Sweethearts reviewed by Molly Varney

By: Sara Zarr     * * * * *

Jennifer has never been popular. In fact, she is the most picked on, lonely little girl in her school.  She is quiet and not as skinny as any of the other girls. Her only other friend is Cameron who was also picked on and excluded from everything. They did't mind though and were perfectly happy with each other. There were things Jennifer didn't know about Cameron though. Like when he came to school once with his arm in a cast and wouldn't talk for days then acted like everything was fine. They were best friends forever all the same. Then Cameron didn't show up for school. Jennifer heard from one of the girls at school that Cameron had died. Her mother had comforted her when she got back from school and tried to help her move on.
Now in her junior year of high school, Jennifer, now Jenna, has a totally new life. She has friends, a boyfriend, a new school, and has lost weight. She is happy, or as happy as she can be. Just when things were going fine in her life, everything got turned upside down when Cameron enrolled in her school. Now Jenna has to figure out everything that had happened, keep her life in line, and deal with her mother who didn't know what happened when she and Cameron were little.

I gave Sweethearts five stars because it was a very well written and interesting book. It was full of twists and surprises that made it enjoyable to read and kept you guessing. I thought it was a cool plot and loved reading it. I didn't really like the ending but it made sense. It showed that not everything goes how we want it too.

How to Save a Life reviewed by Kaitlin Kimbrell

how to save a life

By Sara Zarr

We all meet each other in different ways. This different way let us know about the person we are meeting. Many people don't like me new people and other's couldn't live without it. Jill and Mandy have had two different ways of seeing each other.

All Jill wanted was her life back to the way it was before her dad died. She loved her dad and thought it was the end of any true connnection she would have with any other person. When Jill found out her mom was planning on adopting a baby she knew that her mom was just trying to start over and begin her own life. Jill felt betrayed when she met Mandy. If Jill would have been picking the girl giving her mom a baby Mandy would have been the last person she ever would have picked.

For Mandy life was different. She didn't feel loved and got pregnant even though she didn't want to be her mother. When Mandy found Jill's mom she was glad to be giving it to a woman who would truly care for her child. However, meeting Jill was a different story. Mandy took one look at Jill and didn't really want anything to do with her. How was she going to manage til the baby was born.

Will this new life change their lives forever?

Personal this book to me was very average. I did relate to how the girls felt about each other, but couldn't fully get into the book. I do believe, however, that you should think about reading this book. You might get a different feeling from it.

A Time For Dancing reviewed by Molly Varney

By: Davida Wills Hurwin *****

Jules and Sammie are best friends. They couldn’t live without each other and have been that way for more than half of their lives. Jules was there for Sammie when her dad left her and they held each other when they cried. They danced together since they were young. They were friends to the end but sometimes the end is closer than we think. The summer before their senior year in high school Jules got very sick and nothing could have prepared sammie or her family for the cause of it-Jules was diagnosed with cancer. As Sammie tried to be there for Jules, she found it harder than she thought, even though they were so close. Throughout the weeks of treatments and doctors, Jules feels like she’s going on this trip by herself even with her friend and family. As the weeks go on Jules and Sammie both face the fact that the cancer may not go away and have to deal with it their own way.

I really liked this book. The story was really sad but it had a great meaning. I liked that it was from both of the girl’s point of view. I liked both of the main characters a lot but I didn’t like that Jules acted like she was giving up and got upset. Sammie seemed like the stronger out of the two and didn’t let Jules just sit around at home all day. This is a really good book and it’s a bit smaller so it doesn’t take a long time to read.

Cracked up to be review by Kaitlin Kimbrell

cracked up to be

by Courtney Summers

When you're perfect with everything you do people tend to want to be like you. Everybody body has a desire to be perfect, but what is the breaking point?

