Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright

 
 Stars: ****
Genre: Realistic fiction
Pages: 122
Series: The book has one sequel, Christmas Jars Reunion
    Christmas is looking grim for newspaper writer Hope Jensen.  In addition to her mother's death, she comes home on Christmas Eve to find her apartment has been robbed. But as she waits for the police, Hope discovers a jar filled with coins somebody left for her. After talking to other jar recipients, she finds the family behind it and wants to turn them into the story of the century. She knows they want to remain anonymous, so she pretends to be a high school student doing a report on their family business. But as the Maxwells welcome her into their family, she wonders if it's right to expose the acts of kindness they've kept secret for so many years.
     Christmas Jars is a short, heartwarming novel with a good message you won't forget soon. Plus, it makes a great Christmas gift.

I So Don't Do Mysteries by Barrie Summy

 
Stars: ***1/2
Genre: Mystery, ghosts
Pages: 264
Series: There are currently three sequels
     Sherry's plans for spring break include hanging out with her friends, playing video games, and getting Josh, her crush, to notice her. She isn't happy when her dad and new stepmother decide to send her to San Diego while they enjoy their honeymoon. But things change when her mother's ghost shows up. She needs Sherry's help solving a mystery at the San Diego Zoo. Who is messing with the rhinos? Is it a worker at the ostrich farm next door? Or a chef at a restaurant that specializes in exotic foods? And what is she supposed to do when Josh shows up?
     I So Don't Do Mysteries is fun, light read, and a well written mystery.

Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Rating: 4 1/2 stars
Genre: Fantasy, action, some romance
Pages: 344
     Shut up in a tower by her wicked aunt, Ben (short for Benevolence) discovers an enchanted room and begins her secret trainging in the magical arts. But while Ben is busy cloning herself and walking through walls, a neighboring kingdom is trying to conquer  her beloved home. What's worse, it's looking more and more like their only hope is a pudgy, imperfect princess who can't even do needlework correctly.
     Princess Ben is a page turner. That's all I can say about it. The only thing I didn't like about this book was the word choice. She doesn't just see a castle, she espies a castle. But aside from that, it's a pretty decent book. Not only is there magic, but lots of the fiery tounged court dialouge I love in princess novels.

The Lady Grace Mysteries by Grace Cavendish

 
 

Rating of series as a whole: ****
Genre: Mystery, historical fiction, action
Average number of pages: Around 200
Series: There are currently twelve books, but it's an alphabetical series so there will eventually be twenty-six. Hmm...what will they do for x and z?
     Lady Grace Cavendish is Maid of Honor to Queen Elizabeth I, but she doesn't always act like a proper lady. She has little interest in finding a husband, makes friends with a laundry maid and an acrobat, climbs trees when nobody is looking, and occasionally shoots flaming arrows at pirate ships. It's all part of her job as Lady Pursuivant, aka the queen's personal detective.
     What I like most about these books is Grace's personality. She's not a typical lady or a stereotypical tomboy. She's comfortable living in a world of needlepoint projects, but she would rather be writing in her journal (Oh, yes, the books are written in diary format). And then there's her attitude towards boys. She has a guy friend and is actually engaged in the first book (though it obviously doesn't work out) but she doesn't really care about boys-even the handsome actor she meets in book six.
     The Lady Grace Mysteries are short, captivating books I'd suggest for fans of historical fiction, mystery, action, people who don't like complicated books, and avid readers who want a light read between reading more complex books.
   
     

The Gollywhopper Games by Jody Feldman

  
Rating: 3 1/2 stars
Genre: Realistic fiction, humor
Pages: 317
     Gil's dad used to work for The Golly Toy and Game Company before he was fired thanks to a misunderstanding. Now the entire town is against Gil's family and he wants nothing more than to move. But without his dad's job, the only way they could get enough money is for Gil to win the Gollywhopper Games, hosted by his least favorite toy company. To win, he'll have to get past complicated word puzzles, multiple choice questions, cheating contestants, complicated physical challanges, a company owner who doesn't want him there, and one very large toy gorilla.
     The Gollywhopper Games is a fun, humorous light read. I read most of it in one day, but I'm a fast reader and that was a very boring day. If you're looking for a fun read, pick this one up.

