Beautiful Days by Anna Godbersen.

   Beautiful Days is the second book in the series Bright Young Things written by Anna Godbersen.  It is a fictional book, but deals with real-life issues such as Prohibition, love, and death.  This book takes place in New York City in 1929.  This story follows three best friends, Astrid Donal, Cordelia Grey, and Letty Larkspur on all of their adventures.  As this is a sequel, I do recommend reading Bright Young Things first. The theme of this book is friends relying on each other as a family would.

   Cordelia Grey and her brother Charlie just lost their bootlegging father, Darius.  Things started to get complicated.  It is assumed that Cordelia's ex-boyfriend Thom Hale is the one who shot him.  Tensions could not be higher between the two families.  Cordelia and Charlie are opening up a night-club to take business from the Hales for revenge.  Astrid Donal must decide if she should marry Charlie.  Letty Larkspur is finally making it somewhere in her singing career as a show-girl.  

   This book was a very entertaining book!  Seeing how the 1920's worked with the bootlegging was cool.  I also loved how all three girls had their own different ways of seeing the situation.  It was a very different way of writing a book.  I like the way that Cordelia reacted to her father's death.  She seemed really sad, but at the same time she seemed really strong.  I thought that the author didn't like the Hales as much.  I don't think that the whole Hale family deserved to be punished for what Thom may have done.  I also don't think that the author explained enough about who actually killed Darius.                  

   Is revenge really a good thing?  In this book, Cordelia plans on getting revenge on the Hales for her father's death.  Revenge always makes for juicy reading.  Cordelia and her friends find themselves in situations that make things interesting.  In this book, Charlie is a bootlegger, which means he sells illegal alcohol to people and businesses.

   This book is filled with danger, love, and break-ups.  I loved how this book incorporated serious issues with adventure and mystery.  I think this book would be better for girls because there are a lot of relationship issues.  Cordelia was my favorite character, I think that she had the best personality and attitude out of all of the characters. If you liked the first book, Bright Young Things, you will love this book too.

I give this book an A+.  

The Skull of Truth

The Skull of Truth written by Bruce Coville is a book everyone can enjoy reading! This book is, "A fast-moving, rollicking, yet serious tale... Will Keep youngsters thinking," - School Library Journal.
The story begins with a young Charlie Eggleston, scouting the old Tucker Swamp that lies next to his household. While returning home Charlie runs in to the neighborhood bully. Charlie isn't fond of this kid, especially because his dad is in charge of draining the swamp that he has grown fond of over the years. This bully decided to chase Charlie through the murky water. After fleeing the scene, Charlie runs into a little shop he hasn't seen in the area before. The glass window reads Elives' Magic Supplies S. H. Elives, Prop.
Charlie decided to check out what would be in the shop. He's astounded by the things he's found, really great stuff! He quickly met the owner, Elives. Charlie realized this man is quite strange. When he turns his back, Charlie chose to look about the shop again. He quickly found a skull labeled 'The Skull of Truth'. This is where the story actually begins...
Charlie had the sudden urge to take the skull. He grabs it and runs straight home. After being scolded by his mother for the tardiness to dinner, Charlie heads up to his room. Everything hit him. He stole a skull. He just hid it in the attic and lied to his mom once again.
During the middle of the night, he heard a slight tapping on the window. Charlie went to check it out. There were mice talking... directly toward him. They claimed to have a note for Charlie from Mr. Elives. After a couple minutes of arguing, Charlie decided to take the note. The mice quickly left, and Charlie red the note carefully. The major points were to handle the skull with care, and always have it in his sights. One problem. The skull was hidden in the attic of the garage. In the middle of the night Charlie had to creep out and acquire the skull once more.
The first thing Charlie notices about the skull, he can talk. Crazy right?! Charlie thinks so too. That's not the least of his worries though. The Skull of Truth caused it's beholder to ONLY tell the truth. This causes a huge dilemma for Charlie, the most dishonest kid in his grade.
School the next day was no walk in the park. Charlie's best friend had just gotten back to school after having cancer treatment. He decided to tell Gilbert how he really thought about his bald head. That did not go over well. Later that day at school, Charlie also told the girl he liked how he honestly felt about her. Now he's the laughing stock of the entire school.
The skull takes Charlie through many adventures, that he doesn't know how to deal with! Overall, I really like this book! A very easy read for anyone that can. The characters are easily betrayed, and each one has their own unique personality! I especially like each theme that is inferred. The Skull of Truth has many things we can each learn from! Solid B-.