Enthusiam, by Polly Shulman

Do you have a friend who seems to have a different craze every week? Meet Julie. In Enthusiam, by Polly Shulman, Julie's friend Ashleigh gets them into lots of trouble...and excitement. Over time, Julie finds hereself in sticky love situations, including a mysterious poet who leaves love poems outside her window. Will Julie ever find her true love? I don't really recommend this book to anyone wanting a fascinating read. The book was very predicatable, and I found it hard to read each chapter without skipping a few pages now and then. Having said that, Enthusiam presents love dilemas in a cute, playful manner, and is probably best suited for the younger crowd.

Reviewed by BR, grade 9.

Beautiful Stranger, by Zoey Dean

Beautiful Stranger, by Zoey Dean, is an A-List book. The characters in this book are full of drama, wealth, and beauty. This book is full of romance, adventure, excitement, and gossip! In the story, Anna packs up her Louis Vuitton luggage and takes her best friend Samantha away from the drama world of Los Angeles to college life at Yale. There she goes to her hometown in the Upper East Side. During her time in the upper east side, she runs into a fellow classmate and falls in love. She realizes thatt he was the one for her for all time! This is a great book. I suggest this book to people who like drama, excitement, and especially romance. This book is one of New York's best selling books, so that tells you that is a wonderful book. Once you read it, you can't let go, it's that fun to read!

Reviewed by M, grade 9.

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Naruto, by Masashi Kishimoto

Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto. In a village hidden in the leaves, was a meddlesome kid named Naruto Uzamaki, hence the name Naruto. He was born with the demon, The Nine Tailed Fox, in him, sealed. He spends his day either pranking the village or eating his favorite meal, ramen. He has no parents, they were killed by the nine-tailed fox. He is pranking and graffittis the statues of the 4 great hokages's( the leaders of the villages) but was caught by his sensai, Iruka sensai, he was escorted back to class and to do a transfiguration jutsu. Sasuke, his mortal enemy does aperfect clone, then it was Sakura, Naruto's crush, she also did a perfect replication. It was Naruto's turn, he made a measly one clone. Iruka sensai was not pleased, he yelled at Naruto to do it right, Naruto couldn't do it, so he failed the exams and couldn't become a ninja. He was depressed until his other sensai, sensai Mizuki told him he could pass and become a ninja only if he stole the forbidden scroll and meet him in the forest. So, Naruto did, the 4th Hokage saw what Naruto did and sent all the sensais to find him, Iruka sensai finds him studying the replication jutsu, he was practicing all night, Mizuki finds him too. Iruka and Mizuki battle it out, Mizuki was about to kill Iruka, but Naruto comes out makes about 100 clones and kicks Mizuki's butt, Iruka sensai gave Naruto his head band since Naruto passed and became a ninja. Naruto is one of the most fun anime in the list of the greatest anime. Its also a manga and people prefer to read it instead of watch it. I prefer to watch it since you can visualize it in your head, hear the voices, and watch it. I would recommend this to mostly anybody.

-Reviewed by Patrick, grade 9.

Vibes, by Amy Kathleen Ryan

Vibes, by Amy Kathleen Ryan, is about a girl named Kristi who struggles in everyday life as she has to deal with being able to read minds with thoughts. She'd rather not hear. As Kristi hangs out with her newly found friend, Gusty, she learns things about her past, her family, and herself. In my opinion, Vibes is great at teaching teens that uniqueness is something to be valued. It also teaches that being positive about the self is the key to happiness. This book is very intriguing and witty. I recommend this book to anyone looking for an interested read.

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Reviewed by BR, grade 9.

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L.A. Candy, by Lauren Conrad

L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad is about nineteen-year-old Jane Roberts and her best friend Scarlett who decide to move to L.A. after living in Santa Barbara for many years. Jane has come to L.A. for an internship to work as a writer for a high fashion magazine and Scarlett came to go to school at U.S.C. They both knew nothing about L.A. except for a few clubs. Jane gets her internship and Scarlett starts her year at U.S.C. After living there for a few weeks, one day they were sitting at a club and having some drinks and a producer came to them and offered them both a chance to be on a reality TV show. Do they except the offer or decline? Read the book to find out. I think this a great book for teens, mostly for girls because it's more of a girly story. There is fashion, love, romance, and everything that goes on in a girl's life. I recommend this book to all teens. It tell a very cute story, as the author describes her life and how she deals with things.

Reviewed by CH, grade 9.

