Teen Wolf- MTV

The Gist

Scott McCall is about as average as you can get.  He has his one best friend that he trusts with everything and his name is Stiles.  One night Scott is in his room and he hears something happen downstairs so he runs down with a bat and finds that it is just Stiles.  He tells Scott that his dad (who is a police officer) is trying to find a killer who killed a girl in the woods and only left half of her body and that Stiles wants to go and try to find the other half.  Scott reluctantly agrees to go and they embark on their journey.  As they travel through the woods they get split up and Scott starts to hear things so as Scott runs away he is attacked and bit by something on his side.  He returns safely home and readies himself for school the next day.  From the second he gets up the morning things don't feel exactly right.  He can hear things from far away, his reflexes are sharp and everything just seems a little more heightened.  That day in one of his classes Scott overhears a conversation from a girl that he has never seen before.  Her name is Allison and from the second that he sees her she is on his radar.  Meanwhile, Stiles is trying to figure out what Scott is and what is happening to his best friend.  He soon figures out that Scott is a werewolf and that the one who bit him was the mysterious Derek Hale who lives in the woods by himself.  Scott goes to confront Derek but Derek says that he was not the one to bite him and it was someone else. Now, Scott has to figure out who bit him, if Derek can be trusted, why someone would want him in their pack and if he can capture and keep Allison's heart. 


What We Think
Reviewed by The North Star
Number of Seasons: 2
I never EVER thought that I would admit the statement that....I LOVE TEEN WOLF.  The journey of Teen Wolf all started on a day where my sister and I were watching TV and we saw a commercial for Teen Wolf and laughed our heads off because it looked like one of the stupidest shows ever.  Naturally, we had to watch it so we set up our DVR recording and went on our way.  As the date of the pilot came closer and closer  my sister and I found ourselves more anxious to watch and see what a train wreck this show was gonna be.  After watching the first episode we realized that we were completely WRONG.  This show is awesome!  I never thought that I would be the person to religiously watch a TV show but after watching Teen Wolf there was no going back.  First off, the script is written by the same guy that does Criminal Minds and so in that sense you really can't go wrong.  Second, there is no one famous in this series (besides the Aunt, played by Jill Wagner from Wipeout) and I am finding this year that the less famous people in something generally, the better that it is.
The plot of this show was actually really good too although on the surface it seems really dumb and main stream.  The screenwriter did a great job of developing all of the characters and making the audience feel for them.  When one of the characters gets hurt then I was hurt watching it and I wanted all of the characters to be happy at all times (except the bad characters).  The script was also good because it was witty and believable.  Unlike most shows about teenagers on television nowadays this show has the teens talking like actual teens.  Conversations that the characters in this show have are conversations that me and my friend would have on a regular basis.  Each episode also has me hooked from beginning to end and my eyes are glued to the TV.  This is something that is rare nowadays because half way through each episode I lose interest and start staring at random things in the room and completely forget that I am watching an episode.  This has never happened with Teen Wolf and the only time I have ever taken away my eyes from the TV was to talk to Dream or Living about what was happening.


The characters of this show are awesome!  My favorite character on this show by far is Stiles.  He is Scott's best friend who is the comic relief of the show and helps relieve Scott's stress in tense situations.  Every time there is a scene with Stiles my friends and I anxiously wait for his lines and usually end up having to pause the episode because we are laughing so hard and can't hear anything else going on in the scene.  After every episode there is always one line of Stiles that we repeat for a straight week and there are jokes that we still talk about today and laugh just as hard at as if it were the first time we had heard the joke.  The main character of the series is Scott and he is probably my third favorite character in the series just behind Derek.  Scott is a great character because he is very true to a lot of teens in high school.  He is caring and loyal to his friends but sometimes he is extremely stubborn and ignorant.  Scott is also going through the most changes out of everyone in the series and so it arguable that he has the most right to be upset out of all of the characters.  Tyler Posey (who plays Scott) is a really good actor and makes you believe that one minute he is happy and the next he is extremely upset about something.  Derek is my second favorite character in the series and I'm not really sure why.  He is a complete jerk to everyone but on the outside but on the inside he really cares about Scott and Stiles and wouldn't want any harm to come to them.  There is something about his character that I really like and whenever he is onscreen I believe that the actor is Derek and no one else.  It is really funny to see pictures of the cast behind-the-scenes because Derek never smiles but in all of the photos he is smiling and that was really shocking.  My forth favorite character in the series is Allison and she plays Scott's girlfriend.  She is a good actress and at points I really like her character but then at other points I can't stand her character and she annoys the heck out of me, but that is what she is supposed to be doing at that point in time.  After Allison there really is no list all of the other characters (Lydia, Jackson, Kate and more) are all kind of equal and they are all special in there own little way.
If you are reading this and you have never watched Teen Wolf, then you must go home and record or go to the store and buy Teen Wolf.  I guarantee that you will not regret it and you will like it even more if you start watching it with friends.  Bottom line. Teen Wolf is absolutely fantastic.
Real Teen Rating~ A+:  MOST DEFINITELY SHOULD WATCH!

Read More

David Cook- This Loud Morning (Deluxe Version)

Reviewed by The North Star
Song Time: 56 Minutes and 14 Seconds
While watching American Idol people tend to attach to one person once it gets down to the top 12 and then they root for them to whole way and want them to win and are really sad when they get kicked off (unless they win).  When the seventh season of Idol started almost no one predicted David Cook to win, but as more contestants got kicked off and you had to pick someone else to favor David Cook became very popular.  Then once he won, everyone rejoiced and said that once his album came out they would be waiting in line for the doors to open to buy the CD.  Sadly, David's second album didn't get much publicity when it actually was pretty good!

This Loud Morning
Buy it here and support our blog

Circadian- 8.5/10- This song to me is all about how things a lot of the time are thrown to chance and how a lot of the time the things that most people to believe to be not true are actually in fact, true.  When I first heard this song all I did was listen to the background music to the song because the beat of the drums and guitar really compliment each other and provides this nice ring.  The beginning also has a little music box playing and I really liked that because it was different.  The more that I listened to this I heard the lyrics and just enjoyed the song that much more.  The couple things that I didn't like about it was the repetitive nature that it had at points but other than that a good song!


Right Here, With You- 7.5/10- David Cook is the master at having great guitar parts playing behind him but this song lacked for me.  I'll listen to it if it comes up on my iPod but I would not go searching for this song.  This sounds like a song they threw together to play to the teenage girl listeners, but David Cook wasn't too crazy about it.  The lyrics are cheesy and it sounds like a million other songs but, the guitar part is amazing!

We Believe- 9/10- This song isn't the greatest instrumental wise (mainly because it sounds like every song on the radio) but the lyrics to this song are AWESOME! The beginning of this song sounds like a U2 song and I was really confused at first but then I realized that it was a David Cook song. My favorite lyric is: We believe there's a reason that we're all here, that every doubt will disappear.  I'm not sure why that is my favorite line in the song but ever since I heard it I can't get it out of my head.  All in all, if you are looking for a song with good lyrics this one is a winner.  

Fade Into Me- 7/10- I'm not to crazy about this song.  The instrumental isn't creative and the lyrics are also lame.  I think the song is supposed to be about this guy and he is saying that him and his love are so perfect for one another that they feel everything together so if one hurts then the other one hurts and also how since they have this connection the other half can sense it and make them feel better, because they feel it themselves.  It is an interesting song concept but it wasn't executed very well and I think could have been done A LOT better.  I do not recommend this song.

