Dragon Flight - Jessica Day George

Dragon Flight
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If you have not read Dragon Slippers, then read at your own risk, this contains spoilers!

The Gist

 Creel has finally become famous for more than being the heroine of the Dragon War. She finally has the dress shop she’s always dreamed of. With Marta as her partner and Alle working for them still, it seems like everything is as it should be. Shardas and Velika are alive and well. Marta will soon be married to Tobin. There is only one thing that Creel can find that just isn’t right: she rarely sees Luka anymore. They send letters back and forth, but having him right there in the King’s Seat, and having him out half-way across the world are two very, very different situations. And she liked it better when he was safely home in the King’s seat. An urgent letter from Luka arrives and explains to Creel very grave news. Citatie - a neighboring kingdom – has declared war on Feravel, and their army isn’t charging them on foot. No, they’re charging them on dragons. Creel is happy to leave her dress shop behind to travel to Citatie, see Luka, and fight some Citatians. But first she has to convince her dragons to help her. And, knowing them, they’ll refuse to help her save the dragons of Citatie. Creel must find a way to save the dragons all over again. But this time she’s in an unfamiliar land, and Marta’s come along for the ride too.


What We Think

Reviewed by Dream Catcher

Number of Pages: 336

The first was better. I absolutely loved the ending of Dragon Slippers, and never dreamed Jessica Day George would write a sequel. When I saw that she had written Dragon Flight, I was actually a bit disappointed. I was afraid she would take the series too far, like some other authors, and completely go overboard. Though I thought that the ending of Dragon Slippers should be left as it was, I still read Dragon Flight.  The writing was as good as the first, and the plot was almost as interesting. It wasn’t as interesting as the first simply because it was like I had read it before. The whole thing was so similar to the first I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn’t rereading Dragon Slippers. But, it gets better as it goes on. By the end the story had evolved into something more than a Dragon Slippers wannabe. It was its own story with its own plot and its own conflicts. I read the acknowledgements and found that the author herself hadn’t even wanted to write this in the first place. She had wanted to leave the first book as it was and do nothing more with it. I have a new found respect for the author’s appreciation of a leave-it-alone-and-never-touch-it-again ending. I’m displeased to admit that the ending isn’t as good as the ending to Dragon Slippers. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m big into dramatic, well-written endings. Endings, meaning the final few sentences. I’m extremely picky about that kind of thing. But, despite the ending, the story was great and definitely worth reading, especially if you liked Dragon Slippers.

Real Teen Rating~ A : Go buy now.

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The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
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The Gist

 In a small town in England, a woman commits suicide.  This woman, named Mrs. Ferrars, was rumored to have poisoned her husband in the past year.  Her new suitor, Roger Ackroyd, is quite distressed over her passing and invites Dr. Sheppard (the narrator) to dinner to discuss her death, and her life.  After Dr. Sheppard leaves, and returns home, he receives a call informing him that Roger Ackroyd has been murdered.  Now he embarks on a hunt to find the killer.  Was it Ackroyd”s nephew? Perhaps his sister-in-law, or his sister-in-law’s daughter?  The butler?  And how does the mysterious neighbor fit into all this?


What We Think

Reviewed by Living Destiny

Number of Pages: 288

That was an over dramatic gist.  I know.  But i felt it necessary since I’m GOING OLD SCHOOL!  Seriously though, Agatha Christie is the mother of mystery.  There is no room for argument here.  Not only did she invent it, she is the best author to ever write it.  Ever.  I’ve only read one of her books and I know this.  Don’t even try to disagree I’ll shoot you down so fast it won’t even be funny.

This book was pretty amazing.  One of the librarians at my school suggested I read it and since I’m a sucker for a good mystery I decided to read it.  I was so sucked in I read the whole thing (241 pages) in one day.  It’s that good.  The characters are all mysterious and interesting, and the plot is pretty different from modern mystery plots, so it was intriguing.  Some of the language used is a little difficult to understand, but then the book was published in 1926, so that’s excusable.  I loved how all the little stories of all the characters somehow meshed into the bigger picture.  I also liked how the main detective was so clever and insightful.  He pretty much knew everything there was to know about the mystery before the book was halfway finished (but he wasn’t narrating, he was helping, so the book continued.)  In fact he says, quite frequently, ‘it is useless to conceal things from Hercule Poirot.’  The best part of the whole book was the major plot twist.  It is just more proof that Agatha Christie is the goddess of mystery.  In modern mystery books, I literally never fall for the plot twist.  I can always figure out what will happen.  At the end of this book, I was shocked.   Christie’s story grabbed me, entranced me, then chewed me up and spit me out, and I had no idea what was coming.  It was awesome!!!  This book was incredible and I am going to look for more Agatha Christie books at the library (as soon as I can find my card.)