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Bleach, by Tite Kubo

Bleach by Tite Kubo. It all starts with the main character, Ichigo Kurasaki, kicking some skater's butts for knocking over some flowers for a little girl who died there. Ever since he was little, Ichigo has been able to see the dearly beloved. He promises the little girl for some new flowers. At home, he misses his curfew and his dad punishes him. There was another ghost waiting for him, but he had ebough so he goes to his room. The next morning, he sees on the news that there was an inicident on a building nearby. He just walks past it on his way to school, then people start running in the opposite direction, inbluding the little ghost girl, there was a huge creature witha skull face, looming out og an alley, he chases after the ghost girl, thenall of a sudden, this young looking woman wearing black robes jumps in and kills the creature. Then she leaves, Ichigo thought that was strange, at night in his room, he was thinking about her when she came into his room, she thought he couldn't see her, when he kicks her in the back and yells at her and why shes here, he kind of ticks her off, so she uses a paralyses on him. She explains what she is, a soul reaper, and what the creature is, a hollow, they feed off of normal spirits. There was a ghost nearby and she puts the hilt of her sword on the ghost's head and sends him to paradise, she xplains that is what soul reapers do. They hear an explosion nearby, and Ichigo's sister comes through the door, injured, The soul reaper goes after the hollow, Ichigo tells her to release him, but she tells him to stay out of it. He then gets out of the paralysis, which is impossible to humans, she realizes he is no ordinary human, the hollow is holding his other sister and he goes after it, but the hollow punches him to the ground. The hollow senses a powerful spirit inside of Ichigo and tries to consume him, he dodges just in time and the soul reaper cuts him on the arm, the hollow left after that. The soul reaper realized that he had a powerful spirit and was hidden up until now to save his sister. The hollow came back, the hollows came because of Ichigo, he offers himself, the hollow lunges after Ichigo, and the soul reaper steps in to get injured herself, she falls to the ground, the hollow is suffering a few yards away, she gets up, bleeding from a wound. She is too injured to fight, so she gives himm her power by stabbing himself in his center and absorbing her power, becoming a soul reaper himself. She tells him her name, Rukia Kuchiki. He stabs himself just in time to slice off the hollow's arm. Instead of taking half, Ichigo takes almost all of Rukia's power. That was causing all the blockage in Rukia's senses. Ichigo slices the hollow in half, becoming a soul reaper and disposing of the hollow scum. This is another cool, action packed anime with good graphics and plot that makes sense. The characters can relate to the people either watching or reading Bleach. My only question is why the anime is called Bleach, why not reaper or something else cooler. I would recommend this to every one reading Darren Shan or watching anime who haven't watched anime before.

- Reviewed by Patrick, grade 9.

Just Listen, by Sarah Dessen

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen is a stunning story of boy meets girl. Annabel Greene seems to have it all; beauty, brains, friends. That's at least what it looks like in her modeling shoots. Annabel is a sixteen year old girl whose life is far from glamorous. Over the summer, she lost her best friend, Sophie, because Sophie thought Annabel hooked up with her boyfriend. Annabel hates modeling now, but stays in it to please her mother. To top it off, her sister, Whitney has an eating disorder that's tearing her whole family apart. With no friends and no hope for herself, Annabel stays to herself at school and home. Then, she meets Owen. Unpredictable, music obsessed, and always willing to tell the truth. With Owen's help, Annabel learns to face her fears and learn to speak up for herself. I really enjoyed this book. Its message really shined through; always speak your mind, stand up for yourself, and just listen. I recommend this book to all girls fourteen and up. It is easy to follow and really enjoyable once you get into it. I give the book four and half stars out of five. Do you think Annabel will overcome her fears and speak her mind? Read Sarah Dessen's Just Listen to find out. You won't regret reading this.

Reviewed by CH, grade 9

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Maximum Ride, by James Patterson

They had escaped four years ago. Jeb, who helped them escape, treated them as their father for two years, but disappeared. Maximum Ride and her family, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, and Angel have been alone for two years. They seem like normal kids but are actually only 98 percent human and 2 percent bird. The six kids were genetically engineered in a lab, living like caged rats always being experimented on. Now their main predator, Erasers - half human, half wolf has found them and the lab wants them back. The mission for them is the following; rescue six year old Angel from the lab, find a secret address to track down the flock's missing parents, get revenage on an evil traitor, and save the world. The series Maximum Ride, by James Patterson is about six extraordinary kids saving the world from evil white coats and more. These books are for people who likes lots of adventure, drama, science fiction and face paced stories.

Reviewed by AP, grade 9.

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An Acquaintance with Darkness, by Ann Rinaldi

This book, An Acquaintance with Darkness by Ann Rinaldi, talks about a 14-year old girl, Emily Pigbush, who became an orphan after the Civil War ended. Against her dead mother's wishes, she moved in with her Uncle Valentine, a prominent Washington, D.C doctor. Emily soons learns that her guardian is a grave robber. Appalled at this discovery she runs away. What will Emily do next? Emily's story plays out against Lincoln's assassination and its impact on her best friend, Annie Surratt, whose mother ran the boardinghouse where the conspirators met. This book was good. I liked it because the settings are after the Civil War and Lincoln's assassination. I like that it looks at grave robbers and how that furthers the cause of medicine. I recommend this book to all young adults of both genders.

Reviewed by AD, grade 9

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Peeps, by Scott Westerfeld

Peeps, by Scott Westerfeld, is about someone who hunts vampires so they don't create more. There is no magic when it comes to vampires, it's actually a disease. Cal Thompson is infected with the parasite but luckily he is only a carrier -- still in control without the worst of the symptoms. But he has infected all of his recents girlfriends who have all turned into Peeps (parasite positives). Now Cal's job is to hunt them down before they create more Peeps. This novel is for readers who like action and fiction stories.

Reviewed by AP, grade 9.

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