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.

Deadly Litttle Secret --- a review by Amy Lyon

Deadly Little Secret

by Laurie Faria Stolarz

***1/2



Three months ago, Camelia was almost run down in the school parking lot. If not for the mysterious guy who saved her life then rode away on his motorcycle, she probably wouldn't be alive. So now, when he starts attending her school, she can't help wanting to at least thank him. But when she tries to, he denies and tries his best to ignore her. Rumors are spreading that he murdered his ex-girlfriend, and Camelia's ex, Matt, always willing to help, offers to find out more. What Matt tells her is slightly disturbing, but is it real? And does it matter, now that things are heating up between them? And who is stalking girls at school?

Deadly Little Secret was a fast read that had me on edge for most of the novel. Each chapter brings new suspense, about the stalker and her possible romances. I was impressed with the ending, it was almost expected, but there was a little twist. I will definitely be reading the next two books.

Dark Song-- review by Catherine Duncan

Dark Song

By: Gail Giles

*** stars



The Dark Song is about a 15 year old girl named Ames living in Boulder, Colorado. Her family has everything they could ever want and then some. They live in a beautiful mansion in the mountains and Ames goes to the best private school in the area. Everything in her life is going great for her until her friend Em asks about her dad’s job situation. Ames hadn’t heard anything. Then a few nights Later the truth came out. Her Dad had been released from his job. He searches for a job but no one will hire him. Soon money starts running low tension in the family is high and Ames Parents are getting more irritable by the second. Lies from the Past end up coming out and now Ames and her family including her little sister chrissy are forced to move to Texas into a dump. The house needs many repairs and one of Ames friends from the area comes and helps. 2 other guys accompany him. One of these Guys caught Ames’ Attention. Marc. He seemed dangerous and fun. Soon she is sneaking out of the house with him and going to see him when she should be at home. Then things take a turn for the worse in the Ford Household.

Dark Song brings up life issues that every person can go through. Lies, humiliation, peer pressure, parental pressure, verbal and physical abuse and many other house bound problems. In This way I think Dark Song was very good in showing me the trouble and the feelings Ames and her family were going through. I did how ever feel the first half of the book was dragged out and could have been shortened. And the ending could have been brought out a little more. I feel like the conclusion wasn’t as clear or drawn out as it could have been. If you like Teen Drama or suspense this book is for you. Over all I would recommend this for others to read because the story, as i said earlier, shows us the true struggles in life. It also shows us the even though everything on the outside might look fine. Everyone has secrets and everyone has their own problems they have to deal with… some dealt with alone.

Carter Finally Gets It --- a review by Ryan McDowell

Carter Finally Gets It

by Brent Crawford

*****

From the first page I liked this book. The novel is very straight forward. The book follows Carter and his friends, and shows them making gay jokes and going about high school like most guys do now. I like how the book captures today’s culture from the thoughts going through a young boys head, cussing, peer pressure and gossip. In the novel Carter just wants to fit in and be in the cool crowd. He joins the football team to become a “jock” .We see Carter's journey between being the cool “jock” and trying to figure out who he truly is. We see him realizing he can do the things he wants for him, not the things his boys want him to do.

Carter Finally Gets It is a mix between a humor, and a school story kind of book. I would compare the book to The Gun because both of these two books relate to life for teens. I would recommend this to another student. This book is the first book I the series.

Catalyst -- A review by Ian Zig.

Catalyst
by Laurie Halse Anderson
*

The Catalyst is about a regular "plain-jane" girl who excells in chemistry and relies way too much on her original plan. Kate is a bright daughter of a minister, with extremely high hopes for going to MIT. MIT is her dream, it is her goal, it is her life. The problem is, she has absolutely no fall back plan. Good Kate, against all logic and reason, has only applied to MIT. But as she waits expectantly for the acceptance letter of her dreams, her life refuses to hold its breath as well. Her neighbor's house suddenly burns down, and her father being a good friendly pastor and neighbor, invites "miss" Teri Litch and her younger brother to stay with them. Teri Litch is pretty much a brute of a woman. Teri is always getting into fights with the football team at school. Not only that, to Kate's displeasure, but Teri is also a compulsive thief. Kate, who already was the woman of the house taking care of her little brother, now has quite a handfull.

The Catalyst started out perfectly, it really drew me in and grabbed my interest immediately. Unfortunately after a few chapters, it quickly ran downhill. I thought it wasn't at all realistic. Kate's made out to be such a smart girl with a bright future ahead of her, except for the fact that anyone with half a brain would apply to several colleges and have a fall back plan. That is the main reason I gave this book only one star. I felt that Kate's inability to sleep was horribly pathetic, sleep is something that comes naturally and if you really can't sleep you tell your parents or go get something to help you sleep. All in all, I definitely would not recommend you read this book, just because of how disappointing the story becomes.

Cruise Control -- a review by Miles Womack

Cruise Control

By Terry Trueman

**** stars

Paul is the main character in my book. Paul and his family live in Queen Anne Hill in Seattle. He lives with his sister, his mom and his brother Shawn. His brother Shawn Is mentally challenged but they still all go to the same high school together so basically Paul has to deal with him every day. Besides Paul’s brother being a so called veg. he is a normal student but he is a very good athlete and is on the basketball team which has a great potential of going to state this year. Paul’s old man who isn’t around left when he was little because there were a lot of problems that you must read to find out. But either way he hates his dad with a passion find out if it ever gets worse or gets any better. Shawn on the other hand is basically worthless to Paul all he does is sit there and have his seizures and yell all day and sleep. So Paul has a hard time with his emotions with his brother. He has nearly killed people for talking about his brother so I’m sure you can see that he has anger problems except when he is on the basketball court he forgets everything. Now if you want to find out all the good details and the problems in the story read Cruise Control by Terry Trueman.

This book is a good book to read if you like the suspense and wonder of the story. So I gave the book 4 stars. The genre of the book is including sports, friends and school stories, and funny to me. Then I would recommend this book to others because it is overall a good book to read. Last is the companion of this book is Stuck In Neutral.