Real Teen Rating~ A+: Why are you still reading this, go buy this book now!

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The Akhenaten Adventure (Children of the Lamp #1) - P. B. Kerr

*New York Times Bestseller

*New York Times Bestselling Series

Children of the Lamp
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The Gist

 Philippa and John Gaunt are twelve-year-old twins living in New York City.  They are very different looking, but they think very similarly.  During the summer, their wisdom teeth grow in.  They have an operation to get them removed, and their Uncle Nimrod visits their dreams and tells them to come to London.  When they do, they learn that they are djinn (a.k.a genie) with huge power.  Upon learning this, they enter into a world of luck and adventure, and try to help keep the homeostasis of good and bad luck in check.


What We Think

Reviewed by Living Destiny

Number of Pages: 384

My cousin showed me this book series a while ago, but I still really like it.  I think that Philippa and John are really strong characters.  Also, I like the whole plot line.  The control of luck is a pretty interesting and wide topic, and P.B. Kerr tackled it admirably.  This book takes on a few foreign countries as well, and you can tell that Kerr did his research.  All of the characters mesh really well together, even the more sinister ones.  There are some pretty interesting plot twists, although some of them didn’t really surprise me (but that’s just me.)  This series really sucked me in, and I can’t wait for the sixth book to come out.  (There might be a movie in the works too YAY)!

Real Teen Rating~ A: Go buy now

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The House on Mango Street - Sandra Cisneros

The House on Mango Street
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The Gist

 The House on Mango Street is a book written entirely in little stories called vignettes.  It tells the story of Esperanza, a girl uncomfortable with the house she has living on Mango Street, and her adventures (or sometimes her misadventures).


What We Think

Reviewed by Living Destiny

Number of Pages: 128

We read this book for school.  I was forced.  In all honesty, I didn’t like it at all.  It wasn’t the way it was written, because I’ve read other books written in that story that weren’t bad.  I really don’t know why I didn’t like it just rubbed me the wrong way I guess.  There were a couple little bits I like, but other than that it did nothing for me.  Esperanza, the main character, gets into a lot of trouble, but not in the normal ways.  She is attacked physically multiple times throughout the book, and it horrified me a little bit.  Her friends are either whiny or bad influences.  She doesn’t talk about her family much.  The book has way too much figurative language.  I don’t object to a little bit here and there, but it was like half the book.  Overall it was confusing and hard to read, and I was glad when it was over.

Real Teen Rating~ D: read it if your bored…I guess…


Reviewed by The North Star

I also had to read this for school and when our teacher introduced this book another girl in my class says, “OHHH no not the house on mango street”.  We all turned to him and asked her why she didn’t like and she couldn’t give us an answer and from them it was all down-hill.  The book was written in a strange way and Sandra didn’t really make the connection with the audience that she needed to make and that was with the main character.  No matter what happened to Esperanza I personally didn’t care.  She could have robbed a bank and just because of the writting style that the author was using it would have been boring to read.  Nothing about this book appealed to me except I liked the monkey garden that she goes to, to relax in.  Besides that it was about 100pgs and each chapter was only 2-3 pgs, so if the chapter was longer than that it was a pain to read it. I’m sorry Sandra Cisneros.

Real Teen Rating~F: Don’t even bother!

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Egon & Dönci – no one…

* First Hungarian animated film ever made!

Egon & Donci
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The Gist
A ‘man’ and his ‘cat’ live on this little planet.  One day, a spaceship carrying a message from the far off planet Earth crashes in their backyard.  The ‘man’ and his ‘cat’ then build a spaceship of their own and travel to Earth.

