General Books

Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, Book 3)

Stephenie Meyer

Amazon Price: $10.99 List Price: $19.99 By: Little, Brown Young Readers Amazon Marketplace: 64 new & used starting at $6.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1017 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Devilish Book! 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 7 people found this review helpful.

Like I said in my review of the first horrible novel in this demonic series, vampire novels are never the stuff of truth, they are, rather, the stuff of nightmares and demons! These "Twilight" novels should go out of print and to a warehouse to collect dust forever! By reading them, people knowingly or unknowingly glorify Satan! These books should be taken off Amazon.com!

Editorial Review:

Readers captivated by Twilight and New Moon will eagerly devour Eclipse, the much anticipated third book in Stephenie Meyer's riveting vampire love saga. As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob --- knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which?

People of the Book: A Novel

Geraldine Brooks

Amazon Price: $17.13 List Price: $25.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Viking Adult Amazon Marketplace: 113 new & used starting at $12.18

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Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Contemporary

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 136 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Amazon Best of the Month, January 2008: One of the earliest Jewish religious volumes to be illuminated with images, the Sarajevo Haggadah survived centuries of purges and wars thanks to people of all faiths who risked their lives to safeguard it. Geraldine Brooks, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of March, has turned the intriguing but sparely detailed history of this precious volume into an emotionally rich, thrilling fictionalization that retraces its turbulent journey. In the hands of Hanna Heath, an impassioned rare-book expert restoring the manuscript in 1996 Sarajevo, it yields clues to its guardians and whereabouts: an insect wing, a wine stain, salt crystals, and a white hair. While readers experience crucial moments in the book's history through a series of fascinating, fleshed-out short stories, Hanna pursues its secrets scientifically, and finds that some interests will still risk everything in the name of protecting this treasure. A complex love story, thrilling mystery, vivid history lesson, and celebration of the enduring power of ideas, People of the Book will surely be hailed as one of the best of 2008. --Mari Malcolm

Crank

Ellen Hopkins

Amazon Price: $9.99 List Price: $9.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Simon Pulse Amazon Marketplace: 79 new & used starting at $4.19

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 108 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Ellen Hopkins's semi-autobiographical verse novel, Crank, reads like a Go Ask Alice for the 21st century. In it, she chronicles the turbulent and often disturbing relationship between Kristina, a character based on her own daughter, and the "monster," the highly addictive drug crystal meth, or "crank." Kristina is introduced to the drug while visiting her largely absent and ne'er-do-well father. While under the influence of the monster, Kristina discovers her sexy alter-ego, Bree: "there is no perfect daughter, / no gifted high school junior, / no Kristina Georgia Snow. / There is only Bree." Bree will do all the things good girl Kristina won't, including attracting the attention of dangerous boys who can provide her with a steady flow of crank. Soon, her grades plummet, her relationships with family and friends deteriorate, and she needs more and more of the monster just to get through the day. Kristina hits her lowest point when she is raped by one of her drug dealers and becomes pregnant as a result. Her decision to keep the baby slows her drug use, but doesn't stop it, and the author leaves the reader with the distinct impression that Kristina/Bree may never be free from her addiction. In the author's note, Hopkins warns "nothing in this story is impossible," but when Kristina's controlled, high-powered mother allows her teenage daughter to visit her biological father (a nearly homeless known drug user), the story feels unbelievable. Still, the descriptions of crystal meth use and its consequences are powerful, and will horrify and transfix older teenage readers, just as Alice did over 20 years ago. --Jennifer Hubert

Go Ask Alice

Anonymous

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1250 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Not Impressed 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I read this book in college for a children's lit class. I was not impressed. It is a melodramatic look at the evils of drugs. It reads like a bad after school special, created to frighten teenagers and warn them never to experiment with drugs of any kind. Also, despite the lore following this novel, it was not written by a teenager. Read the novel if must, but there are definitely better books out there about drug usage.

