Rainbow High

By. Alex Sanchez
The three main characters in Rainbow High are Jason Carrillo, Kyle Meeks, and Nelson Glassman. Jason Carrillo is muscular jock that’s very popular at school. He seems to kind of have a little mystery behind him with how he acts and carries himself. He has had his eyes on his prize since day one of high school, which was a scholarship for college. But then his eyes move on to a guy that he falls in love with named Kyle. Kyle Meeks is a swim team star and an all around good guy that’s in a relationship with a guy he has always dreamed of being with, which has brought him to making a hard choice for college. Giving up the college he’s always dreamed of to or going to college with Jason, the one he loves. Nelson Glassman is your usual gay guy that you would think of, in my opinion. A very outgoing, caring and nice guy who actually might be HIV positive due to a guy named Jeremy. Nelson’s way of thinking is if he gets infected with the disease, Jeremy wouldn’t have to think about getting him infected. All of Alex Sanchez’s series that I’ve read so far are good, like Rainbow Boys and Rainbow High. They relate to me in several ways. Not only are they based on high school guys who are trying to come out and live life, but they also show the teen’s way of life and how they think of it, as well as their future. During reading both of these books, I would honestly want to stay up at night and read them to find out what happens. Alex Sanchez has a way of getting to your intentions and the way you think. He made me want to read with his books and actually read a lot more books and information.
Reviewed By: Adam M

Cut - 660L

By: Patrica McCormick
This book was very interesting and confusing in some parts. It’s about a girl named Callie and she cuts herself, never too deep or enough to die but enough for her to feel the pain. She has to stay at institution called Sea Pines; a lot of other girls live there also struggling with problems of their own. Callie thinks everything is her fault when really she never did anything to deserve the pain, she doesn’t like cutting herself but it’s her only way of relieving stress. I enjoyed this book and suggest other teens to read it.
Reviewed by: California Girl
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A Child Called It - 850L nonfiction

By: Dave Pelzer

A Child Called It is honestly a great book. You realize how bad things can really get between a parent and a child. In the book A Child Called It, David is the main character. It starts out with David getting treated well, but then his mother basically goes crazy and does some of the worst things possible to a child that you could think of. I’m so surprised that David survived. David has other siblings but they don’t get abused like David does. When I had the chance to read I never wanted to put it down, it was an intense but an amazing book. The sequel to A Child Called It is The Lost Boy.
Review by: Lynzie K

The Reptile Room 1040L

By Lemony Snicket
This book is a sequel to A Bad Beginning, when we learned that the Baudelaire children are orphans. In this book, after escaping Count Olaf who wanted the Baudelaire fortune, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny were told that they need a new guardian. So they went to live with Dr. Montgomery. His lives outside the state. His house had reptile snakes heads out front. They were going to have a normal life with him but his death made them sad and back in trouble. The theme is that you should not judge what you believe about bad luck. I like this book because after reading the first book I wanted to learn more about The Baudelaires. Don’t worry this book is on audio.
Reviewed by Andy G

Crank - np

By: Ellen Hopkins
The main character in this book is named Kristina, which also went by the name Bree. During summer break she goes to stay with her dad, because she rarely ever sees him. But while she was there she ends up meeting a boy named Adam. She started liking him and wanted to be with him after they got to know each other. Apparently she didn’t care that he was into meth; since she stared getting into the same mess he was already in. But I really liked this book, it was interesting and different. It had some boring parts but overall it was amazing. The story is trying to get at is no matter what rules you break, things you do, you will always have consequences, and regrets. To be just you, and don’t always try to fit in.
Reviewed By:Autumn B.

To Catch a Mugger--Lexile 440

y Margaret Scariano
Russell Newley moved from New York to San Francisco. His part-time job as a janitor is really slow and he got laid off. He mugged an old lady for money, and he got caught doing it. He liked this lady and wanted to take her out for dinner but he couldn’t because he had no money. When he was working an old lady dropped her purse and didn’t pick all her stuff up,so Russell picked the bag up and there was $9,500 in it. He wanted to take some money so he could take this girl he liked out to dinner. Read this book to find out whether Russell takes the money or not.I kinda liked this book because Russell had to make some difficult choices in his life. Reviewed by Jor123