What We Think
Reviewed by Living Destiny
Before we even begin, let me just say that I don’t ever fall asleep during movies.  Never in my whole life have a fallen asleep during a movie.  Ever.  With that said, I fell asleep like four times during this one hour and fifteen minute long movie.  It was horrendous.  No one ever talked the whole movie.  There were little grunt noises and other stuff like that but no actual dialogue.  There was a seven minute montage of pictures of Earth that Egon watched (not kidding actually seven minutes) and it was so very boring.  It wasn’t clever or witty.  It wasn’t enlightening or interesting.  It wasn’t intelligent.  It was boring.  So very boring.  Before my friends and I started watching the movie, we were all wicked hyper after going out to eat.  Two of us fell asleep, one of almost did, and one of my friend’s little sister stood up half way through the movie and said “I can’t take it anymore!”  She left.  The only thing I liked about it was maybe one of the songs.  The only funny parts were the cat doing stupid things.  This movie was a sleep inducing, soul sucking monster of a movie, and if you know what’s good for you you’ll steer far far far away.
Real Teen Rating~ 0: yea that’s a zero don’t even go there

Reviewed by The North Star
I totally agree with Living Destiny.  I was one of the friends who fell asleep during this movie and I literally fell asleep 5 different times.  In the beginning I lasted a little while but then after that I was in and out and in and out.  In the end I woke up and the other friends who were up at the end quickly filled me in on what they remembered.  This movie was beyond terrible, first you couldn’t understand anything they were saying because they didn’t even use actual words.  Second what there was of a plot was really weak and made no sense what-so-ever.  Last if you are going to have characters that don’t talk you should at least have them be likeable.  The “man” was clueless and sketchy.  The “cat” was OK but really annoying after the first 10min and the “guy” that worked at a souvenir shop was just a creeper in general.  I really recommend never watching this movie even if it is with friends there is NO POSSIBLE way to make fun of it.  This is by far the worst movie I have ever seen.  Even worse than Nacho Libre and if you have ever seen that movie you will know what I am talking about.
Real Teen Rating~0: yea that’s a zero don’t even go there

Reviewed by Dream Catcher
Blech. That is the best word I can use to describe this movie. BLECH. I was the brave soul who managed to stay awake for the one hour and fifteen minute long torture session. Not only have I NEVER fallen asleep during a movie, I simply CAN NOT fall asleep when a movie is playing. It’s against every molecule of my being to fall asleep during a movie. And while watching this movie I nearly fell asleep. Multiple times. That’s when you know a movie’s bad. The cat Dönci was the funniest part of the movie, and the funniest thing he did was fall down a few times. The man Egon was extremely awkward and not even a man, I guess. It was so bizarre. We knew the movie was going to be bad when we decided to watch it. We thought it would be something like Shorts; a movie we could easily make fun of and have a good laugh about. I don’t think I have ever been more wrong in my entire life. The movie was impossible to laugh at. And trust me, if me and my friends couldn’t make fun of this movie, then no one in the world can make fun of this movie. It’s a physical impossibility. We began the movie our hyper selves, laughing at each other’s lame inside jokes and pointing out the corniness of the animation. Ten minutes in: we could hardly even giggle at our own jokes, and we watched the movie with our mouths open in horror. Twenty minutes in: we were mirror images of The Scream, unable to even let out a chuckle or snicker. It was like J.K. Rowling’s dementors in movie form: sucking out our souls slowly. That’s how bad it was. I think the North Star and Living Destiny covered my feelings on the characters, and the incredible lack of dialogue. I shudder to think of who created such a monster as this. Frighteningly bad, horrifyingly horrible, Sleepily sloppy. That was this movie. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.
Real Teen Rating~ 0 : yea that’s  zero, don’t even go there

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Unwind - Neal Shusterman

Unwind

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The Gist

 After the Second Civil War was fought, a law called the Bill of Life was passed. It legalized the murder of teenagers. Connor Lassiter is too much trouble for his parents. He gets into fights at school, does whatever he wants to do whenever he wants to do it, and is just simply too much to handle. But Connor isn’t stupid. He finds his signed Unwind Forms only a few weeks before his scheduled unwinding, and instead of going along with it, like most kids, he decides to kick AWOL and escape. Risa Ward is a ward of the state. Though her grades are great, her behavior is excellent, and her piano playing is superb, she’s just not special enough to be kept alive any longer. On her way to Harvest Camp – the common name for an unwinding facility – she gets her chance at freedom when her bus crashes on the high way, trying to avoid hitting some crazy unwind kid kicking AWOL. Lev Jedediah Calder is a tithe. A child born and raised solely for the purpose of being unwound. Lev is proud to have a purpose, he’s proud of who he is, and most importantly, he’s proud of being a tithe. On his way to Harvest Camp he’s kidnapped by two insane unwinds kicking AWOL, who are both convinced that by kidnapping him, they are saving him from the terrible fate of being unwound. Connor, Risa, and Lev run for their lives, just trying to make it to their eighteenth birthdays. Because by then, they’ll be adults. And killing adults is still against the law.


