HEATHER BREWER'S
The Chronicles of
Vladimir Tod Book 3: Tenth Grade Bleeds
Reviewed by AMANDA
August, 2010
In the third installment, Vlad’s uncle, Otis decides to leave again. But his timing, as usual, is awful. Though Vlad claims to have his hunger for blood under control, the blood bags his aunt brings from the hospital aren’t enough to satisfy his thirst anymore. Add this to the fact that his best friend and drudge since they were eight, Henry, has decided he wants out. He doesn’t want to be Vlad’s human slave, even if Vlad is a lot nicer than most vampires. Enter in his stalker with a camera Eddie and his way-to-good-for-him girlfriend Meredith, and you’ve got a potent mix. However, this all seems inconsequential compared with the hunter who’s been sent to bring Vlad before the Vampire Council, hopefully seconds from death. But there’s even more going on behind the scenes. Ancient legends and old secrets, all of which Vlad must unravel if he hopes to make it through this year.
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HEATHER BREWER'S
The Chronicles of
Vladimir Tod Book 2: Ninth Grade Slays
Reviewed by AMANDA
July, 2010
After his close encounter with D’Ablo, the crazed ex-president of the vampire council who Vlad blasted a hole through with the Lucis, Vlad is ready to relax for the summer. But instead he spends time with his Uncle Otis, who also happens to be vampire, learning his heritage and honing his skills. That doesn’t mean Vlad is happy when his uncle tells him that he’ll be leaving at summer’s end. He will be flying all over the world to the different vampire councils, seeing if any are sympathetic to the his crime of helping Vlad and Vlad’s dad Tomas survive. And of course he wants them to be sympathetic to Vlad’s crime: existing. Because while his dad was a vampire, his mother was a human. This is forbidden, and so Vlad should not exist. However, Vlad has other things on his mind. Henry, his best friend and drudge (human slave to the vampire that drinks your blood and lets you live) has his cousin coming to visit. An intriguing guy named Joss, he quickly becomes Vlad’s friend while Henry’s busy at student council meetings. But when they head to a Halloween party, Vlad’s world comes crashing down. A nobody named Eddie Poe sees Vlad’s eyes flash purple. Eddie flips out, and later becomes intent on exposing Vlad. However, none of this can keep Vlad from to visiting Siberia with his Uncle to be mentored by an extremely old vampire in the arts of telepathy and mind control. Vlad’s not sure if he really wants to control people though. But what will happen if he doesn’t learn? His Uncle got word that a slayer was coming to Vlad’s hometown, and Vlad’s been seeing a strange man in the night. What does it mean for Vlad and his deepest, darkest secret?
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HEATHER BREWER'S
The Chronicles of
Vladimir Tod Book 1: Eighth Grade BitesReviewed by AMANDA
July, 2010
The first installment of The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod opens with a boy in an extremely odd situation. Vlad’s mom was a (mostly) normal person. But his dad…is a vampire. And so is he. Since his parents died in a freak house fire, he has no one to lead him through the needs of a vampire. Nelly, his guardian, tries her best to help, even stealing blood from the hospital to prevent Vlad from having to do something awful like hunting humans for the blood he needs to survive. But that’s not Vlad’s only problem. He also: has only one friend, Henry McMillan, who Vlad bit when he was eight; bullies intent on ruining Vlad’s face; and a huge crush on a girl way out of his league. However, when Vlad’s English teacher is announced missing and a strange man in a purple top-hat comes to substitute, he knows that these are his smallest issues. Especially since the guy asked him to pass out garlic! Vlad believes that the man knows his deepest secret, but is that good or bad?
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JAMES PATTERSON'S FANG
Reviewed By AMANDA
May, 2010
Fang is the latest installment in the Maximum Ride series. Ringing in with just over three hundred pages, anyone reading review can read the book without being intimidated by its size or skipping over it because it looks like a novelette. But books aren’t about cover art or page numbers! So lets get to the juicy story. In this newest book, Max, the leader of the Flock, a group of bird kids with wings and other strengths and powers, is faced with an awful prophecy. This prediction, made by the clairvoyant, mind reading and mind controlling seven-year old Angel, destroys Max’s world. Her soul mate, her second in command, and her best friend, the dark and handsome Fang, will be the first of the Flock to die, and it will be soon.
And if that isn’t Earth-shattering enough, Max is introduced to Dylan, another bird kid, cloned from the DNA of a boy who died in a car crash and mixed in with two percent avian DNA, like the rest of the Flock. But that’s not where Dylan’s surprises end. He was created to be Max’s “other-half” designed specifically for her. Enter Dylan’s “dad” a (possibly evil) genius who is desperate to experiment on the Flock and prepare them for the apocalypse, which, according to him, is coming soon. But these experiments include doctors, needles, and labs like the one the Flock was raised in. And the Flock doesn’t “do” labs. So all this leaves us with a doomed Fang, a hot Dylan without a cause, and a rejected scientist. Then we have Angel. The innocent looking seven-year old with psychic powers who desperately wants to be powerful, even if it means kicking Max out of the Flock and joining forces with evils like doctors, labs, and Hollywood agents.
