Dane's Review: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

In this classic novel taking place in some future time, the entire world has changed from what it once was. Every job has been assigned before the people who fill them are even born. People are even manufactured! Every part of the world lives in some "cultivated society". Or does it? One high class society man tries to see if he can find any glimpse of "un-sophisticated" culture still around in the world.
This book is fairly old style, making the literature sometime difficult to follow. Adult theme might also make the book kind of arduous at times. But if you can make it, prepare for one of the best endings ever!!
I would rate this book 3Q (Readable) for quality, definitely worth reading. But a 2P (only special interest) for popularity. It's a tough book to break into.

Emily's Review: Sorcery and Ceceila, or, The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C Wrede and Caroline Stevermer

Are you a fan of fantasy as well as a lover of the classics? Sorcery and Cecelia combines the best of both worlds. It's an epistolary novel, meaing the two main characters--Cecy and Kate--trade letters. This pair lives in an alternate Regency (the early 1800s) England, with magic. Both are endearing but Kate, I believe, is a character readers can identify with more; the book is entertaining and even mysterious, if a bit too fluffy in points. Also recommended are the two sequels: The Grand Tour and The Mislaid Magician.
Rating: 4Q-Better than most; 3P-Some teen appeal.

Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin

Imagine a life gripped with fear, fear of a monster that at any time could destroy your world? A life where your only concern is survival and protecting those you love? For Matt (13), Callie (11), and Emmy (5), that monster is their mother and their life is a constant nightmare. They never know when Nikki, their unpredictable vicious mother, will go on a rampage or leave for days. They are always looking over their shoulder and can never breathe easy. Nikki meets Murdoch and life seems to finally be normal, almost peaceful. But really it is just the calm before the storm. Murdoch soon sees the real Nikki and hits the road. But Nikki doesn’t take no for an answer, from anyone. Matt realizes it is his duty to find a way out, for himself and his sisters, before it is too late.

Matthew’s Rules of Survival:
1. Sometimes, the people who mean you harm are the ones who say they love you.
2. Fear is your friend. When you feel it, act.
3. Protect the little ones.
4. If you coped before, you can cope now.
5. Always remember: In the end, the survivor gets to tell the story. (back cover)
Read along as Matthew tells the story of their life, of their survival, to his young sister, Emmy.

Mary's Review: Cirque du Freak by Darren Shan

Published in Britain as The Saga of Darren Shan (perhaps a more apt if less horror-oriented title, as at least half the series is spent in other locales) this series has achieved a good amount of fame in the US of A as the bestselling Cirque du Freak series. The hype is more or less deserved: the first novel has the horrendously slow pacing required of all first books in the series: it is required to inform of the 12 year old hero Darren and his best friend Steve, who manage to obtain tickets to the titular traveling show (their parents forbid it, of course making the show all the more appealing). There Darren in enraptured by one performance in particular--Mr. Crepsley and his performing spider, Madam Octa. So enraptured that he steals the rare and very dangerous arachnid. Of course he’s stolen it from a vampire, a fact of little importance until Madame Octa bites Steve, leaving Darren with a choice. He can become a half vampire and Mr. Crepsley’s assistant, or he can let Steve die. Of course Darren makes the choice befitting a hero in making, but is rewarded with something less than gratitude. Steve vows revenge, believing Darren to have stolen his rightful position as a vampire-to-be (Steve, being heavily read in such things, had long since know the truth concerning Larten Crepsley). And so the friends part on less than amiable terms, opening the gateway to the other books of the series.
Shan’s writing is far from complex but the subject matter never shies away from the harder subjects: death, good, evil, destiny, so on. Each book falls under 250 pages and takes no more than a few hours to read. Shan never fails to enchant the reader; occasional disgust with little, welcome touches of macabre, and more than a few time yank out one’s heartstrings. Worth the read, as any among Shan’s quasi-cult with tell you.
Final Verdict-3Q-Readable, 5P-Everyone wants to read it

Abbie's Review: All the Fished Come Home to Roost by Rachel Manija Brown

Rachel Brown describes her turbulent life in a Hindi ashram in her autobiography All the Fishes Come Home to Roost. The story begins when she is an 11-year-old forced to move to a Baba-worshipping ashram. The book continues with hilarious, heart-felt, and sometimes a little graphic stories of her adolescence in India. It is especially appealing to teens because it deals with Rachel's struggle with her parents and her faith. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it.
Rating: 4Q-Better than most, 4P-Broad general teen appeal.

**This book is not currently owned by NCPL but can be obtained through interlibrary loan.**

Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn

Nature vs. nurture. How much of who we are comes from our parents and the environment we grew up in and how much are we responsible for? For example, if you grew up in a house where everyone communicates and loves one another, will you have positive relationships? What if you grew up in a house where violence and anger were king and beating someone up was the answer? Will you end up hitting your significant other and kids, thinking that it is acceptable behavior? Whose fault will it be when you hit that person: yours, theirs, or the generation before you?
These are the questions Nick must struggle with as he fights to take control over his life. Nick has been ordered by the court to attend anger management courses, keep a journal that explains his side of the story, and of course, there is the restraining order that says he must stay away from Caitlin, his ex-girlfriend. But he loves Caitlin and it was only a slap. He didn’t hit her, he didn’t do anything wrong. He loves Caitlin. And taking control of the anger, the emotions, is like Breathing Underwater.