Slam--Lexile 750

By Walter Dean Myers
The main character in this story is Slam. Slam is the type of person who can tell when something is going to go wrong and if something bad is going to happen. It’s like he has a mind of a psychic. Slam loves to play basketball with all of his friends and family. He also plays basketball for a varsity team that he had signed up for a couple months back.
Slam grows up in a small town called Nashville. He and his family get along pretty well but there are some little problems. He has to deal with the fact that his grandma is in the hospital dying of cancer that she had back in high school. Slam cannot keep his mind off of the streets. Slam gets a lot of respect from the hood but the fighting and violence is stopping him from his basketball career.
I like this book because it has a lot to do with basketball and basketball is one of my favorite sports to play. I also like this story because some of these settings have to do with my life. I would recommend that people that are my age read this story especially if you are in love with basketball like I am.
Reviewed by Billy

Juice 610L

By Eric Walters
This book is about a high school senior named Michael who plays football. He is getting pressure to take steroids. One theme of this book is that taking steroids is bad. I liked the book because I like football.
review by brandon h

Battle of the Labyrinth- 590L

By: Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson is a demigod, the son of Poseidon. He has some friends Tyson, Annabeth, Grover and they all are a son or daughter of a god. In this book Percy is going to a new school when he has a fight with a monster cheerleader, which ends with the school on fire. After that he goes back to Camp Half-Blood and sees his old friends, goes on a quest into the labyrinth, meets a guy who has been running from death, and has a fight with an old friend and his army. The theme of this book is to never overlook the small things and to trust people who you don’t like, even when you don’t think they’re right. This is the fourth book in the series. The other books are The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, and The Titan’s Curse. There is a fifth book called The Last Olympian, in this book Percy is getting ready for the fight of his life and his prophecy that will change his life and everyone he knows. This is an amazing book, and such a great series.
Review written by: Crazy Bumper Lady’s best friend!

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy-940L

By: Ally Carter

This book was outrageously good, and is the second book of the Gallagher Girl series. I think this book was just as good as the first one, but a little more interesting. Cammie seems to find herself in a lot more problems, and confusing with her life and boys! One day Cammie over heard her mom, the head spy of the academy and the hottest teacher in school, Mr. Solomon, talking about something that Cammie could never know about. Knowing Cameron Morgan she wasn’t going to let this one slide. She had to know what they were talking about, and why she couldn’t know. Cammie went out on a huge mission to find what was going on at the Gallagher Academy, when she meets Zach. But I think the theme of this book is that, you have to let go of things you want to hold on to sometimes and be yourself, not anyone that some else wants you to be. There is also a third book coming out on June 9th, called Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover.
Reviewed by California Girl.

The Warrior's Path--Lexile 850

By: Louis L’Amour
The Warrior’s Path’s main characters are Kin Sackett, Yance Sackett and Diana Macklin. Kin and Yance live in the mountains and hunt for their food. The plot of this story is about Kin and Yance trying to save the two girls. I cannot tell you from what though; because that’s the mystery. If you enjoy action, you will like this book. The setting is in the mountains, the coastal woods and one other place. I loved this book because it has a lot of suspense and action.
There are many other books by this author like Son of a Wanted Man, The Quick and the Dead and Ride the Dark Trail.
Reviewed by frosted flakes

The Last Book in the Universe--740 Lexile

By Rodman Philbrick
It’s a thousand years in the future and it is a really crummy life ever since the shake(a giant earthquake), the rain is acid, the ground is dead. The once great cities are now rubble, skeletons of their former selves, just rusting away, but there is one place that they say is perfect. It’s called Eden. But only Proovs can live there. No normals. Like the spaz boy. All that changes when he meets an old gummy named Ryter.
I liked this book because it has a horrifying prediction of the future that just gets you interested. Who doesn’t want to know about the future? I like to hear stories of great disaster and destruction. They should make this book into a movie. It would be really good.
Reviewed by good boy-117

Uglies--Lexile 880

By Scott Westerfeld
The main character is a girl named Tally. When she is in her teens she is trying to not die of boredom and waiting to become a pretty. She is almost 16 and ready to be a pretty. She met a new friend named Shay. They run away and get in a lot of trouble. I kind of liked this book because it is all set in the future with all new technology. I listened to the book Uglies on mp3 because I hate reading, but this book was well written and fun to listen to.
Reviewed by Hello Kitty Adventure

Holes--Lexile 660

By Louis Sachar
This book is kind of boring. The main character, Stanley Yelnats, was sent to Camp Green Lake to dig holes. The warden says they are just digging to build character, but Stanley knows she is looking for something. The reason Stanley was sent to Green Lake is because he was falsely accused of stealing a famous baseball player’s shoes. The book was ok. It had a good story but it seemed slow. It seemed like there were too many flash backs about his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great-great-grandfather.

