It’s told from Willow’s perspective.  Everything starts when her parents died in a car accident while she was driving.  Refusing to cope with her new reality and the emotional pait it was causing her, Willow finds a way to numb the pain – by cutting herself.  She believes that by inflicting physical pain in her body that life will be more bearable without her parents.  Willow holds herselft accountable for her parent’s death which leads her to “punish” herself.  Then she meets a boy named Guy who is as sensitive and complicated as she is.  When Guy finds out Willow’s “pain killer”, he works to pull her out of the solitary life she’d created for herselft.  With him Willow live a potentially life changing relationship…”It’s hard to keep a secret when it’s written all over your body.”

If you enjoy this novel, I’m sure you’ll like a short story called “Cut” by Patricia McCormick.

Reviewed by Lucero C. Ortiz-Cruz

Wings is a remarkable debut about a 15 year old girl named Laurel.  Laurel had been a homeschooled vegan all her life – not the typical teenager.  Her parents bought a bookstore in Crescent City because of financial problems which forced them to leave Orick and sell their home. 

Laurel doesn’t feel like she fits in at Crescent City High School with the other students. A little bit after her arrival Laurel feels a bump on the back of her neck growing larger and larger until one day it disappears and in its place are huge flower petals hovering over her head.  At school she is falling for a cute boy named David who is clearly into knowing her as well.  Laurel wants to know more about her “wings,” so she goes to her old home and finds more creatures like her, fairies!

Although everything seems magical and glittery-perfect, it’s not.  There are trolls trying to buy the land Laurel’s parents are selling.  To save her “kind,” Laurel must find a way to pursuade her parents to keep the land even though they desperately need the money.  As if that wasn’t hard enough, there also surges a love triangle between Laurel, David, and Tamani (a male faerie).

This novel has everything – magic, romance, and danger.  Everything you thought you knew about faeries will change.

Reviewed by Ms. Kelley

I’ve always loved vampire stories, but since the mayhem surrounding the Twilight series erupted, I’m asked almost daily for “books like Twilight.”  So, I’ve been reading more vampire stories than ever.   The Vampire Diaries comes the closest of any to being “like Twilight,” but guess what – it was written more than 10 years BEFORE Twilight.  And, I have to wonder if Twilight author Stephanie Meyer may have been influenced by this vampire classic.

A few of the startling similarities:  Well, for starters, both Twilight and the Vampire Diaries are told in four novels.  Vampire Diaries novels are MUCH shorter, and each book contains two of the novels, so there are two books in total to read to complete the series.

Startling Similarity #2:  The premise:  Human girls meets vampire boy at high school, they fall in love, they battle all the human-in-a-vampire-world/vampire-in-a-human-world problems.  In this case, the “new kid” is the vampire boy, Stefan, for whom mega-popular Elena falls for immediately.  Stefan at first seems to entirely hate Elena, but we soon learn he’s simply masking an uncontrollable attraction to her (hmm, sounds familiar).  In Twilight the attraction is based on the smell of Bella’s blood, in Vampire Diaries, it is Elena’s uncanny resemblance to Stefan’s former love Katherine.

Startling Similarity #3:  The main characters.  Stefan is a brooding, guilt-consumed, reluctant, but ”good,” “vegetarian” (aka non-human diet) vampire who tries repeatedly to keep Elena from continuing a relationship with him for her own good.  Elena is strong-willed and pursues their relationship with complete abandon – the need to be with Stefan is more important than anything to her.

Startling similarity #4:  Evil vampire enters the picture and wants human girl.  Vampire boy must save human girl.  In Vampire Diaries, the evil vampire happens to be Stefan’s older and stronger vampire brother Damon with whom he once battled for the love of Katherine and whom he must now battle for Elena.

There are many other little similarities between the stories, so I can’t help but wonder how much Twilight might have been influenced by this series.  Others obviously share this thought.  Just Google “twilight vampire diaries” and you’ll find a number of websites where readers discuss which one they like better.   For me, I’m still a bigger Twilight fan, but if you’re jonesing for another story in a similar vein, I’ll quickly admit that Vampire Diaries is a good read.

Reviewed by BJ Rosen

Inkspell is a never ending spiral of excitement.  Cornelia Funke is back once again with the latest book from the Inkspell series.  Starting with the new characters (and some of the old), this book will be sure to deprive your time until you’ve read it.  In other words, it’s that feaking awesome!

In the last book, if you’ve already read the first book Inkheart, you learned of Capricorn’s death.  And Dustfingers’ thievery.  Without going into too much detail, Dustfinger gets read back to his own world by Meggie or her fother Mo!  Suspicious, huh?  Well, news reaches her and she ends up in Dustfinger’s world.  Trippy yet.  Well the excitement doesn’t stop there.  Apparently, Capricorn’s angry mother is plotting revenge on her son’s death and is holding Meggie’s family ransom.

Will the fate of the last Ink Readers be diminished by an unmaskable hate or revenge?  Or is there more at stake in the other world of Dustfingers?  Well, I guess there is only one way to find out, and that is to stop reading this article and read the book for yourself.

P.S. The movie Inkheart will be coming out in January 2009 while the third book Inkdeath is out now!

Find all Inkworld novels in the Fiction section under FIC Fun.

Reviewed by BJ Rosen

If you read the first book (Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment), then this is where the excitement really begins.  After learning of the cast and charaters in the first book, the action continues with Ari coming back to life!!  Is that really possible?  I have an idea, but for the time being you should read it for yourself.  The story starts with a fight between Ari and Fang which Fang winds up losing and ends up in the hospital.  Well, things get really freaky when the FBI show up after the discover of Fang’s wings (which is explained in the first book).  After this event, interesting plots begin to unravel such as the new Max may be a clone.   Trust me, the fun is just about to begin in this series.  Be sure to look for the third book in the Maximum Ride series, Saving the World and other Extreme Sports.

Find all Maximum Ride titles in the Fiction section under FIC Pat.