Hard to Believe- 8.5/10- The versus' of this song are very weak but I can never get enough of the chorus.  The lyrics aren't even that good at the chorus but the music with David Cook's voice mixed in, it makes a perfect blending and it sounds awesome.  The rest of the song is just eh and sounds like a lot of the other songs on his CD.


Take Me As I Am- 6.5/10- The sad thing about this song is that if it were a single I would like it a lot more (meaning I hadn't heard any of the rest of the CD).  After listening to the CD as a whole it doesn't seem as special anymore.  The lyrics don't stand out and neither does the music.  It sounds exactly like 3 other songs on the album but not done as well.  Don't get me wrong, it is a good song but it doesn't match up to the high standard that the other songs have on the table.


Time Marches On- 8/10- This song is just kind of there for me.  There is nothing bad about it, nothing great about it either. If it came on while listening to songs on shuffle I wouldn't skip it and I would probably end up singing with the song by the end of it.  One to look at if you really enjoyed David Cook music.


The Last Goodbye- 9.5/10- This was the first single off of this CD and I was really excited when it first came out because it was a new David Cook song and it had been a long time since his last album had come out.  The lyrics don't quite make sense at first but they are just kind of catchy and after hearing the song a couple of times it really grew on me and now every time it shows up on the radio it is a pleasant surprise and I turn up the volume! One to keep your eye on, I feel that it might get it's chance on the radio one of these days! Worth the download!


Paper Heart- 12/10- This is by far my FAVORITE song on this CD! The song is perfect from beginning to end.  The versus' are emotion filled with great lyrics and are slower on the mellow side, but then he hits the chorus with power and I can't help but sing out when I hear it no matter where I am, and if I am in a place where it should be quiet I mouth the words and I do get some strange lyrics.  Paper Heart is one of those songs you dance to in your room pretending to be the lead singer in a band with the guitar strung around your shoulder.  In general, awesome song!


4 Letter Word- 9/10- I like this song, despite it's extreme cheesiness.  When I first saw the title to the song I could predict the 4 letter word and I think that anyone who reads it can guess what it is, but it is a cute little song.  Although it is extremely cheesy it is more rocky so it sets it apart from the stereotypical love ballad.  One to buy if the iTunes money is sitting in your account but, not necessary.


Goodbye to the Girl- 11/10- This is one of my favorite songs from the CD!  Most of David Cook's music is heavy and metallic sounding but this one is on the mellow side and you can start to hear why he won American Idol.  His voice is so pure and with this song it feels like he is really getting into it and feeling what the lyrics are saying and not just singing them as if they are words on a page. Great Job David!


Rapid Eye Movement- 8/10- This song is exactly like the song Time Marches On to me, it is OK it is just kind of there.  Fun Fact: This is the song that he says the title of the album!


This Is Not the Last Time- 6.5/10- This and Let Me Fall For You were bonus tracks on this CD.  I have found that after listening to a lot of bonus tracks of CD's they are either the best part of the CD or not so great.  This song falls under the category of not so great.  Literally sounds exactly like another song on the CD so much that if you played them next to each other you probably wouldn't notice when the song switched over.  The only redeeming quality of this song is the bridge because it is different and not the same old same old.


Let Me Fall For You- 9.5/10- As the second bonus song on the CD I would expect the song to be as bad as the first bonus song but this one was actually really good.  The thing that set this sound apart from all the other ones was that in this song he used a piano which is extremely rare in David Cook songs.  He also uses a lot of repetition in this song but it actually works.  I actually like this song because it about a girl that is very secluded and does not want to let anyone in but this guy is singing about how she should let him in because he would never hurt/break her and she should just let him fall for her.  I like that because it is a different scenario that almost no one sings about.


Real Teen Rating:On the fence of C+: You could go either way on this. . .


Real Teen Download: Paper Heart, Goodbye to the Girl and The Last Goodbye

Read More

Happy Holidays!

I've finally gotten a free moment today, after celebrating with my family since eight o'clock.  It's been a fun, crazy day here in my household, and very busy.  But I've been thinking, and I've decided that it isn't worth it to be politically correct during the holiday season, as it is so appropriately titled.  Saying happy holidays just isn't very caring, or personal, or even right.  I know I named this post happy holidays, but it's still lame.  So I guess what I really want to say here is that whether it be merry christmas, happy hanukkah, joyous kwanzaa, blessed yule, or any other sort of holiday or special occasion you celebrate, I'm here hoping that you have an incredible day, and an incredible rest of the year.  Make 2012 something magical; after all, there are people who think the world will end by next year, so make it count.  No matter what you believe in or what you celebrate, enjoy the day, enjoy the time, the season, the feeling of together that fills the air during the end of the year.  Thank you all for being you, and keep doing it, because you affect the world in ways you might not ever see.  We all do.  A saying I got on a holiday card to leave you with: merry everything happy always!

Love,
Living Destiny

Read More

Christmas Music

Reviewed by Living Destiny


Happy Holidays everyone!  Woo!  Now that it's December - or really just after Thanksgiving - the one thing that becomes predominant in any public setting is seasonal music.  Every store you walk in is playing some sort of Christmas-y, snow filled musical concoction.  And I feel two ways about this.  Any time before December 11th, the mass amounts of holiday music really makes me mad.  It's no where near the holidays!  When you start playing me Christmas music in NOVEMBER, I will breath fire.  Copious amounts of fire.  At your face.  And you deserve it, because it isn't even the right month for that music.  But then my opinion starts to shift, in a drastic sort of way.  Once it's December 11th, which is exactly two weeks before Christmas, I love holiday music.  It totally gets me into the spirit walking around my house belting out Baby It's Cold Outside or Blue Christmas.  Two weeks is a respectable amount of time to play Christmas music.  Not so much that my head explodes, but not so little that I look like Scrooge.  It's just right.  I love all the different singers who try their hand at holiday songs.  I have six different versions of Baby It's Cold Outside on my iTunes.  I have now referenced that song twice.  Yeaaaaaaaa!  Wow.  I even have some random, obscure Christmas songs that no one has ever heard of, thanks to the free single thing on iTunes.  There's this one called The Heart of Christmas that I listen to all the time.  I think what I like most about holiday music is that it seems to be the one thing that everyone can agree on.  Even if you're like me, and you only enjoy listening to it for two weeks, everyone will listen to it at some point during this season, and everyone will smile and sing along just a little bit, if not more.  Maybe you just get a little smile, or maybe you're like me and rock out to whichever holiday song is playing over the loudspeakers at the supermarket, and make other people smile at your enthusiasm.  But however you enjoy it, you do enjoy it.  And the point of this season, for me anyway, is for everyone to come together over a common something.  If that common something happens to be music that everyone knows and can sing along to, so be it.  I think it's beautiful.  Plus, as ShoreWhisperer continues to tell me and is trying to get me to listen to even as I type this in the school library, Justin Bieber made a Christmas album that is apparently "the best". So that's a bonus.

Real Teen Rating ~ Gets you into the spirit! Yay!!!

Read More

Melancholia - Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Kiefer Sutherland

The Gist

Melancholia
Buy it here and support our blog

Justine (Kirsten Dunst) just got married. Her sister and brother-in-law payed for and organized everything. All Justine has to do is be happy. And at first she is. But when her divorced parents quarrel at dinner she begins to feel a bit disconnected for her party, her family, and even her new husband. As Justine begins to feel more and more alienated she begins to withdraw herself from the party for long periods of time - her actions becoming more and more desperate.
Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) is Justine's sensible sister. Though frustrated with her sister's moods, she understands Justine more than anyone else, and takes care of her no matter what. While trying to help her sister, Claire also has her own worries to deal with. Her husband, John (Kiefer Sutherland), is a scientist and talks of a planet hidden behind the sun for years. A planet that will soon be visible to the naked eye from Earth. A planet rushing through space towards them. A planet called Melancholia. Though John assures her Melancholia has no chance at hitting Earth, Claire feels sure that something bad is about to occur. But there's nothing she can do to stop it.

