Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Greetings Bookworms, Cat here to review an awesome book by called Inkheart! :)

Summary/Description: Meggie and her father live a simple, seemingly normal life filled with books. They both thoroughly enjoy them. Little does Meggie know that there is a reason her mother is gone and her father never reads aloud, and that those two are oddly connected. When an old friend of her father's shows up late on a rainy night, she thinks it a bit odd, but what she doesn't know is that simply because of that (and the reminder it brings) her whole world is going to be turned upside-down.

What I though: I rate this book 5 stars! I really loved it. It was a long book, a good looking one that I'd been meaning to read for a long time, and finally decided I would. It was well worth it. I'm going to check out Inkspell (the sequel) as soon as possible from the library. I also know that it has been recently turned into a movie, which I'd like to see. So, the moral of this story is, Read Inkheart! Great summer reading too.

Darkwood by M. E. Breen

The sun sets so quickly in Howland that the people who live there have no word for evening. One minute the sky is blue or cloud gray, the next minute it is black, as though someone has thrown a heavy blanket over the earth.

The people of Howland have no moon. It is said that an evil witch cast a spell to hide it 7 centuries ago. So when darkness falls, there is no light anywhere. Thats when the Kinderstalk come out.

Kinderstalk are supposed to be evil creatures that eat children. Of course no one knows if that is true, but whatever children wander out after dark never come back. Annie is just like any other girl in Howland. She fears kinderstalk, and would never venture into the forest, until she hears her uncle Jock and aunt Prim talking about selling her to a man who will take her to the Drop. Then she knows she must go, and at night as well, which would be violating two of the unspoken rules of her village. When she leaves, she has no idea what she is getting herself into. Not expecting to survive the night in the forest, she is thrown into a whirlwind of prophesies, Kinderstalk, and the mystery of the dissapeared children.

"The Scion of darnkness will bear the white mark, Human form, animal heart. Black water, radiant night, Torn from love, wounded life. Changeful child, shelter the pack. Brave in batte, devour the witch."

I liked this book. It was very confusing at times, but other times it was wonderful. And I love, love, LOVE the cover. I think that is a big part of why I chose to read it in the first place. I mean, look at it! can you see it and not want to read it? I couldn't. I think I would give this book 3 1/2 stars.

The Farwalker's Quest by Joni Sensel

They drag me ever on and on,

I'm all unwilling,

Tied to a ragged crow

Too far from home.

Too far from anything,

My feet are burning

Walking so endlessly

Lost from my home.

Ariel thinks she is destined to become a Healtouch, in other words, a doctor. That is, after all, what her mother is. As much as Ariel thinks she is to be a Healtouch, Zeke thinks he is destined to become a Treesinger, those powerful people who can talk with trees. But all this changes when Ariel finds the Telling Dart. A Telling Dart is old, they stopped using them long before she was even born. Little does she know that this one holds a message for her.

After she is kidnapped and Zeke rescues her, they know there is no going back. They were thrown into the adventure, and they have to get to the end, before its too late.

Walking ever on and on,

Blood always spilling.

Finders are awful men.

Walk to the sun.

Walk to the sun and back,

My feet are burning.

Zeke's here to help me now,

Walk with the wind.

I really liked this book. I think it was fairly hard to read, and it was kinda confusing sometimes, but it was really nice not to have something which I could finish in two days. I really liked Ariel, even though she is the main character, and the most important, because she is the only one of her trade, the Farwalkers, left, she never acts stuck up. I would give this book about four stars.

Walk where the nightmare leads,

Looking for Cloudspear.

Follow the water's path.

Don't walk, but run.

Rain water running now,

Dripping from Cloudspear.

Look for the mountain's mouth

Far from the sun.

Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor

"But don't think it's possible..." - I twisted up my face- "... that every person is a hero to someone else?" I said.

Addie is waiting for normal. She lives in a trailer on 'the corner', where she is the only kid. Her mother is what Addie calls "All or nothing." there is either a feast, or no food. She will be really nice, or she will ignore Addie. She is always home, or she leaves the house for days at a time. there is no in the middle, in other words, normal. When Addie learns what normal is really, it only makes waiting for it worse. if you add to this the fact that her mother hates her grandpa, the flute she plays on is stolen, and Soula doesn't seem to be getting better, it only gets less normal.

Me, I'm good at getting used to things- been doing it all my life.

I liked this book. It was well written, and I liked how she struggled with her family problems. I would give this book three stars.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

Maybe everybody had the same allotted measure of happiness within each day. Maybe it didn't matter if you were a world-famous heartthrob or a painful geek. Maybe it didn't matter if you friend was possibly dying. Maybe you just got through it. Maybe that was all you could ask for.