What We Think

Reviewed by Dream Catcher

Number of Pages: 335

The first time I heard about this book was two years ago. My friend was reading it, and I remember being vaguely interested in it, but back then I didn’t really like those kinds of books. Ones that really creep you out and make you think about it late into the night. Two years later – a.k.a now – I saw it in the bookstore while buying books that were on my 2010 list. I read the back. I bought the book. I put the book on my list. I read it. I reviewed it. It was amazing. It was such a crazy idea I wasn’t sure if I was even going to be able to get through it. But I did, obviously, and it was one of the best books I’ve ever read. It’s also written in third person, which only added to my hesitation to read it in the first place. I usually don’t like third person books. I feel detached from the characters, while when reading first person, I feel as though I am one of the characters. But this was not the case here. The characters were well-developed, unique, and had many sides to them, which always makes things more interesting. Though the writing of this book, and the characters were really great, that wasn’t what made the book so phenomenal. It was the story itself. The plotline. The idea of it. It’s like the insane genius of books. It made me think about the future – it’s a futuristic book, by the way – and about human nature. A must read. Fantastic, spooky, and hopeful.

Real Teen Rating~ A+ : What are you doing still reading this, go buy the book now!

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Valentine’s Day - Jessica Alba, Julia Roberts, Patrick Dempsey, Ashton Kutcher, and Taylor Swift

Valentine’s Day
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The Gist

February 14th is a day to either celebrate or hate depending on your situation.  If you are in a relationship most of the time you celebrate it but if you aren’t you usually feel down in the dumps.  It is a day to show the ones you love how much you love them.  This movie follows many people and couples throughout the day keeping track of what is going on.  There are break-ups, get togethers, proposals, and some piñata smashing.  This movie tells everything that can go right and wrong with Valentine’s Day.


What We Think

Reviewed by The North Star

Run Time: 125 Minutes

Rating: PG-13

Today my friends and I got to go see this movie.  From the commercials it looked exactly as it was.  The movie told mini-stories of people on Valentine’s Day.  I wasn’t really disappointed because when I saw all the commercials on the TV and other movies I couldn’t wait to see it but reading other reviews in magazines and newspapers they all gave it the same grade of F.  When I saw this then all of my expectations dropped down so when we went to go see it I had very, very low expectations, so when the movie turned out to be OK I was pleasantly surprised.  Anne Hathaway was probably my least favorite character because she was an “adult phone entertainer” and that I found extremely weird.  She didn’t do a great job of staying in character either because when she was on the phone she would be assertive and when she was off the phone she was wimpy and I felt that she should have stayed in character the entire time. The old couple was probably my favorite because they kind of stood as the definition of true love for me even though they went through hard times too they found a way to get through and even at an old age they were still cute together.  The thing that the director of this movie did really well was that he kept the movie going and kept it fast-paced.  If he hadn’t done that then it would have seemed very slow and he kept switching off the stories so you interested the whole time and weren’t falling asleep in your chair.  The other cool thing was that they got all these huge names in the movie business to do the movie and so it was cool to see so many people you knew from other movies all in one big movie.   The biggest problem I had was probably some of the actors acting.  It wasn’t very convincing, even though they are supposed to be “in love” with someone they sure didn’t act like it.  At times it also got predictable and you could tell what was going to happen to most of the relationships where other you were quite surprised.  All in all the couples were cute and some made me tear up a little (especially the little boy) they could have done things a little bit different.

