Lucky by Rachel Vail

I recommend this book to girls and if you like realistic drama about friends and boys.. enjoy!

The end of eighth grade is coming soon. Phoebe Avery and her group of friends plan this huge graduation party for the whole eighth grade. Everything at the party was to be perfect from fashion photographer to engraved invitations. All Phoebe needed was the perfect dress to attend the party in. She had everything she ever wanted and everything was going smooth in her life until her family hits a financial crisis. Her dad suggests to cancel the party because Phoebe isn't able to help pay her share of the party's price. Also, Phoebe's crush is now giving mixed signals and on top of that her friends are suspicious about Phoebe and her family because Phoebe has been acting weird around them. Read the book to see if her family survives at the end, if she gets her dream dress, and if the party still continues!

The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox

I read a book called The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox. This book won the John Newbery Medal, and it is loved by many people. The genre of this book is historical fiction, and it takes place in the 1840's in New Orleans. The protagonist of this book is Jessie, a thirteen year old boy who lives in New Orleans with his mother and her sister. Back in the 1840's, there were slave markets in New Orleans where African Americans were sold. Jessie went to slave markets to see the slaves even his mother told him not to go. One day his mother was out of candles, so she told Jessie to borrow some candles from her aunt. On his way back home from his aunt's house, he gets kidnapped by two men, and he gets forced to aboard a ship to Africa. Jessie realizes he was on a slave ship, and discovers that he was taken to be the "slave dancer" of the ship. A slave dancer has to play his fife to make the slaves dance to keep them fit during the long voyage. So as the ship's boy, he plays his fife, and makes them dance. During the long voyage, Jessie learns the realities of sea life, and the brutality that the slaves face. Can Jessie get back home to New Orleans? Find it out! Readers of this book can learn how terrible the slaves were treated back in those days. It was a fantastic book, and I recommend this book to everybody who likes historical fiction!

Ambition By: Kate Brian

During 3rd quarter,I chose to read Ambition (the seventh book of the Private novel series) by Kate Brian. Reed Brennan, the newly elected Billings House president, is now tasked to save Billings, to do this she must raise 5 million dollars in a month's time. Preparing for the fundraiser is not all Reed has on her plate, she must also deal with being framed with Cheyenne's murder, losing the love of her life,Josh,to her arch enemy,Ivy Slade, and going on dates with eligible bachelors of Easton Academy. Will Reed Brennan's fundraiser be a success? Will she find Cheyenne's real murderer or will she get to Reed first? Will she ever fall in love with another "Josh" again? Read Ambition to find out! - Surina Lewandowski

Catching Fire by: Suzanne Collins

I read Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. This is the second book of the Hunger Games series. This book is about how Katniss and Peeta go on their victory tour around the Districts after they won the hunger games competition. The Districts are starting to rebel against the Capitol so, while Katniss and Peeta are on tour, they need to find a way to lead the districts away from rebelling against the Capitol. If the Districts do end up rebelling, Peeta and Katniss will be blamed for it and could get killed or have their family members and their close friends killed. I thought this was a good book, but I liked the first Hunger Games book better because this book had a slow beginning and did not get exciting until the middle of the story. This book had many interesting surprises in it. I would recommend this book if you liked the first Hunger Games book or if you are looking for a good, exciting story, you should read the Hunger Games series.

The Secret Society of the Pink Crystal Ball By:Risa Green

When I was little I got a cheap plastic magic eight ball. It was one of those things that you ask a question and shake. It then gives you an answer like yes, no, or ask again later. Anyways, this is the type of gift Erin Channing got from her Aunt in this book. Hers is a little different though. Unlike some five dollar toy you could probably buy from Walmart, Erin's actually works. Any prediction the crystal ball makes comes true, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. The rules that came with the crystal ball are on the back cover of the book. Erin tries to decipher their meanings throughout the whole story. I usually really like books with clues, letters, or something different about them, but this one was only okay. It talked about dealing with a difficult loss and true friendships. I would recommend it for teenage girls who like books with a lot of surprising twists in them.

Echo By: Kate Morgenroth

In this book, Echo, by: Kate Morgenroth, this teenager, Justin before was popular, had the prettiest girl in the school, was the star athlete and got good grades. It wasn't until his younger brother, Mark killed himself, that his whole life turned upside down. His whole life changed not just because his was brother dead, but everyone thought he was the one who killed his brother. Justin needed help and he didn't get that until after about a month, he woke up with this voice in his head, almost like his conscious. This voice told him what to do and where to go during the day. What was weird was that Justin had to go through the same school day with this voice in his head, three times. For this reason because he needed to figure out why he tried to kill himself that day and why there were random spots of blood everywhere and why his mirror all of a sudden broke. At first, when I was reading this book I didn't understand most of it, but since each day was gettting clearer and more suspensful, it kept me on my toes and wanting to read more. This book is a very sad, depressing book, but it does help you to realize the silver lining in every day, even when you think it's the worst day of your life. Read this book, Echo, and find out what happens to Justin and how he copes with his depressing life.

Lockdown

Lockdown is a book by Alexander Gordon Smith. This book is about a boy named alex thats kind of a typical junior high school bully, like the ones you see in movies. He takes territories on the playground and takes kids lunch money. One day him and his friend Toby are robbing a house and everything goes wrong. No one is home except for the blacksuits... they are owners of a prison called Furnace. They shot Toby and framed Alex, Alex had nothing else to do but run. Eventually he got caught, and sent to Furnace. There, the prison is underground and filled with gang members and violence. People say that its literly  hell and that the warden is the devil. Read this book to see if Alex can escape, let alone survive this hell. I would recommend this book to anyone, i absolutely loved this book and it kept me reading. Its very interesting and filled with action and mystery. Great book overall.
-Konrad Markowski- 

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter

This book is interesting because of the unique way the author tells the story. It isn't just all fiction, the vampire part of the story is mixed in with the true facts of Abraham Lincoln's life. From childhood until his death, you learn how vampires affected his life. If you like fighting, action and presidents fighting alongside and against vampires, then this book is something you must read. Even if you don't like vampire story's, you should get Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith.

Under A War-Torn Sky

For those of you wanting suspense, action, and drama, this is the book for you. This book is about a boy named Henry who flies a b-24 bomber. On one of his raids, his plane is shot down by the Luftwaffe (German air force) and he and the crew bail out of the plane. Henry, the last of his crew, tries to make his escape to freedom, he is at the mercy of citizens who can choose not to help. Will he survive, or will he be captured? This story is nonfiction, but the characters are fake. I give this book five out of five stars. The in depth descriptions of this book is unreal. The title of the book is "Under A War-Torn Sky" by L.M. Elliott. If you don't read it, your missing out.

The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton.

Ever wonder what it was like growing up in the late 1960's? Low class kids in the 1960's, more specifically 1967, were called greasers. The rich kids in were called Socs. This story is about their differences growing up in the same town. During one of their fights, a young greaser stabbed one of the head socs, causing a huge comotion. The ending of this book is very intence and I didn't see it coming at all. Overall, this book was wonderful. S.E Hinton did a great job of describing everything for you and there is never a dull moment while reading this book. I recommend this book to everyone!

The Best Book Ever

This is the best book ever.

The Twenty-One Balloons

In my book, The Twenty-One Balloons, by William Pene du Bois, Professor William Waterman Sherman goes on a hot air balloon ride, from San Francisco and trys to fly over the Pacific Ocean. His expedition is disurbed, when he encounters a little storm making him crash on an island named Krakatoa. Krakatoa is an unknown volanic island with only 40 people living there. The people there are normal, but their ideas are out of this world! He finds a way out and then goes on to tell his experiences.