Friday, January 16, 2009

City of Ember, by Jeanne DuPrau

"The novel . . . takes place in the dark city of Ember, a decaying place with no natural light surrounded by the vast Unknown. Although ancestors had arranged for information on leaving Ember to be made available after the inhabitants have spent 200 years there, a corrupt mayor lost the information many years before the novel begins. Two hundred and forty-one years later, Ember's electrical lighting frequently fails, supplies are dwindling, and the populace is growing increasingly frightened. Twelve-year-old Doon and his acquaintance Lina are intent on finding a way to save Ember. After Lina finds a mysterious and fragmented paper titled "Instructions for Egress," they think they have a way out. Can they escape from the villainous mayor and his soldiers?" Reviewed by School Library Journal.

"It was a well written book (with) great characters and a cool way of showing you a new world!" Reviewed by Asha, Homeschooled

"All kids in ember have to start work at age 12. The mayor comes to the class's last day of school forever and the students draw their job, written on a piece of paper, out of a sack. They work at that job for 3 years, and after that, if they did it well, they stay at it. I don't know what happens if they fail, it never happened in the book." Reviewed by Shaina

Monday, January 12, 2009

Rimonah of the Flashing Sword: An African tale, adapted by Eric A. Kimmel

"This story is interesting because it shows two peculiar things. First it's an example of the phenomenon of remarkably similar stories being told in seemingly unrelated regions (of the world). For example, here we have a story amazingly similar in detail to the European story of Snow White, but from a completely different county - in this case North Africa."

"The second ( pecular thing) is that the heroine in the story . . . yields highly from Middle Eastern sources. The heroine is not only the center of the story, but is a militant character both matching wits and swords with her male contemporaries. This shows that even in repressive countries women have left their mark on legends and culture around the world."
Reviewed by an anonymous teen, who dropped his review by the Central Library a few days ago. Thank you!

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Just Listen, by Sarah Dessen

"This book is terrific "because . . . I don't know. It's just something about Sarah Dessen's books that make me want to keep reading them! I read most of her books and "Just Listen" is my absolute favorite!" Reviewed by Asha, Homeschooled."

"This is young adult fiction at its best, delving into the minds of complex, believable teens, bringing them to life, and making readers want to know more about them with each turn of the page." Roxanne Myers Spencer ~ School Library Journal

Monday, January 5, 2009

Fever 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson

"I give this book five stars! It is very descriptive and (that) makes the story much easier to understand. It it is heartwarming and very suspensful. I love it! Reviewed by Chris Marie, from Brown Summit Middle School!

"Extremely well researched, Anderson's novel paints a vivid picture of the seedy waterfront, the devastation the disease (Yellow Fever epidemic) wreaks on a once thriving city, and the bitterness of neighbor toward neighbor as those suspected of infection are physically cast aside." ~ Publishers Weekly

The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan

"This is a book about how the Greek gods are still real, and how they still make half-god and half-mortal heroes. It is set in modern times though. It blended the ancient Greek gods with modern time (ones) seemlessly." Reviewed by Terrance, Brown Summit Middle School!