Real Teen Rating~ C: If there’s nothing else to see…


Reviewed by Dream Catcher

Sigh.  That’s all I have to say about the oh-so-romantic holiday known as Valentine’s Day.  Despite my bitter feelings towards said holiday, I did  go out and see this movie with my friends. I only saw it a few days ago, so Valentines Day has long passed, but the cliche romantic theme of roses and chocolate hangs around this movie the way me and my friends hang around a movie theatre. Romance is the entire movie, as you have probably guessed from its appropriate title. It’s the morning of February the fourteenth, so without a doubt, throughout that one day hearts are broken, new love is found, and old love is rekindled. All on the one very special, very romantic day. I thought that the fact that the entire movie was over the span of twenty-four hours was interesting and refreshing. It’s not often you see something as drama-filled as this movie. And it all happened on one day! Unbelievable. The acting was also really good. This is basically a given, considering the huge names in this film. It was funny, it was heart-breaking, it was awww-inspiring (Ha. That was a pun.). It was a cute movie, with a bunch of cute love stories that all had to end with happily-ever-after. It wasn’t the best movie I’d ever seen, but I did like it. I think I would watch it again – not any time soon though. The many characters and their stories made the movie go by fast. There wasn’t a single slow part to speak of, in my opinion. A good movie to see with friends. Oh, just to warn you…the last line of the movie is bizarre. So prepare yourself. It’s not what you expected.

Real Teen Rating~ B- : Well... I guess you should see this...


Reviewed by Living Destiny

I went to the movies to see this with North Star and Dream Catcher, and i recently watched it with my mom (my dad tried valiantly to watch the whole thing, but ended up ditching half an hour in – ah well he tried).  I liked it the second time just as much as the first time.  It’s a super cute movie, but it isn’t all fluff.  It actually showed the heartbreak that happens on Valentine’s Day.  I really liked how all the stories seemed to weave together.  This movie has pretty much the biggest all star cast I’ve ever seen.  I couldn’t list all the big actors if I tried.  Unlike North Star, I really liked Anne Hathaway’s character, and she was one of my favorites (even though she was kind of creepy).  Some of the stories did make me sad, and some made me laugh pretty hard.  There were a couple teenager stories thrown in, and even a little kid and some grandparents, which was wicked cool (to me anyway).  There’s some, um, diversity in there too, which I liked and appreciated.  I also liked how it was all over the course of one full day.  It made things interesting.  And I have to agree with Dream Catcher: the last line was pretty much the weirdest last line in all of movie history.  But the rest of the movie made up for it.  I don’t like the holiday Valentine’s Day at all (call me bitter why don’t you?), but the movie was very good.

Real Teen Rating~ A-: See it with some friends.

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Bounty Hunter - Jennifer Aniston, Gerard Butler, and Dorian Missick

The Gist

Bounty Hunter
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Nicole Hurley(Jennifer Aniston) is a reporter-turned-felon. Her crime: assaulting a police officer. Milo Boyd(Gerard Butler) is a policeman-turned-bounty hunter. His mission: bring Nicole Hurley to justice. While Nicole skips out on her court summons, Milo scavenges for every scrap of cash he can find.  He’s delighted to find that his next victim of the bounty-hunt  is not only worth 5,000 dollars if brought to jail,  but is also none other than his ex-wife, Nicole Hurley. Justice will be served in more ways than one. Nicole is too busy to attend her own court summons, let alone be taken to jail by her bitter-and-drunken ex-husband, so she fights him every step of the way. Somehow during the soap-opera that is their divorce Nicole tries to solve a supposed suicide mystery that sounds more and more like a murder the more she investigates. Milo puts his rather rusty detective skills to the test as they try to figure out this murder mystery, and why they even divorced in the first place.


What We Think

Reviewed by Dream Catcher

Run Time: 110 Minutes

Rating: PG-13

I had pretty high expectations for this movie. It was let down. I was ready for a hilarious (slightly) romantic comedy. Instead I got…something else. A mystery trying to be a comedy? A comedy trying to be a mystery? Or maybe just a mess. Either way, it certainly didn’t impress me. It was one of those movies where you leave the theater and instantly forget about it. An “ehh” movie in my opinion. It wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t even bad. But it wasn’t worth seeing again. Therefore, it is defined as “ehh” ; neither good or bad. It was just there. The acting was pretty good, not amazing or fantastic, but good. The character Milo was the funniest, by far. He was very sarcastic and cynical, which makes for a great comedic character when given the chance. My advice about this movie: don’t go see it in theatres. Rent it from the movie rental store, or on On Demand, if at all. It wasn’t a must-see, so if you don’t get around to seeing it, don’t worry, you weren’t missing out on much. To end on a note that won’t make me sound like a jerk, the parts that very meant to be funny were really funny. There just weren’t many parts like that…so…the movie had potential to be funny, and was occasionally very funny. If you want to see it, see it with some friends. Watching a movie with friends can make almost anything hilarious.

