Vampirates

This is a book centering around the exciting lives of Connor and Grace Tempest. Twins, they were thrown of their small rowboat after their fathers death caused them to leave their home and head for open sea, a place where their father said Vampirates (vampire pirates) roamed on their black, winged ship. After falling overboard in a tempest, Connor is rescued aboard The Diablo, a pirate ship led by the boisterous Captain Molluco Barbarro, but Grace is brought aboard a strange, black ship with sails like tattered wings. Her rescuer, a boy named Lorcan who seems to be only a few years older than herself, speaks and acts like he lived in a much older time, and the captain wears a mask that hides his face...and fangs. Soon, she discovers that she is in fact, on the very ship featured in her fathers chanty...the Vampirate ship. She discovers that the captain is a fair and kind vampire and that he keeps his crew under control and safe by a weekly Feast, in which the Donors (humans who chose to come aboard the ship) give enough blood to sustain the crew for another week until the next Feast. The only problem is the bloodthirsty (literally) and cruel 1st mate, Sidero. He is slowly builds a rebellion against the captain with some of the newer members of the crew, planning to take over the ship and turn it into a place where no human would leave alive. Grace is caught in the middle of it when Sidero takes her hostage. Meanwhile, Connor finds he has a love for piracy. Always naturally excellent in sports, he has an affinity for swordplay and a cunning mind for finding holes in an opponents defense. He makes good friends and quickly becomes a well liked member of the crew, but all the while he is concerned for his sister, Grace. He believes that she is alive, after his father came to him in a dream and told him that she is alive and well, but in a soon to be dangerous place. Now, after overhearing Sidero's plans in a local tavern he begs the captain to rescue his sister. The captain, being a kind and enthusiastic man, agrees not realizing that Sidero has been defeated and cast out. Now, the pirates are mounting an attack against the innocent vampires in daylight, planning to slaughter them all. Now it's up to Grace to save them.

White Cat

Cassel Sharpe is a 17 year old boy who comes from a long line of "curse workers", people who can transform, control luck, emotion, memory and even kill. His world is that of crime and cons as the "workers" are often frightening to the non magic types and have to earn money and power through law breaking and deceit. Everyone in Cassel's universe must wear gloves because the curses only work with skin on skin contact. The only problem is, where Cassel comes from a powerful crime family, he has no power of his own.
Or does he?
A white cat begins haunting him in his dreams, reminding him of the girl he once killed who could control dreams. When the white cat turns out to be alive, flesh and blood, and reminds Cassel of Lila even more, he begins to try and discover the truth once and for all about his twisted family. But thats not as easy as it sounds when one brother controls memories and the other has a power hungry friend ready to do (or kill) anything that he can to gain the crime empires throne. Now the only clue that Cassel has to uncovering his stolen memories and finding out what really happened the night of the supposed murder lies with the white cat.

Lily's Ghosts

This is a funny, quirky book about a girl named Lily who's new in town. After she and her mother were kicked out of their old home in Montclaire, New Jersey, they must call their only surviving relative for a place to stay- the creepy Uncle Max. Uncle Max lends the small family a house, a run down, dirty and spooky old place right on the beach. But the strangest thing is, Lily thinks that it, the house, the town, the beach, may ALL be haunted. As a reader, you realize that her suspicions are confirmed from the very beginning of the book where you read about the happenings of the town through the eyes of ghosts who don't know that they're dead. They all are drawn to the house where Lily and her mother are staying, but only Lily can see them. They aren't all scary, in fact, some are quite lovable, like the couple that drowned in the 80's and still can't find the lemonade they brought with them to the beach. Some are disturbing, like the skinny teen actress who didn't get the part of Juliet in the school play, which SO belonged to her, Miss Popular, and not that weird geek with red hair. She killed herself to make a statement against the unfairness of it all. But some are downright frightening, like the boy that Lily keeps seeing around town who can call and conjure flames. He never speaks but when a series of violent fires spread around town, Lily makes it her job to find out who - and what - he was. But that's easier said then done... especially when the boy seems to be holding a grudge against Lily.