*You can find Caitlin's story in the newly released Diva by Alex Flinn.

Mary's Review: Devilish by Maureen Johnson

For every grain of sand on the beach, there are at least six books written about the gifted misunderstood outcast who saves the day. Yes, you're in for it again. Sort of. Thankfully for the sanity of the reader our heroine is rather more compelling than the average cookie-cutter child so popular in teen lit. Jane is less interested in herself and bemoaning or rejoicing her lack of friends/popularity and more in helping her best friend, who sold her soul for the sake of popularity to the demon Lanalee. Less than a frightening name, but they say that actions speak louder than words. Help and enlightenment come in the form of some monks from Jane's Catholic school, and a young man who died some time around the early 1900s (love interest, naturally!).
Despite rather rough commenting lore, the book actually falls into relatively few of the pitfalls known to go with the demon fighting genre. The writing is slightly on the simplistic side--you'll be done in a few days, if that. But the heroes fail to annoy, the villians hold interest, and the book also features interestingly and somewhat underused secondary characters. It's not for everyone, not as a whole the book receives a final verdict of: 4Q, 4P

How To Be Popular by Meg Cabot

“POPULAR: adj. Widely liked or appreciated; liked by acquaintances; sought after for company.
Popularity. We all want it. Why? Because being popular means being liked. Everyone wants to be like. Sadly, however, not all of us are. What do popular people have in common that makes them all so popular?
They all have: *A friendly way about them. *An eagerness to pitch in and help get the job done. *An interest in everything that goes on at work or school. *A look that’s fresh and neat.
These aren’t traits popular people were born with. They’ve cultivated the characteristics that make them so popular… …and you can, too, by following the tips in this book! (Intro page)”
Steph Landry is tired of being the least popular person in her class, the butt of every joke. Besides that certain Big Red Super Big Glup catastrophe was so long ago, five years to be exact. So she has decided to enlist the help of THE BOOK, a book devoted to helping you become popular. Never mind that the book was written in the 1950s and doesn’t quite fit the times. Steph has used the Book to make choices for a new and improved back to school wardrobe and she has a newfound sense of self-esteem and courage.
Maybe this year will be different. Maybe the student body will like her idea of using a talent auction to raise money for the senior class trip. Maybe Mark Finley, the most popular guy in school, will notice her. Maybe people will forget about her one clumsy mistake and see that she is new and improved. And maybe her friends won’t think she’s losing her mind. Find out what happens when Steph decides to change herself and figure out HOW TO BE POPULAR.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Imagine a world totally based on looks, a society where people are divided into categories based on their appearance, where the ultimate goal is extreme beauty, where anyone normal is ugly. “Everyone gets to be gorgeous. What could be wrong with that?” Uglies are teens age 12 to 15, who are sent away to boarding school and live in dorms, awaiting their 16th birthday, when they are given the surgery to make them one of the Pretties. Pretties have perfect eyes, perfect symmetrical faces, perfect skin, perfect height, perfect weight; they are just perfect and Pretty. Once you are Pretty, life is a big party and you can have whatever you want. Waiting for the surgery is the worst part. Waiting to see your friends again, friends whom you haven’t seen since they were turned Pretty.
Tally is having a hard time waiting the 2 months and 29 days until her sixteenth birthday. She has decided to sneak into New Pretty Town to see her best friend Peris, but is disappointed when he sends her away, making her promise she won’t get into trouble before her surgery. After a highly risky escape, involving a bungee jacket and a fire alarm siren, Tally is on her way back to Uglyville alone. That’s when she literally runs into Shay, another Ugly who happens to share her birthday. Tally and Shay become fast friends and spend the next 2 months and 23 days hoverboarding and exploring the Rusty Ruins. Three days before their surgery, Shay has a change of heart and decides to forgo the surgery and run away to live with friends in a hidden community called the Smoke. She begs Tally to come but Tally refuses, wanting to become a Pretty and finally reunite with Peris.
The day of the surgery finally arrives and Tally is ready to leave her life as a Ugly behind, barely packing anything other than the note Shay left with secret instructions on how to find the Smoke if Tally changes her mind. Tally is taken to the hospital and waits for one long hour before realizing something is wrong. She is whisked away to another location where everyone is strange looking, not ugly but almost a cruel pretty. Here at Special Circumstances, she is informed that her surgery has been postponed and she is interrogated and left with an ultimatum. Help us find Shay or give up your opportunity to become Pretty. So Tally must decide which promise she will keep: her promise to Peris, her old Pretty friend, or her promise to Shay, her new Ugly friend. Which friend, which life will she choose? How much is Tally willing to risk in order to avoid being one of the Uglies forever?

**Sequels: Pretties, and Specials