Real Teen Rating~ C+ : Just Average.


Reviewed by The North Star

I got to see this movie the second day with a couple friends (one of them being Dream Catcher) and I too was hyped about it.  The commercials made it look really funny and so naturally I wanted to see it.  About halfway through the movie I was looking at the celing wondering how much time was left in the movie.  The beginning was very intersting and entertaining and as the movie went on it got worse.  They had this whole weird awkward romance thing going on between Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler.  Although at the end it was cute in the middle it was kind of awkward and weird(especially at the hotel).  I also agree with Deam Catcher in saying that they showed every single funny part in the commercials.  I don’t think there is one funny part in the movie that wasn’t in the movie.  The acting was really good so it sort of made up for the lacking plotline.  The biggest problem I probably had with it was that the plotline was the same the entire movie.  She would escape and he would catch her and handcuff her somewhere.  Somehow she would escape and then he would catch her and etc.  Besides that I think the movie was very well done and there is a nice twist at the end.  Overall is was below average.

Real Teen Rating~ D+: It passes time


Reviewed by Living Destiny

I thought this was going to be a really really good movie.  I wasn’t expecting top ten movies material, but I was expecting something I would want to watch again.  I found something I would watch again only if it were the only thing on TV.  It just really wasn’t all that good!  There were some funny parts, I’ll give it that.  Slightly more funny parts than what was shown in the TV ad.  But not many more.  It would have been ok if it hadn’t dragged on.  There were some parts that were just soooo slow I was staring at the screen with my eyes glazed over in a total space-session.  It made me want to punch things.  And there were just times when the two main characters were so incredibly stupid that I wanted to scream.  There’s a line between funny stupid and annoying stupid.  It was so far into annoying stupid it was bordering on unbearable.  Oh, I overheard him say something on his phone, but I didn’t get the whole conversation.  Instead of asking him about it, I’ll just get angry and then pout and then TAKE REVENGE muahahahaha!  Hello, it’s your common sense calling.  USE ME PLEASE!!!  The ending of the whole ‘mystery’ thing was good, but the end of the whole movie was lame.  It wasn’t even sweet-lame, it was just lame.  I suffered through the whole movie, and the only really really good part was the end, because then there was no more stupidity.

Real Teen Rating~ C: If there’s nothing else to see…

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The Fairy-Tale Detectives (Sisters Grimm #1) - Michael Buckley

*New York Times Bestselling Series

The Fairy-Tale Detectives
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The Gist

 Sabrina and Daphne Grimm have had a tough life.  Their parents have mysteriously disappeared and ever since they have been shipped from foster home, to foster home.  One day Ms. Smirt (their case worker) tells them they are being brought to their grandmothers.  The only thing wrong with that is the girls have been told she was dead many years ago by her parents.  When they get there things start off on the wrong foot with their granny at least for Sabrina it did.  When Granny Relda tells them that they have two famous ancestors The Brothers Grimm Sabrina doesn’t believe a word she says.  She goes on to saying that all the classic fairy tales that they have written are actually a collection of case files of magical mischief this is the last straw for Sabrina.  That night she makes a plan to escape the house with Daphne and leave the crazy old lady behind things don’t go exactly as she planned and they end up back out the house.  The next morning Granny gets a call for a case and they all go to the scene of the crime and Daphne is instantly hooked onto the business but Sabrina is going to need a little more convincing.


What We Think

Reviewed by The North Star

Number of Pages: 284

I decided to read this book when my two friends couldn’t stop talking about it.  They would carefully share hints to each other about the later books and I would sit in the dark wondering what they were talking about so I decided to pick it up and give it a try.  I’m going to sound like a broken record but from page one I was hooked onto the series.  There are alot of twists and turns and people who you would never suspect turn evil and vice versa.  All the characters are developed enough for you to know quite a bit about them even the people that aren’t big parts.  Michael Buckley does a great job of describing the setting, the characters and he definitely did his research on fairy tales.  As you read on everything becomes connected and it’s really cool because you start to learn things about classic fairy tales that you never knew before.  Although these books are fairly easy writing wise and aren’t that difficult to read they are very enjoyable and I think everyone should try and get a chance to read them even if it’s not right away but just to keep it on your list!

