Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling

If you have not read the books start with the first, Harry Potter
and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Harry has something new to worry about this year at Hogwarts.
In addition to his grades and his performance in Quidditch Harry
has to worry about a mass murderer who has broken out of the
top wizard prison. Sirius Black is considered one of the most evil
wizards alive and the wizarding community is in a panic. Harry
isn't too concerned, after all Hogwarts is the safest place on
earth. Black wouldn't be able to break in, would he?

The third Harry Potter book has always been my favorite and is
(IMHO) the only one deserving of five stars. While J.K. Rowling
has created what may possibly be the most amazing fantasy
world since Tolkin and has come up with captivating characters,
her writing often leaves a bit to be desired. No so in this book.
5 stars,
Emme

Bloodline, by Katy Moran

Essa has lived on the road and horseback, traveling with his
father Cai. They sing and play music in exchange for lodging,
food and trinkets. Essa has lived like this for 9 years and knows
nothing different; so when his father abandons him, leaving him
with his foster aunt, Essa is angry and resentful. For years Essa
hopes that Cai will return for him, but as every year passes he
believes less and less. In time he becomes use to village life and
having tight bonds with people, animals and the land. But with
war brewing between his people, the Wolf Folk, and their sworn
enemy, Essa finds himself in the middle of complex power plays.
His king's brother sends Essa on a dangerous mission to
infiltrate the enemy's camp, where Essa is recruited to be
bodyguard to the enemy king's son.

I liked this book. Essa and the other characters are interesting
and unique, each with their own voice. I don't think I had ever
read a historical fiction book set in the times of the Anglo-
Saxons, and this was definitely an encouraging first foray into
this subject.
5 stars,
Emme

The King's Rose, by Alisa M. Libby

This novel is based on the true story of Catherine Howard, King
Henry VIII's fifth wife and second to be beheaded. It follows
Catherine from when she first catches the king's eye until the
day of her death.

When she first arrives at court Catherine is unprepared for the
amount of pomp and excitement. She does exactly as her
grandmother, the Duchess of Norfolk tells her to, even when it
goes against her judgement. She works as a lady in waiting for
Henry's current queen, Anne. However before long Henry's eyes
wander to the young girl instead of his queen. He divorces Anne
and marries Catherine. Catherine must abandon her past lovers
and friends, instead becoming the woman the king wants.

I enjoyed this book very much, but was occasionally confused by
the names, ties, friendships and relations. I had some trouble
keeping track of who was who's friend and the relationships
between different characters. Although I though the writing was
very beautiful and the characters well written, I often had to re-
read a few pages in order to fully "get" what was happening.
This rather annoyed me and certainly slowed me down while
reading.
Emme
4 stars

Star Trek: Voyager: The Murdered Sun, by Christie Golden

When Voyager's sensors show that there might be a wormhole
nearby the crew is very excited, this might be their chance to
get back home! However when they arrive they find a very
strange phenomenon, a half collapsed wormhole inside a
strangely weak black hole, sucking an unnaturally high amount
of matter out of a nearby star.

To make matters worse a alien race lives on the star's planet,
which is being slowly destroyed by the forces of the strange
combination of space anomalies. The race is space faring, but
not evolved to a level where the laws of Starfleet allow them to
help. This puts Voyager's crew in a dreadful position.

I really like Christie Golden's Star Trek books, she nails the
characters and comes up with interesting plots. This is her first
ST novel and is not as polished as her later books, mostly the
pacing feels a bit off at times. However overall I really liked it.
Definitely a good book for a Voyager fan.

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, by Roald Dahl

This book is a sequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Charlie
and company are in the elevator when suddenly they reach orbit of
the Earth. Two days before NASA had launched Space Hotel U.S.A.,
a hotel with gravity and the interior was a lot like the inside of the
best hotel in the world. When they catch a glimpse of the elevator
the immediately call the president and ask him to do something.
The Chief of the Army wants to blow up the hotel but the president
thinks it's the Russians or the Chinese. It's really Mr. Wonka,
Charlie, and the others! They dock with the hotel and go inside only
to find Vermicious Knids!! To find out why these are bad and what
happens to everybody read this book! 6 stars!!
5 stars

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl

I thought that this book was really funny. it is about a really poor
boy named Charlie who lives in a sort of hut with his parents and
grandparents on both sides of the family. When Mister Willy Wonka
announces that five boys and girls get a chance to get inside his
factory if they find a golden ticket inside a chocolate bar, Charlie is
excited. One day while walking home from school he finds a dollar
bill. He races to a candy shop and buys a chocolate bar. Then he
buys one more bar. As he opens it he something shimmer. He finds
a ticket! When he go to the factory the next day at the appointed
time he meets the four other children who also got a ticket. They
are: Augustus Gloop, Violet Beauregarde, Mike Teavee, and Veruca
Salt. To find out what happens on this crazy journey read this book!
I think it deserves 6 stars.

