Unforgettable by Cecily Von Ziegesar

This book is the part of the “It Girl” series. It starts out with Jenny Humphrey going out with this guy named Easy Walsh, who just broke up with his ex girlfriend, Callie Vernon, who is Jenny’s room mate. Throughout the book Easy goes back and forth between girls, and finally chooses Callie. Callie, Jenny, and Tinsley’s best friend, Brett Messerschmidt is still upset about her breakup with Jeremiah, so she swears off boys. Tinsley is the leader of this clique. She starts liking a freshman guy named Julian, who has feelings for Jenny, and in return Jenny starts having feelings for him too. The breakups become complicated and lead to the climax of the book.
To find out more you can read the fifth book, “Lucky” which just came out. (Also this series branches off from the New York Times Bestseller “Gossip Girls.”)

by Christine 7th grader

Everworld by K.A. Applegate

David, Jalil, April and Christopher get pulled into a fantasy world called Everworld where the Aztecs and Vikings still exist and other ancient cultures too. David, Jalil, April and Christopher are stuck in an Aztec city ruled by Huitzilopoctli, a heart-eating god. As they are waiting to be sacrificed, they try to find an escape route out of the city. Will they be able to escape the clutches of a heart-eating god?
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes action books. But be warned, this book can get graphic.

Peter C. - 7th grader

Full Tilt by Neal Shusterman

Blake is the responsible member in the family with some sense,while his brother Quinn takes many
risks and goes overboard. Quinn goes into a bizarre phantom carnival where if you
don't survive 7 rides you don't leave.
If they want to escape the carnival, the boys must find the secret way out of each ride. To make it
worse, the rides are designed from your worst nightmares and fears.

Kyle C. 7th grader

The Big Field by Mike Lupica

In this book we follow Keith “Hutch” Hutchinson and his baseball team as they compete in an American Legion summer tournament, where they have to win just to keep playing. But through it all Hutch has to try and keep relations between him and Darryl Williams, the team’s star player, from ruining their chances of winning. Hutch is normally a shortstop, but on this team he has to play second base, because Darryl’s their shortstop. And he doesn’t mind, except the whole time Darryl is constantly baiting him about being team captain. Plus, his dad, who almost made it to the majors, has seemed to shun baseball from his life, which upset Hutch, but not as much as seeing him practicing with Darryl at practice one night. Will Hutch be able to work all these issues out and still manage to focus on playing and winning games?
For anyone who likes a good sports book, especially baseball, I would highly recommend this book. I don’t know if you read Mike Lupica’s other baseball book, Heat, but I did, and I didn’t really like the ending that much. This book is different, though. It’s much better than the other, a great choice for anyone looking for a sports book.

Eric- 7th grader

Candy and Me: A Love Story by Hilary Liftin

If you never read Candy and Me: A Love Story here is a brief synopsis on this astounding book. Candy and Me is a book full of different candy stories with each chapter named after a different candy. The main character Hilary, who is also the author of this non-fiction book, has a story behind each candy. When she was a little girl she ate candy everyday and it got her through a lot of highs and lows.

I highly recommended this book; it is both true and a story that will make you go hungry, but it is also extremely hard to put down.


by Sabrina M. - 7th grader

The Book of Time by Guillaume Prevost

Sam Faulkner’s dad has been missing for ten days. In search of his father, Sam explores the bookstore owned by his family. In the basement, he discovers a mysterious stone statue with a sun carved on the front. Next to the statue, Sam finds a small, dirty coin with a hole in the middle. He places the coin in the center of the sun. Suddenly, Sam is transported back in time to the land of the Vikings! Sam notices the statue is still with him, but the coin is missing. In order to travel through time and continue looking for his father, he must find the appropriate coin to reactivate the statue. In his quest through time, Sam is transported to the times of World War I, ancient Egypt, and Cortez. Sam eventually lands outside Dracula’s Castle where he believes his father is held prisoner. Can Sam rescue his father and make it home?
I would recommend this book to anyone who is eleven to thirteen years old. This book is fast-paced and a great page-turner. This book is perfect for anyone who enjoys adventures that involve time travel. It is also a wonderful book for learning a bit of history!

Ian P. – 7th grade

Building Blocks by Cynthia Voigt

This book begins with a boy named Brann. Brann right now is suffering from his parents constantly fighting. He is so tired of his parents fighting with his father is always backing down and being the loser. So he decides to go to inside a huge toy block fortress that his father made. Tired, he falls asleep in the fortress and wakes up in a different time and place. There Brann meets a boy named Kevin who will teach him a very important lesson in friendship.

