Trial By Journal

Title: Trial by Journal

Author: Kate Klise

Genre: Juvenile fict., Mystery

Description: 12 year old Lily Watson has been selected as the first juvenile juror in the Tyleville Court, to decide the case of the murder of Perry Keet. She relates her experiences through a journal.

I really like the way this story is told, because we get many different points of view, and it gives a lot of clues for the reader to decode or go "Ohh, I see-" at the very end. First off, we have the view of the main character, who is a twelve-year-old girl. She knew the murdered boy (Perry) from school, so this gives her some extra knowledge on the subject. Then, included in her "journal", are some exerpts from an autobiography being written by one of the other jurors, Fawn Papillion, who is a retired actress. Even though these are supposed to be the beginnings of a book, Fawn writes in them like her own diary, so we get her view of things as well. Then, also included in the journal, are some newpaper clippings. This gives the view of the general public, and things that are happening outside the jurors' world. There are also some messages written from one juror to an overly popular and controlling zoo/amusement park owner, who seem to have some strange connection. Then there are notes written from the main character Lily, to the woman who comes in to clean her hotel room, Robin. So here we have a murder case unfolding, and a bunch of stuff going on, and it is really cool, because IT ALL FITS! I was one of the people who, when I finished the book, went "Ohh, I see!!" This is a pretty entertaining read, although simple, so if you are looking for something interesting but not too complicated or confusing, try reading this.

You may have noticed the interesting names some of these characters have...

Twilight

Title: Twilight

Author: Stephanie Meyer

Genre: Romance, Fantasy

Description: A girl (Bella) falls in love with a vampire (Edward).


Big deal. I have to ask you Twilight fans, why do you find it interesting? You can probably tell I was not impressed with this story. Maybe it's because I am not really into romance novels. Maybe it is because Bella and Edward take 300 pages, (at least) just to fall in love. Maybe it is because it gets exciting only for 1 page. Or maybe it is because Bella is so obsessed with Edward you can hardly stand it. I have to say that there wasn't really any part I liked. In the book anyway. I did go see the movie, and I do think they made the part where the vampires play baseball pretty good. So I liked that part, but just in the movie. Edward was an okay character, but I didn't like that even though he knows that he is a vampire, but he acts really dumb about it. For instance, there is one point in the story where Bella faints because Edward dazzles her so much, and he says, "Do I really dazzle you?" C'mon Edward, you are a vampire, and you said yourself that everything about you was designed to be attractive to humans. But he seems to really enjoy being fainted over. Speaking of characters, I really don't like Bella; she is a weak character. It seems like she wouldn't exist without Edward, and he is all she thinks about. But she isn't the only one. Edward probably has about 200 girlfriends at my school alone. My own friend is absolutely sure that Edward is her next door neighbor. Aren't there so many other better books besides Twilight??? I constantly ask this to Twilight-obsessed classmates. But they seemed to be incurably addicted to it. I hope you, reader, do not limit yourself to just one book in a world of thousands.

Wicked

Title: Wicked

Author: Gregory MaGuire

Description: Um...the life of the wicked witch and why she is so wicked. I think.

Well, I didn't actually read this book, I just started it. But I think it is a little uh... complicated for me right now. You see, I really really really wanted to see the new musical they just made of it, but I missed it, so I decided to comprise by getting the soundtrack instead. Which is very good, by the way. My favorite songs are all of them. But, of course, i don't know how the songs fit into the story. So I then decided to read the book. I do think it is sort of "adultish"; the sentences are long with lots of big words, and you have to read the paragraph/sentence a couple of times to figure out what the author is trying to say. So I might wait to start it. But I really want to know the story! And I've already memorized the soundtrack!! I was looking up books on the library catalog, and now I want to read Son of a Witch (the sequel). I will have to read the Wicked series sometime. Once I finish the Odyssey.

HP5

Title: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter 5, for short)

Author: J. K. Rowling

Genre: Fantasy, Adventure

Description: Harry is back for the 5th time!! In this book, Harry faces explusion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, then battles with an evil Ministry Affiliate while forming a secret army under her nose, then finally faces Voldemort and his Death Eaters in intense combat!! It's filled with excitement, don't miss it!

I just had to throw that last comment in there. This is probably my favorite of the 7 Harry Potter books, 1) because it is full of action, and if there is anything I can't stand, it is a boring book where nothing happens. This is not true in Harry Potter 5. It is full of excitement just from the beginning. and 2) it has Dolores Umbridge in it! I don't like her, but she is a super evil villain, and where would the story be without her? If Harry lived happily throughout the whole book, you could sleep while you read it. Anyway, Umbridge also adds to the action part. She keeps the story alive in her own wicked ways.

The almost best part of this book (in my opinion) has to do with Fred and George, the Weasley twins. They turn on such a fabulous show of tricks, mischief, pranks and more; it is so entertaining! J.K. Rowling put some nice effort into creating the Weasley twins. Go Fred and George! May the fun go on forever!

Now, I often think the character Harry has a couple of flaws. At the beginning of the story, he is stuck at his aunt and uncle's house, and is feeling a little annoyed, but really wants to see his best friends. So when he sees them, he yells at them for 5 minutes for having a good time together without him, completely ignoring whatever they have to say. Then he loses his temper repeatedly throughout the book. Maybe he should take some anger management classes.

Book #1

Title: The True Meaning of Smekday

Author: Adam Rex

Genre: Science Fiction, Adventure

Description: This book is about an 11-year-old girl named Gratuity Tucci (nicknamed Tip) who lives in the United States, 2013. Like we have predicted, things are different in the future. Mainly, Earth has been taken over by the Boov, who are eight-legged aliens with weird eating habits. Earth now bears the name of Smekland. Everyone in America is being herded into one state: Florida. Gratuity skips taking the rocketpods there and decides to drive (which she learned how to do after her mother was abducted by the aliens.) On her journey, she meets a Boov named J.Lo. J.Lo is on the run, and the two soon form a team. Together, (in Gratuity's amazing floating car Slushious) they search for Gratuity's mom, discover the secret of Happy Mouse Kingdom, meet some fascinating characters, and finally conquer the threat of another more serious alien invasion.

I just have to say one more thing. If you haven't read The True Meaning of Smekday, go out to your nearest library/bookstore and get it ASAP!!

Hello, All You Happy People

Hello everyone. I guess I'll explain what you will find when you visit Raindrop's Bookshelf, for my first entry. Raindrop is me. Hi. Anyway, I love to read, so I will tell you about all the books I've read. Maybe I will say they are really good. Maybe I'll say it is the worst book I've ever read. Of course, you should always choose books that have topics of your own interest, but if you want to read something good, come here for recommendations.