Thunder Bowl - 520L

By:Lesley Choyce

This book was interesting in some of the chapters, it’s about this boy Derek who wants to quit school and all of his friends are trying to get him back in school and he has a band and they are trying to find places to play. Derek’s parents want him to quit playing music places, but he keeps telling his parents that he likes to play it and it’s important to him. Some of his friends are Richie, Stew, Suzanne, and Jeremy. He lies about his age and works in a bar and plays with a band. The setting would be at home school, or where he works. If you are interested in music you might want to read this book.

Review written by: Taylor S

Make Lemonade--Lexile 890

By: Virginia Euwer Wolff.
The main character in this book is LaVaughn. She’s very big headed. LaVaughn is trying to find a part-time job, something she can do after school to help her earn money for college. Jolly is the second main character. She’s a drop out with two kids and lives on her own and needs a baby sitter. BAD! The main problem in this book is trying to get Jolly to have confidence to get back to school and for everyone to come together and have trust. I liked this book, but it wasn’t my favorite book. It was definitely interesting. I like this book because I could relate to some of these problems that LaVaughn has in this book. The theme in this book is “when life gives you lemons make lemonade.”
Reviewed by: Nicole M.

Dawn #1-510 L

By: Ann Martin
Dawn is the main character. This book is about Dawn and her friends and her family; she lives with her dad her step mom and her brother. Her step mom Carol is having a baby, Dawn’s best friend Sunny is helping out a lot with Carol and Dawn is sort of upset, because she is trying to help too, but Carol does not really pay any attention to her. I liked the book because it really detailed everything that went on in Dawn’s life, and what kind of emotions her friends and family had. One of the themes of this book is jealousy.
Review by: Sara K.

Snowboard Duel – 570L

By Jake Maddox
The main character is Zack. He is a snowboarder and he is not that good. He was trying to win a contest. I did not like this book because the Zack kid stunk at snowboarding.
review by bob

I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You--1000L

By: Ally Carter

This book was phenomenally good. There’s a teenage girl named Cameron Morgan, but she goes by Cammie. She’s not just an ordinary teenager though; she’s training to be a CIA agent. She goes to school at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Woman. The Gallagher Academy is secretive; most people think it’s an all girl school, for snotty rich girls. Cammie’s mom is the most beautiful woman that anyone has ever seen, and she is the head of the school, and is one of the greatest spies ever to have lived. Cammie and her best friends Liz and Bex, aren’t really sure how to interact with boys, because they go to an all girl school. On one of Cammie’s missions, she was digging through a garbage can when she saw, Josh. She had to keep a secret, her double life. He could never find out about Cammie being a spy. One theme of this book is that you can’t be two people at the same time. I think people would really like this book. There is also a second book named Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy, and there is now a third on that comes out June 9, 2009.
Review by: California Girl

Invisible -730L

By: Pete Hautman
Doug and Andy are two unlikely best friends, but they never leave each others’ side. Doug is like a nerd kid who likes to play with train models and gets beat up in school and no girls like him. Andy, on the other hand, is a popular football star who can get any girl he wants. Ever since they were little they have been best friends and during one summer they went to Tuttle Place and made a tree house. Ever since one day at the tree house during the winter, Doug has been losing his mind and can’t seem to figure out why. This book really shows how friends are worth way much more than anything else and that two of the most unlikely people can be best of friends. This is a really good book and anyone can relate to and love this book.
Review written by Blah!

Brian's Hunt--1180 Lexile (Audio)

By Gary Paulsen
The main character in this book is a boy named Brian. He finds an injured dog. Something has injured this dog and it is a mystery to find out what could have hurt this dog. The boy Brian was determined to find out what it was that injured the dog. Brian also found other dead animals and people, too. I liked this book because I like to hunt and so does Brian. I was able to relate with the main character. I liked the action in the book. I also liked the mystery and the plot. Read this book to find out what hurt the dog and who the other dead people are.
Reviewed by: Matt M.

