Caddie Woodlawn
Amanda        
When I first looked at the book Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink, I did not think it would be very good. Even though it is an award-wining book, I was still not very interested in it at first. But I thought I should give it a chance and I did. I found out that it is a wonderful book. It is just so full of adventure, and it is based on a real life story!

My favorite part is when Caddie’s friend Katie Hyman, on Valentine’s Day, finds an envelope sitting on her desk. Inside the envelope is a valentine, but not just any valentine. It is the best valentine the town has, and everyone wants it. Caddie knows who gave it to her, but she keeps it to herself.

The saddest part is when Caddie’s Uncle Edmund takes her dog Nero away to become a hunting dog. Caddie is sad that Nero leaves and so was I.  Later into the book, Uncle Edmund sends the Woodlawn’s a letter. In it, it says that something has happened to Nero. I thought that the dog might have gotten shot while hunting, but it turns out to be much worse. To find out what happened, you better read the book.

Anyone seven to twelve years old would love this book. It is not boring at all. I could not put it down! It is easy reading and funny. You might, when you first look at it, just pass it by, but I am telling you don’t! By looking at the cover, you might think that it is just like Little House on the Prairie, but it is not. It is just so much better. I love this book and I think you will too.

Chasing Redbird
Caitlyn

My favorite thing about this book was the topic. It’s about a girl, much like myself, who doesn’t want anyone to bother her, and doesn’t try to cause any trouble. Her name is Zinny. She lives with a large family, just like mine. One dreary day, Zinny finds a path covered with weeds and shrubs. Zinny decides, over the summer, her main, and only goal was to uncover the entire trail. Once she set off to do so, she experience an adventure that wouldn’t happen twice.  The one thing that I didn’t enjoy from this book was how I had to keep a close record of all the characters. In Chasing Redbird, Zinny had a truck load of brothers, sisters, and other “side” characters. In my own mind, I thought that it was hard to keep track of who was coming in and out of the house.  Basically, the mood of this book was adventurous, yet mysterious. When Zinny decides to go camping the whole summer alone, she seems to get herself into things you could never dream of! One of these is: when she is out camping, she sees flashes of red color at  points of each the day. Is she delirious?  The setting of the story is on a farm. Beside the farm is where all of Zinny’s enchanted adventures takes place. It’s on a hill. But when she gets to the top, she finds incredible things that she was sure never to forget. I would recommend the book Chasing Redbird for grades from seventh to eighth. It does have a rather confusing “story-line” at points, so it may be too hard for sixth graders.  If there was one thing that I learned from the book Chasing Redbird, it was: take an adventure when you have the chance to. Zinny did, and learned a valuable lesson about life. She learned to take things as they come.

Hop on the bandwagon to read and enjoy the horrific but magnificent novel, Tunnels of Blood! If you like this book, you will definitely like the nine other books by Darren Shan including Allies of the Night, The Vampire Prince and The Vampire’s Assistant.

City of Ember - Review
Allison
             City of Ember by Jeanne DaPrau is a story about two kids who are different in a few ways, but share a goal.  Lina is a Messenger.  She carries messages to and from people in Ember.  Her parents died so she lives with her grandmother and sister.  Deon is a Pipeworker.  He wants to fix the generator because lately the lights have been flickering, and the city's stock of lightbulbs is almost gone.
            When Lina finds a sheet of instructions, she shares her findings with Deon.  And together, they find an exit to the city.
            City of Ember was a really great book.  It had lots of action and suspense.  The ending was a cliffhanger, though. It left me wanting more.  I cannot wait for the sequel to be released.  Not once in the book did I feel bored.  DaPrau kept the novel going at a nice rate and made sure that the reader would keep reading.  This is a great book.

I loved this book because it was amazingly fun to read. The author gives the reader so much detail about the girls and their characteristics, that I thought they were real. The plot was so realistic with the group’s seventh grade actions that it made me feel like I was a character in the book. The author fills the story with tremendously fun characters which always makes you want to read more. This wonderful book would be enjoyed by all different kinds of people but I think that those in the age group of middle school and who enjoy fictional books about girls, love, lies, and fun would love it greatly.

Roberta Ritter may seem like a normal high school student from Florida, but looks can be deceiving. One thing that most people don’t  know is that her mother was murdered seven years ago. Now she is seventeen and lives with her dad who is never home. Aside from being an A student in school, Roberta works at the failing family virtual reality arcade in the failing West End Mall. When mysterious crimes happen in the mall, she tries to solve the mysteries in the mall and solve the mystery of her mother’s death.Edward Bloor’s Crusader was so good that I had to read on! It would keep you on the edge of your seats through the whole book! Crusader was so well described that I could fell myself on the hot, sticky, Florida streets. I recommend Crusader to a middle school audience that likes mysteries and adventure. I recommend it to this audience because there is some swearing and you can relate to the characters because they are teenagers. It is a book you will love!