Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede

      Thirteenth Child is a book involving frontier magic. Eff and her twin brother Lan live in Helvan Shores, where Eff is mocked, treated like dirt. Why? Eff is a thirteenth child, as the title suggests. Being a thirteenth child is said to bring misfortune and overall doom to herself and others around her. Lan, on the other hand, is the sevneth son of a father who is also a seventh son, meaning that he is supposed to possess extreme abilities and talents. Helvan Shores is not an ideal place for Eff in any way, that's for certain. However, that problem is quickly resolved when they move to Mill City. However, Mill City is right next to the Great Barrier, a magical wall that protects the cities from wildlife - mammoths, dragons, and other common mythical creatures. As Eff and Lan grow up, they both are tested up until a showdown that decides the fate of a city.
      Maybe this sounds dramatic, maybe not. I sure didn't think so, and the book... Well, it definitely could have been better. First off, you probably don't understand the setting of the story; neither did I. Knowing at least WHEN the story took place and what state or country, area, wherever, would have been helpful. The book starts when Eff was five years old, and as the story progresses, so does her age. It's a clever idea, I'll give it that. However, it created some very boring spots. They were balanced with the occasional excitement, but not enough to keep me wanting to read. I really did have trouble reading this because of its dullness. This book definitely has potential, but that potential was executed very poorly.
      The theme, I thought, was that though it may start badly, something small and frowned upon can become something greater, something to be looked up upon. This is definitely true in real life, too. It may not happen often, but it certainly can. This book as a whole, I'd have to give a B- at the very BEST. If you're looking for a book, try Thirteenth Child, but you may not find it the best. Believe me - I thought it'd be a great book when I got it. Heh. I was wrong. Don't hold your hopes too high.

Once Upon A Marigold

       Well to begin with, I wasn't too big of a fan of this book. I'm not sure why because I normally really like fairy-tales. In my opinion, I felt like this book took too long  to get to the climax. Others may disagree, but that's how I felt this book went. It was an OK book, but not one that I would re-read in the near future. This book was written by: Jean Ferris, she truly is a great author! She did a very nice job at creating a different kind of fairy-tale. 

       This fairy-tale was about a boy named Christian. When Christian was little, he went and hid in the forest until his family stopped searching for him. Christian was a prince and hated the way he had to act in his castle and how there were so many rules. One day he came across a troll named Ed. Ed lived in the forest in a cave. When Christian met him, he told Ed that he wanted to live with him, and that if he didn't let him, then he would go back to his castle and tell everybody that Ed kidnapped him! So as the years went on and Christian and Ed lived in the forest as a family, Ed started watching another castle through his telescope. He saw 4 beautiful princesses and a queen and a king. He watched them while they grew up and became fine young women! Then, Christian started p-mailing one princess named Marigold. After a while Christian and Ed decided it be best that Christian should live on his own and leave the cave. So, Christian went and got a job at the castle, where he could be closer to Marigold...Will they ever truly meet each other? Will everything turn out right and go as planned?
       Because I didn't like this book that much, I don't think that it's going to be a memorable one for me. Although, the story did have a good moral. I think that the book was trying to tell us that no matter if you are a "prince" or a "princess" or if you have everything, or nothing. You are just as capable of living your dream as any other person in the world. Whether they are rich, poor, happy, sad, loving, rude, it doesn't matter. just shoot for the stars and odds are, you'll be able to pick one for yourself at some point. I would give this book a B-.

City of Lost Souls by: Cassandra Clare is the fifth book in the Mortal Instruments series. *SPOILERS* It takes place three weeks after the previous book. Jace has mysteriously disappeared along with Clary’s brother Sebastian. The Clave is furious and believes that Jace is now in cahoots with Sebastian and are planning to take them down. After being confronted by the Seelie queen, Clary now knows that she must do everything in her power to find out her brother’s plan and stop him before the world of the Shadowhunters is destroyed.

            I personally have loved this entire series, but I felt like this book was a waste. Although it had some great plot twists and cliffhangers, it was like the entire book was just Clary dealing with her feelings of the “new” Jace. In my opinion there were too many heated make-out and sex scenes. It just got in the way of the story. Cassandra could have done so much better.