What We Think
Reviewed  by Dream Catcher
Run Time: 136 Minutes
Rating: R
So. I heard about this what seems like years ago but was probably a few months tops. My mind is weird like that. But anyways, I started hearing about it again recently. Where? Entertainment Weekly. They were trying to convince me to go out and watch this movie - they told me it was fantastic and beautiful and symbolic and all that jazz every movie aspires to be. So what did I do? I trusted my Entertainment Weekly and I watched it. The worst decision ever.
So, I think I'm going to start out with the thing that was the best; the acting. I'd heard Kirsten Dunst might get nominated for best actress in the Oscars for this. And, truth is, she was actually really, really good. Her character was really interesting and complex and she made everything about her believable, even things that shouldn't be. Like deserting your own wedding? Normally, people don't do that. Dunst somehow made me believe it. Charlotte Gainsbourg was actually pretty good, too. She did well as the emotionally stable sister in the beginning, and the one falling apart in the end. The other main character, Claire's husband, John, was pretty mediocre. He was nothing to rave about but he wasn't noticeably bad. His character was pretty bland, so you can't really blame him for that, I guess. The acting was by far the best part of the movie. It was really convincing. But when I say it was the "best part" I really mean it was the "only part". Because nearly everything else was terrible, contrary to popular opinion.
The script was written by the director, Lars von Trier. Ever heard of him? Apparently he's pretty famous. I've never heard of him OR his supposedly beautiful movies. Eh. Well, he wrote the script and it was perfectly average, except for the fact that nothing made any sense and the segments of the movie were unforgivably disconnected. The dialogue itself was fine. The sister-sister relationship was believable, the husband-wife relationship was fine, the end-of-the-world panic was good. But the script is the plot. And the problem wasn't exactly lack of one...it was the fact that the story contained two mostly unrelated plots. The first section is just about Justine's disastrous wedding and her even more disastrous depression (otherwise known as melancholia). The next thing I know I'm watching everything from her sister's perspective - Justine is comatose in her sadness and Claire is freakish in her panic. Suddenly it's not at all about the wedding or the effects of that. It's about a planet. Do those things seem at all connected? No. In a desperate attempt to understand, I went to the Melancholia website and was half-reading an interview with Lars von Trier about the movie. It shed some light on some things. Some. Melancholia  is an old-fashion word for depression, so if you have depression you're a melancholiac. That's why the movie is named Melancholia; Justine is a melancholiac (and because the planet is called Melancholia - who knows why). So, the movie is supposed to be exhibiting how a melancholiac deals with the end of the world versus how the average person deals with it. Moral being: melancholiacs are so apathetic they deal with the end of the world as if it's any other day - depending on the melancholiac there may even be some celebration involved. This is put up against the manic freak out of the average person. I think dear friend Lars is trying to subtly tell us something. I just haven't figured out if he's saying melancholiacs are better, or if he's just comparing and contrasting. If it's that latter, a simple Venn diagram would have sufficed, Lars. If it's the former, it would make a little more sense. Lars is a melancholiac, after all (another thing I learned on his website), so asserting his awesomeness via film would make some sense. Maybe. Except I really don't think that was his full intention when he wrote the script. I think he was going for something deep - and because he was so OBVIOUSLY trying for thought-provoking people bought into it. Wow, he has some wicked cool slow-mo images at the beginning that symbolize the meaning of the film as a whole! I think I'm supposed to be impressed! Critics say. But I don't buy it. Just because something is intended to be awesomely mind-blowing doesn't mean it is. I think some people forget that.
I will go into cinematography because it's something that I find to be really interesting and  - when pulled off correctly - makes the entire film a whole lot more beautiful. This was another good point of the movie. The cinematography was fantastic. And, though I did just recently taunt the opening scene symbolism, it was really beautiful. The pictures were grim with a sad edginess to them. My complaint there was that each was a little to dragged out - everything could have been cut a little better. If I based my grade entirely on cinematography, the movie would get an A for sure. But I don't. And though I loved this aspect of the movie - the aspect every critic focuses on with no mention of anything else - there has to be more than that to make a real film.
I'll finish ranting soon and you can go and finish watching the movie, or start watching the movie, or make plans to watch the movie, because I know my review is probably the only of its kind in the entire universe at the moment - I am the only one to dislike Melancholia. Or so it seems.You'll want to see it anyway, and I shrug at that; I would if I were you, too.
I'll end with two things. One thing I liked, and one thing I hated. Loved: there's this specific scene which I cannot get out of my head, and I honestly do love. Justine has just gotten to Claire's house and Claire has prepared Justine's favorite meal (meatloaf) in hope that it'll bring her back to the land of the living. She helps Justine in the room and into a chair in front of the dinner table. "Do you smell that?"
"Meatloaf." Dunst's portrayal is perfect. She cuts off a slice of said meatloaf and puts it in her mouth. Chews. Everyone watches intently. She puts down her knife and her fork and stops chewing. And starts crying. "It tastes like ashes."
My point in writing all that out for you is to say I didn't completely dislike Melancholia. I hated it, but I didn't entirely dislike it. If that makes any sense. There were some great scenes, but the problem was they were few and far between. Which brings me to the thing I hated: boredom. I got so bored when watching the movie that  I paused it a few times and did something else for a few minutes before getting myself to agree to resume watching. Sadly - as sad as it can ever be with movies, it had potential. But it fell flat.

Real Teen Rating ~ D+ : It passes time...barely...

Read More

Christina Perri - A Thousand Years

Reviewed by Living Destiny

A Thousand Years
Buy it here and support our blog

Song Time: 4 minutes and 45 seconds


I heard this song on the radio about a week ago, and immediately knew it was Christina Perri.  She has such a distinctive voice, and I love all of her songs and listen to them obsessively, so it was easy for me to tell.  I fell in love with it after hearing it once, and when it ended the radio announcer told me that it was on the Breaking Dawn - Part 1 soundtrack.  Which I saw twice in theaters and never noticed this song.  Oops. I think it was the credits song, which I didn't pay much attention to.  Well, anyway.  It got stuck in my head, and I found myself singing it for the next few hours.  I kept looking it up and playing it, trying to learn all the lyrics, and hear we are.  So.  


Just to get it out there, Christina Perri is one of my favorite artists.  Her sound is...I think the best way I can describe it is 'melancholy'.  She sounds reflective and a tiny little bit sad, even if the song has positive lyrics, like this one.  Her voice is really clear and smooth, and she has a great range.  I love singing her songs, because her lyrics are original, and more thoughtful than most songs nowadays (example: check out the lyrics to Last Friday Night.  Pure gold right there.  Not).  Her songs are simple, and don't have overpowering instrumentals or vocals.  It all just meshes really beautifully.  I LOVE HER!


Now that that's over with, the song I'm actually talking about.  A Thousand Years.  At first glance it almost sounds sad, like most of her songs, because it is slow and has downplayed instruments.  However if you look at the lyrics, that's not the case.  The song is about a girl loving someone completely, and finally being with them.  It talks about always knowing there was someone out there for her to love, and finally finding him.  the lyrics remind me of the idea of soul mates, where there is one person you're meant to be with, and when you found them it's like you've always known them and loved them.  I'm totally fascinated by that idea, and it's not one that people touch on in music very often.  Teen romance books, yes, but not music.  The lyrics to the chorus say "I've loved you for a thousand years", which is so poetic and lovely.  Music was originally poetry, and the way lyrics sound now is a disgrace more often than not.  This song definitely isn't a disgrace, and the lyrics are moving, and they make me hope to find my soul mate.  

