Private

I've been meaning to check out this series for a while. And I certainly wasn't disappointed. The biggest disappointment is my lack of funds in the bank account combined with the fact that this series is not in my local library.

Summary: Reed Brennan has a terrible home life. Her mother was is a pill-popping alcoholic who's goal in life is to make her family as miserable as she is. To escape, Reed is going to Easton Academy, a premier boarding school, on scholarship. When she gets there she finds an elite group of girls, the Billings girls. She wants to be one, but how far will she go to be one? Especially, when they don't like her new boyfriend, Thomas. Which one has her best interests at heart?

Other: It was certainly interesting Google-searching for this image. Don't try it at home. Also, I'm going to give something away now, so skip down to favorite parts if you don't want me to give something away.... Reed gets really mad when she finds out that Thomas is a drug dealer. But seriously. How did she not figure that out? I figured it out the first time she met him.

Favorite Parts:
1. At the school dance, Reed and Thomas are the ONLY people dancing, and then he kisses her! So sweet!
2. The first morning service at school. So ridiculous it's funny.
3. Anything that involves Noelle, the lead Billings girl. That one is vicious. What a great character!

Killers of the Dawn

This one is probably one of my favorites so far! It has such a bittersweet ending. And I love that! Although, now that I think about it there is something in the first book that isn't quite captured in the rest of these novels.

Summary: Darren, Mr. Crepsley, Harkat, and Vancha have escaped the trap set for them by the Vampaneeze in the last book. But in doing so, they walk right into a second trap! The police and the public think that they're the vicious killers that have been plaguing the city! Now they must escape police custody, avoid the public (which forms an angry mob when it sees them!), and find the Vampaneeze to get revenge.

Other: The end was sad. Really sad. It was like when Dumbledore died. Except when Dumbledore died I grieved for a year. So I guess it wasn't like that.

Favorite Parts:
1. Steve pretending to be a hostage for the cops. Technically he was their hostage, but he was also pretending not to be in league with the killers.
2. The angry mob chasing them. So funny.
3. The witty banter between the Chief of Police and Vancha.
4. There was one whole chapter. Then at the end it said, just kidding. That was pretty brilliant.

Allies of the Night

This one was interesting. I never saw this coming! It was definitely a new area for this series: School!

Summary: Darren, along with Mr. Crepsley, Harkat, and Vancha, are in Mr. Crepsley's home city searching for the vampaneeze, but they sense a trap when a truant officer comes to find Darren. And it's blatantly a set up when he finds out his English teacher is his first girlfriend: Debbie from Book Three! Someone knows a lot about him, signing him up for school and faking official documents. But things won't end there. Enter Steve. Yes, the one who promised to devote his life to killing Darren and all Vampires. But is he really on Darren's side now?

Other: Sorry the summary is so long. The books are kind of intense at this point, and half of this set up is so i can work at my (non-existent) summary skills. I like detail. Sue me.

Favorite Parts:
1. When we find out who Hooky the Vampaneeze is. First of all, he's been newly blooded so he's stuck in contacts in a vain effort to look like a full vampaneeze. Finally, WHO he is. You'll never guess, and my lips are sealed! Think back to the earlier books though!
2. When Darren and Debbie first meet. I would have loved to be in that class and see my English teach jumping up and down with excitement when she say the new kid and running to embrace him.
3. The reveal when you find out if Steve is good or bad! I'm not telling though! It's a good scene. And I promise you it's one of two things: Scandalous if he's bad or touching and heart-breakingly with a dash of self-sacrificing if he's good. Did I give it away?

Hunters of the Dusk

This book takes place several years after The Vampire Prince. It was entertaining, and also, I was glad that they finally left Vampire Mountain. Not that I don't love VP, but there is only so many stories you can tell about one character in one place.

