Martyn Pig by Kevin Brooks

YA,
drunken father, death and murder mystery. betrayal, and 'acting'. interesting, and well written, but depressing, realistic, but not pleasant ending. a rather sad affair all told, but some pretty good mystery stuff, trying to dispose of the body and then an actual murder. lots of soul searching. don't like the title, doesn't tell anything about the story. a 6.

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen
his first YA novel, with mystery, adventure, good teen story, and some environmentalism. Characteristically quirky characters and comic twists. Some good standing up to bullies, both the kids in school, and the adults in business.

Edward Bloor - Crusader

A good book, but not what I was expecting after reading the blurb. The cover and blurb imply sort of a SF alternate reality layer to the story that is not there. Her family owns an arcade, her mother was killed when she was 8, her father is never around and now at 16 she's finally dealing with it. Journalism, media, ideals, politics, family, friends, drugs, hate-crimes, murder, coming of age, it has a lot in it. A good strong story where even the lesser characters change and evolve by the end of the book no one is the same. Growth is not always pleasant, but necessary. a 6. well written with good strong characters that you grow to like. x.

Donna Jo Napoli - Beast

An interesting retelling of the Beauty & the Beast story, with the Beast a persian noble. Touted as both Exotic (& Erotic but I think that was a typo), and a young adult novel. Overload of middle eastern in the first chapter, but once that is out of the way, it's smooth and quick. Persia to India to France, the locals are well drawn. Well written with a sweet ending. a 5, X.

James Patterson - Maximum Ride

James Patterson - Maximum Ride
Angel Experiment
School's Out --Forever

Andrew Clements - The Report Card

Andrew Clements - The Report Card

Louis Sachar - There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom

Louis Sachar - There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom. R. YA. Not quite what I'd expected from the title, but a good self-redemption story. A little dated, but nothing serious. The class Bully/gross kid
becomes a regular kid and pulls him self out of his hole. Some stuff resonated well, esp the taking pride in being the worst at something. Good analysis of the fear of failure so don't attempt therefore you can't fail. a 6.

Jerry Spinelli - Loser

Jerry Spinelli - Loser. YA. interesting voice, very much like a news report on the kid. Follow Z from birth to jr. high, loves school, but is a failure at success. Yet he has a quality of never giving up never giving in and always enjoying himself. There isn't an overall plot, but there is a bit at the end with the snowstorm that it quite touching. good. a 7.

Barbara Corcoran & Bradford Angier - A Star to the North

Barbara Corcoran & Bradford Angier - A Star to the North. R. 20080201 a YA novel in the vein of Hatchet - sort of, set in the late 1960's as there is mentions of the 'evil' Hippies & LSD, but beyond that bit of anarchonism it's pretty well done. a 6. teen boy and his younger sister visit canada wilderness and take a thrilling canoe ride, also quite a bit about growing up and apart from their parrents, they sort of run away, but more of a taking the summer off, the sister sneaks along. Some good self reliance, and a nice sibling relationship.

Andrew Clements - Things Not Seen

He wakes up one morning and is invisible... but it's more of how he develops than some sort of spy mystery. an excellent bit of young romance, and a great family story. an 8.

Denise Vega - Click Here (to find out how i survived seventh grade)

a cute and quite well written teen story. makes an accurate reference to Harriet the Spy. Friendships and hardships of middle-school. a 7.

ROALD DAHL - JAMES & THE GIANT PEACH

DAHL, ROALD . JAMES & THE GIANT PEACH . CH, R. best dahl book a 10 .

Lloyd Alexander - Prydain Chronicles

Alexander, Lloyd. Prydain Chronicles. HB. R. YA. one of my very favorite books as an early teen. doesn't hold up as well as some on a later reading, but I remember thinking this was just the best series ever! when I read it. It's a good mythic Celtic fantasy, with excellent characters. a 10 / 6.

Tamora Pierce - The Immortals

Wild Magic. shades of Bradley's Hawkmistress, and again Lackey's Heralds. a stronger more emotionally gripping story than the first of Lioness. Continuing the same land with the Lioness grown and with children. about 9 years since the end of the lioness quartet. Return of the Immortals - the mythological beasts, harpies, gryphons, dragons, fae, etc. good an 8.
Wolf-Speaker - the valley of the magical and intelligent beasts, or at least once Daine's done with it. off in it's own direction, so less of an homage to Bradley. good an 8.
Emperor Mage. land of slaves and cages, an good adventure, and quite a bit more god-works going on, some more hints of her father. an 8.
The Realms of the Gods. a good conclusion to the tetralogy, much ado with gods, and beats gods, meets her parents, and new darkings, and big battle against forces of chaos. a bit disjointed, but fairly epic. some romance brewing, and a good happy ending. an 8 the series.
good Young Adult fantasy that isn't such kids stuff that adult fantasy readers would be bored, and isn't so violent or sexual that even youngster who read above their grade wouldn't enjoy it.

Tamora Pierce - Song of the Lioness

Alanna, In the Hand of the Goddess, The Woman who Rides like a Man, Lioness Rampant. nice Young adult stories in the vein of Lackey's original Herald series. a 7. some romance, some growing up and overcoming obstacles, some magic, quests, the woman in a mans job was nicely underplayed, and not an overt theme. The friendships and the villain were a bit too easy or too evil and the first couple felt at times written down to a certain level, but the 2nd 2 didn't have that feel as if she let the story flow on its own.

Madeleine L'Engle - Meet the Austins

After the sad news of her passing I went and checked what books of hers I hadn't read. It's a sweet family story, but doesn't have the fun impact of A Wrinkle in Time. a 6.

Neal Schusterman - The Dark Side of Nowhere

Schusterman, Neal. The Dark Side of Nowhere. YA. SF, excellent story, coming of age. the glove thing that they always use for the cover is an odd aspect to focus on. boring town has secrets that, once discovered, will change the world. Jason is in the middle of it, there's a girl he likes, a friend who's just died, maybe... a mysterious janitor, and secrets in old town. Nature or nurture? go with the crowd, or do what you think is right. a 7 or 8.

Gary Paulsen - Brian's Series

Paulsen, Gary. Brain's Winter. R. 20061016. Young Adult. sequel of sorts to Hatchet. What if Brian had not be rescued and stayed the winter? an excellent outdoors survival novel. excellent descriptions, and narration. You're in Brian's head the whole time and deep in his thought and musings. a 6.
Paulsen, Gary. Brian's Return. R. 20060921.
Paulsen, Gary. Brian's Hunt. R. 20060921. Good, very short, reminds of My Side of the Mountain, but more spiritual-bonding to nature. one with nature, young teen on his way to being a mountain man' of the north Canadian woods. a 7. Continuation of Hatchet I think books 3 & 4.

Gail Carson Levine - The Princes Test

Levine, Gail Carson. The Princes Test. R. 2006071? cute novella, ya, classic princess tests, pea in the bed etc. nowhere near as good as Ella enchanted. but of the same style. a 5