The melody is so pretty.  It gets stuck in your head, but not in an annoying way, in a way where you kind of dance around to it without minding at all.  It's not an upbeat song, so it's not really a dance around song, but it's one you can listen to over and over and not get bored with.  It's just calming, and the message is so hopeful.  I'm a very cynical person, but this song makes me think a little differently.  My favorite lyrics are either "how can I love when I'm afraid to fall", "I have died every day waiting for you", or "I have loved you for a thousand years/I'll love you for a thousand more".  That's a lot of lyrics, but I really like them all, so that's as narrowed down as it gets.  Love this song.  Truly love it.  I've been listening to it non-stop for two hours, and I still love it.  Christina Perri is my idol, and this song rocks, even if it was made specifically for Breaking Dawn.

Real Teen Rating ~ A+: Look it up right NOWWW!!!!!

Read More

Teens in Pro Sports

Reviewed by Living Destiny

About a month ago I was sitting on my couch, watching a hockey game, and it occurred to me that we as reviewers are being rather single-minded.  We do all entertainment reviews, with the occasional random review thrown in.  But teenagers as a group aren't interested solely in entertainment.  We like more than listening to music, watching TV, reading books and seeing movies.  There's so much more to all of us than just that.  And watching the hockey game, it came to me.  We should try to branch out as much as we can.  So here I am, trying to branch out into an area we haven't talked about yet: sports.  Specifically, since we are doing reviews for teens, teenagers in professional sports.  So I did some research on espn.go.com, and checked out the four big sports in America: football, baseball, basketball and hockey.  This is what I found.

In football, there are no teenagers.  Literally, none.  I talked to my dad, and he said that it made sense because as a league, football wants players to mature and grow before being plunged into such an intense sport.  So none in football.  In baseball, there is one teenager signed into professional play.  And I know this because I looked through every player in every team in all of major league baseball.  Do you know how long that took?  Regardless, there's one.  His name is Bryce Harper.  He's 19 years old, from Las Vegas, Nevada, and he was born on October 16, 1992.  He was signed by the Washington Nationals.  He's an outfielder, and as far as I can tell he's never played a game and he doesn't have a salary or even a jersey number.  But the point is he was signed, and managing even that as a teenager is pretty incredible, so he deserves some kudos.

In basketball, there are six teenagers signed.  They are all 19 years old.  Going in order of the way I found them, we have:  Jonas Valanciunas, born May 6, 1992, from Utena, Lithuania.  He's number 0 for the Toronto Raptors.  Next is Kyrie Irving, born March 23, 1992, from Melborne, Australia.  He's number 2 for the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Tobias Harris was born July 15, 1992, and is from Islip, New York.  He's number 0 for the Milwaukee Bucks.  The more I look at this the more I suspect the numbers aren't so accurate, since it says that six different people on the Milwaukee Bucks sport the number 0 on their jersey.  Which I doubt.  Well...he may or may not be number 0.  Anyway.  Davis Bertans was born November 12, 1992, and is from Valmiera, Slovenia.  He's also listed as number 0 - I'm now thinking anyone listed as the number 0 has yet to play on the team - and plays for the San Antonio Spurs.  Then comes Bismack Biyombo, born on August 28, 1992, from Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo.  He's also number 0 (there's a definite pattern here), and he plays for the Charlotte Bobcats.  Lastly is Enes Kanter, born May 20, 1992, from Zurich, Switzerland.  He too is listed as number 0, and plays for the Utah Jazz.  I love the wide variety of places these players come from.  It dazzles me to be faced with all these foreign countries I've never had the pleasure of traveling to.  Six teenagers signed to professional basketball teams. And people look down on teenagers.  Ha.  We have so much more power than is thought of us.  Not that I'm a professional athlete...but I'm a teen, and I can confidently speak for us all.  Mad credit to these six kids.

And last, hockey.  This is where it gets interesting.  Hockey seems to be the one sport where teenagers have a huge opportunity to succeed.  There are 12 teenagers signed - and, unlike the other sports, active - in professional hockey.  In all sports, younger is better, but in hockey especially the speed and power required, plus the youth needed to bounce back from injuries, give teens with talent an opening to get in to the business.  First up is Adam Larsson, number 5 defenseman for the New Jersey Devils.  He's 19, born on October 12, 1992, from Skelleftea, Sweden.  Nino Niederreiter is number 25, a right wing for the New York Islanders.  He's 19, born on September 8, 1992, from Chur, Switzerland.  Sean Couturier is number 14, a center for the Philadelphia Flyers.  He's 18 years old - ooooh switching it up here - born on December 7, 1992 - so happy birthday to you in two days Mr. Couturier! - and is from Phoenix, Arizona.  Ryan Johansen is number 19, a center for the Columbus Blue Jackets.  He's 19 years old, born on July 31, 1992, and is from Vancouver, British Columbia.  Gabriel Landeskog is number 92, a left wing for the Colorado Avalanche.  He's 18 years old - woo! - was born on November 21, 1992, and is from Stockholm, Sweden. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is number 93, a center for the Edmonton Oilers.  He's 18 years old, born on April 12, 1993 - a very young 18 year old - and is from Burnaby, British Columbia.  Jeff Skinner is number 53, a left wing for the Carolina Hurricanes.  He's 19 years old, born on May 16, 1992, and is from Markham, Ontario.  Justin Faulk is number 28, a defenseman, also for the Carolina Hurricanes.  He's 19 years old, born on March 20, 1992, and is from South St. Paul, Minnesota.  Erik Gudbranson is number 44, a defenseman for the Florida Panthers.  He's 19 years old, born on January 7, 1992, and is from Ottawa, Ontario.  Brett Connolly is number 14, a right wing for the Tampa Bay Lightning.  He's 19 years old, born on May 2, 1992, and is from Campbell River, British Columbia.  Devante Smith-Pelly is number 77, a right wing for the Anaheim Ducks.  He's 19 years old, born on June 14, 1992, and is from Scarborough, Ontario.  A special mention goes right about here.  Cam Fowler is number 4, a defenseman, also of the Anaheim Ducks.  He's from Windsor, Ontario.  He was 19 years old and on the team right up until today, when he turned 20 years old.  A very big congratulations and happy birthday to Cam Fowler.  Even though you aren't a teenager any more, you're still ripping up the ice like a pro.  Which is good because you are a pro.  Last but not least is Tyler Seguin, number 19, a center for the Boston Bruins.  He's 19 years old, born January 31, 1992, and is from Brampton, Ontario.  I saved him for last because he's the most prominent of all these teens.  He's currently leading the league in +/- points at +20, which is a big deal.  He has 12 goals on the season, and is basically just kicking butt left and right.  He's become an integral part of the Bruins team, and he's on fire.

I can't say enough how impressed I am with these teenagers.  They come from all over the world, looking for one thing: to follow their dreams.  And they all did it.  Even if you aren't a huge sports fan, you can respect the fact that they made it.  And they all keep pushing themselves to improve and do better every day.  These teens are role models to every other teen out there.  I'm truly in awe of what they can do, and how well they do it.  I've seen a couple of these players in action, and it blows my mind.  They are spectacular, whether they play 30 minutes or 30 seconds.  They deserve the recognition that they even made it to the team, even if they don't play.  I know this review seems like just a list of names, and I guess it is.  But really, it's an acknowledgment of the dedication and hard work these athletes put in, all because they love what they do and want to keep doing it for as long as they can.  Whether you're an actor, an athlete, or anybody at all, that motivation is something to strive for.  Thank you to all the teenage athletes out there who made the professional level.  You inspire me to push for what I want in life.  You made it to the big time, so I know I can too.  We all can.  Props to all of you mentioned in this article, because you are incredible.