Summary: Mr. Tiny pays Vampire Mountain a visit. And he never brings good news. He says that if the Vampires are to win against the Vampaneeze then there must be three hunters who will have several opportunities in the coming year to face the Lord of the Vampaneeze. If they kill him before he is fully blooded they will survive. But they must follow their hearts and seek him out. Who are these fated three? Mr. Crepsley and Darren, of course (with the third for the them to meet on their quest). So off they head to seek the council of a Soothsayer, Evanna, then back off the Cirque du Freak!

Other: I love the Cirque. I wish they could have stayed their longer. Also, for Darren spending a lot of time in VM training, he's not very good at the whole fighting thing.

Favorite Parts:
1. Hearing Evanna's story. The story is long, but it boils down to this. Mr. Tiny created her (in the womb of a wolf) in order to be the one women who could bear a Vampire's child. Will this be important later? I hope so.
2. We learn how Mr. Crepsley got the distinctive scar on his face: He tried to kiss Evanna when he was young and didn't know better!
3. Darren, Mr. Crepsley and Harket fight vampets for the first time.

The Vampire Prince

I finally got a hold of this book! And I was happy I did! I read this and the next three cirque du freak books in about two days. They were good. Really good. I just checked number ten out of the library (have to save my money for textbooks). They really flow like one long book, although, each does have an individual plot as well, they don't really stand alone like the first few could. But that's been going on since book four.

Summary: Darren has miraculously survived the river which has taken him out of Vampire Mountain. After being nursed back to health by a pack of wolves (including Streak and Rudi, aww!), Darren must use all his wits to get back to Vampire Mountain and tell the princes of the vampaneeze hiding in caves below before they kill him for being a traitor. Then he must help the vampire's beat the vampaneeze!

Other: The books have pretty good moral dilemmas. There hasn't been a really strong one since book two, the strongest one being book one. Book six brings back the moral gray area so true to life that I love about this series.

Favorite parts:
1. The wolves refuse to let Darren collapse and nip at his naked butt to keep him moving to shelter and warmth.
2. When Mr. Crepsley cries (which NEVER happens), it broke my heart.
3. The very end when the vampire princes solve the problem of Darren failing the trials by..... you thought I was going to tell you the end?

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy

I loved the first one, I adore the second, I'm waiting on baited breathe just to hear the name of the third. You could say that I'm excited. This series is up there for Harry Potter with me (and I LOVE Harry potter).

Summary: Cammie Morgan says she's over Josh, says she's through risking everything just for a simple boy, but deep down she's not sure. Then the unexpected happens: The Gallagher Academy is going to host several BOYS for a school similar to their own. But somethings not quite right. And even though she promised the CIA, her mother/headmistress, and herself that she was going to be a good girl this semester, she and her roommates are back to their old tricks again.

Other: This series is so imaginative. I think I would enjoy this book if it didn't even have a plot, if it was just the every day happenings of a girl at spy school. There details are amazing and intriguing. Also, I like the mystery of her father's disappearance (even though it makes me cry almost every time it is brought up). It is a good plot line to twist through the entire series. Also, the boys school has many mysteries that have not yet been satisfactorily dealt with.

Favorite Parts:
1. Cammie gets out spied by a cute boy!
2. Cammie's bra unsnaps and she has to flee the ball.
3. Cammie sees Dee Dee and Josh together.
4. Cammie and Zach's first kiss, maybe?
5. Cammie and Zach's study date.

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I disliked the ending where it was all just a test. Again? Really? Other than that, fantastic! Or "Excellent" as Dr. Steve would say.

Girls on Film

The sequel to the A-list was not a disappointment. This is turning out to be quite a good series, but at ten dollars a pop I need to get me a library membership or these will be few and far between. I'd rather own the books, but at the same time, I'd also rather afford food.

Summary: Anna is now an official resident of the 90210 and has enrolled in school. But things are anything but normal. She has to make a film about the Great Gatsby (go figure, since these books explore the same ideas) with Sam! But is Sam in love with her? And as if that weren't enough to worry about, her sister is out of rehab (early, I might add) and in California. Can Anna keep her sister sober, survive high school, and not leave a trail of broken hearts behind her?