This book is very well written but can be a little slow in parts. I don't recommened this book to people who procrastinate in finishing a book. To the rest of you, happy reading.

Devin R. 7th grader

Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves

Joey Harker is taking one of the craziest tests in his life. Mr. Dimas, his social studies teacher, uses very unconventional methods of teaching and testing. Joey is dropped off with two partners somewhere in town, and has to find his way to a designated checkpoint. While venturing ahead, he passes through a strange mist, and finds himself in from o a McDonald’s with an M that’s colored like a Scottish kilt. Strange. Then upon returning to his group, he finds that suddenly one of his partner’s hair has become a lot shorter. Stranger. Before he knows it, the entire world has changed, and just as suddenly, he leaves that world to find himself at a place with hundreds, maybe thousands of alternate versions of himself. Now he’s fighting against two evil organizations using his special power of Walking to prevent them from taking over the Altiverse.

This is honestly one of the very best books I’ve ever read, with an extremely unique and exciting plot; in fact I wish it had sequels. But even still, it is an amazing book for anyone who likes fantasy at all. To tell the truth, this book was so good I was tempted to go to the library and pay them so I could keep it. Please, if you don’t read this book, you’re missing out on a great piece of literature. I beg you to read it.

Eric F. - 7th grader

The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh

One day, Jack Perdu was walking home from school, translating a Latin book he was reading, when suddenly he was hit by a car. Very luckily for him, he lived, and was able to go home two days later. That was when things got weird. One night, he heard a door slamming, and assuming it was his father, went to go look. However, he found a complete stranger, just sitting with his feet up on his father’s chair. The man at first seemed to know Jack was there, but acted as if he wasn’t, talking to himself as if he was alone. When Jack asked him who he was, he fled out the window. Jack thought he was going crazy, and his father sent him to a doctor in New York City, where his mother had died eight years ago. While there he met a girl named Euri, who took him nine floors below New York’s Grand Central Station. Jack has now entered the New York Underworld. Suddenly he is on a desperate hunt to find his mother, who may not even be there any more, while avoiding Cerberus and the Underworld guards trying to find him.

I hate to repeat myself, but this book was just as good as the last one I reviewed, Interworld, to the point where I wanted to buy it from the library. A fantastic tale, combining imagination with some Ancient Greek mythology and putting it in NYC, and Katherine Marsh has a brilliant story that will be hard to forget. Anyone who likes anything fantastical will love this novel about life after death in New York City.

Eric F. - 7th grader

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

A Great and Terrible Beauty is beautifully written. All teenage girls will fall in love with some of the characters and be attached to the book.
It is about a girl named Gemma Doyle set in the 1800's. She deeply wants to leave India and attend school in England, but her mother disagrees. After running away from home, Gemma's mother dies and Gemma thinks it is partially her fault. Later she encounters many adventures as she goes to a religious girls boarding school in England. Gemma has strange visions and mean while begins to fit in at her new school with the most popular girls. From there, they start a tribe called The Order and go into the realms.
I recommend this book to anybody who likes suspense, thrills, literature, and fantasy.

By Dana H. -7th grader

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

Deep inside Venice lives a mysterious boy known as the Thief Lord who houses runaway children. When Prosper and Bo meet him after running away from their aunt, their world flips upside down. The boys encounter a cheating merchant, a strange inspector, and a mystery beyond their wildest dreams. What will happen?
I highly recommend this book to any one searching an adventure book with a healthy dose of suspense.

By Allex B.- 7th grader

Heat by Mike Lupica

Heat is a very well written book. It is about a boy name Victor Arroyo and his love for the great game of baseball. Supposedly, Victor can throw a fastball up to 80 mph. Victor lives in the Bronx with his older brother Carlos. He is on a little league baseball team called the Clippers with his best friend Manny. Problems arise when Victor is challenged by other teams in the Bronx to get his birth certificate that can not be reached because it is in Cuba. Also, if anyone should find out about his secret, Victor will be split up from his brother forever.
I do recommend that you read this book for yourself about a boy and his love for baseball in this heart stopping thriller, Heat, by Mike Lupica.

Daniel D. -7th Grader

The Wish List by Eoin Colfer

This book is about a girl named Meg Finn. She dies while trying to rob a house owned by a man named Lowrie McCall. She was too bad of a person to go to Heaven, but too good of a person to to to Hell. In order to get into Heaven, she must help Lowrie McCall complete a wish list of things he had wanted to do. While she is trying to help complete the wish list, a friend of hers who had also died while robbing Lowrie's and went to Hell is sent by demons to get her.