Real Teen Rating ~ Absolutely astounding.  Seriously.  These kids rock!

Read More

Pearl- Jo Knowles

The Gist 

Pearl
Buy it here and support our blog

Pearl a.k.a Bean isn't the most sociable person in the world.  She has only ever made one friend in her lifetime, Henry, who happens to live across the street.  Pearl, like most teenagers, has troubles with her mom but she especially has troubles with her mom's friend Claire.  The only person in the house that Peal can tolerate is her grandfather Gus.  He is always there for her when she needs someone to talk to or if she needs someone to go fishing with.  That is until one morning Pearl discovers her grandfather has died.  She starts planning the funeral and notices some weird things beginning to happen.  Her mother becomes 100% happier and is practically a ball of sunshine 24/7.  Henry's mom who hasn't left her house for years starts to come out of her shell and hangs out with Pearl's mom and Claire.  Pearl feels like the only normal person left is Henry. As Pearl and Henry start to investigate the weird behavior family secrets are uncovered and Pearl finds she has new feelings for Henry that have never been there before.  


What We Think
Reviewed by The North Star
Number of Pages: 224
We got this book as an ARC a couple of months ago and kept putting it on the top of the list to read and then review but then other things would get in the way and it just remained on the top of the list.  I finally got to read the book on a plane ride and got to take it off our ever growing list.  No offense to the author but, this was one of the worst books I have read in a long time.  The plot on the back of the book had promise with the whole discovering the family secret thing.  The whole time while I was reading I was anticipating this big secret that they were going to uncover at some point during the book.  Just to warn you when you find out what it is and is not worth reading the 150 pages before.  The pacing was really bad because almost nothing happened in the beginning but the author found a way to stretch out the nothing for 175 pages.  Then the last 49 pages were jam-packed with things happening and it was overwhelming.  The book would have been 1000% times better if she just moved a few things around and had the "exciting" things happen sooner.

None of the characters in this book were very strong.  Pearl whined a little too much about her grandfather and her mom.  I know that her mom was cheering because her dad died (which is weird) bit why can't she just be happy for her mom because her mom has been depressed for 16+ years.  Pearl also overacted all the time and it was over the littlest things.  One time they were all watching a movie and her mom and Claire were laughing at a funny part and she ranted about how annoying them laughing was and how they should quiet down.  Henry, was my "favorite" character if I had to pick one.  He never complained and thought logically when they were trying to figure things out, instead of freaking out.  The thing that bothered me about him was that he completely let Pearl push him around all the time and that is not usually a characteristic you find in a guy.  All of the other characters were just there for me and at points in the book I sometimes forget that they were there and that is not a good thing when there is only 6 characters in the entire book.

The cover of this book was just OK when I first saw it but then once we received the book I had a closer look.  If you look closely at the pearl in the middle of the book there are two people snuggling their heads together and it is supposed to resemble Pearl and Henry.  If I had seen this close up in the book store then I would NEVER have bought the book, bad choice on the art directors end.  All in all, this was a really bad book and not worth the $10 you would be spending to buy it at the store.

Real Teen Rating: D- : If you have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to read! 

Read More

Pandora Radio

Reviewed by Living Destiny

So I know North recently did a review of Spotify, the new music app.  I thought I'd jump on that band wagon and do a review of Pandora.  Pandora is a website, not an app, but like Spotify it's a master of music.  The address is www.pandora.com.  Basically, it creates radio stations.  If you really like a song or artist (or, I have just discovered, composer), you type it into the search bar.  If the name is something popular, like 'bad' - which has 100 results - you choose the one you were actually referring to.  Then, Pandora creates a radio station that plays music similar to what you typed in originally.  Just like that, you're provided with a never-ending supply of songs you'll probably enjoy listening to.  And you can make as many stations as you so desire.  Personally, I currently have nine stations, and I'm always meaning to make more.  In addition to making these stations for you, Pandora also lets you 'like' songs, artists, stations or albums, and look at them later.  You can follow friends and see what they're listening to if you want to.  I think the best part is that it tells you everything about everything.  When a song is playing, it lists out the artist bio, the song lyrics, and artists that are similar.  You can click on see more to get a more detailed description.  And if you click the song title it shows the features of the track and similar tracks.  Click on the album and it gives a list of tracks.  You see where I'm going with this?  It has everything.  Not to mention the fact that it introduces you to music you never before knew existed but will soon fall wildly in love with.  I have this station I made from the band Hot Chelle Rae, and it plays tons of angsty punk music which is awesome, but it played a song by The Summer Set.  I really liked it, so I looked them up, and now have their whole first cd on my Spotify account.  Oh snap mixing music sites.  My bad.  It has some ads between songs, but they aren't very frequent or very long.  Since the site itself is free, it needs a way to pay for itself, and the ads are how.  So don't get irritated with them, just remember you're listening to music for free.  You can upgrade Pandora by paying if you want, but it isn't necessary, which is nice.  It's good either way.  If you really love a song or album, Pandora links all the songs to iTunes and Amazon, so you can buy them.  This website is just super convenient and shows you all kinds of new music you probably wouldn't have found otherwise, but will guaranteed love.  I'm gonna go listen to showtunes radio now.  You should go make a Pandora account now.  Seriously.  Do it up.

Real Teen Rating ~ Totally awesome, go make an account!

Read More

Prada and Prejudice- Mandy Hubbard

The Gist

Prada and Prejudice
Buy it here and support our blog

Callie Montgomery's school trip to England was supposed to fix everything. Her lack of popularity. Her lack of self-confidence. But why should things overseas be any different from back home? She's just as unpopular and clumsy in England as she was before, except now she's forced to hang out with three of the most popular girls in the school - they're her travel buddies. When Callie realizes that it'll take more than a few not-so-cozy days together to make them friends forever, she decides to do something drastic; she buys a pair of real Prada heels. The other girls are so seriously into fashion that the heels would have to impress them. But, on her way back to the hotel from the Prada store, she trips in her new heels and hits her head on the pavement. When she wakes up she's in another time. Victorian England. 

What We Think

Reviewed by Dream Catcher

Number of Pages: 238

I read this a long time ago as a sort of dare. My friends had bought me three books for my birthday that year. Pride and Prejudice, Pride Prejudice and Zombies, and Prada and Prejudice.  I have yet to read the other two.  But Prada and Prejudice called to me. For whatever reason it did. 