All these elements leave the reader with quite few questions, not all of which will be fully answered. But you’ll find yourself desperately waiting for the next book instead of hating the author for not telling more. I’d recommend this book for just about anyone who loves fictions or science fiction. There’s no age limit on a James Patterson book. However, make sure you read the other books, “The Angel Experiment”, “Schools Out-Forever”, “Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports”, “The Final Warning”, and “Max”. If you want to read another review about the Maximum Ride series, one of the other reviewers has written one on “Max”.
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KATHRYN STOCKETT'STHE HELP
Reviewed By GABRIELLE
May, 2010
Have you ever kept a secret? The book, The Help by: Kathryn Stockett has many secrets. The HelpI is about three ladies: Minny and Aibleen, best friends and African- American maids. There is Eugina, a white woman also known as Skeeter. They are joined together in a way by a piece of writing that could change the racial ways back in the 1930s. This piece of writing is a treaty to them, African- Americans and whites being long lasting friends. In The Help there is love, hatred, kind words, and one very special piece of writing. You need to read the book to find out what this mysterious piece of writing is. This book is close to me because I felt like I would be like the character if I were that person. This is a very close book to me, and I hope whoever reads it loves it as much as I do.
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STEPHANIE MEYERS'NEW MOON
Reviewed By GABRIELLE
May, 2010
Do you believe in myths? In the book New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer, you have to believe! Bella Swan, 18 years old, loves a vampire named Edward. When Edward leaves her, she has blankness in her eyes, until she starts hanging out with a boy named Jacob. Jacob is suddenly her best friend, until Bella finds out a dark secret about Jacob. Will Jacob accidentally hurt her? Will Edward ever come back? I would recommend this book to teens and young adults.
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SCOTT WESTERFIELD'S
UGLIES
Reviewed By AMANDA
May, 2010
The newest science fiction hit, Uglies is an amazing and chilling read. Taking place in a futuristic society, humans have developed an operation to make them biologically appealing, or “pretty”, when they turn sixteen. But Westerfield isn’t writing about those who live the predetermined life of party towers and care-free lives. He’s writing about the rebels, the chaos-makers, the changers of society. Westerfield is writing about Uglies.
Uglies are people in their natural state. People who haven’t had the operation to make them pretty yet… or people who ran away before they could be turned Pretty. These people run away to a place called the Smoke, where you stay ugly. Forever. This is Tally’s worst nightmare. To forever have her too close-together eyes and frizzy hair. But this is Tally’s friend Shay’s greatest dream. However, when Shay runs away to the Smoke, she doesn’t realize the mess she’s left behind. Special Circumstances, the organization that does the dirty work in the seemingly flawless cities, decides that Tally must follow Shay to the Smoke, smuggling in a tracking device so that Special Circumstances can finally find the elusive Smoke and the Uglies that live there. Tally agrees to help them when they threaten to keep her an Ugly for life.
When Tally arrives at the Smoke, she is set on her course, determined to activate the tracker as soon as possible and betray her friend. But when Tally is swayed by romance, friendship, and the biggest secret to grace the face of the planet, will Tally still be so sure of herself? If I were you, I’d read the book and discover the answer.
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LISI HARRINGTON'S
THE CLIQUE BOOK SERIES
Reviewed by KATE
April 2010
This book series is about girls in a popular school clique called The Pretty Committee. The main characters are, Massie, Alicia, Kristen, Dylan and Claire.
Massie, is the alpha of The Pretty Committee and lives on a huge estate. She owns a pug named Bean and has amazing ideas for The Pretty Committee like Friday night sleepovers, gossip points and rating each others outfits. Alicia is the main dancer at Body Alive Studio and wants to become alpha of The Pretty Committee, which causes problems between Massie and her. Dylan is also rich and has a tomboy personality which makes her unique in the clique. Kristen is poor but tries to hide it from The Pretty Committee. When Massie and the clique find out, they are very supportive and give her hand-me-downs. Claire moves down from Orlando and has a hard time trying to get into The Pretty Committee. She meets a friend named Layne who the clique thinks is an LBR (loser beyond repair) so Claire has to balance between The Pretty Committee and her friend Layne.
I liked the book series because it was interesting to see how those girls live, and interact in typical middle school activities. If you like books that have gossip, boys, school and popularity than these are good books for you.
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JAMES PATTERSON'S MAX
5th in the Maximum Ride Series
REVIEWED
by GABRIELLE,
April, 2010
Do you like books that capture your attention on the first page? If you do, read Maximum Ride: MAX. MAX is about a group of kids (called the flock), Iggy, Fang, The Gasman, Nudge, Angel, their dog Total, and Max. They set off on adventures a lot. When the flock starts doing air shows in Los Angeles, feeling perfectly safe, enemies try to kill them. Then they hear that Max’s mother has been kidnapped. They go to Hawaii, in a Navy submarine to find Max’s mom. But the question in the end is this; will they find Max’s mother? Or die a watery death? I would recommend this book to people who like adventure, suspension, with a hint of romance. This book stands out because the flock are what their name implies: they are bird kids, with 98% human DNA, and 2% bird. All in all, I thought this book was a fabulous book that will go on my “favorite” list.