We Were There, Too!: Young People in U.S. History by Phillip Hoose

Rating: ****** (No, that's not a mistake)
Genre: Historical nonfiction
Pages: 264
     Every day of the school year, teenagers sit through history classes, learning about adults who shaped history. Sure, they might throw in the story of a young person here and there, when the story fits the topic. They might mention a few teenaged soldiers or the girls who went on strike for better working conditions in factories. In America, they'll certainly mention Sacagawea, who met Lewis and Clark when she was only sixteen. But for the most part, the younger side of history is nonexistent. When I ask my friends what they think about this, they respond, "Well, teenagers haven't done anything important."
     We Were There, Too!: Young People in U.S. History, written by Phillip Hoose, proves them wrong. The book starts of with the story of Columbus' cabin boy and finishes with the young activists of the nineties. Every single story is true. Some of these youth, like Frederick Douglas and John Quincy Adams, became famous as adults. Some, such as Jennie Curtis, a young strike leader, vanished into history. Still others died as teenagers, like Samuel Maverick, a seventeen-year-old killed in the Boston Massacre.
     I like this book because it's the only one I've seen that talks about young people in history. And since the stories are real, it makes more of an impact on the reader than the average novel.

Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix

   
Rating: ****
Genre: Historical fiction
Pages: 346
Bella is an Italian immigrant, confused by the noisy, jostling streets of New York, trying to make enough money in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory to bring her family over the Atlantic.
Yetta is a Russian Jewish immigrant, angered by the horrible working conditions in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, trying to get the other girls to join the labor union.
Jane is the daughter of a rich American businessman, living a pointless existence of tea parties and dress fittings, wishing for a freer, more meaningful life.
Soon the three will meet. They find friendship and a cause to fight for. But as the cover hints, they'll also be caught in a deadly fire that changes the course of history, both their own and that of America.
Uprising keeps the reader in constant suspense through fire metaphors, foreshadowing, and shifting points of view. It's told from three perspectives with a slight emphasis on Bella, though I found myself liking Yetta the most. But playing favorites is a risky game when you know only one can live to become the "Mrs. Livingston" in the prologue, relating the tragic tale of her friend's deaths to another mysterious woman named Harriet. That gave me something to torture myself over.
"It has to be Yetta, she has the most reason to live with the strike and all."
"But Bella is the most sympathetic, they can't kill her off."
"I could spare Jane, nothing really happens in her life, Bella and Yetta tell most of the story. But she's the logical choice since she doesn't even work in the factory, she works with Harriet. Never mind that she's the one to talk with a Mr. Livingston when he finally decides to grace us with a cameo appearance, just enough to taunt us, and she's not in a relationship."
"But than again, neither is Yetta, not really, they could make it work. And Bella's crush isn't that serious. It's actually the strongest relationship in the book, not that there's a lot of competition, but that makes us more attached to her, so she can't die."
Or can she?
Bella...Jane...Yetta...Livingston...Harriet....Bella. Yetta. Jane. Aaaargh! I can't take it anymore! Just bring it to an end already, give me a reason the dislike whoever dies, just make it stop. Maybe I'll take a little peak at the last chapter just to see the name...crap. Mrs. Livingston again? What happens to the rest of them?
Ahem. Anyways, Uprising surges with fire, rebellion, and injustice. The injustice with the stark contrast of wealth and poverty in 1911, I mean. Not the fact that good people sometimes die, though that's in there too. Story's nicely woven with chilling foreshadowing and metaphors comparing the labor unions to tinder-wait, haven't I already mentioned this? Oh, yes, right before the prolouge. Great. Now I'm back in that mindset.
Just read the book. I know it sounds horrible, but that just means it's well written. Besides, you can't go wrong with Margaret Peterson Haddix.