Skylar
by Mary Cuffe-Perez

Skylar was an overall good book. Some parts were confusing such as the ending but I liked the adventure and personalities of the geese. I could picture them as real people. I give praise to Mary Cuffe-Perez.

- Devin

Don't Talk to Me About the War
by David A. Adler

This book takes place in the Bronx in 1940 right before the United States entered WWII, called the Isolationist period. The main character is Tommy, a 13 year old boy, who just wants to focus on his own life. His friend Beth though is globally oriented and always reads the newspapers everyday. One of his other friends has family in Europe and is Jewish. The world outside the Bronx keeps intruding until Tommy begins to listen and learn about the events happening in Europe.
This historical fiction is also is a coming of age book. It was researched very well. For each day David Adler, author of over 200 children’s books, wrote about Tommy, he read that day’s newspaper. He also listened to tapes of the radio broadcasts. I think this helped made the characters and their lives seem very realistic. The plot pull you in while telling you about the time with many subplots. The author contrasts Tommy’s own struggles,and responsibilities with those of war.
I would recommend this book for middle schoolers.

- Scott

Genius Squad
by Catherine Jinks

Genius Squad is a book about Cadel, a teenaged orphan who’s ancestry is unknown. His dad is thought to be the head of an illegal school to train computer hackers. Cadel has been kicked out of various foster houses and he doesn’t want to live in the one he’s in now, because one of the boys living in it is a juvenile delinquent. Cadel recieves an offer to move into a “foster house” which is in reality the base of a small group of teenagers who are attempting to hack into a company’s computer network to obtain incriminating information about the company, which is run by people originally working with Cadel’s father. Since Cadel could be kidnaped at any moment, he always has two undercover police following him or watching the house he is in. This protects him but also makes it difficult for him to hack into the company.

I would recommend this book for kids ages 11 and up who likes sci-fi. Although I don’t think this book is a Newbery, it is a good exciting read, but the beginning is a little slow.

- David

Shooting the Moon
by Frances O'Roark Dowell

The main character in Shooting the Moon is Jamie Dexter, a 12 year old girl whose father is a Colonel in the army. The book takes place in 1969 - 71, during the Vietnam War era. The Colonel has always taught Jamie and her 18 year old brother T.J., the army way is the right way, until T.J goes to Vietnam. Jamie and T.J have lived the army life their whole lives even playing army games. For example, they would play war with the little green army men. Jamie would use an expression “Combat Ready”. Jamie believes serving in the armed forces is the right thing and would be only honor and glory. At the base rec center, she works and becomes friends with a soldier, Lieutenant Hollister, who may soon be going to Vietnam. Her brother sends her rolls of film and she learns how to develop the film in the rec center dark room from another soldier, Sergeant Byrd who is back from Vietnam. After she sees some of the pictures, talks with Sergeant Byrd and then learns Lieutenant.
Hollister’s brother was killed in Vietnam and now he will possibly go to war, she realizes that war is not what she thought it was.
Plot- Simple and direct at first but becomes more complex as Jamie starts to understand what war really means. Great ending!
Characterization- Great! Totally believable individualized characters. Jamie is a tomboy and I really liked her. This book is definitely not just for girls! Her parents and the two soldiers she befriends are all well developed too. I felt I was in the book and knew them all.
Point of view-first person, Jamie is the narrator. It really helps the story along as you can understand how she thinks. The author was an army brat, who even lived at Fort Hood in Texas where the story takes place, which may be why Jamie is such a believable character.
Setting-the setting is very well described. I could really visualize the rec center even though I didn’t really know what it was in the beginning, the author described it so well that I understood. It all seemed so normal, but then there were the descriptions of T.J’s photos of the war.
Style-Historical fiction but not dated at all. Readers who don’t always like this genre would like this book. The use of photography to tell about the horrors of the war and to help the reader to understand about Vietnam is interesting and unique.
Theme-coming of age, learning to see things as they really are, no longer a child's point of view, not everything is black and white. This book makes you think about things.
This is one of the best books I have read this year.

I would highly recommend it to club members.

