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.