Other: I can't decide whether the Gatsby references were cool, or over the top. Read it and let me know what you think?

Favorite Parts:
1. Ben and Anna have a huge confrontation in front of everyone Anna knows and it's caught on FILM.
2. Sam watches the film of number one and instead of checking out Ben, she can't take her eyes off Anna.
3. Anna is at a prestigious party for her new internship, but how is she going to keep it when both the person she's been assigned to escort AND her sister are too drunk for words?
4. The very end, but I'll never tell what that is!

Away Laughing On A Fast Camel

This one goes back to the first one and is much more similar to it than the others because there are lots of boys and lots of uncertainty and lots of drama and this is what I love about the series in the first place.

Summary: Robbie has gone off to Kiwi-a-go-go-land and Georgia will never love again. Even though Mark Big Gob thinks she's one of those girls (a tease), she keeps kissing Dave the Laugh (who she's just friends with), and the new lead singer for the Stiff Dylans is totally smoking. One little date won't hurt.

Other: I love Georgia chasing around an older boy while not really knowing what is going on with the younger guys. She's just confused and funny and willing to make a fool out of herself having fun. It's the reason that when I read the first book, I said, "I can't wait to read the next one."

Favorite Parts:
1. Georgia tells Dave the Laugh that Mark called her one of those girls when she wouldn't let him get to second base, so Dave the Laugh finds him, punches him in the face, and makes him apologize to Georgia.
2. Georgia sneaks in to watch the Stiff Dylans practice.
3. Georgia uses too much glue for her fake eyelashes (aka-boy entrancers) and ends up gluing her eyes shut while she's talking to the smoking front man of the Stiff Dylans.
4. Georgia's dad says she can't have one of Naomi's kittens, so Georgia tells her sister Libby to ask her mom, and Libby terrorizes her mom until she gets a kitten.
5. And every other even in the whole book.

Dancing in my Nuddy-Pants

This novel was definitely not a disappointment. It was the perfect book to relax to after a rough week of exams (okay, I should have updated this way before Christmas, let alone New Years). It was fun and funny and apparently they're making a movie about it. I'll need to find out more.

Summary: Georgia is done with her red-botomosity and is through allowing herself to kiss Dave the Laugh. She's going to stick with Robbie. However, that would be easier if Robbie was around more. And when he is around, he acts very strange. He's started writing songs about the environment, and sold his hot car for a bike. Georgia's planning on being the rich girl friend of a famous musician, so hopefully he'll start paying more attention to the band and less to her father talking about Kiwi-a-go-go-land.

Other: Georgia gets a bra! Finally!

Favorite moments: As always there are many because Georgia is a ridiculous girl after my own ridiculous heart.
1. Georgia gets stuck in detention and has to volunteer at the school Panto. Trying to help Wet Lindsey into her tights, Georgia knocks her into the tampon dispenser.
2. For Christmas Georgia gives Robbie an identity bracelet with her name on it, because he already knows his own. Talk about marking your own territory.
3. Naomi has little baby Anguses. Go Angus!
4. Georgia finally goes straight and grows a backbone. She stands up to the Bummer Twins by turning them into Slim after they get Nauseating P. Green expelled because they forced her to shoplift for them. (She got caught because she put seven winter coats on underneath her own and tried to walk out. Then she got stuck in the revolving door.)

Trials of Death

At the end of this book I was dying for the next one, but when I got to the bookstore they were all out of book six! And I've only just bought it yesterday. I can't wait to continue this series.

Summary: In order for himself and Mr. Crepsley not to be shamed (because Darren was blooded so young), Darren must endure the trials of initiation. Vicious tests that full vampires use to test themselves. Darren must complete five ridiculous tests, drawn at random. He must pass the tests, because the penalty for failure is...death. But what is to happen, when his Little Person friend jumps in to save him in the middle of his test? And what about all these rumours of vamaneeze travelling to Vampire Mountain?

Other: Even in death may you be victorious.