- Scott

Savvy
by Ingrid Law

The book Savvy by Ingrid Law is utterly enthralling. From the moment that I picked up this quirky book I knew that it was a winner. Ms. Law’s style of writing sounds, not like words, but like a voice. Mibs, the main character, seemed like a real person. I got to know the characters so well I felt like I was riding on that bus with them. I could easily picture Samson hiding under the cot in the back, or Fish (to me always looking like he had just walked through the rain), and Bobbi your average brat/teenager, Will Jr. starting out looking like your average Church boy but slowly evolving into a strong friend who was more than he seemed, Lester the bus driver who was timed and slowly came out of his shell, or Lill the darling waitress who was as sweet as sweet can be, and of course I can’t forget Mibs, but I don’t really know what Mibs looks like, all I can picture of her is her yellow dress with the purple flower that her Poppa gave her. >> The setting was amazing. I could picture every inch of the bus, Carlene’s house, and the restaurant as though I were standing there. As for being original I have never in my whole life read some thing with this much originality. The plot was like a roller coaster that seems to just keep going up hill and then sends you shooting down. The plot twists were dramatic and quite shocking at times. My favorite part of the book was most defiantly the end. I love happy endings and many fantasy books don’t end happy, but Savvy does. Oddly enough my favorite character was either Samson or Bobbi mostly because they were mysteries. I give Savvy 5 stars and recommend it to anyone ages 11-14. So far this year Savvy is my #1 pick.

- Anna

The book Savvy was a great book about some sort of power that ran in the family. Mibs, the main character in the book, did not know what her power was, but along the way he starts to get a clue. Mibs' father is in the hospital and she wants to save him because he is dying, and he encounters all bad things along the way to her father. I thought the book was a slow-starting book, but as you go on it gets a lot better.

- Brandon

The plot, characters, and setting were very easy to picture. The only thing that I didn't like about this book was that it started off slow.

- Fiona

The plot was interesting. The characters were cool and very easy to picture. It was very slow in the beginning, but picked up in the end!

- Caitlyn

absolutely adore the book Savvy! It had great characters. It was so much fun that I couldn't stop reading it. So far, I think Ingrid Law deserves to win the Newbery 100%.

- Devin

Acting Out

This is a collection of one act plays written by famous children's authors such as Sharon Creech, Avi and more. These are wonderful short plays that all convey a certain message. They really teach younger kids ethics. This book would be very good to read aloud or use/act out in the classroom.

- Scott

The Battle of the Labyrinth
by Rick Riordan

It is action-packed and funny. You really get to know the characters. The plot is very developed. You never want to put it down.

- Marissa

Eleven
by Patricia Reilly Giff

The book Eleven is about a boy named Sam, who is a gifted woodworker. He lives with his grandfather Mack. Sam cannot read, but when he finds a newspaper clipping with a picture of him on it, he tries to find out what the clipping says. He meets a girl named Caroline, someone new to his school. She loves to read, so Sam tries to befriend her, so she could help him to read the clipping. They become good friends, and go on a quest to find the meaning of the article. I really enjoyed this book. I have never seen this kind of storyline before. I think this book would appeal to both people who like adventure stories like the Lightning Thief, and people who enjoy “school” books like No Talking. I think so because this book is kind of like an adventure, but is about ordinary people. I thought the author focused in on describing some aspects of the setting or characters very much, but others were not as deeply described.

-Brian

Eleven was about a boy named Sam who was going to turn eleven soon.  He was looking for his birthday presents in the attic, when he stumbled across a clipping, from a paper, sticking out of a chest.  He had problems reading, so all he could read was his name and the word “missing” on it.  The picture showed him in a sweater falling into the water.  He wondered what it meant.  He dared not ask his grandfather Mack, because he thought what if he had been kidnapped by Mack, what if Mack wasn’t his real grandfather.  As a result of his curiosity, Sam wants to find a person who can read and will help him uncover his past.  He settles on a new girl at school named Caroline.  Caroline has her own problems also.  Her dad and mom are artists and she is always moving.  She doesn’t want to make friends, because when she moves she’ll just be sad.  She thinks she’ll never have a real friend.  Sam and Caroline become fast friends despite Caroline’s initial unwillingness.  This books show if you have an issue, a friend can help you get through it.  

Characterization- The characterization in this book is outstanding. I could really visualize all the characters.  I really understood how Sam thought and how he was feeling. As the book goes on, Caroline, really comes out of her nutshell,  becomes Sam’s friend and and really enjoys meeting his unconventional family (two of his grandfather's friends, who live and work in the same building, look after Sam and are involved in his life.) The secondary characters are also all really truly individuals.  For example, Onji, his grandfather’s friend from childhood who owns a deli was so real, I felt I knew him. Ms. Giff also really included Caroline’s family in the book, all except Caroline’s Dad.  I wish that she had put him in the story once or twice.   