The Darkest Secret --Lexile 510

By Anne Schraff
The main character is Brian who is digging a hole and finds an old book. He is in his backyard, when he finds his uncle's diary. Brian is trying to understand why his uncle left, a long time ago. I didn’t like this book because it does not have a lot of suspense. One of the messages of the story is, if someone is missing, look for clues to find them. You'll never know what you'll find.
Other Books By; Anne Schraff include; A Song To Sing, The Ghost Boy, To Slay the Dragon and The Shadow Man.
Reviewed by Laurel

Cut--lexile--660

By Patricia McCormick
The main character in this book was Callie and there were plenty of other characters, too. But she’s the main one and most important one. Callie has a problem with cutting herself because she tends to think that things are her fault. She thinks that problems in her family are her fault. So she was sent to an institution called Sea Pines. You will also find many other people with problems there: eating disabilities, or drug abuse problems and many other things.
I listened to this book on audio, because I think I pay attention better to the book when I’m listening to it, rather than when I’m reading by myself because I tend to zone off or talk. It is a very interesting book to read, just trying to figure out how all these girls either get help or don’t. In my opinion I loved it. I could even read it again, maybe even by myself this time. Listening to the audio book was great though, because it let me hear what the characters might actually sound like. It also helped me get into the book more. One of my favorite parts of this book was when she tried cutting herself on the paper towel dispenser. It was very interesting.

Reviewed By: Katie Z

City of Ember--Lexile 680

By: Jeanne DuPrau
This book is about a city named Ember that exists underground and soon will be falling apart. There are two kids, Lina and Doon. They believe they have found a way out of Ember. Lina has a little sister named Poppy. Doon is friends with Lina. They both believe they have found a map to lead them out of Ember, but there are some problems along the way. I liked this book because it was different, something that I have never read before. I know whether they make it out of Ember before it all falls apart. If you want to know, read this book and find out.
Reviewed by Lexi123

Crank-- Lexile- NP

by Ellen Hopkins
I loved this book a lot!! The main character of this book is Kristina (A.K.A Bree). She is a high school student and she is a straight A student. She goes to visit her dad then meets Adam. He gets her addicted to many kinds of drugs. The message is that drugs are never the answer.
She has written many other books, such as Glass, Burned, Identical, and the most recent one Flirtin’ with the Monster.
Reviewed By tinkerbell016

One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies--Lexile 820

By Sonya Sones

Ruby is a girl that has to move because her mother died and she can’t live with her aunt. She moves in with her super star of a dad, Whip, in L.A. She hates it because she had to leave her best friend, Lizzie, and her boyfriend, Ray, behind. Ruby tries her hardest to keep in touch with them. She absolutely hates her dad and doesn’t want to live with him. He’s this big movie star and she thinks that when he’s trying to be a dad he’s acting like he does in the movies. He’s rich and unfortunately Ruby hates rich people and thinks there snobs. Ray and Lizzie are best friends and are always keeping in touch with Ruby, but then something terrible happens between the three of them.

Sonya Sones also wrote the books What my Girlfriend Doesn’t Know, What my Mother Doesn’t Know, and Stop Pretending What Happened When my Big Sister Went Crazy.
Reviewed by

A Matter of Trust – 750L

By Anne Schraff
The main characters are a girl named Darcy and a guy named Hakeem. They both go to Bluford High School and one of the main problems in this book is Hakeem’s stuttering problem and Darcy helping him. I think this is one of the good books in this series. It teaches you about who your friends can be and how guys act towards girls.

Review by B.C.

Grind 600L

by Eric Walters
The three main characters are Phil, Wally and Lisa who are teenagers that are good friends and like to skate together. So they come up with an idea to start a skateboarding web site with videos of them all skating. I really liked this book because it showed if kids put their minds to something they can do anything.
Review by Bobby S.

Within Reach: My Everest Story 970L

By Mark Pfetzer and Jack Galvin.
Within Reach is a true story about 16 year-old named Mark Pfetzer. His goal is to climb Mount Everest. But before he climbed Everest he had to climb other mountains. The year is 1996, and during the time when he was climbing Everest a deadly storm came. I liked this book because he has a goal to climb Everest and I have a goal to become the next Steven Spielberg. The message of this book is to never give up on your goals.

Within Reach is 216 pages long. They have it on audio.

Review written by Brian P.