Carmen found the pants at a thrift store. They were common looking, plain blue jeans with fading around the knees. They were nothing special, or were they? Carmen, Lena, Bridget, and Tibby are friends. When they are together, they form a one whole. This summer will be their first summer apart. The day before they split, Carmen is about to throw away the jeans, until Tibby asks if she could have them. Well, if Tibby wanted her old jeans she was going to throw away anyway, good for her, Carmen thought. When Tibby tryed them on, they looked amazing. Then Lena trys them on, and even though they are different builds, they look wonderful on her too. Then Bridget trys them, and they also look good. Then, when they think it can't get any weirder, they fit Carmen too. They have a pair of magical pants. When the girls go their seperate ways for the summer, they take turns with the pants. (earning them the name "the traveling pants") in them the girls cry, make mistakes, ruin their lives, and then laugh, and fix them again.

"Mrs. Graffman, I know what happened. you don't have to say." Tibby put her hand to her eyes. The Funeral was two days later, on a Monday.

I loved this book. It is definately something I would read again. I would have to say my favorite charactor was either Bridget or Bailey. I was litterally crying by the end of this, because the part before the end is really sad. I would give this book five stars.

She lay down. She curled up. And then she changed her mind. She was alive, and they were dead. She had to try to make her life big. As big as she could. She promised Bailey she would keep playing.

Flora Segunda by Ysabeau S. Wilce

"No, Valefor. I know that the Dainty Pirate thought I was fading, discorporeal, and he said that a galvanic egregore was sucking away all my Will, and I think he meant you, Valefor, and he said soon it would be too late. But perhaps you can explain it to me better, Valefor! Please do!"

Shortcuts are dangerous. Flora knows this. When your house has 11,000 rooms, you never know where you will end up. It didn't used to be like this, it used to be that the toilet would be exactly where you needed it to be, and if you needed to get to the kitchen, just walk through a door, and there it is. However, after Flora's mother banished the butler, everything changed. Now most of the rooms are uninhabitable, and the butler hasn't been seen for many, many years. When Flora takes a forbidden shortcut though, and stumbles upon the maybe butler, she and her best friend throw themselves into trying to discover how to bring him back.

This was a good book. I would not read it again, but it was decently written. One of the things I didn't like, was that the best friend, who is mentioned in the summary, doesn't come into the book till like, the middle. Also, I didn't like Flora, but that always depends on the person who is reading it. I would give this book three stars.

The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod by Heather Brewer

Hey, Remember how I reviewed that awesome vampiric book a while ago that was for the second book in the series because of... well, reasons (go there to see), I finally read the first one and I am back with the review.

4 stars! It's a good series. Although, actually, maybe the second one was a bit better (you know it's good, when the sequels improve instead of getting worse.)
Vladimir Tod is a teenage vampire, who has to hide it from the public (obviously), so that he isn't killed or something. He doesn't know of there are any like him left, or if there ever was. His parents died in a mysterious fire just a few years before. Now, witness the (expected) and not adventures of this high school vampire's life.

I like this series. It is well written, and the characters are cool, and well developed. There are lots of surprises, one of those books where you definitely expect things, and then it's totally wrong. I think anyone can like it really. I recommend it for those who are interested in vampires, or twilight (although I think this is better), or maybe just good books in general!

The Postcard by Tony Abbott

So... he lived? A sound came from the stairway. I swear my heart died right then and there. I froze where I sat, trying not to make a sound. Someone was coming for me, walking down the hall right now. I crawled silently into the bathroom and squeezed the door shut. Someone entered the room. I could hear the crunch of plaster dust on the floor as the steps made their way one by one to the window. They turned. Another crunch. I was shaking, sweating, shaking, soaking wet. Please, no, no.

It was the phone call which started everything. When Jason's father calls to tell Jason and his mom that Jason's grandma died, Jason is sent down to Florida to help pack up her house. While he is there, he recieves a creepy phone call, and finds a mysterious postcard. With the help of a girl named Dia, his bestfriend, and many other people, he discovers the secret of his grandmother, and her life.

This was an ok book. It was kinda creepy for the first three quarters, and then it had a very surprising ending. I would give it about three stars. I didn't like the ending, and near the end I had no clue what was going on. Dia is pretty cool, but she and Jason don't really act like normal people.

Ten Things I Hate About Me by Randa Abdel-Fattah

I was born and raised in Oz but people still assume I was born under a camel in a cave in a desert in the Middle East to parents who belong to a tribe with Osama bin Laden's genealogy.

Jamie has a secret. A secret she hopes will never come to light. When Jamie goes home, the blonde Jamie, turns into Arabic Jamilah. for a while this lie works. but when Jamie's secret threatens to be revealed, she will have to decide whether to be Jamie, or Jamilah.

This was a very good book. It was also a LOL book. I was in the car and I was reading this, and I was cracking up, and my mom is like, "what?!" lol, so funny. I would give this about four and a half stars. I liked Jamilah/Jamie, though I don't really like her decision to keep Jamilah a secret. lol, good book though. this author wrote another book, Does my head look big in this?, and I think I will read and review that.

carnival

hi peoples!! its time for the next addition of the carnival. again, I only got one submission, so next time if you peoples could please submit something, do. kay?
the sad thing is, I don't even think this is a kid. so, students, kids, please, PLEASE, PLEASE Submit something next time.

switch 2 life has an interesting review on The Magicians Nephew.
http://switch2life.blogspot.com/2009/06/magicians-nephew.html