School of Fear by Gitty Daneshvari

Madeleine is terrified of all insects, spiders, ect. Lulu is claustrophobic. Garrison is petrified of deep water. Theo is scared of dying. But they all have something in common. They will go to the School of Fear over summer break. The School of Fear is an exclusive and elusive school that rids kids of their fears. And now these four kids will be rid of theirs. Things That I Liked: It had an interesting plot filled with twists and turns and I thought that MOST of characters were well thought out defined. Things I Didn't Like: MOST of the characters were well explained. It might just have been my copy but it felt like a part of the book was missing. I found myself looking back for information on a character called Abernathy, trying to see if someone ripped the pages out. It seems as if Daneshvari added information on him whenever necessary. Lulu sees Abernathy spying on them and instantly recognizes him because she had already seen him spying on them before then. It hadn't mentioned Abernathy spying on them before then. That's pretty important information. She also wouldn't have known it was Abernathy because no one told her what he looks like. She didn't even know who he was! She had gone to bed by the time they started talking about him. All in All: I adored the book. I would give it 5 out of 5 stars if that detail had been clarified. But it isn't so I would give the book 4 out of 5 stars.

My Life in Pink and Green by Lisa Greenwald

This is an interesting book about a girl who's family owns a pharmacy that is slowly going bankrupt. She creates a makeup business at the back of the pharmacy to try to save it. When the makeup business shows potential, it's up to her and her friends to try to convince her spacey mom and stubborn grandmother to help. Things That I liked: This was something that I normally wouldn't even look at. It looked like something that was dying to be made into a chick flick. But surprisingly it was okay. The writing style drew you in and the characters had some personality. Things I didn't Like: The adult figures in this book were a little flat. Some of their decisions didn't quite make sense. And this girl finds herself falling in love with her best friends brother. Greenwald spends a lot of pages talking about how disgusting he is. And by the end they are totally in love but the guy is still disgusting and the girl is still the same. None of the characters really progressed. They built the book's ending up and then it fell short of expectations. All in all just an okay book. I'd give it 2 out of 5 stars.

If A Tree Falls At Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko

From the author that brought you 'Al Capone Does My Shirts', 'If A Tree Falls At Lunch Period' is an eye-opening and inspirational book about a girl named Kirsten who's friend aruptly changes (and not for the better) and who's parents barely even speak to each other anymore. But then Kirsten meets Walker, who's goal is just to survive at a new school, and the two find a secret that rattles them to the bone. It's a great book and I highly suggest reading it. I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.

The Secret Series by Psuedonymous Bosch

This is an interesting series about a girl and her two friends who become a part of a mysterious society that helps to protect an ancient secret from the clutches of another evil secret society who wants to know the secret. Sounds very secretive, right? It is by the infamous chocolate lover, Psuedonymous Bosch. The books in the series are 'The Name Of This Book Is Secret', 'If You're Reading This, It's Too Late', 'This Book Is Not Good For You', 'This Isn't What It Looks Like', and 'You Have To Stop This'. All are very good books. They are best when read by children ages 10-13.

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko

This is a touching story about a boy who's family moves to Alcatraz so his sister, who is diagnosed with autism, can go to a special school. This is in time where Al Capone is on Alcatraz and they haven't quite figured out what autism is. So the story takes place in the 1920s or 30s. It is a very good book which I would reccomend to children ages 9-12. Some things I liked in this story were that it really pulled at your heart strings. It made you laugh, it made you cry, and on certain occasions it made you yell at the wall about how this boy's life isn't fair.I have no complaints for this book. 5 out of 5 stars. If you like this book, I would reccomend the next book in the series, 'Al Capone Shines My Shoes' by Gennifer Choldenko.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella by Stephanie Meyer

Despite the long name, this is actually a very short book about a character that shows up once in Eclipse for about five minutes and then is aruptly killed. She is one of the vampires that come to attack Forks, Washington in the third book and this book descibes her story, and the various lies that people have told her. She teams up with another vampire to figure out what's going on. Trust me. It's a way better book then it sounds like. Fans of the Twilight Saga will hungrily eat up this story. Some things I didn't like about the book was that the casualness of the whole thing made it a little hard to believe and sometimes it seems a bit chaotic and rough around the edges, but still a good story. What I did like though was that the characters and their backgrounds were well described and the book was very well written. A little rushed but nonetheless, still a well written book. I would give it 3 out of 5 stars. A very good book for children ages 12-15.

Author: Brian Selznick

Brian Selznick is the author of two very interesting books that I have had the pleasure of reading. His books include 'The Invention of Hugo Cabret' (which has recently been made into a movie) and his more recent book 'Wonderstruck'. Both are amazing books. They might seem to be a daunting read, however a good 200 pages or more are just drawings and some pages may only have a paragraph on them. Considering this, I was able to read these 500 page books in about an hour. His books are quite well done and best suited for children ages 9-12, however will be enjoyed by many.