Favorite Parts:
1. Darren almost gives up, but then survives the water maze! That one had me a little claustrophobic. I don't do drowning.
2. Darren's training for the second task--crossing a cavern full of sharp stalactites and stalagmites--funny and exciting.
3. Darren's allies cook up a plan to allow him time to recover from the third test before his fourth test... brilliant!!
4. The very end!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But I won't tell you what happens.

Vampire Mountain

Book Four takes place several years after the first three books, but seeing as he's a vampire, he's still basically a little kid. While all the books end with "To Be Continued..." and you want more, this one was serious when it said "To Be Continued..." I read books four and five in the same afternoon, they were so good.

Summary: Darren and Mr. Crepsley are headed to Vampire Mountain for Council Meeting. But the trek there is a proving ground for vampires and it's a long hard trek. Not only that, but along the way Darren and Mr. Crepsley see signs of the Vampeneeze.

Other: Mr. Tiny is really creepy and I would really like to know what his deal is. In this book you learn about the Little People, and everyone's favorite, Lefty, from book Two, surprises everyone by.... speaking!!

Favorite Parts:
1. Darren fights a deranged bear!
2. Lefty finally speaks!
3. Darren fights a vampiress.
4. The end that left me begging for more!

Mister Monday

I've been meaning to read this one for a while. I thought I would breeze right though it (it's not a very hard read), but it took me days. I enjoyed it, but I'm not that excited for the next one. Part of the reason it took me so long might have been Christmas, being sick, and trying to spend time with the family, but needless to say, other things just kept being more important (which I think says a lot). I may read the next one, but I'll be getting it out of the library.

Summary: Basically, there is a will, which is a will in the traditional paper sense, but it also has cognitive thought. It is a will for everything that exists or has ever existed. It has been torn into pieces. In this book, the first part of the will is freed and it throws Arther into an adventure where he must realize the first part of the will.

Other: I don't have anything against Garth Nix. I loved the Seventh Tower series.

Favorite Parts:
1. Arthur's first day at a new school and he has an asthma attack and almost dies.
2. Arthur meets the Old One.
3. Arthur makes himself a player instead of a pawn.

Do Princesses Really Kiss Frongs?

I found this book in a pile of children's book when I was hanging out in my friend's room. (You could assume I'm the snooping sort, or I could tell you that they were sitting out, just calling to me.) It looked cute so I opened it and it almost made me wish I had a niece to read it to. Almost.

Summary: A young girl and her father go on a hike and through couplets she asks him various things about Princesses. The gist of it is that whatever she's doing is the answer, because she's his little princess and he loves her.

Other: It's very cute, and told in couplets. I had a lot of fun reading it. The pictures are great. There are lots of little details in the pictures that made me laugh. At the end of the book was a search and find sort of game. It showed a page of objects and you had to go back and find them throughout the book. If I, at age 21, had fun with it, than young girls certainly will as well.

Favorite parts:
1. The dog chases the bee.
2. The dad is overwhelmed by the amount of stuff his daughter wants to take on the hike.
3. The shadow scares the girl.
4. They meet a boy hiking with his mom... cute!

I'd Tell you I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

I've been dying to read this book, but I'm a broke college student so I had to wait until I found it in paperback. Last week, I was successful and I took it home excited to read it. But it was exam week and I had to put it off. On the second to last day of exams I decided to read a chapter of it. Needless to say, I didn't study much for my last exams.

Summary: Cammie Morgan is a sophomore at boarding school. They say that the school is for girl geniuses, but it's really for future spies. This year she finally gets to start learning about covert operations, but on an undercover assignment for class she meets a boy from town and falls for him. But she can never tell him who she really is. To make matters more complicated, the headmistress (Cammie's mother) has made a controversial decision to accept a student into the sophomore class. The girl isn't very nice and even better, she's rooming with Cammie and her friends.