Breaking Dawn

The final book in the Twilight Saga, this book is a masterpiece. Stephanie Meyer has a God given gift to be able to write this well, and with such heart felt emotion. This is not some shallow love story. This is a tale of heartbreak, treachery, immense sorrow, searing pain and above all, the strongest love since Romeo and Juliet. The story takes place where Eclipse left off; with Bella's wedding to Edward. Meyer can describe so beautifully; it's as though you are at the scene. Bella takes off after the ceremony on a mysterious honeymoon on a small, tropical isle. But only weeks later she comes home with an unexpected surprise-and possibly a tragedy. Now her true love, the vampire Edward, and the best friend who always loved her, the werewolf Jacob, must unite in an effort to save her life. Because there's only one way Bella's coming through this... and that's ending with her heart not beating.

Enders Game

Enders Game is a science fiction novel about a future world where the only enemy is not of Earth. Called the buggers, they are aliens intent on destroying the human race and claiming the world for their own diabolical purposes. With both advanced weaponry and intellect, the government has created laws, rules to be abided at all costs. With the rule NO MORE THAN TWO CHILDREN, the government creates genius children to defend earth and distributes them to be raised until the age of six, in which case the government will offer them a choice: Go to Battleschool and defend Earth or stay at home and forever be a Third, a third child, which is a bad thing. Ender (Andrew) Wiggen is a Third with a cruel and maniac older brother and a sweet and clever older sister. He is approached after beating up a bully (who, as we later discover, dies from his wounds) and offered a chance in Battleschool. Needless to say, he accepts. Now, after a rough first year as a "launchy" (the program is in outer space), and beating down bullies while learning the ropes, he is the best soldier the government has ever produced; some say he's even greater than the legendary Mazer Rackman. The ending is a twist that you won't foresee coming, but is something that will stick with you for life. This book was an instant New York Times bestseller, but it's kind of slow in the beginning. However, you won't understand anything if you don't read the beginning, so just stick it out and you'll love the book in the end.

Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident

Artemis Fowl is a young boy, around the age of 12 who is a criminal mastermind. At an early age, Artemis was identified as a child genius. He has written in chapters of psychology books under a pen name and has patented many creations, such as a highly modified laser weapon. This series, written by Irish author Eion Colfer, follows his life as he discovers a world not of his own. A world much more sophisticated, with magic and technology. A world with all the earths precious metals and gems within reach. A world where danger lurks around every corner and all inhabitants live under our very feet, hidden from humans. A world... of fairies.
And gnomes, pixies, goblins and centaurs of course, but fairies run it. Artemis, who is by the way not a very nice person, has been raised by his father to believe that gold is power. When his father disappears and is presumed dead after an illegal transport through Russian seas (the whole family is not very legal) Artemis resolves to find and steal gold at any cost. And so he discovers fairies, kidnaps one for a hostage fee, gives half back and becomes friends with the officer he kidnapped and lives happily ever after. Not.
See, Artemis is bad to the bone. It's in his blood. So he continues his nefarious and brilliantly illegal schemes, yada yada. But then, in this book, he discovers that his father is still alive. The ransom for him is five million dollars. He knows that he will most likely be killed if he hands over the ransom and his father will die as well. So he turns to his fairy friends for help, but they're fighting a war of their own...

Killer Squad: Perfect Cover

This book is about a girl named Toby Klein. She hates cheerleaders with a passion. She has a black belt and is a computer hacker that hacked into the Pentagon when she was thirteen. Her dad got a new job and she moved to Bayport for high school with her dopey younger brother, Noah. Somehow she got recuirted for the cheerleader squad and she didn't even try out. Now she's on the team and in a state of shock. Toby hates pink and glittery things. She never wears skirts. She punches boys on the football, she doesn't date them. Her favorite shoes are her black combat boots. Cheerleader doesn't really fit in. Only it turns out these girls aren't normal cheerleaders.
They're spies. Because who suspects a cheerleader?
Now Toby has to deal with the attention of the schools playboy, crack the code that could bring down a criminal empire, avoid the rumors that she's Calvin Klein's daughter, and try not to get blown up...all before the pep rally in the afternoon.

