Bonechiller by Graham McNamee

Danny and his father live in Harvest Cove in far northern Canada. One night after Danny and his friends, Pike, Howie, and Ash (short for Ashley - a girl) start home for the night, Danny is attacked by a huge monster animal. It's white, larger than a polar bear, with rows of razor sharp teeth. The monster stings Danny with its tongue, then let's him go. Danny comes to realize that the sting has affected him. He starts having dreams about the monster. His friend Howie is also attacked. As the boys start researching, they find that many teenagers have disappear suddenly from the area through the years. They come to realize that the monster is the Bonechiller of ancient Indian legend and has been killing young people for hundreds of years. Danny and Howie's dreams become stronger and stronger. The monster is pulling them to himself. As Danny and Ash's relationship develops, Howie and Pike come up with a plan to kill the monster, with Danny as bait. Will their plan work or will the monster kill them all?

Who Killed Mr. Chippendale? a mystery in poems by Mel Glenn

This mystery novel in verse begins with Mr. Chippendale, an English teacher at Tower High School bumping into a student as he gets ready for his morning run. A few minutes later, Mr. Chippendale is shot as he runs around the track. The rest of the novel/poems are written by different students and teachers, explaining how they feel about Mr. Chippendale. Some students felt like he was a great teacher, some hated him. Angela Falcone, the guidance counselor, is a major character as she interacts with students, teachers, the police detective, and the principal. The book climaxes in a memorial service for Mr. Chippendale after which one of the students confesses to Ms. Falcone that he was the murderer. There is an epilogue poem at the end telling where the characters are 13 years later as a new English teacher enters the building.

Elephant Run by Roland Smith

This is a great book. It was hard to get started, but once I got into the book, it was hard to put down. Nick is a teenage boy living with his mother in England during World War II. When the bombings got too bad in England, his mother decided to send him to live with his father on his plantation in Burma. Nick was safe there for a while, but then the Japanese invaded and captured his father and the plantation. His father was captured and sent to a prison camp. Nick was also captured and kept locked in his room and treated as a slave in his own home. He manages to escape and after hiding, tries to find and rescue his father. His friend Mya has a brother who has also been captured. She goes with him to try to free her brother along with the help of Hilltop, a buddhist monk who helps them. The first two or three chapters were slow and I almost didn't read the rest of the book, so don't give up on it. Keep reading! You'll love it.

Counting on Grace

I recently read Counting on Grace by Elizabeth Winthrop. The book was about a girl named Grace and her family who lived in Vermont and they worked in the mill. Grace meets a boy named Arthur and they become friends. They went to the same school on Sundays and were taught by Miss Lesley because during the week, they worked in the mill. A photographer comes to the mill, and he takes pictures of the kids because they are doing dangerous work and they shouldn't be working there. I thought the book was good, although it was hard to get into, and the vocabulary was sometimes challenging because of the use of foreign words. Knowing what they had to go through because they needed money was interesting. People who like history or fiction would probably enjoy this novel which is based on a true story.
Review by Madison Alexander

Warriors series by Erin Hunter

This series is an animal fantasy with cats. There are four clans:

Thunderclan is the clan of heroes. They are impressive hunters. They live by the lake. They quarrel with the River Clan and are afraid of the Shadowclan.

Shadowclan are evil. They are proud, fight well. They are night hunters and they live in the marsh.

Windclan lives on the moor. They are suspicious and quickly startled. They are fiercely protective. They are a peaceful clan.

Riverclan loves the water. They take prey from the lakes and rivers. Other clans fear and respect them.

Skyclan are the lost warriors, those who have already died.

THE WESTING GAME

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin is a mystery story that reminds me of the game Clue. Sixteen residents of Sunset Towers are summoned to the Westing mansion for the reading of the will after the death of Mr. Sam Westing, a multi-millionaire business owner. The are all told that they are heirs to his fortune if they can solve the mystery of who killed Westing. I think this book might be a bit confusing because of the all the characters, but once you get that figured out, it is very enjoyable and hard to predict the outcome.

Reviewed by Sarah Berblinger

Marley & Me by John Grogan

The memoir of a young couple and their golden lab, Marley. Marley was a horribly behaved dog, but the family loved him and worked hard to make him part of their family. The story begins before they adopted Marley and continues until after his death. Many of the parts are funny, and other parts very sentimental. The book brings back memories for all dog owners of pets they have loved and lost.

Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard

After a freezing blizzard, Sheriff Nathan Shellenberger and his sons Rex and Pat find the body of a young girl frozen to death in their pasture. It's a girl that Rex and Pat both know as well as their friend Mitch. They hide her identity and she becomes known as the Virgin of Small Plains, the name of the town in Kansas where they live. The town develops a legend about her - that she can cure illnesses and grant wishes. Years later, some of the members of the community decide they want to find out who the girl really was and what happened to her. When they start stirring up old memories, other deaths begin to occur. Who was the Virgin of Small Plains and what really happened to her. Good adult mystery by a Kansas author.

Schooled by Gordon Korman

Capricorn (Cap) Anderson - 13 year old boy raised on a commune and home schooled who knows nothing about today's life
Rain - Cap's hippie grandmother who has lived on a commune for 40 years and breaks her hip
Garland - the hippie commune where Cap and Rain live
Claverage Middle School - nicknamed C Average - the public school where Cap is sent when his grandmother goes to the hospital
Zach Powers - the most popular boy at Claverage (C Average) Middle School, who always nominates the biggest nerd for class president
Hugh Winkleman - the nerdiest kid at Claverage Middle School and target of all of Zach's jokes until Cap shows up
Lena Young - cheerleader and Zach's girl friend
Mrs. Donnelly - the social worker who takes Zach in while Rain is in the hospital. She used to live at the commune herself
Sophie - Mrs. Donnelly's beautiful daughter who hates Cap until she finds out what he is really like
Mr. Kasigi - principal of Claverage Middle School who gives Cap the check book for the student activity fund without explaining to him how money works
Naomi Erlanger - a girl who likes Zach and is helping him with his pranks until she discovers that she likes Cap
Darryl Pennyfield - best tackler on the football team who creams Cap during one of Zach's pranks and sends Cap to the hospital
Halloween - the night of the dance Cap has planned that becomes his memorial service, even though he's not dead

A funny story about a young man who jumps from the 1960s life style into the 21st century. Because of his caring about others, the students learn to respect him.

The Sword Thief

This is the third book in the 39 Clues series. The books chronicle the adventures of two orphans who are searching the world for the clues that will lead to a Cahill family secret that could change the course of human history. They are battling mysterious forces, as well as their own relatives to reach the clues and solve the mystery. This particular book takes them from Italy to Japan after they discover ancient swords and their next clue. The series is being written by many authors; each of the first three books have had a different writer, but all of the books have flowed together perfectly. The books all read very fast too which makes them fun for all levels of readers.
Reviewed by Sarah Berblinger

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