Other: This book has all the nice details that made me fall in love with the Harry Potter series. For example, the girls learn fourteen different languages, and in order to make sure that they sound like naturals they speak a different language and dialect at each meal. A sign outside the dining hall will say "English-American" or "Chinese--Mandarin", etc. It's the little touches that made me fall in love with this book. Also, it is pretty exciting, but it's not superficial. I cried at a few parts.

Favorite moments:
1. The school gets a new young, hot teacher and all the girl go ga-ga.
2. The Red-Alert makes the new students crazy--you'd think that a red alert meant danger, but it meant that the whole school needed to appear like it was a normal school! The details are amazing.
3. During the practical CoveOps final Cammie gets mock-kidnapped (but it's really realistic). Her townie boyfriend sees it and comes after her to save her, not knowing that she's already escaped and working with her whole class to retrieve a disc. He crashes through the warehouse wall with a fork life. Brilliant.

The Clue of the Tapping Heels

The final Nancy Drew mystery in my top three, however, I'm excited to read the rest of them. But I've got lots of different things for you all first, so don't worry. This won't turn in to a shrine to Nancy Drew.

Summary: Nancy's goes to stay with an old woman who breeds cats to help solve the mystery of who keeps tapping in her walls all over her house at night. What else happens? There is a cat thief, a stalker, a grumpy neighbor, a secret room, and Nancy brings down the house with her amazing tap dancing in the play she's acting in.

Other: Nancy borrows Ned's car in order to avoid a stalker, but it doesn't work. I guess it's the thought that counts.

Favorite Parts:
1. Ned punches the stalker.
2. They find the neighbor unconscious in the backyard.
3. They discover the secret room and the diary!! This is why I loved this book so much in the first place.
4. Everyone falls in love with Nancy, because she risks her life to climb into the rafters and retrieve a prize-winning cat. For a smart girl, Nancy's always been a bit thick.

Sector 7

Another picture book, from award-winner David Wiesner. This book was lent to me by the same friend who lent me Flotsam. I like Flotsam a lot more, but this one is great as well. At first I thought it was going to be the cheesiest thing I ever read (well, kind of) in my life, but it was such an enjoyable book.

Summary: A young boy goes on a school trip to the top of a very high building to look through binoculars. But it's really cloudy that day and the boy ends up making friends with a cloud. When the wind comes to take the could away, the boy goes with him to Sector 7, where clouds get their assignments. There the boy helps the clouds transform themselves into all sorts of crazy shapes (like fish). The people in charge at Sector 7 aren't happy about this and send the boy home on a much older cloud. He is very sad when he discovers his friend the cloud back on the roof. This time the cloud escorts the boy to his world.

Other: This book is terribly fun. I wish I had a cloud for a friend.

Favorite parts:
1. The boy turns all the clouds into amazing shapes.
2. The boy tries to hide the cloud under his coat and looks very suspicious when he starts floating.
3. At the very end all the wonderfully shaped clouds come and amaze the city.

The Myster at Lilac Inn

This book is one of my top three Nancy Drew mysteries, the other two being The Clue of the Tapping Heels and The Haunted Bridge. I probably read this book more than any other book I've ever owned in my life. I also blame it for the fact that I love to buy lilac scented products.

Summary: Nancy goes to visit her friend at the Inn she and her fiance just bought. But Nancy soon realizes that all is not okay and bad things keep happening at the Inn, which include her friends family diamonds being stolen, someone impersonating Nancy, and a bomb in Nancy's cabin! Can Nancy solve the mystery and help save the Inn?

Other: I forget how much actually happens in the Nancy Drew books. There's always a lot going on, so I'm never bored. However, Nancy is way too perfect. In the last book she was a great golfer, in this one she's great at scuba diving, in The Clue of the Tapping Heels, she knows Morse code, is a great tap dancer and an actress. When does it end? I hate girls like Nancy in real life. Also, the picture is for the audio edition, but I read it, so I have no idea if the audio edition is good or not.

Favorite Parts:
1. Nancy goes to a department store to report that her charge card has been stolen and they think she is trying to get out of paying her bill.
2. After recovering the diamonds, they bring them to be appraised only to learn that they are glass!

