Night Hoops--A Review By Bryce Foster

Night Hoops

By: Carl Deuker

*** Stars

Night Hoops, is about two teenage boys. They are both sophomores in high school. They have nothing in common with each other, except basketball. The two are majorly competitive towards each other. Although, the boys are not so different. Nick has to deal with his parents divorce. This is also on top of trying to be a star basketball player on his high school team. Throughout the novel, Nick gets better as the point guard of his team and learns how to be more mature both on and off the court.

Trent, the other boy, is facing a lot at home. He is always angry and aggressive not only on the court but everywhere. He also wants to be a star basketball player on their high school basketball team. Surprisingly, Nick becomes friends with Trent and they start playing basketball in the driveway of Nick house. They continually do this every night. They become very good pals. In my opinion, I believe the book wanted you to grasp the idea of two competitors becoming friends.

I Gave this novel 3 stars because I think highly of this author and the sport books he writes. I think this was an excellent book for someone who enjoys basketball and for anyone who feels like an outsider. This would be a great book for someone who has problems at home or just someone in high school who is looking for an awesome read. I highly recommend this novel because it never gets boring.

Fang -- A review by Ian Zig.

Fang

By James Patters0n

****

Fang is the sixth book of the Maximum Ride Series. The other five books are: The Angel Experiment, School's Out Forever, Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports, The Final Warning, and Max. The Entire series was a great story, however I kind of wish that the author would've stopped at the fifth book, Max. The newest book, Fang, was a good book and it takes an odd turn with the Flock, the five human-avian kids group. Fang takes a completely different direction than the other books, because this book is mainly about the Flock breaking down and falling apart... Of course there is still the evil, mad scientists thrown into the mix, but the book doesn't put the same emphasis on them as the previous books have. But this new direction isn't neccessarily a bad thing, I enjoyed it fairly well, just not as much as the previous books. Also the series has the reputation of being an action-packed thrill read, but Fang just didn't seem to have as much energy and commotion. But don't get me wrong, there was definitely some action! I enjoyed this book thoroughly, especially the bitter sweet ending...

All in all Fang was a good read. I gave it four stars because I found the story periodically dragging for short periods. Again though, I really wish the author would have stopped at Max, mainly because it seemed like a proper ending, there's no way to tell the ending unless Patterson is a super-author. To end my spool, this book was a great read, and I recommend it to anyone... BUT, ONLY if you've read the whole series!

The Sky Inside – a review by George Morejon

The Sky Inside - Clare B Dunkle

**** stars

The Sky Inside is an interesting book set in a futuristic dystopian society. In this domed bubble of a society, everything is brought in and out through giant carts that go to the outside world. Food, supplies, people, everything. Only and handful of people know what actually happens with these carts, and in this world, you don't ask questions. The walls have ears (and eyes), something Martin learned when he saw shape-shifting little robots disappear into the building at his father's work.

But Martin is content with his life in the dome, not asking any questions and accepting of the things like wonder babies (the name for the android children advertised years before) and robot shape-shifting dogs without a second thought. His sister Cassie (who is a wonder baby) can't help asking questions though; and one day, the higher-ups decide to "recall" all the wonder babies, who are too curious for their own good.

Martin, along with his robot dog Chip, are determined to get Cassie back and find out what is really going on, in the dome and in the outside world. He eventually finds answers, and they're answers he never wanted to know were true...

I thought this book was good. It had points where things were kind of dull and slow, but this is a thinking book. You think of your own ideas, and see if they were right (more so than books usually are). It took me about 5 hours to read. I give The Sky Inside a 4 out of 5.

Angelmonster -- review by Hope Austin

Angelmonster
by Veronica Bennett
****

The year is 1814. Sixteen-year-old Mary is the daughter of radical philosophers, one of whom passed away. She blames herself for her mother's death. Her whole life changes when charming poet Frank Shelley walks into her father's bookstore. Mary is instantly smitten. Even though Shelley is already married and has one child, Mary agrees to run away to Europe with him. On their adventures, they encounter the likes of fellow poets like Byron and Keats. As the story goes on, we see that Shelley is not the amazing man he was built up to be. What ensues is a life of scandal, sex, drugs, and inevitable tragedy.