The Lost Hero

An epic novel by Rick Riordan, this is a must read for those who love Percy Jackson. This book follows three new heros on a dangerous quest to save Hera, Queen of Gods, and find Jason's stolen memories. Jason is the son of Jupiter, the Roman name for Zeus. He can speak Latin, knows only the Roman names for the gods, fights with Imperial gold weapons (the Roman version of Celestial Bronze) and remembers none of his past life. He (apparently) has a girlfriend, Piper, daughter of Aphrodite. Her father is being held prisoner by someones minions, cannibalistic giants, and the only way she can save him is to sacrifice her friends to the Somebody. But can she do that? Especially when she seems to be falling in love with Jason all over again? Leo completes this group dynamic. Son of Hephaestus, the mechanic god of fire, he is slightly crazy and very humorous (to himself). He has the rare ability to call fire at will and not be burnt at all. Fantastic at repairing, building and creating, he is rather small and mischievous. He has a dark secret however, his mother was killed by his ability when he accidentally burned down her workshop. He swore never to use his gifts again. Together, they must save the world...again.

Miles To Go

This book is an autobiography by Miley Cyrus. Some people say that she is far to young to be writing down her life's story, but, as she explains in the book, it's "just another milestone". She just wants to tell the world how she is not that different form any other teenager. She has bad skin, "cankles"(calf ankles), a love for cupcakes, bad break-ups and a snorting laugh. All that's different about her is that she has a great voice and is very famous. When I picked this book up, I was like "God, these famous people. Writing an autobiography at...what...16?" I bought it, and took it home expecting a good laugh at the "disasters" in the life of a super pretty and super famous person, babbling on about the trials of being pretty and rich. Instead, I practically got slapped in the face with frank, brutal honesty. I could not believe what was written in that book. I even went so far as to look up certain facts online, trying to catch her out, like "Ha! You weren't bullied!" or "Your mom isn't alive!" Finally, after feverishly reading and rereading the book over and over again, I was grudgingly forced to realize that everything in this book was true. For the first time in my relatively short life, I understood that famous people are actually...(brace yourself for this shocking realization)... PEOPLE! I know, amazing right? But listen to logic. Just because Brad Pitt is a superstar does not mean that he is an alien incapable of having ordinary problems, like forgetting to buy milk at the grocery store or tripping over nothing while walking. Just because Taylor Swift and Nicole Kidman are so pretty it hurts to look at them, does not mean that they don't get tongue twisted or laugh when nothing is really funny. Superstars, famous people, models and royalty all have red blood and white bones. This book discusses Miley's rise to stardom, the trials along the way and how, underneath it all she is "just an ordinary girl".

My Sister's Keeper

This wonderful book by Jodi Picoult is a treasure in literature. A touching, heart breaking and moving story  based on a true story is the perfect thing to read when you're in the mood for a good cry. The tale of a girl, made to be her sisters donor (who has cancer) suing her parents for the right to her own body is one that will go down in history. A girl who wants to help her sister because SHE wants to, not being forced to help her by her parents. As you read this book, at first you will hate the parents, than ache for them, then finally, mourn along side them. A story to be read by all ages, young and old, and a book to be cherished along side the most priceless jewels in the world.

Legacies: A Shadow Grail Novel

Legacies is a novel of the supernatural. If you choose to read this book by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill be warned. This is a powerful book and should you choose to read this, by the first sentence you will be praying that this never happens to you. A story about a girl, her parents and sister killed in a car accident by a...Something, a car accident that she alone survived. Taken in by a beautiful school, expensive and stupendous that is hiding something behind the marble and gold plated walls. Friends made, no enemies, but who needs them in a school where the only person you can trust not to kill you is you? Every student has a power, they are the Legacies, expected to be earth shakers out in the worlds. Only Spirit (the main character) has no power. Or not one that anyone has ever heard of that is...something more powerful than anything that any magician in this world has seen before. Meet Spirit White, orphan, supposed magician, Holder of the Destiny, and the most powerful human to be seen since the world began...which leads some to believe that she may not be human at all.