This book is very suspenseful and well written. I suggest this fantasy book to everyone.

Justin M.- 7th grader

I Am The Ice Worm by MaryAnn Easley

This book is really cachy. This book is about a girl named Allison Artwood who lives with her dad in California. Her parents are divorced and they live miles apart from each other. Her mom lives in Alaska where she teaches in a school. So Allison's dad hires a pilot to tke Allison to Alaska to visit her mom. Remember, Allison is a California girl and is not used to the cold. On top of that she is very rich and perky. So she flies in a unstable weather condition with Jhonny Sky...the plane crashes and Allison is left all alone in the wilderness until an Inupiat leader finds her. To find out more about this book, you'll have to read it.

Luis C. - 7th grader

Totally Joe by James Howe

The book Totally Joe is written as an alpha-biography from the point of view of a 12 year old boy named Joe, who is doing an assignment for his Language Arts Class. As you go through the lettersof the alphabet, you learn so much about this funny, interesting and surprisingly fun character. In each different letter you learn some new exciting things that Joe does or did in the past, present or even future. You will never know what he could be doing next. To hear more about the most fabulous person I have ever read about go and check out Totally Joe.

This is the sequel to The Misfits.

Sarina M.- 7th grader
 

The Watcher by James Howe

The Watcher is about a girl who suffers abuse from her father and decides to remove herself from reality by watching others one summer on the beach. She makes up in her mind about how perfect these people’s lives are, although one boy, Evan is dealing with his parents’ divorce and the other boy, Chris has a beer addicted father. The boys being watched notice her on the beach with her notebook and decide to find who she is and why she is just sitting there. One boy goes to her house to investigate her home life and he witnesses the abuse. When the authorities are called, the father denies what is happening but eventually the watcher opens up and tells about what is happening.
 
I would recommend this book for people who enjoy intricate stories with several points of view.  The themes were emotional revolving around divorce, alcohol addiction and abuse.

Zach L.- 7th grader

Ophelia Speaks by Sara Shandler

If you’ve never read Ophelia Speaks, here is a brief synopsis on this wonderful book. Ophelia Speaks is a book chock full of stories of teenage girls going through their years of adolescence. Each chapter is titled as a problem that all young women face. Each chapter shares stories that teenage girls submitted in response to a letter sent out from the author, Sara Shandler,requesting stories in return that have to do with the given list of topics.

I highly recommend this book, it’s both educational and interesting; it was extremley hard to put the book down.
Sydney E.- 7th grader

Last Dance by Lurlene McDaniel

Rachel Deering loves dance and lives it. She even gets the roll of Swan Lake, every ballerina’s dream. But things always don’t turn out the way they should when Rachel has been feeling really weird and realizes that she has diabetes.

She is now ready to give up on all of her dreams when she meets Shawn… Shawn was asked by Rachel’s Dr. to help Rachel get used her diabetes and to let her know what might happen to her. Turns out he has it too and is the same age. Even though Shawn has diabetes he is still does want he wants to do he plays soccer. Can Shawn help her to get back on track and make her change her mind about following her dream to become a ballerina and go to the New York City Ballet Company?

Gina G. 7th grade

No One Has To Know by Ingrid Tomey

Life is great for fifteen-year-old Webber when a new year of school begins and he is the star of his track team with a new pool of friends and a crush that he hopes is a potential girlfrien.

But when he wakes up in the hospital after going for a drive with his grandpa, his once great life is put on hold. Trying to recuperate is harder than Webb thinks; he not only has to rebuild physically but mentally and emotionally too, since his memory of that day is lost.

Eventually the truth from the car accident day seeps out and Webb is left with a huge dilemma. His future is now in is own hands as he tries to determine what to do.


-Kathleen O. 8th grade

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Eragon, a 16 year-old farm boy from Carvahall, is about to go on the ride of his life. In the Spine, a nearby mountain range, he finds a blue stone. Later he finds out that it is actually a Dragon egg which eventually leads him on a magical journey of unusual creatures, evil adversaries, and a self-exploration.

As you read this book, you will be taken on various mystical tales and adventures as Eragon learns about his true powers.

This is a deeply intense book for people who like dragons, magic, and/or The Lord of the Rings.
-Justin M. 8th grade