The story is a fictionalized account of Mary Shelley's life from the time she meets her husband to the time she writes Frankenstein. What I really loved about this story was that it wasn't just about Mary Shelley's life; if you knew nothing about her or Frankenstein, the story reads like a naive girl slowly discovering that her lover isn't the Prince Charming she thought he was. I'm not sure if I would recommend this book to fans of historical romance. On one hand, it is basically a historical romance, but on the other, it's so much more than that. Overall, it's a good read.

The Lying Game #1 by Sara Shepard

Who killed Sutton Mercer?, December 6, 2010

This is a fun new YA series by the author of the Pretty Little Liars books that have now been reincarnated as an ABC Family Original TV Series.

Emma Paxton sees a snuff video of what she thinks might be her long lost identical twin on YouTube. She escapes her most recent foster home and heads to Arizona and inserts herself into Sutton's home and life to try to figure out what happened to this sister whom she never got to meet.

Red herrings abound as Emma tries to find out what led to Sutton's demise and who killed her. The problem is that Sutton and her friends had invented a dangerous pranking activity they named "The Lying Game" and there are quite a few who might be mad enough to have committed murder as an act of revenge or anger because of one of those devious games.

Emma interacts with Sutton's best girlfriends, her handsome boyfriend, and her sister, Laurel. In an unusual twist, however, the ghost of Sutton is able to observe all of Emma's activities and also read her thoughts as Emma snoops and blunders around trying to figure out exactly what might have happened. Sutton cannot interfere or interact with the living and functions as a first person observer, interjecting her voice here and there in somewhat random fashion, but she is not able to direct the investigation and in fact, isn't quite sure of what happened herself!

Needless to say, because it's the first in a new series, the ending is a cliffhanger. Too bad, but the reader will have to wait until July 26, 2011 for The Lying Game #2: Never Have I Ever to find out more.

Enjoy! This book is a fun mix of mean girls, murder, and mystery. 

Ms C.

Princess of the Midnight Ball --- a review by Amy Lyon

Princess of the Midnight Ball
by Jessica Day George

****

Its the Twelve Dancing Princesses with a twist.
Rose and her sisters have a secret, and so far, no one has been able to uncover it. Every morning, all twelve girls are found collapsed on the rug in Rose's room with their brand new slippers in tatters. Rose shoulders the responsibility as eldest, but she can't help being amused by the new gardener. But things start to get out of control as each prince that has set out to find the answer is met with an untimely death. And two representatives from the Vatican take a little too much pleasure in investigating this possible witchcraft.

Galen has just returned from war, and is now living with his long lost aunt, her cynical husband, and his surprisingly optimistic cousin. Now armed with seemingly ordinary knitting needles and wool, Galen decides he's just the man for the job... the trick is to uncover the truth without the princesses knowing, while retaining Rose's almost reluctant favor.

There is almost certainly evil at work here, but in what form or forms does it take? Can Galen save the princesses and win Rose's heart? Or will something from evil depths once again reach through silver gates?

While similar to the original story, Princess of the Midnight Ball gave an interesting perspective to the evils we all face. There were so many twists and turns, I wasn't sure how it would end. So many rewrites recently have left me disappointed, but this is a definite challenger for the original. Even the romance doesn't take the usual course. I can't say more or I'll give it away.

I can't wait for the sequel Princess of Glass, a continuation of the first with a CinderEllen twist.

The Red Pyramid -- A review by Ian Zig.

The Red Pyramid

by Rick Riordan

****

The Red Pyramid is a fantastic story about two young siblings, Carter and Sadie, who are thrown into a world of Egyptian magic by a mistake of their father. Their mother died six years before in a horrible accident that was never fully explained or understood. But now their father has been drug down to the underworld in a sarcophagus by the evil demon Set, and they must save their father before Set destroys the world! Will they save their father in time? Will they survive the extremely dangerous task set before them? You'll have to read to find out!

I really enjoyed The Red Pyramid, it was definitely my type of book. I gave it four stars only because I wish that the main characters were a little older. Other than that it was a fantastic non-stop thrill ride! I couldn't put it down! I suggest this book to anyone who loves to read suspense and fantasy, the whole scheme did a terrific job at pulling me into the story!