VOYAGE OF THE SLAVES: A Tale from the Castaways of the Flying Dutchman

This 356 page novel is artful blend of adventure, youth and courage in the face of lost loves and danger at every step. Brian Jacques is the award-winning author who has published many other books, including the famous Redwall series, as well as his Castaways of the Flying Dutchman series. The series follows a boy named Ben and his faithful dog Ned who have been cursed to roam the world forever by an avenging angel. Once bound to an eternal voyage on the Flying Dutchman with its cruel and bloodthirsty crew, Ben and Ned were saved by the grace of the Lords angel. This came with a price however. Destined never to grow old and die and to have tragedy strike those whom they care for, they try to stay solitary and alone while exploring the world. But when Ben is captured by notorious slave lord and pirate Al Misurata the rules are broken, new ones are made and the game begins anew. From the Libyan coast to the Italian border, Ben fights furiously against Al while Ned is "adopted" into a circus family consisting of two twin clowns, a strong man, a snake charmer, the ringleader and his beautiful daughter Serefina, the dancer. When the family is also captured, Ned and Ben are reunited but Ben falls hard for Serefina and fears the consquences. Now with his true love and her family and danger, not to mention those blasted rival pirartes that seem to be haunting every move Al makes, Ben is hard pressed to find a way out...and avoid the terrors that await his love and him if they survive.

Holes

This funny book by Louis Sachar is both entertaining and serious. It speaks of a boy, wrongly accused, sent to endure a nightmarish "camp" where the boys are forced, day after day, to dig six foot wide and six foot deep holes...but for what? The "camp" director (or Boss), who has a habit of painting her nails with rattlesnake venom, seems to be on the hunt for something and is using her inmates as manual labor. But when Stanley Yelnats, the hero of this book, and his friend Zero find something in the holes thats a little out of the ordinary, they can't help but wonder what the Boss is searching for. And when life at camp gets to be life threatening, they stop wondering about the hunt just in time to worry about their lives...

The Legend of Holly Claus

The Legend of Holly Claus is a wonderfully descriptive and ornate book with many hidden twists and plots. Written by Ryan Long in 2004, this is a touching story of Santa Claus's daughter, the only child ever born in the Land of Immortals where Father Christmas rules. Sadly. an evil sorcerer named Herrikan needs his newborn daughters heart to be given to him of her own free will, so he imprisons it in a curse. Now made of snow to keep it pure of pride, greed or self absorbent, Holly must live in a forever frozen world so her heart doesn't melt and she doesn't die. All the while, Holly feels terrible growing up because she is the only person in the Land of Immortals who hasn't done some wonderful good for the world to be there. Finally, despite the curse binding her and all others inside the Land, she finds a way to escape to the mortal world with her friend, Tundra, a white talking wolf. Her adventures include meeting the love of her life, making "dream dolls" for children so that they are encouraged to follow their dreams and facing Herrikan once and for all. This is a fantastic tale of a pure hearted girl trying to help those less fortunate and her trials along the way. Read this if you like happy endings and good books.

Among the Hidden

Among the Hidden is a novel around 150 pages long, written by Margaret Peterson Haddix. In it is a story following the life of 12 year old Luke. It takes place in future America, where there is a law against 3 children due to food shortages. Luke is the 3rd child of his family. He has never been to school, nor made a single friend. He isn't allowed to go outside anymore since where they once lived in a dense forest, they were forced to sell their land by the Government. Now, a neighborhood for Barons, the rich political figures in the land, is forcing Luke inside, never to see the sun again. Luke, who once understood the reasons for having to stay hidden, is furious. He can get a false ID that says he is a different person, but that would mean never seeing his family again, so he just stays hidden, fuming at his misfortunes. Then he meets Jen, another 3rd child, who has moved into the neighborhood and who has some strong ideas about how life for 3rd children is. She is organizing a ralley, a protest for the unfairness of life for 3rd children. She wants Luke to join her, to take a stand for freedom. But Luke doesn't think that all who join will stay alive...not if the Government is as evil as they say.