            This book really didn’t have much to say. Normally this series is meant to teach you more about the angels and demons of old and infeasible love but instead it was entirely about being a teenager.

            The only topic that this book really brings up is that love my not be real. The person that you love may not be the person you think you know. If you are truly in love, you’ll know when that person is no longer themselves and if you try hard enough it will always turn out right in the end.

            All in all, this wasn’t that great of a book but it did leave off with a massive cliffhanger and I can’t wait for the sixth book to come out. Between the forbidden love, Angelic powers, and amazing characters you just can’t stop reading. I will be waiting impatiently for the next book, City of Heavenly Fire.

The Lord of the Rings; The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

     As a warm welcome beck into Tolkien's world into Middle Earth, we get to witness the suffering of our brave, little Hobbit, Pippin. Throughout the previous two books, we have not seen or heard much of Pippin as we should've. In this time, for you worried folks, we learn much about Gandalf and his previous adventures and his great knowledge. We then later meet other folk with crazy names. But for some strange reason, all of the names somewhat rhyme. (For example, Boromir, Deneothor, and Faramir.) So, it turns out they are all related in some sort of way. With all of the mistreating, dear Pippin finally gets his somewhat freedom around an area they call Minas Tirith. (Yes, the place they have been blabbing about this whole adventure.) Later on, many more events pick up that are by far "unexpected."
     I really liked this book because it gave me satisfaction right after what happened in the second book. I also liked how it flipped from one group of people/ Hobbits to another between chapters. But, of course, it all came together in the end. (As expected.) But I did not like one thing and that was the obsession over the death of Boromir. Sure he has an important warrior, but seriously? Three chapters of nothing but Boromir? He died in the beginning of the last book! That drove me absolutely insane... But if you are amazing and can withstand all this Boromir talk, you would absolutely love this book. I recommend this book to anyone who has a sense of adventure, tons of patients, and anyone who has lots of time on their hands. I would overall rate this book at about a B-.

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver (SPOILERS!) 

 Pandemonium is the second of three books in the Delirium trilogy. It's begins somewhat close to the end of  Delirium. Alex has died, and Lena is now on her own. The book switches off from Lena in the Wilds to Lena while she is living with a fake identity in the city. In the wilds chapters, Lena is extremely unsure at the beginning of everything. She cries and thinks about Alex constantly, and she is extremely weak. Later, she becomes stronger, beginning to show a new Lena. In the city chapters, Lena is living with the name of Lena Morgan Jones, along with her friends Raven and Tack. Lena is now shown as rock a hard, not at all the person the previous book has shown us. She pretends she is cured, and goes to an all girls school, and attending a group for early cures. One day, Lena is kidnapped along with a boy named Julian Fineman. Throughout the book and escaping from being held captive, Julian becomes Lena's second love interest since Alex. In the end, Lena does something pretty risky to help him and an extremely surprising ending.

    I'm going to be straight to the point. I loved an hated this book. I loved it, mainly because it was part of Delirium, but also because it shows Lena building up herself. I hated it for more reasons than loved. Again, the swearing ALL OVER THE BOOK. Second, the way Oliver set up the chapters. Yes, it is two stories. Yes, the both have good parts. But, I felt like it was all over the place and I had no idea what was going on. Not to mention the fact that I felt like not one of the characters is as fun and Hana and Alex were. Overall, it was a good book, but it didn't live up to what I expected. I mean, it was probably because Delirium was so amazing, but I felt like it just wasn't that good. B-. 

Fablehaven Rise of the Evening Star By Brandon Mull

     This book is the second book in the Fablehaven series it is a great book and is a great sequel to the first book. I enjoyed this book almost as much as the first I do have to say I did have a hard time finishing it cause it’s a little slower moving.

       The story starts towards the summer again. Things the summer before had been a great excitement for Seth and Kendra but now things were just as normal in a normal teenager’s life. Or so Kendra thought. Then things started getting weird a new student arrived at the school and all the girls were just swooning over him but Kendra could not see what they all were all seeing because what she saw was a Fablehaven creature. Things were about to take a turn for the worse. Then the next day after school Kendra was confronted by a man named Errol Fisk. Little did Kendra know talking to this man would turn everything upside down and put her and Seth right back where they had been the previous summer at Fablehaven. This is where they would be fighting a bigger and greater enemy than the year before.

