Things Not Seen

by Andrew Clements

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Age group: 10+
Type: fantasy

One day Bobby Phillips wakes up and looks in the mirror. But he's not there. He is invisible. His parents tell him not to tell anybody and they say he is sick with the flu and can't go to school. But then his parents get in a car crash. Bobby decides he is going to go out in public. He bundles up and goes to the library, but at the library he takes off all his clothes so nobody can see a bunch of floating clothes and walks around naked and invisible. Then he meets a blind girl called Alicia who can't see him and therefore doesn't know he's invisible. They become friends and eventually Bobby tells Alicia he's invisible. She's mad, but when she asks a passing policeman if she or Bobby is taller, he can't see Bobby.When his parents recover from the terrible crash, a commitee member comes and says that she can get a permit to search the Phillips household. Bobby needs to become visible again--fast. Then he discovers a piece of information that could help a lot. What will happen?

This book is really good but definitely not realistic. It is kind of complicated with all the invisibleness and keeping it a secret, but it is really good. It is a really unusual thing that makes Bobby invisible, and his Dad is a scientist so there might be some complicated things the dad talks about, like forcefields of electricity. Also, this book is more serious than other Andrew Clements books.

You might like this book if you like science-y or suspenseful books.

PARENTAL SECTION
Sexual parts: no!!
Violence: no
Fighting: no but people of course get mad
Pregnancy: no
Kissing and romance: a little bit mentioned at the end about kissing
Stealing: yes. Alicia and Bobby steal some information that they need.
Vandalizing: no
There is nakedness but that is only because only Bobby's body is invisible, so in order to sneak around unseen, he needs to take off his clothes so nobody sees him.

Cosmic

by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Age group: 9+
Type: Fiction

Liam Digby is only 12 but he already has a beard and is about 6 feet tall. He first discovers this when he is stopped at the students-only exit gate at an amusement park and the guard thinks he is an adult. He pretends his fellow classmate, Florida Kirby, is his daughter, and together they do all sorts of things. But then Liam's dad saves him just in time from doing something illegal, and Florida doesn't want to pretend anymore. But then Liam gets a text saying that he has been specially selected to go to a dad-and-kid preview of an amusement park--in China. He convinces Florida to come with him as his daughter, but then Liam gets into big trouble. One of the rides is a rocket--a real one. And Florida is going into space. Without him. What will Liam do?

This book is not supposed to be realistic. But it is SO GOOD!!!!! Frank Cottrell Boyce puts a lot of humor into the book and it really is very funny and good. Also try listening to the audiobook. It is narrated by Kirby Heybourne and he makes it very funny too. However the narrating is kind of confusing because it skips back and forth in time. But that is just about the only drawback. This is a great book.

You might like this book if you like humor.

PARENTAL SECTION

Sexual parts: no!
Violence: no
Fighting: no
Pregnancy: no. Well yes but only mentioned once and only in passing. Liam's teacher is pregnant so she can't go on a ride with him at the first amusement park.
Kissing and romance: no
Stealing: no
Vandalizing: no
Somebody does get drunk though.

No Passengers Beyond This Point

by Gennifer Choldenko

Rating: *** (3 stars)
Age group: 9+
Type: Fantasy (ish, more entirely and totally fiction)


India (a moody teenager), Finn (a twelve-year-old), and Mouse (6-year-old genius) Tompkins have lost their home. With a dead father and a mother who is a teacher, they have to move out. First, they have to leave their dog, Henry, at home. Then their mother announces to them that she is going to be living with them--but not at first. She gets to stay in their area, whereas India, Finn, and Mouse need to go live with their Uncle Red in Colorado. Colorado! So they fly there only to be picked up by a fake, 12-year-old "grown-up" who drives (!) a pink car with feathers stuck on it. He drives them to Falling Bird, a very mysteriously weird place where you get your own house, but only, apparently, for a little while. Then India gets enlisted as a welcomer for Falling Bird and Finn and Mouse are left on their own to rescue India and find the mysterious black box before time runs out.


This book is totally unrealistic but is not supposed to be realistic. I liked it pretty much but at the end it gets incredibly complicated. At least for me it does. But still it gets complicated at the end. And it alternates between India, Finn, and Mouse telling the story, though, so if you are not paying attention, you could get confused. All in all, this book is good.

You might like this book if you like suspensey-fiction-fantasy, or just fiction-fantasy.


PARENTAL SECTION
Sexual parts: None
Violence: none, but a crazy fireball yes
Fighting: Not really but kind of, a little bit
Pregnancy: Non
Kissing and Romance: none
Stealing: not really except Finn and Mouse take a domesticated animal for their own good
Vandalizing: none

Little Women and Good Wives

By Louisa May Alcott
Sequel to Little Women: Good Wives


Rating: **** (4 stars)
Age group: 10+
Type: semi-autobiographical


Meet the March sisters: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, each with their own special uniqueness and talent. Meg has talent in acting. Jo excels at writing. Beth is extremely talented at playing the piano and Amy's drawings are simply superb. Step into another world and watch as they put on plays, go on picnics, and just have a good time together. You'll also meet Laurie, a friendly boy neighbour and his father, Mr. Laurence. And don't forget Marmee and Mr. March, the cheerful, kind, and caring parents. Filled with interesting parts, this book is very special.