The Last Dragon

This book is very good. The story surrounds an elf named Yorsh from when he was a small child escaping a prison camp for elves that was flooded to a teenager trying to rescue his dear friends orphaned daughter from the ruler of an unjust land. Yorsh is part of a prophecy made at the beginning of time that tells of an elf saving the land and marrying a girl with the light of morning in her name who can read the future. His friends that he met when he was a child, helped him even though it was against the law to help an elf and were later killed for this. They left behind a daughter named Rosalba, which refers to the pink light reborn each day. Everyone calls her Robi though, so Yorsh doesn't suspect that she is part of the prophecy, especially when it turns out that the ruler of of the lands daughter is named Dawn. The Judge Administrator, as he is called, is a stupid, crazy man who thinks that Dawn should be the perfect princess and do nothing but read poetry, sing and sit on a swing all day. He has killed many "traitors" by hanging because they either refused or couldn't pay their incredibly high taxes or were accused of helping an elf. Dawn has "told the future" several times, once when she predicted that a councilors gold necklace would be hers. The man was found to be a traitor, he and his wife killed, their goods confiscated and the gold necklace was hers. Yorsh is horrified because he saw Dawn once and while she was very beautiful, she was cruel and mean and made a little girl, her companion, cry for hours. While this is going on, Yorsh also learns that he is the last elf and he soon teams up with the last dragon to save the kingdom from tyranny. It's a gripping read and action packed. This author is a wonderful describer and I recommend it highly.

Bloody Jack

Bloody Jack is a book written by L.A Meyer about a girl, a street orphan, who goes off to sea to see the world. Her name is really Mary but she renames herself Jack Faber and later on in the series, calls herself Jackie. She taught herself to read when she was very small and read for a living on the streets, telling people what direction to take by the sign or reading of bits of the newspaper. This all takes place in 1804, when stealing (which is how Jackie managed to survive) is still punishable by hanging and girls have no rights what so ever. Her gang, led by Rooster Charlie who is little older than her, mugs drunks and steals from vendors while trying to avoid the law, who have no qualms about killing a child with their deadly bludgeons. But when Rooster Charlie is murdered, Jackie decides to leave the dirty streets of London for the wide, blue expanse of the sea. She passes herself off as a boy (she is around 12 or 13 but because she is small, says that she's 10 or 11) and begins her life among her Majesties Royal Navy. Along the way, she is almost caught by the other ships boys, falls in love with the boy who defends her to the 3rd mate, nearly dies from wounds after being beaten near to death by an angry officer and shoots a man point blank in a battle against pirates, which earns her the nickname "Bloody Jack" among her crew mates. But as she begins to change and fall more deeply in love she begins to wonder if she can hide forever on this small ship...and more importantly, if she wants to...

Intertwined

Aden Stone has four human souls living inside his head. Yeah, I know that sounds out of bounds even for a supernatural action book but it works out well in the story. Written by Gena Showalter, this book has vampires, evil witches, terrifying werewolves and crazy demons. It all revolves around Aden, who some how summoned all of these creatures to his formally boring town where he lived in a house for troubled boys. Everyone thinks that he has schizophrenia because he talks to the souls in his head. Oh yeah, the souls all have a superpower. Julian can raise the dead, Caleb can possess a person, Michael can predict the future (usually when someones going to die) and Eve can time travel. This makes Adens' life much harder because he's forced to carry daggers around to protect himself from the dead, Caleb wants to possess someone every time they don't look at them with respect, Michaels all gloomy and death predicting and Eve is like a mother hen always clucking at him for breaking a rule here or there. But something worse just happened. When the supernaturals were called, Michael got a vision. The vision was of Aden dying, a knife through his heart.