Real Teen Rating~ A- : Read it 

Reviewed by Dream Catcher

I read this book a long time ago. I think I might have actually been in fourth grade. Wow. But, I do remember it, and I remember liking it a lot. Fairy tales brought to life…who doesn’t like that? The plot was very interesting and undoubtedly unique. I’ve never read anything like it before. The characters are also well-written. You really get to know them and feel for them throughout the story. When Sabrina’s angry I understand the anger. When Daphne is hestitant, I feel hesitant. When Granny Relda is proud I feel proud of the characters too. The writing itself is pretty good, but not the best. But, I’m not complaining. The story really makes up for the mediocre writing techniques. But I should warn you, these books are actually meant to be read by eleven year olds. Not teenagers. Because of that, the reading level is fairly easy. Definitely no challange for young adult and adult readers, but enjoyable all the same. It’s a great series to check out especially if you’re into the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tales.

Real Teen Rating~ A- : Read it! 

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Deadly Little Lies (Touch #2) - Laurie Faria Stolarz

★Check out our Exclusive Interview with Laurie Faria Stolarz★

*New York Times Bestselling Author

If you have not read Deadly Little Secrets read at your own risk, this contains spoilers!

Deadly Little Lies
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The Gist

 There is only one thing running through Camelia’s mind: Ben’s coming back. That’s all she can think about. All she wants to think about. She has hopes that, even though they broke up months ago, maybe he’ll somehow realize how stupid he’s being and allow them to be together again. But, of course, things don’t go the way she had hoped. He barely acknowledges she’s alive, let alone tell her he wants them to be together. And then it happens again. She begins to get mysterious notes and pictures in the mail or slid under the door of whatever room she might be in at school. Her friends and her guidance counselor all think it’s some obnoxious person’s idea of a joke. But Camelia has a horrible feeling of dread that will not go away. She confronts Ben, demanding he tell her if she’s in danger. When he refuses to touch her, he becomes primary suspect #1. Camelia feels that she’s learned the hard way that you can’t trust anyone. Meanwhile at Knead, Camelia turns to sculpting for comfort, and Spencer hires someone new. Adam, a handsome and charming college student, shows an interest in Camelia immediately, relentlessly asking her to go out with him. Now that she’s gotten over her fear of letting go with her sculpting, Camelia begins to notice a change in her artwork. The things she sculpts are beginning to show up in her life days after she creates them, almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy. As Camelia does some detective work before this stalking gets out of hand, she has to ask herself a few questions. Can she trust Ben, can she trust Adam, and why do her sculptures seem to have much more pulse than she’d ever intended?


What We Think

Reviewed by Dream Catcher

Number of Pages: 288

This is the second in the Touch series by Laurie Faria Stolarz. I’m not sure which I like better, because they were both really good. I actually couldn’t put it down. For a two days I did nothing but read. Because I had to get to the end, no matter what. I just had to finish it. It’s nice to finally type those words. Feels like it’s been forever since I’ve done a review on a book that was GOOD! The one thing I can say that was annoying about this book was that Camelia whines about Ben not wanting to be with her, and then insists on not trusting him one bit. It’s a very abrupt transition. One paragraph she’s in love with him, the next she wouldn’t talk to him if someone paid her. I wanted to say “Pick a side already!”  But that might just be me being picky. Either way, it annoyed me. Other than that, I have nothing else to say, really. The writing was as good as it always is, the characters are as quirky as ever, and the plot just as sketchy. A very good read. Especially if you liked Deadly Little Secrets. Fun Fact: the next in the series, Deadly Little Games, comes out in fall of 2010!

Real Teen Rating~ A : Go Buy Now.

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Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant - Starring John C. Reilly, Josh Hutcherson, and Chris Massoglia

The Vampire’s Assistant

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The Gist

Darren Shan and his best friend Steve get tickets to see the Cirque Du Freak (a freak show).  After the show Steve recognizes one of the performers as a vampire and when Steve confronts the vampire at the end of the show Darren learns some interesting information about his friend.  Later when Darren and Steve get into some trouble and Steve’s life is on the line Mr. Crepsley offers to help but only if Darren will become his assistant.  Darren has to then choose between saving his best friends life and leaving his family and friends forever to become a creature of the night.