Let me rant a little. First about the plot. So it was okay. Eh. Time travel with Prada shoes. So. Question. If she hadn't gotten those Prada shoes would she have traveled back in time anyway? Did she just need to hit her head? Or were the Prada shoes magic? We will never know. Unless we all go out and buy some Prada shoes, trip five seconds after wearing said shoes, and hit our heads on the pavement. Ta daa. We'll either have a concussion or we'll be back in the Victorian era! Yeah. That's nice. You get the point. There were a few plot holes. It was a little romance-y and very victorian-y. But basically all it was was someone causing mischief in a time where mischief was scandalous. Which was fine. But not the makings of a great novel. I'm not asking for a paradox or anything like that. I mean, that'd  be  nice but they can't all be the best book ever. But at the very least I want something. There wasn't much of a plot here and that makes for a fluff book. You know the kind. The books you read when you don't really want to think. We all need a book like that every once in a while. But they're forgettable. That's what this was.
So let's get this over with; the cover and title. Eew. Scratch that. EEEWWW. They're the worst. I mean,  the cover is some girl's legs and her shiny, new time-travel shoes. With an aqua blue background. Ugh. If I were the publisher I would fire the cover artist. Sorry. The title is only slightly better. But hardly.  Kind of witty, but nothing genius. It's pretty laughable. But that certainly doesn't make it good. At all.
Characters...were actually not that bad. Yay. Callie (turned Rebecca) was a pretty decent character. Not the greatest character I'd ever read about but not the worst. Sometimes clever, sometimes relatable, sometimes interesting. But. You see I overused to word sometimes.  I did that for a reason - she was sometimes a good character. Sometimes. Emily - her medieval best friend - was a sweet character. Didn't have one mean or unpure thought in her head. She was polite and innocent - which honestly makes for a boring character at times. She was just okay. Alex - the Duke of Harksbury and complete jerk - was certainly an interesting character. Tall, dark and handsome, of course. He was the mean one who turned out to be more than that. Cliche, I know, but his character was important and never boring. His mother, the duchess of Harksbury, was just kind of there. I think she was supposed to be hated but I couldn't ever muster up enough enthusiasm to even dislike her. Eh. I think you can sense a pattern. Everything about this book is average. I didn't hate anything but I didn't love anything either.
Finally I'm going to write a few quick words on the writing. Pretty good. There. Done. That's really all that needs to be said. There was nothing remarkable about it but it wasn't bad. I think, as the author writes more, she'll improve on her style. She has potential.
So, if you're in the mood for some fluff book that you won't love and you won't hate, read this. And I'm not trying to be sarcastic. Sometimes you really just need one of those books. I know I do every once in a while. And this book fits the bill.  Not good, not bad, just forgettable. 


Real Teen Rating ~ C+ : Well, I guess it was good...

Read More

The Secret Friend- Viola Harris and Siobhan Fallon

The Gist 
Anna Marshall has had a tough couple of months.  Her husband of 30+ years has recently died and so she now lives alone in her house with nothing to do all day.  On occasion her neighbor Julia will stop by with a goodie or two but that is about all of the human interaction that she ever gets, that is until she receives a phone call.  One day, while in the kitchen baking Anna receives a phone call from a mysterious stranger who doesn't talk.  Confused and thinking that it is a prank Anna hangs up the phone and goes about her business.  The next day at the exact same time Anna receives another phone call from the same person who just calls but doesn't say anything once she picks up.  Day after day this "secret friend" calls at the same time and no matter what Anna says to get this person to stop harassing her they continue to call everyday.  Eventually, Anna accepts the phone calls and begins talking to this stranger.  Anna soon learns that silence is sometimes more powerful than a single word.

What We Think
Reviewed by The North Star
Run Time: 15 Minutes
Rating: Not Rated 
Shorts are the hardest film category to master. You have to get your point across, have people connect with characters and completely develop everything in a regular movie in under about 25minutes.  Most movies can't get their point across/ get people to care about the characters in 2 hours.  With a short everything must be tight/necessary or the audience will notice and get bored.  This was the really good thing about the Secret Friend.  Major props to whoever wrote the script/edited this film.  Everything was cut exactly enough so that you didn't lose interest but not cut too short so you felt things weren't answered.  We received this movie from the films director and couldn't wait to watch it.  I'm not going to lie, I had very low expectations for this film for various reasons but I couldn't have been more wrong.
Viola Harris was really good in this role.  I didn't think this was going to be a comical movie but she had great timing.  Every time there was supposed to be something funny, I laughed and not just baon (this stands for blowing air out of nose, you don't exactly laugh but you kind of just....blow air out of your nose).  After watching the short I was walking around quoting the random funny parts of the movie.  Viola could also get really serious when the scene called for it.  She was really great at staying in character throughout the whole film and being able to switch on different emotions at any moment when the mood of the scene changed.  Siohan Fallon was a very random character and was almost not needed at all.  The only thing that she was there for was to tell the audience that Anna was a widow which could have been told in a different way.  It wasn't that Siobhan was a bad actor it was just that her character was unneeded (minor detail).
The plot was extremely interesting and kept me watching for the full 15minutes.  The one thing that I LOVED about this film was that there was no plot holes that I noticed at all and that is a very rare thing.  Everything was explained and the one thing that I've noticed with shorts is that people try to bite off more than they can chew and things are often introduced but never followed up on.  This was a cute little story that was told in the good time of 15minutes.  One of my favorite parts of this film was the ending because as I was watching it I couldn't think of how they were going to end it and I was worried that the ending was going to be unsatisfying, but.....again I was wrong and they thought of the perfect ending.  Again, major props to the screenwriter and whoever had a hand in writing the script.
All in all this was a pretty good short and I was really glad that I got to see it!  If I had to fix one thing I would cut out Siobhan Fallon's character because I feel that the pace would have gone by a little smother and then little nit picky things like showing random shots of flowers (that I myself wouldn't have picked) but, other than all of that it was really good!! If you ever find yourself with an extra 15 minutes this is a film to pick up an watch, I don't think you will be disappointed.

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

Read More

I Am Number Four - Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Dianna Agron

The Gist 

I Am Number Four
Buy it here and support our blog

Number One died when he was nine.  Number Two died when he was twelve.  Number Three just died.  Number Four has the scars to prove it.  After seeing a vision of Number Three being killed, Number Four and his protector Henri relocate from Florida to Paradise.  Paradise, Ohio. Trying to fit in as the new student in a small town is hard enough, and being an alien makes the whole thing close to unbearable.  Taking the name John Smith, Number Four finds a friend and a first love.  But the Mogadorians are closing in, and everyone around him is at risk of being killed, including himself.  Three are dead.  He is Number Four.

What We Think

Reviewed by Living Destiny

Run Time: 109 Minutes

Rating: PG-13

I saw this movie in theaters when it came out a while ago.  And at the time I found it pretty good.  Not stellar material, but it was entertaining.  Then I read the book.  And then I watched the movie again.  Kablam.  Enlightenment.  This movie was bad.  NOT.  GOOD.   Seriously it was all flash and no substance.  There were whole elements to the plot that weren't explained at all.  Just mentioned in passing.  Like, 'hey there's this super sick box that's all mysterious but that's all you get to know!'  Fail.  Major fail.  BUT you can't base the thoughts on a movie around how close it is to the book it was based off of.  That doesn't seem fair.  So this is me trying to go from a non-biased standpoint.


The acting was sub-par.  Alex Pettyfer is not a good actor.  I think the whole thing with him is that he's so stunningly attractive.  His good looks blind people.  However, after about a half an hour, even his hot-ness fails to distract from the fact that his acting is centered around brooding and looking into the distance.  That was awesome rhyming, I should be a rapper or something.  Anyway.  As the main character, he should be noticeably excellent.  He wasn't.  Boo.  Also, Timothy Olyphant wasn't very good, and he generally does well.  I don't know what the deal was here, but his character wasn't very likable.  Maybe that's how he was trying to portray it, but as Henry he was cold and uncaring, and I didn't enjoy that.  It seemed like he was always angry and didn't want to be with Number Four.  That annoyed me.  On a more positive note, Dianna Agron did a pretty good job as Sarah.  It wasn't anything phenomenal, but she was good.  I liked her character, and she...I don't even know what to write, but she did well.  RRRAR I dunno.  The one character I really really liked was Sam.  Callan McAuliffe is this 16 year old Australian kid who - so far - has been in nothing I've ever heard of.  He's currently filming some cool stuff, and I would say I Am Number Four was sort of his breakout role.  For that, I am pleased with this movie.  He was Sam.  Not just he played it well, he was Sam.  He made me laugh, and be sad (I DO NOT CRY), and he made me freak out a little - partially from the intensity of some scenes, partially because he is wicked cute.  I legitimately just spent five minutes going through all of his pictures on imdb.  He's way more attractive than Alex Pettyfer.  Wasting time staring at Callan McAuliffe.  Focus.  So, he's an up-and-coming actor who did an outstanding job in this movie, and hopefully we see him in new movies soon because he's fantastic.  Wow I just got so distracted.  What am I writing about?  