Fire Bringer

        This book by David Clement-Davies is a masterpiece of literature.With fantastic plot twists and descriptive sentences this 498 paged artwork is something that not even Twilight could hope to beat. Based in our time, this book follows the dangerous exploits of a young red deer named Rannoch. Marked with a white shape on his head, perfectly shaped as an oak leaf, he is the part of a prophecy to bring down the reign of the evil tyrant, Sgorr, who rules the deer with an iron fist and multiple death penalties. He travels far with his friends and allies when he is still a fawn and slowly matures over the course of the book. His mother, Elaine, was forced to give him up the night he was born because Sgorr had heard of the prophecy and decided that the Captain of the Outriders (protectors of the herd) son was probably the one spoken about. Rannochs' father was murdered along with all the other Outriders because on the night Rannoch was born, Sgorr also ascended to King of the Herd. The tyrant tries to kill Rannoch, but the fawn escapes with his "Mother" and friends. During the course of the book, Rannoch fights with Man, is worshipped as a god by a strange group of all male cult deer, saves his natural enemy, the wolf and learns he can communicate with  animals besides deer. A wonderful read, I highly recommend this book and sincerely hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.

Uglies

The Uglies was an okay book. It might have been better if I had continued with the series but I found the first book unbearably dull so...I stopped. The Uglies is a book about a shallow community where people live as "Uglies" until they undergo surgery on their 16th birthday to become pretty. This is a morbidly fascinating book in the way that the race is so involved with looks that they hate themselves and only look forward to when they turn 16. If you're ever filled with self loathing and/or rage don't read this book. You'll just end up even more depressed at yourself and this authors shallow mind. Of course, there are a few plot twists; the main character is blackmailed into following her "Ugly" friend into the city called "The Smoke" that is full of people who like the way they look as Uglies and don't want to be Pretties. Then (of course) she decides that she DOES like being "Ugly". Joy! Then, in a terrible (and utterly predictable) twist of fate, she accidentally does contact the people blackmailing her to find the Smoke. Oh, the horror. How DID I know that was going to happen? Surprises, surprises. Then (shock shock) the heroine does become pretty after turning herself in. And cue the applause. Curtain call until the next book comes out. Hope it's better than the first.

Paranormalcy

      This book (as the title may suggest) is a paranormal mystery. The main character, a girl named Evie, has a sight that enables her to see through supernatural creatures glamours. She was found by a covert company that hunts down and captures paranormals when she was six years old. Upon discovering what she can do, the company has kept her for ten years, training her to go out and find paranormals. Evie has always believed herself to be human, but when she discovers that she is actually classified as a powerful, unknown paranormal, her whole world is rocked. Now, its all she can do to stop herself from listening to an evil fairy, resist falling in love with a shapeshifter and discover who (and what) she is before the thing that's been killing paranormals around the globe comes a knocking on her door...
     Beautifully crafted by first time author, Kiersten White, this book is packed with action, romance and murder all woven in and around the mysterious heroine herself.

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games is a fantastic book. Brimming full of excitement, action and an underlying injustice, it's a fast paced novel that will keep you wanting more. When the main character, a 16 year old girl named Katniss takes her 12 year old sisters place in the annual Hunger Games her survival becomes uncertain. The Hunger Games is a yearly game when 24 children are put in an arena that varies each here. The Districts, 1-12, provide everything from technology to food to coal for the Capital, where the government lives. The kids, ages 12 to 18, fight to the death, killing each other in anyway possible. The last person standing will win their District honor and gifts of food, which are extremely necessary to survive because the districts don't get enough food, it's illegal to hunt or gather plants or any other any food sources. Katniss desperately needs to win because her father is dead and her mother is distant and removed. Her sister depends on Katniss but Katniss finds it increasingly difficult to fight with fellow District 12 champion, Peta, who once saved her and her families life. As the champions start to die and Katniss struggles to stay alive...will she win or die? Written beautifully by Suzanne Collins this story is an enjoyment for all people, both young and old.