Stargirl - 590L

By: Jerry Spinelli

This book was one of my favorites. It’s about a freshman girl named Stargirl. The setting takes place at Mica High School in Arizona. Most people might say that Stargirl is a little out there, because she does crazy things. Stargirl has a big crush on this one boy. I like this book because it is a little romantic, it’s funny, and it is down to earth. The theme is just to be who you are and don’t change just because somebody wants you to. There is a sequel to this book which is Love, Stargirl.

reviewed by: Ali H

Generation Dead 820L

By Daniel Waters

I loved this book. The main character's name is Phoebe. Phoebe is a 16 year old teen that goes to Oakvale High School. One of her best friends is a punk rocker named Margi. Her other best friend is her neighbor, Adam. In this book, Phoebe has to go to school with zombies or living impaired people. A majority of this book takes place in the woods by the high school. I liked this book because it was exciting, and thrilling, and it had a little bit of romance. One of the themes would be don’t hang around with the wrong group of kids because they can turn their back on you and turn other people against you as well. This book has a sequel and it’s called Kiss of Life. I don’t know much about Kiss of Life except that it came out on May 12th 2009. After reading Generation Dead and how good it was, I have a feeling that Kiss of Life will be just as good, maybe even better.

Reviewed by Lizzy B

Soldier's Heart – 1000L

By Gary Paulsen

I liked this book, but it was kind of depressing. It is historical fiction, set during the Civil War. The main character is a boy named Charley Goddard who is fifteen years old when the story begins. He’s from Minnesota, and he really wants to join the army to fight for the North and put the rebels in their place. He’s afraid if he doesn’t join up soon, he will miss the whole thing. He lies about his age and joins the army. The book tells about the battles he is in, what happens to him, and how his attitude about war changes. One theme of this book is that all wars are really terrible.

One reason I enjoyed this book is because it made history come alive for me.

Gary Paulsen is a really great author. He’s written a lot of other books including Hatchet, Brian’s Winter, Dogsong, and The Winter Room.

I listened to the Read180 audio version of this book. It was well done.

New Moon – 690L

by Stephenie Meyer

This sequel to Twilight was great. I don’t want to give anything away about the end of Twilight, so I’ll just say that we get to know Jacob a lot better in this book. Again there is a lot of adventure and danger.

One reason I loved this book is because I already was all wrapped up in the characters from reading Twilight. I wanted to find out what happened to them next. Also, I could really relate to Bella as she dealt with hard choices.

I listened to the audio version of the book. It had the same reader as Twilight and it was very well done.

Twilight – 720L

by Stephenie Meyer

Just like lots of people, I LOVED this book. The main character, Bella, is a high school junior who has just moved from Arizona, where she’s lived with her mom since her parents divorced a long time ago, to Forks, Washington, where she’s going to be living with her dad. It’s the middle of a school year, and starting school where everyone seems to have known each other forever is kind of scary for her. She just wants to blend in, but it seems impossible. It is especially impossible when she meets Edward, her incredibly HANDSOME, but strange, lab partner. I don’t think it’s giving anything away to say that he’s really a vampire, and they fall in love. This book has a lot of adventure, danger, and exciting parts. It also explores the theme of really wanting something you can’t have (or think you can’t have).

One reason I liked this book is because Stephenie Meyer’s vampires are a little different than most of the vampires in literature. She took a topic that is old (vampires), but made it seem new. This author has a great imagination and made me feel like I was living in her imaginary world.

If you like this book, there are 3 more books in the series: New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn.

I listened to the audio version of this book and it was excellent.

Things Not Seen – 690L

by Andrew Clements

I liked this book, and a LOT of students have read it and really liked it. The main character, Bobby, is 15 years old. One day he wakes up invisible. This causes a lot of problems in his life. He can’t go to school, and he can’t go outside unless he is completely covered up or is naked. Also, he’s having some problems with his parents. He can’t get them to take his problem seriously enough. It’s like besides Bobby’s being invisible, his whole life has disappeared. This book follows Bobby as he works to solve his problem on his own, and connects with some other people that have their own problems with “invisibility.” This idea of what it means to be “invisible” is one important theme in the book.

One reason I liked this book is because I could relate to the way Bobby realized he had felt like he was invisible in some ways, even before he actually became invisible.

If you like this book, there are 2 books that follow this one. They aren’t exactly sequels, because they are told from other characters’ points of view, but the same characters (as well as some new ones) appear in the following books. The next book is called Things Hoped For and the third one is called Things That Are.