Valentine Princess by Meg Cabot

Mia (now a junior) finds an old journal from February of her freshman year and takes a second look at her first Valentine’s day with Michael. This volume is short (86 pages) and doesn’t have quite as much exciting as some of the series.

[copyright date is 2006 but this is considered volume IV 1\4]

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen

Ever wondered what the deal is with guys and girls? Why girls always seem to be boy crazy and why guys always seem to want to run away? And how no matter what happened, they always end up seeing a situation differently from each other? In Flipped, you’ll meet Bryce and Juli.
Bryce: All I ever wanted is for Juli Baker to leave me alone. For her to back off --you know, just give me some space.
It all started the summer before second grade when our moving van pulled into her neighborhood. And since we’re now about done with eighth grade, that, my friend, makes more than half a decade of strategic avoidance and social discomfort.
She didn’t just barge into my life. She barged and shoved and wedged her way into my life. Did we invite her to get into our moving van and start climbing over all the boxes? No! But that’s exactly what she did, taking over and showing off like only Juli Baker can. (pg 1)
Juli: The first day I met Bryce Loski, I flipped. Honestly, one look at him and I became a lunatic. It’s his eyes. Something in his eyes. They’re blue, and framed in the blackness of his lashes, they’re dazzling. Almost breathtaking.
It’s been over six years now, and I learned long ago to hide my feelings, but oh, those first days. Those first years! I thought I would die for wanting to be with him.
Two days before second grade is when it started, although the anticipation began weeks before –ever since my mother told me that there was a family with a boy my age moving into the new house right across the street. (pg11)
Once Bryce arrived, Juli couldn’t wait any longer. She ran right across the street to help. Bryce, however, saw Juli as a nuisance and ran straight to his room to hide. As so began their “friendship”. Bryce would hide and Juli would always be around. And then 8th grade arrives and both Bryce and Juli start seeing each other in a different light. What is it that has caused them to flip?

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer

It’s a tale similar to that of Romeo and Juliet. Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love with girl. Circumstances prohibit boy and girl from being together. One cannot live without the other.

Since Twilight, Bella Swan survived a vampire attack and has settled into a happy loving relationship with her boyfriend Edward. But as fate would have it, Edward himself is a vampire. While Bella has prepared herself and is ready for life as a vampire, Edward will not have it. A paper cut and Bella’s clumsiness at her birthday party almost provide her with her birthday wish, courtesy of Edward’s brother. Edward can’t live with his part in Bella’s close encounter and would rather break up with Bella than risk her human life again. Edward and his family leave town and Bella is so heartbroken that she isn’t herself for months. Four months after the breakup, Bella finally snaps out of her funk and begins spending time with Jacob Black. The pair has become inseparable but Bella can’t allow herself to be more than just his friend. While Jacob seems to understand Bella better than anyone, she can’t explain to him why she is so interested in the adrenaline rush she gets from learning to ride motorcycles and cliff diving. Jacob makes her happy but the rush brings Edward’s voice into her head, warning her to be careful. And if she can’t be with Edward, she’ll have to settle for just hearing his voice. But Bella isn’t the only one with a secret. Jacob senses something strange happening with some of the teen boys in his tribe and soon he is also acting strange and avoiding Bella. The boys are werewolves, protectors who keep the vampires at bay. So it seems, Bella has an attraction for monsters and danger. And the danger Edward was trying to keep Bella from is only beginning.

Emily's Review: Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Lord of the Flies is by far one of my favorite books (and when those are things like Jane Eyre, The Master and Margarita, Les Miserables, and The Turn of the Screw, you can tell a lot about my tastes-so if you're not interested in the classics, you can probably stop reading now!)

It's brutal, like Abbie said, it's incredibly dark, gory, and full of death--and, yeah, it's about schoolboys no older than twelve. The dialogue, like Hemingway's, often eschews the "said" tag, so it's confusing! The quality of prose, though, is unparalled. It seems clipped and sparse at points, and rich with description at others. This is definitely a book young writers want to read because of it and the study of human nature within--be warned, though. Just because a book is about children doesn't mean it's for them (Lolita, anyone?).
Rating: 5Q, 3P

Dane's Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

A book that is truly unique in its delivery of a first person style novel. Charlie, a young man, is writing letters filled with some of the most shocking and relateable excerpts from his own life. He is writing simply to a "friend" and just needs to send these letters. While writing about himself and his past, he reveals the people in his life, leaving the reader to piece together bits to see the character in these people he writes about.
This story is very well written and captivating, unique, and exciting, and left me turning pages of this coming-of-age novel. Although some adult themes are found throughout the book, it's definitely worth cracking open and giving some time.
Quality: 4Q
Popularity: 4P

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Colin is a child prodigy and anagramming genius, who wants to be famous. Hassan [not a terrorist] is his lazy best friend who prefers to be a couch potato and has been delaying his entry into college. On graduation day, Colin is dumped by his girlfriend, Katherine the 19th, and Hassan decides it is high time the guys take a road trip. You see, Colin has a thing for girls named Katherine and K-19 was the 19th time he’s been dumped by one. So on this road trip, Colin has decided to use his heartbreaks to design the Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, a mathematical equation that will predict the future of any relationship. Colin and Hassan soon find themselves in the middle of nowhere, Gutshot, Tennessee, where they meet Lindsey Lee Wells. She’s not a Katherine but does have a boyfriend named Colin. Colin and Hassan soon realize that the middle of nowhere might be part of the equation for predicting their future.