Shift - a review by George Morejon

Shift by Jennifer Bradbury

**** stars

Shift is a book about 2 boys who travel across America, from West Virginia to Oregon, on bicycles after they graduate high school. Chris is the responsible of one of the two, planning out everything they pack up and managing it all. Win, Chris' friend, is the irresponsible kid that gets himself in trouble all the time.

They're having a great time on their ride at first. The ride's feeling good instead of hurting, they're doing crazy fun things like jumping into every body of water they see, and they're camping out under the stars most nights. One day they even meet the nicest people on a farm out in rural Montana and spend a night there. It sounds like a great trip, and it is, but Win goes missing at the end and nobody knows where he's gone. Chris is just starting school now, and has to deal with Win's overbearing father threatning him, along with FBI agents asking about what happened to Win.

I thought this was a good book that only took ~4 hours to read. The storytelling is broken up with a chapter of current time (school, FBI agents) and a chapter of their trip together over the summer. At first I didn't like that, but after about 10 chapters it really started to grow on me and it made both parts better. I got a feeling that both of them discovered som new things about themselves, but taken in a somewhat unusual way. I was always guessing what happened to Win through the whole book.

High Heat--A review by Bryce Foster

High Heat

By: Carl Deuker

**** stars

This is a book about a teenage baseball player named Shane hunter. He is the protagonist in this story. He has a mom, dad, and sister. They live in a very big house in a rich neighborhood. The dad in this story has a car dealership and is convicted of the crime money laundering. This leads up to him being arrested while at his son's game. He disappears in the story and Shane and other family members have to move to a different school, a different house, and a different lifestyle. He also has to switch the school he throws for. This leads to depression. His mother even has to work at a diner to afford the apartment they had to move into. I will leave you with what happened to his father.. I will also leave you with not knowing whether or not he overcomes this curve ball thrown in his life.

Personally, I enjoyed reading this book. I felt that the author, Carl Deuker wrote this novel with a lot of feeling. It's not only just another book about a sport. It deals with someone your own age, going through something very difficult. I rated it at 4 stars because I thought it was written for more than just baseball fans. I believe this fiction novel could be read by male or female, young adult and either one would be interested in it. This is the second book I've read from this author. The first book was a basketball book. It was called, "On the Devil's Court." I think this author is well known for writing sports book because there are many of them involving different sports. If you love baseball, this is a book for you. If you've had to change your lifestyle, this is also for you. If you had to adapt to a different school with new people, a new neighborhood this is for you.

Queen of Second Place---- a review by Amy Lyon

Queen of Second Place

by Laura Peyton Roberts

***1/2

Cassie Howard has this theory on talent. Everyone has a talent, but not all talents are created equal. When most people think of talent, they think singing, dancing, athleticism, etc. Not all people are fortunate enough to have a glory talent, like Quinn, who can go to a packed concert ten minutes late and still manage to get a parking spot in the front row. Or like Cassie, who has the unfortunate talent of always coming in second, usually to Sterling Carter.

But this time, Cassie is coming in first place, or that's what she hopes anyway. Because this time, a date with the hot new guy, Kevin Matthews, is on the line. Everything is working out perfectly, until Cassie bets Sterling that she- Cassie, Queen of Second Place- will get Kevin to ask her to the winter formal. If only she hadn't opened her big mouth, because now Sterling is stealing the show.

Will Cassie get her dream date, or will she yet again come in second? And if that happens, can Cassie use her talent for a second chance? Or simply melt at Sterling's feet in humiliation?

Queen of Second Place is a fun novel about the quirkiness in all of us. While I enjoyed the surprising twists and turns of this novel, I was disappointed that it seemed to run along the same lines as most high school love stories. Although, the characters and their dilemmas had me almost hysterical, and the plot was a new twist on an old idea. At times, the background seemed to waste too much time, and it got a little too cheesy and cutesy. Overall, I liked the novel and its characters, but I'm not sure I'd check out more books by this author.

But anyone is welcome to persuade me otherwise.