George's Marvelous Medicine, by Roald Dahl

This is a great book a bout a boy named George. He lives on a farm
with his parents and grisly grandma. His grandma has to have
medicine four times a day. One day his parents go out and tell
George to give Grandma a eleven o'clock. After his tell horrible
things he made up his mind to do something. He came up with
changing her medicine. To hear what happens to grandma read this
book. 10 stars!
5 stars

Something of Value, by Robert Ruark

This book is about two boys, Kimani, a native African enslaved
on his ancestor's land, the other, Peter is a son of a European
who decided to come farm in Africa. The two boys grow up
together, playing and working, treating each other as near
equals. But as time passes the two boys part ways, helped along
by both societies' prejudices and old angers, until during the
Mau Mau revolt in 1952 they end up on opposite sides of the
conflict.

This book was very good. The writing was simple and clear, not
wordy. The characters felt very real, despite only existing in the
author's imagination. This a old book, and the africans are
considered quite beneath the white masters who run the show.
The are treated very poorly and routinely called names that
would be extremely racist today.

People who have a delicate stomach may want to skip this book,
as what it says on the cover is very true. "There is much blood in
this book. There is much killing. But the life of Africa was
washed earlier by blood and its ground was, and still is,
fertilized by the blood of its people and its animals. This is not a
pretty book, nor was it written for the amusement of small
children."
5 stars,
Emme

Bloody Jack, by L.A. Meyer

Bloody Jack is a book about pirates. A young
orphan girl had a rough upbringing when both her
parents died. Left on the streets, Mary (Jacky)
Faber had to fight against drunks, body-snatchers,
and thieves to survive. When the leader of her
gang dies, she decides to run away and try to find
a living. She eventually spots an opportunity on a
British Naval Vessel- designed for hunting
pirates.

So Jacky fakes her way on as a boy and becomes a
deckhand. Is she found out and thrown of the ship?
Read it.
4 stars,
Evan

Shadow Kiss, by Richelle Mead

This is the third book of a series, so start with the first book
(Vampire Academy) if you want to read it.

Rose is a dhampir, a half vampire, she is also her best friend's
guardian. Her best friend is Vasilisa Dragonmir, a vampire with
royal blood. It is Rose's job to protect Lissa at any cost. Right
now that cost is the man she loves. Rose has fallen for Dimitri
Belikov, one of the best guardians in the world and Rose's
teacher. Although he feels the same way about her, it wouldn't
be safe for them to be together. It would be too risky for Lissa,
if one of them got distracted by an attack on the other it might
be too late to save Lissa from another attack.

This series kind of bugs me, there is almost no character growth
and the characters seem stereotypical and rather boring after a
little while. The writing, while not brilliant isn't too bad and I
enjoyed the first book back when I read it. But this book just fell
flat for me, it felt like nothing had happened, no plot
developments or character developments. Very predictable plot.
2 stars,
Emme

Little (Grrl) Lost, Charles De Lint

This book is about two girls, T.J. who's family just moved from
the country to the suburbs and Elizabeth, a six inch tall blue
haired Little. When T.J. hears noises in the walls she assumes it
is just mice. However she soon learns that Elizabeth and her
family are living in house as well. The two girls become friends
despite their differences, but when the two of them are going to
a book signing by an author who may know about the Littles T.J.
is attacked by a group of boys and her backpack (with Elizabeth
inside) is stolen. Elizabeth is swept in to a world she is
completely unfamiliar with and T.J. keeps trying to find her.

I really liked this book. The writing is quick and light, but it still
manages to make a detailed world and great characters. I highly
recommend it to fantasy lovers.
5 stars,
Emme

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Willow Files, by Yvonne Navarro

I was disappointed with this book. I didn't realize it was just a
novelization of a few BtVS episodes. They aren't even good
novelizations! The author seems to feel that she must explain
every little detail and uses WAY too many adjectives, which really
slows the story down. It also messes up the timing and the
writing, it is hard to have snappy one-liner arguments if you
split every single sentence up with explanation of exactly what is
going through everyone's head, what their faces look like and
what they are doing. Every sentence has at least one adjective
explaining how someone said it, it is extremely annoying!

Don't read this book, even if you are a die hard Buffy fan! You
will be sorry you wasted your time.
0 stars,
Emme

Travel Team, by Mike Lupica

You may think that this book is about basketball, but actually
it is about teens pursuing their goals. The protagonist, Danny,
has been short for his entire life but that never stopped him
from playing basketball. When he tries out for the 7th grade
travel team, he plays brilliantly but because of his height (4’7”)
he is told that he is too short. After failing to make the team,
he is down in the dumps and stops playing basketball for a
while. His father, who had been a basketball star before he
started drinking, creates another 7th grade travel team. At
first, the kids on his team don’t think they are a real team, but
they soon gel and become one of the best teams in the league.
If you have a goal that seems impossible, this book will show
you how one boy achieved his goal. I really enjoyed this book.
4 stars,
Julia

Book of a Thousand Days, by Shannon Hale

After her refusal to marry Lord Khasar, who she knows is evil,
Lady Saren and her maid Dashti are locked in a tower for seven
years. This book is told as Dashti's journal. As they suffer from
heat, cold and lack of food, Dashti tried to take care of her
mistress, who's mind becomes damaged with fear and isolation.
Saren becomes steadily more and more unhinged, and Dashti
decides that that they must find a way to escape.

I really liked this book, Dashti was a strong and interesting
person and I admired her ability to help keep Saren from giving
up. The writing was very good and lyrical and I liked the
drawings and doodles that Dashti had in her journal.
5 stars,
Emmme