What We Think

Reviewed by The North Star

Run Time: 109

Rating: PG-13

I’m going to warn you right now that this movie is probably one of the worst movies in terms of following the book.  They completely cut out characters even if they weren’t that big they still cut out characters that provided information in later books and were still important.  They also added characters that don’t come until later books and made events occur that also don’t happen till later books.  All that aside it was sort of an entertaining movie but I’m not really the greatest judge because the whole time I was hitting my head against the back of my chair hoping they would get something right.  Anyways, if you haven’t read the book you will probably enjoy the movie but if you read the book even if you don’t care if they don’t get matching the books and movies right you will still be annoyed by this.  I sound really harsh but see the movie if you don’t believe me.  The story aside the acting was great.  John C. Reilly played an AMAZING Mr. Crepsley, Josh Hutcheson (who I love in all movies and is very attractive) again did fantastic as Steve and the newcomer Chris Massoglia played a very hot Darren and I can’t wait to see him in movies in the future.  The only character that really bothered me was the monkey girl.  The acting was fine but THE CHARACTER ISN’T IN THE BOOK.  They made some weird love interest person when Darren already has a love interest who is in the 3rd book so she should have been in the movie (the movie was the first three books all together).  Other than that it was an okay movie but definitely read the book because I really bet that you will like it.

Real Teen Rating~ If you have read the books: C- : I’d rather read a book.

Real Teen Rating~If you haven’t read the books: B+: Worth Watching

Reviewed by Dream Catcher

Well, let me tell you, this movie was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING LIKE THE BOOK IN ANY POSSIBLE WAY. It was horrifying how far they strayed from the plot of the beloved Cirque du Freak book series. Truly, truly horrifying. Okay. I’m done ranting. But, seriously, if you’re one of those people who is infuriated by a movie unlike the original book (the North Star!) you should NOT see this movie. You wouldn’t be able to sit through it. But, if you haven’t read the books, I would recommend you see this movie. Not because of the acting, or the plot. But just so you would witness the obscene corniness that is Cirque du Freak the movie. It’s so corny its almost funny. I must say, the acting was pretty good in the movie. As the North Star mentioned, John C. Reilly played a fantastic Mr. Crepsley, and Josh Hutcherson played the role of Steve perfectly. However – and there always is a “however”! – the main actor was extremely AWKWARD in my opinion. Bits and pieces of his performance as Darren were great. But the rest seemed almost sloppy.  His unusual acting only seemed to add to the corniness of the movie. Overall, the movie got a few hearty laughs out of me. It was a good movie to watch with some crazy friends, when you just want to watch a bad movie for the fun of it.

Real Teen Rating~ If you have read the books: C- : I’d rather read a book.

Real Teen Rating~ If you have not read the books: B : Rent it to save for a rainy day.


Reviewed by Living Destiny

This movie was, I have to agree, not like the book series AT ALL.  There were at least two characters that were in the movie that weren’t in the book at all (the monkey girl and this dude with a huuuggee head).  There were also multiple characters completely left out (since the movie was the first three books, they were missing Alan, Tommy, and Debbie.  To name a few).  Some characters were introduced way too early (Gavner, Murlaugh and Mr. Tiny).  Evra was way downplayed in the movie.  And, my personal favorite, there was one character that magically changed genders (Corma, who is Cormac in the book).  Sooo much of the plot was left out or changed.  There were little details that were completely messed up (the Little People and Madame Truska).  If I were reviewing this movie based solely on the books, it would get a C.  Maybe.

But I’m not just basing it on the books (which is very good for this movie).  And the movie was very very funny.  There were some wicked intense fight scenes.  John C. Reilly was an amazing Mr. Crepsley.  He was so sarcastic and funny.  It was awesome.  Chris Massoglia, a relative newcomer in the world of cinema, was pretty good at playing Darren Shan.  He was a little bit awkward, but it worked with his character.  Josh Hutcherson played an amazing Steve Leonard.  It was creepy how good he was.  He and Massoglia were WICKED HOTT (especially after Darren becomes a half vampire)!  The whole cast was awesome.  The scripting was pretty good too.  There was one scene my friends and I just rewound over and over and over.  We literally watched it 20 times it was so funny, and we cracked up every single time.

This movie was really entertaining.  The special effects were great, the casting was awesome, and it was funny.  In following the books it was terrible, and if you haven’t read the books, you absolutely should.  But as a pure movie, it was good.

Real Teen Rating~ If you’ve read the books: C+: Go for it, but don’t get expectations too high…

Real Teen Rating~ If you haven’t read the books: A-: See it with some friends

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