This book is definitely believable. People DO get married and have kids and put on plays and get mad and get vain and go into the army and get sick and sew and knit and stuff. Also people (SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT!!!!)...













...die. The hardships that happen to the Marches could also happen to other families too. So this book is believable.


If you liked Little Women and Good Wives you might like Louisa May Alcott's other books, like Little Men and Jo's Boys.

You really should read this book especially the Puffin Classics version as that one has a whole special part in the back. Plus the introduction is really funny and by Louise Rennison whose books you should read also.

If you want you can visit Orchard House, where Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women. It is in Concord, Massachusetts. It is really awesome.



PARENTAL SECTION
Sexual parts: none
Violence: none
Fighting: vocally (a bit of swearing and name-calling)
Pregnancy: yes someone gives birth
Kissing and romance: yes but not really any kissing
Stealing: none
Vandalizing: none
Death: yes in Good Wives

Princess on the Brink (Princess Diaries VIII)

By Meg Cabot
A series: The Princess Diaries


Rating: *** (3 stars)
Age group: 11+
Type: Diary fiction-fantasy

Princess Mia Thermopolis (full name Princess Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo) is a Junior now. Precalculus? Chemistry? No fun! Plus, now she's doing terrible in Creative Writing. And Lilly, her best friend, has her nominated for class president--again! But worst of all, her boyfriend, Michael Moscovitz, is going to Japan for ONE WHOLE YEAR. Because Mia won't do IT (have sex) with him. Will Mia stop him? Or won't she? Will she be able to survive without the smell of Michael's neck for a year? Uh oh!

This book is kind of believable and kind of unvelievable. It's kind of unbelievable because Mia is getting incredibly hung up on

1. Michael going to Japan
2. Having IT (sex) with Michael
3. Having precalculus and
4. Getting bad grades in Creative Writing when she wants to be a writer.

But I guess some people's minds work that way so it is kind of believable.

Also, this volume of The Princess Diaries is not exactly like some of the others. For one thing, the other volumes don't really have IT (sex) in them except for one or two. Another thing is because in this one there is Precalculus and Chemistry.
(If there IS sex in more than one or two of the other books and there IS Precalculus and Chemistry in some of the other books, than I will just say I have not read ALL the Princess Diaries books. Thank you.)

People who like other Princess Diaries books might like this.

PARENTAL SECTION
Sexual parts: yes (!!!)
Violence: none
Fighting: sort of
Pregnancy: none
Kissing and romance: yes yes yes
Stealing: none
Vandalizing: none

The Summer of May

By Cecilia Galante

Rating: *** (3 stars)
Age level: 9+
Type: Realistic fiction


May (not Maeve) doesn't like Miss Movado. At all. May calls her an avocado because of all the green she wears--Movado the Avocado. One day May defaces Miss Movado's classroom and is caught. She has two options: expulsion or one-on-one summer school with Miss Movado. May unwillingly chooses summer school. During this she discovers something about her mother--something to do with Miss Movado's past.


This book is pretty believable.The only thing kind of hard to believe is that Miss Movado...(SPOILER ALERT!!!)








took May out for breakfast and paid for it. Also Miss Movado and her friend jumped into a waterfall while skipping school, which I personally think is just plain crazy.

If you like books about real life, you might like this book.


PARENTAL SECTION

Sexual parts: none
Violence: none
Fighting: yelling
Pregnancy: none
Kissing and romance: none
Stealing: yes one scene
Vandalizing: yes in the beginning

Secrets of my Hollywood Life

By Jen Calonita
Sequel: Secrets of my Hollywood Life on Location


Rating: *** (3 stars)
Age group: 9+
Type: YA (young adult)

Celebrity Kaitlin Burke has a great life--the star role on Family Affair. But she wants to see what life as a regular teen is like. She goes undercover and enrolls at a school. Everything is going fine, but then her costar Sky gets involved and something happens that really messes everything up.

This book is kind of believable. You can still imagine a celebrity wanting a normal life. But it is kind of far-fetched, with all the undercover work and celebrity tabloid complications and stuff. But even though of all that, this is still a good book.

If you like books about celebrities, you might like this book. Also, if you liked The Princess Diaries books you might like this one.

PARENTAL SECTION
Sexual parts: none
Violence: none
Fighting: more like comeback fighting e.g. "You get all the good stuff!" "No you do!" "No you do!" "Shut up!" "No you shut up!" "GRRRRRRR!!!!" Also doing mean things e.g. dripping stuff onto priceless dresses made of silk
Pregnancy: in acting (not for real)
Kissing and romance: yes but no sexual parts
Stealing: none
Vandalizing: none