Editorial Review:

The torture and hell of adolescence has rarely been captured as clearly as it is in this classic diary by an anonymous, addicted teen. Lonely, awkward, and under extreme pressure from her "perfect" parents, "Anonymous" swings madly between optimism and despair. When one of her new friends spikes her drink with LSD, this diarist begins a frightening journey into darkness. The drugs take the edge off her loneliness and self-hate, but they also turn her life into a nightmare of exalting highs and excruciating lows. Although there is still some question as to whether this diary is real or fictional, there is no question that it has made a profound impact on millions of readers during the more than 25 years it has been in print. Despite a few dated references to hippies and some expired slang, Go Ask Alice still offers a jolting chronicle of a teenager's life spinning out of control.

Brian's Winter

Gary Paulsen

Amazon Price: $6.50 List Price: $6.50 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Laurel Leaf Amazon Marketplace: 116 new & used starting at $0.01

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Subjects -> Children's Books -> Literature -> Action & Adventure

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 343 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Cornwall Middle School-sixth grader 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

By Noah

Brian's winter by Gary Paulsen is great, suspenseful, intense, and enjoyable book. It is an awesome book especially if you like adventurous or survival books. In this book Brian endures many animals such as a skunk who he becomes very fond of her and names her Betty he also comes to face with wolves, deer, and the most dangerous one of them all a moose which attacked him during his hunt. Brian uses his knowledge of the wilderness to survive. He also uses his memories too help design bows, arrows, and even arrowheads. He got used too living in the wilderness so he worked on new hunting techniques. He also learned how too make his shelter more secure by packing the walls with mud making it water tight and nearly air tight. This is a great sequel to the book Hatchet. Brian is a great character considering he gives the book a lot of suspense. During the time Brian was in the woods he learned many useful things such as how to carve an animal which is a good thing considering he as improved his hunting skills. The book Brian's winter was a great book I would definitely recommend it to anyone who liked Hatchet or likes adventurous or survival books.

Editorial Review:

In Hatchet, 13-year-old Brian Robeson learned to survive alone in the Canadian wilderness, armed only with his hatchet. Finally, as millions of readers know, he was rescued at the end of the summer. But what if Brian hadn't been rescued? What if he had been left to face his deadliest enemy--winter?

Gary Paulsen raises the stakes for survival in this riveting and inspiring story as one boy confronts the ultimate test and the ultimate adventure.

Just Listen

Sarah Dessen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 119 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Wonderful, Real, And Engaging 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is the first Sarah Dessen book I have picked up, and randomly at that since this one looked the most interesting on her almost mini shrine at Borders Express. It blew me away. The characters were well-developed, and the author showed many unique qualities about each of them and gave us insight into the even the smallest characters. The dialouge was real and not forced. I felt transported to a high school and felt everything Annabel did.
Annabel Greene is a part-time model and seems like she has the perfect life. If you look through her glass house, all you see is the exterior though; not her real thoughts. The girl she thought was her best friend dumped her rudely and meanly at a party, and although the whole situation was underestimated, Annabel can't and won't tell anyone what happened that May night. Alone at school, Annabel becomes friends with the music loving and honest Owen, who had anger issues at one point but now has recovered and teaches Annabel about his way of thinking. But Annabel doesn't just have her former friend Sophie to deal with: her older sister Whitney suffers from an eating disorder, and the whole family is concentrated on her recovery. Annabel doesn't want to tell anyone anything at the risk of them getting hurt; as she tells Owen, she is a nice liar.
One thing that made this book so real was the thoughts that came to Annabel along the way, the revelations she had. It gives the reader a whole new perspective on the young adult world. I do not think anything can top this book: it was so real and wise that it might never be repeated again.
The author doesn't let any character get away, a depth is disocvered in each one. There were funny moments, there were sad moments, yet this book wasn't predictable or unpredictable: it was life, and that is what made it great.

Editorial Review:

when Annabel, the youngest of three beautiful sisters, has a bitter falling out with her best friend—the popular and exciting Sophie—she suddenly finds herself isolated and friendless. but then she meets owen—a loner, passionate about music and his weekly radio show, and always determined to tell the truth. And when they develop a friendship, Annabel is not only introduced to new music but is encouraged to listen to her own inner voice. with owen’s help, can Annabel find the courage to speak out about what exactly happened the night her friendship with Sophie came to a screeching halt?

