“It’s a Mall World After All” by Janette Rallison

“It’s a Mall World After All” by Janette Rallison is a humorous novel about a teenage girl and how her job at the local mall ends up changing her life.

Charlotte works in a department store at the local mall.  She sprays customers with free perfume samples and tries to get them to buy the latest popular perfume.  It’s not exactly a glamorous job, but it is a way to make money.  In addition, her spot right near the department store door is a great lookout point to watch for cute boys. Read the rest »

“Timothy and the Dragon’s Gate,” by Adrienne Kress

“Timothy and the Dragon’s Gate,” by Adrienne Kress is a fantasy story about a boy who must help a dragon to escape from the human body that he is trapped in.

“Timothy and the Dragon’s Gate” is a sequel to “Alex and the Ironic Gentleman”.  Readers of the first saga will remember that Alex is a brave young girl who sets off on a fantastic journey to save her middle school teacher from the dangerous pirates of the infamous ship The Ironic Gentleman.  Now Adrienne Kress has written a second book that is just as lively and exciting.

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“The Compound,” by S. A. Bodeen

“The Compound,” by S. A. Bodeen is a chilling science fiction story about a rich family living in a specialized bomb shelter designed to help them survive a nuclear war.

Eli Yanakakis and his family entered the Compound six year ago, when they learned that a full scale nuclear war was about to begin.  When your father is a billionaire he can afford anything, even a multi-million dollar bomb shelter with enough supplies to outlast a nuclear winter.  The bomb shelter has rooms full of supplies, a kitchen, a gym, a music room, and even a small church.  But what it is missing is Eli’s twin brother Eddy and his grandmother.  They didn’t make it into the shelter in time. Read the rest »

“Burn,” by Suzanne Phillips

“Burn,” by Suzanne Phillips is a powerful realistic fiction novel about a boy who is being bullied at school.

Cameron Grady is a high school freshman.  Once he used to get good grades, and he had friends at school.  Now he finds it hard just to work up the nerve to go to school at all.  Teachers pester him about missed assignments and failing grades, but none of these things matter to Cameron.  He is far more worried about avoiding being bullied.

It all started when Cameron began ninth grade.  One small but deadly mistake destroyed his school reputation forever. Read the rest »

“Seekers - Smoke Mountain,” by Erin Hunter

“Seekers - Smoke Mountain,” by Erin Hunter is the third book in the Seekers series, about a group of bears on a quest to save all bearkind from human damage to the environment.

In  “Seekers - The Quest Begins” and “Seekers - Great Bear Lake” Erin Hunter introduced readers to Kallik, an orphaned polar bear; and Lusa, a black bear who escaped from a human zoo to find Toklo, a grizzly bear cub.  The fourth bear in this diverse group, Ujurak, is truly unique.  He is shapeshifter who can take on the form of any other animal.  However he prefers to be a small bear cub. Read the rest »