Timeless

by Alexandra Monir

Summary:
It had always been Michele and her mother. They had a great life in Los Angeles. But when her mother dies in a car crash, Michele finds herself across the country living with grandparents she's never met. Grandparents who happen to be Windsor's, one of the oldest (and richest) families in New York City.  As Michele struggles to adjust to her new life, she finds herself exploring the house her mother grew up in.  What she finds is a diary, a diary that takes her back to 1910. Where she discovers that everything she thought she knew isn't quite true.

Review:
For a book about time travel, Timeless is well written and pretty believable.  I enjoyed how the author didn't try to explain any 'science' behind the diary's ability to take Michele back in time to whichever time period she was thinking about. I also thought that her interactions with her ancestors were quite fun, plus the idea that she was the impetus for most of their choices is interesting. This book is the first in it's series, something good to know going in because a lot is left unresolved. All in all it's a good read for teens who like romance.

Genre: Fantasy Fiction
Age Level: 8th grade

Legend

by Marie Lu

Summary:
June has been a child prodigy since day one.  She is the only person in the Republic to ever score a perfect 1500 on the nation's aptitude tests, setting her up to become one of the eventual military leaders.  But as she finished her training her brother is killed, and she is appointed to lead a squad in tracking down his killer.  A killer who also happens to be the Republic's number one most wanted.  Day is well known for his acts of terrorism, for destroying Republic equipment and disrupting supply lines to the front of the war with the Colonies.  But what June is about to find out is that Day is no ordinary terrorist, he is just a boy who wants to help his family in a system that has abandoned him.  A boy who has discovered that the country that is supposedly there to protect them, is actually the one killing them.  Now June must decide who to believe: the people she has trusted all her life, or the evidence given to her by a boy she barely knows.

Review:
Legend is another dystopian novel about the destruction of the world we know and the rigid militaristic societies which have taken it's place.  What sets the novel apart from others of it's ilk is the character's themselves.  Day is one of the poor, destined since birth to never amount to more than his parents, and kept there until he escapes and decides to live on his own terms.  June is affluent, born to a life of privilege, but one which has been filled with personal tragedy.  In the novel, it is June who has to realize that everything she has been taught has been a lie, that the world she lives in is not as black and white as she has been told.  The book itself is fast paced and well written, drawing you in and leaving you wondering what happens next.  Great for tweens who like other dystopian novels.

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 8-9th Grade

Hold Still

by Nina LaCour

Summary:
The school year might be beginning like normal for everyone else, but for Ingrid, all it brings is reminders of the death of her best friend at the end of last year.  Caitlin was beautiful and fun, but what everyone believed she was was shattered when she committed suicide.  Now Ingrid is left behind trying to understand not only why Caitlin did it, but why Caitlin never talked to her about her problems.  When Ingrid finds Caitlin's journal, she finds a way to understand a little bit of Caitlin herself, the part that Caitlin always kept hidden. 

Review:
Hold Still was not nearly as captivating as other novels about the aftermath of a suicide.  However what it did try to explain was the fact that Caitlin knew that she was ultimately the one responsible for her life and that what she was going to do was not the only option.  The book focuses on her friend trying to understand the betrayal she feels, and how to deal with both that betrayal and her grief.  Overall it's well written but there are better books on the subject out there.

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Age Level: 9th-10th Grade

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Author: Jeff Kinney

Publisher: New York : Amulet Books, c2007.

Plot Description:

            Greg Heffley is just your average kid. He decided to keep a journal (a journal, NOT a diary, despite what is written on the books cover…) to write down the happenings of his life so that one day, when he’s rich and famous, he can sell it and make even more money.  Here he writes down everything about the nitwits he goes to school with, everything his embarrassing family does, and the antics that he and his best friend Rowley get into.  But when he and Rowley get into a fight, Greg realizes that something is going to have to change if they are going to stay friends.

 

Review:

            Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a well written book about the trials and tribulations of middle school.  Greg is a character kids can relate to, shorter than most everyone and kind of nerdy.  He wants to fit in and be popular but can’t quite figure out how.  But none of that stops him from trying new things and making the best of things.  The book itself is written with cartoons interspersed throughout, giving the novel a different feel than either a graphic or regular novel.  A great book about growing up.

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Reading level: 5^th-6^th Grade

Similar Books: Maniac Magee

Reader’s Advisory:

Personal thoughts- Funny

Subjects/themes- Middle School, Friendship, Diaries

Character names/descriptions-

Greg- wimpy looking middle schooler who starts a journal

Rowley- Greg’s best friend, they play a lot of video games together

Rodrick- Greg’s kind of jerky older brother

Annotation: Being a wimpy kid isn’t all bad.