Speak

Laurie Halse Anderson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1181 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud: "My throat is always sore, my lips raw.... Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I sputter or freeze.... It's like I have some kind of spastic laryngitis." What could have caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be due to the fact that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs. While Melinda is bothered by these things, deep down she knows the real reason why she's been struck mute...

Laurie Halse Anderson's first novel is a stunning and sympathetic tribute to the teenage outcast. The triumphant ending, in which Melinda finds her voice, is cause for cheering (while many readers might also shed a tear or two). After reading Speak, it will be hard for any teen to look at the class scapegoat again without a measure of compassion and understanding for that person--who may be screaming beneath the silence. (Ages 13 and older) --Jennifer Hubert

Cut

Patricia Mccormick

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 344 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Burdened with the pressure of believing she is responsible for her brother's illness, 15-year-old Callie begins a course of self-destruction that leads to her being admitted to Sea Pines, a psychiatric hospital the "guests" refer to as Sick Minds. Although initially she refuses to speak, her individual and group therapy sessions trigger memories and insights. Slowly, she begins emerging from her miserable silence, ultimately understanding the role her dysfunctional family played in her brother's health crisis.

Patricia McCormick's first novel is authentic and deeply moving. Callie suffers from a less familiar teen problem--she cuts herself to relieve her inner frustrations and guilt. The hope and hard-won progress that comes at the conclusion of the novel is believable and heartening for any teen reader who feels alone in her (or his) angst. Along with Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak and E.L. Konigsburg's Silent to the Bone, McCormick's Cut expertly tackles an unusual response to harrowing adolescent trouble. (Ages 14 and older) --Emilie Coulter

Dreamland (reissue)

Sarah Dessen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 176 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Strange, sleepy Rogerson, with his long brown dreads and brilliant green eyes, had seemed to Caitlin to be an open door. With him she could be anybody, not just the second-rate shadow of her older sister, Cass. But now she is drowning in the vacuum Cass left behind when she turned her back on her family's expectations by running off with a boyfriend. Caitlin wanders in a dream land of drugs and a nightmare of Rogerson's sudden fists, lost in her search for herself.

Why do so many girls allow themselves to get into abusive relationships--and what keeps them there? In this riveting novel, Sarah Dessen searches for understanding and answers. Caught in a trap that is baited with love and need, Caitlin must frantically manage her every action to avoid being hit by the hands that once seemed so gentle. All around her are women who care--best friends, mother, sister, mentor--but shame keeps her from confiding in any of them, especially Cass, her brilliant older sister, whose own flight from home had seemed to point the way.

Dessen has here created a subtle and compelling work of literature that goes far beyond the teen problem novel in a story rich with symbolism, dark scenes of paralyzing dread, quirky and memorable characters, and gleams of humor. With the consummate skill and psychological depth that brought her praise for Keeping the Moon, she explores the search for self-identity, the warmth of feminine friendships, and the destructive ways our society sets up young women for love gone wrong. (Ages 14 and older) --Patty Campbell

I Am the Messenger

Markus Zusak

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 69 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

expected more 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I suppose I was looking to be blown away I as I was with the Book Thief.
Although this was a fine novel with a great mystery to keep me turning the pages, I found some of the writing sytle and language hard to get through. The main character grew on me and I really came to love him for his strengths and weaknesses.

Editorial Review:

Meet Ed Kennedy—underage cabdriver, pathetic cardplayer, and useless at romance. He lives in a shack with his coffee-addicted dog, the Doorman, and he’s hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence, until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery. That’s when the first Ace arrives. That’s when Ed becomes the messenger. . . .

Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary), until only one question remains: Who’s behind Ed’s mission?

Winner of the 2003 Children’s Book Council Book of the Year Award in Australia, I Am the Messenger is a cryptic journey filled with laughter, fists, and love.


From the Hardcover edition.