Faerie Wars
Herbie Brennan
Review by R.O. 2004-2005

This book is for teens and preteens who like dark, fantasy or science fiction books.

Fever 1793
Andrea

       Laurie Halse Anderson’s Fever 1793 is about a young girl who struggled when yellow fever broke out.  I thought that this was an exciting book filled with many problems and adventures.  This makes the book different and more exciting than most books.  I didn’t want to stop reading!

        The setting of the book was very descriptive.  In the beginning of the book, the plot is in a coffeehouse in Philadelphia, but in the middle, the setting takes place in many other complex places, such as the hospital.  To describe the hospital, Laurie Halse Anderson takes the main character, and describes what she feels, sees, tastes, and smells.  This puts the reader into the main character’s place, to give you an idea of what it was like to be in that setting at that time.  This is one unique characteristic that makes the book a good read.

        The mood of the book is very sad.  Many people die from the fever, and Mattie has to face the consequences that come with them.  Throughout the book, many bad events happen to Mattie, such as Mattie’s grandfather get sick from old age and dies, leaving her alone in an abandoned town by herself.  This tone makes you feel bad, and doesn’t always keep you in a happy mood.  This is the only characteristic that I didn’t like about the book.

        After reading this book, I wanted to continue reading.  Being a historical-fiction book, I learned about the problems and challenges that the fever brought with it.  I also learned some facts about yellow fever.  I recommend this book to people ages 11-14.  I think that this is the appropriate age group for this book because younger kids might get scared or frightened, and older kids might not enjoy the book as much as I did.

        Overall, I loved how the book had very descriptive settings, and although the mood was sad, I still rate this book five stars for Laurie Halse Anderson’s descriptive writing.

 

Even though the novel Fever 1793 wasn’t a book nearly in the same time period of today, it still contains things within the plot to relate to. For example, the main character, Matilda Cook has a larger problem in her town than most of us. Her town is spreading the deadly epidemic of Yellow Fever. That disease has long passed, but experiences death or sickness or witnesses it some point in her life, and has to learn how to deal with it. We may all deal with it in different ways, but the fact that none of our lives are perfect remains.

I liked the setting and how it was than books and eras I normally read from. The main characters were easily brought to life and described as if they were real. This book makes you think intensely.

There was only one thing that I could think of that I didn’t like. The setting and mood was always dark and gloomy. Your mood is constantly changed by the type of books you read, the people you’re around, or the music you listen to.

This book is suitable for everybody, no matter what your interests include. Everyone could learn something from this book. I don’t however recommend this for younger children, for they might not understand, and the epidemic thought might frighten them. 

I learned from this book, life lessons that everybody should know and value. This book makes you realize that anything could happen and mainly, to appreciate life. You should enjoy every second, because =dreadful things can happen, the moment you don’t expect them.

Fight for Life
Daryn

          Action, emotion, and challenges are what characters go through n this outstanding novel. This book is full of surprises and reactions. No wonder it’s called Fight for Life. A teenager struggling in school and trying to help out at her grandmother’s vet clinic to save a litter of puppies is in a lot of trouble. The puppies have been neglected, abused, starved, and dehydrated.

          When her grandmother starts looking for teenage volunteers and finally gets some of Maggie’s acquaintances she gets very jealous and feels like her grandmother likes them more than her. And when she gets a D- on her social studies test her grandmother bans her from the clinic until she can get her grades up.

          Maggie then finds out that her x-favorite cousin is coming to stay with her for three months. She acts like a snob and has never eaten take-out food because she is so rich she can afford her own chef. Maggie wants to help with the puppies so bad she works with her acquaintances to bring the sick person who did this to the puppies to justice and later finds out that he is a puppy-mill owner.

          This is an exciting and emotional book that really connects you to the characters. Some of the kids have sensitive sides and some not so sensitive, but they all react one way or another. The author really explains Maggie’s character in a unique way by using dialogue.

          I would recommend this book to boys and girls ages eight and up. It was very simple to read but there were confusing words at times. And it would be too short to put into a movie but I would definitely read it again and again.

          I didn’t really like how Dr. Gabe (Maggie’s grandmothers assistant) wasn’t gradually introduced into the novel. The author didn’t really elaborate on his character as much as she did with other characters.

The Frog Princess                           

      I read a great book this year called The Frog Princess. I really liked this book because I love fairy tales and comedy. The book I read was a combination of the both. I thought the book was funny because Emeralda, the main character always trips a lot and laughs like a donkey. The book was a fairy tale because there was a lot of strange creatures like unicorns, fairies, and dragons.

       I liked how the book made it seem like you were in the story. Instead of saying she they would say I. The book was also really descriptive, like when they talked about the warmth of the sun, it made me feel happy and refreshed. They also talked about Emeralda’s favorite swamp.  

     Whenever I finished a chapter I never wanted to stop reading because I wanted to see what was going to happen next. 

     I would probably recommend this book to mostly girls who like fairy tales and a comedy. A boy could read it too, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

     I learned a lot in this book. Something that I learned was that nobody’s perfect, not even a princess.

    I thought The Frog Princess was a really great book, I hope everybody reads it.

Simon Pulse, 2003, 201 Pages
Neal Shusterman     

 “What is that supposed to be?” Quinn asked.
I flipped the card over to see what was written on the back.

An Invitation to Ride
10 Hawking Road
           Midnight to Dawn          

This invitation is where all the trouble began in Neal Shusterman’s Full Tilt.  Blake was invited to an amusement park that lived off the souls of its victims.  Except, Blake didn’t know that…yet.  When his brother Quinn ventures into the park, the pressure’s on Blake to save him.  Blake goes with his two friends, Russ and Maggie, who want to help Blake.  In order to survive, they must live through seven deadly rides by dawn.  One ride is a raging race car track where it’s a race to stay alive against Cassandra, the park’s creator and the other riders.  If they don’t survive all seven rides, they’re doomed of a life of working for the park.  Can they all make it out, and save Quinn too?

I liked this book because it was suspenseful, and exciting.  It is filled with mini-mysteries, like what the next distorted figure in the hall of mirrors will be, that pull you into the book, and keeps you satisfied.  It has a great pace that you can keep up with, and enjoy.  The plot is believable and captivating from the start, because Shusterman uses deep thoughts and the characters actions are what regular teenagers would do.  I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys reading about alternative world, and mystery novels.