Review: The Last Academy by Anne Applegate

The Last Academy is fiction written by Anne Applegate. Camden Fisher is a fourteen year old girl who after a brutal fight with her best friend decides to go to a boarding school. However, when she arrives nothing, from the campus to the students, meets her expectations. At first Cam feels as though she won’t ever fit in, but soon she’s making friends and even has a boyfriend! Just as everything starts to go Camden’s way, one of her friends goes missing and all of the other students and teachers either don’t care or are too scared to pursue the truth about what happened. As a result, she takes it upon herself to figure out where her friend disappeared to. Her investigations end in a shocking realization with a twist so big you’ll never expect it. So if you enjoy books with drama and mystery, The Last Academy would be a good choice for you.

Review by Caroline A., 13

Review: Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott

Stealing Heaven is fiction written by Elizabeth Scott about a girl named Dani who lives with her mother and lives off stealing silver from people. Her life has always been a repeat of itself: charm people, steal, and then move before the police catch them. Dani has never felt a sense of home before, but when they move to a small town named Heaven, Dani meets a new friend named Allison and a special guy named Greg who’s a cop (both of whom her mom knows nothing about), she feels as if she is home. Her mom feels sick; she’s is in pain and she coughs, but she insists everything is fine; but Dani knows better. When she and her mom are planning their robbery and getaway, only then does she realize Allison is the one they’re stealing from, and she has doubts about doing this. But her mom is depending on her, so she follows through with the plan. On the drive home from the robbery, a cop stops them and finds the silver! What will happen to them? Do they get away safely or do they get put in jail? More surprises come later in the book! 

You should read this book if you like books that keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the whole book.

Review by Lauren A., 11

Review: Don't You Wish by Roxanne St. Claire

Don’t You Wish is the first young adult book written by Roxanne St. Claire and I certainly hope it won’t be her last. The book starts off with your typical high school bus scene; mean girls gang up on the nobodies and embarrass them in various forms of torture. After a particularly hard day of school, Annie Nutter, a girl from a family with financial problems due to the low amount of activity on the market for her real estate agent mother and the fact that her inventor father has yet to come up with something that anyone wants, decides that everything would be perfect if she was beautiful and rich. Almost like he read her mind, Annie’s father shows off his newest invention to the family. He created a machine that shows your face and body, just beautiful, created with features taken from celebrities. Annie is entranced with her gorgeous self and later that night, as she is falling asleep dreams about being the “perfect” version of herself.

When she wakes up in the morning, she is surrounded by luxury and decadence. Designer shoes, handbags, and clothes cover the floor and expensive furniture and lavish decorations make up her huge room. But the biggest part? Her appearance! Overnight Annie’s life has morphed into her idea of perfect from being a billionaire to looking hotter than a super model! Arriving at school makes things more surreal due to her good looking boyfriend and overwhelming popularity. But this life comes with a hidden price. Behind a flawless outside is a ruined inside with jealous friends, divorcing parents, and so much more. So if she is given a chance to return to her old life, will she take it?

I really enjoyed the book, Don’t You Wish, because even though it was obviously fiction, it connects with readers and hooks them from page one. This is a great book for teenage girls and I couldn’t put it down.   

Review by Caroline A., 13

Review: How Not to be Popular by Jennifer Zeigler

How Not to be Popular is fiction written by Jennifer Zeigler about a sophomore girl named Maggie whose parents move their family all over the country. At all the previous places, Maggie fit in, was popular and cool, and had a boyfriend.  When her boyfriend breaks up with her after she moves, Maggie makes up her mind to make no friends and to not get a boyfriend.  On the first day at her new school, Maggie decides to pretend to be weird and nonsocial. She dresses strangely and joins the weirdest club on the campus. Will her plan work or will it backfire and change the definition of coolness forever? Along the way, Maggie might find some new friends she never knew she would find. 

This is a great book if you are looking for a book about normal, everyday people making a big change in an average high school.

Review by Lauren A., 11

Review: The Billionaire's Curse by Richard Newsome

The Billionaire’s Curse, written by Richard Newsome, is a kids’ fiction book. The main character, Gerald Wilkins, whose life could formerly have been described with words such as normal, boring, and average, suddenly finds his world flipped upside down. It all starts with the death of his billionaire great-aunt Geraldine, who he never even knew existed. He and his family (the mother and father who aren’t too pleasant) are jetted across the world in a private plane, suited with chefs and butlers, to the funeral to be held in London.  At the reading of the will, it is discovered that the bulk of the fortune was left to Gerald! With his parents leaving to “oversee” the fortune and make sure it is well maintained, poor Gerald is left alone in London, stuck inside one of his new houses for his own safety.  Inside an envelope given to him by his great-aunt, is a letter from Geraldine, explaining her theory that she was murdered. She begs Gerald to discover her murderer and why she was murdered along with mysterious clues regarding a famous jewel. 

Follow Gerald in his adventure that I couldn’t tear myself away from. If you like fast paced and exciting mysteries, this would be a good book for you. 

Review by Caroline A., 13