Ruby Red Review

I finished reading Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier a few months ago, and fell in love with it. The plot is fairly simple, but the characters and story are both so engaging that I had to go to Amazon as soon as I finished it and purchase the sequel.


Ruby Red Summary:
Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!





Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon--the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust.

Ruby Red Review:
This book was originally translated from German, so I was worried the translation would leave the writing feeling a bit choppy, but the translation was very well done. Gwen is a really great character, and Gideon is a character readers will love to hate in the beginning, but be rooting for Gwen to end up with in the end.

What struck me as so great about this book is that the plot is very simple, but the writing and the characters carry the reader to the end of the book. Now that I've finished the sequel, I'm really looking forward to reading Emerald Green when it comes out in October. The one thing I didn't really care for about the first two books is that between the first two books, only 2-3 weeks pass, which feels odd. So much is packed into those couple of weeks. It also makes the romance feel a little less real, but overall I still thought it was excellent.

I would highly recommend this book to fans of YA time travel novels, or anyone who enjoys a good romance.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Rodrick Rules

Title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
Author: Jeff Kinney
Genre: Humor
Ages: 7 and up
Reviewer: Shai B.

Summary:
This book is about a boy named Greg and his borther Rodrick who is 15 years old. They do not get along because they fight a lot. They fight over who will play the Playstation 3. Their mother usually punishes them, and gives them a writing assignment on how to handle their problems better. Greg and Rodrick do the assignment, but Roderick continues to bully Greg.

Review:
I think the book was a horrible book because Roderick bullies Greg all the time. I think bullying is bad because something dangerous can happen. For example, if Rodrick twists Greg's hand he will have to go to the hospital to get surgery. If I could talk to the authoer I would ask him to change the bullying and have the mother involved more. She would help them to get along, instead of fighting.

The Yellow Princess Gets a Pet

Title: The Yellow Princess Gets a Pet
Author: Alyssa Crowne
Genre: Chapter Book
Age Range: 5-8
Reviewer: Brianna

Summary:
The Yellow Princess Gets a Pet is about this girl who loves the color yellow. She wants a pet, but she does not know what type of animal to get. She thinks about what it would be like if she had a pet snake, bird, and cat. Until she thought about a dog. So that was her choice.

Review:
I think the yellow princess is a book that can make you laugh. It can also help you choose a pet. I would recommend it to a friend.

Dork Diaries

Title: Dork Diaries
Author: Rachel Russell
Genre: Diary Fiction
Reviewer: Dejanai

Dork Diaries Summary:
Dork Diaries is about a girl named Nikki who has a diary and tries to keep it away from her enemie MacKenzie who tries to get Brandon (Nikki's crush) to be her boyfriend. And the diary talks about drama and things that go on at school which is a lot of drama and her best friends who try to keep her out of trouble are Zoey and Chloe, who also try to get her closer to Brandon.

Dork Diaries Review:
I think this book is funny and playful and has a lot of drama and gossip. An example of gossip is when MacKenzie talks about Nikki.

Babushka's Doll

Title: Babushka's Doll
Author: Patricia Polacco
Genre: Picture Book
Reviewer: Mirahkal

Babuskha's Doll Summary:
This book is about a girl being stubborn. She misses her grandmother because her grandmother leaves her with her doll.

Babushka's Doll Review:
I think this book is awesome because it reminds me of my cousin because she is stubborn.

Dork Diaries

 

Title: Dork Diaries

Author: Rachel Renee Russell

Genre: Fiction

Recommended Ages: 7-13

Reviewd by: Sojourner F.

Dork Diaries Summary:
This book is about a girl named Nikki who keeps a diary about everyday life and at school a lot of drama goes on. This girl named McKenzie is like Nikki's enemy. Her freinds are Zoey and Chloe. Her crush is Brandon, but McKenzie and Nikki both like him.

Dork Diaries Review:
I think that this is a funny book and full of drama and aI love to read this book. One funny thing is anytime Brandon comes around she goes all crazy and gets all silly.

Runaway Dolls

Title: Runaway Dolls

Author: Ann Martin

Genre: Fantasy

Recommended Ages: 8-12

Reviewd by: Anonymous

Runaway Dolls Summary:
This book is about dolls getting shipped away. They were alive so they bust out of the box and run away. They found an owner they like and stayed with them. They told their owner that they are alive.

Runaway Dolls Review:
I think this book is interesting, because dolls are not alive, but what I don't get is, if you're trapped in a box, how can you escape?

Alice in Wonderland

Title: Alice in Wonderland

Author: Lewis Carol

Genre: Fantasy

Recommended Ages: 8 & up
Review written by: Isyse

Alice in Wonderland Summary:
The book is about  the girl who falls into a bunny hole and she sees all these weird animals and she starts to go on an adventure to go fight the queen so she can go home.

Alice in Wonderland Review:
I thought the book was very entertaining and interesting because I like books with a fantasy setting and a good adventure in it and I really like the illustrations.

Monument 14

 

Title: Monument 14

Author: Emmy Laybourne

Genre: Apocalyptic

Recommended Ages: 15 & up
Review written by: Ms. Candyce

Monument 14 Summary:
Your mother hollers that you’re going to miss the bus. She can see it coming down the street. You don’t stop and hug her and tell her you love her. You don’t thank her for being a good, kind, patient mother. Of course not—you launch yourself down the stairs and make a run for the corner. Only, if it’s the last time you’ll ever see your mother, you sort of start to wish you’d stopped and did those things. Maybe even missed the bus. But the bus was barreling down our street, so I ran.

Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong. In Emmy Laybourne’s action-packed debut novel, six high school kids (some popular, some not), two eighth graders (one a tech genius), and six little kids trapped together in a chain superstore build a refuge for themselves inside. While outside, a series of escalating disasters, beginning with a monster hailstorm and ending with a chemical weapons spill, seems to be tearing the world—as they know it—apart.

Monument 14 Review:
I really enjoyed this book. The characters were all vastly different, which gave the story a type of variety that I usually don't see in YA books. Not to mention that the main character's voice was intriguing fun. I've been told that I have a dry sense of humor so my opinion might be biased, but I personally loved the protagonist's sarcasm. Although I will say that it took me at least 15 pages to figure out that the main character was a boy. The description doesn't let on, and we didn't hear his name until quite a few pages in (at least not that I saw).

I couldn't put this book down. In the beginning they were trapped in the store and I thought that the story would be sort of stagnant, but then the author threw in a bunch of other variables that made the story fresh and interesting. Personally, I'm not to fond of Dean's decision at the end of the book, but I'm looking forward to the sequel coming out next June. It should definitely be interesting.