Calalyst

Laurie Halse Anderson is such a good author. I love her books, and she is such nice woman. I met her at a book signing about six years ago (and have a signed copy of Speak which I am still excited about). This book did not disappoint me. I devoured it! Read it in one sitting.

Summary: Kate Malone is a senior. Life is complicated, but everything looks good on the outside: She has kept her family going after her mother died, is a great cross country runner, and battling for the number one spot in her class, as well as having an equally smart and motivated boyfriend. To deal with life, she runs late into the night instead of sleeping, but soon the running won't even be able to help her make sense of everything: she's about to lose control. Ignoring the concept of a safe school, Kate only applied to MIT, and doesn't get in. As if that weren't enough, the girl next door, who beat her up every day in middle school, moves in with her family (her dad being the local preacher and the inviting sort), when her family's house is burned to the point where it is unlivable. Her whole life is about to change, and she's going to have to learn to face her problems and fears and grief.

Other: Laurie Halse Anderson does not shy away from the real world. She deals with the main problems, but everything is not resolved at the end. It is not really a "happy" book and it deals with everything from death to incest. Even though Anderson usually writes about heavier themes, her writing is fun and easy to read. You will cry when you're reading it. I was sobbing. My poor roommate was trying to sleep.

Favorite Parts:
1. Any time Kate describes something using current technology as a metaphor is great. It was a great touch, adding to her character while at the same time making it interesting to read.
2. Mikey's diaper overflows and goes everywhere!
3. Kate teaches Mikey to sing the elements of the periodic table.
4. When Teri tears the house down, it tears my heart apart.

The Haunted Bridge

I love Nancy Drew. I grew up on them. My mom read them when she was a girl and she saved them and gave them to me. I read them all the time when I was young, so I started reading immediately when i found a box of them in the basement. This is one of those series where it doesn't matter what order you read them in, so I started with this one, because it was one of my favorites. It's in my top three Nancy Drew books.

Summary: Nancy and her friends, Bess and George, accompany Carson Drew to a resort where he is working on a case. Nancy says that she'll help him on his case, but at the same time, she picks up a mystery of her own--a haunted bridge. Soon she discovers that the two may be connected. Along the way she plays in a golf tournament, meets a rather annoying man with a knack for changing his penmanship, and gets the boys to come for a visit.

Other: The good thing about this one, is that regardless of the fact that I must have read it a million times as a kid, I couldn't remember the end, so I was pleasantly surprised with the happy ending. However, being older as I read this, Nancy really is pretentious and whiny goody-two-shoes. It kind of annoyed me. However, once I got over that, I was able to enjoy the rest of the book.

Favorite parts:
1. Nancy wins the golf competition, even though she is injured.
2. Nancy finds a mysterious chest with a beautiful compact inside.
3. At the end long lost lovers are reunited (I'm a sap, what can I say?).

Flotsam

A friend had this in her room and I picked it up to look at it. She said it was great, but I had my doubts. I have a hard time loving books for this age group. But I was so impressed with this book. It is one of my favorite all time books I think. The summary will give away the whole book, just so that you are aware.

Summary: A boy is at the beach with this family, collecting things that wash up and examining them under his microscope. He finds normal things like crabs and starfish and shells, but then he finds an underwater camera. Getting the pictures developed he sees the most amazing things from under the ocean. But the last picture is special. It is a picture of a kid holding a picture of a kid holding a picture of a kid... etc. When he uses his telescope he discovers that the pictures go all the way back about fifty or sixty years. Not to break the chain he puts new film in the camera and lobs it out to sea, but not after adding his picture holding the special picture of all the children who have discovered the joys of the ocean.

Other: This is a picture book. There are absolutely no words in it, but it is a better told story than half the books out there for this age group.

Favorite parts:
1. All of the pages that were pictures from under the ocean were amazing.
2. The pages that showed the chain of children who have found the underwater camera were great.