For Parker Fadley being perfect was all she knew. She was the perfect cheerleader, had the perfect popular boyfriend, the perfect best friend, and the perfect grades. Parker was the most popular girl at St. Peter's High, until that one night. That is when perfect Parker became the perfect mess. Nobody really knew why Parker started to come to school drunk, quit as captain of the cheerleading team, broke up with her boyfriend, and started to hate everyone. What happen to perfect Parker? Did she find her breaking point? Can you just not ever stay perfect like you think?

This book is not in my usual choices, but I really liked it. The struggles that Parker goes through actually shows what many people my age might be going through too. This put me in Parker shoes and made me think 'what would I have done if I would have been her?' I don't know what I would have done and I don't know who I would have wanted on my side, if anyone at all. This book did make me realize though that nobody is as perfect as we think.



Better Than Yesterday reviewed by Kaitlin Kimbrell

better than yesterday

by Robyn Schneider

"Sometimes, when we are not looking for a solution, but rather a different way of viewing the problem, it is permissible, even appropriate, to break the rules." Skylar, Marissa, Blake, and Charley became best friends’ freshman year and had together created a group called the Hell Risers, but much has happened since then. Skylar became known as the dirty girl, Marissa was more of just a nerdy girl, Charley had to please his parents with everything he did, and Blake left Hilliard. Now, however, Blake is back and wants to put the old gang of Hell Risers back together again. Since Blake has been gone though he has changed too much and they are scared that something might happen to him, plus they need to keep a secret from him so he won't hate Skylar. Will they stay best friends? Will they fight for what they believe? Will they just forget about each other and never look back? What will happen? To find out read the book.

This book was good! I enjoyed it and it was a quick read because of how interesting it was. There was such a mix of feelings and everything that happened will make you love each character. I honestly loved this book and am thinking about looking into this author for more books. Love and scandal all in one, what could be better? This book really kept me intrigued the whole time and I am glad I chose it to read.

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You.
by: Ally Carter

For Cameron Morgan becoming a spy was without a doubt going to be her life. She really had no choice in the matter anyway. With her mother as headmistress of the top all girl spy academy, Gallagher Girl, and her father having died while working for the top agency, she really did not want to have a different live. Cameron, known as Cammie or The Chameleon, was very good at being a spy. Cammie was very skilled at not being seen, hints the nickname Chameleon, until one day when she meets Josh. Josh makes her happy and makes her think about what life would be like if she was not a spy. Cameron knows that she should not be talking to him, but some how he always seems to see her when the girls are in town. She cannot just go back to being invisible to him, or can she? Will Cammie the Chameleon go back to hiding and spying or will she choose a life with Josh?  

To me this book, I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You, is very intriguing. It kept me guessing until the very end and I was even still wondering after the book was over about what was going to happen next. I was glad when I found out that the second book, Cross My Heart And Hope to Spy, came out because I liked the first one so much. There are four books to this series now and I have read them all, if that tells you anything about how much I was intrigued by this book. I have recommended this to some of my friends and I would recommend it to every girl I come in contact with because i believe that this book, even though it is about spies, shows what many girls go through with boys, friends, and parents.

Johanna Kelly's Book Review

Hold Still
By Nina LaCour
*** stars

Your best friend committed suicide the week before final exams. You don’t take your finals. You can only think about her throughout the summer. You wonder what you could have done to stop her. You know you can’t bring her back. Life has to go on.
This happened to a girl, Caitlin. Her life was perfect; she lived in a suburb of San Francisco, in a big beautiful house. She is very close to her best friend, Ingrid. They did everything together, and they shared the same passion—photography. However, Ingrid fell into a depression that tore her apart. Now, Caitlin has to live on with a big hole in her heart.
I gave this book three stars because it was an interesting read, however, pieces were missing. Honestly, it seemed a little too perfect. Quickly into the book, Caitlin makes new friends, goes to school, and succeeds in most classes. Of course, she keeps thinking about Ingrid, but it doesn’t tear her apart as it would me and most teens, in my opinion.
I would suggest this book to a person who doesn’t want a book with a happy, superficial plot, but who doesn’t want to think too deeply about depressing subjects. This book did not make me think too much afterwards, which I like books to do.