        This is an okay book and if you liked the first you will most likely like this book. It does start slow but it is pretty enjoyable through the middle section. It’s a fun fantasy to read. But if you didn’t like the 1^st book or don’t enjoy fantasy I would suggest not reading this book. B-

Ruins by Orson Scott Card is the second book in the Pathfinder series. In this book Rigg, a 15 year old boy that can see paths and go into the past, and his friends live on a planet called Garden. On Garden there are 19 colonies and each has an invisible wall that is impossible to pass. By going into the past, Rigg and his friends find a way to pass through the wall.
  
On the other side they find out that the people in this colony have found out that the world is going to be blown up by the people from Earth in three years. Rigg and his friends then decide that they should try to stop the people from blowing up their planet. The rest of the book is about the group trying to save their world. 

One big problem I had with this book was how confusing some scenes were. In the book they talk a lot about time travel and it doesn't make any sense. Here's an example, "During the microseconds when the ship's nineteen computers were separately calculating and activating the jump." There are whole pages where they talk about stuff like this.     

I thought that this book was o.k. Most of the book didn't have a lot of action and was kind of boring. I feel like the author went way too slow and this book could have been a lot better if it was faster paced. However, the last 100 pages were fast paced and action packed. Also there were tons of mini cliffhangers that kept the book interesting. So for these reasons I'm giving it a B minus.

        


 

The tale continues...

    Mr. Darcy's Daughters by Elizabeth Aston continues the story of Pride and Prejudice. It picks up twenty years after Pride and Prejudice ends, and follows Mr. Darcy's five daughters through the thrills and heartbreaks of being "out of the schoolroom."
    Three of the girls, Letitia, the oldest, Camilla the next and the youngest, Alethea, travel to London to stay with their cousin while their parents are away. They are soon joined by the twins, Georgina and Belle, who are much like their Aunt Lydia was in Pride and Prejudice. All the girls become the talk of the city because of heart break, engagements broken, and a lost beau who was thought to be dead, now married and in London.
    I was kind of disappointed with this book, as it mirrored the plot of Pride and Prejudice closely. I also was hoping for Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth to be involved with their daughters, not just a name mentioned. I feel this book could have been a number of things, but instead it was very similar to the original story, with a few plot twists here and there. I have to say though, Elizabeth Aston did a fairly good job using the same style and voice as Jane Austen. I would give this book a B- just because it seemed a little repetitive. Also, because the main problems in this book were simply trying to get the twins to behave properly, and all the women the girls met trying to marry them off. A lot of the book is spent learning about their every day lives.

After Hello

 After Hello by Lisa Mangum is a realistic-fiction novel about fate, and letting go. In the book there are two main characters, Sam and Sara who meet by chance in New York City while Sara is on a business trip with her father. Sara is an aspiring photographer and only has one day to spend in New York, but finds herself spending the day alone when her father is not able to be with her. As Sara is standing alone she takes a picture of somebody she does not know, and later ends up following him. This person is Sam. Sam is a finder, he finds what people need and trades them for something else in return. When Sam and Sara officially meet they decide to spend the day together. The two of them end up having to go on a "quest" for unique artwork to give to a celebrity who Sam's brother works for. If they do not find something wonderful for the celebrity, Sam's brother will be fired. Sam and Sara travel all around the city in the search to find a piece of art. Along the way both characters learn how to deal with their tragic pasts, and change themselves for the better.
     In After Hello the point of view the story is being told from switches between Sam and Sara each chapter, much like Flipped. However the way this book chooses to do it, is pretty confusing. When Sara is telling the story, it is told from first person. When Sam is telling the story, it is told in third person. For me, when I first read one of the chapters being told from Sam's point of view, I was so confused and had to re-read some of it to actually realize what was happening. Throughout the story it gets easier to get used to the way the book switches points of view, but in the beginning the reader might be thrown off a little bit.
     Also this book is very predictable. I could easily guess the ending of this book from the beginning of the story, and it is so obvious that I think anybody could tell you how it will end by reading just a few chapters. At some points it was frustrating because you wanted the characters to see the so obvious solution the problem, but they don't realize it till the last few chapters. There are very few exciting, unexpected moments in After Hello. The only parts in the story that were somewhat unexpected are when we learn more about Sam and Sara's past. But I think that most people could get a pretty good guess on those too. Bottom line is, this book didn't keep me hooked for the entire time.
      Overall I did actually enjoy this book. I like the concept of fate and how everything happens for a reason which this book demonstrates perfectly. Both characters in the book learn important lessons from each other that I believe everybody should learn at some point in their life. They learn how to open up about things they may otherwise keep a secret, and how to move on from their past. Sam and Sara bring out the best in each other, only if they are together for no more than one day. At the end of the book they are both changed for the better and finally learn to let go. None of this would have happened if Sara wouldn't have taken the one photograph of Sam. It just shows how everything really does happen for a reason, and I find that fascinating. I think that if everyone could learn to let go and just live in the moment, we would all have a much happier and better life.
     I ended up giving the book a B- because I think the idea for the story is really great and teaches a good lesson, but it's just plain predictable and sometimes that's not always fun to read.
   