The special effects in this movie were pretty cool.  It's a movie about an alien battle, so the special effects need to be good, or else it kind of falls flat.  They worked.  There were big storms and lots of fire and telekinesis stuff, and it all looks really...well i guess not 'real' since it's supposed to be alien, but it looked believable at least.  Plus there were these big beasty things...good stuff right there.  Nothing says alien fight like big beasties, and they looked all mean and scary.  Oh my gosh, what am I, four?  Whatever.  The makeup was also done very well.  While Number Four, the main character, didn't look any different from a human, there was a breed of alien that looked very different.  They were super pale and had gills and it was pretty creepy, but the makeup was so great!  Makeup always fascinates me.  How a good makeup artist can transform someone into a totally different person or creature with so little tools, only face paints and such.  It's dazzling, really.  


But a movie can't be carried by its special effects and makeup.  A plot is required to make a movie function, and this movie was lacking so many details...well it was kind of choppy.  It fell flat, in its script and its acting. There was nothing to hold your attention, and it was missing too much and explained too little.  Nope, it didn't do it for me.  What a gross phrase that is.  Ew.  But it's true.  No me gusta this movie.  I won't say you shouldn't see it, but...I guess it's good the first time around.  Sort of?  Eh.  Sure, see it once.  If only for Callan McAuliffe and Dianna Agron.  Yupp.  I'm done now.  


Real Teen Rating ~ C: If there's nothing else to see...

Read More

Boy Bands

Reviewed by Living Destiny

I know, I know.  Boy bands.  How lame is that?  A group of guys in tight pants and wife beaters who sing cheesy songs and have corny, over-exaggerated dance moves.  What a bunch of losers.  And yet.  There is a certain magic about boy bands.  It doesn't matter if I think to myself, 'wow that's dumb'.  As soon as I see or hear a boy band in action I start to smile or dance or sing along, and the little 10 year old me comes out and jumps up and down.  Previous to yesterday, I hadn't listened to a real boy band in years.  But spirit week hit last week, and one of the acts in the talent show was five boys lip synching (and dancing like pros) to a backstreet boys song.  Bam!  I was back into the spirit all right - the spirit of the tween population.  I was laughing, of course, but there was a part of me that was thinking 'that's pretty hot, I totally love this'.  Being in a boy band just instantly makes you more attractive.  I don't know what it is, but it's true.  Even if you aren't the most attractive guy in the world, as was the case for some of these talent show boys, you step on stage and start up and you're cute.  Maybe all the guys just pool their collective looks and all come out looking better, or maybe it's the how joyful and into it they always look, but it happens, and then there are crowds of screaming girls.  And they all stay a little more attractive than they were before, even after the band inevitably breaks up.  I know those five guys will never look the same to me again.  Somehow, the boy band trend died out in the late 90's in favor of solo artists, and now we have singers like Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars, and Greyson Chance who attract all the screaming girls.  That's great and everything, but I'm secretly hoping for a boy band come back.  >> I just looked up boy bands on wikipedia.  There are so many from my era that I've never even heard of!  I'm shocked.  Now I need to look them all up! <<  Yea side note!  But seriously.  I want my boy bands back.  There's something youthful about them, something that makes me feel like a kid again.  Maybe it's just because I grew up with them, but they make me carefree and I just about fall in love with every guy who has ever been in a boy band.  Whether it's Nick Carter, Justin Timberlake, Donnie Wahlberg, or Dylan from the talent show, anyone becomes infinitely cooler by being in something as 'lame' as a boy band.  Judge me if you will, but I love boy bands, and they should come back to popularity because they are the most attractive thing in music since Frank Sinatra (and my friends will tell you, I have a serious love affair with Frank Sinatra. He's my off-limits Apples to Apples card, and that means something).  Plus, there's nothing more fun than dancing around your house singing lyrics like "Tell me why, Ain't nothing but a heartache, Tell me why, Ain't nothing but a mistake, Tell me why, I never want to hear you say, I want it that waaaaaaaaaaaaay"!

Real Teen Rating ~ yessssssssss <3 lovelovelove!

Read More

Room - Emma Donoghue

* National Bestseller
* A New York Times Book Review Best Book of the Year


The Gist

Room
Buy it here and support our blog

Five year old Jack has never been out of Room - the small space he's been enclosed in his entire life. All he knows is what's in Room; a toilet, a rug, a small TV, a potted plant, a trash bin, a stove, a bed with a blanket, a table, and a wardrobe. Jack doesn't know there's such thing as Outside. The pictures, the people, the shows he sees on TV are all fake, and made just for him and his mother. No one else exists. Except for Old Nick - the mysterious man who comes in Room the same time every night.  Whenever Old Nick comes in - unlocks the door and locks it behind him - Jack's mother hides him in the wardrobe and won't let him come out until Old Nick is gone. Despite this, Jack is content in Room. But his mother's not. And she's determined to get them both out.

What We Think

Reviewed by Dream Catcher
Number of Pages: 336
I read this for school summer reading. I was glad to. I'd been meaning to read this book for ages. Ever since all the hullabaloo started about how great it was. And after reading it...eh. I don't particularly understand why everyone was so thrilled with it. Frankly, I found it disturbing that the whole thing was narrated by a five year old. Yeah. Little Jack was telling us the whole thing. Horrifying? Yup. But I'll get more into that later. Let's start the reviewing, shall we?
Let's start with something easy. Like characters. Jack. I don't know exactly how to judge him. He was so little and obnoxious. I didn't like his character at all. He was annoying. All he ever did was whine or yell or ask weird questions. Eh. Maybe that's just because he was a little kid, but it was so annoying to read. His mother wasn't any better, honestly. All SHE ever did was lie to the kid and annoy me. Ugh. Sigh. None of the other characters are all that important. And the ones that WERE sort of important I can't really talk about because that would give things away. So...that's characters for you. Wow. That is probably the shortest paragraph on characters I've ever written. You're all probably cheering.
Plot next. I found the beginning to be extremely slow and boring. Nothing really happened except for Jack watching his beloved Dora on TV and the mom telling "make-believe" stories of the outside world. About half way through the book things started to get a little more interesting, but by that point it was too little, too late for me. I think the author needs to improve on her pacing.
Cover and title are great. Perfect for the book, really. A crayon-written title is ingenious. It really makes the book seem as if it was written by a five year old - cover and all. The title is great, too, mostly because of how foreboding it sounds. Right? Room. It explains exactly what the book's about and it has a nice ring to it. Everything a title could ever need. Hooray.
Lastly I'll mention something about the writing style itself. This was the most impressive part of the book. Emma Donoghue made it sound like a five year old was narrating it. Which is really crazy. Not many people could do that, and of the people that could, even fewer would have the patience to. This is a sign of a good writer, and I have to give her props on that. It made the whole story seem a lot more real (and pretty disturbing. A five year old talking about living in a box. Creepy!) than if it had been written from a different point of view. This aspect of the book is why it's getting a semi-decent grade. It would be much lower if she'd been even a little off on the voice of her narrator.
So, basically, I wouldn't recommend this book. I don't really understand what all the hype is about. I don't get why it won so many awards or got so much attention. For summer reading, it's not the worst book I've ever read. But if I had known what it was going to be like beforehand, I wouldn't have even picked it up at the bookstore. I would have left it on its little pedestal for some unfortunate person to pick up and read. I honestly don't think it was worth the read. Others feel differently. I know the North Star thought it was good. But not me. Too boring, too bland, and too annoying. A waste my precious summer hours, if you ask me. 