Mary's Review: I Don't Want to Be Crazy by Samantha Schutz

I freely admit to being a sucker for poetry books. It's true talent to be able to write a narrative in such a form and not have it be boring beyond reason. So naturally this book fell into my grasp. Not a fiction book but a memoir, Crazy is the confidings of a young woman: normal, heading off to college the same as most people her age. However, Samantha also suffered panic attacks (imagine if you will being terrified about nothing-your breathing's shallow, the world goes fuzzy-and unable to stop it or even know why). The book is the trials and tribulations of such a burden through college, a few semesters overseas and finally the sad truth: even if the little pills make it better, some things never really go away. Crazy is written in verse and a fast read, though a few chapter poems seem to be out of place in the narrative. The book reads like fiction, maybe because to think of it in terms of real occurences. Such is life. It's not always pretty.
Final Verdict: 4P, 3Q

Pay the Piper: a rock 'n' roll fairy tale by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple

Do you remember the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, the rat catcher, who would promise to rid towns of rats in exchange for a great sum of money? He would play his flute, attracting all the rats and micein town, then lead them to the river and drown them. It wasn’t until all the rats were gone that the townsfolk realized that what they had seen were not rats at all, but rather their own children!
But this is just a mere fairy tale, right? And fairy tales are make believe, right? Sheer fiction parents tell their children as bedtime stories. Right! Just ask Callie, a reporter for her school paper in Northhampton, Massachusetts. Real journalism sticks only to the cold, hard facts.
So here are the facts Callie has.
1. Brass Rat, the famous rock ‘n’ roll band, performed last night to a sell-out crowd.
2. She was backstage to get an exclusive interview.
That’s it. It should be easy to write a killer story. However, there’s something troubling Callie, something she just can’t put her finger on, something hypnotic about the music coming from lead singer Peter Gringas’s flute. Why did those rats in the parking lot seem pulled to it? And what did the conversation she overhead the band having with the concert promoter mean?
In order to finish the story, Callie must bail on trick-or-treating with her younger brother Nick. However, when he and the rest of the neighborhood fail to return, the story finally becomes clear.
What happened to Nick and the rest of the neighborhood children on this Halloween night? And what role does the band Brass Rat play? Will Callie be able to uncover the story in time? To discover the facts read Pay the Piper: a rock ‘n’ roll fairy tale by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple.

Harry Sue by Sue Stauffacher

Listen up Fish. Gonna give it up about a road dog named Harry Sue. I ain’t being a snitch or a cheese eater. I’m under direct order. So relax and cool your heels while I give you a little back story on Harry Sue. As you might have figured out from the joint jive, Harry Sue knows a little about prison. That’s because her con dad and conette mom have been doing time since she was five and Harry Sue is determined to follow in her family tradition and become a conette herself. There’s something you’ve gotta realize Fish. “Not all prisons have four concrete walls and a steel bunk. I say prison is a lot like home. It all depends on where your heart is (page vi).”

“Language gets out of prison every day, Fish. You may already know some slammer slang from our life on the outs. But just in case you get tangled, here it is: [check out] Harry Sue’s Joint Jive Glossary (page vii).”

No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman

Old Shep, My Pal by Zack Paris is the most boring book I’ve ever read in my entire life. I did not have a favorite character. I hated everybody equally. The most interesting part came on the last page where it said “The End”. This book couldn’t be any lousier if it came with a letter bomb. I would not recommend it to my worst enemy. (page 4)

This is the book report Wallace Wallace gave his English teacher Mr. Fogelman. Before I tell you how Mr. Fogelman reacted, I must tell you a bit about Wallace. Wallace can’t lie. He believes in telling the brutal honest truth no matter what, which explains the book report I just read you. (He hates the fact that the dog always dies at the end of the book). Wallace is also a football player, the player who scored the winning touchdown last season, securing the championship for the Bedford Middle School Giants. He is worshipped by his classmates, which makes the suspension he received after refusing to rewrite the book report a thorn in everyone’s side.
Now let me tell you about Mr. Fogelman. Mr. Fogelman LOVES the book Old Shep, My Pal. Not only does he use this book in his English classes but he’s written it into a play, the exact play that is being performed by the Bedford Middle School drama club. So I bet you can imagine Mr. Fogelman’s reaction to Wallace’s book report. You’re right if you guessed that he was mad. He was so mad and upset that he’s given Wallace detention until he writes an acceptable book review.
In detention Wallace discovers many things. First, detention is in the gym where the drama club is rehearsing for the play Old Shep, My Pal. Second, he cannot play or practice football until he finished the book report, which is NEVER going to happen. Third, someone is trying to ruin the production but continuously pulling pranks, which get blamed on none other than Wallace. Finally, he discovers that while he dislikes the play he has some really great ideas to improve it.
Will Wallace get off of detention and back on the football field? Will Mr. Fogelman and his production of Old Shep, My Pal survive Wallace’s detention?

Abbie's Review: Lord of the Flies by Willam Golding

William Golding wrote Lord of the Flies in 1954 and won many prestigious awards. I, however, am not one to give it any type of award. The book follows a group of young boys stranded on a deserted island after a plane crash. The story is simply a way for the author to get his negative views out about the war. The story is somewhat graphic and shows all the evils that people can, and most of the time, do possess! The book is difficult to get into and the ending is awful!

Rating: 2Q-needs more work, 1P-Yech! Forced to read it.