Cummings, Priscilla. Red Kayak

Cummings, Priscilla. Red Kayak. Dutton, 2004 [0-525-47317-3]
Three boys have been friends in Maryland their whole life and they are in 8th grade now. The grandfather of one of the boys gets sick and has to go a nursing home so his property is sold. All three boys are angry about this with the grandson being the most angry. Brady narrates at the three boys watch the new owner's red kayak go down the river with strong currents. They are sure it it the father... well it was the mother with her 5 year old son. They kayak sinks and Brady finds the boy, giving him CPR and is a hero until unfortunately the young boy dies of exposure in the hospital. The rush of feelings from hero to hearing of a death is well told. Throughout the summer Brady is reminded of the accident by the red kayak in the water. This 208 page book is the touching and emotional story of three friends, loyalty, and responsibility. I don't want to spoil the ending, but at the end of the book the grandson makes a statement to authorities which I am not sure an 8th grader with his background would say.. who knows. Besides that.. this is a wonderful and powerful book.

Barnes, Jennifer Lynn. Tatto

Barnes, Jennifer Lynn. Tattoo. Delacorte, 2006 [978-0385-90363-9 / 0-385-90363-9]
When Bailey and her three girl friends go to the mall to pick out dresses for the big H.S. dance, they meet a strange lady who sells they a set of four temporary tattoos. After each girl applies her tattoo, they realize that they were given different supernatural "gifts" with each tattoo. Baily starts having dreams about terrible things that are going to happen and it is up to the four girls to use their gifts to stop some evil forces from doing terrible things to the world. It is up to the four girls to stop these evil forces before their "temporary" tattoo wear off and disappear. This 260 starts like a fun girl book but quickly moves to the forces of good fighting against the forces of evil... an unusual mix.

Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight

Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight. Little Brown, 2005 [0-316-01584-9//9780-316-01584-4]
Seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix (and her mother) to go live her father in an isolated town in Washington. Once there she becomes interested in Edward and his family. Something is different about them. After she falls madly in love with Edward she gradually finds out that he and his "family" are all vampires. He wants to stay away from her because of the problems...but he falls head-over-heels for her. This is a passionate love story between a human and a vampire. It is a much more heart-pounding love story than Klaus' "Silver Kiss." There is nothing physical about their relationship and there is not the gore of other vampire books.. although there is a big fight at the end. This 498 page book is a love story between a human and vampire, not a vampire. The book will be gobbled up by your thinking vampire readers.. not one's looking for gore. It is a complete book but there is a sequel, "New Moon."

Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight

Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight. Little Brown, 2005 [0-316-01584-9//9780-316-01584-4]
Seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix (and her mother) to go live her father in an isolated town in Washington. Once there she becomes interested in Edward and his family. Something is different about them. After she falls madly in love with Edward she gradually finds out that he and his "family" are all vampires. He wants to stay away from her because of the problems...but he falls head-over-heels for her. This is a passionate love story between a human and a vampire. It is a much more heart-pounding love story than Klaus' "Siliver Kiss." There is nothing physical about their relationship and there is not the gore of other vampire books.. although there is a big fight at the end. This 498 page book is a love story between a human and vampire, not a vampire. The book will be gobbled up by your thinking vampire readers.. not one's looking for gore. It is a complete book but there is a sequel, "New Moon."

Mass, Wendy. Rapunzel: the one with all the hair [Twice upon a time]

Mass, Wendy. Rapunzel : the one with all the hair [Twice upon a time] Scholastic, 2005 [0-439-79656-3]
This is a fun re-telling of the Repunzel story with alternate chapters narrated by Rapunzel and the Prince. This is a light-hearted retelling.. not like Napoli's retellings of fairy tales. It is disappointing to me that many kids to not know the original stories.. so these are not as cute to the. I enjoyed this 205 page book and hope she continues with the series.

Garris, Rebekah. Whither thou goest, I will go.

Garris, Rebekah. Whither Thou goest, I will go. Publish America, 2005 [1-4137-8823-8]
Sixteen-year-old Ruth lives on a plantation in Alabama and shortly after the Civil War she finds out that she was adopted. She has a fight with her parents over it and runs away to find her birth family. Shortly after leaving the plantation, she meets a cowboy who helps her on her journey. Eventually she finds her older sister, Naomi and they both end up living on a ranch with two single, elderly ladies. One day, they even find their birth father. Can Ruth find happiness living away the family that raised her? Will ever be able to face they again after running away? This 174 page book is the second book written by a girl currently enrolled in our local County Community College. Although I would have liked to see the author explore some of the character elements a little deeper, it is a good read and I am sure kids interested in this era will enjoy it.

Paterson, James. School's out - forever [Maximum Ride #2]

Patterson, James. School's out -- forever [Maximum Ride #2]. Little Brown, 2006 [0-316-06796-2//978-0-316-06796-6]
WOW what a roller coaster! This is book two in this series of kids/avians who are genetic experiments. The flock has saved Angel in the previous book and now end up in the home of a senior FBI agent in Virginia. There they have a chance to function as a family with a real life.. going to school.. having Thanksgiving diner. Max knows they can't stay there forever because that voice in her head keeps telling her she has to save the world. I can't tell you what happens at the end of this 409 page book because I don't want to ruin the many plot twists that happened at the end. Yes this book does end but it leads you into 3rd book. There are little bits of information (clues) at the end of this book to give you ideas what may happen in the next book (ala Lemony Snicket.) This series MUST be in your middle school and HS collection.

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows [#7]

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows [#7]. Scholastic, 2007 [978-0-545-01022-1 / 0-545-01022-2]
The story opens up with the reader finding out that "He-who-must-not-be-named" and his organization have essentially taken over everything. Harry, Ron, and Hermione wander throughout the book looking for some items which will help with the final battle with "He-who-must-not-be-named." Enough of plot summary... this book is definitely the darkest, evil and most violent of all the books and is not for young kids -- for those reasons and also some of the ending stuff gets pretty philosophical and heady. I am concerned about elementary kids reading the book (and even understanding some of the ending stuff.) One must remember that the kids who first picked up volume one when it was first written would now be 19 or 20 years old. This book will satisfy them. I think (but don't know) Rolwing wrote the epilogue to wrap it all up for younger kids.