Real Teen Rating ~ C - : Read it if you're bored.

Read More

The Lying Game- ABC Family

The Gist
Sutton Mercer and Emma Becker have just found out that they are identical twins. They were seperated at birth but Sutton ended up in a high society Californian community, Emma ended up in the foster system, with a horrible foster mother and perverted older brother. Sutton wants to find her birth mother in L.A but can't tell her parents about and Emma runs away from her foster home and jail. They set up a plan where Emma takes Sutton's place in highly sophisticated life while Sutton goes to find their birth mother. Emma doesn't know anything about Sutton except that she dislikes her home life and she is rich. This puts Emma in a difficult position, she ends up juggling secrets and friends that she has never met before.

What We Think
Reviewed by ShoreWhisperer
Number of Seasons: 1
The advertising for this show made it look very intense and it is. I really enjoy this new show. It always leaves you hanging. There are so many loose ends that you never know what the next week is going to reveal. I guess ABC family is big on reusing things though because this is a series based on the book series by Sara Shepard who consequently wrote Pretty Little Liars, their best reviewed show (ironic? I think not). Also, Ethan the charming bad boy was also in their new series Switched at Birth as the older charming bad boy. Personally I think he is better shown off in The Lying Game, but that is my personal opinion. The show in general is just so eccentric and non realistic that its appealing. Its that weird thing where if a show is just a little bit realistic the rest of it can be complete fantasy but it still feels realistic. This show is using that to it's advantage.

The actual plot of the twins being split and all the drama would never really happen but they put in the drama of teenagers and high schoolers and homeless kids and magically it's realistic. I caught up in this show. I can't wait to watch this show every monday. It actually makes my mondays bareable. During my classes while I am about to fall asleep I think just six more hours till The Lying Game, which is what I am guessing they want to be doing.

Acting wise, it's not too too bad. Alexandra Chando is remarkable as both Emma and Sutton. Blair Redford is charming and steals the hearts of many as Ethan and Allie Gonino also stands out. She plays Laurel and she plays it perfectly. I really enjoy watching her. I don't particularly like Kristen Prout in the role of Char. I think that this show has potential for being very big and popular just like Pretty Little Liars. It's coming along with every episode, and I really love watching this show (I think that I have said that already). Also, like most ABC family show they don't relate to both sexes. This is mainly watched by teenage girls although guys could watch it, that isn't their biggest viewer. They need more variety in their shows because all that they show is mostly for teenage girls and their mothers. They need more shows like Kyle XY again. This is not a criticism on the show though, it's not the show that it doesn't intrigue boys. The show itself is going to be good and it is getting better every episode.

Real Teen Rating ~ B : Check it out...

Read More

Zookeeper- Kevin James, Rosario Dawson

The Gist

Zookeeper
Buy it here and support our blog

Griffin Keyes is a zookeeper at the Franklin Park Zoo. He was dumped by a girl he wanted to marry and years later still can't get over and is more comfortable dealing with animals than with people, especially women. The animals of the zoo know his problem and since they are the masters of mating, give him a hand in his quest of getting his girl back. He befriends the secluded, lonely gorilla in the process who ends up as his best friend.

What We Think
Reviewed by ShoreWhisperer
Run Time: 102 Minutes
Rating: PG
This movie is possibly the most unoriginal movie. When I saw this movie trailer I immediatly though "Hitch" and"Night at the Museum". Then when you get to the actual movie and you see the Happy Gilmore bumper that means that Adam Sandler had some part in the making of the movie. Well I didn't actually think that this was going to be a good movie. . . I will say that it lived up to my expectations. Like all Adam Sandler movies it had crude and physically humor that is at some points unnecessary.

I feel bad for Kevin James some times because he plays the hopeless, awkward fat single guy every single time he is in some rom-com or kids movie. He doesn't play it that well even. He should ultimatly keep playing the guy he was on King of Queens because that was funny.

Not to anyone's surprise Adam Sandler was in the movie and to no surprise he played the monkey who constantly made the potty jokes and cracked all the inuendos in the movie. He was the "comic relief" in a movie that didn't need any comic relief because it was already a comedy. Not only was Adam Sandler act in the movie, he wrote and produced the movie which means that the all the humor was childish and filled with secret jokes for the parents that are bringing their kids to see the movie. Rosario Dawson is such a good actor. I liked her character :Kate because she was normal and didn't do anything insanely stupid, the one funny scene in the movie- when they were on the circus ribbons- was actually comical and I really laughed at it.

One thing I don't like in movies is talking animals, especially when it's not an animated movie. Night at the Museum pulled it off somehow but this movie was just a little weird. There were way to many famous people: Cher, Sylvester Stallone, Adam Sandler, Nick Nolte. It really was unnecessary, I couldn't get over it. Somehow they think that the more names you can put on the billboard the better the movie will be. That is not true however. You can't really make a movie as predictable as this good. The only reason this movie is getting a D instead of an F is because of Rosario Dawson is the saving grace of this movie and I really liked her performance in this movie. Otherwise, this movie was trying to hard to get a laugh, was way to predictable, and was so unoriginal that I could point out places in the movie where the practically the same thing happened in another movie.

Real Teen Rating~ D- : I wouldn't bother at all

Read More

Watched- Sharde Richardson

The Gist

Watched
Buy it here and support our blog

Mikayla has never been completely normal and sheunderstands that,a weird Q-tip addiction and a stutter makes it harder and so does seeing those dark auras around people. She just wants to be as normal as possible.Turns out that it is impossible because after a traumatizing incident she is thrown into a world completly new to her. A world that has always been there but that she can't remember because she was adopted when she was thirteen and can't remember anything before then. This whole new world comes at her and she has to learn if she can keep the demons away and how she is going to fit into this new shape-shifter world that she has just learned she belongs to. 

What We Think
Reviewed by ShoreWhisperer
Number of Pages: 345
This book is a very easy read but it deals with more mature topics. There are mature elements in it, but the writing is aimed at more a 9-14 age range. So just keep that in mind. I read this book in a day and it was not bad. It was interesting and  kept me entertained. It was comical and the writing was very unique. I didn't know that someone could have a Q-tip addiction but apparently you can, to tell the truth I found it a little disturbing. Mikayla was very comical, as she is the narrator, I found myself laughing out loud at many parts. Up until Mikayla starts to train, I liked it. Once she started to train I thought that it resembled the Mortal Instrument series profoundly. This is not particularly bad but I want the upcoming books in the series to be a little more unique in developing this world. Now, in any good YA book you need romance, and there is plenty of that. Lucas is the charming boy in this book. The love story in this book is more mysterious and really comes out at the end and it leaves off for the next book to clear up. I will say that that the whole dream sequences she has when she is in Lucas's head were intriguing and I can't wait to see more of that because I really haven't seen anything like that since Twilight and I think that the way this book is approaching it will be more realistic and interesting. This books has many ups and downs.  It's an easy, entertaining book to read in one day and  leaves you wanting more, but it's not extremly unique, at least not in a way that stands out alot. This is definitly not one of the best books I have read but it is not the worst either.


Real Teen Rating~C+ : ...Well I guess it was good...

Read More