Shade

by Jeri Smith-Read

Aura Lives in a world full of death. After an event called the shift children born after it could see, hear and talk to ghosts. They're called post-shifters and kids born even a minute before are called pre-shifters. When Aura's boyfriend Logan dies on his birthday she is glad for the first time that she is a post-shifter. Her and Logan sort of pick up where they left off except he can't touch her...at all. 

Aura has been trying to figure out the mystery of the shift her whole life. What caused it? How did it happen? She may have found some of those answers when she meets Zachary, a pre-shifter that holds some of the biggest keys to unlocking the mystery of the shift. She befriends him but things get interesting when they become a little more then friends.

Shade is a good book with a compelling story and interesting characters. I would give this book 3 stars. It was a lot more romance then I expected. I wish it had stuck more to the ghost and mystery of the book instead of the love triangle. Also it was extremely predictable. Other then that it was a good book. It did not, if your wondering, break into my top 20 book list though.It wasn't that good.

This book can relate to girls who have ever broken up with a guy but still had feeling for him. Even though they never actually break up. Also It relates to people who have lost loved ones because she lost her mom. Pretty normal teen stuff for the rest of the book. Except for the ghosts.

I would not recommend this book to you if you do not like romance. Otherwise...all yours!

The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima

Jack is what you would call a normal teenager. The only thing that sets him apart from his classmates is the star-shaped scar above his heart and the strange medicine he has to take. This changes for Jack when his Aunt Linda comes to town and leads him into a whole other world, which is actually the same world. Jack is of the Weir, a special race of people that live among the normal humans. These people have special powers, such as Jack, who is a Warrior.

Jack first starts to realize that he is something special when he almost kills someone at soccer practice. He then meets a girl named Ellen, who he happens to really like and becomes vital to the story. When Jack realizes what he is, he goes into training with his assistant vice-principal Mr. Hastings. Jack learns that he is no ordinary member of the Weir. When he was a baby, he was meant to be a wizard, but he was born without the stone that gives members of the Weir life and power. He was implanted with a warrior stone. He also learns of the Game, which is where warriors have to fight to the death so that a house of wizards in the Weir can gain power over the others.

Jack finds that he is very valuable and is almost kidnapped several times so that he can participate in the Game, as he is one of the few remaining warriors. He soon finds that it is inevitable and enrolls himself in the Game under Hastings' supervision. After more training, they head to the place where the tournament is to be held. SPOILER ALERT! To Jacks surprise, his opponent is Ellen. Ellen who he has a crush on and has to kill if he wants to live. Ellen and Jack fight, but experience an unexpected change in the rules, which may just save both of their lives.

Overall this book had an interesting plot. However, it bored me to death for about the first 150 to 200 pages. However, in the last 250 pages of the book, the story and action really started to pick up. This book included some great plot twist that kept me reading (although this doesn't happen for quite some time). This really is an interesting story and I would recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind waiting a bit to get to the action. My overall rating for this book would be a B-.

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-.