Dragon Slippers

By: Jessica Day George

Characters:

Creel-Country Girl- Creel's aunt sacrifices her to a dragon so a prince can rescue her and marry her. Or get gold from the dragons hoard.

Luka-Prince- Luka meets Creel when she first arrives in the king's city, and they soon become friends.

Summary:

Creel gets sacrificed to a dragon by her aunt, but has no intention on staying and waiting, and waiting, and waiting for a knight to come and rescue her. After she and Theoradus make a bargain she get a new pair of slippers from Theoradus's hoard and her freedom. Creel plans to go and work in king's city. On her way their she meets another dragon who helps her out of trouble. When she arrives strange things start happening to her that seem to revolve around her pair of shoes. Creel finds out that her slippers aren't any ordinary pair of shoes...

This is the first book in a series of three books. The second book is Dragon Flight. This is an amazing book, I really liked this book. Jessica Day George does such a good job of telling how Creel feels.

~Maddie~

The Dead and the Gone

By:SusanBeth Pfeffer

Characters: Alex- Oldest sibling- When his parents don't return home after a few weeks, Alex becomes head of the family, not by his choosing.

Briana- Second oldest- A highly religious catholic girl who stubbornly believes her parents will come back.

Julie- Youngest sibling- Alex and Julie do not get along. When Briana spends some time at a convent, they have to learn to adapt to each other.

Description: Alex and his sisters are living life in the Big Apple when disaster strikes. The moon is pushed closer to Earth. When their friends move away and their parents don't seem to be coming back, they must learn to adjust to this new life together. Alex provides for the family by "body shopping" and trading his goods for food. Will Alex's parents ever return?



I like this book, but it's not my favorite out of the series. But, it you plan on reading "This World We Live In" you have to read this book or it wouldn't make any sence. This book is kind of like 2012, but not as bad. If you don't like books with the world comeing to an end (in a literal sence) than don't read this. Then again, just like 2012 this is not possible. I personally hated 2012 at the end I was on the verge of an anxiety attack, but this book was much, much, much better.

11 Birthdays

By:Wendy Mass

Characters:

Amanda-Leo's ex-best friend- Amanda Ellerby was named after her dads great-grandmother who lived in Willow Falls. Ever since Amanda's first birthday it had always been with Leo...Until now.

Leo-Amanda's ex-best friend-Leo(Leonard) Fitzpatrick was named after his fathers great-grandfather who lived in Willow Falls. Ever since Leo's very first birthday it had always been celebrated with Amanda...Until now.

Description:
1st Birthday- They learned to walk.
5th Birthday- They planted seeds.
10th Birthday- They learned no words can be taken back.

Amanda's birthday is supposed to be fun but it's not. She has to try out for the school gymnastics team, wear a shoes that give her blisters, and it's her first birthday she is celebrating with out her ex-best friend Leo. Leo is the lucky one, he gets a hypnosis, a giant lizard, and a football player, but all Amanda gets is a lousy Hollywood themed party with a sick DJ. After her party she doesn't even bother to open  her presents. She runs to her room and goes to sleep. She just can't wait till Saturday! The only problem is, it's Friday again.

~Maddie~

Life as We Knew It

By: Susan Beth Pfeffer

This book was absolutely amazing!!

Characters: Miranda- your typical teenager- she's a little lost after the death of her good friend. When the moon gets pushed closer to the earth she must be strong.

Mom- Miranda, Johnny, and Matt's mother- She's trying to do her best to provide for their family in the tough times.

Johnny- Miranda and Matt's brother- Upbeat and happy, he loves baseball. When mealtime comes around he never realizes his family is saving food for him.
Matt- the oldest of Miranda's family- He takes charge in this difficult time, chopping wood, and holding the family together by the seams.

Description: Miranda and her family live normal lives in the town of Howell, PA. On the news reporters begin to broadcast a meteor will hit the moon. While sitting on her porch her family watches as the moon is knocked out of it's orbit and closer to Earth. This change directly impacts the tides, valcanoes, and earth quakes. Things go down hill. Food becomes impossible to find, school might as well be closed, and the temps dramatically drop. Will everything go back to normal or will it get worse before it gets better?

P.S.... This book was AMAZING~ part of a series. The follow up books are: "The Dead and the Gone" and "This World We Live In." Be sure to read them all, they are hard to put down.

~JoJo~

Twice Upon a Marigold

By:Jean Ferris

Characters:

Same as Once Upon a Marigold +...

Lazy Susan-Sleeping Beauty's infamous sister- Friend of Angie's.

Angie-Queen Olympia while she is suffering from amnesia- A super nice girl willing to learn to do anything to help out.

Description:

Everybody who lives in the village that Queen Marigold and King Christopher rule has lived happily after Olympia fell into the river. Their happiness didn't last long. The evil Olympia, suffering from amnesia got reeled in by the mayor of Graholah. But when she remembers who she is, she also remembers her plots against the King and Marigold and she is ready to snatch her crown back. How will Chris and Marigold get rid of her once and for all?

I liked this book because Jean Ferris makes these make believe characters seem so real. I absolutely love Ed's mixed up sayings! This is another book I could barely put down.