Plot- It really unfolds and is described wonderfully. The mystery and Sam's dreams keep the reader guessing but don’t overpower the themes of the book. Close to the end of the book, particularly, when Sam is starting to find out who he really is and what his past was particularly well written.

Style-The author uses poems interspaced between chapters to convey flashbacks from Sam’s early childhood.  For a class assignment you could take the flashbacks and try to figure out what actually happened and then read the book.

I would recommend this book for kids 10 to 12. It would be a good for a class literacy circle or read aloud as it deals with social issues, family, friendship and growing up and figuring out who you are.

- Scott

The development of the plot was distinguished. I love the way he was going
to look for birthday presents and he finds a clippng and Sam thinks it is
his name.

- Alexa

The Willoughbys
by Lowis Lowry

Please describe what makes this book distinguished. It was dull and then it got better. I liked when the 4 Barnabys met. I would recommend this book to anybody who likes stories that get suspenseful and are sarcastic and funny.

- Ryan

It is funny and the plot and characters were very well developed. Out of all of the orphan stories I have ever read, this was the best and most creative.

- Fiona

This extremely funny and creative parody of classic children's’ stories is quite different from Ms. Lowry’s other books. The four Willoughbys want to be orphans, because they dislike their parents who ignore and mistreat them. Their parents leave on a trip to dangerous places (organized secretly by their kids) and hire an old fashioned Nanny to take care of them.
All the characters have their own distinct personalities. Although it is absurd,the plot pulls you right in. The sophisticated vocabulary adds to the unusual style and is perfect for learning lots of fancy SAT words. The definitions of all the multi syllable words and a bibliography of children’s classics at the end are really well done and funny also.
This is a great read aloud for families or for classroom.

- Scott

In the past I have generally been impressed with the works of Lois Lowry, but this book, in my opinion, was a disgrace. I felt the feelings to be cold and rather hard. There was such a hate between the children and the parents that I almost found it upsetting. Besised Barniby Sr. and Nanny the characterization was poor. Aside from that I could picture nothing except the alp and Nanny's impersonation of Aphrodite. I felt that the Author tried to parody The Series of Unfortunate events but, did a rather bad job of it. Although bits were rather humorous, I was quite confused and annoyed by most aspects of this book. I would not recommend it to anyone.

- Anna




Key to Rondo
by Emily Rodda

I think that book was a great book because of all the description that was
in it and how there were two worlds. I also liked how well the peoople
were described. I think that if you like fairy tale books or even if you
don't you must read this book.

- Brandon

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey
by Trent Lee Stewart

The Mysterious Benedict Society, the Perilous Journey, which is the sequel to The Mysterious Benedict Society, was based around the same characters. The book begins with a reunion of the four main characters, Sticky Washington, Constance Contraire, Kate Weatherall, and Reynie Muldoon. The four of them got a message from the person that brought them together in the first book, Mr.Benedict. It says that on the anniversary of their meeting, they will go on a multicontinental scavenger hunt to find Mr. Benedict. However, the villain, Mr. Curtain, captures Mr. Benedict, and threatens to kill him if he is not given the location of a rare plant. Naturally, the four children immediately set off to rescue him. They follow the clues Mr. Benedict left for the scavenger hunt, and that leads them on a perilous journey, hence the title.
                I enjoyed this book almost as much as the first Benedict Society (which was a lot!). I felt the author gave a balanced description of characters and setting throughout the story. I liked that the plot was totally different in this book,  and not just a continuation of the first storyline.  However, I did feel that reading the first book and having been introduced to the characters was helpful in understanding the second.

- Brian

It really got suspenseful towards the end.It got so exciting that I stayed
up all night reading. I would definitely recommend this book.

- Mary Kate



The Night Tourist
by Katherine Marsh

I really enjoyed this book,I thought it was funny. But also had a lot of action and mystery.I am happy that Night Tourist won the Edgar Award for best children's mystery!!I can't wait until the sequel, Night Tourist was one of my favorite books!

- Caitlyn

Tales from the Hood, Sisters Grimm book six
by Michael Buckley

This book was the best one so far. It had mystery, suspense, action and it
was funny. It had a great plot. I think other people should read it. I
love this series.
- Caitlyn

I am a HUGE fan of the Sisters Grimm series and that this one as well was wonderful. Alas in no way what so ever did it stand on its own, nor did I expect it to. I would definitely recommend it to anyone as long as you read the first 5 books first. Therefore this book, although wonderful, is not eligible for the mock Newbery.

- Anna