~Maddie~

Cool for School

WOW!!! School is going by fast!!! There are so many things you want/need to get... like a backpack. I got mine in 4th grade from Jan Sports. I'm in 8th grade and I have the same one. It's survived through all these years and never broke. That means it's a pretty strong backpack, I have a Algerbra 1 book, a history book, and occasionally a lap top in my back pack. Some people like white backpacks so their friends can sign it. On the down side, white gets dirty easily. However, there are so many to chose from like the JanSport SuperBreak Classics Series Backpack, White to the super cute JanSport Superbreak Classics Series Daypack (Bijiou Blue Soda Shop). 

One school fad is silly bandz!!! There are so many out now! Some of my favorite are Teen World Word ~ Fun Bandz Shaped Rubber Band Bracelets 12 Pack ~ Sayings Peace Hot Wild Cool and

Pack of 12 Rubba Bandz Rubber Bracelets Tie Dye Animal.

 You can buy them almost anywhere! Rare silly bandz include disney characters and Guess Who? rubba bandz.





Then there are the clothes fads like skinny jeans... one of my favorite pairs are Fox Junior's Hesher Skinny Fit Jeans,Faded,11 they are SOOO cute. Also some people wear colored skinny jean like Southpole Juniors Plus Size Basic Solid Color Stretch Skinny Jeans, Kelly Green, 24 and Southpole Juniors Low Rise Color Skinny Jeans, Ice Blue, 7. In my opinion they're a little to much ... but that's just my opinion. Another popular kind of pants are these yoga pants by hard tail or PINK. But what is "in" for tops and jackets? Well you could never go wrong with a North Face. North Faces are light, warm, and comfortable (unless you wear one during summer). There are so many different colors and styles like The North Face Denali Jacket for Women Bliss Blue Small, North Face Denali Youth Girls Fleece Jacket (Medium, Black Girls), and The North Face Girls' Denali Jacket - ORCHID PURPLE (Xs). You could probably find any color you want and in the style you want. If i could get one i would probably get The North Face Girls Fleece OSO Super Soft Hoodie Jacket - 100% Authentic (X-Small, Brownie). And last you can't forget about UGGs. UGGs are super cute and warm. Also like North Face fleeces there are so many different styles and colors and patters. Like the UGG 5866 Women's Classic Tall Metallic Sheepskin Boots 8 or the Ugg Australia Womens Classic Cardy Crochet Boot 5819, Soothing Sea, Blue. However, I think the cutest pair if all are the Chocolate Tall Striped Cable Knit Ugg Boots Uggs Size 6 

So go back to school in style!

The Missing Book: Found

By:Margaret Peterson Haddix

Characters:
Jonah-adopted- a 7th grade boy who lives in Liston, Ohio.
Chip-(SPOILERS AHEAD) adopted- a 7th grade boy who just moved into Jonahs neighborhood and they soon become best friends on their adventures.
Katherine-not adopted- Jonahs sister a normal 6th grade girl.
Description:
Jonah has always known he was adopted and he's never really thought twice about it.(According to all the adoption books his parents read, adoption is extremely normal)Until he finds out his neighbor is also adopted. They start to get threatening letters in the mail. Chip, Jonah, and Katherine are plunged head first into a mystery about who the boys really are.


This book is very good.  I finished it in about a day, Its not a hard book but its not  extremly hard. This series has  time traveling, and it can kind of be confusing at times, because some people are from the future and you have to know the good people from the bad. Margeret Peterson Haddix is a very good athor.Another series that youve probably heard of is the Shadow Children Books, Ive only read one and it was average, not something I would wait in a line to buy. It's extremly short maybe 100 pages tops, a bit pathetic if you ask me. Here's a list of some of her other books; Palace of Mirrors, Running Out of Time, and Just Ella.


 P.S.This book is in a series called, "The Missing Series." There are two follow up books to this one, "Sent" and "Sabotaged." The third book leaves off with more to tell. I'm pretty sure Haddix is writing another because it ends on a pretty weird note (maybe a tad to flat on the C#).

Once Upon a Marigold

By: Jean Ferris
Caracters:
Ed-Troll- A troll that lives in the forest in a colorful cave with two dogs.
Christopher-SPOILER- A small boy found by a troll named Ed. Who is also raised by Ed.
Marigold-Princess- The princess that Chris falls in love with.
Olympia-Queen- She wants the King and Marigold out of her way so she can rule w/o anyone interfearing.

Description:

 Ed finds a small stubborn boy hiding in a bush The boy says his name is Christopher and he refuses to go back to his home. Ed reluctantly accepts to his descision and raises him. Chris loves to make inventions but when he is younger all they are is useless and messy, but as Chris gets older his inventions get more useful and he cleans up after himself. One day he is looking over the river and he spies a beautiful princess. He is determined to meet her so he sends her a *p-mail. He receives many messages before he decides to go to the castle. When he gets to the castle finds out Queen Olympia is planning to get rid of Princess Marigold and the King so she can have the thrown all to herself. What's going to happen? Can Christopher's inventions help or hinder him in this sticky situation?

* Pigeon mail. Chris  trained to pigeons to take short letters places by strapping them to their leg.

~Maddie~